Winston huffed at the list of license plates.
He had started taking a note of vans that he had seen around the areas of the city where the homeless people lived. Noting when he saw them more than once. A lot of them belonged to various churches and charities who went around handing out food and blankets, but not all.
He had his friend Destroyer (birth name Hugo Greenfell) trace them. That was the good thing about being a nerd – he had nerdy friends who were good with computers and could find and hack any information he needed.
Some of the vans were from rental companies, and one wasn’t registered anywhere. That was the van he needed to follow.
“Winnie!”
He scrambled to cover up his board as his mother came downstairs, frowning at him.
“I really don’t know why you want to spend all your time down here when you could be upstairs.”
“Mom, you know I like drawing down here.”
Yes, in his spare time he was trying to create his own comic book. His hero and main character was now Wolfman…
“Hmmm.” She peered over his table to look at the picture he was doing. She pursed her lips.
Winston moved to cover it – it was a work in progress. A picture of a tall, lissome blonde woman – the love interest of the hero of his comic. The most beautiful female in existence. She was modeled on Avery.
“It’s almost lunch time,” she said peering around the basement, trying to see what he was doing.
“I hope so; I need to get back to work soon.”
His store wouldn’t run himself, and he always felt edgy leaving Seymour in charge. His mole shifter assistant was competent enough… Actually no, he wasn’t. He was rude to customers, refused to sell them any comics he didn’t like, argued with everyone about everything and the last time a woman came into the shop - he gave away half of Winston’s stock. But he worked for comics – so he was virtually free.
His mom gave him a significant look. “Yes, and you are very lucky to have your little comic store.”
Winston sighed. Yep, his mom gave him the money to buy the store – something she reminded him of all the time. Another reason he couldn’t move out and leave her, and the reason why he had to schlep home every day for lunch.
“Yes, Mom.”
She slanted her head at him. “Perhaps you should change your shirt for lunch.”
He looked down at his Gargoyles t-shirt – it was one of his favorites. He supposed he needed to be careful he didn’t spill gravy down it. His mom didn’t believe in small meals and certainly not plain old sandwiches – every single one of their meals had three courses and that included breakfast. Unless his nose was sorely mistaken, they were having pork chops with homemade applesauce. His dad had been a farmer – kind of. He owned an enchanted orchard of apples – which meant they pretty much ate apples with everything and Winston was starting to get a wee bit sick of apples.
Undoubtedly there would be either apple pie or cobbler for dessert, not to mention some kind of apple themed starter, which he would duly eat, lest his mother start crying.
He shook his head. “I’m comfy in this.”
He thought about the shirt Avery had been wearing the other day – Thundercats, featuring Cheetara. Maybe she was doing it out of ‘80’s retro chic, but the idea that his lioness may have liked the cartoon was definitely a turn on.
“Hmmm, what about that blue shirt I bought you for your birthday?”
Still in its plastic wrap – like all the clothes his mother picked out, it looked itchy.
“Oh, I’m saving that for best.” So, never.
“Well, why not wear it today?”
“Why…”
The doorbell rang sending his mother into flutters.
“She’s here!”
“She?”
For a moment, his wolf wagged his tail and elation soared as he thought it might be Avery, but then, why would it be Avery?
“Just change your shirt and remember to mind your manners,” ordered his mom before she danced up the stairs.
Crud. He feared who this may be coming to lunch. It was never a good sign when his mom got excited over anything.
*
Avery exchanged hellos with Rick, the medical examiner. She asked after his pregnant mate and her daughter and then got down to business.
On her travels, through the park, she had found some animal fur, which matched some tufts found in the house. It wasn’t the dad’s – it appeared to belong to a tiger or a tiger shifter.
None of the local zoos appeared to have lost any of their animals, and according to Jessie – their squirrel shifter tech support - there were no private owners registered. It would be unusual for a wild tiger to roam free in a city without someone noticing, which again brought them back to shifter.
Rick frowned at her. “It appears to be shifter…”
“I’m sensing a but.”
He frowned in consternation. “Yes, there’s something distorting the DNA – it’s not quite shifter. I’m not sure what is going on with it; I may have to consult with a friend who studies shifter genes.”
“Maybe it was just contaminated.”
“Yes, maybe. But, altogether we collected four of these fur samples, and they all had the same results.”
“Four? Looks like our perp wasn’t shy about spreading it around.” Then she winced, wishing she hadn’t put it like that. “What about some kind of unusual shifter?”
She was thinking of the SEA director’s mate – he was a sabretooth tiger, a genetic throwback. The guy was large enough and scary enough to have done something like this – though she didn’t believe for a second that he would have. He was mated to their vampire boss and looking forward to the birth of their first child. But, perhaps another shifter – another throwback like him could have.
“I considered that, and no – that’s not it. Rare creatures have stable DNA – this is not stable. There’s just something wrong with this DNA.”
“Anything you can tell me about the bodies?”
“Ripped apart by some kind of animal. Best guess based on this fur is a tiger. I’m afraid it’s not much to go on.”
Avery murmured in agreement.
They had agents interviewing anyone who may have been in the park and seen something, but so far they were coming up blank.
She would speak to Gerry, get permission to ask for help on TV – perhaps someone would remember something they had seen. Course, they would have to wade through hundreds of crazy calls saying they’d seen aliens and the like before they got to the call they wanted, but maybe they would get the call they needed.
“Perhaps Erin could assist,” suggested Rick.
Avery perked up. “Yeah, maybe.”
Erin was the strongest psychic they had, and the mate of her polar bear boss, Gunner. If she could get something from the evidence, it would certainly be a leg up. Because at that moment they had bupkis.
*
Winston growled as his mother told another embarrassing childhood story about him running around naked and flashing his winky at various people. Apparently, he hadn’t liked wearing clothes until he was six. Even then he had to be bribed with candy.
Tara, the bunny shifter, giggled shyly, looked up, met Winston’s eyes and then quickly looked away. Criminy.
He didn’t know where his mother had found her, but she had dragged the poor girl as some kind of ‘set up.’ The female was tiny, bashful and looked like she wouldn’t say boo to a mouse – never mind a goose. She had only managed to say ‘hello’ to him, given him a very limp handshake and since then had murmured agreements to anything his mom said. His mom was in fine form – as loud as ever, and happy to do the talking for everyone.
“Tara holds a degree in business management, don’t you, Tara?” She barely paused and didn’t bother to wait for an answer before she added, “She went to Los Lobos University. Winnie studied art, didn’t you Winnie?”
“Ah…”
“He went to Los Lobos College for Creative Arts.”
His beast growled in annoyance. He and Tara were seemingly getting to know one another without saying a word to each other.
The moment his mother set his dessert down, he attacked it, spooning it down as if his life depended on it. His sanity did.
He shoveled the cobbler into his mouth – a welcome flavor of rhubarb and apple – and took a huge swallow, stretching his esophagus to the limit.
“I have to go to work. Nice to meet you,” he mumbled, making a break for the exit.
Naturally, his insanely-fast-when-she-wants-to-be mom caught him before he managed his escape.
She clamped a hand on his shirt. “Winnie, what do you think of Tara?”
“Uh, she seems…” Wet? Drippy? Afraid of her own shadow? “Nice?”
“Her parents are gone, she’s living with her elder brother and his family at the moment – she could just move right on in here with us.”
“Look, I better… What do you mean move right on in here?” He gave her a suspicious look. “Why would she do that?”
“Well, the two of you could get married…”
His beast howled. “Mom!”
“You’re not getting any younger,” she protested.
“I’m twenty-two!”
“You two could mate, she could live here and help me with the apples – she likes apples.”
Winston laughed at the absurdity of it. Yes, that was his main aim in finding a mate – one who would want to live with his mother and one who liked apples! His thoughts flickered to Avery – yeah, there was just no way he was going even to consider another female while his obsession with the lioness was still going strong. Besides, Tara was definitely not his type – far too timorous.
“Mom, I have to go to work.”
Her bottom lip trembled worryingly. “What about Tara?”
“Tell her I said… I don’t know, anything. Tell her I said literally anything.”
With that, he yanked his t-shirt out of her grip, only stretching it a little and ran away as quickly as he could.
He loved his mom, but jeez!
*
Avery stared at the business card. It was for a comic store. She turned it over in her hand. Should she…
She bit her lip, considering all the losers she had dated over the years – Daryl being the most recent. Her lioness nudged her encouragingly.
Screw it.
She strode into the store and halted on spying the cute young man behind the counter with the messy brown hair and Clark Kent glasses.
Rawr.