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Authors: Cynthia Garner
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gallons of ammonia at the scene to override his scent.” He gave a low growl. “Okay, I’m exaggerating. But the end result is I couldn’t smell a thing for about twelve hours after I left one of those scenes.” His scowl proclaimed his aggravation with that state of affairs. “Some damned werewolf I am when I can’t smell a damned thing.”
“Ammonia, too? Dante didn’t mention that.”
“Dante? MacMillan?” At her affirmation, Ash asked, “What the hell is MacMillan doing getting involved with something in District Four? He’s based out of District Two.” His scowl deepened. “Like you.”
“Don’t get your panties in a wad,” Tori muttered. “Some cop named Rivera called him this morning about Barry, wondering if it could be the same guy. I told Dante I’d talk to you.”
“Uh-huh.” A look crossed his face she couldn’t quite decipher. “Rivera’s getting desperate, too. His boss probably gave him the same ass-chewing I got from mine.”
Tori hunched forward and rested her chin on her fists. “So, why hasn’t a BOLO gone out on this?”
“A BOLO that says what? Be on the lookout for a werewolf who’s biting people?” He rolled his eyes and then stared up at the ceiling, his head on the back of the sofa. “There’s no fur, no hair, no fiber, no nothing. It’s like he’s wrapped in plastic, for God’s sake.”
That set Tori’s brain whirling. How would a werewolf, or even a human for that matter, keep from leaving bits of himself at a crime scene? Little booties would mask shoe prints. Latex gloves would hide fingerprints. But what about hair and skin cells? People shed hair and skin at a fairly rapid rate. For a crime scene to have none of that… “Maybe he was wrapped in plastic,” she mused out loud. “Or…he shaved?”
Ash seemed to consider that seriously. “Well, if he shaved all over, head to toes, he’d have no hair to lose. But humans and prets alike shed something like fifty thousand skin cells a day. Even if he was already in his wolf form, well, there’d be fur, wouldn’t there?”
“You’d think so.” Tori drew in a breath and held it a moment, rolling things over in her mind. Finally she shook her head in defeat. “I don’t know what to tell you, Ash. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Thank you! That’s what I was trying to tell them ,” he said with a gesture in the general direction of the main chamber. “Not that they listened.”
“Yes, well, they often don’t, do they?” Tori pushed to her feet. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thanks.” Ash stood as well and raised his arms above his head in a stretch. “Let’s just hope someone else doesn’t take a page out of this guy’s book and decide to do the same thing in another quadrant.” He shot her a dark look. “Maybe yours .”
Tori walked out of the building, Ash’s last words tumbling around in her mind. And she was struck by one thought: Why had the werewolf decided on District Four? Why not the other quads? What was so special about the north?
Chapter Five
T he next morning Dante carried his travel mug of coffee out to the stables. Monsoon season was in full swing and while they wouldn’t see any rain until later in the day, the humidity was already in the fifties and climbing. He was used to humidity in the teens, or lower, so this was nearly unbearable, especially when coupled with triple-digit heat. But he couldn’t forgo his morning cup of coffee. Setting his mug on one of the flat-top rails, he pulled out his smartphone and re-read the e-mail Tori had sent him yesterday.
Ash said the suspect uses a lot of ammonia at the scene so determining his scent is impossible. The ammonia temporarily fries the olfactory sensors in the nose. I was able to check Barry’s alibis for the dates in question, and he checks out. He’s not the guy. Unknown suspect remains at large.
After he’d gotten the e-mail, Dante had called and left a message for Rivera, letting
“Ammonia, too? Dante didn’t mention that.”
“Dante? MacMillan?” At her affirmation, Ash asked, “What the hell is MacMillan doing getting involved with something in District Four? He’s based out of District Two.” His scowl deepened. “Like you.”
“Don’t get your panties in a wad,” Tori muttered. “Some cop named Rivera called him this morning about Barry, wondering if it could be the same guy. I told Dante I’d talk to you.”
“Uh-huh.” A look crossed his face she couldn’t quite decipher. “Rivera’s getting desperate, too. His boss probably gave him the same ass-chewing I got from mine.”
Tori hunched forward and rested her chin on her fists. “So, why hasn’t a BOLO gone out on this?”
“A BOLO that says what? Be on the lookout for a werewolf who’s biting people?” He rolled his eyes and then stared up at the ceiling, his head on the back of the sofa. “There’s no fur, no hair, no fiber, no nothing. It’s like he’s wrapped in plastic, for God’s sake.”
That set Tori’s brain whirling. How would a werewolf, or even a human for that matter, keep from leaving bits of himself at a crime scene? Little booties would mask shoe prints. Latex gloves would hide fingerprints. But what about hair and skin cells? People shed hair and skin at a fairly rapid rate. For a crime scene to have none of that… “Maybe he was wrapped in plastic,” she mused out loud. “Or…he shaved?”
Ash seemed to consider that seriously. “Well, if he shaved all over, head to toes, he’d have no hair to lose. But humans and prets alike shed something like fifty thousand skin cells a day. Even if he was already in his wolf form, well, there’d be fur, wouldn’t there?”
“You’d think so.” Tori drew in a breath and held it a moment, rolling things over in her mind. Finally she shook her head in defeat. “I don’t know what to tell you, Ash. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Thank you! That’s what I was trying to tell them ,” he said with a gesture in the general direction of the main chamber. “Not that they listened.”
“Yes, well, they often don’t, do they?” Tori pushed to her feet. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thanks.” Ash stood as well and raised his arms above his head in a stretch. “Let’s just hope someone else doesn’t take a page out of this guy’s book and decide to do the same thing in another quadrant.” He shot her a dark look. “Maybe yours .”
Tori walked out of the building, Ash’s last words tumbling around in her mind. And she was struck by one thought: Why had the werewolf decided on District Four? Why not the other quads? What was so special about the north?
Chapter Five
T he next morning Dante carried his travel mug of coffee out to the stables. Monsoon season was in full swing and while they wouldn’t see any rain until later in the day, the humidity was already in the fifties and climbing. He was used to humidity in the teens, or lower, so this was nearly unbearable, especially when coupled with triple-digit heat. But he couldn’t forgo his morning cup of coffee. Setting his mug on one of the flat-top rails, he pulled out his smartphone and re-read the e-mail Tori had sent him yesterday.
Ash said the suspect uses a lot of ammonia at the scene so determining his scent is impossible. The ammonia temporarily fries the olfactory sensors in the nose. I was able to check Barry’s alibis for the dates in question, and he checks out. He’s not the guy. Unknown suspect remains at large.
After he’d gotten the e-mail, Dante had called and left a message for Rivera, letting
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