Page 32 of Broken Moon

“Hey baby,” I murmured. Iwalked close enough so that he could reach me if he wanted to come from behindthe tree, but not close enough to scare him. I wished I had something to feedhim when he finally walked from behind the tree, then belly crawled toward me. Hewas emaciated. I could count his ribs and his backbone was prominent. Theasshole who owned this dog was neglecting him. “Hey little pibble.”

He inched closer, flinchingonly a little when I held my hand out to let him sniff. He’d know I was safe.He’d smell my wolf, and though it seemed a dog would be at the very leastsuspicious at smelling wolf in a human, most dogs were reassured at once.

He laid his face in my hand andstared up at me with his sweet eyes, eyes full of the need to be with a pack,to be touched, to be loved…

God, I knew well that feeling.

I murmured to him as I gave himas much love as I could before I heard the cars rolling quietly down thestreet, and then I kissed his head and though it broke my heart to do it, Ileft him there.

Detective Moreno stopped besideme as I jogged back down the street, and I kicked my boots clean on the side ofhis car before climbing in.

Behind us came two black cars,and behind them, four patrol cars. “I told them all except for the mayor thatan anonymous person called in a tip,” he told me. “Louis and Amy are in the carbehind us.” He hesitated, not looking at me. “I told them you were the caller,but no one else will know.”

There was a tap on my window,causing me to jerk, and before I could let it down, the person outside pulledopen the door.

I swallowed. “Mayor Hedrick,” Igreeted.

He looked ill. Haggard andunkempt, his black hair threaded with gray, though he was only forty-two yearsold. His eyes were bloodshot and full of a grief I couldn’t begin tounderstand.

“Ms. Silver,” he said, hisvoice raspy but soft, “if you give me back my son tonight, I will be forever inyour debt. There will be nothing I won’t do for you. But if this is a lie, ifmy boy is not inside that house…” He had to pause to gather himself, and whenhe spoke again, his voice was full of rage and tears. “Then I will bury you.”

I only nodded.

Someone pulled at his arm, andhe looked around then moved aside so his wife could get to me. She threwherself at me, then wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed until the mayorfinally pulled her away.

“God,” I whispered. I hopedthey would give her the man who’d taken her child. I hoped they would standback and let her rip him to pieces.

The mayor led her away, butonly to stand against the car they’d arrived in. And already, their eyes wereturned toward the alleyway from which they hoped the police would carry theirson.

“God,” I whispered, again.

Detective Moreno reached overthe squeeze my arm. “I’ll need you to stay here with them.”

I didn’t argue. “Bring him outof there, Rick,” I murmured.

“I hope like hell I can dothat,” he said.

Two policemen stood with themwhile the others, with the detective leading them, ran like shadows across thestreet.

I got out of the car because Icouldn’t bear to sit there. I paced up and down the sidewalk, watching,waiting, hoping. I didn’t go near the parents, because I wasn’t sure yet that Icould. I knew the mayor wouldn’t want me there, not yet. Not yet.

Surprisingly, the dog was nolonger barking.

Behind me, a porchlight flickedon. “Fuck,” I said.

An ambulance pulled in behindthe line of cars. Almost sinister in its quiet, hulking significance, waitingwith the rest of us.

I wanted to run across thestreet and into that house of horrors and help, but I wasn’t that confident. Ididn’t want to be a distraction or the cause of something going wrong. Mypresence there wasn’t needed. They knew what they were doing.

That’s what I kept tellingmyself, over and over and over.

And then, Amy Hedrick shriekedwhen gunshots rang out, one, two, three times. The cops beside them tried toshove them inside their vehicle, for safety, but Amy fought them and finally,the mayor yelled at them to get away. “Go help my boy,” he cried.

They drew their guns and theywent.

I rushed to the mayor and hiswife, and I put my arms around them both as they huddled in a little knot ofterror and cried. They let me, because I might be the enemy, but I might be theone who saved their baby, and they wanted so badly to believe the latter thatthey pulled me into their circle and let me cry with them.

“Right here the entire time,”the mayor kept whispering.