Dalroy and Rhett walked in while Merrill was turning these thoughts over in his mind. Merrill hadn't met them before so they introduced themselves. Merrill had never had a problem with American vampires; in fact, all his living children were American. He smiled slightly at these two. Dalroy's records indicated he was a Texas Ranger when he'd been turned; he'd been severely wounded in a battle on the Texas-Mexican border. Rhett was slightly younger, turned by Dalroy fifty years later after being shot outside a bar in New Mexico. Originally, Rhett was from Philadelphia and a medical student at the time. His father, a physician, had given permission for his son to explore the Wild West before returning to school. His exploration had cost him his human life.
"Some of you know a little about why we're here," Merrill said after they'd gathered together. "This is what you don't know."
* * *
We had dinner with the new Packmaster and his wife the evening of February eleventh. It was a Thursday night and we weren't fighting weekend crowds but the restaurant was busy anyway. Kellee made sure she gushed and complimented the Packmaster's wife when we were introduced. Didn't matter to me; I didn't have history with this woman. She was a little embarrassed over it I could tell, and when Kellee asked if she wanted to do something after dinner, the woman was too polite to say no. That meant that Kellee, Lewis and Marian Gilliam (Packmaster and wife) and Winkler all went to see a movie after they finished eating. I hoped they liked Kellee's kind of movies because that's what they were surely going to get.
Glen was growling as he watched Kellee and Winkler climb into the Packmaster's car. Lewis said he'd drop them off at the hotel afterward. Glen turned to me, then, and said something that I will always remember. "Lissa," he said. "I had my doubts when Winkler brought a vampire into the house. I'm old school and remember when the vamps and the wolves used to tear each other apart. I have to tell you, though, that I would pay money to work alongside you any day rather than spend one day at extra pay with what Winkler's out with right now."
Glen always operated in Phil's shadow. When I'd been hired by Winkler, Phil was Winkler's Second and had turned on him the moment Winkler completed his security software. Someone had offered Phil a lot of money and the Dallas Pack. After Phil's death, Glen slid farther into the background and Davis had taken over the Second's spot. I blinked up into Glen's dark blue eyes for a moment after he made his announcement. "The feeling is mutual," I said, offering him my hand. He took it and shook firmly. Weldon witnessed the entire thing; he was smiling slightly as we walked toward our SUV.
Lewis was a good pick for the Albuquerque Pack; the Packmembers seemed to respect him and the confirmation on Friday night went without any problems. We spent Saturday night in Albuquerque, so I located a laundry near the hotel and did laundry for everybody except Winkler and Kellee. When she found that out on Sunday, she stewed about it all day until I woke Sunday evening on our way to Taos. I was riding in the SUV with Weldon and Glen. Glen unzips my bag but he doesn't take me out of it like Winkler does. I think he was afraid of offending me. I was discovering that Glen was a gentleman. Kellee borrowed Winkler's cell phone and called me from the other car.
"Well, it was certainly nice of you to ask if we had any laundry that needed doing," she spat, right after I said hello. Yeah, I should have asked—that would have been polite—but miss lily-white could do her own laundry as far as I was concerned. I wasn't getting paid for this trip. Not that I knew of, anyway. I was Pack and had been requested by the Grand Master. The Council had agreed so here I was.
"Hello, Kellee, how are you?" I asked tiredly, instead of responding to her accusation. Glen was driving and he and Weldon were listening in on the conversation.
"All you had to do was ask. I have a bunch of things that need to be washed," Kellee was still spilling acid over the phone.
"Kellee, I didn't want to interrupt you and Winkler," I said, being as tactfully sarcastic as I could. Glen snickered.
"You could have phoned us, I'd have been glad to leave our things outside the door for you."
All right, that pissed me off. Really. Even Weldon drew in a breath at the insult. I was nothing more than hired help to Kellee and I'm sorry to say I let my temper run away with me. "You know what, Kellee, if you'd get off your back once in a while, you could actually do some of these things for yourself. And if Winkler would stop thinking with his smaller brain for a few minutes, he could help. When are you going to tell him, Kellee? When are you going to tell him you're pregnant?"
As soon as it left my mouth, I slapped a hand over it, but it was already too late; I'd spilled what I'd known for two days. My sensitive nose had told me and now Winkler was going to pay through his own nose, whether he married her or not. At least he'd get a child out of it. I hoped Kellee wouldn't teach it to hold his father and the rest of the world in contempt like she did.
Glen had swerved the car and Weldon had his eyes glued on me over the back of his seat at the news. No doubt Winkler had been listening in on the whole conversation, his hearing was still fine as far as I could tell. "You don't know that!" Kellee started shouting over the phone. "How can you possibly know that? You're lying!"
"Nope, not lying," I said and terminated the call. Someday, maybe I'd learn to control myself—develop that stone face that every other vampire wore. Someday. Weldon's phone rang in seconds—it was Winkler calling. He wanted to pull over at the next available spot. We were coming up on a truck stop so both vehicles whipped into the parking lot. Kellee was crying when she got out of the car, Winkler was cursing and there I was, the cause of it all. No, I didn't get Kellee pregnant but I'd certainly spilled the beans.
Weldon took charge of the situation, thank goodness. We all trooped inside the truck stop after Weldon told Winkler to calm down and stop yelling and we all sat at a table off in a corner and ordered coffee.
"Now, Kellee, were you aware you were pregnant?" Weldon looked at her.
"I was only a few days late," she sniffed. She might get sympathy from Winkler and the others but I wasn't going to offer any. Winkler had probably done the deed when he laid her the first time. He wasn't even looking at me, which was fine, I guess. I hadn't been the one to tell him to screw her. I'd just driven her rental car to our hotel like an obedient little servant so he could take her with him in the SUV.
"Let's go buy a pregnancy test," Glen suggested. Weldon nodded. I had no idea what this meant in the werewolf world. Glen asked our waitress where the nearest pharmacy would be that stayed open late and she told us there was something in Española, only a few miles down the road. We paid for our coffee and left. Winkler was fidgeting and growling a little whenever Weldon wasn't looking as we waited outside the pharmacy restroom. Kellee came out with the little plastic thing in her hand and she was crying again. Winkler looked at it and said, "Fuck." I kept my mouth shut this time and didn't point out that the word he'd just said was why he was in this fix to begin with.