She kept remembering the first night in Goshen Park. Had he been tracking the wolf, like he said, or meeting him?
She turned over, fluffed the pillow, and drifted back into a restless sleep.
* * *
An hour later, Ari woke to the jarring ring of the phone. ID came up as Ryan. She groaned, not yet ready to deal with him and the inevitable accusations. But his first words brought her wide-awake.
“Molyneux crossed the border during the night. He’s back in Canada. Border guards apparently missed our BOLO.” He sounded exasperated and grumpy. “I don’t know what happened to the rest of the pack. No one was with him. Sheila Montgomery is the only other name we’ve got, and it hasn’t popped up anywhere.”
“Then they might still be near Riverdale,” Ari said.
“They could be almost anywhere.”
Maybe, but Olde Town was where they had contacts. Someone in town had helped them. The way Ari figured it, they’d hide nearby until Molyneux got in touch with further instructions.
Ryan asked if she’d heard from Andreas yet. When she said no, neither of them pursued the subject. Ari was glad to delay a discussion of Ryan’s suspicions until they had more information. The longer the delay, the better. Who knew? Something good could happen in the meantime.
To keep busy while she waited to hear from Andreas, she followed through on a promise to Claris. They spent the day cutting, separating, and tying medicinal plants and herbs to be dried. Claris acted a bit lonely with Brando out of town at a five-day conference on scientific wizardry. The busywork was a good chance for the two friends to catch up on gossip and indulge in girl talk.
On the way home late that night, Ari smelled the presence of werewolves. She took a meandering route through Olde Town, not wanting to lead them to her front door. She doubled back three times, hoping to catch them, but she didn’t see a single wolf. When the smell and tingle of their Otherworld energy finally dissipated, she went home. Ari was determined to put an end to this soon. The wolves were becoming far too bold.
* * *
When the night passed with still no word from Andreas, Ryan called first thing in the morning. His suspicions had taken root and flourished over night.
“If Andreas is working with the wolves and tipped off Molyneux, he wouldn’t want us to know what Gordon and Marcus have to say.” Ryan’s voice dripped with accusation. “Now that I think about it, he was very anxious to take them away. How do we know we’ll ever see them again? Hell, they could both be dust by now.”
“Come on, Ryan. Andreas isn’t going to harm Marcus. He was worried about him. Searched every night for him.”
“Or that’s what he wanted you to think,” Ryan countered. “Makes a good cover.”
“Cover for what? What’s this big conspiracy about?” Ari thought Ryan was letting the stress and frustration get to him.
“I don’t know…yet.”
She didn’t share his suspicions. Not really. But he’d planted the seed. Or maybe watered it. The rest of the day, Ari replayed recent events in her head, searching for logical explanations. Something to prove Ryan was wrong—and that she hadn’t made a big mistake by trusting a vampire.
What would Andreas gain from an alliance with Molyneux? The werewolf could be interested in the money, but the vampire? Ari didn’t think so. Not judging by the decor of the club and his expensive clothes. Power or revenge, maybe, but not money. Damn, why didn’t he call?
When the phone finally rang shortly after dark, Ari snatched it, hoping to hear Andreas’s voice. Her tense shoulders relaxed. Gordon was awake and talking.
“What did he say? Does he know why they took him?”
Andreas hesitated. “It would be better for everyone to hear the words directly from Gordon. So there is no question of interpretation. Where can we meet?”
“What’s wrong with the police station?”
He hesitated again. “I’m not certain Gordon is ready for such an intimidating atmosphere.”
And maybe Gordon wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be surrounded by human cops, Ari thought. Vampires weren’t real keen about outside authorities. In this case, Andreas didn’t trust the police anymore than they trusted him. She racked her brain for some place to meet that was neutral territory. Eventually, it dawned on her that she had an office. She’d only been in it once, but she had an assigned space at the Otherworld Cultural Center attached to the Magic Hall.