Chapter Five
“I’m a Police Detective With a Gun”
“Bloody hell,” Janice muttered under her breath.
When she visited Mama Martha’s yesterday, the ranch had been in perfect condition, workers milling about with tools and farm produce, a few animals grazing in the distance.
She’d sat with Martha, the ranch owner, on the porch steps of the main house, and tried to gather whatever information she could as well as warn the woman against a potential attack on her property.
Even then, she’d found it hard to believe this place could end up like the previous three ranches had. Mama Martha’s had seemed so orderly, so secure...
The scene before her now was ten times worse than what she’d found at Benny’s Best. There were more damaged vegetables lying about, more dead cattle. Pumpkins lay scattered on the grass, the earth underneath darkened with blood.
In her line of work, Janice had been to more disturbing crime scenes than this, but if she had to face the aftermath of another one of these attacks, she just might lose her lunch.
She gripped her coffee cup tighter, gazing around the ranch.
It looked as though some malevolent force had swept across the property in the middle of the night.
None of the workers was in sight; only Martha stood nearby, shock etched into her features.
The woman was in her mid-fifties at most, but today she looked decades older.
“There used to be scores of cabbages over there,” she said, pointing at several rows of crushed vegetables fifty feet away. Her voice quavered slightly. “And pumpkins over there. A few of my cows just gave birth. What...what could’ve happened? What could’ve done all this?”
Bad karma, Janice refrained from quipping. Despite the irony of Martha’s situation, this wasn’t the ranch owner’s fault. Someone else was out to get her and the others.
But who? Janice wanted to kick herself in the head, but settled for taking a long sip of her coffee.
Less than a week ago, she’d been beyond eager for a new case to solve.
Now one had dropped right into her lap, and she’d barely made any progress so far.
She had no leads—or at least, none that could point to anyone.
Time was running out. With every hour that passed, another ranch was closer to getting attacked. And what next? Civilians?
She suppressed a shudder, taking another sip.
“That’s the second latte you’ve had today,” Theon remarked. He stood next to her, eyeing the trail of death and destruction around them, his face almost completely devoid of expression. “Sure you don’t want to hold off on the caffeine a little?”
“It’s my third cup, actually,” she corrected him. “And right now, it’s the only thing getting me through the day.”
“You never did get over your love for coffee, did you?”
“Love isn’t exactly the way I’d put it. When you’re a detective like me and you find yourself at crime scenes like this, it becomes a part of your life.”
“Right.” He breathed a sigh, staring ahead. She eyed him for a moment, watching his large chest heave, his jaw tightening a little. God, just the sight of him brought back memories and made her insides tingle.
Focus, she told herself. You’re not together anymore.
Of course. It had been her choice. She’d decided he wasn’t the sort of man she wanted to be with long-term. She wanted someone more...available, more expressive, less guarded. Had she been too hasty in her decision? Had she done the right thing, ending their relationship with Theon when she had?
Yes, she told herself. Just because she missed him, just because her body tended to react to his presence in a variety of ways, didn’t mean breaking up with him had been such a terrible decision. She’d done what was best for her heart.
“You know, I’m starting to think you might be right.”
She blinked at him. “I am?” It occurred to her that he might be referring to the case. “Wait, what are you talking about?”
Theon dropped his voice a notch. “You said the culprit might be a supernatural. At this point, I don’t think there’s any human who could’ve done all of this unnoticed. No tracks, no evidence of human involvement.”
“Glad to see we’re getting somewhere,” she said with a thin smile. “What kind of supernatural could be responsible?”
He rubbed his chin. “Hard to say. It could’ve been magic, but that wouldn’t explain the holes in the ground. Someone was here. Someone—or something—came out of the earth to kill those animals and destroy the crops. It could be anyone, anything.”
She bit back a groan of frustration. When he opened up to her about the supernatural, months ago, she hadn’t understood most of what he’d been saying.
Even now, she still didn’t get it. As far as she knew, Theon lived in a world almost completely different from hers, with rules that differed from hers.
A couple of times, he’d shifted into a jaguar in her presence as casually as though he was taking off a jacket, and sprinted off into the night.
Each time, she’d been left stunned, staring into space.
“It could be a chupacabra,” she heard him say.
She blinked at him. “Really? They exist?”
He nodded. “Or it could be a wendigo. Or a skinwalker. Or, hell, even a hybrid.”
Janice frowned. “A hybrid?”
“Well, you know, when a wendigo and a skinwalker love each other very much...”
“I get the picture, thanks.” She held up a hand to stop him from saying anything further. The last thing she needed was an extra reason to throw up her lunch. “Is it even possible to catch a supernatural creature?”
He shrugged. “There’s always a way. Supernatural doesn’t necessarily mean invincible.”
“Hard to believe that when you’re built like a tank and can turn into a beast.”
Next to her, Theon looked nothing short of unstoppable. It was one of the many things that had attracted her to him. For someone so huge and so clearly capable of danger, he often moved with a quiet gracefulness.
“I don’t think we’ll find whatever did this lurking here. By now, they’re probably on the way to the next ranch.”
Her heart thudded in her ribcage. “I need to head to Svenson and Sons.”
She was turning to leave when Theon said, “I’ll go with you. If there’s any danger, you’ll need my help.”
Janice’s brows knit together. “But there’ll be people around. You can’t shift in daytime with the townsfolk watching.”
“I don’t need to shift to protect you.” He folded his powerful arms across his chest as if for emphasis. “We’ve already seen what this creature—if that’s what this is—can do. All this death and chaos...I’m not going to let you walk alone into that.”
“I’m a police detective with a gun.” She patted the holster on her waist. “Pretty sure I can handle myself.”
He took one look at the holster and scoffed. “You need my help. We’re already in this together, and I have every intention of seeing it to the end. You’re getting my help whether you think you need it or not.”
She bit back a response. It wasn’t like he was wrong, anyway. What chance did she stand against a supernatural threat she hadn’t even yet seen? It was the reason she’d asked for his help to begin with. This was more his territory. Now, more than ever, she needed him by her side.
Janice was vaguely aware that she was slowly drawing closer to him, but she made no move to step back. Her breath hitching in her throat, she gazed up into his face, her eyes locked on his. For the next few seconds, the world around them seemed to dissolve into absolute silence.
Theon’s gray eyes bored back into hers, and for a moment she thought she could hear her heart pulsing in her ears.
How many times had he looked at her that way?
His gaze always had the same effect, on her, sending flutters through her insides.
His lips parted slightly, as though he had something else to say, and it took Janice a great deal of willpower to keep from leaning even closer.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll head to Svenson and Sons together.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” she repeated. She drew a deep breath, unable to tear her gaze away from his face. She bit her lip, unsure what to do next, unsure what she wanted to do.
No, she was very sure about what she wanted right now. She wanted to stand on her tiptoes and put her lips to his. She wanted to feel those strong arms of his wrapped around her waist, crushing her body to his.
But right now, did it really matter what she wanted?
Especially since what she wanted also happened to be a straight trip to problems she’d been happy to be done with three months ago.
Besides, what were the odds that he’d even want anything intimate with her?
She might as well have rid herself of those chances when she dumped him.
No guy with a good head on his shoulders would want anything to do with her after something like that.
“Can you find out who’s responsible for this?”
The voice broke through her thoughts, snapping her back to attention. It was Martha. The woman had drawn nearer, her hands clasped in front of her, a miserable expression on her face.
“I, uh...” Janice blinked at the ranch owner for a few seconds. “Of course. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Martha gave an almost silent sniff. “Thank you both.”
She turned and walked away. Janice let her eyes follow the woman as she headed toward the house. Then it dawned on her that she was still standing dangerously close to Theon. She stepped away without so much as a glance in his direction.
“We should head to Svenson’s now,” she said. “If there’s a chance we can prevent at least one attack, I’d like to take it.”
She breathed a relieved sigh as she headed for her car. Saved by Martha. With everything going on, the last thing she needed was to get tangled in a web of emotions involving her ex.
Still...for a second there she could’ve sworn she’d seen something different in his eyes as they held each other’s gazes. A flicker of emotion, a hint of vulnerability. Her heart gave a tiny leap. Had she imagined it?
Most likely. Because the Theon she’d dated had never really been one for feelings.