Grave Threat: Grant Wolves Book 3

by Lori Drake

  “Mom! Where are you? Is everything okay?” she said.

  “Hello, Joey.”

  Joey’s blood went cold. She knew that voice, and it wasn’t her mother’s. “Eric? You son of a bitch. What have you done to my mother?”

  A low, rumbling chuckle rolled out of the speaker. “Is that any way to greet an old friend?”

  Eric was the last person Joey had expected to be on the other end of the call—no, scratch that, he wasn’t even the last person she’d expected. But she could hear the self-satisfied smirk in his voice, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She spared a glance in Chris’s direction. He was rigid in his seat, staring at the photo of Adelaide from Joey’s contact list on the small blue screen.

  “We’re not friends,” she said. “Get to the point.”

  “Is Chris there?”

  “I’m here,” Chris said, his calm voice belied by his hands balled into fists in his lap.

  “Oh good,” Eric said. “That’ll save me a call.”

  “So glad we’re not inconveniencing you,” Joey said tightly. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  There was a pause, a long pause. No doubt Eric liked holding their attention, keeping them waiting. But eventually he said, “That’s more like it. I’ve got someone here that wants to talk to you.” A rustling sound was followed by his voice again, but more from a distance. “Talk, bitch.”

  “Mom?” Joey said, holding the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.

  “I’m fine, Josephine. Tell your—” Adelaide’s words cut off abruptly.

  “Mom!” Joey veered onto the shoulder and braked hard. The sedan skidded to a stop, and Joey’s seatbelt locked.

  Eric came back on the speaker. “As you can hear, she’s alive and well. For now.”

  Red clouded the edges of Joey’s vision. “If you lay so much as a finger on her, I’ll break them all!”

  “What do you want, Eric?” Chris asked. His voice had a slight edge to it, but on the whole, he sounded much calmer than Joey at this point.

  “You. Both of you, actually. We have some unfinished business.”

  “When and where?”

  “I’ll be in touch. In the meantime, start driving. Take I-90 East. Just the two of you. No bullshit, and no cops, or she dies.”

  Chris flung open the car door and climbed out of the car after Eric hung up.

  “Where are you going?” Joey called after him.

  “I need some air,” he said, and shut the door.

  He’d forgotten, of course, that it was raining. Not a heavy rain, but enough of a sprinkle to be noticeable. Chris tipped his head back and took a deep breath, letting the tiny droplets splatter his face. The cold rain wasn’t nearly enough to smother his smoldering rage.

  Eric. That sorry piece of shit that Chris had sent packing six weeks ago had returned for vengeance. This time, Adelaide was in the crossfire. Chris pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and suppressed the urge to howl.

  The driver’s door opened and closed, and the sound of footsteps on gravel announced Joey’s approach.

  “Hey,” she said. “Would you get back in the car so we can talk? It’s raining.”

  Chris dropped his hands but avoided meeting her eyes.

  This is all my fault.

  He couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. Not even to Joey.

  “What’s there to talk about?” he asked instead.

  “Um, what we’re gonna do about Eric?”

  What I should’ve done about Eric, she means.

  “We’re gonna do what he says,” Chris said. “Whatever it takes to get her back, to get her home safe.” He turned back to the car and grasped the door handle. “And then we’re going to kill him.”

  “We can’t.”

  Chris turned back slowly, every muscle in his body tense. “Why not?”

  “Because we’ll have a pissed-off poltergeist on our hands—again.”

  Groaning, Chris rubbed a hand down his face. “Good point. We’ll have to take him with us.”

  Joey blinked. “What?”

  “Come on.” Chris hauled open the door and got back into the car, while Joey scampered around to the other side to join him.

  “Take him with us?” she asked. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. We’ll stop by the house real quick and grab his remains. That’s what he’s tethered to, right?”

  Joey fastened her seatbelt. “Dean seems to think so, but we don’t know what Roger’s range is.”

  “Right, all we know is that Eric’s been outside of it. So, we take him to Eric. He kills Eric. We bring Mom home. Done.”

  “I dunno. I mean, he did say to come alone.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth.

  “He doesn’t want us to bring our packs with us. He won’t expect Roger.”

  “That’s a big gamble.”

  Chris shrugged. “The alternative is we go on our own, with no backup, and hope we win.”

  Joey grimaced and put the car in gear. “I do like to avoid a fair fight when I can. Does that mean we’re not going to tell the pack?”

  “Which one?”

  “Either. Both.”

  Chris weighed the options while Joey made a U-turn.

  “You know I’m all about transparency,” he said. “But in this case… I think it’s better not to tell them.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Do you honestly think Dad, Sam, Jon, and Ben will let us go alone once they know what’s going on?”

  “Yes, because that’s what we have to do. Mom’s life is at stake. You know better than anyone that Eric won’t hesitate.” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, a portrait of nervous energy in living color. “They need to know where we’re going and what’s going on. No secrets. No lies. Besides, the last time I ran off half-cocked, I had to bury one of my best friends.”

  Chris couldn’t dispute that.

  They rode the rest of the way to his house in silence. Joey waited outside while Chris ran in to fetch Roger’s remains from the safe. Adam and Lucy were once again on the sofa, playing video games. Chris paused inside the front door, dripping. It hadn’t occurred to him that he might bump into someone on this little errand, and he didn’t know what to say or how to handle being out of pocket for an unknown period of time.

  “Hey, boss,” Adam said, lifting a can of cola in salute. Beside him, Lucy waved.

  “Hey.” Chris’s mind whirled as he tried to work out the logistics of a sudden out-of-town trip on top of his many responsibilities. “Is Itsuo around?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lucy said.

  Adam added, “Haven’t seen him for a few days.”

  “What about Jess?” Chris asked, heading for his office. He wasn’t worried about Itsuo. A loner at heart, Itsuo routinely disappeared for days at a time and could certainly take care of himself.

  “She’s got a gig tonight. And before you ask, Dean went with Jess, Jenny’s in her room, and Colt’s still at work. Is everything okay?” Lucy called after him.

  “Yeah. Lucy, could I talk to you for a minute?” Chris could imagine the twins looking at each other and shrugging in his wake, but he didn’t look back. Once he was in his office, he headed straight for the safe.

  “What’s up?” Lucy asked, watching him from the doorway.

  “I got a lead on Eric,” he said, sticking mostly to the truth. “Joey and I are going to take Roger out and see if he can find him.”

  “I’m sure Roger will be happy about that. You did promise.” Lucy folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

  The safe beeped and Chris opened the door, removing Roger’s coffee can urn, along with some of the cash he kept stashed there for emergencies. “I’m leaving Jess in charge, but I need you to make sure no one gives her any shit. You know she’s willing to do anything for you guys right now.”

  “Me?” Lucy quirked a brow. “Why me?”

  Chris swung the safe door closed and
re-engaged the lock, glancing at her with a mild chuckle. “You know why.”

  She lowered her eyes, but not quickly enough. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Chris crossed to where she stood and put a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, you do,” he said, keeping his voice low. “And I think I understand why you’ve been hiding it from Adam all these years, the way things were with your dad. I won’t tell him, but I need you to do this for me.”

  Lucy lifted her eyes, meeting his for longer than she ever had before. Her cotton-candy-blue pigtails bobbed when she nodded. “Okay.”

  “If anything comes up about the house, the contractors have a problem or something, have them call my cell. If I don’t answer, have them talk to Sam. I’ll text you his number.” With Sam’s background in construction, Chris trusted him to make the right call. He would’ve asked his big brother to take the lead on the project from the start if Sam hadn’t been so eager to set up his private eye business. Everyone needed a change now and then.

  Chris started to move past Lucy, but paused and pressed a few bills into her hand first. “Make sure everyone eats.”

  Lucy snickered, trailing behind him as he headed for the front of the house. “You know, we’re all capable of feeding ourselves. But it’s sweet of you to care.”

  Mumbling to himself about smartass anime girls, Chris waved to Adam on his way to the door. “See you two later.”

  “What was that all about?” Adam said, presumably to Lucy, but her reply was cut off by the closing door.

  Joey was still on the phone when Chris climbed back into the car. He set Roger’s can between the bucket seats and settled beside her, closing the door as quietly as he could.

  “Is that you, Chris?” His father’s voice on the car’s speakers was troubled, and rightly so.

  “Yeah, sorry to interrupt.”

  “It’s okay,” Joey said. “We were just finishing up. Everyone agrees we should follow Eric’s instructions for now. But we need to keep in touch.”

  “Regular checkins?” Chris suggested, fastening his seatbelt.

  “Every hour,” Sam said. Apparently there was a speakerphone in play on the other end, too.

  Chris exchanged a glance with Joey and shrugged.

  “Every hour,” Joey said. “For now.”

  “Be careful,” Sara urged, a tremor in her voice.

  “We will,” Joey promised. “You too, all of you. Just stay put, okay? We don’t think he’s going to nab anyone else, but there’s safety in numbers.”

  After they hung up, Joey looked at Chris. “How’d it go in there?”

  “Fine,” Chris said, glancing at the house. “I told Lucy what was up—sort of—and left her some instructions, since Jess and Itsuo were out.”

  Joey nodded, and Chris sat quietly for a moment before a thought occurred to him.

  “What’re they going to do if we miss a checkin?”

  “Gas up the jet, I suppose.”

  Chris blinked. “We have a jet?”

  She tossed him a weak smile. “No, but I think Ben might have access to a helicopter.”

  “Be serious,” Chris said, but chuckled nonetheless.

  “I turned GPS tracking on my phone for them. As long as it’s on, they’ll be able to find us.”

  “I’m starting to think having it turned on all the time might be a good practice.”

  Joey snorted softly, backing the car down the drive. “You and me both.”

  6

  It took them the better part of an hour just to get to I-90. By then, Joey’s stomach was roiling. She wasn’t sure if it was hunger or nausea—probably both. Either way, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Getting her mother back was a higher priority, and she wouldn’t risk making another stop.

  Chris stared out the window at the darkened landscape, mostly silent. Joey had tried to start up conversation a few times, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood. The air was thick with tension. Worry ate at her, a constant, gnawing presence. Eventually, she turned on some music in an effort to distract herself.

  The phone rang. It was just after nine o’clock, roughly two hours from the first call, and the snowcapped mountains loomed ahead.

  Joey punched the button on the steering wheel and didn’t waste any breath on pleasantries.

  “We did what you said. Where are we going?” she asked. Beside her, Chris stirred in his seat.

  “Where are you?” Eric said.

  Just hearing his voice grated on her nerves. “About ten miles outside Garcia.”

  “What’s taking so long? Did you follow my instructions? Do I need to remind you what happens if you don’t?”

  “We followed your damn instructions,” Joey growled, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “Tell us where we’re going.”

  “Easton. Call me when you get there.”

  “Where the fuck is—” The line went silent, and the music resumed.

  Joey turned off the radio and grabbed her phone from the dash mount, thrusting it at Chris. He took it and brought up the map, as if reading her mind. Joey divided her attention between his tapping on her phone and the road ahead.

  “It’s on the other side of the mountains,” Chris said. “Another half-hour or so.” He returned the phone to the dash mount for her, then sat back and folded his arms.

  “Should we call Dad?”

  “We’re not due for another checkin yet.”

  “We might lose signal in the mountains.”

  “Good point.”

  Chris made the call and relayed the new information. Joey listened idly to his side of the conversation, but perked up when he said, “One sec, I’ll put her on.” He lowered the phone and put the call on speaker. “Okay, go ahead.”

  “Hey, Joey, how are you holding up?” Cathy asked.

  Joey hadn’t expected her to be there. Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back. “I’m okay. How are you?” It sounded lame even as she said it, but it was already out.

  “Don’t worry about me, child. You’ve got bigger fish to fry. I just wanted you to know I’m here if you need me. Do you want me to try a tracking spell on Addie?”

  Why hadn’t they thought of that sooner? It seemed obvious now that the offer was on the table. Joey glanced at Chris, worrying the inside of her lip with her teeth. He met her eyes and shook his head slightly. She agreed with him.

  “Not yet,” Joey said. “It’s too risky. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, and I don’t want to risk anything that might make him lash out at her.”

  “Your father thought you might feel that way,” Cathy said. “Very well.”

  They said their goodbyes, and Joey and Chris drove on into the night. As expected, their phones lost signal as they climbed the mountains. Joey turned on the defroster when the windows began to fog.

  “I’ll bet this is really pretty during the day,” Joey remarked, again trying to distract herself with conversation.

  Chris made a noise, but didn’t engage.

  Joey sighed and rubbed one tired eye. “I could really use a distraction.”

  “Hm? Oh, sorry.” Chris pulled his eyes from the forested slope and held out a hand.

  She dropped her hand into his and squeezed his fingers. “This isn’t your fault, you know.”

  His jaw tightened, a sure sign she’d hit a nerve.

  Joey went on, “Letting Eric go was the right thing to do. I didn’t think so at the time, but when the dust settled, I felt differently. My mind hasn’t changed.”

  “Mine has.”

  “Why?”

  Chris sighed and closed his eyes. “Because I knew what kind of man he was. I knew he’d probably come back for revenge. It was only a matter of time.”

  “Then why’d you do it?”

  He was quiet, then opened his eyes and looked out the window again. “Because his pack—my pack—needed to know there’s more to being an Alpha than brutality and dominance, that not all problems can be solved with violence.
Their stories, Joey… Christ, did you know Adam’s father used to try and beat some alpha into him? They’re like an island of misfit, abused toys.”

  “And you thought Roger would finish him off.” She squeezed his hand.

  His head dropped forward, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I guess so. But I also thought he’d come for me, if anyone. I didn’t consider that I was putting everyone I cared for at risk.”

  “It’s easy to second-guess yourself after the fact. In the moment, all you have to go on is experience and instinct. You made the best call you could, and you had no way of knowing this would happen.”

  “If you say so,” he mumbled.

  Joey brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. “I do say so. You’ve got good instincts, babe. Better than mine when it comes to this shit. You’re going to be a great Alpha. Hell, you already are.” She glanced at him and met his eyes briefly.

  “So will you,” he said.

  Joey managed a smile, but her heart wasn’t in it. Not with her own Alpha in the clutches of a psychopath with a grudge, and her pack looking to her for leadership. She wasn’t ready. Would she ever be? Even if they successfully rescued her mother and restored her to her rightful place, one day she would be expected to take over. Where would that leave her and Chris?

  The thought echoed in her mind long after they went back to driving in silence. By the time the mountainous landscape opened into a broad valley ahead of them, Joey was having trouble sitting still. She’d been cooped up in the car far too long, and the tank was getting low. The latter was as good an excuse as any to make a pit stop, so she pulled into the first gas station she saw as they rolled into Easton.

  While Chris pumped gas, Joey stood beside him, shifting her weight from foot to foot in an effort to keep warm. The way her breath misted in the air, she was sure it was close to freezing, if not below. She made the call, holding her phone at an angle so Chris could lean down and listen in.

  “Okay, we’re in Easton. Now what?” Joey said, when Eric picked up.

  He chuckled. “It’s not difficult, doing what you’re told, is it? It always felt like pulling teeth with you.”