“Of course, we destroyed the tracker, and I’m sure the scientists wondered what had happened when he just disappeared off the radar. But then we worried the same thing could happen to any one of us, and it wasn’t so funny.”
The road underneath the Jeep turned from dirt to asphalt, the hum filling the air as they left the woods behind them.
“Hey,” David said. “While we’re out, why don’t I run you by the bank and you can open a new account. And if you’d like, we could go shopping for a car for you. It’s my treat. We’ll take care of Sheri too. Then you can get around whenever you need to, without having to rely on me or another packmate. Think of it as being your signing bonus.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“David, it’s too much.”
“No. You both need to feel free to do whatever you like. We want you to have that freedom.”
“Thank you, David. You are the best.”
“It wasn’t just me. Everyone agreed. We always have pack funds for extra purchases, and Candice has a big inheritance. She was the one who suggested it first, actually. And I have a large trust fund I received when I was twenty-one and invested wisely. My mother had married a wealthy landowner in Australia, and she moved there to join him.”
“Oh, you never told me that. But are you sure about buying cars for two of us?”
He smiled. “Believe me, she’s happy that you are both taking over the job she and Faith would come in to do. Gives her more writing time.”
“Okay, then I’ll take you up on it.”
***
They went to the bank first and Elizabeth opened an account with her new ID, thrilled David had taken care of all that. Then once she had her account established, she wrote a check off her Yellowknife account, not closing it yet because she had an employment check still being direct deposited into the account and some bills that were on autopay. She realized she also needed to talk with a real estate agent and start the process of selling her grandma’s house. And she had to arrange for someone to sell her car.
Afterward, they went to a car dealership and she bought a blue Honda Odyssey, the pack’s treat.
“So what’s next?” she asked.
“Back to work. We’re going to try and run down Ms. Lamont’s biological mother.” His stomach growled audibly, and he laughed. “But after lunch. Is fast food okay?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you like. I like about anything.”
“You love cheeseburgers,” he said.
“You remembered.”
“It’s hard not to. It didn’t matter where we wanted to stop, you had a craving for a cheeseburger.”
She laughed. “No lies detected.”
“I know just the place. You can follow me there.”
She did, and once they arrived at the burger place, she parked her car next to his and joined him in his so they could go through the drive-through together.
Once they had their burgers, his bacon and hers cheese, they ate them in the car, the windows rolled down. “Sorry that we can’t go in and eat inside,” David said, “but at least this restaurant has trees shading the parking area.”
“No problem. When the new moon is here, you can take me anywhere.”
“That’s a deal.” And David realized that, ever so slowly, his fear over whether she would want to be with him after she saw his lack of control had vanished. She’d experienced it all firsthand and was still there, right next to him—and maybe she would be forever.
“You’re right,” Elizabeth said, breaking into his thoughts. “This is great.” She took another bite of her burger.
“Yeah.” He had to look away for a second. “It is.”
A light squeeze on his thigh let him know she understood he was talking about more than burgers.
Just then, Gavin pulled through the drive-through. He smiled. “As you can see, we are all big fans of this place.”
After Gavin got his order, he pulled his car around, parked next to them, and climbed into the back seat. “So what’s going on with you?”
“We found Jimmy Warner’s father. Jimmy had turned him, and we talked him down, made sure he understood what it all meant, what to expect.” David filled Gavin in on the family’s background. “Verdict’s out on whether the family stays together or not.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like it. What a mess.”
“Yeah.”
Gavin smiled at Elizabeth. “A cheeseburger, I see. Glad some things don’t change.”
She laughed. “Wow, I must have eaten a lot of cheeseburgers last time I saw all of you.”
“We didn’t think you ate anything else,” Gavin said.
They ate in companionable silence for a bit.
“How’s your case with Ms. Moore going?” David asked.
“I think her instincts are dead on. The business partner has a shady background, including money-laundering charges. Who knows what else. I’m still digging.”
“Oh man,” David said.
Elizabeth wiped her lips with her napkin. “Makes one wonder if Mr. Moore didn’t die of natural causes.”
“Sure does, doesn’t it?” David agreed, crumpling up his wrapper. “Something else we’re going to have to check into.” He turned around to face Gavin. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Yeah, it’s there, the urge to shift, but I’m handling it. I’ve got one more lead to check out, then I’m heading back into the office—just in case. The full moon pull eases off in the next day or so, but I hate taking chances,” Gavin said.
David agreed with Gavin; he couldn’t wait for the full moon phase to pass. Usually he just lived with it, but because he wanted to be with Elizabeth without constantly thinking about it, he was more anxious than ever to get past it.
“What are you up to after lunch?” Gavin asked.
“Heading back to the office too,” David said.
“Maybe I should drop off my car at the house and then ride with Gavin,” Elizabeth said.
“Sounds good to me,” Gavin said, crumpling up his own wrapper and tossing it into the bag beside David. “Elizabeth can be my designated driver.”
David smiled. “I think each of us needs one.” He leaned over and kissed Elizabeth, and she kissed him back. “Okay, see you there in a bit.”