by Vella Day
“I’ll be careful.”
Sam stood. “No. And that’s final.”
She leaned back in her chair with a smug look that had Brandon’s heart pounding. “I’ve already memorized most of the names. If you won’t let me help, I’ll ask Jay.”
Sticky dread filled his veins once more. “About your cousin, darlin’.” Brandon glanced at Sam to make sure he thought it wise to tell her about her not so wonderful relative.
“Yes?” Her jaw clamped shut so tight he was surprised she was able to say that word.
Sam saved him the trouble. “Jay Wagner is a known Colter.”
Instead of getting angry, Mackenzie laughed. “No way. You guys need to retool your database. Jay is a good guy—like you two.”
Despite her cheerful response, from the way she was holding her shoulders tight, she had doubts. “When was the last time you saw Jay? You said it had been a while, right?” Brandon wished he didn’t have to have this conversation, but for her safety it was necessary.
She drew in her bottom lip. “He came back to Muncie when my dad died. That was almost three years ago. Would a Colter do that? To me, he’s a man who cares about his family. We talk often, and I’d know if he were a Colter.”
“I understand why you’re defending him.” Brandon steepled his fingers. “Tell me this. When you were at Wheels, did you realize the two men in the corner were Colters?” He only had to wait a second before continuing. The quick shot of fear in her eyes tore him up. “You can’t tell the good ones from the bad, you know. No one can. Not even us.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Jay is a good man. The only time he was grumpy or a bit mean was when I set off his house alarm after I got home late from being with you guys.”
Sam glanced over at him. “Your cousin has a house alarm? Don’t you find it odd that a garage mechanic would need one?”
“Jay explained that. He said his home wasn’t in the best part of town, and that he was a heavy sleeper. He put security cameras around his house to see who was trying to break in.”
Brandon’s heart broke. She only had her mom, her aunt, and her two cousins to call family. Finding out Jay was bad would kill her, but she needed to be leery.
Sam placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re just trying to warn you.”
“Because a man tries to protect himself, you think he’s a Colter? I bet you have security here.”
“It’s our job to deal with bad people. We’re fully protected. No one can get in.”
Sam sat back down. “I know this is hard, but it would be best if you don’t stay with Jay anymore.”
She rolled her eyes again. “I’m not staying at a hotel. Not only is it expensive, Jay would want to know why I was leaving. I’m not about to say the two men who picked me up at the bar think he’s a Colter.”
Her description of them hurt. “We’re just two men to you?”
“You know what I mean. I don’t see the need to say you’re my mates or that I’ve slept with you. Jay would have a fit and insist my mom fly down and take me back to Indiana.”
Other than the fact Brandon would miss her, having Mackenzie miles away might not be a bad thing. At least she’d be safe. But Mackenzie wouldn’t go quietly; it wasn’t who she was. “All right then, you can help.”
Her eyes sparkled. “How? I’ll do whatever you need. I can break into anything.”
Brandon chuckled. “And set off alarms? No. That’s not what I meant. Besides, most shifters have dogs as pets. They’d tear you to pieces before you could reach into your purse for your gun.”
“Then what can I do?”
He hoped he was doing the right thing. “Keep an eye on Jay for us.”
She held up her palms. “Now you’re talking crazy. Wouldn’t he think it odd if I followed him to work? You think I’ll learn much watching him put oil in engines and change tires all day?”
“I wasn’t talking about following him.” He looked over at Sam. Should we have her mention to Jay that we have Hood’s computer and found the list of men? We could put a trace on him and see what he does.
Let’s discuss it later. When she’s not here. Sam cupped her chin. “We care deeply about you. We want you to be safe. Just be careful around Jay.”
“I will.” She twisted her face out of Sam’s grasp, and Brandon caught the disappointment in his cousin’s eye.
What if she reveals the names, and Jay tells his boss? Brandon asked. We could be screwed. It could also get Cheryl killed.
If we tell her not to tell him, she’ll tell him for sure. We have to trust her.
There were times when his cousin was more rational—but only at times.
She pushed back her chair. “I guess I should be going since I can’t be of any help to you anymore.” She lifted her chin. That meant trouble.
Damn. Now they’d gone and pissed her off. Brandon stood and gathered her in his arms, but she wiggled out of his hold. “Don’t be mad, darlin’. We’re trying to do what’s best for you.”
“You’d do better trying to find who took Cheryl and stay out of my business.”
Fuck. “When will we see you again?”
“When you have news of Cheryl.” With that, she picked up her purse and stalked out.
As soon as the door closed, Sam whirled on him. “Way to go.”
That was unjust. “Me? You’re the one who warned her about Jay.”
“Fuck me.”
“Now what?”
Sam closed the laptop. “We take this to General Armand. This is too big to do alone. We need help, and we can’t wait any longer.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mac’s head was spinning. Jay was a good man. Sam and Brandon must have had a good reason for trying to poison her mind against him, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it was. They couldn’t be jealous. Jay was a relative. Their job was to seek out Colters and destroy them. If this was how they did their research, God help any innocent person they took down by mistake.
Normally, she was good at judging character, but hey, people did make mistakes. In this case, she wasn’t wrong. Her body told her that Brandon and Sam were meant for her. They were honorable men—lawmen even. The hormonal surges, the yearning, or whatever it was called, convinced her she belonged with them. She’d been right about Sam and Brandon, and she was right about Jay. She just needed to prove it to them.
Mac wanted to talk things over with her cousin, but what if she were wrong? She couldn’t be, but what if she were? As much as she wanted to share the list of men who’d most likely purchased women, she wasn’t sure telling him was smart. If he was a Colter, giving him the list of names could get Cheryl killed. If he was only a garage mechanic who happened to live in a bad neighborhood, he probably couldn’t help her anyway.
He acted as if he had connections, but most likely it was because a few rich men needed their cars fixed. Perhaps she should tell him one name—to test his honor. Or would that be stupid?
Damn, she should have asked the men to tap his phone. They’d be able to tell her if after she gave him Carl Hampton’s name—the first name on the list—if Jay called to warn him.
By the time she pulled into her cousin’s drive, her stomach was churning and she was more confused than ever. Doubt was like a cancer. It had a way of worming into every cell of her body.
He wasn’t home yet. Good. Perhaps by the time he arrived, she’d have figured out her next move.
* * *
“What do we know about Carl Hampton?” Now that the list of possible men who’d purchased the women was known, the General convened a special session to plan the Pack’s next move. He’d said the information was too good not to jump on right away.
Chris Williams stepped to the front of the room where his computer screen was displayed. “The first man, Carl Hampton, is a shifter, but he’s not been linked to any crime that I can tell.”
“You know the worst ones always appear to be the cleanest,” Sam chimed in. He was chomp
ing at the bit to get out there and start researching someone.
Chris nodded. “Hampton is a big day trader and works mostly from home. I checked his account. It appears that he comes by his money honestly. His family owned and operated a successful real estate company in town. When the dad passed away four years ago, Carl and his brother were the sole heirs. They sold the business and Carl went into trading.”
“He have a family?” Trax asked.
“A wife and three kids, which was why I dug deeper. I couldn’t understand why a man with a wife would want to buy a woman.”
Sam could think of a few reasons. “You find anything?”
“Yes. After a car wreck paralyzed his brother two years ago, he now needs full-time care. It’s possible, Daniels purchased this woman so she could tend to this brother.”
Sam looked over at Brandon. “We’ll check it out.” It would be simple to find the name of the agency who provided the health care workers. A quick check would reveal if any of their nurses had been reported missing.
“Excellent. Who’s next?” the General asked Chris.
“Roger Medlock. He’s single and quite the party animal.” Chris flashed a picture of the man up on the screen.
Sam supposed that to the female population he was good looking. Fortyish and well-groomed, he had an aristocratic air about him. His trimmed hair and good teeth implied wealth.
“Why would someone like that need to buy a woman?” Clay Demmers asked.
“I only delve into their backgrounds,” Chris said.
The man looked familiar. “I think I’ve seen him featured in a magazine,” Sam said.
Chris smiled. “Perhaps you saw him in Gamer’s Magazine. He developed an online game involving knights and fighting. Made millions.”
Dante Field pointed to the screen. “What’s his address? Is it on Highlanders Way?”
Chris tapped the screen and brought up the man’s personal information. “Yes.”
“I thought I recognized the name. Trax and I installed the security system at his home a few years back.”
The General actually smiled, which was a rarity. “Excellent. Do you feel comfortable tailing him?”
Dante shook his head. “I’ll pass. He knows Trax by sight, and he might recognize me. We’ve both had contact with him. If anyone needs help, though, we can probably get into his place saying his system is due for a checkup. At the very least, we can provide a detailed schematic of the system.”
“Any takers?” The General looked around.
Sam loved video games. He wouldn’t mind becoming an expert on Medlock’s creation in case he conveniently ran into him. “I’ll take him, sir.”
“Very good, Sam.” He turned to Chris. “Next?”
“William Daniels. He’s in his fifties and his wife, who is ten years older, is very ill. She’s in hospice care, in fact. We believe Daniels worked with Harvey Couch smuggling drugs in from Mexico. Kurt, I believe your brother might have known him.”
Kurt’s lips twitched. “He mentioned him. Let me at the fucker. I’ll make him pay.”
“Be careful, Kurt. We’re here to find the girls; not to exact revenge.” The General widened his stance, almost as if he expected Kurt to protest.
Clay nudged Kurt. “I’ll make sure to keep him focused, sir.”
For two more hours, Chris detailed each of the remaining men’s habits. Two of the men had been linked to drugs, one to arms dealing, and two to bank robbing. None had done time. Werewolves had a unique talent of avoiding capture.
Sam kept glancing at Brandon who didn’t appear to be paying attention. You okay?
I can’t stop thinking of Mackenzie. I think we fucked up.
Possibly.
We need to have a plan.
I agree.
As soon as Chris completed the rundown on the men, The Pack members finished volunteering on which men they wanted to keep tabs on. The goal was to find the woman and report back. Then The Pack would go in as a team to free her. Sam worried that as soon as the first captive was found, word would spread, making it more difficult to find the others. He hoped for Mackenzie’s sake, Cheryl was found sooner rather than later.
According to Chris, seven of the ten were known Colters, two were werewolves with no known affiliates, and the last one was fully human. It would be too good to hope the human had Cheryl.
The General thanked Chris and stood before them. “I don’t need to tell you, gentlemen, this is a top priority. If you need anything, ask. If you require more manpower, I can call in some favors from around the state or farther if need be. We will find them!”
Sam was normally invigorated after one of the General’s pep talks, but today he wasn’t. He was worried. Mackenzie was a wild card. He turned to Brandon. “Let’s get out of here.”
Only after they were away from headquarters did Sam speak up. “What do you think we should do?”
“About finding Cheryl or about keeping Mackenzie safe?”
“I think they are intricately entwined. Mackenzie will want to help.”
Brandon stared out the side window for a moment. “She’ll balk if we ask her to stay with us, even if we give her a chore. She’ll think it’s busy work.”
“I agree. You want to see where she is? What she’s doing?”
Brandon reached behind him and retrieved his iPad. It had the program for tracking Mackenzie’s car. “She’ll be pissed if she finds out.”
“We’re experts. She won’t even know we’re near.”
“You’d better be right.” He logged onto the computer. “She’s at Jay’s house.”
“Jay. Our first business should be finding out about him.”
“We’ve seen tapes of him going into Paul Statler’s office. And we know that Statler is the new head of the Colters.”
“Fuck. If Jay hasn’t harmed her yet, maybe she’s his one soft spot.”
Brandon shut off the laptop and placed it behind the seat. “I can keep watch tonight at Jay’s if you like.”
“Good, but if they aren’t near the back of the house, you probably won’t hear much.”
“I just want to make sure she stays alive.”
* * *
Once Mac stepped inside Jay’s house, she wanted to get to work as quickly as possible on doing the background checks on the ten men. Because she couldn’t afford to have her cousin sticking his nose in her business, she moved her computer to the back bedroom. She didn’t believe for one minute that Jay was a Colter but asking him to get involved with the scum of Gulfside wouldn’t do him any good either. He’d done enough to let her stay with him.
Mac booted up her laptop. The chore before her seemed daunting. Finding information on wealthy men would be hard. If they were Colters, they could afford to take extra precaution to protect their crimes.
She typed in the names of the first four men and did a basic search, like address, and previous employment. The property appraisers’ site would give her more information about their homes. From the tax records, she’d figure out their banking information.
She’d then create a spreadsheet to include where they lived, worked, banked, shopped, and who they called. Finding news articles about them was easy, but hacking into the phone company records and banks would require a lot more time and effort.
To get things started, she created a profile on a few social media sites then friended each of the men, as well as several of their contacts. She pretended to be a gorgeous brunette model who called herself Honey Pot. She claimed she loved BDSM, long walks on the beach, and secluded boat rides. That should get the men hot. Within minutes, three of the first four men had accepted her friend request and asked where she was from. She didn’t answer. Staying mysterious would be advantageous. Let them think about her. She might be able to use the connection later on. If she wasn’t able to find Cheryl, Mac might have to agree to meet with the men, though that was her last choice.
After three hours of tedious searching, her eyes were blurry. She
needed a break. Jay should be home soon, but she hadn’t quite decided what to tell him. Mac stood and stretched, pleased with the amount of information she’d gathered. The most promising man turned out to be William Daniels, forty-four. He owned a high-end car dealership. She’d called the dealership, and when she asked to speak with him, the receptionist said that Mr. Daniels wasn’t available, that he only came in on Fridays. Mac said she’d call back, happy to have that tidbit of information.
The reason she liked Daniels as the man who might have bought Cheryl was because there had been an article about him and his wife traveling to Mexico every month for vacation. When Mac dug further, she’d found an old warrant for his arrest for drugs. No surprise there, given where he vacationed. Unfortunately, he had a great lawyer who managed to get him off. The lawyer’s name? Paul Statler. She could connect the dots.
Mac discovered that Mr. Daniel’s wife was now in hospice care, which led her to think he might be looking for someone he could travel to Mexico with.
“Kenzie?”
Damn. Jay was home. “Be right there.”
She’d have to tell him something or he’d wondered what she’d done all day. Sam’s request for her to move in with them niggled in the back of her mind. While she was a bit pissed they thought Jay was a Colter, everyone might be better off if she left her cousin’s home.
Mac stopped in the kitchen on the way to the living room because Jay was grabbing cold cuts out of the fridge.
He looked up. “You eat yet?”
“No.”
“Want a sandwich?”
“Sure.” Would a murdering Colter be so kind? No.
He busied making them each a ham and Swiss on rye. “So, what did you do today? Get any closer to finding Cheryl?”
She couldn’t detect by his tone if he was interested in the answer or not. Her father always told her that if she ever had to lie to stick close to the truth. “Not really. Remember, I told you about the man I met at the bar who told me about a friend who felt a bit weird when he met his mate?”
