SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(10)
“I agree. Even so, just to be thorough because we certainly don’t want any more surprises like this one, I checked to see if any LARP groups were listed online. I didn’t see anything like that in our area. If it is a local group whose members don’t share about it on the Internet, then we wouldn’t know about it.”
Allan rose from his seat and paced across the living room floor. “It doesn’t sound like someone who was just playing a game. The business with silver rounds and luring a wolf into a leghold trap first…”
Paul finished his bottle of water and set the empty container on the coffee table. “After viewing the wounds inflicted on the woman, I really think something deeper was going on. The murderer attacked her in a rage. It wasn’t just a case of killing a random person. Passion was involved—anger.”
“Maybe he was a former lover and discovered what she was?”
“Now that could be.”
“Why would he leave her like that? Why not hide the body?”
“Lori and Rose’s arrival might have stopped him.”
“Why would he call the police to warn them about the killing, if he was the one who called in anonymously?” Allan asked.
“Because he’s proud of the kill? Maybe he thought the coroner could prove she’s a werewolf through DNA. Then he could brag about killing a werewolf.”
“Then he had to know or believe the woman was a werewolf. She had to have known him, probably trusted him.” Thinking of an even worse-case scenario, Allan ran his hands through his hair. “What if he was watching when Rose and Lori arrived? And when they left, he followed them?”
“That’s what I’m worried about. The police were at the crime scene while you were at work this morning. I told the homicide detective in charge that you’ll also be looking into it since it happened so close to our cabin and we’re concerned about more trouble for the two ladies who found the victim.”
“Good. What were the police told about how Lori and Rose located her?”
“They were taking a hike through the woods. There’s a trail near there. They were headed up to the lookout over the lake. Anyway, that’s the story. In truth, they smelled blood—and lots of it. So they headed that way to locate the wounded wolf and help if they could. When they discovered the woman and realized she was one of us, they hated to have to leave her body behind, but they didn’t have any choice. They went to the cabin, shifted, dressed, called me, and then headed back to the killing site to ‘find’ her as humans.”
“They didn’t wait for you though?”
“No. It would have taken me too long to get there. I was at Lori’s dojo, working out some of the stiffness in my leg. Lori called me to make sure she and Rose were doing the right thing. Of course, I didn’t want them returning to the scene in case the bastard was still in the area. But understandably, they wanted to call it in before the body happened to vanish, if the murderer decided to dispose of it.”
Allan swore under his breath. “Rose is too far along to be running as a wolf, and both she and Lori could have been in real trouble. Still could be.”
“Rose said it was her last time to run. They didn’t expect to find the dead woman.”
“Hell. If the killer was watching the women arrive as wolves and then return as humans, he could have put two and two together, tracked them back to your cabin, learned you’re Lori’s mate, and well, hell, about everyone related to them—Lori’s grandmother, Mom, Rose’s mate, and his mother and sister. And that’s just the few of us from the original pack.”
“You and me. Yes, very possibly. Which means we have to catch this bastard pronto. Rose contacted everyone on the pack roster to let them know they need to avoid seeing any of us for the time being. We don’t know if this guy has any way to track the rest of the pack members, but if we cut off seeing them in person, that might help.” Paul pointed to a map on the wall showing the whole area: lakes, parks, trails, even elevations. “Here’s where the woman was found.”
“I’ll let you know if I discover anything further.”
His blood cold with anger, Allan left the cabin and drove to the logging road closest to the location of the crime scene. Even if the murderer had witnessed Rose and Lori discovering the body as wolves, then returning later as humans, Allan knew they would have pretended they had suddenly come across this horrific scene, screaming and calling Paul on his cell, maybe pretending to be calling 911. So if the murderer was watching, he might not have made the connection between them and the wolves. But they still couldn’t chance it.
On the way to the site, Allan made a call to Debbie, wanting to know how she was doing and how Franny and her baby were faring. He had already called ahead to let the staff know that Debbie would be arriving to check on them on her own, but he had learned from them that she had called ahead. He felt bad that he hadn’t been able to go with her, that he hadn’t been able to see to Franny and the baby, that he’d had to break his lunch engagement with Debbie, and that he hadn’t been able to discuss this other business with her.
“How are the baby and Franny doing?” he asked.
“I’m still at the clinic and the doc is keeping them overnight. They’re going to be just fine. Thanks to you.”
“And you. Hell, you saw the vehicle first.”