“But we need to get out there.”
He wiggled his hips between the cradle of her thighs. “I beg to differ.”
“Hold your horses, cowboy. I’ve got a lot of hungry people to feed.”
Did he have to let that one pass? He sighed and stood up, mentally willing away the tightness in his pants. “Fine. Later?”
“Later we have to talk about the case.”
“After that?”
She opened the door. “You’re relentless.”
“I warned you about that, didn’t I?” Then Caleb squeezed her hand and left her in the hall to walk into the riot of noise coming from the kitchen.
Chapter Seventeen
Jena watched him as she cooked, sneaking glances in his direction as she put together a salad, heated macaroni and cheese, and tossed instructions at the various small children acting as her minions. Caleb had grabbed a beer and gone to sit by Ollie and Alex at the barbecue, looking as comfortable as if he’d been coming to her Sunday dinners for years.
It was a tradition she’d started when she moved back, wishing to reconnect with her oldest friends and needing the comfort of those who had loved and known Lowell. Over the years, it had become tradition. Everyone brought something to eat and their favorite drink. You didn’t call or plan. If you were there, you were there. But most Sundays, Jena’s friends were there. Willow was the only one who was still absent, deciding to stay in Colorado for the rest of the month at an artists’ retreat she’d been invited to.
“Jena!” Ted called from the back, carrying Allie’s youngest, Loralai under her arm. “Where’s Allie?”
“I think she’s on the phone.”
“Donde esta el esposo?” Ted asked, switching to Spanish so the baby couldn’t understand her question about Allie’s absent husband.
Jena shrugged. Joe and Allie were obviously having problems, but her usually cheerful friend was reluctant to talk about them. Joe had always been temperamental. And Allie had always made excuses. He’d moved to the Springs as a teenager, a reluctant addition to the community his parents forced him to accept as his own. By the time he’d shifted to a coyote at age thirteen, Joe seemed to have accepted life in the small town, but Jena had always sensed restlessness in him.
Ted muttered something uncomplimentary about Joe’s mother under her breath, but the baby only giggled. She was Allie’s surprise baby, eighteen months old and a handful of energy. Within seconds, she had taken off into the backyard again, where she crawled onto Caleb’s lap with no introduction and proceeded to babble something that made the man laugh. Jena watched him. He’d mentioned that he had lots of little cousins in the family, and he was obviously at ease with the kids running around. But that picture…
“It’s enough to trigger spontaneous ovulation,” Ted said with a sigh. “Cute man, cute baby, and the smell of barbecue in the air.”
“You’re an odd one, Ted.”
“No, I’m just hungry.”
Jena smothered a grin. “Alex is right out there. I’m sure he’d be able to—”
“Don’t finish that sentence and expect me to still like you, Jena Crowe.”
Jena bit her lip and continued watching the scene in the back as she cut the cornbread Ollie had brought. “He says he’s moving back to town.”
“Trust me. He’s said that before. Plenty of times.” Ted turned her head bitterly. “He always goes back to the city.”
“Maybe—”
“Maybe we should talk about the hot cowboy, your oddly wrinkled shirt, and the look of frustration he was wearing when he arrived.”
“Shut up, Ted.” She flushed bright red.
Her friend gave her a smug smile. “Admittedly, the people-shifting thing is a little weird, but at least it means he’ll stick around.”
“Yes, just what I’ve always wanted. ‘Hey, baby, since we’re both freaks of nature and I’m stuck in this town, let’s get together!’ It’s a love story for the ages.”
“Please, he was hot for you before he turned into a freak of nature. Now, you can just be freaks together. Plus, he’s smart, and… he genuinely seems like a good guy.”
Jena piled the cornbread onto a plate and turned to grab the macaroni out of the oven. “I’m not saying he’s not a good guy. I’m just saying he’s…”
“What?” Ted looked confused. “I’m not sure why you’re holding back here, Jen. He’s a good man who you’re obviously attracted to and he’s completely into you. Even the guys like him, and that’s saying a lot.”
She shrugged. “He had family problems in New Mexico, and… he left. He had people he loved and cared about there—lots of them—and he took off when things got hard. I’m not saying that sometimes you don’t need a fresh start. I understand that more than anyone. But it’s not just me I’m worried about. I don’t want the boys getting attached to someone who might just leave. Bear already thinks he walks on water.”
She glanced up to see Caleb surrounded by the kids, who were mobbing the new person. Loralie had planted herself on Caleb’s lap, Aaron had grabbed his hat and he and Austin, Allie’s seven-year-old, were charging around the yard making their fingers into pistols. Even Low was standing nearby with Allie’s two older boys, trying to act cool and gulping down sodas as they watched the three grown men by the fire.
“You fit, Jena Crowe. Like the right pair of shoes.”
He fit, too.
For now.
“You’re right,” Ted said. “There’s nothing tying him here. Not really. But maybe he’s looking for a reason to stay. You can’t live your life waiting for people to leave you, Jen.” Ted bumped her shoulder as she took a pile of plates out to the table in back. “Not every man is Lowell, and not every relationship has a set expiration date.”
Jena blinked back an unexpected tear before she saw Caleb look up and meet her eyes through the window. He frowned when he saw her expression, but she just smiled and turned back to the stove.
Hours later, after food had been eaten, the kids had been tucked away, and the leftovers packed up, Jena still couldn’t shake the melancholy. And Caleb wasn’t helping. He’d seemed to sink into a sullen mood as soon as the kids left the room. Joe still hadn’t shown up and Allie wouldn’t say why, but Devin had come round for dessert and coffee and stayed to chat about the case.
“Now that Caleb can get all the information,” Alex said, “I’m hoping we can make some headway.”
“The cats are still ignoring my dad,” Jena said. “He’s asked them for weeks now to help with the investigation, but…”
“There hasn’t really been one,” Ollie said. “My granddad has mentioned it more than once. He’s disgusted with them all. The Elders meet, everyone talks about how tragic it is and how dangerous to have someone out there who could do something like this, but no one is really taking charge. At one point, Gabe Vasquez asked Granddad why he hadn’t guarded Alma, because the Campbells and Allens are supposed to guard the Springs.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Allie piped up. “It’s not like you can control what we do ourselves! You all guard the town from outsiders, not our own people.”
Ollie flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sure it was just spoken in anger, Allie.”
“And Grandpa Gabe is a total blowhard,” Ted said. “Aunt Paula will rein him in. I’ll let my mom know. I apologize, Ollie.”
“Not your fault.”
“Still,” Alex butted in, “if we’re going to find out which cat or cats did it, we need Gabe and Paula’s help.”
“Why are you so sure it’s a cat?” Caleb finally spoke. “Fill me in on your reasons.”
Ted answered, “The claw marks, mostly.”
“Been meaning to ask about those. Mountain lion?”
“Bobcat, most likely.”
He glanced around. “There a lot of those around here?”
Ollie said, “It’s the most common cat in the Springs. Mountain lions are less common. House cats crop up occasionally. But bobcats, lynxes,
they’re the most common.”
“So there’s a lot of them.” He frowned. “Do they hunt in packs?”
“No,” Ted answered. “Definitely not. Mated pairs, if both are shifters, but usually we hunt alone.”
Caleb nodded again. “So alibis become a problem.”
“Wolves are pack animals,” Alex said. “We’re highly social and tend to shift together and hunt together on moon nights. That’s why Jeremy can alibi me and we can vouch for most all the wolves.”
“And me!” Allie added. “I ran into the pack when I was running from one of the lions.”
“Which one?” Ollie rumbled.
“Aw, don’t worry.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “This fox is way too fast for them.”
“They do that again, you run to my den,” Ollie growled. “Not one of them is going to go into that cave if they know what’s good for them.”
“Thanks, big guy.” Allie said as Ollie blushed. “But I’ll be fine.”
Caleb held up a hand. “So, all the wolves are alibied, right, Alex?” The other man nodded. “But the cats are pretty much untraceable because they don’t shift together, so we have to look at other ways of eliminating cat suspects.” He frowned. “No one has mentioned the reptiles.”
Jena said, “To be honest, this time of year they’re not very active on moon nights. It gets chilly remember? And they’re cold-blooded. Most of the Quinns just find a nice warm den and curl up during the winter moons. They like shifting, do it more than anyone else, probably, but only during sunny days.”
Caleb looked around. “I’m noticing a distinct lack of scales in this group.” He grinned. “Not a fan of the fangs?”
Devin gave a low laugh, but everyone else was silent.
“Sean left,” Allie said quietly. “He got out of town a long time ago and never came back.”
“He e-mails,” Ted said. “He’s a journalist.”
Jena couldn’t help the sharp pang of loss. Sean Quinn had made the seventh of their group of friends in high school. Eight if you counted Joe. It had always been Jena, Ted, and Allie. Lowell, Ollie, Alex, and Sean had rounded them out. The last time she’d seen Sean was when he came to visit Lowell in the hospital in Portland. It was one of the last visits that her husband had been lucid for. She hadn’t spoken to her friend since.
Caleb must have noticed the sad look on her face because he was staring at her. Jena cleared her throat and spoke up. “Besides the injuries, there’s also the claw marks on the back door. They look like bobcat, or Ollie has suggested a large lizard.”
Caleb looked at Ollie. “How large a lizard are we talking about?”
“Hey, I just threw it out there. Komodo dragons are big suckers. They can take down a bird, saw it on Animal Planet.”
Everyone laughed a little, lightening the tension. Jena said, “And they have pretty nasty claws. I suppose it could’ve been a large lizard. I’d have to see some claw marks up close, though.”
Caleb asked, “Would they be able to move fast on a cold night? I’m thinking they’d have to move pretty fast to catch an owl in flight.”
Jena nodded. “An older one could. They’re the most powerful. Our human bodies eventually slow down, but our shifter bodies only get stronger as we age.”
“So, it could be Old Quinn,” Caleb muttered.
Jena looked around in alarm. “Old Quinn?”
Caleb said, “I like him, but I can’t consider that. He could’ve done it. You said the older reptiles are powerful—”
“He’s the most powerful,” Devin said. “If any of the Quinns could shift out of their natural form on a moon night and attack quickly, it would be him. Don’t let the good ole boy act fool you.”
“Oh, I can tell that. He’s smart. And motive? What do you all think?” Caleb looked around the back yard.
“The money,” Allie said quietly. “He wouldn’t care for himself, but his family is hurting right now. The resort that Alma was voting against would provide a lot of jobs.”
Caleb nodded as if Allie had confirmed his own thinking. “So Old Quinn could be our killer.”
Jena shook her head. “What are you all saying?” She looked around at her friends incredulously. “Quinn? Joe Quinn turned into a Komodo dragon and killed Alma? They may have had their problems over the years—”
“They fought like cats and dogs half the time,” Ted said.
“And the other half they didn’t talk to each other at all,” Alex added. “I’m not saying it is him, Jena, just that it could be.”
“Well, what about the cats?” she asked. “They’re the most likely suspects, but we’re not talking about them.”
Caleb asked, “Is Matt Marquez a cat?”
Everyone stopped and turned to Ted.
“Yes,” she said. “A bobcat. His wife, Missy, and he are both members of the Vasquez clan. My clan. Though Matt is originally from the Leons.”
“So, when you all marry, you join the wife’s clan?”
“Just the cats,” Alex said. “Wolves are different.”
“And Missy is the one who just had the baby?”
Everyone nodded in response.
“So Mayor Matt and his wife are bobcats.”
“No, just Matt,” Ted said. “Missy’s a lion like me.”
“Hmm,” Caleb seemed to consider that, even pulling out a notebook from his shirt pocket to jot something down.
“And Matt was just as invested in the hotel plan as Alex was,” Jena said. “But we know Alex didn’t kill Alma.”
Caleb nodded. “I’ll tell you guys, when I made up my list, I had three people on it that stuck out. Alex McCann, Matt Marquez, and Joe Quinn.”
Alex muttered, “Well, you know I didn’t do it.”
“True.” Caleb nodded again. “So that leaves me two suspects that I can see. Which one do we take on first?”
“Old Quinn,” Jena said immediately. “I don’t think there’s any way he could’ve murdered Alma, so let’s eliminate him as a suspect.”
Caleb’s smiled turned up at the corner. “Anyone want to act as my deputy? I’m a bit short-handed with Jeremy out. None of you are reptiles, but I have a feeling it’d go easier with someone around he’s known longer than me.”
Alex said, “Joe and I had words the other day. Probably don’t want to take me.”
“Not me,” Ted said. “He gets nervous around doctors. Any doctor.”
“I’ll go,” Jena said reluctantly. “And I’ll even give him his hat back if he talks to us.”
Caleb looked at her and, for the first time that night, gave her a full, mischievous grin. “Well, if that won’t get him to talk, nothing will.”
The next day, he showed up at the diner just as they were closing. It was three o’clock and Jena had already arranged a sleepover for the boys with Allie and Joe, not knowing how late they’d be questioning Joe Quinn. Jena pulled the nail out of Quinn’s hat before she grabbed a sandwich her dad had stuffed into a box.
“What’s that?” Caleb asked, looking at the box as they walked to his truck.
“A BLT and a big pile of coleslaw. They’re his favorites and he hasn’t been into the diner since I took his hat. Bribery works.”
Caleb smiled and glanced at the hat. “That is one ugly hat.”
“It’s his favorite. Alma always said the man had no sense.”
She fell silent, nervous about the whole plan. What on earth did she think she was going to find? Joe Quinn hiding in his villain’s lair, washing bloody claws and gloating about killing one of his oldest friends? More likely, the man would never speak to her again for even suggesting it. As much as the old snake annoyed her, Jena didn’t want to get on his bad side. Besides that, he’d raised Sean. She could never forget that. Suddenly, Jena was irritated with the whole situation.
They drove in silence out toward Quinn’s house in the hills. It was just a few miles from Alma’s as the crow would fly.
“What has you so serious?”
; She shrugged, her irritation mounting with every bump in the road. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Why?”
She shook her head. He’d shown up at her door the previous afternoon and practically eaten her alive within minutes. Then, when it was time to leave the night before, he’d brushed a quick kiss over her cheek before he hightailed it to his trailer.
“It’s nothing. Forget it.”
“No.” He pulled over a little outside of town. “Something’s eating at you. If you don’t want to go with me, I’ll go by myself.”
She flushed bright red. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I just…” She huffed. “I think this is a waste of time.”
“If he didn’t do it, then we eliminate him from the suspect pool. Either way, it’s not a waste of time.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” He was silent after that. She could see his irritation mirrored her own.
She squirmed. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really? I thought I’d made that pretty clear.”
“I don’t do that, remember?” The anger started to build, and it felt good. “I’m not some roll in the hay that’s looking for a good time and—”
“What on earth gave you the impression that’s what I’m looking for?”
“—and you… you’re not what I expected, and—and you act like you want me one minute, and then I feel like you brush me off the next and—”
“And I feel the same damn way!”
She finally looked at him. He was fuming. His teeth were set on edge and his hands gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
“I feel the same way, Jena,” he said in a low voice. “I feel like there’s some sort of test I need to pass, but I have no idea what the rules are. And I don’t even know if you want me to pass or if you’re just…”
“Just what?”
“Jerking me around.” He shook his head and pulled the truck back on the road. “And the thing is I can’t even blame you. I’m not the most reliable person in the world. Hell, that’s probably why my ex never wanted kids with me. I get obsessed with my cases, and I’m always looking for the thing that’s going to go wrong and mess up the stuff that’s going right.”