Mellizo Wolves (19 page)

Valerie and Hugh were on the exercise mats on the floor,
softly growling at the painful twitches of morphing. They clung to the sheets
over them as their half-lupine bodies jerked and their muscles convulsed.
Finally, glistening with sweat and wailing, they morphed into their human states.

“Victoria, how did you morph back so quickly?” Damon asked.

“I found some moon poppies and ate them.”

“Moon poppies?”

“Yeah, the Internet claims the remedy works for a day. I’ve
tried it twice with a counting technique Valerie and I have been practicing.
The combined efforts seem to work.”

“Hmmm. Maybe I should give
you
a job in the lab. You
may have hit on something our scientists failed to tell me about.”

Victoria laughed. “Why not? I relate well to wolves and I
look pretty good in white.”

“One problem. Your mother would never allow it.”

Victoria laughed again. “Never say never. Isn’t that what
you taught me?” She tilted her head saucily. “By the way, you need to fire
Rick. He’s a lousy bodyguard.”

Rick jerked his head in her direction then looked up at the
ceiling and shook his head without commenting. Damon felt sorry for him. His
daughter could be a handful. “Hmmm. Really? Why do you say that?”

“He isn’t one of us and doesn’t understand our special
needs. Your hot shot bodyguard tied a rope around me and dragged me home like a
naughty pup. Can you believe it?”

Damon snorted. “Naughty pup, huh? So he turned down one of
your childish advances, did he? Good work, Rick. Keep it up.”

Victoria threw a pillow at Damon’s head. “Thanks, Dad, for
the support. When he ravages me, it’ll be your fault. Don’t forget that.”

“And don’t you forget you’re a virgin and I expect you to
stay that way until Mr. Perfect comes along.”

She laughed. “If it were up to you, no one would ever fit
that category.”

“Wrong. It’ll be a piece of cake. He just has to pass our
scrutiny and then be brave enough to marry a handful like you.” His thoughts
darkened again and he turned to Rick. “As you know, we have an emergency
situation going on. My wife’s friend was attacked and killed by a werewolf. I
have to take every measure to prevent my girls or my brother from getting
blamed for it. Whatever I have to do to clean up this mess, I’ll do. And I need
and expect your support. I’m trusting you like family.”

As Damon left the room and headed downstairs to grab a few
hours of shut-eye on the den couch, he recalled that Madam Nola said he gave
his trust too easily and someday it might kill him.

* * *
*

Damon wasn’t surprised to see Deeto at their front door the
next morning. He looked tired, hung-over, and desperate. “Have you seen, Kat?” he
asked. His voice was, husky, ragged. “She hasn’t been home all night.”

Damon closed his eyes a moment and then invited him in. He
had to face this. It would be better just to let him think she’d finally run
off, but he couldn’t do that to a man who’d stuck with her for so many years
through all of her affairs. Dear God, the lovesick biker had even proposed a
number of times. He needed to be told, so when the grief dimmed, he could move
on. He took him to the den and closed the door. He poured Deeto a straight
bourbon and handed it to him.

“What the hell is this? Bourbon for breakfast? I like my
booze, but even for me this is early. What is it, has she left me? What?”

There was a knock on the door. It was Hugh and Rick. “We
thought you might need some support,” Hugh said.

“No. I can handle this.”

Deeto cursed, using coarse biker vernacular and said,
“Handle what?”

Hugh and Rick filed into the room. “We’re staying,” Hugh
said. “Angela’s orders.”

Damon shook his head. This was hard enough without a damned
audience. “Stay if you must. But keep your mouths shut.”

Deep red climbed up Deeto’s neck. He balled his hands into
fists. “I didn’t bring my posse. I thought we were all friends, here.”

“We are. Just ignore them.” Damon raked his hand through
his hair. “It’s only because we are friends, Deeto, that I’m going to tell you
what I’ve done.”

Deeto jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing. “What? You
slept with Kat?”

“Good grief, no. Sit down, will you?” Damon counted to ten
and then said, “Deeto, I think you are aware that for a long time people have
tried to close down our lab to stop us from finding a cure for lycanthropy.”

“Say what?” He scratched his head. “Spit it out in English.
I only have a sixth grade education, man.”

Damon shook his head. Deeto had gotten a GED and was taking
courses at S.B.V.C. Maybe he still thought of himself as an underachiever.
“It’s a werewolf affliction.”

“Oh, yeah. One of those werewolves almost killed Kat once.
She said another werewolf saved her.” He shrugged. “Guess there’re good and bad
ones.”

Damon rubbed his aching head. “We’re getting off subject.
Let’s go back to the werewolf that almost got Kat.” Damon’s stomach was a mass
of knots. “This is so hard, Deeto.” His throat felt tight. He couldn’t
pussyfoot around anymore. “This time, he got her. She’s dead.”

Deeto’s face paled. “That’s not funny, man. Tell me this is
a joke. Tell me she’s trying to get even with me for staying out late at the
bachelor party. Tell me anything but that some bastard werewolf murdered her.”

“I buried her, Deeto.” He held his breath and waited for
Deeto to explode.

“You what? Who the hell said you could do that?” Deeto
glared at him. “If you’re messing with me, you’ll regret it.”

“I wish I were. It would’ve been easier to let you think
she’d left you. But that would’ve been unfair to you and to her memory. She
loved you.” Damon almost added,
in her way
, but thank God, he had better
sense. “The thing is, the police haven’t done anything about the attack on
Madam Nola and I doubt, even if they knew about the attack on Kat, that they’d
do any better. If we report this, the police could actually get in our way.
Because of your special interest in getting this crazed fiend and your ability
to keep quiet, I’ve decided to bring you in on this. We’ll do our own
investigation, find the sadistic monster responsible, and quietly and swiftly
deal out our own retribution.”

Damon’s stomach knotted. He felt guilty about misleading
Deeto about his real motive for keeping things quiet—his family’s affliction.
But this was war and secrets had to be a part of it to protect those he loved.

Deeto’s eyes filled with moisture. “Damn you, Damon. I’m
starting to believe you. I want to talk to Angela,” he said, his throat tight.
“Now.”

Damon sighed. “Rick, would you please find Mrs. Lamont and
ask her to please step in here for a few minutes?”

Rick was gone less than three minutes and returned with
Angela. Damon wondered if she’d been listening at the door. “Angela, Deeto
wanted—”

Deeto stood and cut in. “I wanted to know if this is on the
level. If Kat’s really dead. But one look at your red, swollen eyes—” His voice
broke.

“I’m so sorry, Deeto, about everything.” Angela let out a
sob and rushed to him. They hugged for several seconds, lost in their grief.

Damon knew when she said
about everything
, she was referring
to him burying Kat with no regard to anyone’s feelings. Except it wasn’t true.
He cared. He just didn’t know any other way to protect everyone.

“Do you agree with Damon about all of this?” Deeto asked.

Damon’s heart sank as Angela met his gaze and stared at him
for a long, measuring moment. “I seldom agree with everything my husband does
these days. But I know he thinks he’s doing what is best for all concerned.
You’ll have to make your own evaluation of his judgment.” She sent Damon a
narrow-eyed look. “I need to speak with you for a moment in our bedroom.” With
that, she turned and left the den, leaving behind an icy chill that froze his
bones.

“Excuse me, I’ll be back shortly,” he said. “You guys make
yourselves comfortable. Kyle will bring you anything you’d like. Just ring for
him.”

When he entered the master bedroom, Angela was standing by
the terrace slider, looking out. He approached her from behind. Her rigid
stance screamed that she didn’t want him to touch her. But he needed the
contact. He wrapped his arms around her and waited for her to shake free. She
remained stiff, not moving a muscle. That was worse than if she’d ducked away
from him. He kissed the back of her hair. “Honey, I’m so sorry.”

She turned in his arms and glared up at him. “I want you to
fire Lazar. This isn’t negotiable. He killed Kat.”

“A werewolf killed Kat.”

“She had a date with Lazar. Now she’s dead. And thanks to
you, I can’t even go to the police about it.”

“I’ll talk to Lazar.”

“I don’t want you to talk to that pompous two-headed snake.
I want you to throw him off this property. If you don’t, I will. I don’t want
him within five-hundred miles of our girls.”

“I know you’ve never liked the man, but he’s a Nobel Prize
winner and top in his field. We’re so close to a cure for our girls. Do you
want to throw that away?”

“Let your other scientists find this magical, perhaps
non-existent cure.”

Damon felt himself losing ground. “Victoria found something
on the Internet about moon poppies that—with a mind over matter ritual she and
Valerie have experimented with—actually produced a quicker trip through the
morphing experience, and it’s also supposed to produce a temporary cure for a
day. Don’t you see? It’s only a few more steps to find a complete cure. We have
a duty to see that our girls get their chance to shake the curse and be normal
young girls, free to enjoy life to its fullest.”

“I warned you, Damon. Now get out of my way. I’m going down
to clean house in your
no results
lab.”

Damon followed her down the stairs. “Use your head, Angela.
This isn’t the way to do business. The man has a contract.”

“Okay. We’ll talk first, then fire.”

He wished she’d keep her voice down. She was acting
irrationally because of her overwhelming grief over losing her close friend. It
was up to him to stay calm and not let this escalate. “Honey, let me talk to
him.”

“Not alone. I want to hear how that snake slithers out of
this mess.”

Hugh, Rick, and Deeto came out of the den. “What snake?”
Deeto asked.

“See what you started,” Damon said in a hushed voice. “It’s
nothing, guys. Just a little difference of opinion between husband and wife.
I’ll get back to you after I handle it.”

“You’re not handling me, if that’s what you think. We’ll
talk to Lazar together now, or I’ll spill my guts to Deeto. I’ll bet he and his
biker gang would be glad to run Lazar out of town.”

“He wouldn’t run him out of town. He’d kill him. Do you want
that on your conscience?”

Her direct stare represented a challenge. Her eyes glinted
with the threat, the promise. “Are we talking to Lazar now?”

“I get it. But we can’t accuse him of murder. As far as
everyone outside this family knows, there’s been no murder. A woman has merely
disappeared.” He looked at the nosey trio standing just inside the den door.
“Hey, guys, can you stick around for lunch? I just had another emergency come
up. After lunch, I’ll give you a briefing and we’ll come up with a plan.” He
hoped he lived through this showdown. With Angela on her high horse, anything
could happen.

* * *
*

Rick, Hugh, and Deeto wandered out by the pool. It was
good-sized, eighteen-by-forty. It was fenced with natural stone columns with
wrought iron inserts to afford an unobstructed view of the valley below. While
it was a top-notch pool with a great view, Rick’s gaze zeroed in on the girls.
The shapely imps attacked the pool as though they were conquering it, making it
their own water haven. Their exuberance as they splashed and romped about made
him think of carefree wolf cubs. When Victoria noticed him, she lifted herself
up onto the poolside with muscled arms and got out of the water. Her cascade of
dripping, long, onyx ringlets swished across her back. He watched the ripples
of water slide down her golden skin, caressing it like a lover’s touch. The
slight sway of her hips in that red bikini—clinging to her curves, exposing
gorgeous tanned and very shapely thighs—stirred memories of her slender, firm
body in his arms as he rolled in the soft grass with her.

He didn’t have to imagine a thing about her body. He’d seen
her slim form when he caught his first glimpse of her, hiding in the bushes at
the side of Mt. Baldy Highway. She’d been a goddess then and was a goddess now.
She sent him a sly smile as though she’d read his thoughts. Then, she bent
slightly, turned on the hose and put it up to her mouth like a bubbling
fountain and drank deeply. It seemed it required a large quantity to satisfy
her thirst. He wondered if she was that insatiable in bed. Oh, God, if this job
didn’t kill him in one way, it would in another.