Harley~
Whoever said one can't survive on black coffee and the occasional cracking of the back was lying. I have always been a workaholic, it's true, and I work best when I am focused on a task. However, my stress and aggravation levels lately have been too much, and I can do without them.
After pouring my umpteenth cup of coffee for the evening, I return to my desk, sighing as I sink back into the chair.
The coffee break hasn't helped. My head still feels like it has cobwebs in it, and my back is still stiff as a board. Picking back up where I left off, trying to concentrate on the obsession that is ruling my life.
'Focus, Harley!' I scolded myself, rubbing my temples.
A quick glance at my watch makes me groan. Twelve hours. I have been at this for twelve hours! For nearly a month, I have been drowning in file after file of the media dubbed 'Anacapa Island stalker'. I know there has to be a common denominator between the cases, and I am missing it. My boss is riding my ass because his bosses are riding his. Last night's attack brings the total to ten open homicides with the same signature.
The stalker strikes around the same time of night, near the docks, using the same 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The victims are all men between the ages of 25 and 40. All but two are entrepreneurs who have questionable ties to organized crime, all shot execution style, hands bound behind their backs, one bullet to the back of the head. Dead! That's where the trail goes ice cold.
There's not one bit of a clear link between the victims, and no motive that I have been able to pin down. It's as if the men didn't exist until they wound up dead in my backyard. Given the evidence, I must consider that my sleepy little shore town has somehow wound up in the middle of a mob war. At least we have become a dumping ground for the casualties. If I could only figure out who's calling the shots, and why, I could put the pieces together.
'Harleeeeya!' My wolf, Raelynn, pushes into my head.
Yes, Rae,' I answered her with a deep sigh. I already knew.
'Can we please go now?! I need a run.' She dragged out the word need.
'Just a little longer, Rae,' I promised, knowing I was a liar.
She growls low at me and recedes into my mind, sulking. I hate to disappoint my wolf, but I have responsibilities here. The faces and the words in the files merge. I rubbed my eyes. 'You're gonna be fine, Rae.'
Rae keeps urging me to leave LA. She doesn't want to live in the human world to begin with. Lately, she's been on edge more than usual, but I can't turn my back on these people. The year and a half I have spent here in LA is the longest time I have stayed in one place since leaving my father's pack. Though I have to admit, Rae is right about a few things. Freedom is the one thing I miss most about living as a werewolf, other than the sex, that is.
"Harley, are you still here?" Captain Mitch Howard's voice has me looking up at him.
"Yeah, Captain, I'm still here," I look back down at the file in my hand.
He sighed, shaking his head. "Go home, Harley. Get some rest, fresh eyes, and all of that. You should probably get some food too. I hear you growling."
It isn't my stomach he hears growling. "I just need a little more time, Captain. There has to be something here!"
"That's an order!" He said when I didn't move on his original command. "You will find no one mentally and physically exhausted."
Standing up from my desk, I attempt to stuff the files into my backpack when my captain stops me.
"I said go home and get some rest, not continue to do what you've overdone here."
"I'm alright, Captain." I object uselessly, tucking a strand of unruly hair behind my ear.
"Goodbye, Harley. If anything needs your immediate attention, I will call you. Otherwise, I will see you in twelve hours." He raised his eyebrows at me, so I knew he meant business.
My wolf is happy as can be right now. However, Rae shouldn't get too carried away. Thanks to my hyperthermias memory, I don't need the files. I smile and nod at my captain. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave. Maybe it's Rae rubbing off on me, but I, too, have been feeling like maybe it was time for us to move on. Call it intuition if you will, but we have been lucky so far because of it.
Any day could be the day my father bursts back into my life with his hired help to drag me back into his living hell. Lycan Ian Steel is a cold-hearted, dirty man! I carry with me the memory of witnessing my father killing my mother. His 'influence' in my life was the reason I wanted to be a detective, convincing myself that if I could prove he murdered her, it would bring some peace to my life.
Ian's name has also come up A LOT throughout this investigation. Finding evidence connecting my father to the stalker would make it all the sweeter. The problem is that it's hard to investigate the person you are hiding from. Especially when he buys his victims' silence with fear.
As I step outside, the heat slaps me across the face. Even at 10 pm, the humidity has me instantly as sweaty as a fat man's hairy ass crack. Summers in LA are not for the faint of heart! I hurry across the parking lot and into my car. I sigh heavily as I start my car's engine.
'At least we have time for that run now,' Rae chimes in.
'It's still too early, Rae. The campers haven't gone to bed yet.' I pull out of the parking lot. 'You remember what happened last time?' I chuckled at the memory of my big bad wolf running like a scolded pup from an adolescent who was only trying to relieve himself.