A Justified Kill by Marylynn Bast Page A

Catherine was popping her gum, one hand on her hip, the other waving in the air.
    Amber couldn’t help but think to herself , show ’ s how much you know. “N ot everyone ru n s to California to make it big. ” She wanted to conti nue, but didn’t want to say t o o much and make Catherine start questioning her, so she kept her thoughts to herself. Hanna was running from her Hollywood life . Sadly she found a different kind of nightmare waiting for her here. For supposedly knowing everyone’s business, the people in this town are totally clueless . 
    Catherine ignored her spoken comment and didn’t notice that Amber wasn’t really paying close attention . “ They are saying the seven girls were found near the burnt campsite . You know, there’s this girl in the hospital claiming that Gerald held her hostage and raped her. She claimed that some girl came in and rescued her and took her to the hospital. The hospital said the girl was just passing through and they can’t find her now. The sheriff found her clothes, ripped to shreds out in the woods . She ’ s lucky to be alive f rom what Sue Ann told me . The others, you know his t hree friends , are being investigated for knowing what Gerald was doing, possibly even part icipating. And Ryan, they are going to talk to you too. ” Catherine was full of information on the story . S ince it had made the front page headline , she knew all the right people to call and ask about it.
    Ryan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Yeah, it’s the reason why everyone ’ s avoiding the bar. I already heard the police think be cause people come here to drink , I should know everything they are doing . O nce the y leave my bar , I could care less . ”
    Catherine continued like he had not even spoken. “ Trigger said they found large wolf prints throughout the campsite and in the woods where the other girls were buried . He told me if the wolf hadn’ t dug up the remains, they would have never been able to find the other bodies. They are broadening the search to see if there are more even checking out where Gerald used to live. From what they could tell, t hey said the bodies were buried a couple years and as recent as a couple months. Forensics is being called in to do the dating. But the strange thing is how the wolf didn’t eat the bodies. I though t wolves were scavengers and would eat anything and everything . ” Catherine continued talking while Amber started for the door.
    Amber’s back was to Catherine and Ryan . The remark about wolves being scavengers irritated her and she wanted to tell her just how ignorant she was, because she knew for a fact that her wolf liked fresh meat she killed herself. Not someone else’s left overs. S he let it go , because as she thought on it, most people considered wolves scavengers, but they weren’t, they were actually beneficial to the ecological system by killing old, young or sick animals, not scavenging. In fact, they often left food for the vultures and scroungers. She wanted to share her version of the nature channels lesson of the day, but that would get her talking that much more. The way Catherine had sneered the word wolf rankled. She had to remind herself she was a werewolf, not the typical wolf . Really not even a typical werewolf. She had to let it go.
    Through her thoughts Catherine continued talking. “ Amber, you know you served Gerald his last drink that night. ”
    Her back to them, they didn’t see the smile slip across her lips and her eyes fla sh yellow. “Yeah, I hear the alcohol really had a bite to it . . .” She waved without looking back. With her parting rema rk, she walked out the door. Digging the jeep key out of her pocket while walking across the parking lot, s he thought of the attack . I t had been less than graceful, but it in the end it still served its purpose. Amber had left her mark on the small town without them even knowing it. She had made a justified kill.
    Her long strides took