Fair Game

Brother Wolf was on a leash, because Bran thought that the leash and collar made a lot of difference to the humans they ran into– and not much difference to the werewolf. The collar was store-bought from a big-box pet store and came with the cute plastic clasp designed to make sure someone’s dog didn’t get caught and choke to death. It meant that the collar wouldn’t even slow a werewolf down before the plastic broke.

The name on the collar he wore was Brother Wolf. Bran had disapproved. He liked the names to be less truthful, more friendly and cute. Unusually, Charles’s brother had told her, Charles had held out until his father gave in.

The address Leslie Fisher had provided led them to one of the skyscrapers, a tall but narrow edifice squeezed in between two even taller buildings. A

No one looked at them when they entered the building, though there was a small group of officers huddled up in the foyer. A young man in a security uniform ma

On impulse, A

‘Lizzie,’ he said, his eyes drifting over her face, down to Brother Wolf and back up, as if not looking at the giant wolf in front of his desk might make the scary thing go away. ‘Her name is Lizzie. She came in about eight and I never saw her leave. Neither did the security tapes.’ He swallowed. Glanced down at Brother Wolf again.

‘Who used the elevator after she came in?’

‘Tim Hodge on the fifth floor. Sally Roe and her partner, Je

‘And Lizzie is on the twelfth.’

‘That’s right.’

‘How many people use the stairs?’

‘Businesses on the first three floors,’ he answered, frowning at Brother Wolf. She could hear his heartbeat pick up as something instinctual kicked in to tell him that there was a big predator on the end of her leash. Though he continued talking, he took a step back. ‘A couple of the people on the fourth and fifth floor take the stairway down sometimes, but mostly everyone who lives here takes the elevator.’

Brother Wolf took a step forward.

‘And where is the stairway?’ A

Brother Wolf turned his head toward her, his eyes half-veiled, and let his ears slack a little in a wolf smile. All of which didn’t mean that he hadn’t been interested in hunting the young man down – just that healso had enjoyed teasing her.

‘Over there.’ The security guard pointed just beyond the police officers. ‘I’ll have to buzz you in. For that, I’ll need some ID.’

‘Do you have to buzz people out?’

He shook his head.‘Against the fire code, I think.’

The stairs would have been a better way to exit. The door was out of the way and didn’t chime, as the elevator’s doors did, to a

‘Do you have a card from Agent Fisher or Agent Goldstein of the FBI?’ A

He looked at the small collection of cards on the desk in front of him.‘Agent Fisher. Yes.’

‘Why don’t you buzz us in and call her. She called me in and I left in a hurry and forgot my purse and ID. She’s expecting me.’

He frowned at her.

‘Really,’ A

The security guard’s eyes widened and he took another good look at Brother Wolf – who slowly wagged his tail and kept his mouth closed. Apparently he’d decided not to torment the young man.

‘I thought they’d be bigger,’ the security guard said, unexpectedly. ‘And

you know. Grayer.’

‘Less civilized, more slathering?’ asked A

‘Uhm.’ He gave a quick smile and kept a wary eye on Brother Wolf. ‘Can I plead the fifth on that? You’ll still have to wait until I call for confirmation. If I don’t know you, you don’t get in without ID or an invitation.’

‘Did the police already ask you about the people who came in today?’ A

The guard nodded.‘Everybody. Police, FBI, and possibly a dozen other agencies and people as far as I could tell. Starting with Lizzie’s father.’

‘I don’t need to repeat their work, then,’ A

He gave her a polite smile, picked up the phone, and called the number from a card resting on top of the desk.‘This is Chris at the security desk downstairs. I have a woman and a werewolf down here.’

‘Send them up,’ said Leslie Fisher’s voice. She sounded a good deal less calm than she had when she’d called A

Chris the Security Guard nodded at A

‘He doesn’t like elevators,’ A

Chris looked at Brother Wolf with less fear and more interest.‘It would be good,’ he said, ‘if he could find her fast.’

A

Brother Wolf trotted up the stairs scenting the people who’d come this way. There were old scents – several people had dogs and someone had theworst cologne

and six or eight fresher scents. As he and A

Brother Wolf pi

‘What?’ asked A

She came here on her own, without touching the floor. Brother Wolf knew his tone was grumpy, but he could not change what was just because it didn’t make Charles happy.Sliding against the wall about three feet from the floor. Charles says,‘No.’

‘Fair enough,’ said A

More cheerfully– because she had taken his side over Charles’ s – Brother Wolf resumed the hunt.

They came, by and by, to the twelfth floor, where A

The woman from the FBI was there, her arms folded and her face set. In front of her was a delicately built man, taller than the FBI woman, but he appeared shorter because of his build. His hair was chestnut and grayed at the sides. Fae– Brother Wolf’s nose could smell it. Some sort of water fae, maybe; he smelled like a freshwater lake at dawn.