Avery called Wes. He was looking into the homeless disappearances but wasn’t making any headway, but he had a half-report from someone who also thought one of them had been taken by a heavyset guy in a van.
As for her message to Jessie, the little squirrel shifter had come up trumps. Avery wanted to know where Gretchen was attending college – and it was LLU – where Kringle and Froggett had worked, and Gretchen was studying shifter genetics. She had access to the lab where they were working on the serum – she was one of Morgan’s freaking students!
As for Gretchen’s financials, the house was bought and paid for – no mortgage on that puppy. But Jessie couldn’t find anything in her employment history to suggest she could afford it. But then with her father – maybe he had given her the money. But Avery couldn’t imagine Tom Murphy not trying to wring his money back out of his daughter when he needed it.
Full of blueberry pancakes, she found Wayne at the diner on the corner of their street – unless Avery was home, or unless he was ordering takeout, he always ate there. He was like a piece of the furniture, though one who had dated most of the waitresses who work there.
She slid into the booth opposite him. There were half a dozen empty plates in front of him.
Wayne nodded. “Hey, you getting breakfast?”
“Nah, already eaten – Aimee cooked.”
His eyes flickered.
“You don’t mind her staying, do you?”
He tapped his fingers on his packet of cigarettes and shrugged. “It’s your apartment.”
“But you pay rent.”
“She can do as she likes.”
Hmmm. Her lioness was a little suspicious about his forced nonchalance. Avery took a sip of Wayne’s coffee. He had spent the night watching Murphy. Apparently, he volunteered, nay insisted he take Lake’s shift. She didn’t really want to get into why he was avoiding her sister at the moment.
Wayne yawned widely. His jaw cracked alarmingly.
“You’re tired,” said Avery, “go home.”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
“Look, I hate to ask, but my sister…”
He stiffened ever so slightly.
“You know about my family, and you know about my mother. Well, Aimee left home, and I don’t want my mother trying to drag her back there, I want to make sure she’s safe. Isis and Raf stayed with her all night, but can you keep an eye on her today?”
Wayne shrugged. “Sure. I’ll be sleeping, but she can yell if she needs me.”
“Thanks. Aimee’s such a sweetheart; I’d hate for my mom or sisters to hurt her.”
He snorted. “You weren’t saying that last month when she tried to sneak up on you while you were shaving your legs.”
Avery snickered. “She just startled me when she slipped on that bar of soap. Poor thing chipped a tooth.”
Wayne ordered some more toast and coffee, and if Avery didn’t know any better, she’d think he was trying to delay going home.
“Who gave you that tip about the fight club?” she asked.
Wayne yawned again. “Wily Willy.”
Avery wrinkled her nose. “Wily Willy?”
“Wily Willy the weasel shifter.”
One of Wayne’s regular confidential informants and a waste of space in Avery’s opinion.
“Where’d he get it from?
“Said he overheard it in some yuppie bar.”
“What was he doing in a yuppie bar? Hardly seems like his type of place.”
Wayne smirked. “He dresses up in a business suit and goes around bars trying to steal phones and laptops.”
“Charming. But he sent you to a sewage plant?”
His expression darkened. “Yeah, clearly he overheard wrong.”
“Or overheard the address wrong,” she said thoughtfully.
“You think he might have been right?”
“Possibly.”
Avery took a piece of bacon off Wayne’s plate – despite his growls and chewed on it thoughtfully.
“How did the rumor start that Murphy’s daughter tried to poison him?”
“Eh, not sure.”
“Where’d you hear it? You always seem to hear everything first.”
People seemed apt to talk to the gator shifter. Avery struggled to hold onto CIs – they wanted something in return for their services that she didn’t want to give, and the suggestion of which earned them a cuff to the back of the head.
Wayne frowned. “I can’t really remember, but I think it was Wily Willy.”
“Where would I find Wily Willy?”
“Probably the race track.”
“He likes to gamble?”
“No, he has a job mucking out the horses, and sometimes doping the horses.”
Her lioness huffed – he just gets better and better.
“I should come with you,” he said.
“You need to sleep, and stay with my sister.”
“Right,” he agreed reluctantly.
She would go and speak to Willy to see if he knew who spread that rumor, and perhaps call in on Winston’s store – it was virtually on the way, give or take eight miles.
*
Winston tuned out Seymour’s irritating voice, pretended Tara wasn’t there hanging on his every word and imagined Howie was on a far-off planet getting dissected by aliens. Yep, he could get through the day by doing that, and the only thing that could make it more manageable was running through the door.
His beast wagged his tail as his lovely lioness glided through the door. He inhaled her gorgeous scent and let out a rumble.
“Winston!” she called, her face lighting up like the Fourth of July.
Avery ran in and jumped into his arms, making him stagger a little, but he recovered quickly. To the astonishment of everyone in the store – including Winston, she kissed him – thoroughly.
“Hey,” she purred when she finally let him up for air
“Ah, wow, ah…”
He was lost for words. He wasn’t used to any female being this excited to see him. Sure, yeah, okay Avery had always been excited to see Wolfman, but a part of him still thought she wouldn’t want anything to do with him when he wasn’t masquerading as his caped alter ego.
Sadly, however, Howie wasn’t lost for words.
The small male rushed forward. “Avery, so good to see you. Did you get my new gift?”
Avery frowned at him. “Yes, and I threw it in the garbage – I say this as a concerned bystander, you need professional help.”
“I’ll buy you whatever you like – perhaps you’d like to…”
Winston growled and trembled as his wolf tried to push the shift. “Are you serious? Are you freaking kidding me? She ran in, jumped into my arms, kissed me, and you are hitting on her?!”
“Well, ah…”
He swung around, still holding Avery and glared at everyone in the store.
“Is it so unbelievable that she is my girlfriend?”
Avery beamed at him while everyone else gaped.
“Girlfriend?” squeaked Tara.
Seymour gave them both a thunderous look – Winston hadn’t seen him this furious since they changed Bane’s origin story in the recent Batman movies.
Tara ran into the back room and slowly, Winston allowed Avery to slide down his body.
“You told her you weren’t marrying her, right?” asked Avery.
“Yep – several times.”
“She knows there’s nothing between you?”
“Can’t get rid of her.”
Avery patted his shoulder. “Let me have a try.”
*
Avery found Tara sniffling. The tiny female was perched on top of a pile of comics. Avery paused in the doorway, considering how to go about this. She wasn’t a female who had ever been able to master girl talk. If she were Erin or Lucie, she probably wouldn’t hesitate. But Avery’s experience of girl talk involved debating Dr. Who with Jessie or trading insults with Isis.
Her lioness came up blank too, so Avery just took the plunge.
“Tara, right?”
She nodded, and then blew her nose a lot more noisily than would be expected for someone so small.
Avery squatted in front of her. Jeez, she had a foot and easily fifty pounds on this delicate little flower.
“Tara, no guy is worth tears – I mean, I don’t know what has happened between you and Winston…”
“Nothing, nothing happened,” she burbled. “His mother just wants us to get married.”
Avery winced. “And you want to marry him?”
Tara shook her head vehemently.
“Oh.” Avery furrowed her brow. “So, why the tears?”
She screwed up her face. “It’s okay for you,” she growled with unexpected force. “You can get any guy you want.”
“That’s really not true.”
Tara ignored her. “But for girls like me, we have to make do while the guy of our dreams doesn’t even know we exist.”
She sniffled dangerously, and Avery worried a fresh round of tears was on its way.
“Is there a guy you’re into?”
She nodded.
“Not Winston, right?”
She shook her head and Avery’s lioness felt relief to hear it.
“But you’re too shy to do anything?”
She nodded again.
Avery raised her hand uncertainly, thinking she would soothe her but not sure where best to put her hand. In the end, she settled on Tara’s head and patted her ineptly.
“Aww, honey, you have to bite the bullet and go for it.”
“But what if he says no? I’ll be so unhappy.”
“Honey, you were considering marrying Winston because you were too shy to tell his mother no, and because it seemed like the easy option. Don’t you think that would have made you unhappy?”
Tara chewed on her lip.
“Trust me,” said Avery encouragingly. “Don’t waste time; just go for it.”
She nodded and then blew her nose again. “But what about Winston’s mother?”
Avery hesitated. She was yet to meet Mrs. Strong but had heard plenty about her from Winston – enough to make her a little worried.
“Let’s worry about her later.”