Wolfsbane and Mistletoe Page 0,4

thought he might. Lehrmann was going to be a good one. Lehrmann was his Christmas gift to himself.

Edwards lay prone in a cornfield, watching the front of the warehouse until he saw Lehrmann go back inside. Then he crawled backward through the dried stalks until he could get to a crouching position unobserved. Still staying low, he scuttled to the rear of a barn where the surveillance van was parked. He tapped twice, then three times, on the side door. It slid open, and he clambered inside.

Kenner was behind the wheel. Hidalgo was in the back, monitoring the police radio.

"Any of that coffee left?" asked Edwards.

"In the pot," said Hidalgo. "Make it quick. It's almost time."

Edwards poured himself a cup, threw in three sugars and some creamer, and stirred it. He drank it in two gulps, then began putting on the padding.

"Did you guys ever feel like we work for a crazy person?" he asked.

"Sometimes," said Kenner. "Then I see my paycheck and the feeling goes away."

"And he's not so crazy," said Hidalgo.

"What makes you think so?" asked Edwards, tightening the straps to make sure nothing crucial was exposed.

"Because he's making you go in first," explained Hidalgo.

"You got a point," said Edwards. "Ever feel like I've become a crazy person?"

"That we do," said Kenner, checking his watch, then his gun.

Lehrmann went back to the large cage and checked his watch. Fifteen minutes. He stripped off his clothes and hung them from a pair of hooks. Then he took off his watch and placed it on a table so that it faced the cage. He checked the timer on the lock, then stepped inside and pulled the door shut. The lock engaged.

Carson came by and sat in front of the cage.

"It's locked," said Lehrmann, shaking the bars to prove it. "Thanks for checking, buddy. I'm good."

The dog woofed once, then resumed his patrolling.

The clanging of the cage echoed through the watcher's earpiece. He smiled.

"Next," he said softly.

At the Spinelli house, Waldo made a thorough inspection of every room. Then he heard a whistle, and galloped down the stairs to the front hallway.

Sally was waiting for him with his leash.

"Time for your walk, Waldo," she said, clipping it to his collar. "Mom? I'm taking Waldo for a walk around the block."

"Sweetie, it's getting dark," called her mother from the kitchen. "Don't be too long."

"Ah, come on, hon," said her husband. "Think who's with her. She'll be the safest girl in the neighborhood. Take your time, kiddo. Show Waldo who's friendly and where the weirdos are."

"'Kay, 'bye," she called, leading him out the front door.

Lehrmann looked through the bars at his watch. Five minutes. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the cage and took deep slow breaths. He held his hands out at his sides, palms up.

Outside the windows, the sky turned to night.

"Om," he chanted. "Om."

The change always started inside his chest as his rib cage expanded. The surrounding muscles resisted for a moment, then began to stretch and re-form to accommodate the larger shape.

"Om," he continued. "Om."

It spread up through his shoulders and neck, and down through his pelvis as the bones shifted, making crackling noises like twigs popping on a fire. The hair was sprouting now, thick, coarse, and gray.

"Om," he said, clinging to the sound, concentrating all of his being in the chant.

The arms and legs were at it now, the claws bursting through his fingers and toes. That pain was always the worst. The chant was coming out hoarsely. He was choking on it, but forced it out. Then came the jaws thrusting forward, the teeth, the fangs.

The mind.

"Om," he whimpered.

He wanted to howl.

Just one howl.

What harm could one little howl do?

Let it out.

"Om!" he shouted.

He took a deep breath.

"Om," he chanted. "Om."

He sensed the other dogs watching him down the row of cages. Fascinated. Envious.

His heartbeat slowed back to normal. Whatever the hell that was.

Carson came by and sat, looking at him.

"I'm good, buddy," said Lehrmann. "Want to hand me the remote? Let's see what's on cable tonight."

Carson went over to the table where the remote control sat next to the watch. He picked it up gently with his teeth and brought it over to the cage where the werewolf sat, scratching his back. He put it on the floor, then nudged it between the bars with his nose.

"Thanks, buddy," said Lehrmann, picking it up and turning on the monitor mounted on the wall outside. He tore off a chunk of the lamb carcass and shoved