coffees. What’s going on?”
“You didn’t see them?” Jimmy said, incredulously. “They were cruising into town about ten minutes ago. Saw ‘em on the main street. Whole slew of red-and-blues, and they looked serious. Hell, they never come into town, they know we police ourselves better than they could.”
“What’s going on?” Gavin intervened, and Blake held up his hand.
“Something about cops.” And to Jimmy, “What’s the big deal then?”
“You haven’t heard? Shit, man,” Jimmy seemed at the end of his tether, and Blake could well imagine the kid’s eyes bulging in his head, whacked out. “It’s all the gossip. Heard it from one of yours, an Ursa guy came in muttering about it. Ogre, man, it’s Ogre.”
Blake’s stomach dropped. “What about Ogre…”
“He’s dead, Blake. They found him behind one of the old portables, out past the pastures on the north end. I don’t know the details. Looked like he’d been mauled proper like, though. Some think it was a bear. Hell, can you imagine?” Jimmy said in a startled voice. “They’re saying it was a grizzly or something. The Ursas here are spooked, man, you should get back. I don’t know why they brought the cops out. It looks bad.”
Blake slammed the cellphone back into his pocket and hunched over his handlebars. Jimmy had been speaking so loudly that Gavin had heard the gist of it, and lowered his own head. There was only one way that Ogre could have died from bear wounds—wild bears had long ago learned to stay clear of Beaver Creek. They could smell their own. Which meant Ogre had been killed by a shifter.
“One of us?” Gavin asked, and when Blake didn’t reply asked, “What affiliation did Ogre have?”
“I don’t think he had any, not yet… undecided,” Blake replied coldly, but didn’t voice his real fear. It would only scare and incite Gavin more than he already was, and he couldn’t afford to make any wrong moves at this point. When did this whole shit storm become a game of chess? he wondered, rubbing his bottom lip.
He needed to see the body, to know for sure.
Something like dread was pulling at the corner of his mind, trying to turn the page, except another part of his consciousness didn’t want to read what was written there. Because if he was right, it meant he couldn’t go back. All the variables were too coincidental—Connor and Melissa’s disparagement, Gavin being attacked, now Ogre ending up mauled and the cops invading in on Beaver Creek?
Oh, hell .
He turned the ignition on his bike, heard it rattle to life under him, and motioned Gavin closer so he could lay out his plan. “About that mission of yours,” he murmured, grinding his teeth, and the novitiate gave a sullen nod, hanging on every word.
CHAPTER FOUR
The first thing that Lily thought when she came out of the washroom was how it would affect her job. Am I that career oriented that that’s the first thing that comes to mind? she lamented, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Her bare legs caught the afternoon light and she huddled over in her underwear and bra, the pregnancy test clenched between her two fingers.
For the past few weeks she’d felt sick, and not been able to attribute it to anything. Then, when her period hadn’t shown up, it had all come flurrying back. She had done her best to try not to think about what had happened between her and Blake back in Beaver Creek. She’d managed to come up with a convincing—and pleasantly dull and non-controversial—article about the selling of alcohol to minors, and her editor at least hadn’t questioned her.
Things had gone back to normal. Or at least, that’s what she’d tried to tell herself, but she couldn’t really believe it. Something had changed, not just on a biological level, but on an emotional one. Normally so in control of her own thought processes, she had become unusually itinerant, unfocused, even forgetful. Then, when the sickness had started in,
“You didn’t see them?” Jimmy said, incredulously. “They were cruising into town about ten minutes ago. Saw ‘em on the main street. Whole slew of red-and-blues, and they looked serious. Hell, they never come into town, they know we police ourselves better than they could.”
“What’s going on?” Gavin intervened, and Blake held up his hand.
“Something about cops.” And to Jimmy, “What’s the big deal then?”
“You haven’t heard? Shit, man,” Jimmy seemed at the end of his tether, and Blake could well imagine the kid’s eyes bulging in his head, whacked out. “It’s all the gossip. Heard it from one of yours, an Ursa guy came in muttering about it. Ogre, man, it’s Ogre.”
Blake’s stomach dropped. “What about Ogre…”
“He’s dead, Blake. They found him behind one of the old portables, out past the pastures on the north end. I don’t know the details. Looked like he’d been mauled proper like, though. Some think it was a bear. Hell, can you imagine?” Jimmy said in a startled voice. “They’re saying it was a grizzly or something. The Ursas here are spooked, man, you should get back. I don’t know why they brought the cops out. It looks bad.”
Blake slammed the cellphone back into his pocket and hunched over his handlebars. Jimmy had been speaking so loudly that Gavin had heard the gist of it, and lowered his own head. There was only one way that Ogre could have died from bear wounds—wild bears had long ago learned to stay clear of Beaver Creek. They could smell their own. Which meant Ogre had been killed by a shifter.
“One of us?” Gavin asked, and when Blake didn’t reply asked, “What affiliation did Ogre have?”
“I don’t think he had any, not yet… undecided,” Blake replied coldly, but didn’t voice his real fear. It would only scare and incite Gavin more than he already was, and he couldn’t afford to make any wrong moves at this point. When did this whole shit storm become a game of chess? he wondered, rubbing his bottom lip.
He needed to see the body, to know for sure.
Something like dread was pulling at the corner of his mind, trying to turn the page, except another part of his consciousness didn’t want to read what was written there. Because if he was right, it meant he couldn’t go back. All the variables were too coincidental—Connor and Melissa’s disparagement, Gavin being attacked, now Ogre ending up mauled and the cops invading in on Beaver Creek?
Oh, hell .
He turned the ignition on his bike, heard it rattle to life under him, and motioned Gavin closer so he could lay out his plan. “About that mission of yours,” he murmured, grinding his teeth, and the novitiate gave a sullen nod, hanging on every word.
CHAPTER FOUR
The first thing that Lily thought when she came out of the washroom was how it would affect her job. Am I that career oriented that that’s the first thing that comes to mind? she lamented, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Her bare legs caught the afternoon light and she huddled over in her underwear and bra, the pregnancy test clenched between her two fingers.
For the past few weeks she’d felt sick, and not been able to attribute it to anything. Then, when her period hadn’t shown up, it had all come flurrying back. She had done her best to try not to think about what had happened between her and Blake back in Beaver Creek. She’d managed to come up with a convincing—and pleasantly dull and non-controversial—article about the selling of alcohol to minors, and her editor at least hadn’t questioned her.
Things had gone back to normal. Or at least, that’s what she’d tried to tell herself, but she couldn’t really believe it. Something had changed, not just on a biological level, but on an emotional one. Normally so in control of her own thought processes, she had become unusually itinerant, unfocused, even forgetful. Then, when the sickness had started in,
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