LustUndone (11 page)

He had a sense he could find that with Sophia but after only
two nights he wasn’t nearly ready to broach the subject. No, he couldn’t chance
it. Not yet. And he also wanted to find out more about this killing she and her
partner had stuck their noses into. A lot of the detectives from CID ate at The
Crown and he’d heard enough gossip to know they hadn’t exactly been invited in.

What he really needed to do right now was go for a run and
clear his head. Leaving his clothes folded on a chair in the kitchen, he opened
the back door and stepped out onto the porch, closing his eyes as he allowed
the change to come over him. Dropping to all fours, his thick pelt covering his
skin and shielding it from the chill air, he leaped from the porch and headed
for the trees.

These woods blended into the forest that ran all the way to
the rear of Skye Motel. Clint liked to make the circle, hidden by the woods but
still close enough to Frenchy to scent trouble if there was any. He was partway
through the circle when his nostrils caught a different scent and he stopped
dead still.

Wolf!

But not quite. Different, just like the night before.

He waited, and finally through the trees he saw a
magnificent gray wolf racing along with smooth, even strides. He knew gray
wolves showed up now and then in the area, but this one was bigger than the
others he’d seen, and there was something different about it. Something he
couldn’t quite assess.

Surely not a shifter. He liked to think if there were any
others in the area he’d have connected with them by now. Still…

For a moment the animal stopped and turned in Clint’s
direction, as if seeking him out. Clint moved behind two thick trees, carefully
concealing himself.

And then it was gone, almost as if it had never been there.

Well, shit. He’d have to find a way to dig into this and get
some answers. He didn’t like mysteries like this. Not when they might affect
him and Frenchy. Abruptly he turned and headed for home. Time to get some
sleep.

* * * * *

Logan found his clothes where he’d left them in a waterproof
sack up in the crotch of two limbs in a tree. Not that he expected anyone to be
out wandering in the woods at this time of night, which was why his body
usually woke him and told him it was time for a run. But he didn’t want to take
a chance of leaving them where they could be found and having to walk back to
the motel room buck naked. That would definitely be hard to explain.

Harder to explain was the giant black wolf he’d glimpsed
again tonight. Tonight in his room he’d used his laptop to do an internet
search for black wolves in Maine, but he couldn’t find a mention of them
anywhere. Besides, the scent he’d caught had a different tinge to it than pure
wolf.

The thought that there could be another shifter around here
puzzled him. Usually his internal radar was very good at sensing that but he hadn’t
gotten any signals. Was it related in any way to the Chupacabra? Farfetched but
not impossible. But if not that then who or what could it be? And why here?
Tomorrow night he’d wait for the wolf to appear again and track it to its lair.

It was time for some answers.

Chapter Six

Morning came much too early as far as Sophia was concerned.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t survived many times on very little sleep. But usually
it was because she was out chasing clues or criminals. By the time she fell
into bed she usually fell into a deep, dreamless sleep and woke at least mildly
refreshed. But last night had been a whole lot different. She’d been drained
all right, from the most exhausting sex she’d ever had in her life. Whatever
energy might have been left in her body was completely wiped away by Clint and
his educated tongue and fingers and that last shattering orgasm.

And when she
had
fallen asleep her dreams had been
anything but restful. Instead they’d been filled with images of Clint Beaudine
and herself in every kind of erotic scene imaginable. Standing beneath the
shower spray, she willed the hot water to pound energy into her sore and aching
muscles and rinse the haze from her brain.

While she dried herself and brushed her teeth she replayed
over and over in her mind that short snippet of conversation where he’d hinted
at something she might not like. Or understand. Or both. He swore he wasn’t
married or involved, that he wasn’t looking for meaningless sex, and he didn’t
look as if he had a fatal disease. Maybe after they quit for the day she could
beg an hour for herself and pay a visit to Frenchy. See if she could tease some
information out of him.

A heavy pounding on the door shook her out of her
daydreaming.

“Hey, Soph,” Logan called. “You decent? Can I come in?”

Sophia hastily wrapped a big towel around herself and pulled
the door open just the length of the security chain. “Not yet. Give me five and
I will be.”

He grinned at her through the narrow opening and held up two
Styrofoam cups with lids. “I made fresh coffee. Will that help?”

“You have no idea,” she laughed, reaching out a hand to snag
one of the cups. “But it does bribe me to hurry. Warm up the SUV and by the
time it’s heated I’ll be out there.”

The liquid was hot and strong, just the way she liked it.
She blessed Logan for his excellent taste in coffee as she sipped it. Yanking
on her clothes, she pulled her hair back into a tail, stuffed her feet into
fleece-lined boots and shrugged into her jacket. A scarf around her neck, a
wool cap stuffed into her pocket, her tote and she was ready.

“I think you’re the only woman I’ve ever met who actually
can get ready in three minutes,” Logan teased as he backed out of the parking
space.

“No makeup,” she pointed out. “I’m not on a date.
Then
I take little more prep time.”

Like last night when I spent an hour getting myself ready
for Clint.

“Soph?” he asked as he turned onto the highway.

“Yeah, Logan?” She turned her head to look at him. His voice
sounded strange.

“When we got the rundown on animals in this part of Maine,
especially wolves, there was no mention in the file of black wolves.”

She frowned. “Black wolves? You brought that up before. I
gave it a lot of thought, even tried thinking back to my childhood but I don’t
ever remember seeing them or hearing about them here. Just the grays. Why?”

“Last night and the night before, when I went for my run, I
could swear I caught sight of one in the woods.”

“Last night?” Sophia chewed her lower lip. “Are you sure it
wasn’t just some other animal you mistook for a wolf?”

Logan grunted. “I think I’m in a good position to know what
a wolf looks like, don’t you think?”

She exhaled slowly. “I guess you’re right. But it’s such an
anomaly. Oh. Wait. Do you think there’s a shifter living up here somewhere? And
that’s what you saw?”

“I think it’s a good possibility. But if that’s the case, it
would be nice to find him.”

“Or her,” Sophia added.

“I think it might be too big for a female.” He scratched his
chin. “But then again we’ve come across some mighty good-sized she-wolves.”

“It also could be the Chupacabra,” she pointed out. “All
signs point to it being a shifter of some kind.”

“No, I don’t think so. The very faint scent I caught wasn’t
like that detected at past crime scenes. I could swear it had a human essence.”

Sophia stared at him. “If it is a shifter we need to find
out who it is and which side of the line it stands on. We don’t need to be
doing battles on yet another front.”

“Agreed. He’s got to be from around here. He wouldn’t be
traveling all the way up from Penobscot County. I’m going to do my best to make
sure my radar is on full alert.”

They drove in silence for a few more moment. They were
almost at the barracks when Logan spoke again.

“Soph, you okay with us splitting off from the detectives
today? Going out on the Sno-Cats, letting them focus on looking for some
deranged individual with some kind of bizarre instrument. That’s what they
really want to believe, anyway.”

“I know, I know.” She sighed. “It’s always so friggin’ hard,
you know? When my nephews were killed they spent months trying to track down
pedophiles, even though there wasn’t any sexual molestation. And despite the
fact there were two other killings exactly like it.”

“So you’re okay with this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She gave a short laugh. “I think
they’ll be damn glad to be shut of us. Let the ‘real’ detectives get on with
their work.”

He waited a second before adding, “But I think Rebecca
should stick with us. You know, since she knows the area so well.”

Sophia laughed. “And of course, the others don’t.”

“She buys into our theory,” he said defensively.

“It’s okay, Logan. I’m sure we couldn’t beat her off with a
stick.” Then she sobered. “Are you, you know, feeling…”

“Anything for her?” he finished. “I like her. A lot. But
there are a lot of things she’d have to accept about me if we moved forward at
all, assuming she felt the same way. Besides, she has a job here and I’d never
play fast and loose with your sister.”

“Of course not,” she said with confidence. “You know I’d
roast your balls.”

The scenario with the detectives played out even better than
they hoped. Bobby was waiting for them alone when they walked into the
barracks.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he began, “but no meeting this
morning. I thought it might be more productive if I sent the team out to
canvass again today. Try again to see if they can find someone who might have
had a grudge against Franklin.”

“Someone really crazy?” Sophia cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Okay,” he agreed, “crazy. Or not. And Scott’s running down
people who popped up when we ran Franklin’s name through the database. They’ll
also meet with Fish and Game and see what the latest wild animals reports are
for around here. You know. Things like that.” He paused. “You guys okay with
that? I figured you had plans when Rebecca signed out the snowmobiles.”

“We’re good, Bobby,” Sophia told him. “We’ll do our thing
today and get out of your hair. Hope you don’t mind us stealing Bec.”

“As if I could keep her away from you.” He shoved his hands
in his pockets. “Look, I don’t want us to be enemies on this. You just have to
understand—”

“That our theory sounds absurd,” Sophia finished for him.
“Despite the evidence we’ve shown you.”

“What can I say? I’m just a hardheaded Yankee. Show me real
proof and we’ll have something to talk about.”

“Everyone ready?” Rebecca came down the hall toward them,
dressed for the outdoors as they were, a deliberate smile on her face. “We’re
all hooked up and ready to go.”

“Yes, we’re set,” Sophia said. “Let me get the maps we put
together out of the SUV and we can get going.”

“Hey, Sophia.” Bobby’s voice stopped her. “Why don’t the
three of you come back here at the end of the day? We can all pool our info.
You never know what might pop up.”

He was holding out an olive branch and she couldn’t find it
in her to refuse.

“That’ll be fine. Say four o’clock? It’ll just be starting
to get dark about then and we’ll be ready to pull in.” She paused. “And thank
you.”

He dipped his head. “I’ll tell the others. Happy hunting.”

* * * * *

The devil beast had crawled out of its snow cave just after
sunrise, stretching its ugly body in the sharp cold of the new day. It sniffed
the air, taking in its crisp, knife-like edge before lowering its head to track
for spoor. Sometimes it hunted just for the fun of it, like a child with a
game. If it caught something, so much the better. When the bloodlust was not
raging it was a way to be amused. Entertained. Or as much as the devil beast
could be.

But not right now. Hunger was topmost on its list of
necessities. Not the lust that ran through it like a high-speed freight train,
satisfied only with the human kills. No, this was just normal hunger, satisfied
with small animals.

This area he’d come back to was filled with them—raccoons,
squirrels, rabbit, even larger animals like bobcats and coyote. Plenty to feast
on. The creature might have to shift into a more formidable shape to attack
some of them but the little ones were easy. A mouthful, maybe two. Something to
tide it over.

It made its way through the incredibly white snow, moving as
it did in a form that left no traces. Soon it would be time to find the next
prey. Out here where humans lived in solitude like the beast they were easy to
attack. But the beast’s radar was working and it, like other predators, had a
sense of caution and self-protection.

The growingly familiar pain shot through its head without
warning and the beast dropped to the ground, its shape morphing as it did so,
rolling in the snow, using the cold to dull the pain. It’d begun to realize the
pain was a preliminary to the raging lust that drove it to kill the human prey.
But it wasn’t time yet. The rest of the signals weren’t there.

It wanted to return to its home. Its primary lair. But its
responses were specifically programmed so that wasn’t an option. Food. That
would help.

Eventually the pain subsided enough for the devil beast to
rise and head off to search for quarry. Before long a rabbit had the misfortune
to dart out of a thicket into its path. The beast snared it and in seconds the
rabbit was history.

* * * * *

Despite the late hour he’d gone to sleep the night before,
Clint was up early. He listened for Frenchy. Heard the old man in the kitchen
and knew he’d be brewing coffee. Or the sludge that passed for it. But this
morning it was probably just what Clint needed to wake up his brain.

He made his way into the kitchen where Frenchy was taking
clean mugs out of the cupboard. At sixty-seven Frenchy Roland was still fit.
The hair on his head was still thick although now it was liberally threaded
with gray. The lines on his face were indicators of the hard life he’d lived
but his gray eyes still held traces of the sparkle of his youth. The old man
was doing well now, Clint thought, a lot better since he’d finished his
physical therapy. Now he was doing the prescribed exercises at home under
Clint’s nagging and watchful eye. Amazing how a man of that age could recover
from a broken hip like that.