Earl went into the back and Gail spun on me. “Why the hell did you say I was tied up?”
“It seemed appropriate, considering that you were,” I replied.
Gail shook her head. “You’re a damn fool, Jesse. Earl gossips with other hunters. He could easily do it again.”
Now I was confused. “What’s wrong with that? Your Dad was a hunter.”
She poked a finger into my chest. “Hunters. Kill. Weres. Didn’t I make that plain or are you just dense?”
“But you’re not …” I stopped. “You mean they’d hunt you.”
“I’d hunt me too, except for the fact that it is me. Jesse, I told you, no one has ever reversed the bite. A hunter would rightly believe that it was only a matter of time before I started killing innocents and they’d take me out before I did.”
My stomach felt queasy. “God, my bad. Sorry, Gail, I didn’t think.”
“If a hunter were to kill me, no other hunter would even ask why once he found out I’d been bitten. We assume that the hunter is always right, as long as his gun is pointing at anything that isn’t totally human.”
“Sweet Jesus. Judge, jury, and executioner.”
She poked a finger into my chest again. It hurt. “Exactly. It’s the way we survive the fight. That’s the way it’s always been and always will be.”
“Then what—” I hushed as Earl rejoined us.
Earl set four twelve by twelve green tarps on the counter and a fiberglass-shafted ax on top of the tarps.
Gail put a smile back on her face and said, “Thanks, Earl, that’s great.”
“Anything for a pretty lady, particularly a pretty hunter lady. You need anything else, call. I ship anywhere.” Earl took a business card from a holder on the counter.
“Thanks, again, Earl,” I said and offered Earl a credit card.
Earl held up both hands, palm out. “You paid enough for the ammo and handgun for me to throw in stuff like this. I mean it now, either of you need anything, just give ol’ Earl a call.”
“You got it, Earl,” I said and reached for the tarps.
“I’ve got it,” Gail said and stepped in front of me. “You need to save your strength. Say, Earl, can you get your hands on whole blood?”
Two customers, a couple of thirty-something men who had been examining compound bows, turned toward us, listening for Earl’s reply.
Earl gave them a nasty glare until they decided what they were looking for was at the other end of the store. He turned to Gail with a frown. “Some, not much. What type do you need?”
Gail looked up at me. I sighed, “A positive.”
“You all right, Jesse?” Earl asked giving me a close look.
“He lost a lot of blood the last couple of nights. I think a couple bags would do wonders for him,” Gail said.
Earl stroked his beard and nodded in great motions. “Now that you mention it, he does look a little pale.”
I threw my hands up. “Oh, for crying out loud. I’ll recover in a few days.”
Gail put a hand on my bicep and pulled me toward her. “Shhh, hush, Jesse. Earl, could you have it tomorrow morning?”
Earl nodded. “Probably tonight.”
“We won’t be out tonight, and you shouldn’t be either, after moonrise. Did I say it was at eight thirty-one tonight?” Gail asked.
Earl glanced at the clock over the door. He nodded. “I get your meaning. You kids be careful tonight. I’d hate to lose such excellent customers.”
I laughed. “And we’d hate to see you lose those customers, too.”
In the van, I asked, “I know there’s an ax in the shed. Why’d you need another one?”
“Yours will have to be disposed of, so I’m replacing it.”
I stared at her for a minute and then shrugged. She’d explain when she was ready. I buckled my seat belt and propped my boots on the dash as she pulled out. We had a few more stops to make before going back to the cabin. Replacing the bourbon and the coffee pot was chief on my list.
Back at Dad’s cabin, I got the extension ladder out of the storage shed and propped it against the roof. Together we carried three of the tarps, a couple of hammers, and a box of fasteners up the ladder. We were securing the second tarp when I noticed the tacky pool of blood near the last hole the werewolves had made. I knelt beside it and took a good look.
“I think I see why the boss man didn’t come in with the other three,” I said.
“Why’s that?” Gail asked joining me beside the hole.
“Blood, a good bit. I knew I hit one of them, but I must have gotten him pretty good to leave this much blood.”
Gail studied the drying pool and nodded. “Yeah, looks like a quart or more. A wound that severe with silver would probably mean he had to get away until he could change or it might have even killed him. When we get the chance we’ll have to search for the blood trail and see if it leads to a body.”
We finished covering the other holes and climbed down. I stopped at the bottom of the ladder and looked over at the old blanket covering the bodies. Something about the shapes looked off. I ignored the swarm of flies as I gripped one corner and slid the blanket back.
“Something wrong?” Gail asked from the roof.
I took a long look and frowned. My old ax leaned against the cabin wall; congealing blood darkened the blade and a third of the shaft. Neatly set in the dirt around the bottom of the ax were three heads. In death, the werewolves were just humans once more. “You removed their heads.”
“Yeah, if it breathes you take its head, it’s the only way to be sure,” she replied.
“Shouldn’t we say a few words over the bodies?” I asked.
“Why?”
“Well, hell, Gail. They were human. It doesn’t seem right to forget that just because some werewolf infected them.”
“Granted, they were human, but I’m not a
