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Chapter23
Chase
“Thank you for coming, Chase,” the sheriff says, nodding. His eagle eyes take in Ruby as she jumps out of Rachel's truck and straight into my arms. He makes all the connections he needs and doesn’t ask a single word. Corbin has always been a no-nonsense man, sticking to his guns and doing his job. Nothing else matters, especially not the relationships of the townspeople.
“You should know, the child? She was mauled. Clawed. I don’t know how you people spread whatever it is you have…but I’ll have to leave her in pack custody. If she changes, no human foster family will know how to handle that.”
Ruby sucks in a shocked breath, her hand covering her mouth as she looks over Corbin’s shoulder and tries to peer inside. “How badly is she hurt?” she asks, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“A single scratch from her forehead to her cheek. I can't tell if it’s from a tooth or a claw, but it’s deep and needs stitches. Cookie is inside doing what she does best, making her smile.” He shrugs towards the door and Ruby pushes past him in a hurry. I know she’ll be a good mother.
“Tell me about the attack, Corbin.” We walk to his cruiser and he pulls out a file and lays it on the hood. Inside are pictures of the mother’s station wagon covered in deep gauges. The driver's side window is shattered, blood all over the seat and the road.
“Cookie says she was a small woman, blonde like the baby, plain looking. Nothing that stands out about her, she could be anyone. Do you know how many plain blondes come through here on their way to the city? She had no identification. Cookie says she was shifty, only paid in cash, and got out of there in a hurry. Only stayed long enough to eat.”
“Sounds like she was on the run, do you think the wolf was chasing her?”
“No, this reeks of domestic violence. If you ask me, she was fleeing and got caught up in whatever you people do around here.” He shakes his head and runs his hand down his face. “I don’t mean to be rude, you’ve been great for this town and we’re newer than you guys are. It’s just…wolf issues have never spread to the human population before. I expect you’ll handle this? Find that woman and return her to her child.”
“I’ll do my best, Corbin,” I say honestly, deciding against telling him about the bigger issue at hand and the fact that the child’s mother is probably worse than dead already. Humans have never been involved in wolf issues, like he said, and that’s how it’ll stay.
Corbin only nods and takes the files, getting into his cruiser and going back to the station.
I walk into the bar and see Ruby crouched down at the bar, cooing to a small child in Cookie’s arms. If I didn't know better, I’d think the baby was Cookie’s, they look so similar. Cookie’s feeding the little cherub apple sauce while Ruby tries to make her laugh.
“Do we know her name?” I ask as I walk up and the little girl looks up at me with huge, terrified eyes.
“Puppy?” she babbles.
Cookie busts up laughing. “She sure is a clairvoyant little thing, isn’t she? Pulls zero punches and calls it like it is. I like her! I’ll call her Claire until we know better.” Cookie’s completely enamored, her eyes glued to the baby just like Ruby’s.
“Bob wants to talk to you, Chase. He’s upstairs.” Cookie waves me away and Ruby doesn’t even notice me leaving.
I shake my head and chuckle as I walk away. At least I know that while I’m busy trying to find the mother that the baby will be taken care of.
I climb the stairs two at a time, last time I saw Bob he was a mess and covered in that kid’s blood. I go to his apartment and knock on the door, but it squeaks open and shows an empty room.
“Bob?” I call out, and hear some clattering from the bedroom.
“In here!” he hollers back and I walk to the room. He’s carrying boxes out the back door and filling up a trailer.
“You movin’?
“Heh… yeah… not far, but I have to. Every time I wake up, I hear that kid’s gurgling scream. I relive running down the stairs and seeing that huge shadow running out of here. I’m not getting any sleep, so I’m moving to my old house just out of town.”
“I’m so sorry you had to be the one to find him, Bob,” I say honestly, patting his shoulder before I pick up a box and help him carry it down the stairs at the back of the bar. When we place the boxes inside the truck, Bob sighs heavily and sits on the tailgate.
“You kids have grown up all around me, going from pups to men and women taller and braver than I could ever be. Now I hear you have your own baby on the way? It boggles my mind, it really does.” He runs his hands through his hair and messes it up, gray strands flying wispily as he looks up at me with serious but kind eyes. “
You can raise a baby in that trash heap.” He points at my trailer behind me and shakes his head. “You and Ruby can move into my place, keep an eye on the bar for me. As long as you don’t mind listening to showtunes when Cookie’s off work. Sometimes they aren't so bad, but if I hear another song from ‘Mamma Mia’ I might scream.”
He tosses me the keys and I catch them. I’m at a loss for words but Bob doesn’t seem to care. He claps me on the shoulder and pinches my cheek before getting in the truck and leaving me standing behind the bar with my jaw dropped.
I’ve been wracking my mind as to where we would live and had decided it would only be fair to move in with Ruby. She’s comfortable in her home, and making her move into my tiny trailer wouldn’t be fair.
This solves that problem, she can decorate it however she pleases and I can be at the center of everything. Cookie rents the studio upstairs next to Bob’s apartment. Honestly I think he just cut a room out of his place and furnished it with everything she needed. He loves her so much he’d have converted the bar itself into an apartment if she’d asked for it. Ever since she wandered into town about ten years ago with nothing but a backpack and a pair of flip flops, she’s been a constant staple in everyone's lives.
I push my way through the back door and into the bar, leaning on a booth while I watch my mate holding the baby girl. The baby has a handful of her hair and is yanking away but Ruby is all smiles. Scraps, the cat, is on the booth behind her back and she reaches down and it seems to me like the cat pats the baby’s head. Her purring is so loud I can hear it from across the room. She rubs her head against Ruby’s face and winks at me.
