by Tara Lain
“Thanks, Pop-Pop.”
“Tell Dave it’s a privilege.”
“I did, sir.”
“You always know the right thing to say and do. I’m proud of you.”
Lindsey smiled. “Thank you. You made my day, dear.”
He hung up and called Merced Marketo, father to Paris, alpha of the Marketo pack, and another person who owed Dave his ass.
“I’m happy to help, Lindsey. It will take me a couple days to raise it since so much of my money is invested in pack businesses.”
“That’s all right, sir. My family will front the money, but I thought it would be an opportunity for you and Landon to return a serious favor without having to get too political or public about it.”
“Excellent idea. I’ll talk to Landon and Cole as well.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for thinking of it. There’s not many ways for us to repay debts without revealing too much.”
Lindsey slipped the phone into the breast pocket of his suit coat and then sniffed. Oh my. He turned and gazed eye to eye with Seth Zakowsky. Amber gold. Wow. So few humans had eyes that color.
Zakowsky gestured toward the phone.
Lindsey nodded. “The money will be wired wherever we say, whenever we say.”
“Good. And by the way, while I know the governor trusts you and I respect that, there is no ‘we.’ You need to stay out of this, Mr. Vanessen. You could get hurt or get one of us hurt trying to protect you.”
Lindsey raised an eyebrow. “Like you, for example?”
“Or anyone from the FBI. This is no game. Lives are at stake, not corporate dividends.”
Hmm? Punch his lights out or back off? Backing off gave Lindsey more options. “Of course, darling. Why on earth would I want to get too close to this messy business? I’m here to support my friend, not to get in your way. My God, it exhausts me just thinking of what you do.” He fluttered his lavender ascot. There, that should have lulled him nicely.
Zakowsky’s expression warred between suspicious and convinced with a touch of derision. “Good. I appreciate that.” He turned and stalked back to some of the FBI guys.
Lindsey walked to Dave, who sat staring out the big windows in the dining room. Lindsey perched beside him and took his hand. “The money is ready whenever we need it.”
“Thank you so much, Lindsey. Please tell your whole family I’ll work forever to pay it back.”
“Ta, darling. No need. Let’s just concentrate on getting Carla back.”
The phone rang and everyone froze. The man who seemed to head the FBI contingent signaled to Dave to come to the phone. Lindsey squeezed his hand and stood beside him. Dave hurried over and, at the FBI’s signal, picked up the phone.
The disguised voice said, “Go to your computer. You’ll see what you’re looking for.”
The FBI guy clicked on the computer. An instant message appeared with a link and he followed it. A video feed appeared of some kind of warehouse. In the center of the scene, a young girl sat tied to a chair, blindfolded.
Dave leaped toward the screen. “Carla!”
Lindsey forced his eyes away from the girl and inspected the room. It seemed oddly familiar.
The voice on the phone said, “She can’t hear you, but you can hear her.” Inside the room on the screen, a male voice said, “Say something so your father can hear it’s you, Carla.”
The girl’s voice quavered, but there was determination too. “I’m fine, Daddy. Don’t let these assholes get to you. Catch them and see they all go to prison.” The sound clicked off.
The voice said, “If you share that attitude with your daughter, you’ll never see her again.”
Dave fell back on the chair like he’d been slapped. Lindsey dug his fingers into the man’s shoulder. “Easy. They have nothing to gain by hurting her.” He stared at the computer and inspected every detail of the scene. The screen went black.
The voice sneered, “Your friend is very wise, but our patience only stretches so far. You have your proof of life. Wire the money and we’ll have her back to you tomorrow.”
Zakowsky stood opposite Dave. He shook his head slightly and wrote quickly on a notepad. Dave looked at it. It said stall til tomorrow on money.
“Uh, I can have the money tomorrow. I’ll wire it wherever you say.” He glanced at Seth, who nodded. “I want to see my daughter before the money leaves my hands. It’s all my family has.”
Seth smiled grimly.
The voice snarled, “Saving your daughter’s life isn’t the time to get stingy.”
Dave’s eyes widened. “No, no! Nothing like that. It’s just hard to get it. I’m not a rich man.”
“You have rich friends. Don’t give me that bullshit.”
“Yes, but it’s hard to arrange. Tomorrow. I’ll have it tomorrow without fail.”
“See you do. I’ll be in touch.” The phone went dead.
The FBI guy looked at one of the techies on a computer. “Any trace?”
The man stuck out his lip and shook his head. “Nah. They have this routed via someplace in Siberia, I kid you not.”
Dave stared at Zakowsky, his hands shaking. “Are you sure it’s wise to stall? Lindsey says he can have the money now.”
A crease appeared between those strong brows. “Once they have the money, they have less motivation to return her safe. Shortening the time between their reward and ours is wise.”
Dave looked up at Lindsey, who nodded, but he kept sorting through his memories. Where the hell had he seen that warehouse? “Interesting that the kidnappers know you have rich friends. They’ve done their homework.”
Zakowsky walked around the table and put a hand on Dave’s shoulder. “We’ll wait for their instructions tomorrow. We’ll arrange to wire the money minutes before they deliver Carla. That will satisfy them and give us a whole night to try and capture the bastards. Why don’t you get some rest, Governor? We’ll all be here in case anything changes.”
Got it! Lindsey nearly said it out loud but stopped himself. He’d almost bought that warehouse. Dave looked up. “You okay?”
“Yes, I was just about to agree with Mr. Zakowsky. You don’t even know how tired you are. You need to be strong tomorrow. Why don’t you go curl up beside Cathy for a little while? She’ll be glad for your company.”
“I don’t think I can sleep.”
“That’s okay. Just give Cathy some comfort.”
“Yeah, I should. I know how awful she feels. Like we didn’t protect our little girl.” Tears dripped from his eyes.
Lindsey knelt in front of him. “They grow up, Dave. You have to give them space, and that space must drive a parent crazy. You couldn’t have prevented this. These are horrible criminals and we—uh, Seth and the FBI will catch them. Go keep Cathy company, okay?”
He nodded. “Thank you for everything.”
“I’m going to go check on the funds and the transfer. Seth will call me if you need me, won’t you?” He bared his teeth in some semblance of a smile. Seth nodded but he didn’t smile. God, even when he frowned the man looked ridiculously good. “And I’ll be here first thing in the morning so we can get Carla back. Okay?”
Dave hugged him. What a sweet man. Lindsey watched the governor exit the dining room toward the stairs, his shoulders slumped like they carried far too much weight. Okay, time to follow his instincts.
Lindsey turned to Seth. “Thanks. I’m going to check on the finances. Call if you need me.”
He frowned but seemed to be trying to sound pleasant. “You don’t have to come back tomorrow. We appreciate what you’ve done gathering the ransom.”
“I’m sure Dave wants me here, darling. So how do you plan to capture these criminals overnight as you suggested?”
“We have lots of resources. We’re trying to track through the offshore bank and other links. Don’t worry about it. We’re on it.”
Lindsey could think of something else he’d like Seth to be on. God, just the smell of
the man made his cock hard. Too bad it could never happen. “Oh, I shan’t worry. Good night, darling.”
He strode out of the room, trying not to look in a hurry. He knew where that warehouse was. Damn, if they just didn’t move Carla before the next morning, he’d have time.
With a quick wave to the governor’s assistant, he headed out the door. He’d thought for a moment about telling Seth, but he could be wrong about the location. Plus, the police would go rushing in there all SWATified, and the chances of someone panicking and hurting Carla were too high. No, it was time for someone to creep in on little wolf feet. Not literally. No full moon. So other options were required. Fortunately, he had them at the ready.
Chapter Three
Lindsey hobbled toward the big, metal-sided building, leaning heavily on his cane. The warehouse appeared convincingly abandoned. Hopefully, that meant the humans inside were off their guard, since their only threat probably came from derelicts and squatters. He glanced around. Not many people on the streets in this neighborhood at this hour. Three young black guys strolled down the sidewalk across the street, laughing. Lindsey leaned against the fence like walking had gotten to be too much. No one would check out an old woman who just appeared to be looking for a place to sleep.
After the boys passed, he ducked behind the fence. Someone could be watching from the building, so he continued his halting steps around the side of the structure. Nothing. No entry. He stepped close to the building, out of sight of the upstairs windows, crouched, and moved rapidly along the wall. When he got to the end of the building, he peeked around. Nothing. No vehicles. Grass grew out of gaps in the asphalt driveway surrounding the building.
Damn, maybe he was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t the place. At least he hadn’t notified the police and FBI and gotten them all riled up. But he also didn’t have—
He spotted a tiny gap in the smooth metal siding, like the seam in a can of foie gras. Lindsey stopped and slid his hand along that gap. He pressed his fingertips into the space and pulled. Rip. A hiss like an air lock meant the door was soundproofed. Nothing at all about this building would have required soundproofing.
What lurked behind this door? Guns ready to kill him or kill Carla if they heard him?
He rushed a few more feet down the wall. Nothing. That door was it. Aside from the boarded-up and chained front entrance, this was the only way in he’d seen. Okay.
He reached in the old woman’s purse and extracted his Smith and Wesson Model 52 in stainless steel. Yes, it was affected, but he loved the “gentlemen’s pistol” with its never-fail action. He’d had it fitted with wolf-killing bullets, but in this all-human situation, he’d brought it in case there were too many to take out in other ways. Guns pointed at his chest when he opened the door would be one of those occasions.
He adjusted the body armor under his flowered dress. Werewolves were tough to kill, but he didn’t want to put too many demands on his human genes.
Holding the gun in his right hand and still carrying his cane, he slowly pulled open the door a crack. No rapid-fire response. Good sign. He glanced quickly through the opening into the dim light. Nobody. Seriously, no one was guarding the door? Off guard was one thing. Full-on stupid was yet another, and nothing these kidnappers had done so far suggested stupidity. This could be a trap or an encouraging sign.
He opened the door very slowly, stepped inside, and closed it quickly before someone saw the light. A small anteroom led to a long hall. It looked like a few doors opened off it. He stepped into the hall. Hard place to hide. He hurried to the first door and looked in. Some kind of storage room, probably for materials delivered to the warehouse. Stepping lightly despite his orthopedic shoes, he passed it quickly and continued down the hall. Voices! He listened. Coming his way.
He rushed back to the storage room and dodged inside. Fortunately, no lights made it a good hiding place. A couple of seconds later, the sound of two men’s voices got closer.
Voice one. “I told you, that chick in the porno looks a lot like our girl upstairs.”
Voice two. “Except ours is about thirteen and that porno queen must be twenty-five.”
“So? I’d still like to see her naked, wouldn’t you?”
“Nah. The bosses would kill us. Unharmed as long as the families pay. That’s the deal.”
“Shit. We could just make her take off her top. That’s not gonna hurt her. It’d be her word against ours.”
“And you know whose word they’d take.”
The guy made an ugly sound. “Yeah, hers.”
“I gotta stay on the door. Quit distracting me.” He laughed.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be upstairs.”
“Don’t go stripping our hostage.” He laughed again. Lindsey felt the cane digging into his hand, he squeezed it so hard. It would be a challenge not to kill these men. But even though they were clearly goons and not the “bosses,” they might know something that could lead to the capture of the leaders. He’d try to let them live.
The sound of the most repulsive one’s footsteps echoed past his hiding place. When the noise died, Lindsey peeked out. The other man seemed to be sitting on a stool in the small entry. His shadow showed on the wall. Lindsey crept into the hall and soft-footed his way to the entry. The man’s back was to Lindsey and, like the battle at Khartoum, he’d never expect an attack from behind. Step, hand-chop to the neck, and the man crumpled like a doll. Lindsey caught him before he fell, pulled tape from the commodious purse, and taped the man’s mouth and hands. After dragging him into the storage room, he taped his feet and pushed him out of sight.
Back in the hall, Lindsey stepped fast to the next door, looked in at a kitchen of sorts, then went on to the next. Success. The door led into a stair vestibule. Open, metal treads led up, and he could hear voices from above echoing like it was a large space. Yes, he remembered a huge open room, and he’d deemed it too inefficient for his purposes when he considered buying this building. Some conglomerate had bought it when he didn’t. Obviously, it hadn’t proved to be a good buy. Wonder what they’d think if they knew who was using it?
Superstealth was required to walk those metal stairs without making noise. He stared at his feet. The old lady shoes had soft soles but still weren’t quiet enough. He reached down and untied the laces, then kicked them off.
Very delicately, he placed his bare foot on the bottom tread. Cold, rough, but no noise. Gun and cane in hand, he climbed a few more stairs. Was there a vestibule above, or did the staircase let out into the room? He couldn’t remember.
Either way, speed gave him the best chance. He sucked in a deep breath, then covered the remaining five stairs in one exhalation and was inhaling as he burst into the big room. A brilliant light illuminated the girl tied to the chair and the table with two men playing cards beside her. That meant he had to be in shadow. Good.
Both men looked up and leaped to their feet. One cocked his head. “What the hell? Who are you?”
With that much advantage, Lindsey shot the asshole who’d wanted to strip Carla. The man fell screaming, clutching his left leg. Lindsey pulled the short throwing knife from his lady’s jacket pocket and caught the other man in the shoulder just as he raised his semiautomatic. A burst of bullets flew into the ceiling. Carla!
Lindsey covered the space, delivered a short kick to the injured asshole’s bleeding leg—“Stay down!”—and then grabbed the other man’s gun as he tried to pull the knife from his shoulder. “Uh-uh, sonny. Pull that out and you just may bleed to death.”
He slammed the man to the ground as asshole number one reached for a weapon at the small of his back. Lindsey fired into his other leg. “Want to be crippled for life? Try that one more time, sonny boy.”
Carla yelled, “Get ’em, Granny!” The girl did have balls, but how did she know who’d saved her with a blindfold on?
He handcuffed the knifed guy—handbags made so much sense—then went over and kicked the gun out of reach of the other one. The guy twitched, and
Lindsey smashed his jaw with the butt of his gun. “That’s for your smarmy mind.” He taped the guy’s hands and mouth, then finished his ankles.
That should render them harmless. He walked over to Carla and pulled the blindfold off her eyes. He unfastened her wrists and then knelt in front of her and did the same for her ankles. He smiled up into her saucer-huge eyes. “You’re safe. You have nothing to worry about.”
Carla nodded. “Thank you. I was so scared.”
Lindsey patted her hand. “You’re safe now.”
Carla stared at him—her. Hope the wrinkles look convincing. “I knew someone would come for me. My dad would never let this happen. But I never dreamed it would be you.” She smiled like the sun came out.
Lindsey poised a hand on his flowered hip. “So how did you know it was me?”
“You’re famous. I read all about you saving that woman in the alley. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew it must be the Super Granny.”
“What a funny name.”
“It’s perfect. You’re a superhero to me, believe it.”
“I’m glad.”
“But I’m guessing you don’t want to be here when the police arrive, right?”
He smiled as much as the latex allowed. “How did you know?”
“Superheroes never do.”
“So will you call the police and tell them where you are?”
“I don’t know where I am.”
“I’ll give you the exact location. Tell them who you are and that you have a couple of bad guys for them.”
She shook her head. “I’ll bet these dudes aren’t going to know anything useful. Total derps.”
“Yes, sadly, dearie, I fear that derp is the correct description. You, on the other hand, are brilliant and utterly brave. I know your family must be very proud of you.”
She frowned. “Wait, you mean you don’t know my dad? He didn’t send you?”
“Do you think the FBI is using grannies now?” He laughed.
“Truth, but how did you find me?”
“Ah, Granny’s supersecrets. I don’t suppose you remember anything about the kidnappers who were not derps, do you?”
