Blood Trail

night isn't going to make a difference. And she's not going to be happy about being woken up.

    A red dog came out and sat beside the white. It looked less than happy to see him. It also looked larger although, considering the size of the first, Celluci found that difficult to believe.
    He shifted a little in his chair. "What, uh, kind of dogs are they?"

    "They're descended from an obscure European hunting breed. You've probably never heard of it."

    "Something like wolfhounds?"

    "Something like, yes." She pulled out a chair and sat down, pinning him under a curiously intent gaze. "My name is Nadine Heerkens-Wells, my husband and I run this farm. Vicki is working for us at the moment, Is there something I should know, Detective?"

    "No, ma'am. This doesn't concern you." In fact, Celluci was having a little trouble dealing with a friendship between the man he perceived Henry Fitzroy to be and this woman.
    Although physically she was quite striking, with her widow's peak and sharp, almost exotic features, the quality of her surroundings said poor white trash. Her wrinkled sleeveless dress looked as if it had just been picked up off the floor and thrown on. And there's enough stuff scattered around to dress a half a dozen people, provided they 're not too fussy about the condition of their clothes. None of the furniture could be less than ten years old, clumps of hair had piled up in every corner, and the whole kitchen had a kind of shabby ambiance that indicated money was scarce.

    Of course, all their spare cash could be going into dog food.

    He heard footsteps on the stairs and stood, turning to face the door leading into the hall.

    "All right, Celluci, what's wrong?" Vicki stopped barely a handspan from his chest and glared up into his face. "Someone had better be dying. ..." Her tone added, or someone's going to be.

    "What the hell happened to your head?"

    "My what? Oh that. I was in a car accident this afternoon. I guess I hit the dash." The fingers on her right hand patted the air over the purple and green swelling. "The hospital says it's just a bump. Looks bad but no real damage." Her eyes narrowed, glasses sliding down her nose with the motion. "Your turn."

    Henry, standing just inside the kitchen, hid a smile. Vicki obviously thought Celluci was entitled to hear about the accident; while she was telling him, the challenge dropped from her voice and posture. The moment she finished, it was back.

    Celluci drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Can we talk somewhere privately?"

    "Privately?"

    He glanced over her shoulder at Henry. "Yeah. Privately. As in I'd like to speak with you alone."

    Vicki frowned. She'd seen that look before. Politely translated, it meant he was ready to make an arrest. Why he should be aiming it at Henry. ... "We'll go out to your car."

    "I thought you couldn't see in the dark?"

    "I know what you look like." She grabbed his arm just above the elbow and propelled him toward the kitchen door, throwing an "I won't be long" to the room in general as they left.

    The moment they were clear of the house, Peter stretched and said, "I wonder why she didn't want to use the living room?"

    Henry grinned. "Where you could've heard every word they said?"

    "Well. ..."

    "Vicki has a pretty good idea of how well the wer can hear." He walked to the window and stared across the dark lawn at Celluci's car. "And she knows how well I can."

    "Well?"

    He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Where to start? "It's about your friend, Mr.
    Fitzroy."

    Vicki snorted. "No kidding."

    "I did some checking into his background ..."

    "You what?"

    He ignored the interruption and continued. "... and there're a number of discrepancies I think you should know about."

    "And I suppose you had a good reason for abusing police privilege?" The tension in her jaw pulled at her temple, sharpening the pain and spreading it out over her skull, but Vicki didn't dare unclench her teeth. If Celluci had discovered Henry's secret, she had to know about it and couldn't risk it getting lost in a screaming fight. Later.

    Celluci could hear the suppressed anger in her voice, could see the tightening of her lips in the pale oval of her face. He had no idea why she was hanging onto her temper but he knew it wouldn't last so he'd better use the time he had.

    "Your reason, Celluci."

    "You think what happened last spring wasn't reason enough?"

    "Not if you just started searching now, no, I don't."

    "What