Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

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    This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
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    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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Copyright © 2010 by Hurog, Inc.
    Map illustration by Michael Enzweiler.

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    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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    Briggs, Patricia.
    eISBN : 978-1-101-18611-4
    1. Thompson, Mercy (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Automobile mechanics—Fiction.
    3. Werewolves—Fiction. I. Title.
    PS3602.R53165S56 2010
    813’.6—dc22 2010001113
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To Long-Suffering Editors who never lose their cool, Husbands
who feed horses, Children who drive themselves and fix their own
meals, to Vets who take panicked phone calls at all hours, and to
all of you who give of your time, talents, and energy to help
others and to be there when you are needed. My thanks.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    There are many people who helped with this book. Thank you to Michael and Susann Boch, my friends in Germany who fix my German and provided Zee with his magic. Thank you to the two women who work at KGH and helped me find a safe space for Samuel. My apologies for losing the scrap of paper I wrote your names down on. If you catch me again, I will include your names in the next book. Thank you to Sylvia Cornish and the ladies of the book club who answered my questions about warrants. My thanks also go to Sgt. Kim Lattin of the Kennewick Police Department, who answered a number of urgent questions for me. To my awe-some husband, who choreographed many of the fight scenes (in this and other books). To Tom Lentz, who has a Kel-Tec and with Kaye and Kyle Roberson gave me excellent gun advice. As always, a very grateful author acknowledges the editing talents of the people who read, critiqued, commented, and argued along the way: Mike Briggs, Collin Briggs, Michael Enzweiler, Debbie Lentz, Ann Peters, Kaye and Kyle Roberson, Sara and Bob Schwager, and Anne Sowards.
    As always, any and all errors in this book are the responsibility of the author.



1

    THE STARTER COMPLAINED AS IT TURNED OVER THE old Buick’s heavy engine. I felt a lot of sympathy for it since fighting outside my weight class was something I was intimately familiar with. I’m a coyote shapeshifter playing in a world of werewolves and vampires—outmatched is an understatement.
    â€œOne more time,” I told Gabriel, my seventeen-year-old office manager, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his mother’s Buick. I sniffed and dried my nose on the shoulder of my work overalls. Runny noses are part and parcel of working in the winter.
    I love being a mechanic, runny nose, greasy hands, and all.
    It’s a life full of frustration and barked knuckles, followed by brief moments of triumph that make all the rest worthwhile. I find it a refuge from the chaos my life has been lately: no one is likely to die if I can’t fix his car.
    Not even if it is his mother’s car. It had been a short day at school, and Gabriel had used his free time to try to fix his mother’s car. He’d taken it from running badly to not at all, then had a friend tow it to the