Chapter One—The Mission

Yolanda spent much of her time with her new Luna heading up her security team. What pissed her off the most was that she should hate Aricka for taking Luna’s position from her. She admired her far too much and respected her. They’d become friends, and Yolanda finally understood she made a better bodyguard and Arms Master. Then Luna, hands down.

Yolanda was here in response to several voicemail messages, an RCMP officer left which. He said he was looking into some local disturbances. They wish to speak to a family representative when Aricka asked her to talk to them for some odd reason.

Yolanda knew she was the wrong person for this job. She’d been told many times why she was the worst. Her defects including her temper, lack patience, and smart-ass sense of humour. Never mind her tattoos, jet black hair, leather jackets and her much-loved motorcycle.

She parked her motorcycle in front of the Police Station as if it was normal for someone like her to do so.

She entered the OPP Station. Many would think it was weird to meet an RCMP Officer in an Ontario Police Station. This far north, the RCMP borrowed an office when needed in the area. There was so little need for them.

The gawking started with the desk sergeant. “May I help you?” The older man behind the counter asked. She was sure that he looked like a harried elf. He looked like an old elf. His hair was only on the sides of his head and missing in places.

“I should hope so, Officer. Gregory Wolversen sent me to talk to a Sargent Ian Bennett. He wanted to talk to someone from the Wolversen family.” Yolanda shifted her pack a bit, waiting for the Officer to hassle her. She was sure the pink hair extension she put in for shits and giggles was causing him to have a facial tick.

“They sent you? What is your name?”

“Yolanda Redgrave.”

“You will not pretend to have the Wolversen name?”

“You have the same last name as your boss?” She took a chance in this region. He could easily have the last name of his boss. It wasn’t unheard of for entire families doing the same job in these towns.

“No.” He acted like Yolanda was insane. But again, that was nothing new.

“Me neither. Tell Sargent Bennet I am here? He knows I’m coming.” The officer grumbled a bit and then made a phone call while he was typing on his computer.

“Yeah, Ian, I got some weirdo here claiming Gregory Wolversen sent her to talk to you. Yeah, that’s the name she gave. Alright, I’ll get her to sign in.” He hung up the phone. “Sign in here, and he’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

“Great, and if you’re looking me up. You’ll meet with disappointment. I paid that speeding ticket years ago, and they have not caught me doing anything wrong.”

The desk sergeant gasped as it offended him. And yet, she was the one who was having her private information poked at just because of the way she looked.

Yolanda snorted at the same time as the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life walked into the front of the building, bringing the most incredible scent of cappuccino and sandalwood. The scent was distracting. However, not enough to distract Yolanda from the fact she had made such an unfortunate and embarrassing sound to a police officer in front of this gorgeous male.

The new officer raised a dark eyebrow in inquiry as he approached. “Afternoon. Ms. Redgrave?” His eyes never left her face as he looked for an explanation.

“Oh, the officer here was getting acquainted with my wrap sheet, and it seems he has found it very lacking in intrigue and gossip. Anyhow, shall we go somewhere more private to discuss our business? I would hate for it to become gossip at the local Tim Horton’s. I’m not too fond of Horton’s Heroes gossiping like a pack of old maids over my employer’s business. It seems so unprofessional.”

Horton’s Heroes are a local reference for police officers. The legend behind it says that a small-town police station could contact none of their patrol calls. The dispatcher knew the officers could get free coffee and donuts at a new shop called Tim Horton’s. So, she called the shop and relayed the message to the server. Who announced it to all the local police? The commentary was the only place getting protection was Tim Horton’s, and therefore they were Horton’s Heroes. So, in this part of Canada, it’s an insult inferring that the police aren’t doing their job.

“Of course, follow me, please.” Yolanda’s average size for a wolf shifter, but this human dwarfed her in size. His shoulders were broad, and she was lucky to stand as tall as his nose. His scent held the notes of a human, so she knew she wasn’t dealing with another supernatural creature. “I hope it wasn’t too hard to get here.”

“Leather helps keep the cold off during the ride.”

“You rode a motorcycle all the way here in this weather? What about the storm?”

“I like to live dangerously. Getting home will not be boring. We’ll see if I need to get a room or not.”

"Seems rather badly planned.”

“Only your repeated calls so close to the holidays. At this rate, I’m going to miss Yule all together.”

“Yule?”

“Yes, the holiday that Christmas stole every tradition from. That Yule December twenty-first to January first. That Yule, we have family coming in from all over this year. Some of them we’ve never even met before. It’s kind of important.”

“Hmm. So is this when you see what we’re up against.” Ian opened the door to an interview room and allowed Yolanda to enter first.

Once seated, he set a file folder on the table and then sat there and looked at her. The look meant he wanted to see everything he could and then go deeper for more information. It was so much more than him just sizing her up. Yolanda resisted the urge to shift in her seat.

“Shall we start? I sincerely hope you will fill me in more than your messages were far too vague for me to know what you would like to hear.”

“I want the truth about why rotting we have found human body parts locked within a cooler with your employer’s business logo on it.”

“Okay, glad I didn’t eat before coming here. Truthfully, those coolers are a dime a dozen. Someone could have stolen it. I could get someone to look at reports and see if one went missing recently. Where was it found? Who found it?”

“That I’m not yet prepared to disclose. But the region the hunter found it in was not easily accessible. A lost group of hunters on a hunting trip only found it accidentally.”

“Well, I guess they will be second-guessing future trips and finding a physiatrist.” Yolanda then made a face of disgust at the photos he laid out. “What’s this?” A frown appeared on her face. She spotted a series of markings behind the cooler in the photo. They painted another symbol on the inside of the cooler’s lid. “You can’t believe this is something our company would condone.”

“So, you know what these symbols mean?”

“No!” Yolanda couldn’t stop swearing at herself for this mistake. “It’s just I’ve seen tv programmes with weird stuff made like that, and it’s always weird stuff connected to it.”

“Really, and I won’t go out to your motorcycle and find a symbol or two on it?”

“Seriously, just because my mother is superstitious and would not let me ride that bike when I first got it without a good luck symbol on it. You’re going to accuse me of this? Do you think I can read this stuff?

Sorry, I hate to tell you it’s not that easy.”

“Hmm. So, you think it’s a curse or a spell of some sort?”

“How the hell should I know? I don’t deal with whatever magic or religion that is. Seriously, is this everything or are you going to spring something else on me?” Yolanda was more than a little insulted, and he hadn’t even eased into this breach. She took one look at the cooler and the disembodied limbs.

“Gods, that’s disgusting. Why would anyone want to do that? It’s so unnatural.”

“That’s why I’m here. This falls under my team’s specialty. Occult, supernatural, and unexplained. We go in and try to find answers for it.”

“Good luck with that. You’re going to have a devil of a time finding answers for that. Yuck.”

“We have identified these limbs as being from various people known kidnaped victims from months ago. Someone with medical knowledge removed these limbs from a corpse.”

“Are you claiming my employer or someone working for us did this?”

“I’m saying the evidence points to a connection. Either it’s someone working without your employer’s knowledge or with his knowledge.”

“Yes, we have a medical supply company, and yes, we have a medical delivery service. But why would we mess up that by dealing with that? That’s crazier than anything I could think of. No, a competitor or someone with a dislike for our company is more likely behind that. Or it’s a bizarre and horrid coincidence.” Yolanda leaned back in her chair and shook her head irritably.