by C. T. Adams
“Wow, Celia! That’s really good. You should make sure they serve this at the banquet for the dignitaries! And write down the recipe for the rest of us.” She blushed quietly and nodded. She smelled of cloves and the dry heat of embarrassment. They both picked up their plates and put them in the bussing tub before leaving.
It took third helpings before my raging hunger was quelled. I took my time eating, still thinking about what Sue said. I knew she had triggers about her family, and it might take years to find them all. I didn’t want her hurt, but I wasn’t going to change who I was.
I made a plate for her, in case she hadn’t eaten. I heard her snuffling and blowing her nose as I approached the door. Acting like her mom? I almost opened it, but then hesitated, and knocked. I could feel a knot in my stomach. “Sue? Can I come in?”
Her hurried footsteps sounded and the door opened. She smiled, but it was obvious from her face and scent that she’d been crying since I went down to dinner. “Of course. You live here, too. At least, until the conference is done.”
I held out the plate. “They had a buffet in the ballroom. Lelya brought home a deer. I thought you might not have eaten.”
She sniffed the plate delicately and smiled—this time for real. “Oh! I heard she was going hunting! Nikoli was so surprised he could hardly speak when she announced it earlier.” She put the plate on the coffee table and sat down in one of the wing chairs. I sat down in the one next to her and rested a hand on her knee. She laughed as she started to cut a piece. “It was great, Tony! She was a hoot.” She used thick accents to imitated Nikoli and Lelya: ‘Are you sure you’re strong enough, mother?’ Yes, Niki, I took down moose and reindeer in my youth. I think I can still manage a whitetail deer. ‘How will you get it home, mother? You have no driver.’ I can drive, too, son. We have cars. ‘The antlers will stick out of a trunk, mother.’ Niki use your head! It’s hunting season! Nobody will notice. But fine, if it will make you happier, I will have it appear to be a Christmas tree.” Sue laughed brightly. “It was priceless!”
She raised her brows in appreciation of the roast. I’d poured some of the chile cream over it. “Wow! This sauce is wonderful!”
“Celia made it. I asked her for the recipe. But Alena made the rest.”
Sue nodded and kept eating. She took a sip of soda from a beer mug already on the table. I watched her and realized that I was happy. I was warm and content just sitting here with her, touching her. I didn’t ever want to be apart from her again. I felt myself smiling broadly.
Wait. I should be concerned and worried. That puzzled me and made me realize that there was something wrong. More than just having the shakes and a headache. This was deeper and was affecting my whole mind—my whole personality.
She took another sip. The flash of memory struck me like a brick. I abruptly knew exactly what was wrong. Seeing her sipping the drink from the bar mug had done it. The recollection was as clear as a bell.
We were sitting in another suite, of another hotel. It was the first day we’d met, and Sue had paid me a thousand bucks to sit and listen to her sorry tale about why she wanted to die, and why I was supposed to kill her. She was getting drunk on Morgan and Diets from a beer mug just like this one, and had just started to talk about her mother. I remember being amazed at the weirdness of the woman.
“After I won the money,” I recall Sue saying, “I bought a big house, way larger than I needed. I figured that Mom could have space and I would have a room or two where I could be alone. I’ve always liked being alone. But Mom can’t be alone. Actually can’t. It drives her nuts. I sit down to take a bath and she’s knocking on the door, wanting to come in to talk. It drives me insane.”
I remembered how odd it had seemed, because I also liked to be alone. But now I didn’t. It all clicked—the trembling when we were apart, the desperate need to touch her, and the black despair when I couldn’t. Shit! No wonder she nearly bolted out the door. I was becoming her mom, and I didn’t know how to stop it!
She was almost finished with the plate, eating and swallowing the deer as fast as she could. If she stopped to think about it, she would probably get weird, so I didn’t mention it. What I did do was stand and walk to the wet bar. I opened two of the shot-sized bottles of Seagrams and poured them into a whiskey glass. I prefer Maker’s Mark, but any port in a storm.
Once again, the past seemed very close as I watched her image split into fragments of color and movement through the cut crystal. The wet fog of sorrow still filled the air and her tears pained me almost more than I could bear. I shook off the feeling and swallowed the whiskey, feeling it burn its way down to my stomach. I took a deep breath.
“I overheard a bit of your conversation with John-boy earlier.”
She froze in place, the fork nearly to her mouth. She glanced at me with panicked eyes, and put down the bite of deer. The scent of her ammonia laced fear hit me in the chest. I turned back to the bar for another shot. “Tony, I—”
I waved off her objection as I slugged down another bottle without bothering to pour. “No, you were right to call him. I thought about it, and I know what’s wrong. I am acting just like Myra, and damned if I know why. The thought of it is making me sick to my stomach, but I can’t seem to help myself.”
I rested my hands on the padded edge and then pounded a fist on the bar in frustration. The whole works shuddered. I could see her flinch in the mirror behind the bar. “Just so you know, the offer still holds.” I turned to her and felt the clawing of bats in my gut. “I don’t know if I can stop whatever’s causing me to be so clingy and weird. If you can’t handle it, you can leave.”
Time reversed once more. I watched her body language close down like a vault. Her ankles crossed, then her fingers interlaced and she slumped. Her eyes took on a haunted look while she twisted and clutched her fingers. “It’s not your fault—I know that. Really!” She looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Dr. Perdue told me that wolves are very pack-oriented. It was only because you weren’t in a pack that you had been a loner. But she said that once you bonded to a pack, you wouldn’t be able to exist any other way. The pack would be your whole world. I know now what she meant.”
Her eyes filled with tears and her scent tore at me. “I don’t want to leave you, Tony. I know you’re not like Mom. You’re not doing this to manipulate me. You just can’t help it. If I hadn’t gotten the tape today, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. Dr. Corbin says that he can help me disable the trigger. It will take time, but I don’t want to slip back into my own depression, either. I need to be a whole person; have friends and a job and hobbies that don’t involve you or the pack. Like a normal person. I want to be someone you’re proud to have as a wife.”
I frowned and held up a hand to stop her. “Wait. Back up a couple of sentences. What tape?”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “That’s right! You don’t even know!” She stood up and walked toward a cabinet across from the couch. She opened the doors to reveal a large television and VCR.
“It should have rewound itself.” She patted the couch. “Come sit next to me. I want you to see this.”
I walked toward the couch with a furrowed brow and sat next to her. She picked up the remote and pressed the red button. The television came on. Two more clicks and the VCR started whirring.
Linda’s face came on the screen. She was wearing a black, wide-brimmed hat with a veil over a sleek and sexy black silk pantsuit. I heard giggling and rustling from behind the camera.
“Okay, am I in focus?”
I heard Babs voice. “You’re on!”
Linda waved. “Hi, Sue! I know we’re not supposed to talk to you, but we decided to risk it for this.” She made pulling motions with her hand. “Barbara. Come say hi to Sue.”
I saw Babs’s red hair and a close-up of her nose appear on the screen. “Hi, Sue!” She giggled again and moved to sit next to Linda on the bed. They held hands and Linda kissed the twined knuckles gently. I wasn’t sure I wante
d to know what was coming up.
Babs was also wearing a hat with a veil, and her eyes were swollen and red. But it seemed to be from laughing, rather than crying.
Linda spoke again. “Okay, so you’ve probably already read the article we’re including with the tape.” Sue pressed the pause button and held out a small piece of newspaper.
“I’ll give you a second while you read this.” Equal measures of anger and hurt played in her voice.
I glanced down at the article. Even in the dim light from the television, I could read just fine. I raised my brows at the headline:
LOTTO WINNER BODY FOUND! AP WIRE—Authorities today offered conclusive proof that a badly burned body found buried about ten miles from the old airport is indeed the remains of millionaire Suzi Quentin. DNA tests performed on samples of skin and hair obtained from Ms. Quentin’s family matched that of the charred corpse discovered by construction workers late Tuesday. The Quentin family, through their attorney, has declined to talk with the press. However, a prepared press release was distributed by Marcus Thompson, attorney for the Quentin family: “The Quentin family has requested privacy to deal with the loss of their beloved Suzi. They will have a simple, closed funeral as soon as the remains are released, and then begin to deal with disposition of Ms. Quentin’s estate.”
“What the hell?” I said with amazement.
Sue punched the Play button once again. “It gets better.”
Linda came back on the screen. What she had to say surprised even me. “We had Camine do some checking. Apparently, your wonderful relatives either had some poor girl iced, or found a convenient Jane Doe, and fried her up. But, not until they spent a couple of days brushing her hair and dressing her up like a doll in your clothes so they would have matching DNA samples! Somehow, the blood samples from when you were shot disappeared from evidence, so they had to go to the family. It took Carmine days of asking around to find all this out. They hired some scumbag from out of town, I guess, but by the time we knew, Barbara and I had gotten a call from the attorney. We just got back from the will reading.”
Babs burst into laughter once more, so hard and fast that after a moment, she couldn’t breathe. She waved her hand in front of her face, and held up a finger. Then she disappeared off-screen.
I knew I had an astounded look on my face. I could see the reflection in the television screen.
I heard Babs from off-camera before she walked back into the picture, carrying some tissues and a glass of water. “I wish I could have taken pictures! I thought your sister was going to have a heart attack when the lawyer read the will.” Babs took a sip of water and dabbed at her leaking eyes with the tissue. “Oh, by the way, thanks for the ten grand. It was sweet.”
Linda spoke up. “And I don’t need the money, of course, so I donated my hundred grand to that animal shelter group you like, in your name. Wrote them a check on the spot. They were ecstatic! So was the representative from the Wildlife Service—one hundred forty million added to their budget and all they have to do is build a lake where your house is and install goose nests.”
Babs took over. “Carmine found out that the family offered a cool million to anyone for enough evidence to get their inheritance. No big deal to them, it was nothing compared to the whole. They didn’t even bitch at your gifts to us. Get this—your mom patted Linda’s hand to offer her congratulations!” She guffawed again. “Of course, that all changed after you cut them out. Then they started screaming bloody murder. Your attorney was smart, though. He knew there would be objections and has already filed all of the notes and video tapes from your office visits with him with the Court. They’ve scheduled a validity hearing on the twentieth—just in time for Christmas.”
Sue was near tears. Her voice was a pained whisper over the laughter on the tape.
“They’ll get their million. I left life insurance of that much.” She snuffled and stared at me.
I felt completely helpless. I couldn’t fix what they’d done. What little self-esteem she’d managed to gain over the past few months was gone—destroyed by the knowledge that money had meant more to those fucking vultures than their own flesh and blood. I hoped they couldn’t pay their assassin on time and wound up in the same condition as the corpse. Hell, I’d have liked to kill them myself. Damn it!
And now she thought I was acting just like them. That would change—right now, no matter what the cost to me.
I pulled Sue into my arms and she burst into full-fledged tears. Sobs wracked her body. I patted her back and closed my eyes. I was grateful that I couldn’t feel the pain she did. “Let it go, Sue. You’re dead to them now. Let them be dead to you. You have a new family—this pack—and you’re wanted and loved.”
She pulled back and shook her head. “I don’t know about that. I don’t think that the pack is going to want me much after I tell Nikoli what I found out at the restaurant. I’m not even sure I should tell him.”
I gave her my full attention. “What did you find? Were there accounting errors? I’m not even positive what he hired you to do.”
She lowered her voice and moved very close to me. “He told me he was losing money in one particular restaurant, but spies he’d put in couldn’t see anyone stealing. But they are! They’re robbing him blind, Tony. It took me hours to figure out what happened, but I finally did.”
I rolled my hand for her to continue. She’d caught my interest. I couldn’t imagine that Nikoli wouldn’t know exactly what was happening in any of his businesses.
“See, each of the register drawers opens when a sale is made. Of course, in a fast food restaurant, people change their orders all the time. Sometimes, even after a sale is complete, the customer will change their mind or not have enough money. I worked at one for over a year, so I know it happens. But these kids have a very profitable scheme going. Fortunately, they didn’t realize there was a way to figure it out.”
“Oh, no! You don’t get to skip straight to the end. First, what’s the scam?”
She nodded and then leaned over to whisper in my ear. “After a customer orders, the employee hits the total button, enters the amount tendered and opens the drawer. Then they pass back the change, just like they’re supposed to. But before they close the drawer, which completes the order, they’re voiding each item from the screen and pocketing the money. Then they close the drawer to a voided sale. No transaction will appear on their register tape and the money loss will never show—or so they thought!”
I smiled and kissed her hair. I was a little taken aback when she flinched again, but continued smoothly. “That’s my girl! How’d you figure it out?”
She smiled up at me, but it was shaky. “They apparently don’t know there’s a master register tape under the counter that records all of the transactions on all of the registers. I knew it, because I worked with the same system before. In a chain restaurant, that tape would go to the district office to be kept for a period of years. But since Nikoli owns the place, he just had his manager keep it in the safe, which I had access to. I was looking for discrepancies and found all of these voided sales. It didn’t happen every shift, or even every day. So I checked the voids with the employee calendar and the voids all seemed to come from about four employees, about once a week for over two years. I have their names and amounts of voids. Some of them are in the tens of thousands, Tony! No wonder Nikoli is hurting there. A few of the voided transactions might be valid…” She raised her brows and looked cynical. “But I wonder if some of these teenagers are living a little beyond their means. I’m sure Nikoli could find out. But, I’m afraid he might kill them, or tell them where he got the information and they’ll hunt me down.”
Nobody hunts my mate. I stood up in a burst, and stared at her with cold death in my gaze. She flinched and shivered. She hadn’t seen my mercenary look for awhile. “No one will hunt you down, Sue—ever. They’d never got within ten feet of you before I made sure they got a ticket to their own private highway to hell.”
She
shook her head and moved back further on the couch. She squared her shoulders and drew a deep breath. “No, Tony. That’s not the way it can happen. You heard what Lelya said. I have to fight my own battles. I have to face the danger from people who hate me. And…I need to fight them, even if I am scared.” She chuckled, but it was tinged with tears. “I finally got to where I don’t want to die, so now this is tossed at me. Figures.” She shivered, and her scent became thick and penetrating Chinese soup.
Sue was right. I hated it, but she was right. It was time to fight off the wolf instincts and follow those that I’d developed over the rest of my life. She was a big girl. I had to let her protect her.
I stood up and walked over to the banker’s box that Lucas had delivered along with our unconscious bodies. He’d removed the Taurus to put with my clothes, but all the rest was here, too.
There was no reason I couldn’t help her in the training process. She had never developed any fighting skills. “But she also said that you should be cautious, and carry teeth and claws, Sue—because you don’t have any.”
I reached into the box and extracted a switchblade made of silver. I’d had it made shortly after I became a wolf—when I’d learned that the part about silver wasn’t a myth.
I’d originally intended to use the knife to kill Babs—but then she’d taken up with Carmine and Linda. Had to wonder if she’d done that deliberately. She was smart enough. Which reminded me again that I needed to find her. Carmine loved her. Hell, from the look of that tape Linda loved her.
I tossed the knife to Sue and she caught it. She pressed the button and jumped a foot when the slender blade extended to the full four inches. It was plenty long to reach a brain or heart if the need arose.
“Keep this with you from now on. It’s silver. Have Asri teach you to use it. I’d teach you myself, but Betty told me once that I can’t hurt you. It’s psychologically impossible for a wolf to intentionally hurt his mate—and you have to learn to use a knife by getting some bumps and cuts.” I stared at her hard and long and felt the calm emptiness fill me. She shivered involuntarily. “Don’t play around with this, Sue. If you have to fight, aim to kill. Because remember, if you die—I die, too. You’ll be fighting for us both. So fight to win.”
