They started driving, with Lancaster seated next to her. One of the burly men drove, while the other was in the front passenger seat.
“So, are you going to tell me that I have one last chance to get your son out of jail?” she said, even though she knew that he wasn’t going to be after that anymore. Not when he was making such a big scene out of driving her to work. “And if I don’t do as you want, you’ll destroy my life?”
At least he isn’t threatening my family.
She could be grateful for that, at least. Her parents weren’t being threatened, and if Lancaster was going to threaten them, then he would have already done so. He wasn’t the kind of man who would suddenly show up with heads on spikes with no prior warning.
“No, no.” Lancaster waved his hand. “I don’t want you to do that anymore. In fact, I am quite convinced that it’s not possible for you to do it. This was all a very disappointing waste of time. I thought perhaps the new coverage of your exploits would fade and you’d end up under less scrutiny, but it is obvious now that will not be happening. And since you were the one who signed the warrant to have Matthew arrested in the first place…”
“I didn’t sign the arrest warrant; I signed a search warrant to save children from being sold as sex slaves. Do you honestly want your name connected with that?”
Lancaster’s lips thinned. “Matthew has shown a severe lack of judgment. The boy does need to be taught a lesson. But I am his father, I am the one that should be doing the teaching. And you had no right to sign that warrant.”
“And so, you’re going to take everything from me.”
“Precisely. I imagine there will be quite the large fine handed to you along with your jail sentence… perhaps enough that dear Mother and Father will lose the farm after all.”
“Don’t you dare—”
“I’m not going to hurt them.” Lancaster rolled his eyes. “No, you don’t have to worry about that. I will ruin your life and they will lose everything trying to protect you, but I’m sure they will be able to get something back over time.”
Valerie clenched her jaw. She wanted to tell him that he had no right. That he had to stay away from her father or face the consequences.
But she already knew what he would say in response to that. She went after his family, so he was going after hers. It was only fair. And he was being generous, only taking everything away from them and not killing them. If she pushed it too much, he might just change his mind in that regard. And if he did that… it would destroy her.
“It’s more than just that, though.” Lancaster hummed. “I am very concerned… about Kavan. He’s been acting very strangely lately, and I am starting to wonder if everything is alright.”
Valerie schooled her expression into one of blank lack of interest.
“You don’t seem very surprised,” Lancaster said, his eyes starting to flash, “to know that I have been in contact with him.”
And too late she realized her mistake. She shouldn’t look uninterested; she shouldn’t look like this wasn’t news to her. She should have been shocked. She should have been betrayed and furious, the way she had felt the previous night. Her breath caught in her throat as her hand flew to her mouth.
She had just given him away. She shouldn’t have known that Kavan was still in contact with Lancaster, and now she had all but told Lancaster that she did know.
“This is a disappointment,” Lancaster breathed, turning to face the front window. “I was always so assured of his loyalty. Goes to show that you can’t trust anybody, doesn’t it?”
“He didn’t tell me,” she blurted, her voice going high-pitched with fear. “I knew because there was a cop who saw the two of you talking in a bar—”
“What’s the name of the bar?”
Valerie floundered. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
Lancaster shook his head. “For a lawyer, you are a terrible liar, Judge Gilson. You would have asked if this was information you got from a secondary source. You would have gotten every detail and then you would have thrown Kavan’s ass in jail so fast the planet’s rotation would have increased.”
“Please don’t hurt him.” Valerie reached for Lancaster’s arm. “Please. I’ll do anything you want, I’ll—”
“No, I’m sure that you will not.” His voice was harsh, a growl low in his throat that indicated that he was very close to shifting. She could see the wolf in his eyes and drew back, terrified. Lancaster snarled. “You have already proven that you are incapable of doing what I want you to do, so why should I pursue this idiocy any further?”
“Please.”
He looked at her again. A smile lit his face, and a cruel laugh echoed through the limo. “You love him. Oh, this could have been very, very amusing. I could have done so much with this. But it’s too late now, isn’t it? Kavan has betrayed me, and you are useless. Tell me, did he tell you about my plans before or after you swore your love?”
I didn’t tell him. The last thing I told him was to leave. Oh, God! The last thing I told him was to leave.
“No matter.” Lancaster shook his head. “It’s too late for all of that now. Pull over.”
The car moved over, pulling up alongside the sidewalk. Lancaster opened the door and seized her wrist. He pulled her out, dragging her by her wrist, then pushed her away. His teeth were sharp in his mouth as he grinned at her.
“Goodbye, your Honor. I hope that we see each other soon… at your trial.”
He climbed back into his limo. They peeled away as Valerie screamed and ran after them, begging for one last chance. Lancaster didn’t slow, and she knew that he was going to find and kill Kavan. And it was all her fault.
Chapter Eleven
Valerie’s feet ached as she rushed into the store. She had no idea where she was, Lancaster having driven a route she was unfamiliar with. Her heart was in her throat as she rushed to the cashier’s desk. The cashier, who had been reading a comic book, dropped it and jumped, startled, as Valerie’s hands slammed into the desk. She panted, having been running in high heels for almost an hour.
“I need your phone,” she blurted, not bothering to explain anything or beg for help. She had tried three houses and four people on the street, but all of them refused to help her. If this person didn’t give her the phone, she was going to lunge behind the desk and take it.
The cashier looked at the landline that sat behind him, then back at her. “We’re not allowed to—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck! Just give it to me!” Valerie roared. “It’s a matter of life and death! Hand it over or I will sue your ass for everything you have!”
The teenager’s eyes widened. Without a word, he pulled the phone off its cradle and passed it over. Valerie snatched it, her fingers dialing rapidly. She had no idea if Kavan had returned home to get his phone or not but there was someone she knew she could count on. She always made a point of memorizing telephone numbers for a situation just like this, and now she prayed that she didn’t make a mistake.
Camille answered quickly, and Valerie’s knees went weak with relief. “Camille, I don’t have time for questions, you need to do as I tell you right away.”
“I—Okay.” Camille’s voice was breathless, but Valerie was grateful that she didn’t argue.
“I need you to contact the police. Send Kavan’s picture out everywhere and get him brought into protective custody. Carl Lancaster is going to kill him.”
“What?” Camille shrieked. “Why—”
“No questions!” Valerie leaned against the desk while the cashier watched with wide, frightened eyes. “Just do it, okay? Get him into protective custody. Right now.”
Camille stuttered out a yes, and Valerie hung up. She then dialed Kavan’s number, hoping against hope that he would answer. It rang several times, then went to voicemail. Valerie hung up, then stared at the landline, her brain rolling over everything. Camille would get the police going better than she could since she had Kavan’s picture that sh
e could easily send them.
Now what was she supposed to do?
Maybe she could find Kavan. But she didn’t have any money for a cab… Lancaster had kept her purse. She didn’t have her phone, didn’t know where she was… She looked up at the teenager, who flinched back. Did she really look that frightening?
She could worry about that later. “Where is the closest bus stop?”
“Uh, just down the street that way.” He pointed, then pointed in the opposite direction. “There’s a subway that way, though.”
“Thank you,” she glanced at his nametag. “Tim, I’m going to need you to do something else for me, okay?”
“Uh… okay.”
“If anybody phones back here looking for Valerie Gilson, tell them I’m going to where Kavan works.” She grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down the name. “I don’t have my phone with me, but I’ll call them back as soon as I get there. In half an hour, call this store and ask them if I’ve gotten there. If I haven’t, call back fifteen minutes after that. If I’m not there by then, call this number,” she jotted down Camille’s number, “and tell her that she needs to start a police sweep for me. Got it?”
The boy nodded, his eyes so wide that they were in danger of bugging out of his head. She then wrote down the number for the store, so she could call him and let him know she was alright if she managed to get there safely and raced out the door again.
Luckily, the bus driver recognized her and let her on without paying a fare. He even radioed in and had a cab waiting for her at the end of his route. The driver looked serious but barreled through the streets until they got to the store. Valerie wrote down his name and cab number so she could pay the fare later and raced into the jewelry store.
It was just coming up to forty-five minutes since she’d left the kid at the store, and Philip stood there, looking stressed and worried. Valerie had seen him a couple of times during Kavan’s trial. When he saw her, relief came over his expression and he strode over.
“What’s going on? We’ve had some kid on the phone for the last half hour, frantic.”
There certainly wasn’t enough time to explain everything. “Is Kavan here?”
“No.”
“Have you seen him?”
“He crashed at my place last night.” Philip’s brow furrowed, and there was a deep fear in his eyes. Fear that told her he already knew what to expect from this conversation. “It’s Lancaster, isn’t it? He found out.”
Guilt crashed into Valerie so quickly that her knees buckled. Philip caught her and carried her over to a chair. It was at that moment that Wayne Jonston and Samuel Carter came in. Both of them looked rather annoyed, and Valerie ground her teeth together. The cashier, who was currently rushing over with a glass of water for her, could be sent away so she and Philip could talk privately.
These two, however, were not going to be so easily gotten rid of. And they could cause problems.
“You need to phone home,” she told Philip, trying to push her worries aside. They needed to get hold of Kavan. “He might still be there.”
“It’s an apartment, and it doesn’t have a landline.”
“Then we need to go there. I’ve got the police looking for him, to bring him into protective custody, but if they spook him—”
“Is this about Mr. McBride?” Jonston interrupted. “Not surprised he didn’t show up today but—”
“Oh, shut up!” Valerie snarled.
Carter looked thrilled and jabbed Jonston in the ribs with his elbow. Jonston scowled back. Before they could start arguing or whatever they planned to do, Valerie stood. She couldn’t just sit around here doing nothing.
“Call that kid back,” she told the cashier. “Tell him that I’m alright. And you,” she pointed at Philip, “we’re going to look for Kavan.”
“Hold on,” Carter protested, straightening. “He’s got a job to do here. We can’t just close shop and—"
“Then you guard your own stupid diamonds,” Valerie shot back. Her knees still felt weak, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins gave her new strength. She took a deep breath and, grabbing Philip’s arm, pulled him toward the door. “A man’s life is in danger, and if you think rocks are more important than that, then you can shove them all up your ass.”
Samuel looked affronted but didn’t try to stop them. “It’s not the diamonds,” he called when they were at the door. “It’s the money!”
Valerie didn’t stop to yell at him, even though she desperately wanted to. Philip led her to where his small car was, and she climbed in. He had to remind her to put on her seatbelt as they drove away. Traffic was thicker now than it had been with the cab and if Valerie’s stupid heels weren’t cutting into her feet, she would have been tempted to just walk.
“I don’t even know why I put these on,” she moaned as she looked at her feet. “I don’t usually wear heels. I have these lovely flats that I wear. They’re comfortable and don’t put me at risk of breaking my neck. Why did I put on heels? I think I was thinking that I needed to move fast and didn’t want to deal with laces… God, I’m such an idiot!”
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Philip said, his voice soothing. “Adrenaline makes you do weird things sometimes. You weren’t thinking about having to traverse all over the city in order to find him. Just try to stay calm. Kavan’s smart. He’s been in stickier situations than this and always managed to come up smelling like roses.”
She hoped he was right. She slumped into her chair, pressing her palms to her eyes as tears started to run down her cheeks. “But if he’s not… then the last thing I said to him…”
Philip gripped the steering wheel tighter. His shoulders hunched as he wove through traffic, cutting it close enough that Valerie had to keep her eyes covered so she didn’t think they were about to be killed in a fiery crash.
“He loves you,” Philip grunted, taking a sharp turn. His voice was gravelly and tense with concentration. “I know he’s an idiot with his emotions and doesn’t always know what he feels, but he loves you.”
“I told him to leave.”
“I know. He told me last—” He cut off abruptly as he narrowly made it between a van and a bus.
They decided not to try to have any more of a conversation after that. They reached the apartment soon enough, finding it empty, and Valerie almost started crying again. Not knowing what else to do, she transferred the information she wrote on her arm onto a piece of paper, then called Camille on Philip’s cell to let her know that she was still on the lookout for Kavan.
“Governor Bloom is here,” Camille told her. “He’s furious. He wants to talk about the Lancaster case, and he’s threatening to put you in on charges if you don’t come in right away.”
Valerie ground her teeth together. What did she care about Governor Bloom and his threats when the love of her life was out there, who knew where and in danger? By this time, Lancaster might have already found him! Philip had already left, as he was going to search the streets in his wolf form and hopefully sniff out Kavan, but he’d left his keys with her.
She could go to the office. At least then she’d had a phone and regular updates from the police… But at the same time, she knew she couldn’t just sit around waiting. She needed to be out there, looking for him. Camille had this number.
“Tell him to go fuck himself,” she said, “I’m not coming in until my mate has been found.”
A brief pause and then Camille mumbled. “Do I have to use those words exactly?”
“No. Not those words exactly. I have to go now. If you learn anything, let me know.”
“I will.”
Valerie hung up. She headed for the door, dialing Kavan’s number once more. This time, it went straight to voicemail. Her heart jumped to her throat. Did that mean he had gotten it and turned it off, or that it had died? Or something else?
Lancaster after you, please call, she typed, holding her breath as it sent. There was no answer as she got back to the street
and got into the car again. She started to drive, trying to think of where Kavan would go. Maybe to the place where they had their first date? She sent another quick text, this time to Camille, telling her to send a pic of Kavan, then started to drive.
He was out there somewhere. And she was going to find him. She was going to find him and bring him home… Because if anything happened to him, she didn’t know how she could go on.
***
After a long, sleepless night, Kavan had decided that he needed to get out and do something. Sitting around wasn’t helping, and if he tried to drink more, he was going to make himself sick. So, in the early morning light, he went for a walk. Walking turned into running and he had to concentrate on that enough that his head was cleared by the time he slowed to a stop. His legs were a bit wobbly, having pushed himself for a couple of hours, so he turned around and started walking back.
Sometime during his run, he had realized something. There was one major hurdle to the thoughts of ‘happily ever after’ he had been entertaining. And that hurdle was the fact that he was going to go to jail. Next month, next year, it didn’t matter. His case being thrown out was stupid at best and it wasn’t going to be long before they were able to bring a new case against him, or simply decide that releasing him was a bad idea.
He was going back to jail and when that happened, he didn’t want Valerie to be left alone, unable to move ahead with her life. Philip was right. Kavan loved her. And right now, at least, he could admit that he loved her. She was the sunlight in the dark, dreary waste of his life. Until she came along, there was only one thing he could see himself as. Now, he could entertain fantasies of life outside the Family. Living an actual real life where he wasn’t dependent on hurting other people.
And he finally cared about someone more than himself. He finally knew what it meant to love and what it meant to be loved. And it was the most glorious feeling he had ever experienced.
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