The Wolf Code

Chapter 4

Senora parked the car on the quiet little street at the edge of town, taking a deep breath and flexing her hands on the steering wheel.

“I hate this part,” she said, looking at the quaint little house with the purple door and the tidy landscape around a welcoming porch that wrapped around the entire house.  “This never gets any easier.”

“I don’t think notifying people that their loved one is gone is ever supposed to get easier,” Ty offered.  “I can do it for you if you want.”

“No,” she shook her head.  “I have to do this.  This woman called me and expected me to save her daughter.  The least I can do is give her the courtesy of being the one to tell her what happened.”  Senora took another deep breath.  “But I wouldn’t mind if you came with me.”

“Not a problem,” he said.

They walked up the narrow pathway to the front door, Senora’s eyes locked on the door.  If Mabel came out of the house before she knocked, she wanted to make sure that she made eye contact with the woman.  It was part of how she’d been trained, and she never deviated from that training. 

Ty was silent behind her, only the thud of his boots on the porch steps giving his presence away.  That and the warm scent of him that smelled more of fresh air and deep woods than cologne and hair products.  There was something about him that oozed outdoorsman, even though he didn’t look like Senora’s expectation of a man who was one with nature.  He was too clean, too shaven and much too cultured.  He made the Sheriff look like a barbaric moron, which wasn’t really hard to do in this case.

She knocked on the door, shoving thoughts of the Sheriff out of her mind.  She was still livid at the way the man had treated this entire case, and now that Addie was dead, he wasn’t even apologetic.  If she didn’t know any better, she would think-

The door opened, and Mabel stood there, eyes swollen and sleepy, hands buried in her apron as she dried them off.  She looked decades older than fifty, and it was obvious that she’d been crying since the moment Addie had gone missing and hadn’t slept much.

“Are you Miss Edwards?” she asked, her voice husky and weak.

“Yes Ma’am,” Senora said softly. 

“I don’t guess you have good news for me, then?” the woman asked.

Senora shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but Mabel already knew.

“My baby,” she said weakly, clutching at her chest and looking up to the sky.

It took Senora a beat to realize that she wasn’t looking upward, but by the time she reacted, Ty had already scooped Mabel up mid-faint and cradled her against his chest as she lay limp in his arms.

“Get the door,” he said, and Senora rushed to comply.

She followed him into the house, straight back to the large, welcoming couch in the center of the cheerfully decorated room.  Ty laid her down on the couch, propping her feet and her head up with pillows while Senora went into the kitchen and ran a clean towel under the cool water and squeezed the excess water out.

She sat on the ottoman in front of the couch and pressed the cloth against the woman’s head.  Ty sat beside Senora, his face drawn with concern as the woman’s eyes fluttered and she started to wake up. 

She took one look at Ty and then Senora, then began wailing.  The cries were a deep, visceral pain that could only come from a mother mourning her child.  Senora sat rigid, not sure what to do when Ty knelt between the ottoman and the couch, taking Mabel’s hand in his and comforting the woman. 

Senora watched him, the tender way he spoke soft words to her as he looked into her tortured face.  When Mabel started mouthing the words Ty spoke, she realized that Ty was saying a prayer with her.  Mabel’s wails softened, but she continued to cry.  She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, and Ty sat there, waiting patiently for her to process the news.

He was so calm and his presence so nurturing that Senora was left in awe of him.  His soft words and gentle heart were in stark contrast to his muscled, macho appearance.   She hadn’t expected him to be like this, and it was a pleasant surprise.  Unlike the other men she’d encountered during the course of the investigation, Ty seemed to have a heart of gold.  The Sheriff could learn a thing or two from the man; that was for sure. 

Senora saw Mabel squeeze Ty’s hand and shake her head to indicate that she was ready to sit up and face reality, as hard as that was.  Ty helped her upright, then packed a throw pillow on either side of her in case the news became too unbearable again.

“Water?” he said.

“Please,” she replied, and Ty disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tall glass.

He handed it to her and took her free hand again.  She held onto him as if her life hung in the balance and he was her only connection to this world.  When she’d finished half the cup, she set it down and looked at Senora.

“How did it happen?” she asked.

Senora was grateful she didn’t have to lie to spare Mabel the gruesome truth.

“We don’t know yet.  It’s going to be a couple days before that information is available.”

“Did she suffer?” Mabel wanted to know.

Senora’s heart sank.  There was kindness, and there was outright lying.  She wouldn’t lie, but she didn’t know how to tell this mother that Addie had indeed suffered.

“She’s been missing a little over a day, and she’s been gone since at least last night,” Ty began, and Senora made no move to stop him.  It wasn’t his place, but she didn’t have anything better to offer the poor woman.  “She was probably gone before Miss Edwards even got to the scene, which means that she wasn’t held and tortured.  That’s not much, but that’s all we know now.  There’s nothing you or anyone could have done to prevent this.  It happened too fast.”

“I could have moved out of this place like her therapist suggested,” Mabel said bitterly.  “But I wanted Addie to try to make it here, and she was doing so well.  I thought I was doing the right-”

She choked on a sudden sob, and like a wave crashing into the shore, the grief washed over her again.  She buried her face in her hands and shook as the tears flowed.  Senora’s heart broke with each muffled moan, but there was nothing to do but let the moment pass and give Mabel a chance to regroup before she asked the next question.