Chapter 29 #2
“Foxen came from wolven,” Canyon said, even though not everyone believed it, but Timber said their mom had said it was true, and that was good enough for Canyon. “And there’s the half-angel part.”
Trevor eyed him skeptically. “You think foxen and wolven can mate?”
Canyon shrugged. “We clearly don’t know shit about foxen.” He splayed his fingers. “And what about Blake? He’s supposedly part-foxen. That had to happen somehow.”
Trevor stared at him like he’d suddenly grown horns or something, then shook his head. “Mac,” he said. “Give Canyon the rest of the Sage Greene info.”
“She worked at Mugshots for the last year. She was reliable. The address they have on file for her appears to be unlived in, possibly a place to get mail only. She’s 25, almost 26.
Her birth date is Dec 7th. She hasn’t shown up to work for the last week, she never called in to say why, and they haven’t been able to get hold of her.
She’s been fired, effective yesterday.” He pulled a notebook out of his pocket and consulted it.
“She took three days off every month at the full moon, that was a condition of hire.”
Canyon snorted. “She’s a werewolf.”
Mac put his hands out, indicating the houses all around. “If there’s no one here, we’re taking off.” He waved his notebook. “We’ve got another place to check.”
Canyon didn’t answer. He was busy looking up Sage Greene’s driver’s license. Her picture stopped him cold. She was beautiful, with long brown hair, pretty brown eyes, fair skin, and a mischievous grin.
“We’re gone.” Mac hung up, and he and Rogue left the area. Predator’s screen went dark.
Trevor pointed at Canyon. “Briefing.”
Canyon pulled up his map of Spookville on Predator and pushed it toward Trevor.
“Spookville is our name for it. It’s a lot like Street Zero.
As close as we can figure, it was abandoned nine days ago.
There’re 44 houses, a barn, a few sheds, and what looks like a community building.
They’re all clustered together and well-hidden up Crimson Bluff.
The whole place is off the grid with private electricity, water, and sewer. ”
“Hidden?”
Canyon tapped a button and showed several sets of images of the area. The first pictures looked like bare land and forest, and the second images appeared to show the same areas, but with houses standing among the trees.
“Must be with magic or illusion,” Canyon said. “One of Eldred Van Crimson’s ex-wives reported him missing or we still wouldn’t know it existed.”
Trevor nodded. “I’ve read her interview.”
“We drove up there and couldn’t find it. We hiked in on foot. We even had Beckett fly a drone over. Nothing. We thought maybe the ex-wife was crazy or making it up.”
Canyon looked pointedly at Trevor. “She’s human.”
“Crazy right? Apparently foxen marry humans all the time.”
“She gave us directions, and we couldn’t find it, but when we took her out there with us, it was right there, right in front of our faces, right where we’d already been looking.”
“Who owns the land?” Trevor asked.
“This is where it gets interesting. Eldred Van Crimson owns it, and he bought it from Abigail White in 1950 for $10, when it was worth $5300.”
Canyon pulled up all his info on Eldred.
“Eldred “Dred” Van Crimson’s birth certificate says he’s 82.
” He grunted. “That shit’s been forged somehow.
We think he was born closer to 1890. The foxen in Serenity are hard as fuck to find, but we’ve talked to some Van Boeson’s in Chicago and they say he’s at least 120. ”
“You keep saying this place was abandoned,” Trevor said. “But what if they all moved into the Pravus, and they’re marked and ready for war, just waiting for Khain to give the order to invade?”
Canyon shook his head. “Nah, they don’t go willingly.”
“Once they’re marked, maybe they do.”
“I don’t think all of them do—Rex and Soren, sure, but they’re long-time criminals.”
Trevor considered. “Soren didn’t want to go, that’s why Rex took Rogue, to force him.”
Canyon leaned forward. “That proves my point exactly!”
Trevor sat back in his chair, saying nothing.
Canyon shook his head and leaned back in his chair, thinking. He’d never had negative feelings about foxen like some of the other wolven, but he’d never really thought about them much at all. They kept to themselves.
“And Boeson,” Canyon said. “He wasn’t there willingly.”
Trevor shook his head. Boeson was a special case—an anomaly maybe.
He’d lived in the Pravus as Khain’s servant for most of his life, possibly hundreds of years, and he’d escaped when he’d had the chance, but he was an old man, meek and wasted, obviously beaten down and broken hundreds of times over. He didn’t remember much.
Trevor’s cell phone rang, and then his desk phone rang. Trevor silenced his cell phone and put his hand on his desk phone. “Your next step is…?” he asked.
“Break into the community building for overnight surveillance. If that turns up nothing, we’ll set up cameras and move on to our next target.”
“Which is?”
“We’ve got a lead on a possible foxen camp north of the river, but if Abigail White is priority now, we’ll head up Morning Bluff and find the Morning Wood Inn first.”
Trevor’s expression looked doubtful. “If it exists.”
Canyon nodded. “If it exists, we’ll find it. We’ve got Seb’s notes.”
Trevor nodded. “Keep me updated.” Then he picked up his phone, and Canyon was dismissed.