The Keeping (62 page)

Hesitantly, Cassie
held out her hand. “I’m...er...Sandra.” She heeded the voice inside
her head that told her not to reveal too much, so she switched to
another derivative of her full name.

“Pleased to meet
you, er...Sandra. Strange name, with the ‘er’ in front of it.”
Kellen grinned and winked. “Never mind. I’ll just call you Sandy,
okay?” She nodded and he continued. “So you look like you could use
something to eat and maybe a place to stay? I’ve been down on my
luck before, so I know what it’s like. Actually, I’m sort of the
downslide right now since I just dropped a wad at a poker game down
the road. Come on. Misery loves company. I’ll buy you a meal, no
strings attached.” He gestured towards the restaurant.

“I...I have
money.” Immediately after she spoke, she chastised herself. Telling
a complete stranger—one she’d met at the edge of an alleyway, no
less—that she had money was not a good idea. Trying for some damage
control, she qualified her answer. “I don’t have much, but I can
buy my own meal.”

Kellen shrugged.
“Sure. No skin off my nose. But at least we can sit together,
right? Eating alone is no fun.”

Her stomach chose
that moment to growl and he laughed, holding his hands out at his
side. “Hey, I’m completely harmless and you’re starving. There’s
usually a crowd in the restaurant, so you don’t need to worry. You
won’t be alone with me.”

Cassie bit her lip
and then gave a brief nod. The idea of being by herself was
daunting; the werewolf could be anywhere, but surely it wouldn’t
attack in front of witnesses. Having someone with her, even a
stranger, seemed like a good idea. Also, she needed information and
right now Kellen was her only source.

“Not much of a
talker, are you?” Kellen quipped as he led her across the street.
“That’s okay, though. It doesn’t bother me. Listen, you might want
to get cleaned up a bit. There’s a ladies’ room right inside the
door. I’ll get us a table while you use the facilities.” He held
the restaurant door open for her.

She gave him a
brief smile. “Thanks, I wouldn’t mind washing up a bit.” As she
headed to the washroom, she glanced back. Kellen was already
sitting down, perusing the menu. Cassie allowed herself to relax a
little bit. He seemed harmless enough...

*****

Three years
later, in Stump River, Ontario, Canada...

Bryan sat in front
of the computer, frowning at the screen. He drummed his fingers on
the desk then sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

Ryne looked up
from the papers he was working on. “Let me guess, you’re still
brooding about that girl?”

“Yeah, I keep
thinking I’ll find something if I look long enough.”

“You’ve been
working on it, for the past three years. What makes you think today
will be any different?”

“I don’t know, but
I just can’t let her go. You know the dangers a rogue wolf could
mean.” Bryan swivelled his chair so that he faced his Alpha.

“At least she
hasn’t gone rogue, though how a young kid like that is keeping her
wolf under control all by herself, is beyond me.” Ryne narrowed his
eyes and reiterated what they both already knew. “You traced her to
that motel in Kansas—”

Bryan finished the
sentence. It was a story they’d gone over many times. “And then she
just disappeared. I know it was almost two weeks later when I got
there, but there was no scent anywhere. No one saw her leave town.
There was nothing on the surveillance cameras at the bus stop. She
stepped off the bus, found a room at the motel across the street
and vanished. All I found was that pill wedged between the
nightstand and the headboard.”

“It was a
prescription strength sedative, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Very hard
to get a hold of and used only under strict doctor supervision.
Definitely suitable for a werewolf but almost deadly for a human.
Whoever gave it to her knew something about Lycans.”

“That would have
been her guardian, Anthony Greyson. I’m sure that’s how he kept her
under control during the full moon, though how he knew...” Ryne let
his voice trail off.

”Well, that pill
was the only concrete clue I found in Kansas. Two days later all
her banking accounts were emptied from an instant teller inside a
casino in Las Vegas and her credit cards were maxed out. From there
it’s a dead end.”

“Well, you did a
fine job in Vegas, getting the hotel to let you look at their
surveillance video footage.”

Bryan chuckled at
the memory. “Thank heaven the head of security was female and she
liked my eyes.”

“From the story
you told when you got back home, I don’t think it was just your
eyes she was interested in.”

“There might have
been a few other features that drew her attention.” Bryan grinned
for a few minutes but then sobered and leaned forward to study the
screen again. “I was just looking at this footage that shows
someone using the ATM machine at the time Cassandra Greyson’s
account was emptied.”

Ryne stood up and
moved to the computer, peering over Bryan’s shoulder. “Do you see
anything new?”

“Not really. It’s
just the same thing as always. Average sized individual, wearing
jeans and a hoodie pulled up over his or her head and low across
the forehead. Unisex sunglasses, chin tucked into the collar.”

“The person knew
what they were doing; that there’d be cameras recording the
transaction.”

“Yeah, there’s
nothing here except... See that bit of a shadow?” Bryan turned his
chair back to the computer and pointed to the screen. “I think
someone was standing there, watching.”

“Hmm... Could be.”
Ryne stood up straight and shrugged. “It doesn’t really help us
much, though.”

“Maybe not. But it
means she might not be on her own. I think she met up with someone
and went with them to Vegas, possibly realizing it was a perfect
place to get lost in a crowd.”

“But where did she
go after that?”

Bryan shook his
head. “Damned if I know. I checked every bus, train and plane out
of there from the day of this footage and then for two weeks
afterwards. There was no one matching her description.”

“So she must have
left by car or stayed in the area.”

“Uh-huh. I’ve
searched all over that city but there was no sign of her. And I
have alerts out to packs all over the country to contact me if they
see her, but no one has reported anything.”

“You’d think after
three years someone would have noticed a lone wolf – an
inexperienced lone wolf at that. How has she stayed hidden and
managed the lunar changes? Those pills must be used up by now.
Someone must know something.”

At that moment,
Melody called from the kitchen. “Ryne, did you buy my chocolate ice
cream when you were in town earlier?”

Ryne grimaced.
“Since she’s been pregnant and can’t have her coffee, she’s
switched to chocolate but it’s not mellowing her mood.”

“Isn’t chocolate
just as bad?”

“Are you
volunteering to tell her? I survived the no-coffee rants. I’m not
inciting another one!” Both men winced as they recalled Melody’s
reaction when Nadia, the nurse practitioner, told her to cut back
on coffee until the baby was born.

“Hey, she’s your
mate and you’re the Alpha. Go do your duty.”

“Thanks, Bryan.
You’re a real pal.”

Bryan chuckled as
Ryne left the room and then returned to pondering the image on the
computer screen. Somewhere out there Cassandra Greyson was a lone
werewolf and he was determined to bring her in.

*****

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