Page 48 of Werewolves Don't Howl
The plane was small, but luxurious.
“Wow,” I said, looking around at the pale blue and polished wood that made it look like a fancy Elven parlor instead of a jet. “All I need is Lynx, and I’d be complete. Oh! We can’t leave the kitten,” I said, whirling around to face Cross, who was a step behind me. I backed up when I realized how close he was. He smelled so nice.
“Manny will bring her. You’re such a conscientious mistress.” He kissed my forehead while I blushed and sputtered.
“I’m not a mistress.” I pushed on his chest and felt the flex of his muscles before I pulled my hand away as if I was burned.
After that, I fell asleep on the plush couch while he gave me room, doing business on his phone and laptop while I let too much sushi and the movement of the plane lull me to sleep.
The helicopter to the sprawling Tex mansion was also more relaxing than what I got once we walked inside. People were everywhere, arranging lighting, getting ready for the photo shoot like this was a tv show.
I followed close behind Cross as he led me to a room down a long black-and-white checked hall, where a guy in a white lab coat was unzipping a familiar black body bag.
I grabbed Cross’s jacket and jerked him back. “What’s going on?”
“A few things,” he said easily. “Melville, this is Miss Era. She’s going to take notes while I do the autopsy.”
I stared at Cross, then at Melville, the cheerful blonde man. “Like Moby Dick?”
His smile brightened. “Exactly. If you’re doing it yourself, what would you like me to do, sir?”
“We need some dogs for the photoshoot. We’ll start first thing after we take care of business. Is Harold here?”
“He’ll be here tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after. I’ll go find some dogs. Nice golden retrievers?”
“No, something dark and dramatic that looks nice with my eyes. That’s the theme, you know.”
“I see.”
He left me with Cross and the body bag, which was unzipped so I could see the poor missing girl’s face.
“I think that Loren wanted to accompany her body back to Golden,” I whispered, unable to look away from that face.
“Yes, she did, but happily, we got it first. You don’t mind taking notes, do you?” he asked as he took off his jacket and pulled on a pair of plastic gloves.
I swallowed hard. The smell was not pleasant, but I wasn’t going to show him my weakness. “No, sir.” I sat down on a stool, pulled out my laptop, and opened a new document.
I looked up to find him studying me.
“Miss Era, your eyes are much lovelier than mine. Yours are the earth, bark fresh kissed by rain, and deep, rich, delicious chocolate.”
I stared at him, lost. “Beg your pardon?”
“Your eyes are so much lovelier than mine. You are much more appealing than I could ever be in absolutely every way.”
Okay, now I was really lost. “Did you hit your head? Hyacinth and wisteria, lilacs and violets, are all prettier than brown, Cross. Stop stalling. Let’s get this done so we can focus on the photoshoot.” Right? Because that was so much more important than dead girls.
“Some day, you are going to recognize your own brilliance.” He stuck a needle into her eye deep enough to get her brain.
I gasped and my stomach clenched, threatening to unleash the sushi boat. Ew. Ew. Ew. I was not enough of a werewolf to be okay with seeing that, hearing the soft suctioning of the needle, but he could do something so horrible after he gave me a clumsy compliment. He was definitely a psychopath.
He spoke with perfect calm. “I’ll begin with taking tissue samples. I want to see what they did to her before they killed her.”
“Good thinking,” I stuttered while my stomach flipped. I typed, ‘taking tissue samples,’ and then went into detail, noting every other place he extracted samples. Then, after he put all those little vials into an under counter refrigerator, he started cutting her up.
The scent wasn’t decomposition, but chemicals. She’d been treated with magic and something else before she was zipped into a body bag.
“What is that smell? I don’t remember that from biology class,” I said.
