The day Allan went to pick Debbie up, she was as cheerful as she always was when he visited her. Which meant? She couldn’t possibly know what had happened at the shoot-out. He thought she looked positively thrilled to see him because he was taking her home from the clinic. Only not to her home. He’d already talked to her about it, and she seemed eager to do it. But first, she wanted to go to her place to get some clothes for her stay at his cabin.
As he helped her into his hatchback, he thought she still looked pale and tired. He pulled a blanket and pillow out of the backseat, tucking the pillow behind her and wrapping the blanket around her.
“How do you feel?” Allan tried not to look as worried as he felt, but tonight the full moon would be out in all its glory and he had to tell her what to expect.
He pulled out of the parking lot and started driving toward Whitefish.
“So much better. I can’t believe I could have been so bad off and feel so great.”
The faster healing genetics. Allan would talk to her about those later too. He glanced over at her, but she appeared to be drifting off to sleep.
When they were nearly to her place, she yawned.
“Feel any better?”
“Some. Still feeling a bit wiped out. I guess that’s why I need to stay with someone for a while. I guess we’ll be missing the Penguin Plunge in Whitefish.”
“There will always be next year. And I’ll definitely take you to it.” He would take her to anything her heart desired, if she was still speaking to him by then. “Paul said you told him the man who shot you was so bundled up, you couldn’t tell what he looked like.”
“Yeah, unfortunately. I was hoping I could positively identify that friend of Lloyd’s, Otis. The man was wearing a ski mask and a bulky winter parka so I couldn’t tell. He wore snow boots and he was dressed all in white—to blend in with the snow, I imagine. Zeta did say that Otis wore a white parka when it was snowy out.”
“True. It’s a wonder he didn’t get shot by a hunter. Did you see the color of his eyes?”
“His eyes were wintry blue. I didn’t remember until now, but we stared at each other for a moment before he shot me and I shot back. But they were icy blue.”
“Okay, I’ll let Paul know. And he can contact the police. In the photo, Otis was too far away and turned to the side a bit, so I couldn’t really see his eyes.”
“Me, either.” She stretched out in the passenger’s seat, pulled the blanket under her chin, and yawned. “Are you sure this isn’t going to be too much of an imposition?”
He’d already learned what she’d like to eat, so he had stocked the pantry and fridge at his cabin with her favorites. He’d asked her if he could pack her things and haul them to his place, but she had wanted to return home and pack for herself.
“No, not at all.” As much as he’d like to see this as a way to get to know her better, he knew things would change between them in a heartbeat as soon as she knew what she had become. It was his fault for not moving her so she wouldn’t see Tara change. Not getting there sooner so she wouldn’t have been shot in the first place. Not treating her wound fast enough. If Allan had confronted the shooter first, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kill the bastard and not waited for him to fire a round first.
“When do we start back on the case?” Debbie asked, as if she hadn’t just dealt with a life-threatening trauma of her own.
“When the doctor okays you going back to work.” He wasn’t sure how that was going to work out now. She’d have to take a leave of absence. He could just see her in a skintight wet suit trying to shift into a wolf. That would be a sight.
“She said you’ve been hanging around the hospital the whole time I’ve been there. Thank you.”
“I had to know you were going to be okay. Early on, you were sleeping nearly every time I came in.”
“Allan, you know none of this was your fault. I know you, and I know you blame yourself. I should have waited for backup. I’m so sorry. They said Tara went home today. She was going to be all right too. What…happened to the wolf? Did you save it? Everything was such a blur. I…I thought they were one and the same.” She laughed a little.
“Rowdy’s rubbing off on me with all his paranormal musings. And I watch too many paranormal shows. Anyway, I don’t know how I didn’t see Tara and how injured she was. Only the wolf. I wish I could have helped you more by assisting her and providing a better description of the shooter, but I guess I was fading fast. They say you saved both of us. When I asked about the wolf, they said they hadn’t seen it. So it must have been okay and run off.”
Nobody had told a lie. They’d seen Tara, but not in her wolf form. He really didn’t want to discuss this with Debbie right now. He could talk to her about everything at his place—with the cabin locked tight in case she tried to bolt.
“I was busy with Tara and you at that point,” he said again, not really lying.
“What about the red Camaro?”
“It was impounded at the scene. The serial number had been removed. License plates had been stolen from another vehicle.”