Shifting Dreams (31 page)

He closed his eyes. “The more we find out, the more we don’t know.” He grunted and stood to get more coffee. “By the way, how do you tell one mountain lion from another? Jena said you could educate me.”

She laughed a little. “It’d be hard for you to tell unless you’ve hung around with us a lot. Scars, mostly. We all play pretty rough when we first shift. One of my cousins has a nice chunk I took out of her left ear from when we were teenagers.”

“Nice kitty.”

“But if you look closely, there’s also some difference in facial markings. The dark patches around our eyes and muzzles do vary. But the scars are more noticeable. You get a good look at the one who attacked you?”

“No.” He brought the coffee pot over and refilled her cup. “It was dark and I didn’t really know what to look for. But I do now, so I’ll be checking ears.”

She laughed as he heard Jena’s car pull up. Every nerve in his body jumped at the sound and he turned to the door.

Ted said, “Whipped, I tell you. It’s pretty funny.”

“Shut up, Ted.” He walked to the front door and opened it. Jena was handing the boys bags of groceries and loading up her arms with more as he walked off the porch. He nodded at Low and mussed Aaron’s hair as he walked past. Then his eyes narrowed in on Jena and stuck. She had two bags in her hand and her keys in her front teeth.

“Can I help?” He bent down and pulled the keys from her teeth. “That can’t be sanitary.”

“Well, if Santa would just give me that extra arm I’ve been asking for—” Caleb cut her off with a kiss. It wasn’t a peck, either. He hummed into her mouth as his tongue touched hers, cupping her face in his hands as he kissed her thoroughly.

“Caleb.” She pulled away breathlessly. “The boys—”

“Are just gonna have to get used to me kissing you.” He put one arm around her waist and pulled her close, bending down to capture her lips again. “Especially when it’s been hours since I’ve seen you,” he murmured in her ear. She gave a soft sigh and bent her head so he could lay an open-mouthed kiss on her neck. He heard the door to the house slam as someone walked out, but only pulled her closer when she tensed.

He kissed her lightly on the mouth as he saw Low from the corner of his eye.

The boy grunted, “Gross.” Then he pulled a couple more bags from the trunk of the car and walked back into the house.

Caleb grinned, watching the stubborn boy who reminded him so much of his mother walk past. “See? The sky did not fall.”

Her face was flaming. “Shut up and help me with the rest of these. We’ll talk about this later.”

“I love it when you’re bossy.” He gave her ass a quick pat and took the rest of the bags from her hands.

She was making dinner for everyone when he cornered her the next time. Everyone else—Ted, Allie, Dev, Ollie, and an annoyed Alex—were out in the backyard, grilling burgers and watching the kids play. Jena was chopping up celery for a potato salad when he came up behind her and grabbed her waist.

She gasped and turned. “Oh! It’s you.”

“Miss me?” He bent down and kissed her cheek.

“You’re not leaving me alone long enough.” He could tell she was a little annoyed when she blushed.

“Aw.” He gave her a mock frown. “Don’t hurt my feelings, woman. I’m a sensitive man.”

She muttered, “And I know exactly where.”

Caleb laughed, but left his arms around her, even when the back door slammed. She tensed again when Aaron came into the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom? Where’s the juice boxes?”

Caleb looked over his shoulder to see Aaron watching them with a huge grin on his face. He said, “They’re probably in the blue ice chest where they always are, Bear.”

The little boy giggled and ran out the door while Jena glared at him. Caleb just watched him with amusement as he saw Aaron race outside and whisper something to Low that made the older boy roll his eyes. Caleb looked back at Jena.

“What?” He blinked innocently.

“What are you doing?”

He hugged her closer, teasing one hand along her belly while the other pulled her hips against his. “I’m getting comfortable.”

Caleb tried not to laugh at the catch in her throat. “I can see that.”

“And showing you that the boys aren’t going to freak out now that we’re together.”

She blushed redder. “Is that so? We’re together, huh?”

He shrugged. “Well, not as much as I’d like to be right now, but—”

She slapped a hand over his mouth. It smelled like sweet onion and potatoes and his stomach growled.

“Aren’t you the hungry boy?” she said in an amused voice. “Get out of here so I can finish. You’re distracting me.”

“I could distract you more, if you let me.”

“Caleb!” He just laughed and tickled her belly until she was squirming and laughing, too. “Go away.”

“Hey.” He pulled back a little. “I did want to talk to you about something serious, though.”

“Oh?” She went back to chopping celery.

“I need to go back out to your grandmother’s,” he said quietly. “Take another look at the scene.” She paused in her work and he could see her knuckles turn white.

“I—I don’t want to—”

“You don’t need to go if you don’t want. But it’s been cleaned now. And I was wondering if I could take the boys if they wanted. Aaron mentioned wanting to go.”

She started dumping the chopped celery in the bowl. “Um… I don’t know. If you’re out there working, you don’t need—”

“I could ask your mom to go if she wants,” he added. “I think she’d be willing. And that way, there would be more than just me if the boys needed someone. If they were upset or anything. But I think it’s important for them to go if they want to. Let them say good-bye to her that way. Let them remember the good stuff.”

Jena was taking deep, even breaths as he ran a soothing hand over her shoulders, squeezing the back of her neck a little. “Think about it, okay?”

She nodded. “I will.” He brushed a kiss along her jaw. “I wish…”

“Hey.” He nudged her face around so she was looking at him. “You’ll get there when you get there.”

“Okay.” She managed a small smile. “Thanks.”

He smiled back, feeling a hundred feet tall. “You’re welcome.”

The following Saturday, he and Cathy pulled up to Alma’s house. Low opened the car door. Then he took Aaron’s hand and the two boys walked together toward the back of Alma’s house. Caleb frowned. “Hey guys—”

“They’re going to the Cliff House,” Cathy said quietly. “It’s fine. They know the way.”

“The Cliff House?”

She smiled and opened the door to Jena’s Subaru. She’d given Caleb the keys and he’d loaned her his truck for the day, though she claimed she didn’t need it since she was only working at the diner.

 
“It’s just a little cave cut into the cliffs. The kids use it as a playhouse. It’s been there for years.”

“That sounds cool.” It did, actually. He kind of wanted to see it. Instead, he walked toward the side door and stood outside Alma’s kitchen. He stared at the peeling green paint for a few minutes, trying to imagine what it had looked like to her killer that night he’d come to her home. Had he intended to kill her? Had it been an accident? Knowing it was a shifter meant that the cover-up wasn’t the elaborate hoax he’d thought at first. And since Low had complained about his grandmother and mom going flying that moon night, what had been a carefully plotted murder could have turned into a crime of passion or opportunity.

“Almost anyone could have done it,” he murmured. He heard Cathy open the front door and go inside as he bent down to examine the freshest scrapes at the bottom of the door. “But not everyone has claws.”

They weren’t as fresh as they had been the night of her death. Sand had caught in them and the color of the wood had already turned. But he could see the four claw marks. Just like what he remembered on Alma’s corpse. Three deeper, then a fourth just a bit more shallow. What would cause that? A broken hand? Would a human injury transfer to a shifter’s natural form? Was it a birth defect? He made a note to ask Jena or Ted the next time he saw them.
 

The claw marks were narrow but deep. An animal pawing at your door like that would catch your attention. It might startle you enough that you opened the door. But even without a stitch on? Had the cat wailed? Made an injured sound? It must have been something urgent if Alma hadn’t even stopped to put on a robe. Then he remembered Jena disrobing before she shifted in the truck. Had Alma been trying to flee when she opened the door?

He cocked his head to the side and took a mental picture of the size, trying to match it to what he knew about large cats. It seemed big for a bobcat, but small for the mountain lion that had attacked him. How much variation was there between shifters? Mayor Matt was definitely a bobcat, but how big was he?
 

He pulled a small camera out of his pocket, put his phone next to the scratches for scale, then took a few snapshots. He’d show them to Ted and see what she thought. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jena’s eyes, but she’d been in shock when she’d been at the scene the first time. He stood and opened the door to find Cathy sitting at Alma’s kitchen table with tears in her eyes.
 

“I loved her more than my own mom,” she said. “I’m not sure when that happened. I try not to feel guilty about it.”

“Don’t. Family’s complicated.”

She brushed at her eyes. “True.”

“The ones we choose to love can be just as important as the ones we’re born loving. Sometimes more so.”

Cathy cupped her chin in her hand and leaned on the table as Caleb took a seat. “I like you, Chief Gilbert.”

He smiled. “I think you can call me Caleb now, don’t you think?”

“Because you’re in love with my daughter?”

He blinked and cleared his throat. “I… well, I—”

“It’s okay if you haven’t told her yet. And I won’t either. She’s cautious.”

He ignored his panicked heartbeat and said, “It’s understandable.”

“It is. And she and Lowell did not have the easiest relationship.”

“Oh?” That was a surprise.

She shook her head. “They loved each other—crazy in love—but it was… uneven. They were so young. Jena was always the one holding the reins while Lowell tugged ahead, determined to live as much as he could. It’s understandable, I guess. But exhausting. She was never easy with him. There was so much tension in their lives with that cloud hanging over them. And he hated it here. As much as Jena loved it, he hated it. Couldn’t get away fast enough.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“Because she won’t. And you need to know. She’s happy here. Needs to be here. It’s not just family. It’s the Springs.”

Cathy wasn’t a shifter. She’d married one, raised one, but had spent her life in a town where she was always going to be just a little on the outside. “Did you like living here?”

“I liked that it was safe for my daughter. I liked that it made my husband so content. Was it always ideal?” She shrugged. “No, but no place is. And once you’ve lived long enough, you realize home is about people, not places. It was more important for my family to be safe and content than for me to be always happy with where we lived.”

“And Jena needs to be here.”

“Yes, she does. She really, really does.” Cathy paused. “I think maybe you do, too.”

He let out a shaky breath. “I think you may be right.”

Just then, a sound came on the wind. It chilled him, despite the heat of the autumn day, and he bolted to his feet as Cathy said, “What on earth—”

“The boys!”

Fear clutched the pit of Caleb’s stomach as he raced out of the house and toward the direction where he’d seen Low and Aaron walking. The cry came again. A terrified shriek from Aaron. A panicked shout from Low. He ran faster through the dry scrub, ignoring the thorns and brambles that tore at his legs.

“The Cliff House!” Cathy shouted behind him. “It’s up high in the rocks. Can you climb?”

“I’ll have to!” He climbed a small rise and caught his first glimpse of the scene. Low had Aaron pushed behind him and was holding a stick, jabbing at a mountain lion who had crouched on a nearby rock, snarling at them while another paced below.

“Caleb!” Aaron called out. “Watch out!”

Caleb tensed as he heard the low growl.

Not just one lion, but two. Two big, snarling beasts who were holding the boys hostage in the Cliff House. And keeping Caleb from getting to them. He tried not to panic. How was he going to get to the boys? Throw rocks? The cat on the rocks kept snarling at Low while the other began to move toward Caleb. He glanced around. His gun was back in the truck. Why hadn’t he brought it? He cursed his carelessness.

“Low,” he called. “Try to stay calm. I’m coming.”

“Go away!” Low shouted at the lion. “I don’t know who you are. Just leave us alone!” He jabbed at it again.

“Lo-ow…” Aaron sobbed behind his brother.

“Boys!” Caleb yelled. “Stay calm.” Who the hell were these lions? He wanted to strangle them with his bare hands.