"Peter's gonna get killed!" The fabric did little to muffle the howl of a six-year-old child who only understood one small part of what was going on.
Celluci looked down at Daniel, who seemed to have an uncanny knack for bringing the focus back to the important matters, then over at Rose. "Can't you let me take care of this?" he asked softly.
She shook her head, panic beginning to build. "You don't understand."
"You can't understand," Nadine added, clutching at Daniel so tightly he squirmed in her grasp.
Celluci saw the pain in the older woman's eyes, pain that cut and twisted and would continue far longer than anyone should be forced to endure. His decision might possibly keep that pain from Rose.
"Carl Biehn was an Olympic marksman. His nephew, Mark Williams, drives a black and gold jeep."
Rose's eyes widened. "If he was talking to Peter this afternoon... " She whirled, her sundress hit the floor, and Cloud streaked out of the kitchen and into the night.
"Rose, no!" Unencumbered by the need to change, Henry raced after her before Stuart, still caught in challenge with Celluci, began to react.
Jesus Christ! Nobody moves that fast! Celluci grabbed Stuart's arm as Henry disappeared into the night. "Wait!" he barked. "I need you to show me the way to Carl Biehn's farm."
"Let me go, human!"
"Damn it, Stuart, the man's got guns. He's taken Henry out once already! Charging in will only get everyone shot. We can get there before them in my car."
"Don't count on it." Stuart laughed but the sound held no humor. "And this is our hunt. You have no right to be there."
"Take him, Stuart!" Nadine's tone left no room for her mate to argue. "Think of after."
The male wer snarled but after an instant he yanked his arm free of Celluci's hold and started for the door. "Come on, then."
After? Celluci wondered as the two of them charged across the lawn. Mary, Mother of God, they want me there to explain the body...
"What is taking him so long!" Vicki shoved at her glasses and turned away from the living room window. With the sun down she could see nothing past her reflection on the glass but that didn't stop her from pacing the length of the room and back then peering out into the darkness again.
"He has to come all the way from Adelaide and Dundas," Bertie pointed out. "It's going to take him a few minutes."
"I know that!" She sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I had no right to snap at you. It's just that... well, if it wasn't for my damned eyes, I'd be driving myself. I'd be halfway there by now!"
Bertie pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. "You don't trust your partner to deal with it?"
"Celluci's not a partner, he's a friend. I don't have a partner. Exactly." And although Henry could be counted on to keep Celluci from doing anything stupid, who would save Peter, or watch the wer, or grab the murdering bastard - Vicki always saw him with Mark Williams' face, convinced that he had been the reason for the deaths even if he hadn't pulled the trigger - and... and then what? "I have to be there! How can I know it's justice if I'm not there?"
Realizing that some questions weren't meant to be answered, Bertie wisely kept silent. Questions of her own would have to wait.
"Damn it, I told him it was an emergency!" Vicki whirled back to the window and squinted into the night. "Where is he?" With an hour left in the shift, and Colin already back in the station, it hadn't been hard for Vicki to convince the duty sergeant to release him for a family emergency. "Why the... There!" Headlights turned up the driveway.
Vicki snatched up her bag and ran for the door, shouting back over her shoulder, "Don't talk about this to anyone. I'll be in touch."
Outside, and effectively blind, she aimed for the headlights and narrowly missed being run down by one of London's old blue and white police cars. She grabbed for the rear door as it screeched to a stop and threw herself into the back seat.
Barry slammed the car into reverse and laid rubber back down the length of the driveway while Colin twisted around and snarled, "What the hell is going on?"
Vicki pushed her glasses back into place and clutched at the seat as the car took a corner on two wheels.
"Carl Biehn was an Olympic marksman by way of Korea