It was too dark to take the ladder back to the garage. Jessie left it alongside the house and retreated indoors. The little cameras were linked to an app that she downloaded to her new phone and her tablet. They showed her both the back and front yards. As long as she was looking at the screen, she’d see someone coming.
It was the best she could do for now.
* * *
Kade walked up the concrete path to the apartment complex. He scanned the balconies rising to the top of the older, six-story structure.
“No barrier to a Dire,” his companion said.
He glanced at Cara. She was dressed in herprofessionalgear, a trim pantsuit, every contour pressed and tidy. Her long hair was coiled on top of her head, although crystals sparkled from the depths. The overall effect contradicted her usual earthy self.
She was right. A Dire would climb those balconies like a set of stairs. The victim they’d just visited—Laura Tibbolt—lived in a small condominium. It had a security system but nothing that would stop a Dire.
She’d been somewhat startled to have a six-foot-five linebacker of a guy appear on her front step. Likely wouldn’t have opened the door at all if it hadn’t been for his companion. Both Cara’s remarkable blue eyes and her ability to exude calm had reassured Laura, and Kade was confident it would do the same for Sarah, the other woman who had been abducted.
Her presence, as well as other things. He’d known Cara for as long as he’d been alive, and for all that time—and Weres outlived humans—she’d looked exactly as she did now. Maybe a few less wrinkles. She’d worked with his father and possibly even his grandfather. The facts had grown hazy with time. But there was so much more to Cara than met the eye.
It was getting dark. A bit late for visiting, especially traumatized kidnap victims. They weren’t likely to make it to the third woman tonight. He’d put her last on the list and told himself it wasn’t reluctance to confirm she was the woman in his dreams. Now it looked like they wouldn’t get to her at all until tomorrow.
He hadn’t expected the first interview to take so long. Once they’d started, Laura had babbled in an uncontrollable flood that soon had her dissolving in tears. Cara worked her magic, soothing the poor woman.
Tears left Kade uncomfortable as hell. Teeth and claws he understood. The reason he brought Cara, or sometimes his sister, Kitani, on these kinds of things was because when tears appeared, he just stood there, ham-fisted, and unable to come up with a single word of comfort.
Comfort wasn’t his thing. To be honest, his sister wasn’t great at it, either. Too damned much like him. Cara, on the other hand, was amazing.
But their interview accomplished what they needed. Cara had wrapped the frightened woman in her magic and quietly asked to see the wounds to confirm what they suspected. She’d come out of the bedroom and nodded to him. And he’d questioned Laura, as gently as possible, about the men who’d taken her.
She was as terrified of him as she was of them. Barely looked at Kade but answered Cara. It only took a few moments before he was confident the woman hadn’t seen the Dires’ true forms. She’d been drugged, taken to the facility, and had no memory from the night of the full moon. She’d seemed confused by the reference. Her strongest memory was of waking in the morning with bleeding wounds in her shoulder.
Trauma sometimes caused people to blank out what they couldn’t explain. And a werewolf was pretty hard to explain. Not that any of it ultimately made any difference, come the next full moon. But it bought Kade a bit of time to get arrangements made. The first priority was that she wouldn’t be babbling about monsters to the police.
She’d have to be moved to a secure place before the full moon. And she’d either be leaving it as a Were, or as a corpse.
Meanwhile, they’d try to give her the support she needed. She had a week to live as a human. Until the Weres were set up to help her, he’d left one of his best outside her condo. To watch and ensure she stayed safe from things that howled in the night.
They entered the apartment complex’s foyer. Cara examined the grid with buttons on the wall and pressed one.
It took a while for Sarah to answer. “Yes?”
“Sarah, we are with a firm on contract to the Winnipeg Police.” Cara’s voice flowed like warm honey. Much more difficult to reassure, however, when talking to a box. “We work with victims of trauma. If you don’t mind, we would like to ask you a few questions. It won’t take much of your time.”
A hesitation. “Do we have to do this now?”
“We would appreciate it, yes.”
Kade sensed the energy radiating from Cara. Sometimes, he swore he heard singing along with it, but whenever he tried to focus on it, it slipped away from him. Whatever it was, it always worked when they were in someone’s presence. But it wouldn’t be reaching the woman on the other end of the intercom. And that became obvious with the next words.
“Can you leave me your phone number? I will get back to you.”
Kade sighed and gave her his alternative cell number. He’d have to remember to answer it with “Victim Services.” Over the years, the number had led people to everything from “Kade’s Car Sales” to “Full Moon Florists.” Fortunately, his cases seldom overlapped, but there had been some unfortunate misdirections.
They left the foyer, and Kade hung a right, walking over the grass beneath the balconies. Cara followed him, her every movement resembling a choreographed dance. He often found himself mesmerized by the way she moved.
Kade pulled his hoodie around his face and allowed his jaws to lengthen and his nose to shift to his beast form. Just long enough to get a good sniff along the building. A few moments later, he shifted it back and spat an ancient Cryptid curse. “Krisk.”
Cara followed him to the truck. Once they got inside, she said, “I take it you smelled something?”
“Yeah. One, for sure. Fresh today.” He pulled out his regular phone and punched a number. “Need you here.” He gave the address. “Come equipped for an extended stay. We’ll be pulling long hours on this one.”
