Lacey's Luhpynes [Beyond the Veil 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by Honor James

  “Oh crap,” she whispered. “I never received any letters, anything at all. So I have some sort of stalker guy out there who is killing because I haven’t replied to his letters?” She didn’t know what to think about this. At all. “So the question will be, how can I get his attention again? How can I get him to come after me and leave others alone? And no, I’m not idiot enough to really want him to come for me but to walk into a trap. But how? That’s my question.”

  “Oh, he’s well beyond that now. That’s why he’s trying to kill you, darling,” he said softly. “He sent one last letter about three weeks ago which, had it not been flagged and bagged on getting to the building, we would have a heads-up and been prepared. We tore a strip out of the captain and the asshole security folks over that too so if you see them limping, kick them in the balls. He stated that if you didn’t give him some sign that it was over and he would ensure that no one got you if he couldn’t have you.”

  “And that’s the cleaned up version of the rant on paper he sent in,” Zhubin muttered.

  “Wonderful,” she whispered in horror. Crap. Her hand went to her belly and she just watched them. “So what do we do? How do we keep him from hurting me and in turn, our child?” Her child, their child. That being was the most important right now. “How do we ensure that we are able to find this man? How do we ensure that we are able to get this man caught and destroyed? Not brought in but utterly destroyed?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to decide now,” Zhubin said with a sigh. “The issue isn’t so much finding him as making it a situation we can control. We need to draw him to us, to a play that works only for us and traps him.”

  “We know he’s getting information from somewhere, not directly from the AEDA but somewhere on the periphery. We just have to try and figure it out so we can feed him intel that doesn’t sound like we’re feeding him and have him come right into a trap,” Ansell explained.

  “So if not from someone in the AEDA, then where? Do you think…” She knew that this was going to sound crazy but she asked, “Do you think that perhaps they might be someone that we would never think of? I mean think about it.” She looked around. “Who cleans for us? Who changes the trash and the little things that we don’t think of because we are always out in the field or doing our reports? Does anyone ever think about them?”

  They both nodded slowly, deep in thought. “That’s actually something to check on. I know that everything is supposed to be shredded before it hits a bin but I also know that there are some that are lazy or forgetful. So…” Ansell scratched his chin. “That could be it right there. But really, if it’s someone up high enough they could even get into restricted areas.”

  “You are missing the point.” She shook her head and smiled. “The cleaning crew. They empty the trash bins, they are here at the deepest of night, they push carts, clean counters and desks. Think about it. Have you ever, ever cleaned anything in your office? But it’s never dirty. Right? They are here and most people never pay them the first moment’s notice.”

  “No, he’s not missing the point, love. He’s got a point,” Zhubin said, sitting upright. “We’re paranoid about such stuff, our desks never hold anything of even a semi-sensitive nature. Everything is in the locked safe and we personally take anything to be destroyed to the incinerator. But we’re also relatively low-level. We’re conscious of those around us, we have to be. But the higher-ups, the ones in the secure areas think they are secure. But that is also where the most sensitive and highly detailed information is. The stuff that we never even know unless we personally dig it up ourselves. The sort of thing that, if someone just shredded their stuff and didn’t drop it into the incinerator chute each night, could be pieced back together. The sort of thing that could give up a lot of personal information.”

  “Right.” Ansell sat up to stare at him. “We never have the most sensitive of information and anything we do get we keep in the safe which only we can get into. But those up behind the big doors with all the cameras and security, they still get a cleaning crew through. Are they as paranoid about the information as we are or are they thinking because of that security, nothing would ever be taken? A cleaner could easily see something on a desk while dusting and slide it into a dust bin. They empty it and off they go with something they can sell. And he is right too, with enough patience, you can put shredded documents back together again. We all know the higher-ups don’t drop their own garbage, ever.”

  “Crap,” Lacey muttered. “So how do we figure this out? Do we go one higher-up at a time? Do we ensure that we give false information through the chains of command? What should we do?” She was typically on her game but right now she was having issues concentrating.

  “We have to make a decision,” Zhubin said. “I think we need to create a case, as real as we can possibly make it, a body and everything. We’ll need Briar’s help on this, so we’ll have to tell her the plan. Whatever the fuck it ends up being.”

  Nodding, Ansell was chewing on a nail. “A copycat, not obvious, but something she found in the autopsy. We make all the paperwork look like we think we’ve found a partner, not a true copycat. This guy, or gal”—he shot her a grin—“will know it’s a copycat and it will likely piss him or her off. Maybe a couple of bodies, a pattern emerging. Suppositions, we gain another body that’s just so close to the originals that we still think it’s a partner, a junior apprentice kind of thing. But now there’s a pattern and we set up a sting on location for the killer. We’d have to get clearance for that from the very top, after all. For that kind of manpower, it’s a must.”

  “And the real killer comes to get the fake out of the way, only there is no fake. But maybe you’re back by then, Lacey. You go out with us. It’s double win for him. A chance to get to you and to take out this imposter,” Zhubin said. “It’s farfetched but over the next month we could make it work. We keep the people who know it’s fake and all a ploy small,” he added.

  “Briar for sure,” Ansell said. “We should bring in a few of the others as well, Byrne and Artaxias for sure, see if Danel and perhaps even Brodie wants in. It could potentially work, but we’d have to be careful, we have to build this to be so fucking airtight that this asshole suspects nothing is amiss.”

  “Will Briar be okay around that many men from the other side? I mean, she’s…she’s really fragile right now. I’m worried for her. A lot,” Lacey admitted to these men. What happened to Briar had taken a massive toll on the woman and she jumped at every shadow, especially Luhpyne ones.

  “She’ll be fine, we’ll make sure of that,” he said. “Besides, Zhubin and I will let her in on the plan and who we intend on letting in on this so she knows who she can and can’t talk to openly about it. If she needs to, only then,” he added. “Beyond that, they are support only, we’ll need it to look like we’re creating a team to take down the killer. Appearances will be everything, including a few late-night meetings that a cleaning crew might stumble over as we’re trying to be all secretive and shit.”

  “Sounds good. As long as we will ensure that she won’t feel as if she’s being caged in or in any danger. And yes, I know she would never be in danger with you guys but I feel for her. Byrne and Danel as well. All of them. I know that they would move mountains for her but will they be strong enough to give her the time and space she needs?”

  “They have been giving her the time and space she needs and will continue to do so until she is ready,” Zhubin said. “They know as well as the rest of us, likely better, she is nowhere near ready to be with them, especially Byrne. And yes, we swear we will keep her safe and happy and ensure she never feels trapped or in danger,” he added with one hand up in the air and the other over his heart. If he hadn’t been rolling his eyes while saying it she might have taken him a little more seriously. But that had been his point. She knew her guys and the others they worked with. Not a one of them would let anything get near Briar, not without it being long and horribly dead.

  Lacey
began to giggle. She couldn’t help herself. Shaking her head she snorted. “Deal then. I know that you will do it because you are a big softy just like Ansell is where it comes to that mouthy wench down in the morgue.” Briar was great, but she could be mouthy, very much so.

  “She’s like family.” He shrugged, letting his hands drop to his lap. “I know she doesn’t particularly like to be claimed by us but it’s the truth. She’s kind of like a kid sister, or I’m guessing. Since we didn’t have one growing up, it is a guess.”

  “She’s a wonderful woman, she’s just sad. I think she also doesn’t know how to handle knowing that she has mates. And I am sure that she knows about them by the way.” She would have to know. There was no way that the woman didn’t know that those two men were hers.

  “We’re very hard to ignore,” Ansell said with a smirk. “And yes, she knows all about them. Trust me, she knows. Just the other day they left her something to eat on her desk but she couldn’t figure out how it had gotten there. She’d been in there mere seconds before, stepped out, remembered a file and went back in and there it was. Which, considering there’s only one door into her office and she was three or four feet from it, is actually impressive. But Danel wasn’t about to share his trade secret when I asked so, the rest of us are guessing too.”

  That had her laughing. “They are trying to get her to eat more. I agree too. She’s far too thin. God love her, she’s lost far too much weight and she really needs to gain more so I’m glad that they are feeding her. I try to get her to eat with me too.” She knew that they had seen it. “We will just keep at her and she won’t even realize it.”

  “They are her mates,” he said softly. “We would do the same with you if it was necessary. Speaking of which, eat your food so you can get some sleep. We can talk more about everything and anything when your eyelids are not dropping onto your plate.”

  Lacey grinned and continued to eat. She was happy. So very, very happy. This was what she needed. What she wanted. Her guys taking care of her and her taking care of them. After she had finished eating she leaned back and licked her lips. “There, see. I ate it all.”

  Zhubin took away the tray and set it near the door on the dresser. He turned off the overhead lights before returning to the bed. Climbing back up next to her he leaned back and kissed her shoulder. “How are you feeling, love?”

  “Full and well loved. I’m feeling happy. Very happy,” she told him with a smile. “Knowing that we have a child growing inside of me, it makes me happy. Yes, I’m feeling still a little out of it but that’s perfectly fine. I will get back to my normal self before you know it and you will be wishing that I was at the office and you were on vacation or something,” she teased them.

  “Highly doubtful,” Ansell told her. He moved so he could rest his head in her lap, his arms wrapping around her leg loosely. “We just want you happy and healthy, Lacey. What you do or don’t do matters little once you are back to yourself.”

  Lacey began to run her fingers through Ansell’s hair and smiled. “And I am happy. I’m getting healthier thanks to you guys acting so fast. If not for the two of you I think that I would have been far too stubborn to go in and get checked. I don’t want to think of what might have happened to me.”

  Zhubin wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hold her close to him. “We wouldn’t ever let anything bad happen to you. You are our world, Lace. Without you we are nothing. Plus, we are a team, and when one goes down the others pick him or her up and keep this team going.”

  “I know that you wouldn’t. It makes me happy to know that you wouldn’t ever let anything happen to me as well. I happen to really, really love the fact that you boys take care of me as well as you do.” She whispered with a smile. “I am the luckiest woman on the face of the planet. Just sayin’ is all,” she teased him with a grin.

  “Yes you are.” He grinned at her. Pressing a kiss to her lips he hugged her close. “You have amazing men who love you more than anything on any world. You really should be worshipping the very ground we walk on you know.”

  Ansell snorted out a laugh but didn’t make a comment.

  She snorted as well. “Well it’s kinda hard when your heads are so big that you float above the ground, you know,” she teased. God, she loved being able to tease with them. “But it’s okay. I will worship you with my body instead, ok?”

  Zhubin laughed and nodded. “If our heads are big it’s only because we have the most amazing and lovely mate there is and we know it. You may begin the worshipping any time, but we really should wait for medical clearance from Briar. So we’ll just have to postpone that for another day. For tonight, sleeping is on the schedule and nothing more.”

  “Awww, you boys are just too sweet. God I love you,” Lacey said with a grin. “You boys are awesome and I utterly adore you.” She did, too. She loved these men so very, very much. They were her world, literally she wouldn’t know what to do without them. Ever.

  “We know.” He grinned. Chuckling softly, he pulled the blankets up and over her before he and Ansel both settled down at her sides. “Try and get some sleep, Lacey. You need your rest,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

  “Yes. Sleep does sound very good. Thank you.” She moved in closer to him and yawned again. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.” She loved that these men took such great care of her, they seemed to know what she needed before she needed it.

  “Any time,” he said, hugging her close. Ansell pressed closer to her back, wrapping her in their heat. “But I’d prefer there were no more times like this, Lace. Just for the record, you scared the shit out of us and that’s going to take a hell of a long time to forget.”

  “I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry, honey. I honestly didn’t mean to. I have to say that it was all this monster’s fault that laced that letter. Yep. His fault. So when you find him you can take it out on his happy ass. Deal?”

  “I fully intend to and I didn’t mean for you to take any blame on yourself, Lacey. I would never place the blame for this heinous act on you, the fault lies with who did this and who will pay severely for it.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Zhubin hugged her closer. “I don’t do well when you are injured or unwell I’ve found.”

  “I’ve found that I don’t do well in that situation either,” she whispered. “I really, really hate feeling all icky, okay. I really and truly want to be well. Hell, I want to be well so that I can push you into a closet at my will.” She teased him with a smile. “We both know that.”

  Ansell snorted out a chuckle that she more felt along her spine than heard. “Have you even managed to push him anywhere?” he asked, his tone relaxed and sleepy. “’Cause I know I can do it but we’re built the same, but you.” He clicked his tongue. “I dunno, I think you’d have to trick him so you could manage it, half pint.”

  “Nope but I have managed to be able to talk you boys into pulling and pushing me into places,” she teased. “All I have to do is say hey, I want to have you inside of me and you are both there and ready. We both know it.” She knew it. She loved it too.

  He grunted at that. “Okay, you may have a point there. And on that note, goodnight, Lace. Sleep well, sweetheart.” Pressing a kiss between her shoulders, Ansell wiggled around until he was in his favorite position, his arms wrapped around her and holding her close.

  Sighing happily, Lacey closed her eyes and was simply smiling. “Nice.” She whispered and with another yawn was soon sound asleep in between the two men she loved the most.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Over the last month Zhubin and Ansell, along with a host of others, had been laying the groundwork to pull in Lacey’s stalker. For the most part it had been tedious and more than a little stressful on her guys, but they seemed confident that it would work. Which was a good thing. Especially since she was going back to work the next day.

  She’d helped, as much as she could, from home. Listening to them discuss what they’d done that day and helping the
m figure out the tasks for the days to come as well as playing the devil’s advocate on some of their ideas. But it all boiled down to one thing, would her stalker actually buy the ruse and fall into the trap? That was the big, billion-dollar question that was hanging over them all.

  “Here,” Ansell handed her a glass as he settled at her side. Slipping his arm around her shoulders he drew her in closer. “What’s going through your head, sweetheart?”

  “I’m worried about going back to work. I’m worried I will puke on someone. And I’m worried this won’t work.” She was sick as could be right now with this pregnancy. According to Briar and even Zhubin’s mother, she was perfectly healthy and it was sometimes natural for the women to be icky for a while, and she sure enough was just that. She felt like hell, no two ways about it. Until the sick passed, and then she was just plain horny. She was weird and knew it.

  “You’re pregnant, you’re allowed to puke. Though I would try and avoid at least the captain, he’s all twitchy since he’s pretty sure we’re all up to something untoward.” He stared at her with big eyes and then grinned. “Can’t imagine why.”

  That had her laughing. “It’s only because of when he came by two days ago and I puked all over his suit. The one that looked custom made. Oh I’m very sure that he will avoid me like the proverbial plague even though I am only pregnant.” She couldn’t help but laugh, it was really, really funny, the look on the man’s face, to be honest.

  “Yeah, we got the tab for the cleaning of that suit,” he said before sipping his juice. Shaking his head, Ansell slouched down in his seat, his arm sliding down to her waist to pull her closer. “I think he’s being overcharged for his cleaning.”