Darkness

by Laurann Dohner

  “He wouldn’t frighten her.”

  “He scares me, along with the Wild Zone residents and they aren’t exactly what I would consider sane. It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?”

  Darkness had a flashback of a moment with Kat. He could almost hear her voice. We have two volumes. High or mute. “I’m not him.”

  “You’re more rational. He allows his feelings out in a big way. Too much so. He doesn’t know balance.”

  “Nor do I.”

  “Have you tried?”

  “I’m not going to discuss this.”

  “You care about that female. It’s a fact. Have you considered that she’ll meet some human? What if he hurts her? Humans can cheat on a female. They carry sexual diseases too. I went to one of her classes. Domestic violence is a problem in their world. I’d guess she wouldn’t seek a weak male to breed with. He could do serious damage or kill her.”

  “Enough.” The things Snow described enraged him.

  “Have you watched their news? They showcase home-invasion robberies, rapes, murders and random acts of violence. We don’t have those issues inside our borders. The walls around us protect our females from the violence of the out world. It’s our duty as males to keep them safe. Your female isn’t here.”

  “She isn’t my female,” he snarled.

  Snow smiled. “You wouldn’t have lost your temper before meeting her. You would have calmly corrected me. She’s already changed you.”

  “I’m the same male.”

  Snow shook his head. “Perhaps you should go home and take a good look in a mirror. You’re in denial. Lie to others but not to yourself.”

  Darkness watched the officer stalk away. He clenched his fists, angry. Everyone kept giving him advice and that wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of not being honest. He went home and slammed the door. Faint trances of Kat’s scent lingered in the bedroom. He breathed through his mouth and entered the bathroom, flipping on the light. He gripped the counter, leaned in to take Snow’s advice.

  The same male stared back at him in the mirror. He noticed no physical changes. He had forgotten to get his hair cut, the strands now long enough to rest on his shoulders. The last thing he wanted was to resemble Fury or the brothers he’d once lost. He made a mental note to get that done soon and strode into his bedroom. He studied the bed, memories of Kat unavoidable.

  He missed her. It would fade over time and he’d get back into his normal routine. Go to work, come home and be alone. He’d stare at the ceiling until he fell asleep. Nightmares would wake him at some point. He’d shower and begin his day over. It had become an endless cycle that no longer held any appeal.

  “Son of a bitch,” he rasped.

  He opened the closet and withdrew a locked case. Kat hadn’t attempted to open it. He’d checked. He put in the right combination and withdrew the laptop. Within minutes he had it plugged in and pulled up the secure feed—the front and back views of Kat’s home on split screen. He removed his boots, got comfortable and sat on the bed, placing the device on his lap.

  There was no sign of life until the sun went down. Lights came on and off in the house, allowing him to track movement. A blonde woman paused in front of a lit window on the second floor in the front. That had to be Missy. She peered out and turned, her lips moving.

  Darkness hated the way he hoped Kat would step into sight. The light went off and time passed. He got up and fixed a light meal. Returning to the bedroom, he ate while keeping watch over Kat’s home. The laptop fit well on the nightstand, facing his bed.

  The phone rang and he answered. “Darkness.”

  “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Fury.”

  “Would you like to come over for dinner?”

  “I already ate.”

  “You could join us tomorrow.”

  “I’m on duty tomorrow night.”

  Fury sighed. “I’ll call again in a few days.”

  “You do that.” He hung up and put on silky pajama bottoms.

  It was early but he lay down and turned on his side, his attention on the laptop screen. He might not allow himself to be part of her life but he felt better watching over her. It beat staring at the ceiling. That excuse made him feel better.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “I’ll get it! It’s for me,” Missy called out from her office.

  Kat glanced at the clock over the stove. It was past eleven. She wondered if Missy had a late-night craving for pizza or Chinese food. They’d eaten dinner early and her friend was determined to write most of the night away. It usually annoyed her when they got food deliveries so late but she didn’t have to go to work early in the morning.

  “Yeah, it’s my food,” Missy yelled.

  Kat poured a glass of milk and took a sip. She’d said goodbye to Darkness and filed her report about Robert Mason. It hadn’t been her best day. The front door closed, the sound soft but distinctive.

  “This smells so good.” Missy walked in carrying a pizza box. “Want some?”

  “Nope. I’m going to bed in a few minutes.”

  “I ordered extra bacon and cheese.”

  Kat grinned. “You’re such a bitch. It will go from my lips directly to my hips if I eat this late.”

  “So what?”

  “Give me one piece.” Kat set down her glass and grabbed two paper plates from the cabinet. “A small one.”

  Missy dished it out. “Are you okay? You’ve been in a foul mood since you got home from work.”

  “They brought in a new guy to take over Mason’s position. He’s pissed. I got a lecture and had to file a very detailed report. I’m suspended with pay. They are going to call me when they are done with the investigation.”

  “Did they suspend the other agents sent to Homeland?”

  She took a bite and chewed. “Yeah. Chavez was furious that any of us would, and I quote, ‘listen to a moron’. I had to agree. I should have flat-out refused to go undercover but we were all between a rock and a hard place.”

  “Screwed if you do, screwed if you refused direct orders.”

  “Exactly.”

  Missy grabbed a soda. “I’m going to eat in my office. Do you want to join me?”

  “No. I know you need to finish your book and send it to your editor.”

  “I’ve got three days to hit this deadline and I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep. It’s for an anthology series so it has to be in or my story won’t make the cutoff date. They’ll have to pick someone else to be a part of it.”

  Kat lifted her plate and glass. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Try to get some sleep, okay?”

  “Yeah. Can you check on Gus and Butch on your way?”

  “They are probably sleeping. I swear you own the laziest pets ever.”

  Missy chuckled. “They turn hyper in the middle of the night. It’s a good thing I keep odd hours.”

  Kat headed upstairs and stopped at Missy’s door to peek in. The dog slept on Missy’s pillow but the kitten was on the floor, chewing one of Missy’s shoes. Kat winced, grateful it wasn’t one of hers. She closed the door to keep the little destroyer of fashion from going to her bedroom next.

  The doorbell rang again. Kat turned.

  “I’ve got it,” Missy yelled. “It’s probably the pizza guy again. I asked for sauce but he didn’t bring it. He must have just remembered.”

  Kat went to her room. She flipped on the light with her elbow and crossed the room to her night table. She placed her food down. The front door slammed loudly. She paused, listening. Missy didn’t call out. That was odd. Her friend always let her know who’d been at the door. It was a habit Kat insisted on.

  She walked out of her bedroom and down the hall. “Missy?”

  A chill ran down her spine when she didn’t get a response. She backed up and rushed inside her room, grabbed her service weapon and crept back down the hallway. She paused at the top of the stairs.

  “Missy?”

  Sec
onds ticked off. Kat strained to hear anything below but it remained quiet. “I am calling 9-1-1 and I have a weapon!” she yelled.

  “Hang up the phone or I’ll kill her,” a familiar voice threatened.

  Kat’s knees nearly buckled. She had to be mistaken. “Mason?”

  “You fucking bitch!” he shouted. “Get down here.”

  Panic set in. Why would Mason be at her house? Obviously Darkness had not been paranoid by believing her ex-boss would come after her. She fought to remain calm. “I’m not doing anything until I know Missy is okay.”

  “Talk,” he grunted.

  “Kat?” Missy’s voice was soft and strained. “He’s got a gun to my head.”

  “That’s enough,” Mason ordered. “Toss down your gun.”

  Kat tried to think but all she could imagine was him shooting Missy. “Why are you here, Mason? What do you want?”

  “This is your fault. I trusted you to do a job. What did you do instead? You screwed me over. You told those animals I sent you. You shouldn’t have fucked me over, Katrina.”

  She bit her lip. Normal tactics weren’t going to work with him. He’d had the same training, knew the same tricks. “That’s not true. Let’s talk about this, Mason. Okay? I didn’t do anything. I went to Homeland to look for that man you wanted me to find. I couldn’t get any information.” She tried to slow her hammering heart. “I went in to file a report and that’s when I learned you’d been replaced. What’s going on? They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “I’m under investigation. I want you down here now, Kat. If I hear sirens or see cops, I’ll kill this bitch. I have nothing to lose. I want your gun or she’s dead.”

  “I’m trying to figure out why you’re here.” That was honest. He could have gone after any agent but he’d chosen her. “Do you need help?” She changed tactics. He was apprehensive and hated the NSO. “Did those New Species find out we were trying to bust them and came after you?”

  Silence. Kat prayed he’d fall for it. He had to be desperate to show up at her house. Was he seeking revenge? Just a random target for the shit storm he’d brought down on his own head? Missy’s life depended on being able to manipulate him.

  She didn’t like the silence. “Who else knew you sent me in? It was just me that went in there, right? Nobody else? I sure didn’t leak anything,” she lied. She’d just enlarged the suspect pool to include the agents he’d sent in as the work crew. “Who did you tell about Homeland?”

  “I want your gun.” His voice sounded calmer.

  “Okay.” She ejected the clip and the chambered round and put on the safety. “I’m going to send it down.”

  She flung the clip first, then the gun a second later, keeping close to the wall, protecting her body. She did glance down though, identifying Missy’s bare feet with Mason’s shoes right behind her. He was using her as a shield and kept them out of the line of fire.

  “I want your backup gun too,” he demanded.

  “It’s in my bedroom. I just grabbed my service weapon. May I get it?”

  “Ten seconds.” He began to count.

  Kat fled down the hallway and jerked her second handgun off the top shelf of the closet. She snagged her cell phone from the charger and hauled ass down the hallway. She made sure she made a lot of noise so he could hear her every movement and know where she was. The last thing she wanted was for him to get twitchy with a gun to Missy’s head.

  She shoved the gun under her armpit and activated the phone. Her first instinct was to dial 9-1-1 but they might come in with sirens or lights. It was also possible her ex-boss was listening to their channels. “I have it,” she called out. “What is going on? Talk to me, Mason. I’m a little leery of sending my last gun down to you. You might kill my girlfriend anyway.”

  She scrolled through numbers and found the one she’d programmed in when Mason had sent her on assignment. She hit the icon, using her shoulder to hold it against her ear as she gripped her gun.

  “Send that gun down!”

  “Not until I know you’re not going to kill us both.”

  “You’ve reached Homeland,” a cheerful deep voice answered. “How may I help you?”

  “I want that fucking gun,” Mason yelled.

  “I know you have a gun to Missy’s head, Mason. Just tell me why you’re at my house. I only went to Homeland as Kathryn Decker under your orders. Let’s talk. I’m not giving up my gun until I know what you want or you could kill us both.”

  “Shit,” the guy on the phone growled.

  “I’m going to count to ten and you either toss down the gun or your girlfriend dies. One, two…”

  “I know you record these things,” she whispered. “He’s going to shoot Missy if he hears sirens. Don’t call the police or she’s dead. Just mute your side and keep recording.”

  “Nine,” Mason yelled. “Send down that gun.”

  Kat shoved the phone down the front of her pants, into her underwear and removed the clip from the gun. “Here it comes. Clip first. Just calm down.” She leaned out and threw it. It bounced on the steps. “Gun next.” She pitched it.

  “Get down here.” Mason sounded pissed.

  She raised her hands, palms out. “I’m coming.”

  Mason had Missy in a choke hold, keeping her in front of him, his gun pressed against her temple. Kat moved slowly, taking in his black clothing. She paused midway down the stairs. “I want to help you. You need to tell me why you’re here and what I can do for you.”

  He turned the barrel of his gun away from Missy’s head and pointed it at Kat. “Turn around.”

  She slowly spun, lifting her shirt to show him that she didn’t have a weapon tucked in her pants. They were baggy but a weapon would be too heavy and bulky to hide. “See? You have both my guns.” She kept eye contact with him. “Tell me what this is about.”

  “All you had to do was get Jerry out of there.”

  “I tried to look for him but they had me watched at all times. They put an ankle monitor on me,” she lied. “No one would tell me anything and I couldn’t go ten feet without them knowing exactly where I was. I think you were right about them. They are hiding something there. Their security was way over the top. May I call you Robert?”

  “No.” He glared. “All you had to do was one fucking thing, Perkins. Bring me Jerry.”

  “I tried. I really did. Are they after you now? What can I do to help? Do you need a place to lay low? Money? I don’t keep cash here but I can get some. I want to help you.” She hoped she looked sincere. “Are they going to come after me next?”

  Mason’s angry expression wavered slightly but his gun didn’t. “That bastard transferred the money. I have to get him.”

  “Jerry? What money?”

  He pressed his lips into a white line, rage reddening his features. She hoped he’d have a heart attack. That would solve the problem. He glanced around and Kat took the opportunity to look at Missy. She was terrified but seemed unharmed. Kat focused on Mason again.

  “I can’t help you unless I know the situation. What are we looking at? I assume the NSO is after you. Someone in our department turned on us.” She wanted him to think of them as a team, not enemies. “My ass is on the line too.”

  “You’re not suspended or under investigation. I had to go in today and saw you leaving. That’s how I knew you were out. What did you tell them?”

  “I didn’t. They did put me on suspension. They want me to come in on Friday and file a report. Your replacement was in a meeting.” She didn’t want him to know she’d already told them everything. “You were there? You know I wasn’t there long then.”

  He looked uncertain. She decided to push.

  “What can I do? You don’t have to hold a gun on Missy. She’ll do whatever I say. We’re the men in our families, remember?” She was willing to use his words against him.

  “I have to get Jerry. He’s transferred the money.”

  He’d said that before. “Okay. What’s the plan?
I’m with you. The NSO obviously owns the FBI. They are calling the shots. That means both of us are going to be in a world of shit.”

  The gun lowered slightly. Mason seemed to consider her words. “We need to get Jerry.”

  “Okay. Why does he matter? If the NSO is after us, we should leave the country.”

  “Not without my money.” Rage twisted his features. “That stupid bastard couldn’t have done any of it without me. Half of that two and a half million is mine. He’s going to open his big fucking mouth eventually or he’s using them to hide behind. I thought at first they grabbed him but the more I think about it, he might be setting me up too, like he did that girl. I’m not going to prison.”

  She wasn’t sure what girl he was talking about but the rest was starting to make sense. “That’s a lot of money.”

  “I set up the false identities he used, made sure he covered his tracks and told him how to funnel all the money so it couldn’t be traced. That asshole made it so I couldn’t access it and now he’s trying to take it all.” Mason studied her. “I’ll split the money with you. Fuck Jerry. I’ll kill him as soon as I know where he transferred the funds. Are you in, Perkins? We’re screwed otherwise. We’re going to prison or worse. Jerry and those damn animals aren’t going to win.”

  “I’m in.”

  He lowered the gun all the way and shoved Missy forward. Kat descended the rest of the stairs and grabbed her arm, tugging her behind her. She kept hold of her. Missy might try to run and it would cause Mason to shoot her. He kept a tight grip on his weapon.

  “We need to figure out where he’s staying and get to him.” Mason paced. “How much of Homeland did you see?”

  “A lot of it. They gave me a tour with a guard.” She wanted him to think she was useful or he’d kill them both. “Do you want me to draw it out? I saw some nice homes where they probably put VIPs. He’s probably there if they are hiding him.”

  He shot her a shrewd look. “Any weaknesses in their security?”

  “I think I could find a way in. I saw a back gate for delivery trucks. It wasn’t guarded well.” It was bullshit but he might fall for it. “We could steal a delivery van and borrow some uniforms. They don’t check identifications since they have a high turnover of employees for those types of businesses. I even saw a few of them so I know what is ingoing.”