by J. H. Croix
Roxanne sniffled loudly and dragged her sleeve across her face. “No. I got everything we need. I was just coming in to ask Joey to help unload everything. I needed a few minutes before heading back out because the drive back was a little hairy with the snow.”
“Okay. I’ve never seen you cry over bad roads though,” Diane said with a puzzled look in her eyes. “What gives?”
Roxanne took a breath. “This whole thing with Max has got me feeling all crazy. I don’t know what to do, and I’m afraid I messed up.”
Diane leaned against the wall across from her and angled her head to the side. “Ah, I see. I thought you said you wanted some space. Max has been scarce around here since last week, so it seems like he’s doing what you asked.”
Emotion tightened Roxanne’s throat again when she nodded. Of course, Max had to go and do precisely as she requested, reminding her yet again that he was a good man who respected her. “He is.”
Diane watched her for a moment, her eyes narrowing. “So what’s the problem then?”
“I guess I don’t really want that much space,” Roxanne finally replied.
Diane smiled slowly. “Well, good on you for figuring that one out. Why don’t you clue him in then?”
Roxanne sighed. “Because I feel like an idiot and I don’t want it to seem like I’m playing games. I guess I wanted time for things to move slowly more than I wanted space.”
“I’m thinking you need to let him know this, not me,” Diane said pointedly.
Roxanne rolled her eyes. “I know that. I’m just all out of whack. I still can’t believe he’s here.”
“That he is. Look, whatever you do, don’t let your pride get in the way.”
“Are you saying that’s what I’m doing?”
Diane shook her head. “No, just that I know you might have a tendency to be stubborn,” she said with a soft laugh.
Roxanne took a breath, the tightness in her chest easing with Diane’s playful observation. “Fair enough. Well, you’ve got plenty to do other than give me a pep talk. I’ll go get Joey and…”
Diane cut in as she pushed away from the wall. “You go grab him. I’ll help him unload if you can cover the front for a little bit. If you don’t mind getting it, I was coming to get a box of cranberry jelly to fill the display up front.”
“Deal!”
Roxanne strode swiftly to the storage room. With the box of cranberry jelly in her arms, she headed out front to fetch Joey, while Diane started putting her jacket and boots on to unload the store truck.
16
Hours later, Roxanne turned the sign in the front window to closed and locked the door. She’d sent everyone home early and practically shoved Diane out the door. The snowstorm had gotten worse as the evening wore on. Snow was blowing sideways and falling so heavily, Main Street was now completely obscured. She walked through the quiet store with nothing but the sound of the snow blowing outside. Entering the deli kitchen, she scanned the room to make sure everything was turned off. She wished Max were here. She’d love nothing more than to curl up beside him upstairs and wait out the snowstorm in front of a fire. The wish to see him was so powerful, she physically ached inside. She recalled Diane’s comment about her pride and shook her head. She’d gather the nerve to talk to Max soon—one way or another.
She headed down the back hall to the entrance that led upstairs and jumped when the door to the back parking lot flew open. The lighting in the hall was bright, so she clearly recognized Lee Hogan. Before she could speak, he grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly outside. She fought against his hold, her instincts taking over. She started to shift, feeling the power rumbling through her body.
“Oh no you don’t,” Lee said.
She felt a prick in her shoulder and was suddenly weak. Lee dragged her to his truck and shoved her inside. She maintained enough awareness to know he’d just drugged her, but her thinking was foggy and she felt like she was swimming underwater with everything muted and blurred. She tried to rally inside, but she couldn’t seem to fight against whatever he’d injected into her arm. He gunned his truck and spun out onto Main Street. Determined to know where he was taking her, she managed to keep her eyes open, but just barely. To her surprise, he took her straight to his father’s home. His mother had passed away from cancer a few years back, so as far as she knew only his father lived here. When he brought the truck to a jerking stop, he looked over at her.
“Should’ve given you a bit more. Doesn’t matter though. You’re just leverage,” he said, slamming out of the truck and coming around to her side.
She was shivering in the cold since she obviously hadn’t managed to get a jacket on after he grabbed her. When he dragged her out of the truck, the icy snow pelted against her cheeks and a forceful shiver raced through her. Lee kept a hand clamped on her arm as he tugged her into the house. She’d never been in the home and only knew it because the Hogan’s were shifters. It was a small ranch home, fairly nondescript on the outside with gray siding. He brought her through a side door into the kitchen where he thrust her into a chair. The kitchen was empty.
She looked around groggily, taking in the counter running along one wall with the stove and refrigerator on another. She was seated at a round table with chairs. The walls were dingy white, and the room was void of any decorative touches. Lee strode away, not bothering to say anything else. She heard his footsteps along a hall visible through a doorway and then a mumble of voices. After a few minutes, Lee returned with his father following more slowly. Lee looked quite a bit like his father. They shared the same flat brown eyes and dull brown hair, but Marshall Hogan now had streaks of gray in his hair. He sat across the table from Roxanne and eyed her.
“Roxanne Morgan,” he said slowly.
She looked over at him, annoyed with how slow everything felt inside, yet also wrestling against an underlying fear. The drug had clearly affected her strength, but she was still herself mentally, albeit in a muddied sense. Annoyance flared, but she stayed quiet.
“Well, you got yourself caught up in the wrong mess this time,” Marshall said. “You and your friends were all high and mighty after you got all those shifters locked up. I don’t give a damn about the smuggling network, but one of my boys is behind bars because of it. I won’t let Max Stone and your friends make trouble for me now. I won’t bother lying. I did Wallace’s dirty work at the mill, and we embezzled a shit ton of money. Mill went under and that was that. I had nothing to do with Max’s daddy’s death, but I’m not going to join my boy in jail over this mess. Lee figures you’re Max’s soft spot, so we’ll keep you here until we can negotiate with ol’ Hank Anderson.”
Roxanne absorbed his words, trying to clear the fog in her brain. She didn’t know if she was on target because she was half out of it, but she believed Marshall when he said he didn’t have anything to do with the accident that killed Max’s father. But it didn’t change the reality that she was drugged and trapped at their house. No one knew where she was and likely wouldn’t even notice until tomorrow morning when she didn’t show up in the deli kitchen for work.
Max heard a loud knock on the door to his room at the inn. He’d just finished showering and dressing. When he opened the door, Hank stood there.
“Roxanne here?” Hank asked, not bothering to say hello.
“Uh, no,” he replied, concern rising swiftly inside.
Hank’s eyes widened slightly. “Dammit. I was hoping she was here. When’s the last time you heard from her?”
“It’s been almost a week.”
Hank nodded sharply. “Come on then. She didn’t show up for work this morning. Diane already checked upstairs at the store, and it doesn’t even look like she slept there last night. I figured she must be with you, but now it looks like no one knows where she is.”
Max’s gut clenched. He spun away, grabbed his jacket and stuffed his feet in his boots. “Let’s go.”
He jogged down the steps behind Hank and climbed into his patrol car.
“Anyone have any ideas where she might be?”
Hank shook his head and backed up swiftly. “Nope. I gotta say, when Diane called, I told myself it was probably a simple answer—she was with you. But I had a bad feeling and now it’s way worse.”
Hank sped to the police station. In short order, he’d called in supports to fan out across Catamount and look for Roxanne. Her car was right where it should be, but the back door to the store had been left unlocked. If anyone had been there, the heavy snow had obscured tire and foot tracks. Max was barely able to contain himself as he paced back and forth in Hank’s office.
Hank took a call and became still and quiet. Considering the last hour had been a rapid-fire series of calls and chatter, Hank’s stillness was odd. Max turned toward him.
“Okay Marshall. If you want to talk, I’m more than happy to listen,” he said slowly. “Should I plan to come out to your place?”
Hank paused, listening intently. Max stepped to his side, and Hank held a finger up. “Marshall, I understand you’re concerned about the situation, but keeping Roxanne there isn’t going to help anyone, least of all you.”
Max spun away, ignoring Hank when he tried to grab his arm. As soon as he got outside, he started running. He fought the urge to shift because shifting in plain sight was dangerous, but he ran as quickly as he could. He knew Marshall’s house was only blocks away and made it there within a few minutes. As he turned down the drive, he heard a car behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Hank’s patrol car. Hank rolled the window down.
“Max, wait up. Marshall’s willing to talk, so let’s let this play out,” Hank said.
“Not unless he releases Roxanne immediately,” Max said, anger rolling through him in waves. He could barely allow himself to consider his underlying fear for her, so he let the anger pour through him. It was the only thing keeping him together.
Hank turned into the drive and climbed out. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Max. Though Max knew Hank had enough sense not to shift in broad daylight, he emanated strength and power. Max knew if he tried to shove Hank out of the way, he’d have a fight on his hands. He clenched his fists and took a slow breath, letting it out in a hiss.
“What’s the damn plan? It better not involve letting them use Roxanne for leverage.”
Hank watched him for a moment before replying. “Bit late for that. They already have her. Marshall let me talk to her. If you’d waited around, you’d have been able to talk to her yourself. She sounds a little out of it, but she’s alive and said she’s not hurt. I’m guessing Lee drugged her. Don’t see how else he’d have been able to take her. She’d have shifted, and she’s a helluva a fighter.”
Another bolt of anger shot through Max, and he started to stride toward the house again. Hank clamped a hand on his arm and held firm. Max shook free and kept moving. Hank followed at his side, talking rapidly. “Fine, if I can’t talk you out of it, let’s not make it worse. You might put Roxanne in more danger than she already is by going in blazing. Marshall wants to talk, so let’s let him.”
Hank’s words sank in through the haze of anger, and although Max couldn’t bring himself to agree out loud, he kept himself from shifting and stopped when they reached the door. “Plan?” he asked abruptly.
Hank spoke under his breath. “I’ve got back up through the trees behind the house and down the street. I do the talking. You wait outside unless Marshall agrees you can come in. Got it.”
Max nodded, figuring he could circle the house outside and hone in on where Roxy was. At Hank’s knock, the door opened and Lee stood there. His eyes flicked between Hank and Max. “Just you,” he said, pointing to Max. He swung to Max, smirking slightly. “You’ll have to wait.”
As soon as Hank crossed the threshold, Lee slammed the door shut. Max shackled the urge to shift and leaned against the railing on the small porch. He’d give it a few minutes before circling the house.
Roxanne had been escorted to a small bedroom at the end of the hallway at some point during the night. She could hear voices, but couldn’t make out anything that was said. The room contained a single bed pushed against the wall and a small table. The sole window was too tiny for her to climb through. The night had moved slowly. She’d vacillated in and out of consciousness at points even though she fought against it. The sedative they’d given her made it nearly impossible to stay awake at times. This morning though, she was partially relieved she’d slept a bit because she felt stronger. She still wasn’t one hundred percent, but she thought she could successfully shift now. The only reason she hadn’t yet was she was biding her time and waiting for the best moment.
She stepped quietly to the door, straining to listen. She thought she recognized the sound of Hank’s voice, but she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t think Marshall and Lee intended to hurt her, yet their backs were against the wall and they’d created a dangerous situation. She didn’t doubt they’d do what they needed to take care of themselves. Max had been in her thoughts all night long. All she wanted was the chance to make sure he knew how she felt. Her reasons for needing some time and space hadn’t been entirely irrational, but now they paled in the face of realizing she might miss the chance to make sure he knew her true feelings. She’d never stopped loving him and never would.
Hot tears pricked at the back of her eyes. Her emotions were raw. Aside from everything else, the sedative had weakened her emotional defenses and every emotion inside was just under the surface. She wondered where Max was now and if he knew anything about where she was. The mumbling voices were useless to her, so she slowly circled the room, scanning for options to get out. If she shifted, she’d have the strength to break the window out altogether. It was one of those narrow, crank-type windows that only opened on the lower half. If she broke through it, she could get outside into the forest and bolt. Problem was, she wanted to be here to help if something else happened. Given Marshall’s comments last night, she guessed he intended to contact Hank and try to negotiate options for himself using her as leverage.
Her mind wheeled onto the remaining question of who had a hand in the accident that killed Max’s father. If it wasn’t Marshall, then that left Wallace. As she pondered, she heard a sound outside and moved to the window to see Max making his way slowly through the trees behind the house. Her heart jump-started with a mix of joy and fear. She was overjoyed he was here to find her and afraid of what might happen if he tried to intervene. She could stand getting hurt herself, but she didn’t want him hurt.
Just as these thoughts were passing through, she saw motion out of the corner of her eye. Lee had shifted and dashed through the yard toward Max. Max shifted in a flash. She didn’t even think and shifted, immediately leaping at the window. Her first effort broke through the lower portion. Backing off, she circled the room and barreled forward to the window again, this time the frame gave way and she bolted outside, glass and debris falling around her. Lee hadn’t caught up to Max yet. Max was weaving through the trees and leaping off of branches as he took Lee on a merry chase through the woods.
Intense power surged through her, along with primal anger. She ran straight for Lee and swiped at his haunches, knocking him to the ground. He hadn’t heard her approach, so she had surprise on her side. She dimly heard Max’s roar from a tree nearby, but she ignored him. She went after Lee, attacking fiercely. She got several strong swipes in and drew blood along his front shoulder, but he rolled and managed to leap to his feet. She took chase as he tried to dodge her again and again. He was a bigger, heavier cat. Her smaller size and quicker agility kept him from shaking her free. She felt Max come alongside her. He snarled and tried to shoulder her out of the way. She dodged him and increased her speed, darting ahead to spin Lee to the ground again with a vicious swipe at his hind legs.
He fell to the ground, and she pounced, pinning him by the throat before he had a chance to get up. Max snarled and again tried to shoulder her out of the way. She snarled right back. This was her fight. Lee fought a
gainst her hold for a moment, but eventually gave up. She hadn’t realized Hank and Marshall had come out of the home, only glancing up when she heard Hank say her name. He remained in human form, as did Marshall. When he approached, Lee shifted back into human form, dirty and blood-streaked.
17
Max stood in the forest, his breath heaving and primal anger and desire warring inside of him. Roxy stood nearby, her side streaked with blood. He’d seen her burst through the window and run straight for Lee, and he’d raced in her direction, an intense protectiveness driving him. He should’ve known she wouldn’t care much for his interference because she snarled right back at him when he tried to push her out of the way. He’d forgotten how glorious she was in lion form—tawny grace and strength and feisty as hell.
In short order, Hank had cuffed Lee and Marshall. His two back ups had arrived on scene sometime during Roxy’s takedown of Lee. What little leverage Marshall and Lee had gained by kidnapping Roxy had been completely lost, and they’d only set themselves up to face more charges. Max’s lingering question was whether or not he’d ever find out who was behind his father’s deadly accident at the mill. Right now though, all he wanted was to make sure Roxy was okay.
Over the bustle of Hank and his deputies dealing with the arrests, Max and Roxanne shifted back into human form and dressed in their torn clothing. When Max approached her, her eyes locked with his and it felt as if the connection between them was alive, so powerful it was almost visible in its electricity.
He reached her side and lifted his hand, carefully tracing along one of the scratches on her neck. “You okay?” he asked, fighting against the urge to yank her into his arms and drag her away somewhere private.
She nodded. “Most of the scratches are from when I broke through the window.” Her eyes held his for a long moment before she spoke again. “Are you okay?”
