Page 60 of Wild Wolf

With my elbow, I nudged Jack. "Told you she’d come."

“He doesn’t look happy to see me,” Taryn said.

Jack’s frown turned into a smile. “I’m very happy to see you. But you just cost me a hundred bucks. Which I’m more than happy to pay.”

“He didn’t think you’d come,” I said.

“Ye of little faith,” she teased. “In truth, I thought about canceling, but here I am.”

“What are you drinking?” JD asked.

“Cosmopolitan.”

With a smile, JD replied, “Coming right up.”

Jack darted away, leaving Taryn and me alone in the crowd for a moment.

"I'm glad you decided to come.”

"It's against my better judgment," she said in a playful tone.

"I promise you'll have fun.”

"Searching for a suspect?"

"Why not look in the obvious places?”

The DJ introduced another contestant. This gentleman's costume was a little better, but it was still just a guy in a suit—a cheap one at that. He pranced the stage, showing off his costume, but wasn't nearly as entertaining as the previous character.

"Do you really think you’re gonna find the killer here?" she asked, looking around with doubtful eyes.

I shrugged. "Never know until you try."

The music continued, and the DJ called up another contestant. This costume caught my eye. It was impressive. The guy was on stilts that were integrated into the costume. The oversized paws were lifelike and realistic. The fur fine and textured. The creature was big and muscular. With the stilts, he easily stood 7 1/2 to 8 feet tall. The snout was ferocious, with glistening fangs. Yellow eyes moved with servos. The lips and ears moved. I’m not sure how the guy coordinated it all from inside the suit, but it must have taken a lot of programming. The suit had long, sharp, black claws that looked like they could do damage.

I glanced around at the other contestants. This guy was a shoo-in for the prize. It was the best costume in the house by far.

“Mrs. Crowe,” a young man said as he approached. “Funny seeing you here.”

Taryn smiled. “Well, I do have a life, and sometimes I get talked into living it.”

The young man laughed.

“Oren, this is my friend, Deputy Tyson Wild. Tyson, Oren.”

I smiled and shook the kid’s hand.

He was a slender guy with wavy dark hair that hung to his ears, brown eyes, and a narrow face. He wore thick, black-framed glasses and was dressed casually in a polo shirt and jeans.

“Just here to see the show?” Taryn asked.

“I thought I’d come out and see who takes the prize.”

“Oren is a costume designer,” Taryn told me. “He took my class last semester. He wants to go to Hollywood after graduation and work for the VFX studios.”

“Sounds exciting,” I said.

“It will be exciting if I can get a job out there. The industry is kind of in a slump right now. Will be interesting to see how things develop.”