Page 51 of His to Possess

“Well, yes and no.”

I was no mood for guessing games, my patience wearing thin. “What should I know?”

“The Cherokee do own a significant portion of the land in and around the mountains, several thousand acres to be exact. They run a city with their own government system, shops, bars. Truly quite a beautiful and flourishing little town.”

“But…”

Lois hesitated. “But there have been rumors for years of reported wolf sightings near and around the area.”

“That’s not unusual.”

“I’m talking about very unusual creatures, the depictions the stuff of legends. Beasts with super human strength, keen eyesight and hearing.”

I’d never known Lois to fall trap to any kind of legend, but I was forced to admit that I didn’t know her that well. “Interesting but you can’t honestly tell me you’re buying into the stuff of legends.”

“No, but a clever killer might be using the information as a method of creating terror in the community. There are locals who refuse to set foot in Roselake City limits because they believe the land is holy.”

“You mean haunted.”

Lois laughed for a third time. “I’m not even entirely certain why I told you that, except one of the victims had recently paid a visit there.”

“How would you know that?” Every scrap of information had been collected. I’d seen to that myself.

“You’ll never believe this but there was a receipt rolled into a ball in the victim’s mouth.”

“You are kidding me.”

“I only wish I were. Take a look. I heard you had a new partner.”

“Yeah, some asshole from ATF,” I managed without sounding too bitter. I was determined to follow my hunches. She didn’t need to have any idea that Max and I were working together other than by force. Everything felt very… orchestrated. “I can’t stand the jerk.”

“Maximillian Cordero. He’s a good man, one hell of a special agent. You’re in good hands working with him. Look, I gotta run. I’ll call you if I find anything else that’s unusual.”

“Thanks, Lois. I appreciate it. Oh, Lois, what happened to Randy? He was doing a damn good job on the autopsies.”

“Oh, I should have told you,” she said without hesitation. “He had a family emergency.”

“I’m so sorry. Give him my best.”

“Absolutely. Good luck with your investigation,” Lois said brightly.

Although I hadn’t been a good judge of characters as of late, my stomach continued to churn. While I also wasn’t one to believe in conspiracy theories, it certainly seemed as if Lois was pointing fingers at the people living in Roselake for the murders.

Exhaling, I opened the attached file, praying I was wrong. What I did know is that Lois was very detailed and thorough, traits I appreciated in working with her. A cult. What I knew about cults was that they followed the orders of their leader no matter what was asked.

Or commanded.

Possibly including murder.

What I would do was look at this logically and find out exactly what Max might or might not know.

The pictures she’d taken during her examination were almost as graphic as the original crime scene, although the detail was much clearer. I leaned closer to the computer screen, unable to take my eyes off the ragged tears in the victim’s neck. As my hand fluttered to my throat, the pulse thumping against my fingers was powerful.

A werewolf, a person who changes into half man, half wolf normally during a full moon.

I blinked several times, hissing under my breath before shifting to another screen. I could see exactly what she was talking about with the bruising on the back of Mr. Beals’ neck. While the markings could be a clear indication of a handprint, the ragged tears indicated…

Claws.

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