Avery gave Cutter a wry look. “Happy?”
“Sure.”
Cutter’s lips curled in as close to a smile as he ever managed. He was sporting a shiner, but Alfie hadn’t fared much better than him. Cutter could be damn scrappy when he wanted to be – even against an elephant shifter.
His phone rang, and he almost elbowed Avery in the face in his hurry to pull it out of his pocket.
“Lucie? Lucie?” he howled. “Damnit, you should only call in emergencies. Fine, yes, fine. Okay, love you too.”
“Was that actually Lucie?”
He scowled at his phone. “Yeah, she wants me to pick up some apples, white chocolate chip cookies, and steak flavor chips. She’s hungry.”
“Huh. Let’s stop by the grocery store over on fifth.”
“That’s twenty minutes out of our way,” complained Cutter.
“It sure is!” she agreed happily.
It also happened to be the grocery store where Murphy’s daughter, Gretchen worked.
After Cutter bought the items he wanted, they found Gretchen outside the building smoking a funny smelling cigarette. Cutter inhaled deeply and a satisfied look covered his face.
“Back again?” sighed Gretchen.
Avery smiled at her in a way that if she were male would already have her quivering. Sadly, it just made Gretchen’s expression even stonier. She gave up trying to soften Gretchen.
“Have you seen your dad in the last couple of days?”
Gretchen eyeballed her. “Since you last came here and harassed me? No.”
“What would you know about a fight club?”
She scrunched up her face as if thinking. “The movie?”
“An actual fight club. Back in the day, your dad ran one.”
She snorted. “If you say so.” She dropped her cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out. “I have to get back to work.”
They watched as she walked away, Cutter had to restrain Avery as Gretchen kicked a poor alley cat out of the way. Her lioness howled furiously. Poor little thing was just trying to get a drink of water from a damn puddle.
“She was lying,” groused Cutter.
“Yeah, but I think she was telling the truth about not seeing her dad.”
He inhaled again, his broad chest expanding terrifically.
“Do you smoke or something?”
“Used to.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell Lucie.”
“All this lying isn’t healthy,” she chided.
“You telling Lucie wouldn’t be healthy,” he muttered.
“Haven’t you noticed something?”
“What?”
“About her smell – I thought I smelled it the last time I saw her, but she wasn’t smoking, so it was fainter.”
Cutter rolled his shoulders. “She smells like smoke. Smokers stink.” He sounded a little wistful about that.
“Haven’t we smelled that particular scent recently though – say like half an hour ago?”
Cutter grunted. “Same smell at the bar.”
“Yeah, but no one at the bar was smoking those cigarettes. I knew it was familiar.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He took a long breath. “But the smell wasn’t actually at the bar – it was on Alfie.”
“You’re sure?”
She hadn’t noticed; the smell had been overwhelming. She just assumed it had been someone smoking heavily in the bar. Plus, she hadn’t smelled it on Alfie the other day.
“When a guy’s planting his fist in your face, you get up close and personal enough to know what they smell like – trust me.”
“So, Gretchen may not be in contact with her dad, but she is with Alfie.”
She chewed on her cheek and Cutter gave her an impatient look.
“So what the frak does that mean?”
She shrugged. “Maybe we can use Gretchen to get to Alfie.”
They’d never considered Gretchen to be anything but his dowdy younger daughter who was completely indifferent to her father. But maybe she was more than that.
“You think?”
“Worth a shot. It’s not like we’re actually getting anywhere with Murphy. Maybe we should watch Gretchen.” Cutter nodded in agreement. “But first, give me your sweater.”
*
Wolfman and Avery found themselves a spot outside Gretchen’s frankly enormous house. For someone who was supposed to be a student and working part-time at a grocery store, her house was huge. They supposed that Murphy could have bought her the house back when he was rich, but if that were the case, Avery would have expected him to repossess the house when he spent all his money on his new heart.
Since the cat was out of the bag about his identity – not that it had ever really been in the bag – he had given Avery his cell number. She called, asked if he wanted to do surveillance with him, and naturally he said yes.
“So why are we watching this woman?” he asked trying not to scowl at the jelly stain on his gloves.
Avery bought donuts – she said they were a must for stakeouts. But, his costume was hardly the kind of thing he could take to the dry cleaners.
“She’s Tom Murphy’s daughter, but while she isn’t in contact with him, we think she’s in contact with Alfie – and we want to use her to find out what Alfie is up to.
“Alfie doesn’t have any family or anything like that – he’s spent his adult life taking care of Murphy, so Gretchen may be the only leverage we have.”
“This is exciting,” he burbled grabbing another donut. His wolf howled in agreement.
Avery gave him a patient smile. “Say that again when you’ve been sitting here for four hours and she hasn’t done anything more exciting than go to the bathroom and you’ve had to pee in a cup.”
“We could…”
“Do not say play ‘I Spy’ or I will send you home right now.”
He laughed and adjusted slightly, his costume letting out a small squeak.
“This really doesn’t bother you? Me sitting here as Wolfman?”
Avery grinned. “No, not at all.” She took on a wistful look. “You’ve kind of been on my mind since we first met.”
“You too,” he breathed while his wolf yipped. “I mean, obviously - I imagine you’re on most men’s minds.”
“Stop that,” she groaned. “Stop all this I’m too good for you crap, because I’m really not.”
“Okay.” Though, he wasn’t completely convinced.
He smiled and she fingered his costume. He really wished she wouldn’t – this really wasn’t the time to be turned on.
Avery looked at him thoughtfully. “Why don’t you tell me why you wanted to become Wolfman?”
He smiled a little sheepishly. “I wanted to be Wolfman to help people like my dad. He didn’t deserve what happened – no one deserves that, and I wanted to help people who couldn’t help themselves.”
He had already told her about his dad and she had cooed in sympathy.
“Do you like being Wolfman?” she asked softly.
“Yeah, I love it,” he admitted only slightly embarrassed. “I spent my whole life feeling small and useless, but now… well, I’m still pretty small and useless, but I feel like I’m trying.”
“You’re not useless,” she said loyally.
“I don’t really help much,” he said ruefully. “I had these big ideas that I’d make the city safer, but really I just stop a few guys from mugging people, but they probably just move on to someone else.”
“You don’t think about quitting, do you?”
“No, I like it – but I wish I made more of a difference.”
No matter how many bag snatchers he stopped, three more seemed to spring up in their place. It was like a hydra monster.
“What about you? Why do you work for the SEA?” he asked, curious as to why his goddess wasn’t gracing a catwalk somewhere and living a life of luxury.
She smiled sadly. “My dad died when I was a kid. He was one of my mom’s four mates…”
“Four?” gulped Wolfman.
Avery nodded. “Traditionally in my pride, all the females have at least two mates.”
“Oh, ah, you ummm…”
His mind raced at the thought of having to compete with three, buff lion shifters for her affection. His wolf shrank a little at the thought.
She giggled and placed an elegant hand on his thigh. “I’m a one-wolf lioness if that’s what you’re trying to say.”
“Ah, oh, ummm…”
His spluttering was all now due to the hand on his leg.
“My mom is the leo of the pride, and my dad was challenged by another male who wanted to be one of her mates.” Her expression darkened. “My dad lost. He was killed and replaced, and my mom didn’t bat an eyelid. I think that’s pretty much when I started hating her. My sisters all have different dads to me. My youngest sister’s dad is the male who killed mine.”
“Wow, that… sucks,” he said lamely.
Avery rubbed her hand on his thigh. “Yeah, but it’s not Aimee’s fault. She’s the only one of my sisters I actually like. My mom was never interested in taking care of cubs; she left that up to her mates.” Tears started pooling in her darkened eyes. “My dad was my whole world, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.”
“I’m sorry, pretty kitty,” he crooned, dragging Avery into his arms.
She rubbed herself against him like a cat, and Wolfman had to remind himself that he needed to keep himself in check. A boner while hiding in someone’s bushes, spying on them was only something perverts got.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I do any good in my job either,” she confided. “We all have our doubts.”
He smiled at her reassurance.
“Did you find your mother went overprotective crazy after you lost your dad?”
“No, just crazy. She makes my sisters attack each other and tells them to attack me.”
He gasped. “Why?”
“To see who is going to take over the pride. She encourages us to fight to see who’s the best. See – crazy.”
They held still for a few moments, Avery settled in his arms as they watched the house.
“When I was a teenager, my mother used to scare away all my dates – well, both of them anyway.”
“How?” giggled Avery.
“By coming on my dates with us and talking all the way through the movies we went to see,” he said.
Gah, the memory was still so painful. I won’t sit near you, Winnie, she said. You won’t even know I’m there, she said. How could he ever have been so naïve?
Avery shook in his arms with unspent laughter.
“My mother tried to get me kicked out of the SEA by having a doctor friend of hers tell them I was addicted to meth,” she retorted, warming to the crazy mother theme.
“My mother insisted on being my prom date.”
Avery gasped. “Oh wow, yeah, okay, I kind of think you win with that one.”
And people wondered why he had low self-esteem – it was from having to slow dance with his mother at senior prom. She made him take a picture with her and everything, which she now kept framed in the living room. Ugh – so many terrible memories.
Avery snuggled a little closer. She traced the outline of his mask.
“Does the costume itch?”
“No.”
“Do you have to put talcum powder in it?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea how sexy it makes you look?”
He gulped and his wolf panted. “No.”
She grinned a Cheshire cat grin, and of course, that was the moment a car arrived and took her attention completely away from him.
They held still as they watched the enormous Alfie lumber out of the straining car and slowly make his way into the house. He didn’t knock – just went in. Obviously, he had a key.
“We need to get closer,” whispered Avery.
They edged over to the window, and carefully spied the tiny Gretchen scowling up at Alfie. They strained to hear. It was muffled, but thankfully Gretchen was yelling.
“Why does that blonde SEA bitch keep coming to see me?” screeched Gretchen.
“I don’t know,” rumbled Alfie.
“She came to see me twice!” Gretchen held up two fingers for emphasis.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“She better not.”
“She doesn’t,” insisted Alfie.
Then the small woman smiled and looked up at him, she ran a finger along the neckline of her sweater.
“Good,” she said in a much more honeyed voice. “Everything running smoothly?”
He nodded, watching her finger.
“Good.”
She batted her eyelashes and Wolfman watched openmouthed as the elephant shifter lunged at her and dragged her into his massive arms. He was about to leap to her rescue and protect her when Avery shook her head.
Nope, no need for rescue. He wasn’t attacking her – it was something else entirely. Wolfman froze as he heard a moan and understanding dawned.
Ugh.
He averted his eyes while the elephant virtually slobbered on her. They waited until he carried her upstairs and then slunk back into the shadows.
“I don’t really want to hear or see what’s about to happen,” said Avery.
He shuddered. “Nobody should have to see that.”
“You think she’s involved somehow with him kidnapping people?”
“I don’t know – maybe they were just talking about their relationship.” Avery shuddered too. “Maybe they just don’t want anyone to know they’re an item. Then again, maybe not.”