Animal Attraction (23 page)

I was almost directly over the light and not
nearly as low as I wanted to be when I saw a flash of a different
kind of light. It sparked near the glimmer. I heard something whiz
past my ear. Another flash. Another whiz that came even closer.
Then I heard the gunshots.

I had the thought that bullets travel faster
than sound before it occurred to me that I was the target. In a
panic, I abruptly reversed course.

I had to give myself credit. Even though I
somersaulted wildly, I still managed to steer myself back in the
direction I’d come from. As the sky and ground changed sides over
and over at dizzying speeds, I caught sight of the highway here and
there. I aimed for it as best I could. Some small rational part of
me felt sure I was out of the range of the gun, so I concentrated
on slowing myself down as much as possible. With each rotation of
my body, the treetops moved closer and closer. Then I was in
them.

I stopped trying to fly and let myself drop.
My yelps rang through the woods as I bounced off branches. The
trees and my bones cracked as we did damage to each other. Pain
came steadily, infuriating me.

It seemed like an eternity before I hit solid
ground. My legs had been spared damage. I jumped to my feet, fanged
and ready to drain the bastard who’d shot at me. I barely noticed
my left arm hung at a weird angle, useless at my side.

Someone was going down.

Dan appeared in front of me before I could
take off. His eyes were wide with horror as he looked at me. “Shit,
who’s shooting in the middle of the night? Did they startle you?
Are you okay?”

Something about having him there took the
edge of madness away. I gained enough presence of mind to speak.
“Startle me? I was the target! When I find that bastard—”

I headed in the direction I thought I’d come
from. The trouble was, I’d gotten all turned around. I stormed one
way looking for that small bit of light and then another. One tree
looked like the next and pretty soon I wasn’t even sure what county
I was in.

Dan waited for my rage to settle down a bit
before attempting to speak again. Finally he said, “Hold up,
sweetie. Did you see the shooter?”

I shoved at a thick curtain of kudzu, fuming.
“No, but I figure when I find the ass-hat with the gun, he’s my
guy.”

“Brandilynn, you don’t even know which way to
go.”

His gentle rebuke made me stop trying to bull
my way through the woods. I closed my eyes and forced calm on
myself. I was out of control, a rabid vampire who would attack
anyone I came across whether he had a gun or not.

Jeez, had I just called myself a vampire?

Okay, chasing after the gun-happy jerk using
me for target practice was out. That meant I needed to get to my
case of Blood Potion. That meant slowing down, acting like I had
some sense and getting my bearings.

I opened my eyes. Dan stood in front of me,
waiting patiently. He gave me an encouraging smile. “Do you know
which way to go?”

I licked my lips. I decided to cover what had
happened in an orderly fashion. “I saw a light. I was going to
check it out and was nearly there when someone close by shot at
me.”

“What kind of light was it?”

The question made me irritable. “How should I
know? There is a light in the middle of the woods, where nothing
else is.”

Dan pressed even though he had to know my
patience was next to nil. “Like a campfire? A flashlight?”

I noticed my various hurts more as shock and
anger wore off. I needed my arm set before it healed funny. Boy,
did I ever need blood. But I was also determined to be more human
that monster. So I sucked it up – ugh, pun not intended – and made
myself think.

“Not a campfire. Bigger than a flashlight.
More like a porch light on a house. Maybe there’s a cabin in the
woods. So there must be a road or a path somewhere around here that
will take me to it.”

Dan held a hand up. “You shouldn’t go looking
for it. Not right now.”

I’m sure my grin was heartless. “Oh, I think
I should. The question is, do I bite or wring the neck of the jerk
playing target practice with me?”

He gave me Dom Dan look. Even with my body
screaming for blood, I froze under its power.

Seeing I wasn’t about to charge off to commit
mayhem, Dan said, “Think about this, Brandilynn. What sane person
shoots at a vampire unless he’s using silver-infused bullets? You
know, the metal that hurts vampires? And before you say you’re not
a vampire, you are trapped in a vampire body. You are
vulnerable.”

Darn him, he was right. As close as those
bullets had come to me, I thought my attacker must have a
nightvision scope and spectacular aim. He could do some pretty
horrendous damage if I came rampaging after him.

Dan saw that he was getting through to me.
“You have to anticipate whoever went after you is expecting you to
show up right now. He’s waiting and watching for you.”

My right fist clenched. My left hung limp.
That brought a new spark of fury, one that didn’t want me to give
up on revenge. “So we turn around? Walk off?”

“For the moment. We need to find out who
occupies that area and get the information to the authorities.”

I had a thought that made me gasp. “Because
whoever would take a shot at a vampire would be just as quick to
shoot a shifter.”

Dan glared into the trees, his expression
grim. “And silver is lethal to shifters. That this happened so
close to where that one showed up dead – we need to figure this out
quick.”

“Point me towards the road so I can get to
the car. I’ll meet you at my office in Para Central,” I said.
“Right after I fix this arm and swallow a case of BP9.”

I made it back to Gerald’s car in quick
order. First I drank to get over my general fury over being shot at
and hurt. When I decided I might not tear the head off of anyone
who came across me, I set my arm as best as I could. I’m no medic
of any sort, but I was in a hurry to find out who was out there in
the woods. I settled for making my arm as straight as it would go
and hoped for the best. I figured I could always go to the hospital
later if I mucked up the job.

The pain was horrendous. I yelled my head off
... and yes, I cursed. As much as I disliked profanity, sometimes
only a swear word or one hundred would do. The pain sparked more
anger. So I downed plenty more BP9 to deal with that and speed
healing of the arm and the ribs that added their shattered hurt to
the agony.

I chugged four more bottles before I pulled
into a parking space downtown. By the time I stepped into the King
George, I was full to the gills with bottled blood. I didn’t care
if I never saw another drop of the stuff for the rest of my
afterlife. However my arm twinged only a little and I could use it
normally again. The rest of my pains disappeared. It almost seemed
worth all the crap I’d gone through to see the looks on everyone’s
faces as I made my way to my office. Gerald was so shocked by my
disheveled state that he couldn’t speak for a full minute.

Because of my many flying mishaps, I kept
extra clothes in a closet in my office. Ten minutes later I changed
out of the jeans and tee shirt I’d worn to the woods. I traded up
for a nice pair of slacks and a silk blouse. I combed Patricia’s
short black hair and ensured it was twig-free. Last, I freshened up
my makeup. As I did so, I told Gerald what had happened.

“When I suggested the idea about a fight pit
for shifters, we talked about how it would require privacy,” the
werepanther mused. “That would be a great place for something like
that. Do you have any idea whose property that might be?”

“I thought the county owned all that stuff
back there, but I honestly don’t know that specific area well,” I
said, putting on a dash of lipstick. “That’s next on the list,
right Dan?”

My sweetie nodded. “Once you stop primping
and start researching,” he teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Since Gerald
couldn’t hear or see Dan, he didn’t join in the picking on my
vanity. I’m sure he would have.

I turned my back to the mirror and sat at my
desk. It only took a moment to crank up the computer. “How did it
go with having someone clean up our new system?” I asked
Gerald.

“It’s running a lot better. We’re back to the
kinds of complaints we had with the old way.”

I snickered. So much for better living
through upgrades. Isn’t that always the way?

I logged onto the online database for city
hall. Property records and zoning were public access, so it wasn’t
a big deal for me to plug in to all of that. “Where exactly am I
looking, Dan?”

“Highway 17 near the training center ...
that’s gotta be Pate’s Corners, right?”

Pate’s Corners. That sounded familiar for
some reason. I repeated it to Gerald as I did a search.

“That does sound like the area you mentioned.
Near the airport and the federal academy.”

As he spoke, the map popped up on my screen.
Yep, it matched up all right. I grinned at the men. “What do you
know? Two shlongs do make a right.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Tell Gerald to smack
you for me.”

Gerald laughed. At least someone appreciates
my crude humor.

We all leaned close to the monitor to take in
the details of the property lines. I traced over them with my
finger. “Okay ... most of this parcel of woods is owned by the fed,
at least the part closest to the training center. The county is
listed as landowner for this next bit, where the body was
found.”

Dan frowned. “So were you shot at on county
land?”

“Could be. But these three parcels here
butting up against the county’s are owned privately. Then there’s
this road that looks like some kind of boundary.” I paused,
thinking about how the land had looked beneath me as I flew. It had
been zipping past at a pretty good clip, but I had also oriented
myself when I first rose in the air. I thought I had a decent track
of where I’d gone.

I told my companions this. “I know that light
I saw was on the other side of that road. If the shooter was there,
he wasn’t on county property. It’s private land.”

Gerald leaned close to read the tiny writing
on the map. “Those two are pretty small lots. The bit closest to
the highway belongs to someone named Gary Schmidt. This one, Giesle
Schmidt-Connors. Hmm, they must be related.”

I traced another landmark. “Here’s another
road cutting off from the county road between the Connors land and
the next one. That’s a big parcel. The light could have been there
too.”

Dan also studied it closely. “Owned by TPJ
Limited. You know, I think that might be where the Fulton Falls
Country Club is located.”

My eyes widened. “The country club?”

“Yeah, look. There’s a road that comes off 17
that leads to it, one that’s owned by the county: County Woods
Road. This smaller one branches off it. Old Jesup Trail.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth when
Gerald, who couldn’t hear him, spoke up. “Okay, I know exactly what
I’m looking at now. The country club is down that way.”

I thought again of the larger building I’d
seen in the distance about a mile from where the shooter had been.
“So I saw the country club’s lights here—” I pointed at the spot
“—and the unknown light here. Club property all right. But the
shots were fired away from the club itself, where it’s all
wooded.”

Gerald frowned. “I don’t know that they do
anything with that area. It’s not part of the golf course.”

My mind raced, but I tried not to get ahead
of myself. I let my brain churn over what I knew as I bantered with
the shifter. “Are you a golfer, Gerald?”

He grinned. “Only when I want to relax with
friends and a cooler of beers all day. I can’t say I play for the
game.”

I laughed. “Does the club have a course?”

“It did years ago before I became a shifter.
Back then I went when they opened it up to non-members for benefit
tournaments. My kind is not exactly welcome in the club. No way
that’s where the body came from.”

“They aren’t supposed to be allowed to
discriminate.”

He shrugged. “Like a lot of places, they get
around the law. You have to be recommended by a member to get in.
And since shifters are never recommended, it doesn’t come up.”

“They don’t hire shifters to do any of their
menial work? Like caddying or such?”

“If they do, I haven’t heard of it. Maybe
they let them work out of everyone’s sight. It seems like highbrow
places always have staff that no one ever lays eyes on.”

I quirked a bitter smile at him. “Separate
entrances and all, right?”

Gerald’s look was equally as bitter. “Bet on
it.”

Dan was silent, listening to us. It surprised
me that neither man had picked up on what seemed clear as day to
me. Go, girl power. Or woman’s intuition. Or whatever I had going
for me.

I laid it out for them. “Tattingail told
Warner he would call him in, and when he did to use the service
entrance. A shifter was found dead a few miles away from club
grounds. I may have been shot at from club grounds. Tattingail is a
member of the country club ... and he’s been bitching at the county
commission to modify zoning for the members’ hunting use.”

Both men blinked. Dan’s mouth dropped open.
Gerald’s ears stood straight up on his head. I nodded and bared
fangs as anger suffused me.

“Tattingail hasn’t started a fight club. It’s
worse. The bastard is blackmailing shifters into letting him hunt
them.”

Chapter 10

There is nothing so exhilarating as feeling
like you have all the answers. There is nothing as big a letdown as
realizing there is nothing you can do about them.

We discussed our options and found none. As
Patricia, I’d have some hefty explaining to do about nosing around
a crime scene. I could have claimed I’d gone flying and happened to
zoom over an area where someone took potshots at me. But then I’d
have to tell the cops where I’d been going, what I was doing, so on
and so forth. That meant telling them my suspicions. Suspicions
with absolutely no concrete evidence. Even the circumstantial stuff
was kind of thin when I thought about it.