Elodie Matthews, I said to myself. So you’d better get on with solving it.
I suddenly remembered that day in the snow when Miguel had told me about his dead brother. Even though I’d followed up with him on that exact subject, he’d refused to say anything more about it. The truth was, he’d already said enough when he’d whispered the Inuit word for shape-shifter.
I sighed because I really hadn’t wanted my train of thought to travel down this track. Yes, I was aware of the rumors, which seemed especially prevalent in these parts. And a naked man with a silver dagger in his chest and a belly full of caribou meat definitely supported the idea of a shape-shifting wolf or bear or something that could take down a caribou. It definitely would do nothing to dispel the rumors, anyway. Hell, it would only add to them!
But that didn’t mean I believed it! That was the kind of stuff kids bought into—the boogeyman and all that other nonsense. In my experience, things that went bump in the night were less about ectoplasm and more about law-breaking enthusiasm.
Six pounds of caribou meat! I thought to myself as I focused on the body again and shook my head.
After another few seconds, I reached the unarguable conclusion that the connection with this dead guy just wasn’t there. No matter how hard I tried, I felt nothing for him. No burning desire to find his killer, no reason to care…
“Yep, and it’s kind of freaking me out,” I said out loud as I sighed. “So, if you’re holding out on me, now’s the time to release that psychic energy. Let’s connect on the cosmic plane, shall we?”
There was no response, but it wasn’t as if I was actually waiting for one…
Finally, I reached out and placed my hand on the man’s knee. And that’s when something hit me.
It was like someone had started a projector behind the screen of my eyelids because I was suddenly invaded with images—foreign and difficult to comprehend. There were so many of them that I could barely focus. After another second or so, they started to fall into place and I found myself watching two young boys, maybe ten years old, playing together in a stream, throwing water at each other and laughing.
Then that image faded, to be replaced with a man—his hair was longish and black and his eyes were the color of steel. They were eyes I’d seen before… the same as the wolf from my dreams and the wolf I’d met in the forest while on my jog.
This man was angry—proof was in his furrowed brow, narrowed eyes and pinched mouth.
“How could you do this to me?” he asked. “I love her and you’re my brother!”
That image faded and before I could be assaulted by anything else, I pulled away.
But, just as I was pulling my hand away, something happened. Something that made my eyes blast open. Something that made me gasp, and then nearly trip over my own feet.
“It moved,” I said aloud, even though I was beyond convinced that my observation was impossible. On. Every. Level.
But, no, John Doe’s leg had moved. I mean, I’d felt it move. Not like a twitch or a spasm. His very dead, very inanimate foot had moved from side to side, like he’d been working out a kink in his ankle or something.
And it was still moving. As I stood there and watched it, it continued to move back and forth as if it was ready to jump up and dance. Even as I stumbled up the stairs, the damn thing was still swishing left to right.
I hurtled myself out of the dank morgue beneath the only medical facility in Hope, Alaska, and into the good doctor’s office. Moody’s secretary looked up at me with alarm. I didn’t blame her. I was sure I looked like I’d just seen a ghost.
Or a corpse coming back to life.
Chapter Seven
“Where’s Moody?” I insisted as I faced the doctor’s surprised assistant.
My heartbeat was going a thousand miles a minute and I was panting. I could already feel the lines of sweat beading along my brow. No sooner did the question leave my mouth than I heard a cacophony from downstairs that sounded like metal examining table meeting ground.
Son of a…
“He’s… he’s on the phone with a patient,” the girl stammered as she gave me the expression of what in the hell was that sound?
I backed up a few steps and arched my