Whole-Hearted: A Malsum Pass Novel

by Kimberly Forrest

  She’d felt a bit off after consuming the meal; a slight headache, a bit of fatigue, but she wrote it off as the stress of the day, perhaps even a side effect from the tranquilizer drug they had used to kidnap her. Now, after a night without sleep, she was exhausted, but she had to eat, had to keep her strength up.

  Once again, they’d been liberal with the pepper, this time on the two eggs, over easy. They’d also given her bacon which wasn’t as crispy as she liked it but still edible, and toast with butter and grape jelly, a plastic cup of orange juice to wash it down. Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a coffee or a strong cup of tea right then.

  Food consumed, Connie expected the usual energy boost breakfast should have provided, instead, she had the same off feeling as the night before: mild headache and fatigue. Sleep. Her body obviously needed sleep. She’d have a nap, then a shower, before resuming her post at the door to familiarize herself with the guards schedule and plan her escape.

  Two days later, Connie knew that something was very wrong. She was constantly tired and weak. Her nose wasn’t working correctly and she couldn’t even manage a simple shift of her eyes. They had to be drugging her, using the pepper on her food to disguise the scent, she was sure.

  Stripping off her clothes, she concentrated on shifting. Something that had always come so naturally that she barely had to think about it normally. Nothing. A lump formed in her throat and frustrated tears prickled behind her eyes. Was this what it felt like to be human? So weak? Gritting her teeth, she tried again. She could feel the panic creeping up her spine. She couldn’t shift. Throwing back her head, she screamed, again and again, as she tried to release her fear, her anger, and her frustration.

  There was a pounding at her door and then it opened. She knew subconsciously that the guard was there, but she didn’t actually see him. She just knew that she had to get out of here. She had to get away. She launched herself at him, preparing to bite, kick, scratch, whatever it took. She didn’t even care that she was completely naked. She needed to escape.

  Connie felt the impact of her body against his, her knee connecting forcefully to his groin. She felt skin give under the ferocity of her fingernails, tasted blood in her mouth as her teeth sank into the flesh of his neck. She was incapable of hearing the man’s shouts or screams through the roaring in her ears. She wanted to kill. They had abducted her, drugged her, and now they had stolen her wolf from her. She was mindless in her rage, bent on hurting someone, making them pay for the hurt they’d caused her. She barely felt the sting of the needle before her limbs went weak, the red haze of anger replaced with black spots, and darkness engulfed her.

  When Connie awoke she wasn’t alone. An older man was sitting in a chair by the door reading or watching something on a tablet. He was quite handsome and looked vaguely familiar though she knew she hadn’t met him prior to this moment.

  His eyes went to her, sensing that she was no longer sleeping. There was no warmth in his intelligent brown eyes, no curiosity, and no surprise. “You did quite a number on one of my guards, Miss Tully, but I assure you, outbursts like that will do nothing to gain your freedom. You will only find yourself punished.”

  He was silent for a moment before he uttered, “I can see why my son wants you, and should you continue to be troublesome, I’ll give you to him. I assure you that it will not be pleasant for you. My son has certain, shall we say, predilections, which you might find distasteful.” He flicked the fingers of one of his hands. “Luckily for you, I believe in giving fair warning. Next time, I will not be so benevolent.”

  Clutching the blanket to her chest to keep from flashing the older man, she sat up and glared. “You’re despicable!”

  Her puny verbal attack seemed to amuse him as one side of his mouth curved up in a small smile. “Shall I clutch my heart and gasp, my dear? Be offended?” His smile died. “You’re not the first female to call me names and I’m sure you won’t be the last.” He sighed as he stood, tucked the tablet beneath his arm, and buttoned the jacket of his fine charcoal gray suit. “You’re going to be here for quite some time Miss Tully. I suggest you acclimate yourself to that fact. As long as you behave, you won’t be harmed. Do you understand?”

  Connie levered herself up and stood as well, stumbling over the trailing end of the blanket still tightly held to her body. “Not harmed? You stole my wolf you son of a bitch!” She screamed.

  She could blame that same theft on the fact that her nose hadn’t been able to distinguish just what the male was before he snarled viciously, his eyes shifting to amber, and he snapped his teeth at her in warning. Instinctively, Connie lowered her eyes and her head in the presence of an alpha.

  The bastard chuckled low and Connie grit her teeth. “That’s better.” He said, before pounding on the door. When it opened, the older male said to the guard, “Have her get dressed and then take her out to the yard for some exercise.”

  “Yes, sir.” The guard said, grabbing the chair and pulling it out of the room and then glancing her way. “You heard him. Get dressed.”

  Connie would have liked to have argued. She would have liked to have been difficult just to make a point. But, the lure of going outside after days of being cooped up was much more appealing than principles right then. As soon as the door closed behind the two males, she dropped the blanket and dressed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Going out to the yard is a privilege. Not that you deserve any privileges after what you did to Ron. Scarred him up pretty bad. Lucky for you, I’m not the boss.” The guard was saying to her as he kept a firm grip on her arm and walked her up the stairs and through the large house. “Cause any trouble for me and you’ll be locked in your room for the duration.”

  Connie was only half listening, her attention on taking in every detail possible. Her room, or rather, her cell, was situated closest to the stairs, so that was a plus. Once they’d mounted those stairs, they went through another door, another deadbolt lock similar to what was used on her door, so another easy pick. That door opened into what looked like a main foyer of a fancy house. Dark hardwood floors, dark paneling on the wall, medieval tapestries, even a display of armor, complete with sword. She wondered if the sword was sharp for a moment before she spotted a door just to the left of the armor and to the right of a large formal staircase. She could hear voices from within and a quick glance through the door, showed the older male sitting at a desk. Connie could just make out a laptop sitting in front of him, just off to the side. Was this his office then? Were all the secrets of the fur traders and their enterprise on that laptop?

  The thought had her recalling a conversation with Daisy. They had both been laying on Connie’s bed watching Netflix while Daisy was back in town for a visit. “The traders took a hit, but they just keep coming back. We do our best to save who we can, but it would be nice to get ahead of them for once.” Daisy had said with a frustrated grunt. “I’m sick to death of this already and I know Alek would like to finally be able to settle somewhere – plant some roots.”

  “I thought you loved what you were doing, and all the travelling.” Connie said as she scrolled through the romantic comedy section.

  Daisy sighed. “The travelling is nice, but we don’t really get a say in where we go. We go where a tip takes us. And it’s not like Alek and I can do much sightseeing when he has to shadow a suspect.”

  “But it really seems like you found your purpose helping those women.” Connie said, glancing at Daisy.

  Daisy nodded. “I did, I have. But if we were able to shut down those bastards for good, I could go back to school. Become a real therapist. Help even more.”

  Connie nodded. “You guys will do it.” She said with absolute faith. “I know you will.”

  “It would be nice if we could get our hands on some of their files, a laptop, something, but our first priority is always getting those women and any children out safely. As it should be, but by the time we get a chance to go digging for files, everything’s either gone with
those that got away, destroyed, or corrupted.” She blew out a breath. “It’s just frustrating.”

  The guard gave her arm a tug and Connie quickened her step. If Connie could get her hands on that laptop… Bright sunlight momentarily blinded her and she blinked. A set of French doors were opened into what looked like a courtyard with a stone fountain in the center. Grass, trees, flowers, a path with paving stones – and a big, tall concrete wall that surrounded the grounds blocking her view to the outside world. Well, that sucked.

  “I don’t have any shoes.” Connie pointed out as the guard tugged her into the pretty, sunlit yard.

  The guard shrugged. “Neither do they,” he said, nodding his head in the general direction of the fountain.

  There were two other women that Connie could see, both dressed as she was in gray sweatpants, T-shirt, and just socks on their feet. The woman furthest away appeared to be of Asian descent and was sitting just under a small tree, her eyes closed. The other woman, was sitting on the edge of the fountain, her hand trailing in the water. She looked up just then, smiled when she saw Connie, and pulled the thick swath of black hair over her shoulder and patted the space beside her. “Come, sit with me.”

  The guard walked Connie there, and she wondered if the man was going to shadow her until she was back in her cell.

  “Go away.” The other woman said to the guard once Connie had seated herself. There was something more said as well, possibly in Spanish. Connie had taken French in high school, but she’d never really had a head for languages. The tone, however, was easy to interpret. The woman had obviously called the guard a nasty name.

  The woman glared for a few more minutes at the man’s retreating back before she turned a smile on Connie and stuck out her hand. “I’m Maria.”

  “Connie.” Connie tried to sniff and then scowled.

  “Jaguar.” Maria said with a sad smile of understanding. “I’m sure you’ve already figured out they drug the food. They don’t want us shifting and tearing a guard’s throat out.” She shrugged. “I tried not eating, and I returned to normal, so it’s not permanent.” She looked intently at Connie. “But the energy it took to shift with no fuel behind it,” she shook her head, “I collapsed almost immediately.” Leaning in a bit closer Maria murmured, “Better to be strong like a human than weak as a shifter, yes?”

  Connie grimaced, understanding what Maria hadn’t come right out and said: if they wanted to get out of this, they needed to keep their strength up and their wits about them.

  Maria sighed, turning her face to the sun and let her fingertips dance over the surface of the water once more. “Since you didn’t go out on the transport of women that left this morning you must be on the shot too.” The woman said, her eyes closed as she sunned herself.

  At Connie’s confused ‘um’, Maria elaborated. “The birth control shot. I’m on it as well, so we’re held here until we’re able to breed, then we’ll be shipped off like the rest.”

  Connie’s stomach rolled and she actually felt like she was going to be sick but Maria seemed oblivious to her distress as she continued. “This is just a holding facility. They bring the women in, have Doc Sourpuss give us a medical exam to make sure we’re healthy, and then they ship us off to breed more little shifters.”

  Connie swallowed back the bile that had risen in her throat. It took her a moment, but she was finally able to ask, “How do you know so much about it? They haven’t told me anything.”

  The other woman lifted a shoulder in a shrug, but kept her eyes closed. “I’ve been here a while now. Some things I’ve heard, some I’ve asked outright. None of it is really a secret.”

  Connie frowned. “You seem so casual, like you’re okay with all of this. Don’t you want to get out of here? Don’t you want to escape?”

  That got the other woman’s attention, her nearly black eyes snapping to glare at Connie. “Of course I want to get out of here,” the woman hissed. “Do you think I haven’t tried? Do you know what happens when you’re caught?”

  Connie shook her head and Maria continues. “The last time I tried, I ended up locked in a dark room for a week. No light, no sunshine, it was suffocating. I’ve been warned if I try to escape again, I’ll be put into the hunt.” The woman shuddered just saying the words.

  “The hunt?”

  Maria grimaced. “Once or twice a year these bastards organize an old fashion fox hunt for their shareholders.” She nodded her head toward the back of the courtyard where the Asian woman was now stretching. “She’s Kitsune, a Japanese fox shifter. She wasn’t taken for breeding, but to be hunted.”

  Connie’s mouth fell open. “They’re going to just, what, murder her in cold blood?”

  Maria looked sad as she watched the Kitsune go through her stretches. “She’ll be allowed to shift then released into the woods. The hunters will be on horseback and use dogs to flush her out.” The woman shuddered. “If she manages to avoid being shot or mauled by the dogs, she’ll have her freedom.”

  Connie was disgusted. “They do this yearly? Has anyone ever survived? Earned their freedom?”

  Maria just shook her head sadly.

  Both women sat there quietly, each contemplating their own thoughts when Connie felt a prickle on her scalp like she was being watched. Looking around, she saw the three guards that had been there since she first stepped out, so that wasn’t it. Raising her eyes to the second story of the house she saw someone was watching her from the window. She knew that face – that handsome, model perfect face – Graydon Brooks, the man she had met at Victoria’s engagement party. It finally occurred to her why the older male in her room had looked so familiar. He was obviously Graydon Brooks’ father. What had the older male said? That his son had certain predilections that she would find distasteful, but she would be given to him if she didn’t behave. Connie shuddered wishing, not for the first time, that she’d never come to New York. Better still, she wished Vic had never met Francoise Rousseau.

  Thinking of Vic made her heartsick. One of her best friends was in love with a man who had built his fortune on the abuse of people like Connie. She, Vic, and Tanya may not have been as close as they once were, but they were still like sisters. Both Vic and Tanya must be worried out of their minds at her disappearance. She needed to get out of here.

  “I can pick locks.” Connie whispered frantically. “And I have some hairpins they missed. I stashed them in my mattress.” She reached over and took the other woman’s hand, looking into her shocked eyes. “I’ve been paying attention to night rounds, only one guard at a time. If I can get the jump on him, take him by surprise, I can pick the locks on your and her room.” She said, nodding toward the Kitsune. “The three of us working together should have no problem taking out any remaining guards and getting the hell out of here.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jacob felt like he was going insane. He hated this city – the smell, the noise, the crowds – it left him feeling caged and itching to break free. He needed to do something. He wanted to break down doors, knock some heads together, growl, snarl, and threaten until someone finally broke and told him where to find Connie.

  Alek warned him that they needed to tread carefully, that one phone call to whomever was holding her could result in them pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere. They couldn’t afford to tip the fur traders off by being heavy handed in their search. They needed to gather information, investigate, follow leads, and most importantly: do so with a level head.

  Their only lead thus far, had been from security footage outside of the hotel. A laundry van had driven out of the alley shortly after the time Connie had gone missing. Jacob, Tarvahl, and David Tully had all wanted to rush the laundry service’s main building, kick in the doors, and beat a confession out of someone. Alek, Sam, and Dev had convinced them otherwise.

  “And do what after we question them? Kill them all? One call to the traders and she’s lost to us.” Sam had grunted.

  “We can watch them now, follow th
em, and learn their routes. As long as they think they got away with it, they could lead us right to her.” Alek had pointed out.

  “I’ll pull up the plans on their building,” Dev had added, “If they’re holding her there, she’s probably stashed in a basement out of sight. We’ll watch and plan a raid if we find enough cause, but we can’t go in there halfcocked and tip them off.”

  The words had made sense. Logically, Jacob knew that. He could even agree with what they were saying, but his wolf wanted action. This passive shit was driving him crazy. The building plans hadn’t yielded any results – no basement, no area that could be used as a holding facility for Connie or any other women they might be holding – and shadowing the vans had proved useless as had shadowing the fiancé, Francoise Rousseau. They’d even managed to clone the man’s cell phone, but despite his bearing the mark of a fur trader trustee, no calls had been made to implicate the man or lead them to Connie. No one wanted to say it, but the trail had gone cold.

  Everyone was on edge. Daisy was doing her best to soothe tempers, but the growling and snarling was increasing as the days passed. Without a solid lead, they were all stuck in limbo. David Tully had already put a hole in a wall, and had snapped his teeth at Tarvahl. The action could have been seen as a challenge, but Jacob’s father had understood, could empathize with the man. The thought of losing a child…

  A knock on the hotel door pulled Jacob from his thoughts. It was Tanya. She’d called or stopped by daily for updates on the search and had chosen to stay in New York in hopes that they would find Connie. The human had proved a good friend. While they couldn’t let her in on exactly what was going on, she and Connie’s other friend, Victoria, had proved they were a valuable asset by combing the streets, flashing pictures of Connie, and questioning pedestrians and employees near the hotel. They’d posted pictures on social media sites – which as humans, would be completely expected – and they’d proved to be delightfully efficient nags with the local police.