Authors: Dani Harper
Changeling Dawn (10 page)
“Hold it right there! Back away from that instant crap!” Josh walked up the knoll to the campsite, whipping the packet out of Kenzie’s hand, flinging it into the bushes.
“Hey—” She clapped her hands over her mouth when she saw the big rabbit hanging from his belt. Josh had been up early this morning.
He knelt in front of the cub. “Okay, kiddo—this is what wolves eat. This is all for you.” He laid the rabbit at its feet. “But whenever you feel like being human again, I can make pancak Kn mThies for you. Real ones with syrup. Kenzie can’t cook—”
“I can too!”
“—but I can, so I’ll make pancakes for you anytime you’re ready.” He dropped his voice to a stage whisper. “Even for
supper
.”
supper
.”
“Josh!”
“Bet I’m in trouble now, eh?” He winked at the cub and turned to Kenzie.
She played along and put her hands on her hips in a classic exasperated mother position but spoiled the effect by laughing at him. “You’re a completely bad influence, you know that?”
“I know. And now this
bad influence
is going to fly back to base and see what I can find out, okay? I got things to do so I’ll be two or three days. Anything I can bring you on the flip trip?”
bad influence
is going to fly back to base and see what I can find out, okay? I got things to do so I’ll be two or three days. Anything I can bring you on the flip trip?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
He leaned in a little then. “You’re very fine,” he whispered. He cupped the back of her neck and placed a gentle lingering kiss on her forehead.... The next moment he was heading back down the trail.
Kenzie stood where she was for a long time. She barely heard the throb of rotors from down by the river, hardly noticed the shift in sound as the helicopter lifted off and headed away over the valley. All she could think about was the pleasant thrum in her blood and the realization that she wanted Josh to kiss her again, this time on her lips.
And everywhere else....
And everywhere else....
“Stop that right now,” she ordered herself through gritted teeth. Exasperated, she shook off the spell and sternly told her inner wolf to settle down as well. The last thing on the planet she needed was to get involved with a human. It was just hormones—had to be. After all, it had been a helluva long time since sh
e’d had sex, so
of course
Josh looked good to her. Almost any guy would, right? Case closed.
e’d had sex, so
of course
Josh looked good to her. Almost any guy would, right? Case closed.
Before she could banish it from her mind, however, a little rebellious thought pointed out that neither her hormones nor her inner wolf had responded in the slightest to her former Changeling lover, Nate Richardson.
Chapter Seven
W
hen Josh arrived in Glennallen, he discovered that his best hope for information was out of town for two days. While he waited, he pulled in favors right and left with friends in the state troopers but came up empty. There were no recent reports of a missing girl of the right age in the region. He even phoned Mamie Dalkins, praised her home-cured bacon to the skies and sat through two and a half hours of the latest gossip from several communities. He came away with no useful information (other than some things he’d rather not know) and the promise of a jar of smoked bear meat the next time he was in Gakona.
Ugh.
hen Josh arrived in Glennallen, he discovered that his best hope for information was out of town for two days. While he waited, he pulled in favors right and left with friends in the state troopers but came up empty. There were no recent reports of a missing girl of the right age in the region. He even phoned Mamie Dalkins, praised her home-cured bacon to the skies and sat through two and a half hours of the latest gossip from several communities. He came away with no useful information (other than some things he’d rather not know) and the promise of a jar of smoked bear meat the next time he was in Gakona.
Ugh.
He put the waiting time to good use, catching up on all the paperwork in his cramped office and answering phone messages—and damn, somebody was keeping a very young moose as a frickin’ pet in their backyard. He dealt with that, and referred a call about hunting deer out of season to the troopers in that area. Finally, thankfully, his best contact returned to town. Surely Josh would get some answers now.
After all, Bygood Stanton was a Changeling.
It wasn’t hard to find the old vet at The Caribou. He was the one with his table covered with papers and file folders.
“Christ, did you chair a meeting in here?” Josh counted five N covercoffee cups lurking under the documents, and those were just the ones he could see. He checked his watch but he wasn’t late.
“Hey, Tark. Sit yourself down, boy, and have a look-see.”
“What the hell’s all this?”
“Just a little information I’ve been gathering about the International Biodiversity Conservancy—the IBC—who built that little facility I told you about, the one near your lady friend’s camp.”
Josh flagged down a passing waitress for a menu. “Okay, but I’ve got a couple important questions for you first. Like, did you order already?”
“Nope, but I’m going with the halibut burger.”
“You always have the halibut burger.”
“I stick with what works. By the way, I had Mimi stash half a rhubarb pie in the kitchen for us, before it was all gone.”
“I love you, man.” He ducked the file folder that swatted at him. The waitress took their orders to the kitchen and Josh glanced around to make sure he couldn’t be overheard. The last of the lunch crowd was shuffling out the door. A gaggle of teens was slumped in the far corner booth but they were giggling over their iPhones. It was more than enough noise to cover anything he might say. “Stanton, I’ve got a lost shapeshifter. A kid.”
The vet nearly dropped the papers in his hands. “You’re shitting me, Tark. Where on God’s green earth did you find an unattended werewolf
child
?”
child
?”
He told his friend all he knew, and for once, Stanton didn’t interrupt him. The food arrived and the older man remained quiet, frowning as he ate. Josh made it halfway through his triple Pioneer burger before the vet finally spoke.
“Finding this kid’s folks is going to be tough. You have to understand, there’s no organized Pack around here. Werewolves in this region tend to be loners like myself or isolated families.”
Josh noted that Stanton had never used the term
Changeling
. As blunt as the old guy was, he probably felt that
werewolf
was plain and to the point. Or maybe it conjured up a more dangerous image, one that the veteran of two wars and God knew what else could relate to. “So I take it you haven’t heard any rumors or anything.”
Changeling
. As blunt as the old guy was, he probably felt that
werewolf
was plain and to the point. Or maybe it conjured up a more dangerous image, one that the veteran of two wars and God knew what else could relate to. “So I take it you haven’t heard any rumors or anything.”
“How the hell would I hear something? I’m trying to tell you there’s no natural network. If you want to talk to a werewolf in this part of the country, Tark, you have to damn well go out there and find them or wait until they come to town, because most of the ones I know don’t even have a bloody phone.”
“See, that’s why I need your help, because I’m not a shapeshifter. It’d take me forever to find them, and they’re not likely to talk to me if I did. But someone’s got to get a message out somehow, or we’re never going to find who this kid belongs to. Or what happened to her.”
“Something happened to her?” For a split second, Josh saw the wolf behind Stanton’s eyes plainly.
“The little girl’s still on four feet. She won’t shift back to her human form, so something has to have scared the hell out of her. Put that together with missing parents and it doesn’t look good.”
“Bloody hell, okay, okay. I could go out tonight, hunt down a couple wolves I know. They could relay the message further on and so forth. They’ll do it for a kid, believe me. But it’s damn well going to cost you.”
Josh rolled his eyes and held up his hands in mock surrender. “All right, what S ril goido you want?”
“Not much, just a ride in your bird.” Stanton tugged a map out from under a folder. “I want a look at this IBC place I’ve been telling you about.”
“What, you can’t use Google Earth?”
“Doesn’t show up. The entire area is blurred out. You’d think it was a military site or something. So are you going to fly me over it or not?”
“Sure, no problem. But it’s a department chopper so any passenger has to be on official business. You’ll have to check on some animal’s condition or something. I’ll have to get creative and find just the right case, something where your services are genuinely useful, so you’ll have to give me a little time.”
“Good deal. Now let me show you what I’ve got.” Stanton spread out some papers in front of Josh, who stoically assumed an interested expression while preparing himself to be bored to tears.
“Here’s a copy of the permit issued to IBC, allowing them to build this facility. Notice that it doesn’t say specifically what it’s for.”
Josh pointed to a square on the form. “It says
environmental research
right there.”
environmental research
right there.”
“And just what the hell does that mean? If I take my fish finder out in the middle of the bloody lake, I can say I’m doing
environmental research
too. Now look here.” He spread out another paper. “They’re not one of those non-profit organizations either, they’re a business of some sort. It took me quite a while but I finally found the IBC’s website. And that’s weird right off the bat—the point of having a website is to have what they call
an internet presence
. Any business wants their site to be easy to find, right? Not these guys. Know what I found on their site?”
environmental research
too. Now look here.” He spread out another paper. “They’re not one of those non-profit organizations either, they’re a business of some sort. It took me quite a while but I finally found the IBC’s website. And that’s weird right off the bat—the point of having a website is to have what they call
an internet presence
. Any business wants their site to be easy to find, right? Not these guys. Know what I found on their site?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“Sweet nothing.” Stanton slapped the paper with his hand. “Zip. Zero. Nada.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Most businesses list their hierarchy—you know, their CEO, board members, stuff like that. This has no names on it whatsoever. And you know what? That stuff isn’t listed in their LLC application either—that’s
limited liability company
by the way.”
limited liability company
by the way.”
“Yeah, but come on, there’re signatures on all these papers. Somebody’s in charge.”
“Somebody, yes, but not one of these names. As far as I can determine, these people don’t exist.”
Stanton took his conspiracy theories seriously enough that he had computer programs that could locate almost anyone on the planet, plus where they lived, how many people were in their family, where they shopped, banked, and worked. Josh wouldn’t have been surprised if Stanton knew what they ate for breakfast. “Phony names?”
“And phony addresses. Cell phone numbers that are no longer in service. This is a ghost company, Tark.”
“But you’re saying there’s a very real building—”
“The permit says a building.
I
think it’s more likely an entirely self-contained complex. It would have to be, just look at where the hell it is.”
I
think it’s more likely an entirely self-contained complex. It would have to be, just look at where the hell it is.”
“Okay, so there’s this
complex
, just a few miles from where Kenzie’s digging.”
complex
, just a few miles from where Kenzie’s digging.”
“Yup. And we don’t know a thing about it.”
Josh waited a beat. Then two. “Aren’t you going to tell me it’s a secret government project?d, a Spro>
“Even when it’s being secretive, the government tends to be predictable—after all, why change tactics that work? I don’t see their fat fingerprints on this one, Tark.”
Kenzie liked children—she adored her nieces and nephew—but on the rare occasions that she babysat James’s twins, Birkie usually came along to tag team. Nothing surprised Birkie (not even a crayon wedged up Hailey’s nose or Hunter painting the cat green), but then she was a mother herself. Maybe both competence and confidence came over time to a parent, but as an aunt, Kenzie mostly played with the kids and then gave them back to their parents. She felt responsible for this little Changeling child, but couldn’t think of what else to do for her other than make sure she was fed.
The cub seemed perfectly happy with that. And appeared content to follow Kenzie around too. They were settling into a routine of sorts: They both went to the dig every morning, where Kenzie talked aloud about what she was doing and why, hoping that the cub would get used to her, and maybe eventually trust her. So far, the cub always stayed a few feet away, close enough to see what Kenzie was doing yet still far enough to flee.
The whole day would go like that, until Kenzie decided enough work had been done. Then, for the cub’s sake, Kenzie shifted to lupine form and declared a play time. The gray wolf chased the little Changeling, then turned and allowed it to chase her. They played tug of war with sticks, then hide and seek. Kenzie wished that wolves were physically capable of laughter—there were times she was sure that she would explode with built-up mirth, especially after the cub came pouncing out of the ferns and attacked her with mock growls and tiny teeth. They wrestled until it was obvious that her little charge was tired. While the cub rested, Kenzie would hunt down something for it to eat, then the two of them would head back to camp.
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