Shepherd's Moon (30 page)

Richard picked up on the first ring, catching me off-guard and causing me to spill the coffee onto the granite countertop.

“Alex, how did it go?” His low voice was comforting, calming. Even over the phone, he had the power to keep me calm — similar to the effect Jace had on me.

“All things considered, not bad.” A little white lie never killed anyone.

He sounded amused. “That’s not what I heard.”

“And who have you been talking too?” I said defensively.

“The usual complaints have been called in. I’m taking care of them.”

“Thanks.” Careful of my injured leg, I reached past Brock to grab a sponge from the sink and clean up the spill, but he took the sponge from my hand and did it himself. I smiled gratefully and returned to my call.

“Are you missing anyone over there tonight?”

He paused before answering. “As a matter of fact, we are.”

“Richard, we both have a problem. I need you to give me some contacts inside LUNA. I’ve been looking into the group and nothing checks out.”

Richard paused, and I could almost picture him pressing his index finger and thumb against his eyes as he considered my request. “I seem to recall we’ve already had this conversation.”

“Yes, we did. And it didn’t reach a satisfactory conclusion.”

An audible sigh came over the phone as I listened to him tap the computer keys. “Okay. A guy in forensics came in last week. And of course, you’ve already met Tristan…”

I sure had…
“No one else?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Like I said, all new hires for my department are personally vetted by me. He hesitated. “I don’t approve everyone at the station, though. I could check with HR if it would keep you from calling me at all hours of the night. Why all the personnel questions?”

I paused, wondering if I should really make a big deal out of this yet. “I’m not sure. It could be nothing. We’ve had some strange things going on lately and I find the more unusual events are centered around me and my team.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Besides Bren and Cassie disappearing? Or the new hire that you have no control over stalking me? Or werecats traveling in packs? No — nothing new.”

He let me rant as he processed the new information. There was a long pause before he finally cleared his throat and spoke. “And you feel as though you’re losing control.”

“Honestly? I feel like I’ve never had any, Richard.”

Silence stretched across the airwaves as we both considered my words. “If it’s any consolation, no one ever has full control over their situation. Yet despite less than optimal circumstances, you’ve managed to keep your team intact as a working unit. Cassie can take care of herself, just as Bren can. They’ve both disappeared before — take a deep breath and focus on the things you can fix.”

I considered his words. He was right. All things considered, I had done okay. I needed to remind myself of the good things once in awhile. None of the members of my pack had died since I took over. Even the Council was off my back for the moment. Bren had always been out of control — that was nothing new with the vampire.

“We had a fight earlier.”

“You fight with everyone, Alex.” Richard stayed silent for a moment. “This isn’t your fault, Alex.”

“It wouldn’t have happened if Joseph were here,” I mumbled.

I heard a chair squeaking loudly and leather crinkling, and I knew he was leaning back in his chair, focusing all of his concentration on me. “I thought we were past this.”

I pulled my injured leg up on the chair in front of me, hoping the drugs would kick in soon and remained silent.

“I’ll check the reports and get back to you.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“We’ll find them,” he said, his confidence increasing my own. I heard a voice call out to him in the background and held the phone away from my ear as he called out a reply. “I’ll call when I learn more. We’re still on for tomorrow morning.”

It didn’t sound like a question. I stifled a yawn and tried to ignore the throbbing ache in my leg. “Better make it afternoon. I’ll be there, I just don’t know when.”

“I’ll have the information ready for you — assuming I have any.”

I pressed the end button on the receiver and raised my eyebrows at Brock who shook his head, signifying he’d had no better luck locating Bren.

“Let’s ask our new friend what he knows. Maybe we’ll luck out.”

Brock scowled. “Cats again?”

“Cats, again,” I affirmed. “Get Modnik — and meet me downstairs.”

A simple interrogation. Nothing more…

Two security doors and a thick pane of reflective glass separated us from our prisoner. The first door was a holding area in the event a captive tried to follow one of us out. Using a double set of doors was time-consuming, but it’s necessary with aggressive animals. Especially aggressive animals that don’t want to be caged. As an extra security measure, the door handles were knobs rather than levers. Every other door in our home was outfitted with lever handles — easier for my pack to open when they were in their animal form. But down here, we didn’t want anyone getting out.

The entire pack crowded into the small observation room and stared through the thick, reflective glass — the only thing that protected us from a very large, very angry mountain lion that had just awakened, disoriented and isolated, from a drug-induced sleep. Both rooms were outfitted with cameras that recorded the angry cougar as it paced anxiously back and forth only a few yards away.

Occasionally, the animal paused to observe the darkened glass, appearing to understand it was being watched. It snarled, swiping the glass with extended claws that were easily three inches long, its ears lay flat against its head. The room had been designed to resemble the witness rooms in police stations, and it served a similar purpose now.

Only we didn’t use lineups.

The large cougar continued its restless movement, its long tail flicking back and forth in irritation as we watched.

“You fought that?” Jace admired, breaking the silence. “Not bad, Alexandra!”

I ignored him. After all, I didn’t exactly win.

“Well, no use prolonging the inevitable,” I sighed.

Opening the door to the observation room, I motioned for Billy and Brock to stay behind the thick door. Big cats could easily take down a wolf when it came to a one-on-one fight. A pack of wolves, though, could make short work of a cat. Wolves work together and they’re organized. They hunt in packs, they work in packs, and they attack in packs. If any part of that hierarchy begins to erode, the entire group falls apart. A wolf pack is nothing more than a microcosm of civilized society. One or two dissenters and a democracy can come tumbling down.

Cats, on the other hand, rely on no one — and rarely answer to others. They live by their own code, and that code can vary from cat to cat. For this reason, cats are far more difficult to manipulate. To get information from a big cat; you need to employ a bigger cat.

Modnik strode ahead of me in jaguar form, a picture of elegance and grace as she led the way. Despite being a jaguar, she stood slightly smaller than the cougar in custody, but her sheer anger and arrogance would cause even the biggest cats to run scared. When it came to interrogation, the threat of bodily harm is much more effective than actually causing damage. And Modnik is a master at inspiring terror. Perhaps because she spent so many years as a captive. She understands fear better than any other creature alive. Her sleek black coat, long white canines, and stealthy movement are enough to inspire fear in any entity, be they animal, human or a combination thereof. Whether her success in extracting information is due to her tragic past or her natural dominance, it works.

We stopped at the first door that led from the hall to the safe room and I punched in the code to let her through. One more door and our captured cougar would be awaiting its fate. I paused before entering the code, trying one more time to access the mind of our newest captive. Brock glanced questioningly at me through the window and I shook my head, still drawing nothing but a blank slate. There were no visions of violence, no feeling of intent, no inkling of what the cougar was actually seeing or feeling.

Weird…

Up until this week, there wasn’t an animal, or even half-animal, alive that I couldn’t read. And now, in the space of two days, I had met four different creatures that I couldn’t access. Brock just lifted his shoulders with an indifferent shrug.

“Modnik can handle herself,” he’d told me earlier. “Give her an opportunity.”

She could, too. It took a lot to hurt her — physical pain would never be enough to conquer her again. By the time we had finally extracted her from her captors, she had been emotionally and physically damaged to a point that I doubted she would ever recover. But she had. Thanks to her cubs. Tau and Pasha were her life, and as long as we could provide a safe environment for them, she was content to share her life with us.

I opened the door, allowing Modnik to enter the room, then returned to the observation room.

Modnik circled the inner chamber as we watched through the thick glass. After three or four passes, she circled the bigger cat cautiously as he snarled and swiped at the air with a paw before shying into the back corner. Always the cougar kept its eyes averted from the jaguar. Billy turned to Brock and grinned at the sheer intimidation that Modnik inspired in the larger cat.

“You’d be doing the same thing, Billy,” I smiled.

“Not me,” he shrugged. “I don’t like to flaunt my power.”

“What — you’re super power of annoyance?” Jace chimed in good-naturedly, ignoring the look he received.

“You two need to be quiet or go someplace else,” I said, ignoring their mock challenges as I nervously observed the scene. Modnik had done this before — she’d be fine.

The cougar snarled a warning as Modnik continued her approach, baring its long teeth and again raising a front foreleg. Its ears were laid straight back against its head — a sure sign of attack; yet she didn’t even pause, just continued slowly padding forward. I waited a moment longer to see if I could feel the wild cat’s mind focus. It should be fixated solely on defense, but again I drew a blank. What the hell was up with these cats? Either I was losing my touch, or this creature wasn’t half animal.

She had the cougar’s neck between her teeth in seconds and held him easily, ensuring a secure submission before signaling me with a loud huffing sound that it was safe to enter the room. Billy entered first, Brock a step behind him. The presence of the wolves should have been enough to send the cat into sensory overload, yet Modnik held the cat effortlessly on his side. Obviously this cat was a Newborn, one with either an irresponsible handler, or none at all. Unusual in and of itself, but any adult cat would have put up more of a fight. This type of submission was highly unusual behavior for a cougar.

Billy walked over to the immobile creature and patted it on the belly, smirking. “Hey kitty, kitty.”

A low rumble erupted from Modnik as she watched Billy — her teeth wrapped around the cougar’s throat, ears laid straight back.

Billy reacted to the threat instinctively, launching into a back flip and landing on what magically became large paws. Now standing before her as a coyote, he returned her threat, a deep growl erupting from him as his lips bared to display his long, curved canines. But even with those teeth, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the jaguar.

I stepped between them, storming their minds to calm them a bit, and swatted Billy on his wolfish muzzle. “Knock it off, Billy. We haven’t got time for this.”

He sat back on his haunches raising his paw as he lowered his head in a mock offering of peace that looked even more ridiculous with shards of clothing hanging from his canine body. I ignored the gesture.

“You know the rules.” I nodded towards at Billy. “Shift back. We’ve got work to do and you can’t do it as a coyote. Find out where he’s been.”

With an irritated coyote-ish glance at Modnik, he shifted, the magic encompassing and nearly overpowering me until he finally stood naked in the room.

He’s been at the Half Moon lately,
Billy thought, picking up on the all too common scent of the bar from the stray. I considered the situation. I could have Modnik force the information out of the cougar, but animals had a way of never showing pain, despite what may be excruciating to the rest of us. And it was really against the few principles I still retained. Besides, I was in the business of preserving life, not taking it.

But I’ve been known to make a few exceptions.

I pushed the hair from my eyes then glanced at Brock who shrugged.

Whatever you want to do,
he thought.

Sensing Aida in the observation area, I used that excuse to make my escape. “See what you can find out,” I told Modnik, then silently added, “without killing him.”

Billy growled at the stray as he and Brock followed me from the room.

Aida stood outside the door, and a sense of misgiving coiled deep in my stomach as I shot her a questioning glance.

“Un hombre esta aquí,” she mumbled softly, nodding towards the staircase.