Not directly, anyway. I heard Mac talking on the phone this morning, trying not to let me hear him talking on the phone."
"Ripley, I really can't meddle in your domestic disputes during working hours."
"He was talking to Sam. Well, that woke you up," she commented.
"It's hardly surprising that they'd have a conversation." Mia picked up her proposal, frowned at the bullet points, then gave up and set it down again. "All right. What were they talking about?"
"I don't know exactly, but something. Mac was really interested. He even walked outside with the phone, casual-like. But I know it was because he didn't want me to hear him."
"How do you know it was Sam?"
"Because I heard him say, 'I'll come by the cottage this morning.' "
"Well, why . . . can't you just get to the point?"
"I'm getting to it. So he scoots me out to work, trying not to make it obvious he's railroading me along.
Kiss, kiss, pat, pat. Shove, shove. But I go, because I'm thinking I'll just run by the cottage myself once I'm on patrol. But first I check in at the station house, and Zack's on the phone. And he stops talking in the middle of a sentence when I walk in, then says hello to me, using my name really definitely."
Her scowl deepened at the memory. "So I know he's talking to either Mac or Sam. Then he starts giving me all this grunt work to do, crap jobs that'll keep me tied to the station house for two or three hours. Says he's got to do stuff. I wait until I'm sure he's gone, then I drive by the cottage and what do you think I see?"
"I hope," Mia said, "you're about to tell me and put an end to this play-by-play."
"The patrol car and Mac's Rover," Ripley announced. "I grabbed Nell, and now I'm grabbing you, because I'm telling you, they're not playing poker or watching dirty movies in there."
"No, they're putting something together without us," Mia agreed. "Too manly for the little women."
"If they are," Nell said, "Zack's going to be very sorry."
"Let's just go find out, shall we?" Mia yanked her car keys out of her desk. "I'll tell Lulu I've got to go out, and I'll be right behind you."
M ac hunkered down on the ground, ran his portable scanner. "Positive energy all the way," he muttered. "Any negativity has been thoroughly cleansed. Next time call me first. I could really use a sample."
"It was a little late for science experiments," Sam told him.
"Never too late for science. Can you sketch the manifestation?"
"I can't sketch a stick figure. It was the same image Mia described. The black wolf, massive size, with the mark of the pentagram."
"It was smart to brand him when they had him down on the beach last winter." Mac sat back on his haunches. "Makes ID simple - and it's diminished his power."
Sam rolled his shoulders. "Sure as hell wasn't any pussycat last night."
"He sucked the extra punch out of something, probably you. Bet you were pissed, huh?"
"The fucker tried to drive Mia off a cliff. What do you think?"
"I think the emotional turmoil we discussed the other night is a primary element of the equation. If you'd - "
"I think," Zack interrupted, "Sam should get that shoulder looked at. Then we should stop jerking off with theories and go after this bastard. If it can hurt Sam, it can hurt somebody else. I'm not having it run loose on my island."
"You're not going to be able to track it down and shoot it like a rabid dog," Mac told him.
"I can sure as hell try."
"It won't go after anyone who's not connected." Sam frowned at the unscarred ground. He'd spent most of the night thinking it through. "Fact is, I don't think it can."
"No, exactly." Mac straightened. "This entity needs to feed off the power and the emotions of those of us who are tied to the original circle."
"A lot of islanders have ties to the original circle, however diluted," Zack pointed out.
"Yes, but it doesn't want them. Or need them."
"He's right," Sam told Zack. "It has only one focus, one purpose now, and it can't waste time or energy by scattering it. Its magic is limited, but it's canny. It fed on Ripley's emotions before. This time it fed on mine. It won't happen again."
"Oh, yeah, you've always been a real even-tempered sort," Zack muttered. "You wanted it to go for you."
"It worked," Sam pointed