SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(39)
“Another man was questioning you? A police officer, you mean?” Debbie asked, glancing at the photos. She immediately recognized the woman from the morgue and the man they had found dead in the car. She looked to see if Allan had too.
He nodded to her.
“No, he wasn’t a police officer. He said he was a private investigator looking into a friend’s request to find Sarah and make sure she was safe. I assumed he might actually find her when the police felt their hands were tied in the case.”
“Okay, so this man,” Allan said, pointing at the one that featured the Van Lake murder victim, “is Lloyd?”
“Yes. Sarah’s lover.”
Was the man in the black sedan Otis? Following Debbie because he thought she might know something about the case? But why would he not just go to the sheriff’s office and ask them? Or follow anyone who was working on the case?
Debbie chewed on her bottom lip. “What was the PI’s name?”
“Vaughn Greystoke.”
No one Debbie knew. “Who was he working for?”
“He said it was a man named Devlyn Greystoke, so I assumed they were related. He said they were cousins.”
Allan stiffened a little beside Debbie, and she glanced at him. Allan quickly pulled his gaze from hers and again looked at the photos. “What about the man who was her lover?”
“Mr. Greystoke wanted to know about him too, afraid that he might have had something to do with her disappearance. He said he was a private investigator, but I think he was more than that. He seemed really protective of her and angry her lover had disappeared too. Like he believed Lloyd had something to do with her disappearance in a bad way.”
“Where was Mr. Greystoke from?” Allan asked.
“Somewhere in Colorado. Can’t remember the exact location. I don’t remember Sarah ever mentioning being from there. Then again, I don’t recall her saying where she was from, nor did I think to ask.”
“Are you sure the man who disappeared also was her lover?” Allan asked.
“Yes. We all joked and said if one of them was the werewolf, the other would be in real trouble. Well, unless both were the werewolves. But I knew better. You understand that none of them knew who the real werewolves were, except for me. I was the moderator for the game, so I made all the rules and made sure everyone stuck to them.”
“So you knew Lloyd was a werewolf hunter and Sarah was a werewolf?” Debbie asked.
“Yeah. Really, they made a big deal of it to begin with when I first assigned everyone their roles. Sarah came and secretly told me she didn’t want to be the hunter. And Lloyd did the same with his role as a werewolf. He wanted to be a hunter. No big deal to me. I swapped them out, though normally we play the roles we’re given. So even though they made a big issue out of wanting to play different roles, they ended up being lovers. Go figure. But secretly? I think Sarah was really interested in Lloyd. There was some intense stuff going on between them.
“Lloyd?” Zeta shrugged. “I think he was interested in the sex, and I think he believed she was playing the part of a hunter. So it was okay to be with her. But I think she knew he was a hunter. Maybe he told her, and she let on that she was one too. Players are supposed to lie about what role they’re playing while they try to convince everyone they’re one of the good guys so they don’t get killed off early in the game. It’s all a matter of acting the part.”
Zeta offered them sodas. Both thanked her but declined.
“If you had a part to play, which would you prefer?” Zeta asked. She sounded curious, maybe wanting to know if they thought her games were silly.
“A hunter,” Allan said, not even hesitating.
“Hmm, whatever part I was offered, I’d play it the best I could,” Debbie said.
Zeta smiled and Debbie felt she’d won her over a bit.
“Was there a man by the name of Guy Lamb in your group?” Allan asked, and Debbie snapped her mouth shut as she wondered what that was all about.
“Yeah, yeah, he was here. But he was here before the others arrived—Otis, Lloyd, Sarah. So what’s this all about?” Zeta asked.
“Lloyd and Sarah are dead.” Debbie wished she had better news for her.
“Oh my…ohmigod.” Tears sprang into Zeta’s eyes, and for an instant, Debbie wondered if it was all an act—if she hadn’t known the deceased that well. Zeta choked back a sob and said, “I’ll…I’ll be right back.”
Debbie glanced at Allan to see his take on Zeta’s behavior. He raised his brows a little at her, but he had a dark look, and she wondered if he knew something more about this…Devlyn. And what was the business with Guy Lamb? Or maybe Allan thought Zeta was somehow involved in the murders.
Zeta returned with a box of tissues, set it on the coffee table, then grabbed one and blew her nose. She took her seat. “Sorry. I’d been upset with Sarah…” She paused and her eyes widened. “They’re dead because of an accident, right?”
“No, they were murdered,” Debbie said. “Why were you upset with Sarah?”
Zeta wiped her eyes again. “She moved here about six months ago, and we met at auditions to play roles in a local theater production. We really hit it off. We went to movies together and had lunches out. Neither of us was seeing a guy at the time, so it was perfect. I had started Wolf Zone about two months earlier, and some of the folks that had participated in the group had moved—like Guy Lamb—or their lives had gotten too busy.