The man hired to pick off Osborn arrived, setting up about a block from the meeting place exactly where Vinny had instructed him to go for the best aim. All he needed was a good shot with a silencer, and Nolan’s life would officially be over. Without their key witness, the cops wouldn’t have enough intel to put Rimouski on trial.
Vinny assumed Osborn must have alerted the police to something that didn’t add up in Rimouski’s books. In fact, in the last few days, Vinny had scoured every ledger Rimouski had with a variety of accountants under multiple aliases. Each ledger had inconsistencies, which meant Stephen had never been careful enough with his books. The accounting Osborn was in charge of had been a bit too far off. Apparently, Nolan was sharp and decided to call the police instead of questioning his client.
Eliminating Osborn was paramount. As soon as he was out of the picture, Vinny would find a way to easily explain away the inconsistencies in the ledger. Typos. Errors. There would likely be other messes to clean up. It had only been a week. The police were probably looking for other accountants to question, but the job would be difficult since Rimouski used so many different aliases.
Nevertheless, Vinny could only handle one problem at a time. Osborn today. Someone else tomorrow.
Vinny glanced at his watch. Nolan was late. It had been sixteen minutes. Fuck. Vinny had a lot riding on this play. He was counting on Osborn caring more about keeping his friends alive than his own life.
“Get out of the car, Vinson.”
Vinny jerked his gaze to the driver’s side window, shocked to realize a member of the Arcadian Council was standing by his door. He knew the council members could block themselves thoroughly enough to sneak up on people, but he’d never experienced it firsthand.
Another older man who was also on the council stood at the hood of the car, both men casually staring down at Vinny.
Fuck. How the hell did Osborn manage to contact these guys and mobilize them in just a few minutes? The cops he had counted on at any moment and frankly didn’t care about. His hired hit man was good. The presence of police wouldn’t thwart him. But the Arcadians? He hadn’t thought that possible. Fuck.
He considered hitting the gas and either running over the man in front of him or backing up at a high rate of speed and peeling away. But that would draw too much attention to the situation and ruin his chances of picking off Nolan. Osborn was his top priority. He was better off pretending to cooperate with these council members and shaking them later than preventing his hit man from finishing the job.
With a fake sigh, Vinny let his shoulders fall, turned off his engine, and opened the car door. “How did you find me?” he asked as he stepped outside.
“Been tracking you for a while, Tarben. You’re not very smart. After you took off from the brewery incident earlier this year, we figured you were long gone. I was guessing Asia.”
Vinny recognized this man as George. “I didn’t do anything illegal last year.”
“Nope,” George agreed. “That’s why we didn’t search too hard for you. But you’re sloppy and stupid. Why the hell would you stay so close to home?”
Vinny leaned against the car door as he shut it behind him, still aiming for casual. He shrugged. “Didn’t think it mattered. There’s no law that says a man can’t share pictures of beer with his girlfriend or leave town whenever he wants.”
That was essentially what he’d done several months ago when he fled Silvertip after helping his family’s brewery beat the competition at the creation of a new product. The weird bitch from the Arthur pack who happily and ignorantly fed him information had proven invaluable. But that didn’t mean Vinny intended to bind to her. Just remembering the time he’d spent pretending to care about her gave him the chills.
Vinny decided to play stupid. “What can I do for you fellows tonight?”
George lifted a brow. “Sharing company secrets and getting yourself banished from your pack isn’t a crime, but hiring a hit man to pick off the key witness to your boss’s crimes is certainly punishable.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was simply enjoying the evening.”
George chuckled sardonically. “It’s about two in the morning, and I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“You have no proof.”
“You’re stupid and funny. Let me suggest you come with us willingly or suffer the consequences.”
Vinny had no choice but to continue to go along and hope nothing these guys had on him would stick later. Or better yet, he could possibly get away from them without much fuss in no time if they thought he was cooperating. So he quietly followed them toward their SUV parked only a block away.
It wasn’t ideal, and it meant he had no way to call off the men guarding Reid and his bitch, but who cared? The two of them might end up casualties in this war. Vinny didn’t give a single fuck at this point.
George opened the rear passenger door to the black, nondescript SUV and swept a hand to indicate Vinny should get inside.
He did, surveying his surroundings. For now, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t contact the man stationed to take out Nolan, and he had no way to reach the men surrounding Reid. As long as everyone did their job, they didn’t need contact from him anyway.
Surprising Vinny, George leaned in to speak as the other man got in the driver’s seat. “I’ll leave you in Henry’s hands. Don’t fuck with me, Vinson. You’ll regret it.”
“Why would I do that?” Vinny asked.
George didn’t respond. He simply shut the door and nodded at Henry, who pulled the SUV away from the curb.
»»•««
The park was too quiet. As Nolan approached, adrenaline pumping through his veins, a chill raced down his spine. Where was the man he was supposed to meet? And where were the council members? Hell, the police should have arrived too.
He didn’t head for the slide as instructed. Instead, he found a large tree a safe distance away and hid behind it, scanning the area. There were human scents. Where were George and Henry? And what about the shifter who hired someone to kill him?
“You have a death wish, Osborn?”
Nolan spun around to find George standing behind him. Of course. He wouldn’t have scented George. The man was blocking. “I couldn’t just stand in that hotel room and wait.”
“So you thought it would be a good idea to come out here and get shot when we have things under control?” George hissed. He wasn’t pleased.
“Do you?”
George nodded. “Picked up your stalker already. If you don’t fuck this up by getting yourself killed, the police are going to have your hired hit man in custody any second.”
Thank God.
George tipped his head back and closed his eyes.
Nolan watched him, knowing he could sense things far more powerfully than regular shifters. The forty council members had amazing abilities.
Loud voices across the park drew Nolan’s attention.
“Hands in the air, asshole. Now.”
Someone screamed. A shot rang out.
Nolan flinched.
George took him by the arm and led him silently between the trees to a row of bushes that created a barrier on one side of the playground. He bent a few inches to peek through an opening and then stood back and motioned for Nolan to do the same.
Three officers surrounded a man who lay face down on the ground, not moving. One of the officers nudged the prone guy with his foot. He checked his pulse next. Nothing.
“Looks like your hit man tried to shoot at the police. Won’t be wasting any taxpayer dollars to prosecute him.”
Nolan’s eyes were wide. Holy shit. It was over. At least this part.
“What about Reid and Adriana?”
“They’re safe.”
For the first time in hours or perhaps days, Nolan blew out a breath. It was over. It was truly over.
He had no idea how he was going to pick up the pieces of his life and move forward, but at least he wouldn’t be do
ing so any more from a confined space. If he never saw the inside of a hotel room again, it would be too soon.
He silently followed George across the street, heading away from the commotion. “Do you have a car?”
“Yes. A few blocks away.”
He considered asking George to take him to Reid’s condo but swallowed the words. Reid and Adriana would need to be alone tonight. It hurt more than he would ever be able to process. When would he stop feeling the bond? Shouldn’t it have severed by now? He could ask George a few questions to see what insight the man might have in this strange circumstance, but he didn’t think he could bring it up without losing his man card along the way, so he pursed his lips and followed George down a side street.
George said nothing as he fished around in his pocket, pulled out a key ring that had a ridiculous number of keys on it, and opened the doors to the small compact car along the street. “Good. Wasn’t sure I had the keys to this one.”
Nolan slid inside as George climbed behind the wheel. “This one?” Nolan asked.
George shot him a small grin as he started the engine. “I like to keep several vehicles near any possible crime scene, just in case. Henry has custody of your stalker in my SUV.”
“I see.” Nolan shuddered. Fucking weird.
George drove Nolan back to the hotel in silence. When they pulled up, he turned to face Nolan. “I don’t scent your officer inside, but you should return to your room and contact him.” His look was serious.
Nolan stated the obvious as a light bulb went off in his head. “They don’t know about my stalker.”
“Right.”
“They need to believe it was the dead guy in the park.”
“Right.”
“Got it. And the men who were surrounding Reid and Adriana?”
“They were all human. They’ve been neutralized. Your stalker hired them just like he hired your hit man.”
“I assume he’s a shifter?”
“Yes,” George agreed but said nothing else. Apparently, he wasn’t going to divulge who yet.
What was that about? Was it someone Nolan knew? “So everyone’s in custody,” he said to change the subject. “I’m free to return to my regularly scheduled life.”
George stared at him and shook his head. “Not even close.”
“Why?” Nolan gasped.
George paused as if he were patiently waiting for Nolan to regain his senses.
Finally, he did, groaning. “I’m still alive.”
“Exactly.”
“Rimouski can just hire someone else to take me out.”
“Yes.” George’s voice was low. “I’m sorry.”
Son of a bitch.
“It will take Rimouski time to regroup. He lost a lot of men tonight, but don’t let your guard down. He still needs to pick you off. I need to handle this situation with your current stalker, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Nolan nodded. Without another word, mostly because he wanted to punch something and fought to keep that urge under control in front of George, he climbed from the car and shut the door.
His life was a fucking disaster. Not only was he still facing months of hiding, but he’d lost the only woman he would ever love to his best friend. And on top of everything else, he still felt a connection to her that worried him more than anything.
The window rolled down behind him, and George leaned over to speak. “Nolan.”
Nolan spun around to face the council member.
“Don’t give up. Things might not be as bleak as they seem. Have faith.”
Before Nolan could process George’s words or respond, the man pulled away from the curb. What was he referring to? The fucking court case? Did he know something about Rimouski that would put an end to this shitstorm sooner rather than later?
Anything was possible.
He was Arcadian Council after all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Half an hour earlier…
Adriana thought she might lose her mind soon if something didn’t happen and fast. She couldn’t compartmentalize the two things happening to her at once. On the one hand, Reid had just bound them together for life. Her body was reacting accordingly. If she thought she’d been horny for the last week since she met first Nolan and then Reid, she was sadly mistaken.
This new level of arousal made the past week look like a teenage crush. Concern over the realization that their actions had cut Nolan off forever made her want to cry. She couldn’t even face that fact at the moment.
Because holy mother of god, eight men had Reid’s condo surrounded with the intent to either kill both of them or take them hostage, probably the latter.
“What do we do? We can’t lie here forever,” she pointed out. Her fingers hurt from gripping Reid’s so tightly.
“Hang on, baby. We need to wait.”
She knew he was suffering from the same exact issues she was, partly because his cock was pressing into her lower back to remind her how badly he wanted her and partly because Nolan was his best friend and he had to be worried and hurting about cutting him out of the equation at least as much as she was. Probably more.
The scent of newcomers reached her nose. She stiffened. “There are more people out there.”
“Let’s hope they’re cops.”
Long exhale. He was right. Laurence would have called the police. If the Arcadian Council could avoid getting involved, they would, especially in a human matter. There were no shifters outside.
Adriana had no doubt at least one shifter was involved in the big picture, but whoever that was, he wasn’t at Reid’s condo. He was undoubtedly tracking Nolan.
She considered reaching out to her parents but decided against it. She had too many things going on in her mind as it was. She needed to remain as alert as possible.
Laurence reached into their minds again. “Police have the place surrounded now. I’d get yourselves somewhere safe in case shots are fired.”
Before Laurence could even finish communicating this thought, Adriana found herself yanked backward and off the bed. She gasped as Reid, still holding her around the waist, pulled her to the floor and hovered over her. He shoved her halfway under the bed. “Stay down. Don’t move.” And then he released her and crouched low, crawling across the room toward the bedroom door. He would have the advantage over anyone who breached the home in the dark because grizzly shifters could see better in the dark than humans.
Two shots rang out. Adriana screamed, unable to stop the guttural reaction. She covered her head with both hands as if the ceiling were in danger of falling. A glance at the doorway proved Reid was gone. He’d left the room.
Another shot. Shouting. It was outside, but she could hear it clearly. She didn’t want to cower under the bed, so she crawled on her hands and knees toward the bedroom door and peered out into the hallway.
Reid’s scent was not close enough to be on the second floor. He was downstairs. He would kill her if she left the bedroom. So she waited, straining to hear what was happening.
Someone else screamed, and then she could hear loud voices shouting orders. The police. “Get down… Hands in the air… Drop your weapon…”
Her heart raced when the front door opened. She’d been living here a week. She knew that distinct sound. The alarm started blaring. Was Reid still inside? Or had he stepped out?
Something crashed. No. Glass shattered. She pinpointed the sound over the waves of the alarm.
Shit. Adriana pulled back, flattening herself against the wall inside the bedroom. She didn’t have a weapon, nor did she know how to fire one. But she knew Reid did.
More noise. Reid’s voice rang clear from downstairs. “Face to the ground, you fucker.” Another crash. A chair? The table? “I said to stay the fuck down,” Reid screamed. The alarm stopped blaring. He must have shut it off.
More voices. The scent of several people entering the condo. She prayed they were police. People were talking over each other. Some still yelling. So
many people were in the house. She thought she could scent ten of them. Most were new. Only one of the scents belonged to one of the eight men who had surrounded the condo before the police arrived.
When she heard heavy footsteps taking the stairs two at a time in rapid succession, she panicked, scrambling away from the door in a crab crawl. It wasn’t until Reid was rounding the doorway that she realized it was him coming into the room. It happened so fast, and she was so frightened that she hadn’t had a chance to process Reid’s approach.
His gaze darted around before settling on her, and then he rushed the last few feet and crouched down to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest. He stood, taking her to her feet with him. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
Her heart beat fast, not getting the message. She planted her palms on his chest and lifted her gaze to his. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. The police have everyone in custody now.”
“Someone broke into the house,” she pointed out.
“Yes. He rushed at me from the bushes when I opened the front door. Plowed past me so fast I couldn’t stop him. Stupid fool. He’s going to have a hell of a headache.” Reid grinned.
Adriana licked her lips. “It’s over.”
“Yes. Will you be okay a few more minutes while I speak to the officers out front?”
She nodded. She wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but she couldn’t very well tell him no.
Reid led her back to the bed and sat her on the edge. He tipped her chin back and kissed her nose. “I’ll be quick.”
She nodded again and watched his back as he left her sitting on the mattress, her arms going around her to hug her torso. As the voices calmed and people left the house, she started to relax. When the last person was gone, the only scent in the condo was Reid’s. She rose on shaky legs, grabbed one of Reid’s sweatshirts where it lay tossed across the back of a chair, and shrugged it over her head. With a deep breath, she headed downstairs.
Reid was standing in the kitchen, still wearing nothing but his sleep pants, a broom in one hand, a dustpan in the other. He lifted his face when she padded into the room. “Stay on that side of the island, baby, until I can get this swept up.”
Grizzly Perfection Page 23
