Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Kari shoved clothes into her suitcase with her cell phone nestled between her shoulder and ear.

“There’s nothing today?” Frustration filled her voice.

“I’m sorry, Miss Pierce, but the airport you’re requesting is small, and departing flights are only scheduled twice a week. The soonest I can get you anything is Thursday at 1:30 in the afternoon.”

The packing stopped, Kari flopped on the edge of the bed and groaned. “Fine, I’ll take it.”

She finished with her reservation and hit end.

On speed dial, Kari called her office.

“Hey, sis,” Dee’s voice echoed over the airwaves. Kari could almost smell the nail polish that most certainly sat on the desk in the small one room office she kept.

“How is everything there?”

“Carter called. He says his wife was out again last night. He’s starting to think you can’t find any dirt on her.”

Kari rubbed the back of her neck and opened her e-mail on her laptop.

“Did you tell him I’m out of town on another assignment?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t seem to care. What is it with these guys?” Dee asked. “They think the world revolves around them?”

“I’m afraid it’s a trait all men have.” Pausing, Kari thought of the men she’d worked for in the last seven years as a private investigator. All of them thought their case was priority. From unfaithful wives, girlfriends and even boyfriends to backstabbing employees and stealing maids, it was the end of their world if she couldn’t solve the case within three days.

“Tell Mr. Carter I’ll be in on Thursday.”

“Ahh, why so long?” Dee whined and Kari cringed.

“Airline delay.”

“Can’t you find another flight?”

“There aren’t any. Hold down the fort. And none of those three hour lunches.”

Dee laughed, yet Kari sensed her kid sister had already taken advantage of her absence.

“You’re a slave driver.”

“Well, go back to school and you won’t have to work for me.” It was a constant argument. One Kari knew her sister would blow off.

“I’ll take care of everything.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Safe flight, sis. See ya Thursday.”

Kari felt her heart soften, “Love you, nut.”

“Bye.”

On a deep sigh, she tossed the phone on the bed and resolved herself to a few hours of work on-line before taking a much-needed nap.

Running a Private Investigative Agency was a lot more monotonous than it sounded. Kari considered bringing in another agent at one time, but changed her mind after interviewing all of four candidates. Their inquisitive nature was needed when spying on cheating spouses, but dangerous for her.

Dee didn’t even know she turned furry three nights a month around the full moon. Nor did Kari want anyone else snooping around in her life to figure it out.

Her thoughts drifted to Nick Murdock. He pegged her as more than a tourist the minute he hit the diner door. It would only be a matter of time before he found more to be concerned with than her place of residence. Still, he was tempting. It had been quite a long time since her libido had been scratched. And she couldn’t remember the last time a smile derailed her as Nick’s did.

Kari pulled up her sleeve and looked down at the damage the scumbag from last night had inflicted. Already the edges of her skin were mending together. Healing fast was one of the perks of being a werewolf. It was the first thing she noticed after being bitten eight years before.

Shaking her head at the memories, Kari pushed away from her computer and opted for a shower and a nap before work.

It wasn’t as if she had anything better to do.

~~~~

Having a badge with the three little letters F.B.I. stamped on it had its advantages. Nick fumbled through the yellow pages where he crossed lines through several names. The phone to his ear was ringing.

“Day’s Inn, how can I direct your call?”

“I’m checking to see if one of your guests has checked out yet?”

“What is the guest’s name?” the clerk asked while the tapping of computer keys vibrated through the line.

“Miss Kari Pierce?” Nick found her last name by pulling strings with the local sheriff and the rental car company.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t see any guest by that name.”

“Hmm, I thought for sure she was staying at the Day’s Inn,” Nick lied, scratching off the name in the book.

“Have you tried Dave’s Inn on Twelfth Street?”

“Oh, maybe that was it. Do you have their phone number?”

Scribbled down the number she rambled off, Nick then disconnected the line.

After four more calls, he finally hit gold.

“No, Miss Pierce hasn’t checked out yet, would you like me to connect you to her room?”

“Please.”

The operator made the connection, but Nick hung up on the first ring. Almost immediately, the phone rang again.

“Murdock,” he answered.

“It’s Thompson.”

“Did you find anything on Kari Pierce?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s what you’re expecting?”

Oh, that didn’t sound good. “Any sheet?”

“No, Miss Pierce doesn’t have a record, but her name did come up involving a double homicide.”

Nick felt his neck tighten. “Whose?”

“Her parents, Ron and Susan Pierce. They were attacked by a pack of dogs. Kari Pierce was with them at the time it happened, got pretty messed up herself from the pictures I have here.”

“Attacked by dogs and it was labeled a homicide?” Nick’s pencil tapped on the pad before him.

“According to an eyewitness, the dogs were directed to kill by their owner.”

Nick did his best to hold back the images filling his head. He started to remember bits and pieces about the case. Only it wasn’t a case he actually worked. His brow wrinkled. No, it was one used in case studies for the bureau.

“Send me copies of the file,” Nick instructed.

“They’re already in cyberspace.”

He smiled. Thompson always anticipated his requests.

“Great. Was there anything else on her?”

“No, not really. Looks like Miss Pierce works as a PI in LA.”

Now we’re talking. No wonder she was so quick to get out of his hold.

“Thanks again, Thompson.”

Nick opened the files from his in-box and watched the crime scene photos unfold in front of him. Recognition flooded.

The pictures he had seen before. Ron and Susan Pierce sprawled in the open and dead in the parking lot of a rural department store. Kari Pierce, only eighteen years old at the time, had made it to the backseat of her parent’s car with a younger sibling and escaped the brunt of the attack. But when she realized her parents were being killed, Kari left the car and attempted to save them.

Nick swallowed hard when Kari’s picture came up on his computer. He had seen this picture before. Blood soaked hair with a gash running down the side of her neck, and another above her left eye. Her eyes were most striking. The same piercing blue, only in these photos they appeared haunted by her ordeal.

The first time he had seen these pictures, he remembered thinking, ‘What a shame, her beautiful face forever scarred by the attack.’

His brows pinched together. Yet, she didn’t seem to bear any scars at all. He knew plastic surgery did wonders, but having no scars after such a vicious assault was unheard of.

Nick continued to read the report. At least three dogs were involved, and at one point the dogs turned on each other. In the end, the animals left the scene in two separate cars driven by men who were later apprehended. Before the case went to trial, the men ‘accidentally fell’ in prison and broke their necks.

Snatching his keys from the dresser, Nick headed out the door. Some relief came at knowing where he had seen Kari Pierce before, but now he had other questions.

Questions he planned to ask in person.

~~~~

A national forest truly didn’t have that many options in which to dine. If you arrived in an RV or were set up to camp, then maybe you’d avoid the restaurants. In Nick’s mind, Kari didn’t meet the criteria of ‘camper’. Going with his gut, he drove to the center of town until he found the car Kari had rented. He glanced up at the red and white checkered sign that flashed ‘Pizza’ and smiled. The image of the petite blonde slugging back a pizza, and washing it down with a beer, brought a smile to his lips.

The sky had darkened and the nearly full moon peeked through the clouds casting shadows from the massive trees all around.

Inside, a dated jukebox played a song that had hit big twenty years ago, while families filled the red booths. Shifting his gaze around the room, Nick located the woman who had occupied his mind every minute he wasn’t finishing up his investigation and paperwork on the pervert that sent him into the forest.

By the time his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, Kari’s head popped up and her gaze leveled with his. Her back was to the far side of the restaurant where she had a clear view of the entire establishment. Nick wondered if that was chance or design. He thought the latter was probably the way of things. Kari Pierce, PI struck him as woman who didn’t leave much to chance.

Nick took a step in her direction and noticed a slight twitch of her eye before she dropped her gaze to the food on her plate. He stopped in front of her booth and waited for her to acknowledge his presence. She picked up her beer, ignoring him, and took a long pull.

With slow, measured ease, Kari swiveled her head in his direction and ran it up the length of his body. He had a strong desire to shift his weight in his shoes, but stifled it.

“Evening, Agent Murdock.”

“Kari,” he said, purposely leaving out the last name she hadn’t volunteered earlier in the day.

“Thanks, I’d love to sit,” he said, slipping into the booth opposite her before she had a chance to tell him to get lost. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She picked a piece of sausage off her pizza and popped it into her mouth. Watching the painfully slow movement of her jaw as she chewed the tiny amount of food shouldn’t have been a turn on, but Nick found himself battling down his imaginative libido.

“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”

Kari swallowed the bite of food and chased a tiny fleck of sauce off her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Do most women make it easy for you?”

Yes, actually, they did. “Not always.”

A tiny lift of her chin gave away her thoughts. Nick knew she hadn’t bought his little lie.

“How’s the pizza?” he asked, trying like hell to break through the cold weight of her stare.

Instead of answering, she gave the silver tray a shove in offering.

“Looks like you’re the one asking me to dine with you,” he snickered while reaching for a slice of the loaded pizza.

“The best way to get rid of unwanted guests is to give them what they want so they’ll go away. I’m sure someone told you that in FBI school.”

Nick bit off a bite of pizza and allowed the spices to saturate his mouth before making a comment. “And where did you learn that tip?”

“Life.”

“What happens when you give someone what they want, and they only want more?”

Kari ran her finger along her plate, picked up one of the three pieces of crust sitting on it, then seemingly decided against eating more before pushing her plate away. “Human nature takes a backseat when one’s hand gets burned.”

Nick couldn’t help his thoughts from traveling to the images of the crime scene of Kari’s youth. Bringing up those images now would put an immediate end to this conversation. Yet thinking of those images sharpened his gaze on the woman sitting across from him. Her alabaster skin and piercing eyes derailed his thoughts of scars. She had none. How on earth that was possible, he didn’t know. Maybe the FBI file was wrong. Maybe Kari Pierce wasn’t the girl in those grotesque photos.

The files he’d seen couldn’t be wrong. But maybe he hadn’t seen them all. Perhaps there were more, much more confidential files, on Kari Pierce, PI that weren’t available for his rank and file.

“Sounds like a woman who’s been burned.” The words left his mouth and his stare shifted to the plate in front of him. He knew her secrets and didn’t need her to see that fact in his eyes.

“Why are you here?” Her voice held the edge he knew it would.

“I’m hungry.”

She snorted. The sound surprised him.

“Here I thought you were killing time until you could catch the first plane out of town.”

Something in the back of his mind clicked, but he filed it to consider later. “I have to make sure everything here is finished up before I leave.”

Some of the armor she wore as a shield started to crumble. “How’s that little girl?”

Nick thought of the kid that brought him to the west coast. “She’ll be okay.” God, he hoped so. He could only hope the nightmares of her abduction would fade with time.

For a brief moment, they sat there saying nothing. Then Kari dusted off her hands, placed her napkin on the table, and shifted her cute little ass out of the booth. “Enjoy the rest of the pizza,” Kari said as she prepared to leave.

“You’re going?”

She laughed, a rich sound of pleasure rising from her lungs. Too bad it was at his expense because the sound was pure music.

“All this fresh air makes me tired. Safe flight home.” Kari turned and sashayed her butt out the old mahogany door.

Nick turned in his seat, laughed, then picked up the majority of the beer she’d left behind and drank it down.

~~~~

It wasn’t often Kari had the opportunity to extend her stay when on assignment. A flight delay was as good as any excuse to see the Sequoias. With the nights of the full moon behind her, she didn’t need to stash clothing in the woods for retrieval after the change. Out of habit, Kari always hiked with a complete backpack full of life’s essentials: water, food, clothes, a blanket, lighter, flashlight, and a smutty romance novel was all Kari needed to get by. She didn’t plan on sleeping in the elements, but if night fell she could.

The trail she chose to hike indicated a moderate intensity level of only five miles, with a promised waterfall and spectacular cliff views at the end. The stream she followed for the first two miles was the same one she traversed the night before when rescuing the girl.

The air, no longer thick with fear, felt fresh and clean. It helped that summer storms were in the forecast. Even now, thick white clouds bubbled overhead. She would get wet on the way back, that was a given.

Animals scurried away from the path and her human scent. Some poked through bushes in confusion over the mix of both human and wolf scents her body put off. Animals could sense the subtle differences, where humans could not.

Most days Kari thought of herself as human, but after nights of violence, she knew she wasn’t. Her thinly veiled humanity was an illusion to everyone in her life.

Only a mile into her hike, Kari sensed a presence behind her.

She stopped for a moment and leveled her camera to her eye. The noise behind her stopped. Turning slightly, she noticed that the person following wasn’t in sight. Her keen sense of smell picked up his scent.

“Murdock,” she mumbled. Why is he following me?

A smiled tugged at the corners of her mouth. He thinks he’s so good, but he doesn’t know what I’m capable of. Okay, Mr. F.B.I. let’s see what you can do.

Kari wandered off the trail, and acted as if she had all the time in the world. Within a half an hour, she was certain he wouldn’t be able to find his way back to the well-defined trail.

When he turned his back, she slipped from the path and doubled back. Her footsteps found solid forest floor, keeping her movements as quiet as a fox.

“Son of a bitch,” Nick cursed when she disappeared from sight.

Kari laughed and considered leaving him to fend for himself. Watching him spin in circles for fifteen minutes gave her heart a little lift.

Climbing on a nearby rock, she folded her hands across her chest, and shouted. “Why are you following me?”

~~~~

Nick wasn’t sure if he was relieved or pissed to see Kari standing in triumph over him. He’d just been played. Damn! She is good.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Humph.” Her shoulders shrugged. “Why not walk up to me and talk? Why follow me into the woods?”

“I...” He considered lying, but opted for the truth. “I didn’t think you’d stick around to talk if I did that. I thought my best shot was to get you alone so you couldn’t run away.”

“You’re smarter than you look, Murdock. Your mistake however, is thinking I’ll stick around even in the middle of the forest.” Kari jumped down from the rock with the grace of an athlete and started walking away.

“Wait.” Nick started after her.

Realizing she had a head start on him, Nick jogged to catch up. When she disappeared from sight for the second time, he cursed aloud.

“Damn it, Pierce. Where the hell are you?” A few seconds passed.

“How do you know my name?”

She sounded angry, and close.

“I looked you up.”

“Why?”

Her voice shifted directions.

Nick swirled in a circle. “I told you I knew you from somewhere.”

“We’ve never met, Murdock.”

“I know, but the department has photos of you.”

Behind him a twig snapped. He spun around in alarm.

Ice blue eyes spit cold fire from beneath long, pale lashes. Kari was literally a foot away, and he hadn’t heard her.

“Why?”

“Your parents.”

A flash of pain sparked and went away almost as quickly.

“The FBI was interested in their murders?” She took a step backwards.

“The case is studied due to the weapon of choice used by their killers.”

Kari’s eyes cast to the ground. “Wolves,” the word came out on a sigh.

“The file said dogs.”

“I was there; they were wolves. The police have a hard time listening to details.”

Nick watched as she straightened her shoulders and stared him in the eye.

“Any more questions, Agent Murdock?”

“Yeah, one.”

Kari cocked her head to the side and said, “Shoot.”

“How did you know the missing girl came to us?” Nick didn’t blink, didn’t breathe while he waited for her response. He watched for subtle changes in her stance and eye contact that would give away her feelings. A slightly twitching left eye gave him what he needed.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Bullshit. “In the diner you said you were glad the girl came back to us safe and sound. How did you know she came to us?”

“What are you talking about?” Her eye twitched again.

“Give, Pierce. I know you’re a PI. Where did you get your information? I can’t have the men on my team blowing classified information about a case until we’re ready for it to go public.”

“The key to PI is the word private.” She brushed past him and took two steps before he moved in front of her.

“Privacy isn’t something the FBI acknowledges.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Nick scrambled in front of her and crossed his arms.

Meeting his stare, the corners of her mouth turned into what he would call an ‘almost smile.’

“I overheard someone in the diner.”

“Overheard?” He wasn’t sure he believed her, yet it wasn’t impossible.

“Eavesdropped, really.”

Honed eyes searched hers for dishonesty. “Why lie?”

“It’s in the blood.”

Shifting back on his heels, Nick wondered if she told the truth. Her blonde hair, pulled back in a ponytail, gave her the appearance of innocence.

“Are we done here?”

Nick sighed knowing she wouldn’t tell him more and looked around with the sense of being lost. “Only if you know your way back.”

Now she smiled. White teeth and a slight sparkle in her eye had Nick wondering just how often she cracked into such a grin.

“Follow me, city boy.” Kari took the lead.

Her small frame forged a path through fallen trees and large ferns. There wasn’t a trail, yet Kari walked as if she knew the way.

He didn’t mind taking up the rear. It gave him the perfect view. Cotton, olive-green shorts halted at just the right length, giving way to slender tan legs. Her cute little butt swayed below the backpack she wore as if she had no idea the effect it had on the opposite sex.

Licking his lips, Nick tried his best to think of something else other than the sexy woman in front of him. But it was hard, and so was he.

Less than ten minutes later, they found the trail.

“Well, this is where I get off,” Kari told him.

Nick turned his head from side to side. They were alone on the trail. “Where does this trail lead?”

“There’s a waterfall two miles ahead. That’s what the map said anyway.”

“That’s where you’re headed?”

“Yeah, before I was so rudely interrupted.”

Now it was his turn to smile. “It’s getting late, aren’t you worried about being out after dark?”

“I can take care of myself, Murdock.”

I’ll bet you can. “Since I’m the reason you’re delayed, I feel it’s only right I make sure you arrive home safely.”

Kari closed her eyes and shook her head.

~~~~

Son of a Bitch! Why is he following me? Kari grumbled inside the silence of her mind while marching up the trail and completely ignoring the world around her.

Sequoia trees, three thousand years in the making, didn’t catch her eye. Late summer flowers blooming in small meadows were beyond lovely, but Kari thought nothing of them. Only the man kept her attention.

He bought her story; she knew it. So why the hell was he following her?

They passed groups of sight seeing tourists on the trail heading back to their camps. The sun no longer pelted down on them but lowered to its setting state. Not that they could see the sun because clouds filled the sky. Secretly, Kari hoped the impending bad weather would deter her unwanted companion, and have him heading back. But no, luck wasn’t on her side.

Kicking up dirt and brooding, Kari didn’t realize she met her destination until the pounding water deafened her ears. Stopping mid step, she looked up in wonder.

In front of her was a sheet of water some four hundred feet high. Signs indicated the danger of approaching further, but she headed toward them without hesitation. The sight and power of the waterfall was awesome. For Kari, the beauty of the falls lay in the massive sound it made as she shortened the distance from her to it. With each step, all other noise outside the water simply disappeared. ?

Being a werewolf, Kari had difficulty tuning out everyday noise. Breathing, swallowing, and walking were only a few. Multiply that by every person and animal in a five-mile radius and Kari was never alone with her thoughts.

The noise of the fall drowned it all out. The closer she was, the quieter it became.

Closing her eyes, she tried to hear something, anything. She smiled.

Blessed silence. She let out a long-suffering sigh.

A hand on her arm caught her in complete surprise. That alone had her near tears.

Concern etched into the hard features of Nick’s handsome face.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she couldn’t hear his voice.

She laughed, pulled away from his grip, and moved closer to the pounding water. The spray mixed with small droplets of rain falling from the sky.

Glancing behind her, she saw Nick following every move she made. He slipped on a rock and quickly righted his feet. She kept going.

She pressed forward toward the base of the falls with soaked boots and hair now plastered against her head, mesmerized.

Silent tears streamed down her face. Not since before her parents’ death had she felt alone with her thoughts. Now, at the base of a waterfall, Kari wanted her old life back. Silence was truly golden.

She took another step.

Nick’s hand grabbed a hold and kept her from walking further. Knee deep in water, he turned toward him.

“What...are...”

She couldn’t hear him. Her face broke out in a grin, almost giddy with the fact he had snuck up on her and she hadn’t heard him over the loud falls.

He pointed to the water and back to the path. Kari shook her head.

Tugging her arm out of his grip, Kari slipped on a rock. Nick shot his arm out to steady her.

Upright, his body pressed tight against hers.

Cool, wet clothing clung to both of them. Between the spray and the river, they were soaked.

Kari gazed into the smoky grey depths of his eyes. Slowly, his hands moved from her arm to her waist and pulled her close.

His scent, musk and pine, filled her head. Her lips parted in anticipation.

She wasn’t sure if she invited his move, but she certainly didn’t stop him when his lips crushed to hers.

With eyes shut, and the sound of the falls drowning out the world, all Kari could do was feel.

At first, his lips were almost hard and demanding, but soon they softened. His fingers spread, spanned her ribs, and circled her back.

Passion, his and hers filled the air. For one brief moment, she wondered if he could smell it like she did. Then his hands moved to round her ass and brought her even closer.

His growing desire pulsed between his legs, despite the frigid water they stood in. The animal in her wanted. And it wanted him.

Kari wasn’t sure which one of them broke the kiss, but when they parted, she stared up into startled eyes.

Looking around, Kari noticed a small cave behind the falls. Not only was it convenient, but close.

Nodding in the direction of privacy, Kari didn’t give him much choice but to follow when she started toward the cave.

Her body raged. Why, she didn’t know. She knew from experience not to let her passions go unfulfilled. To do so would bring frustration and pain.

Her past relations were a series of one-night stands. Nick would be no different. A part of her felt lost at the thought. But that was what her life would be.

Who would accept a werewolf as a mate or a wife?