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“Find the red-haired woman with a tattoo on her left shoulder. Without her at your side, you will not discover the answers you need. But be warned—your adversaries hunt her, too. If you do not stop them, she will be dead before the full moon rises, and with her, the future of your pack.”
-Prophecy given to Jaxson Laurent, first night of the Full Moon Fair.
* * *
Savannah
The woman at table five stared over my shoulder at the TV hanging above the bar, and I inwardly groaned, knowing what was coming. I’d been seeing it all week: the squint at the screen, the little wrinkles of concern between the eyebrows, the casual glance in my direction and double-take.
She didn’t disappoint. “My gosh,” she exclaimed as I mustered a polite smile, “you look exactly like that missing girl on the news! Madison Lee, you know? Doesn’t she look like Madison, dear?” she asked her husband.
I didn’t.
Well, to be fair, we shared a slender build, arm tattoo, and fire-orange hair that stood out like a lighthouse burning in a forest of pines. But I didn’t look like her. I knew my own face—pretty enough, but hardened from having to make my own way. The girl on TV had a carefree smile and soft features that screamed, I’ve had an easy life with parents and friends and money.
But people didn’t see my face, just my hair. I’d heard the same comment from nearly every table since the news broke four days ago: You look like her.
Thank God I’m not her, wherever she is.
The woman’s husband flipped his menu and grumbled. “Six disappearances in two months. In Wisconsin. We came up here to get away from that kind of thing.”
And yet, it was all that my customers wanted to talk about. It didn’t help that the twenty-four-hour news cycle was doing its best to spread as much panic as possible. Authorities baffled. No pattern. Anyone could be a target.
Talk about milking the situation. Like I needed up-to-the-minute reminders that I, too, might end up in some wacko’s basement someday.
I flipped open my waitress pad. “It’s strange. I always thought this corner of Wisconsin was so safe.”
The woman gave me a pitying smile. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m sure they’ll catch whoever is behind all this.”
Her white shorts and bright pink top screamed out-of-towner, and clearly, she wasn’t familiar with the capabilities of local law enforcement.
Really, I wasn’t worried. The chance of getting abducted was like getting hit with a lightning bolt. I was just tired of having everyone’s eyes on me and repeating the same conversation.
I took their order and headed toward the back.
While I could get out of conversations, I couldn’t avoid the stares. The couple at table seven kept looking at me, so I headed over. “Can I get you anything else?”
They were backwoodsy sorts. The woman had long, tangled hair and wore a tank top, jeans, and a belt with a big brass buckle. Her arms were toned, and she had a barbed wire tattoo around her right bicep and a strange two-headed wolf tattoo above her collarbone. “Another round of Buds.”
The man was ripped, and the buttons of his shirt strained at the seams. He had tattoos all over his arms, and he gestured to my left shoulder with his bottle. “Nice ink.”
“Thanks. You, too.” I’d designed the tattoo myself, but I wasn’t about to share that fact with those folks. They smelled like bad news.
“You from around here?” the woman asked.
“Yes. Why?” They were probably looking for a local hustle.
The man rubbed his chin and nodded to the TV. “You know,” he began, “you look—”
“I’ll get those beers.” I turned on my heel and grabbed the check from booth eight on the way. They’d left a four-buck tip on a fifty-five-dollar check. I slapped the leather check presenter down on the stack.
“Shit,” I hissed. Had I really been here three years?
Stormy, the only other waitress on the clock, leaned against the wall. “You’re in a mood.”
“I’m too broke to get out of here, people tip like crap, and my tables won’t stop comparing me to the missing girl on TV.”
“You do look like her. What if you’re his type?”
I rolled my eyes. “There is no type. The victims have been men and women, young and old. And she was the only one to disappear from our county.”