Echo Falls (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

Aidan pulled into a parking spot just outside Sophie’s Café in the center of Echo Falls. Not far from the police station, Sophie’s had not only the best coffee in town but most of the police were regulars for drinks and meals. Even so, the actual Sophie knew Aidan personally and tried to keep a booth open for him and his friends.

He walked into the usual chaos of wait staff taking and delivering orders, chatting customers and the clatter of silverware on plates. His friends already sat in the booth and had a mug of hot coffee waiting for him.

“Do we have anything?” he asked sitting down.

His closest friend and fellow policeman Will sighed and tossed the file on the table, leaning back against the café booth seat. He sat next to his partner Thomas, who was ten years Will’s junior but matched his scowl perfectly. They sat opposite Aidan, who opened the file and flipped through it.

Three murders. All within the past month. All the victims were werewolves – not that the other officers knew that. They had even less to go on. Yet, even with the additional information, the three of them didn’t have any leads.

So far, all of the victims had been outside the pack. Echo Falls was a big enough city to be home to Aidan’s pack as well as individuals who felt determined to live on their own. Why a wolf would purposely stay out of a pack, he didn’t know. But it could be the reason they were being killed.

The first murder had come as a shock. The city saw its share of violence but mostly as alcohol related punch ups and young people letting off steam in bad ways. A man shot in the heart with a weapon they had yet to recover made the news quickly, but people lost interest with no leads and no arrests. Two murders later and they had more attention than they wanted to deal with. People were beginning to fear a serial killer on the loose.

The victims were all too young. Too young to be bitten, too young to be without a pack and too young to get killed. At least the deaths had been quick. But he couldn’t manage to be grateful about anything related to murder.

The only new information that had come in came with the attack on Phoebe Martin, non-wolf and new to the city. She had no connection to the city or anyone in it that they could find. Not so much as a speeding ticket came up in her file. At least as far as Will and Thomas had been able to find since last night.

And she didn’t want to talk.

That she had been attacked by an unfamiliar wolf near the third murder scene was interesting, but it didn’t provide them any information that could lead anywhere. The strictly human police didn’t even know about her. With Will’s and Thomas’s help, he’d managed to hide her presence. They couldn’t afford a lone wolf attack in amongst the murder chaos because of the attention the murders were getting already.

The decision had been made in a moment of panic with Phoebe bleeding in the alley, but Aidan still felt it had been the right one. He’d stayed with her through the night, cleaning her up and soothing her as best he could when her nightmares upset her sleep. He’d played the events of the night over in his head but still couldn’t figure out her place in things other than a murder attempt survivor.

He took her business card out of his wallet and looked at it. He needed to talk to her about the attack. But if this morning had been any indication, that wouldn’t be easy. Even so, he’d assigned a pack member to keep watch at the apartment building and report anything suspicious.

Something had not been right about that whole situation, including her eagerness to get rid of him. She either had no idea what she’d gotten into or simply didn’t care. But there had been more to it than a simple ‘I don’t want to know’ attitude. There had to be.

He took a long drink of his coffee and resisted the urge to growl. Growling meant that the wolf was starting to take over. He needed his human mind right now, and his pack mates needed him calm.

“You got the wolf’s scent, right?” Thomas asked. “Anything?”

Aidan shook his head. Yes, he knew the scent of the Were that had attacked Phoebe – and in wolf form, which helped – but it was similar to hearing a voice in the crowd. He would have to find the scent again to know who it belonged to. And he didn’t have the luxury of being able to describe it.

Another clue and still nothing more to add. They could only hope that the killer would stop until after the next full moon. By then he would knock down Phoebe’s door if he had to.

“What about the woman?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “What does she know?”

Aidan shook his head. “She’s not talking.”

“She’ll have to soon,” Will said quietly. “Full moon is coming up.”

“I know.” He glared at his coffee. “I’ll talk to her once she’s had a chance to rest.”

If I figure out how
. He tapped her business card on the table. Somehow he doubted she would believe he needed her photography services.

A waitress placed a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of Thomas and Aidan smirked. Maybe Phoebe still needed his help in a much simpler way.

CHAPTER FOUR

The combination of painkillers – another unexpected perk of Aidan’s shopping – and pure exhaustion helped Phoebe to sleep away most of the rest of the day and night. After too many nights of driving and restless nights on questionable beds in even more questionable motels, a bed of her own was an amazing luxury even after the first few nights.

She’d been lucky enough to rent a place – her bond and one month’s rent in advance in cash helped the landlord feel more inclined to rent her the place – and buy a bed after only a week in an Echo Falls motel. She’d come to the city tucked away in the mountains by accident after taking a few wrong, tired turns. When her nightmares hadn’t immediately rushed in to haunt her, she’d begun to believe that she might have found a safe place.

That she’d been thrown right back into violence and chaos not long after moving in… She called it a hiccup for her own sanity. This would be her town, her new home, and she didn’t want to scare off at the first sign of werewolves. Their presence didn’t mean anything.

Even so, when someone knocked at her door the next morning, she approached it with the knife in her hand. She’d spread around a few business cards with her phone number on them, but not her address. No one should even know she’d moved in except perhaps a few observant neighbors.

When she looked through the eyehole, she didn’t know whether to laugh or shake her head.

“Aidan?” she asked, pulling the door open just wide enough to peer out at him.

“You remember me,” he said. He lifted two green shopping bags. “If you let me in, I’ll cook.”

She studied the bags and caught sight of a steak, sending her mouth watering. Cursing her easily tempted stomach, she closed the door to undo the locks and then let him in.

“I should have bought more yesterday,” he said, moving past her to unload the groceries….and a newspaper, cutlery, pans and a few dishes. “Just moved in, I’m guessing.” He paused and looked at the knife in her hand. “Expecting someone else?”

She locked the door and then turned to face him, keeping the knife in his view. “What are you doing here?”

He put a fry pan onto the stove. “I’m here to cook.”

She frowned at him.
This is too good to be true. Did I meet guy of the year or what?

“And to talk about the other night.”

She sighed and limped slowly over to the island that also served as the kitchen table. So sure – or delusional – about the safety of Echo Falls, she’d even bought two stools for the island. Now she wished she’d bought normal chairs as she maneuvered herself painfully onto one.

“I don’t want to go to the police,” she said, placing the knife in front of her.

He stopped in the middle of cracking an egg, and looked at her. “You were attacked and seriously injured. Why wouldn’t you want to go to the police?”

She swallowed hard, her gaze darting away from his intense stare. She couldn’t tell him the truth, but what answer would make sense?

“What are you doing here? Really?” she asked finally.

He focused back on his cooking. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“This is my apartment, and I’m seriously doubting my sanity given I let you in and I don’t even know you.” She’d meant to be flippant, but she looked away again, realizing the truth in her words. Her instincts fought for him and the idea that he didn’t want to hurt her, but logic said instinct had failed her in the past and certainly would again.

He chuckled, making her blink with surprise. “I’ll start. I found you the night before last in the alley and I didn’t know if you’d live. I always keep a first aid kit and spare clothes in my truck, so I grabbed them, found your apartment number on your key and brought you up here. I didn’t think you’d want me going through your clothes, so I got you cleaned up and put you in mine.” He cleared his throat. “I stayed with you to make sure you made it through the night okay. I knew you’d be hungry when you came to, so I went out and got some food while you were sleeping. I cooked, you woke up. You know the rest.”

She pursed her lips and stared at him, but she couldn’t sense anything wrong with what he said. At least he was trying, but to what end? Maybe he knew who attacked her? Maybe
he
had attacked her. No. That didn’t make sense.

“Why didn’t you take me to a hospital?” she asked.

“Instinct.”

Good answer
, she thought.

“Was I right?” he asked, looking at her.

She nodded.

After a few moments of silence, he said, “I’m not here to hurt you.”

She nodded, trusting him for the time being. He didn’t know where to take it from there, so he concentrated on his cooking. She leaned forward and cupped her chin in her hands, closing her eyes as the aromas filled the kitchen.

Her mother had been a fantastic cook. Sadly the talents had been passed down to Phoebe’s brother rather than her. Sunday roasts through to the most delicious salads for barbeques in the back yard… She made the traditional desserts with ease, but her signature dishes spoke of her forever-dream to travel the world. Italian tiramisu, Irish lamb roast, Chinese wonton soup… She never did get to travel the world, but she did her best through her food.

Aidan brought Phoebe out of her memories by clearing his throat.

“Breakfast.” He slid a plate toward her.

Steak – rare – and eggs. The smell was so intoxicating that she didn’t care how he knew she’d want her steak rare. Maybe he had an instinct for knowing what people liked.

He ate with her, both of them enjoying their food in silence. A surprisingly comfortable silence with the sunshine coming through the kitchen window slowly edging away from their plates. He smiled at her whenever she looked at him, and she wondered if she should be sitting so close to him.

Not that it would make much difference now. If she’d had any doubts about him, she’d dropped the ball just by letting him in the door. She wouldn’t be able to put up much resistance against him if he did try something. But her instincts were completely at peace and she couldn’t have asked for a better last meal if it came down to it.

Well, maybe with some bacon and cheesy eggs.

When they finished, she moved to take the dishes and he easily outmaneuvered her.

“You shouldn’t be moving around so much,” he said, putting the dishes in the sink. He then filled a glass of water and gave her some painkillers. “You shouldn’t even be out of bed.”

“You did knock on the door,” she said. “I’ll be -”

“Fine,” he said. “I heard you. Fast healer.”

She took the painkillers and drank the entire glass of water. As much as she hated to admit it, she did need to go back to bed. Sleep healed faster than any healing method she felt like trying, natural or otherwise. He might have turned out to be a nice person for the moment, but the next person might not. She needed to be at her physical best as soon as possible.

He washed dishes while she watched, growing more tired with each passing minute. Only then did she connect her sleep with the painkillers instead of just exhaustion. Hopefully he wouldn’t still want to talk about the attack. She didn’t know how many coherent sentences she had left in her.

When he finished, he turned around to find her blinking to keep awake. He leaned toward her and caught her gaze.

“Hey.”

She smirked. “Hey.”

“Can you talk about what happened?”

No.
She sighed. Yes, she
could
talk, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want anything to do with the attack or any of the werewolves wandering around Echo Falls. If there were any. Maybe a lone wolf had gotten out of control and Echo Falls didn’t have any others.

Still, she had enough of her own problems to deal with without bringing any werewolves into the mix. No. She didn’t want to talk. The attack couldn’t possibly be that important in the grand scheme of things. Maybe he was some kind of therapist who thought she needed to talk about it and get out her feelings.

“I’m very tired,” she said, finally.

After a moment, he nodded. “This is important, Phoebe. I’ll come back to check on you again. We can talk then.”

She nodded and followed him to the door.

“Can I pay you for the groceries? At least the steaks?” she asked. “Which were beautiful, by the way. You keep this up and I’m going to start calling you for delivery.”

He looked around, thinking, and then back at her. “Let’s say you owe me one.”

“That works,” she said nodding.

He looked at her for a few moments longer and then left with a small wave goodbye.

CHAPTER FIVE

Phoebe hadn’t lied when she’d said she healed fast. Though her body still had plenty of healing to do, three days of sleeping, stretching and eating – thanks to Aidan’s generous grocery shopping – had helped considerably. She’d have a good number of scars, especially the new ones on her right thigh, but they were just new additions to an already well-stocked collection.

She examined her scars before placing what bandages she could on her shoulders and back. She then wrapped up her thigh before pulling on her loosest fitting jeans. Putting on her bra proved to be a new kind of agony and she wrapped a wide bandage around her chest for padding underneath it. A white singlet under a loose, light green blouse had to do beyond that. The color blocked any see through and hung loose enough to camouflage the bandages underneath.

Her hair went back into a simply ponytail and she only bothered with enough makeup to make her look presentable to her client. All the sleep had been good for her despite the nightmares, the circles under her eyes barely showing.

She glanced over at the laundry basket with Aidan’s clothes folded on top of it. Washing them would be the polite thing to do, but she didn’t know when she’d get to do the washing. She had his number, but she’d half been expecting him to come by again this morning bearing breakfast and a newspaper.

She smiled.
I really shouldn’t get used to him…

Things were better without him, though. Safer. Even good guys needed protecting every now and then, and she couldn’t yet be sure she hadn’t been followed here. Though she barely knew anything beyond his name, he had helped her when he didn’t need to. In her book, that meant he deserved the courtesy of her staying far away from him until she felt completely sure she wouldn’t be a danger to him or anyone he cared about.

She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes for a few moments.
How long will it be before I feel safe?

Clearing her throat, she pushed the thought out of her mind. Aidan either knew she’d been attacked by a werewolf and wanted to help or had no clue she’d been attacked by a werewolf and still wanted to help. Stealing his clothes wasn’t an option. She’d just have to see him one more time. Maybe she could take him out for a coffee to thank him again properly. A coffee wouldn’t be dangerous. Hopefully.

She grabbed the clothes and stuffed them into her work bag.

Ten minutes later, she gave herself a hearty mental pat on the back for leaving early to get to Echo Falls Park. Despite the lunch rush having passed, the blue skies of the Friday afternoon made getting to the park take twice as long. Taking ten minutes to face the stairs in her apartment building hadn’t helped either. She’d finally done it by reminding herself that if someone wanted her dead, he would find her anywhere eventually.

Harsh realism, but at least it worked.

She’d dedicated another fifteen minutes to finding parking, hauling out all her equipment, finding a map of the park and then finding her way to the meeting place. She had intended to scout the location beforehand, but sleep conquered job dedication every time. Her clients were already there to meet her.

A woman holding a chubby baby girl stood leaning against a picnic table. She and the baby faced each other, cooing and giggling. They both wore light blue and had the same loose, dark blonde curls framing their faces; though the mother had most of hers back in a hair tie at the nape of her neck. Completely absorbed in each other, neither noticed Phoebe bring a camera to her eye and take a few shots.

Only when Phoebe took a few more steps forward did the woman notice her and grin. She stood straight, holding the baby on one hip, and held out her other hand. “Ms. Martin?”

“Phoebe,” she said, taking the woman’s hand and shaking it firmly. “You must be Mrs. Peterson.” She smiled at the baby, whose face brightened at seeing her smile. “And you’re Charlotte.”

“Sure is. Call me Elle. ‘Mrs. Peterson’ is way too formal.”

Phoebe smiled and held up her camera. “I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t resist.”

“Not at all.” Elle shrugged. “Follow your muse.”

With Elle’s blessing, Phoebe did just that. She easily fell back into habit despite all the time that had passed since she’d last picked up her camera. Echo Park made for the perfect setting as she took dozens of photos of baby Charlotte alone and many photos with both her and Elle. They moved around the park, Phoebe trying different things as she warmed up. As her first clients in Echo Falls, she wanted to make the best first impression possible with plenty of photos for the family to choose from.

Yet she also felt as if she had reunited with an old friend and they were catching up. The real world melted away into thoughts of colors, the best natural lighting and beautiful smiles. Here she felt safe and predictable, observer to the world. Elle and Charlotte were wonderful, easily going along with Phoebe’s directions. She came back to the world reluctantly nearly an hour later and finally put her camera down. Her shoulder ached fiercely and sweat gathered on her forehead, but she felt great.

They walked back to the table where they had started, tired but happy. Phoebe actually relaxed despite her protesting body and happily chatted with Elle about light, sometimes nonsense topics. She got out her laptop and began downloading photos from her memory cards. The digital age had certainly been a blessing for photography – and for photographers on the move.

“I’m sorry my husband couldn’t make it,” Elle said, sitting down and giving Charlotte a bottle. “He said it’s important.”

“That’s okay,” Phoebe said. “Work out a time that’s good for all three of you and I’ll count it as one session. Not a problem.”

Elle shook her head and smirked. “I found your flier on the library bulletin board. It’ll be two sessions. You’re just getting on your feet.”

In more ways than one
, Phoebe thought. She wondered if she’d brought some painkillers with her. More movement had to be good for her, but sitting down after all that was downright blissful.

“How are you finding Echo Falls?”

She blinked and looked up at Elle, who put Charlotte in the pram next to the picnic table. Elle then looked back at Phoebe and chuckled.

“You can be honest. I won’t tell.” She winked. “Client-photographer privilege.”

Phoebe laughed, deciding she definitely liked Elle. “It’s been a bit of a rough start.”

“Anything a local could help with?”

She sighed, wondering if Elle and gurgling Charlotte knew anything about starting over. About having to pick up the tattered pieces and mash them back together into something workable. Perhaps she could suggest ways to get Phoebe to stop looking over her shoulder even though she knew he couldn’t be watching.

Stop it
, she thought.
No need to spoil this lovely day with that kind of thinking.

Elle didn’t look away from Phoebe’s long gaze. Instead she smiled, her face lighting up. “Have coffee with me. I’m meeting my husband and some friends at the best café in town. We’ll get some lunch and a list of the best places for everything in Echo Falls for you.”

Phoebe chewed her bottom lip, her heart pounding, and looked at her camera equipment. She hadn’t been out of her apartment for anything except food and other necessities since she’d moved in nearly a month ago. Something beside her quickly diminishing refrigerator stash would be nice. She couldn’t depend on Aidan to keep cooking her breakfast, as much as she might like to.

Charlotte squealed in delight at a couple dogs being walked nearby, breaking Phoebe out of her thoughts. Coffee, lunch and more time around an adorable happy baby? She looked at Elle.

“I’ll help you pack,” Elle said, grinning.

***

Liam Carter turned the page of his newspaper, watching the women from his seat on a park bench. He flexed his sore hand and gritted his teeth.

So Phoebe had restarted her photography business. How confident of her. Even after everything, she still managed to keep her optimism.

Silly little girl.

He shifted, easing the ache just below his ribs on his left side. He would have to change the bandages soon.