Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland Page A

dead,” Jimmy said.
    “What if—?” I began but never finished.
    Didn’t need to, because my question What if they don’t die ? was answered as the first silver bullet plowed into the nearest wolf, and it exploded outward, coating the animals on either side of it with ashes. Their snarls ended mid-chorus as we sprayed the pack with ammo.
    Surrounded as we were on both sides with concrete and stone, the sound of gunfire was deafening. Above us the sky continued to lighten as we finished the job.
    Sudden silence descended. In front of us lay only ash. which stirred and lifted onto the morning breeze.
    “Cleanups are a cinch,” 1 said in my best fifties-housewife voice.
    Jimmy ignored me, moving down the alley, skirting the tiny piles of disintegrated werewolves to peek around the corner. I tensed, expecting him to start shooting again, but he glanced back, shook his head.
    The eerie stillness I’d marked upon entering Hard-eyville continued Shouldn’t the townspeople have been alerted by the gunfire? Shouldn’t they be spilling into the streets? At the least, calling out to one another or us?
    “The werewolves will return to human form at sunrise,” Jimmy said, staring out at the empty town.
    I lifted my gaze to the slice of sky between the two buildings. It had turned blue-gray.
    “Let’s get going,” he continued. “It’s much easier to determine a werewolf in wolf form than human.”
    Crossing the short distance between us, 1 neatly side-stepped the quickly dissipating piles of ash. “What gives it away?”
    “You saw their shadows?” I nodded. “If it’s a moonless night, that makes things harder. Werewolves are bigger than the average wolf, reflecting the weight of their human counterparts. Real wolves, even Alaskan timber, rarely go above a hundred and twenty pounds.”
    “A lot of people don’t either.”
    “True.”
    I frowned. “Then how do you know?”
    He shrugged. “If I see a wolf, I shoot it.”
    My mouth dropped open. “Aren’t wolves endangered or protected or something?”
    “You gonna arrest me?”
    I remained silent for a minute. I didn’t like the thought of blasting any wolf that 1 saw, but what was the alternative?
    Allowing werewolves to roam free. I didn’t like that any better.
    Jimmy noticed my hesitation and made an exasperated sound. “Real wolves don’t venture into populated areas. They’re afraid of humans. If you see a wolf where there are people you can bet your sweet ass it’s either a werewolf or rabid.”
    I nodded, understanding. “In either case, shooting them is a good idea.”
    “Now you’re catching on,” he said, and slid out of the alley.
    I hurried after. “What about when they shape-shift back into a human?”
    “What about it?”
    “How can you tell if they’re a werewolf?”
    His eyes met mine. “You can’t. Or I can’t, which is why I have you.”
    “I shouldn’t go around touching everyone in the uni-verse. And if 1 touch them and get the werewolf vibe, you can’t just shoot them on the street.”
    “I can’t?”
    We were hurrying down a road parallel to Main, where we’d left the Hummer. More shops lined the sidewalk—a Laundromat, a drugstore. At every window, Jimmy paused and peered through the glass. They were all empty.
    “You’re going to wind up in prison for murder if you don’t watch yourself,” I muttered.
    “They aren’t human, Lizzy, so it isn’t murder.”
    “How you gonna explain that when they come for you?”
    “I’m not.” He stopped and faced me. “You’re right, shooting them in the open is bad business. But it’s an easy enough thing to lure them somewhere isolated and do tire deed.”
    I began to ask how he enticed them to shape-shift just so he could shoot them, then paused. What if he said he didn’t bother? And I had a sneaking suspicion that’s exactly what he would say. Would I ever be able to look at him again without seeing him shoot a person, then walk away as if it were