After he sat back in his chair he ignored their muttering in the hallway before they walked off.
Owen checked his watch. He had twenty minutes before the Bridge games started. He wasn’t a fan of Bridge but it was a big hit with the senior were set. Tim Egley had roped him into it a few weeks back because the male had been feeling outnumbered by all the females who attended. Turned out Tim was a good teacher, although his efforts were mostly wasted on a mediocre card player like Owen. Still the older were persisted and Owen liked the conversation.
To fill the time he called a female back with a quote for her and her mate’s upcoming wedding anniversary party. The center had a full roster of volunteers and the free labor had helped them throw two splashy shindigs already. He was now getting a couple calls a week about private events. After he hung up he went looking for Katherine. She was probably finished with her walk-through by now and he liked to hear her opinions after she looked around the place with those fresh eyes of hers.
The sound of growling turned him in the direction of the main foyer instead.
“I
said
…I was here first. Step aside, old woman.”
What he saw stopped him in his tracks. A young female was standing in the doorway that led back to the gymnasium, blocking it. Katherine was standing on the other side, looking like she was ready to knock the kid’s head off and eat it for lunch. On the far side of the foyer Keenan and Terry were just standing there, watching.
He knew the young female. She’d been at last Saturday’s dance. Dolores Beattie, if he remembered correctly, and one of the chaperones had had to speak to her about smoking out behind the building.
“I said
move
.” Dolores put her hands up like she was getting ready to shove Katherine out of her way. She might have succeeded too. Although still a teenager Dolores was full-grown and Katherine
was
sixty.
Dolores didn’t get a chance to make contact. Owen grabbed her arms, pulled her back and spun her around to face him.
“You did
not
just try to assault a senior, respected member of this pack. In front of me. Kid, you are a whole new definition of stupid.”
Lifting her chin defiantly, Dolores pointed at Katherine. “She’s on her way out. Everybody knows it. Why shouldn’t I have a shot at beating her out of the top bitch spot?”
“Are there heavy metals in the water around here?” Looking at the ceiling, Owen prayed for patience. “You can have your shot during the next pack run. That’s in a couple of weeks. For now that female is the only breathing, experienced leader you’ve got. You take her out with no Alpha or Beta in place and the pack structure will collapse.”
“Says who?” She tossed her black hair back with an aggressive flick of her hand.
“Me.” Owen growled and it was so deep and loud the glass surrounding the front doors vibrated as if a heavy truck were rumbling past. Dolores paled, stepped back and clutched her throat like she could feel Owen’s command resonating inside her. He held out his hand. “Now hand over the smokes.” She’d tried to disguise the smell of tobacco by dousing herself in some body spray that smelled like cotton candy.
“No way.” The kid might be shaking in her Nikes but she was still hanging on to that bravado of hers.
“Oh absolutely way.” He flexed his hand and snarled. Next thing he knew she’d dropped a pack of Virginia Slims in his palm. He tossed them into the nearest garbage can.
“Hey. I’m old enough to buy those legally.”
“Do I look like I care? And why the hell aren’t you in school?”
“I have a free period this morning. My grandmother asked me to drive her to her card game.”
“Well, that’ll be the last time she asks because you should be using your free periods to study. Now get back to school.”
Dolores glared at him on her way to the exit. “I’m going to tell my parents. You can’t treat me this way.”
“Damn straight you’re going to. Because I’ll be calling your mother as soon as you leave here. And don’t even think of ditching school because I’m going to call the principal too and make sure you show up for the rest of your classes. Dolores.”
She paled when he used her name, as if she’d thought she’d get off scot-free because he didn’t know who she was.
“I hear anything other than
yes sir
come out of that smart mouth of yours and I’ll make it my business to check your school attendance next week too.”
Swallowing visibly, Dolores turned and walked out the door double-quick.
He turned on Keenan and Terry next. “You were going to stand there and let that kid attack your top bitch? You’ve got no sense and no ability to lead. I’m sick of the sight of both of you. Get out and don’t come back for the rest of the day.”
He all but metaphorically kicked dirt over the young males as he turned his back on them and approached Katherine.
“We better find those killers quick. I’m getting real sick of this.”
“You and me both.” She growled with impressive volume, despite her age.
“It’s a campaign, plain and simple.” Suzanne took off her hat, smoothed her hair back and sat down in front of a terminal in the sheriff’s office.
Owen had finished his shift at the community center and was waiting for her and Tom to knock off for the day so they could head home. It had been over a week since that public meeting and they were no closer to solving Cory’s and Ed’s murders.
She flipped a page in her notebook and began typing up another report. Even under fluorescent lights she was still the prettiest female he’d ever known.
“I spotted a group of young weres hanging out around the bakery, talking to the stay-at-home-mom crowd,” Suzanne continued. “Then they made their way to the hair salon and the auto-body shop.” She huffed dismissively. “They’re hitting all the demographic groups, that’s for sure.”
“There’s not a shop window in town without one of those posters,” Tom added.
“Except the pharmacy.”
“Except the pharmacy,” Suzanne and Tom echoed.
“At least they’ve learned not to piss on Cory’s space.” Owen raked his fingers through his hair. “They also fit the definition of a pack within a pack.”
“That they do, my friend,” Tom said. “I sent some of the boys out yesterday with search warrants. An investigator from the state lab is running ballistic tests on any firearms they own. Probably won’t yield anything but we’ve got nothing else to go on. We’re looking into every subgroup within the pack.”
Owen nodded. “This group leadership thing’s finally beginning to lose momentum. A couple of the boys wanted to talk to my seniors’ weight training class. Those old weres wanted nothing to do with them. Said they’d heard enough. Said they’d
seen
enough. You remember that fight outside Roger Madison’s grocery store a few days ago?”
“Yes. Didn’t amount to anything though. Why?”
“Well, it started out as two teenagers with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon. They started arguing about something stupid then started throwing punches. Some of Keenan O’Donohue’s crew were across the street but they just stood there and watched. Roger had to come out, break up the fight and call the kids’ parents to take them away.” Owen shook his head. “I think Pinebridge is ready to take its collective head out of its ass and remember that weres need a single, strong, take-charge Alpha. Without one social structure starts to break down.”
“Which we’re starting to see,” Suzanne added as she typed. “Three nuisance calls today alone, a prowler complaint that turned out to be a male nervous about his neighbors eyeing his asparagus crop through the fence and a female who lit into a gas attendant because the pump wouldn’t accept her bank card.”
When the front door rocketed open the desk sergeant, who’d been listening in, rolled his eyes.
“Deputy Ray.” Keenan O’Donohue led the way with his regular band of three hot on his heels. “I’m hiring a lawyer. This is police harassment. Just because we’re out there talking to people about this new, peaceful command structure.” From the other side of the counter, he pointed at Tom. “You and your buddy there are trying to take over this town and we won’t have it. That’s the old way and look where it’s got us. You hear me?”
Owen didn’t comment on the fact the kid kept the hunk of wood and laminate between himself and the massive, full-grown, gun-toting lawman.
“Get yourselves a lawyer. By all means,” Tom replied in that calm, modulated tone he was so good at. “Make sure you show them your copies of the warrants and the receipts those fine officers gave you when they took your weapons. Did they tell you when those weapons would be returned to you?”
“Well…yeah.”
“Well, good then.” He dismissed them by returning his attention to the computer screen in front of him. Eventually, after some complaining amongst themselves, Keenan and his crew left.
“When did you say that warrant was served, Tom?”
“Yesterday morning. Why?”
Owen felt his mouth flatten. “Just wondering why it took those boys a day and a half to figure out they might need a lawyer.” His mouth flattened even more and he lowered his voice. “They
didn’t
figure it out themselves. Somebody else planted that idea in their heads. And if they planted that one they might have planted others.”
Two nights later Owen walked into the Hair of the Horse. He hadn’t been in the bar for weeks and wouldn’t have been there that night except Tom and Suzanne were pulling a long shift and he’d been drafted to tail some of Keenan’s boys. Just about every deputy was working overtime so Owen was keeping an eye on who Keenan and his friends were talking to.
Problem was the group’s agenda was to talk to everybody they could, so it was practically impossible to separate out subsets of weres who might be manipulating Keenan and his boys from the sidelines.
“Hey, Andy.” He greeted the bartender, chose a barstool in front of the mirror so he could see what was going on behind him, ordered a Heineken and cranked his ears open.
“Hey yourself.” The big, affable were greeted him with a smile. “You’ve been keeping yourself scarce.”
“Trying to keep busy.”
“From what I hear you’re doing a good job down at the community center. Most of my waitresses go to those new tai chi classes. I always thought the place was for kids and seniors.”
“Glad to hear your staff has set you straight, friend.”
“I also heard about plans to rededicate the building. Name it after Ed Timberman. Fine idea. You let me know if you need corporate sponsorship. Ed was a good man and an even better friend.”
“I’m just sorry I never got a chance to meet him. I’ll send around some information on our sponsorship recognition program.” That was new too.
Andy nodded then went off to fill one of his servers’ drink order.
“Hey, stranger. Long time no see.” Frannie, the waitress with the ready smile and penchant for mischief, walked up beside him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek then used the pad of her thumb to wipe the lipstick off him. “Hmm. You smell like you’ve been spending time with a certain bodacious lady sheriff.” She made no attempt to hide the fact she was sniffing the air around him. “And our hot deputy sheriff Tom Ray.” After she cleared her tray of dirty glasses she picked up a stack of bowls full of peanuts. “I told you you two were hell on a female’s libido. When am I gonna scent a mating mark on you?”
He choked on his beer, sputtered and grabbed a napkin to mop his chin.
“Cold feet, huh? Never mind, sugar.” She patted his arm then arranged the bowls on her tray. “They’ll rein you in sooner or later.”
Jeeezus. Spare me from the horse metaphors.
With her hips swaying, she headed off to pick on someone else.
Nursing his beer, he got down to the business of tracking the conversations in the bar. After a while it became apparent the group-leadership campaign was indeed losing momentum. The young weres hanging out around Keenan’s buddies were more interested in talking about the females in the bar and complaining about work and the price of gas.
Three of them stepped out back, probably for a smoke. Owen got up so he could find someplace near the doorway to lurk. The boys out back were talking about nothing more serious than deciding whether to play some pool and tomorrow afternoon’s baseball game. While he kept track of two other young weres sitting in a booth nearby, he heard the boys out back greet a female… No, make that two females who were just arriving. It sounded like they knew each other but not well.
“You just keep your hands to yourself, Terry.” There was a playfulness right along with the censure in the female’s voice. “I told you, unless you’re gonna buy me dinner and meet my momma…”
Grinning, Owen started paying more attention to the young males in the booth.
“This new central leadership model is just what we young weres have been waiting for. No more toeing the line for old farts who can’t remember what real love feels like.”
“Or get it up.”
The grin on Owen’s face disappeared when he realized the young guys out back were laughing and the females were conspicuously silent.
“Lots of benefits for young weres like us. We’d be free to mate with whoever we wanted.”