She gave me a grateful look. “Thanks. That makes me feel a little better.”
“Did you find out anything else?” Danzig asked. “Like the name of the casket druid?”
She shook her head. “Nope, but I think Hugo was always Leif’s dog. Why would Gale want me to find him?”
“If Leif was in hiding, she might’ve asked you to find the dog as a way to find Leif,” I said.
“Except the casket druid wanted Hugo also,” she pointed out.
“I guess we still need to solve the mystery of why everyone wants Hugo,” Danzig said.
“That’s easy,” I said. “It’s because he’s the best dog ever.”
They both chuckled, even though my statement wasn’t much of an exaggeration.
“Hopefully someone will show up and we’ll be able to get some answers,” Bec said, setting down her tablet.
“Using houses in escrow is smart,” Danzig said. “She would always have places to hide everything.”
“Yeah,” she said. “There were a lot of boxes in there. I bet they don’t exclusively sell to the druid. There are all kinds of nastypeople who think owning an elephant tusk is a status symbol. If the items were ever discovered by the authorities, Gale could say she didn’t know someone was using the empty house. Stuff like that happens all the time.”
“We need to think about what we’re going to do after we take care of the druid,” Danzig said.
“What?” Bec asked.
I understood what my brother was saying. He'd probably heard me mentally debating about who might show up.
“Unless the humans attack us, we aren’t going to do anything to them,” Danzig said, sending me a warning look. I don't know why he objected to the soul gaze, but I shrugged and stayed silent.
Bec looked upset. “But they’re doing something illegal and horrible. Could we call a tip into Angel or something?”
“We could, but these people are clever,” Danzig said.
“It’s probably going to be hard for the human authorities to prove anything,” I said, hating the way that Bec’s expression turned upset, even though she tried to cover it.
“You guys are right,” she said, then she perked up. “We could keep working the case and figure out how they’re importing everything and the other people they’re selling them to! When we’ve got all the evidence, we could tip the police off and make sure they find everything.”
“Good idea,” I said. As we found people, I could quietly stalk and soul gaze them. That was proper punishment.
Bec’s mouth dropped open. “You're agreeing with me?”
“I don’t like this either,” I said. “You're right, they should be stopped.”
Danzig reached over to put a hand on my shoulder.I know what you're planning.
Shut up, I said, then brushed his hand away.
“What did Danzig mean?” Bec asked. “He said you’re planning something.”
I was impressed that she could hear us that well. “Planning to catch all the humans involved in this. Like you want to.”
“I’m a little shocked that you agreed without a single protest,” Bec admitted.
I frowned. “As long as we're with you, humans aren't a danger. Besides, we’re partners, remember?”
Her smile turned brilliant. She got on her knees and somehow effortlessly slid from the front passenger seat into the back seat with me. My mate was flexible!
Hugo was ecstatic to have her join us and kept trying to lick her face even as she settled him in her lap and faced me.
