“What was it? I know you’re a cat of some kind.”
“Leopard.”
Chris nodded. A leopard suited Flint somehow. “So, you just went up to a wereleopard and asked her to bite you?”
“Him, but yes. I’d learned there’s a lot I don’t like about the way shifters live within a pack, so I decided not to join one. That meant I needed a beast that would be happy living alone, and natural leopards are solitary creatures. It seemed a logical choice, and leopards have a lot going for them. I tracked down a rumour about a small pack of wereleopards, and persuaded their alpha to bite me. I had always planned to return home afterwards, but I had some trouble sticking to the plan. Duncan warned me I would before he turned me, but I didn’t listen to him. Jade doesn’t like us living alone.”
“Jade is…?”
Flint nodded. “My beast. I didn’t bargain on there being a difference between natural leopards and wereleopards.”
Chris shook her head. “That’s damn sloppy thinking. You should have realised when you found Duncan leading a pack.”
“I’m not a fool. Of course I thought of it, but you don’t know Duncan. He’s a lonely man, Chris. I assumed his pack was a way to alleviate that.”
“There you go again… you assumed. A good investigator never assumes. You know that.”
Flint sighed. “Yeah, I screwed up, but it really didn’t matter in the end. It turns out that all shifters have an emotional need for a pack. It keeps us sane… well as sane as any shifter ever is.”
That was something she did not want to hear. She didn’t want to join a pack, and she certainly didn’t want to jump through hoops keeping the local chuckle heads off her back. Smoke wouldn’t tolerate anyone or anything pushing her around, and Chris was in complete agreement with her. In those kinds of situations, she was the pusher, not the pushee.
She poured the coffee, and together with Flint went back into the living room. Chris gave Barrows his cup and sat to drink her own. The three of them drank in silence, but then Barrows broke it by finishing his coffee first and putting his cup aside.
Barrows began the inquisition. “What was the favour the vampire promised you? I know he promised something.”
Chris put her half-empty cup on the table. “It’s not a secret. He promised to intervene for me with the Alley Dogs.”
“And what did you have to promise in return?”
“I said I would help him counter AML’s anti-amendment campaign with a few interviews.”
Flint snorted. “Those lunatics. We should look into AML some time. I’m getting tired of cleaning up after them.”
Barrows nodded thoughtfully, but then shrugged. “They’re for later. Right now we have other things to do.”
“About that,” Chris said, “any word on Ryder?”
Flint glanced at Barrows before shaking her head.
Chris took note of Flint’s hesitation. “What about Marty and Rebecca?”
Flint sighed. “Nothing. They’ve dropped off the face of the Earth.”
“Is it possible they really did do that?”
“Go off world you mean?”
Chris nodded.
“Anything is possible, but it’s not likely. We don’t do well in zero gee, Chris. If they did somehow put up with it long enough to get where they’re heading, they still have the Change to deal with. No, keeping it secret would be impossible.”
She shuddered. Flint was right. Shifters trapped in the confines of a small ship didn’t bear thinking about.
“I didn’t come here to discuss Marty and Rebecca, Chris,” Barrows said impatiently. “I came to ask you to work with Flint in her search for Ryder.”
We don’t need the cat. We’re better on our own.
She frowned. Shut up and listen, will you?
“Anything you need, anything at all, just let me know, and I’ll do my best to supply it. I want Ryder brought in. OSI places great importance on that. I do too.”
He couldn’t possibly want Ryder more than she did. “Let me be very clear, Barrows. Ryder nearly killed me, and he did screw up my life. I’ll be honest and tell you right now: I don’t give a damn about what you and OSI want. I’ll find Ryder on my own without your help.”
Barrows stared into Chris’ eyes intently. “I thought that might be your answer, but consider this: Flint isn’t the only shifter at OSI. If I bring Ryder in, it will make certain people very happy with me. If that happens, I guarantee more slots for shifters will open up. Help me out, and your name could be at the top of the list.”
Her heart thumped hard in her chest and her hopes leapt. Barrows smiled at the pathetic hunger in her eyes. To carry a badge again… it was all she had ever wanted. The temptation to smile and agree to help him was strong, but anger at the way he was manipulating her burned in her guts. It was blackmail, pure and simple. She wasn’t even sure he had the clout to do what he offered, let alone trust him enough to come through after she found Ryder for him.
Don’t trust him. You have me, you don’t need them. Don’t trust either of them.
Trust them? No, never that.
They wanted to use her for their own purposes with never a thought for her good, just as Lephmann wanted to use her. And what of the vampire? It was strange to think, but she trusted Stephen more than she trusted these two. He was one of the undead, yet he had been completely open about his needs, and what he would give in exchange for her meeting them. What were things coming to when trusting one of the monsters over a Human agent of the government—a government she had loyally served for years—was the right thing to do? Lord and Lady, she must be mad.
She was throwing away her last chance at a life. She swallowed a whimper at the realisation, and said in a low voice, “No deal.”
Barrows blinked. “You don’t mean that, Chris. I know you want what I’m offering. Think about it. Just think for a minute. You could be back doing what you love this time next month.”
“Don’t play me, you son of a bitch,” she growled, and Flint nodded slightly in approval. “I’m too honest, or maybe I’m just too stupid to accept your deal.”
Barrows rose stiffly to his feet. “That’s your final word?”
“You bet it is, and the next time you try to blackmail me, I’ll rip your gizzard out. You can leave now.”
She escorted them to the front door and let them out. The newsies saw them, and rushed forward to question Barrows. He ignored them, and Flint forced a path through the crowd to their car. Barrows looked angry, but whatever he was saying to Flint was like water off a duck’s back. She simply shrugged, made eye contact with Chris for a second or two, and then climbed into the car. It peeled away from the curb in a cloud of tyre smoke. The newsies wheeled upon Chris. She smiled in welcome as they rushed toward her then slammed the door in their faces.
* * *
15 ~ Death Threat
Chris awoke from her nightmare, looking wildly around unsure of where she was. When she recognised the dim bedroom as being hers, she sighed in relief and slumped back onto the bed. She had been dreaming of her fight with Janine Duvitski again, but this time it was Janine that won. She had awoken just as Janine plunged her claws into her chest. She could still feel the pain as Janine’s fist closed around her heart…
She buried her face in the pillow to soak up her tears, but that only made them worse. Mark’s scent still lingered. The knowledge that she would never see him again made her tears flow harder. She clutched the pillow and cried silently.
Oh please… he wasn’t worthy of us.
“What the hell do you know about it?” she snarled, her words muffled by the pillow. “He left me before you arrived. He left me because you arrived!”
I know what you know.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
It means what it means. You blind yourself to his weakness, but I do not. I see him for what he is in your memories of him. He is a spineless Human not even worthy of speaking our names. Such a fool could never be o
ur mate.
Chris rolled onto her back. Her eyes were suddenly dry. “You can’t blame him for leaving.”
Can I not? You do.
She did, but she wouldn’t admit that to Smoke. It didn’t matter. The wolf was in her head and knew her thoughts. She kicked the covers off the bed, and swung her legs over the side. The light leaking in through the curtains had an orange cast to it. She checked the time and swore when she realised it was late afternoon. She had slept most of the day away.
She padded across the room, not caring that she was naked; there was no one to see. Her face heated and she shivered deliciously when she remembered Lawrence’s eyes lingering on her body last night. There was no mistaking his interest in her, but she wasn’t looking for another relationship; not this soon, and certainly not with a shifter.
She headed for the bathroom to take a shower, and tripped over Marie’s dress lying in the doorway. She had been so tired after Flint left that she had simply stripped, showered, and fallen into bed naked. She picked up the dress, and promised herself she would get it cleaned before returning it. Before hanging it up in her wardrobe to let the wrinkles fall out of it, she buried her face in its folds. Smoke’s scent was strong on the dress, mixed with the unmistakable maleness of Farris.
Smoke growled her approval. He is a strong male. Not as clever as Mist maybe, but bigger than him and more caring than Zelus. He would make a fine mate for our cubs.
“I told you last night. I won’t talk to you about this.”
Lawrence is much bigger than Mark. I know you like the big ones.
Chris spluttered, “If I did, if I did like the big ones, I wouldn’t have agreed to marry Mark, now would I?”
Would you not?
She scowled and slammed the wardrobe door shut. “That’s no answer.”
Smoke was amused. Why did you agree to be his mate then? Weak as you were without me, still he was not worthy of you.
She sighed. “I did love him. There’s more to love than bodies, Smoke. If you know my mind, and you can see my memories as you claim, then you know that I did love him. As for his worthiness, who is to say I was worthy of him? We loved each other as Humans do, but then you came between us and ended it. That’s all there is to it.”
Chris stepped into the shower and turned the water on very hot. “Are you sulking?”
There was no response, and she smiled into the spray before reaching for the shampoo.
After washing and dressing, Chris spent some time with her computer in the kitchen. When she checked log-on times, she found Barrows had not lied about getting into her data. She had no doubt that he would have gotten in eventually, but she had arrived home before he could. That was one worry laid to rest. She sipped her coffee and tried to plan her investigation. Not having access to her usual resources would make her task harder, but not impossible.
She felt pulled in a dozen different directions at once. There was finding Ryder, which probably wouldn’t happen unless she first found either Marty and Rebecca or their friend Jason Kirkwood. There was Tina to think about, as well as finding Trigger and Cruz before they got dead. Then there was the situation with Pederson and his Alley Dogs… she shook her head. She had too many things to do, and not enough time to do them.
She needed to prioritise. She put her cup down and found some paper. With a frown, she put finding Tina at the top of her list. Tina was the only one that she considered an innocent in all of this, so she had to come first. The list grew quickly.
Help Tina
Find Jason Kirkwood… how?
Martin Preston and Rebecca Cairns. Where are they?
Kill Ryder
Find Trigger and Cruz... talk to Jonas about Alley Dogs.
Kill Loco for infecting Tina.
Kill Pederson ???
She sat back and stared at her list in an appalled silence. Half the items on it were murders she planned to commit. Lord and Lady, she was cracked. She had finally gone over the edge. She crumpled the list into a ball and threw it to land on top of the newspaper clippings. She couldn’t go around killing people… she wouldn’t let herself become what she had hunted all these years. She might not have a badge anymore, but she was still one of the good guys.
A good list… and wolves do not sulk.
She snorted. Considering the mayhem it would cause if she did try to follow through on her murder list, she wasn’t surprised that Smoke liked it. She frowned and smoothed it flat again. Okay, she couldn’t kill them, but she could still find them and hand them over to Ken. Maybe that would be enough.
You know it won’t be. Think about Ryder, think about Tina, and then say you will be satisfied.
She clenched her teeth to stop herself from snarling something hateful at Smoke. Tina’s name was enough to fill her with a righteous fury, and as for Ryder—there wasn’t a word strong enough to describe what she felt when she thought of him. Nothing but Ryder dead at her feet would satisfy her. She didn’t like that knowledge, didn’t like how easy the thought of killing was these days, but that’s the way she felt. She laid the blame for that squarely at Smoke’s feet.
She studied the list again. Tina was at the top, but if she was honest with herself, she didn’t know how to help the girl. How could she hope to advise Tina when she couldn’t even help herself?
She sighed and stared glumly at the blank screen of her computer. Her gaze wandered and came to rest on the newspaper clippings she had collected. She sifted through them, noting the by lines. Ed Davis was the author of the better ones, the ones she recognised as having their facts right. She might not have liked him very much, but she couldn’t deny he was good at his job. He had been first on the scene of Vincent’s murder for instance, and he had turned up at J-bone’s building almost on her heels. Baxter had complained to her more than once about how Davis seemed to be a step ahead of him…
She stiffened, stunned by the implications. “Lord and Lady, that’s it!”
It was so simple that none of them had seen it. Ken had long since stopped listening to her bitching about newsies, and Dave knew she had a history with Ed. It hadn’t occurred to any of them that Ryder might know about it too… she frowned. That didn’t make sense. Why would Ryder care one way or the other? She snorted; while she was asking impossible questions she might as well ask why he wanted publicity at all. Dave’s theory was as good as any other on that score, though she didn’t buy it herself. AML sympathiser’s tended to prefer a low profile and always stayed clear of the media. It didn’t matter to her that Ryder might have belonged to AML before he was infected with lycanthropy. He was as good as dead either way.
She reached for her link, intending to call Davis, but the doorbell chose that moment to chime. “Not again.” When would those idiots learn she wasn’t interested in giving interviews? The bell chimed again. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
When she answered the door, she was surprised to find not one of the newsies, but Geoffrey. He had parked her crappy blue Honda in the street, and had come up to the house with the keys. One of Geoffrey’s friends was standing guard next to a flashy red sports car parked behind the Honda. The newsies were staying well clear of him. They had recognised Geoffrey because of his close association with Lephmann. They knew he was a shifter and they must have assumed his friend was one as well. They were right.
Chris took her keys. “Thanks. You want to come in for a minute?”
He shook his head. “Can’t. Got a job for David that can’t wait.”
“Okay. Thanks for bringing my car.”
“No prob.” Geoffrey turned to leave, but he stopped and came back after only a few steps. “One thing you should know. Word is out that there’s a price on your head.”
Chris’ jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”
Geoffrey pointed at his lips. “Do you see me laughing? David is sending me and certain others to… discourage let’s say, anyone from taking the Alley Dogs up on their offer.”
“Is that the job you were talk
ing about?”
Geoffrey nodded. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but I figure you’re safer knowing. Your best bet is to join a strong pack as fast as possible. It won’t be easy finding one; not now the Alley Dogs have declared vengeance against you and anyone siding with you.”
“I don’t want to join a pack.”
He shrugged. “Then don’t.” He abruptly changed the subject. “Say, what flowers do you like?”
“Huh?”
He waved a hand at her flowerbeds. “You’ve got a nice garden here. You like flowers right?”
She nodded. “I guess so, why?”
“Just wondering what to get for the funeral.”
“You—” she stopped herself from saying what she thought of him. “You’ve got a pack with a vacancy I suppose?”
Geoffrey wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I can’t take you in, Chris.”
That was a surprise. She had thought he was angling to recruit her. “You’re afraid of Pederson.”
He sneered. “Don’t be insulting. The only thing that scares me is warm beer. I love a good fight, Chris, but this one might kill a lot of my pack brothers and sisters. I won’t make this kind of decision for them… not without asking them first. Do you want me to?”
“No. I’ll fight my own battles, but thanks.”
Geoffrey nodded unhappily, but said nothing further. He went back to his car, and Chris went back inside.
“What do you think?”
Make alliance against Pederson and kill him.
She stepped into the kitchen and checked the time. It was almost six. “Alliance with who?”
Pederson’s second would be the best choice. Make a deal. You kill Pederson for him; he takes over the pack and orders them to leave us alone.
“Trust you to resort to killing. I told you yesterday that I won’t let you out again. I’m not going to kill anyone… well maybe Ryder, but no one else!”
Shifter Legacies Special Edition: Books 1-2 Page 73
