The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) (14 page)

"Banzai!"
Lucy shouted and tore ahead. Lucy's only thought was to get close enough to
Travis so that he could hear her command. She made it down the hill at a full
run, miraculously staying on her feet.

Xochitl,
who followed with berserk enthusiasm, wasn't so lucky. She face-planted into
some bushes at the bottom of the hill, but bounced back up admirably, never
dropping her cell phone.

"I'm
okay," Xochi called to Lucy who had stopped to help. Xochitl slapped the
dirt off her face, obviously frustrated with herself. "Keep going!"

Lucy
ignored the scratches delivered to her by the shrubs and small trees. Thorns
and burrs buried themselves into her skin and attached themselves to her
clothes. Heedlessly ignoring the blood trickling from the side of her face, she
forced the run after Travis and Marley. The kids were fast, but Lucy wouldn't
let up, gaining speed even as her lungs burned and her muscles screamed with
pain.

The
light of the gibbous moon mitigated the now total darkness, allowing Lucy to
make out shapes well enough to keep herself from running head first into the
occasional tree. She ran almost blindly toward the kids, hoping to get to them
before they reached the next hill.

She
could hear the others crashing through the vegetation on either side.

Lucy
pushed herself through particularly dense bushes to arrive in a shallow dry
creek bed. She'd made it nearly across the vale to the rise of the next
collection of small hills.

Ahead,
she saw movement and pointed the powerful LED light in that direction. Barely
catching the flash of Marley's silver blond hair, Lucy could see her disappear
into a small cave opening hidden by thin trees.

Lucy
let out a sharp whistle to alert Xochitl and the guys to her location. She knew
the Weres could smell her coming, so she made no attempt to sneak up on them.

Making
her way across the rocks to the cave entrance, she heard small whines coming
from inside the cave and, without taking further precautions, flashed her light
into the mouth of the cave.

Before
her, Travis, still in Were form, knelt next to Marley who lay prone on the cave
floor. He gently placed both of his giant paws on her back and let out a
mournful howl. His cry echoed through the night.

Lucy
stepped closer, almost certain Travis would allow her to approach. "Steady,
boy," she whispered. "It's okay."

Travis
turned his lupine head and looked at her. Lucy saw confusion, pain and fear in
his glowing green eyes. They reminded her of Gabe's amber Were eyes, pleading
for help without uttering a word.

"Let
me look, Travis." Lucy set her flashlight on a rock, scooted in next to
the Were and rolled Marley over on her back.

Marley
was so thin as to be nearly skeletal. The bones in her face protruded sharply,
making the young girl look ancient. Her long silver hair, which had appeared
luminous in the darkness, looked brittle and thin. It was her skin, however,
that made Lucy nearly jump to her feet and run out of the cave. Where the girl's
skin wasn't covered by clothes, Lucy saw an assortment of open sores and sparse
hair patches. Crusted wounds bulged with infection, and brown scabs seeped glistening
liquid. Lucy reached into her utility belt to grab a small flask of water for
the girl.

"¡Híjole!"
Xochitl stumbled into the cave, followed closely by Simon and Rollins.

Startled,
Travis reared back and let out a deafening roar. Realizing how stupidly close
she had let herself get to the Werebeast, Lucy snatched a can from her utility
belt, aimed, and pressed down on the top for all she was worth. Fortunately,
the opening was pointed right at Travis' eyes, and he got a full blast of
industrial strength bear repellent square in the face. He screamed in pain and
reeled backwards. Lucy scrambled away from him, but the edge of one of his
claws still caught her thigh. She lurched away from Travis, pain exploding
through her body, and fell to the ground unable to catch herself. Her head
smacked against a rock, leaving her instantly disoriented.

She
heard Travis rage on and felt the ground vibrate. A loud crack sounded through
the cave, and Lucy painfully rolled onto her back to see Travis stand over her
with a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his chest. He swayed for a moment,
shook himself and jerked forward. Lucy flattened herself against the cave wall,
trying to get out of the way. With only a slight popping sound, a second dart,
marked with a red band, appeared in Travis' neck. He went down like a felled
tree.

"Did
you have to use the elephant tranquilizer, you stupid son of a bitch!"
Simon shouted at Rollins and shoved the man against the cave mouth. "That
could kill him!"

Rollins
did nothing to defend himself, just dropped the CO2 rifle to his side and hung
his head. Simon stopped short and stepped out of the cave into the darkness,
kicking rocks by the sound of it.

Xochitl
helped Lucy sit up and examined the wound on Lucy's leg. "Doesn't look too
bad. Bet it hurts like a mother though." She took a length of bandage from
Lucy's utility belt and wound it around the deep scratch.

"Bob
owes me a new pair of pants," Lucy said, wincing when Xochitl tied off the
bandage.

Travis
lay out cold where he'd fallen. Rollins stood over him, watching his breathing.
"It's Azaperone mixed with Etorphine, veterinary strength." Rollins
sounded like he was talking to himself. "He should be out for a while."

"Thanks
and all." Lucy pulled herself to her feet, and leaned on Xochitl's
shoulder. "But how're we gonna get him outta here now? Are you two gonna
carry him back to the house?"

"Helicopter,"
Rollins said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'll go radio the house." He
stepped outside.

"So,
what's goin' on with the Were girl?" Xochitl gingerly stepped around
Travis and got her first glimpse of Marley.

"¡Ay carajo!"
She
shrank back involuntarily.

"Those
are the symptoms of mange," Lucy said, hobbling over to Xochitl. "The
worst case of mange I've ever seen."

"She's
hardly breathing," Xochitl said, trying to lean in and listen without
touching the girl.

Squatting
back down painfully, Lucy finally took the water from her utility belt and
poured a little onto Marley's mouth. The girl's eyes flew open, the warm
chocolate brown of her irises having turned glassy, her pupils unfocused. A
rattle ran through her chest, and her breathing became more labored.

"She's
dying," Lucy said to Xochitl, who bit her lip.

"And
she's suffering." Xochitl swung the rifle back into her grip.

Lucy
hated herself more than she thought possible.

"We
don't know what she has, but...We can't leave her like this, and we can't take
her with us," Xochitl said tonelessly. They turned from Marley and joined
Simon and Rollins outside.

It
took Simon and Rollins a few tries to hoist Travis from the cave. They
completed their task stoically, speaking neither to Lucy and Xochitl nor to
each other.

When
the helicopter appeared in the sky, it didn't take the two men long to expertly
strap Travis into the medevac basket and have him lifted to safety. Rollins and
Simon followed Travis, leaving Lucy to struggle up the rope ladder by herself.
Her leg wouldn't require a doctor, she thought, but it slowed her down and made
climbing awkward. Xochitl stayed on the ground until Lucy was safe in the
helicopter.

Rollins
looked down at Xochitl returning to the cave and signaled the pilot to wait.

Lucy couldn't hear the shot over the
whirring of the blades, but when Xochitl climbed into the helicopter, Lucy
could tell by her face that she'd done what had to be done. Xochitl closed her
eyes and remained silent until they landed back at Bob's helipad.

*

Forty-five
minutes later, Xochitl sat on the front steps of Bob's home, scratching
uncontrollably at the rash that was spreading down her arm.

"Pinche,
poison oak! How come you can fall into the same pinche bush I did and not get
infected?" Xochitl asked Lucy who was sitting on the cement, leaning her
head against Bob's Humvee.

"Just
lucky, I guess." Lucy winced and tugged her sweatpants away from her field
dressing. Xochitl knew all too well how much the gash on her leg hurt.

Xochitl
leaned toward Lucy and whispered, "Do you think this's gonna work?"

"No."
Lucy sighed.

They
were both dog-tired, and all Xochi wanted was to drink a beer while bathing in
a tub of oatmeal to stop the itching that was getting worse by the minute. But
instead they were headed for San Pedro in the hopes that Travis would be safe
on some mythical werewolf island. "Sometimes I wonder about my life."

"Me
too," Lucy agreed as she awkwardly heaved herself up from the ground. "Come
on. Let's get this over with."

Xochitl
got up slowly, her muscles aching from hunting Travis. Scratching her neck, she
put an arm around Lucy and helped her limp toward El Gallo.

Simon
and Rollins had finished latching the fifteen-foot, reinforced steel horse
trailer to Xochitl's Toronado. She had been nervous about hooking something so
big up to El Gallo, but they assured her the car would be just fine.

Right.
But you're not the ones hauling a sedated Werebeast in a tin box, attached to a
classic muscle car that only gets ten miles a gallon, to an illicit Were
handoff.

"All
set?" Lucy asked as she and Xochitl approached Bob's men.

"You're
good to go," Simon replied.

Xochitl
opened the passenger door. Lucy plopped down on the front seat and stretched
her legs out in front of her.

"Bob's
coming." Lucy nodded toward the house.

Bob
approached carrying his trademark black duffel bag.

"Is
Helen okay?" Lucy asked.

"She's
resting now," Bob replied. "The tranquilizers kicked in."

"Oh,
good," Lucy said, wincing as she shifted her weight. "She should get
some sleep."

"We
should all get some sleep," Xochitl muttered, the incessant itching making
her grumpy.

"Xoch."
Lucy shot Xochitl an irritated look.

"Sorry,
Bob," Xochitl said. "I'm cranky."

"That's
okay." Bob gave Xochitl a tired smile and handed her the bag. "Here."

"¡Híjole!
What'd you got in here, rocks?" Xochi inspected the duffel. It was stuffed
with stacks of cash. "Holy shit!"

"That
should get him across," Bob said.

Xochitl
zipped up the bag and handed it off to Lucy.

"You
take care of my boy, kiddo." Bob choked back tears.

"I
will." Xochi hugged Bob tight.

"Okay,
enough of that." Bob pulled away. "One more thing, girls." He
nodded to Lucy. "There's been some chatter about you. Lots of interest in
The Werewolf Whisperer by government types."

Xochitl
halted mid-scratch and eyed Lucy. Lucy just shrugged with indifference.

"In
my experience," Bob continued, "governments have a tendency to fear a
power they don't understand and can't control." He placed his hand atop
Xochitl's and stared at her with haunted eyes. "Watch your six."

"Okay,
Bob." Lucy raked her hand through her hair. "We'll be careful."

Xochitl
waited for Lucy to pull her legs inside the car before closing the door. She
walked around the front of her Toronado and, pausing by the driver's side,
mouthed, "I will."

Bob
nodded.

Xochitl
cranked the ignition, and El Gallo roared to life.

"Ready?"
Lucy tossed the duffel of money in the back seat.

Xochitl
pulled forward slowly, feeling the weight of the rig tugging at El Gallo. "This's
gonna take forever."

Chapter 10

...This
is an Emergency Alert for L.A. County, Riverside County and San Bernardino
County...

The
Wereflu riots that began several days ago at the Metropolitan police station in
Downtown Los Angeles have finally been quelled. Arrests have been made. Police
urge citizens to stay indoors and shelter in place until sunrise.

...This
is an Emergency Alert for L.A. County, Riverside County and San Bernardino
County...

23
months ago

Lucy
drove the two and a half hours from Empyrean to L.A. on autopilot. She wondered
what her reception at the station would look like.

When
she'd called in to the station, Captain Burch had been short and cryptic. "Just
get your ass back in here, Lowell. We'll sort it out," he'd said and hung
up on her.

Approaching
her exit, Lucy spotted the tall art deco building of the Los Angeles Street
Metropolitan Division whose grey stone contrasted the modern L.A. skyline. Lucy
sped past the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, took the North Spring exit
and followed the one-way street to West 4
th
. Curiously, cones narrowed the road
before she could make the turn into the underground parking garage.

Two
guards carrying M16s and dressed in army fatigues halted her as she pulled in.
They stared at her in silence.

Lucy
rolled to a stop and hit the button that lowered both her Jeep's driver and
passenger windows. The guards positioned themselves on either side. Lucy sensed
they needed very little encouragement to grow very unpleasant very quickly.

"Officer
Lucy Lowell. Here at Captain Burch's request." Lucy kept her voice even
and direct.

The
man clenched his jaw as he looked over Lucy's badge and ID. A short call on the
walkie confirmed her clearance.

"Pull
forward. Park on level five. Get your green pass at the desk." The soldier
gave her a curt nod.

Lucy
had to pass a few security checkpoints on her way to the elevator. She clocked
the unusual buzz of activity throughout the building and noted many officers
she didn't recognize. Lucy couldn't help but notice the presence of men and
women in military fatigues. She decided to forgo a stop at the ACTF desks in
the basement and headed upstairs to hash things out with Burch directly.

Burch
stood in the door of his office and loudly addressed someone. An unfamiliar voice
bellowed in response to Burch, and Burch turned as if to storm out of his
office. He stopped himself when he spotted Lucy. His eyes flew to a desk in the
corner, but he remained silent, turned around and took a firm step back into
his office. Deliberately, Burch shut the door.

Lucy
walked to the corner desk, nodding a greeting to several fellow officers who
were gathering around a large board by the window. Lucy slid into the chair and
turned on the computer.
The Lady and the Tramp
screen saver Gabe had
loaded as a joke flashed on.

What's
my computer doing up here?

Lucy
noticed the contents of the boxes at her feet, all personal items that had
decorated the walls of her ACTF cubicle. There were pictures of dogs and
newspaper clippings from past cases, both successes and failures. Lucy
remembered each one of them vividly.

Who
packed up my stuff?

"Hey,
Dawn," she called over to the nearest desk where her ACTF teammate was
engrossed in a phone conversation. "What's going on with our ACTF space?
Where's Lieutenant Heckman?"

"Just
a minute." Dawn pressed a button on her phone. "Heckman's on leave.
Something happened to her husband. McNeal and Tolbert are assisting the
National Guard for the duration of the crisis." She shrugged her
shoulders. "Sorry. Talk to Burch." She mouthed the last part, looked
around and went back to her call.

What
now?

Lucy
had to remind herself to close her mouth. She slowly turned her chair away from
Dawn. Glancing at her keyboard, Lucy noticed the edge of a paper sticking out
from underneath.

Whoever
brought my stuff here left a message. Burch?

She
slid the small note into the open, reading the hurried scrawl with growing
trepidation.

Miguel's
missing. Going back to the

neighborhood.
I think Memo's got him.

Need
backup. YOU OWE ME. — X

Lucy
shoved Xochitl's note into her back pocket. She looked around the room for the
other members of the Animal Cruelty Task Force but saw only military personnel
busying themselves at desks. Instead of returning to Burch, she walked to the
group of officers gathered around the big board. Sergeant Hawkins, a lean man
in his fifties and a respected veteran of the force, held his yellow notepad and
pointed to various photos tacked to the corkboard.

"We
haven't been able to handle the volume of missing persons calls for a few weeks
now. Other divisions are in the same boat. Word from above is to shut down
searches. The people in our neighborhoods are calling it "levantón"
— a mass kidnapping. Some of the kidnappers seem to pose as police, so
people are beside themselves, especially the moms. I call on anyone willing and
able to dedicate their time off to pursuing these leads. Our folks are
desperate and see the police as helpless. Are we defending our neighborhoods or
not?" Sergeant Hawkins looked into the faces of the officers surrounding
him.

"Upstairs
is telling us what we can't do. I'm telling you what we can do." He looked
back down at his notepad. "That's all, you guys. Get out there. And don't
give big brother any lip."

Lucy
moved forward to speak to Hawkins, but her eyes stopped on the missing persons
board. A few of the photos looked very familiar. She noticed Hawkins turn away
from her but didn't care when he left without a word.

The
gap-toothed face of Flaco, the East Los Locos teen from the pit bull raid,
grinned back at her from his mug shot.

That
little shit took a shot at Gabe. How's he missing and not in jail?

"Karin."
Lucy stopped a plainclothes detective from heading back to her desk. "Isn't
that Manny, El Gallo's little bitch lookout?" She pointed to another mug shot
on the wall.

Karin
Snyder nodded grimly. She crossed her arms and studied the board as Lucy
pointed to a number of photos.

"And
that's Guapa Agueda, the tranny street walker. And that's his sister Yasmina,
Tuti's girl."

The
detective stepped closer, suddenly interested.

"Hell,
that's Lenore from the Cabra Blanca food truck. Eddie's daughter." Lucy
scanned the photos rapidly. "These missing kids are all from Los Locos
territory."

Karin
tightened her blond ponytail, while deliberately stepping closer to the picture
wall. "Tell Burch, Luce," Karin said quietly. "On the QT. Don't
tell anyone else. I'll meet you in the break room in five. I've got a prozzy to
process."

Karin
waved to a slip of a girl handcuffed to a desk. The girl looked young and
scared under her layers of caked on drugstore makeup. She pulled a ratty
burgundy lace coat around her and twisted her frizzy bleached out hair with her
free hand.

Detective
Snyder liked to "scare them straight," as if this child could have
thought of another way to survive in the neighborhood if her life depended on
it, which of course it did. Karin Snyder's tough, Master's in Criminal Psychology
methods would do nothing to help this girl.

Karin
walked away, leaving Lucy irked. She loathed the oblique machinations of any
political machine, and saw how her usually straightforward department had
turned into a place of whispers and hidden agendas. Karin was mostly misguided,
but she'd never been
surreptitious.

How
does that happen so fast? What's wrong with these people?

Lucy
headed to Burch's office and knocked despite the loud voices that still rang
from inside.

"Come
in!" the two voices barked in unison.

"Hey,
boss. Got a minute?" Lucy stuck her head through the door and smiled at
Burch.

Burch
and a man in fatigues stood across from each other as if they'd been about to
come to blows. Both turned to face Lucy.

"This
Lowell?" The other man glowered at Burch. Lucy recognized his golden oak
leaf as that of an army major.

"Officer
Lucy Lowell, reporting for duty, sir." Lucy stood tall and met the major's
penetrating look.

"Can
you give me one good reason I shouldn't kick your ass out on the curb for the
stunt you pulled in Echo Park?" The major looked Lucy up and down.

"Disgraceful,
leaving your fellow officers in the lurch while you run home to your momma. You
were ordered to stay in town."

Lucy
didn't flinch. She turned her head and looked at Burch with a raised eyebrow.

"I
was sus—" Lucy said, but Burch cut her off.

"Major
Rice is in charge now, Lucy." Burch spat the words out as if they were
thumbtacks caught in his mouth.

"I
know how we can bring in Memo Morales." Lucy flung the statement out to
Rice. "I think we can go into the neighborhood and get cooperation now. I
think his people will want to talk to us. They're scared."

"The
investigation of Guillermo Morales has been halted." Rice trumped her
challenge.

"All
investigations have been halted." Burch's shoulders slumped. "We are
here to assist the National Guard in quelling the violence due to...due to..."

"The
Wereflu riots," Major Rice finished Burch's sentence. "All you need
to know is that we are all that stands between the citizens of Los Angeles and
chaos. All other concerns are above your pay grade."

"Lowell,
you are assigned to the Catchers Unit as of right now," Rice continued. "The
ACTF has been suspended until further notice. And believe me, if I didn't need
bodies, I would terminate you. You are a coward and a troublemaker." Rice
turned back to his desk.

Lucy
felt like she had been kicked in the stomach.

Screams
from the outer office took her attention before she could respond and sent all
three of them running toward the tumult.

In
the middle of the room, closed in by men and women with guns drawn, a
fur-covered Beast girl in stretch burgundy lace held Karin Snyder up by the
shoulder at an awkward angle. Still alive but bleeding from deep scratch wounds
to her stomach, Karin screamed and screamed from a torn face. The Werebeast
drew her close, jaws unhinging for a fatal bite.

"Stop!
Drop it!" Lucy yelled and jumped into the center of the room.

The
Beast cocked her head, flinging her curly, white blond mane to the side —
revealing perfect wolf ears. She raised Karin higher while staring directly at
Lucy. The Beast girl's eyes gleamed a fierce yellow. Then she let go of Karin
as if in an act of defiance. Karin's body dropped on the floor, and she let out
a groan before passing out.

"Down."
Lucy pointed to the floor.

The
Werebeast complied reluctantly, whining and snarling while scooting down on her
belly and stretching out her arms. She still wore the handcuffs Karin had put
on her right wrist earlier, but the chain had snapped when she'd torn free from
the desk, and the cuffs themselves had cracked from the force of the
transformation.

Rice
gaped at Lucy — his bluster and confidence gone.

"Well,
I'll be damned," Rice said. "Lowell, get that thing locked up."
He paused for a second, considering his options.

Burch
stepped close to him. "Major Rice, sir, I believe you now understand the
scope of Officer Lowell's value to this department. I have recommendations I
think you should consider. We face a threat none of us understand. She can
control these people. You can't, but she can."

Rice
breathed with forced calm, and he studied Lucy with interest. "Burch, help
her...with...whatever she needs. Dismissed, both of you."

Rice
turned to the onlookers. "Officer Ramos, my office. I have a report to
prepare."

Lucy
shot Ignacio Ramos a quick wink as he passed her to follow Rice. She'd need to
know what was in that incident report and to whom Rice was sending it.

*

Xochitl
groaned through her gag as she squeezed her eyes, attempting to open them. The
throbbing in the back of her skull intensified with each tiny movement. She was
hog-tied and, judging from the smell of oil and the cramped space, stuffed in
the trunk of a car.

Shit.

Outside,
she heard the muffled sounds of scratching — like shoes scuffling across gravel.

Someone's
coming.

Xochitl
held her breath, afraid to make a sound.

The
trunk squeaked open a crack. A sliver of light pierced the darkness. Xochitl
could make out three male forms.

"Put
her in the cage."

Xochitl
immediately recognized the voice.