Desert Bound

by Elizabeth Hunter

  “He ran away,” Kasey whispered. “Before we got in the car. He ran behind the house, but I don’t know where he went. I thought he was going back inside for Mom. That’s why I didn’t yell.”

  “You get that?” Ted asked.

  “Yeah,” Alex said. “I’ll call the old man. Who has my keys?”

  “I sent Harper to wait in your pickup. She has them. You might send her ahead and see if she can find anything.”

  “Got it.”

  “I’m staying with the kids here. Catch a ride with Caleb or something. Go find Trevor.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “If he’s around the Springs, we’ll find him.”

  “I know you will.”

  “With any luck, they’ve already picked him up. Love you, baby. Take care of those kids.”

  “Later.”

  “Later.”

  A half an hour later, Ted got the call that a giant black cat walked out of the desert with Trevor Quinn clutching its back. He’d been found at the old cave behind Alma Crowe’s house. He had no injuries, but was pretty hungry and worried about his brother and sister.

  Chris Avery lapsed into a coma while doctors pumped over fifty vials of anti-venom into him. He was breathing, but the prognosis was not good. Officers tore the room apart, but no one could find the snake.

  Within a few hours, Kasey and Mark Quinn were released into the custody of Caleb Gilbert and Doctor Teodora Vasquez after paramedics determined that the children had no injuries or health problems other than an inexplicable fever in Kasey that the paramedics put down to stress.

  Official statements could wait. The children needed to go home. Ted gave them her phone to call their mother from the car.

  Five minutes after the call, Josie Quinn started making pancakes, and the nightmare was over.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “How are they doing?” he asked, sitting on the top step of Jena’s porch.

  Ted looked across the yard to Josie and Kasey, sitting side by side at the curb, watching the little boys play on their bikes, racing up and down the quiet street on Sunday afternoon. The sun was almost down and Alex could smell dinner wafting from the house.

  “Physically, Kasey’s fine. It was early for her to shift, but we all know trauma can bring it on. Other than that, I just told Josie we’d watch her. But everything seems fine. Emotionally, we’ll have to wait and see. Josie’s keeping a close eye on her. Sean, too.”

  “Thank God he was able to get to her right after. And that he was able to talk her out of the shift.”

  Ted smiled. “I think ‘Uncle Sean’ has a shadow now. If anything can convince him to stay, that sweet little girl’s hero worship might do it.”

  “Avery is still in a coma.”

  “Good.”

  They sat in silence, listening to the kids’ shouts. Kevin and Low, perched on their bikes, Jena’s son, Bear, Allie’s Justin and Austin, and Josie’s two boys were running around them. Allie’s daughter, Lorelie, hung on the back of Ollie’s big mastiff, Murtry, following behind the older boys. Ollie and the surprising addition of Rafael Flores were leaning against Ollie’s Bronco, keeping watch.

  “What’s that about?” Alex asked, nodding toward Rafael.

  “Josie says that Trevor keeps asking for him,” Ted answered. “I guess Rafa slept on their couch in the front room the first night back. Only way Trevor would calm down enough to go to bed.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Rafa won’t mind. He’s quiet, but kids like him.” Ted sighed. “The boy lost his dad and his uncle tried to kidnap him. It’s understandable that he’s scared.”

  “He’s also got a great mom, lots of new friends, and a town full of bodyguards, one that seems to be keeping a particular eye on the situation. So, eventually, he’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder and he said, “Still sucks it all happened, though.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But it’s done.”

  Her arm slipped around her waist and Alex put his around her shoulders, tugging her closer.

  It was done.

  Once the police in Las Vegas were able to search Chris Avery’s house, they found the evidence they needed to link him to Marcus’s murder. They may never know exactly what happened, but Avery was stupid—or arrogant enough—to keep the gun that shot his brother-in-law. There was no evidence of the drugs, but the gun would be enough. Along with Chris Avery’s cover-up and his actions afterward, even if he got out of the coma, he’d be in jail for a long, long time.

  The bribery investigation had destroyed Crescent Construction, though. Josie was talking to two of Marcus’s foremen, Quinn cousins, who were looking to buy the existing equipment and start something new. Josie seemed more than happy to sell, and Alex was happy that out of all the heartbreak, something could be salvaged. It wouldn’t be much for Josie and the kids to live on, but since Alex already had her in his sights to manage the resort spa, he had a feeling it was all going to work out.

  As for his friends, it all seemed to be settling.

  Sean Quinn was back. For how long, nobody really knew. But Old Quinn was working hard to get his nephew to corral the crazy group of snake shifters he grudgingly called family. There was no love lost, but at the same time, no one really had the guts to challenge Sean. The old man was in charge for now. How the future would shape up, no one knew.

  Caleb and Alex had come to a truce. Caleb didn’t want Alex to poke his nose into any more murder investigations. Alex was hopeful no one else would get murdered. Since neither one wanted to anger a very pregnant and very cranky Jena, they’d just decided to be friends.

  Or at least act like it in her presence.

  Allie seemed to be fine, though Joe had yet to reappear. Her dad and one of her sisters helped her hire a lawyer in Indio to start divorce proceedings. Kevin had stepped up, as Alex knew he would, and was helping out his mom.

  Alex watched him with the younger kids. He was careful never to let one fall too far behind. Lifted his little sister in his arms when she fell and bumped her knee. Watching. Already a young man at only fifteen.

  “If we have a boy,” Ted said, “I want him to be just like Kevin.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Allie had also asked Ollie if she could pick up evening shifts at the Cave to make some extra money now that she was on her own. Ollie, being one of her oldest friends, said yes.

  Everyone was curious how that would go.

  Alex and Ted were back. In some ways, it seemed to Alex like the years they’d been apart had never really happened. They still bickered with each other. Their families both gave them headaches, though Lena Vasquez and Julia McCann were now seen at the Blackbird Diner at least once a week, sharing coffee and laughing about something or other. Alex didn’t ask. His mother didn’t share.

  All he wanted was Ted.

  Ted in his bed at night. Ted under him every morning. Ted at the table while he cooked dinner for her. Ted in the bathroom, nagging him about using too much hot water or dropping his towels on the floor. Ted in his arms, dancing at the Cave. Ted laughing at anything.

  He’d lost her once. He’d never take her for granted again.

  He was at the fridge, grabbing a beer while Ted took her shower after work. She’s needed it. In fact, the array of scents she regularly came home with, combined with his preternatural sense of smell, was making Alex seriously consider an outdoor shower added on to their bedroom.

  Two months after the moon night they’d first shared together, the most recent one seemed to have triggered a rash of adolescents changing. Four new wolves in his pack, two bears that he knew of. A bird. Five cats. And nine snakes.

  The Springs was growing, and most of the time, Alex couldn’t be happier.

  Ted could do with a little less nausea during office checkups, though. Young shifters puked a lot.

  “Mi querido?”

  “Si,
mamá?”

  She snickered every time he called her that. Then she teased him about being her “lobo macho” and usually ended up kissing her. So he kept calling her mamá. If he had his way, she would be one soon enough.

  “Who’s cooking?”

  “I’m exhausted.”

  “Yeah, so am I.”

  “Pizza?”

  “Yesssss,” she groaned in relief as she collapsed on the couch. He opened another beer and brought it to her just as someone knocked on the door.

  She cocked her head. He shrugged and sniffed the air. Human, not shifter.

  “I’m not expecting anyone. You?”

  “Nope.”

  Alex opened the door and tried not to show his surprise at Cameron Di Stefano standing on the other side.

  “Cam!”

  “Hey, Alex.”

  “How do you know where I live?”

  Cam’s mouth curled up in the corner. “This town really is friendly. It’s almost scary how quick they’ll tell a stranger where you live.”

  That’s because they know a full grown wolf and large mountain lion live here and we’re not afraid of one guy in a suit.

  Alex didn’t share that. “Well, you know small towns.”

  “Not really.”

  Alex chuckled. “Not to seem unwelcoming, but—”

  “Why the hell am I out in the middle of the desert?”

  “Yeah, kind of wondering that.”

  “Chris Avery came out of a coma last night.”

  He felt Ted at his back before he even opened the door.

  “Come on in,” Alex said. “Beer?”

  “That’ll work. Heya, Ted.”

  “Hey, Cam. What’s up with Avery? He’s awake?”

  “Kind of.”

  Alex tried to control his hackles while he opened a beer for Cam and Ted led him to the living room. He knew Avery knew about the shifters—had seen his own niece turn into a Mohave green rattlesnake—but no one knew how much he remembered. According to Ted, a patient in a coma lasting this long rarely woke up and more rarely were they the same person.

  So no one knew how this would go.

  “Here you go.” Alex handed Cam a bottle of beer.

  “Thanks.” Cam settled back in an armchair while Alex sat next to Ted.

  “Has anyone told Josie?” Ted asked.

  “I don’t know.” Cam took a long pull on the longneck. “My dad had a… friend watching him. Keeping an eye on things. She called this morning, said he woke up last night. He’s been going in and out of consciousness all day.”

  Alex squeezed her shoulders. “He’s Josie’s brother. Even though he did what he did, they probably contacted her first.”

  She nodded. “I’ll call Caleb later. Make sure he and Jena know, too.”

  “Good idea.” Alex turned his attention back to Cam, who Alex was fairly certain was not here just because a suspected murderer and kidnapper had regained consciousness somewhere in Las Vegas. “So, what’s up?”

  Cam shook his head. “You hear crazy shit out in the desert, man.”

  He forced himself not to react. “Yeah? Like what?”

  “Oh… little girls turning into rattlesnakes. Men disappearing into thin air. Wolves and coyotes and all sorts of stuff.”

  Alex let his eyes fly open. “What? That’s… crazy.”

  Ted said, “Is this something Chris Avery is saying?”

  “He’s saying all sorts of shit.” Cam’s gaze was keen on her. “Every time he wakes up, it’s a new story. Though, according to the cops, he did confess to killing Marcus so the man didn’t ‘infect the children,’ whatever that means. Police aren’t sure they can use that in court, though.”

  Alex took another drink of beer. “Brain damage from the coma, you think?”

  Cam shrugged. “The doctors are baffled. The cops are pleased. The DA is not.”

  “He can’t use a confession from a suspect who is clearly hallucinating,” Ted added, her voice was clinical. “I was told he was bitten by a Mohave green rattlesnake, which is an unusual variety. It’s venom is a neurotoxin, did you know that?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Neurotoxins attack the nervous system, including the brain. It’s fascinating, because most rattlesnake venom is hemotoxic.”

  “You don’t say…”

  She was piling on so much bullshit, they’d have trouble wading to the kitchen. Mohave green bites caused swelling and vision impairment. Muscle spasms and seizures if the bite wasn’t treated. They weren’t going to cause a man to start hallucinating, but Cam didn’t need to know that.

  Alex wondered if he would buy it. He had a pretty strong bullshit sensor.

  Ted rambled about the clinical properties of anti-venom and the research possibilities of snake venom in neurology until Alex saw Cam’s eyes start to glaze over.

  “That’s, uh, really interesting, Ted.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Alex was trying not to laugh. He finished his beer about the same time Cam finished his.

  “Cam, you staying for dinner?”

  “What are you having?”

  Ted said, “Pizza.”

  Cam shuddered and stood. “Think I’ll head back.”

  “Snob.”

  “Whatever, Ted. Enjoy the heartburn. Alex, walk me to my car?”

  Alex looked over to Ted, but she only rolled her eyes. “Whatever, macho lobo. I’m ordering pizza.”

  “No olives.”

  “With so many olives.”

  “On your half.”

  “Why do you have to make our order so difficult?”

  “Ted, it’s pizza. It’s not difficult. Just tell them to leave the olives off my half.”

  “You’re so high maintenance.”

  “I am not!”

  Cam smiled and said, “Do you guys fight about everything?”

  Ted said, “Yes.”

  Alex said, “No.”

  Cam burst out laughing.

  Alex tugged her hair until she pointed her face at him.

  “What?”

  “Kiss me.”

  “Not in front of company. I’ll blush.”

  He laughed against her mouth before he kissed her in a way that made it clear he didn’t care what kind of company they had.

  “Lobo macho,” she whispered.

  “Let me get rid of him, then I’ll show you macho.”

  She grinned back. “Cam,” she said, standing up. “Nice to see you. Thanks for letting us know about Avery.”

  “No problem.”

  The two men walked to the door. Alex spied the driver and the black car idling at the road.

  “It must be an oven out here in the summer,” Cam said. “It’s December and it’s still warm.”

  “You live in Vegas and you’re calling the Springs hot?”

  “Yeah, but we have acres of air-conditioning, too.”

  “Why are you here, Cam?” Alex leaned against his truck. “You could have called about Avery.”

  “Yeah, I could have.” Cam looked around. “I was curious.”

  “About?”

  “What brought you back here.”

  “It’s home.” He nodded toward the house. “It’s Ted.”

  Cam let his eyes drop to the ground and kicked at the pebbles in the driveway, chuckling quietly. “It’s Ted.”

  “Yeah.”

  He looked up and into the cottonwood trees that rustled beside the house. “It’s an interesting town.”

  Alex shrugged. “Old. Lots of history. Lots of places like that, I guess.”

  Cam smiled. “Yeah.”

  They held each other’s eyes for another minute before Cam nodded and turned around.

  “Drive safe,” Alex called.

  “I will. You and Ted don’t be strangers.”

  “We won’t.”

  Alex watched Cam’s driver ease away, careful not to kick up too much dust as they rolled back toward Main Street and the highway.

  Ted c
ame out to stand at his side.

  “He knows?”

  “He suspects something.”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So we’ll be careful.”

  “We always are, Ted.” He threw an arm around her shoulders and walked back to the house. “Always.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  She woke without the heat of him at her back. The alarm hadn’t gone off. In the back of her drowsy mind, she knew that meant it was Saturday. Their day to sleep in. Their day to laze in bed if they wanted. Ted could shift and lay on the rocks behind the house. They could go hunting that night. No meetings. No appointments. No family drama.

  She felt his fingers playing with the ends of her hair.

  “You awake?” he whispered.

  “Mmmhmm?”

  He didn’t pounce, like he usually did in the mornings. Alex was a fan of morning nookie. Some things changed, but that did not. He liked it anytime, but he especially liked it when she was sleepy and sweet. Probably because she didn’t argue with him as much.

  And yes, they argued. About sex. During sex.

  Arguing was what they did.

  “Alex?”

  He still didn’t say anything. Just kept stroking her hair.

  “What’s up?”

  “I don’t know how to do this.”

  She rolled over, blinking at him. The morning sun streamed across their sheets, and Alex sat up against the headboard. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was covered in morning stubble. His eyes were pointed down to something he was flipping in his hand.

  “What are you talking about?”

  It flashed in the light and Alex held it up.

  A diamond ring hung on the end of his forefinger.

  “I don’t know how to do this.”

  “We’ve only been back together two months,” she protested quietly. “It’s fast. We don’t need to—”

  “I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.”

  “Alex—”

  “I don’t remember being with a woman—even a friend—and not comparing her to you. Even when I was a kid.”