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"Damn straight. "
"Still don't understand why you need me. "
"Cartwright seems to have a thing for you. "
"You want me to ask him for permission to search?"
She shrugged. "That or distract him while I do it anyway. "
I stared at her for several seconds. "It's good to have a plan. "
"I heard something funny last night," I admitted as Grace drove an unmarked squad car toward the lake.
"Funny ha-ha or funny weird?"
"Definitely not ha-ha," I muttered. "A howl. And it wasn't a coyote, at least not the first one. Later there were coyotes. "
"Is any of this supposed to make sense?"
Quickly I told her what had happened the previous night; I didn't leave anything out except the sudden and overwhelming attraction I'd felt for Cartwright. It wasn't relevant.
"Could have been a dog," she murmured. "Hell, our wolf attack is most likely a dog. "
"Because?"
"Putting aside that there hasn't been a wolf in these mountains forever, there isn't a documented case of a wolf attacking a human unless the animal was starving, rabid, or a wolf-dog hybrid. "
"Have you been reading the Trivial Pursuit cards again?"
"Why bother when you're not here to beat?"
"I'm here now. "
"You won't stay. "
I frowned. "Why do you keep saying that?"
"You weren't meant to live in Lake Bluff, Claire. You were meant to live on Fifth Avenue. "
I glanced out the window, where the sun was falling down behind the mountains, shooting tendrils of red, orange, and pink across the Great Blue Hills of God.
"I never liked Fifth Avenue," I said.
"Never?"
"Well, maybe the first time. I did find some really great shoes. "
"Shoes," Grace snorted. "You're such a girl. "
"You say that like it's a bad thing. "
"Can be," she said slowly, staring at me with a combination of sympathy and understanding that made me wonder if she'd learned mind reading from her great-grandmother.
I turned away, mentally rolling my eyes at the thought. Mind reading was as impossible as fortune-telling and happy endings.
Seconds later we slid to a stop near the caravans and got out of the car. The wagons seemed as empty as the land surrounding them. The bonfires were banked, indicating an eventual return. But right now there didn't appear to be a living soul anywhere in the vicinity.
"Stay here in case someone comes back," Grace said, already moving toward the trees.
