by Bianca D'Arc
A significant look passed between the two men. It was as if they were able to communicate without the use of actual words. Seth looked at Patty and back to Mario, then nodded once, with finality.
“Rest assured then, my old friend. This will be completely settled in the next twenty-four hours. You have my word. I’ll call to let you know when it is done.” The golden-eyed man rested his hand over his heart in a very old world gesture.
“Thank you, mi amigo. I’m glad you’re the one our mutual friend called to solve this,” Mario replied.
“Leave it to us. All will be well. And when we’re done with this op, we’ll come back and throw you both a party to celebrate your mating.” His golden eyes sparkled with good humor.
Patty wasn’t too sure Ty would welcome a group of mercenary shifters back to Grayslake for any length of time, but it was nice of Seth to suggest a party. While she was sure her family would celebrate with them, she wanted some of Mario’s friends there for him too. They’d figure out a way to make it work.
“Look, the guys have our packages wrapped and ready to go. That’s my cue to leave too, but I’ll be in touch shortly. I promise.” Seth was already heading back toward the fence to the other yard.
“Thanks, Seth,” Mario repeated. “I look forward to hearing from you. Safe travels.”
The mysterious shifter faded away over the fence, making not a sound. His men were already gone, their prisoners with them.
“Those guys are impressive,” Patty said, almost under her breath, but Mario must’ve heard. He tucked her into his arms, holding her from behind.
“This turned out even better than I thought it would. Seth will keep me informed of what happens now. And if he’s handling the mop up, you can be sure it will be thorough. We won’t have to worry about Lopez anymore.”
“How can you be so sure?” She’d been impressed by the military men, but a lot of other things still had to go right to get her sister in the clear.
“That’s my old unit,” Mario revealed. “If it can be done, they’ll do it. I was one of them for many years. I know how dedicated they are to their jobs—and to each other. If they know this is for me, they’ll make sure it all goes right, whatever they have to do to make it happen.”
Patty was glad he had such good friends in his life. Although she’d never served, she thought she understood the brotherhood that sometimes formed between those who faced danger together. She felt that way about some of the cops she’d worked with in the past.
“You’re going to miss them, won’t you?” She felt bad if she was the reason he’d lose touch with his friends. “I mean, you really are retired, right? You don’t wish you could go back to that life, do you?”
“And leave you behind?” He sounded outraged. “Never.” The adamant tone made her a believer and settled her nerves. “I came here to find you and now that I’ve got you, I’ll never let you go.”
“Same goes for me,” she whispered. “But what if they ask you to come back?”
“If I counted right, they still haven’t replaced me,” Mario admitted. “I guess Seth didn’t really believe me when I told him I was quitting. He’ll believe it now.” Smug satisfaction sounded in his tone and Patty had to chuckle.
“So he was the leader? And I’m guessing your call sign was Wildcat? Hmm.” She turned in his arms and kissed him. Just a short nibble to tide her over until they had time to do it properly. “I can attest to that. You’re my wildcat now.”
Mario held his hands up as if in surrender. “You’ll get no argument from me, querida.”
Feeling the warmth of happiness just being with her mate, they turned and walked back toward the house. There was still work to do before they could live happily ever after.
Chapter Thirteen
Patty and Mario went to her house so they could tell her sister and aunt about the change in their relationship, as well as what had gone down out at the house on Waverly Place. She felt super awkward, but in shifter society, sometimes matings happened fast, like theirs had. Regardless, she shouldn’t have worried. Both her sister and aunt were thrilled with the idea that Patty had found someone to put up with her, as they put it.
She knew they were joking. They both had tears in their eyes as they welcomed Mario to the family. Maryann hugged him shyly, but Aunt Suzy kissed both his cheeks and gave him one of her patented bear hugs. And it looked like the usually aloof Mrs. Snufflepuff was in love. After a cautious approach, she began rubbing up against Mario’s legs and twining around him, meowing in pure bliss.
They all sat down in the kitchen when Aunt Suzy mentioned that she had tons of leftovers all ready to go. Mario and Patty had missed dinner with all the action today, and they were both happy to dig into some of Aunt Suzy’s down home cooking.
“So where are you two going to live?” Aunt Suzy asked as she served up big helpings of her famous beef stew.
Patty looked up, surprised. “You know, we haven’t even had time to discuss it. This all just sort of happened.”
“I’m retired from my former profession and don’t have a permanent place of residence. If you like, I can move in here with you,” Mario said quietly, holding her gaze. She saw the flare of emerald in his eyes that never failed to excite her. “If you want to explore other places, I should also tell you that I still have most of the money I made as a soldier of fortune. I never had much reason to spend it, so it added up to a very large sum. We could go anywhere you like.”
The idea that she was marrying a rich man hadn’t really crossed her mind, but then she remembered that infamous black credit card. Oh, boy. Mario was probably loaded!
She liked being independent and funding her own way through life, but they were mates now, and her inner bear saw nothing wrong with sharing everything between them. They were in this together. Forever. True mates didn’t ever split up. They were a team now, for better or worse… Richer or poorer. Though it definitely sounded like it would be richer, for her at least.
Not that she was a gold digger. Far from it. But knowing that they wouldn’t be wondering where their next meal was coming from was a relief. One less thing to worry about.
“Maybe we’ll start here and see what we feel like doing once we get used to all this?” she offered, seeking his agreement. Mario nodded, covering her hand with his on top of the table.
“Whatever you wish, querida.” Maryann jumped a little, drawing Patty’s attention. Mario followed Patty’s gaze to her younger sister and he smiled warmly. “And there will always be room for you, baby sister, wherever we go. You have a new brother now and he is very protective.”
Maryann smiled in response to Mario’s teasing and seemed to relax a little bit.
“Is it really all taken care of?” Maryann ventured to ask, still shy but starting to become more comfortable around Mario if Patty was any judge. “I mean, with the drugs and all.”
“I believe the immediate threat here is over,” Mario assured them, his gaze on Maryann. “The rest will be handled by my old teammates. We will be hearing back from them in the coming hours and then, if all goes well—and I see no reason why it should not—you will be free of this trouble forever.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Maryann whispered. “I made such a mess of things, but you have all been so nice about it.”
“That’s because we love you, sweet pea,” Aunt Suzy said softly, patting Maryann on the shoulder.
“As long as you’ve learned something from all of this…” Mario said, drawing all eyes, “…then you can chalk it up to experience.”
“Yeah.” Maryann paused a moment before continuing. “I think I learned to stand on my own feet a little. I mean, I couldn’t win because Greg was stronger than me, but I surprised myself by how easy it was to stand up to him and speak my mind once I’d made the decision to refuse to help smuggle that stuff. I know I caved eventually, and did it anyway, but it was under protest. I didn’t just go along to avoid the confrontation.” Her words grew stronger as she went on. “
I did confront him and paid the price for it, but at least I stood up for myself. Not that it did me much good.”
Silence hung in the air for a moment as Patty’s eyes teared up.
“Actually, it sounds like it did more good than you realize,” Mario observed, summing it up perfectly.
After Maryann’s revelations, the talk turned more mundane, which was a bit of a relief. So much had happened in the past two days, it was nice to just have a meal with the family—and her new mate—and laugh with them, things almost back to normal.
Aunt Suzy dragged out every embarrassing story from Patty’s youth to tell her new mate, but Patty really didn’t mind. She liked to hear Mario’s laughter and didn’t mind laughing at herself.
Hours later, after the kitchen had been put to rights and Mrs. Snufflepuff chose with obvious reluctance to follow Maryann back to her room, Mario and Patty went into the master bedroom, which was Patty’s. Patty’s and Mario’s now.
Patty squeaked when Mario lifted her right off her feet before carrying her into the room.
“What are you doing?”
“Carrying my bride across the threshold,” he replied with a purr as he leaned into kiss her.
He lowered her to her feet as his cell phone started to vibrate and shot her an apologetic look. Checking the number, he immediately connected the call. A rapid-fire conversation followed in a language Maryann didn’t recognize. It wasn’t Spanish, but what was it? He ended the call before she could even try to figure it out.
“That was Seth. They’ve been debriefing the two hitmen.” Mario’s lips were set in a grim line that had her worried. “There’s a problem. There was a failsafe.”
“A failsafe?” she repeated, not understanding, but fearing the worst.
“Another hitman. Here. As a backup. Once it’s clear the first two didn’t succeed—which it must be by now—the third guy will go active and with orders to take out Greg and Maryann. Greg’s back in jail waiting for Ty’s judgement, so he’ll be harder to get to.”
“Which leaves Maryann.” Patty was already moving out of the room, heading down the hall.
Patty knocked before entering her sister’s room, but didn’t wait more than a millisecond between the knock and opening the door. The window on the far side of the bedroom was open, curtains fluttering in the breeze. And they were torn.
The bed was a mess, as if a small, silent struggle had taken place and Mrs. Snufflepuff was curled up in a ball, every hair on end, clearly traumatized in one corner. The moment she saw Mario, she launched herself at him, climbing up his pants and into his arms at record speed while Patty raced to the window.
“No sign of them,” she reported, some of her cop training coming to her rescue when all she really wanted to do was scream the house down. She turned to Mario. “He’s got Maryann.”
“Probably took her to show him where they hid the drugs.”
“Which means they’ll go back to the house on Waverly Place,” she reasoned, glad he was there to help her think when her wild soul wanted to go on a rampage. She moved past him, out the door of the bedroom and into the hall. “Aunt Suzy!”
She shouted and her aunt came running. The minute the night air came down the hall, it brought the scents from Maryann’s room with it. Aunt Suzy frowned.
“What is that smell?” she asked.
“Hyena.” Patty remembered it well from the purge of Boyne Falls. The hyenas were gone now, but once scented, one never forgot their stench.
“What? How?” Aunt Suzy, bless her, was a strong bear, but had never been a fighter.
Mario had been cuddling Mrs. Snufflepuff, calming her down, but he handed her off to Aunt Suzy as he went past her in the hallway, already headed for the front door. Patty was right behind him.
“A hyena hit man has taken Maryann. They’re probably headed back to the house on Waverly to get the drugs. Go to the police station and stay there. They’ll keep you safe. Do it now. We can’t wait, and I want to be sure you’re okay. Take your phone and call me when you’re secure.”
Thankfully, Aunt Suzy hadn’t put on her pajamas yet so she just grabbed her purse and headed out the door right after them. Mrs. Snufflepuff didn’t complain. She just clung to Aunt Suzy as if her life depended on it.
Chapter Fourteen
Mario and Patty raced out to Waverly Place. He was cursing himself for not thinking two steps ahead. He didn’t know Lopez well and hadn’t realized the man was much more thorough than Mario had given him credit for.
A backup. Mario wanted to spit. How could he have let his guard down so quickly?
If Maryann came to harm, it would be Mario’s fault. He should have thought about this possibility. Apparently once you retired from the action, it didn’t take long to become febble-minded. Mario wanted to bite something. Hard. And not in a good way.
“Tell me about these hyenas,” he asked as he drove, needing to know what his mate knew about the shifter that took her sister.
“There used to be a hyena pack over in Boyne Falls, but Ty ordered a purge a few years back. Now the territory is jointly held by us and the neighboring wolf pack.” Her voice was calm, but he knew she was shaking with rage and recrimination inside. He drove as fast as he could.
“A purge is a serious thing,” he observed. Ordering every shifter of a particular group out of an area on pain of death wasn’t something that was done lightly, or often.
“It was. But they deserved it. They did some pretty heinous things and hyenas have no conscience. Most of them are just awful.” She made a face that Mario recognized. It spoke of bad memories of past battles. “But you smelled what I did in Maryann’s room. Male. Hyena. Her fear. His dominance.” She shook her head. “Maryann was doing so well. She probably could have stood up to a human. She would have at least made a noise to alert us. But a dominant shifter is still beyond her capabilities. Poor kid.”
Patty had already called the Itan, first thing. If there was a hyena involved, this was a clan matter. Ty had told her he would mobilize the troops, such as they were, and would meet them out at the house on Waverly. As soon as she’d hung up with the Itan, her aunt had called to report that she was safely ensconced at the police station, making coffee for everyone.
Still, it looked like Mario and Patty would be the first on the scene. They would have backup eventually, but they’d have to handle things on their own for a bit before the others could get there. That was fine with Mario. He had a bone to break with the hyena scum that had abducted Maryann.
Then, he’d spend the rest of his life making up his error to his mate.
“I hear you over there, blaming yourself, you know.” Patty’s voice came to him in the darkness of the cab of his pickup truck. “You’re not the only one who should’ve thought about the possibility of a Plan B.”
Mario was floored. Then he thought about his reaction. His mate was a very dominant bear and a trained police officer. But he was the one with all the international experience. He would not allow his mate to take on any guilt for this.
“No, querida. This is my mistake. My guilt. I should have known better and I will never forgive myself if something happens to your sister.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “There’s plenty of blame to go around. You don’t get to take all of it.” Her words comforted him, even though her expression was tight.
She took off her cardigan, tossing it to the floorboards, and he realized she was preparing—loosening her clothing in case she had to shift on the fly. Turning into a bear was a little different than a cat, so she prepared in slightly different ways. He was already set. If he had to go jaguar, he wouldn’t be hindered by his clothing. They were both still armed and ready. The hyena bastard wouldn’t know what hit him.
Mario parked his pickup some distance away and they approached the house on foot. They were dealing with a shifter this time, so they had to be as stealthy as possible. But the shifter they were after wasn’t trying to be quiet. They heard the man shout
ing at Maryann long before they made their way into the backyard of the house next to Mario’s, hopping the fence as they had many times now, over the past two days.
Mario took point and was pleased at how well Patty followed his lead. It was almost like having one of his old teammates with him, except that Patty had a little less experience at covert ops. Still, he could tell she’d trained for this kind of thing and her bear was helping her be as silent as he could have hoped for.
He signaled that he’d take the high ground—a natural for his cat—while she covered the lower floor. They were going to have to infiltrate the house. It was pretty clear Maryann and her captor were up in the attic of the old Victorian. It was a finished space, with an old bedroom up there, now filled with junk.
Smart place to stash the drugs, if that’s where they were. Maryann sure sounded as if they were hidden up there. He could hear her pleading with the hyena shifter, telling him the drugs were close, but she had to remember where exactly Greg had put them. She was doing a credible job of sounding hysterical when they heard the resounding echo of a slap.
That hyena bastard had just hit Maryann. He’d die for that.
Mario silently scaled the drain pipe, landing on the roof in record time. From there, he would drop down to a window behind the hyena while Patty came up the stairs from below. Between them, the bastard would not escape.
Weapon hot, Mario clung to the tiny ledge just outside the topmost window. The lock was old and not even thrown. He could either try to ease the window up quietly or just crash through. He decided on the second method when he heard Maryann scream from behind a pile of junk. He could just make out the head of her captor over the piles of furniture and assorted goods.
The hoarders’ paradise could both help and hurt his assault. He had to move fast and strike before the other man could figure out what was happening. Now, if only the piles of junk would cooperate.
“Don’t kill me!” Maryann wailed and Mario had no choice.
