“Is he posing with the body?” She asked, shocked and amazed.
“Yeah, he’s credited as the man who found the last victim.”
“That’s just wrong.”
“Oh it gets better.” I chuckled as I pulled out the next article. “In the late eighties near Lake Michigan for about a month or so random body parts began showing up on shore. They ran this article,” I handed her the piece of paper. “And mysteriously the killings stopped.”
“He’s holding up a severed leg.” She dropped the clipping onto the bed.
“Kind of twisted isn’t it.”
“Oh God that’s messed up.” She chuckled as she shook her head. “Okay so moving past the fact that Malik seems to have a BFF, why in the world would you pose with a body part?” I shrugged.
“Did you expect something different from the man who tortures people for fun?” She laughed loudly as she turned the pictures over and cringed.
“I guess not.”
“There’s another one about a woman who was found mutilated in a park in Chicago, do you want to see it?” She shook her head violently and chuckled.
“No thank you, I’ll just assume he’s giving the camera a thumbs up and spare myself the image.”
“Your loss.” I laughed as I laid the article back in the binder and closed it before pushing it away.
“So we’ve covered the fact that not only is Jonathan important to Malik for some reason, he’s also in desperate need of psychiatric medication.” she chuckled as she crossed her legs under her and cleared her throat. “How long do you think he’s been with him?”
“I guess there’s no way to know without asking him.” I smirked as I pulled a small stack of photographs from the back of the binder. “I did find these earlier though,” I handed her the pictures and watched as she looked them over one by one. “James told me you tracked him down as a Nazi doctor or something like that.” She nodded.
“These are all from the war.”
“Yeah and Jonathan’s in a few of them.”
“Only two so far.” She added as she placed the pictures down on the bed between us. “Oh wow,” she grimaced as she held another picture up to her face.
“What?”
“Make that three.” She handed the picture to me and cringed as I took it from her fingers. Malik stood next to a large gurney with a very dead and mutilated man strapped down at the wrists and ankles. A malicious and calloused smile spanned his face as he looked up at the camera, his arms buried to the wrists inside the dead man’s chest but what stood out more than that was the young man in uniform that stood just to the right of Malik with an equally terrifying grin on his face.
“Wow, that’s one hell of a photo op huh?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.” She chuckled. “Okay so where do we go from here?”
“Well, we know Jonathan’s name and we know he’s close to Malik...” I shoved the pictures back in their envelope and stuffed them into the binder. “I was just thinking that if we can find out who he is maybe we can find a way to Malik.” Sam nodded in agreement as she stretched her back.
“Sure, I mean it can’t hurt to try.” She shrugged.
“You think so?”
“Well,” She smiled. “it can’t be any worse than searching for a ghost.”
“True.”
“Maybe he knows where Malik’s hiding or at the very least if we can find him maybe we can put a tail on him or something.”
“I like how you think.” I chuckled as she stifled a yawn. I grabbed the binders and tossed them on the floor before offering her my hand and helping her to her feet. “You look tired.” She nodded.
“I think it’s about time to call it a night.”
“Thanks for helping me,” I added sincerely as I walked her to the door.
“No,” She smiled. “Thank you for letting me sit in, I needed to catch up.” The sounds from the party outside had died down and it wasn’t until we stepped outside and into the hall that I realized just how tired I was. “I’m curious what Grant will think of all this.” She chuckled as she turned to me, her back pressed into her door.
“A guy like that, I’m sure he’ll find it interesting.” She nodded. I watched her as she looked down at her feet, a shy smile shaped her lips as I searched my mind for the proper way to say goodnight. “So can I ask you something?” I blurted before I had the chance to properly think. She nodded and looked up at me slowly.
“Sure.”
“You said you were following me the night that you turned me.” Her cheeks grew pink as she turned her face from me.
“You would bring that up.” I chuckled with her.
“Last time I mention it.”
“You swear?” She eyed me sternly. I held my hand to my heart and smiled.
“Scouts honor.”
“Okay.” She chuckled. “What’s your question?”
“I was just wondering if you were still interested.” I rubbed at the back of my neck nervously as her eyes locked with mine.
“That’s an awfully bold question.” I nodded.
“You have no idea how much it took for me to actually ask.” Sam chuckled and I couldn’t help but laugh with her, anything to ease the tension and anticipation I felt as I waited for her to answer. I looked down as her fingers wrapped themselves around mine and smirked as she pulled me close. My heart pounded in my chest, thundered in my ears as she lifted herself on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips to my cheek. I closed my eyes as she held herself there, relishing in the feel of her fingertips as they grazed the back of my neck and the warmth of her breath as it danced gently across my cheek before she pulled me into her arms.
It wasn’t romantic but it wasn’t born purely out of friendship either, somewhere in between is where we met as I rested my chin on her shoulder and held her tight.
“You’re a good man, Ethan,” she whispered as she pulled away. She smiled up at me as she turned and opened the door to her room, stepping inside and shooting a quick glance back at me as she slowly pushed it shut. “Goodnight.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I called as the door clicked shut.
“Goodnight, Ethan.” I chuckled and shook my head as her muffled voice echoed through the wall that separated us.
“Goodnight.” I smirked before stepping into my own room and kicking the door shut behind me. I stepped over the discarded binders and tossed myself down on the bed, reaching over to flip off the tiny bedside lamp before closing my eyes and allowing sleep to take hold.
“Ethan?” I woke to the sound of a sweet voice pouring through the room. This wasn’t a pleasure call and this wasn’t the call for breakfast. She was worried and I suppose that’s what it was that forced my eyes open.
“Yeah?” I groaned as I rolled on my side to face her.
“Jonathan’s here.”
Chapter Twenty
“He’s here?” I shot up, kicking off my blanket and getting to my feet in record time. “Where is he?” Sam put her hands to my chest and moved in between me and the door.
“Please wait.”
“Why?”
“Just sit down.” Without a second thought or even a moment’s hesitation I dropped back down onto the mattress and waited quietly for her to speak. This must have been what Mack was talking about when he said that it was impossible to second guess a leaders command.
“Where is he?”
“He’s outside.”
“Okay so let’s go talk to him.” I huffed as she stared me down.
“I want to make sure you’re calm first.”
“I am calm,” I snapped.
“No you’re not your face is beet red and you’re about two seconds from barreling over me to get to the door.” I took a deep breath as she sat down next to me.
“Does he have her?” I asked after a moments silence passed between us. She shrugged lightly.
“I don’t know.”
“Is he alone?”
; “I don’t know.” She sighed.
“I guess there’s no way to know is there?” I smirked. Sam shook her head as she stood and offered me her hand.
“Can you do this?” she asked quietly as I pulled myself up and sucked in a deep breath.
“I can do it sure.” I nodded. “But can I do it without ripping his face off? I don’t really know.” She chuckled as I moved past her and reached for the door. We walked in silence through the empty courtyard and I held the door open for her as we stepped into the large main building. Grant and his team were already hard at work, Logan and Matt watched from the shadows as they nursed their morning Coffee. It wasn’t surprising to see James with his nose in a stack of papers and taking notes but as much as I wanted to know what it was that had him so engrossed, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
Sam took me by the hand and led me toward the front, stopping to look up at me one last time.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be alright?” I nodded.
“I can go with you if you want,” Matt offered from the small round table where he sat.
“Thanks,” I called back. “But I’ll be okay.”
“Please don’t be offended if I listen in,” Grant spoke quietly from behind me. I turned to face him as I shook my head.
“No not at all.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Not to be a pain but-”
“You’re just looking out for me, I know.”
“Exactly.” He smiled. I turned back to Sam and took a deep breath.
“Are you ready?”
“No.” I smirked.
“We’ll be here if you need us.” I nodded in thanks and stepped around her, sucking in a sharp breath as I pulled open the large steel door and stepped out into the morning sun. I recognized his figure immediately as I stepped down onto the gravel and inched my way toward him.
“Hello, Ethan,” he spoke softly without even turning around to face me. I stopped in my tracks and watched him as he peered up at the leafy canopy above us. “Beautiful day isn’t it.” He turned to me and smiled.
“Does it matter?” I asked as I shoved my hands deep into my pockets. He shrugged slightly and took a step toward me.
“No I suppose not.”
“You asked to see me.” He nodded. “Well what do you want?”
“Just a friendly chat, I thought I might see how you and your little friends were holding up.”
“Peachy.” I snapped. Jonathan nodded as he took another step toward me.
“I am deeply sorry for how things turned out when we last met. It was not my intention to fight.”
“You were sent to kill me.”
“That is not true.”
“Okay fine you were sent to kill my sister.” He sighed heavily and shook his head.
“No, no you misunderstood. I was sent to find out what was responsible for my brother’s death, not to harm anyone.”
“Bullshit.” I snapped as I shook my head. He shrugged.
“Believe what you want but I only speak the truth.”
“Why do you talk like that?” I smirked.
“Like what?” He smiled. The tone in his voice was enough to make me want to tear him to pieces but he wouldn’t do us any good dead and thankfully it was the bigger part of me that knew that.
“Like a condescending asshole.” He laughed lightly and shook his head, taking a few unneeded steps toward me.
“You do have quite the attitude don’t you.” He sneered at me.
“Well pardon me if I’m just a little less than happy to see you. Where are your goons by the way? It’s kind of strange to see you here without any backup.” A look of satisfaction crossed his face as he nodded.
“Oh I’m not alone, Ethan. Do you really think I would be that stupid or are you just hopeful?”
“Maybe a little of both.” I shrugged. “You know, you never did answer my question.”
“Ah yes,” he spoke quickly. “The reason I am here is to relay a message from my boss.”
“Malik?” He stepped back and offered me a satisfied smile.
“I see you’ve been doing your research, I’m sure he will be happy to hear that,” He spoke proudly.
“You can do me a favor while you’re at it and tell him to shove his pompous ideals up his self-righteous-”
“Okay.” He interrupted me with a smile. “Please don’t sully this beautiful morning with vulgarity although I would be happy to relay that message for you.” I nodded in thanks. “Back to what I was saying,” He sighed. “Malik wanted me to extend to you an offer, one I think you should consider.”
“What kind of offer?”
“A trade.” My heart thumped loudly as I stared into his cold blue eyes. “A peace offering so to speak,” he continued. “You see Malik is quite interested in you.”
“Why?”
“You do know that without a teacher most new pups become feral within a matter of days.” I nodded. “Have you not considered why this did not happen to you?”
“Luck.” I shrugged. He laughed loudly and took another step toward me, close enough to pat my shoulder. I looked at his hand in disgust and took a step back.
“Perhaps you are right but what if you’re wrong? There is also the matter of Michael’s death.”
“Who?” He looked up as I cut him off.
“The man you killed.”
“You mean the wolf that tried to kill me.”
“No matter, the point is that Michael was a soldier and a well-trained one at that but somehow you managed to best him.”
“It wasn’t that hard.” I shrugged.
“You see that there is exactly why Malik has taken an interest in you, you have surpassed all expectations of a new pup on his own. If it were anyone else they would be quite insane by now.”
“So what’s this offer?” I asked quickly, wanting to get back to the subject and get him away from me as soon as I could.
“Join us.” I shook my head. “Think about it, if you come with me, I can reunite you with your sister and you can live with us as though none of this ever happened.”
“My sister?” He nodded. “You have her?”
“Of course.”
“Is she okay?” I snapped. My heart thundered loudly as I looked behind him searching for even the smallest sign of her. Jonathan turned around and whistled loudly. Almost instantly I heard the rumble of an oversized engine and a silver van began to creep around the corner. It pulled up just behind him and the engine stopped, I held my breath as I waited for what felt like an eternity.
“See for yourself.” He sneered as the side door slid open and Cordillia was pushed out onto the gravel in front of me. She fell forward and landed on her knees, wincing in pain as she struggled against the rope that held her hands tight behind her back. She kicked and fought as he snaked his fingers underneath her arm and forced her to her feet.
Wolves among men Page 22