*Okay.*
They laid about in the sun as other cats and wolves joined them. Brenton in lion form didn’t scare her like he did in human form. She was a cheetah and she could run. He still stayed a safe distance from her and she watched him in all his magnificent glory. He was a gorgeous, regal beast. Massive, and his posture spoke of power that could destroy all of them if they tried to take him down. Zachary was right behind him, pure white with black stripes in the sun, the white was nearly shining. Andrew came the closest, rubbing against her for a moment before leaping on Gabe to get him playing. Troy joined in seconds after, and there was suddenly a pile of cats in a tussle.
She left as they all played, unwilling to be that happy with them. Not right now.
She had work to do.
BRENTON
Brenton watched the slim form of Riley’s cheetah retreat from view. They were pushing her out by ignoring her pleas to join in on the US SSTF investigation. She wanted in so badly and none of them wanted her to be exposed to how big the problem really was.
It was a nightmare. The SSTF called in people from all over the country. Within twenty-four hours they had found not just the compound that they had been held in but four more. All with the same purpose, capture and sell. For males, it was the same story everywhere but for females, it varied. Collared and sold, sent to different counties to work live in zoos, or just as personal slaves.
He didn’t want her to see it. He also didn’t want her to know that they had no idea what shifter hurt her. He didn’t want to see her spiral out of control in the way that felines could when they didn’t get the answers they needed.
Gabe was fraught over something. He’d been weird all morning, antsy and withdrawn. Troy had made it clear that Gabe was his problem until he asked Brenton for help. Brenton had accepted that, knowing the brothers had to try on their own. Brenton needed to trust the brothers to work on it.
*Brenton.* Thomas looked at at him and Brenton nodded his massive head, indicating that Thomas could continue. *Why isn’t she involved?*
*Because she’s already been too involved.* Zachary growled.
*I didn’t ask you, tiger.* Thomas kept his tone light, but the message was clear. This was an Alpha to Alpha conversation and it would be respected as such.
*He’s right.* Brenton grumbled, rolling to his side. *And she doesn’t need what we’ve been hearing to be on her soul.*
*None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for her.* Thomas reminded them for probably the tenth time. The wolf was starting to piss Brenton off, but he was right, too. And he was a fucking good guy and becoming a good friend. He hoped Thomas and the other two wolves stayed close, stayed allies in the years to come.
*Yeah, so she deserves her rest and if she won’t take it, I’m going to force her to.* Brenton pawed the cougar near him. Andrew hissed and swatted back, moving to let Brenton roll around and scratch his back.
*She’s getting pretty angry about it.* Thomas growled softly. *Don’t you think it’s her choice to be involved or not?*
*I think I’m her Alpha and she’s fucking scared of me. I don’t need her getting too terrified to leave the house from seeing what’s out there.*
*I think she knows quite well what’s out there, Brenton. Now you’re just holding her back.* Thomas stood, and his wolves followed him. *And she’s going to hold it against you, even if you’re doing it out of love.*
There was nothing more to say on the topic. He had to do this, had to save her from more pain. He wouldn’t be the man who continued to scar her after she’d survived so much.
It didn’t matter if Thomas was right or not.
RILEY
Four days later, Gabe and Troy knocked on her door. Riley hoped they wouldn’t be there to tell her that they knew she was stealing the laptop every night. She really needed them not to know.
She was checking for movement from Abel every night, hoping he came close to Denver or Wild Junction. Hell, anywhere in Colorado and he was done for. She learned just the night before that he’d bought a house in Colorado while he was in Denver, the same week that the pride had thrown the party. He bought it through a company his father owned, writing it off as a ‘summer home’ for company employees. It was an hour outside of Denver, and if he went there, she would be ready.
She already knew exactly what she would do.
But first, the brothers had something to talk to her about.
“What’s going on?” She smiled at them and Troy grinned back. Gabe tried but completely failed. The black leopard was freaking out, probably because she had the USB with the videos and not him. Oh, she was sure of the fact that he knew the USB had her on it. She didn’t think he’d watched it yet. and she couldn’t blame him for it. She was actually happy that she got ahold of it before he could gather the courage to look at it.
“Come with us, to the garage.” Troy grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She laughed, following, Gabe trailing behind them both.
She knew what this was. They had been so close to done when everything happened. This was her bike and she had to muster up genuine enthusiasm. She had so much other stuff on her mind that her finished bike that was nothing but an afterthought.
Troy motioned for Gabe to pull the cover off and he did so with a small flourish.
Her hand went over her mouth as she looked at it. It was lightening. It was like Troy took the essence of her speed and put it in the paint. She touched it gently, running her fingers over the paint job.
Eventually, she threw her leg over it and sat comfortably. She had been taught on one of these after Zachary took her to every single dealership he could to find the bike she felt most comfortable on. It had been this model. The dealer thought she was mad for wanting this much power, but she knew she could handle it. Zachary bought a base model for her to learn on. Then the leopard brothers bought another, higher-end version with more neat electronics to give her a custom bike.
“Can I go for a ride?” She looked to them and they looked at each other. “By myself? You know I’ll be careful.”
Zachary stood behind the brothers at the garage door and he nodded. She threw her helmet on. She should have changed into her riding gear but at that moment, she didn’t care. This was going to be exhilarating.
“Take an hour, enjoy it,” he called out, opening the garage door. She started it and, before she left the driveway, she was at fifty. By the end of road, she was at one hundred. The speed didn’t scare her. She was used to the speed, she loved the speed. It was a part of her in a way nothing else could be.
She only took forty-five minutes with the bike before deciding to head home. It had been an exhilarating forty-five minutes and she couldn’t wait to get with the guys and do a ride. It would be fantastic not to be riding bitch anymore for someone. Not that it wasn’t awesome to be curled around one of the guys that way but… the freedom wasn’t there like it was when she rode her own bike.
She stepped inside and didn’t close the garage door since they had left it open. It got stuffy and stale in there on occasion, so they aired it out when they could. As she got to the stairs, she heard talking from Brenton’s office.
“Over half my board didn’t show for the meeting,” Brenton growled. “Over fucking half. That’s never happened before. You would think that everyone would like to see their fucking CEO after he and his fucking family went missing for a few days and our vehicles were found busted to hell on the highway!”
“Yeah,” Zachary was just as pissed. “That’s pretty fucked. Any idea why?”
“None. I have no fucking clue why they would disrespect me like this.”
“It’s enough to vote you out,” Zachary snarled. “Of course, it’s not a good number.”
“Don’t tell the guys or Riley. They don’t need to worry about this,” Brenton said. “Stupid mother fucking humans.”
Riley felt the click of another missing piece. Abel was talking to the board members. Abel was buying a house in Denv
er. The board members didn’t show up to a meeting with their missing CEO. Abel had known about the pride’s hunter problems…
She would need to wait until nightfall before she could see if he was in town for this.
“This was an emergency meeting, wasn’t it?” Zachary asked.
“Yeah and tomorrow I’ve got to drive back and hope they all show up for the fucking regular one. I need to figure out if they’re planning anything and what that is.”
Riley walked away, heading back to her room. She got in, locked the door and went to her file bag, tucked away in her canvas rack. It was the best place to hide it since the pride wouldn’t go through her paintings until she was ready to show them. They didn’t want to mess up her work by accidentally touching wet paint.
She had two packets in the back, each with a copy of the USB. The original sat in her gun safe for which only she knew the code now. She had reset it so that not even Brenton knew the code. One packet for the pride and one packet for another party. Once she knew where Abel was, she could set it into motion.
She ate dinner in peace, not bothering to ask how the US SSTF investigation was going. They seemed happy she was willing to let that go, but they also didn’t know what she was doing on her own. Her investigation would yield much better results.
At the thought of Abel, metal and leather entered her mouth like it did every time. She was still a bit scared of being alone with Brenton, and she wasn’t fooling around with any of them at the moment. They treated her like she was fragile, and she was using that. She needed every weapon they would give her to make this work, even if they didn’t realize they gave her it.
After the movie following dinner, Riley watched them all go to bed, telling them she wanted to chill in the den for a little while to get out of her room. Truth. She sat for an hour, then she walked calmly to the security room. No one was there, perfect. They had said they were going to bed, but she had to be certain.
She quickly opened the laptop and checked to see if Abel had moved from New York.
He had flown into Denver that morning. Perfect. It was time. She deleted that and left, heading to her room.
She dressed in all black, her leather riding gear. She grabbed the bag with what she needed. She took her gun from her safe. She dropped the first packet, the one for her pride, on the kitchen’s bar. It was right where they would find it, the first thing they saw when they came looking for her.
She moved into the garage and grinned at her bike. She had planned on taking Gabe’s or Troy’s, but now that hers was done…
The garage door was still open, still airing out the room. No one would ever steal from them, so why not? She threw an empty gas can into her bag with the other packet, she would need it.
She rolled the motorcycle out, not willing to risk the noise. She didn’t start it up until she was on the road. She didn’t look back to the house.
It was time and she couldn’t make any mistakes.
RILEY
At a hundred and fifty miles an hour, Riley flew into Denver in only an hour. She made one stop in the city, and it was an important one.
The US SSTF Denver Headquarters was fairly well-hidden, but not the hardest thing to find either. Brenton had made the mistake of leaving both the address and the phone numbers to several contacts working there for her to easily find. She had access to his office for her own work with the diner and her gallery. She just took pictures of the things she needed when he wasn’t in the room.
She stopped her bike on the sidewalk, pushed inside the building and dropped the packet on the front desk, where no one was sitting at the moment. She threw another stack of papers over it, appointment lists and such. She would have to tell them where she put it later.
She walked back out, confident in what she was about to do. She got back on her bike and screamed off before anyone could even think to ask her what she was doing.
Another hour and she would be at Abel’s new precious Colorado home. Her fury was a raging fire now, and she would give it what it needed.
Only one more stop and then it would be the final act of this dance. For over a month, Brenton had the pride playing defensively. She was about to change their tactics whether he was okay with it or not.
A gas station off her exit was exactly what she needed. She paid in cash, filling the gas can up. It would have to be enough. She also filled the tank on her bike, having run it low.
Her last stop was Abel’s home. She hoped he wasn’t there yet. She hoped he was out partying with the board members he thought were on his side. They wouldn’t be after tonight.
She pulled into the driveway and didn’t just see one car in the driveway, she saw several.
“So, they are partying here…” Riley growled, grinning. She felt her anger turn mean and dangerous. This was going to be so much more entertaining. And they would all get the fucking message.
No one fucked with the Kingson Pride. Whether that was out of fear of Brenton or anything else, it didn’t matter. Tonight, she was the one sending the message.
She parked a little way out and made a phone call.
“Special Agent Corban, may I ask who’s calling?”
“This is Riley Stern. I’m a member of the Kingson Pride.”
“Ah and why is the Kingson Pride calling so late? We promised to keep them updated on every compound we found and the future of the investigation.” The man sounded very worried.
“I am not calling for the pride. I’m calling for something a little more personal. I left a packet of information on your front desk at the Denver Headquarters. You should look through it immediately. You’ll find that I figured out the shifter who was at the compound that my pride was held in. You know, the one who wanted to buy me and my pride for his own sick purposes. I’ll meet you at dawn at the Kingson Estate if you wish to talk about anything; but I won’t be available for the rest of the night, so don’t try calling me back.” She kept it professional and fast, not giving the agent time to respond at all.
She hung up on the man’s stuttering and walked towards the home. She pulled out the full gas can and slowly poured it around the perimeter of the house, right beside the walls in the grass.
This shit didn’t even have outdoor security, yet. His mistake. At a couple windows in the front, she could hear the party.
“Finally, getting out from under Brenton’s boot! Cheers!” A man laughed.
“We tried to tell him that he needed to improve his image, but he told us to fuck off. So, he can fuck right off. Kingson, Inc doesn’t need a Kingson CEO. We’ll rebrand.”
She wanted to laugh. They won’t be foolish like this a second time. She sent a quick group text message to her pride.
Riley: I’m fixing a problem tonight, be back by dawn, see file on bar in kitchen. <3 We’ll talk when I get home. Turning phone on silent.
After this night, the board members would be more worried about burning than ever betraying anyone again. She stood at the front door, struck a match, and lit the gasoline on both sides of her. The yard caught on fire first, then the bushes and even a tree that was too close to the house. Vines up the side of the building were also on fire within a minute.
She stepped back, grinning. Oh yeah, her fury burned just like this. She pulled her bike closer and sat on it while she waited. None of them would die. They would all make it out if they paid attention to the growing fire outside.
It took five minutes for them to begin running out. She pulled out her Glock 17 and waited. They didn’t notice her, freaking out over the fire. Abel was coughing as he stumbled out last.
“Abel Cartona, I hope you enjoy this as much as I will,” she called to him, causing all of them to turn around.
He was pale as he turned to stare at her. She had thrown his words back at him, telling him that she knew exactly who was in that room with her in the hunter’s compound. She caught his scent on the wind and enjoyed the fear in it.
“But I’ll get back to you in a minute,
Abel. I need to address the board members of Kingson, Inc. You betrayed Brenton for a monster. Right now, law enforcement is viewing videos of him molesting a woman in a hunter’s compound who was strapped to a bed and muzzled so she couldn’t cry out. You will go to the meeting tomorrow and resign, or I will let Brenton take you off the board the hard way. Brenton is reading all about you guys right now so don’t think you can show up tomorrow and pretend you weren’t here. You all can go now. Abel, you stay right where you are.”
The board members took off. They were a bunch of old men faced with a woman who wasn’t afraid to threaten their lives. Perfect. She hadn’t expected them to be here tonight. She had hoped that when Abel was arrested, they would have gotten the message, but this worked too. This actually worked even better.
“Riley Stern…” Abel whispered. “Please don’t kill me.”
“No, Abel. I couldn’t even beg you to stop, so you don’t get to beg me,” she growled. Cars were leaving, and she was being left with an open driveway to leave in. She would be able to get away fast. Abel was terrified by whatever expression she had on her face. “Then you told them that they could hunt me, so here’s what's about happen. I was given five minutes by the hunters to make enough distance for them to have a more fun game. I called the US SSTF right before I set your house on fire. I am giving you this warning, so you have even more time than the hunters gave me.”
“I’ll do anything, Riley!” Abel was desperate. He didn’t have the skills or the resources to escape the SSTF, she knew that. No lawyer in the world could fight what he was going down for, and no shifter of any species would let a lawyer even consider trying. “I have money, please!”
“You can tell me if you gave the hunters the pride’s information. If you didn’t, you can tell me who did.” She smiled. “Sorry, but fifteen million isn’t going to buy me off, Abel. You might have been able to buy me for it, but that much money won’t save you now. No amount of money will anymore.”
Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2) Page 27
