“Is there any chance she went to him?” Austin asked as he slid into the booth next to me. “Any chance she was trying to prove herself? To you? By trying to bring him in on her own?”
“No. No way in hell. She’s not stupid, and she isn’t reckless.” Even her relationship with Vance had been strategically and carefully handled, in order to keep it secret. “She wouldn’t do that.”
But therewasthat possibility I’d intentionally shoved aside. The idea that I’d not only driven her lover away and denied her the shifter existence she wanted, but had also pushed her into the arms of a killer because she knew he would be willing to infect her.
But no. Again, she wasn’t reckless. She wanted a controlled infection, with medication and support standing by. She wasn’t stupid enough to risk her life with Cam, after he’d killed at least half a dozen other women who almost certainly also had the shifter gene.
Shewasn’t.
“Okay, well, however he got her, he has two options at this point,” Tucker said.
Austin shrugged. “Run, or dig in and hide.”
“I’m guessing that if he runs, we’re fucked,” Bishop said.
“Largely, yes,” Austin agreed. “Though I could probably call in a favor and see if he’s been ticketed anywhere or used any toll roads. Most of those have cameras that log license plate numbers.”
“It doesn’t make sense for him to run, though,” I said, thinking aloud. “He’s doing this for a reason. And he probably thinks that if he can successfully add a female shifter to our numbers, there are people high up in the community—council members—who’ll want to know how he did it, and whether he can do it again. And he may not be entirely off-base there. He may be counting on an eventual success to save his life. Which means heneedsto keep Davey alive. Which makes running less likely, considering how sick she’ll be.”
“He’ll have taken her some place stable,” Tucker said. “Some place he can treat her.”
“Why?” Bishop said. “He didn’t do that with any of the others, right? He certainly didn’t play nurse with Yvette.”
“We have no idea how any of it went down with Yvette or the other women,” I admitted. “I still can’t figure out how he managed to leave such a clean bite on her, or why he would let her go after that. And as far as we know about the others—” Based entirely on what Nolan Blake was able to tell us about his sister. “—they had no idea they’d been infected. None of their hospital reports even mentioned an animal attack.”
“Okay, so he changed his MO with Davey,” Tucker said. “Because of that irresistible opportunity she presented, as the sister of the only successfully infected woman he’s ever met.”
“Whom his father infected,” I added. “It makes sense, if you squint just right. A man in his family successfully infected a woman in Davey’s. Maybe he thought he could replicate that.”
“Or at least that he had to try,” Austin said.
“Right. So, he wants to keep her alive.” Bishop sank into a chair at a table several feet away. “But if he knows we’re onto him, he’s not going to keep her at his place, right? So there’s no point in going back there?”
Austin shrugged. “Except to do a more thorough search.”
“Yes. Will you two do that? I’m going down to talk to Billy again. Therehasto be more he can tell us.”
“He’s been interviewed twice,” Tucker pointed out. “And Vance is very thorough.”
“I know. But if Billy was holding anything back—anything at all—surely he’ll give it up when he hears about Davey. He looks up to her. He likes her. He’d want to help, if he can.”
Tucker closed his laptop. “I’m coming with you.” I started to object but he kept talking. “I’ve exhausted all the online leads, unless he has something new to offer, anyway.”
“Okay, then.” I stood with him as Austin and Bishop shrugged into their jackets. “You two let us know if you find anything helpful at Cam’s. Otherwise, we’ll meet back here.”
“I’m a little afraid I’m never going to sleep again,” Bishop mumbled as he followed Austin toward the back door. “But it’ll be worth it when that asshole is rotting in a shallow hole in the ground.”
A minute later, we heard the 4Runner’s engine start from out back, and Tucker turned to me. “So, you and Bishop Mattheson? Or you and Austin Graham?”
I flinched. “You overheard us?”
“Not on purpose.” He shrugged. “But you had to know that secret wouldn’t keep.”
“Vance and Davey’s did.”
“Until it didn’t.”
“Well, whatever you’re assuming, you’re probably wrong. I’m not actually involved with either of them.”
