Shadow of Doubt - Hailey Edwards Page 0,36

the truck, I opened the door and dared Snowball with a look to expect me to play elevator for her.

She stuck her nose in the air then leapt like a frakking gazelle onto the seat.

“Normal corgis can’t do that,” Ford remarked after we had resumed our usual seats.

Their short legs did make it seem unlikely. “Normal corgis also don’t weigh fifty pounds.”

Bonnie yelped with affront, which made Ford laugh and me grin.

“There’s just more of you to love, Bon-Bon.” I ruffled her fur. “You’re a badass, and you know it.”

Just slightly more ass than bad in this form. Corgis had serious swagger and the butts to go with it.

Mollified, she curled up on the seat and dozed. For real this time.

Eyes on the road, Ford still managed to award me his full attention. “What did you do back there?”

“I didn’t do a thing.” Ambrose did it for me. “Don’t get too excited, though. It’s a rare occurrence.”

Letting Ambrose off his leash was only slightly less dangerous than handfeeding a starving lion a prime rib fresh off the hoof. Too little, and he was no use to me, and I became physically ill. Too much, and he regained his former power, and he could exert his will over me. A precarious line to walk if I wanted to keep the body count to a minimum, but I was getting better at balancing.

Shaking his head, he let it go. “Did you get what you came for?”

“I buy that Garou and the Loups didn’t have an official stake in Shonda Randall. That doesn’t mean an individual didn’t harbor a grudge.”

“You don’t believe that.”

“No.” I only had a gut feeling to go on, but the evidence would come. “I don’t.”

“Nine bodies.” He gritted his jaw. “That’s a whole lot of grudge.”

“The cleaners haven’t conclusively linked the victims,” I reminded him. “The Perkerson report will verify if we’re looking for one killer or a pair.”

“Why a pair?”

I debated how much to share with him, but he had a stake in the outcome where Shonda was concerned, so I came clean. I told him what Reece discovered, that a warg and/or human was involved, and that eased the frown lines that had bracketed his mouth since hearing I wanted to meet with Garou.

“That explains a few things.” He flipped on his blinker. “I’m guessing you want to meet with Clairmont and Mendelsohn too?”

“That was my plan.”

“Do me a favor and let me in on the plan next time?”

“Oh, I will.” I got comfy. “I don’t want to lose my chauffeur privileges.”

He huffed out a laugh, and I did too, but I don’t think he was laughing at the same thing as me, considering I was imagining a gwyllgi behind the wheel, wearing a little black cap, steering with his paws.

Yeah.

Best I keep that under my proverbial hat.

Six

The Mendelsohn pack resided in tents pitched in the woods off the interstate, and that suited them just fine. I couldn’t remember if this is how they had chosen to live within the city, congregating under overpasses, or if they were embracing nature in their new locale.

“I might need a shower after this.” I rubbed my eyes, but my vision didn’t clear. “Goddess.”

The Mendelsohn pack had also, apparently, embraced nudism.

“I’ve never seen so much junk in my life.” I wasn’t talking about the piles of garbage left for the city to pick up when road crews worked the area either. “I’m not a prude, but come on.”

When Ford didn’t comment, I expected to catch him ogling the boob parade since the jiggling was kind of hypnotic, but he had tucked his chin to his chest and glued his eyes to the floorboard.

“I can handle this solo,” I offered.

Unimpressed, Bonnie barked once, loud enough to make me wince.

Wiggling a finger in the ear nearest her, I worked out most of the pain. “Bonnie can watch my back.”

“Bonnie can’t drop her glamour to help you. Even if she could, we don’t need to give the wrong impression.” Heat blazed in his cheeks. “I’ll go.”

Ford made his point, and it was a good one. This was a delicate situation, and I didn’t want her presence to cause friction between the packs when there would be strife enough to go around once the victims had all been identified. Corgis were much less intimidating than gwyllgi, so corgi she would stay.

“All right.”

I didn’t ask what made him uncomfortable. I didn’t want him to be more likeable than he already was, and I didn’t want to