Part 42 (1/2)
A dead woman lay within. Her brown hair was wrapped around her neck a few times, but the ends brushed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Between them a stain the shade of mahogany bloomed on her once white s.h.i.+rt. She was a big girl. She barely fit inside.
I'd only seen her once before, and under vastly different circ.u.mstances-she'd been alive-yet still I knew her.
”Mistress June.”
”Now I have the most witch kills,” Jeremy said, and slammed the trunk.
Chapter 26.
Raye appeared in the doorway of the motel. She frowned at the rifle in Owen's hand. ”Where's Becca?”
Owen's gaze swept the cars in the lot, recognizing none of them. ”I was hoping she was here.”
Worry cast over Raye's face, and she beckoned him inside. Everyone who'd been there earlier remained.
”No one's heard from her?” Owen asked.
”Not since she left with you,” Raye said.
”Her car's gone, and there wasn't any sign of a struggle.”
”You left her?”
Owen had no excuse. He just nodded.
Fury sparked in Raye's eyes. Her fingers twitched. Owen took a step back, even though he hadn't meant to. Bobby took Raye's hand. ”Won't help.”
”I'll feel better.” Her gaze remained on Owen.
”We need him. Conscious.”
She gave a sharp nod. Owen had the feeling he'd just avoided grave bodily injury, and he'd have deserved it.
The fed took the rifle from Owen and set it in the corner of the room. Probably a good idea, though Owen missed the weight of it.
He needed to focus. Becca was gone. Pru was here. Why? His gaze went to the wolf, which stared at Raye as if she were trying to communicate through osmosis.
”I'm not the dog whisperer,” Raye muttered.
”Not a dog,” Bobby pointed out.
”Henry!” Raye shouted.
Everyone waited.
”Anything?” Bobby asked, and she shook her head.
”I could do a spell to bring him here,” she began, and Pru snarled. ”Calm down. I won't.”
”Why not?” Owen demanded. ”Wouldn't he know where Becca was, if she were in trouble?”
”He might,” Raye said. ”Henry's attached to me because we share the ability to speak with ghosts. Pru's attached to Becca because of their shared affinity with animals.”
”Then why is she here when Becca isn't?”
”Pru's not a supernatural wolf.”
”She isn't a natural wolf either.”
Case in point. She was sitting in a motel room with five people and a dog.
”True,” Raye agreed. ”But she can't morph in and out.”
”Like Henry.”
”Right.”
”Get him to morph in,” Owen ordered.
”Henry comes when I call if he can. If he doesn't that means he's involved elsewhere. For all I know he might be saving Becca's life. If I do a spell that drags him here then...” She spread her hands. ”Bad things happen.”
”So we do nothing?”
The unnatural sensation of helplessness nagged at Owen. In Afghanistan he always knew what to do. He was the guy who did it. He saved lives. He had a plan. He was the man. Or at least Reggie was. Unfortunately, as talented as the dog was at finding people and things, he wasn't going to be able to find a Bronco the way he found an insurgent.
Pru got to her feet, her gaze on an empty corner. Reggie growled in that direction.
”Henry,” Raye said. ”Thank G.o.d. We can't find Becca.”
She listened. Pru glanced over her shoulder, a worried expression in her green, human eyes.
”What is it?” Owen asked.
”He can't find her either. He was looking, trying, which was why he didn't come.”
”How can-”
Raye held up her hand, and Owen fell silent. ”The only way to keep him from finding her would be to ward the place where she is.”
”Why would she do that?”
”She wouldn't,” Raye said. ”She couldn't. Becca only discovered who she was yesterday.”
”It's not that hard to ward against ghosts,” Bobby said. ”Rosemary does the trick just fine.”