me. “Thank you for finding her. Where was she?”
“She was here on the porch, she didn’t get far.”
“You must be new to town. I don’t think we’ve met.”
Ella twirled Cindy’s hair around her finger. “That’s Celeste, Momma. She’s gonna catch the panther.”
Funny how seven different adults could all give me the same patronizing look.
“Are you an avid large game hunter, Celeste?” Ray smirked. Alec and the officers snickered behind their hands. Heat rose to my cheeks.
Ella’s mother elbowed her husband, “Be nice. She probably said that to calm your child down, you big jerk.”
Ray bowed his head at his wife’s comment. “You’re right.” He extended his hand to me. “I’m sorry, Celeste. Thank you for your help.”
“It was no problem. She’s a great kid.”
He turned to the officers. “If we’re done here, my wife and I need to put our little peanut to bed.”
With one last wave to Ella, we said our goodbyes. Back in the car Alec was in overdrive. “I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here! This is really going to help my story. I may have to keep you around. You’re great for my career!”
Aren’t those just the romantic words every girl longs to hear.
I ignored his comment. “Did any of the other witnesses mention seeing a man with the panther?”
“Ray didn’t see anyone with the panther.” His excitement deflated at my abrupt tone.
“No, but his daughter did.”
Alec shook his head as if my poor simple mind saddened him. “Celeste, there were people everywhere. She probably just told you that to get attention. Ray said when he was outside with the panther, his family was safely inside.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to slug him. “He didn’t know she was out there. But she was. And she saw the panther, too. Only she said there was a man with him. Did anyone else mention that?”
“Well, yeah.” He snorted. “You remember the little boy that said the panther was “peeking” in his window?” He air quoted the word.
“Yeah?” My stomach churned. Another child was involved.
“He said that as the panther looked at him, it changed. It became a man. Like I said, he obviously had an active imagination and was using it to get attention. That’s all Ella was doing, too. It worked on you because you’re a kind-hearted, trusting person.”
I wasn’t even pretending to listen anymore. Two children had been targeted by this man-beast. If I was the one he was looking for, why was he harassing kids? My list of questions continued to grow, and I had nothing in the way of answers. I peered out at the mountain range veiled by the darkness of night. I had an idea where I needed to go. But first, I had to round up Gabe and Kendall. Somehow this involved them, too.
CHAPTER 10
No sooner had I stepped into the house then Grams cornered me in the foyer. “Celeste! There you are! You got a sec?”
Not really Grandmother, you see I’m currently investigating shapeshifting people. “Sure, what’s up?” I put on a smile and hid any exasperation that tried to sneak into my voice.
A worried frown creased her face. “It’s about your brother.”
“Gabe?”
“Do you have another brother I don’t know about?”
“No, of course not. What about him?”
Her eyebrows raised in disbelief. “What about him? You haven’t noticed?”
Was his anger evident to everyone else, too? Maybe other people didn’t need to be clairvoyant to see all the festering feelings he had bottled up. “You mean his mood? Yeah, I’ve tried to talk to him, but you know how he is…”
“No. His mood has been fine.” She swatted my words away like flies. “It’s his recent — growth.”
“What?” Gabe reached his full height of six foot two when he was seventeen. Twenty seemed late for a growth spurt.
Grams’ eyes widened and made her fake lashes tickle her forehead. “Celeste, how could you not have noticed? He’s HUGE! I’m worried that he might be using…steroids.” Unable to speak the last word out loud, she mouthed it to me.
I shook my head. “No. No way. He would never do something that stupid.”
“But to bulk up that much in such a short amount of time? I don’t know what else it could be. If that is what’s going on we need to get him some help. Slap him upside the head first, but then get him some help.”
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered Alec making a comment about Gabe’s size, too. And “roid rage” would explain the constant anger I