SEAL Wolf In Too Deep (3 page)

“Here's another thought, though it's even more far-fetched,” Paul said. “After seeing the murdered woman, Rose told Lori that while we were away on a mission, she had looked into one of those live-action role-playing—LARP—groups in southern Montana: werewolf versus villager werewolf hunters. She wanted to see if it was just a game or if any of the players were real wolves.”

“Hell, Paul. Why would she even do that?”

“She had been corresponding with one of the players online, thinking he was one of us. She had no one to date in the area, and she had discovered his website where he talked about werewolves and being one.”

“Which should have clued her in that he wasn't.”

“I agree. But no
lupus garous
had passed through our area in months, and she was lonely. When she began to talk to him, she convinced herself he really was a
lupus garou
. So she went down to see him. This was a month before she met Everett. Which shows we were right to stay here and take over the pack.”

“Sounds like it.” Allan couldn't believe his sister had done that. “I'm surprised Mom wasn't upset about her doing something like that.” Rose was way too curious for her own good.

“She told Catherine she was going on a shopping trip to pick up leather-crafting supplies to make some things for her shop. Catherine never knew the real purpose of her visit because Rose brought back leather-working materials. When Rose arrived in Helena, she had lunch with the man, Guy Lamb, and discovered he really was a wolf.”

Allan's jaw dropped, then he shook his head. “I never would have believed it. And by the name of Lamb?”

“Yeah, it was his parents' idea. Everyone teased him about being a lamb when he was a kid, so he had fun with saying he was a werewolf on his website.”

“A wolf in sheep's clothing.”

“Right. Anyway, he liked Rose, but once she met him, she wasn't interested in getting to know him further. She said he was too weird for her. Loved horror stories, music she didn't care for, books she wouldn't read. He was such a big horror fan that he loved to act in plays of that nature and visit horror conventions. They just didn't have anything in common. But she wanted to check out the game for curiosity's sake, in case one of the other players was also a real wolf. Someone she might connect with more.

“Rose did manage to meet with the group, which had eight werewolf hunters, one seer, and two wolves. Though who was playing which roles was a mystery. She said no one smelled like a wolf. But when she and Lori came across the woman's body, Rose was pretty rattled and told us about the group, in case it had any bearing on this situation.”

“Okay,” Allan said. “I can't think of any other scenario offhand. The notion the killer saw the
lupus garou
shift and then eliminated her has my vote.”

“I agree. Even so, just to be thorough because we certainly don't want any more surprises like this one, I checked to see if any LARP groups were listed online. I didn't see anything like that in our area. If it is a local group whose members don't share about it on the Internet, then we wouldn't know about it.”

Allan rose from his seat and paced across the living room floor. “It doesn't sound like someone who was just playing a game. The business with silver rounds and luring a wolf into a leghold trap first…”

Paul finished his bottle of water and set the empty container on the coffee table. “After viewing the wounds inflicted on the woman, I really think something deeper was going on. The murderer attacked her in a rage. It wasn't just a case of killing a random person. Passion was involved—anger.”

“Maybe he was a former lover and discovered what she was?”

“Now that could be.”

“Why would he leave her like that? Why not hide the body?”

“Lori and Rose's arrival might have stopped him.”

“Why would he call the police to warn them about the killing, if he was the one who called in anonymously?” Allan asked.

“Because he's proud of the kill? Maybe he thought the coroner could prove she's a werewolf through DNA. Then he could brag about killing a werewolf.”

“Then he had to know or believe the woman
was
a werewolf. She had to have known him, probably trusted him.” Thinking of an even worse-case scenario, Allan ran his hands through his hair. “What if he was watching when Rose and Lori arrived? And when they left, he followed them?”

“That's what I'm worried about. The police were at the crime scene while you were at work this morning. I told the homicide detective in charge that you'll also be looking into it since it happened so close to our cabin and we're concerned about more trouble for the two ladies who found the victim.”

“Good. What were the police told about how Lori and Rose located her?”

“They were taking a hike through the woods. There's a trail near there. They were headed up to the lookout over the lake. Anyway, that's the story. In truth, they smelled blood—and lots of it. So they headed that way to locate the wounded wolf and help if they could. When they discovered the woman and realized she was one of us, they hated to have to leave her body behind, but they didn't have any choice. They went to the cabin, shifted, dressed, called me, and then headed back to the killing site to ‘find' her as humans.”

“They didn't wait for you though?”

“No. It would have taken me too long to get there. I was at Lori's dojo, working out some of the stiffness in my leg. Lori called me to make sure she and Rose were doing the right thing. Of course, I didn't want them returning to the scene in case the bastard was still in the area. But understandably, they wanted to call it in before the body happened to vanish, if the murderer decided to dispose of it.”

Allan swore under his breath. “Rose is too far along to be running as a wolf, and both she and Lori could have been in real trouble. Still could be.”

“Rose said it was her last time to run. They didn't expect to find the dead woman.”

“Hell. If the killer was watching the women arrive as wolves and then return as humans, he could have put two and two together, tracked them back to your cabin, learned you're Lori's mate, and well, hell, about everyone related to them—Lori's grandmother, Mom, Rose's mate, and his mother and sister. And that's just the few of us from the original pack.”

“You and me. Yes, very possibly. Which means we have to catch this bastard pronto. Rose contacted everyone on the pack roster to let them know they need to avoid seeing any of us for the time being. We don't know if this guy has any way to track the rest of the pack members, but if we cut off seeing them in person, that might help.” Paul pointed to a map on the wall showing the whole area: lakes, parks, trails, even elevations. “Here's where the woman was found.”

“I'll let you know if I discover anything further.”

His blood cold with anger, Allan left the cabin and drove to the logging road closest to the location of the crime scene. Even if the murderer had witnessed Rose and Lori discovering the body as wolves, then returning later as humans, Allan knew they would have pretended they had suddenly come across this horrific scene, screaming and calling Paul on his cell, maybe pretending to be calling 911. So if the murderer was watching, he might not have made the connection between them and the wolves. But they still couldn't chance it.

On the way to the site, Allan made a call to Debbie, wanting to know how she was doing and how Franny and her baby were faring. He had already called ahead to let the staff know that Debbie would be arriving to check on them on her own, but he had learned from them that she had called ahead. He felt bad that he hadn't been able to go with her, that he hadn't been able to see to Franny and the baby, that he'd had to break his lunch engagement with Debbie, and that he hadn't been able to discuss this other business with her.

“How are the baby and Franny doing?” he asked.

“I'm still at the clinic and the doc is keeping them overnight. They're going to be just fine. Thanks to you.”

“And you. Hell, you saw the vehicle first.”

He mentioned that only because she'd commented on his keen vision too many times to count, and he didn't want her to find that odd. “I'm sorry about lunch. I'll make it up to you later.”

“No problem at all, Allan, but I'll certainly take you up on it. Is everything all right?”

He couldn't lie to her and say everything was fine. Everything wouldn't be all right until they caught this maniac. “It's a small family crisis.” Which was the truth. Anything that affected
lupus garous
in their territory affected them. So it
was
a family crisis. But small? Not really. Especially if the man was a newly turned wolf who had shifted and was wholly out of control. “I'll be back tomorrow to help investigate the Van Lake accident scene.” It was located fifty-three miles from where Allan lived, so not too far.

“Can I help in any way?”

“No, thanks. I'll…I'll call you later tonight.” He hated this part of their relationship, where he couldn't be completely honest with her. He could imagine just how well telling her the truth would go over. That he even considered such a notion bothered him. Normally, he never gave it any thought when he was around humans. He and his kind were what they were and that was their own business.

“All right. I'll fill out the accident report on the mother and baby. I'll…talk to you later.”

He knew she wasn't happy with the way he always shut down about his family when there were issues. She'd told him about her alcoholic father, and he suspected it bothered her that he wouldn't come clean with
his
family “issues.”

“Talk to you later, Debbie.” He hung up as he reached the area where the killing had taken place.

He hated that tens of thousands of leghold traps and snares were legally set up on Montana's public lands and along waterways. Reportedly, fifty thousand wild animals were trapped a year, but trappers weren't required to check traps regularly or report numbers. People and pets could be the victims, as well as any other animal the hunter wasn't interested in capturing. One of the former vice presidents of the Montana Trappers Association had agreed that trappers cause pain and suffering to animals, but would apologize to no one. Really a sad state of affairs.

Allan reached the murder scene and found yellow police tape roping it off. He left his vehicle, smelling around the area for the scent of the trapper who had set the leghold trap. Allan was careful not to look like he was trying to breathe in scents in case the killer was in the area observing.

He found the victim's blood splattered all over the fresh snow. Tracks were everywhere from the wolves who found the victim and the humans who had come to retrieve her body. He looked around at the thick pine forest and where the trap had been set near a tree, buried by the snow. He tried to sense if the murderer was in the area. The trappers were a danger to them all. But this guy, even more so.

So many people had been in the area, it was hard to say who might have done this. Allan followed boot tracks in the snow for over a mile, then went back and followed another set of tracks. None of them led him to anything suspicious. Tons of tire tracks were on an old logging trail nearby too—the ambulance and police vehicles for sure. So again, nothing that could help him.

Once he climbed back into his vehicle and shut the door, he called Paul. “I didn't find anything that stood out to me.”

“I just got the preliminary report on the autopsy. She was shot five times, and all the rounds were silver.”

“He has to be a werewolf hunter then.”

“You know, we've been thinking it's a he, but it might have been a she. Some of the murdered woman's wolf fur was stuck to the blood on the jaws of the trap, though the coroner believes that a wolf had been caught earlier. Rose and Lori identified it as the woman's fur by its smell. So the victim couldn't have been a new wolf or she couldn't have been in her wolf form.”

“We need to put this guy down.”

“I'd like to, but as long as the killer might be human and the police are involved, we have to let the homicide detectives working the case deal with it. We've got to catch the guy before they do to determine if he's one of our kind now. If we catch him and he's still human, we turn him over to the police. I've let everyone know to be extra vigilant if they think they're being followed. I don't want anyone to see our families except for you and me. I don't want him to identify anyone else as a pack member so no one else will be put in harm's way.”

“Agreed.” Allan couldn't believe what a nightmare this could be for all of them.

“We have another situation that arose. Lori went to see Franny and she wants to speak with you about her car crash. Lori thought maybe she was confused, but Franny was adamant it wasn't an accident.”

“That's what she told me. She talked to Debbie about it too.”

“Franny knows you're the only one in the pack available to investigate it right now, but I think there's something else she's hiding.”

“From Lori?”

“Yeah. If you're going to investigate this, she'll have to tell you what she knows.”

“All right. I'll drop by the clinic next.” What
else
could go wrong?

* * *

“Hey, Debbie,” Rowdy said, meeting up with her as she headed to the clinic lobby. She was ready to get takeout somewhere close by and then work on the accident report back at the sheriff's office. She was relieved Franny and baby Stacy were doing well.

She was surprised to see Rowdy here, since he was a
homicide
detective.

“Hey,” she said, disliking the speculative gleam in his eyes.