CoyoteWhispers (6 page)

“That
she’s mine, keep away
look.”

Damn, she really could read him as easy as a book. “It’s the
truth and I’m not hiding it ever again.” He cupped her cheek in his palm,
pleased when she turned into the caress. “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

“They already know.” She sighed. “They’ve just been waiting
for me to give in.”

“And did you give in, Doc?”

“No, I took.” She grinned.

“Yes, you sure did. And you did such a good job. I feel all
used.”

A giggle slipped past her lips, the sound so girlish Steve
was reminded of years past when they hung out with the same group in high
school.

“I like the sound of that. I want to hear you laugh like
that more often,” he said.

“Hang around, McKenna and you just might get that wish.”

“Oh, I’ll be hanging. I’m not planning on going anywhere
that isn’t with you.”

“You’re such a sweet talker.”

“I can talk lots of ways. After everyone leaves I’ll show
you my dirty talk.” He waggled his eyebrows and licked his lips making a
slurping noise.

“Eww… I hope you mean sexy dirty talk or I’m outta here.”

Steve wrapped his arm around her neck and dragged her back
to his side. “Definitely sexy dirty talk, Doc. Now let’s go wait for our
company.”

He felt her stiffen against him and knew she was thinking about
what she’d have to reveal. As much as he wanted to take away her worry he knew
she had to do this. He’d stand beside her and support her as best he could but
he couldn’t fight all her battles no matter how badly he wanted to.

Chapter Three

They’d reached the main area of the house when someone
knocked on Steve’s front door and continued to knock.

“Let me guess.” Steve let her go and walked over to unlock
the deadbolt. “This’ll be Kat.”

As soon as the door opened her sister charged past Steve as
if he didn’t exist. Kat spanned the gap between them in less than a second and
threw her arms around Gordie’s neck.

“Thank God, you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Kat.” Gordie smiled at Steve over her sister’s
head. “Unless you plan to choke me to death.”

Kat eased up on her grip but didn’t let go. “Give me a sec.
I just need to know you’re all right.”

Gordie could allow her sister that much. While they hugged
in Steve’s foyer, Rowan came through the door carrying bags of food. One by one
the others came in out of the cold, all of them laden down with groceries. Dale
was the last to arrive, murmuring something to Steve as he closed the door
behind everyone.

“Come on, Kat. Let your sister go so we can eat all this
food you made us drag up here,” Rowan said.

“I bought…” Kat sniffled. She leaned back and looked at
Gordie with one arched eyebrow. “Well, I’ll be.” Her sister took a deep breath
and smiled. “About damn time, too.”

She knew what Kat could smell but this wasn’t the time or
the place for that conversation. “Not now.”

“We’ve all waited years for you two to get it on. You should
be yelling it from the rooftop.”

“Shh. I don’t want to talk about it at the moment.”

“Oh come on, Gordie. You guys have been dancing around each
other since you came home years ago. Everyone is going to be thrilled that you
finally gave in.”

“Kat! I did not—”

“Sure you did, the whole town knows you’re the one fighting
it.”

“Enough, Kat.” Steve’s quiet words didn’t hide the hard edge
they were delivered with.

Gordie watched Kat wrestle her need to argue. The girl could
argue under wet concrete and she still didn’t know why her sister had given up
her dream of being a lawyer and taken over The Dec Café from their mother.
She’d probably never find out. Even though Kat was the first to ferret out other
people’s secrets, she kept her own locked in a vault, not even Gordie was privy
to what lay hidden behind that sealed door.

“I brought stew for tonight. I also packed up a heap of
groceries, lasagna and a chicken pie. But don’t think all this food gives you
reason to stay up here Christmas Day. I want to see you both at my place for
lunch with presents in hand.” Kat marched toward the kitchen.

“She’s like this every day isn’t she?” Steve asked, shaking
his head.

With a sigh, Gordie turned to face him. “Yeah, she is.”

“I’ve seen her take charge of things at the café but have
never been subjected to it personally. Did she really bring all that food?”

Gordie laughed. “You saw the bags everyone carted in. Kat’s
always had this need to feed anything with a mouth. We used to joke when she
was little about her finding a mate early and having a truckload of kids to
mother.” Gordie stared after her sister. “You know I don’t think I’ve seen her
date anyone since she was in high school.”

“And that’s a subject we’re not touching.” He placed a hand
on her lower back and gently nudged her forward. “Come on, we’ve put it off
long enough.”

The next few minutes were taken up by Kat giving orders and
everyone following them. Bowls were filled with hot stew, and with food in hand
they went into the dining room where Steve’s hand-carved table and chairs
seated all of them with room to spare. Gordie ate a mouthful of food and
chewed. Usually her sister’s cooking tasted delicious but she could have been
eating dirt for all the flavor she could taste tonight.

There was no point putting it off any longer, it wouldn’t
get any easier. She just had to decide where to start, what was necessary and
what she was comfortable disclosing. Pushing her bowl away, Gordie leaned back
in her chair and turned her head to catch Steve’s gaze. He slipped his hand
over hers and gave a gentle squeeze before returning to his meal.

“It started last year when I found the first stray up here.
That’s the first significant event I can remember, anyway. After that there was
all the drama of Rowan’s return and the attempt on Quinn’s life by the other
two strays and of course Malcolm trying to run him down.” She reached for her
water and took a sip to wet her dry mouth and throat.

“Between January and May there were numerous little things,
objects moved in my house and at the clinic, doors unlocked when I was sure I’d
locked them, missing papers from my home office, that sort of thing.” Gordie
took a deep breath and glanced at Steve. He reached for her hand again, entwined
their fingers and nodded for her to go on. She kept her gaze locked with his.
If she looked away she knew the words wouldn’t come.

“May eighteenth I came up here to walk in the forest. I was
going to shift, go for a run but decided against it.” She swallowed over the
lump in her throat. “I didn’t hear anything or see anyone before I took a punch
to the jaw. The force snapped my head back into a tree. I don’t remember a lot
of the next few minutes other than I took some hits before I caught my breath
and fought back. I never saw who attacked me and whoever it was had masked
their scent well enough that I couldn’t say for sure who it was.”

Gordie trembled. Memories of that night bombarded her, fear
churned the food in her stomach and she had to swallow the bile rising in her
throat. A chair scraped along the timber floor and Steve pulled her onto his
lap, cradling her against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and held her
close, warmth seeped from his body into hers, soothing her. She couldn’t stop
shaking and her fingers and toes were numb from the cold gripping her.

“The details don’t matter, Gordie.” Steve tucked her head
under his chin. “I’ll finish this part, okay?”

Gordie nodded. She didn’t dare open her mouth to speak for
fear a sob would tear free. Or worse, she’d throw up. In the months since the
attack she’d done her best to block the whole event out. But in her effort to
forget the horrible night she’d pushed the person who saved her and cared for
her afterward away as well. It was unfair to Steve but at the time she couldn’t
cope any other way.

“I heard the attack from the deck so I shifted and ran into
the forest. I didn’t see who had Doc pinned to the ground but at the time she
thought it was Marcus.”

Steve’s words were met with gasps but it was Brogan’s softly
spoken words that froze Gordie. The venom in them turned her blood to ice.

“I should have killed him when I had the chance.”

“No, Gordie and Steve should have reported the attack,” Dale
said.

“Probably.” She felt Steve’s shoulders rise. “But to be
honest, I was more concerned with looking after Doc’s injuries, and we had no
real proof.”

“Oh my God, the scar on your lip.” Gordie opened her eyes to
find Kat kneeling on the floor beside her. “You told me you’d sliced it with a
knife while eating fruit.”

She tried to smile but the hurt in her sister’s eyes stopped
her. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to forget. And nothing happened after that.”

“Until last month.” Warm air ruffled her hair. “What
happened, Doc? And don’t tell me nothing because I know you, I know something’s
been going on for weeks now.”

Gordie sighed and sat up to face the others. “The week
before El arrived in Whispering Springs my house was broken into but unlike
before it was obvious. Whoever it was smashed out the kitchen window.” She
turned to Dale. “And before you ask, nothing was taken. I don’t know what the
aim was, to frighten me maybe. They took nothing but went out of their way to
let me know they’d been inside, messed with my things.”

A growl rumbled behind her. She expected to face an angry
Steve at some point, hopefully he’d hold it all in until everyone went home.
She knew keeping everything from him was wrong but she couldn’t change that
now.

“Go on. What else?” Dale asked.

“Nothing until after the wedding.” Gordie glanced at Rowan.
“It started with little things being moved, food missing, doors unlocked when
they shouldn’t have been. Clothes that aren’t mine laid out on my bed.”

“What the fuck?” Steve spun her around on his lap until they
were nose to nose. “Some fucking prick was in your bedroom and you never told
me!”

“That only happened yesterday. I haven’t seen you to tell
you.” As much as she’d wanted to call him last night, her sister had been with
her when she’d arrived home and made the discovery. If she hadn’t convinced Kat
to stay she would have phoned him. “Kat was with me.”

“You found that last night and didn’t say anything? Jesus,
Gordana, what were you thinking?” Kat gripped Gordie’s leg and gave it a shake.

“I didn’t want you to worry. If you hadn’t stayed I would
have called Steve.”

“You should have called me regardless.”

“Whose clothes were they?”

Gordie turned to Rowan. She could tell by her friend’s white
face and wide eyes that Rowan knew the answer. “Yours.”

“Bullshit! What clothes?” Quinn stood, his chair toppled
over, hit the floor with a loud crash. He stared down at Rowan.

Rowan never broke eye contact with Gordie. “My mother’s
wedding dress.”

“Fuck off!” Brogan rose to his feet. “How the hell did that
end up in Gordie’s house?”

“It wasn’t at the cleaners when I went to pick it up last
week. They thought it was still out being cleaned but Nancy had phoned to tell
me it was ready so I knew something wasn’t right. I was hoping they’d just
misplaced it.”

Brogan turned to El. “And your dress? You put it in with
Rowan’s.”

El licked her lips. Glanced at Gordie and Rowan in turn. “I…
I don’t know. It’s missing too.”

“Except Rowan’s isn’t missing anymore,” Dale said.

“No, it’s in my closet.”

“What I don’t get is why leave Rowan’s dress at Gordie’s? There
doesn’t seem to be a purpose to it.” Kat’s head tilted at an angle and she got
that look of concentration she wore whenever she thought hard about something.
“Do you think this is about getting everyone involved? I mean, before yesterday
it all seemed focused on Gordie but add in this dress thing and he’s pulling
someone else into the equation.”

“This isn’t math, Kat. Besides, it’s Marcus we’re talking
about, who knows what goes through that twisted head of his,” Steve said.

“No, Kat’s right. All Marcus’ previous actions have targeted
individuals, there was no crossover except when Rowan returned and I think that
was accidental more than on purpose. This is different. I’m not sure how or why
but the game rules have changed,” Dale added.

“So what do we do now?” Gordie looked at Dale.

“I want to have a look at your house and I’d like to go back
to the clinic in daylight. Do you mind if I do that while you’re closed?”

“No, go ahead.” Gordie got to her feet. “I’ll get you my
keys. Quinn do you have the new keys for the clinic?”

“Dale has them.”

“Okay.” She stifled a yawn. “Sorry, I think it’s catching up
with me. I’ll just go grab those keys.”

“Gordie, go on to bed. I’ll make sure Dale gets the keys,”
Steve said.

“I’m fine, just a little tired and my feet are cold.”

Steve stood and scooped her up in his arms.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”

“Put me down.”

“I will.” He walked across the room. “Just as soon as I get
you in the bedroom. Say goodnight, Gordie.”

A chorus of
goodnight Gordie
echoed behind them as
Steve strode along the hallway leading to the bedroom.

Gordie yawned again. She really was tired. Maybe she’d just
lie down for a few minutes. Steve deposited her on the mattress and stood with
hands on hips beside the bed.

“No arguing, you’ve got dark circles under your eyes. I bet
you didn’t sleep at all last night, did you?”

She ducked her head. There was no way she could sleep after
finding that dress on her bed, not even with her sister in the room down the
hall. “No.”

“Just as I thought.” He reached over and pulled the covers
back. “Come on, ditch the pants and climb in.”

“Ditch the pants?”