Page 39 of Triumph of the Wolf
“Even better than a rusty Mickey Mouse tin?”
“Oh my. I might tradebothtins for it. For you.” Duncan managed to give me a sultry look while navigating around the first of the potholes on the way up to Mom’s cabin.
“Goodness. You know how to make a woman feel sexy and desirable.”
He started to reply, but something up the road drew his attention. I followed his gaze, wondering if the pack might be chasing off more real estate agents. Still a ways from Mom’s driveway, we were approaching the frog pond. Surprisingly, numerous trucks and SUVs were parked in a queue in front of it, taking up half of the narrow road.
Duncan was forced to slow down.
I scratched my jaw as I peered through the windows and looked at the sides of the vehicles for signs. One Toyota looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Maybe a similar one belonged to one of my tenants. It was a common make of car.
Of all the vehicles, only one had writing on the door, and it wasn’t the vehicle of the real estate agent that the pack had chased off. The sign readSierra Surveying.
“We’re not near the property with the for-sale sign.” I pointed farther up the road, remembering that was around abend and on the opposite side from the frog pond and Mom’s cabin.
They had to be surveying another parcel, but why would so many people be here for that?
“I don’t sense anyone magical about or see anyone in the cars.” Duncan stopped even with a green truck, the foremost vehicle in the queue.
“Maybe someone has listed another property for sale—without informing the owner—and these people are here to check it out.” I thought of the company Jasmine’s dad had dug up, the outfit planning to put a resort in nearby. They had to be responsible for this. Who else would be trying to buy up land here?
“Do you want to park and try to find the owners of these cars?” Duncan tapped his nose. “This many ought to be easy to track down, even without changing into a wolf.”
I started to shake my head, figuring we could tell Mom and Lorenzo, and they could send the pack to scare off these guys. But my gaze went back to that Toyota. With a start, I realized why it looked familiar. The night before, Chad had driven it out of the parking lot at Sylvan Serenity.
It was probably a coincidence. There were tons of brown Toyotas. And why the heck would Chad be up here? He didn’t even know where my family lived.
Still…
“Yeah,” I answered. “Park, please.”
As soon as Duncan did, I hopped out and walked to the Toyota. I hadn’t paid any attention to the license plate the night before, so I couldn’t say if they matched, but…
“I think this is a rental car,” I stated.
Duncan had paused to peer into the driver-side window of the surveyor’s car, but he joined me. The Toyota must not have made an impression on him because he didn’t remark on thecoincidence. Of course, he’d been the bipedfuris, and cars didn’t stand out as important to wolves.
His nostrils twitched, however, and his head came up. He growled, managing to sound feral and deadly even in his human form, and his eyes slitted with displeasure. “I smell your ex-husband’s scent.”
I nodded. “Let’s track these people down and see what they’re up to.”
Duncan growled again.
12
Before we headedinto the woods to search for Chad and the mob of people surveying the land and who knew what else, I grabbed my purse. In case one or more of the drivers returned before we found the rest, I didn’t want anyone poking into the van and finding the magical case. Maybe I should have left it in my apartment, but Abrams might have had people poking around there.
“So much poking,” I muttered.
Duncan looked at me. He hadn’t changed into a wolf or bipedfuris, but he led the way, striding into the trees with confidence. Since his senses were keener than mine, he probablycouldfollow a trail by scent even in his human form.
“Just musing that it’s hard to know where to stash the case for safekeeping,” I said.
“Ah. It’ll be safe with us.”
“You’re not afraid of a pack of real estate developers?”
“Not in the least.”
