Second Nature Page 15

  "He asked me out for coffee or dinner three times." Jorie lowered her voice as if she didn't want Sid in the living room to hear her. "The first two times, I told him I was busy trying to meet my self-imposed deadline. When he asked again, I told him he's a nice guy, but I'm not looking for a relationship."

  "You're not?" Better to take advantage of Jorie's rare talkative mood while it lasted. "You make your living writing romances, and you're not looking for your Sid Walker?" she asked, referring to the love interest in Jorie's novel.

  Griffin froze. Time seemed to stop. The realization that she shouldn't know that name singed through her. It hadn't been mentioned in the two paragraphs that Jorie had let her read, but of course she knew the love interest's name from Allison DeLuca's beta reading comments and from the circled name in the stolen notebook. She held her breath and waited for Jorie's reaction.

  None came. Jorie didn't even blink. Apparently, she was so familiar with her characters and their names that she didn't notice that Griffin shouldn't know them.

  You better get your head together and fast! You won't be this lucky twice. Griffin rubbed her left ear in an attempt to calm herself and to remind herself of missions that had gone wrong in the past. Not this time. This is way too important to fuck up.

  The survival of her kind might depend on her.

  Even if humans didn't go crazy and try to wipe out the race of shape-shifters when they discovered their existence, nothing would be like before.

  There was a lot at stake for Griffin too. If the Wrasa's existence was discovered, the Saru, guardians of their secret existence, would no longer have a reason to exist. Their skills at keeping things quiet and throwing human law enforcement off the scent wouldn't be needed any longer. Other units of Wrasa law enforcement, the ones that dealt with crimes within the Wrasa community and were used to dealing with things out in the open, would become more important to protect their people. Being a saru gave Griffin a certain acceptance in her family and in Wrasa society. It allowed her to live away from them without totally rejecting their culture. The Saru made it possible for her to be on her own, as her Puwar side demanded, and still have some social contacts and a role in society, fulfilling the needs of her Kasari side.

  Part of Griffin believed that the council and her superiors were overreacting, that Jorie was writing fiction that no one would take seriously anyway. To her, the real danger was not the book itself, but the existence of a traitor who was giving information about them to a human. If he didn't care that the information would be used to write a book, didn't care that he was risking his life by giving information to a human, he could do a lot more harm in the future.

  "No," Jorie answered after some hesitation that gave Griffin time to pull herself together. "I'm not looking to become involved with anyone, especially not in this small town."

  Griffin could understand that. Getting involved with a Kasari woman always meant getting involved with her whole pride, so she had avoided it and had only had Puwar girlfriends.

  "Ms. Price?" Sid called from the living room. "Do you think you could convince one of your feline friends to strut up and down in front of the sensor to see if I adjusted it right?"

  I wonder if a liger strutting up and down would set off the sensors? Griffin thought with a smirk. Probably. She would have a little chat with Sid later and force him to give her the code that turned off the alarm system. Just in case.

  "I think Emmy ran your way a little while ago," Jorie answered. "Do you see her anywhere?"

  "Um... I think I scared her off because I smell like my dogs," Sid said.

  Her nose wasn't necessary to tell Griffin it was an outright lie. He was not a dog person. Most Kasari weren't. It was just the standard explanation Wrasa gave for why cats usually avoided them.

  Jorie set her teacup down. "All right, I'll get Will. I think he's in the bedroom. He's not much of a strutter, but I bet he's willing to help out."

  CHAPTER 10

  GRIFFIN WAS LYING in wait, hidden behind her rental car. She had parked in the shadowy area farthest away from the streetlamp so that the darkness provided sufficient cover.

  Her eyes didn't need the light. All her senses were focused on the front door of a building, watching it as a cat watched a mousehole.

  The door opened. The faint scent of disinfectant drifted on the night air.

  There she is.

  She cocked her head as the steps got closer. Her muscles tightened, getting ready to catapult her out from behind the car.

  Now!

  One moment before the woman could catch her scent, Griffin jumped out from behind her cover. "Good evening," she said, a purr in her voice.

  Dr. Saxton's receptionist dropped the key that she had just used to lock the doctor's office. The flash of fear in her eyes filled Griffin with satisfaction. Good. If I have her properly cowed, she'll give me the answers I want.

  "You're not here because of your head, are you?" the Kasari asked after picking up the key.

  Griffin stepped closer, encroaching on the Kasari's personal space. It worked well as a technique for intimidating Wrasa and humans alike — and it allowed her to observe the woman more closely.

  Something about her scent was strangely familiar, but Griffin couldn't put her finger on it. She's probably one of many Kasari who visited my fathers' house while I was staying there.

  Nervousness was drifting out of the Kasari's pores. With a nose like Griffin's, telling what someone felt was easy, but finding the reason for that emotion was more difficult. Maybe her fathers had warned her about interacting with Griffin. Or maybe she really had something to hide.

  "We both know my head is completely healed by now," Griffin said. "I'm not here because of that. I'm a saru, here on official business." Her voice was low, almost a whisper, but she knew the other Wrasa would understand her words anyway.

  "I know," the Kasari said.

  She knows I'm a saru or that I'm here on official business? Leigh better have kept her big muzzle shut. It came as no surprise that every Wrasa in the Upper Peninsula knew her or at least knew of her, but Saru missions were supposed to be kept secret and not blabbed all over pride territory. "You know what?" Griffin asked, putting a low growl into her voice.

  "That you're a saru and that you're here on official business," the older woman said. Fear and nervousness had stopped coming off her in waves. Now she looked right into Griffin's eyes. Even though she wasn't big for a Kasari, much less compared to Griffin, she no longer seemed afraid.

  Ooh, the little cat is getting brave. Amusement curled Griffin's lips. It would be fun to play with the Kasari while she gathered information, but this wasn't a good place for it. "I have a few questions. Get in." She pointed at her rental car.

  The Kasari hesitated.

  Straightening her shoulders and making herself appear even larger than she was, Griffin took position in front of her. "Get in," she said. She didn't raise her voice. The dangerous glint in her eyes would do.

  Without further protests, the Kasari settled into the passenger seat.

  Griffin drove them to the bed-and-breakfast at the edge of town.

  The Puwar at the front desk didn't ask any questions when they walked in.

  See. Griffin threw a superior smirk at the Kasari, making voicing her thoughts unnecessary. This is how the Kasari should do things too, instead of sticking their muzzles into each other's business all day long.

  "How do you know I'm here on Saru business?" Griffin asked as soon as the door of her room had closed behind them.

  "I know you're too stubborn to be here just to visit your fathers," the Kasari said, looking Griffin right in the eyes before she lowered her gaze.

  Ah. The little cat has claws. Mine are bigger, though. She flashed the Kasari an unimpressed glance. Only one member of her fathers' pride had ever dared to call her stubborn to her face, and this woman was a few decades too old to be her. Stop reminiscing about old times. You're here to get some answers, so ask.
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br />   "How long have you worked for Dr. Saxton?" Griffin asked.

  The Kasari's gaze drifted around the room as she thought about her answer. "Must be close to six years now."

  "Do you like him?" Griffin circled the real issue like a predator circling its prey, getting closer and closer to the final lunge.

  "He's a good doctor," the Kasari said cautiously. She wasn't a stupid woman. She knew that building close friendships with humans could get her in trouble.

  "Do you have any reason to believe that he knows or suspects anything about our existence?" Griffin's gaze lingered on the woman's face, watching her reaction.

  Hazel eyes widened. "What? No! He's a good man, but he's so busy with his small-town life and his duties as a small-town doctor that he wouldn't know a Wrasa if one bit him in the ass."

  "Not that any Wrasa would want to," Griffin mumbled. Dr. Saxton's ass didn't seem like a tasty treat to her. "Do you know the woman who came in with me to have her arm treated?"

  "Ms. Price?" the Kasari asked. She spoke the name with a familiarity that told Griffin she didn't know it just from the paperwork on Jorie's treatment.

  "You know her?" Either Jorie wasn't as much of a recluse as she had thought, or the Kasari had reason to know Jorie's name. Congratulations, Griffin silently told her. Your name just made it to the top of my list of suspects. Then she realized that she didn't even know the Kasari's name.

  The Kasari chuckled. "I should. Dr. Saxton had me send flowers to her house three times now."

  Flowers. Cutting down flowers and then watching them wither away in a vase, just to impress a date. Griffin lifted her upper lip in disgust. How utterly... human.

  "After the third bouquet, Ms. Price called me and asked me to stop. I'm not sure how, but she knew that Dr. Saxton had me pick out the flowers for him," the Kasari said, still chuckling.

  Yes, Jorie is amazingly perceptive for a human. Griffin smelled the Kasari's amusement — and her affection. "You like her." It sounded almost like an accusation. And it was.

  The Kasari's smile vanished. "It's not like we're friends, but she's all right... for a human."

  Yes, Griffin silently admitted, she is. "I'll need you to give me access to your computer and the computer of Dr. Saxton's practice," Griffin said.

  "But that violates patient-doctor confidentiality and —"

  A sharp glance drilled into the Kasari.

  The Kasari lowered her head, but Griffin smelled no fear from her. Far from being intimidated by Griffin's physical superiority, by her rank as a saru, or by who her fathers were, the Kasari woman was just submitting because she knew it was expected of her.

  It puzzled and annoyed Griffin. Fear should have been the automatic reaction when she glared at someone.

  "I should be able to give you access to the files that have to do with your investigation," the Kasari said, "although I can't see how that would help you. Dr. Saxton hasn't done anything that would warrant being investigated by the Saru — and neither have I. I don't even have a computer at home. If I need anything printed out, Leigh does it for me."

  The mention of her half sister jerked Griffin's head around. Dammit. Why does every Kasari always have to be connected to everybody else? "Who are you?" she asked. She had ignored her hazy memories before, had tried to forget all about the summer she had spent with her fathers, but now she was sure that she had met the woman before. "I know you, don't I?"

  The woman smiled at her. "Don't tell me I've gotten so old that you don't recognize me anymore?"

  Griffin stared at her, stared at her smile. Her mouth opened to take in her scent. Disinfectant burned in her nose and the roof of her mouth, but beneath, she detected something familiar. It was hard to place, though, because she had tried to forget all about the time she had spent with the pride. She hadn't fit in, so it was better to move on and forget all about it.

  "Martha Cahill," the Kasari said.

  Ronnie's mother? The woman who practically raised Leigh? Griffin stared at her. Martha looked a lot older than she remembered, and Griffin wondered what her fathers might look like now. Then she called herself to order. "I still need access to Dr. Saxton's files, especially if he has a file on Ms. Price."

  "She's not a patient," Martha said, and Griffin smelled her relief at not having to hand over Jorie's file. "At least she wasn't before she injured her arm. Seems she's been healthy as a horse since she moved here. Or maybe she just wants to avoid Dr. Saxton. I swear that girl puts a Puwar to shame with her hermit tendencies."

  "We're not ashamed of our hermit tendencies," Griffin said, letting her know in no uncertain terms that she considered herself more of a Puwar than a Kasari. At least, the Puwar had no messy family relationships and clan entanglements.

  Martha lifted her upper lip as she had done fifteen years ago when one of the rambunctious teenagers of the pride had done or said something stupid. But nowadays, she didn't dare snarl at Griffin any longer. "Ms. Price is so focused on her writing that even I will walk my daughter down the aisle before Ms. Price's parents get to do it."

  "Wrasa don't walk their daughters down the aisle," Griffin reminded. They didn't have churches or wedding ceremonies. Once a couple moved in together and shared a home, they were considered married — provided their parents and the pride regents approved of the bond.

  At least this was the way it had been in the past. Now some of the younger people had stopped believing in the Great Hunter and prayed to one of the human gods. They wanted to get married in human churches and no longer thought it necessary to wait for the approval of their elders.

  Martha shrugged — a gesture that was also entirely too human. It seemed Martha had spent a lot of time among humans. Since she had been criticized for the same thing, Griffin wanted to believe it didn't mean Martha had betrayed them to a human. Being cautious wouldn't hurt, though. She'd have to investigate Martha further.

  "I need a list of every Wrasa who has had any contact with Ms. Price," Griffin said.

  "I don't know Ms. Price well enough to know everyone she spends time with," Martha said.

  Griffin handed her a piece of paper anyway. "It doesn't matter. Write down what you know." She would have every Wrasa that Martha listed write down a list of his or her own until she knew even the name of the Wrasa who delivered Jorie's newspaper.

  Martha started writing, then handed back the sheet of paper.

  It was a short list.

  Resisting the urge to look at it, Griffin slid it into her pocket. She'd study it when she was alone. "Come on. I'll take you back to your car."

  "Don't bother; I'll catch a ride back to my car with the pride's border patrol." At the door, Martha stopped and looked back at Griffin. "Do you want me to say hello to your fathers and sister for you?"

  There's that Kasari meddling again. "No. I'll talk to Leigh very soon anyway," Griffin said. She would have Leigh check Martha out — that would be a good test of Leigh's loyalty too.

  * * *

  Griffin stuffed another pillow behind her head and nestled her feet deeper under the covers, kneading until she had them exactly as she wanted them. Finally, when she was warm and comfortable, she unfolded Martha's list.

  Reynard Neely.

  The first name on the list made her laugh. The owner of Osgrove's butcher shop had already been old fifteen years ago. He never ventured very far from his shop, and if he had ever talked to Jorie, Griffin doubted they had been discussing anything but the best way to prepare venison. She would check him out, just to be thorough, but already knew it wouldn't amount to anything.

  Her gaze slid down to the next name.

  Max Henderson.

  Now, that was much more interesting. So the only other Puwar in town had been in contact with Jorie. It would get him a visit from her tonight.

  The third name on the list almost made Griffin drop the piece of paper.

  Rhonda Cahill.

  Martha had put her daughter's name on the list. It took Griffin a moment to figure o
ut why an overprotective Kasari mother would do something like that. Martha knew her. She knew Griffin wouldn't stop until she found the traitor, and if she found out Rhonda had any contact with Jorie, not telling her would make Rhonda look even more suspicious.

  Griffin stuffed the list back into her pocket, but the names remained burned into her memory. Rhonda Cahill. The name echoed through her mind. No, not Ronnie. She's not a traitor. Still, her rational mind, honed in months of training and years of working experience, warned her not to dismiss Rhonda as a suspect just because of their personal connection. No one was above suspicion.

  Actually, Rhonda had just earned the top spot on her list of main suspects. Unlike the others, she had motivation for interacting and sharing information with Jorie. Rhonda had always been fascinated by humans. Her affinity had caused a lot of bitter fights with Leigh when they were younger, but Rhonda had never buckled under Leigh's pressure. If she was still fighting so passionately for a closer relationship with humans, maybe she was now trying to force the Wrasa to come out.

  Grumbling under her breath, Griffin threw back the covers and left the toasty warm bed.

  Despite the late hour, she found Max where he always was — behind the bed-and-breakfast's front desk. He took off his reading glasses when he saw her coming. "Ah. I wondered when you'd come to talk to me," he said without any greeting.

  "Why do you figure that?" Griffin asked, neither confirming nor denying that she was there to talk to him. It was best to let him set his own trap. The less she said, the more he would talk. Nervous people liked to fill the silence with sound.

  "We both know Kasari can't keep their muzzles shut. I'm sure Martha Cahill told you she saw me talking to Ms. Price."

  Her mask of professionalism remained firmly in place, revealing no surprise. "And why would I be interested in that?"

  Max blinked. Then a slow smile spread over his face. "You're good," he said with a respectful nod. "But even you can't fool me. You're here to investigate Ms. Price. Why else would her scent be all over you?"