Page 6 of Wild Wolf
He started to step away.
"Keep in mind you’re trespassing. This is a private beach. If you don’t want to spend the night in jail, you’ll tell me what you saw.”
His face wrinkled. "Now, why you want to go and do me like that? You wanna put me in jail? Don't mean a thing to me. I’ll spend the night in lockup. I'll take three hot meals. That ain't no threat.” He paused. “If I tell you something, it's because I want to tell you something. Not because you threatened me.”
I sighed. "I'm listening.”
He lifted his nose and stared at me for a bit, puffing up. "What's it worth to you?”
I gave him an incredulous look. "You’re not really in a position to negotiate right now.”
"The hell I ain't. I got information. Information you need,” he said, pointing that scraggly finger. “I know who killed that girl.”
"How do I know it wasn't you?”
His face wrinkled again. "I'm a pacifist. You'll never meet a kinder, more gentler soul."
"I'm sure,” I said, thick with sarcasm. “Now out with it.”
He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay.” He paused for dramatic effect. With a little sparkle in his bloodshot eyes, he began his tale. “Now, just over yonder," he said, pointing down the trail to the beach. “I was minding my own business when these two came down the trail. I guess they was going for a moonlight stroll on the beach. Looked like a first date to me. They were kind of awkward around each other. You know, they weren’t holding hands yet. Just getting to know each other, asking questions. He still pretended to be interested in what she had to say. They sat down right over there," he pointed again. "He made his move. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think he went a little too far. She wasn't having any of it. Next thing you know, she stormed back toward the trail. He chased after her, grabbed her arm, and tried to stop her. She jerked away. Words were exchanged. I'm guessing she didn't want to get back in the car with him. She tried to walk off. He blocked her and kept her from moving down the trail. So she spun around and took off back to the beach and ran away. He called after her a few times, then I guess he gave up and left.”
“Sounds like a real gentleman,” JD said with a tight jaw.
“She went down and sat on the jetty for about 20 minutes, looking at the stars and the moon, watching the waves come in.” The ragged man pointed another crooked finger. "Now, mind you, I may have dozed off a bit here and there. When I woke up, she had walked back down the beach and gone up the trail. That's when I heard her scream. That thing just tore her up, slashing and clawing at her. Pinned her down on the ground and took a bite out of her neck.”
"What thing?” I asked.
"The werewolf.”
That hung there for a moment.
“What else do you think could have done that?” he said, like considering anything else was absurd.
I gave him an incredulous look. "There's no such thing as werewolves."
He grinned. "There is now.”
4
“How much have you had to drink tonight?” I asked Scruffy.
“No more than usual.”
“How much is usual?”
“Ain’t none of your dang business.”
“You on anything else?” I asked, shining a light in his eyes.
Scruffy squinted and turned away. “Get that damn light out of my eyes. I ain’t on nothing. I’m high on life.”
I stifled an eye-roll.
"I told you it was too much for your tiny little brain to comprehend," Scruffy said.
My face tightened, but I contained my displeasure. “I need to see some ID.”
"Ain’t got no ID. I ain't a prisoner of the state. I'm a free man. You can't brand me like cattle.”
