Christina stared at the wolf.
The wolf stared back.
She didn’t know these eyes personally, not that she remembered, but she knew the intelligence behind them. This wasn’t any regular woodland creature. Still, she knew that no matter what she said, it wouldn't speak English words back to her, though it definitely knew them.
For a moment, they simply sized each other up.
“What are you doing here?” she finally asked in plain English. This bar was too far from the de Gottardi/Little compound for a casual visit. Then again, she knew wolves were everywhere. Was this one a lone wolf, or maybe a member of a local family?
It wasn't Wade. It wasn't Will Little—he had much whiter fur. She could list off a few others that she knew this wolf wasn't. Its fur was dark, almost black, and she couldn’t rattle any recognition from her brain.
“Are you local?” she continued, thinking a series of yes/no questions might serve her better.
Sure enough, the wolf wagged its head side to side.
“Are you with the—” She almost said “de Gottardi/Little families, north of here” but she didn't want to list names. Not all wolves were good wolves. That was a lesson they'd all learned the hard way. “Are you with a family compound?”
This time, the creature nodded yes.
She knew the de Gottardi/Little compound wasn't the only family compound around. Christina was not going to start listing known locations of wolf families and give away whatever intel she had—not to a wolf she didn't recognize. “Are you in trouble?”
No yes answer, but not a no either. The head just tilted slightly to the right as the eyes looked at her questionably.
“Do you need help?”
The tilt changed to the other side. Not the answer she was looking for.
This time, she gave the animal a little push. The wolf tipped his head back to the right. She pushed again.
The response once more was only a blink. Then the head turned slightly and he gave her the side eye, as if to ask, What do you even think you're doing to me?
It occurred to her then that she didn't know if she could push wolves or not. Did they not respond?
No, that wasn’t true. She’d pushed Donovan more than once. Wade, too. As demonstration only, she told herself, because just thinking that she’d used her skills on her friends was more than her psyche could handle. But both men had seen the information she’d fed into their brains.
Suddenly she was at a loss. She'd never met a person she couldn't push. And honestly, she could push most animals relatively easily. If she wanted a dog to bring her a newspaper, she usually said the words out loud so she could later just claim she had a “way with animals.”
Pressing her lips together, and knowing it looked stupid to appear as if she were grunting as she mentally pushed this wolf, she tried one more time.
But no answer came.
“Well then, I'm leaving. Have a really nice day.” She said the words haltingly, because clearly this was not how she’d hoped this encounter would go. Not that she'd intended to run into a wolf behind the bar where she was chasing a wolf killer.
She was climbing back into the car as those thoughts congealed, and she asked the creature one more question. “Do you know who Dr. Murray Marks is?”
She was standing behind the car door with her arms folded across the top edge, trying to appear casual.
This time, the wolf nodded.
Suddenly, the one-sided conversation got interesting. “Do you know where he is right now?”
No, the wolf replied, softly shaking its head from side to side.
Defeated, Christina once again decided to drive off, but she realized she had too good a source to not use it.
“Do you know where he went?” was answered with a soft shake of the head. “Was he here?” was answered with a nod.
“One day ago? Two days ago?”
At two she got a nod. In moments, she’d ascertained that he’d gone North, confirming the information she'd gotten inside the bar.
“Is there anything else I should be asking you?”
This was a great question, one she’d learned in interrogation class, because sometimes it made people spill their guts. The wolf shook his head side to side, and Christina decided that she finally had to be done.
Thanking the creature for its time, she closed the door and pulled onto the street. She sped north toward the de Gottardi/Little compound and hoped that she got there in time.
Whatever hell might be coming their way, she wanted to be there first.