Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,153

out of there before you get stuck. I’m smaller. Let me try.”

He worked his way out from under the bed, yelping when he ripped out a bit of fur that got caught in the bedsprings.

Jana took the flashlight out of her belt and went down on her belly. “That backpack? That’s what you want?”

“Roo.”

She squirmed and wiggled her way under the bed. “Got it.”

When the squirming and wiggling didn’t seem to work to get her back out, Virgil closed his teeth over her boot and pulled.

She let out a startled yip. As soon as he saw all of her, he let go of her boot and grabbed for one of the straps on the backpack, pulling it into the center of the room.

Yes. It had been covered by death smells and the scents of Elders marking territory by the time he’d returned with John Wolfgard to take pictures of what little meat was left, but he recognized the scent of the male who had hurt Barbara Ellen’s hand.

So easy to shift paws into hands and open the zippers, but he scratched at the backpack and waited for Jana to finish brushing herself off.

“Darn dusty under there,” she muttered. Then she looked at the backpack. “But that’s not dusty.”

She opened each compartment. One held very stinky clothes. Another held money. Since Jana whistled when she saw it, Virgil assumed that meant it was a lot of money. Finally …

“This would be easier if you didn’t keep sticking your head inside the pack.”

It would be easier if she just pulled everything out so they could look at it instead of doing this dainty kind of pawing. The human was dead. And not just dead. He was already part of somebody’s poop. He wasn’t going to howl about her touching his stinky clothes.

“Identity card,” Jana said as she pulled several items out of an inside pocket. “Several of them. And … a driver’s license. I don’t recognize the name of the town listed as his address, but I bet it’s not in the Midwest. Sweeney Cooke.” She sat back on her heels. “You think he was trying to get back here after the incident in the Bird Cage Saloon?”

Wounded animal going to ground. Made sense.

“Do you think he killed that other man?”

No. There was that other scent in the meat’s room. He returned to that room, sniffing under the bed and in the closet. He sniffed around the rest of the house, following the scent out the door to a big stink that stung his nose and made him sneeze.

Gone. Lost.

He shifted back to human form and got dressed. A minute later the ambulance pulled up. Letting Jana deal with packing up the meat, he walked over to the next house and found Zeke and Fagen.

He stared at the Intuits. “The human who killed that man is still out there. He could be hiding in any of these houses. Or he could have moved on to another territory.”

Zeke and Fagen exchanged a look. “When we saw that body, we had a feeling that the killing was personal, that the killer had followed that man here,” Zeke said.

“Not a lot of places to go, so this would have been a good choice,” Fagen added. “We’ve seen signs of squatters in other houses. Some places were searched and valuables were taken. Money, jewelry. And food.”

“No one should be living out here,” Virgil said. “Anyone who is might be dangerous. Might even be the two-legged predator who kills his own kind. If you see any sign of humans out here who aren’t part of your pack, you run away and call us.”

“Will do.”

He returned to the sheriff’s vehicle. Jana was still inside the house doing … something. He didn’t need to see anything more.

He looked up and watched the Eagles riding the thermals while searching for prey.

No, he didn’t need to see anything more. From now on, all the terra indigene around Bennett would be watching for signs of unwanted humans.

* * *

* * *

“Thanks for helping out today,” Barb said.

“It’s a change from mopping floors.” Abigail worked up a smile she didn’t feel. She rinsed out Rusty’s water bowl and filled it with fresh water from the kitchen faucet.

She didn’t want a dog. She didn’t want something that would depend on her so much. But sweet Abigail might adopt one of the kittens in order to have a little fuzzy company now that Kelley had moved out.

Barb looked uncomfortable. “I saw Kelley this morning.”

“A lot