Hide and Seek
Page 5
“Leave.”
Grudgingly, the men and women left, leaving the three alone again. Eric returned to his seat, baffled, but stayed on the alert.
“What is this?” Christophe asked Terry. “These numbers look familiar.”
Terry smiled. “Those are your bank accounts. All of them. See the nice big numbers with dollar signs next to them? If I don’t call back with a specific code phrase in the next…” He glanced at his watch. “Fifteen minutes, the money disappears.”
Christophe snorted. “There are more important things than money.”
“Two minutes after that, my friend starts on your stocks and shares. After that, he sends your exact location to the police, along with a cleverly created background track of multiple gunshots and screams.” Terry leaned forward. “How are shifters against SWAT? I assume a bullet or two in the right places and you’ll still drop like a stone.”
Christophe stared for a long moment, then shook his head. “You’re bluffing.”
“I’m not done, Christophe Charles Xavier Jones.” Terry’s smile disappeared. “After the SWAT are done, he’ll inform all the opposing packs in a hundred mile radius that you’re broke, weak, and in jail. How long do you think your empire will last?”
While the last part had been a hell of a threat, Christophe paled more at the mention of his full name. Eric knew that the man never told anyone his real name. Even his lawyers didn’t know it. Eric had no idea how Terry’s friend had even got hold of it.
“So.” Terry crossed one leg over the other and leaned back on the chair. “Shall we discuss our terms?”
Epilogue
It took an hour of phone calls and careful negotiation, but by the end Eric and Terry walked away from Christophe’s mansion without so much as a scratch, and promises—in writing—that they would not be bothered by Christophe or his associates for any reason, as long as they didn’t spread any of the information Terry had gotten hold of.
“How did you do that?” Eric asked, as they drove away.
Terry smiled, then waited until they were at the end of the road before he spoke. “I figured that a centuries old werewolf probably wouldn’t have the technical know-how to keep his firewalls up to date.”
“So all that information came from his own computer?”
Terry nodded and grinned. “I owe my contact big.”
Eric chuckled and shook his head. “You can say that again. But what if Christophe had hired someone to look after his computer?”
“And risk them learning all his dark secrets? He seems the sort that wouldn’t take the chance.”
“Well, it worked. As long as we behave.”
“It did.” Terry chewed his lip. “It, uh, it may be advisable to disappear, though. To be safe.”
Eric blew out a breath and nodded slowly. He’d miss his cabin, but he could build another. And this time he’d have help.
“You’re right. Christophe is honorable, for a bastard, but he’s also smart. Too damn smart.”
Terry squeezed Eric’s thigh. “Of course, there’s no immediate hurry…”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “You have something in mind?”
“Well, it occurs to me that we still have six days left on our hotel reservation.” Terry grinned. “How about we try the bed this time?”
Eric laughed and turned the car toward the hotel.
The End
Other Books by JC Holly:
www.evernightpublishing.com/jc-holly
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Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com