A few minutes later Cassie’s phone rang again. I expected it to be Wanda with a report on the guy watching us, but it was her boss, Lois.
“Weatherby!” Lois’s booming voice was unmistakable. “What’s your status?”
“Ruby and I are driving to her house right now, boss. You’re on speaker.”
If I expected Lois to acknowledge me or make small talk, I was wrong. She got right down to business.
“There’s been another incident.”
“Here in Seattle?” I asked. “Was it Eleanor?”
“No, some woman named Mary Ellen Mason.”
“She plays for Vancouver,” I told Cassie.
“She came home to find her apartment trashed,” Lois continued. “Pretty much everything inside was destroyed. There was a threatening message on the wall, and her fish was laying on the floor next to its tank. Dead.”
I gasped. “Is she okay?”
“Affirmative,” Lois said. “We’re sending an agent up to British Columbia to keep an eye on her. Hopefully that idiot Janice doesn’t up and decide Mason is her mate.”
“Janice is a certified Mensa genius,” Cassie whispered, rolling her eyes.
Unfortunately her boss heard her comment. “You got somethin’ to say to me, Weatherby?”
“No ma’am.” Cassie was immediately contrite, it was fascinating to see.
“Okay then, I’ll send you the report, and I expect an update from you tonight as well.”
“Roger that.”
“These guys are playing with the victims, stroking up fear before they strike,” Lois continued. “But they seem to be escalating and I don’t like that. Keep me informed what’s happening there.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Cassie pressed the button, disconnecting the call, then sighed.
“Your boss is… intense,” I ventured.
“You have no idea.”
“Is she like a vampire queen or something?”
Cassie burst out in laughter, her face breaking into a smile for the first time since I met her. It was stunning the way it lit up her face. My heart started thumping painfully in my chest.
“Lois is an alpha wolf, very dominant. Even my vampire is intimidated by her, and that’s really rare.”
“Oh, so she’s like Eleanor.”
Cassie shook her head. “Lois eats wolves like your friend for breakfast, possibly literally. I can guarantee you that ten seconds with Lois and Eleanor will be quaking in her boots. There are very few shifters that intimidate my boss.”
She paused, then added, “But that makes her good at what she does. She might seem brusque, but she’ll kill for her clients. Literally. She loves to kill the bad guy, usually as painfully as possible.”
I shivered. What was this world I’d stumbled into? Vampires, shifters, fangs, people devising painful ways to kill. If I had any sense I’d be terrified right now, especially trapped in a car with a vampire who was becoming increasingly agitated the longer we sat in traffic.
She reached over to turn on the AC, turning the vent to blow directly on her face. “Damn, that sun’s hot.”
“Afraid you’re going to turn to dust?” I teased.
