Unfortunately, they came up with nothing. Well, not completely nothing. Some people looked too scared to talk, but it was clear they knew something—they just wouldn’t risk the wrath of Dawnie to say so.
And a lot of people just truly didn’t know where the boy was and were worried as hell about what was coming tonight or tomorrow if he wasn’t found, but they didn’t know what to do about it.
After about an hour and a half, Krista noticed something odd.
Bo Durian had shown up about half an hour ago, carrying a six pack of beer, which he tossed into one of the ice-filled coolers. It wasn’t like him to want to hang out with foxes, and it definitely wasn’t like him to bring anything to a party. All he did was take and take. And he hadn’t left yet—why was he still there? He wasn’t kin—his pack wasn’t one of those who had inter-married with the Ellis family.
Half a dozen bears were there, also not related to the Ellis family.
It wasn’t unusual for a few people who weren’t family to stop in and pay their respects and say hey, but this was an unusually large number. And as far as Krista could see, all or most of them were associated with Dawnie.
As she moved through the crowd, she saw that they were stationed strategically, spaced out so that they could listen to any conversation around them or just intimidate by glowering. Bo and the bears sat on plastic chairs or just stood there, plates of food piled high, eating slowly and watching the crowd with narrowed eyes.
Krista managed to catch Floyd’s gaze for just a second, but he dropped his gaze in a guilty fashion and scooted away.
She leaned into Blake and kissed his neck, then whispered in his ear. “Look around you. Floyd called Dawnie and said we were asking questions. And then all these bears showed up. The Reeds are definitely involved somehow. Not necessarily Dawnie, but someone from her crew for sure.”
“Is that why she’s here?” Blake murmured back.
“She who? Oh, hell.”
She stood there in the heat of the summer afternoon and felt a sudden drop in the temperature. Dread settled like a cold sweat over Krista’s body, and she turned.
Dawnie.
