Harley clumsily trotted down the steps, and when he reached the bottom, he sniffed Ren. His tail wagged like crazy.
Ren gave him a short grin and looked back up at Crush. “I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t give two shits what you like or don’t like. It’s none of your damn business what I do. He keeps me company, and he’s a good guard dog.” Crush lumbered down the steps until he was at the bottom. “I’m thinkin’ about getting a sidecar.”
Ren tucked his aviators into his shirt collar. “Don’t be one of those assholes who puts goggles on his dog. I’ll ban you from my property.”
“Fine.” Crush swaggered off, change jingling in his pockets. “See who’ll keep your bikes running as good as I do. And you can forget about that custom paint job.”
Ren ascended the steps. “Your old man’s an asshole.”
“Didn’t he once save your life?”
Ren struck his chest with a closed fist. “Respect.”
“Thanks for coming. Do you want a drink?” I asked, heading inside.
“Whatever’s cold.”
I reached in the fridge for a can of ginger ale and set it on the table. Then I seated myself across from him so I could face the door. Ren cracked open the can, took a long gulp, and I listened to the sound of fizzy bubbles filling the sunny kitchen.
“How’s the case?” He rested the cold can against his tan neck.
“A wild-goose chase. If there’s a connection, we haven’t found it. We crossed a few off because they didn’t fit the criteria of suspicious death. We questioned everyone, and tonight we’re going to go over the details again and see if we missed anything. But I got a strange offer, and I want to get your thoughts on it before I go down that rabbit hole.”
He let out a small burp and set the can down. “What kind of offer? I thought we weren’t involving any outsiders?”
“Well, this one involved himself. Apparently a freshy followed us home during one of our outings.”
“A what?”
I scooted my chair in. “That’s just another name for the recently departed. I work with a Gravewalker who has a lot of nicknames for them. Anyhow, he wants to help us in exchange for helping him. I’m not going to lie: I’m entertaining the idea. Might as well hear what he has to say.”
Ren’s brow furrowed. “You shouldn’t strike deals with the dead.”
“That’s what I heard. But it’s our last lead. If I can’t find a connection, I’ll have no choice but to drop the case. If it’s a virus, you’ll just have to wait for more Shifters to die. Maybe Graham can take a blood sample and find an infectious disease expert.”
Ren tapped his finger against the can. “If it is a virus, we need to find out why it’s only killing some and not all.”
“Maybe the ghost has something to say. If he does, do you want me to pursue it? This is your dime.”
After a long sigh, Ren nodded. “If it seems legit, and you got something to go on, I’ll pay. It’s costing me, but fuck it.”
I gathered up the Band-Aid wrappers and tossed them into the nearby trash. One of them floated to the floor, and I squatted to pick it up. “Can I ask you something if you promise to keep it between us?”
He took another swig. “You know my word is my bond.”
“This can’t get out, even to your Packmaster buddies.” I returned to my chair.
Ren folded his arms and leveled his dark eyes at me. “Ask.”
“Last night, Keystone took out a pack.”
Ren’s face got stony.
“Before you say anything, this wasn’t a normal pack. Only three women, I think, and a lot of kids. Mostly girls.” I waited to see if anything would click, but he kept staring. “Young girls. These were insidious men, and one of those little girls almost died trying to escape them.”
Something shifted in his look, and it gave me goose bumps. “Predators?”
I nodded. “If we had turned them in, who knows if they would have gotten the justice they deserved? Shit happens. People in high places pull strings, and money talks. I don’t know who those guys were, but one wolf I took out was big. I’ve never seen a wolf that big before.”
Ren eased back. “Sounds like a pureblood.”
“Pureblood?”
“Most Shifters have bred with other animal types. Even if you’ve been living in a pack for generations, somewhere up the line, someone mated a cougar or panther or whatever. But purebloods were once considered royalty. Every animal type had one, and they never crossbred. It kept their blood pure—their power pure. Not all the wolves are big, but it’s a trait only associated with them. Doesn’t matter anyhow. You took him out?”
“We took them all out. But we can’t turn these kids over to the higher authority, or they’ll find out what we did. Nobody hired us to do that specific job, and they’ll think we’ve gone rogue. Viktor’s afraid they’ll break up Keystone. Aside from that, they’ll find out what we were doing there in the first place, and that leads back to you. I’m doing everything I can to not only protect our reputation but yours. That’s why we’re not involving the higher authority.”
“Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem.”
“These kids are probably related, but we don’t know for sure. They grew up together, so we don’t want to split them up. They deserve a better home than an orphanage.”
He combed back his dark hair with his fingers. “Are you asking me? Is that why you’re telling me all this?”
“I guess so.”
“How many?”
“Fifteen.”
His shook his head. “I can’t do it. That’s… that’s a big number. You gotta understand how complicated it is. It’s not only about space and having enough rooms—a Packmaster needs to make sure there’s enough money secured in his pack to feed and clothe his packmates. Most are making ends meet with just enough to sock away. When a new packmate joins, he or she brings in money. But kids can’t work, so they reverse the income. Since they don’t have parents, I’d need to find enough watchdogs. Fifteen? Holy shit. I don’t know anyone who could take on that many kids at once. You can’t split them up?”
I shook my head. “Viktor wants them together.”
“A pack would call attention to themselves with that many new additions, and if you spread them out among different packs, people are gonna start asking where they came from.”
I propped my elbows on the table and rubbed the outer corners of my eyes. “We sure as hell can’t keep them. Viktor wants them in a pack environment with family. I just thought maybe you had the space.”
“Not for that many. I barely got room for my own packmates the way they keep having babies and bouncing between jobs. I told them the heat house is there for a reason. Give a woman some privacy. But they catch one whiff of their mate in heat, and it’s all over. Next thing you know, boom. I got another mouth to feed.”
“Do you have any suggestions?”
His eyes slanted down. After a thoughtful pause, he said, “Can’t say I do. There might be packs in another state, but you’ll be taking chances. Nobody’s going to accept that many kids without question, and besides, you don’t want to pick some random pack you don’t know. You could be putting them in an even worse situation, and they’ll be too far away for you to monitor.”