Hunter s Moon - By Lori Handeland Page 0,39

showed up. I went into the station and sat at Jessie's desk.

"Make yourself right at home," she said.

"Thanks." I picked up her phone.

Edward answered his direct line on the second ring. "Jawohl? Was ist es?"

I frowned. It wasn't like him to speak in German. He'd been in this country for longer than I'd been alive.

I'd only heard him revert to his native tongue when he was very, very tired, sick, or hurt - which had happened maybe twice since I'd known him.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"Leigh? Yes. Of course. I was sleeping."

Something he rarely did. But when he slept, he'd always awoken completely alert and ready to deal with anything at a moment's notice. Military training did that to a guy, or so he said. His behavior concerned me.

"Is Elise there?"

"No," he said shortly.

"Why not?"

Elise watched over Edward like a mother hen. Drove him nuts, but she wouldn't stop.

"Because I am in my room and she is... I don't know where. Now what do you want at... four a.m.?"

Quickly I filled him in on what he didn't know.

"Can you contact someone in the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program?"

"Certainly, You will have your data by midday."

Edward the efficient.

"There's one more thing."

I glanced at Jessie. She made a whirling motion with her hand. Get on with it.

"Have you ever had an agent named Damien Fitzgerald?"

Edward thought for an instant. "No. The name is not familiar. Why?"

I filled him in on a little bit more.

"He could have changed his name," Edward murmured. "I will send you photos of the rogue agents I am aware of."

"Thanks."

"So why did Elise need you back there pronto?" I asked.

Silence settled over the line. I wondered if he'd hung up.

"Edward?"

"I am here."

"Well? What's up?"

Elise had been working on a cure for lycanthropy. So far she'd come up with zilch. The only reason I could think of for Edward to rush to 7-5 headquarters in remote Montana was that she'd had a breakthrough.

The idea made me nervous. If Elise found a way to cure them, what would I do with the rest of my life?

"Nothing is up," he said. "Elise thought she might have discovered something."

"Did she?"

"That remains to be seen." He sighed. "But I do not think so."

I let out the breath I hadn't even known I was holding. "Will you be back soon?"

"No. You and Jessie can handle things in Crow Valley."

"But - "

"I am tired, Leigh. I need a rest."

My heart started thudding faster and harder with dread. "You're sick."

"Perhaps. Sick and tired of the blood, the death, the killing. And for what? There are always more."

I'd never heard him so down. Usually Edward was the one buoying everyone else's spirits.

I glanced at Jessie, frowned. He'd never been like this before he'd met her.

"I'll make sure there aren't any more here," I promised, and hung up. "What exactly happened in Miniwa?" I demanded.

"You know."

"Wolf god, totem. Been there, heard that. I meant to Edward."

Her gaze slid away from mine.

"What?"

She shrugged. "He made a few mistakes. Nothing major. Everything worked out for the best."

Mistakes? That didn't sound like Edward.

"What kind of mistakes?"

"He got distracted. We got captured." She shrugged. "It happens."

"Not to him."

"Never?"

Not that I knew of.

I'd considered telling Edward I thought Hector might be here. Until he'd answered the phone speaking German. Until he'd gone all Eeyore on me.

"He's acting so weird," I murmured. "He didn't want to come back."

"Can you blame him? The guy's been hunting werewolves, and Lord knows what else, for sixty years. I'd be ready for a break."

I suspected she was right, but I didn't like it. I decided to keep my suspicions about Hector between myself and Jessie until I was sure I wasn't seeing things again. Why upset Edward if I didn't have to?

"What about the information from Quantico?" Jessie asked.

"By noon."

"And Fitzgerald?"

"He doesn't recognize the name, but he's sending rogue agent pictures."

"Good. There's not much else we can do until then. I'd better make my rounds. Not that I'll see anything, but I try to at least pretend to earn my second paycheck."

"This place is awful quiet after the sun goes down."

"Creepy, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Crow Valley after sunset was as quiet as the proverbial tomb. No lights in any of the windows. Not even a cat trolling the streets.

The entire town had a deserted air. As if too many of the citizens had disappeared. We just didn't know how many.

Where there were werewolves, people went missing. Which was usually how the Juger-Suchers ended up being called to the scene. Then