Wolf Among Sheep: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Roadside Angels Motorcycle Club Book 1) (2 page)

Tammie gaped at Ray. She couldn’t believe he had just admitted he didn’t believe in the supernatural. “So, the whole premise of this news agency is a gimmick?” She sounded more offended than she was, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Every news agency has a gimmick, Gibbs. And for every gimmick, there’s an audience. It’s time we give our audience a shot in the arm. It’ll be good for business.” He stood up and went over to a file cabinet. Clearly, the discussion was over. Tammie stood up, as well, and as she turned to leave, Ray added over his shoulder, “Call me when you get there, and let me know the lay of the land.”

“Will do, Ray,” she promised.

“And Gibbs?” He waited for her to look at him. “Be careful.”

“Sure thing, Ray,” she answered blithely.

What could possibly go wrong? Even if there is a gang of wolf wranglers loose in Rojo Arroyo, it’s not as though I’m going to try to save the wolves or any such thing. I’m just going to find a story and write it. What possible danger could there be in that?

She refused to worry about the town’s distance from civilization. She wasn’t much of a country girl, and her idea of roughing it involved sleeping overnight in a motel. She would do what she had to do to keep her job, and the agency afloat.

CHAPTER TWO

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ~
Leonardo da Vinci

Tammie hated flying, for any number of reasons, not the least of which was the luggage she had to manhandle off the luggage carousel and drag along behind her like a dog on a leash. And it didn’t help when she had to compete with people much larger than her to get to her bags. In her bare feet, she stood a mere five feet four inches, and even in her highest heels, she just managed to come out even with some men. Most of them were significantly taller than she was, like the one currently standing in front of her, also waiting for his bags. She stepped ahead of him, and when she saw her bright red suitcase trundling towards her on the conveyor belt, she grabbed it as it went by. However, disentangling it from the other luggage it was caught between was becoming a chore, and she was grateful for the large hand that dragged it off before it went round again.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling way up into the tanned face of a man who looked like a linebacker.

“No problem,” he answered, barely acknowledging her.

As she moved away, she yawned. She had taken the red eye out from Westchester County Airport, and although she was dead tired, she had not slept once on either of the legs of the journey, nor during the more than two-hour stopover in Atlanta.

Now, it was after midday, and she still had an hour-plus drive to get to her destination. She went to the hospitality desk and found her reservation for the bus ride to Rojo Arroyo. She had another half-hour to wait before it left, and she wondered how much work she would get done with no sleep in over twenty-four hours. While she waited, she sent a text message to Emily to let her know she was on the ground again and would call later.

The bus ride left little impression on her because she finally dozed and had to be roused by her neighbor when the bus arrived in the small Arizona town. Brushing a hand over her face, she tugged down the skin-tight top she wore above a pencil skirt and high heels and got off the bus, picking up her luggage and looking around for a cab. There didn’t seem to be any, but as she waited, watching the folks around her getting into pickup trucks old and new, she saw a tired-looking dark blue vehicle with a taxi logo on the side roll to a stop in front of her.

“Need a ride, ma’am?” the driver asked, his leathery face as tired-looking as the car he drove.

“Yes, thank you,” Tammie said, not hiding her relief. She gave him the name of the hotel where she had booked a room for three nights and settled her aching back against the seat. The heat in the cab was oppressive, but once it got going, the air conditioner seemed to wake up and cooler air chugged over her skin.

Just when she was beginning to enjoy the coolness, her driver stopped before a modest-looking building, he told her the amount she owed, and she added a small tip before exiting the cab. He helped her pull her bag from the trunk and then drove off, leaving her feeling like wilted lettuce on the sidewalk.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this hot and miserable. Dragging the luggage behind her, she entered the pleasantly cool hotel and got her keys. She asked about the car she had rented and was told she could pick it up from the Enterprise office next to the hotel.

Her room was on the second floor, and once inside, she kicked her shoes off and threw herself onto the bed, more exhausted than usual because of all the late hours she had been keeping recently. She let herself rest for half an hour, then took a shower, and changed into jeans and a button down sleeveless blouse, pinned her hair up on top of her head, and slid her feet into high-heeled sandals.

Grabbing her bag, which held her wallet and iPad, she hurried out, determined to make the most of her time. Downstairs, she asked where she could get a meal and was directed to the diner two blocks away. Shading her eyes behind big sunglasses, she braved the afternoon heat and walked to the diner, glad to be out of the heat again once she was inside.

A pretty young woman, tall and round, ushered her to a table for two at the back of the restaurant, and as she followed her, she looked around, taking in the typical diner decor. There were very few people there at that hour, and all were engaged in conversations with their tablemates. She didn’t mind being alone. While she decided what she wanted to eat, she thought about what questions she would ask and who she would talk to. The waitress who came to serve her returned, and Tammie noted her name was Ginny. She figured she’d start with her, as it was unlikely she would be an out-of-towner.

“Are you ready to order, ma’am?” Ginny asked, smiling kindly at her as she placed a tall glass of water before Tammie on the table.

“Yes, I am, thank you. I’d like a quarter pounder with fries and a large Coke, please. And a slice of apple pie for after.”

“How would you like the burger?”

“Medium, thanks.”

“Would you like anything for starters?” Ginny asked next.

“Just some information—if you don’t mind,” Tammie answered. “I’m a reporter from Danbury, and I’m here to see what I can find out about those wolf attacks a few weeks ago. Do you know who I could talk to about that?”

“Sure. I have to see to another table, but I’ll be back with your order and we can talk for a bit—unless more customers come in.” Ginny flashed her a bright smile.

Tammie relaxed against the back of the banquette and let her mind wander. She answered a text message from Emily, giving a brief description of her journey, the hotel, and the diner. She promised to give her more details about the story she had come for as soon as she had more to tell her.  She also checked in with Ray to let him know she had arrived, and then she sat back and sipped from her glass of iced water.

When Ginny returned with her order, Tammie realized she was ravenous and took a healthy bite. “Mmmm, this is delicious!” Tammie was surprised at how good it was and dabbed at her lips delicately, as she chewed. She poured ketchup into the plate next to the fries, picked one up, and dipped it in, before consuming it. Ginny went away to serve another table while she ate, and Tammie enjoyed the simple meal.

By the time she was finishing the fries, Ginny came back and sat across from her. “So, what do you want to know?” she asked Tammie, her eyes bright and inquisitive.

“Well, tell me what happened, for starters,” Tammie invited her and then added, “I hope you don’t mind if I record you. It’s easier since I’m eating. When I’m done, I can transcribe it.”

Ginny didn’t seem to mind and began immediately to tell her how three weeks ago the mayor’s grandson, Toby, was out with Lex—as Alexander Cole was known around town—helping him mend fences on his granddad’s property. The mayor was recovering from triple bypass surgery and couldn’t lend a hand himself, so some of the guys had chipped in to help him. All the little kids love Lex, so Toby was happy to be helping him pull the switch to unroll the wire for Lex to stretch between the posts.

“Why wasn’t he with his dad?” Tammie interrupted her with the question. It seemed odd to her that the boy wouldn’t have been helping his father, who was the mayor’s son, instead of a family friend.

Ginny looked puzzled for a moment then smiled. “Oh, no dad. Toby is the mayor’s daughter’s son. His dad was killed in Iraq.”

“Oh.” Tammie filed that bit of information away for later reflection. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Ginny shook her head sadly and then continued. “Lex had just nailed in the fencing when he heard a sound and looked round in time to see Toby facing off a wolf. The kid was trying to get into the cab of the truck, and Lex managed to get to him just as the wolf attacked. It slammed into the window and shattered the glass. Toby got a shard in his arm—and some fragments on his face and legs.”

“How did he manage to escape without being mauled?” Tammie wanted to know.

“He did get bitten, but Lex made a noise to distract the creature and gave Toby time to get into the truck before he was badly hurt. However, I guess it was in midair or whatever and slammed into the window as Toby was winding it up.”

“He’s a lucky boy, isn’t he?” Tammie commented. “How old is he?”

“He’s eleven.” Ginny stood up. “I need to get going again. New customers.”

Tammie watched her go and then observed the men who trailed in after each other. They were a noisy bunch, about five of them, and they looked like they had been on a construction site. They all passed by the table almost at the front of the diner and said hello to the person whom Tammie assumed was the manager. They walked by the last table in the rear and sat across from it. Tammie cast her eyes at the three men sitting there, one of them giving the new group the once over.

He was a tall man. Really, really tall, Tammie estimated—if the long legs he had tucked up under the table were anything to go by. Plus, his shoulders were ridiculously wide. A description of the hero in the romance novel she had been reading came to mind, and she snorted inwardly. Real people did not look like alpha males in romance novels. But his profile was striking, to say the least, and she found it hard to tear her gaze away from him, once she saw him.

He spoke to the new arrivals, and they all chuckled. Then, they turned to view their menus while he went back to his conversation. The two men with him were big as well, and she wondered if they were related—although he was ash blonde with dark eyes that she assumed were blue, while they had black hair.

The men laughed at something he said, and he turned to look at her, as though he knew she was staring. Tammie could feel herself blushing and lowered her gaze to her plate, where her burger was only half-eaten. Refusing to look up again, though she could feel his eyes on her, she doggedly ate the rest of her meal and waited for Ginny to return with her check.

She would ask how she could meet this home grown defender of the weak, and maybe he could shed more light on this business of the wolves. A ruckus over at the table with the newcomers had her raising her eyes once more to the back of the diner, in time to see tall, blond, and gorgeous standing up to pull Ginny away from one of them. Not wanting to be found gawking like a schoolgirl again, she lowered her eyes and waited till Ginny walked by to stop her.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Ginny pocketed her pad and smiled. “Yeah, I’m all right. Lex just hates it when Jeff messes with us. He’s such a gentleman.”

Tammie thought she was going to sigh and wondered if Ginny was half in love with the man she called Lex.
Wait...Lex, as in Alexander Cole?

“Is that the guy who saved the mayor’s grandson from the wolf?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s Lex.” Ginny looked over at him, and Tammie could swear the waitress’s eyes got dreamy.

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Tammie drawled, smiling. Ginny just smiled back and walked off, returning a moment later with her bill. As she was getting her wallet to pay, Lex Cole and his companions walked past her table, and she watched him walk through the doors, bidding farewell to the manager on his way out. He was taller than she had imagined, and his two companions were only slightly shorter. Given her own diminutive size, she couldn’t imagine ever being comfortable around him, but she knew she had to interview him for the story she hoped she would find here.

The heat of early afternoon slapped her in the face when she stepped outside, and Tammie hurried back to the hotel, inhaling deeply of the cold recycled air in the lobby when she shut the door behind her. She closed her eyes for a second and heard a chuckle from the desk. Snapping them open again, she found herself the object of some amusement from the young woman behind the desk.

“Don’t mind me,” the clerk said. “I just love to watch the expression of the people who come in out of the heat. It just tickles me to see the relief on their faces when the cold air hits them.”

Tammie smiled at her. “It’s brutal out there!” she commented on her way past the desk, and then she paused. “May I ask you something?” she said, turning fully to face the young woman behind the desk. She had an idea.

“Surely, ma’am. How may I help you?”

“Do you know Alexander Cole?”