Fox Revenge (Madison Wolves #5)

by Robin Roseau

  "Three-two," Elisabeth said. "Karen."

  The score turned eight-five when I snapped my arm between the floor and Karen's hip. I cried out, climbed to my feet, and said, "Done. You get your extra day."

  Then I almost fell over, but Serena caught me. She lowered me gently to the floor, and Elisabeth checked my arm. "It's already straight," she said. "You should have healed it."

  "I'm out of energy," I said. I concentrated, but I had nothing left. "I need food."

  "Karen and I brought food," Elisabeth said. "Angel, can you get it? It's just outside in a little cooler."

  I sat quietly; I had just enough energy to block the pain from the arm. Angel was gone only a few seconds, then she was kneeling in front of me. She stuffed me with bread and pieces of lunchmeat, not bothering to make a sandwich. Serena handed me a bottle of water.

  I shoved the food down, let it settle for a minute, then hurried it on its way. As my blood sugar began to settle, I concentrated on the arm.

  "Are you sure it's straight?" I asked Elisabeth.

  "No. Do you want help?"

  I nodded.

  "It will cost you," she said.

  "Another day?"

  "No. A promise. If you do get away from us, you will call me before you do anything too foolish. You will tell me your plan and let me poke holes in it."

  "Promise," I said.

  Delicately, Elisabeth took my arm. "Hold her," she said, and the other wolves steadied me, Serena settling in behind me to support me with her body. Elisabeth did something painful to my arm, then she said, "Now. Heal it."

  I collapsed against Serena when I was done.

  "Michaela," Elisabeth said. "Are you lying about the extra day?"

  "No."

  "You scored five to our eight. I will give you one more city if you promise you aren't lying."

  "I promise, I am not lying. You have until five AM, the day after tomorrow."

  "Des Moines," Elisabeth said. "They aren't in Des Moines or any of the most immediate towns."

  "Does that include Boone, Ames and Ankeny?"

  "Yes, they aren't there, either."

  I opened my eyes and searched her face. "Are you lying?"

  "Are you?"

  "No."

  "Then I will make you another promise. If you escape, and if you call me before you enter Iowa, I will tell you whether or not I lied."

  "And you won't lie?"

  "No."

  I closed my eyes. "Why this game?" I asked after a while.

  "We're trying to help," Karen said.

  "We know you will shake us eventually," Serena said. "But until you do, we're going to give you every skill we can."

  "And maybe if you know we're helping," said Elisabeth, "maybe you'll wait longer. Maybe you'll work with Vivian." She paused. "Maybe you won't go."

  I opened my eyes and looked straight at Karen. "You were military?"

  "Yes."

  "Drill sergeant, you said." She nodded. "I'll give you three days if you find me a sniper rifle, teach me to use it, and help me make silver bullets."

  "Angel," Elisabeth said immediately. "Stay with her. She isn't to leave this room. You two, with me."

  The other three left the room, and then I heard them leave the gym entirely. On their way, Elisabeth told Eric and Rory I wasn't to leave.

  Angel fed me more food then sat down and looked at me.

  "How are classes?" I asked.

  "Good," she said. She paused. "I'm not earning A's."

  "Oh honey," I said. "Do you need help?"

  "No. It's been hard to study."

  "Oh honey, I'm so sorry."

  "It's okay." She grinned. "I have a job lined up no matter how well I do."

  "Earn A's," I said. "You'll be more proud of yourself if you do."

  She nodded. "I'm going to talk to Mom about it. She'll help. Scarlett has been studying with me, and she's doing very well, but I keep thinking about keeping you safe."

  "Oh honey."

  "If you promised to wait, it might help."

  "You little shit!" I said. "That wasn't even subtle!"

  "Michaela," she said. "I'm not playing you."

  "I'm not waiting," I said. "I'm sorry. You need to take responsibility for your grades."

  "I know."

  "You are not responsible for my safety. I am."

  "And the enforcers."

  "No. I am. That's it. I accept help, but in the end, my safety is my responsibility. Not yours or anyone else's."

  "Lara bought a plane. Did you know?"

  "Nice topic change," I said. "Have you seen it?"

  "No. Not yet. She's getting upgrades for it. June told me."

  "She hasn't told me."

  "Distractions."

  "Yeah."

  The other enforcers returned while Angel and I talked about airplanes. They knelt down next to me.

  "We are giving you a chance to withdraw your offer," Elisabeth said. "We do not believe you have considered how you will obtain access to this rifle you want while on the run."

  "It's not the sort of weapon you're going to find in some random gun shop," Karen pointed out.

  "I have thought about it," I said. "Elisabeth, you're going to keep it on your fireplace mantle. Unlocked. With the ammo."

  "I don't have a mantle."

  "You'll put it somewhere I can break in, grab it, and go. The reasons you'll do this is because you know I'll go for it, giving you a little extra chance to catch me again, and because if I do get free, you'd rather have me shoot him from -" I turned to Karen. "How far?"

  "A thousand yards," Karen said. "In light winds and if he's standing still."

  I looked back at Elisabeth. "A thousand yards instead of up close and personal."

  "All right," Elisabeth. "That's three days on top of the one we already earned."

  "Yes." I was going to need the time to do my research anyway.

  "You will spend an hour each day with Vivian," she said.

  "All right."

  "You will take a sleep aid that she prescribes."

  "For tonight and two more nights," I agreed. "Not the last night. I don't want to be groggy." I turned to Karen. "Can you get me the gun?"

  She smiled. "Yes, and I even have the silver rounds."

  I laughed. "You already have the gun."

  "Yes."

  "It'll take down a wolf?"

  "Yes. You'll need to hit his heart, which is a small target, or his head, which is a big target, but at a thousand yards, glancing blows can happen."

  "So if I knock him down, be ready to put one more round into him?"

  "Yes."

  "If I lose the gun, can you get another one? I suspect you would rather not actually give it up."

  "Yes. Fifty-thousand dollars. You can owe me."

  "Seriously?"

  "I'll throw all the ammo in for free."

  I laughed. "Deal. If I return it or never use it?"

  "Then I'll pay for any ammo you use during training," Elisabeth said.

  "Can you get me a night scope?" I asked. "I mean, as long as I'm asking."

  She laughed. "It has one."

  "I love you, Karen," I said.

  "I love you, too. Now, we're going to tell you all the things that can go wrong."

  "After dinner," I said. "I'm starved. I want a shower. And then can we go shooting?"

  * * * *

  I had never fired a rifle before. I had fired shotguns loaded with silver buckshot, but a rifle was very different.

  They took me at my word; I only had a normal escort, and they didn't treat me with any great deal of suspicion. But Elisabeth begged me not to tell Lara what we were doing. That was an easy promise to make. Karen brought a pistol as well, and I fired that a half dozen times.

  "There," Elisabeth said. "That will explain the smell of gunpowder."

  Over three days, we went through hundreds of rounds of ammunition, firing one or two rounds at a time. The third day, we were firing at a thousan
d yards. I thought I was doing okay. We had hung a set of wooden balls from a tree, so I could see when I hit something. Karen took the gun from me and said, "This is what is possible. Watch through the spotting scope."

  There were four balls hanging from ropes. She fired four times, about a second apart per shot, and each shot got a new ball swinging. Then she concentrated on one and kept hitting it even while it was swinging wildly.

  "Shit," I said.

  "You'll need a still target at this range. Let's close back to two hundred and you can try moving targets."

  At two hundred, I could hit them if they were moving slowly, but swinging around, I couldn't touch them. Then we went back to a thousand yards and Karen said, "You're as good as you're going to get without years of practice. Let's fire a few silver rounds. They don't carry quite as well." Then she demonstrated she could still hit one of the targets. She rolled away from the gun and it was my turn.

  It took three shots, but I hit my target. I put rounds into the next two targets.

  "It was two extra lines in the scope," I said.

  "Yeah, about, at this distance. At two hundred yards, they'll both be the same."

  "If I get a clean headshot?"

  "He's down and won't get up. And honestly, I think even a standard round in the head would kill him, but maybe not in the heart. I prefer silver, anyway, because a silver round anywhere can still kill him just like it could in a human."

  "So if I can't get a head shot?"

  "A body shot will knock him down, he might get up, he might not, but if he does, he won't be chasing you. His friends might, though."

  "Thank you, Karen."

  "Please don't do this," she said. "Please, Michaela. Find a way to let it go."

  I didn't answer but packed up the gun and remaining ammunition. "Four clips," Karen said. "Twenty rounds each. Two are silver, two are standard. There's another two hundred rounds of standard. I don't have any more silver. Everything will be in the case. Please don't do this."

  "Thank you for helping me, Karen."

  "We're trying to make you feel like you have control," she said. "Please don't leave us."

  I hugged her and walked to the SUV, carrying the gun. Elisabeth took it from me. "It will be in my front closet," she said. "And I won't lock the house door. You don't have to break a window."

  "Are you going to put a tracking device in it?"

  She laughed. "Count on it. There are tracking devices on each car and little ones in your clothes."

  "You are full of shit."

  She bent down in front of me, pulled out a knife, and cut open the hem of my jeans, then stood up, holding a small device.

  "Shit," I said. "I bet it has crap for range."

  She laughed.

  "You're bluffing," I said. "That little thing can't track me."

  "Okay," she said. "I'm bluffing."

  "If I get to Iowa in front of you," I said. "Don't follow me."

  "I won't promise that, but I will take it into advisement. Now, do I have to tell you what it is going to do to Lara if you get yourself killed?"

  "No. Do I have to tell you what it will do to Lara if she has to lock me in a cage because I am insane?"

  "Work with Vivian. Six months. I promise you'll get better. Give it six months. If you give it six months, and they both aren't already dead, all of us will help you. We'll plan a world class hit. Six months of learning to shoot. Karen will come, and she'll shoot for you if you can't do it. We'll all learn to shoot like that."

  I considered her offer. I really did.

  "Tomorrow at five AM," I said finally. "But I am still trying to get past it. I'm not succeeding. They have to die."

  She sighed. "Lara doesn't need this right now, Michaela."

  "I know, but she's better off without me right now."

  Elisabeth pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, and then we got into the car and drove back to the compound.

  Over dinner, Lara said, "You haven't taken off yet."

  "No. I made a promise to Elisabeth to let Vivian have a little more time."

  "What did she pay you for this promise?" Lara asked.

  I lied. "Nothing."

  Lara didn't believe me, but she didn't push it. No one else said a word. After dinner, I asked for a run, then I took a shower and cuddled with Lara until we fell asleep together.

  I felt Karen's eyes on me as I fell asleep.

  I woke during the changing of the guard. And at 4:30, Elisabeth joined Serena. I went back to sleep. They would get tired of watching me. I slept in, getting up when Lara did.

  They followed me into the bathroom. Someone watched me while I used the toilet. Someone watched me while I showered. I ignored her.

  I spent the day doing research, trying to find where Brody and Johnny were. I didn't get vary far. I wasn't very good at it. I wondered if Gia were blocking me somehow.

  I bided my time. I had two wolves minimum watching me at any time except in my bedroom. Then it was one or two depending on how Serena was feeling about me at the time.

  I moved a radio into the bathroom so I could listen to music while in the shower. The radio had a docking station for my iPod.

  I spent time in the gym, but took my showers at home. Some times I played the radio; some times I sang. I had a lousy singing voice, but I didn't care. Everyone loves to sing in the shower.

  Three days later my opportunity came. I got a good workout in the gym and an escort home from Serena and Angel. Serena sent Angel up to watch me while I showered. I collected my change of clothes from the closet, palming a few extra things while I was in there. I grabbed my undies and socks as well, I set everything in the bathroom, then stepped back out and stripped in front of Angel. I tossed the clothes towards the laundry basket, but missed. Angel walked over to toss them into the basket, and I turned to the bathroom, closing the door and locking it with Angel in the other room.

  "Michaela!" she said. "Let me in. You have to let me in!"

  "I'm just taking a shower," I said.

  "I'm supposed to watch you. I'm going to get in trouble, Michaela," she replied.

  "I'll sing, okay? You can listen to me sing. I won't stop singing until I open the door again."

  "Come on, Michaela," she said. "Let me in."

  "I've had eyes on me for days, Angel," I said. "You can listen to me. How far can I get from one song to the next?" I turned the water on, still talking to her. I unwrapped my iPod, hidden in my change of clothes, and slipped it into the clock radio. I picked the right play list and hit Play.

  My bad singing voice began to emit from the radio.

  Man, I had a bad singing voice.

  I pulled the clothes on then went to the window and opened it very carefully and quietly. I checked my spare knives and assorted other items, climbed out the window, hung from one arm, then dropped to the ground.

  It was a two-story drop, but by hanging out, I only dropped about ten feet. I tucked and rolled, then climbed to my feet, gathered the things I had dropped, and took to the woods, circling behind Elisabeth's house. I hoped she wasn't home.

  I sneaked to the front door and slipped inside, as quietly as I could, and found the gun case exactly where she promised it would be. I grabbed it, closed the closet door, and slipped out. I moved back into the woods, then I began running.

  The airport is ten minutes by car. It took me close to thirty on foot. I was well outside hearing range of the compound by then, so I didn't know if the alarm had gone off. I had my phone though, and no one had tried to call me.

  I slipped into the hangar. The trainer was there as was one of the Mooneys. June had the other one with her, I supposed, wherever she was. Probably Bayfield. I turned to the trainer, then stopped. The Mooney was faster, and I knew how to fly it. They keys were locked in a safe, but I knew the combination.

  I tossed everything into the plane, pre-flighted it right in the hangar, then opened the hangar door and pulled the plane out. I closed the hangar. Ten minutes later, I was i
n the air.

  I turned the plane northwest. If they figured out I had stolen the plane, they would assume I would head directly towards Iowa. I didn't want to take that obvious a route.

  I was in the air when I felt my pocket vibrate. I fumbled around and pulled out my phone. There was a text from Angel.

  "Please, Michaela, come home."

  I stared at it then wrote back, "Sorry for tricking you." I set my phone on the seat.

  Two minutes later, I received a new text. "Lara charging me with extreme dereliction of duty."

  I stared at it and stared at it.

  "No," I wrote. "She wouldn't."

  "Do you know the punishment?" She wrote back.

  "Angel, she wouldn't," I wrote her. Then I texted Elisabeth. "WTF. I fooled her, and you're going to kill your own cousin?"

  Angel wrote me. "They locked me in the cell. They forgot to take my phone. Elisabeth trying to calm Lara down. But she'll follow orders. You know she will."

  Elisabeth wrote me, "Lara livid. Angel disobeyed direct orders. She has two hours."

  I started to cry. I wrote back, "No, you can't do that!"

  "Lara screamed it at her," Elisabeth wrote. "She can't back down now. No one will ever believe her in the future."

  Angel wrote me. "Please don't let them kill me."

  Elisabeth wrote, "This is going to destroy the pack, Michaela. Call me. Right now."

  I stared at the messages. I wrote Angel. "I won't. I'm sorry." I wrote Elisabeth. "Can't."

  My phone rang, but there was no sense in answering it. I wouldn't be able to hear it over the noise of the airplane. I declined the call. I wrote Elisabeth. "I can't call. Too noisy."

  There wasn't anything for a while.

  "Where are you?" she finally asked.

  I looked around. I hadn't been doing that for a while, and I was completely lost.

  "Not entirely sure," I wrote.

  "If you come home, I can calm Lara down," Elisabeth wrote. "If not, Angel is going to pay for this. That's not fair to her, Michaela."

  Angel wrote, "Please, Michaela, come home."

  Elisabeth wrote, "Call me. Right now!"

  I ignored both of them and tried to figure out where I was.

  My phone rang again. It was Elisabeth. I denied the call.

  "Do you want Angel to die, Michaela? Is that the price for your vengeance?"

  "Lost," I wrote back.

  "Call me!"