Heart of the Wolf

Page 44

They combed through the rest of the place and found nothing but the smell of Linn’s blood and perfume in the bedroom.
“He never took her to his place,” Bella said.
“Too wily. He left the other guys’ emails to her so the police would consider them all suspects. I imagine that, when he learned she was seeing other guys and not just him, he was pretty pissed off.”
A knock on the front door nearly gave Bella a heart attack and she let out a squeak. Devlyn gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and then answered the door while Bella turned off the computer.
The old woman next door gave Bella a kindly smile. “Linn felt so badly that my favorite gold necklace had broken, she gave me hers to keep. Said she didn’t really ever wear it. But, since you’re her sister, I’d like for you to have it.”
Bella began to object, but Devlyn took the necklace. “Thank you. She’ll treasure it.”
As soon as Devlyn and Bella climbed back into the SUV, she let out her breath. “Why did you take it?”
The old lady waved at them as Devlyn backed out of the driveway and Bella waved back at her.
“Do you see how similar it is to the other one we found in the woods? I have a hunch that’s why Nicol was concerned when you showed him the other. Maybe he even gave it to Linn, but when he went to remove it, he couldn’t find it because she’d given it to her next-door neighbor.”
“Hmm, sounds like Linn didn’t have any sentimental attachment to it, maybe not to Nicol either. Wish we could have found a diary of hers or something.”
“If she’d had one and it had any reference to him, he would have destroyed it.”
Devlyn smelled the necklace and nodded. “His scent is on it.”
“So he was the last one to see Linn alive.”
“I’d say that was a safe bet. What about the location of the other two murdered women?”
Bella searched through the papers. “Omigod, I didn’t see this before, but one lived only a couple of doors down from Alfred’s townhome.” She looked over at Devlyn. “He couldn’t have killed a woman, too.”
“Let’s find out.”
Bella was sure Nicol had murdered one of the girls because of the way he seemed so upset over the necklace. But Alfred had wanted the patch of red wolf fur she’d found in the murdered girls’ apartment when she and Devlyn were on the run. Did he think Bella had found it in the apartment of a girl he might have been seeing?
“No houses,” Devlyn said, driving through the development. “Condos, duplexes, townhouses. I can’t imagine he’d want a place so compact, no yard, front or back.”
“He has a big ranch. He probably doesn’t stay here that often. Maybe just for pack business.” “Or picking up women.”
Bella glanced at him. “Yeah, way out on the ranch, all he’d have was a bunch of cows.”
They drove slowly past Alfred’s place, where six vehicles were parked.
“The girl’s place is two houses down. There — in that duplex. Looks like no one’s home next door.”
Seeing a police lockbox securing the front door, Devlyn pulled around the back under the metal carport. A lockbox secured the back door, too, but at least Bella and Devlyn were hidden from prying eyes.
For several seconds, Devlyn tried to unlock the box using his tool kit. Bella’s skin prickled with uneasiness. Eyeing a side window, she moved closer to check it out. When she pushed against the windowpane, trying to move it up, it didn’t budge. Glancing over at Devlyn, she saw him watching her, waiting to see if she was successful. She gave him a lopsided half-smile and pointed to the lockbox. “Can’t get it open?”
“Take me a few seconds more.” He went back to work.
Looking up, she found another window directly above the locked one. Devlyn was struggling away with the lock, getting a little more aggressive, but not making any headway. Bella surveyed the area but couldn’t find anything that would help her reach the upper-floor window except for a plastic trashcan on wheels.
“Devlyn, do you want to see if you can hoist me up and I’ll check the window — see if it’s unlocked?”
He grunted. “It’ll only take me a few more seconds to unlock this.”
“Fine, have it your way.” She grabbed the garbage can and rolled it underneath the window.
He stopped what he was doing and gave her a disgruntled look. “Here, you’ll end up breaking your neck,” Devlyn warned, shoving his lock pick set into his jacket pocket.
He lifted Bella onto his shoulders, and, as if she’d been on an exhibition cheerleading squad for years, she nimbly balanced herself on his shoulderblades. When she shoved at the window, it didn’t budge. Devlyn snorted.
“Just hold still and I’ll try again. It might just be a little stuck.”
Bella pushed again and thought she felt a tiny give. “It’s unlocked. I see the latch is turned. But it’s a bit cemented in place.”
“Maybe we should switch places, and I’ll open the window.”
“Very funn — oh, oh, here it goes.”
The window suddenly gave, sliding up, and Bella lost her balance, her feet slipping off Devlyn’s shoulders. In a desperate attempt to avoid falling, she grabbed the windowsill and hung on, her gloved hands smarting where the metal window grooves dug into them.
Devlyn grabbed her feet and then lifted her until she could pull herself through the opening. As soon as she clambered into the bedroom, she knocked over a bunch of makeup jars and a mess of other items on the dresser, sending them crashing to the wooden floor.
“Are you all right?” Devlyn called out.
Bella got to her feet and peered out the window at a worried-looking Devlyn. “A cat burglar I am not. I’ll open the window down below. Be just a second.”
She glanced at the sheets and floral comforter torn in shreds, half dragging on the floor. Not good. And she could smell the blood in the room, too. But not just what must have been the girl’s blood. She smelled a hint of Ross’s blood, remembering the scent after she had sliced him with her knife in the living room. She shivered to think she’d danced with two murdering reds and hadn’t had a clue.
Stumbling through the living room where the couch and overstuffed chairs were ripped to pieces, stuffing scattered everywhere, she finally managed to make it to the kitchen. The room looked as if an earthquake had hit here, too. Or a wild animal had torn up the place.
Her boots crunched through broken dishes and shattered spice jars, the smell of cinnamon and paprika mixing in a nauseating medley. Reaching the kitchen window, she unlocked it and yanked up the glass. “I smelled Ross’s blood upstairs. She must have drawn blood when he tried to murder her. The smell of her blood is scattered throughout the duplex, too.”
Devlyn stood inside the kitchen, surveying the damage. “He tried to make it appear like a burglary.”
“How can you tell?”
“Computer hard drive’s missing, but keyboard’s still at the desk. Monitor’s gone. No printer, but there’s the cord.” Devlyn pulled open several kitchen drawers. “Silverware’s gone, but the spatulas, serving forks, and knives are all here.”
She followed Devlyn into the living room.
“No television, no stereo. And I bet upstairs you won’t find any jewelry,” he said and sniffed the air.
Bella’s gaze shifted to the Disney prints on the living room walls, all knocked askew. The brightly colored pictures complemented her floral seating arrangement, bright and cheerful — at one time. A collection of family photos hung on another wall, featuring the red-haired girl herself surrounded by what looked like her mother and father and a younger brother and sister, all with gleeful blue eyes and wide smiles. The Cinderella Castle spires rose in a lighted backdrop behind them.
Bella clenched her hands into fists. The reds who had murdered these girls were no more than savage killers. Now, she had no regrets if any of them should die at Devlyn’s hand. But her concern that he’d be overwhelmed by the three of them worried her more than anything.
When they reached the stairs, Devlyn motioned to the carpet. “Blood trails all of the way up. Scratches on the handrail indicate that she was still struggling to get away from him.”
“Was he enjoying the torture?” Bella asked, sickened at the way Ross’s twisted mind worked.
“More like a rabid wolf, no control.”
“But the police must have been baffled. She was killed in the same manner as the others. The police reports said canine saliva was found in her bite wounds. Why would Ross have tried to cover his tracks with a faked burglary?”
“Maybe he didn’t fake it. Maybe he really did burglarize the place.”
Bella considered the possibility and agreed. “That could be. I wonder if he was looking for something that connected him with her, too. Did he date her first, like Nicol had Linn? Or had he just stalked her and then attempted the change?”
“Not sure. Either could be a viable possibility.”
Devlyn shut the bedroom window and then led Bella back downstairs.
“Where to now, Bella? The last murdered girl’s place, or do we check out Ross’s house again?”
“What about his meat packing plant? It should be closed for the night.” She climbed out the kitchen window; Devlyn followed and then shut it.
A clap of thunder let loose another bout of rain, but thankfully the carport kept them from getting wet.
“Let’s find the other woman’s apartment first and check it out.”
“Boy, I really thought that, since this one lived so close to Alfred, he targeted her, not Ross,” Bella said.
“He probably saw her outside of her duplex sometime when he was visiting Alfred.”
“Do you think Alfred killed the other girl then?” Bella climbed into the SUV.
“If so, the red pack’s doomed unless we can take care of the bad seeds.”
They drove around the front of the townhouse and pulled to a stop at the street. A police cruiser drove on by slowly, the officer glancing in their direction. Bella’s heart nearly gave out.