Cry Wolf (22 page)

“You okay?” Meg asked.

He nodded and lifted the last of his vegetables to his mouth. Andi sent him a funny look across the table and smiled. That smile was a little reassuring. He told himself to stop being a jealous idiot and enjoy their dinner. The things she did to him. He’d never been jealous over any woman before.

Jason and Kelly were arguing loudly over what their new pet’s name would be. Sean knew his nephew was quick to lose his temper and cringed when Jason blurted out a cuss word.

Megan sighed. “Sean, would you mind staying with the kids while I run into town after dinner? If we’re going to keep that dog, I should go get some real dog food and supplies before it gets too late.”

“I want to go!” Kelly demanded.

“Fine. Would you mind staying with Jason?” Megan amended.

He glanced at Andi, who nodded her consent. “Maybe we can go over some of our leads before Reed leaves.”

Sean made Meg leave the mess for him to deal with while she and Kelly drove into town for the supplies. It took Sean and Andi no time to clear the table and wash dishes. They chatted about silly things while Reed entertained a remorseful Jason with a video game battle.

“This is the life,” Sean said. “Great food. Great conversation. Beautiful woman in the kitchen.”

“Spoken like a man.” She rolled her eyes. Outside, the dog barked, trying to get their attention. Jason had tied it to a stake before dinner to keep it from wandering off. Andrea glanced out the kitchen window and sighed. “I wonder how the kitten is doing.”

Sean just hoped the fur ball hadn’t shredded his furniture.

After Sean sent his nephew to get ready for bed, he, Reed and Andi sat down to discuss work. Reed rolled out a new map he’d created on his computer. It was much easier to read and pinpoint the sightings with date and timestamps.

“Wow, this is impressive,” Andi said.

Outside, the dog barked like crazy.

“Jason, bring that dog inside, will ya?” Sean tried to rub the tension from the back of his neck. “The sightings are all over the place. Do you think there could be more than one?”

Reed tapped the table. “Researchers think there are whole colonies of Bigfoot. That’s why there are sightings of them in almost every state.”

“Our research into the Manwolf or Dogmen suggests these things are as far away as Michigan and Wisconsin too.” Sean nodded and glanced toward the back door. He didn’t hear the dog barking anymore. He also didn’t hear his nephew. In fact, it was eerily quiet. “Jason?” he called.

No answer.

He exchanged a worried look with Andrea.

“One thing reassures me.” She glanced toward the back door. “There have been lots of sightings, but no reports of attacks on people by this animal. Lord knows it had plenty of opportunity to make a go at me when I saw it, but it seemed more interested in intimidating me than hurting me.”

“Yeah, but for how long?” Sean pushed back his chair and went in search of his nephew. He didn’t like the thoughts circling his head at the moment. He stepped on the porch and scanned the dark backyard for signs of the boy. “Jason!”

He knew Andrea and Reed had followed him. He felt her hand settle on his shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine,” she whispered. “Don’t overreact.”

The sound of the dog’s distant bark echoed from the left, and he heard Jason’s voice in the distance calling to the dog.
Dog must have gotten loose from his tie-down.

No sooner had the thought crossed Sean’s mind than the motion-detector light at the back of Meg’s house blinked on, flooding the backyard with light. Sean caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see only a glimpse of something brownish-gray dart behind Meg’s old shed.

What the hell?

Behind him, Reed gasped. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Andrea asked.

“I don’t know,” Sean said.
Liar. It was tall, covered in fur.
Sean turned and pushed her back inside the house. “There’s a gun on the top shelf of the hall closet in a locked case. The key is hidden above the door. Go get it for me.”

“A gun! Sean—”

“Do it!”

The motion-detector light suddenly went dark. Sean could hear his nephew’s voice. Fear gripped his insides as he heard the noise of movement, a stick breaking and the distinct sound of something large and furry shaking its coat out exactly like a wet dog would.

Whatever it was had to be hiding behind the shed. Otherwise the motion-sensitive light would have flicked back on.

“Reed, hand me the broom inside the door.”

The teen fumbled with the task, making enough noise to wake the dead. With a sigh, Sean grasped the handle and waved the sweep end over his head to activate the light again.

Relieved, he saw his nephew struggling to carry the dog toward the house.

Sean’s first instinct was to call out for his nephew to run as fast as he could, but he thought better of it. He’d hate to startle or alert whatever this thing was and cause it to charge the boy.

“Sean, here’s the gun.” Andrea appeared beside him. “I loaded it for you.”

Woman knows how to load a gun. God, she’s amazing.

Before he could grasp the weapon, the motion light went out again. No sooner had everything gone dark than the distinct sound of a wolflike howl shattered the darkness. It was so close the sound rattled Sean’s eardrums.

“Jason!” Without thinking, Sean ran down the steps to activate the motion light and intercept his nephew. He grabbed both Jason and the dog and scooped them up with a strength he never knew he possessed.

The dog barked and struggled in the boy’s arms, but Sean clasped them both tight to his chest. “Uncle Sean, what’s happening?”

He heard Andi and Reed yell for him to hurry. To his left, he heard movement—the crunching of leaves, the sound of heavy breathing and the snapping of sticks. But mostly he heard his own heartbeat pounding in his ears as he ran. He got a strong whiff of something rotten-smelling and tried not to gag.

He bounded up the steps and inside Megan’s house, pushing Reed and Andrea with him. The screen door slammed shut behind them, and he turned to see Andi shutting and bolting the wooden door too. She and Reed peeked past the curtains.

“See anything?” Sean asked, still trying to catch his breath.

He set Jason down and the dog, free from constraint, charged the door, barking and growling. Andrea knelt down and tried to quiet him. “I didn’t see anything. Reed?”

The teen shook his head. “I think it’s gone, or hiding.”

Jason squeezed Sean around the middle. His face was white. His arms trembled. Poor kid was terrified. “What’s going on? What was that chasing us, Uncle Sean?”

Sean swallowed. “You saw something?”

Jason nodded. “When I glanced over your shoulder, I saw a…What
was
it? Something stunk awful bad too.”

Sean lowered to one knee. He looked his nephew in the eyes and squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “I don’t know, Jase. But it can’t hurt us in here. Okay?”

Jason nodded, but he still trembled. “Was it…was that the werewolf?”

Sean lifted his eyes and exchanged looks with Andi and Reed. How was he supposed to answer such a simple question when he didn’t know the answer anymore?

“No. Of course not, kiddo.” He sighed.

Maybe it was.

“You sure it wasn’t just a ky-oat, snoopin’ around?” Charlie Browder asked nearly an hour later as he paced Megan’s backyard with a flashlight.

Andrea walked beside the animal control officer she was getting to know better than she would have liked. She pointed her own flashlight toward the ground. “I’m telling you, it wasn’t a coyote.”

Andrea never saw the creature outside Megan’s house, but that snarl sure wasn’t like any dog she’d ever heard. Plus, she’d smelled it.

“I don’t see any tracks,” Charlie grumbled. “Are you sure this is where it was?”

Beside her, Reed nodded. “Yeah, it was over here, behind the shed.” He walked ahead of them and pointed.

Charlie stopped and scratched his chin. He glanced at his watch and yawned. “Whatever it is, I think you scared it off. I’ll come back in the morning when I can see better what I’m looking for. Maybe we can figure out what it was.”

“What about Megan’s family? They’re too terrified to sleep.” Andrea pointed her flashlight toward the house for emphasis. Sean had stayed inside to comfort his scared family. “Fine, say it
is
a coyote. Maybe it was even a bear. You can’t expect them to stay here after the fright they’ve had.”

“They’ll be safe indoors.” Charlie shook his head.

Andrea wanted to strangle the man. Why was he so determined to blame the sightings on a bear or coyote when neither made sense? She groaned and spun around, hoping to find something to change his mind and fast.

She got a whiff of a faint odor and gasped.
Oh no.
She took an instinctive step backward. “I think it may still be here,” she whispered.

Charlie raised the tranquilizer gun he’d brought with him, and Reed took a few steps backward until Andrea was in front again. She lifted her flashlight toward the trees. They were too far from the house now to rely on the motion light for sight.

“I don’t see anything,” said Reed.

Neither did Andrea. Steeling herself, she took a slow step forward, shining the light into the brush.

Another careful step.

Squish.

Andrea lifted her foot and pointed the flashlight down.
Crap.
She’d just stepped in the biggest pile of dog crap she’d ever seen! That explained the smell too, she realized. She felt like an idiot.

She groaned and began rubbing her foot on the grass. How disgusting. She’d never seen a pile so large. Had the dog made that, and if so, how?

“You don’t think…?” Reed pointed his flashlight at the pile of poop.

Andrea followed his line of thinking all too well.

Just her luck. She’d probably just stepped in a big pile of werewolf poop!

“Ewww, gross.” She wiped the sole of her shoe on the lawn and turned to Charlie. “What kind of animal do you think that came from? An elephant?”

He looked at the pile of poop with a confused frown. He shook his head. “Looks like it came from somethin’ the size of a cow or larger. Could be from a horse. Ain’t no tellin’.”

A horse or a cow.
Right.

Andrea decided she would have to destroy her boots and gave up trying to get the offending substance off them. She shone her light back at the pile. “Let’s play devil’s advocate here for a sec. Any way to analyze that stuff to see where it came from? Don’t they have tests for that?”

Charlie propped the rifle against his shoulder and sent her a look that was not amused. “I sure do appreciate your enthusiasm, Miss Lockhart, but it’s late and I’m tired. Whatever was here is gone now, and I plan to do the same. These folks’ll be fine.”

Sean greeted Andrea when she walked inside, barefoot. “What happened to your shoes?”

Reed snickered.

“Don’t ask.” Andrea handed him the flashlight. “How are the kids?”

“They’re helping Meg give the dog a bath so it can stay in Jason’s room tonight.” He glanced around. “Where’s Charlie?”

“Gone. He couldn’t find anything, so he’ll be back in the morning. He thinks we scared whatever it was away.” She rested a hand on his arm. Poor Sean. He looked exhausted. “Did you get a good look at it? Are you sure it was…you know?” Even now she had a hard time calling the creature a werewolf or dog-man.

He raked a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m not sure of anything. Reed?”

Reed shrugged. “The glimpse I had looked close enough to the werewolf I saw last July, but everything happened so fast, I can’t say for sure.”

Sean grabbed Andrea’s hand and squeezed it. “How do you feel about staying here with me tonight?”

She glanced sideways at Reed, who was grinning and looking everywhere but at her. She didn’t like advertising the fact that she was sleeping with Sean, but Reed was smart. He knew the score.

Andrea squeezed Sean’s hand in return and pulled away. “I don’t want to leave the kitten alone. I can stay at your place if that’s okay with you.”

“No, Andi. I don’t want you staying anywhere alone. Not until we figure out what the hell is going on with this thing.”

They were on the same wavelength, but she couldn’t abandon the kitten. She just couldn’t.

She thought of asking the kid to stay with her, but Reed lifted his wrist and checked the time. He frowned. “You know, guys, I’m going to head home and check on my mom and sisters. We don’t live anywhere near any of the previous sightings, but neither does Meg. You know?”

“Go.” Andrea pushed him toward the door. “Let us know if you see anything.”

Reed nodded and left with a promise to call later. Andrea turned to Sean. “Let me call Trey Parker. I have his cell number, and I’m sure he’d—”

“Spend the night with you?” He clenched his jaw. “No way in hell. We can bring the cat here.”

“But—”

“No.”

Andrea crossed her arms and met his eyes. If he’d let her finish, he’d realize she only wanted the deputy to escort her to Sean’s house so she could get her car and come back with the kitten in tow. Call her chicken, but she didn’t want to make the trip alone.

She changed her mind. “The cat and I will be fine alone at your place.”

“Andi.” He said her name like a warning.

“My name is
Andrea
.” She reached into her pocket and retrieved her cell phone. “What the hell is wrong with you?” She glared at Sean as she dialed Trey Parker’s number. She might be willing to spend the night alone, but she needed a ride. She didn’t expect Sean to leave his family to give her one.

Trey answered and Andrea explained what had happened, ignoring Sean’s glare. “Would you be willing to give me a ride to Sean’s house and make sure no monsters are lurking outside before you leave? Sean is staying with his sister, and I’m a bit too freaked to borrow his truck at the moment.”

Ten minutes later, Trey arrived, dressed in jeans, a red shirt and leather jacket. Sean was barely civil to either of them as Andrea introduced the sheriff’s deputy to Megan. It seemed an effort for Sean to hand her a spare key. “Call me when he leaves.” He glared at Trey.

Andrea snatched the key out of his palm and left without a response. She buckled herself in and barely took note of the inside of Trey’s sports car. She settled the tied plastic bag containing her boots on the floorboard. “Sorry about that.”

Trey sent her a sideways look. “No problem.” He directed his car onto the road. “I didn’t realize you and Sean were a couple.”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure what we are. I have no idea why he treated you that way, but it was uncalled for.”

Trey laughed. “Uh, I imagine it has something to do with the fact I was hitting on you earlier in front of him. Under the same conditions, that’d make me jealous too.”

Andrea frowned. “Jealous?” Then she glanced at Trey. “And why would you hit on me? I told you I was involved with someone.’”

“You didn’t tell me that someone was Sean.” He grinned.

“Hmph.” Andrea crossed her arms.
Was
Sean jealous? She had a hard time accepting it.
But you know it’s true.
“Well, I’m sorry, Trey, but Sean and I are…involved. I was actually hoping to set you up with someone else before I left town.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Who?”

“Sean’s sister. The one you just met. I was working up to it.”

“Oh lord, please save me from another meddling matchmaker.” Trey stared straight ahead and shook his head. “Does Sean know that? Cause he might kick my ass real good if I even look at his sister now. You do realize that?”

She couldn’t remember if she’d shared her thoughts with Sean or not. Probably not, she realized. That was when it hit her. Was she actually trying to pair Meg with Trey? This small-town matchmaking mentality was so out of character for her—she had turned into a manipulative lunatic! She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I’m sorry I got you involved, Trey.” She lowered her hands and sighed. “I’m not very good at the whole boy-girl thing. I had no idea you were even interested in me that way.”

“Sure about that? I think you wanted Sean to be jealous, and that’s why you called me tonight.”

“What?” she scoffed. “That’s crazy.”

“Yeah, well, they say love makes a person crazy.”

Love? Andrea opened her mouth to deny it but realized she couldn’t disagree. Why else would she have lost her mind? These were things she normally would not do.

She was in love in Sean.

Trey checked Sean’s house inside and out for signs of an intruder, animal or otherwise. He gave the kitten in her arms a scratch on the head and paused in the doorway. “All clear. You’ll be fine. It’s all psychological, that’s what I’ve learned with this thing.” He gave her a chuck on the chin the way her brother Nick used to do. “Chin up. Give Sean a call and put the guy out of his misery. That’s one enemy I don’t want or need.”

Andrea smiled and waved him off. Such a nice guy. If Meg didn’t take him, the woman was insane.

Kitty climbed up her shirt and tried to take a nosedive off her shoulder, so she set the fur ball on the ground. It scampered toward Sean’s bedroom. Andrea was relieved to see that the cat had used the newspaper plastered around Sean’s kitchen floor rather than his carpet as a litter box. Then she rounded the corner and saw the shredded toilet paper strewn about Sean’s bedroom. Some picture frames had been knocked off his nightstand. An old drink had been overturned.

“Kitty!” she yelled.

She had just finished cleaning up the mess and scrubbing the crap off her boots when her cell phone rang. It was Sean.

“I’m so sorry, I was about to call you,” she answered, flinging a soiled rag into the trash. She stuck her hands in the sink and washed them, praying the phone wouldn’t tumble from her neck and shoulder. “Trey left about twenty minutes ago.”

She heard him sigh. “Good. Andi, look, I’m sorry. It’s been a hell of a day, and I didn’t mean to take it out on you or Trey.”

“I’m sorry too.” She wiped her hands on a towel.

Andrea grabbed her purse and keys and went in search of Kitty. She refrained from describing the cat’s rampage to Sean. She’d have to stop at a twenty-four-hour store to get the cat some real supplies—a chore she’d had planned earlier and forgotten.
See, I’d make a terrible mother to you, kitty. A terrible, forgetful mom.

“I’m grabbing the cat and coming back over there.” She grabbed a towel to wrap the kitten in. “I saw a store I’m going to stop at on the way. What do we need? Kitty litter, food, a carrier, maybe some toys? I’ve never had a cat, so I don’t know.”

He gave her a list of necessary items. “The dog will be locked up with Jason and Kelly tonight. You and the cat can take the guest room.”

“Oh.” He’d made no mention of sharing the room with her, but then again, he’d seemed wary of sleeping with her in his sister’s house. “Where will you sleep?”

“Meg has an uncomfortable, lumpy sofa with my name written all over it.”

“Sounds like fun.” She spied the kitten’s furry little leg sticking out from beneath Sean’s sofa. A second later, the kitten rolled out from under it, battling a giant dust bunny. She rushed to get the filth away from the cat’s tiny mouth and scooped the kitten up. “I’ve got the kitten. We’re on our way.”

Andrea slid her laptop bag over her shoulder and hurried to her car. She kept a tight grip on the squirming kitten as she opened her trunk and slid her laptop inside.