The Wolf Code

She would have to be careful around this smooth talker.

“I need you to let me do the questioning with the therapist,” Senora said.

“I didn’t interfere with Mabel, did I?” he drawled, a single arched brow challenging her to say otherwise.

“You didn’t, but this is different.  I have a feeling that the therapist is going to be harder to crack, and I don’t want you getting in there acting all macho.”

Ty threw his head back, his laughter warm and genuine. 

“You saw that?”

“I did.”

“He started it.”

“I’m not surprised.  I’m glad you finished it, though.  He’s a horrible person, and the more he talks, the more I want to slap him.  I’m glad to see his attempt at being macho was thwarted.”

“Thwarted?” Ty drawled.  “Now, that’s a word I’ve never heard used in a sentence before.”

“I’m sure I know a lot of words that you don’t know,” she teased, getting out of the car and stepping into the sunshine that was already beating down on her shoulders.  “Enough chit chat; we have work to do.”

They hurried into the building and out of the heat.  When they made their way into the lobby, Senora was surprised to see that the waiting room was nearly empty. 

“It’s only nine o’clock,” Ty offered as if reading her mind.  “They just opened.”

“I feel like it’s been a lifetime since Addie was found.  I didn’t realize it had only been a few hours.”

“I know what you mean.”

There was a woman at the front desk watching them intently as they bantered back and forth.  Senora walked up to the window, smiling at the woman and sliding her card through the opening in the glass that encased her little cubicle in the lobby.

“I need to see Doctor Harris, please.”

“Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked.

“No, I don’t, but he’s going to want to see me.”

“She,” the woman corrected smugly.  “Robin Harris is a woman.”

“My apologies,” Senora said after running several witty retorts through her head and settling on the only polite option.  “I need to see Doctor Harris, and it’s urgent.”

“Is it life or death?” the woman asked without an ounce of concern.

“Not anymore,” Senora said bluntly.

The woman gave a start, but Senora could tell that she didn’t know whether Senora was playing with her or not. 

“She’s getting ready for her day, and after that, she has a full schedule.  If you’ll come back tomorrow with an appointment-”

Ty stepped forward, bumping Senora with his hip and using his hand to guide her to the side a little so that he was standing right in front of the circle of tiny holes drilled into the glass to let voices pass through.

“Miss Clara,” he said with exaggerated warmth.  “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you.”

Senora watched in disgust as Miss Clara blushed like a school girl, her entire demeanor changing right before her eyes.  Clara all but simpered and purred with delight at his attention, and it was all Senora could do to stop herself from rolling her eyes. 

Is she serious? Senora thought angrily, but it was obvious that she was.  Clara was putty in Ty’s capable hands, and her earlier haughtiness had all but vanished.

So much for asking Ty to stay out of her way. 

“Clara, we need to speak with Robin as quickly as possible.  If you could make an exception this once, I would be personally grateful.”

“Robin likes to start her day with restorative yoga and some tea while she prepares herself for the day.”

“And I prefer to start my day without investigating the sudden death of a young woman, but we can’t always have what we want.”

Clara leaned forward, whispering even though Senora and Ty were the only other people in the lobby.

“Is it the Thompson girl?  I heard she was missing.”

“Unfortunately, it was,” Ty said.

“I always knew that girl would end her life.  I always had a feeling, you know?  She loved attention and what’s more attention seeking than-”

“She was brutally murdered,” Senora said without caring about the anger in her voice.  “Whatever you thought you knew about that girl isn’t reality.”

Clara’s cheeks turned bright red, and she looked at Ty, then back at Senora while she clamored to find the words that would erase the ugliness that had just escaped her mouth.  But there were no words that would fix what she’d insinuated about Addie without the facts, and Senora was beginning to see why Addie was so desperate for people to see the real her.  It seemed the entire town had made up their minds about Addie Thompson, and Senora was sure that very few people actually knew Addie.  The real Addie.  It was no wonder that Addie struggled with her self-worth.  Senora didn’t know if she could survive a week in this town if people treated her the way that they treated Addie.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s frowned upon for someone in your position to make snap judgments about a dead patient,” Senora continued.  “As much as I’d love to watch Ty flirt with you until you fall over yourself to get us an audience with Doctor Harris, I don’t have time for this and I could drag you down to the station for questioning right now if I wanted to.”

Clara recoiled at the horror of being publicly embarrassed by the rumors that would surely fly if she ended up at the police station for questioning.  Not that Senora thought for a second that the Sheriff would let her use the facilities to question anyone in town, but Clara didn’t have to know that.

“I’ll see if I can get her to answer the door,” Clara said as she all but ran out of the back of her cubicle and down a hall.

“That was fun,” Ty said.

“You look much too amused.”

“You’re pretty when you’re feisty.”

“I’m angry.  I can’t believe that woman had the gall to suggest that Addie killed herself.”

“You have to remember that this isn’t the big city.  Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone has an opinion about what everyone else is going through.  She doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“I don’t care.”

“I can see that.”

There was the sound of a buzzer and a lock opening on the door near where they stood.  Ty opened the door and motioned to Senora that she should go through first, ending their conversation for now.

Senora caught sight of Clara disappearing around the corner ahead as she and Ty went down the long hallway and stopped at the open door.  A tall woman in her late thirties stood a few feet back to let them into the room, her straight blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail, blue eyes glassy with unshed tears.

“Is it true?” she asked softly.  “Is Addie gone?”

“I’m afraid so,” Ty said before Senora could say anything.

She shot him a look, but he ignored her, stepping into the room and taking a seat on the couch as Robin closed and locked the door.

“Do you know what happened to her?” Robin asked, her hands shaking as she picked up her tea and took a sip.  “Does this have something to do with her disappearance?”

“We’re trying to figure all this out,” Senora said.  “But we’re going to need your help.  I have a few questions, and I’m hoping that you have some information that might help send us in the right direction.”