Becca wondered what Erin was up to and whether or not she should try and call. Not that this was the most opportune time for that or much of anything, really. She had just parked in front of Gladys’ place and she had Lizzie in the car and explicit instructions from Shelly on what to do next. None of those things included calling her hopefully once-and-future-girlfriend in the middle of the action. Especially not if said maybe girlfriend was sneaking around the woods looking for a monster.
“Hey, you going to sit here all night?” Lizzie had gotten out of the car, but poked her head back to stare at Becca. Reluctantly, she pulled her keys out of the car and got out. She took a deep breath and followed Lizzie up the walk, struggling to put her game face on. Lizzie eyed her. “So what’s the deal here? I’ve never seen you look so much like my kid when I tell him to do his homework.”
“I just don’t want to do it this way, that’s all. I feel like we’re wasting time and…,” Becca trailed off with a sigh. She really didn’t have a good reason for acting like this, or at least not one she could articulate. Lizzie had a point, and she might as well make the best of it. Also, she was hungry and moody and her hormones felt like they were running amok, now that she thought about it. “A snack would probably help.” She grimaced an apology at Lizzie.
Lizzie reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of buffalo jerky in a package. She handed it to Becca before pressing the bell. “Always keep these on me just in case.”
Gladys opened the door just as Becca bit into the jerky. “Good. Shelly said you were on your way. Do you need to change, Becca? There’s a sandwich and some fruit on the table for you. We already ate.”
Becca swallowed hard. Gladys was being perfectly nice. Had Gladys always been this nice and she’d just never noticed it or given her credit for it? A small wave of shame washed over her, at least until Molly winked from a kitchen chair and Becca felt less guilty. Or more transparent, which was not the same thing at all. She wolfed down the rest of the jerky as she walked into the kitchen.
Molly, Gladys and Lin all joined them to pull on their shoes and jackets while Becca inhaled her sandwich and refilled her water. “So, werebear hunting? What a great way to spend a Thursday night!” Molly grinned impishly at all of them in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.
Lin suddenly grabbed at her vibrating pocket and pulled her phone out. She stepped away to talk to someone for a few minutes, then hung up and gestured with her phone. “I have to go and meet with Larry Milchester and Carli about the Women’s Club tonight. There’s some paperwork we have to review and sign. I forgot to tell Shelly about that when she asked me to do this. Will you be all right? You can call me if you need me and we can come up to the cave right afterwards.”
It was all so mundane, Becca thought. Like having a weird business meeting instead of hunting for werebear. “Before you go, do you know what Larry Milchester is? I’ve been wondering since we had that first meeting.”
“Larry?” Lin raised an eyebrow. “Well, as Shelly said, we’re going to let him tell us when he wants to, but personally, I think he’s a werejaguar. They have different patterns than we do, so he’s not always moon called.” Becca nodded slowly and Lin gave her an approving nod. Then she bid her adieus before slipping out to her car.
“Of course our lawyer is a werejaguar. Why wouldn’t he be?” Becca muttered quietly to herself.
Molly threw a companionable arm around her shoulders. “Stick with us, kid. It just gets weirder. Now, shall we?”
“Shall we start at the warehouse again? Or at your old house, Becca?” Gladys sounded noncommittal, but this was the first time that anyone had suggested the latter. They all eyed each other, then looked to Lizzie.
“No breaking and entering,” the deputy growled. “But I suppose some reconnaissance might be called for, and seeing as it’s the nearest point, we might as well start there.”
Dusk was falling as they moved down the street, looking as nonchalant as they could. For a minute, Becca found herself remembering the first time she had seen the Pack in town and how she had stood watching them from her window, thinking they were dogs. Instinctively, she glanced up at the window from across the street, but it looked as if her neighbors weren’t in residence.
“Check for a car first. I’ll go around back to the garage,” Lizzie murmured. “Gladys, how about you come with me?”
“We’ll take a look around the front.” Molly jerked her head at Becca and they strolled slowly past the front of the nondescript ranch house that Becca used to call home. Looking at it in the twilight made the porch with its peeling paint and the slightly unkempt yard look more magically appealing than they did during the day.
Wait, the very unkempt yard. Becca caught Molly’s sleeve. “The Yard Police will have been all over this. They can tell us anything we want to know about when they’ve been here and what they’ve been up to. Come on.”
“You have ‘Yard Police’?”
“In a manner of speaking. Ellen and Edward are retired and have very strong…opinions about how the rest of us should be taking care of the houses on this block. If anything happens before nine at night, they probably know about it.”
“And after that?”
“They go to bed early. Before moonrise, as a rule. Which is pretty lucky, considering the neighbors.” Becca led the way up a concrete path that crossed an immaculate lawn to an otherwise nondescript, but well-maintained, single-story home. She rang the doorbell gently while Molly looked around. “Hi, Edward.”
The elderly man who answered the door eyed them suspiciously. He and the white-haired woman who appeared in the doorway behind him reminded Becca of voles and her wolf smacked her lips ominously in the back of her head. Stop she thought firmly.
“Why, Becca Thornton, what are you doing out so late? With our mailman?” Ellen was squinting at Molly like she wasn’t allowed out on the streets after her delivery run.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Echols. Nice to see you this evening.” Molly favored them with a big charming smile.
“Sorry to disturb you so late,” Becca cut in, “but we were out for a walk and I couldn’t help but notice that our new neighbors don’t seem to be around much. In fact, I haven’t seen them in a few days, and was just wondering if you had noticed whether or not they’ve been around. I wanted to ask them about something that I think I left in the garage.”
Edward stepped out of the house and glared at Becca’s old house as if he could get the yard to mow itself. “I haven’t seen them lift a finger around that house since they moved in. She came home in a big hurry two days ago, ran into the house, came out with a bag and screeched that oversized truck-car thing they drive out of here like she was racing. We haven’t seen him all week.” He drew himself up, wrinkled face flushing with anger. “They are not the kind of people we want living around here. What were you thinking, selling your house to them?”
Becca held up her hands in surrender. “Talk to Ed. He and his realtor found them and sold the house to them. First I heard about it was when it had already sold. I’m sorry about their behavior. Did you happen to notice whether or not she looked like she was going on a trip or camping anything?”
He glared past them at Becca’s old house like it was going to answer the question on its own, but it was Ellen who spoke up, “Camping. I’m pretty sure. She had a sleeping bag and a tent in the car. She drove up thatta way.” She gestured up toward the mountains to the west of town.
“Ah. Probably just gone camping for the weekend, then. I’ll try and find out what’s going on as soon as I track them down. Thank you very much for your help!” She herded Molly down the path, being careful not to step on the immaculate grass or the nearly perfect flowerbeds.
“So where do you think she went?” Molly murmured softly as they reached the sidewalk. “Back to the warehouse? Out of town?”
“Camping with her werebear. As you do.” Becca frowned at the western slopes gleaming white under the moonlight. “They know that we know about the warehouse, so I don’t think they’d go back there. There might be some clues to where they did go next, I suppose, but I think they’re up there in the mountains.” She pointed with her chin and Molly gave her a speculative look, then nodded.
Becca stared off to the west of town, realizing an instant later what else was out there: the Pack’s cave, where Erin and Carla were probably preparing to hole up for the night. If Leroy had told them about the Pack, what were the odds that he had also told them whatever else he knew, like the location of the Pack’s mountain sanctuary? Jim and Kari probably couldn’t wait to get that on film and they could do plenty of other harm while they were at it. “Oh, no! We need to get back up there.”
Molly caught her eye and nodded briskly. “I’ll rally the troops. You call Carla and Erin.” Molly turned and crossed the street, her back rigid with the effort it took to look like she was just out taking a stroll. Becca pulled her phone out, only to find a text from Carla that made her blink at the screen. She shoved her phone in the pocket and ran after Molly, not bothering to look casual.