Blue moon - By Lori Handeland Page 0,49

to become a complete recluse rather than remain a civil servant.

I'd met a few wolf hunters and they were as creepy as Mandenauer. They continued to kill wolves whenever they could - despite any laws to the contrary - as if in doing so they recaptured a bit of their youth.

But Mandenauer had been hired by the DNR, which, contrary to popular belief, was far from stupid.

They would have checked him out thoroughly and made certain he was the kind of man who would follow their anal ordinances to the letter.

The CDC agreed a new strain of rabies was spreading. I had seen some of these wolves, and they weren't acting like wolves. Of course they could be werewolves, as Cadotte would have me believe.

I kicked the dirt. Hell, I was starting to see a conspiracy behind every tree.

Something sparkled in the dirt I'd stirred up. I glanced at Mandenauer, but he was busy with his wolf pyre. I winced as I bent my sore knee to scoop the bright and shiny item into my hand.

A single key. No key ring. No markings to indicate it belonged to a car. Most likely a house key, but how had it gotten here? I shrugged and slipped the thing into my pocket.

A chorus of yips started nearby and I jumped, then spun toward them, rifle raised, my hand halfway to the safety before I recognized the nature of the calls.

"Coyotes," Mandenauer murmured. "Odd."

He was right. Why hadn't the wolves run the coyotes out of the area as wolves always did?

"Maybe foxes?" I proposed.

Wolves tolerated foxes. Lord knows why.

The old man shook his head. I had to agree. I knew the difference between a coyote and fox. Something strange was going on in these woods, but then, what else was new?

"What happened?" I indicated the pyre.

Mandenauer had been staring into the forest in the direction of the coyotes'calls. He blinked and forced his attention back to me. "You wish for a tall tale?"

"Just the truth, thanks."

"Truth. What is truth?"

My patience, nothing to brag about on a good day, snapped. "Spare me the existential bullshit and tell me what happened."

He smirked. The guy certainly was a jolly old elf tonight.

"I trailed the animal. It leaped at me from the night. I shot it."

"Yee-ha."

He shrugged. "You wanted the truth. The truth is not very ' yee-ha,'I have found."

Right again.

"How did you know the wolf was rabid?"

Mandenauer shoved a stone closer to the fire with the scuffed toe of his boot. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters! We can't just go around shooting every wolf in the forest."

"The DNR has given me leave to handle this situation as I see fit."

That didn't sound like the DNR. Control freaks thrived in government positions, and they rarely gave carte blanche to anyone. Certainly not trigger-happy old farts like Mandenauer.

"If we eliminate them all, your wolf problem will be resolved much more quickly. And who is to say that the uninfected wolf today will not be an infected wolf tomorrow?"

"Then we'll have to shoot the coyotes, the raccoons, the opossums. This could get messy."

"Yes, it could."

He reached out his bony hands and warmed them on the flames. We stood shoulder to shoulder as the fire died to embers. Then we stood until a cool breeze picked up the ashes and flung them into the forest.

As we returned to the car I had to squelch the nagging thought that Mandenauer had not just been talking about animals.
Chapter 20
The Gerard house was dark and silent, as was the rest of the neighborhood. Considering it was about four in the morning, this wasn't a big shock.

I wasn't sure if Cherry was sleeping or if she'd gone to the hospital with Mel and not yet returned.

Either way, 1 wasn't going to interview her until a more humane part of the morning.

By then I'd be able to read over Brad's notes. I patted my pocket, relieved to discover the notebook was still there. I'd forgotten about it in all the excitement. If I was lucky, Brad had done a bang-up job and my interview with Cherry would be blessedly short. But I wasn't counting on it.

I checked in with Zee. I should have known better.

"Christ on a crutch, Jessie. Where have you been?"

"With Mandenauer. In the woods. Where else?"

"You were gone half the night. Isn't he some hot-shit hunter? Like you."

"He's right here."

I slid a glance at Mandenauer, but he'd leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. At