Secrets that Simmer (15 page)

“Already on it,” Eric said.

Tony hung up. He made his way back to his room. He remembered to grab Maggie’s suitcase and briefcase on his way out the door. When he was back inside his room, he saw her standing in the bathroom with nothing but a towel on, and his initial thought was to screw going back to Copper City right away. They could still have an interlude or two before they needed to get on their way. But then he reminded himself that this was not the time or the place. Plus, he wanted to have their next encounter be the one where he could mark her as his mate.

Now that he had declared himself publicly, he was eager to have the physical manifestation of his claim on Maggie. That was something else that they needed to talk about, and he realized that everything else around them needed to settle a bit. This was what he kept trying to tell his wolf, who didn’t seem to be listening at all as it whined in his mind that it wanted to claim her now.

Maggie took her suitcase gratefully. He turned his head and went over to the other side of the room as she got dressed. He looked through the different documentation that she had collected. It was obvious that Maggie had been spending a lot of time thinking about the case. He heard her talking to herself in the bathroom. Clearly, this was something that she did a lot to process her thoughts.

“I don’t think we should go back yet,” he heard her call out to him.

“What are you talking about? We need to go back today. The sooner we are back in Copper City, the sooner I’ll be in my own territory and better situated to control the situation.”

Maggie wagged her head at him. “So I’m going to forget that we’re talking about things like territories. That was totally a shifter thing, and so we’re feel pretty confident that this is a shifter?”

“I never said that,” Tony said. He was wondering if she had somehow overheard his conversation with Eric.

“Like I said before, we are already here. We should at least take the time to go check out where these girls used to live. See if their parents still live there, and if we can ask them some questions.”

Tony didn’t feel good about that at all. “We’re already potentially being targeted by someone like that. To go stick our hands in the hornets’ nest when we’re not even sure what we’re dealing with yet is a bad idea.”

He could tell that Maggie was digging in. There was a part of him, though, that understood what she meant. They were already in Croftsborrow. It was a short drive to Franklins Bluff. The airport was situated between the two towns. It was practically on the way.

“If I agree to stop at one house, will you let it go and go back to Copper City with me without any more arguments?” Tony asked.

Maggie smiled brilliantly at him. “It’s a start,” she said. “If you want to finish getting ready, I’d like to look at the rest of these things.”

Tony got ready quickly. As he was shaving, he watched Maggie in the mirror behind him. She was intent on all of the different files and pictures scattered around her. Her notebook was always within arm’s reach. She might have been terrified, but it was also clear that she was in her element. Tony definitely admired that about her. She was smart. He felt in a way that if there was anyone that could crack this case, it could be Maggie.

He saw her look intently at one of the pictures. Then she started digging in her purse. It was as if she was looking for something. She pulled a piece of paper from her purse and set it down on the table next to the picture. Tony wandered back out into the room wondering what it was that she was looking at.

Now that he was closer, he could see that the document in front of her she had pulled out of her purse was the itinerary from the tour the day before. She tapped on it with her finger.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

She looked up at him in exasperation. “I don’t know how I missed this before. I guess it was just because the hair was such a distraction. I mean I have red hair, but this color red is almost unnatural.” She pointed at the picture of Jillian Anderson.

Tony leaned in. “What exactly is it that you missed?”

She pointed at the shadow between the collar of Jillian’s shirt in the picture. “It’s a little blurry, which is probably why I didn’t focus in on it. But look.” She pulled the picture up so that he could see it under better light. The shadow was actually a small medallion around her neck, and it had a symbol on it. His mouth fell open. “That was a St. Ignacious medallion.”

Maggie pointed to the symbol on the front of her program. “I wouldn’t have known that until I saw this yesterday. It’s the shield of St. Ignacious. I thought that you said she didn’t go to your school, and that you’d never seen her before.”

Tony was in shock. “No, they didn’t go to St. Ignacious. I’d remember.  Eric would’ve remembered or Kyle would’ve remembered.”

He saw Maggie looking at him then with a concerned expression. He realized what he was saying out loud. “You can’t just make people disappear like that. This is not the same as losing twelve hours. You can’t erase a person’s existence.”

Maggie looked at him incredulously. “Why not? If they could erase twelve hours, they could have also methodically wiped out every other memory you had of them.”

“This goes far beyond us. You can’t just wipe out three people’s existence from a school as big as St. Ignacious overnight. What you’re talking about is impossible. There’s no rational explanation that would make sense.”

He saw Maggie cross her arms across her chest. “How about you let me know then when you’re ready to start talking about the irrational ones?”

There was something that Maggie hadn’t told Tony about her childhood. It had to do with her parents and the reason that, even though she loved them, she had difficulty speaking to them after she turned eighteen.

The summer trips out to Niagara Falls didn’t have anything to do with family camping excursions. She tried to make herself as scarce as possible during those vacations, which was easier as she got older. When she was younger, though, she had been forced to endure watching endless ceremonies where her parents gathered with other ‘believers’ and attempted to summon up spirits of the dead.

Her parents believed that the wheels of fate could be harnessed and controlled with a bit of help from nature. It wasn’t anything that Maggie ever fully understood. That kind of mystical belief didn’t jive with what she started to believe as she got older. That was the reason she so firmly held to logic and reason that could be explained with science and data.

Her parents tried many times to get her to participate in the various ceremonies with them, but she had always refused. She wasn’t willing to believe that something else in the world had control of her fate. When her father was diagnosed with cancer, the trips to Niagara Falls became more frequent. Maggie had gotten in rounds of arguments with them, begging them to go see a specialist for his treatment, but her parents put their faith in their belief in magic. They had thought they could cure him their way. They had been wrong.

When her father had died, her mother had stopped participating in the ceremonies. That had suited Maggie just fine. She had never forgiven her parents for checking out and not doing everything they could to save her father. It seemed further proof to her that when push came to shove, relying on science was always the best route.

Still, even though Maggie wasn’t a true ‘believer’ in the same sense as her parents, she had seen enough inexplicable things happen during the ceremonies she’d observed when she was young. It had given her nightmares for years. As much as she tried to explain it away with logic, she had seen enough to know that there were darker things that walked the world beside them.

Tony was right. Somebody was trying to get their attention. Somebody wanted them to find out what happened to those girls. She was confident of that fact now. The big question mark for her was if the girls were still alive or if it was their spirits that had come back for revenge. Either way, she was certain that there were mystical elements at play that Tony wasn’t acknowledging yet, either because he didn’t believe or he didn’t want to.

“I want to go back to school and check out their enrollment records. I think that we will find something there,” she said.

Tony shook his head. “No way. We’re going to Copper City. Besides, I told you that those girls did not go to St. Ignacious. I would have remembered them if they did.”

“Let’s stick with the facts for the moment, shall we? You have a twelve-hour gap in your memory from the night of October 23rd, 1999. You believe this as a fact. So what makes you so confident that there aren’t other gaps like that in your memory?” Maggie could tell this was going to be a difficult conversation by the way that Tony rolled his eyes at her question.

“Because I would know they were there. There are no holes like that in my memories. If any one of those girls went to my school, I guarantee I’d remember, and that girl in particular. Her hair alone would have made her memorable.”

Maggie knew that she was going to have to try different tack. Tony wasn’t buying it at all. “All I’m saying is it’s worth us checking it out. We can go to the school and take a peek at the records. It might be a bust, but I think it’s a lead worth following up on.” Maggie was starting to believe that everything came back to St. Ignacious. There was something about the school that was special and relevant to the story. Things were becoming clearer now.

“So what exactly are you suggesting? That there’s magic afoot? We go from logic to magic in a split second. Wonderful.”

“I know that you don’t believe in that kind of stuff, but you have to admit there are things out there in the world that cannot be explained by science and reason and logic. There are things that defy explanation. You have something in your past that you have been living with for the past eighteen years that is one of those things.”

“But that thing has nothing to do with a supernatural element at all. Clearly, we encountered some kind of trauma that resulted in our minds blocking out the event entirely,” Tony said.

“Perhaps that would make sense for one of you, but all of you? An episode of mass amnesia?”

“It makes a hell of a lot more sense than ghosts,” Tony snorted.

He was being stubborn, and it drove Maggie crazy. She didn’t know why she would ever want to be mated to someone like that. Suddenly, she realized that she had already settled into the whole idea of fated mates, even though she hadn’t completely bought into it, and that scared the crap out of her. She could just imagine what her parents would say. They’d probably give her a lecture about destiny and tell her to wise up, that she didn’t have much choice at all when it came to her future. It was already predetermined. She decided to put that aside for the moment.

“Okay then. If there are things like that in the world that you think you can explain, explain to me the idea of blood bonds,” Maggie said.

Tony looked at her with an incredulous look. “What do you mean, blood bonds?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Look, I have dealt with enough shifter cases that I know what blood bonds are. I know it’s not something that you guys like to publicize to the general public that when a shifter joins a clan, he or she has to swear an oath and form a blood bond with the alpha. The alpha can then control any one or all of his clan through those bonds. How is that possible or rational? How do you explain that in your realm of science and logic?”

“There are examples of something similar in the animal kingdom. Any time you have an alpha in the mix, they can use and exert their influence and will on others in the clan. It’s not uncommon.”

Maggie looked at him with an expression of disbelief. “People bending other people to their will without their consent or permission through the exchange of blood. You don’t see anything slightly supernatural about that?”

“You are treading in dangerous territory now, Ms. O’Hara. We have already established that shifters are a naturally occurring species in nature. We just have different ways of interacting with our clans. I don’t expect that you would understand. But trust me when I say that there’s nothing about blood bonds that is mystical or magical.”

Maggie could see that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Tony about this. He was being just plain stubborn. She wanted to strangle him and kiss him at the same time. She knew that when she dug in on something, she could not let it go. But for now, she was going to choose her battles. She wanted to go back to St. Ignacious. She needed to change her tactics.

She scooted her chair closer to Tony and put her hand on his thigh. She felt his muscle jump beneath her fingertips, and she flushed. “I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you’ve been doing for me.”

She saw Tony’s eyebrows go up. “You’re welcome. You can put on your sweetest smile, but we aren’t going to St. Ignacious. If I have to stuff you in the car myself, we are getting on the plane, and we are going back to Copper City.”

“But if we’re together and we’re already here it just seems like it’s a shame not to stop there. Plus, they have been expecting you for more of the homecoming activities, right?” Maggie played her ace card. “Aren’t you like the keynote speaker or something?” She picked up the program on the table. She flipped it open to a dedication ceremony that was happening later that morning. She pointed out his name underneath one of the headings.

Tony groaned. “I completely forgot about that.”

“Sounds like we’re going to have to have a chat with your assistant if you can’t keep track of all your big, important commitments,” Maggie said. “Oh, well. I guess you have to go back to school after all.” She could see that Tony was going to relent. She gave him a triumphant look. “So what does the date of the keynote speaker wear to this kind of shin-dig?”

Two hours later, they pulled up to the school. Tony had grudgingly agreed to go back, but made the stipulation that they would stay no longer than the time required to give the speech. Maggie had agreed to it, but it was just a proxy. She was going to find a way into the headmaster’s office and take a look at the school’s enrollment files if it killed her. She had agreed to let the topic go, and they had had a pleasant breakfast.

Again, she was struck by how much she enjoyed being in Tony’s company. She appreciated the fact that he seemed to be willing to give her some time and space without bothering her about the whole mate issue. It was something that she wasn’t sure quite what she wanted to do with yet. She didn’t think she was ready to settle down yet. She would have liked to have gone on a first date before the topic of mating forever had come up. Sure, they’d had sex, and she hoped that she would be having sex with him again soon, but she wasn’t going to just give herself over to the idea. Mating was like getting married, except it was forever. There was no divorce in the shifter world. She had heard that as well.

She regretted letting on that she knew about blood bonds. It was something that she had run across in a piece of research during one of her witness’s testimony, and she had done some further digging. Shifters were notoriously closed-mouthed on the topic.

She had finally found a man who professed to be a doctor who catered to shifters. It had taken a bribe of a thousand dollars to get him to talk to her. Maggie had had to fund that herself. The doctor, Dr. Clarkson, was a bit of a quack in her opinion. He had the necessary qualifications, though.

He told her all about the four legacy bloodlines, who eventually spawned the rest of the shifter clans as they stood today. The Greyelf Grizzly clan was a second tier clan that remained one of the purest. He told her all about legacy bloodlines and how they had become muddied over time once the shifters started cross-mating with other clans and humans. On one hand, Maggie had been fascinated, but, on the other, she just wanted Dr. Clarkson to shut up. Once the man started talking, he did not stop. But she had learned enough to know that there was something magical about the whole shifter lore, no matter what Tony said.

Perhaps that was why she was digging into this the way that she was. The idea of mating with someone and claiming them through a bite that was only visible to other shifters had a primal connotation that still had a magical feeling to it. The whole thing did seem slightly romantic.

Maggie couldn’t believe that she was starting to actually come around to the idea and liked it. She wasn’t ready to jump into it yet, but the more that she looked at Tony and studied his features and learned more about him, the more that she was charmed by him. She was starting to think that there would be far worse things in the world than being mated to Tony Atwood.

Where in the world were those thoughts coming from?
Maggie didn’t know, which was yet another reason why she was eager to get to the school and do her research. She needed something to do to feel more in control of her life again.

Back at the school, Tony helped her out of the car, and then they were escorted by Simon yet again to the art museum. As they walked, Simon pointed out several of the school’s newest art acquisitions hanging on the walls. Then they came to a long hall that was roped off by a velvet red rope.

“This is the new wing,” Simon said.

Maggie read the fine print of the program a little bit more closely. It turned out that the Urban Dwellers had dedicated several pieces of fine art to St. Ignacious for the school’s art collection. It seemed that St. Ignacious apparently had one of the better art collections on the entire eastern seaboard. So Tony was also there in an official capacity that day; something he had failed to mention to her when he first invited her to homecoming.

“Is there anything else I can get for you before the ceremony starts?” Simon asked.

It was her chance. “Directions to the ladies’ room?” Maggie asked. She knew that she had seen the headmaster’s office on their way to the art gallery.

She saw Tony’s raised eyebrow, but there was no way that he would follow her to the bathroom. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t follow her to the bathroom. She knew that everybody was going to be converging on the art gallery for Tony’s dedication in a few minutes. Since it was a Saturday, she figured there wouldn’t be any staff in the office. She would just have a quick look around. She moved through the hallways quickly, following the directions that Simon had given to her. She tried to take note of the various turns as she went along so she could find her way back. She realized she didn’t have a lot of time before Tony would come looking for her, but she figured that the people starting to come into the art gallery would slow him down a little bit.

She arrived at the door to the office. She turned the knob. It was locked. She looked around. And then she pulled a credit card out of her purse and jimmied the lock. “Thanks for that lesson.” There were several skills that she and her friends had learned when they were bored that had come in handy over the years.

Maggie could see that the office was empty. There was a long row of file cabinets along the back wall. She quickly made her way to them. She could see that there were years on the outside of the drawers. She wondered why they hadn’t moved to a computerized system already. It seemed very archaic, but it was going to make her life a lot easier. She moved her finger across the drawers until she found 1999. She pulled the drawer open, willing it not to squeak. She quickly scanned through the names. She didn’t see any of the names that she was looking for. Disappointed, she pushed the drawer shut. Maybe Tony had been right.