by Ashley Shay
Carly pressed into Tyler’s body and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him with a sultry smile. “Do you really want to talk about Cougar right now?”
Tyler felt his cock stiffen. “Not really. You have something else in mind to talk about?”
Carly licked her lips suggestively. “I was thinking of a bedtime snack. Are we going to have company?”
“Not tonight, darlin’,” Tyler answered. “Tonight you are all mine, and my cougar is ready to howl.”
* * * *
Viper looked up from the computer screen. “Did you get into the club?”
Harley actually seemed to pale for a minute, his ruddy complexion turning a pasty shade of pink. “No. How did you…”
Viper’s tongue flicked out in anger before he sufficiently controlled himself. “If I didn’t need your services, scorpion, you’d be crushed under my shoe. The club belongs to one of the Lucas men. They call him Cougar. He’s head of security at the ranch. If he’d been at the club when you showed up, I would have had to abandon the mission.”
“Sorry, boss.” Harley didn’t look sorry to Viper. He looked petulant, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Nobody fucking told me about the club.”
“You said you didn’t need details,” Viper reminded him. “I believe you told me to point you in the direction, and that was enough.”
“I meant for the hit, not for a fucking night out on the town.”
Viper reigned in his anger. He needed the scorpion more than he needed to vent. He’d deal out the appropriate punishment later. “Did you get any ideas for delivery while you were in Catamount?”
“The easiest way to get onto the ranch undetected is to ride in with one of the Lucas brothers. I figure they all drive trucks and show up in Catamount regularly. I’ll have Talon drop me in town at the parking lot, and I’ll wait till I can catch a ride in one of the Lucas boys’ truck beds. I should be able to pass right through the gate under security’s eye with them none the wiser.”
Viper could feel the tension easing out of his shoulders. “Not a grand plan,” he muttered, “but quite often the simple plans work out for the best.” He poured himself a drink, deliberately neglecting Harley. “Did you get laid tonight? I don’t want your mind on your cock tomorrow.”
He glanced at Harley, who watched him sip the cool liquid. Harley swallowed reflexively. “Yeah, I’m fine. No worries. I’ll get the job done.”
Viper nodded approval. “Make sure you do, scorpion, or there will be no place you can hide from me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tyler gave Carly a kiss before they left the sanctuary of their bedroom. “Can you manage the kit today if I take Rosa into town for a while?”
“Sure, we need to get Suzie back on a course of studies. This Viper business has been a terrible distraction. It’s not good for her.”
“I agree.” Tyler checked his pockets, making sure he had his cell phone. Now where were his keys? “Call if you need anything.”
Carly smiled. “I’ll be fine, Ty. Really. Go do whatever it is you’re so excited about.”
He stopped patting his pockets. “Is it that obvious?”
Carly nodded. “To me it is. What have you got planned?”
“A little business venture. I’ll tell you about it when we get home if Rosa’s interested.”
Before Carly could interrogate him further, a soft rap came on the door, and he opened it to reveal Rosa standing there with one beautifully manicured eyebrow arched in amusement. “Not that I had any intention of eavesdropping, but I heard my name…”
Tyler felt heat flush his face. “I was just telling Carly I want you to ride into town with me. There’s a piece of property I want your opinion on.”
Rosa’s dark eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why would you need my opinion on a piece of property, Tyler Lucas? If you want it, you know you’ll have it.”
Tyler jammed on his cowboy hat. “Damn it, Rosa, just come with me today.”
She looked like she was about to protest but finally shrugged elegantly. “Whatever you say, but not before I have coffee.”
Tyler rolled his eyes at Carly as Rosa strolled down the hall. He hoped this wasn’t tougher than he’d anticipated. For all her attitude, Rosa was a giver, not a taker. Maybe he should have discussed all this with Carly. She was, after all, his mate and their alpha female.
Carly’s warm hand slid against his at the same time he felt the cool metallic sensation of his keys. He glanced down stupidly then smiled as he caught her smile. “Reading my mind now?”
“Almost,” Carly said. “They were on the dresser.” She reached up and adjusted the string tie he thought had been a good idea a few minutes ago. She ran her hands down his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You look very handsome, Tyler. Whatever you’ve decided, whatever made you wear this tie today…I’m sure it was the right thing to do.”
He sighed, so grateful for this woman in his life. “Thanks, darlin’. I appreciate that.”
She swatted him on the butt. “Now go and change her life.” When Tyler’s brow rose, Carly smirked. “That is what you’re planning to do, right?”
He nodded and cupped her face. “Almost reading my mind? Hell, honey, sometimes I think we’re sharing the same brain space.”
* * * *
Talon wrapped his claws around Harley, feeling the scorpion squirm around until he found a comfortable position. When the creature settled down, Talon gave a thrust upward and soared into the endless blue Texas sky. Talon loved flying and missed having Raptor to sail along beside him. One of these days that fucking snake would get what he deserved, but for now, Talon had to play by his rules. He let the freedom of the air calm his ruffled feathers. Once this job was over, maybe the snake would leave again, and stay gone, since there would be nothing to hold him to this area any longer. As he flew toward Catamount, he spied a familiar sight on the road below him. It was Tyler Lucas in that piece-of-shit truck. How fitting the alpha would be the one to bring death into his safe little compound.
Talon slowed his flight and let the air currents lift him higher as he circled the town of Catamount. Everything seemed peaceful enough below. He’d wait for Tyler to leave the parking lot before he got within sight. Then he’d swoop down and drop Harley from a comfortable height. He didn’t want the scorpion to land under the wheel of a vehicle.
Gliding along on the air currents, Talon wondered if there wasn’t an easier way to get revenge. He could have dropped an incendiary device on the house while the family lay sleeping and no one would have been the wiser. But that wasn’t the snake’s way. He wanted his prey afraid. He liked the power of terrorizing his victims.
Fuck that.
Every day, Talon was gladder he wasn’t a snake. Life was so much simpler in the sky.
* * * *
After his talk with Carly and breakfast, Tyler felt more confident about what he planned to spring on Rosa, but he still felt a bit restless, almost as if he wanted to crawl out of his skin. He imagined it was because the surprise was eating at him. He’d never been good at pulling off surprises. Jillian had always known when he was holding something close to the vest. Good or bad, he could never keep anything from her. Rosa wasn’t Jillian, of course, but she could read him like a book. Suzie too.
She suspected something, but she couldn’t have any idea what it was. The deal had practically fallen into his lap, and he couldn’t wait to see her reaction. He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel as Firebolt cruised toward Catamount. The sound of her voice made him pause in the middle of “Wipe Out.”
“No hint at all for me?”
“Nope, not a one,” he said with a smile.
“Damn. You’re being very mysterious, Ty. Why can’t I figure this out?”
He shrugged, trying very hard to keep it inside. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and went back to playing “Wipe Out.”
Rosa cast a sidelong glance at him.
“Have you found me an apartment?” she asked quietly. “Is it time for me to leave Cattail? Is that what this is all about?”
Ty stopped drumming, all his excitement leaching from his body at the sound of her sorrowful voice. He shook his head. “God no, Rosa, you’ve got a home at Cattail as long as you want. I can never thank you enough for stepping in when you did. I realize you gave up a dancing career to take care of us.”
Rosa turned from him to look out the window, and Tyler could have sworn he saw tears shimmering in her eyes. “It’s what Jillian would have wanted.”
“She would have appreciated it,” Tyler said, “but she would have wanted you to follow your heart, Rosa. You stopped dancing for us.”
“I dance every day,” Rosa protested.
“You know it’s not the same,” Ty said gently. “You need to teach again and to give performances.”
He pulled into the parking lot outside of Catamount. “We’re here. The building isn’t far.”
“Building? I thought you said land.” Rosa looked up at him with a frown.
“Actually, I think I said property, but we’re splitting hairs now. C’mon.”
Tyler stopped several buildings down from Cougar’s club. “This used to be a gym, but I think it would make a hell of a dance studio, don’t you? We could open the front up and put floor-to-ceiling mirrors in. The office is already divided, and there’s plenty of room for more dressing rooms. It wouldn’t take much renovation. What do you think?” He studied her face, but she seemed to have, for the first time in her life, nothing to say. “Please say you like the idea. I’ve already opened a line of credit for the renovations.”
Rosa opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. She took a few steps toward the door then stopped. She turned back to him with a tremulous smile. “I couldn’t, Ty. It’s just too much.”
Ty pulled a thick envelope from his jacket pocket and held it toward her. “Deed’s already in your name, Rosa. Do whatever you want with it.”
* * * *
At last, Talon spotted Tyler and Rosa getting out of the truck. If his beak would allow him, he would have grinned at the perfect scenario. The alpha had parked his truck under a tree to grab what shade was available.
Waiting until Tyler was out of sight, Talon swooped down and landed in the cottonwood tree, releasing Harley on a limb stretching over the truck bed. All the scorpion had to do was walk the length of the limb and give a leap into the truck.
Two security guards noticed his arrival and started across the parking lot. One took off his hat and swung it back and forth. “Get outta here.” Talon obediently took to the sky again. He knew the guard didn’t know if he was a threat, or not, from that distance. Talon didn’t want them to get close enough they could make him as a shifter, so he flew away, leaving Harley to wait for his ride to Cattail Ranch.
When he looked back, he saw Tyler returning to the truck, along with Viper’s sister. The woman was a work of art, truly beautiful, but then most serpents were, men and women alike. They had the power of seduction. After all, hadn’t the first serpent shifter tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden?
* * * *
“I can’t believe you put the deed in my name,” Rosa said. She turned in her seat to look at Tyler as he backed out of the parking lot. “I don’t deserve it.”
Tyler turned to her in surprise. “Don’t deserve it? My God, Rosa, you’ve held the pride together over the past year.”
Rosa looked down at her hands. “Ty, I’ve got to tell you something.” She hesitated looking out at the street and then back to him. “I might be the reason this is all happening.”
Tyler frowned. “What do you mean?”
Rosa looked miserable. “I’m not sure, Ty, but I think my brother, Juan, is behind all this.”
Tyler ran a hand across his mouth. He clamped his emotions down good and tight. Could Rosa have betrayed them? Let all this happen without warning them? Without telling them she knew who was attacking the Lucas pride? “What makes you think that?”
“I didn’t suspect at all until I heard you and Gabe talking to Cougar and the others about Viper. It was the name that made me think about the things happening at the ranch. I’ve heard my brother called that before.”
Tyler felt his pulse speed up. “Maybe there’s more than one Viper.”
Rosa shook her head. “You don’t know Juan. He’s beautiful and intelligent and completely ruthless. If you cross him in any way, he’s dangerous.”
“That still doesn’t make it your fault, Rosa. Gabe and I have tracked him for years. He—”
“He’s not after you.”
Tyler nearly lost control of the truck while he stared at her. Fastening his attention back to the road, he asked, “What makes you think that?”
“Because he’s sick. He’s twisted.” Rosa’s voice was filled with anguish. “He wants to punish me for picking Jillian over him. He wanted me to join him in the family business, and when I told him no, I think he started plotting his revenge. It’s taken a few years, but I think killing Jillian was the first step in stripping me of everything I love.” A sob caught in her throat.
Tyler gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. After all the years of believing he’d caused Jillian’s death and after giving up his career at Homeland because of his guilt, he’d now discovered he might not have been the cause at all. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry.
“We’re going to discuss this with the others when we get home. You’ve got to tell us everything, Rosa. Maybe we can get him before he does any more damage.”
“Can you forgive me, Ty?” Rosa pleaded. “I’d have told you if I’d known. I swear.”
Tyler could sense her truthfulness. “It’s not your fault any more than it was my fault, Rosa. I know you loved Jillian like a sister. We’re gonna get this son of a bitch, and we’re going to need your help.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Rosa promised. She slid the envelope with the deed in it over to Tyler. “Take this back. Like I said, I don’t deserve it.”
“Keep it,” Ty said. “You’ve been like a mother to Suzie, and you’ve kept Cattail running smoothly. My feelings haven’t changed, Rosa.” Tyler turned the truck into the drive and paused at the security gate. After a nod from the guard, the gate opened, and he continued onto the long driveway heading to the ranch house. “Except now we have a lead.”
* * * *
Harley waited several minutes after the truck was parked before he left his hiding place. He dropped down from the truck bed and scurried across the yard as if his tail were on fire. When he got to the relative safety of the house, he paused to consider his options.
First, he would take out the woman named Carly, then the brat, and then he’d take care of anyone else who got in his way. Viper wanted as much damage done as possible, and Harley would give it to him. He loved his work.
Considering the high security Cattail Ranch had around it, Harley figured he’d take the most unexpected route. No one thought to protect their plumbing. Yet any number of intruders could enter that way. He could easily access the pipes of the water system and get into the house without being detected. He only had to figure out which room the woman was in.
Tracking along the footer of the house, Harley found what he needed. With a quick glance around him, he slipped into an impossibly small space and was inside the basement area. He took a moment to look around and thought it couldn’t be so easy—everything was coded.
After looking over the schematics, he picked an entry spot and disappeared inside. His plan would be to attack at night when the family was sleeping. It would be morning before anyone knew a killer had struck. Pleased with the simplicity of his plan, he thought he might even get a bonus out of this one.
* * * *
Cougar listened to Rosa’s story with an impassive look on his face. He held his emotions in check, as did the rest of the brothers, but Gabe could see the strain in all of their faces. For himse
lf, he had to admit feeling a sort of relief, glad Jillian’s death wasn’t somehow his fault. Glancing over at Tyler, he knew the alpha had similar feelings.
Rosa, however, looked devastated. He’d never seen the woman look tired, or anything less than perfect, but as she spilled out her story, she looked distraught. Carly got up and went to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s not your fault, Rosa,” Carly said. “Your brother is to blame for this. Not you, or Tyler, or Gabe. It’s time we unite and draw our forces together to protect one another. From this point on, until we capture Juan, we’ll have to watch each other’s backs constantly.”
Gabe couldn’t believe how Carly had fallen into the role of alpha female. She settled into her duties flawlessly, even handling Rosa with a gentle but firm understanding that eluded the men. He watched with pride as Carly offered support, advice, and comfort as she thought it was needed.
“When do you anticipate the next attack?” Gabe asked, glancing at Cougar.
“Night.” The word echoed through the room from several voices.
“We’re tired, our defenses are low, and he couldn’t have known Rosa would tell us her suspicions,” Cougar said. “I think he’ll try for a night invasion.”
“Get all the Tomcats on duty tonight. If they need reinforcements get them.” Tyler looked at Cougar. “Is there any chance we can steal Jake away from the club for a few days?”
“I’ll call him.” Cougar turned to Rosa. “Will he try to harm you physically?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think Juan is capable of anything. My guess is he would prefer to take away everything I love and leave me to think about it.”
“We’ve gotta find this son of a bitch,” Gabe said. “He’s wearing our security down. We can’t keep the full staff on alert twenty-four seven, and he knows that.”