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CHAPTER2
“And you turned offthe light and walked out here and tripped over the body?” Sheriff Taylor asked for the millionth time. The dark circles under his eyes made him look as tired as I felt. His appearance had more to do with the fact that his second nature was a raccoon. Mine was actual exhaustion. The sheriff stood over the body, and I leaned against the doorjamb. Deputy Farraday had been taking pictures and making notes. The town coroner and local funeral director, Mark Smart, prepared a body bag.
Why would someone leave a freshly skinned corpse outside a vegetarian restaurant? Was it a statement from some crazy meat eaters?
I didn’t want to think about the question hovering just outside my potential hysteria.Was this poor soul someone I knew?
“Chavvah?”
“Yes,” I finally responded. “That’s what happened.” I felt sick to my stomach, and now that the adrenaline had completely worn off, I could smell every sickly, rancid bit of the man’s exposed muscle and fat. I averted my gaze from the ghastly sight, but my other shifter senses were on high alert. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get that particular stench out of my nose.
“You didn’t hear anything?”
“Like I said, I had my ear buds in, listening to a book.” I put my hand on my belly to stop a wave of queasiness. “I can’t believe…” My breath quickened, and I swallowed the rising bile. “…this happened.”
Sheriff Taylor joined me near the back door and squeezed my shoulder. “I’m real sorry, Chav.”
I saw movement around the corner, and my heart jumped into my throat. I grabbed the sheriff’s shoulder, but then I recognized the silver glint of Billy Bob’s hair.Shit.The doc was the last person I wanted seeing me covered in blood and looking, once again, like a victim.
The werewolf strode directly to us, barely glancing at the body. His stare was intense as his gaze pinned mine. “Are you okay?” The low, throaty growl that followed the question sent shivers down my skin.
I nodded, worried that if I opened my mouth, I’d start crying.
Billy Bob turned to the sheriff. “Do you know who it is?”
“No. Mark’s pretty certain it’s a man, even with his skin and genitals removed.” He winced as he spoke. “We can’t figure out if it’s one of ours or one of the people who came in for the Jubilee.” I could hear a sad weariness in his tone. Our town had already been through so much, and this murder compounded the misery with interest. “Doc, you’ll have to help us ID the victim.”
As the only medical doctor for miles around, and really, the only one qualified to examine a therian body, Billy Bob would do the autopsy. Call me a chicken, but I couldn’t stay there within three feet of a skinned corpse and talk about it—him. “I … I think I’ll go shower now.”
“I know you want to clean up, Chav,” the sheriff said. “But you did the right thing in waiting until we arrived.” He snapped his fingers at Farraday, who trotted over with a paper bag. “I need you to put all your clothes in this bag after you change. Also, I don’t think you should stay here tonight. Why don’t you stay with Sunny and Babe for a few days?”
Sunny and Babel were having enough issues with Baby Jude not sleeping through the night. They were both exhausted, and I didn’t want to upset Sunny. Not tonight. Besides, I couldn’t deal with my friend’s reaction to blood. Sunny was notoriously squeamish and tended to faint.
“Chavvah can stay with me,” said Billy Bob.
“Uh, no.” I racked my brain for alternatives. I didn’t want to go to Billy Bob’s place. One, it was attached to his clinic, and I still had a lot of painful memories of my recovery, and two, I couldn’t stand the idea of sleeping just feet away from Billy Bob, knowing he’d never see me as anything more than a patient. “I’ll go to Ruth’s.”
“It’s after ten, Chavvah.” He used his doctor tone—the one that suffered no arguments. “There’s no sense in waking her and Ed this late at night.”
“Besides, they took in two of the Jubilee attendees,” added the sheriff. “They’ve already got tight quarters.”
Desperate, I seized on a ridiculous thought. “I’ll sleep at the motel.”
The Halliver’s Hilltop Motel was a thirty-bed unit just outside of town on the same rural road that led to Sunny and Babel’s cabin. Homer and Audrey Halliver, a nice young were-raccoon couple, managed the motel.
Billy Bob lifted an eyebrow. “The rooms are booked. But maybe Bethany could let you share her room at the Halliver’s.”
The knowing look in his eyes made me want to punch him in his perfectly flawless kissable kisser. Billy Bob or Bitch?
I took the lesser of two evils.
“Fine,” I said, making sure he heard the irritation in my acquiescence. I snatched up the paper bag for my bloody clothes. “I’ll be right back.”
* * *
Blood colored the shower stall.
As the hot water poured over me, the memory of getting clean after sitting in my own filth and blood for three weeks rolled back on me like a dust devil on a hot highway. My imaginary friend began to chant. I couldn’t understand the words bouncing in my mind, but I understood the soothing tone. Calmness stole my panic, and I released a pent-up breath.
