Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury (33 page)

"Fer sure. I already noticed that part." A small smile pulled at his mouth. Reggie leaned forward and clapped him on the shoulder with a low chuckle. It pressed the patch on his sleeve into his arm, reminding Adam again it was the last time he'd feel that slap, or hear his partner's donkey-like laugh when they rolled up on something so completely absurd that nobody would believe it if it was in a novel. "Well, tell you what—we'll go have lunch and I'll tell you some things that will melt her down into a puddle. Then …oh, then amigo, you can find out the sort of lava that's underneath that tough outer crust."

23

Cara stood off in the corner of the living room, near the kitchen. Ziri's back was toward her and Tony was sitting on the couch next to the girl, casually sipping a soda. Bobby had taken up residence in Paco's easy chair and was trying to talk to Rosa who sat watching Tony suspiciously in her floral covered rocker.

I shouldn't have warned her.
She hadn't told Rosa everything, just that she was a little concerned. But when her sister was restless, she got very controlling. There was nothing to make her as restless as closing the restaurant for a week, even if it
was
a well-deserved vacation. So now Rosa was playing the mother hen and Bobby was starting to get annoyed. Cara turned her eyes imperatively to the cross over the mantel and said a small prayer this would go well. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Faith was harder than it should be lately.

"Really, Mrs. Ruiz. There's nothing to it at all. Tony's done it to me before and I hardly noticed. He's a seer…he doesn't interact with anything but the past.”

"But she forgot! That's the important part. She forgot because it was bad things she saw. Why take her through it again?”

Bobby let out a heaving sigh while Tony remained coldly neutral. Cara could see that it really didn't matter to him either way. Suddenly, she
could
see what Adam saw— that it would be just as easy for him to put a bullet into all their brains as sip that soda. The scent of his fur was all that reached her nose. No emotions at all bled from him. Bobby finally turned his head toward her and gave her a
look.
She'd seen it before, on other people. It said,
Step in now or I'm going to finish this.

"Rosa." She said the word softly but with force and her sister looked up with flashing eyes.

"Enough. They said it won't hurt her. Watch if you want, but stay out of it. This is business.”

Ziri didn't seem at all concerned, but probably because she couldn't follow the conversation well enough to understand. She was still braiding and knotting white strips of twine into an intricate pattern that resembled tatting, looking up occasionally when she'd recognize a word. Rosa pressed her lips into a harsh line but nodded. No doubt she'd have something to say about it later, though. With a relieved relaxing of his shoulders, Bobby nodded to Tony. With casual ease, Tony removed his gloves, putting them nearby on the couch and then smiled at the girl next to him. "Ziri?”

She looked up and matched the smile. Tony spoke slowly and carefully, keeping his voice concerned and pleasant. "Do you remember driving here—to the rocks where she found you?" He pointed right at Cara, and Ziri turned to beam a smile at her. She nodded to Tony. "Yes …sí.”

"Those men who brought you…did they hurt you?”

Her face changed. It was subtle, but it was obvious she understood what he was asking. Rosa opened her mouth but Cara raised her hand to stop her. Her sister crossed angry arms over her chest, but kept silent.

Ziri couldn't keep her eyes on Tony. She ignored the question and returned to her braiding, her fingers now moving faster and with more purpose. Her scent revealed her increasing agitation. Tony paused and watched her for a moment, taking in every aspect of Ziri's actions. His voice turned into a soothing warmth that brimmed with gentle concern. Cara hadn't thought he was capable of such delicate emotions. "You're mad at them.
Waa 'lay?
They lied to your
naa.
Lied about why they were bringing you here, didn't they?”

Was he speaking Mayan? Several of the words sounded like those Lucas had used, and they were having an impact on Ziri. Her hands started to stutter, the fluidity gone, and her jaw set tightly. Had he really prepared for this interview to that extent?

Then he changed tactics. He pointed at the work in her lap and smiled again. "That's pretty. May I look?" He reached out his hand, palm up and she shrugged. She reached across the short distance and placed it in his hand. But at the second their hands contacted, he closed his fingers around hers. Everything changed in that moment. She went still, as though frozen—held by magic, except there was no magic in the room. Bobby nodded with a small smile while Rosa looked on with curiosity plain on her face.

Neither Ziri or Tony seemed in any distress. They were just frozen. Cara stepped closer and whispered to Bobby. "Are they all right?”

He nodded as Tony reached his other hand up and pushed forward, as though opening a swinging door. "They'll be like that for awhile. He's started his hindsight. We should probably give them some privacy. Tony tends to get annoyed when people watch. You don't want him annoyed.”

"No, you don't." Tony's whispered words came out of a motionless mouth, as close to a ventriloquist as Cara had ever seen. "I can hear just fine, and you're distracting me. This is going to take a few minutes, so go away now.”

"Oops." Cara shrunk back a little at the admonishment. She certainly didn't want to do anything to interrupt the process. Ziri's face had taken on a dreamy quality, her eyes locked on Tony's, as though she was quietly contemplating happy things.

Bobby stood up and motioned for Rosa to do the same. "We'll wait in the kitchen. Yell if you need anything." While it appeared Rosa wanted to stay and watch, she grudgingly followed when it didn't appear Ziri was in any distress.

They left the room, with Bobby holding open the slatted door to let her and Rosa enter first. They sat down at the table while the slender dark man walked across the room to open the refrigerator. "No beer. Pity. It was a long drive.”

Rosa got a startled look on her face while Cara adjusted her holster so it didn't dig into her waist so much. "There isn't? Here, let me get some out of the shop." She got up and exited the back door, leaving the screen standing partly open.

Leaning her elbows against the table, Cara motioned toward the living room—and the people beyond—with her chin as a light breeze tugged at her hair. "How long's it going to take? What all does he do?”

Bobby shrugged and grabbed the chair. "Tough to say how long. He told me once it's like looking through old newspapers on microfiche. Sometimes you find the information right away, and other times it takes all day. But
we
have other things to discuss, as you know, so let's not avoid the subject. How much have you told your pack?”

"Told us about what?" Rosa stepped through door, carrying a six-pack of sweating Coronas in one hand, and a small bag of limes in the other.

The blush that heated Cara's face probably told Bobby everything he needed to know. Rosa looked at them both in turn and then raised her brows. "Let me get some limes cut up for the beer.”

Bobby reached out his hand expectantly. "I'm good without the lime.”

Her sister snorted and pulled the cardboard carton out of reach. "You most certainly are
not.
Nobody drinks beer in this house without salt and lime. Now, you two just forget I'm here." She walked to the counter and removed a knife from a spinning rack attached to the bottom of the upper cabinets. Yeah, right. She was the worst gossip in the pack. Cara shook her head and Bobby smiled before motioning to the back door. "We'll be back in a minute, Mrs. Ruiz. Keep the beer cold.”

Her sister's scent turned to the burnt metal of frustration, but she didn't comment, instead turning on the water to wash the limes before cutting them. Cara followed Bobby out the back door a short distance away, where the python agent leaned against the pecan tree nearest to the carports. The rain had stopped, but there was a fine, cool mist in the air that would make the humidity miserable tomorrow.

"I take it you haven't told them yet.”

"I was planning to wait for the next hunt. That's just a couple days away. People would be on edge if I called a special meeting. The only times I've had to do that is when there's bad news. They get like dogs going to the vet—it's not pretty.”

Bobby shook his head. "It's your pack, of course, and if you're sure they're going to handle hunting with complete strangers without any warning …but if it was me, I'd want to
talk
to them in private first.”

"What?"
Her voice came out louder than she'd expected, so she hurriedly lowered it and stepped to the other side of the tree, closer to Bobby. "Since when are there going to be people hunting with us on
this
moon?
¡Madre de
Dios!
When did this happen?”

"Hell…day before yesterday, I think. Hasn't Adam talked to you about the council meeting yet? I mean, I know Lucas is swamped, but since Adam is going to be your Alpha Male down here come next week—”

Emotions simmered inside her, blending and splitting. Anger, happiness, frustration. Finally anger won.
"Chingada!
Not a word. And I've talked to him twice since he got up there." They'd talked about a lot of things, but her getting no say in the choice and having the new people arrive in just a few days—

no, that should have rated a mention. Oh, they were
definitely
going to have words next time they talked.
"Damn it!
When were they planning on telling me?”

"Well, Adam was supposed to be here already, but the storm cancelled his flight. Maybe he was waiting to talk to you in person. I probably just screwed this all up by bringing it up. And hey, didn't Lucas give you any of his cologne? He said he did, but I can smell you.”

Cara shook her head in frustration. "It doesn't seem to work on me. Don't know why. Could it be because of my …condition?”

Bobby pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest again. "Y'know, that's a possibility. You might be one in ten thousand it doesn't work on. When I get back to the lab, I'll try to whip up something for you, and you might really consider letting Adam lead the hunt for a month or two until I can.”

The tone of his voice set her nerves jangling. "Why?”

"Afraid they're sending down mostly Alphas. I haven't a clue how your body is going to respond to a rush of testosterone from multiple unattached alpha males. In fact, I think I'll talk to Lucas about that tonight when I call.”

Multiple unattached alpha males. ¡Madre de Dios!

She couldn't even think past that thought for a moment, as he continued. "But, for the other, I thought if things were going badly down here, I could be your…I don't know—”

She said the words through gritted teeth, her anger riding over her fear for a brief moment. "My
muscle?"
He laughed in response and she shook her head. "Nah. I can handle the pack …at least, the
current
pack. Can you give me any hint about who's being sent down?”

Bobby shook his head, now smelling concerned at her annoyance and embarrassed at his faux pas. "Sorry. I'm not that much in the know. I just know Lucas wants the Alphas out of Minnesota.”

She looked down at the shaggy lawn and squished a nearby pecan into the moist sod while muttering an angry curse. "I should be the
first
one to find out this shit. Oh, he's gonna
pay
for this." Bobby flicked out his tongue several times. It was a vivid reminder of the snake in the canyon but she was too pissed right now for it to bother her like it used to at the academy. The screen door slammed at that moment and they both turned their head. Tony was walking their way, his face set in serious lines and his leather-tipped fingers tapping a staccato on his jeans. Bobby raised his chin. "So, did you find out anything interesting?”

He stopped and snorted. "Sure, if you consider finding out that we're all completely
screwed
to be interesting. We need to pack up our shit and move this discussion down the road 'cause it's way too hot for the ladies inside to hear.”

Anger to worry was a pretty short step, so when Cara went back inside to tell Rosa they were going up to her house to continue the discussion, her sister gave her an odd look. The Coronas had already been placed at the table, a salted lime stuck in each bottleneck. Cara tried to ignore the fact that leaving without sharing a drink that had been prepared was the height of rudeness in her family. But Cara's expression made Rosa's brow furrow nervously and she sat down, fingering one of the bottles.

"What did he see, hun bun? Is Ziri in trouble?”

"I don't know yet." Noticing Rosa's curiosity was winning out over worry, she realized she would have to give a gentle reminder. She reached out and touched her sister's shoulder and brushed back a hair that had strayed from the braid at her neck. "You do know that even when I find out, I won't be able to tell you, right? This is like the files at the office. Wolven stuff is just like my regular job—confidential.”

Rosa got an incredulous look that matched her scent and she pushed away Cara's hand. "No, this is about our pack, Carita …those birds and Ziri. This isn't office stuff. You can't keep secrets that involve
us.
That's against the rules the pack voted on.”

God, if she only knew how much the pack rules were about to change. She pasted on a smile that her sister would see right through. "Look, I'll call you tomorrow, 'kay? Just make sure you keep Ziri here and out of sight. No town runs for y'all unless I'm with you." She walked out hurriedly, before Rosa had a chance to respond.

"T-l, DISPATCH.”

"Go ahead, Sheriff." Maggie's voice bordered on laughter. She wondered what might be going on in the office.

"Show me on a courtesy stop out on CR sixty-one. Some folks following an uncovered load hit a mesquite branch and got a flat. The shoulder's a little narrow, so I'm gonna run my lights 'til they're done." It was a lie, but a plausible one …so long as nobody happened to notice she wasn't actually on County Road 61, which was unlikely since it wasn't on a regular patrol route. She was going to have to hurry with the discussion at her house and get back. There was so damned much to do at the office, even if Yolanda was covering for her. She was starting to wonder when she'd have time to fit in Wolven investigations if this is how much time it took. She'd have to ask Will how he managed it.