Chapter Eight
Charlie Kennedy, Terra-Dactyl Consultant
By the time she reached her office, Charlie was sitting in her chair. Not only that, but he’d put on his Halloween costume. He beamed at Janice as she shut the door behind her, looking beyond pleased with himself, and struck a small pose.
“Look, Mom,” he announced, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m a pterodactyl!”
Janice cracked a small smile. They’d purchased the costume shortly after she picked him up from school.
It was bright blue, with a long beak that covered his forehead like a hat’s brim.
He spread his arms wide, revealing a set of wings with a feathery pattern sewn into them.
The costume had been labeled as “accurate,” and naturally, that had piqued Charlie’s interest even more.
He’d practically begged her to get it for him, and she’d obliged, mostly because she’d been in a great mood about having solved her case.
“It looks great, sweetie,” she told him, trying to mask her exasperation. “Now, if the flying dinosaur could kindly fly out of his mother’s chair, I’m sure she would be very grateful.”
“Pterodactyls aren’t dinosaurs, Mom,” he said with a disapproving shake of his head. But he got out of the chair anyway, taking one of the seats across the table from it.
“Thank you.” With a sigh, she sank heavily onto the chair.
She wanted to share her son’s excitement, but, try as she might, it was impossible to get her mind off the problem at hand.
She’d caught the wrong culprits. How could she have made such a dumb mistake?
The real culprit was still out there, holed up wherever they were hiding, and she was back where she’d been a few days ago, without a single clue as to their identity.
At this point, she might as well just give up the case.
Except that wasn’t exactly an option. Not with a threat like that still out there.
Besides, hadn’t she wanted this case? This was infinitely better than having nothing to do or having to take leave, if she was being honest. At least now she had something to focus on, even if it also happened to be driving her closer to the edge of her sanity.
At least it took her mind off Theon, even if only temporarily.
Theon.
Janice sucked in a breath as the thought of him crossed her mind, and a voice in her head said, Now you’ve gone and done it.
She’d been avoiding thinking about him ever since they left Svenson and Sons yesterday, figuring that letting him linger in her mind longer than necessary would only do her more harm than good.
Especially after what had happened in the barn.
She hadn’t meant to lose her cool then, to snap at him, but if she was being honest, she was glad they’d had that argument.
At least now he knew how she’d felt. She’d made herself as clear as possible, and from the look on his face as she said those words, he’d understood every last thing she’d said.
I had a hard time believing you cared. Each word had hurt as it left her mouth, but she was glad she’d said them.
If only things had ended there.
She hadn’t seen that kiss coming. If she had, maybe she could’ve circumvented it. But it had happened so suddenly, and she’d been powerless against the desire that cascaded through her as his lips touched hers. Even now, just thinking about the warmth and hardness of his body against hers...
No need for that now. She struggled against the memory, trying to force it to the back of her mind.
Janice wished she could say that they’d broken apart in time, but they’d kissed for long enough to make things weirder between them.
Hell, they’d been minutes or even seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off in that barn.
It was bad enough that they were exes working together, but that kiss had taken things to an entirely new level.
Which was why, when she realized the teenagers might be connected to the case, she’d been more than happy to end their temporary partnership. She’d figured that she wouldn’t have to face him again now that she’d cracked the case. She didn’t need his help anymore.
Boy, had she been wrong.
Those kids weren’t responsible for the attacks on the ranches, it turned out. The case was far from having been solved. And what did that mean for Janice? Was she going to have to work with Theon again? She’d told him she no longer needed his help, but she’d clearly been wrong about that, too.
She suppressed another sigh. It wasn’t like she could just head down to Green Sanctuary, hat in hand, and ask for his help again. Or could she? What were the odds that he wouldn’t turn down her request this time?
The way she saw it, probably next to zero.
“What are you worried about, Mom?” Charlie’s voice yanked her out of her thoughts.
She glanced across the desk at him. Charlie had the beak of his costume pulled lower over his forehead, his eyes peeking out at her from underneath.
“Worried?” She forced a smile. “I’m not worried, honey.”
Charlie shook his head. “You get a look on your face when you’re worrying about things.”
Of course he’d notice something like that. Janice suspected her worrying expression involved a lot of scrunching up. She regarded her son for a few seconds. He knew Theon, but that didn’t mean she needed to have a therapy session with her ten-year-old kid about her ex-boyfriend.
“It’s just this case I’m working on,” she told him. “Don’t you worry about me, kiddo.”
“I’m not worried—you are,” the boy replied in a heartbeat. “Want to talk about it?”
Of course he’d say something as smart-mouthed as that. Janice couldn’t resist cracking a grin.
“Can Charlie the terra-dactyl help me solve this case?” she asked.
“Pterodactyl.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“What happened with your case, Mom? I can help.”
She stared at him a moment longer. Just what kind of help could someone his age offer her regarding this case?
Then again, Charlie wasn’t a regular ten-year-old kid, was he? If she was being honest, he was probably smarter than people twice his age. Besides, who said kids couldn’t be helpful in their own way?
“I don’t suppose you have any idea what kind of creature could attack farms without leaving any tracks to follow and leave several holes in the ground at the scene,” she said, deciding to humor him. “A creature that harms vegetables and animals.”
Charlie tapped his chin at that, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was deep in thought. It seemed as though minutes had passed by the time he finally responded.
“Holes in the ground?” he said. “It’s probably how it gets around. By burrowing. There are animals that do that.”
He wasn’t wrong. Except that a regular animal wouldn’t also have the presence of mind required to serially slaughter livestock and destroy farm produce.
There was something supernatural at play here.
But she wasn’t about to try explaining that to her son.
Charlie might be a smart kid, and she doubted he’d have much trouble accepting the supernatural, but some things were better left unsaid.
“Anything else?” she enquired.
There was a longer pause this time. Then he said, “Well, it’s probably burrowing because it’s afraid of being seen or caught by humans.
Like mammals in the Mesozoic era. They stayed small, and it helped them survive the dinosaurs...
I think.” He blinked for a few seconds, then nodded.
“Yeah. They must’ve burrowed and f...foraged for food. ”
That was probably the case with her culprit. But this culprit also had to have some measure of intelligence; otherwise, these attacks wouldn’t be possible. Something still wasn’t quite adding up.
“Are the farmers having issues?” Charlie wanted to know. “Is that what this is about?”
That was a gross oversimplification, but Janice nodded. “Yes, something like that.”
He tapped his chin again. “Well...why don’t they get scarecrows or something else, like garden gnomes? That’ll scare off whatever’s hurting their farms.”
“No, I don’t think...” She trailed off then, a thought suddenly occurring to her, and as she shot to her feet, she could practically feel the light bulb popping up above her head.
“Charlie, you’re a genius!”
His eyebrows rose slightly. “I am?”
“Of course you are.” She grinned at him. “I think I know what this creature is.”
Charlie smiled back. “See? I told you I could help, Mom.”
She just might’ve figured out who—or what—exactly the culprit was. And she’d been right all along: it was a supernatural.
Now all she needed was to get Theon back on the case.
***
Theon dug his paws into the earth, springing off the ground into the air, over a large fallen tree trunk, and landed easily on all fours.
Without missing a beat, he continued racing through the woods, darting between the trees and launching his lithe body over several more logs and rocks in his path as he made his way through the density.
The woods were almost a complete blur, bright colors and powerful scents flooding his senses.
Thirty minutes. That was how long he’d been in these woods, speeding like a rocket through the trees. He’d left his clothes near the edge of the woods, shifted into jaguar form, and taken off.
Which was just as well. The longer he ran, the wind against his fur, the clearer his mind seemed to get. With so much to think about, going for a run had been his best option.
It had been a couple of hours since he and Bryon finished setting up the canopies on the ranch. Overhead, the sun was already slowly making its descent toward the horizon. Birds streaked across the sky in a V-formation, and a bright glow settled over the woods, turning the leaves almost golden.