Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"Hell, Grace, I don't do that now. "

Suddenly we were grinning at each other like fools.

"Well, thanks," she said. "That's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. "

She definitely needed to meet more people.

"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened last night?"

"Okay. " Grace thought for a minute. "After you called, I went to the scene, found the stirred dirt and ashes, and followed an iffy trail. "

"What kind of trail?"

Her eyes met mine. "Wolf tracks only. "

"No shoes?"

"No. "

"Weird. " Last time I checked, wolves couldn't fire guns. So who had shot Balthazar and why hadn't they left any tracks?

"Very," Grace agreed. "It took me several hours to finish because it was dark and the signs weren't strong, but eventually the pitter-patter of wolfy feet led me back to the camp. "

"What camp?"

"What camp do you think?"

"Summer camp?" I offered hopefully. Grace stared at me until I was forced to admit, "Balthazar, the wolf, headed out from the Gypsy camp. "

"As near as I can tell. "

"And the rune?"

"Underneath the same tree as last time, which, by the way, is exactly where his trail ended. "

"There's something hinky about that tree. "

"You think?" Grace asked. "Even if lover boy isn't the original source of the werewolf, he knows more than he's saying. "

Malachi had lied; I don't know why I was disappointed. I'd thought he was different, but he was still a man. Maybe.

"We searched that place from top to bottom yesterday," I pointed out. "Not a wolf in sight. "

"That was before the show. Everyone and their kid sister was out there last night. "

"Which means anyone could have done whatever it takes to create a werewolf out in those woods, and it wasn't necessarily a Gypsy. "

"Theoretically, yes. "

"But you don't think it was just anyone. "

"We've got a lot of circumstantial evidence, but it all points to the Gypsies. Which just makes me suspicious as hell of a frame job, but who'd want to frame them? The two main suspects on my 'pissed off at the Gypsy king' list are dead. "

"Which brings us right back to the Gypsies. "

"Exactly. So let's head out there. " Grace stood. "I'll be ready in a few minutes. "

Grace was true to her word, returning ten minutes later in her uniform, with her hair braided into a long, wet tail down the center of her back.