Apr 15

Apr 15 Wolf Of The Past

Wolf Of The Past - book excerpt

Prologue

Connecticut: 1820’s

David headed back toward the door where he’d broken into the house. There was no point in staying here any longer – he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for, not without a lot more time. He came up short, his breath catching in his throat when a wrinkle in the carpet held back one foot. His arms flailing for purchase, one hand hit the portrait on the wall beside him. He clung to the wall until his balance returned, the sound of his pounding heartbeat and the swinging of the portrait all he could hear. Something caught his attention, and his eyes widened to twice their normal size. Behind the portrait, the wall was different, dark and shiny instead of a dull beige. Carefully, David took the picture from the wall and set it on the floor, revealing a safe set into the wall.

He started working on it immediately, barely concealing his excitement. He’d found it. He’d actually found it! David repeated the combination, exactly as he’d heard it spoken the night before, and hastily scooped up the money, dropping it into his bag. That done, he quietly crept out through the door and left as quickly as he could.

David hurried back the way he came, forcing his way through the bushes and past trees. He kept his ears trained for the slightest sound. His eyes focused on every movement, catching only stray cats. After some time, he slowed to a normal pace. He left behind the bushes and shadows and returned to the more familiar downtown alleys. Dark stores and empty city streets greeted his return. He was a long way from the cozy little homes with their happy families that abounded in the area of town where the job took place. The moonlight lit his way, revealing the dirt and trash in the alleyway. He stepped over a stream of whiskey, which had poured from an overturned bottle. Nearby, a man dressed in filthy, ripped clothing was passed out, sprawled on a pile of newspapers and cardboard boxes saturated by snow, and probably no small amount of whiskey from the smell of things. In the distance, he could hear voices raised in argument. A woman’s scream was followed by a loud crash. Home sweet home.

He crossed the street and shivered when the wind hit him. It was much colder out here in the open. He hurried to the side of the street and slid down a small embankment, taking cover beneath the bridge. Carefully securing the money in his ragged jacket, David curled up and went to sleep.

* * *

David waited for the carriage driver to unlock the gate and return to his seat. He slipped in behind the carriage, keeping to the wall and trees, wondering again if he was doing the right thing. This wasn’t like his usual jobs, but he’d been dared. Normally, he wouldn’t go after anyone who hadn’t done something to him or someone he knew, but this guy had a lot of money. He lived in a mansion, after all. It was the only house of its size in the area, probably in the state. Some of the other street kids jokingly called the man ‘King’ Richard because of how much wealth he had. He wouldn’t miss a little bit. If David could pull off this job, he would gain the respect of all the kids on the street, and he would probably be set for a long time. If he didn’t go through with it, they would never let him live it down. He would just be another kid on the streets. Everyone would know he didn't have the guts to do what it takes. He’d be worthless, a coward. Whatever happened, he couldn’t back out now.

He moved closer to the house, still hidden by the trees and bushes. He heard the carriage come to a stop and then a couple of voices, followed by the opening and closing of a door. Footsteps came towards his position, and he fought to keep from breathing too heavily, ensuring he was completely hidden by the leaves. Slowly, the sounds died away, and he heard the large front door creek open. A swoosh of air and the clanging of metal latches accompanied its closure.. A nervous breath rushed past his lips. He was lucky they didn’t keep the grounds cleared, because that had been close. Gathering up his courage, he peeked out from his hiding place and started to move. Once he’d made it to the house he started checking all the doors and windows, quietly searching for something which might have been accidentally left unlocked. If he was lucky, he’d be able to slip in and back out again without alerting anyone inside to his presence. He didn’t like the thought of breaking in while people were there, but that had been the rule of the bet, and the smallest amount of noise he could make in the process, the better.

* * *

“So, how long are you going to wait?” Marcus glanced up from his paper to look at Richard.

Richard didn’t look up from the book he was reading. “Until you finish that sketch. I want to see how you make me look this time. Besides, there’s no hurry.”

Marcus laughed. He hadn’t even informed Richard he was sketching him, but he should have known Richard would have picked up on it. “Are you sure you want to wait? He’s been out there for some time.”

“I know, but you’re almost finished anyway. There’s no sense in disturbing your work.”

“Okay.” Marcus made quick work of the sketch, putting a few finishing touches on it before revealing it to Richard.

Richard nodded appreciatively. Marcus had captured him completely, down to the contemplative look in his downcast eyes. “One of your best yet.”

“Thank you. Shall we go introduce ourselves to your young thief?”

“Of course.”

* * *

David checked the last door and sighed. It seemed as if he was going to have to do this the hard way. He only hoped no one would hear him working the lock. Quietly, he made his way to a side door and took out his knife. Just as he lifted his hand, there was a tap on his shoulder and he jumped, spinning on the spot. His heart started racing when he realized he’d been caught. Two men stood behind him, and strangely, they both seemed amused. Okay, one point in his favor. At least they didn’t look as though they wanted to kill him, but maybe they only looked amused, because they enjoyed torturing people. Even now, they could be thinking of ways to make his life miserable. What had he gotten himself into? While he watched, their grins only seemed to get wider. He gulped. Maybe he would’ve been better off facing the boys on the street. A lifetime of jokes and disrespect didn’t seem so bad right now.

Richard gazed down at the young boy. He appeared much too young to be doing something like this. He was dressed in rags that were entirely too small and hardly suitable for the cold weather they’d been having lately. He suspected the boy probably hadn’t had a decent meal or place to live in a very long time. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to roast you over an open fire.”

“Or tie you to a post and shoot you,” the second man added nonchalantly.

“Or let bloodthirsty dogs chase you and rip your body to shreds.” David’s eyes grew larger and larger as they continued. Vivid imaged of everything they’d said were running through his mind, but he couldn’t tell if he’d thought those things before they said them, or if them saying those things made him think about them. It had to be the latter, but he could have sworn his thoughts came first. But how could they have known what was in his mind? He could feel the wheels in his head grinding to a confused halt. Much more of this and he’d never be able to think again.

Richard laughed and patted the boy on the shoulder. To his credit, the boy didn’t jump. “I’m Richard.”

“And I’m Marcus.” The second man held out his hand, waiting for David to do the same.

David tentatively lifted his hand. It was swiftly grasped by the other man, but instead of a normal handshake, he clasped his arm. “This is how I shake hands. Remember it.” The man let go of David’s arm and started walking back towards the front door.

“Come in with us,” Richard said. “I have something I want to talk to you about. And I’m not going to try to poison you or bury you alive in some secret dungeon in the house, so you can stop worrying.” He leaned in closer, grinning conspiratorially. “I had that dungeon bricked up years ago,” he whispered. The boy’s face grew even paler, making it impossible for Richard not to laugh. “Come on.” His hand still on the boy’s shoulder, he led him into the house.

Chapter One

Connecticut: Present Day

Nicole stared at the picture of the happy family they’d once been. Smiling faces stared back at her, mocking her. She experienced a stab of pain when her body was wracked by another unexpected sob, but she’d cried all her tears already. She pulled the pillow closer to her chest and sighed heavily, staring blankly at their photo. She remembered the day they’d taken it, before Billy left home. She’d been happy then, with a brother and two loving parents. They weren’t her real family, but they’d seemed real enough to her.

The clock beeped, bringing her back to the present. The meeting would be starting soon and she had to go. She hadn’t contributed much before, but things were different now. She owed it to them to keep their work alive, even if they couldn’t.

Nicole walked toward the old brick building with determination. This was the first time she’d been back since… the accident. Some of the windows were broken and boarded up and all of them carried layers of dirt, several years old. It didn’t look like much from the outside, faring only mildly better on the inside – but it was all the Smithsdale Environmental Society had for the moment.

The SES was relatively new, one of her mom and dad’s pet projects before their deaths. The SES hadn’t done all that much so far, but it had found a good following among the local college students. It gave them the opportunity to get involved in something meaningful.

She reached for the door handle and paused, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She glanced around, but saw nothing unusual. She was probably just paranoid, but once in a while, she had the distinct impression she was being watched. Then again, everyone felt like that sometimes, so she was probably no different to anyone else. With that reassurance in mind, she shrugged it off and opened the door.

The musty smell in the interior of the building hit her instantly. She’d forgotten how bad it was. Her parents never paid much attention to keeping up the place, they were always too wrapped up in what they were doing. She needed to talk to John about airing the place out. Nicole concentrated on breathing through her mouth as she looked around. Dim light filtered in through the broken, partially covered windows. There was just enough light to see the dust motes in the air and the cobwebs which lined the windows. The room was large, with a rickety stage at the far end. Between the door and the stage were several rows of rusting, fold-up chairs and she noticed that the chairs were filling fast, with the first five rows already full. At least attendance was still up.

“Hey, Nicole! Good to see you, again,” a young voice said from behind her. Nicole glanced back at the girl and recognized her as one of the regulars at the SES meetings. She nodded to the girl and turned away. “Sorry about what happened to your parents. If you need anything, just let me know,” the girl announced before she walked over to the other side of the room and struck up another conversation.

Nicole’s throat constricted and her head throbbed, all too common reactions in the past two months. She had to fight it, couldn’t cry here, not in front of so many people. Despite her best efforts, a tear collected at the corner of each eye. She wiped them away, only to find them immediately replaced by more. She had thought she’d completely cried herself out during that week she spent in a catatonic state, curled up on the couch with only a tear-soaked pillow for company. Yet for all the tears she wiped away, she couldn’t dry her eyes.

Nicole glanced around at everyone and her desire to avoid crying renewed a hundred-fold. There had been too many heartfelt condolences and sympathy. No more. She would not cry. Making a quick trip to the bathroom, Nicole splashed some cold water on her face and settled her mind on the business at hand. With her control firmly back in place, she took her seat.

Nicole sat near the back of the group and settled in to see what was going to be said – as if she couldn’t guess. The topic on everyone’s mind was what could be done to stop Steagel & Co. from dumping toxins into the water. The meeting began, and she listened as one person after another repeated what had been said a hundred times before. There was nothing new. Everyone wanted to do something, but no one knew what to do.

Nicole absentmindedly ran her pendant up and down the silver chain it hung on. The pendant was an old stone with a crude carving of a wolf on it. It’s warmth transferred to her fingers, sending calm, peaceful feelings flowing through her skin. It was always warm to touch, but then again she did wear it right next to her skin, so that would make sense.

Her mind wandered away from the meeting. It had been two months since her parents died in the car accident. They’d been the only parents she ever known, having been adopted by them when she was young. They had been her only family and other than one son – her adoptive brother – they didn’t have other relatives. No aunts or uncles. No cousins or grandparents. Other than her brother, whom she hardly ever saw, she didn’t have any family to turn to. She was completely alone in the world.

A heavy weight settled on her chest, feeling like a fist was clenching her heart. She hated the thought of being alone. She was so afraid of not having anyone in her life. Few people knew how much that fear threatened to completely overwhelm her. No matter how many people she had around her, she was always afraid she would lose it all, that she would be left with no one in the end. Most of the time, it wasn’t such a big deal – she could ignore it. Sometimes, she could even manage to partially convince herself it was all nonsense.

Until two months ago.

Ever since her parents died, she’d been in a fierce battle with her demons. It threatened to be too much at times. What was to keep anyone else near her? What was to keep her from losing anyone else she allowed herself to become close to? The truth was, there wasn’t a single thing to keep that from happening. Perhaps she just wasn’t meant to be close to anyone? Maybe she was paying the price for some bad karma. Maybe she was cursed. Maybe she was just unlucky. Those were all possibilities for why some higher force would contrive to leave her lonely, and there was nothing to interfere with the fates should they choose to sentence her to such a destiny.

She pushed the thought from her mind. There was no sense in dwelling on negative thoughts – even if it was her destiny to be alone, she didn’t have to think about it. She had a lot of good things in her life. For instance, she had Meg. They’d known each other for a very long time; most of their lives, in fact. Meg knew all her secrets, and she was one of the few people Nicole had let herself get close to. But if she was honest, she sometimes found herself shutting Meg out, too. There was always a small part of herself which couldn’t seem to let go.

Nicole refocused her thoughts again. Okay, so she wasn’t very good with interpersonal relationships, but she had other things going for her. She had school and the SES to occupy her time. Stopping the release of toxins by Steagel & Co. was the last project her parents had worked on before their deaths. As scientists studying the local environment, they’d discovered the horrible poisoning of the local land and water. They’d founded the Smithsdale Environmental Society to deal with these problems. The SES had been important to them and now, it was her responsibility to finish their work. She owed them that much.

Nicole pushed her glasses back up on her nose and tried to draw her attention back to the meeting, which was almost over. She was restless, felt as if she should be doing something. By the grumbling around her, it was obvious everyone else was frustrated and restless, too. As she stood to leave, she noticed John walking toward her. The dim lighting made his short brown hair and blue eyes appear darker than usual and as he drew closer, she was reminded just how tall he was. She was wearing her platform boots, and he was still taller than she was. He possessed a face to match his impressive height, square and hard, but his eyes were so warm a person couldn’t help liking him. His features communicated a great sens of power and charisma and Nicole thought he looked more like a CEO than the college senior he was. She could understand why her parents had given him so many responsibilities.

John Markham had done a lot of work for the SES while her parents were alive, and had taken on even more responsibilities after their deaths, and she was grateful for all his help. He’d almost been a second son to her parents, he was just a few years younger than Billy and unlike her wayward brother, John actually shared their interests. During some of those late night and weekend planning sessions, when John spent so much time over at the house, it had almost seemed like having a brother again.

She pushed aside an unwelcome pang of jealousy. It wasn’t John’s fault he’d fit in with them so well, where her and Billy always struggled. It was probably for the best, anyway. At least someone was able to carry on their work, as they deserved. During those first few weeks after the accident, Nicole hadn’t wanted to deal with anyone or anything. Not that she would have been much help anyway – when her parents were alive, she’d come to some meetings and listened to her parents discussing their work, but Nicole didn’t know the first thing about running the organization. Without John, she didn’t know how the SES would have stayed operational.

John flashed a half smile. “Nicole, hey, how’s it going?”

She shrugged. “Oh, it’s going. And you?”

“Oh, I’m good.” John shifted from foot to foot and Nicole smiled reassuringly. Despite her brave front, he’d been a little nervous lately when he spoke to her, as if he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He had tried his best over the last couple of months to make sure Nicole didn’t have to worry about anything to do with the SES and seemed reluctant to bother her in the few times he had needed to ask her something. This seemed like another one of those times.

“Was there something you wanted?” she prompted.

“Yeah, um… I’ve been talking to some of the others. We decided we need some photos of the river and the surrounding wildlife on file, along with the soil and water samples we’ve been collecting, and we were wondering if you could take the photos, since you’ve got that really good camera..”

“Sure, I’d be happy to.” Nicole smiled. At least this would be doing something constructive. “When do you need them?”

“You’re sure it’s no trouble?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She rested her hands on her hips in an indignant fashion. This china doll treatment was going to have to stop – sure, she was a wreck, but he didn’t need to know that. “So, when do you need them?”

“There’s no hurry. In the next week or so should be fine.”

“No problem.”

“Hey, John,” a voice called from across the room and John turned to seek the source of the voice. A woman with long blonde hair and a pink flower printed skirt and matching top was waving at him.

John turned back briefly to Nicole. “I gotta go. Katie needs a ride home, her car is in the shop. I’ll see you later, and thanks for doing the picture thing.” John turned and started navigating his way through the crowd.

Nicole quickly went over her schedule in her head, trying to determine when she would have time to take the photos. She was meeting Meg for lunch after she left the meeting, but after that, she had the entire afternoon free. She did have a report due tomorrow, but that would only take an hour or two to finish. She could do it after she’d taken the photos. John had said there was no hurry, but she was anxious to do something constructive. She glanced at her watch. It was almost time for lunch, so she left the SES building and headed to the diner. Maybe this day wouldn’t be such a total waste, after all.