I waited, hoping for him to say, “No, stay and talk about it.” But he mumbled, “Good idea.”

I pushed from the sofa and hurried to the bathroom.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, Karl rapped on the door.

“May I come in?”

“I’m still in the tub.”

“So…no?”

A few hours ago, he’d coldly refused to talk to me in a towel, and now he wanted to come in when I was bathing?

“If you want to, I guess,” I said, words coming slow, with obvious reluctance.

The doorknob turned. I arranged a washcloth over my breasts. Yes, he’d seen them before, but damned if I was putting on a show that he clearly didn’t want.

He shut the door behind him, as if we might be disturbed. For the second time that night, he looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable, hair ruffled, as if he’d run his hands through it.

“Yes, Karl?”

His gaze slid to me for the first time, then quickly turned away. “I thought…I could help. If you’d like. I can go to their apartment and—” His jaw worked, chewing over the next words, then he spit them out, as if making some embarrassing confession. “I could sniff around. See if there are any signs of…violence.”

“Blood, you mean.”

“And I can look—sniff—for trails, maybe find out where they went.”

I wanted to scream, “Yes, please!” but studied his expression, trying to gauge how genuine the offer was, how much he was hoping I’d say, “No, that’s okay.”

“I should, Hope,” he continued. “I can find some answers for you. You can stay here and wait—”

“No, I’ll come.”

WHEN WE ARRIVED at the apartment, I was in a strange mood, almost giddy. Now I would know what had happened. If I’d thought of it earlier, I’d have asked Karl, but he worked so hard to suppress his werewolf side, it was easy to forget what he could do.

He wouldn’t find a murder scene. If they’d been killed, their bodies would still be there. I should have realized this, but had been so determined not to consider the possibility, that I hadn’t allowed myself to think it through.

If the Cabal was involved, they had Jaz and Sonny. Maybe not in the best of shape, but they’d be alive. Their kidnappings would be for negotiation or a show of force.

In this frame of mind, the specter of Jaz’s death all but banished, I could relax. Karl would help me solve this puzzle, and then, if it was a kidnapping, we’d have proof to take to Benicio and demand answers.

The building door, as earlier, was unlocked, but Guy had relocked the apartment door.

Karl took out his picks.

“May I?” I asked.

“Of course.”