Shifter Challenge

by Selina Woods

  I grabbed a few more shirts and another pair of jeans to throw into a bag and walked back into the front room. “There’s something you should know,” I told her as she turned away from the picture window that looked out over the street.

  “What?”

  I gestured toward Gray and Caesar standing outside the car below us. “Those two—they’re here to protect me.”

  Kiana nodded. “I got that. Why?”

  “I told you I was an orphan,” I said slowly. “I thought it was true, as I was told I was. It seems my mother sent them to bring me to her.”

  Her blue eyes grew as wide as saucers. “Your mother?”

  “It shocked me, too. I have a mom who is important enough to have sent these guys to find me.”

  “But—who is she? What did they say about her?”

  “Nothing.” I stared out the window. “Caesar let it slip unintentionally that she sent them. They say they swore an oath to not reveal anything to anyone. Now they’re tight-lipped about it.”

  Sliding her arms around my waist, Kiana rested her head on my chest. “I’m glad you have family, Logan. I can’t wait to meet her.”

  Folding her tightly into me, I murmured, “That means you’ll come with me?”

  “Where you go, I go,” she replied. “Once we fix this mess the city is in, we’ll all go. Did they say where she is?”

  “They didn’t,” I answered. “But I know. She’s in Denver.”

  Retreating from me, Kiana stared up into my eyes, confused. “If they didn’t tell you, how do you know?”

  I shrugged, feeling helpless. “It’s hard to explain. Ever since I can remember, I’ve felt this feeling deep inside me, like in my soul, that I should go to Denver. It got really strong last night after they told me about her.”

  “And that’s why you told me to go to Denver if anything happened,” she said. “Why you were so firm about the place.”

  “It must be. We should get back before those boys get uptight.”

  Kiana walked slowly toward the door with me. “You may never come back here. Is there anything else you should take?”

  “There’s nothing in this place for me.”

  The old sailor eyed us suspiciously as the four of us entered his small liquor shop. “If you’re planning on robbing me, I ain’t got nothing.”

  “You know how to sail a boat?” I asked. “In rough water?”

  He didn’t smile as he looked me up and down. “You the new boss? Gonna turn this place around?”

  “I’m sure gonna try.”

  He snorted. “You don’t look like much, youngster. Yeah, I can sail any old tub. You know where I’m to take it to?”

  When I told him, he nodded sharply. “I know that place. Used to launch my boats there before fishing became dangerous for my health.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked him.

  “Name’s Redley. You’ll be wanting to pick me up in your vehicle soon after dark, youngster. I got my place to run till then.”

  I glanced sidelong at Kiana, Gray, and Caesar. “Why tonight? We’re planning to wait until we get a storm.”

  He slapped his hand down on his counter, scowling furiously. “There will be a storm, damn you. Today. A big one. I feel it in my bones.”

  “Your bones.”

  “My bones ain’t never wrong, youngster. Never once did they steer me wrong when riding the waves on the open sea. You come back soon after dark, you hear?”

  Grinning, I gave him a quick salute. “I’ll be here, Redley.”

  Kiana laughed under her breath as we got into the car while Caesar grinned. “Not only do we have our necessary storm, but an accurate predictor of it. That’ll be easier. We’ll have to get a truck then; the trunk of this thing won’t be big enough.”

  “And a few more hands to help unload,” I added as he pulled the car away from the curb. “Unloading the boat in the storm will be a bitch if it’s as bad as he says.”

  “Know anyone with a truck?” Gray asked.

  “I had one until I crashed it last night,” I replied gloomily.

  “One of the lions we’re going to see today can get his hands on one,” Kiana told us. “Head back along Main, then take a left on Duggan.”

  Following her directions, we pulled up in front of a small diner, and this time we were ignored by those who passed by when we piled out of the car. I was nicely anonymous without the flashy car or the flashy clothes, and we walked into the diner without the previous fear or animosity. The place was half-filled with folks, which told me the place most likely had good food.

  While Kiana left to find the shifter who owned it, Gray, Caesar, and I sat down in a booth. “I hope one of you two has money,” I said cheerfully. “As I have no idea where Duke hid all my wealth.”

  Caesar sent me a sour glance. “I reckon today is your lucky day.”

  The waitress arrived and took our orders, then vanished into the back. Kiana returned with a tall, slender male with longish brown hair and introduced him as Miles. “He’s done a great deal of spreading the word,” she told us, her eyes flicking here and there for eavesdroppers. “And he has a covered truck he can bring tonight.”

  “Great.” My voice pitched low, I told him where to bring it right after sunset. “If the storm arrives like the old wolf said, then there’s old warehouses near there you can wait for us in the shelter.”

  Miles shook his head briefly. “The truck is a box truck. I’ll park it out of sight, but where we can see the boat arrive. We’ll stay inside it.”

  “How many can you bring?”

  “Five or six.”

  “That should be plenty. You know where the market is?”

  “Kiana told me. Once the items are in it, people will come to retrieve them, and we’ll wait on you for the signal.”

  “She’ll be our go-between,” I told him with a small jerk of my head toward Kiana. “How many volunteers do we have so far?”

  “More than I can count quickly,” he replied with a small tight smile. “Now, I better get back before someone thinks we’re not discussing the menu.”

  I got out of the booth to let Kiana slide in as Miles made his way to the kitchen. “We have to figure out how to plant our people in the shops.”

  Gray shrugged slightly, glancing around. “You said you have Ramsey creating a strategy on paper? We get a hold of that, then when our guys come to the market, we tell them where to be.”

  “And when do we strike?”

  “Immediately,” Caesar replied. “Don’t give the opposition a chance to get wind of it.”

  “All right.” I rubbed my sore nose gingerly. “It’ll take at least all night to deliver the goods. The following day?”

  “I say yes,” Caesar answered. “Grab as many as we can, then hunt the others down.”

  We ceased our conversation as our food was delivered, then ate as we tossed around potential problem points. “If we don’t get as many as we hope to,” I said, “the others may think to come after me. Take me out, and they select a new leader to start all over.”

  “If they pull together rather than scatter,” Gray commented, chewing his food, “then maybe we can lure them into a trap.”

  “With me as bait.”

  Kiana slewed toward me, outraged. “You can’t,” she hissed, her voice low.

  “I have to,” I told her. “We dare not let enough escape to organize. If we take all, or at least most, of them right away, the new government can hunt the rest down at their leisure.”

  Furious, she stared down at her half-eaten lunch, but I recognized in her tight expression that she realized no one else could tempt the enforcers into a trap. “I don’t like it,” she finally muttered.

  “This isn’t a likable situation,” I said gently. “I won’t make a promise and say everything will be all right. I don’t know that it will.”

  “No. Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.”

  Caesar paid for our lunch, and under Kiana’s directions
drove us to another organizer of volunteers. “This guy is a human, but he’s got the ear of nearly everyone on the east side of town. Nothing goes on there that he doesn’t know about.”

  “That is certainly a plus,” I said, gazing at the buildings and houses we passed, and pondering how big this city was with so few to populate it. “Maybe he can give us information on the—stop!”

  Chapter Eleven

  Caesar hit the brakes, the tires squealing in protest as it skidded to a halt at an angle to the curb. Other cars behind were forced to drive around us, but none dared honk in annoyance as one never knew what dangerous person one honked at.

  “Logan?” Kiana asked as I lunged out of the car before it came to a complete halt.

  Four enforcers beat and kicked a person on the sidewalk, and my rapid glimpse made me think he was old and frail. In fast strides, I seized hold of one of them by the shoulder, spun him around, and punched him solidly in the gut. He doubled over, his face at my waist level, granting me a prime opportunity to slam my fist onto the back of his neck.

  He fell to the pavement, face first, as a furious enforcer wheeled on me with his knife ready to plunge into my chest. No doubt, he thought I was a citizen interfering with his rights. Before he was able to stab me in the heart, he came face to face with my gun a fraction of an inch from his nose.

  “Drop it,” I snarled.

  His eyes wide in my gun’s sight, he opened his hand, and the knife fell to the cement with a ringing clang. By now, Caesar and Gray had arrived and forced the other two to the ground with their guns held to their heads. Focused on the shit in front of me, I had no idea where Kiana was and hoped she was behind me.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I growled.

  Kiana ducked around and into my view, going to the injured person on the sidewalk. The enforcer swallowed hard, and whether he recognized me or not, he knew he was in trouble.

  “This citizen won’t pay his taxes,” he said, his courage returning. “We have the right to collect.”

  “And beat them if they don’t comply?” I asked, my tone soft.

  “Exactly. You’re Logan, right? You know this is the way it is; you’re one of us now.” Perhaps gaining more confidence at my silence, he went on. “We’re at the top. We stay at the top by making examples of scum like him.”

  The enforcer spat toward Kiana and the victim.

  I shot him at point-blank range.

  The enforcer dropped to the sidewalk, his head busted open like a melon thrown from a height. I lowered my gun and glared around at the crowd that had gathered, a few enforcers among them. Kiana stared at me, shocked, frozen in the act of helping the man up while Caesar and Gray were alternating looking at their captives and me.

  “I am Logan,” I bellowed, turning to face them all. “I will not tolerate my enforcers abusing the citizens. I know you’re there.”

  I pointed my gun at an enforcer who tried to duck behind a woman holding a child in her arms. “Any enforcer will hang as an example to the others for not obeying my orders. Is that clear? You do not touch, beat, hurt, shoot, or stab a citizen under my watch.”

  I turned my attention to the terrified people. “You do not have to suffer this abuse any longer. I will not tolerate it. These three will be turned over to you citizens for judgment. Who will take them into custody?”

  No fewer than a dozen furious males of various species stepped from the crowd. “That’s our friend,” one snapped, pointing at the victim sitting beside Kiana and wiping the blood from his face. “What do you want us to do with them, Logan?”

  “They’re yours. You decide.”

  Naturally, the three shifted, two wolves and a lion, throwing Gray and Caesar off balance and running for the street the moment they had four legs. But as quick as they were, the males from the crowd also shifted and were on them before they got halfway across the street.

  Cars and trucks came to screeching stops as the three were attacked and torn to pieces by a mix of lions, wolves, and a single tiger. The fight lasted less than two minutes, and by the time the shifters trotted back to the crowd, there wasn’t much that was recognizable of the enforcers. The cars were forced to divert around the bloody corpses, and all stared at me as though planning to make me share the same fate.

  Guns drawn, Gray and Caesar flanked me while Kiana assisted the old man to his feet, and gave him into the care of some females. She then stood by me as well as though challenging the shifters to dare attack me. One by one, they changed back into their human selves, wiping blood from their faces and hands.

  “Thank you,” said the tall fellow who spoke earlier. “Logan, we’re yours. We’ll follow you to hell and back.”

  I gazed around at the crowd, finding still others stepping forward, their expressions tight, grim. Yet I saw no enforcers, either, and wondered if they had fled the scene when the others were slaughtered. At this unexpected development, I had no idea what I should do. Yes, I needed their help to take out the enforcers.

  It was supposed to be a secret plan.

  If I told them now what I had in mind to do, then everyone, including the enforcers, would also know. Thus, I compromised. “What’s your name?”

  “Jordan,” he replied. “Tiger shifter.”

  Putting my arm over his shoulder, I pulled him aside and out of earshot of the others. Pitching my voice low for his ears alone, I said quickly, “I will need you. The four of us as well as others are gathering forces to take the city from Duke’s people. Hopefully tonight, we will get our hands on guns. We need tough shifters who are willing to fight, and maybe die, to turn Miami into a free democracy.”

  As I spoke, Jordan’s eyes grew wide, as did his grin. “I have thirty such in calling distance right now.”

  I glanced around, seeing the crowd begin to wander away without more drama to keep their feet still. “We’ll be dispersing the weapons from the back of my market, the L and D. You know it?”

  “I do, indeed.”

  “Tell only potential volunteers, Jordan, as we can’t risk the enforcers knowing about this. After this incident today, they’ll be trying to kill me. Keep in touch, and we’ll be getting the word out on when and how to strike.”

  As though two old friends just passed a quick word, we headed back to the remnants of the crowd, and Jordan went to the injured victim. The others crowded around them while I jerked my head toward the car.

  “Let’s go.”

  The four of us got back into the sedan and were ignored by Jordan and his pals as Caesar drove us away.

  “You told him?” Kiana asked.

  “Yep. He and his friends will come get weapons.” I took her hand. “How’s the old guy?”

  “He’ll be okay, I think,” she said, smiling. “Had we been a few moments later, he’d have been beaten to death.”

  “That took guts, Logan,” Gray told me, his arm over the front seat. “But you are now their first priority to kill.”

  “I know. Want to change your minds about this protection detail?” I grinned.

  “And miss all this excitement?” Gray replied. “Hell, no.”

  The old sea wolf’s storm prediction seemed to be coming true as dark clouds rolled in over the ocean late that afternoon. I stood on the penthouse’s balcony with my arm around Kiana’s shoulders, watching it roll in. The sea turned a weird greenish-gray color as the waves’ crests rose, rocking the boats at anchor as well as those moored to the docks.

  “Dark will hit in about two hours,” I said, taking her back in with me. “We have to head back to pick up old Redley and bring him here. I’ll pass the word to the guards in the marina to come inside during the storm.”

  Gray jerked his chin toward the approaching bad weather. “That looks pretty nasty. It’ll be tough unloading the weapons from the boat in that.”

  “We don’t have much choice,” I replied, sitting down on the couch and helping myself to the food on the big tray sitting on the table. “We need the cover of the storm
to hide us.”

  “Are we lions or are we gazelles?” Caesar asked with a grin. “The hunters or the hunted?”

  Kiana left my side to head back onto the balcony again, gazing out. “How will you get from the dock to the fishing boat?” she asked.

  I swallowed my food in too large a chunk and started coughing on it. “What?”

  She pointed. “The fishing boat is easily a hundred yards from the dock.”

  “There’s an interesting question,” Gray remarked, rising with me to stand outside and gaze down.

  “We’ll take one of the others,” I said, gesturing. “Then set it loose. It’ll look even more like the fishing vessel went down in the storm if another goes missing at the same time.”

  “So, you and I go fetch the old-timer,” Caesar said to me. “These two stay here and wait for us. What then?”

  “I’ll go out on the boat with him,” I replied, watching the faint flickering of lightning deep in the storm clouds. “You three head for the place where we’ll be running it aground and unloading it. Wait for us there.”

  Kiana frowned, staring at the distance boat. “You sure it won’t sink?”

  “Let’s hope not,” I replied. “Caesar, let’s go get that old fart. And we’ll pick up the boys on the way.”

  Kiana caught my hand, pulling me to her. “Promise me you’ll come back?”

  I stroked her sleek black hair with my free fingers. “What about making promises I can’t keep?”

  “Make this one. And keep it.”

  Bending, I kissed her. “I promise.”

  Only then did she let me go. I blew her a kiss from the elevator, then the doors slid closed. Caesar eyed me for a moment.

  “You caught a good one,” he commented.

  “I know. Do you have a mate?”

  “Not yet. Maybe someday when your mo—”

  “When my mother what?” I lifted my brow in a query, watching him closely. “Gives you permission?”

  He flushed crimson. “Never mind.”

  In the lobby, I told the guards, “When that storm hits, get everyone inside. The marina guards, also.”