Echo Falls (7 page)

He leaned back and she sat up, realizing that she still had her legs over his lap. With one finger, he tipped her chin up. She could see nearly all of his face in the moonlight. So here he was: the man she trusted enough to reveal herself. The first person she had really talked to for a long time. The only man and wolf who would ever be able to convince her to stop running.

And the only man she would stop running
for
.

“Hey.” She smiled at the stupidity of it, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Hey,” he said and smiled back.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he said, using his thumb to wipe away some of her tears. “I don’t know what you’ve been running from or how long you’ve been running, but you can stop now. I promise.”

She wanted to protest, but words failed her when she looked into his eyes. They were so close. She could feel his warm breath on her collarbone and suddenly became incredibly aware of every part of him that touched her. Fortunately or unfortunately – she wasn’t quite sure which – a lot more of her body came in contact with his than the other way around. He still had one arm around her, his hand resting on her hip.

His other hand lingered on her face. He leaned forward and all logical thoughts in her brain melted.

The phone rang and he sighed. Neither of them moved for a while, but the phone continued to ring. She licked her lips and moved her legs off his so he could reach into his pocket.

“O’Bryan. Will? What’s wrong?”

She stared out at the falls, her thoughts drifting as her pulse calmed. Things used to be this peaceful in her life. She used to have secret thinking places to go to, people she could trust and a place to call home. Had her past come to destroy this, too?

Not if I can stop him.

“That’s not possible.”

She looked at Aidan.

As the conversation continued on the other end, he grew more intense with each moment. She could just see his jaw clench and lips purse as he listened. A muscle began ticking along his jaw. Her wolf, still strong in her mind, wanted to whine and press her belly to the ground. Not exactly practical for a human, so she sat and waited.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He hung up the phone and made a motion to throw it, making her gasp. He stopped, looking at her, and then shoved it in his pocket.

“We have to go.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, dreading the answer. His voice had gone dark, his body practically vibrating with his need to stay in control. She could see unshed tears glistening in his almost completely yellow eyes when he looked up at the moon.

He ran his hand through his hair, and then shook his head. Her stomach clenched.

This is bad. This is bad.

He cleared his throat, his voice ragged when he finally spoke the words. “Thomas is dead.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lights flashed on two police cars parked outside a small brick veneer house on the outskirts of Echo Falls. With its red brick fence, clean and neatly trimmed lawn still smelling of fresh cut grass, it didn’t seem possible that a murder had happened inside.

“Thomas,” Phoebe whispered.

She watched Aidan, Will and a few officers in uniform talk. She stood behind the invisible line that had been established by the crowd of onlookers. Considering the time of night, the chaos had drawn a large crowd. Most were crying or otherwise visibly upset. Pack members, she guessed. She spotted Elle moving through the crowd, comforting where she could while a young woman followed behind, gently bouncing Charlotte; River.

Aidan had none of his usual grace or smooth stride as he looked around, occasionally sending an officer scurrying with a barked order. He kept his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze darting back to the house dozens of times. The ambulance had long since taken away the body, but officers kept shaking their heads as if they couldn’t quite believe it was all over.

Thomas. I wish…
Wish what? She didn’t know him. She only knew, knew now, what he meant to the pack. She didn’t belong here.

Her phone rang and she shut it off. She couldn’t think of anyone she could face talking to. Her stomach threatened to rebel as she looked around, knowing she should leave. But she couldn’t. She’d left her car back at the shops when she’d gone with Aidan and she had no idea which direction to walk in to go home.

Maybe that way?
she thought, trying to read a street sign half cast in shadows. She continued to look around. If she could identify something familiar… Unfortunately, she identified Mia, who spotted her and didn’t look at all happy to see her. Mia walked over to her for a close range scowl.

“Bebe, was it?” She cocked out one hip and placed her hand on it.

“Phoebe,” she said. “Mia.”

“Nice trick you pulled earlier,” she said. She cocked her head to one side and looked at Phoebe in a way that could only be described as sizing her up.

Phoebe crossed her arms and looked back at the police. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Mia tsked and shook her head. “Making friends with Elle. Having Elle help you get close to Aidan. Very nice trick.”

So that’s how it’s going to be.
Phoebe thought. She stared ahead, hoping Mia would get the hint and just go away.

No such luck.

“Did he take you to Echo Falls? His favorite ‘thinking spot’? It’s lovely, isn’t it? He took me there once, too. A few times, actually.”

Phoebe tried not to react. She had no reason to, after all. No reason to react to the threat in Mia’s tone or feel the tinge of jealousy flow through her. She didn’t need the kind of trouble that people like Mia always brought with them. Or simply created out of boredom or spite. Yet she had to dig her short fingernails into the flesh of her palms so she wouldn’t speak.

“You see,” Mia continued in a silky voice, “you’re just the new entertainment. You might even have some value after what you saw at the last crime scene. But when it comes right to it, you’re not one of us. You never will be. We don’t have room for weak women who can’t take care of themselves. Weak women who run and cry and need other people to rescue them.” She stepped in close enough for her breath to tickle Phoebe’s cheek. “There is no room in this group of friends for people who can’t protect each other.”

Phoebe’s eyes widened and just as she turned to shove Mia, both women stopped at the sound of Elle’s voice.

“Mia!”

Elle hadn’t spoken loudly, but she spoke with enough disgust to give both women pause. She walked over to them and glared at Mia.

“Don’t you have
any
decency? Thomas is dead. One of your
friends
is
dead,
Mia.
Murdered.
And I find you here, hissing and spitting like a cat. Grow up and have some respect.”

Mia glared right back and half-sneered, revealing her teeth. “Oh, I have respect. It’s your new best friend here who needs to learn some. She needs to learn to stay away from territory that doesn’t belong to her.”

Elle took a step closer and lowered her voice. “Don’t fight for things that don’t belong to you.”

Mia pursed her lips and straightened, smoothing down her dress. “Keep it up, Elle. I remember all these fun little conversations we have, and soon I’ll really let you know what I think about them.”

Elle said nothing. She didn’t need to. As Will’s mate, she outranked Mia by far and didn’t need to waste even a word on her. Even though Phoebe didn’t know much about pack ways, she assumed Mia would find herself in a bad place quickly if she tried to take on any pack mother.

Whatever Mia had been waiting for apparently was no longer worth the wait and she stormed off. Phoebe and Elle watched her walk over to her car, get in and drive away. They both sighed in relief and then gave each other a hug.

“She was talking about Aidan,” Phoebe said, shaking her hands. “Her ‘territory’.”

“Ignore her,” Elle said, holding Phoebe’s hands. “Her bark has always been much bigger than her bite. And Aidan is definitely not her territory.”

Phoebe looked at the strain and worry apparent on her friend’s face, standing out thanks to the shadows cast by the street lights. Elle didn’t need to be worrying about petty rivalries between Phoebe and Mia, but maybe she would understand if she knew.

She drew Elle close and spoke quietly. “I know about… the pack. Our ‘friends’. I’m a ‘friend’, too.”

Elle took a step back then looked at her wide-eyed. Then she suddenly pulled Phoebe into a fierce hug. “I knew there was something I liked about you from the start.”

They both chuckled and stepped back before linking their arms.

Aidan broke off from his conversation with other officers and walked over to the pair. He easily looked ten years older, his earlier sexy five o’clock shadow now making him look weary. Phoebe’s hand twitched as she thought about touching him, but he made no move toward her so she stayed still.

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “I saw Mia leave.”

Phoebe nodded.

“We’re okay,” Elle said.

“How are things out here?”

Phoebe looked at him, confused, until she realized he’d addressed Elle.
One more reminder I shouldn’t be here.

Elle looked around at the diminishing crowd. “Most of us have gotten the news by now. Those here are heading home. Everyone is in shock. Thomas…” Her voice hitched and she took a deep breath. “How are things in there?”

“The same as the others,” he said, shaking his head. “No sign. Nothing. The killer stood on the sidewalk so we can’t even be sure on a scent. He or she shot through the doorway when Thomas opened the door. We’re assuming the killer made some noise to draw him out.”

Phoebe closed her eyes.
Make it go away. Make it go away.

“None of the neighbors saw anything.” Aidan paused and swallowed. “The only reason anyone knew it happened was because Thomas was able to call out before he died. The weapon used is the same: a silver bolt into the chest.”

Phoebe’s eyes snapped open and pursed her lips so she wouldn’t vomit. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.

Once she trusted her stomach enough to speak, she asked. “Like the others?”

He nodded.

They all died in the past month. All in the same way. No, no, no.
She closed her eyes, trying to push back the thoughts, but they still came pouring into her mind.
How much more evidence do you need before you’ll
do
something? You may as well have killed Thomas yourself.

“Maybe you need a different nose to pick up the scent?” Elle suggested quietly.

A silver bolt to the chest. Silver bolts. Not just regular ones.

He shrugged. “Maybe… Phoebe?”

She’d put her hand over her mouth and lowered her gaze, though it didn’t do much to curb the nausea.

He stepped closer and put his arm around her shoulders. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s too soon after you were attacked. I’ll take you home.”

“I’ll do it,” Elle said, wrapping her arm around Phoebe’s shoulders. “Charlotte needs her bed at home and River looks ready to sleep on her feet.”

“Are you okay with that?” He pushed some of Phoebe’s hair away from her face.

She muttered a weak ‘yeah’ while her wolf preened at the special attention from her alpha.

He looked at Elle. “Take care of her.”

She nodded and then looked to the dwindling group of officers. “Take care of Will for me.”

They walked back to Elle’s car and got inside, both sighing in relief at the comfort of being away from the scene. Elle sniffed and wiped away a few tears, and Phoebe felt numb.

I killed him. I killed Thomas. I may as well have shot the bolt myself.

Though the night was cool, Elle turned the cool air on and faced the vents toward Phoebe. Once they were on the road with the air hitting her face, her stomach began to calm and she lowered her hand.

“Better?” Elle whispered.

She nodded, relaxing and slouching a little in the seat. She looked back over her shoulder to find River and Charlotte both strapped in and fast asleep.

“It’s something I discovered with River. Whenever she gets motion sickness, I put the cool air on. Never fails. When we’re at home, it’s a cool cloth on the back of the neck.”

Phoebe smiled faintly. “You’re really supermom, aren’t you?”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to give you a curfew and make you call me whenever you want to go out with your friends after school.”

They both smiled faintly and rode the rest of the way to Phoebe’s car in silence. Elle wanted to drive her straight home, but Phoebe didn’t like the idea of leaving her car out all night. If she didn’t already have a parking ticket, she would in the morning. She didn’t say that she needed to start packing and needed her car to put boxes in.

“What happens now?” Phoebe asked once Elle had pulled in beside her car.

Elle gripped the steering will and licked her lips as she stared ahead. Phoebe could see her blinking away the tears. When she finally spoke, her voice wobbled.

“What happens now is we both go home and try to get some sleep. Because tomorrow, more than anything else, our men need us to be strong.”

They said their goodbyes and Elle made sure Phoebe started her car with no problems before driving off. Phoebe sat there for a while with the radio turned off, trying to stop her body from shaking.

He’d found her. Of course he’d found her. Didn’t he always? No matter how many times she’d convinced herself that he hadn’t found Echo Falls, that she had just stumbled into a bad situation, the silver bolts sealed it.

He’d arrived in Echo Falls and he’d done so at the same time she had. Why had she spent so much time trying to run away, constantly debating about staying or going, instead of doing something for once?

“Because you’re an idiot,” she said, resting her forehead on the steering wheel.

She sat up, beginning to feel as if she were calling out to him right now, sitting there not doing anything with her car on. Her heart racing, she pulled out of the spot and drove back to her apartment as fast as she dared. She nearly ran to the front doors and then walked each hall from one stairwell to the other to make sure no one had followed her. She reached her floor with a sigh of relief.

Yet, as if her heart hadn’t done enough racing and slowing today, she could see from the end of the hall that something waited outside her door. She approached slowly, though she didn’t know what kind of danger a bottle could prove to be. Looking around, she found no one watching her or waiting to pounce on her, so she knelt down and picked up the bottle of red wine.

Blood Red Shiraz
.

She licked her dry lips and looked around the hall again before examining the bottle. A cream white card hung around the bottle’s neck, tied by a red ribbon strung through a hold in its corner. She opened it using just the tips of two fingers and broke out in a cold sweat when she read the message.

I’ve missed you.

She quickly opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. Once she’d locked all the locks, she did a thorough check of the entire apartment and all the locks on the windows. She checked the locks on the door again to be sure before leaning back against it and sliding to the floor.

The bottle seemed to laugh at her from where she’d left it next to the sink. It said, ‘I am always watching.’ He’d killed Thomas and seen her at the crime scene. She closed her eyes.
He saw me with Aidan and Elle.

This happened every time she stopped. Sooner or later she’d get a whiff or a glimpse of him. Or he’d find her before she realized and he’d play mind games. Only this time, he’d left her a note. He never talked to her. That was part of the punishment for her… contamination.

He’d never made so many kills in one place before, either. He would kill sometimes because someone got in his way or he felt she needed reminding of why she should let him do as he wished to her. But here? He’d declared Echo Falls his hunting ground by assassinating three werewolves before even bothering with her.

And she hadn’t even seen it until tonight.

‘As long as you live in Echo falls, whether or not you choose to be a part of our pack, I will keep you safe.’

If only Aidan knew. If only she’d known for sure before tonight. If she had, she would have never let him swear something like that. She liked Echo Falls and for the first time in a long time, she could see settling down and making a new life. But to do that, she would have to finally face up to who and what she’d been running from.

She stood up and looked through the eyeglass on the door. Seeing no one, she then walked over to the sink. The bottle of wine looked nice. Expensive. He’d taken his time picking it out, knowing she would notice. Knowing that the message meant he’d been carefully picking out his victims all along. Nothing came randomly. Thomas had been killed to get her attention, and now that he had it, she needed to run.