Blood Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 3) Page 8

  She sat up, turning to face him. “Where did you say you found that information?”

  “I searched through old records at the courthouse.” His grin grew wider.

  “All in the short time between watching Lemming News and me arriving home just after dark? And how did you break into the courthouse? Wait—don’t answer that. It will only make me an accessory to your crime.” She drummed her fingers on the armrest. “So you say the mood of the people isn’t in favor of Red’s facility?”

  He gave a crisp nod. “That’s right.”

  “And all I need is a thousand signatures to push this thing through?”

  “Correct.”

  “Well, given that there are at least twenty thousand people living right in town, and more on the outskirts, that shouldn’t be hard at all. This is good news.” She brightened, feeling more hopeful than ever. Then her face fell. “What do I owe you for your ‘kindness’?” she said, adding air quotes. “Because we know you’re not exactly kind, what with your vampire status and all.”

  His eyelids lowered. A slow smile spread across his face, like the kind a cat might make before taking the life of a mouse. The tip of his tongue slid slowly along his upper teeth, pausing over one pointy fang.

  Her nether region stirred in response, and she shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, no. You and I are not going to…” Her eyes lifted to the picture window. What looked like bouncing sparkling lights bobbing along the road caught her eye. “You didn’t steal some blood from me, did you?”

  He rolled his eyes. “You know it doesn’t work like that. It has to be given freely.”

  Chia rose to standing and hurried toward the window.

  D’Raynged got to his feet and sauntered leisurely after her.

  Chia lifted the sash. Distant barks met her ears.

  “What the…?”

  As the light show and sounds approached, she realized the town’s dog-pack bounded in her direction, led by her beautiful Husky friend, Cecil.

  She and D’Raynged raced outside. For a few hopeful seconds, she wondered if maybe some inner magic had kick-started inside, allowing her to see the dogs’ essences. As they got closer, though, it became evident the canines had tiny Christmas-like lights strung around their necks, lit, not by magic but by some strange technology. Her heart sank.

  Cecil shifted into his human self, mid-leap. He tumbled against her, knocking her onto her back in the snowy driveway.

  She let out a loud exclamation and a few choice curses.

  Cecil straddled her, naked as usual, his hands on her shoulders.

  The other dogs pranced around her, barking, and licking her face.

  She pushed them away. She tried to shove Cecil, but he wouldn’t budge. “Would you get off me?”

  His head inches from her face, he peered at her, deep lines furrowing his forehead as he breathed hard. “We have to go. Get in your truck.”

  “It’s kind of hard with you on top of me. And what’s with the Christmas lights?” She pushed against his unyielding form again, aware of his solid, muscular build.

  “No time to explain.”

  “Try.” She glared at him.

  “There’s a sale at the hardware store on these dumb collars with solar lights. People have been buying them up. The boys hate them. But their owners insist they wear them.” He tossed his head in the direction of the dogs, sitting or standing with tongues lolling and bright eyes. The Christmas lights gave them festive appeal. “Let’s go! I need to show you something. I’ll race back with the pack. We can take shortcuts. You can’t.”

  “Get off me, Dawg-man!” This time fingernails accompanied her shove, raking down his arms.

  “Ouch!” he protested. He rolled over and pushed himself to stand. “Hurry!”

  Chia rolled over and got to her own feet, groaning.

  D’Raynged stood a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest, an amused smile on his face.

  “Thanks for the help,” she said to him.

  “I see you’ve got this. We can talk later.” He dismissed her with a wave and sauntered toward the house.

  As she brushed the snow from her clothes, she said to Cecil, “Care to tell me why your pants are on fire? What is this mystery I need to see?”

  “It’s not my pants, li’l Summer. It’s the entire town. Come on!” Without further comment, he shifted back to dog form. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded. Then, he raced away with the pack, sparkling like fairies.

  Chia sprinted toward her Jeep, her heart going up in flames with this unwelcome news.

  Chapter 11

  The orange glow ahead of her almost looked pretty, pulsating against the edges of the dark sky. For a second it didn’t register that she actually gazed upon a horrifying scene of destruction. Her town, the town she cherished and fought for, was being swallowed up in flames. She swerved the truck into a safe parking area at the edge of town, away from the flames and chaos, and shut the engine off.

  As she hurried toward the horror, clamoring along the sidewalk, her heart grew heavy.

  People shouted and screamed. Pushed and shoved. Firelight danced against the snow, coming from buildings near and far like it had been set everywhere.

  Chia raced toward a group of men, frantically filling buckets from between ice floes in the Bering Sea.

  A huge pile of containers sat near the men. Teenagers would pick up one, and hand it off to one of the men, then, go back for another. When a bucket was full, it was handed off to another teen, who would scurry toward a line of townsfolk and extend it to the first person in line.

  The bucket would quickly pass from person to person, up the long line of men and women. At the end of the line, townsfolk waited to grab the buckets and douse the flames.

  Chia picked up a bucket and scooped a pail of water, handing it off. “Where the hell’s the fire department?” she yelled.

  A burly, bearded man she knew as Joe, one of the locals who frequented Sunshine Sally’s said, “Out yonder, in the tundra. Apparently, someone set a fire in that old mine a few miles east. The fire department took off in the truck to manage it. Then this happened and our fire department’s way out there.” He inclined his head to the east as he handed off his pail and picked up another.

  “This doesn’t seem very effective,” Chia said, filling the bucket. As she lifted it, water sloshed over the side. She shook her now-soaked pants leg.

  “Do you have a better idea? We tried hoses, but they’re all frozen. We’re in the middle of a cold snap. It’s a perfect storm,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Hey, Joe! We need you over here!” someone shouted.

  He took off, leaving her to fill pails, pots, bowls, and other containers and whatever else had been handed her.

  Sparks crackled and popped, shooting fireworks into the night sky. A huge roar of noise exploded, followed by a falling building. As the structure collapsed, flames shot into the air. Burning debris fell in all directions.

  More people screamed.

  Josette, a waitress at Sunshine Sally’s, wailed, “My baby! My baby’s in there.”

  A fit young man she knew as Thom, a wolf shifter, raced toward the flaming rubble, no doubt to rescue her child. A few seconds later, he emerged, clutching a screaming toddler.

  Fawn, a friend of hers who ran Sunshine Sally’s, lumbered toward her. A big box of heavy pots was poised on her hips, rattling and clanging. “It’s all I could find in the kitchen,” she said.

  She dropped the cardboard box in front of Chia and turned to hurry away.

  “Wait!” Chia yelled.

  “No time! Some of the women and I have been assigned to get any container we can find.” Fawn trundled away.

  A familiar scent tickled Chia’s nose. It sparked sadness and longing inside her heart. She lifted her head from her task to see Hung and Sugar a few yards away.

  Side by side they arm-wrestled with the valve of a fire hydrant. Somehow, somewhere, they’d managed to procure a fire hose. Hung
held a ginormous wrench in his hands, his powerful muscles straining in the eerie glow of flames.

  Sugar’s hands were positioned next to his.

  They were practically on top of one another.

  Chia’s gut clenched in a vice grip of jealousy.

  A teen handed her a five-gallon plastic pail. It slipped through her fumbling fingers, and she dropped it.

  “Hey! Stay focused,” some guy yelled at her.

  Hung lifted his head. For one long second, his gaze locked on hers.

  Then, she broke eye contact, bending to retrieve her fallen container. When she glanced again, Hung was focused on his efforts to open the hydrant valve.

  Cecil and a couple other men held onto the hose.

  “Need help?” Cecil called.

  “Stay put, Dawg-man. That’s where we need you,” Hung bellowed. “Make sure the nozzle’s open. When this puppy gives, there’s going to be a blast of water.”

  “Got it,” Cecil yelled, positioning himself at the nozzle end.

  “Anyone have a large pipe to put around the handle of this wrench? We can’t get enough torque,” Hung yelled.

  “I think I’ve got one that will fit. I’ll go get it,” Thom called, already racing away. When he returned a few minutes later, he held a thick pipe in his hands. He positioned it over the wrench, making a good handle. “Holy shit,” he yelled. “Look!”

  The balcony of a nearby building collapsed a few yards away.

  “Here,” Thom said to Hung. “You take over.” He ran toward the collapse.

  Hung and Sugar heaved and tugged, wrestled and pulled. When it became crystal clear that they weren’t getting anywhere, Chia dropped her grudge and sprinted toward them.

  “Let me help,” she said, struggling to catch her breath. She placed her hands next to Sugar’s, away from Hung’s, avoiding eye contact with him. Digging her feet into the frozen ground, she heaved on the pipe.

  It gave a little.

  “Again!” Hung yelled. “Give it all you’ve got!”

  Together the three of them pulled with all their might.

  The valve gave a little more.

  “One more time!” he called.

  Groaning, they gave one last tug on the wrench.

  Sweat froze on Chia’s face, and around her eyes. Her muscles began to shake. She bore down on the tool, her grunts matching Sugar’s and Hung’s.

  Finally, the valve opened. Water shot through the hose, powered by gravity from a nearby water tower.

  The hose coiled like a wild snake, knocking Cecil and the other men to the ground.

  Hung raced toward Cecil. “I thought you said the nozzle was open, Dawg-man.”

  “It was as open as I could get it,” Cecil called back, getting to his feet.

  “Chia, where’s your Jeep?” Hung asked.

  “Up the road.”

  “Go get it, stat, and drive it on top of this firehose.”

  She turned and raced away, going as fast as her legs would carry her. She had the Jeep engine kicking and roaring toward the hydrant in less than a minute.

  “Go, go, go,” Hung yelled, clutching the hose. “Right there and stop! Hit the hose with your wheels!” He canted his head between him and the other men gripping the wild hose and the hydrant.

  Chia sped across the firehose and slammed on the brakes. The water pressure instantly abated.

  Hung ran toward the nozzle. He twisted it. “Shit. You’re right. It’s stuck. Sugar, get me that wrench. Chia, stay in position.” When Sugar handed him the metal tool, he hammered against the nozzle until it opened. “Now, Chia, floor it! Cecil, hang the fuck on!”

  She did so, avoiding the force of the hose as it jerked with its bloated belly full of water. She barely missed plowing into a group of people.

  They scattered and ran in all directions away from her.

  “Hey! Over here! Now,” Hung called to a passerby.

  The guy jogged over and grabbed the hose.

  “We’ve got to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading through town. Let’s soak this building.” Hung pointed to the bank.

  Together, Hung, Cecil, and Thom gripped the firehose, training a massive torrent of water on the First National Bank building.

  Chia parked, then hustled back to the line of bucket-passers. She passed endless heavy containers of water. Her arms grew weak. She persisted, alongside other townsfolk. No one could afford to stop.

  Distant sirens met their ears.

  “Oh, thank God,” someone cried.

  “Keep going,” another yelled. “Don’t let up!”

  The welcome red fire truck sped up the road, sirens shrieking, followed closely by the red SUV belonging to the fire chief, plus, volunteers in their cars and trucks. Parking in any available space, the firemen leaped from their vehicles, ready for action.

  It seemed like the entire population had gathered, each doing their part to save their beloved town.

  The firemen set to work. They quickly removed the hose Hung and the other men were using and hooked up the hydrant to their pumper.

  The chief shouted orders. “Is anyone’s life in danger?”

  “No, chief, to the best of our recollection, we got everyone out,” Fawn called.

  “Okay, let’s continue with containment and stabilization. You’ve done a good job, so far, sir,” he said to Hung.

  Hung nodded wearily.

  The townspeople didn’t stop shoveling water. Finally, when the flames seemed contained, Chia paused for a moment, hands on her hips, laboring to catch her breath.

  Hung strode toward her, his arms hanging by his sides. Sweat covered his grime-covered brow. Ash dotted his blond locks which lay pasted to his head.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey,” he answered. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  Together, standing in frosty silence, they watched the firemen perform spark and brand patrol, monitoring to ensure no sparks blew on adjacent structures. They worked diligently to contain the fire, preventing further damage to downtown Charming.

  Sugar and Cecil stood a few yards away, pushing through smoking lumber, mangled metal, and other debris to find any victims they’d missed.

  “What do you make of this?” Hung asked, staring straight ahead.

  “What do you think? A fire at an abandoned mine breaks out a few miles away, and then the whole town goes up in flames?” Chia side-eyed Hung then stared in the same direction he did. “It’s too suspicious. It’s got to be tied to MBD Enterprises.”

  “The madman at the helm,” Hung said. “It started in that old clothing store—the one that went out of business last year.”

  “Hot Stuff?”

  “Yeah,” Hung smirked. “That’s the one. The place smelled like gasoline. The arson investigators should have their hands full.”

  Chia shook her head. “It’s got to be Red’s people. Can shadows carry supplies?”

  “I don’t know the answer to that. But the alley door to that place, all boarded up as it has been, could have been pried open. Then, the arsonists could have slowly piled supplies they’d need to set the fire. And then, once everything was in place, they set a match to it and boom!”

  “Yeah, boom,” Chia said, her gut a tight knot of anger.

  Overhead movement caught her eyes.

  The silhouette of a giant eagle circled lazily in the sky.

  “Goddamn it!” Hung roared.

  “Ditto that,” Chia said.

  He lunged away from her. It looked as if he would shift and take off after the eagle.

  Chia put her hand on his arm. “Wait. You’re exhausted. He’d only destroy you, too.”

  “You could be right, but do you have a better suggestion?” Hung stared at her, his eyes lined with fatigue.

  Chia imagined she looked the same. “We need to act, not react. Let’s get some rest. Then, in the morning, let’s see if anything’s left of my office building and form a plan.”

  Hung’s jaw worked in a
tight back and forth movement like he’d protest at any moment.

  For a half of a heartbeat, Chia hoped he’d offer to head to her place and crash on her couch…or in her bed.

  He gave her a soulful look that indicated he might be considering it.

  Instead, Sugar sauntered toward them. “Let me give you a lift back to your cabin,” she said to Hung. “You look like the dead.” She turned to face Chia. “Thanks for all your help.”

  Chia’s stomach coiled in knots. “My pleasure,” she said, in a snark-laced voice. She trained laser eyes on Hung, hoping they burned holes in his soul. Straightening her shoulders, she let any sign of emotion or care drain from her insides. “See you in the morning, then, friend.” She turned.

  Without looking back, she strode toward her Jeep, eager to get the hell away from what was left of Charming…as well as get away from Hung Durand. Now, more than ever, the need for her to be focused on her job was paramount. She had to find out who torched the town and bring justice to Charming.

  Chapter 12

  Unable to sleep, at dawn, Chia texted Hung and told him she was heading into town. When she saw the death-trap known as Charming Administration offices looming ahead, untouched by the fire, her frustration flared. She’d driven into town, both fearing and secretly hoping to see only charred remains of her decrepit office. She’d been pushing for a new office space ever since she was elected as town manager, insisting they needed a safer building. But no, the rest of the town was in ruin, not the structure that needed a do-over. She let out a bitter laugh at the irony.

  As she pulled up to the office, her heart formed a dense, frozen block in her chest.

  Hung and Sugar stood close together in the parking lot. Both dressed in puffy down coats, they drank coffee out of paper cups, talking excitedly. Their breath formed clouds of co-mingled white steam. Their heads were close together, practically touching.

  Sugar’s hair had been swept from her face in a blue winter headband dotted with snowflakes, making her look “ski-bunny” fresh and pretty.