"Have you ever heard anything like this before?" Trace asked, taking another bite of his food.
"Nah. Damndest thing, too. "
"Trajan says there might be an explanation, but he can't say anything. I think Winkler is beginning to suspect something, but he's keeping it to himself."
"I sure don't want to end up shot and in a ditch someplace," Jason sighed, crunching into a taco.
"You think they're after just anybody, or do they have a specific target in mind?" Trace asked.
"Don't have the answer to that," Jason replied.
The bell tinkled over the door and Ashe had to leave the conversation behind to help a customer with plants from the greenhouse.
* * *
"Your mother wants you to stay with us for a little while, Sali," Adele was waiting for Jason and Trace to drop Ashe off later. "The werewolves are having a meeting at Sali's house," she added. "You two are expected as well," she nodded to Trace and Jason.
"Thanks, ma'am," Jason nodded toward Adele. Ashe watched as the van drove out of their yard before he and Sali closed the garage door and Ashe set the alarm.
"I hope you two don't mind sandwiches," Adele said.
"Nope," Sali grinned. He and Ashe put sandwiches together and sat down to eat. When Ashe's father and Radomir woke and walked upstairs, Ashe and Sali went to Ashe's room.
"Sali," Ashe whispered as quietly as he could, "Principal Billings will be in that meeting."
"Yeah. So?" Sali wasn't sure what Ashe was getting at.
"So his house is empty. Nobody there. Now might be a good time to go snooping and see if Randy Smith's essay is there."
"Are you still worrying about that?" Sali grumped.
"I am. What if they've caught Randy already? What if that's why his mom was in the store today? What if they have the wrong person, Sali? What if he never did anything?"
"Dude, you worry too much about that. We have to protect ourselves."
"Sali, I just think this is all wrong, somehow. I can't explain it, I just do." Ashe worried a shoe—it was pinching his toes.
"But what good is it that Billings' house is empty?"
"I can go digging around in it, if you cover for me," Ashe said.
"What?" Sali hissed, forcing Ashe to shush him.
"Just what I said. If you haven't figured out yet that Mom didn't make it home by herself the other night, then you'd better think again."
"You brought her back?" Sali gaped at Ashe in astonishment. "Dude, I don't know whether to say that's the coolest thing or the dumbest thing ever."
"If I hadn't gone, Mom would be dead. I found her passed out in the truck with nobody driving," Ashe hissed. "I had to drive the truck back here. I was scared to death I'd get stopped by the police, and you know what Dad might do if I got caught."
"Eternal grounding," Sali nodded sagely.
"And if your dad's a vampire, eternal takes on a whole new meaning," Ashe agreed. "Come on, cover for me. If Billings comes in, I'll just zip out of there and come right back."
"But what if your mom comes in?" Sali muttered angrily.
"Then tell her I ran outside or something. I'll get in trouble, you won't."
"Fine," Sali sighed.
"Good. I'll be back," Ashe assured Sali and turned to mist.
Principal Billings' house was a mile away from Ashe's, on the western edge of Cloud Chief's boundary. The fence marking the witch's concealment spells stood twenty feet from Benjamin Billing's large house. Since he lived alone, Ashe always wondered why the Principal needed so much room. Mentally shaking himself in order to focus on the task at hand, Ashe steeled his nerves and went right through the roof.
If I'd known it would be this easy—Ashe thought. He didn't have to go into the main part of the house; he found what he wanted in the attic. Each file box was carefully labeled with the word Essays written in bold black lettering, along with the year they'd been written. Counting backward, Ashe found the proper box, pulled it inside his mist and hurried away.
"Dude!" Sali's eyes were huge when Ashe and the box landed on Ashe's bed roughly five minutes later.
"Come on, let's see if it's in there," Ashe pulled the lid off the box eagerly and began sifting through the contents.
"Ashe, Sali's mother is here," Adele knocked on the door, making both boys jump in alarm. Ashe shoved what he'd pulled from the box back inside and slapped the lid on it. The container was then stuffed inside his closet while Sali rose to open the bedroom door.
"We'll talk about our essays at school on Monday," Sali gave Ashe a pointed look. Ashe knew what that meant—that Sali would grill him over the whole thing when they were together again.
"Fine," Ashe said. Sali left with his mother only a few moments later.
"Where's Dad?" Ashe asked.
"Out with Mr. Radomir," Adele sighed. "They found out who owned the gun used to kill Megan and Terry, but he'd reported the gun stolen and they can't link him to either crime. So we're no better off than before."
"The same gun was used?" Ashe already knew that, but he didn't want to let it slip that he'd eavesdropped earlier.
"Looks like it," his mother said. "Would you make a cup of coffee for me?"
"Sure, Mom. Sit down; I'll take care of it." Ashe had a cup of hot chocolate while his mother sipped her coffee later.
"Mom, what do Megan and Terry Smith have in common?" Ashe asked.
"I don't really know," she said, puzzled at Ashe's question.
"They do have something in common," Ashe said. "Terry was human and married to a werewolf. Megan was human and either a girlfriend or potential girlfriend, of a werewolf."
"Ashe, what are you saying?" Adele stared at her son.
"I don't know," Ashe shrugged. "If Pat Roberts wasn't dead, I might say he had enough prejudice to do it."
"You think this is a hate crime? That someone is that prejudiced?" Adele was shocked, Ashe could tell. "What about whoever attacked me?"
"Mom, everybody thinks I'm human. I'll be shipped off to the human school next fall if I don't manage to prove them wrong. And Dad's a vampire. Somebody killed Old Harold, probably because he was vampire."
"But what about James's death?"
"I'm still working on that," Ashe said, draining his cup of hot chocolate. He wasn't about to tell his mother that James's best friend was human. And not only human, but one who'd been ordered, at risk to his own life, never to contact the community again.