by Stormy Glenn
Jackie swallowed hard when Boone cupped his face. “Baby, you have to. Neither of us can pull this hunk of metal out of my shoulder, and I’ll bleed to death right here in my truck if it doesn’t come out.”
Leaving Boone when he was injured went against every gut instinct Jackie had. And they were all screaming at him to stay. Some force deep inside of him was roaring that leaving his mate was wrong. He needed to stay, protect.
“Can’t we call them on your cell?”
He was the sheriff. He had to have a cell phone.
“Honey, my cell phone broke when we crashed.” Boone gestured to his side, which was crunched up against the door. Damn.
“What about—”
“Jackie, the CB got destroyed when we crashed, and neither of us have our cell phones. The only way anyone is going to know we had an accident is if you go tell them.”
Double damn.
“Just hurry, baby.”
Jackie could see pain etched in Boone’s face that gave truth to the man’s words. He needed to hurry. Jackie leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Boone’s lips. He feathered his fingers down Boone’s pale cheek.
“I’ll be quick, mate.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Jackie had to climb out the front window and over the hood. His side of the truck was all crushed in, and Boone’s was pretty much embedded in his shoulder. He quickly scooted off the hood after climbing out and stepped around to Boone’s window.
Boone’s eyes met his through the shattered window.
“Start thinking about what kind of wedding you’re going to throw us, because I’ll be damned if I marry the man I love without a whole lot of fanfare.”
Jackie turned and walked away before Boone could react to his words, too freaked out that he had admitted to the man how he felt before Boone said anything.
“I love you, too,” Boone called out through the broken window.
Jackie smiled and kept on walking.
He wasn’t sure how far he had to go to get back to the pride compound, but he knew it had to be at least a few miles. They’d been in the truck for at least ten minutes before they crashed.
And just how did they crash anyway? Jackie remembered the back window shattering right before Boone lost control of the vehicle. Something had shattered that window. The question was what?
Jackie picked up his steps, afraid to leave Boone for too long. If someone had made them crash, they might be coming for them. They would only find Boone, and he was injured. He couldn’t protect himself.
Boone couldn’t protect himself.
Jackie spun around and started running back the way he’d come. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of this before. Maybe he’d been too rattled by the accident to be thinking clearly. It was obvious, now that he was thinking about it, that someone had shot out their window. It was the only explanation.
It had to be Drummond. He was increasing the threats. Instead of sending kids to vandalize Jackie’s store and house, he was actually trying to kill him, or them. Jackie was pretty sure Boone had been collateral damage because they were in the same vehicle.
Jackie just couldn’t figure out how Drummond had found him so quickly. He had been so careful. He hadn’t told anyone except Elder Hamilton where he was going, not even his father. He’d stayed away from shifters until Boone came barreling into his life, but the harassment had started before that, which made Jackie think this was about him.
Jackie raced back to the truck as fast as he could. He knew he needed to go for help, but he just couldn’t leave Boone. There had to be some other way to alert someone they needed help. Maybe a gunshot. Boone was the sheriff. He was armed. They could shoot into the air until someone heard them or they ran out of bullets.
Yeah, that might work.
Jackie skidded to a stop when the sound of a gun going off shattered the night air. His heart thundered in his chest, and his stomach threatened to rebel as it tried to evade the knot tying it up.
Jackie started running again, running faster. He ignored the pain from the branches that slapped him in the face and arms as he darted through the trees and underbrush. His heart pounded so fast that Jackie was worried it might pound right out of his chest.
When he reached the small clearing at the edge of the road where they had crashed, his worst nightmare came to life. The driver’s side door was open. There was blood everywhere and a body on the ground.
“Boone!” Jackie raced toward the body. Fear stole his breath as he dropped to his knees and grabbed the man, then rolled him over. “You’re not Boone.”
Jackie had no idea who it was.
Chapter Twelve
Jackie had never run so fast in his life, not even when he’d heard the gunshot as he raced back to Boone. His mate was missing, and Jackie knew of only one man who could help get him back. By the time the lights from the farmhouse came into view, Jackie felt as if his legs were going to fall off.
So much for being faster and stronger.
Maybe he should have shifted into his lion form. He briefly considered it, but as he had only ever shifted once—with Boone present—he was afraid of what would happen if Boone wasn’t there to guide him through the shift.
He saw the porch light go on before he reached the driveway. Imposing figures stepped out of the darkness at the edges of the house. Jackie ignored them and kept running. The front door opened and Hugh stepped out, stopping at the top of the steps.
“Hugh, Hugh, they took Boone.”
Alarm flashed across the large man’s face. “Who took Boone?”
“I don’t know. Something broke the back window and we crashed. Boone got impaled on a piece of the doorframe. He told me to go for help because he couldn’t free himself and I wasn’t strong enough. I started to come here, but then I realized someone must have shot out the window to make it shatter. I raced back, but I was too late. Boone was gone. There was a body on the ground and I thought it was him, but it wasn’t.”
Jackie stopped at the bottom of the steps, panting heavily. “They took him, Hugh. They took my mate.”
Hugh started barking out orders, and people began running around. Before he knew it, Jackie was sitting on the couch inside, a blanket around his shoulders and a cup of hot tea in his hands.
“Go through it one more time, Jackie,” Hugh directed. “What happened from the time you left the house?”
“We were talking about rings. Boone”—Jackie swallowed hard against the lump of sorrow clogging his throat—“Boone wanted to know my ring size and what kind of gem I wanted, but we started talking about getting tattoos instead because of shifting. Then the back window shattered and Boone yelled at me to get down on the floorboards.”
Jackie started shaking as the memory played over in his mind. “The truck started swerving and then we hit something, a tree maybe. Something. The dashboard pinned me on the floor. Boone pulled it up enough for me to get out, but he couldn’t pull it away. Part of the doorframe had come off and gone through his shoulder, pinning him to the back of the cab.”
“Was he lucid?”
Jackie nodded. “He told me to go for help. His cell phone got destroyed in the crash and I left mine at home. The CB was destroyed. Boone said we needed help to free him and we couldn’t call anyone. He needed me to go for help. I didn’t want to, but he was bleeding and I just…” Jackie shrugged. He didn’t know how else to put it into words.
“How did you discover he was missing?” Hugh asked.
Jackie sniffled. “I was heading here when I started to think about the crash and how the window shattered. They don’t just do that, you know? Something had to have shot it out, or someone. It just felt wrong to leave Boone there unprotected, so I started back. I thought we could use his gun to shoot off a few rounds and maybe someone would hear us.”
“That was good thinking, but depending on where you were, we might not have.”
Jackie was not thrilled about having that pointed out to him. May
be if he’d kept on going, he could have gotten Boone help before someone took him.
“What happened then, Jackie?”
“I heard a gunshot.” He glanced up, curious. “Did you hear it?”
Hugh shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything, but one of the enforcers might have. We’ll have to ask later. Continue your story. I need to know everything that happened. Don’t leave anything out, no matter how insignificant you think it might be.”
“When I got back to the truck, the door was open and there was a body on the ground. I thought it was Boone.” Jackie had to stop and take a breath. The tears clogging his throat made it hard to talk. “There was blood everywhere, so much blood.”
“Was it Boone’s?” Hugh’s voice had gone terse.
“He was bleeding a lot in the truck, but I don’t think it was his. I think it was the guy on the ground.”
“Who was he?”
Jackie shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”
“Okay, I sent a few of the enforcers back to the crash scene to check things out. If there’s anything to find, they’ll find it.”
“What do you need me to do?” Jackie couldn’t just sit there.
“I have a few phone calls to make. I want to bring in some more men. Why don’t you let Kye take a look at that wound on your head? You’ve also got a few nasty scratches on your face that should be looked at.”
“But—”
“You’re not going to be any use to me or Boone if you pass out from blood loss.”
Jackie knew Hugh was right, but he didn’t have to like it. When Kye came over with a first aid kit and sat next to him, Jackie raised his hand to the throbbing part of his head. “The dashboard got me when it was crushed in.”
“Well, something sure got you.”
Jackie winced when Kye got his medical supplies out and began cleaning the wound. It hadn’t been horribly painful until that very moment. “I think most of it was from tree branches. I was kind of in a hurry, and…” Jackie shrugged.
“A lot of it seems to be from tree branches, but you also have a couple of pieces of glass embedded in your head right behind the hairline.”
Jackie quickly raised his hand to his hair. “Don’t cut my hair.”
Boone loved his hair.
“I think I can get it without that.” Kye grabbed a pair of tweezers. “Yuji, can you come hold the flashlight? I need to be able to see a little better.”
Jackie tried to sit still while Kye dug the glass out of his head, but it was hard. He could see Hugh pacing while he talked on his cell phone. He was talking in tones too low for Jackie to hear, but the tight expression on his face didn’t bode well. Since Hugh kept glancing in his direction, Jackie was pretty sure the man was talking about him.
“You know, this would be a lot easier if you just shifted.”
Jackie shook his head at Kye’s suggestion. “I don’t want to shift unless Boone is here. My lion seems to like him.”
And he was afraid of what his lion might do if Boone wasn’t there.
“He’s your mate,” Kye said. “Of course your lion likes him.”
“That is the way it works,” Yuji added, which was odd. The man didn’t seem to talk much. Apparently, he felt he had something important to add to the conversation.
“All this mating stuff is new to me. When Drummond had us, he was all about trying to teach us to be good little submissive omegas, not mates. Beyond the fiction I’d read in books and seen on the television, I didn’t even know what mates were until Elder Hamilton told me about them.”
“Maybe we should create a manual,” Yuji suggested.
Kye snorted. “And give away our secrets? I don’t think so.”
“It’s not like we’d be handing them out to the enemy,” Yuji insisted.
“Screw the enemy. I’m talking about giving our secrets away to them.” Kye nodded toward Hugh. “Do you think I really want them finding out how a mate’s mind works?”
“Um…aren’t they mates, too?” Jackie was seriously confused.
“Yeah, but they’re big and bad. I only have my diva self to keep me on top.”
Yuji chuckled very quietly. “If he stubs a toenail, Hugh and Neumus go nuts.”
“Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?” Jackie asked.
Kye smiled. “Yeah, it is.”
Jackie wished he felt as confident as Kye sounded. He simply hadn’t had the chance. One minute he was free and easy. The next minute he was mated. And the minute after that, he was still mated, but missing his mate.
Jackie wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but Boone needed him to be strong. Hiding wouldn’t do anyone any good. Besides, he wanted to be in the thick of things so he could hear any news that came in as soon as it arrived. The not knowing if Boone was alive hurt far more than Jackie ever thought it would.
“He’s alive.”
Jackie glanced hopefully at Kye. “How do you know?”
“You’re mated. You’d know if he was dead.” Kye tapped his fingers to his chest. “You’d feel it here.”
Jackie wasn’t screaming, so he figured that was something. Still, his chest did feel heavy. He had no idea what that meant. “I just want him back.”
And he was terrified that would never happen. Drummond was a cold bastard. He’d use Boone to get what he wanted or kill him out of spite. Either way, Boone was in danger.
Jackie’s heart clenched when he saw Hugh hang up the phone and then wipe a hand down his face. His expression was grim. “What? Have you found him?” Jackie swallowed tightly. “Is he dead?”
“No, there’s been no word.”
Jackie tried to draw in a clean breath, but the clog in his throat was too thick. “We have to find him.”
They just had to.
“We’ll find him, Jackie. I promise.”
Jackie wished he could believe Hugh’s promise, but he just didn’t know the guy well enough.
“Otto, Tre, and Sawney are coming with a few of their enforcers to help in the search.”
“What about Stellan?” Kye asked. “I’m sure he’d help if you called him.”
“I already did, little bit. He’s going to coordinate with Elder Hamilton. Because we suspect Drummond has Boone, the council has to be involved in the search. As much as I’d like to rip that man’s head off, the council wants him alive. They want to know who he’s been working with and if there are any others like Jackie.”
Jackie shuddered at the mere thought.
“You do think it’s Drummond?” He’d kind of been thinking along those same lines, but hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t sure how much to share, or with whom. He had no idea how much Elder Hamilton had said, or even if he had said anything.
“I can’t say for sure, but it’s looking that way.” Hugh gave Jackie a speculative look. “You don’t have anyone else after you, do you? Old lovers, spurned boyfriends, vengeful employers? Anything like that?”
“Not really. I mean, I’ve only ever had two boyfriends, and we went our separate ways amicably. As for vengeful employers, I’ve worked for myself since college.”
“What about disgruntled customers?”
Jackie shook his head. “Not really.”
Watching his dad work at a hardware store every afternoon after school, Jackie had picked up on a few things, great customer service being one of them. His dad had taught him that if the customer was satisfied, they would come back. You might not get a ton of customers, but the ones you did have would be loyal. Jackie had put into practice what he had learned and had never really had trouble with customers.
“What about harassment for dressing the way you do?”
Jackie wasn’t surprised by that question.
“There’s always someone who looks at me funny, but nothing to even report to the authorities until the vandalism at the store and the house.”
Jackie didn’t know what to think when Hugh’s eyes narrowed.
&nb
sp; “The vandalism, those were local boys, right?”
Jackie nodded. “They said some guy paid them to mess with me.”
“Some guy?”
“The boys described him as having dark hair and talking very proper like. They said he drove a red BMW two door, and it had an English license plate. There really wasn’t much more information than that.”
“Does he sound like Drummond to you?”
“He could sound like the man on the moon and I still wouldn’t know if it was Drummond or not. I never actually met the guy. He had some guys named Eric and Tyson do all the dirty work.”
Hugh’s eyebrows shot up. “Then how do you know Drummond was the guy who experimented on you?”
Jackie bristled with indignation. Just because he’d spent the better part of his life as a human didn’t mean he was dumb. “Because I heard his name mentioned several times by Eric and Tyson, plus Elder Hamilton told me he did it.”
Hugh simply frowned.
“You can call Boston if you don’t believe me. He’s in charge of the task force set up to bring Drummond in to justice.”
“Boston?”
Jackie nodded. “I have his contact info on my cell phone, but I don’t have it with me.” Jackie felt his face flush. He should have remembered it. There would have been a whole lot less problems if he had. “I left it at home on the charger.”
“I have Boston’s contact information,” Hugh replied as he slid his phone back out of his pocket. “He used to be part of this pride. Unfortunately, he’s out on assignment right now and unreachable by phone.”
“Oh.”
Apparently, the shifter world was a small one.
Chapter Thirteen
Boone groaned as a wave of heat flashed through his body. It felt as if someone were pouring hot lava on his skin. The burn was instant, the pain pure agony. Boone forced his eyes open and gasped when he saw the man standing in front of him.
“How?” he whispered. It just wasn’t possible. The boogeyman. Boone’s worst nightmare come back to life and standing right in front of him.
Wait.
There was no scar on his left cheek.
“You’re not him.”
