Hollis with the FBI—”
“You’re Black Hat, dear.” His wife tittered. “I smell it all over you.”
“Apologies, ma’am.” Clay turned his grin back on her. “We can’t be too careful.”
Plenty of paras married normals, and those humans were often kept ignorant of our world for their own good. But there was something about Mrs. Malone that made my nape tingle.
“I understand,” she assured him. “I just wanted to let you know you can speak freely.”
As I made them wariest, and their focus zeroed in on me, I handled the questioning.
“Three bodies were discovered on a site under contract by Lawry Lumber. We’re here to ask—”
A few things happened at once.
Mrs. Malone burst into flames.
Mr. Malone erupted into his lynx form.
And the cookies we had been promised began to weep icing tears.
“What in tarnation is that?” Clay recoiled, not from the paras, but from the cookies. “They’re…alive?”
“I only take what I need,” the column of flame that was Mrs. Malone crackled at us. “Just enough.”
Mr. Malone braced his silver paws on the linoleum, barring us from the kitchen and his wife.
“Are you responsible for the deaths of three girls killed with black magic?” Asa stepped forward. “You’re both hunters. I doubt you would stoop so low as that in order to feed.”
“I don’t harm children.” Mrs. Malone’s flames rose higher. “Who would do such a thing?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Asa explained. “We’re hunting their killer.”
Since he didn’t appear to be making much headway, I jumped in while Clay continued playing defense.
“Whatever you’ve done, we’re not here for you.” I included them both in my statement. “Either of you.” I held up my hands. “All we want are answers about this particular case. Give those to us, and we’ll go.”
“All right.” Mrs. Malone extinguished herself, leaving us with a soot-dusted and extremely naked old woman. “Danny, I think we should help them.” She stroked his head. “Change back, please.”
The lynx took a bit longer to shift without his mate in immediate danger. Mr. Malone stood, ready for a fight, and buck naked. A low growl pumped from his chest until his wife swatted at his arm with a laugh.
“He’s so overprotective.” She fluffed her smoking hair. “Stop fussing, and tell them what you know.”
Her husband cleared his throat and singled me out yet again. “There were three sites, weren’t there?”
Clay’s fingers tightened into fists, Asa moved in closer to me, and I locked my knees to hold myself still.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “How did you know?”
“I hunt on the tracts I work. I go late. After everyone’s gone home.” He rolled a bony shoulder. “It wasn’t natural, those deer, so I let them alone.” He tapped his nose. “I smelled the black magic on them.”
Rude as it was of me, I had to ask, “Do you think you could follow the scent for us, see where it leads?”
“I tried then, when it was fresh, and had no luck.” He watched my face and nodded to himself. “I stalked the trail, but it vanished within yards of the bodies each time. I would’ve killed him, if I could’ve sunk my claws in him. I knew Black Hats would come.” He kissed his wife’s cheek. “I knew you would find us.”
One salient point stood out to me. “You’re sure the black magic user was male?”
A second opinion never hurt, especially since I was still finding my balance.
“He marked his territory.” Mr. Malone chuffed. “Guess he thought it would keep wildlife away. As if any animal would go near a place seeped in that much negative energy. The magic alone warns them off it.”
From a shifter, that was as good as a positive ID in my book. “What do you mean by the trail vanished?”
“He doused it with diesel fuel from the site.” He sneezed at the memory. “It clogged my nose something fierce when it was fresh. I went back a few days later, and all I smelled was fuel. He was smart to do it.”
A few days later meant Mr. Malone had been first on scene and last on scene each time. He made a valuable resource.
“Smart unless someone dropped a match.” Clay whistled. “I didn’t see mention of that anywhere.”
“Maybe city folk figure all clear-cutting sites stink like fuel.” Mr. Malone shrugged again. “I can’t speak to that. All I can tell you is what I saw and what I smelled each time.”
“If you come across another scene, do us a favor and call it in, please.” Asa handed him a business card. “That’s