“Those Species have my Darren! I saw them take him away. Why haven’t they brought him to me?”
“I told you. They only took him in for questioning but then released him into my custody. I drove him to county lockup. Are Jennifer and Zack alright? Let me talk to them again.”
“You aren’t getting anything until I have my sons!”
Mary sniffed. “He shot one of them. I know it!” She twisted in his arms. “Oh God, Lash!”
His vision was excellent at night. He could see the pure terror and panic in her pale blue eyes.
“I have to do something.” She struggled, trying to break free again. “Let me go! He’s in the front of the house. Even I can tell that. I’ll enter through the back. There’s a spare key under the rock next to the stairs to the mud room. I’ll sneak in and hit him from behind or something!”
“No.”
“Sheriff Cooper isn’t doing shit! What if one of my parents are bleeding to death?” A sob choked her.
Timber growled low from about twenty feet away, grouped with their males. “Fucking humans,” the male whispered. “We’d have dealt with this already if they’d let us. As officers, we swore to follow orders. I know this is tough for us all. Just remain calm.”
Brass and Jaded had come with them. They approached the group. “None of us like this,” Brass admitted. “But the humans are in charge.”
“The hostages are the parents of a Species mate,” Jaded paused. “We could argue that.”
Lash watched his mate suffer, her agony clear on her face—and he’d enough.
He suddenly lifted her, walking fast, taking her to Mel and Snow where they sat on a blanket.
Mary fought, kicking and smacking at him. “Put me down!”
“Silence,” he snarled, and then practically dumped her on top of the other female. “Hold her.”
Mel hesitated but then did as he demanded, wrapping her arms around Mary and trying to keep hold of her. His mate didn’t use her elbows on her but she did struggle.
Lash crouched, grabbing Mary’s face to make her look at him. “I’m going to get your parents.”
Mary froze, her eyes widening.
“Promise to stay here. I’ll get them.”
“Lash…” She paled.
“Promise me,” he growled. “You stay safe.”
“I’ll keep her down,” Mel swore, throwing one of her legs over Mary’s.
He rose up and turned, slamming right into Timber.
The male shook his head. “No.”
“I’m not an officer. I made no promises.”
Timber appeared conflicted.
Jaded cleared his throat. “He is a Wild Zone. They do whatever they want. Let him go.”
“You’re encouraging this?” Brass sounded pissed.
Jaded opened his mouth but Lash cut him off.
“Look at my mate,” Lash hissed. “She’s suffering.”
The males glanced around him to where Mary sat with the other human mate. She was clinging to the other female now, appearing both scared and teary eyed at the same time.
Brass softly growled. “Don’t take out the wrong male, Lash. Try not to kill just in case you attack the female’s father. Be careful and go in the back. Your mate is right. His voice came from the front, somewhere near the door on the big porch area. Do you even know how to use a key?”
Lash stepped around the male, moving toward the side of the barn. Species stepped out of his way, not trying to stop him. He paused there, studying the open ground to the house, debating how to get there without being seen.
Jaded bumped into him. “Take to the trees to circle around. I scoped it out. Fuck using the back door. Get in by going onto the roof. Land softly to muffle your sounds. Few humans lock windows too high for them to reach. There’s an attic window back there. I saw it. It’s three floors up. I doubt an old human would hear you force it open.”
Lash studied him. “Why are you helping me?”
“We’re all Species but I never get to do the fun shit. Go get your mate’s family. She’ll appreciate it. I’ll ask Brass to make his way to where the sheriff is, to ask permission to take over. He won’t agree, but it should distract the shitty human inside the house.”
Jaded walked toward Brass.
Lash lunged toward the tree line slightly behind them. His mate’s father hadn’t cleared those. He ran fast, heading opposite the very back of the house. Then he turned, running full speed at the house. He leapt when he was about ten feet away, landing quietly on all fours about fifteen feet up.
The roof was a little slippery, but he dug his claws in, trying to be quiet. Then he climbed higher, toward the window that had to be the attic.
Chapter Twelve
The window wouldn’t open at first. Lash figured out it was one that slid to the side, and he used his muscle to do as Jaded had suggested. There was a small pop from inside but it moved. The next problem was trying to fit his big body through the small opening.
He got inside and had to put his finger to his nose to avoid sneezing. There was a lot of dust. Boxes and sheets covered things littering the floor. He scanned the area and saw narrow stairs leading downward. He crept forward, hoping the floor under him wouldn’t creak.
The small stairwell had him stifling a snarl. He had to turn sideways and the steps barely fit his big feet. The door at the bottom wasn’t normal-size either. At least it wasn’t locked as he turned the handle and pushed it open. He had to hunch down to get his head through, then he stood in a long hallway. A few lights were on up.
The low ceiling brushed against his mane as he silently moved down the hall, ignoring the open dark doorways. He could hear a voice from below, identifying it as the male who’d yelled from the house.
“That moron cop is fucking with me,” the male raged. “He’s going to get the both of you killed. I know he’s got my boys. He’s probably waiting for SWAT to drive here from somewhere else.”
Lash paused, hoping to hear a response. That would mean at least one of Mary’s parents were still alive. There wasn’t one.
Rage burned through him. What if the male had already killed them? Humans could be unstable and murderous.
He reached the top of the stairwell and peeked downward over the railing. It showed the front door and an open area. Nothing moved down there.
There was a thump, something hitting wood. “That fucking cop is lying to me about those New Species having Darren, too! I saw them haul him out of that cunt’s apartment and put him in one of their black vehicles. I didn’t dare follow since it was night, but they headed out of town, right toward that fucking place they live at.”
The voice came from the right, on the lower floor. There was a large archway Lash could see when he moved a little. A light was on in there. Lash thought about leaping down but it would be loud. He frowned at the stairs. Some of them could make noises.
Lash studied the thick wood running along the stairwell, with metal bars holding it up. Humans used them to hold on to while walking up and down stairs, to avoid falling. After a moment’s hesitation, he lifted his leg, putting his ass on top of it. His loincloth was between the wood and his skin.
He paused, keeping his gaze trained on that archway for movement. He waited.
“I’m not going to wait around for SWAT to get here. I just want my fucking sons. Brad was always an idiot, but that’s his mother’s fault. She let him be friends with that dipshit Johnny. I warned my ex that kid was fucked in the head. He had a hard-on for lifers in prison, thinking they were cool.” The male thumped something hard on wood. “Telling my boy they get fan mail and lots of chicks wanting to marry them.”
Using the leg still on the ground, Lash slid along the thick wood, inching down. He balanced with his toes, keeping most of his weight off the steps. It was slow going but he didn’t make a sound.
“Brad needs treatment for being stupid. Not prison time. Darren understood that. We just wanted to find Brad and take him home. Is
that too much to ask? Fuck no! But it turned tits up.”
The male made another cracking sound. Lash was halfway down the stairwell when he finally caught a glimpse of movement. He froze.
It was an older male, his back to the archway. He held a long, thin baton in his hand. He hit the floor with the end of it, accounting for that cracking sound, before talking again.
“I’m going to kill you both if they make me! I don’t care what happens to me, but my boys are all I’ve got. I’m a good damn father. See how far I’ve gone trying to find Brad, and now Darren? This is really that dipshit Johnny’s fault. I know he talked Brad into trying to kill those New Species. The little fucker killed a cat when they were teens. I should have guessed he’d grow up to be a killer. He couldn’t just go get himself sent off to prison for life alone. He had to talk my idiot son into going with him!”
Lash spotted a gun sitting on the shelf above the fireplace. It was within reach of the old human. He wasn’t holding another gun. Lash could see both of the male’s hands when he grew more agitated while he spoke. One gripped the baton but the other was fisted.
“They’re going to make me kill you,” the old human raged. “That fucking stupid cop! All he had to do was bring me my boys and that was it. Simple. Why in the fuck can’t anything be that way anymore? I’m going to shoot you in the chest, Zack. Maybe pushing you out the door and seeing you bleeding will light a fire under his ass to get me my boys. For all I know, he’s got them close by already. That asshole cop is the type to get off on being a controlling prick!”
There was a soft whimper that came from the room.
“Would you like me to shoot you first instead? Don’t shake your damn head at me, woman!”
Lash twisted and dropped the rest of the way to the floor below. It made a small thump sound.
He roared, rushing forward toward the old human.
The male jumped, tried to spin around, but then began to fall. Lash hit the top of his head on the low archway but ignored the slight pain, grabbing the male before he could fall and shaking him.
The baton dropped to the floor.
Lash glanced around the part of the room he hadn’t been able to see. Two humans were lying on the floor, ropes around their bodies to keep their arms tight to their sides and their legs smashed together. He couldn’t see part of their faces, since thick material was covering their mouths. Terror showed in their eyes.
The female looked a lot like his mate with her coloring, including her eyes.
He tore his attention from them to the weak male struggling in his hold. He saw terror in that male’s eyes, too. Feeble hands swatted at him.
Lash opened his mouth, flashing his fangs, and roared right in his face.
The male’s eyes rolled upward, and he went utterly limp.
Lash kept hold of him. He stormed to the front door and tried to open it. Locks prevented that from happening. He figured out how to twist them and yanked again. The door opened and he stepped outside, dragging the male. He dumped him none too gently on the porch.
“Come get your bad human,” he yelled.
Then he reentered the house, not waiting for a response. He locked the door to stop that male from trying to escape back inside the house if he woke up and Lash marched into the room where the two humans were tied and gagged.
He paused, watching them wiggle around on the floor. Both were wide-eyed, reeked of terror, and the female whimpered behind the cloth over her mouth. The male inched closer to the female. It seemed as if he was trying to put his body between her and Lash.
“You’re acting like prey,” he muttered. “I am not surprised. You are Mary’s parents. I’ll take you to her. Don’t die from fright. I’m her mate. I won’t hurt you.”
He marched toward them and crouched by the male. He had brown eyes and light blond hair with some gray. “My name is Lash. Stop wiggling.” He studied the ropes. They were knotted in various places and would need cutting. He didn’t have a knife, and it would probably bruise the humans if he used his claws, since cutting the ropes would cause serious tugging.
He sighed and reached for the male. “Don’t struggle.” He sniffed, not picking up any blood from either of them. He didn’t see any injuries either.
* * * * *
Five minutes earlier
Mary felt sick to her stomach as she clutched Mel’s arm. They huddled against each other next to the barn her father used to store old furniture and his riding lawn mower. Snow was at their backs. He’d threatened to grab her if she tried to go near the house. It kept her from attempting it. It was one thing for Lash to touch her. Mel’s husband still scared her a bit.
Lash had left her to go after her parents.
She didn’t know if she should feel thankful or terrified out of her mind. He could get killed. There was a crazy asshole inside holding her mother and father hostage. That gunshot going off had her mind imagining the worst. One of them could be shot. Lash might be next.
“I’m going to puke.”
“Don’t do that. It will make you feel worse,” Mel warned. “Nothing is going on yet. Just Brass running over to Sheriff Cooper and staying there. Maybe they’re arguing about the New Species taking over. Or Brass is telling him about Lash going in the house. I bet he’s mad.”
“I don’t give a shit.” Mary stared at the house. “Was Lash able to get in?”
Mel hugged her tighter against her side. “I don’t know.”
“We haven’t heard any yelling or more shots. That’s good.”
Mary shot Snow a scowl.
“It is,” he insisted.
Jaded Wild came running at them along the backside of the barn. New Species moved out of his way. He stopped about five feet back. Someone had turned on a battery-operated lantern so her and Mel could see, since it was pitch dark. His green eyes were bright and he smiled, showing off white teeth.
“Lash is inside. I saw him enter through what appeared to be a very small attic window.”
Mary stared at the house. She knew that window well. There was only one up there. It used to be one of her summer chores as a kid to clean it since the glass would get dirty after a while from rain and winter storms. She couldn’t picture Lash fitting through that small opening, but she believed Jaded Wild.
It helped her calm down to picture Lash in the attic. He was tall, and the ceiling up there wasn’t. He’d have to probably slouch a bit to reach the stairwell to the second floor—
“Shit.”
“What?” Mel asked.
“Remember the stairs to the attic? You went up there with me at the beginning of summer to help me look for that chest of picture albums my mom wanted to show you, from my childhood.”
Mel did seem to remember. “Crap. I hope he fits.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s an old house with quirks,” Mel answered. “Think tiny, steep space to get to the third floor.”
Mary worried that Lash would get his big body wedged and stuck on that stairwell. She barely managed it at times. Her parents never went up there and always sent her. As a kid, it had been fun. As an adult, not so much.
Minutes ticked by in her head, dragging on forever. “What’s going on in there?”
“I still don’t know,” Mel whispered back. “I’m right here with you, though. Have faith in your man. He looked determined, and my money is on him.”
Regret hit Mary hard. What if she lost both of her parents and Lash? She should have told him no and kept him with her. She couldn’t lose all of them. Her stomach churned, and she swallowed down the bile that rose. The threat of puking was real.
There was suddenly a muted roar.
Mary jolted and her knees almost gave way. Mel kept her up, and she chose to pretend the two big hands that gripped her hips from behind belonged to her best friend instead of Mel’s husband. Snow was just trying to help.
She watched the house, looking for any indication of Lash, but all the windows remained dark an
d covered. The lights around the house were still on, showing the porch and the side of the house. None of the windows broke and nothing came crashing out of them. It also hadn’t been a gunshot. She counted that as a good thing.
The sheriff suddenly stood and lifted his blowhorn. Brass grabbed him and yanked him back down. They seemed to be arguing with each other but she couldn’t hear it. Just Sheriff Cooper waving his free hand around enough for her to spot him in the house lights. Her gaze locked back on the house.
Her heart pounded when the door was suddenly thrown open and she saw…
Lash. He dragged a much smaller man out and just dropped him on the porch with a loud thud.
“Come get your bad human,” he bellowed. Then he spun in his loincloth, slamming the door closed as he went back inside.
“Holy crap!” Mel blurted.
Mary tried to run forward but Snow’s hands on her hips tightened, and Mel refused to let her go. Sherriff Cooper got up and ran toward the house with his deputy. Brass went with them. They jogged up the few porch steps, and she couldn’t see the downed man once they blocked her view. Instead, she watched as the deputy reached for handcuffs on his belt.
A masculine chuckle startled Mary.
“I asked Lash not to kill the male. He listened. They wouldn’t be restraining the wrists of a dead body.”
She didn’t look at Jaded Wild but she tried to jerk away from Mel again. “They got him. Let me go.”
“Not yet,” Snow ordered. “There could be more of them.”
“There’s just the one asshole,” Mary argued.
“Let Lash make sure. You promised him to stay here.”
She wanted to fight with Snow but figured it was pointless.
The men on the porch were lifting up the asshole who had kept her parents hostage. Then the asshole was shoved forward by Sheriff Cooper and Deputy Tommy. Each of them had a good hold on his upper arms, his hands secured behind his back. They brought him down the stairs, and he was walking on his own. Limping, actually, all the way to the sheriff’s car. They put him in the backseat.
Best Friends (New Species Book 15) Page 34