Page 8 of Kin of the Wolf

“Well…” He crooked his finger and pointed toward the corner of the building. “I need to show you what’s been going on in the parking lot.”

“Besides birds defiling your Mercedes?”

He scowled at me. “Yes.”

He started to lead me away but noticed the robe and paused. “Uhm, should you get dressed first?”

“Let me grab some flip-flops.”

He looked scandalized that I might wander the property in a robe, but it was early on a weekend, so I hardly thought the property-manager dress code applied.

Duncan leaned out, his torso still bare, and looked at Bolin, whose expression grew evenmorescandalized.

While slipping my bare feet into my flip-flops, I noticed that most of the bacon and eggs had disappeared while I’d been speaking with Bolin. All that remained was a plate containing a modest portion. Averymodest portion. Having Duncan over wasdefinitelylike sharing a home with a teenager.

I swatted him on the chest before stepping out of my apartment. “Find yourself some clothes by the time I get back, and I’ll go to the pond with you.”

“Really? You’re ready to take on an adventure-filled mission?”

I was ready to not be home if the Sylvans came by. Yes, it was cowardly, and I knew I would have to speak with them eventually, but they wouldn’t necessarily expect me to be here on the weekend. If I avoided the complex, I might have until Monday to figure out… whatever I could figure out to tell them. I couldn’t admit I was a werewolf with werewolf problems, but I didn’t want to lie. Being evasive with the police had been bad enough. The Sylvans were the people who’d paid my salary for years. Fordecades.

“Yeah,” was all I told Duncan. “And I need to buy some more eggs from the convenience store. A werewolf with a stomach the size of a football stadium devoured all mine.”

“You should pick up eggsandbacon,” he said without commenting on the rest.

“Do you want to make a list for me?”

He shook his head, but then raised a finger. “Maybe some dark chocolate too.”

“High-quality chocolate can’t be purchased at a convenience store.” I started after Bolin but halted before turning the corner and frowned back at Duncan. “Did you invade my chocolate stash?”

Duncan lifted his hands. “Certainly not, my lady. I know you cherish your sweets.”

“Only the sweets that I specifically tuck into the cabinet by the sink.” And in the leasing office, and in the maintenance shed by the lawn mower, and in the glove compartment of my truck during months where melting wasn’t a problem… “The dark-chocolate variety.”

“Yes, I see why you enjoy such fare. And I wouldn’t presume to sample yours without permission.”

“But consuming all my eggs was okay.”

“I’ve not noticed you gently caressing eggs in your pocket the way you do your chocolate bars.”

“Idon’tdo that.” I hoped I didn’t.

Duncan smiled and spread his raised arms, turning the gesture into a deep bow.

Shaking my head, I hurried around the corner. Bolin had been kind enough to get up early, at least by his standards, and bring me that warning. If he had something else to warn me about, I shouldn’t impolitely dillydally.

When I caught up to him, he stood on the walkway between the leasing office and the parking lot. With his chin gripped in his hand, he watched two women in their twenties boxing up gear and zipping electronic equipment into bags.

“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.

One of the women looked over—the redhead Bolin had admired—and waved cheerfully. She didn’t look like a person in the middle of committing a crime or enacting nefarious plans.

“You’re a little late to witness it,” Bolin said, “but it was a stakeout.”

“Were they watching for criminals?”

“Ghosts.”

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