Page 58 of Wolf Bound

“And couldn’t hold down their jobs either,” Fisher added. “Which is maybe why they took up kidnapping as a way to make an income.”

“I agree. What about Reggie? Were you able to speak to any of his relatives, if he has any, up there?” Kira asked Leyton.

“His family is human also. His house is up for sale by a realtor. No one is living there right now,” Leyton said. “We suspect he knew he would have to sell out—if he’s newly turned also. Which makes us wonder if someone else did this to the three men.”

“Possibly, or maybe Reggie bit the cousins. But if someone actually turned the men and left them to fend for themselves, then he’s a rogue every bit as much as they are for kidnapping kids. Then we’ll have to go after him or her also,” Kira said.

“It sounds like they’ve been on the run all this time then,” Fisher said, “if they’ve told their family they’re off to Alaska and not returning to Denver. I wonder though if they really are planning on moving to Alaska. They would be able to run as wolves more freely up there.”

“That could be,” Leyton said.

“Did they mention anything that had happened that they believe might have made them uproot their lives like that?” Kira asked.

“Jack asked that of the Farmington families. The only thing they said was that Reggie, who is Oscar’s good friend, and Oscar’s younger cousin Royce, who seemed to always tag along with his cousin, had all gone to a bar the night before everything changed. The families were afraid something might have happened at the bar because a few days after that, they started making plans to move to Alaska. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe they had discussed it at the bar and decided to do something new with their lives,” Leyton said.

“Or maybe somebody had bitten them around the full moon phase and the men turned into wolves and knew they needed to get out of Denver,” Fisher said.

“Right. Travis asked Reggie’s parents what they thought about the sudden change of plans. They are friends of the Farmingtons and believed something similarly. That something happened that night at the bar. They wanted to just say it was because they were drinking and came up with this wild plan. But it was something more than that. They were avoiding seeing any of their families as if they were ashamed of something they had done when they normally weren’t like that. After we go to that bar tonight and talk about any issue that might have occurred for that timeframe, we will have done all we can here. I don’t believe the families are hiding anything about the whereabouts of their kin,” Leyton said. “They’re in the dark about all the rest of this stuff.”

“Did they wonder what all this is about? Your questioning them?” Fisher asked.

“We told them that they were persons of interest in a case,” Leyton said. “The families didn’t seem happy about that prospect. They might have assumed something more was going on with the three men than they had let on. But they also cast glances in each other’s direction, and we figure they had suspected something was wrong. In a case like this where their families are human, we really can’t tell them what had happened to them. And they have too many family members to turn them. After the visit to the bar tonight to see if we can learn anything else, we’re heading back to Yuma Town for the holidays and to help you with your case if you need anything further. Our boss said your case has priority for now.”

“Okay, thanks, Leyton.” Kira was glad they had learned something about the men at least through family members.

“I’ll call you if we learn anything more,” Leyton said.

Then they ended the call.

“Well, at least we know they were turned—not that they have just a few generations of wolf roots. So now let’s ask Royce who turned them,” Fisher said.

“That was just what I was thinking,” Kira said. “We need to call Larry in case Royce feels he needs to have his lawyer present.”

“I’ll call him.” Ricky got on his phone. “Hey, we’re going to interrogate Royce about his wolf roots. All three men have families that are human, so they were turned about six months ago, when all the kidnappings began taking place. Alright, see you in a few.”

“Will he really be here in a few minutes?” Kira asked.

“Yes, if we ask him to be here,” Ricky said.

Then Bridget arrived and Ricky went back to get Royce so he could be interrogated again.

“Haven’t you people already questioned me enough?” Royce asked. “And you said you got my cousin. Where is he?”

Ricky glanced at Kira.

“We can’t reveal that information. We want to question you about when you were bitten and by whom,” Kira said. “We shouldn’t need a lawyer for that, though Mr. Pierce said he would be right over.”

“Like the last time?” Royce sounded annoyed that his lawyer had taken so long to show up the first time here.

Ricky took Royce into the interrogation room. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“No. I don’t think he does anything bad but kidnap little boys. I’m really not his type.” Kira patted Fisher’s hand. “And I have an Army Ranger wolf to keep me safe.”

Bridget went into the interrogation room with them, and she stood behind Royce against the wall. Like before, she would indicate to Kira whether or not he was telling the truth.

Shortly after that, Larry joined them in the interrogation room. “Okay, so you really don’t need me here if all we’re going to talk about is how and when you were turned and by whom. Unless you feel the need to have me here for you.”

“Yeah, you can stay. I don’t know why you have so much interest in my being turned though,” Royce said to Kira.

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