by Beth Alvarez
Felicity followed Owen as he paced across the room, reaching for his elbow when he stopped.
He flinched at her touch. “Do you think this is funny?” His voice shook and his arm trembled under her fingers.
“This isn’t how anyone wanted you to find out.” The words Kade had said when she’d learned echoed in her head. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was supposed to have time. It seemed he had a bad track record when it came to talking about what he’d become.
“I know it’s hard,” Felicity continued. “I want to answer as many questions as I can, and I know I won’t have all the answers you need. But I need Justine on my side. I need as many Keepers as possible. If they’ve taken Kade because they think he’s a threat, we may not have much time to get him back.”
“Questions?” He scoffed. “You’re saying my brother is dead! He was just here. I saw him. I spoke to him. I-” Stopping short, he stared into nothing.
Concern and curiosity swelled within her, but there was a tension in his silence that she couldn’t bring herself to break. Instead, she stroked his arm, staying silent.
“Oh, God,” Owen croaked. “He said—I said—that it was like he was back from the dead. He said I... I wasn’t far off.”
“It’s been a long time,” Felicity said. “He doesn’t talk about it much, but he told me it happened the night he left home.”
He blinked hard, nodding and sucking in a breath. “This was... this was what he was trying to tell me, wasn’t it? And I did it.” His breath caught; he hiccuped. “I killed him. I really did.”
“He did it himself. He’s the one who made that decision, Owen. Nobody else. This job, it... it was worth it to him.” And he’d left that job for her. Fixing this situation now was the least she could do. That started with comforting Owen. Something she didn’t know how to do—if it was even her place to try. She suspected anything she said would just raise more questions.
“Anyway,” she murmured, “You shouldn’t take it personally. Kade... he doesn’t tell people. He just doesn’t. Until a week or so ago, I was the only one who knew. He only told me because I saw a truck full of rustlers shoot him. Twice.”
“He could have come back, though. Any time in the past ten years.” Owen rubbed his eyes, cradling his head in his hand. “He... he could have been there when Mom died.”
“If you’re giving yourself credit for his missing that, you’re being too generous,” Justine said from the doorway. She sipped her coffee, arching a brow. “They always say there’s no rest for the wicked. Your brother’s been a busy man. If you want a brief overview of his work history, I’ve got that.”
“And I’ve got pictures of his kills upstairs,” Felicity said. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to discuss everything he’s done as soon as he gets home. But first, we have to make sure he can come home at all.”
“Any suggestions on how we’re going to achieve that?” Justine asked.
Truthfully, she hardly knew where to start. But she didn’t think expressing how helpless she felt was a good way to start things, so Felicity drew herself up and nodded. “I’ve got a couple ideas.”
SIXTEEN
* * *
A CHAIN RATTLED on the other side of the door, followed by the thunk of the deadbolt. The sound made Felicity cringe. She’d never seen a house in Holly Hill with a security chain on the door; half the time, people didn’t bother locking their doors at all. It certainly hadn’t been on Penny’s door the last time Felicity paid them a visit.
She rubbed her hands together until Justine put a hand on her shoulder, offering gentle reassurance.
The door creaked open a sliver and Penny squinted through the crack. “Oh, Felicity. What’s up?”
“Sorry about running off and leaving you to close by yourself. Had a surprise houseguest.” Felicity nudged the Keeper with her foot. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Penny’s gaze drifted from Felicity to Justine behind her, and the door closed a fraction of an inch. “This your guest?”
This was exactly why she’d wanted the Keeper to stay in the car. At least she was less threatening than Cole and his camo. Justine looked normal enough in her suit, but if Penny kept a chain on her door, she wouldn’t open it if she saw the gun at the Keeper’s hip. That Justine was armed had been a surprise to Felicity, too.
“This is Justine. She’s a friend of the family.” Felicity nudged her again, and the woman stepped backwards.
“And not staying,” Justine added. “Just along to get some leftovers from Felicity’s bakery while we’re running errands. It seemed polite to walk her in. I’ll be outside, all right?” In truth, the Keeper had escorted her in case Nick was home. Felicity figured he wasn’t, since his car was absent, but it was better to be certain.
“Oh, here’s the keys.” Felicity dug her keyring out of her pocket. “Just in case you want to run the AC.”
“Thank you.” Justine plucked the keys from her fingers. “Don’t make me wait too long.”
The door opened a little wider and Penny watched the Keeper leave. “She a friend on your side of the family? Or Kade’s?”
Felicity raised a brow. “Why do you ask?”
Instead of answering, Penny closed the door. The security chain rattled, then the door opened wide. “Come on in. I was just finishing dinner.”
“Thanks.” Felicity slipped in, holding her purse with both hands while Penny shut the door again and fastened the chain.
The apartment was small but charming, decorated with vintage furniture in dark colors while modern art adorned the exposed brick wall. The portrait of Audrey Hepburn was new since her last visit. Felicity nodded toward it. “For her acting, or humanitarian efforts?”
“As a style icon,” Penny replied, picking up a half-finished plate of pasta from where she’d left it on the couch. “Classic and minimalist. But you know how I wanted to go into fashion.”
“She did have a remarkable fashion sense,” Felicity said, then swallowed. “Listen, Penny-”
“I know what Nick did.” Penny speared a few pieces of ziti with her fork, twirling them in the sauce before taking a bite. “How he’s trying to squeeze money out of Kade.”
Felicity’s mouth fell open before she could stop it. It took a second to close it again.
“That’s what you’re here to talk about, right?” Wiping the corner of her mouth with a thumb, Penny glanced up. “I told him it was a bad idea, but he didn’t listen to me. He never does, anymore.”
“I did want to talk about it, but I didn’t think-”
“No, I understand. The bakery’s not a good place for it. Anyone could walk in and hear us. Nick’s out, so here, there’s just...” Penny’s eyes wandered to the door. “Well, the stairs are so noisy that we’d hear anyone long before they came to press an ear to the door.”
That was true; Nick and Penny’s apartment was on the second floor of an old house. The narrow stairwell creaked and groaned considerably on the way up.
“Where is he?” Felicity asked, trying to sound casual.
Penny shrugged. “Who knows? He doesn’t tell me much anymore, either.”
A silence fell, punctuated by the light tapping of Penny’s fork against her plate.
Felicity gathered her wits. No matter how awkward things were, they couldn’t afford to waste time. “How did all of this happen, Penny? You going to meet Kade at the motel? He said you needed money, but...”
“I do. For Nick. For all the trouble he’s gotten himself into. It... I didn’t know what I was getting into. I actually thought it was worse than the blood drinking thing, and I was relieved when Kade wasn’t...” The younger woman licked her lips, staring at her plate without touching the rest of her food.
The relief—and disappointment in Nick—grew palpable.
“Nick misled me,” Penny concluded. “I don’t know how he found out about the job. I was under the impression he was working with his father’s office, helping with a prostitution bust. After
the company he’d been keeping, thinking he was cleaning up his act and working with the police was like a dream come true.”
“But he wasn’t.” After everything that had happened, that much was obvious. But Felicity knew her friend needed acknowledgement. Questions could wait.
Penny smiled weakly, pushing her food around her plate. “I didn’t know what to do at first. I thought I’d go in to meet the suspect, the police would show up with Nick, we’d go home, we’d get paid. Then it was Kade, and he told me why I was there, and I guess that was when I figured out Nick hadn’t been truthful.”
“You didn’t have to let him feed off of you, Penny.”
“I know. And I wish I hadn’t. But I felt caught, stuck, and I thought getting the money would get Nick to settle down for a little bit. It didn’t work. He saw the marks and demanded I tell him what happened. That was when he got the idea of trying to blackmail Kade.” Her appetite gone, Penny carried her plate to the small kitchen.
Felicity followed. “Tell me about the money thing. What’s going on with Nick?”
“What isn’t?” Penny scraped the last of her food into the trash. “He got involved with some shady people when we were at school. His grades weren’t good enough to keep his grants, so he was short on money for the next semester. I told him to ask his parents for help, but he was embarrassed, so he refused. He got some kind of job doing something with cattle, but the whole outfit was questionable. I think they were stolen.”
The fine hairs on the back of Felicity’s neck prickled. “Where?”
“Here. Why do you think we came back?”
“Nick was working on du Coudray’s ranch?” The words tumbled free before Felicity could stop them.
Penny turned her head, wariness and curiosity painting her expression. “What do you know about the ranch?”
More than she should let on, Felicity thought with a wince. “They stole cattle from Marshall McCullough during Kade’s very first shift. He was involved in Sam’s investigation because of it.”
“And Nick is why Sam’s investigation never went anywhere,” Penny muttered. “He made sure of it. That was his job. Letting them know where his father was looking, so they could always skirt around the law.”
Suddenly, the police force’s inability to catch the rustlers made more sense. Felicity shook her head.
“I know, right?” Penny let out a harsh, humorless laugh. “Nobody ever suspected the cop’s kid. It was why he got the job.” She put her dishes in the sink, then sighed. “I thought we’d be out of it as soon as that big bust happened, but I guess the outfit wasn’t taken out completely. Enough people got away. Then a couple months ago, someone came looking for us, wanting to get back the money Nick had borrowed.”
“I don’t understand,” Felicity said. “You said Nick needed the money for school, but he never went back. What happened to the money?”
“Living expenses. He thought he’d make more money working exclusively with the outfit here. They paid him well, too, but we used the money he’d borrowed from them to get started. Deposits for the apartment and utilities, rent, food... turns out a couple thousand dollars doesn’t go very far anymore. And then since he’d dropped out of school, most of his income was going toward trying to knock out student debt.”
Felicity offered a rueful smile. “This doesn’t sound like the tale of heinous villainy I expected.”
Penny wiped her hands on a dish towel, staring out the window over the sink. “I don’t think he’s a villain. I think he’s just a normal guy who made some bad decisions. It’s a lot easier to fall into it than we like to imagine, you know?” She threaded the towel through the handle of the fridge. “But I’m not willing to let him drag me down, too. Using me—lying to me—like that was the last straw.”
Which meant Felicity had a definite ally. She swallowed. “A few hours ago, Kade was taken into custody by... the people in charge of people like him.” She’d explain the Keepers later, or let Justine do the talking. “Because Nick attacked him, they decided Holly Hill isn’t safe for him to call home.”
Penny spun with wide eyes. “They took him?”
“And until I can prove there’s not any risk to his kind or the organization they work for, there’s no chance of him coming back.” Felicity still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to do that. “My wedding’s in less than three weeks. I need my groom, and right now, you might be the only person who can help me get him back.”
Penny studied her face for a long time, thoughtful concern slowly evaporating to leave cool determination. “I’ll get my keys.”
* * *
“Didn’t expect to see you here, Miss Felicity.” Marshall McCullough strode across the weedy gravel that stretched between the house and most of the outbuildings, lifting his hat just enough to scratch his forehead. “If you’re lookin’ for your husband-to-be, he ain’t here.” His salt-and-pepper mustache twitched with displeasure.
“I know.” Felicity willed herself not to apologize. It wasn’t her fault; none of this was. “Right now, I need to talk to Brady.”
“Brady?” Marshall’s eyebrows climbed almost to his hat. “What for?”
“He was the last of the cowboys to see Kade. I have questions for him.”
“Sounds like someone got cold feet!” James shouted from beside the gate, where he sat cleaning saddles.
Rico cuffed his ear.
Felicity did her best to ignore the two cowboys, clearing her throat. “I know you were left short-handed last night, but it’s kind of an emergency. I’ll be happy to explain when I can.” And when she had Kade’s approval. Silently, she added Marshall to the list of those who would have to know everything.
The rancher frowned, his mustache twitching again. Then he shrugged and sighed. “Well, Brady’s in the bunkhouse. You can go talk to him, but I don’t know how much it’ll help.”
“He’s hung over!” James called, earning himself another whack.
“Thank you.” Felicity shot a dirty look over her shoulder at James before she headed for the open bunkhouse door.
Brady wasn’t hard to spot, face down in his pillow and wearing rumpled clothes. Felicity doubted he’d done much more than dress himself before heading back to the bunkhouse to crash. Cole had been weary too, when he’d dragged himself in that morning, but he’d posted himself by the door and refused to rest while Felicity was away. Considering Penny was staying at the Hilltop House until they cleaned up this mess, it seemed like a good idea to have someone stand guard.
Felicity crouched beside the bed. “Do you know William’s West?”
Brady jerked awake, blinking several times before he saw her and relaxed. His eyes were bloodshot, dark purple smudges underneath them. What on earth had he and Cole been doing? “William what?”
“William’s West. It was a ranch. It’s abandoned now. Do you know it?”
He grunted, sitting up. “Never heard of it.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, then wiped grit from his eyes. “Why?”
“Do you know any other abandoned ranches around here? Or somewhere else cattle rustlers might meet up?” She kept her voice low, mindful of the cowboys working outside.
“Aw, c’mon, Filly, I don’t know! Can’t you let me sleep? I’m exhausted.”
The sound of Kade’s nickname for her made her heart ache. “You’re supposed to be working. Marshall’s not too happy with you right now, and James said you’re hung over.”
“Might as well be,” Brady muttered, rubbing his face. “Moon drunk, or somethin’.”
She tried to quash her exasperation. He’d been through as much as everyone else. More than her, she thought with a hint of chagrin; aside from Kade’s disappearance only weeks before their wedding, nothing had happened to her. She was just caught in the whirlwind of disaster threatening to swallow everyone else, buffeted by the wind but keeping her feet firmly on the ground.
“I know you don’t feel well,” she said, sitting back on her heels. “And I hate wak
ing you so early after I know you’ve been up all night. But I need your help. You’re the only local who knows about Kade, so you’re the only person I can talk to about this.”
Worry sparked in his eyes and Brady looked to the door. “Maybe we should talk about it later.”
Felicity paused when a shadow filled the doorway. She hadn’t heard anyone approach.
“Feeling better?” Marshall’s voice was gruff, but tempered.
“A little bit, sir,” Brady replied. “I’m sorry. I guess James is right. I took a couple hits too many, last night.”
Felicity couldn’t help wondering if he meant actual blows, rather than alcohol. Cole hadn’t come home bearing any bruises, but she didn’t know enough about werewolves to know if Brady was clear-headed as a wolf, or if he was just an animal that would have to be wrestled into submission.
The cowboy slid to the end of the bed and reached for his boots. “Listen, Miss Felicity, I’ll be happy to help you with all that, but not until my shift’s over. I’m late startin’, as it is. How about I come over after work? I need to meet someone in town tonight, anyway.”
“Not for drinks, I hope,” Marshall said.
“No, sir.” Brady rubbed his eyes, then stuffed his feet into his boots.
Marshall grunted, but seemed satisfied. “Alberta has a good, strong pot of coffee in the house. Go see her. She’ll get you sobered up.” He slid back outside, and Brady heaved a sigh.
Felicity swallowed. “Will meeting at the house give us enough time before...?”
“If it doesn’t, at least you’ll have a hunter with you.” Brady took his hat from the floor, pushing it down on his head. “Need to see him, anyway.”
“Will it be like this every month?” she asked softly.
“Don’t know.” He didn’t quite manage to sound indifferent. “Cole says some eventually learn to resist the change. But...” His breath caught and, exhaling, he shook his head. “The pull is mighty strong.”
He stomped a few times to settle his boots, then slunk out of the bunkhouse.
