Page 48

Story: The Wolf of My Eye

“Okay, so if he was intimate with the woman, maybe they did so in the shower. Was Anne able to smell any wolves in there?”

“Yeah, the woman who had been there was a wolf too. At the time, Anne hadn’t thought anything of it until she saw the security video,” William said. “I wonder if he met up with or ran into the guy after seeing the woman and that was the end of him. What about the autopsy? What did it reveal?”

“He was manually strangled and died before he went into the water. He had no identification on him, so it was good that we recognized him from his driver’s license. He had a cell phone in his pocket, but because of the corrosive nature of salt water, it was probably destroyed. I have it drying out though, just in case.”

“That’s a good idea, in case the other guy texted him to have the meeting. Or called him,” William said. “Even the identity of the woman might be on it.”

“Right.”

“Anne gave Iverson and me the information on Gus Anderson. He was here alone. We’re looking on social mediaand searching Glasgow for his family and friends. We haven’t located his brother, Ike, either. He’s not answering his cell phone, but we assume Ike was the one who picked up the ID. We don’t know if Gus had a job in Glasgow or not, so we’re still checking. We want to know if he had any known contacts in this area—like the guy who met up with him, if it wasn’t his twin brother.”

“Okay, so Gus was a wolf. What we need to know is if the guy who murdered him was too,” Robert said.

“Well, we’ll have to take care of him no matter what, right? I mean, we can’t tell humans what happened to Gus, and so we can’t let human law enforcement deal with him.”

“True. We need to know if anyone else was involved also,” Robert said. “But I’m also wondering about this strange business with Maisie’s former boyfriend being here and losing his phone in the garden.”

“Yeah, it makes me wonder if he lost it when he was grabbing the stone from the garden. If he killed Gus, then maybe he meant to get rid of his driver’s license so if anyone did happen to find the body, they wouldn’t know who it was. But then Jude lost his phone and Gus’s driver’s license in the garden. We need to learn if he knew Gus. Though it could have been a random encounter,” William said, “and something just torqued Jude off.”

“True.”

The shower had shut off in Maisie’s room a while ago, and Robert glanced in that direction.

“Join her. I know I would if I had the same rapport with her that you do.”

Robert smiled. “Good night, William. See you in the morning.”

“Night, Robert.”

Robert headed for Maisie’s bedroom, and when he opened the door, he saw her in bed, under the covers, smiling at him, waiting for him, Jude’s cell phone in hand. She had left the reading lamp on for him. He dug a pair of boxer shorts out of his bag. “I’ll be quick.” Then he was in the shower, soaping off and rinsing off. Once he dried off and put on his boxers, he left the bathroom. He still didn’t know if she wanted the intimacy or just wanted him to sleep with her. He was definitely ready for either.

“Did you learn anything from Jude’s phone?” he asked.

She pulled the covers aside for him, and he joined her in bed.

“There has been no contact between him and Gus. Jude dated a woman named Chelsea, but I couldn’t find any mention of him coming to the inn for any reason or that he was intending to get in touch with me.” Maisie put the cell phone on the bedside table.

“Okay, we’ll figure this out.” As soon as Robert pulled the covers over them, he moved in close, judging her reaction.

She took him in her arms and began kissing him. He was all for the intimacy between them to continue and deepen.

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” Robert said, cupping her face and kissing her deeply. He was glad they were in bed together, having thought of being with her in bed like this since they’d snuggled with each other on the beach. This was much more comfortable, private, and enjoyable. She was soft and warm, and her kisses made him want so much more.

“Don’t stop,” she murmured against his ear.

Already his blood was fired up, his pheromones taking charge, telling her just how much he wanted this with her. Her pheromones were giving him the go-ahead too.

He slid his hands over her pajama shirt, feeling her lovely breasts under the soft cotton fabric. Her nipples grew taut, and he could feel them against his palms, enticing him to go further. He continued to massage her breasts, and she moaned with pleasure. He wondered just how soundproof her walls were or if her sister could hear everything that was going on. Maybe William too.

As if Maisie could read his mind, she broke off their kiss and whispered, “Anne will be listening to music on her headphones. She always does before she goes to sleep.”

“Good.” He didn’t want to disturb her sister, but he really wanted to go as far with Maisie as she wanted to go. He hoped they wouldn’t disturb William.

He slid his hands up her shirt and cupped her breasts, massaging them, loving the feel of her warm, soft flesh in his hands.

They were kissing, tongues sliding over each other’s, mouths pressed together. He slid her shirt off so he could move his mouth to one of her breasts, licking the nipple and then the other. She ran her hands through his hair and sighed.

She seemed lost in his touching her. He was thinking he would love to have her in his bed at home; then there would be no worry if they got rather noisy. He hoped he wasn’t thinking too far ahead of himself here.