Thank You For Not Shifting (Peculiar Mysteries Book 2) (7 page)

“Yeah.” I gulped. “Safe.” And horny. What the hell?

She put her hands on her ample hips, wider and curvier now that she was a mom. Seriously, she’d never looked more stunning. Her green eyes sparkled with fire as she turned to stare at Billy Bob. “Tell me what you know and don’t leave anything out.”

“Now, Sunny,” he said. I hated how quickly he’d regained his composure. When we were alone again, he and I were going to have a serious talk. He continued, “It’s an ongoing investigation. I’ve been brought in to do the autopsy, but I can’t tell you the particulars of the case.”

She snapped her fingers. “That is not going to fly with me, mister.”

Babel put his arms around Sunny from behind. “Calm yourself, sweetheart.”

My eyes widened, because, at that point, Sunny turned around in his arms, poked him in the chest and shook her finger at him. When Sunny did the poke and shake, she meant business. “Now, you listen here, Babel Michael Trimmel, you have to have a serious screw loose if you think telling me to calm down is the way to get me to calm down.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and boy, how he was sorry. Regret for his word choice was written all over his face.

“Damn right you are.” She turned back to Billy Bob. “Now give, or I’m going to storm the Sheriff’s office, and since you all want me to keep low key during your furry-fest, you’d be better off telling me what I want to know.”

He groaned and shook his head. Babe smartly stayed quiet.

Without meaning to, I stepped between her and Billy Bob. “Don’t yell at him, Sunny.” Oh my God. What was I doing? Why was I defending Billy Bob? The first rule of BFF code was you always backed your BFF.

She looked at me and raised her right brow, her lips pursed.

I looked at Billy Bob, who stared at me like I’d grown a third nipple in the middle of my forehead, and said, “Just tell her.”

* * * *

After the previous night’s events had been relayed, Sunny said, “So let me get this straight. A man was skinned alive, murdered, and tossed onto our back doorstep.” She peered at me as she picked up my mug and sipped my coffee. “Had you locked the door?”

“Yes, I locked the door.” At least I was pretty sure I had. It had been a long, exhausting day.

Babe and Billy Bob had gone just outside the kitchen to talk officially. As the mayor, Babel would need to strategize how to handle the fallout. Still, it really pissed me off. This was probably Ed. Our friend. A staple in our community. It irritated me that we had to take all these incoming strangers into any consideration when it came to dealing with his death.

“The alarm?” Sunny asked. “Did you set it?”

“I…” Had I really been so stupid? “No. I guess I forget.” A wave of recrimination and remorse washed over me. Would it have made a difference if the alarms had gone off?

“Jesus, Chav. With all these strangers in town, you can’t forget. It’s more than just our friends and neighbors now.”

“I know,” I said. “Don’t beat me up about it. I already feel bad enough.”

“I’m sorry, doll. This was not your fault. Lock. No lock. Alarm. No alarm. When a sicko does something sick, there is no one to blame except the sicko. You didn’t choose to hurt that poor man, whoever it turns out to be, and dwelling on
would’ves, could’ves,
and
what ifs
will give you gas. I just worry about you is all. I don’t know what I’d do without you, you know?” Sunny hugged me again. It felt good. She really did give the best hugs.

I could feel some of the tension drain from my muscles. “I do know,” I said, hugging her back. “I don’t know what I’d do without you either. You always have my back.”

“Always,” she said fiercely. She leaned back and looked me in the face. She squinted her eyes, her brow furrowing. “Why is your face so red?”

I hadn’t realized it was, but her mentioning it brought a fresh rise of heat to my cheeks. Sunny’s eyes widened as she took in my guilty expression. She glanced once at Billy Bob out in the hall talking quietly with Babel now. To her grace, she didn’t say anything. However, I knew an interrogation would be forthcoming.

Babe and Billy Bob walked back into the room, neither of them looking as if they’d figured out anything.

“We need to tell Sunny,” Babe said.

“Tell me what?” Sunny asked.

“Who the victim might be.”

“Ed,” Billy Bob said, his tone low and fierce. “It might be Ed Thompson.”

The blood drained from Sunny’s face. She slumped onto one of the high stools next to the center island. “No,” she said. “It can’t be.” She stared at me, her eyes pleading with me to refute Billy Bob.

I shook my head.

Her reaction was similar to mine. “We just saw him yesterday. He came in for lunch. How can it be Ed?” She gripped my wrist. “How could I have missed it? What good is it for me to have a psychic gift when I can’t even use it to save my friends?”

“This isn’t your fault, sweetheart,” Babe said. He massaged her shoulders, and she slumped back against him, drawing comfort from her husband.

“Babe’s right, Sunny. This isn’t your fault.”

An infant’s cry from the other room brought us all to attention.

“Shoot,” Sunny said, the front of her shirt darkened as her nipple fountains exploded. “I left Jude in the living room when we came in. He’d been sleeping so soundly.” She looked down at her blouse. “I packed a clean one in the diaper bag.”

“And nipple pads, I hope.”

“Being a mother has its perks and its drawbacks,” she said. Babe went with her into the other room, leaving Billy Bob and me alone.

“You holding up?” he asked, careful to keep to his side of the island.

I nodded. Why had he kissed me earlier? Had he felt sorry for me? Remembering his hands kneading my back, his lips seeking mine, his tongue exploring my tonsils, I knew the passion hadn’t been one sided. “Should we talk about what happened?”

“Not now,” he said.

Well,
motherfuck
! Seriously? “Cool,” I said. “Actually, we don’t ever have to talk about it. Let’s pretend like it never happened. As a matter of fact…” I shook my head. “…I just scrubbed it from my brain. We’re good.”

“Chavvah.” He made my name sound like a warning.

Sunny and Babe came back into the kitchen and saved me from more humiliation.

“Can you guys take me home?” I glanced at the now glowering Billy Bob. “We need to get the restaurant figured out, or we need to ask Blondina to cover the food for the council meeting. Either way, there is a lot to do.” I didn’t add that I desperately wanted to get out of sight of a certain asshole werewolf who kept sending me mixed signals.

Billy Bob interceded. “I think you should stay here, Chavvah.”

“Not happening, Doc.” I sounded terse and emotional. Why wouldn’t he just let me have what was left of my tattered dignity?

“At least, let me examine your back before you go. A few of those cuts were pretty deep.”

“You were hurt?” Babe said with a pinch of alarm. “Doctor Smith didn’t say that you were attacked.” It was my younger brother’s turn to glower.

“I threw myself out of the guest bedroom window last night.” And I didn’t want to fucking talk about it. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain later. Right now, I want to go.” For emphasis, I added, “Please.”

Sunny took me by the arm, her hand just above the scar on my elbow. “Give me some of that famous salve of yours, Billy Bob. I’ll get Chavvah taken care of when we get back to the cabin.”

“No,” he said. “I’ll examine her before she goes.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” I told him as if we were five-year-olds.

“I am your doctor. The laceration in your lower back needs a second look. I want to make sure it’s healing well before you go.”

He knew I was a shifter and that I would heal better than any human with a cut. I looked at his face and gauged his stubborn expression. Damn it. He wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer, but I’d be damned if I gave him a “yes.” I didn’t want to be alone with him right now.

“Chavvie, just let him take a look.”

“Fine,” I huffed. I yanked my shirt over my head and turned my back to Billy Bob. I was wearing a bra, but Babe still turned around to face the living room. Sunny walked around the backside of me to see how bad I’d been injured.

“It looks decent,” she said brightly. “Already scabbing up.”

I didn’t wait for the doc’s verdict. I grabbed my shirt off the center island. “Let’s get on out of here.”

“Thank you, Billy Bob,” I heard Sunny say when I was halfway to the front door. “I appreciate you taking such good care of Chav last night.” I glanced back in time to see her go up on her tip-toes and kiss his cheek. She said something too quietly for me to hear, but he gave her a quick nod then went back into the kitchen and out of sight.

“
I
really don’t know what more I can tell you, Sheriff.” I let out a frustrated sigh. It was a bit after nine in the morning, and I’d felt as if I’d been there for decades. “Other than his fight with Mike Wares, nothing suspicious happened.” Sheriff Taylor had called me shortly after Sunny, Babe, and I got back to their cabin around six a.m. After he’d insisted that I come down to give a statement, I showered while Sunny took care of calling Jo Jo to tell him to take the day off. Even still, I’d made good time getting to the sheriff’s station.

Sheriff Taylor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Chavvah, it hurts nothing to go over what happened last night. Or yesterday in the restaurant for that matter. So Mike said he’d see Ed rot? Did you feel like it was a genuine threat?” I’d told him all about Mike and his threats in the restaurant now that I knew the victim might be Ed, and we’d rehashed it a gazillion million times.

“I don’t know. Mike’s a hot head. We all know that. I’d be surprised if Ed were the only person he fought with yesterday.” Even so, I found it hard to believe the bear shifter had skinned someone alive and sliced his throat. That wasn’t a skill you learned by accident. “Have you ever heard of Mike being cruel to animals?

Sheriff Taylor shook his head, but out loud, he said, “Did anyone else suspicious come in? Did you notice anything else wrong before you tripped over…” He paused. I could see the weariness and grief in his downturned mouth and heavy-lidded eyes. “It’s okay,” he finally said. “I just hoped…”

I patted his hand when he put it on his desk. “I’ll keep trying to remember something. I promise.” I steeled my courage to say the next part. “I’m assuming you sent someone over to Ruth and Ed’s last night.”

He nodded his head.

“And?”

“And Ed was called to tow a broken-down truck in from Lake Ozark last night. He got the call around five-thirty, left near six, and Ruth hasn’t had contact with him since. He left his cell phone in the garage. Ruth says he does that sometimes.”

“Did you tell her about…?”

“Yes,” Sheriff Taylor said. “She’s a hard lady to keep secrets from.”

He wasn’t kidding. Ruth could get me to spill just about anything. Twenty years as a parent to seven kids had taught her a trick or two. “You should tell Tyler. It isn’t right for him to accidentally overhear his father might be, you know, through cop gossip.”

“Ruth has asked that I keep it under wraps until we’re certain the body is Ed’s. I’m going to take her to Dr. Smith’s this afternoon. She insisted on going for a viewing, even though I’m not sure there’s anything left of him that’s identifiable other than his teeth.”

“I’ll go with you. She’ll need support during this, and I’ve already seen more than anyone else should. Still, however, this works out, Deputy Thompson is not going to thank you for keeping him in the dark.”

“I know.” He shook his head, the dark circles around his eyes more prominent than I’d ever seen. “But it’s my call. Right now, the only people who know it might be Ed is Doc Smith, Mark Smart, you…though the doc shouldn’t have told you…and me. I didn’t even tell Farraday, so there will be no talking about it.”

I kept it to myself that Babe and Sunny also knew. “Things like this don’t stay secret for long, Sheriff.” I stood up. “I’m going to Ruth’s house. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

He hadn’t told me I could go, but he hadn’t told me I couldn’t either. In a way, I think he was grateful to share the burden of Ruth with someone else. I opened the door to his office and quickly found Tyler in the bullpen talking to the handsome man from the diner, Dominic Tartan. The one I’d made a lunch date with. I tensed when the man noticed me and smiled. The joy zinged right to his eyes, and I’ll admit that I was charmed. Behind him were the other two men who’d ordered lunch with him. Hans Something-Or-Another and Randy Lowry. Randy smiled as well. However, Hans didn’t seem to notice me.

“Chavvah,” he said as he and Tyler approached. “How are you?” He asked it in a congenial,
I have no idea you tripped over a dead body and had to spend the night locked down with a man that constantly raised your ire
, way.

“Fine.” I nodded. “Dominic, right?”

“Call me Dom. I’m pleased you remembered.” His green gaze met mine. “We’re still on for Sunday, right?”

I wanted to tell him “no,” but I would’ve had to explain why, and I wanted to explain even less than I wanted to back out of our lunch date. “Sure.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile because it was all I could muster under the circumstances.

A woman sashayed into the Sheriff’s office. She had curves for days and fiery red hair to go with her fiery expression. She raised an eyebrow at Dom and his cohorts.

“Well?” she asked.

“Wilhelmina,” the Hans guy said, his voice slightly accented. “I told you we’d take care of this.”

“Look,” she said, snapping her fingers at him. “Jerry might not have been a peach, but he wouldn’t take off without a word.”

“Who?” I asked.

Randy Lowry moved closer to me. “You definitely don’t want to get in the middle of this,” he said conspiratorially. He pointed to the redhead. “That’s Willy Boden. Hans’s sister. She’s security for the therian council, and that hair isn’t just window dressing. She has a hot temper. Jerry Blackwell is her sometimes boyfriend and fellow delegate from the Kansas group. They represent the
Felidae
of their state.”