Accidentally Wolf (18 page)

“
Oh and Clark?
”

“
Yes, Chief?
”

“
Before I leave, I want you to write down your badge number and your immediate supervisor,
”
I told him sweetly.
“
I think I
’
ll be having a chat with them later today.
”

“
Yes, Chief Thomas
.
”
H
e look
ed
like I
’
d
kicked him in the balls. I walked in the house without so much as a backwards look, knowing my team followed me. I heard Officer Clark barking out orders to the rest of the local PD.

“
You so rock, Chief,
”
Davis whispered
,
falling in step with me as we followed the trail of policemen to the scene.

“
Thanks, Davis
.
”
I smil
ed
to myself. If my team doubted I had their back before, they sure as hell didn
’
t anymore.
We walked into the den of the stylish ranch house
.
T
he few policemen that were there got qui
e
t when we
entered
and just stared at us.
“
Clear my crime scene, officers.
”

They quickly left, careful of where they walked. I moved closer to the body
that was lying on the floor
, gesturing to my agents to stay behind me so
as
not to compromise any evidence. It was a man, probably
early twenties
,
with several claw marks
on his body
. Some could be seen
through the ripped gray fabric of his T-shirt
while others were clearly visible on his arms
. Cause of death
would probably end up being bleeding out, especially from the injuries to the throat. Whoever did this was pissed off, clawing up the victim before tearing out his throat.

I took in the details of the scene before me, noting the way the victim was sprawled out on the large rug covering the dark wood floor, how his blood had seeped into the rug
’
s intricate pattern, staining red the twisting curves of the design that were supposed to be white. The rest of the room—the two chairs on either side of the fireplace, the couch with the cluttered wooden end tables beside it—seemed to be in good shape, the only indication of a struggle being the stack of papers that lay scattered on the floor near the leather couch, as if the victim had
been attacked
just as he had been about to sit down.

“
I don
’
t know you
r
training, so I
’
m going to treat you all like newbies until I learn otherwise
.
”
I turn
ed
back to them.
“
Don
’
t take offense in it, okay? I just don
’
t want any mistakes, and I need to get a feel for your knowledge base.
”

“
Fair enough,
”
Coop
er agreed
and I saw the other
s
nodded their heads
as well
.

“
What do you see?
”
I asked
,
stepping to the side
.
“
D
on
’
t get any closer than I did without gloves and booties. We don
’
t want to compromise anything.
”

“
Claw marks are too big for a vampire
.
”
Cooper squatt
ed
down
to get closer to the body
.
“
I
’
d guess shifter, probably cat or wolf given the clawing. Victim tried to defend himself
.
W
e can see that from the claw marks on his arms. So it was a frontal attack, still could have been taken by surprise
, but he got a look at the attacker first.
”
He pointed out what he was talking about as he went.

“
Harris, check with the locals
to see
if they found any sign of forced entry
,
”
I
ordered
,
watching him take notes.
“
What makes you say cat or wolf, Cooper?
”

“
Claw marks are too big for anything else, like a bear shifter,
”
he answered thoughtfully.
“Bears have much larger paws but their actual claws aren
’
t as long.
And I can
’
t think of any other shifters that have claws that could do this type of damage.
”

“
Why rule out vamps?
”
Davis asked
,
leaning next to Cooper.

“
Vampires hands can turn into claws
,
”
he answered, before shaking his head.
“
But they don
’
t get any bigger than the size of their hands. It
’
s more like our nails grow really long and
turn into something unbreakable. These marks are too far apart and too deep.
”

“
Harris you
’
re getting this all down, right?
”
I asked
,
moving next to Cooper.

“
I got it, Chief
.
”
H
e scribbl
ed
furiously.

“
Do you agree with what Cooper
’
s saying?
”

“
Yeah, Chief, I do
.
”
Harris mov
ed up
to
my
side.
“
I don
’
t know much about vampires like Cooper was saying, but I know shifters. I
’
ve seen enough claw marks to know
, it was a shifter in their third form, half
-
human half
-
shifter. This wasn
’
t done in full animal form.
”

“
Okay, I want to test that theory, but I need the four of you to promise what you see stays in this room
.
”
I look
ed
at each of them. I didn
’
t continue until they all either said yes or nodded.
Focusing on my right hand, I let it shift into claw
s
. Then I held it up alongside
the wounds on the body, my claw
s
w
ere
too small compared to those
.
“
So it would have had to be someone with larger hands than mine, right?
”

“
How did you do that?
”
Davis
asked
quietly,
“
I
’
ve never seen a shifter do that.
”

“
Focus
,
”
I
snapped
quickly.
“
Anyone know the answer to my question? Or do different shifters vary in claw size?
”

“
Yes, but only in straight animal form,
”
Harris answered as I shifted my claw back to a hand.
“
In half
-
human half
-
animal, or their third form, it
’
s directly proportional to the size of the person. So, yeah, they would have to be someone with bigger hands than you, Chief.
”

“
Okay
, anyone have any other questions or observations?
”
I asked
,
standing up and moving away from the body.

“
We going to talk about what you just did?
”
Cooper
didn
’
t meet
my eyes.

“
Nope, only things related to the case.
”

“
Then I
’
m good
.
”
He
mov
ed
away from the body as well.
“
Did we miss anything?
”

“
I can
’
t thin
k
of anything, this is pretty straightforward,
”
I answered.
“
Have
the crime scene guys come in
.
I want everything taken back to the lab.
”

“
You got it, Chief,
”
Davis said before leaving the room.
We followed her out, making sure to get the information I requested from Officer Clark and giving some other orders. It was funny the way my orders were being followed now by the local PD without question. Guess no one else wanted to get on my bad side.

Chapter 6

When I got back to my office, I made a phone call to Officer Clark
’
s superiors. While they didn
’
t seem to care much about what I was saying, they had to take a complaint from a Chief of the FBI seriously. I had explained to my team this was the main reason I would be joining them out in the field.
It wasn
’
t their job to defend themselves
.
I
t was mine.

After
that was handled,
it was
time for my next phone call I didn
’
t want to make. I had to call the local
Alpha
, seeing
if
he could help in the investigation. Or at least give me a list of shifters in his pack that could take on the th
ird form. I wasn
’
t under the impression that it was going to be an easy conversation
.
I
’
m sure he wouldn
’
t want to implicate anyone as a potential murderer.

“
Hello?
”
a
male voice said on the other end of the phone.

“
Hello, I
’
m looking for Joseph Engle,
”
I stated.
“
This is Chief Thomas with the FBI.
”

“
Ah yes, Ms. Thomas
.
”
He intentionally
ignor
ed
my rank.
Good start.
“
I
’
ve been expecting to hear from you.
”

“
You have? I can
’
t imagine why that would be.
”

“
You are a new wolf, are you not?
”

“
I
’
m not calling for anything personal, Mr. Engle,
”
I
answered
,
rolling my eyes. My, my how quickly the rumor mill worked.
“
I
’
m calling in a professional capacity.
”

“
As you wish
.
”
H
e chuckled, making me like him even less.
“
What can I help you with, Ms. Thomas?
”

“
Chief Thomas, thank you. I need to set up a time to interview you for a case I
’
m working.
I would think you would be the proper channel to go through, given you are the leader of a local community.
”