Page 67 of Wolf's Mark

I was silent.

Finally, I was able to ignore her altogether, taking my time when I could have easily finished at least twenty minutes earlier.

I didn’t see the agent. Evidently, she’d left without saying goodbye.

“Damn you. I refuse to be used again. Say it again, Sedona. I refuse to be used.” Yes, my voice echoed, which was creep enough. It was time to get the hell out of here.

I grabbed my purse and keys, heading out to the parking lot.

Wouldn’t you know it? The agent was waiting for me by her vehicle.

“You’re right in that I owe you an explanation as promised,” she said. Even outside she was keeping her voice hush-hush. “First. I will make certain the previous victim’s samples are returned.”

That made me look around, curious if some government agency had now figured out a way to bug the atmosphere. “Yes, you do owe me both, yet I only want the truth, not some trumped-up story about bad drugs.”

She was already weary from the investigation. I could tell by the dark circles under her eyes. “There’s a Waffle House a few miles away from here. We’ll meet there so we can talk in privacy.”

Who the hell did she think was here? I gathered she didn’t want to be in the morgue any longer.

The Waffle House was in a less than stellar part of town, if there was such a thing in what I’d considered the safest town in the entire country.

Until now.

It really hadn’t hit me that two bodies had been found in or around my little town. She didn’t wait for me to agree or disagree before heading to her car. I had a feeling it was a take it or leave it situation.

Fine.

Maybe I didn’t want to learn the truth. Or maybe I did.

The entire situation was bugging me.

She was already out of the parking lot before I could climb into my car. Before I closed my driver’s door, I used the dim overheadlight to stare at myself in the mirror. “You’re nuts. You know that.”

I was if for no other reason than I was talking to myself.

Against my better judgment had been a way of life the last few years. As usual, I couldn’t seem to pull myself away; my curiosity would eventually kill the cat.

Me.

I’d know if the woman was lying. I was usually good at that.

Even if I ignored the clues of common sense.

The agent was already inside the restaurant when I pulled into the parking lot. There was also something creepy to me about entering an empty diner in the middle of the night. There’d been a Waffle House close to campus. The few times I’d gone out with friends when Daniel had been lucid and willing to babysit had often ended up at the location sucking down coffee and filling our faces with waffles.

That was different. There’d be at least six of us, usually four of them males. Safety in numbers. We had a possible serial killer on the loose and I was meeting her in a bad part of town.

She was sitting all the way in the back. Who did she think was going to pay any attention to the two of us? I didn’t even see anyone behind the counter. Another eerie feeling popped goosebumps down both arms. It felt as if we were being watched. I couldn’t ignore the feeling although I’d checked to ensure I hadn’t been followed.

But beasts of the night ran through the woods. Right?

Exhaustion was starting to turn into ridiculous giddiness.

I slid into the seat across from her in the booth, more anxious than I’d been before.

Suddenly, a girl appeared as if from thin air. She immediately turned over two of the coffee cups on the table, pouring us both a cup before placing a fresh silver pot of cream in ice on the surface.

She walked away without saying a single word.

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