Claiming a Beta Coyote

by Serenity Snow

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2019 Serenity Snow

  ISBN: 978-0-3695-0001-4

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: CA Clauson

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CLAIMING A BETA COYOTE

  Coyote Bound, 5

  Serenity Snow

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  “I won’t lose my son,” a cold voice muttered, the menace in it clear. “So, you better do something.”

  Kyra Lyon pulled up short in the corridor outside the A.D.A’s office—the door was slightly ajar. The floor was otherwise empty, most of the lawyers seemed to have gone home for the evening. Therefore, the voices inside, though quiet, carried well enough to snag her attention.

  “Like what?” Detective Norris Whitehead demanded impatiently.

  “Like put a bullet in her head,” he snarled. “I’m not going to watch my son’s life and the future of my business go up in smoke because one fucking woman just so happened to walk in on something that’s none of her business.”

  “It’s not just that,” Detective Norris said carefully. “The girl knew Timmons’ wife, and she probably has the recordings that we can’t find.”

  Kyra moved in closer hoping to get a look in through the door’s crack. Who would be talking about the case with what sounded like the bad guys?

  Surely not an A.D.A. This case was too important, with too many lives on the line, including her own, for even one of them to be so careless.

  His companion sighed heavily. “From what I’ve heard, it’s not just someone on the PD that we have to worry about. An outside investigator is being used and that is going to eventually lead right back to my brother.”

  “What if she doesn’t have them?” a calm voice asked. The woman rose, the skirt of her suit just reaching her knees. “What if she knows less than we’re assuming?”

  Kyra leaned against the wall next to the door. Her heart pounded so loud in her ears she could barely hear them, and her hands grew clammy as fear stole over her.

  “Stay out of this,” the cold voice ordered. “You’re still learning, and you won’t get very far with that attitude.”

  “I’m just saying… We could be giving her more credit than she deserves,” the woman said. “And even if she has the tapes, she might not know what she has. Dillinger never mentioned any tapes or an outside investigator.”

  “Zip it, Felicia,” the man with the cold voice ordered. “Norris, I want those tapes. Who’s guarding the girl?”

  “No one right now,” Norris answered. “She’s still living in her apartment since no attempts have been made to silence her. And for the record, Lisha, I spoke to Dillinger a few hours ago, and he did tell me the girl was going to blow this case wide open. Not only is Carlo going to jail, but so are two others.”

  Oh, my god!

  They were talking to Jeno Russo, the head of the Russo Family cartel Dillinger was trying to bring down. He was connected to a businessman, but Dillinger wasn’t sure who. He did know the cartel boss’s partners were connected to Mystic or Snowbury.

  She had been hired to help him make his case and find out who all the players were. A job the FBI and DEA hadn’t been able to accomplish despite being on Jeno for years now. She and the small team of mercenaries she worked with had made the kind of progress that only outsiders could.

  “Who?” the man demanded.

  “He said he was meeting the girl here tonight to get the information from her, along with the investigator. He said they both had something he’d need for court tomorrow,” Norris said.

  Russo’s son and his top assassin were both going down for murder. She had information that would help put them both away for life, thanks to the file she’d received from Timmons before he was killed.

  “Judging by the smug look on his face, I’d say he was certain he had your son dead to rights.” Norris’s tone held a hint of disdain that puzzled her. The man was a cop and it was his job to lock guys like this up.

  But justice was a whore for the person with the right amount of money.

  “If she testifies, you’re both going to learn what it’s like to be on the other end of my wrath,” Russo muttered. “Take care of this.”

  “I’ll arrange for the right person to get on her protection detail,” Norris said quickly. “Find out what she knows, where the tapes are, and kill her. Felicia, find out if there is really an outside investigator and if there’s a copy of the tapes.”

  “I will,” Felicia replied.

  “Dillinger hinted he was going after my brother when this was over,” Russo muttered. “I want to know why he thinks he even knows who my brother is, let alone that we’re connected.”

  Dillinger hadn’t even known who the half-brother was until a few weeks ago when Kyra had found him in Snowbury. He was a slick-ass businessman who looked transparent as glass from the outside, but he was as filthy as his brother once the sun hit him head on.

  “He did mention another big fish,” Felicia began.

  The faint sound of a door banging had her eyes widening. Kyra eased down the hall, glad she’d worn sneakers. She tried the closest office and found it locked before moving down the line until she found one that was open.

  Stepping inside, Kyra left the door ajar like she’d found it.

  “What’s going on?” she heard the senior A.D.A Dillinger ask nearly two minutes later. “Felicia, what are you doing with a known criminal?”

  “Dill, listen,” she said in a cajoling tone. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  “Isn’t it? I’ve been wondering where the leaks were coming from, but now I know,” he said, raising his voice. “You and Norris are both going to lose your jobs even if I can’t prove you’re colluding with a crime lord.”

  “Hold on, Dillinger,” Norris snapped.

  “Kill him,” Russo ordered.

  “I don’t have a silencer on this,” Norris protested.

  “No one else is up here,” Felicia assured him.

  “You won’t get away with this,” Dillinger growled.

  “Shut up. In your office,” Russo ordered.

  Kyra’s heart stopped as she heard Felicia’s heels on the tiled floor. She pushed away from the door and raced across the room to the desk. Pulling the chair back, she crammed herself under it and pulled the chair in just as the lights came on.

  “Norris, think about this,” Dillinger said, a quaver in his voice. “I have a wife and a newborn.”

  “Better you here than if I send someone to your home to execute them, don’t you think?” Russo retorted silkily.

  “My god,” Dillinger breathed out.

  “When do the girls arrive?” Norris asked.

  “What girls?” Dillinger demanded tightly.

  “Go around the desk,” Russo ordered. “What other evidence does this woman have?”

  “Tapes,” Dillinger said. “Timmons gave them to his wife the day he was killed.”

  “What’s on them?” Felicia asked.

  “I have the hitman dead to rights,” Dillinger said. “And proof Carlo knew what was going on at the club—money laundering.”

  She had the files on the money laundering, but she didn’t have anything on the murder.
That was on the tapes as far as she knew.

  “Where are they?” Russo asked. “There’s no use spreading my son’s dirty laundry all over town.”

  “Is that what you’re calling the murder of two DEA agents?” Dillinger demanded. “Even if I can’t get you for this, the feds are already making a case against you.”

  “The feds aren’t a problem,” Russo told him nonchalantly. “A couple of my closest friends are DEA agents.” He laughed. “But you, the librarian, and those tapes, on the other hand, are just a problem waiting to happen.”

  “She played part of one for me earlier today. It’s here.” He set his briefcase on the desk or she assumed because of the noise. “Here. She said she’d bring the others tonight. There is video footage on one.”

  That would be the murder. Kyra had seen it only part of it, but the woman hadn’t been willing to give her a copy. She’d been so protective of it, Kyra had wondered what else was on it. Now, she knew she should have just taken it.

  “Call her and find out where she is,” Felicia told him.

  “No. I’m not going to let you kill her,” he said.

  “Her or your wife,” Russo said.

  Kyra felt for her phone and realized she’d left it in her car. Dillinger had asked her here to talk about what she had found in the last couple of weeks.

  “She’s not answering,” Dillinger said. “She was working at the library. I think she was closing tonight.”

  Damn, the man wasn’t having much trouble selling the girl out, but Kyra supposed she weighed about the same as a feather when his wife and child’s life were put on the scales of justice next to hers.

  “Tell me the name of the investigator you’ve been using,” Russo demanded.

  “It’s another cop,” Dillinger said.

  “That’s a lie,” Norris muttered. “Rumor has it you went outside the department because you were worried about a leak. Your boss okayed it.”

  There was a dull sound and Dillinger grunted.

  “What is his fucking name?” Russo demanded.

  “Killian Banks,” he bit out.

  Kyra sighed, but she wondered why he hadn’t given her up.

  “Kill him and get over to the library,” Russo commanded. “Get the girl and tell her he sent you.”

  The gun went off, and Dillinger gasped sinking to his knees. He was shot again and fell with a dull thud. From where she was, Kyra could see Dillinger’s face. He moved, and his pained gaze locked on hers.

  The surprise quickly vanished, but he didn’t look away as the life slowly drained from him. Kyra wanted to do something, and she started to get out when Dillinger held up a finger to her in a weak gesture.

  Tears formed behind Kyra’s eyes as rage built in her belly to become a carefully contained storm inside her. Dillinger had been an old friend of her father’s who’d helped her family after her father had ended up in trouble.

  And now she wouldn’t be able to walk away from this until she made sure his killer paid.

  “Get his wallet,” Russo told Norris.

  She held her breath knowing he’d see her when he got on his knees.

  “No. Just leaving him will make it look like someone he put away came up here to get back at him. I’ll get his laptop,” Felicia said excitedly.

  “Search it and find out where to find this Killian Banks,” Russo said. “Let me know, don’t do anything else. I’ll send someone to take care of him.”

  “Fine,” Felicia said. “You go, and I’ll take care of things here. You have to go, too, Russo. The guard will have heard something and will be coming up.”

  She sat there listening to the departure and a few other sounds. The light was turned off and the door closed with a snick.

  Breathing hard, Kyra crawled out, mouth in a grim line.

  “Go,” Dillinger told her. “Finish this. Don’t worry about that girl. She’ll be dead before you can get to her.” His words came out as whispers of pain.

  Kyra nodded jerkily. This was just like the night her family had been executed all over again. Her uncle and her father had been first. Her mother and aunt had been killed six months after the trial that Kyra had testified in.

  She started to touch him but stopped. DNA. She didn’t want to be linked to his murder.

  “Ava will be taking over, and she’ll need all the information you have on this. Give it to her and leave. Russo is a ruthless bastard. Don’t let him be the death of you, too.”

  “I’ll give her the files, but without the tapes of the murder, they might not be as much help,” Kyra said. “She won’t get him for life.”

  “Make sure my family is safe,” he said. “That’s all you owe me, Kyra. Don’t chase Russo’s shadow, don’t die for me.” They were his last words as he opened his eyes, his face a mask of desperation.

  “Done.” Her boss would take care of it. He always had a man on Dill’s family. One call and they’d vanish like the night.

  She got to her feet knowing he was gone and made her way to the door. The golden coyote that shared her body, that made her a shifter, lingered in the back of her mind. Its rage was building slowly, along with the well of sun-power inside her.

  She eased it open, pushing the energy back, but her fingers glowed with it, the moons of her nails gold. Kyra peeked out, struggling to contain her animal. The gold-coyote was a myth, a creature of light.

  They were one with the tremendous power of light and expressed it in many deadly ways, from shooting laser-thin energy from their eyes and fingertips to creating light-balls and walls of colored light energy. Only the very pure of the breed could do them all, but the majority of them could absorb light, using it to make themselves invisible or to power-up.

  In her case both.

  She saw the back of Felicia as she vanished into her office. Kyra hurried for the exit. Rounding the corner, she found Norris and Russo talking. Norris turned as if sensing her.

  His eyes flashed black like a jackal’s, and he lifted his lip in a silent snarl. Kyra’s eyes widened, and she stood rooted to the spot like a deer in headlights.

  “Son of a bitch,” Russo snarled. “Get her.”

  Turning, Kyra took off at a dead run and ran right into a mountain of a man at the stairwell. She gasped, pain snaking through her. She staggered back slightly dazed, and he growled.

  “Don’t let her get away,” Norris snapped.

  The man reached for her. Kyra threw out her hand and warm waves of energy rushed out in golden light going straight to the man’s shoulder. He let out a cry and shock lit his eyes. Kyra kicked him in the shin and shoved him causing him to topple over. She jumped over him and raced for the stairwell.

  She gripped the handle and threw open the door only to be grabbed from behind. Kyra exhaled roughly, and her energy bent, becoming spikes of laser heat. He released her with a snarl, and she whipped around. He hit her, and Kyra stumbled onto the landing.

  “You’re not going to get away, so you may as well just come here,” he said, eyes glittering with malice.

  “Men these days,” she muttered. “You wonder why you can’t get a decent girl. No romance.”

  He reached for her, and she hit him with a thin light that tore a cry from him. Kyra kicked him in the knee, and he fought to maintain his balance to keep from toppling down the stairs.

  Shots pinged off the wall, so she hunched her shoulders and ducked her head as she skirted him to head down the stairs. The heavy body tumbled down after her, and Kyra jumped to allow him to roll past without taking her down with him.

  At the bottom, Kyra ran headlong into an officer in blue.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, concern in his blue eyes.

  “We have to go,” she insisted. “He has a gun.”

  “Miss—”

  “He has a gun!” She screamed, trying to keep her emotions in check, so she wouldn’t inadvertently hurt him.

  Her power was stable, but she could be like a bomb if she became too emotional. Energy would spew
from her eyes and hands killing anything and anyone close to her.

  “Who?” he demanded in a hard tone.

  She was already out of his grip when the bullet smashed into his head. Blood droplets spattered onto her face, and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Another shot followed, and the heat whooshed past her shoulder.

  Kyra jerked around, saw him coming at her, and exhaled. Hot tendrils of energy eased from her nose, and Kyra flung out her hand, directing the tendrils up, turning the stairwell into a ball of bright light. Then, she threw a ball of light at her target even though he couldn’t see her.

  The energy smashed into Norris sending him flying backward. Kyra ran for the door, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

  She was shoved against it and sharp teeth grazed her nape, breath hot on her skin.

  “You aren’t going anywhere.” The voice was low and masculine with a growl that set her on edge. “Who are you? Dillinger’s little side piece?”

  He bit down on her neck and pain skittered through her.

  “Who are you?” she got out between gritted teeth. It wasn’t Norris, so it had to be the man Dillinger always had with him.

  She hadn’t seen him, so where had he come from?

  “The nightmare you never thought you’d have when you walked into this building,” he murmured. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about our boy Dillinger and what he’s been up to.”

  “What if I don’t know anything?”

  He chuckled darkly in her ear and claws pricked her skin and pierced it, causing pain to range out from the site. The animal inside her rose to the fore, taking over her mind. The coyote took in the scents around it, the dark aggression, and suppressed the fear of the human side of Kyra.

  The animal’s only plan to kill, and as usual Kyra reigned her in, but her power melded with the animal, clouding her mind with light energy.

  “Then, you’ll pray you’d known something other than your name,” he said softly. “Now, let’s go. My boss is dying to meet you.”