Fate’s Reaping

Chapter 1 Levi Stoltz had been missing for four days. For half the population of Charming, this wouldn’t be alarming – chances were they were halfway through a bender; but Levi Stoltz was a God-fearing man, Pastor at the only church in the whole damn town, and he’d just missed Sunday mass. Marcus Stone had some suspicions about the man. Namely that he’d fled from his wife, two kids, and headed up to Vegas to gamble away his life savings. He didn’t know Levi Stoltz well, but he knew people, and he knew that there was more to the man than he was letting on. But his wife was adamant that he would never do anything like that, so Marcus just nodded, gave his most noncommittal growl, and listened. “Sheriff, he would never leave us. When I was pregnant with little Christopher,” she explained, nodding to the toddler balancing on her knee, “Levi said he would never abandon us again.” “Again?” Mary Stoltz looked hesitant to say more. She snapped at their older son to come sit back down. Marcus just waited patiently for her attention to turn back to him. He was in no rush. She glanced at him and he shot her a hard glare. “Well, when I was pregnant with Levi Junior…” Pain crossed her face. “He panicked when he found out we were pregnant. Questioned his faith in the church and almost dropped out of school. But he realized God’s will and he came back to me.” Marcus nodded. “And… uh, how long was he gone then?” “A couple of weeks.” “And you’re absolutely sure this couldn’t be the same type of incident?” he asked for the third or fourth time. “Sheriff, like I said…” “I know what you said, Mrs. Stoltz,” Marcus growled. The past few weeks had been rough between dealing with this distressed wife and now a missing man that probably wasn’t missing at all. It was starting to wear him thin. But he was Sheriff and he had a job to do, whether he wanted to do it or not. “Do you mind if I head out to your place? Poke around a bit?” “No, no, absolutely, Sheriff. Anything that I can do to help. Anything at all,” Mary Stoltz told him. She paused. “But… the children, they have Bible study in half an hour… maybe you can check things out yourself?” Marcus wanted to tell her how foolish that was. He was the law, yet he couldn’t help but think it was a stupid idea to let someone snoop around your house while no one was there. Instead, he said, “That’ll be fine. I work best alone anyway,” and gave her his best smile. She told him that the key was hidden in a fake rock next to the steps and left him alone. He sighed, stood up, and grabbed his belt. He headed towards the door, tightening it and checking his revolver was firmly in place, and then he left the Sheriff’s Department. His investigation would go much smoother without any prying eyes. He didn’t expect to find much, but he would do his job to the best of his abilities. He scowled at his car. It was a borrowed model from Haven, slow and low to the ground, nothing like his old Bronco. But the Bronco had been totaled weeks ago during an intense car chase and shootout… Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach. Angie. He missed her so much that it was almost a physical pain in his chest. Even the slightest whisper of her name was enough to make him reach for his phone, barely able to restrain himself. She’d been gone for almost two weeks now. Angie Campbell was far, but she was never far from his thoughts. But pulling up to the Pastor’s house, Marcus pushed her away into the back of his mind. It was time to do his job. Stepping out of the borrowed car, he breathed deep. The air was warm and a slight gust brought with it the smell of crops, livestock, and something else: home. It finally felt like home. He made his way to the house, a big, white two story farmhouse with a white picket fence around the front of it. He opened the gate, found the fake rock and grabbed the key, and let himself into the front door. He took another deep breath, almost tasting the scent on the air. He could smell Mary Stoltz and her children, familiar and close – but the scent of her husband was faint – a smell that lingered but wouldn’t go away. Still, Marcus could tell that the man had been gone for days. Inside was every bit as quaint as outside. In front of him was a staircase leading upstairs, but he took a quick loop around the first floor instead. He walked through a living room, a large dining room, and a kitchen with a door that lead to the back yard. He lifted the blinds and looked outside but there was nothing to catch his eye. Upstairs, he found bedrooms off of the main hall and a bathroom. The first bedroom was the kid’s room. The next was the master bedroom. This was where he needed to be. He couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, though. There was no adrenaline, no fear, nothing that indicated that the Pastor had packed up and left in a hurry. Marcus opened up the closet, his keen eyes scanning the darkness. There. In the corner. If he hadn’t been looking for it, he would have never noticed it. Hidden underneath some hanging coats was a couple of suitcases. He’d seen many like it before and knew they came in sets of three. Only…one is missing. There were signs that something had been moved and Marcus suspected it was a suitcase. He ruffled through them, pushing them out of the way, and behind them was a shoe-box. Grabbing it, he ripped the lid off and took a deep breath, inhaling the unmistakable scent. Money. Old money. It looks like the Pastor headed to Vegas after all. He closed the closet and headed downstairs. He took another look around the house, taking his time – making sure he wasn’t missing anything. But there wasn’t anything else to find and satisfied, he locked the house and hid the key. Marcus had one last place to check, so he headed around back of the house and looked out past the yard into the pasture behind the house. He couldn’t pick up Levi Stoltz’s scent, but he wanted to be thorough, so he decided to take a walk just the same. The sun was high overhead and the breeze did little to cool him down. He unbuttoned his shirt slightly, climbing a small hill and looked around. There was nothing out in the pasture except some grass, rocks, and a few scraggly trees, clinging to life and determined. Just like Charming. Why anyone would move here… That train of thought brought him back to Angie. What if she doesn’t come back? She’d promised she would, of course. It wasn’t as if she could just abandon everything back home in New York. She had an apartment, an office – and who knows what else back there. A life. Can she have a life here? She insisted that she could, but Marcus wasn’t so sure. His thoughts were constantly drifting towards the negative, something he’d worked so hard to stop. He couldn’t though. Angie had everything back in New York. She had nothing in Charming. She has me. But is that enough? At that moment, the wind brought him a new scent, jolting him and causing all thoughts of Angie to vanish completely for once. It wasn’t Levi Stoltz, or even one of the family members at all. And it wasn’t human. Marcus broke into a run, heading straight back for the house. The sun was still high overhead, beating down oppressively, but he ignored it. There was someone – something – back at the Stoltz’s, and maybe whoever it was would shed some light on where Levi Stoltz had disappeared to. Maybe his wife is right. Maybe something did happen to him. He came around the back of the house to find a black SUV parked behind his car. Three men were standing next to it. They wore dark sunglasses and were lean and tall, but Marcus could sense they were dangerous. He took a breath, taking in the men’s scent – and he realized that no, these weren’t men at all – not exactly. These were Shifters, but they were like no other Shifters he’d ever met before. That only meant one thing… “Wolves,” he growled. They were watching him without a care in the world, though the hackles on the back of his neck stood up. “Never seen a Shifter before?” the tallest asked. He was standing a bit in front of the others. His eyes were a dull gold, much less noticeable than Marcus’s, and they barely registered him. He had long, black hair down to his shoulders and a lean to him like he had no respect for Marcus. Marcus knew he didn’t. “Who are you and what are you doing in my territory?” Marcus asked, ignoring the question. His kind – bear Shifters – were much more prevalent than their wolf brethren. Both species considered themselves true Shifters, though Marcus didn’t know one way or another who came first, and he didn’t much care. The only thing he cared about was that some bear Shifters were honorable and courageous. He’d never heard the same said for any wolves. In his mind, that made him better than them. “I’m Agent Augustus West, and these are Agents Lester and Waller,” he said, grinning a predatory smile. He reached in his pocket and Marcus’s hand went to the butt of his revolver, but the man just pulled out a badge and flashed it to Marcus. “FBI.” Marcus grunted an acknowledgment. Whether he liked it or not, these wolves were FBI – and that made them his superiors, in a roundabout way. “Looking for the Pastor? He’s in Vegas, you know,” West said, nodding towards the house. “Figured as much.” West raised an eyebrow at that and smiled. “Why are you here? I didn’t know the FBI would take the time to get involved in looking for the missing Pastor of Charming.” That dangerous smile again. “Well, to be honest – we’re not here for the Pastor,” he said, pausing. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He took the time to light it, take a big drag, and exhale slowly. “The FBI has taken a special interest in you, Sheriff.” Marcus’s nerves jumped. He tried to ignore it but by the look on West’s face, he didn’t do a very good job of it. “I bet you’re wondering why.” Marcus didn’t answer. “You killed the Mayor, Sheriff,” West said, as if that explained everything. He took another drag of his cigarette, then tossed it on the ground and stomped it out. His cowboy boots were polished, glinting in the sun. “And to be frank, there aren’t many witnesses to say just why you did it. Add in the murders, some other complaints, that incident in Haven a few weeks back… well, you can see that we’re not real sure if you’re doing your job.” “So they sent three FBI agents to babysit me?” The wolf’s laugh was short and bitter. “You could say that. We’ll stay out of your hair, believe you me. We’re just here to… observe. Make sure nothing else goes wrong in little ol’ Charming town. You won’t even know we’re here.” Marcus walked past the man, sizing him up as he did so. West was taller, but Marcus was built much stronger. Then Marcus climbed in his car, turned around in the driveway, and drove off without a glance back at the agents. FBI? Here in Charming? To watch me? Something didn’t add up. But he had a worried pastor’s wife to comfort, and he knew just who to direct her to for questions. Unsure of what the future would bring, Marcus drove back to Charming.