by Lori Drake
A knock on the door interrupted their powwow. Chris answered with a call to come in, and Ben stuck his head in. “Hey, just heard back on the blood analysis. Wesley had enough ketamine in his bloodstream to take down a rhino. Thought you’d want to know.”
“Oddly, we were just talking about that,” Joey said. “I mean, not that specifically, but Wesley’s death. Thanks, Ben.”
Ben hesitated briefly, then let himself in the rest of the way and closed the door behind him. “If you want my take on it… I think the bruise Chris found on his neck was where he was jabbed with the syringe. The hole would’ve closed almost immediately.”
Chris rubbed his chin. “Would’ve had to jab him pretty hard with it to leave a bruise.”
Ben shrugged and wandered closer. “Assuming he knew Wesley was a wolf, which he obviously did, he knew he had one shot and needed to move fast. That tends to lead to actions being a little more forceful than they might otherwise be.”
“So, the killer shot him up with ketamine and tossed him into the pool so he could drown?” Joey said.
“That’s what it sounds like.” Chris scribbled a note on his notepad.
“How’s your shoulder?” Ben asked. “Want me to see if the stitches can come out yet?”
The reminder of his injury, and the greater failure it represented, tugged at Chris’s battered conscience. “It’s fine for now. I’ll come find you later.”
Ben nodded and leaned against the end of the desk, looking from the map to Chris’s notes without even trying to be surreptitious about it. “Working on a plan?”
“Yeah. Trying, anyway.” Joey’s tone turned snippy as she continued, “And if you’re going to give me a hard time about not inviting Sam, you can fuck right off.”
Ben held up his hands. “Easy, there. I’m on your side, remember?”
“I never asked you to pick sides,” Joey snapped. “In fact, I told you to let it go.”
Chris looked between them. “What’d I miss?”
Joey pressed her lips into a thin line, leaving Ben to answer. “There is some disagreement about Sam taking over.”
“How bad is it?” Chris asked.
“Jon’s sleeping on the couch,” Ben said.
Joey slapped a hand to her forehead. “Fuck. This is exactly what I didn’t want.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Chris sat forward in his chair, hands flat on the desk in front of him. “Sara stood up to Jon?”
“Yeah, it was weird as fuck. Maybe it’s baby hormones or something.”
Joey groaned and got to her feet. “I need to talk to her.”
Ben dropped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down, unflinching in the face of her answering glare. “Leave it. Seriously, sis. Jon’s being a jackass, and Sara is the only one that can bring him around. She always has been, she’s just usually subtler about it.”
“So Jon is on Sam’s side. You and Sara are on Joey’s. What about Justin?” Chris said.
“There are no sides!” Joey interjected.
Ben ignored her. “He says it’s a family matter and he doesn’t want to get in the middle of it.”
“Switzerland. Great,” Chris said without enthusiasm.
Joey stood, toppling her chair over with a clatter, hands clenched into fists at her sides as she glared balefully at the two of them. “If you’re just going to talk over my head, I’m going to go.”
“Do I get a vote?” Chris asked, fully aware of what a loaded question it was. Unlike Justin, he was part of the family. But he wasn’t part of the pack, not unless Joey still considered him her second.
A master of deflection, Joey replied, “About whether I stay or go? No.”
“You know what I mean,” Chris said, unwilling to let it go, even though part of him dreaded the answer.
Ben straightened. “I think that’s my cue to go.”
Joey held up a hand, halting Ben, but kept her eyes on Chris’s. “There’s no voting to be done. I am not going to let this break our family apart, period. Sam and I will work this out. For now, I have bigger fish to fry. We have twenty-four hours to stop this hunter, and I’ll be damned if Lucas is going to beat us to it.”
Chris knew better than to press the issue further, but the fact that she still hadn’t answered the question wasn’t lost on him. Defeated, he sighed and turned his attention back to his notepad. “Then I guess we’d better get back to work.”
Joey leaned over and placed her hands on the desk, looking down at the map. Her lips slowly spread in a smile. “Good. Because I just figured out how we’re going to lure the hunter out into the open.”
Joey sat on the trunk of Adam’s Camry in the late afternoon sun. She felt uncomfortably exposed, but there was no help for it. Both her people and Chris’s were scattered in the woods around her, most in wolf form. Waiting. Watching. But the tree line was a good fifty feet away in any given direction. She hoped her confidence that they weren’t being watched wasn’t misplaced.
Adam’s car was the only one in the parking lot, by design. It was a stroke of luck that neither of Wallace Falls State Park’s two campsites were booked tonight. Chris had booked both of them to make sure unwary campers weren’t caught in the crossfire. The other vehicles that’d been required to get them here were parked elsewhere to give the impression that Joey was alone.
After about ten minutes, Joey caught the first hint of a noisy engine rumbling in the distance. She tilted her head and watched the road for another minute or so before a motorcycle came into view, its rider’s gray hair blowing freely in the breeze. Abby Walker didn’t believe in helmets.
Joey hopped down from her perch and waved as Abby rode up. The older wolf parked alongside the car, and Joey walked around to meet her.
“Thanks for coming,” Joey said, once the noisy engine was shut off.
Abby pushed her Aviator sunglasses up, tucking her hair behind them, and climbed off the bike. “No problem. What’d you want to talk about?”
“Not here.” Joey shifted her eyes around like a proper paranoiac. “Let’s take a walk. Is Gina buried around here somewhere? I can pay my respects while we’re here.”
Abby nodded, and together they set off away from the parked vehicles. “I’m sorry as hell about what happened this morning. It was tough to watch.”
Frustration and anger flared. Joey did her best to tamp them down as she offered a terse “Me too.”
“Your boy okay? Looked like he was in rough shape when you left.”
Joey winced at the reminder and tucked her hands in her pockets to keep from rubbing her temples. “Yeah. Nothing that won’t heal quickly. He should be right as rain tomorrow.”
Abby glanced at her. “Physically, anyway.”
“Yeah.” Joey had no more desire to talk about the emotional wounds with Abby than she did with Chris—his or hers. She changed the subject. “How are things at the house?”
“Rocky. I think that young whelp didn’t think through that challenge of his, or he was surprised that you all cleared out the way you did. He’s had to do a bit of scrambling to figure out how to feed everyone without your army of minions.”
Joey couldn’t help but laugh. “Army of minions. I think they’d object to being referred to that way.”
Abby smiled. “Nonetheless. He’s out of his element, stuck playing host to all the visitors with one hand tied behind his back. It’d be entertaining to watch if it weren’t such a damn shame.” She was quiet for a moment. “Something’s nagging at me about the whole situation, though.”
“Oh? What?”
“Well, knowing the apple didn’t fall far from the tree… I can’t figure out why Adelaide Grant’s daughter felt like she had to hide behind her man.”
Joey bristled. “Is that what they’re saying? That I hid behind Chris?” The ensuing silence spoke volumes. Joey sighed. “I can’t shift. I’ve got stitches in my stomach, and I’m still healing.”
“Silver wound, eh?” Abby said. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
>
“Yeah. And Lucas—” Joey stopped herself. There was a narrow line between setting the record straight and being a sore loser, and she’d made enough of a fool of herself that morning, going after Lucas in front of everyone.
“Let me guess. He knew, and challenged you anyway.”
Joey cast Abby a sideways glance and quirked a smile. “You’re not as dumb as you look.”
Abby threw her head back and laughed. “Thanks, kid.”
Joey’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked it, hoping it was a message from Chris. It was.
She was followed. Be careful.
Joey fought the urge to grin. So far, so good.
“Your guy?” Abby asked.
“Yeah.” Joey shoved her phone back in her pocket. “He didn’t want me to come alone. I guess my penance is constant check-ins.”
“Can’t say I blame him. I thought twice about agreeing to come, but I figured whatever it was you wanted to talk about was pretty damn important.”
Joey nodded. “Well, thanks again for coming.”
They walked deeper into the woods. The air smelled of pine and earth, and every now and then Joey caught a glimpse of a woodland creature disappearing under a bush or flitting from branch to branch overhead. The sun would be setting soon. She hoped they had enough daylight left to complete their little operation, because she didn’t want to be stuck in the woods after dark with a hunter on the loose and only her human eyes. Her low-light vision was much better as a wolf.
Abby stopped a good fifty yards inside the tree line and gestured at the ground. “Here we are.”
Joey looked down and blinked. If not for the tiny circle of stones on the forest floor, she wouldn’t have noticed anything at all about the spot Abby indicated. There was no telltale mound of earth. Pine needles and cones were strewn about as if it were any other part of the forest.
“Wow. I can’t decide if I’m impressed or concerned about your grave-concealing skills,” Joey said.
Abby smirked. “This ain’t my first rodeo. Sadly.”
“What was Gina like? I barely knew her. Heck, I don’t even know her last name.”
Abby crouched and nudged one of the stones that had become dislodged by something or other. “Rochester. Gina Rochester.”
“Really?” Rochester was an old name in the wolf community, much like Grant.
“By marriage. She joined us after her husband died. I’m not sure what her maiden name was. Didn’t think to put that on the application.” Abby smiled faintly and pressed her hand against the bare earth inside the stone circle. “Gina was a real sarcastic bitch, and I mean that as a compliment. She wasn’t shy with her opinion, and never beat around the bush. I think that’s a lesson we can all appreciate.”
Joey kept a wary watch while she listened, eyes, ears, and nose alert for any stray sights, sounds, or smells. When Abby paused to give her a meaningful look, she chuckled. “Is that your way of saying you want me to get to the point?”
Abby lifted a shoulder. “I don’t think you brought me all the way out here just to talk about Gina.”
“No, but I did want to pay my respects while we were here. I’m sorry for your loss.” Joey was sorry about a lot of things, but this was just one more thing she was powerless to do anything about. It chafed. “I was wondering if your offer was still open.”
Looking up at her, Abby arched a brow. “To ride with me? You more inclined now?”
“Maybe.” Joey hated the deception involved in this little operation, but she couldn’t just come out and say that she’d invited Abby out here in an effort to lure out the hunter. Not when he might be listening. Somehow. “My situation has changed a lot in the last twenty-four hours. I still have some things I need to deal with here, but… I’m giving it some consideration. If the offer’s still open, that is.” As she spoke, Joey realized that it wasn’t entirely a lie. She could leave Sam in charge of the pack and ride off into the sunset… if only that didn’t mean leaving Chris behind. And even if the Gray River pack were to relax their rules about gender, she didn’t think Chris would go anyway. He still had an obligation to his own pack, and she wouldn’t ask him to give that up.
Maybe he’d be better off without me.
Her wolf stirred uneasily in response, and Joey shook off the thought. She couldn’t afford to think like that. Not now. Not ever.
“You didn’t have to drag me all the way out here to ask that,” Abby said, eyeing her. “A phone call would’ve sufficed.”
She had a good point. Joey shrugged. “I dunno, it just felt like a face-to-face kind of conversation.”
“Well, the answer’s yes. The offer’s still open. Anything else you want to talk about? All of my worldly wisdom is at your disposal.”
“Oh, probably. But nothing I want to talk about right now.” Especially not with family and friends within earshot.
“Shall we head back, then?” Abby motioned in the direction of the parking lot.
Joey bit her lip. “Not yet. Could we just sit for a little while? You could tell me more stories about my mom. I could use a little distraction.”
“Hmm. Well, there was this one time we went down to Atlanta…”
Joey made every effort to appear attentive while remaining alert to her surroundings. The longer they stood out in the open like this, the more it set her teeth on edge. Even her wolf was anxious. She had no idea when or how the attack might come, or if it would. Her phone buzzed again with another update from Chris.
Itsuo has eyes on him. Approaching from the north.
Joey turned so she had an easier line of sight to the north and tucked her phone away again. Her blood buzzed with adrenaline. It was happening. It was really happening. But what were they waiting for? If they had eyes on the guy, why not pounce before he got to them? That was the plan.
Abby waved a hand in front of Joey’s face and snapped her fingers. “You still with me? I ain’t talking just to hear myself, you know.”
Joey winced. “Sorry. Let’s head back. We probably shouldn’t be out here after dark.”
Abby nodded, and they started walking west, following a similar path to the one they’d taken into the woods. Joey’s phone buzzed again.
He’s closing. Walk faster.
Joey replied, What’s the hold-up?
She was so distracted that she didn’t notice Abby leaning over to glance at the tiny screen.
“What the—” Abby didn’t get any farther. Her eyes widened and blood splattered Joey’s face as a hole appeared in the older wolf’s neck. Her hand went to her throat and she blinked rapidly, blood gurgling in her throat as she dropped to her knees.
“Fuck!” Joey hit the dirt and looked around frantically. Abby gurgled a bit more and pitched forward, accusing eyes starting at Joey from a short distance away. Joey put a shaking hand on Abby’s back. “Hang in there. Help is on the way.”
Joey scrambled for her phone, which she’d dropped in her panicked faceplant. Movement at the edge of her vision caught her attention, and she looked up to see a camouflaged figure emerge from the trees with a suppressed pistol held in a two-handed grip.
Shit. Why didn’t I at least bring Colt’s gun?
There was a sudden commotion in the opposite direction… whatever that was. She wasn’t sure which way was which anymore, but she wasn’t the only one that noticed the commotion. The hunter’s head swiveled, and Joey knew that was her chance. She scrambled to her feet and rushed the figure, who wasn’t much taller than she was.
The assailant’s attention whipped back to Joey. A crack sounded as the gun went off, and Joey felt a familiar stinging sensation in her thigh. Undeterred, she poured on the supernatural speed and swiftly closed the distance. The gun went off again as she swatted it aside. Pain blossomed in Joey’s left arm, but the gun went flying. She sent a flurry of punches at her attacker, realizing several things in swift succession. One, this wasn’t the man from the hotel security footage. Two, it wasn’t a man at all, and three, s
he was fast. Seriously fast. She dodged or deflected every punch and returned only one, but one was all it took to snap Joey’s head back and make her see stars.
The next blow was a kick to the stomach, and Joey crumpled around the explosion of pain in her midsection. Her leg took that moment to give out, and she went down hard. Her assailant looked down at her with stony eyes the color of flint, cool and dispassionate as she fiddled with her wrist and pulled out a length of wire that glinted in the fading light.
Joey didn’t doubt that it was the silver-plated garrote that’d ended Gina’s life, but she could barely breathe around the agony in her stomach. She cast her eyes about in desperation and caught a glimpse of the handgun a few feet away on the forest floor. She reached for it, fingers scrabbling amongst the pine needles and dirt, but it lay out of reach. Marshaling her will, she swallowed against the pain and rolled onto her stomach, crawling for the gun.
It almost worked. Her fingers brushed the grip. The silver loop dropped around her neck and tightened, cutting off her air and burning her flesh. Joey continued to fumble for the weapon while the skin beneath the silver-plated wire began to blister. The garrote tightened enough to cut. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t get any noise out. Panic seized her heart. She stopped scrambling for the gun and clawed at the wire around her neck instead. Images flashed through her mind, snapshots of memories. Her brothers laughing around a poker table. Her parents in their bathrobes, sipping coffee on Christmas morning. Chris striking a pose on the dance floor, a beckoning hand outstretched. They turned darker. Her mother’s lifeless body. Elijah’s caustic glare. Lucas’s cocky smirk. Chris, beaten and broken. Sam’s disappointed frown. Tears slid down her cheeks as the parade of regrets and failures went on. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Her wolf howled and fought her control. At least one of them still had some fight left. But if she shifted with that silver wire around her neck, her stomach would be the least of her concerns.
“What was that?” Joey’s assailant finally spoke, and her hands paused in yanking the wire. “Jack? Jack!”