Chapter 2 #2
Mr. Max nodded. “They said he was being pissy and wanted to be alone. Their words, not mine.”
“They’re right. He has been pissy.” She sighed. “We got into a huge fight last night about his English grade.”
“Did he storm off?”
“If slamming his bedroom door and blasting his music at a hundred and ten decibels counts as storming off, then yes. That’s what he did.”
“But he didn’t leave?”
She shook her head. “He knows I’d freak. He might be angry, but he’s not cruel.” She picked up the knife and started absently cutting a sheet of fondant. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself from breaking down. “You think he ran off?”
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Where might he go?”
She swallowed. “I already called the parents of his friends. They’re all on the lookout for him, so if he stopped by, they’d call me.” Still, she grabbed her cell phone just in case. And then, because it had been at least ten minutes, she dialed Theo’s number.
“Voice mail,” she said as she thumbed it off. No point in leaving another message after the last five. She sighed, willing Theo to call. To her surprise, a ring tone did sound, but it wasn’t hers. It was Mr. Max’s. He whipped his phone out with practiced ease.
“What have you found?” he said, his voice more brusque than she’d ever heard before.
She waited, watching his face as his expression tightened. When he noticed her watching him, he flashed her a quick smile. It wasn’t reassuring. Especially with his next words.
“You’re sure? Definitely Theo?”
Hope sparked blindingly fierce, but his expression wasn’t happy. If anything, it was grimmer.
She couldn’t keep quiet. “Have they found him? Is he okay?”
He didn’t answer her. “Any point in sticking around there longer?” Pause. “Okay. I’ll meet you at the boy’s home. We’ll regroup there.” He snapped the phone shut and then turned to her. But he didn’t speak. Instead, he just tightened his mouth into a frown.
“What?” she demanded after five long seconds of nothing.
He pushed up from his stool and seemed to prowl closer. It was a weird thing to think, especially for a man his size, but his movements were so smooth and fluid, she straightened up in instinctive alarm.
“What do you know?” she said, her voice low and angry.
His gaze sharpened at her tone, and he stopped moving.
Stilled like an animal caught in the glare of a flashlight.
And then he straightened. His shoulders rolled back, his jaw tightened, and his expression flattened.
He’d obviously come to some sort of conclusion, but what kind, she had no clue.
So she held her breath and waited for whatever he needed to say.
“I’m not just someone who runs a camp for kids.”
Her gut cramped tight, but she kept breathing. Her voice even came out in some semblance of normal. “What else do you do?”
“I run a private investigation company. We’re small potatoes, mostly. Just me and sometimes a few others.”
“What do you investigate?” If he said missing or abducted children, she was going to lose it right here next to a fondant castle wall.
“Nothing all that exciting. But when I heard that Theo was having troubles, I called a friend of mine. He was in the area, anyway, and he’s the best tracker I know.”
“Tracker? Like a moose or bear hunter?”
He made a choking sound, quickly recovered, then he shook his head. “Well, he can track animals, but… Look, I just asked him to poke around the school, okay? He knows Theo’s scent.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He grimaced. “It’s a figure of speech. He helps out at the camp and he knows Theo.”
“So what did he find out?”
Mr. Max rubbed his trimmed beard, scratching at his jaw as if something bothered him. Then he rounded the table and gently pulled her up from her stool. “Theo was afraid.”
She gripped his arm. She didn’t even know she’d reached out, but suddenly she was pulling on his muscular forearm, squeezing his solid strength. “Afraid? Why? And how would he know that?”
“He smelled—I mean, he talked to some kids. They said he seemed spooked or something.”
“Which kids?”
He reached for her coat and handed it to her.
His expression had tightened down, telling her that he didn’t want to say more.
“It’s not something to get alarmed about.
” He spoke with a calm assurance that she wanted desperately to believe.
“Boys his age get scared all the time. I know a guy who used to completely freak every time a girl talked to him.”
“That’s not Theo.”
“I know. I know.” He pressed his hand over hers where she was still clutching his arm. One hand and it covered her two with gentle ease. “My friend is going to meet us at your apartment. He’ll tell us everything there.”
She swallowed. “Maybe I should call the police.”
“No.” One word, barked more than spoken. Then he huffed out a breath when she stared at him in alarm. “They won’t do anything for twenty-four hours.”
“But he’s a kid. They can put out an amber alert—”
“Let’s just go talk to Bryn, okay? It’s too early to panic.”
Easy for him to say. She’d been panicking for hours now. “Okay,” she finally said. She wanted to see this investigator for herself.
Bryn turned out to be a long, lean man with narrow eyes and a habit of sniffing things.
He was subtle about it, but she could see his nose twitch in an animalistic kind of way.
It was creepy as hell and she wouldn’t have let him in her apartment if Mr. Max hadn’t already swung the door wide for him.
“Hey, Bryn. This is Rebecca Weitz, Theo’s aunt and guardian.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Weitz. Don’t you worry about Theo. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he’ll come through this just fine.”
At least he was a polite weirdo. Then his words penetrated her mind and she spoke a little more sharply than she intended. “Come through what, exactly? What do you think happened?”
Mr. Max answered quickly, clearly trying to calm her frazzled nerves. “He didn’t mean anything by it. Just that you shouldn’t worry.”
Oh no. No way was he playing big protector now, telling her not to worry like she was Ma Kettle in the wild frontier. “I’ll decide when I worry, thank you very much. And I would really like to hear what Mr. Bryn meant. Exactly.” Nothing like pulling out a guy’s full name to make him respond.
“It’s Bryn Walsh, ma’am, and, um, Theo’s fifteen, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s a little young to be…uh, wandering off, but it’s not that unusual. Shows he’s mature for his age.”
“Make sense, Mr. Walsh.”
“Look…,” he said as he stepped farther into the apartment. Then his eyes darted to a sweatshirt dumped casually onto the back of the couch. Picking it up, he brought it to his nose and spoke through the muffling fabric. “This his?”
“What the hell are you—”
Mr. Max interrupted. “He’s tracking, Becca. I know it’s…odd…but it’s what he does.”
Bryn shot Mr. Max a dark look, but he didn’t stop sniffing the sweatshirt while wandering the living room. By the time he eased open Theo’s bedroom door, Becca had her cell out to call the cops.
Mr. Max was there before her, grabbing her wrist and lifting the phone from her hand.
“Just give him a moment. Please.” He was clearly giving her an order despite his polite phrasing.
She agreed, mostly because she didn’t have much of a choice.
Though when Bryn stuck his sniffer into her bedroom, she just about exploded.
Fortunately, he didn’t say there long. He stepped back out and eyed Mr. Max.
“She’s Theo’s guardian?”
“And only living relative,” Mr. Max answered.
“Then you better bring her into the fold because Theo’s definitely about to pop.”
“What?” Becca jerked her hand out of Mr. Max’s grip. Well, she tried to anyway. There was no escaping him.
“So you think he changed?” asked Mr. Max, his voice tight.
Bryn shook his head. “Not here. And not at the school. But it’s coming. Soon.”
Which is when Becca lost it. They were talking like they knew something about Theo. Something important that she didn’t know. And damn it, she was his aunt and his only family. “Somebody better start explaining things to me now or I’m going to start screaming.”
“I will, Becca, I swear,” said Mr. Max, but his eyes were on Bryn. “What about that other thing? The reason you were here, in Kalamazoo, to begin with.”
Bryn shrugged. “Don’t know.” Then he flashed Becca a rueful smile. “It’ll be okay, Miss Weitz. Theo will be fine.” Then he pulled up the hood on his jacket and headed for the door. “And, Max…”
“Yeah?”
“You’ll get my bill in the morning.”
She heard him grumble, deep in his chest. “You’re all heart,” he said, his tone wry.
“Someone’s gotta feed the pack. Might as well be you.” Then he was gone with a jaunty wave that was oddly graceful, given his general loose-limbed gait.
As soon as the door shut, Becca was ready. She tried to jerk her wrist out of Mr. Max’s hand, yanking hard, but she was too slow. He’d already released her, which meant she stumbled from the force of her movement. He caught her by the elbow, steadying her with a firm grip, but she glared him away.
“Start talking. Why was he in Kalamazoo? What does it have to do with Theo?”
“Other business and nothing. He was just nearby, so I called on his talents.”
“As a sniffing tracker.”
“Yes.”
“That’s insane.”
He scratched at his beard again, looking the most awkward she’d ever seen anyone appear. “Yeah,” he said, drawing the word out. “Buckle up ’cause it’s about to get weirder.” Then he gestured to the couch. “Do you think we could sit down?”
She didn’t want to sit. She was too keyed up, but she nodded because she figured arguing about this would delay things further. So she perched on the edge of a cushion while he sank into the sofa like an anchor into the seabed. And he still sat taller than she.
“What did he mean about Theo about to change?”
He leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees. His gaze was steady—weirdly so—and there was no softness in him anywhere. “Surely you’ve noticed a difference in Theo. He’s gotten surly, eats a ton, sleeps like the dead, then rouses like an…an angry bear.”
“He’s a teenage boy. Isn’t that all of them?”
“Not like this. I heard he got into a fight at school. For no reason.”
How the hell did he…? Amy, her next-door neighbor and confidante. “That’s it. I’m never talking to Amy again.”
“Don’t blame her. She was keeping an eye on Theo for me.”
An icy fist slid through her body. He’d been spying on her and Theo? “Just what kind of stalker creep are you?”
Mr. Max shrugged. The gesture would have been endearing if she wasn’t so freaked. “One that has known about Theo since he was a boy and wanted to look out for him. In case this happened.”
“What’s ‘this’?” she almost screamed.
“Theo’s entering the First Change. He’s a little young for it. It doesn’t usually hit before sixteen, but with steroids in foods nowadays, kids are maturing faster.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Theo. Your nephew is a grizzly bear shifter.”
Becca stared at him. She opened her mouth to ask him to repeat himself. To explain. To something, but nothing came out.
“I know. Werewolves get all the press. But there’s all sorts of shifters in the world.”
“Werewolves?”
“Yeah. Bryn’s one. That’s why he was sniffing everything.”
“A werewolf?” He couldn’t possibly have said what she thought she’d heard. Or be looking at her as if she should understand.
“Yes.” He was getting frustrated. The one word came out clipped and a bit angry. “He’s a werewolf. Theo’s a were-bear, though we prefer being a little more specific. Were-grizzly, to be exact. And he’s about to shift for the first time.”
And then it all made sense. Normally, she would have caught on faster.
If this were a usual day, her sense of sane and insane would have kicked in well before now.
But she’d had that fight with Theo, so she’d been off her game.
She didn’t realize until now that Mr. Max was a stark raving lunatic.
Fortunately, he’d set down her cell phone when he’d joined her on the couch.
It was within reach if she was fast. And if she failed at that, then it was just another step to the front door.
“Becca? You’re not saying anything.”
“I’m just trying to process it, that’s all.”
“Look, I know you must think I’m insane, but it’s all true.”
“Sure. Werewolves. Bear shifters.”
“Grizzly bears. He comes from a long, proud line of them.”
She pushed to her feet. Let him think she was just pacing off her agitation. “I’m sure they’re very proud.”
“We’re all through Michigan, but mostly around Gladwin because of the park. We like forests.”
“That makes sense.” It was a lie. Nothing made sense, but she’d managed to get within reaching distance of her phone. “I’m just… I’m gonna…” She pointed to the kitchen. “Maybe some more coffee.”
He arched a brow. “Are you sure you need more caffeine? If I were you, I’d be reaching for a beer.” He flashed her a lopsided smile. “Or a bottle. Or a keg.”
Charming. The lunatic was being charming. She tried to smile back but didn’t manage to pull it off. Which meant it was time to bolt.
She did it in one smooth move. She snatched up her cell phone and ran straight for the front door. She wasn’t an Olympic runner or anything, but she could be quick when she wanted to. She was highly motivated to be fast.
He was faster.
She barely got the door open when he was on her, pulling the cell from her hand and catching her about the waist. She started kicking him, but if it bothered him, she couldn’t tell. Certainly not when he was lifting her off her feet and carrying her back into her apartment.
“Becca, listen to me!”
No way. No how.
She drew breath to scream.
She got half a breath in before he dropped a hand over her mouth.
She tried to scream anyway, but it came out more as a muffled exclamation.
And then every survival instinct she had kicked in.
Every dirty fighting trick she ever knew.
Every animalistic gouge through his skin, bite through his meaty palm, kick in the gonads, and scream tore through her system as if her life depended on them.
She fought like she was a demon possessed.
And she still lost.
He was just too big.
Then he was pressing on her throat, cutting off her air.
Oh hell. Oh shit.
She couldn’t breathe.
“I’m not going to hurt you Becca. I swear!”
And that was one big fat lie because within in seconds, there were dots in her vision. A few moments later, it all went black.