Sleuth

Discover

The Grayson house was uncharacteristically quiet. Lizbet Penner sat in the kitchen, staring blankly at the soft yellow walls of the kitchen. She had spent her entire life in this house. Being an abandoned bear cub was never an easy thing, but ex-Alpha Grayson, Kaddian and Kyrrian's father, had taken her into the sleuth without a second thought. Lizbet had been raised by two sleuth members who, for the most part, were good people. The Penner's enjoyed keeping to themselves and had an outdated sense of parenting style, involving chores, living off the land, and no excessive emotions of any kind. Lizbet would not complain but some could say that her odd personality stems from the manner in which she was raised. Needless to say, Lizbet Penner got out of her house as soon as possible. Graduating early, going to college, and working as an intern had really done nothing but bring Lizbet back to the small town she had only known from the outside. A soft noise coming from the back door startled Lizbet out of her reverie. She stood up and went to the unlatched screen door. The sky was overcast today but not as dark as usual, you could tell that the sun was blasing just on the other side of the clouds. She watched as the door opened and closed slightly from the gentle breeze. This weather was very uncharacterstic for the area but Lizbet was not going to complain about the beautiful day. She gently walked out onto the porch, shutting the door quietly. She was about to take the steps down the porch when a voice called out to her.

"Ms. Penner" the suave tones said.

Lizbet jumped slightly, not expecting someone to be sitting in the chair on the corner of the porch. She turned and looked toward the voice and found Rory Daggart relaxing with his hands folded in his lap.

"Hello" Lizbet said quietly before resting her hand on the railing and descending the stairs.

"Where are you headed?" he pressed, not taking the hint that Lizbet was uncomfortable with talking to others, especially new people. Her attempt to flee was halted by her inability to be rude.

"I was... just going to go for a walk. It's a nice day" she replied hesitantly, lifting her head to the sky.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Rory asked with a smile. A smile that was far too white and charming for Lizbet's comfort.

"Alright" she acquiesced. He took long strides down the stairs to join her by her side. Lizbet stood still, akwardly staring at nothing behind his body or at the ground. She jerkily moved around, unsure of her first step, before clumsily walking toward the front of the house. With a small chuckle Rory followed, easily evening out with her smaller stride. They walked in silence for a while before Rory finally said, "So the morgue, huh?"

With a loud sigh Lizbet replied, "Yes, I know, I am weird, I like dead people."

"I didn't say you were weird. In fact, I believe I called you interesting last time we spoke."

Lizbet looked at Rory Daggart for the first time through narrowed eyes.

"Are you a womanizer?" Lizbet asked.

With a long, loud laugh, Rory replied, "I'd like to hope not but I wonder why you would ask that?"

"Well yesterday you ask the infamously single Kyrrian on a date and today you choose to spend time with me, even though most people often don't, and you call me interesting, not weird. That seems like womanizing to me" Lizbet viewed everything as a logical situation that could be understood with deeper digging and analysis, and this was no different.

"Honestly, I am man who enjoys the beauty of women. I will not deny this, but more than just a need to date or sleep with all women, I like to admire the rare women who exhibit interesting qualities and there are quite a few here. Just because I compliment you does not mean I desire you, it means I find you a beautiful rarity that needs to be complemented so that you can shine" Rory explained.

"If you weren't handsome you would be creepy" Lizbet completely turned her filter off for that comment.

With a shrug of his shoulders and a smile, Rory did not argue.

After a fews seconds, Lizbet continued, "how can you smile when one of your sleuthmates and friends died yesterday?"

All happiness left Daggarts face then, and he seemed to take on a pensieve appearance.

"I am older than you, and even than your alpha and my alpha. I have seen death and known loss and I have learned that wallowing does nothing but make you feel worse. I may take this loss well, but those in my sleuth do not. So I stay clear in an effort to let them mourn and not rub them the wrong way" Rory stared off into the distance.

"I... actually understand that. I handle death in a way very different than the rest of the people in my sleuth too" Lizbet had no idea what to say other than revert back to what she was most confident in, which was the morgue life.

"That's not surprising at all Lizbet Penner" he said quietly. She was going to reply when she saw Mr. Redd parked on the side of the road. Jarren's father had a reputation of being cantankerous and grouchy, but that did not mean he did not deserve help when he needed it.

"Mr. Redd, do you need help?" Lizbet called out after halting. Liam Redd looked up slowly from the engine of his car. He shook his head slowly and ducked his head back under the opened hood.

"He's an odd duck" Rory commented after Lizbet casually shrugged and continued onward.

"Aren't we all?"

_____________________

"I don't even know what to do or say" Lauren Hale exhaled loudly, her dainty fingers covering her eyes. She ran her hand through her hair then planted her palms on her hips.

"I- always operate under the assumption that I will lose one of my sleuthmates, especially one of my fighters, but for some reason this has knocked me off my feet" Alpha Scottlin exhaled loudly.

Alpha Kaddian had no idea what to do or say other than offer his condolences and assistance, but he had already done those things, so he watched and listened as Lauren Hale and Alpha Scottlin communicated.

"What I don't understand is why the attacker/attackers deviated from the pattern. That makes no sense" Sheriff Hale muttered as she paced.

"Perhaps they are aware that you making strides in the case" Scottlin offered.

"Perhaps" Lauren responded before looking to Alpha Kaddian. "What do you think?"

"I think they deviated because the crimes are motivated by emotion and Scottlin is right, your investigation is a threat to their plan, so that triggered another emotional response. This was a crime of circumstance and passion, less calculated. I think you are also probably right. There are two individuals, and one has better control than the other".

Silence met his explanation until Lauren Hale said, "Shoot. Do you need a job?" Before she returned to her stacks of evidence and files to re-read the reports for what felt like the fiftieth time.