by RJ Blain
Elliot took his phone back with his free hand and set it aside. “I don’t feel like it. Maybe if you hadn’t tried to steal my phone, I wouldn’t have had to stop you. Go to sleep, Vicky.”
“I can’t sleep like this.”
“Sure you can. You’re a smart woman. You can figure out how.”
I remembered Elliot’s declaration. My wolf wouldn’t let me forget, and she longed for a chance to experience winter’s full potential.
Not even my nervousness could smother my wolf’s desire, which heated my blood and tempted me to nip the man beneath me and make him truly mine. “This is one of your ungentlemanly ploys, isn’t it?”
“See? You’re a smart woman. Of course, if you didn’t want me holding onto you, you’d get away easily enough. I’m no match for your Fenerec strength. My ungentlemanly hold on you is purely symbolic.”
“Symbolic of what?”
“My intention to catch you and make you mine and mine alone. It seemed like a good idea when I opened my mouth and said that, but now I realize it makes me sound like one of those serial killers who lures women into his basement.”
“You’re still holding onto my wrist.”
“I know. Give me a minute. I haven’t had coffee. Richard lied when he said he would make me coffee.”
The Fenerec in question slept on, oblivious to our hushed conversation. “Why is it most men I know can’t function without coffee?”
“Vicky, you can’t talk. You have a cheap apartment with a cardboard box as a table and an espresso machine that costs more than your yearly rent, just so you can have your morning coffee. For the record, I have nightmares whenever I know you’re staying there, which is most of the time.”
“So?”
“So, for the peace of mind of everyone in our company, especially mine, you should consider ditching the ratty apartment and living with me instead. That way, I won’t lose any sleep.”
“That’s my sanctuary you’re belittling, Anderson,” I growled.
“With me, you won’t need a sanctuary.”
Elliot’s words carved a deep hole in my chest. With Markus, I had needed one. His advances made me and my wolf nervous in an entirely different way than Elliot did. Markus drove me to the ratty apartment Elliot hated.
With Elliot, my nervousness paired with anticipation. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with him, but the fear of losing him shivered through me.
Everyone close to me died or disappeared, and I didn’t want Elliot to be next.
“It’s my space,” I protested, but my voice sounded weak even to my ears.
“You can pick any room in my house you want and make a den out of it. It’ll be all yours. Problem solved. You’ll still have space, and I won’t panic each and every night wondering if you’re okay.” Elliot grimaced. “You can do that after my house has been repaired. I’m trying not to think too hard about the damage right now.”
“I have a house, you know.”
“You do. It’s even a nice one, except you share it with an asshole. I’d say get rid of the house and the asshole, but you’d get mad at me. You’d probably bite—” Elliot blinked, then narrowed his eyes. “If you get mad, will you bite me?”
His hopeful tone of voice woke my suspicion. “Do you want me to bite you?”
“I already sound like a serial killer who lures women into his basement, so why not? What do I have left to lose at this point?”
“Your dignity?”
“I lost that when I sounded like a serial killer who wanted to lure you into my basement, Vicky.”
“You don’t even have a basement.”
“If I did, it’d be flooded, so I’m grateful I don’t.”
I tested his grip with a gentle pull, and he tightened his hold. “You were going to tell me how you holding my arm is symbolic.”
“I thought we already went over this. I haven’t had any coffee, so I can’t think of a way to say it without sounding like a serial killer planning on holding you hostage in my basement for the rest of your life.”
“I think you’re confused. If you’re planning to hold me hostage, how does that make you a serial killer?”
“Sometimes, Vicky, you are so literal it’s painful.”
“First I’m dense, now I’m too literal?”
“It’s true.”
“So?”
“So, I propose you relax, lie down instead of trying not to fall over me, and we get some sleep.”
“You have to let go of me before I can go lie down. We’ve been over this, Elliot.”
“Dense, dense, dense. I want you to lie down right where you’re at.”
If I did what he wanted, I’d end up stretched out across his chest, something my wolf enjoyed the idea of a great deal. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I’ll like it a lot.”
Fenerec always weighed more than Normals or witches, and I was no exception. “Elliot, I weigh a ton. I’ll flatten you.”
Elliot shifted beneath me, grabbed my other wrist, and yanked it out from under me. Yelping, I fell forward in a sprawl, and the air whooshed out of Elliot. Before I could get up, he released my wrists and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to keep me in place.
“Elliot!” I hissed.
“I thought I’d lost you, Vicky. Let me hold you for a while. Please.”
My guilt at having played a part in Dante and Nicole’s disappearance cut through me. “I’m sor—”
Elliot pressed his fingers to my mouth. “Your drive to do what is right and help people—even strangers—is part of what I love about you, Vicky. I told you once, and I’ll tell you again. It’s not your fault. We all played a part. If I have to keep telling you it isn’t your fault until my dying day, so be it.”
That was what I feared most of all, but I was too much of a coward to admit it to him, so I remained silent until exhaustion finally dragged me into sleep.
Chapter Eight
“If you want some damned coffee, move your woman and get it yourself.”
Maybe some women liked Richard’s deep, rumbling voice, but waking up to him running his mouth annoyed a growl out of me before I remembered I was sharing a room with him and Elliot.
I sucked in a breath at the memory of Elliot pinning me to his chest and holding me there until he had fallen asleep. His scent teased my nose, and a gentle heat partnered with his amusement.
“You’re joking, right? I’m not going to disturb her.”
“Anderson, you’ve been on your phone non-stop for almost two hours. You didn’t wake her up then. You woke me up. Now you want me to fetch you coffee?”
“Yes.”
I cracked open an eye long enough to determine I was still sprawled across Elliot, although I had moved so my chin nestled between his shoulder and neck. He had one arm draped over me, and he toyed with his phone with his free hand.
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re noisy, Murphy. Make me some coffee, too,” I contributed, rolling over in my attempt to extricate myself from Elliot.
He pulled me against him and gave me a tight squeeze before letting me go. “Good morning. Sleep well?”
An embarrassed blush spread over my cheeks, and I jerked away from him, flopping to the other side of the bed. I misjudged the amount of space, yelped, and hit the floor with a thump.
Elliot leaned over. “Vicky?”
“I slept fine.”
“You fell off the bed.”
“I’m examining the state of the floors to make certain housecleaning is doing their job.” I lifted the sheet and peeked beneath the bed. “It looks clean enough, I suppose.”
“Would you like some coffee, Vicky?” Richard asked.
I sighed at the Alpha’s determination to make offers despite having already been asked to make me coffee. “Please.”
“How would you like it?”
“Black.” I grunted, rolled onto my back, and sat up. “What time is it?”
“Eleven,” Elliot
replied, shifting away from the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” I got to my feet and stretched, wincing when my joints cracked and popped. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be working.”
“Someone told someone else Richard had found you, and the entire office is in a tizzy now. Every time I get off the phone with someone, someone else calls to verify if the rumors were true. So far—”
Elliot’s phone rang, and he paused to check the screen. Before he could answer, I reached over the bed and checked the display. Landen Simmons ran one of the smaller law firms on the west coast, and shaking my head, I took the phone, swiped my finger across the screen, and answered, “Hanover.”
“Ah! Good morning, Miss Hanover.” There was a long pause. “Did I call the wrong number?”
“No, I stole Anderson’s phone. He was whining. What can I do for you?”
“Just checking in.”
If I wanted to put an end to the incessant ringing of Elliot’s phone, I’d have to take steps. “All rumors about my presence in Atlanta are accurate, but I’m going to be unavailable for at least a week. If you could spread word around that Anderson should only be contacted for emergencies, I’d appreciate it. I’ll send a mass email to all CEOs sometime today with some information, including a contact number.”
Landen laughed. “You caught me. I’ll save you the effort and make certain everyone knows, Miss Hanover. If Mr. Anderson can reach you, I’ll route emergencies to him in the meantime.”
“He can. Thanks.” I hung up and dropped Elliot’s phone on the bed. “You’re lucky that’s a tracked line, or I’d be throwing it out the window right now.”
“You’re really grumpy without your coffee.”
Richard, dressed in a suit, held out a mug. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, Richard.” I clasped the mug, took a moment to enjoy the coffee’s scent, and sipped. I had no idea how long it had been since I had had coffee, but the buzz started within moments of the first swallow reaching my stomach. “What’s the plan?”
Returning to the coffee maker, Richard poured another mug of coffee. “What do you want in yours, Elliot?”
Instead of answering, Elliot slid out of bed and took the mug out of Richard’s hands. “Hot and in my stomach as fast as possible.”
Richard turned to me. “Why do you think there’s a plan?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I considered my options. I could take the direct route with Richard, something that could backfire and stir his ire, resulting in his teeth on my neck until I submitted. Alternatively, I could wait. If I waited, I’d be waiting a long time. “I may not know you as well as Elliot or Dante, Mr. Murphy, but you’re an insufferable busybody. You have a plan. Share it.”
“I think she’s back to not liking you, Richard,” Elliot observed, sitting on the end of the bed. “She’s right on the busybody part, though. She’s also right about you having a plan. I’m tired of sitting around and letting other people do the work. What’s your plan, and how can I help?”
“Desmond’s gone over the information you sent him and has pinpointed some places he wants us to check. He compared the original data Dante found in Montreal with the information you pulled out of the Inquisition database. He found some crossover, much like you had, Vicky. However, he thinks he may have found something of particular interest.”
“What?” Elliot demanded.
“Desmond’s almost positive you’ve got a Basin mole in the system somewhere. Someone fed Basin information; that’s the only reason he can think of for those Basin outposts closing down before we could get to them. They’ve got an operative inside, and it’s someone close to the top. I agree with him. That’s the only possible way Dante, Nicole, and Vicky could’ve been cornered so efficiently. Someone knew they were going to make a hit, and they were ready for them.” Richard straightened, inhaled, and held his breath for so long I thought he’d faint before he sighed. “Desmond doesn’t know who. We need to figure out who knew about the operation, put together a list, and check their phone records and other activities. If we find out who the operative is, we might be able to use them to find Dante and Nicole. Unfortunately, unless Vicky’s memory returns, we’re stuck looking at the obvious places first.”
“My email,” I blurted, setting my mug on the dresser and retrieving my phone before sitting on the bed. My first act was to strip it of the pink case, which I threw at Elliot. “I’m not Evelyn. I don’t like pink. Give the case to her next time you see her.”
“I had nothing to do with the color selection of the phones this time.”
“I’m innocent, too.”
It took me a few minutes to set the phone up, but I accessed my email, grimacing at the thousands of unread messages. “If I hit mark all as read, do you think anyone will notice?”
“Probably.”
“Where were we headed?”
Elliot sighed. “Cohutta Wilderness. It’s a fairly remote park that joins with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There was a farm near the Tennessee-Georgia border on Basin’s list. It’s a little under three hours to get to the site from here.”
“Spell it,” I ordered, opening the search box on my email. Elliot did, and I tapped to search. There were over twenty emails including the location, and I went to work reading through them. “Okay. I emailed a few people about the trip. You two, Nicole, Dante, Evelyn, Alex, Amber, and someone named Zachary?”
“Dante’s henchman,” Richard supplied. “You met him on the cruise ship.”
“Apparently, I don’t remember as much as I thought I did,” I muttered. “Brandon?”
“Another one of Dante’s henchmen.”
“There are a few others. Danielle, Markus, and someone named Charles.”
“Charles Desmond, my father-in-law. Nicole’s father.”
“Ah.” I tapped on the screen to open the conversation with Nicole’s father. I skimmed the messages. “I verified some information with him, no specifics on the operation. He didn’t know of any Fenerec in the Cohutta area.”
“Zachary and Brandon belong to Dante’s operations. They don’t have solid access to Inquisition databases unless they decide to hack their way in, which they do whenever they feel like. It’s infuriating, really,” Elliot muttered. “And I can’t even blame them, the rats. After they take what they want, they leave me a rebuking message to fix the holes.”
“Low risk?”
“Very. They don’t have any motivation to get Dante killed. He gave both of them whole new lives and purpose. I trust them with my brother’s life. They have too much to lose on something like that.”
Richard sighed. “Charles Desmond is definitely out as a suspect. He wouldn’t do anything to risk Nicole. He loves her, her sister, and her mother more than life itself.”
“You, too, Richard,” Elliot said.
“I’m not the one who got kidnapped. Leave me out of it.”
“Don’t start with me, Richard. I’ve never met a man who has gotten grabbed more times than you. It’s like you wear a sign on your back that says, ‘Kidnap me!’”
“The one time didn’t count.”
My curiosity piqued. “What one time?”
Elliot chuckled. “The entire Desmond family is cursed. It’s a long story, but to make it short, someone kidnapped Nicole to have leverage on her father. Richard and Alex went after her. Her kidnappers crashed their car, and Nicole got her hands on one of their guns, turned the tables on Richard and Alex, and kidnapped them at gunpoint. It wasn’t a kidnapping since they were willing participants, although I think they both would have preferred if she hadn’t done it while armed.”
“It’s not my fault. Really, it’s not.” Richard snorted. “It’s been ages since anyone has tried anything.”
“It’s a miracle.”
“That leaves Danielle and Markus.” I frowned at the thought of my secretary being involved.
Elliot shook his head. “It’s not Danielle. She’s alre
ady been vetted and investigated. She’s been working as hard as I have searching for clues on where you might’ve been taken. Fenerec have sniffed her out during questioning, and fire witches have checked, too. I’ve no reason to believe she’s been involved.”
“That leaves Markus.” I clenched my teeth, tapped on the conversation, and began reading the messages. I blinked, my brows furrowing.
I hadn’t been the one to mention Cohutta. I returned to my home screen to check the date before reopening my email. “It’s been three weeks, right?”
“Close enough. Why?”
I double-checked the messages between me and Markus before replying, “Two months ago, Markus sent me an email asking about taking the kids to a park for a run. He wanted me to go along with him. He wanted to go the weekend of the full moon. We messaged back and forth, and he suggested Cohutta.”
Elliot straightened. “I remember something about that. You ended up at my place as a wolf, where you tried to hide under my couch. I had to call Richard again because you refused to let any witches near you. All you told me was that Markus wanted to take you and the puppies out around the full moon. You clammed up on the matter.”
I was glad I couldn’t remember, although I knew the reasons I wouldn’t have let any witches come near me.
I missed Samantha, and all other witches did was remind me of her loss.
Richard sat next to me and looked at my screen. “Did you mention anything to him about the operation?”
I checked the conversation. “No.”
“Do you have any other correspondences with him?”
“I don’t know,” I growled, my frustration welling up and bursting out of me.
“All right, all right. Easy, Vicky.” Richard took my phone out of my hands. “I know you’re going to get upset and frustrated with your lack of memory. Nicole was no different when her memories started to return. What I thought were small, meaningless things would trigger episodes with her.”
Elliot sighed. “She’s not going to remember that, Richard. Vicky, Nicole had extensive amnesia due to a car accident and, ah, a rather traumatic event. She lost most of her memories. She developed a syndrome where she had created memories to fill in the gaps, and once her real memories started to return, there were problems. Richard took the brunt of it, since many of her lost memories involved him. It took her about a year to remember everything once it started.”