The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) Read online

  "You're referring to Catalina," Lucy stated.

  "Yeah, you've heard of it then." Bob seemed optimistic.

  "Bob, it's just a myth." Xochitl hated having to squash her friend's hopes.

  "No, it's not." Bob's voice rose. "Like I said, I've got a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot, of money, Xochitl. And money buys you information. I have it on very sound authority that there is a haven for Weres. And I'm going to get my son to that place." Bob crossed his arms, emphasizing his last words.

  "Okay, Bob." Lucy was calm as a cucumber. "Say we get your boy to Catalina. Not an easy feat in itself. The harbor patrols are three times as big now. But say we did, what do you think Travis' chances of survival are?" She added, "I mean, you put dozens, maybe more, Weres in one small space, their natural instinct is to carve out territory. And usually, carving out a territory means killing anyone getting in their way."

  "He could get slaughtered in a place like that." Xochitl tried to say it delicately, but she needed her friend to understand what he was asking. "Are you prepared for him to die there?"

  "Better him die there with a fighting chance, than here where me or you would have to kill him." Bob looked right into Lucy's eyes.

  "Okay, Bob." Lucy put out her hand. "We'll take the job."

  "Thank you." Bob shook Lucy's hand. "I can pay anything you want. Name your price."

  "Don't you ever say that," Xochitl chided Bob. "It's pro bono. You're family. We take care of our own."

  Xochitl looked over to Lucy who nodded.

  "Let's get to it then," Lucy said, throwing down a twenty on the table.

  Xochi raised an eyebrow at Lucy as if to say "really?"

  "What? It's a tip." Lucy hooked her arm in Bob's, leading him out of the restaurant.

  "Uh, huh." Xochitl shook her head and followed close behind.

  Yes, let's tip the millionaires.

  Chapter 6

  OMEGA: he's not here computer gone found journal

  TROIKA: Take it up north and find him.

  OMEGA: & the situation in la?

  TROIKA: We can use it. Nothing has changed.

  24 months ago

  Lucy pulled up to the ranch she'd called home all her life. Captain Burch had suspended her, had told her to go home. Lucy knew she was supposed to stay in L.A. and wait to be recalled. She'd picked up her Jeep from the station, intending to go straight back to her place. But before she had realized it, she'd passed the exit to her Valley apartment and just kept going.

  Back home to Mama. Back home to the ranch.

  Located on the outskirts of the little town of Empyrean, the ranch housed Hanna's Rescue and Rehabilitation. Lucy's mother Ellie and her business partner and best-friend-since-childhood Hanna had established the dog boarding and training facility when Lucy was a child.

  A beacon of best practices long before the national dog-training craze had taken hold of television and print, Hanna's R'n'R had grown into a well-respected California kennel in the three decades since Ellie and Hanna had started the venture.

  Initially they had leaned heavily on Hanna's tremendous affinity for dogs and Ellie's undeniable charm, but they'd proven themselves formidable business women and hard-working, trusted caretakers of the area's canine population. Ellie's influence on the community had grown too. Serving part-time on the small city council, Ellie was a problem solver and beloved advisor to the citizens of Empyrean.

  Growing up on the ranch, Lucy had never lacked for friends or fun. Her path had been set early and clearly; everyone expected she would take up the reigns for Ellie and Hanna when the time came.

  Fate had twisted Lucy's path the summer after high school, taking her from the idyllic small town and driving her to the police academy in Los Angeles to learn how to help the weakest of the weak instead of basking in the comfort of home, surrounded by people who loved her and dogs who were obsessed with her.

  Cruising up the hill to the ranch, Lucy felt a twinge of guilt pierce her core. People and dogs still needed her in L.A., but she'd run home to Mama.

  The morning air felt soft on her face, and the heady scent of narcissus calmed her frayed nerves. A few early blossoms dotted the small apple orchard.

  The backyard kennels sounded quiet. Not too many guests, Lucy guessed. A few barn cats roamed around the property, taking advantage of the early morning quiet. Through the kitchen window, Lucy could see her mama prepare breakfast for the house dogs, who were fed before all the boarding dogs were taken out for their morning exercise.

  Ellie passed gracefully behind the picture window, allowing Lucy the chance to study her mother in her solitude. Ellie was perhaps five foot six to Lucy's towering five ten. Where Lucy had always been athletic and robust, Ellie was delicate in both feature and form. Lucy often wondered if she had taken completely after her father, whom she'd never met and of whom Ellie had hardly ever spoken. Ellie had always attributed Lucy's straight auburn hair and her blue-grey eyes to him. And occasionally, when Lucy was at her most taciturn and uncooperative, Ellie would say she was just like her father.

  As Lucy made her way to the back door, she heard her mother's dogs Brisco and Maggie, the usually tranquil chocolate labs, scrabble on the hardwood and yowl in their funny deep voices. In response a cacophony of dog howls struck the alarm.

  "It's just me, Mama. Kids," Lucy announced from the back porch. Knowing her dogs well, she set down her duffel and shrugged out of her sherpa-lined denim jacket.

  "Everybody hush!" Ellie scolded the excited pack from inside the kitchen. The barking ceased instantly and was replaced with whines and yips. Lucy nudged the door and met the onrush of five dogs, all vocalizing and pushing for position, by kneeling and throwing her arms wide open.

  The youngest female, Poppy, started to squat while crawling towards Lucy.

  "Poppy, stop it! You're not a puppy. No sprinkling. Cut that out," Lucy scolded and pointed to the open door. "Outside!"

  The thin, rust colored dog raced out to the back yard, where she continued to bow her head between her long legs and emit a high-pitched whine. The older dogs darted around Lucy, getting in licks to her face and hands.

  "Poppy squats because she's afraid of you," Ellie teased. "She's being submissive so you won't beat her." She brushed a wisp of white hair off her neck and stuffed it back into her bun.

  "Silly dogettes." Lucy put her arms around Chasselas, the gargantuan Bernese mountain dog, and kissed his warm muzzle.

  Was Mama's hair this white the last time I visited?

  Poppy raced back into the house, now in better control of herself, and pressed into Lucy's back.

  Bonn, the German shepherd, squeezed his furry body under Chasselas and onto Lucy's lap. Ellie chuckled and clicked her tongue to redirect the dogs.

  "Hi, Mama." Lucy squealed from inside the dog pile. A wave of relief washed over her as she huddled with her adoring pack.

  "What are you doing here?" Ellie said abruptly, making Lucy snap her head to look at her mother. It had been a long since Lucy had visited outside of a holiday.

  Cat's in the Cradle. Crap! I'm the worst daughter.

  "I got suspended." Lucy had to come clean to her mother immediately. Ellie didn't tolerate lies.

  "Suspended?" Ellie sounded shocked. "What did they do wrong?"

  That's my mama. Always has my back.

  "Things got really tense in L.A.," Lucy said, picking herself off the kitchen floor and brushing the dog fur from her pants and long-sleeved thermal. Half of a muddy paw print now decorated the front of the shirt. "Haven't you been watching the news?"

  "I caught something in passing," Ellie said and pointed to the little television mounted under the cabinet. "Some kind of drug or something is making people violent. Is it those bath salts?" Ellie turned back to the counter to scoop the rest of the cut-up lamb and potatoes into the dog bowls.

  "Bath salts? Hell, if it were only that." Lucy gathered up the dog bowls from the counter and distributed breakfast to the impatient pac
k.

  "You didn't hear about that bizarre 911 call? The Kyon guy?" Lucy asked her mother, a little surprised. "It was all over news radio when I drove up here."

  "Oh you know, I don't sit down to watch TV," Ellie answered. "Hanna always has new projects. We're expanding, by the way. It's been really busy." She smiled and watched the dogs gobble down their food. All five tucked in with great enthusiasm, only the sound of smacking and chewing broke the suddenly uncomfortable silence.

  "I don't know. It could all be hooey," Lucy said and collapsed onto one of the kitchen chairs. Not wanting to unnecessarily panic her mother, she searched for the right words.

  "All I know is what I saw myself." Lucy watched her mama silently pull eggs and a raw half-pound rib eye from the fridge.

  "I...Gabe and I were on a raid. A pit bull fight. I had this CI, confidential informant, Xochitl. The dogfighting was in the back lot of her bar. Her gangbanger boyfriend had...She contacted us about guns and dogfighting...Mama, when we got there. The dogs...Everything went so wrong. I've never seen..." Lucy had to stop as the night's events all jumbled together in her memory. She had tried to sort it out before but couldn't face the images. The ripped apart cats the East Los Locos had used for bait before Lucy and Gabe got there. The bloody dog bodies. The pop of the sweaty audience. Men howling and betting, making a night out of torturing animals. The stench of burning fur and flesh. Gabe in surgery. She just wanted to un-see it all somehow.

  Lucy closed her eyes. The words came out slowly, almost against her will.

  "Mama, my partner, Gabe...He turned into this thing. This big furry wolf beast."

  The cast iron pan clattered onto the stove. Lucy's eyes flew open; the dogs all stared at Ellie.

  Lucy picked up the pace as if getting it out quicker would make it less painful. "Gabe. It was still Gabe, but different and out of control and so inhuman...I can't...he attacked...these gangbangers. And then I thought he would turn on us. Xochitl and me. Then I told him to stop. And I swear when I said 'stop' he did."

  Ellie stood very still, head bowed over the stove. Lucy regretted having elaborated.

  This is too much. She thinks I'm crazy.

  "It was scary. And weird. It all happened so fast." Lucy ran her hand over her face and through her hair, searching for an explanation. "And then Gabe was just Gabe, but he'd been shot and they took him to this trauma center. And I was supposed to take Xochitl to the station. But..."

  "But you didn't," Ellie said with so much understanding in her voice it made Lucy want to cry. Ellie crossed the kitchen and wrestled the milk carton from the back of the fridge.

  "SWAT showed up," Lucy continued. "They made some arrests, but the gang leader, Memo Morales, got away. And later that night, he burned my CI's bar and the apartment above it to the ground. Nobody died, but Xochitl lost everything. She hadn't paid the insurance either. So, she really lost everything." Lucy's stomach turned; she felt guilty again and useless.

  Accepting the glass from her mother, Lucy drank the milk down with one gulp.

  "Mama, I don't want to be a cop anymore." Lucy's words sounded far away to her even as she spoke them. "I don't want to go back to L.A. I don't know what I'm doing. It's too much. People got hurt because of me. And I couldn't even help Gabe or Xochitl. Captain Burch suspended me, but the truth is I don't ever want to go back. I want to stay here with you and Hanna. Be a dog trainer. Go to vet school like you wanted." Lucy's voice came out small and hesitant.

  "My girl, my girl. Shhh. It'll be all right." Ellie reached out for her daughter and cradled her head like she had when Lucy was a little girl.

  "There are reports on the radio about California being infected with some violence inducing flu," Lucy said and cuddled closer to her mama. "And there's that 911 call about a lab accident and a monster. I don't know. It could be a hoax. But it could be what happened to Gabe. No one knows anything." Lucy pulled away from her mother.

  "I just wanted to come home," Lucy said and stared into her mother's emerald eyes. "I had to make sure you were okay. You and Hanna."

  Lucy froze momentarily. She had missed something.

  "Where is Hanna? She's not home?" Lucy started to rise.

  "Don't worry, my little one. Hanna just went to take care of something for the rescue. She'll be back in a few days." Ellie's words soothed Lucy like they always had.

  "Why don't you eat some breakfast?" Ellie asked. "We'll figure it all out later," she continued hypnotically.

  Lucy felt weary, and deep exhaustion overtook her. Obediently, she ate her breakfast while listening to Mama tell stories of the dogs, both house dogs and boarders, that made them laugh and forget that anything beyond the ranch existed.

  "I love you Mama." Lucy lingered before she retired to her bedroom. "I missed you."

  Ellie smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek.

  Lucy stumbled to her room and fell down on her bed too tired to change out of her clothes. She fell asleep instantly.

  The weeks flew by as Lucy slipped back into ranch life and enjoyed the constant flow of boarders coming in and out of the R'n'R. Always up before dawn, she took to the work without hesitation. The feeding and tending to the animals had been her joy since she was old enough to walk.

  She exchanged stories with Ronna and Gerri, the local ranch hands Hanna had hired when Lucy had moved to L.A. Lucy didn't know the two women well, but grew to appreciate them in the weeks they worked together. They were good at their jobs, dependable, and devoted to the ranch.

  Gerri, it turned out, was an excellent cook and had made it her life's work to come up with delicious and nutritious canine treats. The dogs, being dogs, loved her almost as much as they loved Lucy.

  At least they love me for me. Not for the treats I dole out.

  But Lucy had to admit that Gerri had a gift.

  To give Gerri and Ronna a break one afternoon, Lucy took the small band of boarding dogs to the meadow along with Poppy, Bonn, Brisco, Maggie and Chasselas. The stream provided hours of great fun for all the dogs despite the chill in the air. Lucy had not a moment to consider recent events, but the thoughts of L.A. kept nagging at her even as she splashed through the water with her canine entourage.

  Returning home, Lucy handed the dogs off to the ranch hands and marched into her mother's kitchen. She could smell Mama's roast chicken and biscuits from the yard.

  Ellie's cozy kitchen was drenched in sunlight and felt warm despite the cool April winds whistling through the trees. Framed posters of dog breeds and colorful charts describing dog body language decorated the adobe brick kitchen walls. Lucy noticed a new doggie eye chart and laughed as she caught a glimpse of the tiny teddy bear and foxtails on the bottom line.

  "Doc Howard brought that poster over with the Bordetella vaccines," Hanna said, acknowledging Lucy's chuckle.

  "Hanna!" Lucy cried out, pulling off her wet and muddy boots by the door.

  "Doc Howard's such a nice man," Ellie chimed in. "Always a good friend to the R'n'R."

  "Yes, he is," Hanna agreed. She'd kicked back at the oak kitchen table, munching on a kale and quinoa salad while watching Ellie drizzle drippings over the chicken before shoving it back into the oven.

  "Hey, babe!" Hanna jumped from her chair and hugged the slightly taller Lucy fiercely. A second mother to Lucy, Hanna had an unflappable ease about her that made Lucy feel safe.

  "Mama said you'd be back in a couple of days." Lucy pulled back from the hug.

  "Well, dealing with the rescues took a little longer than I thought." Hanna shook her impressive ink black curls.

  While the same age as Lucy's mother, Hanna looked ageless. Her face was virtually un-lined, and her mane of hair un-dyed. Red-brown Mehndi snaked from her hands up both arms, the henna stains disappearing under her embroidered Indian kurti. Washed-out denims and worn alligator cowboy boots completed Hanna's uniform. Always a little exotic for Empyrean, Hanna was nonetheless accepted and even looked up to in the small town.

  "Your mama says the
y've been giving you a hard time down there in L.A." Returning to her chair, Hanna handed Lucy the celery stick from her glass of green vita-drink and took a gulp.

  "Can't say it hasn't sucked." Lucy chomped down on the stalk.

  Sliding onto the bench between the table and the wall, Lucy exhaled slowly. Hanna would want details, so she laid out the details of that terrible night as best she could recall, pausing to gather her thoughts when raw emotion threatened to take over. Ellie and Hanna listened intently.

  "And it seemed that Gabe stopped when you gave him the verbal command?" Hanna leaned back in her chair. "Just like the dogs."

  "I can't be sure. I told him to stop, and he did." Lucy chewed on a warm bacon biscuit. "Could've been a coincidence."

  "But this Xochitl girl didn't think it was a coincidence," Hanna suggested.

  Ellie rose from the kitchen table, put on her crochet oven mitts and pulled the broiling pan from the oven. The roast chicken scent wafted through the kitchen, rousing the house dogs from their naps. Many dog claws clicked on the hardwood floor as the pack came to investigate.

  "She called me a bruja." Lucy fidgeted with her napkin. "We were both in shock. I don't think she remembers what she saw. Hell, the other officers pretended they saw nothing."

  "Did they?" Hanna pressed.

  "They...pretty much ignored me afterwards." Lucy accepted the platter with the chicken from Ellie and began carving the bird into three portions. "But things got really heated. And then I got suspended." Lucy still couldn't believe it.

  "I drove Xochitl home," Lucy said. "But then there was the fire. She was totally shut down when her friend picked her up. Well, after she called me a bunch of bad names. I think Captain Burch might look into witness protection for her, but I don't know if she'll reach out now. She feels totally betrayed."

  Ellie stopped short and stared into her daughter's eyes. Lucy sank down on the bench, embarrassed by her mother's disapproving gaze; prickly shame colored her cheeks before Ellie even said one word.

  "Lucille Elizabeth Lowell, I did not raise a coward. You will help that young woman. She risked a lot for you." Ellie's abrupt words had a finality to them that Lucy recognized as the end of any argument she'd ever had with her mother. Hanna reached for the bowl of green beans. She too knew that tone. Ellie had spoken.