Kissing the Werewolf - An Izzy Cooper Novel (12 page)

I didn’t think there was much sense in adding the rest of my names. Izzy Mischief Trouble Osborn Cooper was just way too long. It was best to keep it simple. Instead, I just nodded.

“Is Commissioner Sawyer in?”

“I believe he is,” she replied. “Did you have an appointment, dear?”

This was where things would get sticky. “I don’t have an appointment, but there is an urgent matter I need to discuss with him.”

“Oh … I hope it isn’t about the Marsh estate. Luis was already thrown into a tizzy when Sheriff Bourne showed up this morning.”

I was only half listening. Right behind her was a large door with a gold name plaque on it. It was Sawyer’s office.

“It’s okay. I don’t want to trouble you, so I’ll announce myself.” I was already making my way to the door.

Before Betty could get out of her chair, I was in Commissioner Weasel’s office.

My plan of attack worked. He was so startled, he nearly jumped out of his chair. To be fair, he wasn’t the only one surprised. I’d expected to see him busy talking on the phone, or doing some kind of county government stuff on his computer. Instead, there were several old books sprawled across his desk.

“Can I help you?” he asked. The scowl he wore on his flushed face, added to the frown lines around his mouth.

“You can. My name is Izzy Cooper and,”

“I know who you are.” He cut me off.

“Yeah well … I’m here to get the county’s permission to search the Marsh estate. It’s the only place on the island we haven’t been able to search for my sister.”

Sighing, he ran his fingers through the few strands of gray brown hair that he still had on the top of his head. “I already told the sheriff that I couldn’t do that. Even Judge Ashton has refused the warrant.”

“Why not?”

I was really trying not to lose my temper, but it was becoming painfully obvious that keeping my cool wasn’t going to be easy. “You do know that my sister has been missing for a few days now … and that her life could be in danger, right? I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but there have been two murders on the island in less than a week.”

“I’m well aware of it … but my hands are tied when it comes to the Marsh estate,” he explained.

“Why?”

Shaking his head, he opened his mouth, as if to say something, but nothing came out.

“We at least deserve an explanation as to why that property is off limits. You do realize that we will be searching it anyway, as soon as that federal warrant comes through.” I informed him, hoping he’d see that resistance was futile, and give his permission for an immediate search.

No such luck. Commissioner Weasel wasn’t budging.

Leaning back in his posh leather chair, he leveled his sharp brown eyes on me. “Maybe so … but you’ll have to wait until then.”

While I was trying to come up with a plan that didn’t involve my gun, my eyes strayed to the half a dozen or so books on his desk.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

The Ancient Order of the Knights Templar

Neutralizing the Vampire

What the hell was he up to?

Was it possible that Dracula had joined his friends, wolf man, Frankenstein, and the mummy, in their killing spree?

I hoped not. Dealing with a ghost-hunting vampire was enough for me.

What’s with all the books?” I asked.

I’d never been one to stand on ceremony. If I wanted to know something, I’d come right out and ask. Manners were overrated.

Clearing his throat, he shut the book he’d been reading. “Just a personal interest of mine.”

“Do you normally pursue your personal interest while at work?” I asked.

“Excuse me, but what I do at work isn’t exactly your business.”

It would seem that I’d ruffled his feathers a bit. Good, maybe I’d get more information out of him if he were in defense mode.

“I think it is. I am a taxpayer you know. Not only that, but I bet the citizens would love to know what their money pays for. Perhaps a visit to Ruth, down at the Storm Cove Herald, is in order?” I tossed out the, not so veiled, threat.

Pushing a heavy breath through his meaty lips, he laced his fingers together and rested his hands on the large cherry wood desk. “Take my word for it Miss Cooper, you do not want to search the Marsh estate. Even when you do get a warrant, it would be best if you let the Sheriff’s Department search. You stay completely away from there.”

His words were wise. I had to give him that much, but there was no way around it. I would have to face my fears, or I might never find my sister.

“Well thanks for the warning,” I told him, spinning on my heels.

“Stay away from there Miss Cooper. Don’t make me use force,” Commissioner Weasel threatened.

My step faltered, but only a little.

How funny he thought he could intimidate me with threats. Perhaps he would have known better if I’d given him all my names when I introduced myself.

The needle on Lady Luck’s gas gauge was riding the red, so I thought it might be a good idea to drop by the Quick Stop and fuel up, before heading out to Luna Road.

Who cared about some stupid warrant. Breaking a rule here and there wasn’t a big deal to me. I broke the rules all the time, which had probably been a contributing factor to my current position, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

Rules were made to be broken. All one had to do was ask Ayden, or the principle of Storm Cove High School, to find out about my philosophy on rules.

Getting myself into trouble was one thing, but getting other people in trouble was another matter. I would have to search the place myself, without telling Tim what I was doing.

If I knew Tim, and I was pretty sure I did, he’d probably look the other way when he couldn’t talk me out of it. That would just get him into hot water, which I didn’t want to do.

So that was the plan. I would search the estate myself, and not tell anyone where I was going.

Really stupid plan, I know, but my sister was missing, and I’d be damned if some old corpse from Egypt was going to have his way with her.

I eased Lady Luck up to the fuel pumps as carefully as possible. Getting too close could be disastrous, as I’d found out the hard way. My bank account was still in trouble from the last time I’d gotten too close to the pumps, which resulted in a long scratch along her side.

Just as I killed the engine, my phone rang again.

Hmm … did I dare answer it while at the fuel pumps and risk blowing myself up?

When I saw it was our friendly vampire ghost hunter, I decided it was worth the risk.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Izzy Cooper,” he greeted.

“Do you have anything for us?” I asked, hopefully.

“Well kind of. According to the Black River Indians, the curse is just an old story, but they do believe that the island is a power spot.”

“What does that mean?”

“A sacred power spot is a place where the earth’s energy can be found at very high levels. It’s a spiritual place, a portal between worlds.”

“I’d already guessed that much. Anything else?”

“Not from the Indians, but I did a little research of my own. It seems that the original captain of the Mystique was a man by the name of Beaufort. There are a few articles online that allege there was a mutiny during the voyage, and he was murdered.”

That was something I wouldn’t have guessed. In fact, this was the first time I’d even heard the name.

I wondered if the captain that people claimed to see was actually Captain Beaufort, and not Captain Marsh.

“That’s about all I’ve come up with, so far,” he said.

“Thanks … it’s a little more than I had a minute ago.”

Granted, it wasn’t a lot of help, but interesting nonetheless. “Do you need me to come back to the island, or would you prefer I stay here and do some more research?” he asked.

I hated decisions. On one hand, I would have loved to ask him to go with me to the Marsh estate, but on the other, I didn’t exactly relish waiting until dark, on account of his vampire state, and then traipsing around an abandoned castle with him. Sure, he didn’t feed off humans, so he claimed, but why take any more chances than I had to.

“At the moment there isn’t much for you to do out here … so more research would be great.”

“Okay … I’ll see if I can get out there within the next couple of days. Oh, and one other thing. There seems to be some kind of secret society connected with the island.”

Well this was something totally new. “What society … aside from the Order of the Sharks?”

That was the local men’s club on the island. As far as I knew, Storm Cove was the only chapter. Most of the older guys were members, at least I thought they were. It was secret after all. I’d never really had much interest in them. Any club that forbids women, was too chauvinistic for my liking.

Seriously, I could wear a funny hat and recite nonsense as good as any guy. Why couldn’t I be part of it?

“They were called Knights of the Eclipse. According to a few sources, there were a couple of these guys on the Mystique. There are a few historians who claim that it was a member of this order who murdered the true captain.”

That was interesting, though I wasn’t sure how it would help with our current situation. “Maybe you should see what you can find out about them too,” I told him, trying to be patient, but not doing a very good job.

I didn’t want to be rude, but I was anxious to get to Luna Road.

“Will do. Talk to you soon.”

Thanking him again, I hung up before he could tell me more stuff that wouldn’t be all that helpful in my search of the Marsh estate.

Now it was time to fill up Lady Luck’s tank. To be on the safe side, I turned off my phone.

* * *

With a large drink in my cup holder, and a wad of spearmint gum in my mouth, I was ready for battle. At least I thought I was until I pulled up to Hope Grove Cemetery and saw that Elias was blocking the gates with his Harley.

His motorcycle was parked sideways in front of the gates, and Mister Elias was standing there, leaning his cute backside against the bike.

I was getting the distinct impression he was waiting for someone, though it was a bit rude of him to block the gates while he was doing it. Not that it mattered too much. I had no intention of driving Lady Luck through the gates anyway. That road was way too narrow and rocky.

I decided to park in front of the gate too. If he could do it, so could I.

While keeping my eyes on him, I pulled the gum from my mouth and stuck it in the little plastic garbage bag that hung from my stereo knob. Not only was chewing gum unprofessional, I thought it might also make it a little more difficult to intimidate him.

Getting out of the car, I hit the lock button and made myself ready to confront the man of my dreams.

“Imagine finding you in a place like this.”

“Imagine that,” he said, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

It would seem Mister Moreland had no intention of letting me in on the reason he was parked in front of the cemetery gates, so I asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

Okay then. That was flattering, but I couldn’t help but be a little suspicious. “How did you know I would be here?”

“I was told you would be here, and instructed not to let you near the Marsh estate,” he informed me, his tone a little too, matter of fact, for my liking.

Well that was just perfect. Now even the man of my dreams was interfering. “Sorry,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t know who is behind this, but I’m here to do what I have to do.”

“Don’t make me get rough with you over this. You won’t like it,” he warned.

Was he reading my mind?

How did he know that one of my fantasies was for him to get rough with me?

“But then again, maybe I would like it.” Laughing, I stepped around him to open the gate.

He caught my wrist in his large hand. Damn, he had one heck of a grip.

“Sorry Izzy. I can’t let you do it.”

Sighing, I turned to face him. “Stand back or I’ll turn you into a frog.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “For one, I know that witches can’t actually do that … for another, I am also aware you no longer have your power.”

What was the deal? Did the entire world know about me losing my witchy power?

Since I couldn’t actually turn him into a frog, or do anything else with powers I didn’t have, I decided on another tactic. I’d distract him, and go for the gate when he was least expecting it.

“So tell me … did we ever have sex during this relationship that I don’t remember?”

He stared at me, amusement glittering in his dark eyes. “I think I’ll keep that to myself. Maybe then you’ll do what you can to bring back your memory.”

Keeping secrets! That was so like a guy.

“I’m not totally convinced there was ever anything going on between us.” I decided it was time to let him in on what I’d been thinking since he informed me of this alleged relationship.

“Whatever,” he said, shrugging his wide shoulders.

Well distracting him hadn’t worked out too well. He still had a firm grip on my wrist. The only thing left was to reason with him.

“Elias. I have to go in there and search for my sister. It’s the only place on the island we haven’t looked … and I know she’s still on this island,” I added.

“That could be, but I can’t let you in there.”

He was a lot more stubborn than I thought.

My lips parted as I prepared to come back with more argument, but I never got the chance. My entire world started spinning when I felt the warmth of his lips on mine, and his tongue exploring my mouth.

He was cheating big time, but I loved it.

Just like that day ten years ago, I could actually feel my brain leaking out my ears. Now I totally understood why some people could act so ditzy when they were in love. They’d probably leaked half their brains out their ears too.

Still, I pushed him away. I had to stay focused. Annabelle was depending on me.

Clearing my throat, I groped for something to say. I even managed to force my tongue to form something along the lines of okay, but all that came out was a squeak.

“Focus Izzy,” I heard Julius’s voice in my ear.

Jumping, I yanked my head around to look for him, but it was still just Elias and me.

If Julius was around, he was doing a good job of keeping out of sight.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d just witnessed Elias’s kiss.

I sure hoped not. If he knew Elias could still turn my legs to jelly with a simple kiss, he’d never let me live it down.

“Don’t make me shoot you Elias,” I threatened.

Sighing, he let go of my wrist. “At least let me go with you.”

That could be good … if he wasn’t a civilian, and if it wasn’t for the fact that by allowing him to go with me, I would be leading him down the path of lawlessness.

“It would be safer for you if you didn’t,” I said, half hoping he wouldn’t listen to me. Going in there with Elias was one heck of a lot better than going in alone.

“Why don’t you let me worry about that,” he said, reaching out to unlatch the cemetery gate.

All was going great, at least it was up until I remembered someone had sent him here to stop me.

Could he be trusted?

I wanted to believe I could trust him, but I was no longer sure. “First, tell me who sent you here.”

“I’d prefer not to … if you don’t mind.” He stepped aside and motioned for me to pass through the arched gateway.

It was time to get serious and make him understand that I wasn’t the kind of woman he wanted to screw with. I was a fallen angel, which came with a bit of wickedness.

“I do mind,” I snapped, and fixed him with my fiercest, don’t screw with me look.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t already have a good idea who’d sent him, but I wanted him to admit it.

I had no idea how he was connected to Commissioner Weasel, but I intended to find out, before I went into the forest with him.

“Luis Sawyer called me and asked if I would make sure you didn’t go beyond the cemetery,” he admitted.

I didn’t miss the way he refused to meet my eyes. “And?”

“And that’s all,” he shrugged.

“No way. There’s more to it than that. Why would he call you … and why doesn’t he want me in there?”

Lifting his arm, he motioned to the cemetery path. “Do you want to take a look or not?”

Hell yeah I did. I just wished I wasn’t so jittery about going into a dark forest with a werewolf at my side, and not just any werewolf. This werewolf was hiding something, and I was dying to know what it was.