“Some sort of psychotic break,” Ethan said none too quietly, making sure his voice carried to the spectators. Tara could see them nodding in sympathy.
“I am not crazy,” Barry shouted. A paramedic promptly injected him with something, catching him as he slumped.
“Sedative,” the paramedic explained. “We’ll patch him up and then have a psychiatrist evaluate him.”
“Probably for the best,” Leo agreed. “The other one is more lucid, but there’s still the matter of the abduction. We’ll have to keep an officer on him at all times.”
Tara watched as the paramedics got Barry onto a stretcher and carried him away. She should probably feel guilty about setting him up as mentally ill. She should, but she really didn’t. It was Barry, after all. The man was a nightmare and it just wasn’t possible to feel sorry for him. Besides, what else could they do once he began to rant about their animals in front of human witnesses? Geoff, whose injuries were less severe, was led away by a police officer. No doubt he’d be taken to hospital before ending up in police custody.
Tara pushed away from Alex and went back to Sara. She was still sitting on the ground, huddled in a little ball, with Alex’s jacket around her. She’d waved off the paramedics and now sat alone, a little apart from everyone else.
“Hey,” Tara said quietly. “It’s over now.”
Her sister looked up at her and nodded. “Yeah, it’s over.”
Except…
“Alex!” Tara exclaimed, looking over her shoulder at her mate. “We forgot about the hitman.”
Chapter 19
Okay, in Alex’s defence, it had been one hell of a day. Still, a hitman trying to kill you was a detail that really shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially when the one person who could identify the hitman was currently unconscious and on his way to a secure facility.
He could see the moment that the same thought occurred to Ethan and Leo.
“Shit,” Ethan said, rubbing at his face.
“Yeah,” Leo agreed.
“Now what?” Tara demanded.
“Relax, sweetheart,” Alex said. “It’s possible that Geoff knows. Or that Ethan’s cousin has tracked down the hitman. We have other lines of investigation, and if they don’t work out, we’ll talk to Barry.” He was sure that they could find the hitman without Barry. All he had to do was survive until then. He looked around at the trees, wondering if a shot would come now. He mentally shrugged. If the assassin was here, he’d probably have taken a shot by now. He turned back to his mate. “It’ll be fine.”
Tara nodded but she didn’t look convinced. She looked back at her sister. “We should get Sara home.” She helped her sister to her feet, keeping an arm around her as they walked. In the car, Tara took the back seat alongside her sister, maintaining contact the whole trip home. Nobody spoke. Alex wasn’t sure what there was to say.
They arrived at Tara’s house and her sister went off to shower and change, leaving them alone.
“Alex…” Tara began.
He sighed. “I’m still annoyed at you.”
“At me?”
He fixed her with a serious look. “Yeah. You knew I wouldn’t like Leo’s crazy plan and you went ahead with it anyway. You put yourself in danger and I didn’t even know.”
Now it was her turn to sigh. “I did it for you.” She held up her hand when he would have interrupted. “I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t like you being in danger either. I did what I thought was for the best, but I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Worried me?” he asked. “You terrified me. I didn’t know where you were and I couldn’t reach you on the phone…”
“I put it on silent,” she admitted sheepishly.
“You do realize that they could just as easily have grabbed you today instead of Sara?” he asked her. He clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to grab her shoulders and shake her until she saw the error of her ways. His mother had taught him better than that, so he resisted, forcing himself to breathe slowly and count to ten.
Tara seemed to realize his struggle. She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. His bear subsided a little at having her close to him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Honestly. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted it all to be over. No more hitmen or Barry, just us.” As she spoke, she stroked his chest, calming his bear and getting him to relax. He shuddered a little and pulled her in closer.
“Well, we have Barry now,” Alex said, rubbing his cheek on the top of her head, breathing in her delicious scent. “Just the hitman to deal with and then we can get on with the rest of our lives.”
She lifted her head and smiled at him. “Promise you’ll be careful.”
“I promise,” he said, lowering his head to kiss her.
His phone rang and they both jumped. Chuckling ruefully, he pulled his phone out and looked at it.
“It’s work,” he said. Tara nodded. “Russell,” he barked into the phone.
“Boss,” Ethan said. “We have a situation.”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They decided Barry isn’t insane?”
“No, no,” Ethan answered. “As far as I know, he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. His brother, Geoff, is at the station and has confessed to his part in everything.”
“Could he give you the identity of the hitman?” Alex asked. Tara watched him, concern written all over her beautiful face.
“No, but it doesn’t matter anymore,” Ethan said. “That’s the situation I was calling about.”
“Doesn’t matter?” Alex repeated. It definitely mattered to him.
“Yeah,” Ethan said with a sigh. “We have the hitman.”
“They have the hitman,” Alex told Tara, watching her sag with relief. “What’s he saying?” he asked Ethan.
“Not much,” Ethan replied. “What with him being dead and all.”
“Dead?” Alex asked. He was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open, but he didn’t seem to have control of his jaw right now. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Ethan confirmed. “Kane identified him as the hitman in question and he is most definitely dead. He’s pretty… uh… damaged.”
“Damaged?” Yeah, he really had to stop just repeating everything that Ethan said. Sadly, his brain was struggling to keep up.
“He looked sort of… well… shredded…. and beaten. Looks like typical shifter on shifter violence. We managed to keep the human police unaware of it, so it shouldn’t be an issue.” He paused. “Odd thing is, the face was undamaged, almost as though the attacker wanted us to be able to identify him.”
Oh. Hell. No. She wouldn’t. Alex was aware of Ethan talking, but he didn’t hear any of it. He ended the call and stared helplessly at Tara.
“What?” she asked him, forehead scrunched in concern.
“The hitman is dead. He won’t be coming after me anymore,” he told her.
She smiled and stepped forward to hug him. She pulled back after a moment and frowned at him.
“Why do you not look happy?” she asked.
He looked at her. “Because I am not arresting my mother.”
***
“Stay calm,” Tara said for what seemed like the millionth time.
Alex grunted at her as he unlocked his front door and let them inside. The inside of the house was quiet. Tara hadn’t wanted to leave her sister, but Sara had insisted that she needed some time alone. Unwilling to leave Alex to deal with his mother by himself, she had reluctantly agreed.
“You don’t have any proof,” she tried again. “You can’t just march in here and accuse your own mother of murder.”
He grunted again as he stomped through the living room into the kitchen. “She’s not here.”
“That proves nothing,” she insisted. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe his mother was capable of killing someone, especially when that someone threatened her
precious son. She just didn’t want Alex to accuse her without evidence.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Alex stomped off, coming to a halt in the middle of the living room as the door opened and his mother walked in. She was dressed in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head.
“Oh, hello there,” she said, smiling at them. “I was just taking a nice, relaxing bath.”
“See,” Tara said, poking him in the ribs. “She was here, having a bath.”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t mean she was here the whole time.”
“Alex,” Tara said, exasperated. “Your mother didn’t do it.”
“What didn’t I do?” Anna asked.
“Kill the hitman after me,” Alex said bluntly.
“Alex!” Tara gaped at him.
“Oh, that,” Anna said, waving a hand in dismissal. “Of course I did that. Why do you think I needed that bath? It’s so hard to get blood out of your nails.” She bent her head to examine her hands. “Pretty sure I got it though.”
Alex sat down on the floor with a thump. “I’m going to have to arrest my own mother,” he muttered.
Tara gaped at the woman. Her mother by mating had just nonchalantly admitted to murder.
“Arrest me?” Anna asked. “Why on earth would you do that?”
Alex just stared at her. Tara looked between them. Nobody spoke.
The doorbell rang.
“Be a dear and get that, would you?” Anna said, looking at Tara.
Shrugging, she made her way to the door and opened it. Ethan stood there with another man. One she didn’t recognize. His light brown hair was scruffy and slightly long. Her nose informed her that he was a wolf shifter.
“Hey, Tara,” Ethan said. “This is my cousin, Kane. He’s with the Shifter Agency… even though he only just bothered to mention it.”
“I told you,” the other man said, rolling his eyes. “I was undercover. The whole point of that is that I don’t tell people.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ethan looked back at Tara. “Can we come in?”
She glanced back over her shoulder. “Um… I’m not sure that this is a good time.”
“It’s important,” Ethan said.
“Fine,” she said, stepping back to allow them inside.
Back in the living room, Alex was still sitting on the floor, staring in horror at his mother. Anna, meanwhile, had found an emery board from somewhere and was calmly filing her nails.
“Agent Russell,” Kane said, walking towards her.
“Agent?” Alex whispered in confusion.
“It’s an honour to meet you,” Kane continued. “Your service record is absolutely legendary.”
“Service record?” Alex sounded bewildered.
Kane turned to him. His eyes widened. “Ah, you didn’t know. Your mother is an agent.”
Tara stared at Alex’s mother, who simply shrugged.
“All those times you went away and left us with Auntie Sharon,” Alex said slowly. “You said you were visiting an old friend who was sick.”
“I was working,” Anna confirmed. “Once you kids were born, I wasn’t as active. I just took on a few smaller jobs in the area. Once or twice I had to go a bit further and leave you with my sister.”
“So…” Alex said thoughtfully, “I don’t have to arrest you?”
“Arrest her?” Kane asked. “Oh, no. Her actions were sanctioned.” He paused and looked at Anna. “It was a little messier than we expected, though.”
Anna shrugged. “I was irked.”
Tara and Alex exchanged a look. He snorted first. Then she did. Before long, they were both howling with laughter. Her stomach hurt and she held it as she giggled, tears running down her face.
“I don’t have to arrest my mother,” Alex chuckled.
“Anyway,” Kane interrupted. “I’m just here for your report, Mrs Russell.”
“It’s on the table,” she said, waving a hand in that direction. “If you don’t mind, I have to finish getting ready. It’s bingo night.”
“One of the finest agents we’ve ever had,” Kane said, watching her leave.
Ethan exchanged a bemused glance with Tara. “You’re all insane,” he said.
Probably.
Chapter 20
“My mother is an agent.”
“Will you stop saying that?” Tara demanded. She was starting to sound a little annoyed at him. Didn’t she understand how momentous this was?
“But I didn’t know,” he said. How could he not have known? He was supposed to be a detective, for crying out loud. Could they take his badge for this?
“We established that too.”
“I guess it does explain a lot,” he mused. It really did. It made much more sense than her being the ninja he’d always accused her of being.
“Do you think I should go home?” Tara asked, gnawing at her lip. “Maybe I should check on Sara.”
He reached up from where he still sat on the floor and tugged at her until she sat down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close, breathing in her scent.
“She wants to be alone,” he reminded her. “From what you’ve told me, she’s tough. She’ll be okay.”
“I’m not happy with her being alone, Alex.” She looked up at him.
“Then it’s fortunate that Dana is on her way over there with Fiona and Katie,” he said, smiling. “I wasn’t happy about her being alone either, but I knew she’d push you away and you’d try to be understanding and give her space.”
“Really? Dana, Fiona, and Katie are with her?”
“Yeah, Dana suggested it and I thought it was a good idea. You know what those three are like. Sara won’t push them away easily.”
Tara snorted. “I almost wish I was there to see her try.”
“Me too.” Alex grinned and then turned serious. “We’ll help your sister, Tara. All of us. It’ll just take time.”
“Or we could send your mother after the scumbag who did this to her,” Tara said, scowling.
“Tempting,” Alex agreed. “But then we go back to me possibly having to arrest my mother. I’m honestly not sure I can take her.” Actually he was starting to feel certain that he couldn’t.
“Good point.” Tara sighed and burrowed into him.
“I promise it’ll be okay,” he murmured into her hair. His hands stroked down her back, enjoying the feel of having his mate in his arms. Safe. Warm. Nibbling his neck? Wow, that was good. His bear had flipped over in his mind, legs in the air, eyes rolled back, and tongue hanging out. Totally shameless.
She bit down a little harder and he jumped.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” he asked.
She sighed. “If you have to ask then I’m obviously not doing it very well.”
“No, no,” he assured her. “You’re doing it extremely well. I just feel that I need to point out that my mother…”
“Ah there you both are,” his mother announced as she strode into the room. “Don’t mind me.”
“… is still here,” Alex finished.
“Now, you two have fun tonight,” his mother told them. “I imagine I’ll be out until quite late,” she added with a meaningful look.
She walked to the door and then paused, turning around. “Oh, before I forget. I called your brother and sister today.”
Was this it? Was she finally moving on to torment… er, visit… his siblings? He forced himself to answer with a casual, “Oh?”
“They should be here within the next few weeks,” his mother announced.
“That’s nice,” he answered automatically. Wait. What?
“Uh, why?” Tara asked, beating him to it. “Not that it won’t be nice to meet them, of course,” she added hastily.
“For the wedding,” his mother said, looking at the two of them as though they were a bit backward.
“What wedding?” Alex asked. He searched his memory, wondering who wa
s getting married.
“Why, yours, of course,” his mother said, shaking her head.
“But Ma…”
“Alex Theodore Russell,” Anna said disapprovingly. “You are not having my grandcubs out of wedlock. I raised you better than that. Even your no-good father put a ring on my finger before you were born.” She paused. “About two hours before you were born, but it still counts.”
Too much information. He resisted the urge to slap his hands over his ears. His inner bear didn’t.
“Ok, I’m off to bingo,” she told them, as she swept out the door. “You can get started on those grandcubs now.”
Finally, she was gone.
“Did that just happen?” Tara asked.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“So, what do we do?”
He shrugged. “I guess we get married.”
“You want to get married to keep your mother happy?” Her voice was incredulous. “You really think that’s a good idea?”
“She’s not going to leave until we do,” he pointed out.
“So, how soon can we arrange a wedding?”
***
Tara snuggled into her mate. Even though they were in his bed, which was much bigger than hers, she still lay sprawled over the top of him. His big hands smoothed down her back before suddenly cupping her ass and pulling her in tighter against him. She could feel the rigid length of him poking her.
“Again?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Yeah. You up for it?”
“Always,” she assured him, reaching up to kiss him.
She would never get enough of her bear. Their lips met, and she groaned into his mouth as he massaged the globes of her ass. She left her exploration of his mouth to nibble her way down his neck, revelling in the little shivers that wracked him. She reached his chest, kissing his flat nipples and working her way lower.
His hands grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from moving lower.
“Alex,” she whined, wanting to taste him.
“I have something much better,” he promised.
“Cheesecake?” she asked, sitting up straight.
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