“She paid cash for everything relating to the wedding. It’s a dead end,” his private investigator and one-time friend went on. “We couldn’t even find out where they had the ceremony.”
“What about the flowers? Where were they delivered? There must be something.”
“There are no records of anyone with her name purchasing flowers from any florist in the area. Believe me, I checked.”
“Well, check again. There has to be something. A person does not just disappear.” Never mind that he was doing exactly that at the moment, the woman was a furniture buyer, not a hardened criminal, for God’s sake. She had to have made some mistakes. But so far, the engagement announcement her parents had posted in the New York Times had been the only one.
“Do me a favor, go back and check again. What about caterers? You looked at that?
“I looked at food, at flowers, I went to the dress store with some cockamamie story about my niece wanting to use them. All about her being afraid it was too dangerous in light of what had happened to that girl—
“I let that sentence trail off and got an earful about the whole abduction, but they didn’t have any information about where the woman lived. Nothing. She came in for fittings, paid cash and left. That was it.”
Greg took a sip from the icy tumbler at his side. Florida was nice in the winter, but he wasn’t going to be here for another summer. No matter what.
“Go back to that detective. He must know something. See if you can get him to talk. Or tail him. He’s got to make contact at some point. She would have to have made a statement. Check the police records.”
“I did that. I had a guy I know use his connections to check the records. Nothing. No address listed.”
“Well, I don’t know. Follow him!” He smashed his hand down on the chair and the glass went flying, ice scattering across the deck. A gull lounging on the railing took flight with a noisy cry of protest.
“I had a guy following him for two weeks. Nothing. I’m telling you— there are no leads.”
“Joe. I’m going to say this once. Find that girl. She’s tall and she has red hair. Reddish. She has got to be somewhere. Tail the detective again. I want results.”
“Greg, I’m doing my best here. I’ve got three guys up there looking. I went myself to talk to the wedding vendors. Let me tell you, that was not my idea of a good time.”
“Do it again,” he gritted out, and hung up before he said something he’d regret. He couldn’t afford to alienate Joe. Not while he was stuck here with this thumb up his ass.
He had to find that bitch before Big Lonnie found him. The police were nowhere near as big a problem, but they were annoying. He couldn’t fly, he couldn’t rent a car. He wasn’t entirely sure that Big Lonnie would let it go once he took care of the girl, but he could guarantee, if he didn’t, he might as well kiss his ass goodbye.
Chapter 13
Gage stood outside Lucas’s bedroom door and took a deep breath. He had to do this. He didn’t want to, but it had to be done. His hand found its way into his pocket, fiddling with the chain there. He’d meant to give that back to Mikey, but somehow, he kept forgetting. “Luck,” he whispered, and knocked on the door.
“Lucas, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Lucas appeared in the doorway. “Gage. What’s the matter?”
Gage tipped his chin indicating the room behind Lucas, and Lucas stepped back.
“I have to tell you something. You’re not going to like it.” Gage walked inside and sat on the bed. “Do remember when we went to get Elizabeth back from the humans who stole her?”
“Of course I remember.”
“And I killed one?”
Lucas nodded, looking grim. “That was unfortunate. But understandable. Under the circumstances.”
“Well, he didn’t actually die. I thought I killed him. I thought he would die. But when I went upstairs to do the cleanup, he was still alive. Lucas— the room…” Gage ran a hand over his face, trying to block out the images. “There was blood everywhere. I couldn’t believe I’d really done that. I… I just reacted. I had to do something. I didn’t think it would work, and it almost didn’t but… Well, I gave him blood.”
“You what? Gage! That’s insane! This is one of Elizabeth’s abductors we are talking about.”
“I know. I just— I wasn’t thinking clearly. I had this feeling that I had to do something. And I know I was probably wrong to do it, but there wasn’t time.” He leaned forward, trying to get his point across. “Lucas, I felt like something vital inside me would be lost if I didn’t take action.” He paused, but held his brother’s gaze. “So I did it. It wasn’t until later that the full implications hit me.”
Lucas sat on the chair and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what to say. I think we need Dean for this. I take it he lived? Where is he now?”
“He’s still in the hospital. He just woke up a few days ago. I went to see him today. Lucas… He remembers. He knows it was me. But he won’t say anything. I’m sure of it.”
“You can’t be sure. There is no way to be sure without the bond. This is a disaster.” He tapped a hand against the arm of his chair. “We have to bring him back to the territory.”
“We can’t. He can’t even walk yet. He’s been in a coma for months. He needs treatment. Extensive rehabilitation. Physical therapy.”
“Too bad. He comes here. He will have to get whatever treatment he receives here.”
“No. That’s not possible. He needs doctors. You can’t expect Nina to be able to handle this. And there’s something else.”
“Naturally. Because this isn’t bad enough. Have you lost your mind?”
“Detective Anderson was there today, asking questions about Cray.”
“Maiden’s blood, Gage,” he said in a low voice. “I’m going to kill you.” Lucas’s hands were clenched into fists, but his voice was controlled. He sat very still in his chair, like he was holding himself there.
Gage had a feeling this conversation would be going very differently if Lucas hadn’t taken him apart over Bridget. Didn’t think I would ever look back on that as a good thing. But he could see Lucas visibly working to control his temper.
Gage watched his brother pull in a deep breath. “Very well.” He pulled out his phone. “Dean. We have a situation. Come to the pack house. Now.” He clicked the end button.
Gage opened his mouth, but Lucas held up a hand.
“Don’t say another word. You sit there and wait.” Lucas stood and began pacing around the room.
Gage ached to tell him he was sorry to bring this on the pack. To bring this on his brother. But he sat instead and waited. Would Dean support his decision to leave Mike where he was? Or would he, too, see it as too much of a risk. It all hinges on the Law. If the Law stated Mikey had to be contained, or worse, eliminated…
He couldn’t think about that. He’d have to leave the pack, take Mikey and run. Find a place where he could heal. And what about Bridget?
By the time Dean arrived, Gage had gone through an agony of different scenarios, all of them worse than the last. He could hardly sit still, and his heart felt like it was trying to squeeze out of his chest. He’d have to leave Bridget. The idea pierced him like a shard of glass, but he had a responsibility to Mikey that he could not ignore. It was something physical inside him that demanded action. Protection.
A knock on the door jarred him out of his grim thoughts. “Lucas?” Dean’s voice came through the door. He’d never heard the young Lore Master sound so unsure of himself.
“Come.”
Dean opened the door and glanced around the room, taking in Gage, sitting on the bed and Lucas, standing frozen in the middle of the room. Dean stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind him. “What’s up?”
“Gage has informed me that the human we thought had died during Elizabeth’s rescue has actually survived. That Gage healed him. With blood.”
The look on Dean’s face underwent a st
artling change and his gaze snapped to Gage. “You gave him your blood?”
Gage nodded.
“And where is he now?”
“He’s still in the hospital. He only woke up a few days ago.”
“Hmm. And you have spoken to him?” His green eyes were sharp with interest.
“Yes.”
“This is the one you half-shifted on, right?”
“That’s right.”
Lucas cursed softly and began pacing again. He stopped and faced the Lore Master. “We must get him. Bring him back.”
Dean rubbed a hand over his face. “He remembers the attack?”
“He does.”
“Interesting. And how did he react, when he saw you?”
“He was frightened at first, but now I think he accepts that I don’t wish him harm. I told him I had adopted him.”
“Ah.” Dean nodded.
“Ah? What do you mean, ah?” Lucas whirled around, his hands on his hips.
“He’s right. He has adopted him. He is now blood of his blood.”
“Blood or no blood, he must be contained!”
Dean looked pensive, and Gage felt himself begin to relax. The Lore Master was treating this as just another interesting puzzle. “Does he present a threat do you think?”
“No. He has agreed to cooperate. He told Anderson he does not remember the attack, or anything else. Which is in his best interest, given the people he was working with at the time. They will want to—” He shot his brother a glance. “—contain him as well.”
“And I imagine he will need extensive rehabilitation if he has been unconscious all this time,” Dean said nodding. “We will need to watch the hospital.”
“Eli is there now. But no one has come to see him the whole time he was unconscious. I’m hoping they forgot about him.”
“Well that’s a hope, but I think it unlikely.”
“Will you two just stop? He needs to be brought back here—”
“I shouldn’t think so. We don’t have the resources for that kind of recovery treatment. He will need personnel trained in human physical rehabilitation. They don’t have the same ability to bounce back after a severe injury. It will be months.”
“But the Law—”
“He is Pack, Lucas. The Law can’t touch him.”
“But he doesn’t have the bond! He is a danger not only to the pack, but to the People!”
“Then I suggest you accept him, Lucas.”
Lucas stared at him, open-mouthed. Gage felt a tiny spurt of satisfaction, seeing his brother at such a loss.
“Accept him?”
“Yes. That will give him the pack-bond.”
Lucas rubbed a hand through his hair, making it stand up in all directions. “Fine. Let’s go,” he snapped, shooting Gage a death glare. He pinned Dean with a look. “You stay here and keep an eye on our other human problem.”
Dean only nodded. The gleam of speculation hadn’t left his eyes. He walked with them out the door, pausing at the entrance to the mudroom. He eyed Gage thoughtfully.
“Bridget is upstairs,” Gage said helpfully. Dean gave him an assessing smile and a little two-finger salute. Gage nodded and turned to follow Lucas out to the car.
That went way better than I ever could have guessed. He got the feeling he’d made the little Lore Master’s day. Maybe even his year.
***
It was a bright, sunny day— not too windy, and Gage had promised to let her come with him while he did his perimeter check. In wolf form. Bridget grinned as she pulled on warm woolen socks and her mid-calf winter hiking boots. Well, she’d been trying to get funding to study wolves for two years now. This wasn’t quite the same, but even so, she could feel her excitement growing. Hard to believe she’d been here a full week already; the time had just flown by.
She headed downstairs and out the front door onto the porch. No one was in the great room for once, although Elizabeth had been there earlier. Everyone had sat down to lunch together. At least everyone who lived in the big house—which was also called the pack house for some reason. She suspected it was just because the pack tended to gather there for meals, but maybe it was because the Alpha lived there? She had to remember to ask Gage about it.
But there was no sign of Elizabeth now. Or Mari. Had they gone to Elizabeth’s house for some girl time? She hoped so. Elizabeth had been doing her best to seem upbeat and cheerful while Cray was away, but even Bridget could see the toll it was taking on her in quiet moments. It had been almost a week since he’d left on his mysterious pack business. And she couldn’t get Gage to tell her about that no matter how hard she pried.
Bridget caught her breath as a large tawny wolf appeared around the side of the house, trotting along in the snow, his mouth open in a happy grin.
“Gage?” Unaccountably, she felt her stomach tighten. It had to be Gage of course, but—
The wolf gave one quick bark and sat at the bottom of the stairs, tail gently wagging against the snow.
“Okay. Let’s go. Where to first?”
She did her best to sound brisk and authoritative, but really it was all she could do to keep her voice from shaking. Yes, she’d seen him as a wolf before, but he’d been lying on the floor at the time and tangled in his clothes. Now he was unencumbered and easily fifty percent larger than any wolf she’d ever seen in nature. Well, in sanctuaries mostly, since actually seeing a wolf in the wild wasn’t all that easy. And always, they were much further away.
She took a deep breath and started down the stairs. You wanted this, girl. Don’t wimp out now.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and the wolf rose, padding over to her and brushing his shoulder along her hip as he went by. That’s how big he was. The top of his head was level with her ribcage. He trotted off down the lawn to the little white footbridge, just south of the house. He paused when he reached it, looking back at her over his shoulder.
“I’m coming.” She noted his eyes were the same warm brown in wolf form that they were in real life. Um… human life? Human form? Don’t think about it, just go with it.
She reached the bridge and they crossed over together, Bridget doing her best to let her hands hang naturally at her sides, even though she wanted to hold them up away from the vicinity of his teeth. This is Gage. He’s not going to bite you. But it was hard to convince her body to relax. Instinct was instinct.
They reached the other side without incident, and Gage took off across the meadow, racing in circles through the snowy grasses, looking exactly like a young dog just let off the leash. Bridget felt herself start to relax, a grin spreading across her face. Apparently, he had the same personality in wolf form too. By the time they reached the other side of the meadow and started up into the trees, Bridget was almost used to the idea.
Just taking a little stroll with my wolf friend. On a bright sunny day. La de da…
She smiled, feeling her thigh muscles start to work as they headed uphill, the crisp winter air cool on her heated face, occasional shafts of sunlight peeking through the trees to the snow below. It was a beautiful spot, and the perfect day for a hike. By the time they reached the first fence line, she had unzipped her jacket and was every bit as winded as she had been after training with Aaron.
This one was a weathered wooden board fence, faded to grey and leaning slightly, bridging the gap between two large maples. It was meant to look like something long abandoned, but she could see when she looked closer that it was actually nailed securely into place. Gage barked and jumped up with his paws on the tree, lifting his snout exactly as if he were trying to indicate something. Bridget peered up, trying to follow his gaze.
“What? Am I supposed to see something up there?”
Another bark. Not helpful.
“Okay, let’s do this. One bark for yes, two barks for no. Are you trying to show me something up there?”
“Rouff.”
“Okay.” She peered around but didn’t see anything. “Gage, Daniel, are you
pulling my leg?”
“Rouff.” He raced off, glancing back at her with an open-mouthed grin, his tongue lolling out to one side. And she would swear his eyes were twinkling.
She rolled her eyes and went to follow, but as she turned, something caught her eye. The tiny glint of metal. She shook her head. It was one of the hidden cameras. And now, thanks to her wonderful wolf friend, it probably had plenty of great shots of her looking up like some kind of dweeb, an expression of mystified confusion on her face. She sighed and turned to follow her would-be guide. It was going to be one of those hikes.
But it actually turned out to be a nice outing. Gage came bounding back to her whenever she lagged too far behind, dancing around her and barking encouragement. He rubbed up against her more than once and when he ducked his head under her hand, she’d tentatively stroked the soft fur. She noted he avoided getting her with his cold wet nose, so that was something.
The benefits of having a sapient being inside your lupine friend’s body. She had to laugh at that one, but by the time they came back down the ridge she was comfortable petting him and patting him, and generally just having fun together. In some ways, it was easier than when he was in human form. Go figure. She never would have believed that when they started this expedition.
And by the time they made it back to the meadow, Bridget was very impressed with the pack’s defenses. They used everything from natural rock formations, dense brambles and impenetrable sticker bushes, to the occasional supplemental fencing, always disguised to look either natural or like it had been there for ages. A person would have to really look closely to realized they were being systematically steered away from the property.
They were on the footbridge and Bridget was contemplating putting her feet up and enjoying a little après-ski, or après-perimeter check as the case may be, when Gage turned and let out three quick barks. She was still trying to interpret that when he leapt up with an athletic grace she didn’t know he possessed and licked her cheek, his legs tucked to his chest so that he didn’t even brush her body.
He landed and spun, racing off down the bridge and up the opposite side of the bank, disappearing around the house. What in the world? Bridget stood there for a minute, wiping at her damp cheek. It wasn’t a warning or anything. What could he have meant? And I thought men were hard to understand. Regular, human men.
My Captive Valentine Page 11
