The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) (34 page)

Mick
grimaced but nodded. Xochitl tucked under his good arm and heaved him up.

"Vern
we gotta bug out of here," Bob's voice broke in. "Who knows what
these alarms will bring next."

"Roger
that," Vern replied, getting to his feet.

Snatching
her Remington, Xochitl limp-jogged beside Mick.

They
passed the last downed guard, face-planted half in and half out of the security
room doorway.

Outside,
the tranquilized lab techs littered the parking lot.

Lefty's handiwork.

As
the team reached their vehicles, the first glimmer of dawn cut through the
darkness.

We took too long. Everyone's at risk.

Xochitl
watched Bob and Prez steady Miguel between them.

Miguel's safe.

She
smiled.

He's worth it.

"Shit!"
Lefty scurried in and out of Bob's Humvee like a mouse in search of cheese.

"What?"
Xochi locked El Gallo's trunk.

Lefty
poked his head out of the driver side window. "Did one of you guys see the
computer?"

No
one responded.

"Lefty?"
Vern rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm
sorry, sir." Lefty's brow furrowed. "I left it here on the front seat
before I came into the building." He pointed repeatedly at the spot as if
his finger were a magic wand that could instantly make the computer reappear.

Xochitl
hung her head.

It's
all my fault.

"Vern,
don't blame Lefty. I took off. He saved my life. I shouldn't have—"

Vern
held up his hand.

Okaaay.

Her
uncle swiftly scanned the area.

"It's
fine." He handed Lefty the small digital camera. "I think we've got
what we need."

"Sir?"
Lefty's eyebrows arched. Vern patted the young Marine on the back.

"Let's
pack up and move out."

Like
a well-oiled machine, the group moved into action, stowing their gear and
prepping for departure.

Within
a few minutes, Xochi and Lefty had his truck loaded. Mick reclined in the front
seat, his arm in a makeshift sling. His eyes drooping and his head flopping
lazily, Mick looked as if his pain meds had kicked in.

"You
okay riding with Lefty?" Vern asked, poking his head into the cab.

"Yeah,"
Mick slurred. "Together we make one whole person." He chuckled.

Lefty
rolled his eyes. "He's high."

"Good."
Vern tapped the hood of the truck.

"Don't
worry about us," Prez grunted as he and Bob struggled to hoist Miguel into
the rear of the Humvee. "It's not like this kid weighs a ton or anything."

"We
won't!" Mick cackled.

Xochitl
ignored their banter, her gaze never leaving her little brother.

"I
figured you'd want to ride with Miguel." Vern put his arm around her. "I'll
have Prez drive your car to the cabin."

"Thanks."
She handed him the rooster key chain. "Do they have to zip tie him?"

"Xoch,
it's for his and our safety." Vern gave her a gentle squeeze. "We don't
know what these people did to him. It's just a precaution. It won't be forever."

Vern
sucked in a sharp breath and reached for his calf.

"¡Tío!"
Xochitl gasped at the gash above his ankle.

Vern
waved her off. "Nothing some iodine and a few stitches can't fix."

"You
sure?" Xochi folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm
fine. Really."

Xochitl
sighed and smiled weakly. "I'm gonna go to him now, okay?"

"Sure,
baby girl."

Xochitl
scooted into the Humvee and leaned over the back seat. Miguel was curled up on
his side, his face peaceful.

Like when he was a baby.

Xochi
quaked with quiet sobs as she stroked Miguel's soft black hair.

"Lo
siento, mijo. Lo siento."

Chapter 25

In the
Beforetime Brother Wolf threw the obsidian knife at the Night and cut a hole in
the darkness to let a little of Sky look down at the Earth. The Animal People
gathered together to see the glorious light. Sky and Earth saw not the Animal People
but only each other. They sang to each other and fell in love. But Old Man of
the Mountain didn't like the song. In a rage he grabbed Sky by the throat and
flung Sky high up into the heavens. He stomped down onto Earth, driving Earth
far down. Wherever his boot fell, Earth reached around him to touch Sky,
creating the Foothills. The Animal People scattered in fear. When darkness fell
again, Brother Wolf climbed the highest of the new hills and sang his song,
calling Sky back to the hole in the Night. At Dawn, Sky peeked through the hole
in the darkness and caressed Earth. High up on Skylark Hill, Sky and Earth
kissed, promising to meet early each day as long as Brother Wolf sings his
song.

-Tehachapi Mountain legend

Ranch
life had treated them well. Hanna and Xochitl's initial difficulties seemed a
distant memory to Lucy. She was happy to be home and, once recovered from the
infection, eager to meet the challenges of the new, cutting edge "Hanna's
Rescue and Rehabilitation."

Lucy
and Xochitl had had quite a time of it, getting used to the best-practices
regiment of the ranch, no longer a kennel for dogs but a state-of-the-art
training camp for newly turned Hounds with good families and a refuge for
Ferals deemed "troubled."

Lucy
fell into the routine instantly, doing what she'd always done to help out
around the ranch. She agreed with Hanna's training fundamentals and was able to
build on them through experimentation. Lucy's skill with Weres grew daily, and
she enjoyed taking on more and more groups of Hounds and packs of Ferals for
specific training classes. Kai was her constant companion, and Xochitl helped
keep her charges in line, the classes filling up quickly with students and
boarders from all over California. Gerri was put in charge of keeping the long
waiting lists organized. Hanna took Ronna on many rescue runs up and down the
state, but Lucy and Xochi stayed busy at the ranch from morning until night and
did not notice how fast the month slipped by.

One
early morning Lucy left the house at sunrise and climbed Skylark Hill, where
Hanna had placed Mama's memorial.

Lucy
stopped at the crest of the hill and steadied herself against a massive pine
tree. Golden light brushed over the Empyrean Valley, making the early morning
landscape look vibrant and otherworldly. Lucy pulled the front of her old
shearling ranch coat closed against the morning chill.

"Hi,
Mama."

Lucy
didn't know how to start. Mama's ashes had been scattered nearly two years ago,
when Lucy was newly incarcerated. Hanna hadn't told her the exact day of the
service because Hanna hadn't spoken to Lucy for months after that terrible day,
not until Lucy was already out of prison and on the road. And Hanna's first
words had been, "You're not wanted here."

Lucy
understood how Hanna had had to battle her conflicting feelings of love and
hatred. Lucy herself had been in shock for a long time. She knew Hanna had
forgiven her more than she ever could forgive herself, but that initial
rejection still hurt.

Lucy
looked at the small white wildflowers blanketing the hill.

Mama
had chosen this lovely spot ages ago. She'd said that when it was her time, she
wanted her ashes scattered on this hill, by this tree because it was the one
place on the ranch where the sky and the earth kissed.

"It's
pretty here, Mama. Just like you wanted." Tears flowed down Lucy's face.
She didn't bother to wipe them away.

Lucy
studied Mama's memorial. It rested in front of the pine tree and consisted of a
carved stone heart with
Ellie
engraved in the center. The stone was not
very big.

Kneeling
down beside it, Lucy spread out both hands, locking her thumbs, and curved her
fingers around its edges. The stone felt cold. She brought her forehead down
between her hands and rested it on the cool surface, bowing her body before the
tree.

"Mama,
I came to say..." Lucy closed her eyes, picturing Mama's face. "I
came to this place to say goodbye. And to say, I'm sorry. I will be sorry until
the day I die, Mama." She sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking. She
kissed her mother's name on the stone heart.

Lucy
sat back on her heels and watched the dark skies slowly welcome the new day.

"You
are beyond needing anything now. You don't need me," she said to the
sky and ran her fingers through her hair. "But it's so hard for me to move
on."

"I've
helped so many people. But I couldn't help you, Mama. Because I panicked. I
didn't think. I didn't try. I just heard 'Do it' and I pulled the trigger."
She felt at a loss, but continued anyway.

"Everything
is changing. People don't see it. Xochi and I are treading water, helping where
we can. But it's never enough. I just want to go back. Before any of this
happened. We were happy."

"I
am sorry I ever left, Mama. You were everything to me, and I took for granted
that this peaceful place and you would always be here. I was a fool and a
child." She took a deep breath. The next part was hard to admit.

"I
thought I could help in L.A., but I wasn't enough. The horrible stuff never
gets better. You arrest one bad guy, and another one pops up, worse than the first
one usually. Being a cop wasn't what I thought it would be."

"And
now...Mama. This Were plague...It's chaos and mayhem, but folks try to go on
living their lives like nothing happened. Like they think they can adjust...I
feel like I'm losing my mind." The words started spilling from Lucy's
mouth.

"I
have these dreams all the time now. You're in them. And then there's someone
else, trying to get me." Lucy surprised herself. She wasn't ready to talk
about those dreams, out loud.

She
looked back at the stone heart. She kissed the tips of two fingers and ran them
over the smooth rock.

"I
miss you so much. There are so many times I pick up the phone to call you and
tell you about something in my day. I dial your number sometimes before I
remember. And then I just hang up."

Lucy stopped short, sensing she was no
longer alone. These thoughts were too private to share, so she locked them up
tight and clamped down on her emotions. She rolled her shoulders back, and came
up into a crouch.

*

Xochitl was folding Lucy's clothes in the laundry room. Just as
Doc Howard had predicted, Lucy had woken from her semi-comatose state
completely recovered. Three scars of varying lengths marked the spot on Lucy's
leg where Travis had mauled her. Lucy's wound never slowed her down, and they'd
kept unbelievably busy training Hounds and Ferals. So when, out of the blue,
Lefty called from L.A. it came as a complete shock.

"What do you mean it took him twelve hours to change back!"
Xochitl, carrying a full basket of folded laundry on her hip, dashed into Lucy's
room. "It takes him time to change back?"

"He didn't want me to call you," Lefty said. "Or
The Werewolf Whisperer. But I promised I'd watch out for him...Xoch, this's
never happened before."

Xochitl felt her stomach tie in knots, and her knees go weak.
Thoughts of Travis, of sending him off to his certain death on a run-down ship,
flashed through her mind, and she dropped onto the overstuffed chair across
from Lucy's bed. She cradled the laundry basket on her lap, and stared out the
window.

Kai was tossing his red ball up in the air, while Tau and Thandi
took turns catching it. Xochitl watched as one puppy's body came into view of
the window and then the other. It was
strangely soothing —
peaceful, and she
understood why Lucy loved it here so much.

"Xoch?" Lefty's voice brought her back to reality.

"How long does it usually take, Lefty?" Xochitl
brushed her hand through her long hair, her fingers working through the knots
that mimicked the ones in her stomach.

"Usually an hour. Three tops."

"Three hours!" Xochitl leapt up from her chair, the
laundry dropping upside down onto the floor.

Great. I hate laundry.

"Just listen, please." Irritation mixed with alarm
shaped the tenor of Lefty's voice, and Xochitl remained silent, waiting for the
other shoe to drop. "Two nights ago, Miguel fought a really hard match..."

And there it is...Pinche Werefights.

"There was a lot riding on this fight," Lefty
continued. "Our shot at the pro circuit. He won, Xoch! Made our business
legit."

"Sorry, if I can't celebrate your success." Xochitl
loved Lefty, but right now she wanted to smack him.

"Don't be like that, Xo." Lefty sounded hurt. "Miguel's...we've...worked
really hard for this. And he was doing really well. His focus. His control were
never a problem...until—"

"Until now," Xochitl finished for him.

"Yeah."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was the stress...You know, because
the fight was so important," Lefty replied.

He's grasping at straws.

"Xoch?" Lefty sounded like a lost little boy.

"Yeah."

"Could you...maybe...ask your friend if she would know what
might be happening?"

"Fuck that. I'm coming down!" Xochitl hung up on Lefty.

She scooped up the pile of laundry and tossed it on the bed. She
dropped to her knees and grabbed Bob's black duffel bag from underneath it.
Xochitl swept Lucy's clothes into the bag and raced to the bathroom. She slid
Lucy's toiletries haphazardly into the duffel and rushed back into the room to
her closet. Flinging the door open, Xochitl yanked Lucy's hanging clothes off
the rack and crammed them inside the bag.

Xochitl scanned the room one last time, making sure she'd gotten
everything Lucy might need. Her eyes fell on the photograph of little Lucy
holding the golden puppy. She snatched the picture off the nightstand and
tucked it safely between Lucy's clothes.

Xochitl always knew the sheltered cocoon that was Lucy's
childhood home — the serenity it brought to both women — was
fleeting, and the day they'd need to leave was inevitable. She just hadn't
expected it to be under these circumstances. There would be a part of her that
would miss this place — miss Tau and Thandi — but this wasn't her
home. Xochitl had
had
both her and Kai's things
packed to leave since day one.

She rushed into the adjoining guest bedroom, opened the closet
door and pulled out her go bag. She left, never looking back.