Page 24 of Spark
Annika looked intrigued. “Sure, go ahead.”
“I was wondering—was Laura Tringstad a relative of yours? Did you know her?”
“Oh, you're interested in the murder?” Annika asked. She shook her head. “Laura was a cousin-something-removed of mine, but she died way before I was born.”
Sophie lowered her voice. “If you don’t mind me asking—what kind of shifter was she? Wolf?”
Annika nodded. “All the Tringstads are wolf shifters, and we’re affiliated with the Bearpaw Ridge Pack. I’m not really supposed to talk about it with Ordinaries, but you’re part of the Swanson clan, and you already know all about us.”
“I won’t write about that part,” Sophie assured her. “I’m just trying to figure out a few things that don’t make sense, and I was hoping for a little, uh, context.”
“Fair enough,” Annika said.
“So, I know it was a long time ago, but I was wondering if you knew anything about Laura's murder? I mean, any family stories or stuff that maybe didn’t make it into the newspaper?”
“Oh, of course, I heard all about it from my grandparents and great aunts and great uncles,” Annika said, to Sophie’s delight. “Even before Laura was killed, there was already a huge scandal in the family. I heard that she rejected an arranged mating with another wolf pack in Texas, because she’d fallen in love and decided to mate Silvio Ornelas, which was totally taboo back in those days.”
“Taboo? Why?” Sophie asked, confused. “Was it because the Ornelas family is Latino?”
“Oh no, that wasn’t it,” Annika said. Then she added thoughtfully, “Though, now that I think about it, it probably didn’t help. No, the real issue was the fact that the Tringstads are wolf shifters and the Ornelas clan are jaguars…different shifter lineages, you see.”
“But different types of shifters mate all the time,” Sophie said, confused. “I mean, look at Daniel Langlais and Margaret Swanson. Or Grandma Elle and her mate Justin. And even Sheriff Jacobsen—she’s a wolf shifter like you, but she’s mated to Tyler Swanson.”
“And then there’s me and Roy,” Annika said. “Yeah, things have definitely changed for the better around here, but back then, cross-lineage matings were one of those totally taboo things for shifters.” She sighed. “The story I always heard was that Silvio Ornelas’s family conspired to kill Laura, because they didn’t want to pollute their jaguar lineage with wolf blood.”
“But they were acquitted at the trial,” Sophie pointed out.
“I know. And the Tringstads and the Ornelas clan haven’t been on speaking terms since, though it’s hard to avoid them in a town this small.” Annika shook her head wryly, her brown curls bouncing.
“I can imagine,” Sophie said, dryly.
Annika continued, “My grandparents never stopped insisting that the Ornelas clan had gotten away with murder, and there are still a lot of people around here who believe that. You should have heard my dad and some of the other pack members when Manny Ornelas was elected mayor a few years back! Sheriff Jacobsen—uh, the previous sheriff Jacobsen, Bill— finally had to put on his pack alpha hat and tell them to cut it out. l was actually at the pack meeting where he told all of the old folks that since Silvio and Laura were both dead, each family had suffered enough without keeping a feud going, too. He ordered everyone to let it go and stop talking about it.”
“And did that fix things?” Sophie had her doubts.
Annika chuckled. “What do you think? At least none of the old-timers spend hours rehashing the whole saga at Thanksgiving and Christmas anymore, and thank goodness for that!”
“Thanks, Annika,” Sophie said. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
“Happy to help,” Annika said cheerfully. “Speaking of ghosts, if you ever want to write about another one, there are stories about the police station being haunted, too. You might want to talk to Bill Jacobsen—he’s mentioned that he used to hear odd things in the basement cell block. And apparently some of the suspects held here complained about being awakened by footsteps and the sounds of someone banging on the cell bars, even though no one else was down there at the time.”
“I’ll definitely tell Caitlyn about that,” Sophie promised, though she quailed at the thought of imposing on the town’s intimidating former police chief.
Chatting with friendly Annika was one thing, but asking retired Sheriff Jacobsen for an interview made her stomach clench with nerves.
“Speaking of which,” Annika continued, “Have you talked to Eddy Ornelas about his hotel’s haunting?”
“Itriedto interview him,” Sophie replied, with another twinge. “It didn’t go very well. He asked me to stop stirring up trouble, and to please not write about ghosts and hauntings at his hotel.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. Well, good luck with your article,” Annika said, as they parted ways.
As Sophie drove back to the Grizzly Creek Ranch, she mulled over everything she’d learned today. She’d made some key discoveries and she couldn’t wait to share her information with Chris when she saw him tomorrow.
Chapter Eight
Daniel Langlais and Margaret Swanson’s House
Cougar Lake Ranch
