by Lucy Leroux
Nina put the final box in her former vehicle’s trunk. “Is that the last one?” Jesse asked.
She nodded, her body relaxing. It felt as if a great weight had been taken off her shoulders.
That’s got to be a good sign. A lot had changed in a few days. Edward Lawrence was wanted for questioning by the SEC. At this point, it was still a preliminary inquiry, but Dmitri assured her his trap was working. Fortunately for Kate, Matt had gone in another career direction as his father so there was little chance of this spilling over onto him.
They were scheduled to fly out to Portland tomorrow morning. It was a first-class flight, the better to accommodate Dmitri’s height. Although being crammed in next to him in coach would be fine with her.
“Yes. Finally,” she said, expelling a loud breath. “Who knew I had so much stuff around here?”
She’d worked here for years, but hospitals weren’t places that encouraged people to make themselves at home. Clearing out her office had taken much longer than she’d planned, which was why Jesse had offered to drive her to the hotel. Nina had sold her economical hybrid to him at a substantial discount. Their new house in Oregon wouldn’t be deep in the woods, but there was enough rain in that part of the world to make four-wheel drive with higher ground clearance a good idea.
“Thanks for giving me a ride,” Nina told Jesse, climbing inside. It was a little strange to sit on the passenger seat instead of behind the wheel, but it made sense for Jesse to drive so he could get used to the vehicle.
“It’s no problem,” he said, pulling out of the lot. “I’m glad I get to spend a little time with you before you fly away tomorrow. I am going to miss you, girl.”
“I’m going to miss you, too. And tell your mom I’m sorry I didn’t stop to see her before we left. Things just got too crazy.”
“You can say that again,” Jesse muttered. “She’s sorry she didn’t get to see you either. She’s been feeling a little run down lately, else she would have come to the going-away shindig. You know it killed her to miss all the action.”
Nina patted his arm. “It was a little too much action. I hope she feels better soon. I love your mom.”
He nodded. “I know. Everyone does… Hey, do you want to drop by and see her real quick? It’s on the way.”
The city sped by the window. Nina was going to miss Boston, but she was looking forward to Portland. “Sure, but I can’t stay too long. Dmitri said he had something special planned for our last night.”
Jesse turned the wheel. “Just a quickie then. No problem.” He turned up the radio, humming along to the latest pop tune instead of belting it out the way he normally did.
Nina leaned back, tired from packing. Her mind turned off for a long while. She didn’t notice the thinning buildings until they were far out of the city center.
“This isn’t where your mom lives, is it?” The view out the windows was more industrial than suburban.
Jesse swallowed. “Did I forget to tell you she moved? The rent is almost nothing out here, and she needs every penny these days.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, but she was starting to get unnerved. There was something in his tone. It was low and flat, not at all like the lighthearted singsong that usually characterized him. He kept his eyes on the road, never glancing at her once.
She waited for him to crack a joke or turn around, but he ignored her. A tear welled up and slid down his cheek.
“We aren’t going to your mom’s place, are we?”
“No.”
This was bad. Jesse was one of her best friends. They told each other everything. He was one of the most talkative people she knew. The fact he was monosyllabic alarmed her like nothing else.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
He took a deep breath. “You’re going to be fine,” he promised. “I just need to keep you here for a little while. It’ll be over soon.”
Tears started running down his cheeks. He didn’t say anything else.
Nina fought to stay calm. Jesse meant what he said. Wherever they were going, he believed she wasn’t going to be hurt. Please let it be true.
A short while later, they pulled into a parking lot. There was a nondescript concrete building at one end. It looked like an abandoned warehouse, save for the large men in dark jackets sweeping the outside in a regular rotation.
“Is Edward in the building?” she asked. Jesse didn’t answer.
He must be. Why else would there be so many hired guns out here?
“Can I borrow your phone?” Jesse asked, wiping his cheek with his cuff.
“Why?”
He shrugged. Nina handed it over, her eye on the nearest guard. This one was less sleek than the one who’d broken into her parent’s house. He was shorter and nowhere near as muscular. There was a distinct paunch spilling over his dirty jeans. The others were of similar caliber.
“Dmitri should be here soon,” Jesse said, handing back her phone. “As soon as he gives Edward the ruby, you can both go home.”
Nina thought about running, but there were too many guards. She’d never find help in this isolated neighborhood. More than likely, she would get a bullet in the head for her trouble.
Jesse urged her out of the car, past the low-rent guards, and into the building.
Edward was waiting at the other end of the large square room. He was seated on a folding chair, talking on the phone, flanked by two armed guards wearing identical smug expressions. One of them leered at her.
Edward waved at Jesse dismissively, indicating the buckets and overturned crates near the entrance. Jesse led her to them, taking a seat.
Nina was incensed. “That fucker isn’t even going to talk to me?”
She should have been pleased not to have to deal directly with the man, but somehow this was more of an insult.
“Hey, asshole,” she yelled. “Dmitri is going to remove your head from your body—he’s going to use it as a soccer ball!”
She finished by flipping him off, sitting down with a loud humph.
She couldn’t make out every detail, but Nina was fairly certain Edward’s lip curled. Other than that, he didn’t react.
“Nina. Don’t make him angry,” Jesse hissed.
After a minute, her blood stopped boiling and she was able to think clearly. How had Jesse gotten mixed up in all of this? Her mind cast back, racing over all the details of the last few weeks. Of course.
“Your mom is sick, isn’t she?”
Jesse hiccupped, stifling a sob. “It’s cancer.”
It was all the explanation she needed. “How did you find out about the collar?”
His mouth twisted in disbelief. “Dmitri told you?”
“Of course he did.”
“Oh.” Jesse’s narrow shoulders slumped.
“Did Edward promise you could use the collar to save your mom?”
He sniffed and nodded. “It was just a crazy story at first, but he got desperate after his wife got sick.”
“But you heard of it before?” she asked, puzzled. Wait. “Were you the one Edward recruited to use the collar at the hospital? Was Dmitri right about that?”
“I’m so sorry. If it makes any difference, I thought he was insane at first. A necklace that saves lives? It was obviously made up, but he believed it. He offered me a lot of money.” He buried his face in his hands. “Those cancer meds are so expensive…”
“I know.” The price of those life-saving drugs in the US was astronomical.
“I didn’t think of it as betraying you because I didn’t think it would work. And then he sent me to work at Wilcox’s penthouse.”
Nina started. “What? When? He didn’t even have the collar in the beginning. His people stole it after murdering the winner of the auction.”
“I didn’t know about that. But Edward knew Wilcox was sick. He figured he won the auction because he was the most desperate. But Wilcox hadn’t won. He had to steal it. I was still doing shifts there for extra cash w
hen his men brought it to the penthouse.”
Nina shuddered. “Damn it, Jesse! It could have been you that got soul-sucked and not that other nurse.”
“I know.” He sighed. “But at the time, I still thought it was a fake…right up until it got stolen from them. After it was gone, the guards couldn’t stop talking about it. One of them let me see the security footage.”
Nina’s eyes closed. “You were the one who told Edward about the swapped stone. You realized the ruby had been switched because you’d seen the collar.”
He shook his head. “Honestly, I hadn’t gotten close to it, but I did see Wilcox. He’s so active and looks thirty years younger. After he couldn’t make it work, Edward guessed it had been sabotaged. He realized the setting around the ruby in the middle had been messed with.”
Shit. Dmitri told her he’d done the work himself instead of going to a jeweler. The less people who saw the vile thing the better, he’d said.
Jesse grabbed her arm desperately. “I promise you that I won’t let Edward use innocent people. We’re going to sacrifice criminals—people the world is better off without.” He leaned in closer. “I think he’s going to use one of these guards. They’re all thugs and killers.”
Nina was still reeling. “Does Matt know about any of this?”
“No. Doc McWhiney still thinks he’s the shit, despite everything. Edward doesn’t want him to know he planned on giving him a leg up. I don’t think he’s going to have me use it at the hospital anymore anyway. He’s just focusing on his wife—I would never have guessed he liked her that much! I figured he’d bail on her. Get a younger model like all those other old-money types.”
Nina huffed. “Love makes you do crazy things.”
He wiped his tears again. “Everything is going to be fine as soon as Dmitri gets here. You’ll go off to Portland together and live happily ever after.”
Poor deluded Jesse. “Edward is never going to let me leave this room alive. I know too much.”
“No! He thinks you don’t know about any of this. He thinks Dmitri is the only one who knows the collar works, and that he won’t tell you anything. I mean, it’s magic and you’re a scientist at heart. He thinks if Dmitri told you about the collar, it would only drive you away.”
Nina couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh or cry. Believing in a life-force-swapping necklace had been easier than accepting her man was a werewolf.
She still had a million questions. “How long has your mom been ill?”
Nina thought they were best friends, but she’d clearly misjudged how close they were if he hadn’t said anything.
“I—”
“Hey.”
Nina glanced up. Edward had just noticed they were talking. “Enough conversation.” He gestured for one of the guards to cross the room and stand next to them. Despite the hulking brute’s presence, she flipped him off again, just to annoy him.
Jesse made a teary choking sound. “Please stop that.”
“Fine.” It probably wasn’t very smart. If she got hurt, Dmitri would absolutely start killing people. Nina peeked at the muscle guarding them out of the corner of her eye. He hadn’t reacted. If anything, he seemed amused.
She relaxed, but decided to keep her lips shut until Dmitri arrived. Knowing him, it wouldn’t be long.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The hired muscle was going to be a problem.
Dmitri was on four paws at the lot next door, watching the warehouse where he’d been ordered to bring the ruby.
He’d received the ransom text from Nina’s phone less than an hour ago. He’d been holed up at the Caislean on the phone with one of his sources, trying to track Lawrence in whatever tax-shelter shithole he’d fled to.
The bastard hadn’t even left town. Dmitri had fallen for the oldest trick in the book, and Nina was in that warehouse paying the price.
Stop panicking. Edward is too smart to hurt her. If he did, then there wasn’t a hole he could hide where Dmitri wouldn’t find him. On some level, Lawrence had to know that. He hoped…
Not that it was going to get that far. The fact the man hadn’t decamped was proof he wasn’t willing to give up his power and position over this. When this was over, he was expecting to resume his place of power among Boston’s elite. If anyone noticed his absence, he’d brush it off as an unexpected business trip. Maybe he’d heard about the SEC investigation, and this was his reaction.
Whatever had spurred this foolhardy move—it was a mistake. Lawrence was out in the open. He wouldn’t get away this time.
The men Lawrence had hired were local, just a step above amateur. There were four guards out in the lot, two were patrolling in front of the building entrance and two more were hidden out of sight in a beat-up van parked near the door. No doubt they were meant to surprise him the moment he arrived.
Seriously? Even if he couldn’t smell them, he would have known they were there from the way the other men would glance over at the van periodically.
He’d come empty-handed, leaving all his guns and knives behind in the car. The last thing he wanted was to precipitate a firefight.
Dmitri raised his head, tracking the second man patrolling the exterior. He was going to be the first one Dmitri took out—he was too twitchy and keyed up, almost as if he could feel the silent menace stalking him. That man would be the first to pull the trigger.
When his chosen victim turned the corner, Dmitri padded after him, a ghost stalking him like a shadow.
He kept low to the ground, but it was almost unnecessary. The discarded trash in the next lot, piles of old carpet rolled up and discarded furniture, provided more than adequate cover. He skirted around a broken washing machine, coming up on his mark’s right to avoid casting a shadow. Then he struck.
His attack was swift and soundless. He crossed the distance to the guard in two bounds, leaping and hitting him with all his bulk. The man toppled over under the unexpected weight, hitting his head on the cracked pavement twice before he could scream. Dmitri raised his muzzle once he was safely unconscious.
The body in the back lot served as an adequate lure for the second. Dmitri was on the second guard’s back before he could sound the alarm—he was depending on the men in the van to do that part for him.
Once the coast was clear outside, he shifted back to human just behind the trash line. The van was old with high tinted windows. He used the ancient and heavy washing machine, hefting it and throwing it at the door. Buck naked, he streaked to the other side, punching the lock on the driver side door hard enough to bend the metal in an attempt to jam the lock. With luck, they’d have to push the washing machine away on the other side to get out.
The van window exploded, and he felt a burn on his shoulder. Fuck. The men inside had reacted faster than he thought. He threw himself down, then rolled to reach the cover of the side of the building before rounding it at a dead run.
He didn’t enter through the back door. Instead, he scaled the wall freehand to the second-floor window, hurling through it and shifting into a wolf simultaneously.
Dmitri assessed everything with a sniff—Edward was nearest him, with the guard in between him and Nina. Sitting next to her was Nurse Jesse.
The second Nina saw him, she grabbed her friend and pulled him after her. They huddled in the corner as Dmitri chased down the armed guard. Despite a softness around the middle, this was the most dangerous of the hired muscle.
He could always tell a killer at a glance.
Dmitri ignored the startled Edward, leaping after the gun for hire. The man had turned at the sound of broken glass, his eyes widening in horror as his mind registered the two hundred-plus pound nightmare flying straight for his throat.
He clamped down, making sure the man’s head would take the brunt of the impact like with the others before shifting again. As soon as he had an arm in which to do it, Dmitri disarmed the man, slamming the other’s arm onto the ground and prying the gun out of his grip. When the man grunted and
struggled to get up, Dmitri cold-cocked him with the gun. His opponent slumped unconscious as the other two came in.
There was a reason this pair had been stuffed in the van. The second gun, an overweight and sweaty number, tripped over the first, narrowly missing shooting his cohort in the head as he fired wildly in Dmitri’s general direction.
His return fire was rapid and calculated. He went for the extremities, the hands that held their weapons and their knees. If he shot them in the chest or gut, Nina might feel obligated to operate.
Dmitri managed to catch one man in the fist, blowing off his trigger finger. The other one, still unbalanced from nearly being knocked over by his buddy, dove for cover. Dmitri was faster, using his bulk to knock him into the wall. His head and shoulder cracked the plaster with the impact and he went down. A kick to the head made sure he didn’t get back up again.
He picked up the gun next to the guy whose finger he’d shot off. A punch and the fat man’s caterwauling abruptly ceased mid-wail.
“Stop!” Lawrence screamed.
Dmitri spun around to face his nemesis. Edward was pale and sweating—a change from the irritated but collected mien he’d worn when Dmitri first busted in. He was holding a gun, but he was obviously not familiar with how to use it given the awkward and shaky grip.
“I don’t know what the hell you are, but I want what you stole from me.”
Dmitri fingered the pouch around his neck. “Don’t you mean what I stole for you?”
Lawrence’s eyes went to the black leather. Dmitri snapped the thong that had secured the drawstring to his neck. “Can I ask you something? Why do you want this so bad? You can’t use it without creating a significant body count. What is the point of that when your son already has Nina’s job?”
“Just give it to me!” Spittle flew out of the corner of his mouth as he shrieked bloody murder.
He could feel Nina moving just behind him. “Dmitri, his wife is sick.”
“Stay back,” Dmitri growled, waving her away without turning around. In his business, it wasn’t smart to take eyes off the man with the gun.
