speak.
"I'm not sure what to think."
Which only made two of us. Everyone was acting weird lately. Except Cadotte. But he'd been strange to begin with.
My cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. Speak of the Devil. 1 hooked the thing back onto my belt.
Raising my eyes, I met Clyde's. From the expression in his, he knew who'd been on the phone.
He heaved a sigh. "Be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."
Zee had said the same thing. Was I such a social reject that everyone took one look at Cadotte and labeled me "soon to be hurt"?
That was a rhetorical question.
A knock on Clyde's door had us both lifting our heads. Mandenauer walked in.
"Just the guy I wanted to see," I began.
He raised a slightly yellowed brow and shut the door behind him. "I am at your service."
He bowed, just his head and shoulders in what I was beginning to think of as the German fashion. I half-expected him to click his heels, but he didn't.
"The doctor at the hospital didn't know anything about the super-rabies."
"Of course not."
"Why not? Don't you think that's something the doctors ought to know?"
Mandenauer shrugged. "Rabies is rabies to them. The vaccine works on both."
"Not so much. Didn't you hear that Mel died? Have you seen the body?"
"Yes to both questions. Sometimes that happens."
"Well, don't get too broken up about it," I mumbled.
"Jessie," Clyde warned.
"Yeah, yeah."
I rubbed my forehead. I was getting tired, dopey, crankier than usual. I had another question for Manden-auer - it was on the tip of my brain.
"Oh!" I smacked my forehead. "Ouch." I forced myself to lower my hand so I could see Mandenauer. "I called the CDC."
He didn't react.
"The Centers for Disease Control?"
He spread his bony hands wide.
"Something is funny there."
"I have never known the CDC to be very funny."
"Exactly. The first time I called, they had heard about the virus. When I called back and asked to talk to the doctor, they'd never heard of her."
Mandenauer and Clyde exchanged glances.
"Sounds like someone was yanking your chain, Jessie."
"At the CDC?"
"How long since you slept?"
"I forget."
"Sleep." Mandenauer turned me toward the door. "Forget about anything but ridding your forest of the wolves. Tonight we hunt at dusk."
"Dusk?"
"When the sun just sets."
"I know when the hell dusk is. But why then?"
"It is the time when the wolves come to life. I will be at your house an hour before that."
"Fine. Whatever."
I was starting to wonder about that first phone call to the CDC. Had someone been screwing with me?
How could that be?
A tap on the phone? Interception of my calls?
Put me and Oliver Stone in the same padded room, thank you.
Chapter 26
There was no sign of Cadotte when I let myself into my apartment. I checked my messages. None - on my home phone or my cell. Strange.
But he should get the message I'd left him. I was so tired, I unplugged all my bells and whistles, then fell into bed. I had another doozy of a dream.
I was at Mel's funeral. Closed casket for obvious reasons.
Cadotte was with me. He cleaned up nice. The dark suit made his hair appear darker, and his eyes seemed endless.
I was in uniform, which wasn't strange. But Cadotte holding my hand was. Even stranger... I liked it.
We sat at the back of the church. I could tell by the stained glass it was St. Dominic's right at the edge of town. The place was full. A sea of humanity rippled all the way from our pew to the front, where Cherry sat dolled up in killer black heels, a silky dress, and a hat with a veil.
The priest went into his endgame. I tried to pay attention. Really. But out of the corner of my eye I saw the casket move. Before I could shift my gaze, the top slammed open and Mel popped out.
At least I think it was Mel. He was a wolf now. Huge, muscular, sleek, and blond.
People started screaming, running, but he paid them no mind. He set to devouring everyone in the front pew.
"Does that seem like rabies to you?" Cadotte asked.
I hated being wrong. Hated it even more when my being wrong cost lives. I headed for the front of the church unimpeded since, in the way of dreams, everyone else had disappeared.
"Mel!" I shouted as he began to eat a mourner's face.
He looked up. The wolf's eyes were Mel's. The blood dripping from his muzzle ended any hesitation I might have felt.
I