“Just don’t go sticking your face too close to any stray wolves,” he said. “You never know what bad-tempered assholes they’ll turn out to be.”
Dave shrugged. “But they might be more than they seem,” he said. “See you later, Jesse.”
Jesse turned back to the corral, something easing inside him.
MATT
His ardent hope for a quiet day, where he might be able to nod off at his desk without anyone noticing, was sunk before he even got to the office. He’d only just reached town when a call came in about a break-in at the hardware store on Main. By the time they’d dealt with that, another call had come in about a robbery at a liquor store.
By four o’clock, with the judicious application of gallons of Janice’s strong and bitter coffee, Matt was still just about awake. And looking forward to going home, where Jesse would be waiting for him. He wasalmostsure what he’d seen in Jesse that morning. If he could just give Jesse enough time and space, then maybe he’d agree to stay. Maybe he’d seepackwasn’t a threat. And maybe Matt should get his mind back on his job.
Bryce and Shannon were combing through CCTV footage when yetanothercall came in. This time, about a hit-and-run over on Latimer. Matt took Bryce with him. Call him paranoid, but thiswasa goddamn crime spree for the sleepy town of Elk Ridge.
The injured girl, eight-year-old Hailey Thomas, had already been taken to the hospital when Matt and Bryce reached the scene. The only thing to tell this was the scene of a tragedy was the maroon child’s bicycle lying on the sidewalk, its frame bent and twisted. A small circle of people gathered close by.
“It was a red Ram,” an eyewitness said. “It mounted the sidewalk and hit that little girl, like the driver was half blind or drunk. And then he drove off, leaving her there.” She wiped away tears. “Who would do something like that?”
It was a rhetorical question, but Matt would very much like it answered. The town had its fair share of drunk drivers, but something was setting off internal alarms that he couldn’t rationalize. His wolf had sensed something his conscious mind wasn’t yet grasping, and he’d learned to trust his wolf’s instincts.
He left the witness in the care of one of her neighbors after eliciting every last detail he could. He turned, scanning the quiet street. When Bryce met his eyes, Matt saw the same unease he was feeling. That was when it crystallized—his disquiet wasn’t about the accident. They were being watched.
He spun on his heel, narrowed eyes quartering the street in every direction, but he couldn’t see anything out of place. Just the hush of a neighborhood where most people were at work and the only sound was the faint ticking of lawn sprinklers.
As he headed back to his truck, a blue Corolla pulled away from the curb a few houses down, easing out into the road before turning onto Main.
There was nothing remarkable about it, no tinted windows or aftermarket rims, and no reason in the world why it should draw his attention. He knew the hit-and-run vehicle was a Ram. But his gut said something else.
He keyed his radio. “Dispatch, run a plate for me. Blue Toyota Corolla just pulled off Latimer and turned east on Main.”
By the time he reached his truck, Beth had radioed back. The car was a rental out of Denver, with no flags. Not exactly normal for the town but not suspicious either. Could be family having flown in to visit, taking a car from the airport.
“Something’s not right, Matt.”
Bryce’s low-voiced statement bugged him because he knew damn well something wasn’t right. The problem was, he didn’t know what, and without that knowledge, he was flying blind.
“Stay alert,” he said. “I’m going to the hospital to see if there’s any chance our victim’s talking.”
If she was still alive, because there was blood on the sidewalk. Not a great deal of it, but then an eight-year-old kid didn’t have much to lose. Something was badly wrong, and it had all started the day after Jesse had turned up on their doorstep. Matt didn’t believe in coincidences.
Chapter Twenty-three
MATT
Matt couldn’t honestly say he remembered a thing about the drive to the hospital. If his half-formed suspicions had any truth to them, a little girl had been dragged into a war between two shifter packs. It was indefensible on every level.
It could also be disastrous for all shifters if non-shifters were to learn that was what had happened. He hadeveryintention of tracking down the bastard who’d done this, but if he turned out to be a shifter, Matt already knew he’d administer rough-and-ready shifter justice. Her parents deserved to see him held accountable through the courts, but Matt couldn’t risk what that would mean for shifter/non-shifter relations.
At the hospital, he was told Hailey Thomas had two broken legs. One was a clean fracture, and the other wasn’t quite severe enough for her to be sent to the nearest trauma center. That was the most positive thing he could say about her condition. His wolfhad snarled deep inside him as he’d promised her weeping parents that he would do all he could to catch the person responsible.
It was after six when he got back to the office. The instant he set foot in the building, his hackles rose. Someone had been here. Analphahad been here. Inhisterritory, bringing other wolves with him.
He identified the scents as he moved through the open area containing Bryce’s and Shannon’s desks, toward his private office at the back, scenting as he went. Three in total, all male, had been here perhaps an hour ago.
At least they hadn’t been in his office. That was clear of any trace of strangers, but the sense of intrusion, of challenge, lingered, and he was still restless when Janice tapped on the door. When he told her to come in, she closed the door behind her, which had his senses even more on alert. Janice had been the secretary in the Elk Ridge Sheriff’s Office for forty-one years and had better instincts than many law enforcement officers Matt had known.
“There was someone here to see you earlier. He was a big, dark-haired mountain of a man calling himself Cale.” She hesitated, as if preventing herself from saying something more.
“Go on,” Matt said. His predecessor had written her off as a fussy, middle-aged woman, but Matt trusted her.
