Page 80 of His to Possess

Kathleen gave him a hard glare before turning her attention to the victim.

Josh inched closer, curiosity covering his face. “Do you need me any longer?”

“There’s going to be some visitors from the outside, crime scene investigators and other officers. Show them where to find us.”

“You sure that’s wise, Max?” he asked.

“We can’t keep them out.”

He nodded, taking another glance in her direction.

“Let it go, Josh,” I hissed.

He finally backed away, giving me a nod of respect. I sighed, feeling his anger. There were several who were furious I’d brought her into the community.

“Jesus,” Kathleen muttered, taking a step away and covering her mouth. I knew exactly what she was thinking, that every Wolfen was a true monster.

I bent down, taking several photographs. She’d taken the liberty of calling it in the moment we arrived on scene, which gave us maybe twenty minutes to spend with the body ourselves. As I tipped my head back, inhaling deeply, she watched me with a sneer on her face. The only scent was the sweet copper stench of blood and the dirt.

“Your little soldiers don’t like me very much,” she said absently.

“They don’t know you.”

“And they’re not going to.”

I moved to the edge of the forest, studying the trees. “The killer came in from the road on the outskirts of Roselake.”

“That could be a ploy,” she countered.

“True.” The killer had a full day to plan and execute his plot. He’d known exactly where I would take her. Another troubling bit of information.

She yanked a pair of latex gloves from her pocket, tugging them on with obvious anger filtered into her system. When she finally crouched down, she lowered her head, glancing at the visible portion of the girl’s neck. “There are no ligature marks as with the other kills. The bastard simply ripped out her throat but if I had to guess, not before terrorizing her.”

“As I said, this was meant as a warning.”

Kathleen exhaled, coughing several times. “The killer was angry. Perhaps you were right, and I was his intended victim.” She studied the girl’s face, shaking her head. “I swear I know her.”

“From where? That could be important.”

“I don’t know. Let’s get what we can. This place is creeping me out.”

We gathered as much evidence as possible, although I knew we wouldn’t find anything from the killer. He wouldn’t be that careless. As I heard the crunch of tires on the gravel at the road, I motioned toward her. “They’re here.”

She moved to a standing position, narrowing her eyes. “Over-sensitized hearing,” she muttered. “I’ll keep that extra special sense in mind. I need to call Captain Walters. Whether or not he’s involved no longer matters. We have to continue pretending.”

I waited as she called the captain, moving to the outskirts of the area, still searching for any sign of the rogue wolf. I was no longer buying the disease in any manner. This was pure method killing, very human in design.

“We need to ID the body as soon as possible,” she said into the phone as she paced. What she didn’t tell him was that we’d already sent the fingerprints off to someone I trusted, the crude ink on paper good enough to garner an identity as long as the victim was in the system.

“I know. There have been no connections made unfortunately, but we’re still working on it.” She hesitated, glancing in my direction. “The call came in from one of the locals here. We’re going to interview a few of them.” A sly smile crossed her face. “Yes, sir. I know the mayor is breathing down your neck. We’re doing everything we can.” She held the phone to her head for a few seconds after ending the call. “I hate lying to him.”

“Do you trust him?” I asked, curious as to her answer.

“I don’t trust anyone, including myself. We play this just as we discussed. Now get me the hell out of here.”

As she gathered the items she’d brought, I could tell she was putting certain pieces together. Now she was the one keeping secrets.

And there was no way I was allowing her to leave the community under any circumstances. It was only a matter of time before he would strike again and this time, I knew he would take the prize he’d wanted all along.

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