“When was the last time you went fishing?” He asked once they were back in the trunk. He was driving again—it never sat well with him, being in the passenger seat.
She flinched. “Never? Yeah, never.”
“Not even once?”
“I’m sorry, but I never could get used to the idea of putting a hook through a worm.” She shuddered, sticking her tongue out like she tasted something sour. “No, thank you.”
“Somebody could do that for you. I could do it for you, even. There’s a lake near the cabin with plenty of fish. It’s really relaxing, sitting on the water, alone with nature.”
“You know what else is relaxing? Soaking in a hot tub. With a book and maybe a glass of wine.”
“I’ll make a convert out of you,” he grinned, winking. It was easy to fall into this back-and-forth banter with her like they’d known each other for years, like there was history between them. Was this how the others felt when they’d found their mates?
He realized he hoped so, that he hoped they felt like they didn’t have to be so alone anymore, like there was somebody out there who understood them. There was nothing in the world like being seen and understood, really and truly. One of life’s greatest gifts, he was sure.
“The cabin is pretty remote,” he explained, if only because it felt like somebody should say something. Something to fill the silence, to take their minds off of the disappointment of not having come to the end of the road yet. “Really, it’s almost like being out in the middle of nowhere. You can convince yourself you’re the only person in the world when you’re up there. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling alone,” she pointed out.
“I know—but there’s something to be said for making the choice to be alone too,” he reasoned. “Sometimes life just gets to be too much. There’ve been a lot of times over the past few years that I’ve wished I could escape back to the cabin, but there was always too much to be done. Clients, that sort of thing.”
“You have a lot of clients?”
“We’ve had a steady stream of clients since opening the doors, yeah. There’s never been a time when we had to look around for work. Believe me, our services don’t come cheap.”
“Well, believe me, I don’t have the money to pay what your fees have to be.”
He frowned, looking at her. She appeared serious. “I wouldn’t ask you to pay. You’re part of the team. We’re in this together.”
“What about the time Jace and Braxton have spent with Dad? You mean to tell me that’s free?”
“Jenna.” He reached over and took one of her hands, holding tight. “You needed help with him while we did this. What—do you think we would write up an invoice? Never. Don’t even worry about that.”
“Does this mean I’m officially part of the team? Or is this just a case-by-case sort of thing? Like you needed me now, but you won’t need me the future.”
He would always need her. That was the thing she didn’t seem to understand. Whether he was working with her or not, there would always be a need in him. She was the only person who would fill that need; he knew it now.
But that wasn’t the question she was asking, clearly. “To be honest with you, when this is all over and the team is able to go their separate ways if they feel like it, I’m not entirely sure what we’re going to do.”
“Are you saying you think you might disband the team? Close things down?”
“I know it’s a big decision to make. I haven’t even wanted to let myself entertain the notion since it would mean thinking ahead to a time that hasn’t happened yet. Getting my hopes up wasn’t something I was keen on doing.”
“I’ve felt the same way more than once. Like I knew I should at least try to plan for the future, somehow. There was never a way for me to feel comfortable doing it. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Something was bound to happen.”
“You never felt like you could settle into your life.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt. It was awful.” She let out a little laugh like she was embarrassed. “Listen to me. I’m talking about this like it’s the past, like that was another part of my life that I’ll never go back to.”
“It is part of your life you’ll never go back to. It’s the past. You can put it behind you.”
“But there’s still somebody out there,” she whispered. “There’s always one more obstacle in our way. When’s it ever going to end?”
“I wish I knew,” he admitted. “I wish I could see the entire picture. It always feels like there’s something just beyond my line of sight, over the next hill or mountain or just beyond the tree line. It’s there. I sense it’s there, but I can’t find it. We can manage this together. Us and the team. There’s a reason we’ve all managed to survive this long. No matter how many people were out there, determined to kill us, to pretend like we never existed, we’ve managed to survive. Listen,” he added with a smirk, “if five wolf shifters can make their way halfway around the world with nothing on their side but wit and guts, we can do anything.”
She sighed, resting against the seat, rolling her head to the side to watch him. “What would you do? If you had to do something else with her life, I mean. What would you actually do if not leading your team?”
“Like I said, I haven’t wanted to think about it. It’s too easy to get my hopes up or to start longing for something that can never be. Why torture myself that way?” Still, he sensed she was a little disappointed, that she wanted to know. “Frankly, if I had my way, I would live at the cabin. All the time, all year-round. I would finally enjoy a little peace and quiet.”
“Do you really think you could manage that? After so much action for so long, would you really want to become Mr. Mountain Man?”
He laughed. “Not a mountain man. Just a guy who spends his days fishing and hunting, whittling wood on the back porch.”
Her laughter was like music. It strengthened him, allowed him to believe they would make it through this just fine. Only a little further to go, and they could put this behind them. They could start building their lives, preferably together.
If only there wasn’t something tugging at the back of his mind, making it difficult for him to really be in the moment with her.
Something was wrong. Things just didn’t add up. Who was the silent partner? How had they been pulling the strings for so long without anybody finding them? Damn that Red, throwing himself against Peter. All of their questions might have been answered if he’d waited half a minute.
Why would anything be easy, though? Nothing had been easy up to that point.
“What about you?” he asked, deciding to focus on her rather than on the negative thoughts spinning in his head. “What do you want to do?”
She smiled. “Do you know how long it’s been since somebody’s asked me a question like that? Like it hasn’t mattered in so long what I’ve wanted to do. It’s always been what I had to do. Responsibilities, all that. Hiding Dad. Hiding myself. I was hoping that if you wanted to continue running the team, maybe I could work with Hawk and Val. I know,” she was quick to add, “it’s extremely presumptuous on my part. Not only have you not offered me a position, but I doubt Hawk would want to work with me after the way we started out. He didn’t like me very much.”
“He’s gotten over it by now,” Logan assured her, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was the truth. “And believe me, I would love to have you on my team. I would much rather be working with you than against you.”
“We were never working against each other,” she reminded him. “You only thought we were. Sorry if I didn’t put all my cards on the table at once. It wasn’t like I was going to go door-to-door, giving people the sob story of my life and asking if they were trustworthy. I had to find out on my own.”
“And you did.”
“I’m glad I did.” She squeezed his hand. “Very glad.” How had he ever forgotten the simple comfort of holding
the hand of the girl he’d fallen for? Just the two of them, cruising down the road, a bubble around them in which only the two of them existed. Nothing else mattered as much in that moment as she did.
Still.
Something kept tugging at the back of his mind. Like a pebble in his shoe, nothing so earth-shattering as to make him slam on the brakes or pull over to the side of the road, but it was there. Present. And it made him uncomfortable in ways he couldn’t understand.
There was something he was missing, and instinct told him it was right in front of him.
But what was it?
The blaring of the phone ringer caught him off-guard, making her jump. He laughed softly as he answered the call. “Val?” he asked.
“I think we have a problem.” She was practically whispering.
“What is it?” He and Jenna exchanged a worried look.
“For one thing, I can’t get a hold of Jace or Braxton.”
Jenna let out a yelp, covering her mouth with her free hand. “For how long?” she asked when she regained control of herself.
“Just today. They normally check in every few hours, one or the other, but neither of them has since around three o’clock. That’s five hours now.”
Logan tried to convey confidence as he looked to Jenna, but it was clear nothing he did was helpful. Her lips were pressed together in a tight line, her eyes welling up.
“All right. Thanks for letting me know, but this doesn’t mean anything. They might’ve gotten caught up in something—something on TV or maybe they decided to go for a walk.” It was pitiful, and he knew it even before Jenna rolled her eyes.
“My father doesn’t even like to go outside. If they decided to take him out, I would have qualms about it. His reflexes aren’t any good, and he probably has very limited stamina.”
“Okay, okay. I’m just trying to say this doesn’t necessarily have to be anything tragic.”
“There’s something else.” Val waited a moment before continuing. “We traced the general location of the texts that went through to Peter George’s phone. It wasn’t easy, and we haven’t exactly pinpointed the precise location, but we triangulated the three nearest cell towers. The cabin is right in the middle of them.”
Jenna yelped again. “Oh, my God! Whoever it is must’ve found where Dad is! What if they already—”
He was losing control of the situation, and he knew it. “All right, okay. We’re on our way. We’ll be there within half an hour. Everybody just hold tight. Let’s not jump to any conclusions. It could be that Braxton and Jace have hidden the General somewhere like they sensed the danger and moved him. Or they could be too busy dealing with the danger to check in. Whoever it was, they might’ve ambushed the cabin. We don’t know until we get there, though.”
Turning his attention to Val, he said, “Keep trying to reach them. Reach out to Sledge and Zane too, see if one of the other can go up to the cabin. They can meet us there.”
“Will do. I’ll let you know.”
“Oh, my God,” Jenna wailed, burying her face in her hands. “I should’ve known this would happen!”
“We still don’t know for sure,” Logan reminded her, doing his best both to comfort her to focus on the road. “We don’t know for sure what went down.”
“Are you kidding me? Or are you only kidding yourself?” She lowered her hands, snarling. He had the sense of her wolf being very close to the surface and realized she probably hadn’t taken a pill that day, even after the close call at the diner. Had it only been twelve hours since then? It might as well have been a lifetime.
“I know you’re upset—”
“Oh, I’m not upset. I’m well beyond the point of being upset. Here you are, this whole time, insisting everybody would be safe, that your guys could take care of my dad. He’s helpless. He can’t do anything for himself except bathing and dressing. Otherwise? He relies on other people for everything. All they needed to do was keep an eye on him and make sure no harm came. Yet here we are.”
That was when he saw it. How had he never seen it before?
And how was he supposed to even begin to broach the subject with her? No doubt she would shoot him down instantly before he even managed to fully form a sentence. Her mind would shut down, would refuse to entertain even the notion of what he’d started to suspect.
She might hate him for it—no, she would definitely hate him for it.
What was more important? Her hating him, or the two of them walking into a situation completely blind, completely unaware of the danger they were stepping into? What really mattered was keeping her safe, and that meant preparing her for all eventualities.
“Jenna, I’m going to say something you’re going to absolutely hate, but I need you to stay as calm as possible. I know it’s a lot to ask,” he added before she had the chance to protest, “but it’s extremely important. How do you know for sure what your father is and isn’t capable of?”
She scoffed. “Hello. Because I’ve been with him every day for years. I haven’t even been able to hire a caregiver because I didn’t want his name mixed up in the system. I didn’t want any trace of him to be found by anybody.”
“You’re not hearing the question.” He struggled to keep his voice low, even. “How do you know for sure what he is and isn’t capable of?”
It took a minute. Clearly, her brain didn’t want to accept this. It was throwing up every block in existence. And when she finally understood what he was getting at, she sneered. “I can’t believe you would even suggest such a thing. What is wrong with you?”
He couldn’t take it personally. She was lashing out, yes, but not at him. She was lashing out against what he was trying to explain.
“The messages are coming from somewhere near the cabin. Do you think there’s any way he could’ve had a phone? Has there ever been a time when you’ve been away from the house when the mail came? I know,” he made a point of saying when she huffed and puffed. “It sounds crazy, but we have to look at every possibility. We’ve discounted your father from the beginning because of his physical and mental condition. What if his mental condition cleared up over time? What if he got better, and you just didn’t know it?”
“For one thing, what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense. You think he’s been shuffling around, pretending to be worse off than he is. You know the sort of discipline and dedication it would take to pull off a lie like that? I’ve told you, I have spent every day with this man.”
“I understand that. Have you always been around him? When you’re working, are you in front of him while you’re doing it? Or are you in your room, holed up so you can have privacy?”
“Usually while he’s sleeping, or I’ll work at the kitchen table where I can see him.” There was a note of triumph in her voice like she was disproving him somehow. His heart went out to her, truly, though he couldn’t help feeling annoyed at how deliberately obtuse she was acting.
“I’m only saying we might need to prepare ourselves for what we find at the cabin. That’s all.” His heart raced at the thought of anything happening to his team members. His friends. His pack, his brothers. They’d been through it all together, from the very beginning, and he wouldn’t have traded them for anything.
Had he left them with a killer?
Chapter Thirty-One
Never in her life had she felt so betrayed. Not even when she was in the lab.
It was different for her than it was for Logan and the others because nobody had known what would happen to them back in the beginning. By the time she got there, however? They’d known exactly what the results would be, and they’d done it to her anyway.
Yes, that was betrayal, one of the worst things she’d ever experienced. Still, it didn’t hold a candle to the gut-wrenching agony of knowing Logan still didn’t trust her father.
As if he was even capable of something like this! What the hell was wrong with Logan, with any of them? Were they so jaded, so paranoid after everything they’d seen?
Or was Logan just that desperate? Ready to pin this on anybody just to have it over with?
One thing was for sure: he wasn’t the man she thought he was. It was probably better to find that out early on when she hadn’t given too much of herself to him yet. It would save a lot of pain in the future.
“Are you just going to ignore me the rest of the ride?” he asked in a low voice. It was well past dark by then, the truck’s high beams navigating the narrow road. From time to time, glowing eyes looked out at her from inside the trees, animals watching their progress. It made her skin crawl, the sense that she was being watched.
“I have nothing else to say to you. I can’t wait to walk into the cabin when this is all explained away. Won’t you feel dumb.” She folded her arms, looking out the window. Seeing those phantom eyes was still easier than looking at him, thinking of what an idiot she was to ever trust him. Him, his judgment, any of it. He was a joke. And she was just lonely enough and vulnerable enough to fall for him.
“That’s fine, but I need you to listen to me.”
“No, thank you.”
“Jenna!” he barked, making her jump. “This isn’t a game. We’re going to reach the cabin in a few minutes. I need you to be prepared for anything. If I’m wrong—and I hope I am, no matter what you might think—we could be walking into danger. Somebody could’ve ambushed them, knowing how far away we were. I don’t know how they found the cabin, but they must have somehow. Regardless, I need you to be on the alert. All right? Can you do that for me?”
“Of course, I will,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. Not her most mature move, but she wasn’t feeling very mature just then. More like scared, betrayed. “My father could be dead in there. Of course, I’m going to be cautious.”
“Okay. Going to tell you something else. I want you to take my pistol and use it on them if you have to.”
“You’re just going to leave yourself unarmed?” And why did she even care? Let him get himself killed, the idiot. So long as he saw how wrong he was before he died.
Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset Page 120