Bella ran her hands over her jeans and stared at the floor. Her words were no more than a whispered croak. “Argos stopped him.”
“Damn it, Bella, why didn’t you tell me? I would have killed him! Why didn’t Argos tell the rest of the — “
Her eyes shot up in warning.
“Family,” he said, swallowing the word he’d almost used.
“You were adopted, too?” Chrissie asked, her eyes as big as melons. “A brother, too?”
He nodded. “Yeah.” He knew what Chrissie was getting at. He and Bella shared an incestuous relationship, although they wouldn’t have been blood relatives. “We weren’t raised together for long before she ran away.” They had been, but humans wouldn’t understand the lupus garou longevity, nor would they understand the workings of a pack. Besides, they were different kinds of wolves, sharing no close lineage — a red and a gray.
Befuddled, Thompson just stared at them.
Chrissie collapsed in her chair. “So, that explains why you don’t go out with guys and you stay home most of the time. And have a post office box and all.”
“But about Rosa,” Thompson said, “why would he want her?”
“She’s like a wild pet,” Bella explained.
Devlyn linked his fingers with hers. He couldn’t believe Argos hadn’t at least told Devlyn to protect Bella. Then he realized Argos couldn’t have. No one could have protected her back then.
She handed the photo of Volan to Thompson.
Frowning, he considered the picture. “I saw him at the dance club tonight.”
Bella’s face paled. “Yeah, he pretended to be Argos, my adoptive father, in an email to me.”
“You were at the dance club?” Thompson said in surprise. “I — “
Bella gave an elusive smile. “What name did you use on your email to me?”
“Charlie. I thought maybe there was some kind of conspiracy to free all red wolves. I knew it had to be you, the unnamed girl from the hospital, or at least I’d hoped so.”
“Charlie, the one who’s independently wealthy.” Bella noticed Chrissie’s eyes grow big. “Volan doesn’t know where I live, for now. But he’s pretty cagey. He’ll find out sooner or later.”
Thompson glanced at Devlyn. “I won’t press charges against you for knocking me out.”
Devlyn raised a brow. “Who said I struck you?”
Bella’s fingers tightened around his.
He gave her a reassuring squeeze back. “You didn’t see who hit you, did you? Volan was there. That’s why I had to rescue Bella from the hospital. I discovered he’d already knocked out the police officers. He must have gotten to you later.”
Thompson rubbed the back of his head as if remembering the pain. “Yeah, you could be right. I only assumed it was you because I’d seen you at the zoo earlier and then again at the nurse’s station. Downstairs, the receptionist said you’d left with a half-dressed, redheaded woman in a man’s oversized clothes. I just assumed — “
“No one could have protected Bella if I hadn’t slipped her away from the hospital.”
Bella’s fingers still squeezed his, cutting off the circulation, waiting for Thompson’s final verdict.
“Yeah,” Thompson said, nodding. “I’m sure I got a glimpse of this fellow right before he hit me. He’s the one all right.”
Devlyn wrapped his arm around her waist, glad that the zoo man could help corroborate their story, made up as it was. Now the problem was, if the police did arrest Volan, they’d have no proof. Plus imprisoning Volan wasn’t the solution. Like any lupus garou, if he were exposed to the full moon when it shone in all its glory, Volan’s wolf coat could appear. No way could they risk Volan’s imprisonment. To secure Bella’s freedom, Devlyn had to kill Volan.
“You need to make a statement to the police about what he did to you, Miss Wilder,” Thompson said.
She shook her head.
Thompson turned to Devlyn. “Can I talk to you for a moment, alone?”
Devlyn embraced Bella and then released her. “Yeah, we can talk out back.”
Bella frowned at him. Devlyn had every intention of keeping the zoo man on their side. One less problem to have to deal with. Or at least he hoped.
He joined Thompson on the covered brick patio, and the two sat on a pair of cushioned, high-backed rockers. The rain had slowed to a pitter patter, but Devlyn felt damp through and through.
Thompson said, “I’m sorry about the little lady, but she needs to report this to the police. I can see she’s terrified of this man.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why your family wants to keep this under wraps, unless it’s to protect the family name. But Miss Wilder shouldn’t have to fear for her life.”
Thompson paused as if lending weight to his lecture, allowing Devlyn to soak in his words of wisdom. “I can tell she believes you’ll protect her no matter what, but you can’t kill him. Let the police handle this.”
“I didn’t mean I’d kill Volan for real.” Of course Devlyn would kill him. It was the only way to save Bella. “It’s just a saying. I’m not the killing type.”
“Anyone’s got it in them if there’s enough at stake.” Thompson glanced back at the house. “I’d say that the little lady is pretty high stakes.”
The highest. “There can’t be any leak of her address to the media, Henry. She’d be a ready target if that happened.”
Thompson folded his arms. “You think if I tell the police, they’ll question her, need her address, and somehow this Volan will find her?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I think.” But more than that, the reds would locate her. And the killer of the female humans could, too, if he wasn’t one of the pack. In any event, as soon as Thompson vacated the premises, Devlyn was taking steps to move Bella to another location to keep her safe.
Thompson reached underneath his jacket and Devlyn’s back stiffened. “Got something I want to read to you,” Thompson explained when he noticed Devlyn’s reaction. He pulled out a newspaper clipping and shook out the folded paper. “This was in the Mail Tribune about Wolf Creek and some trouble they were having. Namely, a barbecue that was held in the neighborhood there. A nonprofit wolf sanctuary that takes care of abandoned and abused wolves once raised by humans was negotiating the purchase of the Golden Coyote Wetlands, one hundred acres of land near Wolf Creek. One of the men threatened to use the wolves for target practice.”
Devlyn’s neck muscles tightened.
Thompson took a deep breath and proceeded. “The thing is, people have painted over their signs, caused lots of other vandalism at the current facility, and even attacked the founder’s home. These people who take in wolves to raise as pets have the best intentions. Or maybe not always, but they take in a wolf thinking that it’s different and they can handle it. Then they find out they can’t. The abused animals have no place else to go. My point is that, if people like the one who was threatening to kill wolves learn that a red wolf is running through the woods, releasing Rosa into the wild will get her killed.”
Devlyn nodded. What else could he do? Lupus garous generally knew to stay out of the human’s way when they took a run in the wild, except in Bella’s case. He figured she had been distracted when she sensed other reds nearby. He didn’t like it that people were mistreating real wolves, but he didn’t want to sound too interested. “The founder’s name?”
Thompson refolded the paper and shoved it under his jacket. “Probably best if you didn’t know it.”
Why? Because Devlyn might try to release those wolves into the wild? Seal their doom? But he would discover the name soon enough. And then? He’d make a private donation. Maybe, with additional funds, the founder could find a place far enough away from civilization where the wolves could live out their days in peace, like the insurance company did for a couple of pairs of red wolves in North Carolina at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
Thompson waved Volan’s picture. “I’ll run this photo by the police station on my way home. I can’t promise anything about keeping Miss Wilder and you out of this forever, but for now, I’ll say I received an anonymous tip about your circumstances. No addresses, no statement.” Thompson shoved the photo inside his jacket. “In the meantime, I’ll ask the chief, a good buddy of mine, to pull the warrants for your arrest and trash them, as a case of mistaken identity. The fact that I swear out a complaint against this Volan Smith striking me at the hospital should get the ball rolling as far as getting him into custody.”
Somehow, Devlyn didn’t figure Thompson’s plans would fall into place so easily.
Thompson tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Then Miss Wilder and you can come forward with further charges. But remember what I said.” He rose from the chair. “Convince her to press charges. It’s the only way to put the bastard behind bars.”
Devlyn intended putting Volan six feet under, not behind bars.
He stretched his hand out and gave Thompson’s a firm shake. “Thanks for helping us.”
“Because of circumstantial evidence, I’ve pinned the blame on the two of you, and put you both at more risk. I’m the one who should be apologizing. If you need any further assistance, feel free to call me.” Thompson pulled a business card from his pocket.
“Thanks.” Devlyn hoped his movements didn’t appear too rushed as he grabbed the patio door and yanked it open. And he hoped removing Chrissie from the house wouldn’t take too much effort.
All he could think of was moving Bella. A cousin’s condo in Sacramento might be a good bet.
But would Bella agree to leave? He’d grown used to her unpredictable behavior. Thinking he’d have the situation well at hand, she’d surprise him. So, when he planned their next move, he had an inkling he’d have a fight on his hands.