“You’ve talked with her?”
Allan frowned down at Lori. “Yes. I called her and told her that Rose was doing fine and all three babies were healthy boys.”
“What is she investigating while you’re here and not doing any dive work?”
“Lori…” He tried not to sound exasperated. He suspected her intuition was picking up something about the way he felt about Debbie, no matter how much he tried not to show it. But he wasn’t about to discuss it with her, even though she was a good friend and a pack leader.
She frowned up at him. “Didn’t she tell you she’s been doing some investigating on her own?”
“What? Not on this werewolf case.” All of a sudden, his heart was racing, and he had no control over it.
“She called Rose to congratulate her on the babies and sent a present for each of them. She said she’d come by later, when they were a little older and Rose was more rested. She knew Rose would be too worn out for company. Debbie said she was busy working a case, but as soon as she could, she’d drop by.”
Allan was already pulling out his phone and calling Debbie.
“Oh, Allan. I was just going to call you,” Debbie said, “but I didn’t want to bother you if you were needed there. Someone’s been shooting down near the lake. It’s probably nothing, but I’m in the vicinity and investigating it.”
“Where are you? Wait for backup.”
“A quarter mile south of Polly Meyer’s cottage. I can’t wait. If he’s shooting something illegally or he’s our murderer, I can’t let him get away.”
Allan told Lori he had to go and where he was going, then sprinted outside Rose’s house to the car. “I’m twenty minutes from there. Wait for me. I’m on my way,” he told Debbie. It could just be a hunter, but after Sarah and the two wolves were shot in the same vicinity, he didn’t want to risk not investigating. But he wondered why Debbie would jump to that conclusion. “What else, Debbie?”
“I saw a red Camaro up on the logging trail. I’m having Rowdy run the plates now.”
Hell, if the shooter was a werewolf now, they couldn’t get Rowdy involved. They had to take care of the shooter on their own, though Debbie would be clueless as to why.
He’d kept his phone open on the drive to the lake road to reach the area. “Talk to me, Debbie. Tell me you’re waiting for me.”
“He’s shooting something. I’m in the trees and getting closer to where I can see the beach. What if it’s… Ohmigod, he’s shot a wolf.”
Allan’s heart nearly stopped. It was probably a genuine wolf, not one of their kind. But what if it wasn’t? What if it was one of their own people?
Debbie shouted, “Police officer! Drop the weapon!”
“It’s not what you think it is!” the man shouted back.
Hell, Debbie. Allan couldn’t drive any faster on the narrow, winding, snow-covered gravel road. If the shooter was Otis, he most likely wouldn’t obey her. But Allan couldn’t talk to her now. He couldn’t distract her. He wanted to call for backup, but he couldn’t disconnect the line. Not when he was listening to her heavy breathing, her life pounding through her veins, and his own heartbeat thundering in his ears.
“Drop the weapon!” she hollered again.
“Hell, I know you’re not one of ’em, but if you’re going to protect ’em, you’re just as bad as them.”
Shots rang out.
Stricken and numb, Allan barreled the vehicle in her direction and then saw her car. He slammed on the brakes, bringing his hatchback to a sharp stop on the packed, crusty snow. Then he threw open the door, having enough presence of mind to grab the medical pack, and ran toward the sound of gunshots fired in the distance. “Damn it to hell,” Allan said, running full-out.
As soon as he reached the location, he found Debbie alone on the shore of the lake, getting ready to shoot a wolf lying nearby on its side.
“No!” he shouted, racing to save the lupus garou. From here, he knew the tan-colored wolf was Tara Baxter, Everett’s sister. Allan had to save her. Besides it being a devastating loss, if Tara died before he could rescue her, she’d turn into her human form in front of Debbie.
“It’s wounded, wild, and a predator. We need to put it out of its misery,” Debbie warned him, weapon still readied.
“No, don’t shoot the wolf!” His heart drumming, he raced to the location, but he didn’t see any sign of the hunter. “Where’s the shooter?” Making sure the place was secure was a priority, but Tara looked to be in bad shape, so he didn’t have any choice but to take care of her and hope no one would shoot them out in the open like this.