Cry Wolf (11 page)

She’d only waited until now to do so because she hadn’t wanted Sean to come across her call on a police report earlier in the day and invite himself along.

“I don’t know what’s more bizarre.” She snapped her cell phone shut.

“What’s that?” Reed carefully pulled onto the road.

“The fact that they didn’t laugh at me when I told them what we were doing, or the fact that I’m actually doing it?”

He chuckled. “Come on, Andrea. This is fun. Admit it.”

She sighed and glanced out the window. She hated to admit it, but he was right. It really was sort of fun.

Sean rubbed his tired eyes and glanced at his watch as he crossed the front lobby of the police station. It had been a long week, and he was glad it was Friday. He’d been looking forward to a quiet evening at home alone winding down with TV, but just as he’d left the steakhouse, he’d gotten a phone call from his friend at the fire department alerting him that there had been a chemical spill on the highway. He’d driven ten miles out of his way, gotten some pictures of the non-fatal accident, and now here he was, waiting for a preliminary report from the officer who’d responded first to the scene.

Doris, the dispatcher at the front desk, saw him coming and slid a fresh cup of coffee toward him. “Here you go, hon. Long day?”

“The longest.” He sighed. “What would I do without you, darlin’?” He smiled and toasted his coffee to her before he took a sip of the delicious brew. Doris was in her mid-sixties, a grandmother twice over and a mother hen to everyone in the department. Sean had gotten to know her and her family quite well when he’d written a feature about Doris’s oldest granddaughter, who’d been diagnosed with a rare heart disease and needed blood donations. Sean’s accompanying editorial—which had been heartfelt and moving, if Meg was to be believed—had attracted the much-needed aid and earned him a spot at Doris’s family table whenever he wanted. He’d seen Doris’s granddaughter at the grocery store the other day and felt his chest swell with pride and relief, knowing he’d done something to help save a life.

Doris smiled and slapped the air toward him. “What would I do without you, is the question—looking all sexy and flirting with a woman twice your age? Why you aren’t married yet, I will never understand.”

“Probably has something to do with my constant flirting with other women.”

“Just haven’t met the right woman, is all.” She shuffled a stack of playing cards. Sean often caught her in the middle of a game of solitaire late at night. “Speaking of which, my hairdresser said she saw you in town with a good-looking brunette today. Spill.”

Sean smiled and shook his head. Small-town gossip. Gotta love it.

“Well, Doris, you know there’s never been another woman for me but you.”

“Hogwash. Stop evading the answer.”

“All right.” He leaned across the counter. “She’s a reporter from out of town. I’m helping her do a story while she’s here. That answer your questions?”

“She married?”

“You’re killing me, Doris.” He straightened. “Besides, she’s only passing through.”
Although I’m starting to wish she weren’t.

“Her name wouldn’t happen to be Lockhart, would it? Andrea Lockhart from the
Naked Truth?
” She raised an eyebrow as she tapped a playing card against the desk.

“Wow, you’re good, lady. They should have you back there working detective.”

She flipped a card over. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Doris—are you going to tell me what you know about Ms. Lockhart or not?”

“All you had to do was ask, hon.” She leaned forward. “She called in a couple of hours ago. Wanted to let us know she was going—” she glanced around to see if anyone was listening, “—werewolf hunting tonight.”

Sean was so surprised that he didn’t—
couldn’t
—respond immediately. He simply met Doris’s inquisitive stare with one of his own.

“I thought it was right nice myself. Remember last summer when those yahoos from California trespassed on Dave Phelps’s farm trying to film their werewolf documentary—would have saved us all kinds of trouble if they’d just told us what they’d be doing first. I admire a woman who follows the proper procedure. Says a lot about her character.”

Sean could have spent all night telling Doris about Andrea Lockhart’s impeachable character. Instead, he sighed and shook his head, wondering just what Andi was up to this time. The tension that had begun to leave his shoulders returned, and he found himself clenching his jaw.

Didn’t the woman have any common sense? Alone, in the woods, at midnight? She needed a keeper.

“I don’t suppose she mentioned
where
she was going werewolf hunting?”

“Bluffs Parkway.” Doris returned to her game. “I sure do hate to think of her out there, all alone, probably bored out of her mind, maybe even a little bit frightened. Sure would be nice if someone—” she lifted her head and sent Sean a pointed look, “—went out there to keep her company.”

Sean glanced at the clock on the wall behind Doris. It was fast approaching eleven o’clock.

He asked Doris to fax the accident report to him.

With a nod of thanks, he tossed his now empty coffee cup into a nearby trashcan as he backed away from the counter. He was almost to the exit when he turned around to find Doris still watching him.

“Bluffs Parkway?”

She smiled. “Bluffs Parkway.”

He waved. “Good night, Doris.”

“Happy werewolf hunting!”

Sean smiled to himself. Werewolf hunting with Andi Lockhart? He supposed he’d had worse dates.

“Reed, tell me something?” Andrea murmured as she struggled under a miniature flashlight beam to read a page on werewolf folklore that she’d printed off the internet.

“Hmmm?”

She lowered the piece of paper and flashlight, glanced out at the dark forest surrounding them and sighed. “Would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf?”

“Oh, vampire definitely. They’re much cooler in the movies and books than mangy old werewolves. Besides, turning into a werewolf always looks so painful, and I do
not
like pain.”

“Same here.” She glanced over to where the teen was huddled inside his jean jacket. He stared ahead at the area where they’d dumped the bait earlier. “I’m amazed that there are all of these role-playing games out there where people pretend to be one or the other. I mean, why?”

“I think maybe it’s just fun for some people.” Reed scratched his chin. “I’ve been thinking, there could be a real werewolf out there.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.” He sat up straighter. “I even have a theory about who it could be.”

Andrea couldn’t help but smile. “All right. Who?”

“Sean.”

She laughed at that. She didn’t like the guy half the time either, but she’d never thought of him, literally, as a monster before.

“I’m serious.” Reed grabbed her arm. “Argument one—these sightings began not long after he moved here. I mean, who gives up a promising career at the
New York Times
to move
here
?”

“Sean worked at the
Times
?”

“Yeah, I mean, he was like an editor there too, or something.” Judging by the way his eyes lit up with excitement, Reed obviously mistook her interest in Sean’s career for encouragement. “Why would you do that, unless you needed to go somewhere like Woodbine—secluded, lots of forest, lots of livestock to feed on?”

“I think you’re reaching.” Her mind was still wrapped around Sean’s former career. Why had he left a job like that? And how could she possibly ridicule him for it when she herself had done such a similar thing? Maybe they had more in common than she’d first thought.

“Think about it.” Reed leaned back into his seat. “I mean, look at the guy. He’s good-looking. Women love him, but he hardly ever dates. He spends way too much time at the office. It’s almost like he’s afraid to get close to anyone for fear they’ll learn his secret. I just wish I knew if he had the mark of the beast on him.”

“I’m sorry. The mark of the
what
?” Andrea couldn’t believe this kid. “I thought you
liked
Sean.”

Reed looked oblivious to the point she was trying to make. “Well, yeah, of course. He’s a great guy.”

She shook her head. “You remind me so much of myself at your age, it’s scary.”

“Hey. Maybe you could check him out for the mark. He’s pretty into you,” Reed continued as if she hadn’t already shot down his theory.

“
Into
me?”

He shrugged, looking sheepish. “I’m just saying, if you happen to get the chance, you can look for signs that he’s the werewolf. A hairy body. A pentagram mark somewhere on him—usually the palm of the hand, but I’ve checked and he doesn’t have it there.”

Andrea was amused that the kid thought she might actually get close enough to Sean to see his unclothed body. Amused but also disturbed. She sighed. “Assuming I was in the market to accept the idea that there really is a Lon Chaney-type werewolf out there somewhere, I suppose it would be a plausible theory.” She glanced down at the notes in front of her. “I’m kind of hungry. Got any trail mix left over there?”

He shook his head. “Hey, do you think we should be talking?”

“What?”

“Talking.” He gestured toward where the bait lay on the ground about thirty feet in front of the jeep. “If we keep talking, maybe we’re scaring it off. It can probably hear us.”

She sent him a look of disbelief. The kid really believed there was something out there. Sheesh. “Fine. No talking.” She turned back to the papers she’d brought along as reading material. A few seconds passed. Andrea could feel the teenager’s eyes watching her. She glanced up. “What?”

“The light.”

“What about it?”

“Maybe the light is scaring it off too.”

Andrea rolled her eyes but clicked the penlight to the off position. She heard Reed settle more comfortably into his seat as if he could now relax. No talking. No reading. He wasn’t turning out to be a very fun stakeout partner. She crossed her arms and stared ahead for signs of…well, anything would be nice, really.

“We’ve been out here for almost four hours,” she whispered. “If we haven’t seen anything yet, I don’t think we will.”

“We agreed to stay until one,” Reed returned in a whisper. “Hey, wait. What’s that?” He sat a little straighter in his seat.

She snapped to attention and followed his gaze through the soft fog outside the windshield. Then she relaxed, slightly disappointed. “Another stray dog—or is that a raccoon? Is it your turn to run it off or mine?”

“Yours.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t remember.” She pushed open the door and climbed out into the chilly night air. “Be right back.”

Andrea didn’t try to soften her footsteps as she leisurely approached the dog munching on the bucket of fried chicken legs they’d set out for the so-called werewolf, “Hey! Shoo!” she yelled.

The dog jerked back and dashed to the left, disappearing into the woods. Satisfied it wouldn’t come back, Andrea turned. She was headed back to the SUV when she caught whiff of a smell that halted her in her tracks.

It smelled like something had died and was rotting nearby. The odd thing was, she didn’t remember smelling it the other three times she’d been out of the car here tonight, and it was strong. Too strong not to have noticed.

Maybe it was a skunk. That would explain it.

To her right, she heard the sound of a stick breaking. She scanned the area but saw nothing moving. Not even a skunk.

“Do you smell that?” She opened the passenger door of the SUV and reached for her bigger flashlight.

Reed sniffed and shook his head. “What?”

“Something reeks. I’m going to see if I can find the source. Wait here.”

“But I should—” he began as he opened his door to get out.

She pointed the end of the flashlight at him. “Wait here, I said. If I’m not back in ten minutes, then—” She thought about what he should do and didn’t like what the answers implied, so she finished, “Just wait here. I’ll be back.”

Andrea turned the lit flashlight toward the trees, toward where she’d heard the stick breaking a few seconds ago. As she approached the area, she realized the smell was getting stronger—so much so that she almost gagged.

“Good Lord.” She lifted one arm and covered her mouth with the material of her jacket as she continued moving forward. A layer of fog curled around her feet as she walked, making it difficult to see the ground.

There it was again. The sound of another stick breaking! Andrea hesitated and wondered if it really was wise to be trekking in the woods, alone, in the dark, with God-only-knew what kinds of wild animals watching and waiting. They had coyotes here. And mountain lions? She wasn’t really sure. All she knew was that she didn’t have a weapon to save her life—not unless you included the plastic flashlight she held.

And if it was a skunk, she certainly didn’t want to get sprayed by
that
either.

“Okay, bad idea. I think it’s time for me to—” She stopped. Her eyes followed the flashlight beam coming to rest on a furry human-sized foot not ten feet from where she stood.

She screamed.

She glanced up.

And screamed again.

The creature growled, low and menacing. Andrea stumbled backward to escape it. She could hardly believe her eyes. It was easily six feet tall, covered in long brown fur from head to toe, and baring teeth the size of a crocodile’s!

Oh God! This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real, she told herself.
Werewolves do not exist. Werewolves cannot exist!

Andrea screamed again and turned to run. She tripped, landing face-first in a pile of leaves and twigs. Something grabbed her ankle and she felt her body being dragged roughly backward toward the thing that had her in its clutches.

She heard Reed calling for her in the distance. She kicked back with all of her might and both felt and heard her boot connect with bone. It was enough to gain her freedom. She took the opportunity to use her hands and knees to scramble forward. It was only once she was back on her feet and stumbling toward Reed’s voice that she realized the monster suddenly sounded like a very wounded…human?

She turned and saw—“Sean!”

“Get up, pal.” Sean grabbed the groaning werewolf from behind and helped it climb to its feet. He reached and tugged the headpiece off a well-made costume to reveal a man Andrea had never laid eyes on before. “Andi, are you okay?”

“What’s going on?” she demanded, confused and relieved and angry. She dusted some of the debris off her clothes. She no longer smelled the foul odor that had lured her here and sniffed in case her nasal passages were clogged. No blockage. The smell was gone.

The man in the suit kept crying out in pain, distracting Andrea. “My nose! You broke my nose!” He held his hands to his face.

“Who
are
you?” Sean demanded just as Reed ran up, camera in hand.

“What’s happening?” Reed asked.

“I saw this clown get out of a truck about a half mile back. I followed him here. Now, answer me. Who are you?” Sean gave the man a rough shake.

“My name is Davis. Tom Davis,” the guy yelled. “Are you gonna get me to a doctor or what?”

“Why are you dressed like that?” Andrea asked. “Who sent you here?”

“Some guy paid me five thousand bucks to follow you up here, dress like this, scare you and then disappear before you realized I was a fake.”

“Yeah? Who?” Sean asked.

“Montgomery something. I don’t remember. Please—my nose!”

“Brandon,” Andrea concluded. “I swear to God I’m gonna—” She censured herself. Both Sean and Reed were watching her now as if she had been a part of this setup too. “Oh no. Don’t look at me that way. I had nothing to do with this.”

Neither of them looked convinced.

Frustrated, Andrea moved toward the costumed man. “Why were you hired?”

“I told you. I was supposed to follow you, dress like—Oww!” He yelped when Andrea stomped his foot. “Damn, lady, are you trying to kill me?”

“Why were you hired?” She raised her foot, her intent obvious if he didn’t answer properly.

“Montgomery said he needed to somehow convince you a werewolf was real.” The man groaned as his nose began to bleed more freely.

Sean’s grasp on the man’s arm tightened. “What else?”

“Look, man, I’m just a special effects guy from LA. We’re shooting a werewolf film in Wilmington. I borrowed one of the costumes I’d created and flew down here for the night. I was only doing what I was paid to do. Easy money on the side.”

Andrea glanced meaningfully between Sean and Reed and then reached into her pocket for her cell phone. “Let him go. I’d hate for him to bleed to death.”

Sean released his grip. “Do you need me to help you get to a doctor?”

The guy flinched away. “No! You’ve helped enough, thanks.” With a glare at Andrea, the man scurried off into the woods, muttering something about lawsuits and money.

Andrea turned her back to Sean and Reed and headed toward the car as she dialed Brandon’s number.

Her creep ex-boyfriend and editor answered almost immediately. “Andrea, everything all right?”

“I quit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I quit.”

She could tell by the background noise that he was at a party or a club. The noise quickly faded. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you what’s
going
to happen. You’re probably going to get a phone call in five minutes from the special effects guy you hired to scare me. He’s probably going to threaten a lawsuit because I
probably
broke his nose. I hope you have a good lawyer.”

“Andrea, you’re not making any sense.”

“Nice try, Brandon, but I know you too well.” She ran a hand through her hair and raked a few leaves out in the process. “How dare you send someone down here to try to fake a story! I’ve never known you to do that. Never! You know what? I take back what I said. Now I’m wondering if I ever knew you at all.”

“Andrea, sweetheart—”

“That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?” She scoffed. “This isn’t about the story. This is about me. You know that if Jeff ever found out about this, he would have a coronary. You would be gone. You would be—”

In her anger, she had forgotten that she had an audience. When she spun around and came face-to-face with Reed and Sean, following close behind, she wished she’d saved this conversation for later. The fewer people who knew her drama, the better she liked it.

“Andrea,” Brandon said. “You need to calm down and think about what you’re saying. It was only a joke. I knew you wouldn’t believe it.”

What she didn’t believe was him. Andrea took a deep breath and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. “The point is, I meant what I said. I quit.”

“What about this story?” he exclaimed, probably loud enough for Sean and Reed to both overhear. “We’re counting on it for the Halloween edition!”

Andrea had to grit her teeth and remind herself she was a professional. “I promised you a story, and you’ll have one—tomorrow morning. Don’t blame me if you don’t like what you read.”

Andrea ended the call before Brandon could respond.

A second later, her cell phone rang. She turned it off.

“Wow,” Sean commented from where he and Reed stood watching her. “Hell really does hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

She shook her head at him in warning, then turned on her heel and headed for the SUV. Behind her, Reed cleared his throat. “Do you still want me to drive?”

“I’ll drive!”

She heard Sean whisper, “Maybe you might want to ride home with me, kid.”

She turned and glared at him.

He didn’t flinch. They were practically nose to nose when he tilted his chin and hardened his voice. “I’m sorry your editor is an idiot, but don’t take it out on me or the kid.”

“I’m not—”

“Hey.” Reed looked off to the side. “What happened to the bait?”

Andrea blinked in confusion and turned to follow his gaze. Reed hurried over to where they had dumped the buckets of chicken. The chicken was gone, buckets and all.

“Bait?” Sean followed behind Reed with his hands in his pockets, looking far too relaxed for Andrea’s liking.

Andrea crossed her arms. “One of those stray dogs probably came back and got it while we were distracted.”

“That much, in such a short amount of time?” Reed shook his head. “Help me look for tracks.”

The three of them spent the next few minutes searching the area for footprints of both the animal and human variety. Andrea was glad for the interruption. Now she had cooled off some, she was embarrassed she’d reamed out Brandon in front of Sean and Reed. It had been very unprofessional. She ran a hand through her hair and dreaded the apology she knew she had to make for snapping at them both.

She stumbled across parts of one of the chicken buckets. Something had shredded it to bits.

“Hey, I found something,” Reed called out from where he knelt a few yards away.

Andrea and Sean both hurried to his side.

Reed pointed to the ground, and Andrea focused her flashlight beam on the area. “It’s huge,” Reed said. “It looks kind of human, but then it has those indentations at the toe area. Kind of like claw marks. See? We should make a plaster of it.”

Andrea sent him a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “Gee, boys, and to think I left my plaster kit at home.” She examined the area more closely. “Besides, we can’t be sure it isn’t another hoax perpetuated by my idiot of an editor.”

With a pat on the teen’s back, Sean climbed to his feet. “She’s right, Reed. There’s no way we can prove it’s a real footprint at this point. This werewolf-hunting expedition has been officially tainted.”

“We can’t just leave it!” Reed argued.

“Well, take some pictures.” Andrea nodded toward the equipment. She stood. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened tonight. I’m sorry I snapped at you both.”

Reed took a few photos and then lowered his camera to send her a reassuring smile. “I was getting kind of bored anyway. I doubt we would have seen anything, but for a few seconds there, I was so excited! Too bad it wasn’t real.”

“Yeah, too bad I didn’t actually get mauled by a real werewolf. Thanks, kid.”

Reed stammered out an awkward explanation of what he’d meant. Andrea squeezed his arm with affection. “I know what you meant.” She glanced at Sean. “Thanks, by the way. It would have been nice if you’d gotten there a few seconds sooner, but…thanks.”

He shrugged. “No problem.”

She nodded and tried to rub the chill out of her arms. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had just about all of the excitement I can stand for one day. What do you say we hightail it out of here now?”

When Reed hopped into the SUV’s passenger seat, Andrea realized she didn’t see Sean’s truck anywhere nearby. She frowned at him. “How did you know we were here, anyway?”

“Oh, I have my sources.”

Someone at the police department had probably told him. She should have known she couldn’t keep it secret for long, not from him, not in this town.

Sean stepped close. “I’ll try not to take offense that you didn’t tell me about this little excursion. It would have made a great highlight of the story I’m writing about you—especially since we agreed that I would shadow you during your investigation.”

She sighed and realized for the first time that the air had gotten a lot cooler, and she was shivering. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I did plan to tell you all about it tomorrow. I just wasn’t in the mood for a shadow tonight.”

“Sure. That’s why you brought Reed with you.” He took a deep breath. “Can we just agree right here to be honest with one another from now on?”

He held out his hand in compromise. Andi sighed and accepted the gesture.

“I did intend to tell you.” She opened the driver’s door. “Do you want a ride to your truck?”

“Sure.” He shrugged, but it didn’t ease the tension that held his shoulders rigid, and it was a quiet ride. She pulled to a stop next to his truck. “I’ll follow you home,” Sean said. “Make sure you keep out of trouble.”

“But—” He’d already closed the door and couldn’t hear her. “Well, I guess it’s his waste of gas.” She glanced in the rearview mirror and pulled onto the empty road.

A few minutes and miles passed before Reed spoke. “If you just quit your job, does that mean my pictures won’t get published?”

She hadn’t thought of that. Honestly, she hadn’t thought of many of the consequences when she’d delivered the hastily made decision to Brandon, but now they were starting to assail her. “I don’t know, Reed. But the money is still yours. Don’t worry about that.”

She’d pay him from her own savings if she had to, but she was pretty sure the
Truth
would pay for her expenses provided she submitted her story.

Had she done the right thing? Did she have enough money in her savings to live on until she found something else? Maybe she should just call the
Truth’s
managing editor and explain what happened. Then again, maybe it was time she gave some serious thought to returning to the bullpen at a real newspaper.

Maybe it was time.

“You could always stay in Woodbine.” Reed turned a little in his seat to face her better. “I’m sure Sean would give you a job at the
Dispatch
. Apartments are fairly cheap here. Besides, then we could come back out here—or go somewhere else—with bait again and see what happens for real one night.”

She smiled at his passion for solving this mystery. It was actually kind of infectious. “You’re a sweet young man, Reed. I might even miss you when I’m gone.”

“Really?” He grinned.

“Yeah, really.”

Sean, who had followed them, waited until Reed drove off in his own car to swagger back her way. She paused in rolling her window up, expecting to say a final goodbye and have that be the end of it. She was partly glad and partly…well, she supposed the young girl was still inside her somewhere after all. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d stayed in town a little longer.

Sean leaned inside the window and looked her square in the eye. “You okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

He nodded, and his brow furrowed. “You’re bleeding.”

She looked down at herself. “I am?”

He reached a hand through the window and touched her neck. The contact shocked her, literally. He must have heard and felt the tiny electrical spark too, because his hand flinched. “Sorry.” Still, he kept his fingers on her neck. “It’s on the collar of your sweater.”

She reached a hand up to touch the spot and saw some blood on her fingers when she pulled her hand away. “I must have done it when I fell.”
See? This is why you need to stay out of the woods. First, you were strung up like a piece of meat. Now this.

“Do you have a first aid kit?” She shook her head, and he opened the car door. “Come on. We need to get you looked at.”

She grabbed the door before he could open it completely. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I didn’t even feel it.”

“At least follow me to my place. I’ll let you borrow some antiseptic cream. It’s the least I can do.” When she hesitated, he said again, firmly, “It’s the least I can do, Andi.”

She followed him to his home, wondering why she’d let herself give in. She wasn’t a delicate flower who wilted at the sight of her own blood. No, she had to admit she was glad for the excuse to see his home. She wanted to see where Sean Hunter had ended up. It had nothing to do with her minor injuries, and nothing to do with common sense either, apparently. If it had, she’d be headed for a twenty-four-hour convenience store instead of spending her last remaining hours in South Carolina visiting this man’s house at an ungodly hour.