"Son, you've got dust in your hair." Aedan found them closing the trap door leading to the second bunker. He ruffled Ashe's hair affectionately for a moment.
"He's been hauling Christmas decorations into the attic," Adele said.
"I could have taken those up."
"It wasn’t a big deal, Dad. Everything is up there and the bunker's clean and ready to go."
"So, your mother told you." Aedan searched Ashe's face.
"It's kinda hard to miss, Dad."
"He'll be here sometime before dawn tomorrow morning." Aedan leaned over to kiss Adele. "Go clean up, son. You look like you've walked through a haunted house."
* * *
Ashe awoke the moment the door opened to the stairwell, and then listened while his father showed their guest where the trapdoor was located leading to the smaller bunker. Shivering in the cool morning air, Ashe checked the time on the clock—six-thirty was displayed in big, red, digital numbers. They wouldn't have time to search the field behind the house—sunrise came at seven-fifteen. Unless the Enforcer arrived earlier and he and Aedan had gone out to look first. Ashe resolved to examine the site as quickly as he could.
* * *
"It'll be busy today and tomorrow," Adele set a plate of ham and eggs in front of Ashe.
"Is Sali coming?"
"Not today. Denise called and said she's keeping Sali at home. The investigator is staying there with them, so Denise needs Sali’s help at the house."
"Is Marco doing any better?" Ashe cut into his ham.
"Not really. No."
"Did you meet him?"
"The investigator?"
"The Enforcer." Ashe bit into a chunk of ham.
"He seems nice enough. Taller than your father by a couple of inches. Dark hair, dark eyes. Looks strong."
Ashe was chewing so he nodded at his mother. He figured the nice comment was to keep him from thinking that an Enforcer was scarier than anything he'd ever met before. "What about the investigator?"
"Denise says it's somebody from Dallas named William Winkler. I think she knows more than she's telling, but that's Pack business."
"Mom, the Pack has a Grand Master and the vampires have a Council. What do the shifters have?" Ashe stopped eating for a moment to ask the question. He'd never really thought about it before.
"We don't have anything," Adele sighed regretfully. "We're too scattered and disorganized. The vampires are all vampires, the werewolves all werewolves. Shifters can be almost anything. We're all different, so there's never been any movement to band together. Can you see all the lions getting together, or all the horses or caribou?"
"There are shapeshifting caribou?"
"In the north. They're quite common there. We're so scattered it would be extremely difficult to organize. These paranormal communities have been the best we could do so far."
"How many communities like this are there, Mom?"
"Not a lot, and they're all here inside the U.S. Europe still hasn't tried it; I think they're waiting to see how we do."
"Sounds like an experiment." Ashe was turning Nathan's words around, making them sound like idle curiosity. He was rewarded with an answer.
"We sort of are," Adele lifted her fork. "That's why it's so important to find out who killed James and why. The answer might determine whether Cloud Chief stays together or disbands."
"That's possible?" now Ashe was worried. He and Sali would be separated, he just knew it.
"Ashe, don't worry, all right? Things will work out. Finish your breakfast."
The day was busy at Cordell Feed and Seed, just as Ashe expected it to be. He rang up customers. Talked about the advantages of this piece of equipment over that. Listened sagely as an old woman spoke about the different kinds of tomatoes and then sold her two dozen plants, as well as squash, zucchini and watermelon seeds. His mother worked tirelessly with the more difficult tools and plants, between helping with bags of feed and fertilizer. Both of them missed lunch and Ashe was starving by the time the workday was done.
"Come on, we'll run by the grocery store and I'll broil steaks," Adele hugged Ashe as they walked toward his mother's old truck. Dinner was finished and Ashe had eaten every scrap of his T-bone, salad and mashed potatoes when Aedan walked through the door into the kitchen, a tall, dark-haired vampire right behind him.
"How was your day?" Aedan sat down at the table just as he always did. "This is Radomir, Enforcer for the Council," Aedan invited the other vampire to sit down with his family.
"The store was extremely busy. We had a good day and missed lunch, so I fixed steaks." Ashe noticed his mother was chatting nervously, something she seldom did.
"What time do you normally rise, Mrs. Evans?" Radomir asked, leveling a dark gaze on Adele. Ashe watched as his mother lowered her eyes. She was worried and too frightened to look Radomir in the eye.
"Around five-thirty. Aedan usually wakes me," she replied, staring at her hands.
"Aedan and I may be busy, so please set an alarm clock for tomorrow morning."
"Of course," Adele whispered. Ashe didn't like that his mother felt so uncomfortable, but he felt helpless. His father couldn't say anything, because Radomir worked for the Vampire Council. He wondered if Sali were feeling the same about the investigator the Grand Master sent. Ashe itched to phone Sali, but that was impossible as long as Radomir remained inside the house. He could easily listen to any conversation, and Ashe wasn't allowed a cell phone to make a call from outside the house. His father said he could have a cell phone on his fifteenth birthday. Until then, his parents felt that Ashe was just too young to have one.
"I'll clear away the dishes," Ashe lifted his plate off the table and walked toward the sink. He could try to instant message Sali on the computer, but Sali didn't have his own computer, as Ashe did. The conversation might not be private.
"Here, honey." Adele stood and took her plate to Ashe. Together they loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the stove and countertops. Radomir and Aedan were still sitting at the kitchen table when they finished.
"Is there anything I can get for you?" Adele asked Radomir.
"I am fine, Mrs. Evans."
"Then Ashe and I will go downstairs and watch television." Radomir inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement, so Ashe went down the stairs ahead of his mother, who closed the middle door behind her. Neither spoke until they were inside the living room downstairs. Ashe's mother closed that door as well.