by Crissy Smith
“We don’t usually get up until late anyway.”
“I know.” The stroll through the forest was amazing. He didn’t hear any small animals in the area, but if he had been in his lion form he might have been able to track them down. Not that he caught his prey, but the chance was always fun.
They’d covered about half the distance to the Den when a gunshot cracked through the silent night.
“What the hell?” Annabelle perked up. “Was that a gunshot?”
“For a small quiet town, you guys are sure getting shot at a lot,” he said.
“Mac!” Annabelle took off at a full run.
Logan was so unprepared that she was out of sight before he realized what had happened. Cursing, he took off after her.
He caught up quickly. Annabelle was fast, but she was also trying to remain quiet as she approached her home. Logan knew what she was doing because he was doing the same thing.
The back of the bar came into view and Annabelle dropped into a crouch. Logan joined her, peering through the branches to spot four large men surrounding Duffy, who was kneeling on the ground.
“Cal,” Annabelle whispered, grabbing a hold of his sleeve.
Logan leaned forward to get a better look and spotted Calvin on the ground bleeding from a gash in his forehead.
“Where’s Mac?” Logan murmured.
She shook her head.
A couple of the lights newly installed there had been broken. Glass littered the grass beside Duffy. The four men had to have ambushed Duffy and Calvin, but what did they want?
“Do you know who those men are?” he asked.
Again, she shook her head.
Logan couldn’t hear what the man leaning over Duffy was saying. The tension in Duffy’s body was obvious and Logan had the feeling that if he didn’t do something quickly, Duffy wouldn’t stay down for long. Not with Calvin laid out a few feet from him.
Duffy wouldn’t be able to take on all four men.
“I’m going to go out there and try to talk to them,” Logan whispered against her ear. “Can you go around the front and find Mac?”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“They’re not going to hurt me. I have a badge.” He wished he had his gun, but he’d locked it inside his truck earlier. He hadn’t expected to need it during his date, but now that he thought about it, maybe he needed to carry any time he was around this group.
“You don’t know that,” Annabelle said. “I’m not leaving any of you. Someone will spot what’s happening on the cameras.”
“Fuck,” he spat. “Fine, then follow my lead.”
He yanked Annabelle up by her arm before slinging his around her shoulder. He began walking awkwardly and clumsily out of the tree line.
“What are you doing?” she asked angrily.
“Just play along,” he replied.
“You better not get us shot.”
It was hard to hold back a smile. “Hey, baby,” Logan called, making his voice show he’d been drinking heavily. “I think this place is open.”
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” Annabelle said on cue.
“I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough,” he sputtered.
“Sorry.” She dipped her head and sounded contrite, although they both knew she was far from it.
“Who’s there?” The big guy gripped Duffy’s shoulder, holding him in place.
“Hey, man,” Logan slurred. “You still open? I need a beer.”
The big guy relaxed and that was when Logan recognized him. Frank Nunez. Samantha’s boyfriend. Damn it, he should have insisted that Annabelle went for help. She didn’t react at all to the man, but the way that Duffy was growling while shaking with anger showed that this wasn’t the first time he’d met Frank.
Samantha had told him that Duffy and Calvin had stopped Frank from beating her and dropped her off a couple of blocks from the restaurant where a friend lived. From there Samantha had taken off on her own.
Even though Logan had doubted some points in her story, she’d been safe and he had no reason to press her. Samantha was an adult who could come and go as she wanted. He had no business getting involved if she wasn’t in any danger.
Now that Frank was standing in front of him, Logan wanted to show him that he wouldn’t get away with beating a woman ever again.
“What’s going on here?” Logan sing-songed.
“This isn’t any of your business,” Frank told him.
Calvin opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to Logan. Their gazes met and Calvin gave a small nod. It would be four against four. Even if Logan didn’t want Annabelle involved, he didn’t know if he could take two of the guys. Although he’d been trained for more than just regular police work, these were shifters he was up against.
“Move along.” Frank pulled out his badge.
“Hey!” Logan sang, still acting. He lurched several feet, bringing him and Annabelle well within Frank’s circle. “I have one of those, too.” He slid his badge from his back pocket. “And look at that. It says Shifter Coalition agent, which trumps your sheriff’s badge,” he added, ice cold.
Frank looked confused then angry. “What is this?”
“I believe that’s my question.” Logan stalked closer until he faced Frank. “Now, drop any weapons you have.”
Frank grinned. “What weapons?”
They both knew that not only was Frank carrying, but so were his men.
“As an agent of the Coalition, I demand you stand down,” Logan ordered.
“You’re all alone here, Agent,” Frank said. “So I’m going to have to refuse.” He motioned for one of his men to come forward. “We’ll be finished with this man after he tells me what I want to know.” Frank seized the top of Duffy’s hair and yanked his head back.
At the same time, Duffy brought his arm up right between Frank’s legs. The sound that Frank made as he dropped to his knees was pitiful. Calvin leaped to his feet and tackled the guy closest to him. Annabelle spun while kicking out and knocked the guy that Frank had sent toward them onto the ground. That only left the huge red mountain of a man.
With a series of kicks, punches and blocks Logan both drove the guy away from the group and protected his own body. The mountain man did deliver one good punch to Logan’s ribs that knocked the breath out of his lungs, but Logan managed to place a well-aimed kick to the guy’s sternum, making him fly back.
“What the fuck?”
The rear door flew open and Mac, Carter and another woman ran out.
Calvin had knocked his opponent unconscious and was now leaning over Duffy, who sat on Frank’s back. Carter and the unknown woman came to Annabelle’s aid as Mac stalked toward him.
“Check Calvin,” Logan told Mac. “He took a pretty bad knock on his head.”
“I called the sheriff when I saw from the cameras what was going on,” Carter said.
Mac turned toward Calvin. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Calvin said, his gaze still on Logan. “Two of them came up from behind and surprised me.”
“Probably didn’t help that I had my hand on your ass,” Duffy muttered. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you kidding?” Calvin turned to his partner and grabbed him. “I’m so proud of you. Did you see how fast that asshole fell when you hit him?”
“I heard your voice in my head telling me what to do,” Duffy said to Calvin.
“I knew the training would pay off,” Calvin praised. “But you’re not the only one with training.” With Duffy still against his chest, Calvin looked at Logan. “Nice move.”
Logan nodded. He heard the suspicion in Calvin’s tone.
“What are you talking about?” Annabelle asked, joining them. It appeared that Frank and his men were tied up, awaiting the sheriff.
“You want to tell them or do you want me to?” Calvin asked him.
Logan’s gut clenched. He had a bad feeling. “Tell them what?”
“Where you got your training an
d what you do in your free time,” Calvin said.
“Logan?” Annabelle ran her hand across his arm. “What’s he talking about?”
“I have special training,” Logan told her.
“Okay.” She sounded confused.
“Calvin,” Mac’s voice held a warning.
“She has a right to know!” Calvin exclaimed.
“It’s not your place,” Mac said, but he turned a cold gaze onto Logan. “I had no idea.”
“It’s not something I’m at liberty to discuss,” Logan said stiffly. It was obvious that Annabelle had no idea what they were talking about, but Mac, Calvin, Duffy and Carter were all staring at him.
Magnus walked around the corner with Carl and Fabian. Logan frowned at his fellow agent.
“What are you doing here?” he asked Fabian when the younger man reached him.
“I was on a date with Carl when the sheriff called and said he needed him,” Fabian said. “When I heard your name, I decided to tag along.”
Having a friendly face there was a relief.
Fabian motioned toward the men, who Magnus was taking into custody. “It appears you’ve been keeping the sheriff’s office here busy.”
Logan glanced around the small yard and the people that he had gotten to know. More secrets. Calvin obviously knew exactly what Logan had been through and, by the sounds of it, he wasn’t happy about it. The other men were also aware. The only conclusion that Logan could come up with was that Calvin had also been recruited for the black-ops missions Logan had carried out. It seemed he had more in common with these people than he’d realized.
“They seem to keep themselves busy around here,” Logan told him.
“What do you need me to do?” Fabian asked. He didn’t look like a Coalition agent at the moment. He wore red skinny jeans and a thin, shiny button-down shirt.
“You sure you want to work tonight?” Logan asked.
Fabian shrugged. “I’ve got the feeling that my date’s going to be busy for the rest of the night. Might as well help you out.”
Frank yelled and lunged at Magnus. Both Logan and Fabian started forward, but Magnus lifted Frank off his feet and slammed him to the ground. Everyone in the yard froze and Logan gaped at the sheriff.
Magnus straightened to his full height and glanced at Carl. “Let’s take them in.”
Carl nodded before turning to Fabian to give him a look of regret. Fabian grinned back and nodded.
“Go talk to him,” Logan said. “Let me figure things out around here.”
“Thanks.” Fabian jogged to Carl as Logan walked toward Mac and his group.
“We all know why he was here,” Logan said to the group. “Can we stop messing around and just tell the truth?”
Annabelle shifted from foot to foot while Calvin and Duffy glared at him.
“You guys go inside,” Mac said. “We’ll be right in.”
Duffy clutched Calvin’s arm and dragged him away while Carter followed. The woman from earlier had disappeared already.
“It’s okay, Annabelle,” Mac said. “I just need to make sure things out here are being taken care of.”
“What am I not being told?” she demanded.
Mac shook his head. “Not here.”
Annabelle jerked her head back like she’d been slapped.
Logan wanted to pull her into his arms but he didn’t think she’d accept his touch. “Do not dismiss me.”
“No!” Mac moved quickly until he stood in front of her. “What we have to say just can’t be discussed outside the family.”
“Fine.” Annabelle whirled to Logan. “You better not have lied to me.”
“I haven’t lied,” he assured her. “Everything I’ve told you is the pure truth.”
She didn’t look like she believed him.
“I swear to you,” he said. “I may have left out some things about myself but I wouldn’t outright lie.”
“But I don’t know you well enough to know if I can trust your word.”
“It’s not like we have had a lot of time to talk. We’re still in the getting to know you part,” Logan pointed out.
She nodded before turning toward the back door. Dread filled him. They’d had such a great night and now everything was getting screwed up.
“You did good protecting my family,” Mac praised.
Logan wasn’t usually one who needed compliments, but it felt good to know that he’d made Mac proud.
“I’m glad I was here, although they took care of themselves. Even Annabelle had no problem defending herself,” Logan said.
“Everyone has some sort of self-defense training. Duffy has always struggled, but Calvin has been working with him more,” Mac said. “In the world we live in, it’s good to be prepared.”
“I agree.”
“Send your agent away and come inside and talk to us,” Mac said.
“You’ll tell me what’s going on?” Logan pressed.
“Yes,” Mac said, not hedging one bit. “But you need to think about what you’re going to tell Annabelle about your other job. She doesn’t know about Calvin, but if she starts questioning him, he’ll tell her the truth.”
“I’ll think about it,” Logan said. He waited until Mac walked through the open back door. Magnus was heading in his direction and the four suspects were gone.
“What are we holding them on?” Magnus questioned.
As Logan named several charges, he tried to gauge Magnus’ mood.
“Anything else?” Magnus questioned.
“He’s connected to the case that brought me here,” Logan shared. “The one you put down was Samantha Jones’ boyfriend.”
“The man she was running from,” Magnus stated.
“I also wouldn’t be surprised if one of the others ends up being her brother.”
“Her brother?”
Logan shook his head. “It’s not good if her brother Mike is here. It wouldn’t be to help her.”
“I understand,” Magnus said. “You’ll be taking them into custody as well.”
“Yes,” Logan confirmed. “I’ll be by in the morning to start the paperwork.”
Magnus slapped him on the shoulder. “Maybe I should just let you have that extra office we have. You’ve been spending more time there than in your own.”
Logan laughed. “I’ll have to return to my own job eventually.”
“Maybe,” Magnus stated. “I guess we’ll have to see.”
Logan didn’t know what Magnus meant, but it didn’t matter. He needed to figure out what to say to Annabelle. His handler with Military Intelligence had warned him that he could never tell anyone about the missions he’d been called out on. Logan had hated them, but he was in too deep after years of service and couldn’t see any way out. In fact, his handler had told him numerous times that he wouldn’t be leaving the program.
It was the biggest mistake that he’d ever made, accepting the missions, but Logan had needed money and hadn’t known any better. Now it seemed as though his past might keep him from Annabelle.
He was alone in the yard. Everyone had either gone inside or left with the sheriff. Logan couldn’t put Annabelle off for long. At least he was finally getting some answers to his questions.
Instead of the cuddling and quiet evening with Annabelle, he might be headed home alone. He wouldn’t be giving her up, though. If she needed time, that was one thing, but he wouldn’t allow her to push him away. Sure, he’d made some mistakes, but he wasn’t a bad guy.
Logan hurried to the rear entrance, trying to pull out the confidence he carried during his job. He would stand tall, listen and explain the best he could.
He walked down the quiet hallway to the kitchen. It had appeared to him that Mac, Annabelle and the others congregated there often.
The soft murmur of voices was all he heard when he reached the doorway. Mac and Annabelle sat at the table with mugs of coffee in front of him. Mac spotted him first and waved him in.
“We were just trying
to warm up,” Mac said. “Can I get you a cup?”
“Sure,” Logan agreed.
Annabelle glanced up at him and she didn’t seem mad. Concerned, anxious and maybe confused, but she did smile at him. Taking that as a good sign, he sat in the chair next to her.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “It seems like it’s been days since we were in the woods.”
“We should have stayed when you suggested it.”
“It would have never worked. We wouldn’t have had any coffee.”
“Too true,” he said with a laugh.
Mac rejoined them, passing Logan a steaming cup. The strong aroma rose and he leaned down to really enjoy it. Then he picked up the mug and sipped before looking at Mac and Annabelle. “Where do you want to start?”
Annabelle dropped her gaze onto the table as Mac patted her back.
“You’ve read my file,” Mac said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“So you know what happened to my sister?”
“I do.”
“After I got custody of Duffy, I planned to take him away to a new life. I told you how we ended up here,” Mac said. “What I left out was that the first woman I met, who worked for Alexander, was also an abused wife. Except she managed to get out before she got killed.”
“That had to be rough,” Logan said with sympathy.
“It was then I realized that it didn’t matter how far I drove. The past would always be there. I liked this town and Alexander was kind to us. I didn’t have much I could offer, but I could think of one way to repay Alexander’s friendship.”
“You found a way to protect the woman that worked for him,” Logan guessed.
“Yes,” Mac confirmed. “I still had contacts from the army and I was able to place her with a family of bobcats who she fit right in with.”
“Your first placing,” Logan stated.
“You knew?” Annabelle murmured.
“No,” Logan shook his head. “Not until I started to put everything together today. After I spoke to Samantha, I knew someone from here had to be involved. A lot more involved than just driving her a few blocks to a friend’s house.”
“But you didn’t press her for answers,” Mac said.
“She was trying to protect you, to thank you for what you did for her. I wasn’t going to make her betray that vow.”