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Chapter Two
Edie
“Dead?How?”
I looked back and forth between the white woman and her still-silent companion.He had to be her son—they shared the same thick black hair, blue eyes, and high cheekbones.Her hair had a thick silver streak running back from her temple.Good genes, I thought absently.That must be why I kept having to tear my eyes off the man.
I mentally shook myself.If these people were friends of my father’s, they were probably just as deluded as he was.We’d barely spoken in the last five years because every time we talked, the conversation descended into his wild theories about wolf shifters who walked among us.I couldn’t stand to listen to his ravings.And now that I was here, in the house that he’d filled with ‘evidence,’ I felt like I was about to start raving too.
As if to prove to myself I wasn’t like him, I kept my tone polite.“He had a heart attack.Two days ago.”
“I’m so sorry,” the woman said.
I nodded because I didn’t know how to reply.Was I supposed to be sorry he was gone?He’d left me this broken-down house stuffed with garbage.My mother was right—there was no way I should have taken bereavement leave from my job at the hospital to deal with this.“You know what people will say if you take time off,” she’d admonished.“You’re about to start that fellowship.”
I knew she was right.Medicine was competitive, and if I wanted to succeed I had to stay sharp and focused.My father had always been a distraction.Now, here I was, hundreds of miles from where I was supposed to be, endangering my future as a doctor to deal with his death, because some whiny part of me felt guilty that I’d ignored him when he was alive.
“Is there something else?”I asked.I was tired, sweaty, and facing a mountain of work.My hold on politeness was starting to slip.They looked at each other but didn’t reply.“Well, then…” I said, closing the door.
Suddenly the man was there, his big hand spread on the door to hold it open.My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him.Seriously, no one was supposed to be that handsome.Though he was invading my physical space in a way that usually made me uncomfortable, all I felt was a rush of heat.
Which turned to flame when he turned his mouth up in a sheepish smile.“We drove a long way to get here.I hate to ask this, but my mom was hoping to use the facilities.”
The woman nodded, pressing her legs together.I felt a pang of sympathy, followed quickly by suspicion.“Are you with the police?”
“No,” the woman said with a laugh.“Not even close,” she said when she saw I wasn’t joining her in the joke.“I’m sorry if we frightened you.We had an appointment with your father, but I can see that now isn’t a good time.”
“Mom—“
“Jasper,” she said.“Let’s leave the girl alone.She can’t help us.”
She was squirming now, her full bladder obviously making her uncomfortable.I’d done the potty dance enough times to let my sympathy win out over my caution.“You can come in.But I warn you, my father, uh, wasn’t much of a housekeeper.”
“When you get to my age, you’re not picky,” the woman said with a smile.
The son slipped in behind her, giving me what I’m sure he thought was an innocent smile.His face was too interesting to ever be innocent.“Be careful.It’s kind of treacherous in here.”
“Nonsense,” the woman said, but I could hear her surprise.
The old house might have been lovely, if it wasn’t packed floor to ceiling with my father’s stuff.Dusty boxes leaned against spindly piles of VHS tapes and burned DVDs, creating a maze that I still hadn’t fully explored.In recent years, he’d supported himself by repairing old electronics, and there were parts and pieces everywhere.I could sense some level of organization had once existed, but it seemed to have been abandoned years ago.
I gestured to the main floor bathroom.She thanked me as she stumped past me, leaning on a cane.Idly, I wondered what she had.I could tell from the elasticity of her skin that she’d lost weight, and she had the sort of pallor I associated with patients in pain.
Her son was watching her closely, as if he’d sweep in to rescue her at the slightest sign of a stumble.I was more concerned that piles of magazines and newspapers that my father had stacked along the wall would come tumbling down upon her.We both breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
I turned to find the man staring at me.A primal pulse echoed through me—I was alone in a strange place with a big, strong man, and I didn’t even know his last name.I told myself it was fear, but my physical responses were more in line with arousal.I skirted my way closer to the fireplace and the ancient set of pokers, just in case.“You said you had an appointment with my father?”
“Yes,” he said.
I blinked, waiting for him to continue.
“We’re, uh, interested in his research.”He moved nimbly though the maze my father had made of the living room.There appeared to be furniture beneath the overstuffed boxes and mysterious mechanical pieces, but I couldn’t be sure.
“What aspect, exactly?”I asked.I glanced at the bathroom door, eager for the woman to come back out.Something about the man had my senses tingling in a way that wasn’t entirely comfortable.
He took a moment to answer as he stared at a map on the wall.It was covered with thousands of dots in different colors.I had no clue what my father had been tracking, but it appeared to center in three areas: Northern California, the center of Louisiana, and here in Montana.“How much do you know about your father’s work?”
“Very little,” I said.“Enough.”
