Pack 11 - Wolf Whisperer

by Karen Whiddon

  This made no sense to him. Wyoming to British Columbia was a long way to go merely to look for clues.

  A quick glance back showed their pursuers had fallen back, though they were still doggedly chasing them.

  “Surely you don’t think your sister’s still there?”

  “No,” she answered, cutting to the middle lane in between a pickup and a Cadillac, passing a minivan, before swerving back into the left passing lane. “But I’m hoping I can find out something to give me a clue where they’ve taken her. It’s all I have to go on, unless…”

  He pretended not to get it. “Unless what?”

  “Unless you know something you’re not telling me.”

  Christ. It took everything he had not to groan out loud. “We’ve already been over this. Look, I know exactly how you feel, knowing someone you love is in danger and feeling powerless to help.”

  “Because of your children.”

  “Exactly. Not a moment goes by that I don’t worry about them.”

  He took a deep breath, more to calm himself than anything. “What about the rest of your family?” he asked.

  She shot him yet another dark look from an apparently endless repertoire of them. “What about them?”

  “Look, I’m only asking if they can help you. Your sister’s been taken and you’ve been attacked. It seems as if whoever is behind this is going to try to take them one by one. Rather than going to Vancouver Island to look for clues, wouldn’t it make more sense to head out to where one of them still lives and wait for the abductors to show up to grab them?”

  For a second she didn’t respond, making him wonder if she was actually considering the idea.

  Then she glanced at him with a mocking, sardonic smile, and he realized he was wrong.

  “Is that the plan? Talk me into revealing their location so your cohorts can follow me?”

  His cohorts. Whatever. Turning in his seat, he looked for their pursuers. The Ford Explorer still hung in there, about five cars back.

  “At least they’re not shooting,” he said.

  “Probably because they don’t want to endanger you.”

  “For the love of…” Shaking his head, he swore. “You’re actually serious? They’ve already injured me. What is wrong with you?”

  Lifting her chin, she shot him a knowing glance. “Nothing’s wrong with me. And don’t give me that false I’m-so-injured crap. As possibilities go, it makes perfect sense. You’ve told me how dedicated you are to your job.”

  “Look, I’m not doing undercover work, or whatever you seem to think.” Quietly, he reiterated what he’d said earlier. “I gave you my word, remember? Plus, as you so nicely pointed out to me, I have a debt to repay.”

  After a moment of silence, she nodded.

  “Sorry,” she said, her tone dry. “Maybe that was a bit far-fetched. While you have the distinct advantage of knowing all about me, I still know absolutely nothing about you.”

  As peace offerings went, it was a small one. Still, with a woman this prickly, he’d take what he could get.

  Grimacing, he conceded her point. “True. It hasn’t been that long since I showed up on your doorstep, managed to get shot and you had to save me. I won’t soon forget that I owe you my life.” He swallowed, then continued, “But you should know, I don’t like being beholden to anyone. It sticks in my craw.”

  She flicked him a gaze and he saw he’d startled her. For a moment, he thought he might have reached past her invisible barrier. Then, she snorted and he realized he was wrong.

  “Pretty good job of trying to make me feel I can trust you,” she replied. “Save it.”

  He didn’t understand her way of thinking. “If you mistrust me so badly, why not just dump me off somewhere and go on your way? Why keep me with you, especially since you seem to think I’m about to betray you at the earliest opportunity?”

  “Because I really think they’ll try to kill you if you’re not with me,” she said slowly.

  Frustrated, he clenched his teeth. “Either I’m one of them or I’m not. Make up your mind.”

  “You can still be one of them and be in danger.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  “I’m aware of that.” She shot him another look, her lovely mouth twisted. “But I frequently have these sort of premonition things. Insights, if you will. I can’t explain them, but they come true more often than not.” She motioned behind them. “Looks like we’ve lost our tail.”

  Turning to look behind them, he saw no sign of the Ford Explorer. “That’s odd, since we’re still on the freeway. Unless they got off, took a shortcut and are planning on cutting us off farther on.”

  “Now who’s paranoid?” she asked, but she was smiling.

  At least they were talking.

  “Don’t slow down. You never know, they might have had another set of guys take over, knowing we wouldn’t recognize the vehicle.”

  Though she shook her head, she did as he asked, continuing to accelerate. Glancing at the speedometer, he saw they were going well over ninety miles per hour.

  But she appeared to have relaxed somewhat.

  Something she’d said earlier…

  “You say you have premonitions, right?” At her nod, he continued, “What about now? What do you see happening now?”

  “I can’t turn it off and on like that. I wish I could, but I have absolutely no control over when it happens.”

  He considered this, not entirely sure he believed in second sight, especially since Maggie had always discounted its existence. Still, Kelly was different. He supposed he was willing to consider the possibility. If nothing else, talking about it made good conversation.

  “But you had a premonition about me, right? When?”

  “When you showed up on my doorstep. Actually, I had two premonitions that day. I knew something bad was going to happen, just not what. And then, when I saw you…” She fell silent.

  “And? When you saw me, what did you…see?”

  “Oh, it’s not like that,” she replied immediately. “I don’t actually ‘see’ things, like a vision. It’s more of a knowing, a gut feeling.”

  He nodded to show he understood, though really he didn’t. Her tone had softened somewhat, and he’d prefer to keep it that way. “Like intuition?”

  “Maybe. But a bit more precise.”

  “Gotcha,” he said. This woman intrigued him, for more reasons than her jaw-dropping good looks. She was a puzzle, layered in ways that his uncomplicated wife, Maggie, hadn’t been. Oddly enough, he felt drawn to her, though he’d be the first to admit it had been a while since he’d been with a woman, any woman, which could be the reason. That, combined with her unselfconscious sensuality…

  He looked up to find her eyeing him oddly. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” Giving himself a mental shake, he knew he’d have to be careful. Things like lust could cloud his judgment, which led to mistakes.

  Barreling down the freeway, they had to be hitting speeds approaching one hundred. In the back, one of the dogs whined, causing several of them to join in.

  “I thought we were going to drop the dogs off at your friend’s in town,” he pointed out.

  “We are.”

  “But we’re on the freeway. Haven’t we passed whatever town you meant by now?”

  “The closest town is thirty miles away.” She sounded amused. “We’re headed there now. Once we get the dogs taken care of, we’ll be traveling northwest. I’ve got to sit down with a map and figure out a route.”

  “Do you have a contingency plan?” he asked. “Just in case that doesn’t pan out?”

  “No. It will work out. That is the only plan.” She didn’t appear to find anything wrong with this. “We’ll see what happens from there.”

  As a Protector, hell, as a rational man, he was deeply uncomfortable with such vagueness and said so.

  “That’s the best I can do.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

 
“Don’t you think they’ll either be waiting to intercept you on the way or waiting for you once you arrive?”

  She frowned, giving him a suspicious look. “Is that a warning?” As if he were calling the shots, working with her pursuers.

  In an instant, they were right back where they’d started, as though they’d never made any headway at all.

  Like a roller coaster. Up, then down. He’d had enough. “Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but you either stop the deprecating and derogatory remarks, or I’m out of here. I don’t care about your premonitions, I’ll take my chances.”

  “You gave your word,” she reminded him, her voice level as she threw his own words back in his face. “What about the sacredness of that?”

  For a moment, he saw red.

  “That’s it.” He pointed, aware both his voice and his hand were shaking from the effort of keeping his temper under check. “Pull over and let me out. If you think I’m riding all the way to the Western Canadian coast with you treating me like dirt, you’ve got another thought coming. Since you so clearly despise me, I’ll just have to figure out another way to repay the debt.”

  She didn’t pull over, but then he really hadn’t expected her to. The woman was a mess of contradictions. He doubted she even understood her own actions.

  Right now, though, the ball was in her court.

  Instead of looking at him, she contemplated the road, her expression frozen in stone.

  “You’re right,” she finally said, shooting him a quick glance that wasn’t just a tiny bit apologetic. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Unless, of course, you give me reason.”

  Mac let that one slide. This was a start. “Fine. No more of this you’re-the-enemy stuff, okay?”

  Slowly, she nodded. “Okay.”

  “Good. Now maybe you can explain to me the real reason you wanted me to go with you.”

  “Because you know more than you’re telling me,” she admitted. “And I’m not calling you the enemy, but I know you aren’t telling me everything. You mentioned trading my sister for your kids. Why would you say that if you didn’t have a good idea how to get to her? So, don’t bother to deny it.”

  “I was desperate,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what else to say to get your attention. I’ve been searching for a Tearlach—any Tearlach—for the past eighteen months, ever since they grabbed my children. You’re the first one I’ve found, and that only because of a job assignment.”

  “Still, you showing up right before the attack seemed awfully convenient,” she said with a half smile.

  He rolled his eyes. “Let me get this straight. You think I arranged getting myself shot with a silver bullet to prove you are what the file says you are, let you save my life and am still holding out on you?”

  “I—” Glancing in the rearview mirror, she swore. “They’re back. We have a tail again. How they hell did they find us?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not like we went anywhere. We’re still on the same freeway.”

  “True.” She swore again. “Why didn’t you tell me to get off?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “The next exit takes us to Ben’s place, but I’m going to drive past. I can’t bring trouble to his doorstep. He didn’t ask for any of this.”

  “Take the exit anyway,” he urged. “Just don’t go directly to Ben’s. We’ll have a better chance of losing them once we get off the freeway.”

  “All right.” She gave him a grim look. “Where do we go? Any ideas?”

  Incredulously, he nearly opened his mouth to retort. She’d been so bossy, so determined to be in charge, and now she was asking him for advice?

  Careful to hide his reaction, he swallowed hard and mentally counted to three before speaking.

  “Since we can’t travel with seven dogs,” he said, “we’ve got to drop them off. We lose these bozos, and circle around. I want you to call Ben and arrange to meet him somewhere else. We’ll move them from our vehicle to his, and then take off.”

  “Any idea where we should meet?”

  “I don’t care. A shopping mall, a convenience store, a gas station. Anywhere there are lots of people and cars. It’s easier to disappear in a crowd.”

  “All right, then. I have to admit, this is the first time I’m honestly glad you have the experience you have.”

  He said the first thing that came to mind. “You’re saying you’re glad I’m a Protector?”

  After only an instant’s hesitation, she nodded. “Yes.”

  “Thank you. Now, call Ben, arrange a meeting place and then lose these goons. After we drop the dogs off, we might want to consider trading this out for another vehicle.”

  “Trade in my Hummer?” Wow. This was progress. Again, he managed to keep his face expressionless.

  “No. Park it. Then we grab another car. Something different that they won’t recognize.”

  “Steal a car?” She sounded so shocked that he had to smile. “I’m not breaking the law if I can help it. That’s the first thing I learned about staying hidden—don’t do anything that’ll put you on the radar.”

  She did have a valid point. Still, they were driving a huge Hummer. Like no one noticed that?

  “Fine. We’ll keep the Hummer. Even if it is highly recognizable. Maybe after the second or third time we find ourselves with a tail, you’ll understand what I mean.”

  “Maybe I’ll just lose them again.” Giving him a grin he could only describe as shit-eating, she yanked the wheel to the left, cutting off a dump truck in the process and barely avoiding taking a direct hit to the rear passenger side.

  “Damn.” He swore out loud.

  Careening down the exit, she took the first side street, then another left, then a right, finally pulling into a small grocery store parking lot and driving around to the side, where she pulled into a space between the trash Dumpster and the building. The huge Hummer barely fit.

  “We have a clear view of the parking lot from here, and won’t be easy to spot,” she told him, her voice rich with satisfaction. “Let’s see if they find us this time. If they do, we’ll know they have a tracking device.”

  Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. At twenty, Kelly started getting antsy, shifting in her seat.

  Finally, he took pity on her. “I think we can safely say we lost them.”

  “Good.” She dug out her cell phone. “Let me call Ben and arrange to have him meet us. We’re less than ten minutes from his house.”

  Call made, she finally relaxed. Turning and speaking to her dogs—who’d been remarkably quiet—in a soothing voice, she seemed confident again, almost friendly.

  A few minutes later, a faded blue Chevrolet van pulled into the lot and slowed. Pulling a U-turn, it slowly backed up toward them.

  “That’s Ben,” she said, smiling the first genuine smile Mac had seen since he’d met her. She pushed open her door and jumped from the Hummer, moving with an energy to her that made Mac wonder.

  He thought about following but, not wanting to interrupt her private time with her friend, decided to stay put. He’d help them transfer the dogs, assuming they needed it.

  The big man who emerged from the van wasn’t at all what Mac had expected. Built like a linebacker, the human had long gray hair pulled back in a Willie Nelson–style ponytail. This contrasted with his military bearing, but Mac had seen a fair share of men who, once released from the restrictive military life, went the opposite direction.

  Mac watched as Ben hugged Kelly, a look of naked longing flashing over the other man’s lined face. Stunned, Mac looked away, realizing Ben wasn’t aware of an onlooker’s presence.

  When he looked back, they were no longer hugging. Kelly was talking animatedly, gesturing at the Hummer. A moment later they walked around the driver’s side and opened the back.

  Mac got out and walked back there, meeting the other man’s hostile gaze with an easy smile. Kelly introduced them and he held out his hand. Slowly, Ben took it, looking from Mac to Kelly and ba
ck again.

  “How do you two know each other?” he asked.

  “Long story,” Mac said. “We really don’t have a lot of time.”

  Acknowledging the truth of his words, Kelly reached for one of the smaller dog crates, lifting and transferring it inside Ben’s van. “He’s right,” she said. “Sorry, Ben. I’ll have to catch you up later.”

  Either Ben was used to rejection or he’d realized he’d never have a chance with her. Expression calm, he nodded and grabbed the largest crate, the one containing Brandi, the pit bull mix. Lifting it as if it weighed next to nothing, he carried it over to his vehicle and set it down gently.

  With his gunshot wound still aching, Mac stuck with the smaller crates. In about two minutes, they’d transferred all the dogs to the van.

  “I really appreciate you doing this,” Kelly said, giving Ben a quick hug. “Make sure and stop by my place at least twice a day, okay?” She didn’t see the wounded expression that flashed in the other man’s eyes as he met Mac’s gaze.

  Mac dipped his chin in silent acknowledgment before glancing at his watch. “We need to get going,” he said.

  Immediately, Kelly turned and went to the driver’s side. Opening the door, she gave Ben a jaunty wave, watching as he got in his van and drove away.

  “Now we’re off,” she said, either forgetting to don her crabby attitude or mellowed by her brief encounter with Ben.

  Mac thought her eyes looked suspiciously bright, so he suspected it was the latter. “Exactly how close are you and Ben?” he asked, dismayed at the sharp pang he felt at the thought that they might be more than friends.

  “He’s like a brother to me,” she said quietly, starting the Hummer. As the engine roared to life, she shook her head. “I know he’ll take care of my dogs, but I can’t help but worry about them. They’re my family, especially since I don’t get to see my real one.”

  As they pulled back onto the service road, her cell phone rang. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, she answered.

  “Hello?” Whoever was on the other end must have shocked her, because she froze. Listening, she nodded once or twice, but didn’t speak. A single tear trickled down her cheek.