Howling Moon (21 page)

Cat concentrated. Nothing. Not a blessed clue. “Nothing.”

“All right. What’s the maid from your house in California doing?” Raphael asked earnestly. He lifted up his coffee cup.

Cat thought about it for a moment. She let out a distressed little sound. “Oh. She’s crying. She got mad at one of the worst gossips in town and said something she shouldn’t have. She thinks if I find out I’ll fire her.”

“Will you?”

“No.” Cat answered. “She didn’t mean to, and she really needs the job. It’s one of the reasons I kept her on full time, even though I’m not there. I mean, I don’t
think
I’m going back, but…” Cat let the sentence drag on unfinished. She couldn’t tell Raphael her plans because, frankly, she didn’t have any. All her focus was on taking down Jack. Truthfully, she didn’t expect to survive. Hell, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to.

She felt Raphael watching her.

“What?”

He shook his head, but she could tell there was something he wasn’t saying. “Nothing. It’s just important to know the limits of your gift, Catherine. Apparently you can reach out to anyone you know, whether or not he has any talent of his own – but you can’t ‘find’ someone you haven’t met.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a very useful skill. But I’d keep quiet about it if I were you.”

“It may be too late for that,” Cat said with a sigh. “Mike knows, and what Mike knows,
everybody
knows. Then again, it might not have occurred to him that it was important enough to brag about.”

Raphael didn’t answer because the waitress appeared with a laden tray, including a new cup and saucer for Raphael. She served the food, asked if there was anything else they needed, and disappeared. When she was out of earshot again, Raphael spoke.

“So, what did
he
have to say?”

Cat knew from his tone of voice that Raphael wasn’t talking about Michael anymore.

“He told me he wanted me to get well trained. That it would make me more of a challenge. But that I should study quick because he wasn’t a patient man.”

Raphael’s expression was sour. He stirred his hash browns idly with his fork, as though his appetite had suddenly left him.

She blushed lightly and raised her coffee to take a sip. “And he told me to find another teacher, that he doesn’t like you or trust you, but… that you were doing a good job. Apparently I’m clumsy, but talented.”

Raphael began swearing under his breath. He was remarkably good at it. Cat actually hadn’t heard some of those combinations before. Considering her mother’s grasp of the language, that was somewhat of a surprise.

“Was there anything
else?”

“He’s very smug about that file of his.”

“He should be. It’s the only thing that’s kept him alive for the past couple of decades.”

“So I’ve heard.” Cat took a bite of her toast, and then continued after chewing and swallowing. “I’d give quite a bit to get a good close look at that file.”

“Why?”

“Just an idea I’ve got.” She replied vaguely. She didn’t look him in the eye. Somehow, when she met his gaze he always seemed to be able to overcome any misgivings she had.

“Catherine…”

It was the second time in a matter of minutes that he’d used her full name. She’d noticed he only did that when he was seriously annoyed. “Oh, don’t take that tone. I promised I wouldn’t do anything to endanger your people and I won’t. But if I do this right – “

“Do
what
right?” She could tell he was worried, and more than a little insulted that she didn’t trust him.

“Look, I don’t have the details figured out yet. I promise, you’ll be the first to know when I do. But I definitely think it’s time for me to give Uncle Chuck a call.”

Raphael looked at her through narrowed eyes. She could tell he wasn’t happy about this development, but that he also wasn’t willing to push the issue. She could almost see him make the decision to change the subject. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you calling the Chief Justice ‘Uncle Chuck.’”

“That’s all right. I
know
I’m never going to get used to everybody referring to him as ‘Mr. Chief Justice,
sir’”

Raphael gave a forced laugh and at least pretended to let her joke lighten his mood. Neither of them were likely to forget that Jack had, once again, made his presence known, but they could, and did, pretend that nothing was wrong for at least as long as it took them to finish breakfast. Raphael had a long day ahead of him, and it got even longer when his cell phone rang as he was standing in line at the cash register.

“Ramirez.”

Cat heard both sides of the conversation clearly, but pretended not to listen. “Raphael, it’s Eddie. We’ve got a problem.”

“What’s up, Ed?”

“Mona’s in the hospital. Juan’s there with her. So I’m stuck in here, we’re down two drivers and
it’s snowing!”

“Shit. Is she going to be all right?”

“They think so, but she may have to be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy.”

Raphael turned to Cat. “Look, I’ve got an emergency at the towing company. I need to get there right away. Can you drop me off and take the Jeep back to the hospital?”

“No problem.”

“Eddie, I’ll be there – “ he looked at the snow falling steadily outside the window and grimaced, “ – in about thirty minutes.”

“Right, boss.”

Raphael avoided 1-70. Instead, he took 1-76, turning off on a secondary road to avoid traffic that had slowed almost to a standstill.

“What’s the problem, anyway?”

“My weekend secretary’s in the hospital and her husband’s one of my best drivers. So I’ve got
another
one of my men stuck behind the desk answering phones and operating dispatch. With the weather like this, I can’t afford to be down two drivers. Especially not after such a long dry spell.”

He downshifted, taking a sharp turn with a crunch of gravel. The windshield wipers beat a steady rhythm as they cleared the heavy snowflakes from the glass as fast as they could fall. “I’m just glad it’s only Sunday. I don’t know what I’d do if this happened during a weekday rush hour.”

“How hard is it to do the dispatch?”

“Not that hard, really. All my drivers know the area. It’s not like they’re going to get lost. And we can work out who’s in the best position to take a call over the line. Why?”

“Well, if you show me how, maybe I can take the calls and do die radio while you and Eddie drive the trucks.”

“You’d do that?” Cat could tell Raphael was floored. She really couldn’t blame him. After the fuss she’d put up about working at Jake’s he probably would never have expected her to volunteer. That she was willing to pitch in, and didn’t consider answering phones for a towing company beneath her, seemed to be a surprise.

“Yes.” She grinned. “But don’t get mad if I screw it up.”

“You won’t screw it up,” he promised. “And tell you what, as a thank-you, I’ll buy you dinner.”

“You just bought me breakfast.”

“Yeah, well as busy as we’re going to be today, you’ll have earned another meal.” He kept both hands on the wheel as he turned onto the access road that led to his offices. “My cell phone is in my back pocket. You’d better call Jake and let him know you won’t be in to work today.”

“Not an issue,” Cat answered, trying to keep the hurt from her voice. But the flat tone said just about the same thing. “He fired me.”

Raphael stared at her for a long enough moment that she was worried about his driving. When he finally spoke, it was softly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Actually,” he admitted, “it is.” Cat watched as he fought to find the right words. “I’d hoped that your being around the pack would help them get used to you. It’s how they handle the species thing in Wolven. You expose people to the species they don’t get along with and eventually they usually can see past the prejudice and start judging the person as an individual.”

“It’s not working,” Cat observed dryly.

“No. But I wanted it to. I wanted them all to see you for the terrific woman you are.”

Cat watched him for a long moment. He looked so serious, and sad, but the compliment had fluttered her heart unexpectedly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

“Well,” she said ruefully, letting out a small laugh. “I really haven’t been trying that hard to fit in.”

He laughed, and die Jeep filled with the smell of citrus. “No kidding.”

“I could leave.” The minute she made the offer Cat realized that she didn’t want to go. Yes, Mike and the pack were a pain. But there was Holly and Raphael.

“I don’t want you to go.”

Cat let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Oh. Good.”

She expected him to laugh. Instead, she watched as he pulled himself together, visibly steeling his body. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” The burnt metal scent of determination filled the Jeep, mixed with an odd combination of sorrow and guilt. The scents were so overwhelming that Cat had to sneeze several times to clear her head.

“I told you that Jack chose you because you look just like Fiona Monier did in her twenties, and Jack lost her to another man.”

“Yes.”

“
I
was the other man.” He sat there, stiff, jaw set, as though expecting a blow.

“Yeah. I sort of figured that out.” Cat’s tone was dry.

Raphael’s head jerked back in surprise, but the stiffness left his body. “You did?”

Cat rolled her eyes. “It was fairly obvious from the things he’s said and the way you’ve been acting.”

“Oh.”

She managed not to laugh, but it wasn’t easy. “What I
haven’t
figured out is why he didn’t kill
you.”

Raphael stared down at his hands. “The Chief Justice and the Council wouldn’t let him. The seers said I needed to live.”

“I’m surprised that stopped him. He’s not exactly the reasonable type.”

Raphael shook his head. “They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. They couldn’t threaten his life directly – he has the file, after all. So they threatened Fiona. If I die, she dies.
And
they ordered me here under Lucas’s protection. Other than Charles, Lucas is the one man that Jack won’t cross.” Raphael couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice. He would never have risked Fiona’s life for his. Charles and the council, however, were far more pragmatic. The seers had foreseen Raphael being needed in the future. Fiona, apparently, was expendable.

“Ouch. Bet that pissed him off.”

“No doubt. And not just him. I understand that Fiona’s brother wound up in a duel over it.”

They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts. It was Raphael who spoke first, asking a question that he wasn’t positive he wanted answered. “Are you okay with this?”

Cat considered it for a long moment. “It happened a long time ago.”

He just nodded.

“You couldn’t possibly have known how he’d react. I mean nobody
expects
somebody to flip out and become a serial killer. It’s just not
done.”

Raphael let out a harsh bark of laughter at her choice of words. He knew she hadn’t meant to, but she made it sound like Jack’s insanity was the ultimate in bad manners.

“Seriously,” Cat asked, “did you know that it was Fiona?”

“No. But I should’ve guessed. There aren’t that many cougars.”

“But you didn’t guess, and you didn’t know. Even if you did, while it would’ve been a stupid thing to do, you couldn’t possibly have surmised that Jack would go off the deep end. You yourself said she’d played around on him before. Why would you expect things to be any different this time?”

He didn’t answer. She watched him think about her words, really consider them. Cat was glad. From what she could see he’d let his guilt fester, and had blamed himself for everything Jack did. She guessed it had been killing him, a little bit at a time.

“I don’t know.” Raphael said the words with obvious reluctance. He wouldn’t look at Cat, choosing instead to focus all of his considerable attention into pulling the Jeep absolutely straight into his labeled spot in the nearly empty parking lot.

“There you go then.” She gave him an impish look. She wanted to lighten his mood. She
hoped
what she was about to say would do it. She
thought
he had enough of a sense of humor. “I’ve got to ask – “

“What?” He shut off the engine, glaring across at her.

“Did they
really
call you ‘Studly Screwright?’”

Raphael’s towing office
was a small tan brick building with tinted glass doors and windows on the front. The elaborate hand-painted sign above the door was of professional quality, but the style was familiar. It reminded her forcibly of the wolf on the press box in the high school gym.

Inside were four desks with worn office chairs. Each had its own computer. All were buried under mounds of file folders and loose papers. A bank of black metal file cabinets lined one wall, under a gray metal cabinet that was currently wide open, displaying hooks with various sets of keys. Against the back wall there was a table with an elaborate radio system and large, silver microphone. Above it, a huge, detailed map of the Denver-Boulder street system.

Raphael introduced her to “Fast Eddie” Malone, his assistant manager. Ed was a huge man, standing a good six foot eight, most of it solid, tattooed muscle. There was even an ornate Oriental dragon that wound its way up through the collar of his long-sleeved Harley-Davidson sweatshirt, its head adorning his perfectly smooth scalp.

Raphael answered calls while, in a surprisingly gentle voice, Fast Eddie lived up to his name, giving Cat a lightning-quick summary of how the phones and the radio worked. Fortunately, it actually
was
a simple system. Hit the switch to turn on the mike, press down on the button to transmit, let up to receive. It would broadcast to every one of the nine trucks Raphael had in his fleet.

“Mona uses color-coded push pins to keep track of everybody, but you don’t have time for that tonight. We’ll just keep in touch by radio.” Eddie smiled. “And by the way, thanks. I
hate
doing dispatch.” He gave Cat a quick peck on the cheek, and was rewarded with her laugh and a low growl from Raphael.

Grinning, he backed away, hands held up in surrender. “Right, boss, I get it. Look but don’t touch!”

“Damn straight!” Raphael was grinning, but his tone of voice left no room for doubt that the warning, at least, was serious.

“I think I’d better get out of here!” Eddie gave Cat a broad wink. “Want me to take the flatbed?”

“Nah,” Raphael answered. “Take number seven.”

“Aw man, the heater’s out in seven.”

“I
know.”
Raphael walked over to the key cabinet and took down two sets of keys. He tossed the first set to Eddie, pocketing the second. He took the jacket Cat held out to him, but dropped it on the desk. Then, much to her surprise, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her completely breathless. She was still standing there, blinking somewhat stupidly, when the two men disappeared through the door.

The day went by in a blur of work. Cat found she
liked
the men Raphael worked with, their easy banter. More to the point, they liked
him.
She could tell from the way they talked to and about him on the radio. But despite the joking, there was no question who was boss. It was obvious his workers respected him.

Business was steady, with a fair mix of local and highway calls. Cat had to wonder how busy they’d be if weather like this hit on a weekday, with rush-hour traffic. Late afternoon, when the temperature dropped, the roads became slick with black ice and most people gave up on driving altogether. At that point the calls slowed to a near halt, giving Cat a breather.

She used the downtime to her advantage, exploring the office to find me supply cabinet and, more important, die restroom. She also stumbled across a box with a couple of half-stale donuts that she washed down with coffee strong enough to stand up without the cup.

She almost choked on the coffee when
she
became the topic of radio conversation.

“So, Eddie, you got to see the new girl. Is she as hot as she sounds?”

“Hotter. Definitely hotter: a natural blonde with legs up to her armpits. But you don’t even wanna
think
about it, Joey. Hell, all I did was wink at her, and I thought I was gonna get the boys handed to me.”

“Aw, man!”

“Now I’m freezing my ass off in number seven. Take an honest warning from an old man who should know better. You do
not
want to go there.”

“Damn straight you don’t.” Raphael’s voice was teasing and light, but it stilled the chatter.

Cat barely got the coffee she’d spilled cleaned up when the next call came in, and they were off and running again.

It was after six when the calls finally dwindled to a stop and Raphael announced over the radio that they should all head “back to the barn.” He thanked everybody for the hard work. “Cat, you did a great job. Thanks again for pitching in. Oh, and if you want to be nice, you could put some coffee on to help thaw Eddie out. Don’t want to send him home to his wife with frostbite. She’ll kick my ass.”

“Not if you tell her
why
he was in number seven,” someone else joked.

“Shut up. Everybody just shut up,” Eddie responded.

Laughing, Cat emptied the stale coffee and began brewing a fresh pot. By the time it was done, she heard the stamp of booted feet and male voices outside the office door.
“Damn
would you look at the size of that paw print. That must be one helluva dog.”

The two man passed into the building still arguing good-naturedly as they shook the snow from their clothing. “I’m surprised anything’s out in this weather. I sure don’t intend to be. Soon as I get my ass home I’m
stayin’
there!”

“Oh, no you’re not, Joe. It’s your night to take calls,” Eddie answered.

“Shee-it.”

Eddie pointed a meaty finger at a cell phone sitting on the main desk. “Take the cell. I’ll set the phones to forward to it.”

The smaller man grumbled, but did as he was told. Meanwhile several of the others had arrived and started pouring coffee and introducing themselves to Cat. A few were exchanging war stories about the big pileup they’d worked last spring, comparing it to other wrecks over the years. At some point during the confusion Raphael arrived. She didn’t have to look; she caught his scent on the breeze that blew in as he opened the door, but she was glad she did.

He looked good. The wind tugged at the dark brown curls that had worked their way loose from the ponytail he’d tried to confine them in, framing a face that looked even better with just the hint of stubble. His eyes were sparkling with mischief when he walked up to her, hands behind his back. He tried hard, but unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.

“What are you up to?” She asked suspiciously, backing slowly away from him.

“What makes you think I’m up to anything?” He was all innocence, and she wasn’t buying a bit of it. Conversation in the room faded out as the men watched him stalking her around the edge of the desks, a big handful of snow cupped in his left hand. Cat made a dash for the door, diving through with Raphael hot on her heels. He caught her as she paused to reach into a snowbank, shoving snow down the back of her sweater at the same time she threw a handful of the cold, white flakes directly into his face.

Laughing, he scooped her off of her feet and dumped her unceremoniously into the drift, only to have her kick his legs out from under him to join her.

He rolled over, pinning her body beneath his. In that instant the laughter left his eyes, replaced by something more serious, and far more primal. He kissed her then, heedless of their audience. His mouth claimed hers fiercely. She felt him hard and ready against her thigh and in that moment she knew nothing of the cold, or the snow, only a deep, aching need.

“Get a room!”

Cat didn’t know who made the catcall, but it brought both her and Raphael back to their senses. Laughing, he rolled off of her and sprang to his feet. He held his hand out to help her up, but she forced him to wait as she did something she’d seen in movies but had never had the chance to do: make a snow angel.