“I could have killed him six months ago. He was right there in my sights, and I could have blown his fucking head off, and no one would have been happier about it than me.” He asked her what had happened. “Belinda. She asked me not to do it. Said that it would haunt her if I did. I told her he was going to kill her someday, and she told me that it was her lot in life. But that if he would die now, by the gunshot to the head, she’d lose her babies because no one would ever believe she’d not killed him.”
That was true. Belinda had been trying her best to leave Butch for years. The man would drag her back every time, hurting her and the girls more each time. When Paige told him to go, to be careful, he knew she’d have to deal with this on her own. Paige would carry the guilt to her grave if she really thought it had been her fault their sister was dead because of something she’d not done when she could have.
~*~
Harris was looking over contracts she should have done days ago to purchase the land they were going to build on. Also, they were going to purchase the surrounding acreage. That way, if necessary, they could expand as much as they wanted. She had a feeling they’d have a mob on their hands once word got out what they were doing. When her phone rang next to her, she picked it up without looking at who it might be. “Hello, Harrison Parker. But I guess you go by Agent Harrison Parker Marshall now, don’t you?” The voice. Because she did know it and not the person on the other end of the call, it terrified her in ways she could not deal with right now. “If they put you in charge of sending your men to other countries, I might just have to tender my resignation as an American citizen. Christ, they were all killed, as well as about half a dozen civilians. Stupid rookie mistake, Harrison. Even for you.”
“I didn’t send anyone out of the country.” The laughter was like nails going down a chalkboard, devoid of humor and full of spiteful hatred. “What happened? Perhaps then I can send someone to you, and you can train them on—”
“They couldn’t even speak the language. Who does that? You apparently. Stupid woman. Some of the people in that place were parents with children and had someone to go home to nightly.” She asked again what she was talking about. “They spoke of finding a man by the name of Avery. That was just before they were blasted away by some men who don’t take kindly to American service men being so close to their families. Last or first name? I haven’t any clue. But killed they were because no one taught them any kind of rules of engagement when taking down a person.”
“I didn’t send anyone there.” She pulled up her satellite computer and looked to see if she could capture a location on the caller. “Why don’t you give me your name, and we’ll have a nice lunch at my expense.”
“No. Why do you think I’m going to go anywhere that you are? I’m not. So leave it alone.”
Harris moved around to the last location she had, and then the computer bounced her to a different country, as well as five or six places in that region. “You’re bouncing. I guess I would be better off just giving up on trying to find you.”
“You say that, but I know for a fact that you’re not stopping. You’re too pig-headed and stupid to think anyone is smarter than you.” Harris watched the IP address jump all over the world. It even repeated the same place several times before the few seconds it would take her to make the identification a hit. “I have their wallets. That would cause a great deal of trouble for you should they have been found with their badges on. Also, you might want to remember this for the next time you send out bunnies, that—”
“Bunnies?” She told her what she meant by that. “All right. I guess that’s as good a description as I’ve heard. Soft and cuddly, but worthless when it came to having any idea how to get away. But I swear to you, I did not send anyone to wherever happened.”
The voice gave her the location using longitude and latitude. Since Harris had access to the satellite in the sky, she put in the numbers, and the camera zeroed right in on the restaurant. She was still looking it over when the voice spoke again.
“Fifteen people died there. A loss of income for an entire family. The people working there, they were helping a family of eight when you blasted their place.” Once again, she told her she’d not done it. “Then who?”
“I’m looking now. I swear to you on the life of my unborn child that I had nothing to do with this. Nothing. I’m seeing who did it right now. I am looking for a man by the name of Avery. His sister has been murdered, and I need for him to come home.” Harris didn’t wait for the voice to speak again when she spoke to her about the murder. “The children are as safe as we can make them. The newborns are coming along nicely for being born three weeks earlier than they were due. But— Jesus H. Christ, the place is gone.”
“Someone came in the middle of the night and made sure no one was able to get anything from clues that might have been left behind. Standard protocol here. Bodies were still in there when the place was demoed. You might well want to remember that if what you say is true and someone sends in troops that aren’t ready for their work.”
Harris knew in some countries, they did make sure there wasn’t evidence when Americans were killed. But this wasn’t one of those places. And the bodies would have been burnt beyond any reasonable recognition, not to mention so hot there would be nothing left to ID them with.
“I need your help with this. First of all, I’d like to get the IDs of the victims that were there from my end. After that, I’m thinking I can narrow it down to see where I have to look next.” Voice told her it wouldn’t work. The men, five of them, didn’t have any idea of what happened other than it was her that sent them. “You can read minds. You’re a shifter, then. Are you being safe?”
“Not that it matters a hill of beans to you, but I’m nearly never safe.” Harris couldn’t help it, she burst out in laughter. She felt the touch of someone in her mind. Harris could have blocked the person, but she thought that Voice would trust her more if she were to let her find what she wanted. “What do you know of a man by the name of Lakeside? He’s a colonel. I don’t know what branch, but he’s been mentioned a few times around the place that was taken.”
“The only Lakeside I know is Patty. I don’t think I ever heard that he was in the service or not. Why are you asking?” No answer, but she did give her a social security number. “Hang on, I’m pulling it up now.”
Harris closed out the program for trying to find Voice. Putting in the social, she got seven hits on it right away. With four of them, there were even pictures to go with the numbers. Looking at them side by side, she could tell it was the same man, but he was changing his hair color just enough where he might have been mistaken for Lakeside.
“The same person has been using the number since numbers were given out. The first time he got it, he said he was nearing sixty.” She told Voice she could see that. “Also, if you’ll notice, he’s aging himself. Or he looks really good for being nearly one hundred and fifty years old. There are only a few shifters that can do that with any amount of success.”
“Vampires and witches.” She thought about telling her she knew a witch but decided she more than likely knew that. Voice seemed to be one step ahead of her on a great many things. “This person, Avery, do you know him?”
“Would you believe me either way?” She told her she would. Definitely. “Maybe. I don’t trust you any more than I can toss you. And I’m pretty good at tossing shit out when I’ve no use for it. Just like you were before getting fat with a kid.”
There wasn’t anything in her voice that told her shit. No accent that she could determine. There were no words she used that Harris could pick out that were hers alone. No hint as to where she might be at any given second. Pulling up the search for the IP address that she was calling from had hit seven thousand places so far and was still chasing her. Fuck. Harris hated the unknown.
“I tell you what, Agent Harrison. You find out what is going on with the r
estaurant, and I’ll do something nice for you.” Harris asked her how nice. Would she give her a name to work with? “Never. Unless I need something major from you. Which I’m thinking will never happen between the two of us.”
“You don’t know that. We could be besties.” The laughter again, devoid of anything other than just the sound of it. “I’ll do you a solid, Voice. You need me for anything, and I’ll move heaven and earth to get whatever it is. Even if it’s coming to pick you up because your ass is blown to shit.”
“Yeah? Even though you don’t trust me?” She told her once again that she did, for some reason she didn’t have an answer for. “I might take you up on that, Agent. I might just. I have a couple of major jobs coming up, and I’m hoping that I get my ass blown to shit anyway. But if I change my mind, you’ll be the first that I call.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t end your life. Living has got to be better than death.” Voice said nothing. “I don’t know shit about you, Voice, but I do know you’re making a difference. No one ever said that to me when I was on the job. Now, look at me. I’m a soon-to-be mom. A wife and I have more money than I could ever spend.”
“Tangible things have never meant shit to me, Agent. But it was nice of you to think we’re the same.” Her laughter this time sounded sad. Like she’d already given up on her life. “Avery’s family will be coming in on the next flight from Paris. They didn’t come from there, but that’s how they were routed. And trust me when I tell you that they will tell you less about their lives than I have about mine. Avery will be in on a military plane, then a domestic that lands at the Columbus airport three days from now. Pick him up or not, but he’ll get to his family himself if necessary.”
“I’ll be there.” Writing down the information, what little there was, she asked Voice how she would know when he got to the airport. She said his wife would contact her. “All right. What else can I do for you?”
“For me? Nothing. I need nothing from you or anyone else right now.” Harris wanted to stomp her foot and tell her to give her what she wanted. When she spoke again, Harris stiffened in her chair. “Hang on.”
The wait seemed to be an eternity. But when she spoke again, Harris was standing up and ready to go to her. If only she’d allow it. The pain she heard in her voice, the noises that she could now hear, made Harris know that something else was going down.
“I don’t have an address.” Harris told her she’d find her if she needed it. “I’m shot to fuck here, Harris. It’s an ambush coming to the Columbus airport. I can only think they know that Avery is coming in.” She heard cursing and had to smile. She did it in several languages too. “His family is safe. They’ll be at the hotel I’ll name in a minute. Go and get them. Guard them with your life or so help me, I’ll hunt you down and make it look like you fell into a chipper feeder.”
Shivering at the way she’d die—there was no doubt that Voice would indeed do what she said—Harris vowed that she’d protect them. When the line was suddenly cut off, her phone indicated that there was a message. Not only did it have the longitude and latitude to the hotel, but also the street address. When she started to put the phone down, having just the title of unknown on it, she received pictures of the entire family coming in. When it beeped the third time, it said safe or die.
Calling for backup, she was shouting orders to everyone she came across. Even Shep, who had been in the backyard, came running when she yelled for him. Time, she knew for some reason, was running out for Voice.
On the road in less than twenty minutes felt like it was too long. Harris still didn’t know where Voice was or how she was supposed to get to her.
Less than an hour later, they were pulling into the hotel drive. Leaving the car, she knew her men were all over the place. She counted three of them in the lobby as soon as she came through the door.
The gun to her head had her pausing and putting her hands up. “I’m Agent Marshall. I’ve come to get the Avery family.” The gun pressed harder into her head. “I have a text message from the woman that sent me. She said there was a showdown at the airport, and I needed to get you out of here.”
“Show me your library card.” Confused, Harris reached for her wallet and then her card. “Hold it up where I can see the number on it.” After what seemed like an eternity, she was told that she passed. Asking about the library card, the person who she turned to look at laughed. “No one thinks about the shit they have on them at all times that might give them away to someone. And no one thinks about a little thing like I asked you for when I was to use it to ID you. See? Smart cookie, Voice is.”
The young man who was standing there with his gun at his thigh just stared at her. Harris didn’t know him. However, she was sure that if asked, he’d be able to tell her anything about herself. Asking the kid how old he was, he grinned at her again.
“Seventeen. You’re lucky I was the one that drew the short straw. If Mom had come out here for you, you’d have been knocked around more. She’s not good with strangers.” Harris asked if all his family could handle a gun like he did. “Yes. Or we’d all be dead.”
Just like that, “We’d all be dead if we didn’t know what the hell we were doing.” As Harris was being dragged to the elevator, he said nothing. Apparently, he’d been told not to make small talk. She knew for a fact that it would give you away every time. Once inside the room, she looked at the people there.
“You must be James Avery.” He put out his hand but didn’t speak. She looked at the woman standing next to him. “Intel on you says that you have four children. A wife as well as a couple of dogs.”
“I have three children, no dogs. My middle child you’ve met—Jamie. The oldest is Beth—she goes to places like this as my wife. My youngest child is in the bathroom with a gun loaded and pointed to where you’re standing right now. We don’t fuck around.” Harris said she could see that. “My wife was killed five years ago when someone figured out who I was. Anyone in my family gets hurt, and I’ll do to you what I did to him. My family is all I have in the world.”
“I believe you.” She started to turn away and looked back. There was something there, a click of something that she needed to think about. “Holy fucking Christ. Voice, she’s related to you. Sister, I’m betting.”
Before anyone could tell her yes or know, she felt the sting of something in her arm and turned toward the girl and watched her as she faded in and out. They’d given her something. Something to knock her on her ass. At least she hoped so.
“It’ll not hurt your child. But I can’t have you going around spouting off shit that you have no right to. Just relax, Agent Harris, and have your husband Shep take my kids to your house. I’ll come and get them soon. I have to find Paige.” Nodding, she reached out to Shep to tell him she needed him. “He’ll not be able to come through the door, I’m afraid. Also, you should know that we’re jags as well. My sister changed us all when she was changed. Just rest. You’ll be fine in a few hours.”
She hated it, more than she would ever admit to. But there was little to nothing she could do now that she was lying on the bed. Harris let it take her under. The sooner she got this out of her system, the sooner she could kick someone’s ass. Mother fuck, she hated being treated like this.
Chapter 9
Rodney didn’t care for the way this person presented themself. He was interviewing someone to take over the school nurse spot, and so far, he’d only found one person that fit the bill. But he didn’t like her. Didn’t care one bit for her. Rodney thought if they had to work together, they should at least be able to tolerate the other person. He wanted to stab her in the eye with a fork.
“Look, buddy. You need someone to come in and put bandages on the little tyke’s knees, and I’m the perfect person for that. I have a good education, a good constitution, as well as years and years of experience that come with doing a job for so long. Just sign off on the paperwork, and w
e’ll both be happy.” But he wasn’t. Not even a little bit. Rodney glanced at Rebel. He wished now he’d kept his mouth shut when he’d told her he wanted to do the interviews. “What is the hold up here anyway? You have some special way of looking into my life. I’ve already told you I don’t have any skeletons in my closet. I’m an open book.”
“My wife is going to conduct her part of the interview process.” The woman, Brenda Smyth— ‘With a y,’ she told them every time she said her name—actually rolled her eyes at him. “She’s going to finish up for me. I have a call to make.”
“Coward.” Winking at Rebel, he wasn’t a foot from her when he heard Mrs. Smyth talking. “Shut up, if you please. I’m conducting this interview, not you. Now, where is it you last worked? And don’t just tell me it’s no longer in business. I want a name and someone to contact.”
“This is going to take all day.” Rebel told her it would take as long as it took. “Oh, for the love of Pete. I’m here. I have a license to be here. Just give me the job, and we’ll both be happy. You’re wasting my time here, and I don’t care for it.”
“Well, la-de-da. I don’t care if it takes me three more hours. I’m going to hire someone that fits the bill. The only bill you’re fitting so far is annoying the shit out of me. Now, tell me the name of the last place you worked.” Smyth said she was leaving. “Don’t let the door hit you where the sun don’t shine on your way out. I think I said that right. Your grandda told me that one. Next?”
“I’m still sitting here. I’m not leaving until you understand that I’m going to get this job.”
With a snap of Rebel’s fingers, Mrs. Smyth simply disappeared. Rodney didn’t know where she was, but out of the room was just fine with him. Then he heard her pounding on the doors, telling them to let her back in. Rodney told the staff there today that they were to call the police if she got any more abusively verbal to them. It was a nice Saturday today, and Smyth should be enjoying it more than pounding on the door.
Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance Page 12
