The man owned a small store in town but was a big internet sensation, which was where all of the business came from. He still did his own paperwork even though the company was a family business and he had family trained to do the work.
“Who’s the first target?”
“The cats, but he’s anticipating plenty of opposition to his plan to eliminate the deputy mayor’s job, so he wants some of the council members dead. An interterm election will put more of his supporters in the seats.”
“Most of the seats are held by elders of the south and the west,” Myles Dillon commented.
The elders of the west had similar ideals to the southern elders and the two had often supported each other against the elders of the east and the north. Those of the north were a smaller group because that area of town was inhabited by only four or five families. It was a small farming community with land that just dipped into the next town.
Most of the elders of each group were pure-blooded aliens from Barria or Utaria.
“And most of you won’t support him,” Ashley’s killer replied, crossing the room to take a seat before the desk. The older man didn’t look up.
“Smart. The cats are the largest group, which makes them a threat to us all,” Myles commented.
“What about Andron’s motion to revisit the change of constitution and bill of rights?”
“The eastern and northern elders are on board. They want to give it another shot.”
“It’ll have to be rewritten, but it’ll pass even against Jarvis’s wishes?”
“Yes, because Ursula and Tangela are going to vote for it. Logan’s been spending quite a bit of time with Tangela and espousing his views, so she’s being effectively brought around to his way of thinking.”
“Something we can’t afford,” Ashley’s killer murmured. They were the smallest group yet with the westerners and their elders, the southerners outnumbered the eastern residents and their elders. “But Jarvis wants Sed, Ursula, and Tangela gone, as well.”
With them gone, Jarvis’s group would barely have enough to oppose the measure, leaving the Androns and the northerners with the swing vote. That was a vote that couldn’t be swayed or bought, which made the north a threat or a loyal ally.
“Jaxon’s true version of the constitution is viable, but I don’t want to compromise,” Myles grumbled. “So, I say carry out the hits as planned on all but Sed.”
“What about Andron? How hard do you want to push him?”
“None of the others are prepared to deal with him now. They’re only concerned with getting rid of Jarvis.”
“The best way to do that is to allow him to carry out his agenda and set him up,” Ashley’s killer remarked.
“Keep it subtle,” Myles said. “Don’t allow anything to point to him directly. Figuring out the puzzle will keep Dade busy.”
He was about to reply when his cell phone rang. Ashley’s killer pulled it from his pants pocket and glanced at the display. “Speak of the devil. Jarvis,” he answered.
“How are things coming for tonight?”
“Fine, I have a watcher who’ll alert us when it’s safe to move in and plant the bombs.”
He also had an insider whose mind he’d altered with hypnosis. He’d found the woman extremely susceptible, but he supposed that was because her mind was too engaged with the plans for her upcoming wedding.
“Great. Don’t leave any traces, I don’t want any blame assigned here, understood? We can’t allow the cats to gain the sympathy of the western elders. You know how weepy those women can be over children.”
He grunted. “Not all of them, but enough to be a liability.”
“Exactly, and I want you to take care of Cade Snow. He’s a personal message from me to Andron, but don’t leave him any clues. I’ll send him one.” He laughed gleefully.
“When?”
“In a few hours he’ll be on his way home. Do it at his home, the one place where he should have been safe.”
“There is a certain amount of irony in it, but it is cliché, Jarvis. You’d do better killing him while he’s with Andron.”
“Too risky,” Jarvis said. “Do it my way, and we’ll talk later when I get back from the city.”
“Right.” He disconnected and set the phone on the desk.
“What does he want now?” Miles asked.
“He wants the judge killed tonight along with Cade Snow,” he said tightly.
He still thought harmony was possible, a truce, at the least, but those at the helm of this game didn’t see it that way.
“I’ll get you some help. There are two people who’ve been dying to get into the fight from the beginning.”
“I get the feeling Jarvis is playing a game that we’re not privy to and if we go along with everything he wants it’ll be a mistake.”
“Don’t read more into whatever you heard him say than there is,” Myles warned. “His grandfather was a fuck up and so was his father.”
“And so is Jarvis?” Ashley’s killer demanded. “We can’t completely underestimate him just because he’s mostly human.”
“Don’t get cold feet on me now. I don’t want Jarvis to suspect for one moment that you’re not his to command, so if you have something against going after Cade Snow, then I’ll handle it. He’s a nice kid, I admit, but this is a war and he’s just a casualty.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cade spent the rest of the day in the city finishing up casework and in meetings trying to get his clients to leave Jarvis. Two of them refused, and Cade assured them he’d have their cases finished within a few days.
His phone rang while preparing to leave and he groaned hoping it wasn’t someone who’d make him late for Zan’s celebration. He grabbed the phone on his desk from its cradle.
“Cade.”
“Hello, Cade, this is Danten.”
“H-hi,” he said hesitantly.
“What’s your schedule looking like tomorrow? I’d like to talk to you about something.”
“Something legal?”
“In a way,” he said. “It’s about your parents’ estate,” Danten told him. “They left something in my care for you.”
He’d been seventeen when his parents died and away at college, so he couldn’t really dispute Danten’s claim that his parents had left something with him for Cade.
He looked at his watch as if it held some answer. “Okay. Sure, we can meet around three?”
“That works,” he replied. “Can you come by my office at the paper?”
The town had a small paper which could be read on the Internet these days.
“No problem,” he said. “What did they ask you to keep for me?”
“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone,” Danten told him. “I’ll see you then.”
“Okay, bye.” Cade ended the call and gathered his things. He’d come by tomorrow and clear out his office. He could deal with these clients from his new office if Jaxon had secured office space.
He had several clients of his own that weren’t dependent on his continued employment for Jarvis. He’d be informing them of the change of work address and phone number, but for now they had his cell. And he’d be sending out a message to them within the next few days.
Cade grabbed his bag and stepped out of his office and headed to the reception desk. Carly, the receptionist, was seated there looking a little annoyed.
“Carly, I’m out for the day. I’ll be back tomorrow to clean out my office.”
She nodded. “Figured you and Jaxon would be trying to go into business together,” she commented. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Enjoy your evening.”
“If I can get out of here,” she muttered. “That jackass demanded that I stay late out of the freaking blue.”
“He’s got two offices to run, things to juggle.”
“And he has Zan to help him juggle at the mayor’s office,” she muttered. “Or is he too dumb to do his job?”
“I don’t know. You should ask him next time you see him.”
“Maybe I will,” she said and groaned when the phone rang.
He gave her a wave and headed out.
When Cade got home, he turned into his driveway on the winding street lined with trees and fall foliage and the duller green of the Barrian oak that had lost its vibrancy, but didn’t die.
As he hit the button on his garage door opener tucked into the visor, Cade noticed a car he’d never seen before parked just down the street from his house. His nearest neighbor was almost five minutes away, and no one who didn’t live in the area ever ventured onto the street unless they were visiting someone.
So he studied the car, attempting to ascertain if there was someone in it. Maybe the vehicle had stalled or run out of gas. The driver could be lost, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
Seeing no one inside, he brushed the raising hairs on his neck and the sudden knotting of his stomach off and pulled into his garage. His phone rang as he cut the engine. Cade grabbed it from the passenger seat and glanced at the display. He smiled at seeing Jaxon’s number.
“I quit, so I’m in,” Cade told him. “The bastard wanted me to take a case against Judge Logan or Miranda Beets’s case.”
“Yeah, I heard Miranda’s mother died and she was bringing a suit against Dade and the police department.”
“When did you hear that?”
“An hour ago,” Jaxon replied. “So I’m taking Dade as a client.”
“Great, I’m free tomorrow.” Thunk. He’d dismissed the same sound moments earlier, but this was the second time he’d heard that sound now. “I’ll talk to you later. Sounds like someone’s trying to break into my house or something.”
“Cade, leave, now. Jarvis was pissed and he knows you’re going to help. I think he tried to kill me before.”
“I’m not surprised,” he murmured recalling the look in Jarvis’s eyes earlier. The feeling of foreboding fire in his blood along with a hint of fear. “He’s such as vindictive—”
“Get out of there, now!”
He hit the button on the garage door opener and the garage door begun to open. In the rearview mirror, he saw a man standing behind the car silhouetted by the sinking sun. Something flashed in the light and his eyes widened.
Cade put the car in reverse and hit the gas. Half way out, the car stalled and the back end lifted in the air.
“Shit!” Now he was going to have to—metal crunched and tires exploded.
The car began to cave in on itself and Cade’s heart hammered as he swallowed back bile. He opened the door and the metal cried, crumpling in. Looking down he realized the car wasn’t that high up off the ground and the most that he’d do is hurt a heel when he landed. So, he slipped out, landing hard on the concrete.
“Going somewhere?” a cold voice asked.
Cade clenched his fist and the newcomer went flying backward. The car collapsed to the ground and the man who’d destroyed his car gave him an amused look before pointing his hand at him.
There was a ring on his finger and the clear crystal glittered in the hint of light that bounced off it. Cade clenched his fist again and focused on the crystal. The other man’s smile faded and he let out a scream as his knee shattered.
Reversing the polarity of the crystal wasn’t difficult when the wielder of the stone had no idea what could be done with the Barrian white crystal. It looked like the clear quartz crystal found on Earth except it could disrupt molecules, alter and reverse the polarity of them.
His attacker screamed and writhed as bones broke. Cade clenched his fingers tighter and the other man’s body bowed seconds before blood burst from his chest. He groaned and collapsed to the ground.
A bullet pinged off his car and Cade ducked and hurried from the garage door. He was slammed into the back wall.
“I didn’t really want to hurt you,” the cold voice from before said.
Face pressed against the wall, Cade couldn’t see the face of this newcomer. His breathing came in rough pants and his heart pounded against his ribs.
“But you’re a message that has to be sent.”
Cade’s eyes widened and his back bowed. The bones were being pulled backward. He screamed and closed his eyes. This man wasn’t using borrowed power so Cade couldn’t steal it, but he could protect himself.
“I want to make you suffer just a little, and maybe your boyfriend will think twice about sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Cade whimpered and pictured the ring on the dead man’s finger. He felt the heat of it rise as he called it to him.
The man behind him let out a curse and then a grunt. Cade clenched his hand into a fist and metal tore from the car. A loud scream filled the air and he dropped to the ground.
“Kill him now.”
Cade ducked and the bullet hit the wall. He jerked around and looked the other man in the face, but he was wearing a mask. The gray eyes were familiar though.
The man fired at him and the bullet broke apart inches from Cade’s chest. Some of the shards flew back and slammed into the shooter’s shoulder, grazing the other man’s shoulder, as well.
“Damn you, I said kill him, not get us injured,” the masked attacker growled.
Cade glanced to where the dead man lay and called the ring from his finger. It slid across the floor as the shooter fired again. Cade got down and grabbed the ring as he rolled on the ground.
Metal creaked and cried as it was torn from the car. He sent the door hurdling toward his attackers. One of them was hit, knocked into the wall while the other grunted.
“You’re a dead man, Cade Snow,” he called.
“Why? What have I ever done to you?” he demanded.
“Because you’re you, asshole.”
“Who told you to kill me?” Not that it really mattered at the moment. A name was nothing if he didn’t get out of this mess alive.
Silence greeted his retort but he didn’t dare attempt to get to his phone, which was in his car. He listened and prayed Jaxon got him some help.
“Let’s get out of here. Blow it all up. He’ll be dead before help arrives.”
His eyes widened and Cade knew he was between a rock and cliff face, so he had only one choice. He shot to his feet in time to see the men heading out of the garage. He ran for the house. Once inside, he hurried to his kitchen where there was a door leading out onto the back patio.
The first explosion shook the house, throwing him to the floor. Cade crawled, his leg hurt in the fall.
“Get up,” he ordered himself. “Just get to the door. He forced himself to his feet and scurried for the door. Hand on it, the ring flared and another explosion went off.
Chapter Fourteen
Zaria couldn’t believe what she was seeing and drew to a stop in front of Cade’s burning home. She climbed out, cell phone in hand, and raced up the driveway.
Cade might not even be home—she prayed he wasn’t. She glanced to the burning garage. The door was open, his car partly inside, a burning mess of twisted metal.
She put in a call to 9-1-1 before hurrying to the other side of the house. It was slowly being consumed by flames and Cade could be inside. The wooden privacy fence hadn’t started to burn yet but it was locked. So she held her hand up to the wood, altering its molecular shape before walking through it.
She jogged along the side of the house and then around the back. At the edge of the patio, a body lay motionless. She slowly made her way over.
“Cade?” When she reached the form, she saw that the face had some cuts and Cade’s eyes were closed.
Her breath held as she knelt next to him, but she didn’t have to feel for a pulse. His energy signature was weak and coursed through her as if they’d bonded. She brushed the hair off his forehead and then called her father.
“Dad, where are you?”
“Heading—shit.”
“I know,” she said. “Cade is still alive. I’m in back with him. I won
’t be able to get him out and get the gate.”
“I’m coming,” he told her. “Just hold on.”
She disconnected and pushed her phone into Cade’s pocket before gripping him under his arms.
“I’ve got him,” Danten said tersely. “You get the gate.”
She watched her father lift Cade in a fireman’s carry before she ran ahead to alter the molecules of the gate. She went first and her father followed.
“I’ll follow you home,” she called as she hurried to his car to open the back door.
“Get to your car,” he ordered. “I want you ahead of me. His attackers could be lingering to make sure he’s dead.”
Zaria nodded, her chest tight and her stomach knotted with worry for Cade. He looked so vulnerable. The damage to his face, though superficial from the looks, made her want to hurt someone.
Zaria made her way to her car vowing to call Zan when she got home. He and Cade probably had plans and Zan would be frantic if Cade didn’t show up. She knew she would be.
She started her car and headed home checking her rearview mirror to make sure her father was still behind her. During the ten-minute drive, her mind kept replaying how much worse this could have been for Cade if she and her father hadn’t both been so close.
At home, she pulled into the three-car garage where her mother’s car was already parked and grabbed her phone, dialing Zan’s number. She’d taken it from the file she’d had to create on him. It didn’t contain anything personal, as per the instructions Jenna had given her, just the basic information.
“Hello?”
His masculine voice was cool as it washed over her, making her tingle. “Hi, Zan.”
“Hello, Zaria,” he answered.
His tone held none of the flirting it had earlier in the day. It singed, but she knew Cade was his already and she might never belong to them, especially if Cade didn’t want her.
“I’m not calling to—Cade was hurt,” she said, deciding not to go into explanation since she’d come off like a stalker idiot or something.
“What?”
His voice boomed into her ear, and she heard the fear twined around each word. It made her heart ache for him.
Passion’s Brewing Storm [Alien Passions 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8