Nature of the Beasts (12 page)

Sarah stepped back and watched as Dastan dabbed the piece of material through what little blood remained on the body. It was then that Sarah noticed it. “Dastan.”

He glanced up at her in question.

“There’s no blood on the ground.”

Dastan looked back at the body and frowned. He stood up and stepped back, examining the area around it. “He moved the body here after he killed her.”

“Why?” Sarah asked.

Fear now raced up her spine. Whoever had done this placed the body where he knew it would be found. Was it a warning? Was he baiting them? Or was the shifter trying to frame them for his sick pastime?

That thought alone terrified her. Which of the two shifters was he trying to antagonize? Since Dmitry believed the shifter was from Dastan’s former pack…

“Dastan?” She waited for him to look at her before continuing. “Do you suppose the shifter that Dmitry ran off is doing this to get even with you for something?”

Dastan frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll know more after I cast that spell. Hopefully.” He studied the piece of cloth in his hand. “There’s not much here. Most of it is dried or just gone. I’m not sure I got enough.” He looked back at Sarah. “You should go back to the house. I’m sure George told them that you found the body, so Mike will probably want to talk to you.”

“Great,” Sarah grumbled. “What do I tell him?”

Dastan shrugged. “Tell him you went for a walk to get some fresh air, which isn’t a lie. You screamed; we were at the barn, so we were close enough to hear you.”

Sarah knew that Dastan would’ve heard that scream no matter where he was on the ranch. So would’ve Dmitry. She probably shouldn’t have screamed, but it had been her first instinct upon seeing the mangled body. She shivered and rubbed her arms with her hands.

Dmitry moved in behind her and wrapped his arms around her, warming her, comforting her. Even with everything going on, her body responded to his touch. It just felt so right being in his arms.

He kissed the top of her head. “Do you want me to walk down with you?”

Sarah shook her head, but Dastan intervened. “Walk with her, Dmitry.”

Dmitry nodded and tugged Sarah along with him. She shot Dastan a look of annoyance as they walked away, but Dastan didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at the body, his brow creased with intense concentration and worry.

“Does he always boss you around like that?” Sarah asked in aggravation as they worked their way down the path.

Dmitry just grinned softly at her before he turned his attention back to their surroundings, ever watchful, ever vigilant.

“He is the older,” Dmitry said. “But sometimes I boss him. For the most part, we’re equal, but sometimes he’ll bark and pull rank.”

“But you’re both alpha.”

“True and there have been times we’ve butted heads. But Dastan and I are…”

“Two halves of the same whole?” Sarah finished for him.

Dmitry grinned. “That about sums it up.”

“What’s your opinion on this guy?” Sarah asked. “This shifter?”

“I think he’s dangerous. He’s skilled with magic and has a bloodlust that’s apparently taken over his mind and actions. He needs to be put down.”

“But first we have to find him.”

Dmitry stopped dead in his tracks and turned to give her a firm look that she’d seen so many times on Dastan’s face. God, the two of them were so much alike. “There’s no
we
here, Sarah. You stay out of this.”

“But—”

“No buts, period.”

Sarah twisted her lips but didn’t say anything for a few seconds as they continued down the path. “If this shifter was part of Dastan’s old pack, wouldn’t he know him?”

“I’m sure he would if he saw him.”

“No, I mean, wouldn’t he sense him somehow?”

Dmitry shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Oh,” Sarah said in disappointment.

“We can sometimes smell if another shifter is close, but there’s no mental connection of any kind between shifters, other than being able to talk to one another. If we see each other as wolves, we recognize the other only if we know them in human form.”

“But you couldn’t tell with me.”

“You had a spell covering it up, but even then, Dastan and I felt a pull toward you. If you hadn’t been our mate, we wouldn’t have felt that.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.”

Dmitry stopped and stared in the distance at the car coming up the long gravel driveway. “Sheriff’s here.”

Sarah frowned and shaded her eyes from the sun. “That was fast.”

“He might’ve been close when he got the call. Come on. Let’s get you in the house. Then I want to get back on the hill with Dastan.”

Sarah nodded and followed Dmitry as he quickly led her to the back door.

* * * *

Dmitry made it to the top of the hill while the sheriff talked with the hands in the front yard. As he and Dastan waited, they noticed another car making its way up the driveway.

“Coroner?” Dmitry asked.

“Probably,” Dastan replied.

They watched in silence as the sheriff met up with the coroner; then the two of them headed toward the path.

“Do you get the feeling this guy is just itching to pin this on us?” Dmitry murmured.

“Sometimes, but let’s not be paranoid.”

Dmitry shrugged. Hell, he disagreed. He believed that maybe they should be paranoid. They were new to the town. Just a few weeks after they move in, the murders start? They would be crazy not to be paranoid or think they wouldn’t be the first suspects. The question was what did they do if that actually happened?

They could leave. Go back to their own dimension.

Dmitry hated that plan. He loved it here on the ranch. The wide-open spaces, the hard physical labor. It felt good doing things with his hands. The last thing he wanted to do was leave. He would fight for this place. He would fight for Sarah. He would fight for what he had come to love.

The sheriff topped the hill and stopped. “So where’s this one?” he asked.

Dastan pointed behind him with his thumb, and Mike made his way over to have a look. He made a face and motioned for the coroner to join him. “Yep, she’s dead,” the coroner said. “But she didn’t die here.”

The sheriff nodded. “Gentlemen, this is our coroner slash investigator, Tim Price. Tim, this is Dastan and Dmitry. Two of the unluckiest ranchers I believe I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.”

Tim raised an eyebrow but nodded a hello. Dastan gave the sheriff a tight-lipped smile while Dmitry rolled his eyes.

“The two of you want to explain to me how a dead girl got on the hill behind your house? And who might’ve put her there?”

“We were hoping you could,” Dmitry replied.

Mike snorted. “The two of you got any enemies I need to be made aware of?”

“No,” Dmitry replied.

“If we did, I believe we could handle them,” Dastan said.

Dmitry wanted to smack him.

“You’ve got a problem here, Dastan,” Mike said as he moved aside and let Tim examine the body more closely. “I really don’t think the two of you are dumb enough to be killing these girls and leaving them here. So either it’s one of your hands or someone’s trying to frame you.” Mike glanced down at the body and made a face of annoyance. “Albeit badly.”

Dmitry was a bit shocked. He glanced sideways at Dastan and noticed his friend had the same reaction.

“The question is why,” the sheriff said.

“That’s one I would like to know the answer to myself,” Dastan said truthfully. “Are these local girls?”

Mike rubbed his chin. “The other one was. I’m assuming this one is too, but no one has reported anyone missing yet.”

“I can assure you, Sheriff, it’s not one of the hands,” Dmitry said.

Mike nodded with a sigh. “Those guys were here with Sam and Cody. I don’t believe it’s one of them either. To find the girl on the trail is one thing. To find one here is way too coincidental in my opinion.” He studied Dastan for a couple of seconds, then looked out over the ranch. “How the hell did he get this body up here and nobody see him?”

Dastan glanced around as well. “We’ve been a little busy with the cleanup, staying close to the house. I suppose it’s possible he came up a back way.”

It was a flimsy excuse, and they all knew it. Dmitry knew how he’d gotten that body up here. Magic. But unfortunately, they couldn’t tell the sheriff that.

“I understand Sarah found the body?”

“Yes,” Dastan said.

The sheriff nodded. “I’m gonna want to talk to her. She in the house?”

“Yeah,” Dmitry replied before Dastan had a chance.

Dastan shot him an angry look, but Dmitry ignored him. “She thought you probably would, so I’m sure she’s waiting for you.”

Dmitry knew Dastan didn’t want Sarah involved in this, but they didn’t have any other choice. The hands told the sheriff she’d found the body. It wouldn’t look good at all if they tried to hide Sarah from the sheriff, even if the sheriff didn’t think it was them doing it.

Mike turned back to Tim, who still crouched by the body, studying it. “What do ya think, Tim?” Mike asked. “Same as before?”

“Most likely. Mangling is postmortem, just like the other. Unlike the other, she wasn’t killed here. She was moved here.”

“Before she was mangled?” Mike asked.

Tim shook his head. “After.”

“Do you still think it’s an animal this time?” Mike asked.

Tim sighed. “Now I’m not sure it was an animal last time.”

Dmitry crossed his arms over his chest and took a chance by asking a question, even though he already knew the answer. He was just hoping to spin them in another direction. “Is it possible that whoever did this has created a hand piece that would make the mangling look like an animal?”

Both Mike and Tim turned to look at him as though he’d grown another head. Dmitry shrugged on shoulder. “I was just wondering…”

Tim tilted his head. “You know…that’s not implausible.” He turned to Mike. “I think we might have a serial killer.”

Mike shook his head in determination. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

Tim stood. “Why shouldn’t we? Just because we’re a small town doesn’t mean it can’t happen to us.”

Mike dragged his hand through his hair, then stared hard at Dastan and Dmitry. “How come all this shit started when you arrived? You got any answers for that one?”

“Not at the moment,” Dastan murmured.

“One of you take me to Sarah.”

* * * *

Sarah sat at the kitchen table and stared at her steaming cup of coffee. She couldn’t stop picturing that poor girl. Why would anyone do that? Her thoughts shifted again to her mother. If it hadn’t been for the attack against her, Sarah wouldn’t be here. That was a morbid thought that made her more sick to her stomach than anything. To think her father was someone who got his kicks off hurting people.

She blinked. Was there somehow a connection? The shifter that had attacked her mother was never caught. She hadn’t been able to describe him. Even to this day, she couldn’t remember what he looked like. Was it possible his tastes had grown more grotesque? Instead of hurting and raping, was he now killing? Tears gathered in her eyes as she realized she came from someone that sick—that some of that insanity could be inside her.

“Sarah?” Dmitry called from the living room.

She quickly rubbed the tears from her eyes and sat up a little straighter. “In the kitchen.”

She looked up just as Dmitry entered the room, Sheriff Mike Sims behind him. Sarah wasn’t surprised to see him. She’d been expecting that he would want to talk to her.

He was a nice-looking man with dark hair and eyes. He was tall and muscular with a commanding presence that seemed to always make women feel safe. She could certainly understand why the women in town always looked twice when they saw him walking down the street.

Mike took his cowboy hat off and glanced around the lower level. “Wow. Looks like you guys got quite a bit of damage in here.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said as she stood, then sighed. “The twister went between the house and the barn. We were lucky it didn’t hit either dead-on.”

Mike turned to stare at her. His eyes widened slightly as he nodded in acknowledgment. His gaze traveled down her body, then back up. Sarah fought the desire to frown at his obvious appraisal. Although she’d seen him around town numerous times, they’d never met in person.

“You’re not quite what I expected for a housekeeper,” Mike murmured.

Dmitry frowned as he moved to stand closer to Sarah.

“I get that a lot,” Sarah replied. She waved to the table. “Have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”

Mike started toward one of the chairs and took the one across from Sarah’s. “Coffee would be great,” he said as he set his hat on the table.

“Cream or sugar?” Sarah asked as she went to fix him a cup.

“Black. Thank you.”

Sarah poured the coffee, then set it on the table in front of him. She tried to ignore his intense stare as she took her seat and reached for her own cup. Dmitry started to take the chair closest to Sarah, but Mike stopped him.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to talk to Sarah alone.”

“I do mind,” Dmitry replied.

“It’s fine, Dmitry,” Sarah cautioned.

Dmitry nodded reluctantly. “I’ll be on the front porch,” he said, then shot Mike a look of warning.

Mike watched him go. Sarah didn’t miss the hint of amusement in his eyes. “They’re protective, aren’t they?”

Sarah smiled slightly. “Sometimes a little overprotective.”

Mike turned back to her. “How long have you known them?”

“All my life,” she said softly.

“So you came here with them.”

“Yes.”

“Are you in a relationship with one of them?”

Sarah frowned. “What does that have to do with the girl?”

Mike shrugged and lifted his cup to take a sip of coffee. “Nothing.” He swallowed. “This is good. You make it?”

Sarah nodded again, this time more cautiously. She wasn’t sure she liked these questions.

“The coffee at the station sucks. I never drink it there anymore. I usually go the coffee shop downtown and grab a cup.”

Sarah didn’t say anything as Mike sat and studied her. She felt as though she was being sized up for something. Sitting back, she crossed her arms over her breasts and waited.