6. Challenge Accepted
SIX
Challenge Accepted
“ U h. Well. That’s an idea,” Arthur said cautiously.
“Orla, this is going to be really dangerous,” Nick said. He gestured between himself and Arthur. “We smell like bears. Shifters recognize the scent. We can’t stay close to protect you.”
I nodded, annoyed that they were talking to me like I was dumb. “I realize that some people view owl mannerisms as evidence that we’re slow or mentally diminished. We’re not. I can assure you I’m quite intelligent and understand the risk. Unlike all of you, I don’t carry an easily identifiable scent, and I know how to mimic humans. I doubt he’ll pick up on my being a shifter at all. Once you all leave, I’ll go shower off your scents and drive to wherever you tell me to go.”
Arwyn nodded. “Yes. This is a good idea.”
“Do you see something?” Arthur asked. “Do you know this will work?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I trust Orla. She knows herself. If she says she can do it, then she can do it.”
“Could you help?” Declan asked Arwyn. “Could you spell her to change her scent?”
She thought a moment and then looked at me. “Would you want me to do that?”
I considered. “No. My own scent being different or absent will make me uncomfortable and what I’m doing is already outside my comfort zone. If I’ve never met another owl shifter, what are the chances he has? I just need to know where I should pretend my Jeep broke down.”
Nick walked over and crouched down in front of me, looking into my eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded, unsure but determined. I doubted this was what my mother meant when she told me to live a little, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. This was what had dropped into my lap, so this was what I’d do.
Nick stood and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. Embarrassed, I meant to drop it right away, but it felt safe and warm. And thrilling. He gave my hand a quick squeeze and then stepped back to discuss locations with Arthur.
I picked up the mostly empty tray and walked it back to the kitchen, taking a moment to compose myself. When I turned around, Arwyn was standing in the doorway.
“Is there anything I can do to make this easier or more comfortable for you?” she asked.
I thought about that. “I don’t think so. I’d just like to go do it so I can shake this jittery feeling and get back to reading.”
Smiling, she said, “I get that,” and started back down the short hall. “They have a spot picked out for you. If he’s still around, we think it has a good shot of being where he’ll prowl.”
Nick had a map pulled up in his phone. He and Arthur sketched out the plan. Face blank, I nodded, ignoring the pressure building in my chest. Arthur handed me a big, jagged-edged hunting knife in a sheath.
“Just in case,” he said. “Keep in your bag. We don’t want you defenseless out there.”
They laid out the plan and while I saw multiple flaws in it, it seemed doable. I worried I’d freeze when I needed to act, but I knew the only way I’d become the hero of my own story was to woman up and face the challenge I’d been given. I really hoped I survived living a little . If for no other reason than all the books I still had to read.
After they left, I locked up and turned off the lights. Closing early was becoming a habit. When I stepped into my room, my left hand twitched. Normally, this was when I’d put my book on my nightstand, but I’d left it downstairs. My head swam. I never forgot my books.
Shocked at myself, I went into the bathroom to shower off the evening’s scents. Instead of twisting my hair up in a bun, as I normally did, I dried it and left it long. I found an old pair of jeans that had been worn thin in spots and paired it with a long-sleeved thermal top. It was going to be cold where I was going.
Standing in the doorway of my closet, I stared down at red cowboy boots. Why did I own them? A momentary weakness. I saw them in a shop window a few months after my parents passed. I’d heard Mom’s voice in my head and bought them. Have I ever worn them? Of course not, but now seemed like a good time to start, as the truck man wore cowboy boots himself.
I slipped into them and then walked around my bedroom, feeling far too conspicuous. Why were they so loud? Okay, fine. I wasn’t going to let the noise bother me. I needed to get moving. I also needed something to cover any lingering owl scent.
Hmm. I didn’t own perfume. Some women used to use vanilla, but I didn’t really bake so I doubted I had any. I didn’t grow roses, so I couldn’t rub a petal on myself. Not to mention I hated the scent of roses.
Oh! I knew. I grabbed my phone, keys, wallet, knife, scarf, and went downstairs. The door to the garage was beside the kitchen. I went in, hit the button to lift the garage door, and flinched, seeing a tall, broad-shouldered man silhouetted in the faint moonlight. Then I recognized him.
“I just showered off bear, wicche, and wolf. Why are you back?”
“I’ll keep my distance,” Nick said, his voice deep and warm in the cool early morning hours. “I came to drop off the tracker and to make sure you didn’t volunteer for this because of what Arthur said.” True to his word, he moved back as I came closer. “You don’t have anything to prove to him or anyone else.”
“I want to try,” I said. “McKenna was lucky. I doubt all the other women Arwyn saw in her vision were as lucky as she was.”
He stared at me a moment and then shook his head. “They weren’t. Arwyn gave us specific descriptions of the women and locations she saw. Arthur and I have already found two of his victims, one in Seattle and the other in Tahoe. They were both sexually assaulted, the bodies left in rough shape. He hid them under leaves and trees.”
“He didn’t bite or maul them?” I thought about it for a moment. “That’s surprising. Maybe he isn’t a wolf.” Considering, I hopped into my Jeep and started it up. It took a couple of tries, but I got it going.
Nick had moved to the side, out of sight, so I threw it into reverse and parked outside the garage, letting the engine run. I didn’t want to break down for real out there. He moved farther away. Supernatural hearing being what it was, we continued speaking in low voices.
“I going to hose it down,” I said, “and then open a can of motor oil and take it with me. That scent should cover whatever owl scent might linger, assuming he is a wolf and has ever met an owl shifter.”
“Now I’m even more concerned,” he said. “If he’s not a wolf, we have no idea what we’re dealing with.”
I went around the side of the house and dragged back the hose.
“Wait,” he said. “Don’t you have a top to this thing? You’re going to get the seats wet.”
I moved up close to the Jeep, pointed the nozzle down, and rinsed off the vehicle frame and tires. “No top helps with scent. You’re a worrier, aren’t you?”
He grumbled something, but I didn’t hear it over the engine and spray. When I finished, I put the hose away and then said, “What was that?”
He sighed and walked closer, stopping about six feet away. “I said I’m not normally a worrier, but something about this whole situation has me twisted up. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He tossed me a plastic evidence bag with a small round black dot in it.
“Thanks,” I said. He was probably too close, but it was nice. Having someone be concerned about me was nice. “I’ll be okay.”
“See that you are.” He gestured to the bag I’d picked up. “The tracker is magnetized. Attach it anywhere to his truck and we can follow him. Then Arthur, Declan, and I will take him down. You’re stronger and faster than the human he’s expecting, but it’s still dangerous. We can’t get too close, but we’ll be able to monitor you until you put the tracker on him.” He blew out a breath and then his gaze traveled over me. “You look really—” He cleared his throat. “You look nice.”
I shrugged. “Jeans. Long hair.”
He stared down, grinning. “Boots. I like your red cowboy boots.”
Embarrassed, I busied myself by taking the tracker out of the bag, placing it in my jeans pocket, and then putting the bag in the garage trash can. “They just seemed like something he might like,” I mumbled. I slipped the sheathed knife down the top of my right boot. “Oh! I forgot.”
I jogged back into the garage, grabbed a can of motor oil, found a Post-it note, and wrote Broke down. I went to find a signal. I came back out and hit the garage door button and then stashed the note in my glovebox for later. I didn’t want a police officer to find my Jeep and ticket me for abandoning it by the side of the road.
“You know where you’re going?” he asked.
“I do.” My fingers quickly got to work, braiding my hair. Since hair was important to this man, I needed to keep it from flying all around in a topless Jeep. Once I was done, I wrapped a scarf around my head. I’d undo all of this when I got to the breakdown road.
“You probably need a coat for the drive,” he suggested.
“I only have a couple of coats and they’re too long. They cover my butt, which is apparently a key factor for this guy. This is a thermal top. It’ll be chilly, but it’ll be fine.”
He took off the flannel shirt he wore over a t-shirt and tried handing it to me. “At least put this on while you’re driving. Leave it in the Jeep when you start to walk.”
“Thanks, but that smells a great deal like you. A bear,” I said.
Frustrated, he shook his head. “Right.” He put the shirt back on, letting it hang open.
“I appreciate you worrying about me, but he sooner I leave the better. For me. So I don’t get too anxious.”
Backing away, he held up a hand in surrender, letting me go. I climbed in, put the Jeep in gear, and headed to Sunset Drive, near Asilomar Beach. Nick and Arthur had said this area would be dark and deserted in the middle of the night and that cell service was spotty at best.
The freezing wind tore at my scarf. I had the short drive to seriously question the advisability of volunteering for this job, but I just kept coming back to someone needing to stop him and my being someone.
I parked on the side of the road, near the Point Pinos Lighthouse, affixed the note to my dashboard, and then used the big knife to stab a hole in the top of the motor oil can. I tipped it, getting oil on my fingers, and dabbed a little behind each ear. That ought to do it.
Facing the wind coming off the ocean, I took off the scarf and unbraided my hair, stuffing both the scarf and hair tie under the driver’s seat. I caught sight of my sunglasses on the dash and grabbed them. I was going to need those when the sun rose.
Okay. Time to lure a killer.