Leon. There were seven shapeshifters. Two in wolf form, scanning the scene for scents. One was here." I walked over to indicate the right spot. "Male. Looked like a typical European wolf, Canis lupus lupus , coarse dark gray fur streaked with sandy brown, especially on the nose. The second one was here." I crossed the street to approximate location. "Might have been a female, but I'm not sure. Brown, almost cinnamon fur, black or very dark chocolate muzzle and dark ears. Light yellow eyes. Looked like Cascade Mountain wolf to me."
"George and Brenna," Curran supplied. He was watching me with intense interest. "Jim's best trackers. Go on."
I crossed the street to the other side of Dead Cat. "Two shapeshifters here, sliding a corpse into a bag. Both female. The one on the right was average size, lightly built, ash-blond hair cut in a bob. Never saw her face." I took a wide step to my left. "Native American, slightly plump, dark skin, early forties, long hair in a braid. Pretty."
Curran said nothing.
"Perimeter guard here." I pointed to my left. "And here." I turned to indicate the second spot.
"And one right there." I stabbed my finger where the guard had stopped me. "The two in the back looked similar, dark-haired, Latino with a touch of Indian, possibly Mexican, young, male, short, compact, very quick, trouble in a fight. The guy who stopped me was in his midthirties, maybe early forties. Military haircut, light brown hair, hazel eyes, muscle heavy, a dedicated bodybuilder. Not as quick as the other two but I got the impression he could carry me and my mule both. Spoke with a touch of an accent, Aussie or New Zealand. Favored his left arm a bit. Might have been hurt recently. You want me to describe the clothes?"
Curran shook his head. "How long were you here?"
"About a minute and a half, maybe two." I crossed the street over to where I saw Brenna yelp.
"Brenna found an arm right here. I think perhaps a female arm, because the sleeve was pale and shimmered a bit. Some kind of metallic fabric, an evening gown or blouse, not the type a man would typically wear unless he was very flamboyant."
"Tell me about Jim."
"He materialized out of thin air right here. Very dramatic." I raised my head. "Ah. Probably jumped off this balcony." I recounted the conversation. "That's all I got. Didn't see the body.
Didn't get any details."
Curran's face took on this odd look. It looked almost like admiration. "Not bad. Natural recall or something the Order taught you?"
I shrugged. "Not the Order. My father. And it's not perfect. I typically forget the most important item on my shopping list. But I'm trained to evaluate the situation for possible dangers, and seven shapeshifters packing away a dead body in the middle of the night on a deserted road is a lot of danger. Your turn to share."
"A deal is a deal." Curran stepped into the road with me. "She wasn't killed here. The scent of blood is faint and the ground isn't stained, but still dirty so nobody rinsed the pavement off.
The body had been cut into at least six pieces. This is a dump site, chosen because one of our
offices is only eight blocks away. That's the closest they could get to our territory without being stopped by a patrol. There were at least three of them, and they don't smell human. I don't know what they are, but I don't like their scent."
Better and better.
"Can't tell you much more than that, except that Jim had his best cleanup crew with him. I know every person you described. They're very good at what they do."
And none of them had said anything to him about it. The million-dollar question was why?
"Once accepted, the assistance of the Order can't be declined," I told him. "I'm now part of this investigation. That means I'll have to come into your territory and ask uncomfortable questions."
"I have some questions to ask as well." Liquid gold drowned Curran's eyes. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on their ends. I really didn't want to be Jim right now.
"I'll contact you to schedule time for the interviews." He turned and walked away, leaving me in the middle of the street. Beast Lord, a man beyond mundane niceties like good-bye and thank you.
As I walked back to civilization, I realized that for the first time in the six months I had known Curran, we had