her, but then he used to juggle three or four females at a time.”
Taran nodded. “Yeah, Lark said Eloise had a thing for wolves.” He paused for a minute, thinking, and then he shrugged. “Well. Ask Luc, see if he knew anything about a Czech wolf she was seeing.”
“A Czech wolf?” Denardo asked sharply. “What’s that about?”
“I got prints back on the beta Monday. We might have a lead here.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” The beta smelled distressed.
Taran laughed. “You spent all day Monday following Gossen and you were off yesterday. Relax, wolf. It could wait. Days off are important. Anyway. Take a look at your email and you’ll see what I got.”
Neither the dead beta nor the comatose alpha carried any identification, and they’d been driving a stolen car. Taran had pinned all his hopes on fingerprints, and he got lucky. Maybe.
Denardo opened his email. “Stephan Navratil, Czech, expired visa, last known address Miami,” he read aloud.
“Yeah. And you know what they got in Miami.”
“Cubans?”
“And gambling, guns and girls. It’s a great place for bringing women in and out of the States. Navratil’s got priors there. He worked as an enforcer for another Czech, a werewolf named Dominik Kuba. Kuba ran some big poker games in South Beach, attracted high rollers. Miami-Dade thinks he ran call girls down there, too, but he got spooked and left town just as they started to collect some good intel. They think a fed tipped him off. An agent in the office there has a gambling problem, looks like he was into Kuba for a lot of money and paid him off with tips. Miami-Dade sent us everything they’ve got on Kuba—including photos.”
“What’s all that got to do with our case?” The rookie frowned.
“Lark says the werewolf Eloise met at Le Monde was named Dominik, and he was Czech.” Taran leaned back in his chair and gave his trainee a triumphant grin.
“She remember anything else? Any of the other werewolves there?”
“No.” He sighed. “Says she can’t remember faces or anything else, just El telling her Dominik was Czech.”
“That’s not much to go on. Even if we have pictures of this Kuba guy, there are five million people in Houston.”
“Yeah, but only five hundred wolves. I’ve already sent his photo to Nick to get it out to everyone in the pack. And I’m hoping Dominik and his picture show up in one of the other women’s photos or emails or something.”
“When?” Denardo asked shortly.
“Huh?” Taran replied as he looked over notes on another case.
“When did you send Kuba’s pictures to Nick?”
“Monday, soon as I got them from Miami.”
“I see.”
They didn’t speak for a while as each wolf attended to his own work. Then Denardo cleared his throat.
“How’s Lark? Still at your place?”
“Yeah, at least for a few more days. She can’t stay there forever, though, and if we don’t get a break on this thing…” Actually, Lark could stay there forever, if only she wanted to. “The alpha’s still in a coma and the doctors don’t think he’ll make it. Navratil’s file is helpful, but I’d still rather have him to question. I should’ve left one of the assholes alive.”
“You were protecting your cousin. Any wolf would’ve done the same thing, especially after the beta pulled the knife on you.”
“I still should’ve kept my head.” If it had been anyone but Lark in danger, he wouldn’t have let rage cloud his thinking.
His cell phone vibrated—Lark, checking in by text. He didn’t read it—it’d be another still alive. l8r. Sometimes she included RME . He’d needed someone to explain that it meant “rolling my eyes”.
“Okay.” He stood and put on his jacket. “I’ve got to interview a witness in one of my other cases. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Danny didn’t reply. Taran walked out, leaving the novice staring at the information on Stephan Navratil.
***
On Thursday afternoon, in a feat typical of
Taran nodded. “Yeah, Lark said Eloise had a thing for wolves.” He paused for a minute, thinking, and then he shrugged. “Well. Ask Luc, see if he knew anything about a Czech wolf she was seeing.”
“A Czech wolf?” Denardo asked sharply. “What’s that about?”
“I got prints back on the beta Monday. We might have a lead here.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” The beta smelled distressed.
Taran laughed. “You spent all day Monday following Gossen and you were off yesterday. Relax, wolf. It could wait. Days off are important. Anyway. Take a look at your email and you’ll see what I got.”
Neither the dead beta nor the comatose alpha carried any identification, and they’d been driving a stolen car. Taran had pinned all his hopes on fingerprints, and he got lucky. Maybe.
Denardo opened his email. “Stephan Navratil, Czech, expired visa, last known address Miami,” he read aloud.
“Yeah. And you know what they got in Miami.”
“Cubans?”
“And gambling, guns and girls. It’s a great place for bringing women in and out of the States. Navratil’s got priors there. He worked as an enforcer for another Czech, a werewolf named Dominik Kuba. Kuba ran some big poker games in South Beach, attracted high rollers. Miami-Dade thinks he ran call girls down there, too, but he got spooked and left town just as they started to collect some good intel. They think a fed tipped him off. An agent in the office there has a gambling problem, looks like he was into Kuba for a lot of money and paid him off with tips. Miami-Dade sent us everything they’ve got on Kuba—including photos.”
“What’s all that got to do with our case?” The rookie frowned.
“Lark says the werewolf Eloise met at Le Monde was named Dominik, and he was Czech.” Taran leaned back in his chair and gave his trainee a triumphant grin.
“She remember anything else? Any of the other werewolves there?”
“No.” He sighed. “Says she can’t remember faces or anything else, just El telling her Dominik was Czech.”
“That’s not much to go on. Even if we have pictures of this Kuba guy, there are five million people in Houston.”
“Yeah, but only five hundred wolves. I’ve already sent his photo to Nick to get it out to everyone in the pack. And I’m hoping Dominik and his picture show up in one of the other women’s photos or emails or something.”
“When?” Denardo asked shortly.
“Huh?” Taran replied as he looked over notes on another case.
“When did you send Kuba’s pictures to Nick?”
“Monday, soon as I got them from Miami.”
“I see.”
They didn’t speak for a while as each wolf attended to his own work. Then Denardo cleared his throat.
“How’s Lark? Still at your place?”
“Yeah, at least for a few more days. She can’t stay there forever, though, and if we don’t get a break on this thing…” Actually, Lark could stay there forever, if only she wanted to. “The alpha’s still in a coma and the doctors don’t think he’ll make it. Navratil’s file is helpful, but I’d still rather have him to question. I should’ve left one of the assholes alive.”
“You were protecting your cousin. Any wolf would’ve done the same thing, especially after the beta pulled the knife on you.”
“I still should’ve kept my head.” If it had been anyone but Lark in danger, he wouldn’t have let rage cloud his thinking.
His cell phone vibrated—Lark, checking in by text. He didn’t read it—it’d be another still alive. l8r. Sometimes she included RME . He’d needed someone to explain that it meant “rolling my eyes”.
“Okay.” He stood and put on his jacket. “I’ve got to interview a witness in one of my other cases. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Danny didn’t reply. Taran walked out, leaving the novice staring at the information on Stephan Navratil.
***
On Thursday afternoon, in a feat typical of
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