Honey House (16 page)

I blinked. What was he up to now? “Do you expect me to try the same thing on Raymond?” I asked suspiciously.

Quinn stiffened. “Raymond isn’t a problem. You should already know that from working with Gabrielle every day. Besides, the were-ranch is shut down for the next two days. You stay away from there or—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ll throw my ass in jail. It’s getting old, Sheriff,” I said.

“Morning, KC, Quinn,” Gregory called, passing through the dining room on his way to the kitchen.

Quinn grinned at me. “Did you two have a sleep over? Did he and lover boy break up?”

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t answer, because at that moment, the lover boy in question shuffled into the room, barefoot, bare-chested, and sleep tousled.  

Owen poured himself a cup of coffee, brushed a kiss against my cheek, and said, “Good morning, beautiful. I’m going to get my shower, now. Care to join me?” He carefully kept his back to Quinn and winked. I nearly choked with suppressed laughter. He was baiting the tiger.

“Not this morning, Owen,” I said. “I’ve got a meeting.”

“Who’s minding the store this morning?” Quinn asked sharply.

Owen had already been heading back toward my apartment to take his shower, but now he turned to face Quinn, his expression impassive. “Full moon, Quinn. We follow the town rules. We only do our regular deliveries, and Aaron takes care of those. We’re closed until tomorrow, like good little citizens.”

“Wait a minute,” I said, looking between the two men. “Okay, is this some big secret everyone in town knows but me?”

“No,” Quinn said.

“Pretty much,” Owen said.

I looked from one to the other and waited, and it should have been as easy as it sounds. It wasn’t. Quinn was a couple of inches taller, but Owen was just as broad, and both men radiated power. Keeping his eyes locked on Quinn, Owen took a step back so that he was now in front of me, face-to-face with the other man.

“Go see if you can help Gregory, would you, KC? I’m sorry to ask you to step out, but I really do need to speak with Quinn in private. It’ll only take a minute,” Owen said.

I stared at the naked expanse of Owen’s back now blocking my view of the room and Quinn. Suddenly I
did
want to go talk to Gregory. I pushed through the door to the kitchen just as Gregory was pouring eggs into the skillet.

Gregory looked up in surprise. “KC? Everything all right?”

I blinked, not quite sure why I’d thought it was such a good idea to come in the kitchen. “Owen is out there,” I said, as though that explained anything.

“Oh shit. Is Quinn still here?” he asked, swirling the pan to spread the eggs.

“Yep,” I said. Then I realized that somehow one of them had made me want to leave the room. “Goddammit!” I turned right back around and slammed my way through the swinging door to the dining room, determined not to be shut out of their conversation. Especially not in my own place. The two men stood facing each other, still as statues, mirror images.

I moved to stand next to the two men and interrupted their testosterone laden staring contest. “Why does the store close, why does the ranch close? What aren’t you telling me?” I asked looking back and forth between them.

Owen inhaled, as if he was going to speak, but Quinn cut him off. “Shut the fuck up, Owen. This is my responsibility.” Quinn turned to face me. “You’re right, it has something to do with the town’s reputation. Too many things had a habit of going wrong under the full moon.

“The short version is that we couldn’t deal with all of it. We get overrun by tourists, by all manner of people who were buying the whole werewolf myth. There are other stories, too. Stories about vampires and fairies, but they never seemed to matter as much. It’s always the full moon that brings out the worst of it.

“Either we needed to bring in extra law enforcement or shut everything down. We chose to shut everything down. It serves as an effective advertisement for businesses such as the were-ranch. We’ve gradually let it be known that Juniper Springs is a place so magickal that no outsiders are allowed on the full moon.”

Owen snorted as he stepped sideways to slide around behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders, and I leaned into him, gathering strength I hadn’t realized I needed. He looked at Quinn, and the power emanating from him was palpable.
Did Owen have some magick?

My mind had drifted, and I missed some of what Owen was telling Quinn. When I tuned back in, Owen was saying, “Your choices have made you responsible for her safety, Quinn. KC, sweetheart, I’m going to go get that shower now. Will you be all right?”

I nodded, simultaneously touched that he was so protective and pissed he thought I needed protecting.

When Owen left, I looked at Quinn. “What exactly does that mean? What choices did you make?”

“Who the hell knows? What the fuck are you doing mixed up with someone like him?”

“Like him? That’s funny. I was just thinking how similar the two of you are. Except for the part about you being an asshole, that is.”

“Hilarious, Miss Carmichael. Now, I need to go, and the only thing you need to do is stay home until tomorrow. It’s expected that you support the full moon ban on activity now that you are a full member of our business community. Joanne did, so I assumed you knew. Everyone stays inside and none of the businesses are open. It’s only effective as long as everyone follows the rules, and everybody profits from it in the end.”

“Is this all part of the big hoax Jason was about to expose? Jesus. I can’t believe you had the nerve to call
me
a con artist. This whole town had motive to kill Jason. Get out, Sheriff.”

Quinn hesitated for a moment, as if there was more he wanted to say. He shook his head at whatever thought had entered his mind, turned, and left.

My body wasn’t big enough to contain the anger coursing through it. I sat abruptly and gripped my coffee mug. There were too many loose ends, too many seemingly unrelated pieces, too many connections between everyone. Was someone directing it all behind the scenes? Or had I just seen life as a giant con for so long that I’d quit believing in coincidence? I’d lost track of the game.

There was definitely something off between Owen and Quinn, something I hadn’t picked up on at the dinner party. Watching the two of them in the same room had been like watching two lions circling, sizing each other up, and looking for weaknesses in the other’s defense. They were sleek and muscular, and aware of everything around them. With a jolt, I realized they thought I was the prey. It was time to remedy that. Everyone knows the females are the true hunters of the pride.

****

David sat on the foot of the barely mussed bed, and clutched a pillow to his stomach.

“Thanks for coming in here with me, KC. I don’t know if I could have done it alone,” David said.

“I’m sorry, David. I’m really sorry for your loss.” The finality and the emptiness of Jason’s room made my throat tight. “Why don’t you just sit there and I’ll get Jason’s things.” I gathered the shaving kit from the bathroom and walked around the room looking for any other personal items. Other than the clothes he’d worn when he’d arrived, there wasn’t anything else to gather. He hadn’t been here long before he'd died. I folded the clothes and placed them in the travel bag. As soon as I touched the zipper, I knew there was more than what we were seeing. Apparently my psychic abilities were spreading to inanimate objects, now.

The crime techs had searched the room and released it, yet I could sense something every time I touched Jason’s bag. I looked at David, but he was lost in his grief. Running my hands over the outside of the bag, I found a hot spot, a place that triggered the warmth in my hands. There was a small cut in the lining of Jason’s bag secured with a thin strip of Velcro. I carefully pulled it open and removed the sheaf of papers hidden inside.

Muttering at Satan to get thee behind me, I handed the papers to David. “I found these in Jason’s bag. I don’t think the sheriff knows about them.”

David glanced down and saw his brother’s neat handwriting then turned his gaze on me. “I can’t look at them, KC. I don’t want to know.”

“They should probably go to Quinn, David. Edwin Merkham will also want them if he thinks they’re notes for the article.”

“You keep it. You can tell either one you want, or tell no one. I don’t care. Just make sure it isn’t something to embarrass Jason’s memory. I need to go, the cof—”

He swallowed, and then tried again, “Jason’s coffin will be delivered to the airport this afternoon. We’re going home.”

****

“If you’re going, I’m going with you, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” I said. Okay, so I might be lying, but Merkham didn’t need to know that.

I’d been in the dining room having a late afternoon cup of coffee and wondering what to do next. Yesterday, I’d been ready to believe in werewolves but this morning Quinn made it sound like a big hoax. Where was the truth? If werewolves existed my plan for going to the ranch tonight seemed pretty stupid. On the other hand, I didn’t appreciate getting pulled in to the hoax if everyone in town was lying.

I’d just about made my mind up to stay home when Edwin came out of his room, moving quickly toward the door. It was the dark clothes and cameras that tipped me off. He was going to explore Juniper Springs and TWTW Ranch. Without Jason’s notes, he needed to investigate the story himself, he’d said. He was confident the next article had been about the werewolves. Since I was also interested in knowing more, I invited myself along.

****

The ride had been rather contentious, to say the least. Merkham was pissed that I’d allowed David to take his brother’s belongings without giving him a chance to look through them.

“You really expected me to tell David that you had a right to look through Jason’s room before he left to fly home with his brother’s body?” I asked.

“It may sound harsh, KC, but Jason’s work belonged to the Chronicle. We were paying for his time. Anything he developed in preparing this story is ours, it doesn’t belong to his family. I don’t know everything he found out, but I do know some of it because as his editor, we spoke daily. Now it’s up to me to find out the truth behind this story.

“What about you? As long as I’m writing this story from scratch, do you want to explain your side of the fraud conviction? It would be an exclusive, I could make sure you came across as sympathetic.”

“Is that what you’re going to do for Melissa at Rapture? Make her look sympathetic?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh, so you spoke with her. Well, yes, I can make her out to be another victim if she comes across with the goods on her boss. I think we could make it a compelling story. It would explain how Sparks used her, convinced her that salvation depended on her helping him. If she doesn’t explain it, I have no choice but to tell the public about the exorbitant fees she’s charging and funneling directly back to Sparks. I’m giving her the opportunity to save herself,” he said.

“Is that what you call it?” I had to work hard at keeping my voice neutral.

“Same with you, KC. I did some background based on what Jason had already dug up. I know those were your foster parents who were convicted for fraud. I don’t know if Jason’s research went that far back. He should have. We could create a lot of sympathy for your story. How old were you when you first realized your foster parents were committing fraud?” he asked, acting as if he was a professional journalist instead of just another blackmailer.

“Not going there, Edwin. Your paper’s done enough for me already, thanks,” I said dryly.

Shrugging his wide shoulders, Edwin got out of the car.

I blinked, trying to get my bearings. I hadn’t even realized he’d stopped the car, yet here we were, already at the outskirts of the ranch. I scrambled out after him. “Wait, where are you going?” I asked. “It’ll be dark soon, do you have flashlights? How will you find your way back to your car?”

“I told you I was going to look around out here. This place is closed up for the full moon, so there’s no better time to dig around out here without getting caught. The office is about a mile, straight through those trees and that’s where I’m headed. Pictures of the alleged werewolf headquarters on the full moon ought to make good press, don’t you think?” Edwin asked.

I was beginning to think this wasn’t a very good idea. There was a weird energy out here, a low thrumming that pushed up from the ground and set my nerves on edge. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach and a little headachy, as though I was coming down with the flu.
Maybe I should wait in the car.

While I was busy wondering what Edwin thought he was out here proving, he did the completely unexpected. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a twenty-two caliber Colt, and pointed it straight at my heart.

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m going to go into the ranch, and now you’re coming with me. You insisted that you wanted to ride along. Well, now you need to stay where I can keep an eye on you. I’m going to find the same proof Jason found and more. I’m not going to let you run off to get your little friends to stop me.”

I pushed passed the nausea and grabbed my cell phone. “I’m coming, but let me cancel my date.”

“Put your phone down,” he said.

I laughed. “What the hell are you going to do with that, Edwin? You’re not going to shoot me!”

Still smiling, and with a laugh in my voice, I said, “I
want
to stay. I’ll help. Give me a sec, because if I don’t cancel this date, all your plans will be for shit.” I turned my back on him without waiting for an answer. My heart was doing a nice little pitter-patter in my chest, not at all happy to have a gun pointed at my back.

The whiskey-rich voice answered with not much more than a grunt.

I made my voice honey sweet, layered with a bit of feeble. “Quinn, honey? It’s me, Katie. Damn, you’re not there.” Quinn’s breathing was quiet, but I felt him straining to catch the meaning behind my words. “I hate leaving a message, but it can’t be helped. I’m afraid I have to cancel our date tonight. I’m not feeling very well, so I think I’ll just go to bed early. Don’t bother calling, I’ll talk to you in the morning. Good night, love you,” I finished. Then I slipped my phone back in my pocket without ending the call.