Whole-Hearted: A Malsum Pass Novel

by Kimberly Forrest

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Towel still wrapped turban style around her head after the best shower ever, Connie flopped down on the bed with her laptop. She had just barely logged onto Facebook when her phone rang. When she saw Tanya’s name on the caller ID, Connie answered and was greeted by one of Tanya’s exuberant squeals.

  “O-M-G, Con-Con! One of the guys called me to tell me you had been found. Are you okay? Are you home? Do you need me? I can be there in like less than two hours, no problem. Just say the word!”

  Connie smiled. God, it was good to hear Tanya’s voice. “I’m fine – a little shaky – but fine. I’m home, and you don’t need to drive down. I’m good, really.”

  “The guy who called, Dev I think, wouldn’t give me any details, just that you were found and uninjured. What the hell happened Connie?”

  Connie hadn’t thought of it, had wanted to put the whole incident out of her mind, but now she wondered if she should call Alek for more details. What had happened? She knew that Graydon Brooks had escaped, but what would happen to the others? Were they all dead? If they were alive were they being arrested on kidnapping charges? She had no idea.

  Connie cleared her throat of the lump that had gathered just thinking about Graydon Brooks. “Do you remember that guy from the party who wanted to take me home?”

  Tanya let out an angry little scream. “I knew it! I even told the guys about that weirdo pervert GQ wannabe. I hope they string him up by his balls!”

  Connie felt exactly the same way. They’d just have to catch him first. That thought made her frown, and her belly gave a kick of nerves. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Tanya asked, concerned. “Did he…? I mean, were you…?” Tanya cleared her throat as well, obviously uncomfortable with the question. “If you need to talk to someone, I’m here for you, babe. You know that, right? You can tell me anything.”

  Connie thought of Graydon Brooks’ bedroom. The look in his eyes as he told her to fight him. She shuddered. “Things didn’t get quite that bad, luckily. It was scary, but I’m good, truly. I’d rather talk about something else if that’s okay.”

  Tanya, awesome friend that she was, immediately changed the subject to one of their favorites: new hair trends. Just over an hour later, they said their goodbyes, Tanya reiterating that she could be there in a flash if Connie needed her.

  Once the call had disconnected, Connie stared at the phone for several minutes and frowned. She needed to call Vic. Mentally preparing herself for a conversation that was bound to be horrific, Connie dialed the familiar digits. Vic’s greeting was so similar to Tanya’s that it made Connie chuckle. Once again she assured a friend that she was fine and didn’t need company.

  Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for what needed to be said. “Listen, Vic, I need to tell you something and you’re probably not going to like it, but you need to hear me out, okay?”

  “Ooookaaaay, Miss Cryptic. What’s up?”

  “The person who abducted me was introduced to me at your engagement party as an associate of Francoise’s. Graydon Brooks. He’s part of a ring of human traffickers and I think your fiancé may be involved.”

  Silence. Not even the sound of Vic breathing on the other end of the line. Connie pulled the phone away from her ear to see if they were still connected. “Vic?”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Vic, I know this is-“

  “No. You’re wrong. Francoise would have nothing to do with something like that. I know you want to blame someone, and you’re probably looking at every guy like they’re a villain right now because of what you went through, but my Fran is a good man.”

  Connie wasn’t sure what to say. She knew Vic, if she tried to argue, her friend would dig in even deeper. She needed to change tactics. “You’re probably right.” She released a strained laugh. “But it would make me feel so much better if you just made sure, you know, what he’s involved with before you marry him.”

  “You have a good heart. I appreciate you looking out for me.” Vic said, not confirming one way or the other whether she was going to look deeper into her fiancé’s dealings before she changed the subject. “Listen, Connie. I was going to send you an invitation to the wedding, but I know you’ve been through a traumatic experience so I will completely understand if you can’t make it. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

  “You’re one of my best friends, of course I’ll-“

  “No, no, don’t give me an answer now.” Victoria rushed to say. “You need to take time to heal. Look out for you and we’ll get together once you’re feeling better.”

  Connie didn’t get a chance to say more as Vic said, “I got to go, Con. Feel better. Talk soon.” And then the call disconnected.

  Well, hell. That didn’t go well at all, but how else was she supposed to broach the subject that hey, you may be marrying someone involved in dirty dealings? Depressed, feeling like she had just lost one of her best friends, Connie stared at the ceiling for several minutes before she rubbed a hand over her teary eyes and sniffed. Vic would come around, or maybe Connie was reading more into it than necessary. Was she being overly sensitive? Maybe Vic really did have to go. She probably had dinner reservations, or a party, or who knew what the rich and fabulous did?

  Feeling better with that thought, she touched the mouse pad on her laptop and cleared the screen saver to reveal her news feed on Facebook. Not much had changed. Before and after photos of hair from her stylist friends, random selfies, and political rants complaining about the latest Trump faux pas. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it seemed weird that nothing had changed while her life had been turned upside down.

  She was just about to open a new tab and check her e-mail when a messenger box popped up:

  Jacob Pierce: Hi

  Connie grinned. She couldn’t help it. She was so happy that after the way they had left things before she went to New York that he was still willing to talk to her. She needed to apologize to him. But not on messenger. ‘I’m sorry’ tended to sound much more meaningful in person. She also needed to let him know that she wasn’t a coward anymore and that he was worth fighting for.

  Constance Tully: Hi :-)

  Jacob Pierce: How RU?

  Constance Tully: Better now that I’ve showered. How are you?

  Jacob Pierce: Good

  Jacob Pierce: Dinner tomorrow?

  Connie was about to type a resounding YES PLEASE! When she saw the little dots appear that he was still typing. She waited.

  Jacob Pierce: I mean, obviously you’ll have dinner tomorrow. I meant dinner with me?

  Connie laughed, feeling giddy. What a lovely goof he was. Flexing her fingers over the key board, she grinned as she typed: I’d love to.

  Jacob Pierce: :-)

  Connie let out another bark of laughter.

  Constance Tully: Six?

  Jacob Pierce: See you then :-)

  Connie fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Unfortunately, Connie didn’t dream about Jacob. Instead, she was back at that house, in the yard. Rin was there, doing her stretches in the shade of the tree while Maria sat and sunned herself by the fountain. Guards were walking the perimeter, stepping over the dead body of one of their own; his throat torn out.

  The need to escape was overwhelming. She could sense the danger. She was being hunted. Just as she turned to run back into the house, she saw Graydon Brooks walking toward her, a smug smile on his handsome face as he adjusted the cuffs on his immaculate suit. Connie came to a skidding halt, tried to change directions, but she was suddenly knocked to the ground by an enormous wolf. She tried to shift, to defend herself, but couldn’t. They had stolen her wolf. The male above her, intent on mauling her, had no such problem. Jaws snapping, saliva frothing out of its mouth and spraying her face, she tried to hold off the male, her hands pushing at the underside of its muzzle as she screamed, but no sound came out. All she could hear was laughter. Everyone w
as laughing at her feeble attempts to save herself.

  Connie shot upright in bed, her breath coming in hard pants as her heart beat heavily in her chest. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her three times to click on the bedside lamp. The digital display on the clock told her it was barely dawn, but she had no desire to try to go back to sleep, not while the images of that wolf and those razor sharp teeth, were so fresh in her memory.

  Getting out of bed, she used the bathroom, brushed her teeth and then pulled a robe over her pajamas. She would go down to the kitchen and make herself some tea. Surely surrounding herself with such familiar tasks would calm her. She was home, she was safe, and she was never going back to that place again. Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she would start to believe. Of course, she would feel better knowing they had caught Graydon Brooks. As soon as it was a decent hour, she would call Daisy and ask for an update.

  The kitchen, when Connie arrived, was already occupied. Rin sat at the table with a steaming cup of tea. Not surprising that the Kitsune would be plagued by nightmares as well. Neither spoke – they didn’t need to, as they both understood what had the other up so early. They sat in companionable silence, seeking strength and warmth in Earl Grey.

  The call to Daisy hadn’t gone as well as hoped. Alek, Daisy, Sam, and Dev had flown back out to New York late last night. Currently, they were following up on information obtained from the laptop Connie had stolen. She could hear Dev’s excited voice in the background praising her with all sorts of, “You are awesome, Constance Tully!” and “Make sure you tell her I love her, Daisy!” She was happy for them, she really was. And glad that she was able to make a sizeable contribution to the mission, but Graydon Brooks was still out there. He hadn’t used the Bugatti with the tracker to make his escape, nor had he accessed any of his accounts. He’d gone off the grid and because of that, it felt like Connie was in Limbo.

  By noon Connie was sure the walls were closing in around her. She had helped her mother with some things around the bed and breakfast: cleaned some rooms and restocked towels, helped her father drag out the Halloween decorations and added a whole bunch of spooky both inside and out, but now that those tasks were finished, she needed to get out of there. Deciding to head over to the salon and see Flora, Connie grabbed the keys to the SUV. She probably looked extremely paranoid to any passers-by as she did a running dive into her vehicle, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Graydon Brooks could be lurking just around any – and every – corner.

  The familiar sights and smells of the salon seemed to soothe her somewhat. Flora was there and immediately came over to hug Connie. “Oh, you poor girl. I can’t imagine how frightened you must have been. But aren’t you brave, already out and about. I probably would have stayed in bed for days.” Flora gushed, looking Connie over from head to foot while she maintained her hold on Connie’s upper arms.

  Connie gave Flora a reassuring smile. “I had to get out of the house.”

  Flora nodded and went back to folding and stacking the shop towels. “Well, feel free to sit, give yourself a manicure,” she said, waving toward the table. “I’d offer to do it for you, but Sherry Pierce is due in any moment for a brow wax.”

  Connie looked down at her fingers. Her nails, usually so perfectly painted and maintained were speckled with chipped paint while the edges were rough and broken. Funny that she hadn’t even noticed. Sitting in the chair, she picked up a cotton pad and soaked it in acetone. This she could do. This she could fix to make it look like nothing had ever happened.

  When Sherry Pierce stepped into the shop, her eyes immediately swung to Connie and she came straight for her. Placing a hand on Connie’s cheek, Sherry bent slightly and looked deeply into her eyes. “You are well?”

  For some reason, the concern of this fierce alpha female made tears spring up in Connie’s eyes. She nodded and sniffed. “I’m sorry about your dress.”

  Sherry’s other hand raised so that she was cupping both cheeks. “Never mind about that. You are more important than any dress.”

  All Connie could do was nod, embarrassed that she was crying like a weakling but Sherry gave her a tender smile and stroked a comforting hand over Connie’s hair. “You may not be blood, Constance, but you’re still one of mine. Should you need me, I’m here for you.”

  Connie nodded again and reached for a tissue while Sherry made her way over to one of the salon chairs to wait for Flora to start. “I understand Jacob is taking you out to dinner tonight.” Sherry said as Flora leaned the chair back and smoothed the hair off of Sherry’s forehead.

  The change of subject was welcome, and Connie could feel her mood lightening. Her grin was obvious in her voice as she said, “He is.”

  Flora pressed a cloth strip to the wax she had just applied to Sherry’s brow, smoothed it down, and then gave a quick tug. Sherry opened her eyes and glanced at Connie from her reclining position. “If you would prefer, I’d be happy to make dinner for the both of you at the house.”

  The offer was sweet, which was a bit of a surprise considering the source. Was Connie ready to go out to a restaurant? She really hadn’t considered that last night when Jacob had made the offer. Was she ready to face a crowd? Or was the safety and seclusion of the Pierce house a better option?

  “I assure you, Jacob is eager for your company no matter where you choose, so don’t let that influence your decision.” Sherry said, eyes closed as she waited for Flora to pull off the next strip.

  Connie bit her lip for a moment but then nodded despite the fact that Sherry wouldn’t be able to see. “I think for now, I would prefer to stay close to home.”

  Sherry opened her eyes and smiled. “I’ll see to it.”

  Connie felt a moment of connection with the older woman and she returned the smile. “Thank you.”

  That moment of connection was brief however as Flora shook her head and sighed with disgust. “I don’t know how you of all people could encourage this, Sherry.”

  Sherry Pierce narrowed her eyes at Flora, and her eyes took on that frosty glint of a coming storm but Flora was too busy shaking her head at Connie to notice.

  Connie knew what was coming, was mentally preparing to defend herself once more and reiterate that she was not using Jacob to get to Conner when something the elder Brooks had said to her popped into her mind. She was valuable. He may have been a villain, but he was right about that. She was valuable and the truth was, Flora needed Connie more than Connie needed Flora. Why, she could work at any salon. She didn’t need to stay here where her morality was constantly disparaged by someone she thought was her friend.

  With a deep breath Connie stood from her chair and held up a hand to forestall the lecture the older woman was about to give. “I’m giving my notice, Flora. You’ll have to find another stylist. I’m done here.”

  Flora looked shocked, her mouth opening and closing like a beached fish. “Wait. What? What do you mean?”

  “You obviously don’t respect me as a person and I can’t work in that kind of environment.” The words felt good. They felt right, and she felt strong. She was a member of this pack and she was tired of her decisions, good or bad, being up for debate. This was her life and she had every intention of living it as she saw fit. Not her mother, not Flora, not the town. This was about her and she deserved better than snide remarks and sideways glances.

  Flora was still sputtering as Sherry stood from the chair and removed the cape with a flourish. “Bravo, my dear.” She said checking her brows in the mirror while Flora continued to gape and sputter. “Give me just a moment and I’ll walk you out.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Connie stepped out of the salon and took a deep breath. Funny how the sun suddenly seemed to be shining brighter. After years of letting other people's opinions influence her decisions, Connie finally felt like she was in control, and it was thrilling.

  Sherry had asked her if she would like to accompany her to the diner for a bite, but Connie had declined. She c
ouldn't wait to get home and look online for a new salon to call home. Maybe she could even look into opening her own shop. How cool would that be? Of course, Malsum Pass couldn’t support two salons, but nothing said she had to work on pack lands, so she could certainly venture further out. She had so many options now; the possibilities were exciting.

  That excitement led to her spending way more time on her laptop than intended as she looked up information on starting a business. The lengthening shadows in her bedroom clued her in that she needed to start thinking about getting ready for her date, which led to an excitement of a different sort. Now, what to wear?

  She glared at the pile of gray sweats still balled up on the floor. The only reason they hadn't gone straight into the trash was because Connie wanted to burn them; she wanted to light the match and see the fabric ignite and eventually turn to ash.

  Connie checked the clock. She still had an hour and a half before her date, so no time like the present. Scooping up the offensive garments, Connie headed down to the great room with every intention of lighting a fire in the large fireplace. Passing Rin’s assigned guest room on the way, she knocked. When the Kitsune opened the door, Connie nodded her head at the pile in her arms. “Want to add yours to the fire too?”

  Rin’s smile slowly blossomed into a full grin. “I’d love to.”

  Connie was a bit disappointed, once they reached the bottom floor, to find a fire already blazing, but she wasn’t going to complain. She’d still get to see the symbol of her captivity burn and that was good enough.

  Her father halted her before she chucked the whole pile on the logs. “Whoa, princess. What’s up?”

  “We,” Connie said, nodding toward Rin, “are going to burn these.” She finished, lifting the armful of gray and white clothes.