Her Perilous Wolf by Julie Steimle (free e books to read .txt) 📖

same.”

Vincent frowned. He was sure he had told Tommy about this.

“So we just need to find the address of Randon and Silvia Spade,” Michael said, rising from his seat.

On that, Vincent cringed as he said again, “I don’t have it.”

However Michael smirked with a nod. “I think I know who might. Don’t worry.”

Tommy also rose, nodding to Mr. and Mrs. Bruchenhaus. “We’ll find her. And if she truly is in trouble, we’ll bring her back.”

Aunt Clover followed Tommy as he went to the door, looking puzzled. “What do you mean if she is truly in trouble? She was babbling like she was in a delirium.”

“Or under the influence of a drug, such as a sedative,” Tommy said with an apologetic nod, reaching for the front door knob. Michael had followed him, Vincent behind him. “Dreams can get weird, and the medication might have induced it all.”

“Oh….” Uncle Zachary nodded. “That’s a good point. Audry didn’t really like that doctor, besides.”

Yet Aunt Clover did not seem too sure. Intuition, most likely. Vincent would not put it past her to know something was up. Audry certainly would be still agitated after learning Rick was a werewolf. It had been in his dreams.

When they stepped out the front door, they bumped straight into Doug who was just coming in.

“Vincent!” Doug grinned at him, then took in Tommy and Michael. “Let me guess, my mother called you in too.”

Vincent nodded, yet peeked to his aunt and uncle. “Yes. But Audry isn’t here.”

“What?” Doug rushed up to his mother. “Wait. What happened?”

“Audry climbed out the window,” his father said, glad to see him.  

“With that dog,” her mother added with a tired nod.

“But she left a note,” his father tagged on.

Clover frowned at her husband.

Doug chuckled, then looked to Vincent again who was hanging on. Vincent’s traveling companions were urging him to go, yet Vincent said to Doug, “We’re going to see if Audry is with her old roommate Silvia.”

Nodding, Doug asked, “Do you need me to come with you?”

Yet his mother interjected, “No. Doug, can you search someplace else? More eyes might mean we’ll find her quicker.”

He sighed. “Ok. Where do you want me to look?”

“She mentioned she was going to visit a friend near New York,” his father said. “Do you know any of Audry’s New York friends?”

Doug thought for a minute about Troy, then Randon. He nodded. “I know a few. But I’m not sure which ones she would visit. There’s her old roommate Silvia—”

“We’re going there,” Vincent said, raising a hand.

Nodding, Doug thought more. “Well then… um, there’s her married friend Jessica Mason—the one who was the cop? What’s her married name now?”

“Cartwright,” Michael Toms replied with a grin. “And I can get you their address if you want.”

“You have it?” Zachary Bruchenhaus drew in an astonished breath. “How is that possible?”

Grinning wider, Michael answered, “Because, coincidentally, both Jessica and Andrew are good friends of mine. I was at their wedding.”

Vincent recalled as Michael said that, that both Jessica and Andrew were members of the Holy Seven. Of course Michael would know them.

“And who are you?” Doug asked, recalling the name ‘Andrew Cartwright’. It was that red-haired friend of Rick Deacon’s, the one who had been struggling with crazy Tom Brown when Rick had been in the hospital after the car crash. He had stopped Tom from writing the word fool on Rick’s forehead.

Nodding, Michael extended his hand. “Michael Toms.”

Doug took it with a firm grip, finding the name familiar, though he could not place it. Michael’s hand was uncommonly warm.

“And this is Thomas Whitefeather,” Michael thumbed toward Tommy.

Tommy waved, then extended his hand for a shake. Doug gripped it, glancing to Vincent to silently ask how he met these men. However, Vincent good-naturedly waited for the introductions to end so they could go on their way.

“I’ll get you that address,” Michael said, taking out a business card from an inside coat pocket. He also whipped out a pencil. Doug watched him, amazed at him. Michael seemed to have this self-contained, well-rounded sort of control about him. It reminded him a little Andrew Cartwright, actually. And he noticed that Vincent was standing a little awkwardly with him, as one who was with a new friend he was not quite sure of.

Then Doug saw the red crystal Michael was wearing, slipping out from his shirt collar. It was the same exact kind that he had seen Andrew wearing. There was no way it was a coincidence. When Michael handed him the card, Doug also noticed a scar on Michael’s palm. He did not get a good look at it though.

All four men headed back to their cars. As they walked, hearing the front door to the house shut, Tommy asked Doug, “What kind of research are you doing with Troy Meecham?”

“You know him?” Doug halted a step.

Tommy nodded. “Yes. I am also a Gulinger alumnus. I graduated several years ahead of him, but I remember when he entered the school. He was twelve.”

Doug sighed, shaking his head.

“What has he told you?” Tommy asked before Doug could get to his car.

Meeting his gaze, Doug said, “We’re researching a blood condition, trying to find a cure for it.”

“There is no cure for what Troy has,” Michael interjected, watching Doug’s face intently.

Knowing Troy was a vampire, Vincent looked to Michael. He peeked to Doug, trying not to sweat.

“I know,” Doug said with a weary shrug. “I’ve… yeah… I’ve seen it. But what we are currently working on is a cure for the bites.”

“Bites?” Vincent felt chills go up his arms and the back of his neck.

Doug nodded to him, holding back something while watching his cousin carefully. Both of them wondered if the other knew about Troy’s ‘vampire’ condition.

“What about the bites?” Michael asked, professionally curious.

“Well,” Doug rounded the front end of his car to the driver’s side, “They don’t heal, for starters. But… and this is the point of the research—we have found a way to maybe remove the wound so it will heal.”

“Remove the wound?” Tommy echoed, almost dazed over it. “Isn’t that the same as trying to remove a hole by digging a deeper hole?”

Chuckling, Doug nodded. “Kind of. But imagine it is more like removing a tumor, or removing a wart. Some of the flesh is infected, some isn’t. It needs to be frozen, made inert, and then removed through excising or cauterizing.”

“Does it work?”

Tommy took in a breath. Michael looked deeply interested. But Vincent had said it. Vincent’s heart had pounded, wondering if Doug had performed a miracle.

With a hopeful shrug, Doug opened his car door. “Well, our patient is on day four with no regression. Mind you, we are only doing shallow wounds right now. This gives us a margin for error.”

Michael nodded. “Who’s your patient?”

Doug shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t disclose that.”

“Are you working with just Troy on this?” Tommy pried.

For a moment, Doug paused, considering his words. He finally shook his head and replied, “No. We are also working with an expert in unusual bites. It’s the same doctor who treated my daughter for cougar bites.”

“Cougar bites?” Tommy lurched in a stare, leaning against their rent-a-car.

Vincent nodded to himself, knowing whom his cousin was talking about. “Oh… I see. Did you call him?”

Doug shook his head. “No. Troy knew him. Back then, the doctor had come to Wyoming at the behest of Mr. Deacon.” He then looked to Tommy. “Maybe you know him also. William McAllister?”

“Will McAllister?” Michael’s eyes went wide.

Surprised, Doug looked to him. “You know him?”

“I know his sister, Eve.” Michael grinned. His shoulders squared cheerfully, pleased.

This time, Doug stared. He closed his door and walked up to Michael. “You really know her? They’ve told me things about her.”

Shaking his head, Michael looked to Vincent. “I think he knows a lot already. Do we want to include him in what we are researching?”

Also looking to Vincent, Doug whispered, “Researching? What are you researching?”

But Tommy interrupted. “What have they told you about her? And for that matter, the blood condition you are studying?”

Pressing his hand to his forehead, Doug drew in a weary breath. He shook his head. Peeking to them, he said, “Ok, I’m not sure what it is I am supposed to believe here. I know what I see when I look at the blood. And I know what they call it. But…” He shook his head lower, staring blankly at the ground.

Michael and Tommy exchanged looks. Vincent could see they did not think it was wise to induct Doug into their project after all. Doug was still thinking in terms of the tangible world and not in intangible. Michael said, “Eve has a rare condition that made it so she sunburned really easy. She has the appearance of… well, people used to call her a monster to her face in school. I met her while in high school.”

Doug and Vincent both stared at him. Neither of them knew this.

“You went to school with Eve McAllister?”

Michael laughed as both of them had said it in chorus. He nodded. “For a week. Just a week. I was visiting someone in their town. Long story. The point is, her rare blood pathology is also incurable. But she’s a good friend of mine. I was invited to her wedding until… well, something happened. Rumor has it, she’s in Africa right now.”

Doug nodded.

But Vincent froze. It had been bothering him. He could now ask it. “In Africa? You don’t think that Eve might have met—”

 “Your cousin?” Michael blinked on that thought. He tilted his head. “It never occurred to me… but, it is possible. But it is an enormous continent, you know. You can fit China and the US into Africa and still have room to spare.”

However, Tommy laughed, shaking his head. “True, but similar people are drawn to similar places.”

Nodding to himself, Doug went back to his car. He opened the driver’s side door again.

Up drove a sea-green Cooper Mini alongside them. Vicky rolled down the window, calling out. “Hey! Vincent! When did you get back?”

Vincent waved to Selena who was smiling at him through the window, but said to his sister, “Today. And only just. Are you here to help Aunt Clover and Uncle Zach find Audry?”

Vicky nodded with a sigh. Selena pulled the car further ahead and to the curb. Vicky quickly hopped out as soon as they parked. When Selena slid out from the seat, her eyes took in Michael and then Tommy. She smiled at Tommy as she shut her door. “Well, well, well…”

Tommy grinned back with a slight bow. “Miss Davenport.”

Michael eyed her critically, neither smiling, nor frowning. She peeked to him again, yet spoke to Vincent. “So… What happened? Spill. Audry was happy to be home when we left her here. She requested we take her home. Otherwise, I would have taken her to my place.”

Vicky grinned at her, nodding. She was positively cheerful. It was startling for Vincent to see, actually. Vicky was usually cautious when it came to making friends, but apparently she had taken to Selena as if they had been twins separated at birth.  

“Um, I’m sorry,” Michael said to Vincent’s sister. “We haven’t been introduced. I’m Michael Toms.”

Vicky blinked up at him, her eyes taking in his face, suit, and long coat. She blushed. “Vicky Williams.”

Vincent noticed that blush pass from her to Michael. Somehow, it alarmed him more than those two men eyeing Audry’s picture. He cleared his throat. “Um. Excuse me. But we all have to coordinate this search.”

“Is she even missing?” Selena asked him with a sigh. “She is an independent woman who had just been in Africa all by her lonesome. I think she can manage.”

Michael and Tommy chuckled. Selena had a point.

“It’s not that,” Doug groaned, shaking his head. “My mom thinks her head is a little turned. She’s worried Audry is not in the right mind frame. She’s just recovered from an African disease, for pity’s sake.”

“Your mom? Or your sister?” Selena asked.

Doug cast her a weary look.