Hunter's Trail

“But remember, the thing started out as a dog,” Scarlett contended. “And you and I know dogs. We have as much chance as anyone outside of the Luparii at controlling the thing. What else?”

He turned to face her, considering the problem. “Well,” he said, “we don’t know the bargest’s range. If Remus isn’t right where we expect, there’s no guarantee that it’ll be able to scent him from one end of the park to the other.”

“True,” Scarlett allowed, “but the Luparii have spent, like, three hundred years perfecting this creature to hunt wolves. The friggin’ werewolves are afraid of it. I think we should trust that the Luparii wouldn’t be as successful as they are if the bargest wasn’t a complete werewolf-hunting badass.”

She must have seen the doubt on his face, because her enthusiasm waned suddenly and she said in a more desperate tone, “Look, Jesse, I know it’s kind of crazy, but it’s our best shot.”

Jesse thought it over once more, and had to admit that she was right. The bargest was their best option. “Even so,” he said slowly, “we have no idea where the scout is. Will and Kirsten haven’t been able to find him, and they know way more than we do about the Luparii.”

Scarlett clapped her hands together, enthusiasm back. “Ah, yes. But you and I have been so busy working on finding the nova, we haven’t tried finding the scout until now.” She leaned forward and held out the pad of paper she’d been writing on.

Jesse crossed the space between them to take it from her. “Beverly Hills Hotel, the Four Seasons . . . what is this?”

“A list of places where the scout might be staying. The Luparii are rich, and a lot of the really swanky LA places let rich people bring their pets into the hotel . . .” She shrugged. “It’s a work in progress.”

“It’s a good idea,” Jesse mused, “but the problem is that they could also be in a rental house, or an unoccupied private home, or somewhere out of town.” He put the list down. “This is a good plan B, but there’s gotta be another way to find the Luparii.”

“Yeah?” Scarlett said. She grinned at him, a look full of such excitement and hope that it pierced his chest, hollowing out the spot where doubts about her had begun to collect. “What do you got?”

Jesse sat down and leaned back and thought it over for a moment. The Old World leaders had been trying to find the guy using their own channels. But Scarlett was right; no one had tried coming at the problem the way the police would. If he was at work on a regular investigation, what would he have done?

“Start at the beginning,” Jesse said. He stood up and paced the living room again. “Henry Remus goes to the place where the wolves run between moons. Ana was there, and she knew Remus might show up. She changed him and then abandoned him. Then she told her good buddy Terrence, who had connections in Europe, possibly from his time in London. He called the Luparii and told them about the nova wolf. The Luparii got interested and sent someone to LA to hunt him down.”

Scarlett shrugged. “That’s the working theory, yes.”

“But then the scout killed Terrence and his sidekick, Riddell. Why?”

Scarlett’s brow furrowed. “Maybe he found out that Terrence and Ana don’t really know who or where the nova is.”

“But then why bring the Luparii to LA to begin with?” Jesse ground out, frustrated. He looked at Scarlett. “Ana is the last link in the chain. We need to talk to her right away.”

To his surprise, Scarlett paled, unmoving. “What?” Jesse asked.

Her lower lip trembled for a second, but then she lifted her chin and met his eyes. “Ana’s dead,” she told him. “She came after me two nights ago, upstairs in my room, and I killed her with the boot knife you gave me.”

Jesse sank down in the nearest chair, flummoxed. “Scarlett . . .”

“That’s why Molly is evicting me. And I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want you to know that I murdered someone,” she rushed on. “And I didn’t want you to look at me the way you are right now.”

He stared at her. “Anastasia’s really dead?”

“Yes,” she said in a small voice.

Sighing, he leaned back in the chair, taking that in. “You’re not a murderer,” he said, toward the ceiling. Deciding that was unfair, he sat up and looked at Scarlett. “I know I’ve been hard on you,” he said quietly. “And I know we haven’t been on the same page on this case. I should never have taken Dashiell’s deal; it’s knocked everything out of whack. But I also know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t have killed Anastasia if you’d had any other choice.”

Scarlett visibly relaxed in her seat on the couch. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.” He absently rubbed his arm, which still hurt where Anastasia had wrenched it. “I just don’t know where that leaves us, as far as the investigation goes.”

Scarlett looked at him thoughtfully, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. “You said Ana was the last link in the chain. Ana and Terrence made the nova and brought the Luparii.”

“Yeah . . .”

“But we’ve been assuming that they brought the Luparii here to go after the nova,” she pointed out. “What if they made the nova in order to bring the Luparii here?”

He stared at her. “Why?”