Kalkin

by Tl Reeve

  After she finished up with Mrs. Martin, Keeley headed back outside, more determined than ever to resolve this issue with Simon. She needed to protect Kalkin, the pack, and her sister, even if it meant sacrificing herself in the process. Her plan, eliminate Simon from the equation. Pulling her cell phone from the back pocket of her shorts, she turned it on. She figured out after the first time he found them, he'd placed a tracker on her phone. She promptly turned it off and never used it again. She might not be able to search for the asshole, though she knew he had to be in town, this would work, too.

  Keeley would call him. She sent up a silent prayer the number hadn’t changed, then dialed it by memory. It rang. Simon didn’t answer, and it went to voicemail. She shivered in disgust when she heard his voice telling the caller to leave a message. She left a terse message, demanding he meet her at the town’s parking lot at five-thirty on Thursday then shut the phone down once more. Allowing her time to tie up some loose ends in the pack would aid in her escape, especially if she failed. Also, picking the meeting place gave her an advantage. She could make up some excuse to get out with Danielle so they could find a home for the orphans. The parking garage sat in the middle of the town, and they could park there, giving her a moment to find the best vantage point. It was also far enough away from Kal’s office to provide enough coverage to hide their little meeting.

  At least she hoped so.

  Keeley realized their time of running was coming to an end. They had to make a stand somewhere, and this town needed to be it. As she jogged back to her truck, a plan began to form in her mind.

  As she pulled into the driveway of Dani’s house now, she sighed, grateful she had made it back, safe and sound. Her hands trembled so badly, she thought for sure she’d drive off the road or end up in a ditch.

  Priorities, Keeley.

  She needed to get her go-bag first. Check to make sure it was updated with identification and enough money in case her plan went to hell in a hand basket tomorrow. If she couldn't kill Simon, she had to have a plan B. Leave. It wasn't what she wanted. Kalkin and his pack were slowly becoming her world. She had to be prepared and couldn't waste time coming back here, so she'd have to take everything with her. Being on the run for so many years had at least taught them both not to take anything for granted.

  Right now, Simon wasn't her problem, Dani and Kalkin were. She'd have to hide it from both of them. Her sister would be easy. She could evade her easily since Dani spent huge chunks of her time taking care of her nephew.

  Kalkin, on the other hand, would be another story. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her and her moods. The objective for tonight was to remain status quo, not tipping him off to her plans. If he got suspicious, she was fucked. Literally and figuratively.

  Getting out of her SUV, she made her way to the side door and hollered Dani's name as she opened the door. No response, which meant neither Dani, Aiden nor Caden were in the house.

  Perfect.

  Getting in and out without having to see her sister meant she wouldn't have to explain why she'd been there or why she had her go-bag.

  After running up the stairs, Keeley ducked into her room, ignoring the mess. She headed to her closet where she knew her bag lay hidden within the boxes of her shit. She pushed open the doors and knelt down. The black, mid-sized bag sat inside the foot locker she’d kept covered with a couple heavy blankets. After retrieving it, she unzipped the bag and peered inside.

  Her new identification stared back at her. Next to it, a burner phone, along with several thousand dollars were still tucked, undisturbed inside. Restocking at this time would waste the valuable time she had left. Satisfied she could disappear without anyone being the wiser, she relaxed. All she needed now were some clothes and her laptop, which she refused to leave behind. She’d gather up the last of the items when she returned to Kalkin’s house.

  She also needed a gun. Good thing her mate was the sheriff and had several in a lock box in his office. Taking his gun and using it to kill Simon might not be her best idea, since neither Dani nor she were experienced with firearms, but how hard could it really be? All you had to do is point it at someone and pull the trigger. End of story.

  Gathering up everything, she trekked across the bridge. No vehicles were parked in the circular drive in front of the house. Jackpot. She could grab what she needed and no one would be the wiser. Using the key Kalkin gave her when she moved in, she unlocked the front door and walked into the living room.

  Keeley bounded up the stairs, making her way to the room she now shared with Kalkin. His spicy scent wrapped around her as she dropped everything on king-sized bed in the massive room. Leaving him, if her plan failed, would destroy her spirit and break her heart. However, she also understood Simon’s presence would continue to be a burden on them. She rummaged through the dresser drawers Kalkin gave her, pulling only the necessities out. She could buy what she needed on the road.

  Window Rock had not been her first choice. Dani had insisted on coming to Arizona, stating something about the name called to her soul. Now knowing about their mates, Keeley suspected it was the thread of human fates pulling her sister toward their destination.

  Keeley, on the other hand, had thought Sitka, Alaska would be the perfect place to hide. Only accessible by boat or plane, they would have been able to go off grid, lay low for some time and then re-emerge with new identities and finally be free. Instead, she gave in to her sister. This time, she wouldn't. She'd drive as far as she could, sell her SUV then purchase something later if she needed to. Her sister hadn't known about Alaska.

  Keeley never told her, and she was grateful now for not saying a thing. Her sister would have no clue of her final destination. If this blew up and Simon remained living, she’d make sure he came after her only, leaving Dani to her happy ever after. If Caden would get his head out of his ass.

  She grabbed another bag out of the closet where she'd left it then began to shove in two pairs of jeans, a sweatshirt, a couple long-sleeved shirts, some warm socks, several pairs of undies and one of Kalkin's flannels. Something of his to wear, to remind her of him on the cold, long nights lying ahead of her if this went to shit. Tears welled in her eyes, but she needed to focus on the task at hand. Dealing with the emotions swirling through her now would just slow her down. She forced herself to calm down and get done. Her time had been limited. Instinct told her Kalkin would be home soon. He probably went to see Mrs. Martin and figured out she'd been there and left.

  She had to hurry. With her bags packed, she headed for Kalkin's home office where he kept all of his guns in a lock box. By sheer dumb luck, she knew he kept the keys to it in his top drawer in his desk, having watched him toss them there one night when he returned home from work after locking up his service gun.

  Before heading down to his office, Keeley gathered up her things and made one last check. She took just enough for everything to still appear normal, as she planned it. She deposited her bags on the couch before making her way to his office. It was clean and neat like the rest of the house and as with his bedroom, the office screamed his existence. Unlike the shared family spaces, this room was masculine. No dainty teacups or dried flower bouquets in pretty glass vases could be found.

  A large, heavy, dark-stained walnut desk sat in front of picturesque bay window, allowing the natural light to illuminate the space no matter if was morning or night. Two comfy chairs sat facing each other in front of the desk while two floor-to-ceiling book cases were filled with books on every subject imaginable. The safe sat in the closet to the left of the desk. Keeley retrieved the keys from the desk then made her way to it.

  It would be her luck she'd have to try each one before the last key on the ring fit into the locking mechanism and opened the safe. Keeley wrapped her hands around the heavy, metal handle and grunted with the effort it took to open the door. Like everything else with her mate, the inside had been kept orderly and neat. A place for everything and everything in its place. Her
sister made the statement every time she set up her office. It drove Keeley insane, but it made sense. Obviously.

  She didn’t know which weapon would be the best for her, especially with the contents of the safe tempting her to try everything. At least once. Maybe twice. Hell. A large, muted black handgun with pre-loaded black clips rested next to a silver, long barrel revolver. She hoped, even said a silent prayer the ammo beside the gun she picked up would work, since no clip rested in the gun. Only one way to find out. Taking one, she lined it up on the gun, then slid it in smoothly. She heard a distinctive click as it locked into place.

  “Thank you,” she whispered to no one in particular.

  After closing the safe back up, she locked it, then returned the keys to the same spot she found them and headed back out into the living room where her bags lay on the couch. She placed the loaded gun and clips with her growing pile of things.

  All she needed now was her laptop and she could walk everything over to her SUV. She had a heavy blanket in the back of the vehicle she’d use to cover up her things so no one would be the wiser. However, the computer didn’t sit on the coffee table, where she’d left it the night before.

  Damn it. Looking for the dang thing is wasting time I don’t have. It should’ve been here. She glanced around the room and spied the hard-shell case it rested in over on one of the side tables. She'd bet good money either Jace or Royce moved it last night. Both men had a habit of placing their feet onto the scarred table resting in front of the big couch. Kalkin reamed his nephew's ass when he accidentally kicked it the other day, unaware of all the upgrades she'd made to protect her most valuable asset. After that, both he and Jace had taken care with her things.

  She slipped it into her bag before zipping it up, then hoisted it onto her shoulder. Though the bags weren’t heavy, they were cumbersome. It would make the trip a little awkward and add in the gun she still didn’t know where to put, and she stood there staring at everything like she expected it to jump up and do the work for her. Get your head in the game.

  Here goes nothing. She gathered up the easily carriable bags into one hand, then picked up her laptop case along with the ammo. She placed it flat to the case, then reached for gun. She looked like an idiot carrying everything as she did, but what other choice did she have? None. You have to do this or else… “What the fuck are you doing?” Kalkin growled, catching her red-handed with her arms filled. She had been so focused on her task of juggling everything, she never heard the door open.

  “Kal…uh…”

  His ice-blue gaze traveled the length of her small frame, stopping dead center. Not good. The moment he saw the gun on her finger, his eyes narrowed and his big body stiffened.

  Shit!

  So not good. Her ass was grass. She wouldn’t be able to sit for a week. Hell, she’d be lucky if he even let her out of the house after this.

  The front door pushed open, Jace and Royce stepping through. Jace’s eyes widened at her and Royce, the asshole, chuckled.

  “Get. The. Fuck. Out,” Kalkin spat. The muscle in his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth.

  “Kal, you might want to calm down,” Jace said, stepping forward.

  “Now,” he yelled.

  Whatever hesitation his brother and nephew had disappeared and they scrambled out of the house, leaving her alone with a very angry mate.

  “Fucking perfect,” she muttered, aware she wasn’t helping her case with him a damn bit.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Yeah, it is,” Kalkin snarled, stepping further into the living room. “Going somewhere?”

  Keeley glanced down at the items and bags in her hands. “Well, I…uh.” She shifted slightly, trying to hitch the bags on her shoulder higher. “It’s not what it looks like?” She grimaced as she placed everything on the floor in front of her.

  “Sure the fuck looks like you’re running again.” He crossed to her, trying to understand what in the hell was going through her mind. He thought they were getting onto some level footing after last night.

  He thought they were getting better. Obviously, his getting better and hers were two different things. Kalkin held his hand out to her, then dropped it when she lifted her chin in defiance. The streak of stubbornness she clung to was going to get her into trouble, and he might not be able to get her out of it if she didn't trust him.

  “You don't understand,” she pleaded. “This won't ever end unless I end it.”

  “Explain to me why it has to be you,” he said. “Explain why you don’t think I can adequately take care of you. Take care of my pack and the humans who live within it. Do you think I am so weak of an Alpha, I can’t?”

  Her face blanched. Her eyes went wide. “I never said that.”

  “No. You never did, but you sure as hell just implied it. You’re running because you don’t think I can neutralize the threat.”

  Earlier, Blackhorn returned to the sheriff’s department with more information. The vehicle Sage had been following did belong to Simon’s team, which Logan had figured out earlier; however, the information about who’d been in it was another piece of the puzzle Kalkin didn't think would ever be solved. The driver, Hazel Geithner, also worked for the Psychic Bounty Hunters and had fallen in love with Simon English several years ago.

  Simon, since his suspension, had been kept up to date on everything going on in the government agency, including when anonymous tips about psychic beings came in. To Kalkin, it had to be how the asshole kept tabs on Keeley and others. The last little nugget the FBI agent had given him shocked him. Hazel had quit her job with PBH about a year ago.

  “What do you know about Hazel Geithner?” Kalkin had to change tactics with her. If he gave her a little information, maybe she’d open up to him.

  She dropped down on the couch. “No…no, no, no.”

  Her scent soured. Her skin paled dramatically within seconds of saying the woman’s name. Kalkin gathered her up in his arms as she shook. The stench of fear overwhelmed him. What had this woman done to his mate? Why did she fear the woman so much? “Talk to me, Keeley; tell me what I need to know to protect you.”

  “S-she…s-she.” Keeley closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “I have to go. I can’t be here. Please, Kal. You have to understand. I can’t be here.”

  She struggled in his arms, trying to break his hold on her. She twisted and cried, clawing at him to let her go. Whatever the woman did to his mate had caused the person who sat in his lap now. He’d kill her. Slowly. “Keeley, stop. Now.” His rough tone did little to help calm the woman who held his heart. “I’ve got you, baby. She can’t hurt you here, ever.”

  “She will. She can. You don't understand!” She shoved against his arms and cried when he wouldn't let her go.

  “Tell me.” He nuzzled her cheek. “What did she do to you?”

  Keeley whimpered. “It’s not what she did to me. It’s what she did to Dani.”

  Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes as she sobbed in his hold. She burrowed her face in his chest, clinging to him as ragged sobs wracked her body. He held her as she cried it out, hating the fact that these fucking people and that damn agency had caused so much pain for one small family, including his. What the fuck were they doing in there to cause such issues?

  “I’ve got you.” He kissed the top of her head. “You can’t leave me, sweet cheeks. I’ll die without you. You’re my mate and I realize this is a lot to take in, but you have to let me help you.” Kalkin debated telling her about Jace and the things the PBH had done to him, but Jace needed to be the one to say it. Which made forcing his mate to tell him about Danielle hypocritical.

  “I don’t want you to die.” She hiccupped and sniffled. “They’ll kill you.”

  “Well, what did you do to keep hidden for so long?” All of the anger coursing through him evaporated. Then a thought occurred to him. “Did you see her? Is that why you’re running?”

  Keeley sat up. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. Her che
eks were blotchy from her tears, and she’d never been more beautiful to him than at this moment in his arms. “No. I-I haven’t. Is…is she here?”

  He hated lying to her. “No. A friend, Agent Blackhorn, a new member of our pack as a matter of fact, has been helping us keep an eye out for Simon and to get us as much information as he can.”

  “It’s not the same,” she whispered. “You don’t understand.”

  “The fuck I don’t,” he snapped. Jace could kick his ass later. He had to give her a little information to get what he needed to know. “Jace…he’s special.”

  She snorted. “He's a wolf, of course he is.”

  He shook his head. “Keeley, he’s special.”

  She blinked. Screwed up her face in confusion, then sagged. “Different?” The shock in her voice at any other time would have made him laugh. “Why didn’t he say anything?”

  “Hazel.”

  “Oh God,” she whispered, covering her mouth. She scrambled out of his lap and began to pace. “Oh God. Poor Jace.”

  “What did she do to you?”

  The scent of fear and disgust wrinkled his nose. His mate's disposition completely changed. “I think the question should be, what didn't she do to me?”

  “The bruises.”

  She nodded. “Yes, Dr. Hazel Geithner has a particular skill. She’s telekinetic like me, but more dangerous. The last time Simon caught up to us, she was with him. They brought us to this place…”

  “A testing facility?” he prompted. It’d been the same for Jace. A place to see how much a psychic being could take before breaking. Jace, after being home for some time, told them at least that much.

  “I guess.” She shrugged. “Anyway, Dr. Geithner pitted Danielle and I against each other. In order to live, we had to do what they wanted. If we didn’t, the good doctor touched me, leaving Dani vulnerable.”

  Kalkin furrowed his brows. “Touched you? How?”