“Agreed.”
Walking inside, they made a beeline for the bar. “We are here to see Gee.”
“You’ve found him.” The man turned, drying a glass.
7 sniffed. “You’re a bear.”
“You are a genius.” The bear raised an eyebrow.
“Z neglected that information,” Sev said with a snort.
“As Z is wont to do.” When would he cease being surprised by his brother’s evasiveness?
Gee tapped the bar. “You know Z?”
“All our lives,” D said with a shrug.
“He is our big brother,” 7 inserted.
“He wouldn’t ever admit it, though.”
“I can’t understand why.”
“We, after all, are quite loveable.” D gave his most loveable grin.
7 batted his eyes. “Cuddly, even.”
Gee resembled someone watching a tennis match. “You two are related to Z?”
“Why is everyone so shocked when they find out?” D eased his backpack off his shoulder and took out the box. “Here is your honey.”
“Shhh,” Gee hissed. “Z told you what it is?”
“Told us what? He said grab a box and give it to you.”
7 wrinkled his nose. “Never understood the desire to eat bee scat, but, then, I’m not a bear.”
You know it’s not scat, right? D asked.
Of course, and though I personally think it’s nasty gross, I wanted to get his hackles up. D knew his brother would be wagging his eyebrows in amusement if the bear wasn’t staring them both down.
Well played.
“Did you open the box?” He turned it over, eyeing the seals.
“Of course not. As you can see, Z’s safeguards are still intact. Why? Is this some big national secret?”
“What do you think?” The bear placed the box under the bar. “So, if Z didn’t tell you, and you didn’t peek, how do you know what’s in it?”
His twin looked at the man as if he were addled. “We wouldn’t be very good infiltrators if we couldn’t figure out the contents of a simple box.”
“Even with Z’s protections?”
“Which we have spent our lives trying to break.”
“Much of the time, unsuccessfully,” D put in helpfully.
“I think I know why your brother hasn’t mentioned either of you,” Gee mumbled. “Will you be needing a room?”
“No, just dropping off this for Z. We’re heading out of town.”
“Good. I am not sure there is a vacancy. Give Z and Ripley my best when you see them.” The bear indicated the front door.
“Enjoy your sticky spit.” D smiled and followed his brother out the front door.
7 turned to glance back into the bar. “You know it’s not spit either, right?”
“Just following your lead, brother.” D patted 7’s shoulder. “I don’t think he liked us much.”
“I can see why Z considers him a friend.”
Chapter Two
Somewhere in Lithuania….
Natalie tempered her hatred for every human into her desire to rip the jugular out of the man holding the whip. She wasn’t a dog to be trained and shown. Yet, six nights a week sometimes two shows each day, she and the other shifters acted like trained animals. Making the people believe the jackass Lee had any talent other than conning fools out of their money and enslaving shifters at a young age.
She would perform then pray they would leave her in peace for the night. Solitude was the only thing she hoped for anymore. The other shifters preferred to be together. But, then, most of the shifters who made up the circus now had been taken as infants and become a family. Lee had purchased her when she was old enough to have memories of a kind old man she called Gamps, a mean old wolf, and fleeing in the night. When she curled in her bedding alone, she could hear the gravelly old voice telling her she was special, she could be something. He loved her.
The animal tamer’s whip sliced close to her flank. She turned and barked, baring her teeth. If only she dared rip out his throat. But they would kill her, and the others would be hurt, too. They kept her in line with two threats—the fear of the shock collar around her neck and harm to the other slaves. The collar beeped, its insidious sound warning her not to approach the human tamer. If she showed any sign of attacking, the collar would send enough electricity to buckle her knees. It only took one time to know she hadn’t wanted to feel that pain a second time.
As she stumbled backward, Leonora the lioness eyed her with pity. Her fellow slaves knew she bore the brunt of the abuse.
Lee’s wife, Shelley, approached and, in a low voice through the chain link fence, whispered, “Keep it up, bitch, and you will wish you were never born.”
Her nightly wish already. What more could they do?
Settling back into her prison, she caught sight of the strange man with no scent who had snuck her food every day for the last two weeks. Three days ago, the bag had included a tube of antiseptic cream.
“For the cuts on your neck and hands.” He left before she could shift and thank him. The food the first couple of days had been bland but still better than the slop she endured at the hands of her captors. But, soon, the food became richer, tastier, and, she suspected, as her full strength returned, full of vitamins and proteins she lacked. She didn’t know if he visited the others, but she suspected he wouldn’t only take care of her and leave them to rot. In either case, it wouldn’t be long before someone would suspect something.
The Testas’s viciousness knew no bounds. They would kill her Good Samaritan if they caught him. What was his story, anyway? He had to know she wasn’t a simple wolf…the medicinal cream he’d included made that obvious.
The show wrapped up, and the audience left the old ratty tent. The group of human servants, so broken down they would do anything the Testas asked of them, remained. When the stranger approached the Testas, Shelley turned to those still in the big cat circus cage. “Don’t any of you shift, do you hear me?”
Like they had a choice, with these damned collars on. She looked across the ring at the black bear, his hair hanging off him in chunks. Mr. Testa herded the elephants out the back exit to their enclosure. Not as easy to control as the cats and the bears, they posed a danger to the Testas’s money-grubbing plan.
“Mrs. Testa.”
“Mr. Zames.” Shelley put on her best face—this man must have money and loads of it. Or she had the hots for him. Images of the two in bed made her nearly hack up a hairball. “What did you think of the show?”
“I only came in toward the end. Where is your husband?” Mr. Zames did not engage in small talk or acknowledge the flirtations of the woman. Nice to see his taste in people matched the fine suit he wore.
“He is putting the larger animals into the safety of their enclosures.” Shelley sidled up to the man and rested her palm on his shoulder. “But I can help you until he returns.”
“If I’m going to put funds into this ramshackle circus, I need to inspect the livestock.” Mr. Zames removed her hand from his person and stepped into the caged ring, showing no fear of its inhabitants.
Livestock?
“Really, you shouldn’t be in there.” Shelley’s voice rose an octave.
“I have years of experience dealing with these beasts.” Mr. Zames came closer to Natalia in her wolf form. She growled. He might have been giving her food, but she would be damned if he would fool her again. The damned man was in with the Testas up to his handsome neck.
Her collar beeped. Damn Shelley and her remote control.
“Relax. I’m here to help, Natalie.”
In shock, she cocked her head. Although he didn’t have her name correct, he was damned close. She lowered her head, allowing him to check her ears and whisper to her so the human bitch couldn’t hear.
“Now, listen. I don’t have much time.” He lifted her paws to check the pads. “Two more like myself are coming. You
must trust them.”
She whined, trying to convey her concern.
He lifted her chin and opened her mouth as if to examine her teeth. “You won’t be able to miss them. They bear no scent, much like me, but they are similar in appearance to one another. I have hidden food in the corner of your cage.”
He patted her head and moved to the next animal, repeating the instructions until he had examined every animal in the cage. Some of these shifters had never felt a gentle touch before. They squirmed uneasily, but she kept them focused on her. She relayed her trust of him through a series of woofs and pants. She hoped they understood.
“So, what do you think?” Lee asked, coming to the center of the ring.
“I think your animals are malnourished and in need of some veterinary care,” Mr. Zames answered, not bothering to glance away from the animal he examined.
Lee reddened. “If I could afford to pay to feed and care for them, I wouldn’t need an investor.”
“Yes, but when you have a bear whose hair is literally coming off in chunks, you make it difficult to believe my investment would go to the care of these animals.” Zames indicated Shelley with a nod. “Those gems on your wife’s fingers and ears aren’t fakes and could go a long way toward getting care for your assets.”
“How dare you? These are heirlooms.”
“And those are living breathing beings.” His voice never rose in inflection or tone, yet anger came off him in waves.
Lee took a step back.
“I have some other business I need to deal with. I will send out a vet this evening. The bear is in desperate need of medical attention. Do not prevent my man from working on the animals.”
“And if the bear receives care…?”
“You shall get everything you deserve.” His gaze locked with hers, anger flared for a moment. “I promise.”
***
7 nudged his brother. “Here it comes.”
Z walked out of the tent, picked up a trash can, and hurled it over a truck twenty yards away.
“And he’s pissed,” D said.
“Always makes it so much more fun to deal with him.” They’d been met by a chauffeured car at the airport and driven through the snowy landscape overnight and all the next day to a wooded area in the middle of Nowhere, Lithuania. Through the trees, they saw the tattered, faded tents and banners of the sideshow.
The driver passed them a note. After they got out and he drove away, D pulled it open. 7 hung over his shoulder, reading as well.
I’m at the sideshow just on the other side of the trees you’re looking at. Wait for me out of sight, and I will join you when it’s time.
Z
They killed time, at the side of the road, in the snow, wondering what awaited them in the circus tents. D noticed something odd in one of the tree trunks and peeked inside to see a box. He’d just started toward it when Z appeared through the trees. “Good, you made it.”
“Nice throw,” D informed him.
“If I had my way, it would have been the dismembered head of the asshole inside and his wife.” He looked tired.
“Wow, that bad?”
7 eyed him warily. “What do you need of us?”
“I wasn’t able to check the larger shifters in the back of the circus, owner Lee Testa took them off before I could get in. Of all the enslaved shifters, those are the ones I think are in the worst shape.”
“Wait. Go back and repeat the last part. Enslaved shifters? You mean this circus is full of shifters?”
Z’s nostrils flared. “Every last one of them.”
D never had a great love of circuses to begin with, but enslaved shifters had his blood boiling. “We’re listening.”
“I have to be at a dinner function tonight for the Shestokus pack. If I’m not there, they will get suspicious.” Z rubbed a weary hand over his face. “I need you to stay here and watch. I demanded the couple take some measures before I ‘buy in.’ The bear is in the worst shape of the smaller animals, but the female wolf, Natalie, takes most of the abuse.”
“She is the one you think is Tao?”
He nodded. “She is definitely Tao, but I’m not sure she knows.”
“Why don’t we go in and kill the Testas and rescue the shifters?”
“Nothing in my life is ever easy,” Z said. “The shifters are all wearing shock collars and, until we find out the source, as well as the perimeter markers, it’s not safe to remove them. I don’t believe some could withstand the shocks.”
7 raised an eyebrow. “The great Z doesn’t know something?”
“And he admitted it,” D marveled.
“Even I can’t keep two packs from war while trying to extract one of Magnum’s goons from one of them to stand justice with the Tao pack.”
“So glad you mentioned it. Who is Magnum?”
“And how did he go crazy?”
Z’s eyes blazed then he calmed and nodded. “Magnum was Drew’s father and the Tao alpha. He went crazy.”
“That’s it?” 7 demanded.
“Be happy with what little he is giving us, bro.” D elbowed 7. No point in pushing their luck where their brother was involved.
“May I continue?”
The twins shrugged and nodded.
Z cracked his knuckles, a sure sign of frustration. “For the last week, I have been running between those two regal packs and this slum pit so I could drop food to those in chains. I’m not even sure the elephants have received the packets I threw over the fences.”
“So we need to check on the pachyderms, find the shock-collar rigs, and check for possible booby traps, right?”
“There is one more thing. They are expecting Mr. Zames’s vet this evening to check out the other animals.”
“You don’t expect one of us to play at being a vet?” D blinked twice in surprise.
“You can’t be worse than a veterinarian those two asshats would bring in. I would come back tomorrow and find the elephants’ legs sawed off and the bear without ears.”
7 put out his fist, about to battle rock, paper, scissors style.
“I don’t have time for this. My concern is they will pick up stakes and run by morning if they get any whiff there is no money. Or, worse, kill off the weak and move on with the strong. I think it wouldn’t be the first time. They know shifters exist and pray on the weak ones.” Z’s phone beeped. He checked the message then let out a quick breath. “I have to go but will be back tomorrow morning. I’ve called in some help to assist us with the weaker, sick captives.”
“Who?”
“None of your business.”
I wondered when the real Z would come and play, D said telepathically.
Took longer than I expected.
I didn’t expect any of the information we got.
He has been rather giving, for him, of information.
“You two keep chatting amongst yourselves. I’ll see you in the morning.” A second later, Z shifted into his black wolf form and raced off.
“Okay, you take the elephants. I will figure out the shock collars,” 7 said.
“No way. I’m not sneaking into that cage. Forget the giant shit piles, those multi-ton animals spook easily.”
Unless they spoke the same language, the elephants would likely trample whichever of them approached. “Rock, paper, scissors.”
“You’re on.”
Double Rock
Double Scissors
Double Rock
Double Paper.
Why the hell do we even play this game? 7 asked.
No idea.
7 reached into his pocket and pulled out a nickel. “Call it.”
Heads.
Damn it. 7 eyed the coin, shifted, and headed straight for the large animal enclosure. This sucks.
Well, it’s gonna stink even more.
Auhhgg, you have no idea.
D got to do what he did best—circle the wagons and fin
d the hidden security issues. 7 excelled at dealing with people., D sniffed the air catching and unfamiliar scent near the large cage. The circus must have been in town for a while. The hundreds of footprints would hide his in the snow. As he approached the decrepit travel trailer, a tingle started in his fingers and moved up his arm. What the fuck?
What? What did you find? 7 demanded.
Sorry. Nothing yet. What about you?
A lot of security and a lot of shit.
He worked his way along the tree line. If the enslaved being could get twenty feet from the camp, they would be home-free. The Testas had only bothered securing the directed radius around the circus. Are the security guards shifters?
Don’t smell like they are. They aren’t really good at their job.
What do you mean? D dismantled a crude trap on the outskirts of the camp.
Because I am standing right behind one, and he hasn’t noticed. And, no, I haven’t hidden my scent.
Are you thinking what I am?
Yeah. If they can enslave a shifter, what have they done to the humans? I’ll bet every one of these security guards has been kidnapped or blackmailed into working for these two fuckers.
Takes Stockholm syndrome to a new level. Damn it.
Looking for a way into the enclosure. There was a brief pause. Ugh! I wish I could send you smells as well as thoughts.
Careful. The Testas are coming out of the tent. With a line of emaciated people behind them. In the distance, elephants trumpeted.
Ooops.
Ooops?
Yeah. Though the elephants might be malnourished, they still have fight left in them.
D hid in the long shadows of dusk as the line of shifters in human form walked by like a chain gang. The old bear stumbled, hacking, and would have fallen had a lioness not caught him. “Get going, Balbus.” A guard zapped the back of his leg with an electric prod.
The Virgin's Infiltrator Page 2
