by Sara Dailey
Suddenly the urge to divulge all my secrets overwhelmed me, and I opened my mouth prepared to confess everything I knew, but as if on cue, a car drove up, its door slammed, and my father’s voice filled the air. “Luke, I’m so sorry to hear about your father. But don’t you worry. We will find him. I’m sure of it.”
He shook Luke’s hand and patted him on the back with such sincerity that even I found it hard to believe that he could be behind the abduction. After a quick thank you, Luke moved aside so my father and I could enter. Without waiting for further instruction, my father headed toward voices coming from the living room with Luke and me following close behind.
As my eyes scanned the room, the nervous energy coursing through me intensified, but my father didn’t bat an eye. If he’d had any part in the abduction, no one would suspect it. His no-nonsense attitude commanded the room as he got right down to business. “Good, you are all here. The sooner we get out there, the better. There are a few things we need to go over before we head out.”
A very disheveled Marcus made his way over and shook Dad’s hand. “Thanks for coming so quickly, Brian.” My father nodded and then proceeded to go over the most productive ways to search and to cover the most ground. We may have been wolves, but we didn’t have nearly as much experience with tracking as my dad, so he quickly went over a few important tips.
Just as my father was wrapping up his brief lesson on search and rescue, Marcus intervened, “We are going to split into two groups. One group will search the main road; the other group will take the woods and the back roads.
Dad used the pat-on-the-back routine with Marcus as well. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“Let’s split up and get started,” Marcus commanded.
At the sound of the words “split up,” I grabbed Luke’s hand and glued myself to his side. The last thing I wanted was for us to be separated during the search. When my father began calling out names for the groups, I implored him with my eyes to keep us together. “How about in the first group, we have Cade, Marcus, Gage, and Noel? That will leave myself, Aiden, Luke, and Scarlett in the second.” Without waiting for approval from Marcus, which did not go unnoticed by the way, he then turned to Alli and added, “Alli, you can stay here with Teagan and wait by the phone in case someone calls. And since we will be in wolf form, it would be good to have someone here to open the door when we return.”
Marcus didn’t say a word about my father suddenly ordering people around. Instead he simply nodded his head as he moved to stand with his group. An alpha rarely relinquished control over anything, but my father acted as if this was completely normal. Maybe they had an understanding that we didn’t know about, or since my father took a lead role when the psycho were-hunter came to town, Marcus was allowing him to step up. Either way it was quite odd, and apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed. With the exception of Marcus, everyone in the room looked a bit confused.
Ignoring the elephant in the room, my father walked over to pick up the shirt that was draped over the arm of the couch. He took a deep whiff of the shirt and then passed it to Marcus for him to do the same. As the shirt was passed around so everyone could take in Phillip’s scent, my dad continued to give instructions. “Marcus, your group can take the main road. Be sure to stay in the tree line. You don’t want to be seen. My group will stick to the woods, and the back roads into town. Let’s meet back here within two hours. Obviously we won’t have a watch, but be mindful of how much time has passed.”
Finally Marcus spoke up. “Thank you, Brian. Make sure you all stay close to your group. And of course, stay hidden. I’m not all that comfortable going out in the daytime, but time is of the essence, and we don’t have any to waste, so please be cautious.” He held out his hand and asked for Luke’s phone. “Let’s leave your phone with Alli in case your father calls. You never know.” Hope glimmered in his eyes, and for the first time, I felt bad for Marcus too, and I turned away, worried someone would see the guilt in my own eyes.
With as much privacy as we could find, we all took wolf form and headed out to begin the search. Once we reached the dirt road, we separated, and my dad took the lead in our group. Throughout the search, I stayed close to Luke. I kept my nose to the ground but never let him out of my sight. Before long, we were deep into the woods and well into the Red Ridge city limits but still no closer to finding Phillip. This came as no surprise to me. If my father was behind this, it would take more than a search of the surrounding areas to find him.
Noticing the mounting tension in Luke’s rigid body, I blocked his path and consoled him in the only way I knew how in this form. I nuzzled against him, sweeping my nose across his neck. When he returned the sentiment, my heart swelled within my chest. His dark eyes bored into mine, and I so badly wanted to be able to erase the pain that filled them. He kept his eyes trained on me until Aiden came into view. Simultaneously, we both turned toward Aiden, watching as he jerked his head to the side, motioning for us to follow.
After thoroughly exploring the end of our search area, we followed my father as he headed back to the estate. The entire way back, we spread out, still holding out hope that we might catch a hint of Phillip’s scent in the air. But we came up empty, and after we made it back to the house and shifted back, we soon learned that the other group had no luck finding Phillip either. There was no trace of him anywhere.
CHAPTER 36
Luke
Every second that passed without a word from my father, the more desperate the situation became. I knew the chances of finding him on the search were slim, but I was hoping for something. Maybe a clue, or a scent, or something that would give me an ounce of hope that he was alive and well. If Dad went missing just after he dropped Michelle off at the resort, then it had been roughly thirty-two hours. I’ve watched enough The First 48 on A&E to know that we were running out of time. After searching the routes to town and most of the area surrounding Red Ridge, we’d come up empty.
I didn’t know what to do next. We couldn’t call the police. They wouldn’t be any better at finding someone than a pack of werewolves anyway. As far as I knew, there was no official werewolf organization where I could report him missing. The only thing I could do was trust that Marcus could solve the mystery of my missing father. Last year that would have been enough for me. A few months ago even, but now, with Marcus behaving so erratically and out of character, I just didn’t feel confident that he was up for the job.
After Noel served everyone some ice water, we all gathered in the front room of the Walkers’ house waiting for someone to say something. Finally after guzzling the entire contents of his glass, Marcus broke the silence. “Brian, you have connections with the surrounding packs. You need to make contact with them. See if they know anything. At least make them aware that one of our kind is missing.”
“Of course,” Brian agreed.
“See if they know anything. Anything! At least let them know that Phillip…”
“Dad?” Cade questioned.
We all looked on horrified as Marcus, glassy-eyed and sweating profusely, swayed on his feet as he continued to repeat himself over and over again. Cade tried to take his father’s arm, but Marcus swung out wildly stopping any offer of assistance. On his own, Marcus made his way to the arm chair by the fireplace and collapsed.
Suddenly, the air in the room felt thick and suffocating. Something was definitely wrong with our alpha. What were the chances that Marcus was sick or losing his mind during the same time that my dad went missing? Suspicions filled my head, and by the look on Cade’s face, he was coming to the same conclusion. We needed to figure out what happened to my dad. And somehow convince Marcus to see the pack’s doctor. Could this be the work of the mystery pack that was supposedly after us? I couldn’t argue that it was possible, but it didn’t explain Marcus’s outbursts. He hadn’t been off the estate in several days.
A moment later, Marcus took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet. “I will make some calls
and work with Brian to get the word out. Luke, I’m going to need you to go home and stay by the phone in case Phillip calls.” He straightened his clothing and smoothed back his hair as if nothing had happened.
Unsure how else to respond, I simply nodded as he continued, “Let’s all meet here at the same time again tomorrow.”
Scarlett took my hand and whispered, “Want me to come with you?”
Of course I wanted her to come with me. I wanted to drown myself in all that was Scarlett Reed and forget about everything else. But I knew I needed some time to process, to focus on what to do next. Turning to face her, I pushed a piece of hair behind her ear and asked, “Is it okay if I just call you later? It’s been a really long day, and I’m not going to be good company.”
“I understand,” she assured me before kissing my cheek.
Quickly, I thanked everyone for helping with the search before walking out the door. The skies were darkening as I made my way home alone. My thoughts were scattered all over the place, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit idly by the phone. There had to be something more I could do. I just didn’t know what.
With only the slightest glimmer of hope, I opened the front door but noticed all too soon that the house was exactly as I’d left it. I checked the voicemail, but there were none. Needing to do something, I headed into my dad’s office and went online to log into our bank account. I thought maybe there would be some unusual purchases or questionable charges that might point me in some kind of direction. But all I’d learned was that the last time Dad used his debit card was at the Marriott in Santa Fe. Nothing after that. There weren’t any suspicious charges before that either.
Since I was already going through our finances, I grabbed the credit card statements from Dad’s office and called to get the most recent transactions. I was on a roll then, and I started pilfering through everything. Every file my Dad had, every folder in the cabinet and every document on his laptop, every box of photos and mementos from his life. Nothing was left out.
I was sitting on the floor of the office surrounded by papers holding the very last box, the box labeled Victoria Stanton 1976-1996, when the doorbell rang. Saved by the bell was an understatement. With Dad missing, it was probably not the best time to be looking at all of my mother’s things. I carefully placed the box aside and went to answer the door.
“I hope you don’t mind, but we are keeping you company tonight,” Aiden said, holding five pizza boxes out in front of him.
“I don’t give a shit if he minds or not. Move it Stanton, I’m freezing out here,” Gage announced as he squeezed past me, carrying a pack of sodas in each hand.
Surprised by their arrival, I moved aside, and they all came in one by one. Aiden entered carrying the pizzas. Teagan followed him in with a stack of movies in her hands. Alli was next with a couple of blankets tucked under her arm. Cade was by her side with a box of microwave popcorn. Last but certainly not least, Scarlett was standing on my doorstep. The one person I actually wanted to see tonight. She was holding a plastic bag full of every different candy bar imaginable.
“Sorry, I succumbed to peer pressure. I know you wanted to be alone tonight,” she said shyly as she walked in.
I put my hand on her waist to stop her at my side. “You are the very best distraction I could ever ask for,” I whispered in her ear before my lips found the soft and fragrant skin just behind it. I felt her body come alive from the simple touch of my lips, and suddenly I wished we were all alone.
“Find anything helpful?” Cade asked, pointing to my mess on the office floor. Not thinking, I’d left the door wide open. “No, I thought maybe I would find something, like a strange charge on his credit card or a withdrawal from our back account, but I didn’t find anything,” I explained as I wandered over to shut the door. By the time I’d made it to the kitchen, everyone had made themselves at home. I thought that I had wanted to be alone, but as I looked around at the room full of friends, I knew I was wrong.
CHAPTER 37
Drew
“So how did the ‘big search’ go?” I asked, making exaggerated air quotes with my fingers as Brian came in the house and began to warm his hands in front of the fireplace. I already knew the answer of course. It went great for us, but not so great for poor Luke. I didn’t expect it to take so long though.
“The search went as predicted, and they found nothing.” He looked at me over his shoulder, “The real excitement came after the search.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, hoping he’d elaborate.
“Marcus lost it. He started rambling on, repeating himself over and over again, swaying on his feet. He even took a swing at Cade. That’s what took so long. Well, that and when Marcus finally did get himself together, he asked me to contact some of the other packs. He asked me to stay and make my calls from his office. I wasn’t really comfortable with that, but I couldn’t see a plausible way out of it, so I went along. No harm done I guess. I know my men and nothing will be found that can be traced back to us, but now, thanks to my assistance, every pack in the West is on alert for the missing enforcer.”
“Let’s just hope your guys did as good of a job as you think they did.”
“Trust me, they did,” Brian said with confidence as he turned to face me.
He better have been right. I was about to inherit a pack that was up to its testicles in financial problems. The last thing I needed was for us to get caught in this scandal. Then we really would lose everything. When my father told me about Mr. Langley, our pack’s ex-treasurer, taking off and disappearing with almost every cent of the pack’s money, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that my dad was stupid enough to allow one single person access to all of that money.
Without money, our business failed, and with no way to make more money, we were going to losing our land. Land that has been in our family for generations. All because my father did the unthinkable without any consultation or discussion with the elders. He mortgaged the property thinking that he would be able to both revive our business and find Mr. Langley to get our money back. Neither happened. All of which led us to Red Ridge. We not only needed their land, we needed their business and money too. When Marcus first called and needed Brian’s services, we saw the perfect opportunity. Get rid of Marcus, pit Cade and Aiden against each other, come in and rescue the pack from themselves.
One could argue that we’d be doing them a favor. And we had less than a month to do it. Thirty days to vacate the property that my great-grandparents purchased decades ago. Man, if I could get my hands on that son of a bitch Langley…
“Have you talked to your dad recently?” Brian asked.
“About?”
“Our timeline. Are we still good with time?”
“If you call a little over three weeks good,” I quipped.
Brian did his best attempt at a smile and leaned back in the chair resting his extra-long legs on the coffee table in front of him. I hated it when Brian tried to smile. The crazy-ass scar across his lip actually prohibits him from smiling properly so it always comes out looking sinister. That and his creepy eyes make him a freaky-looking beast. It wasn’t hard to understand how he could strike the fear of God in just about anyone if he needed to.
“I’m not worried,” Brian stated.
“Maybe you should be worried,” I mentioned and then leaned in to add, “about Scarlett.”
“What about Scarlett?”
“I have a feeling she’s getting a little too attached to our poor Luke.”
“What makes you think that?” he asked as he sat up in his chair. Well, I guess that got his attention. And now that I have it…
“Have you seen her around him? I tell you Brian, I think you need to send her home,” I suggested.
A minute passed before he replied, “I think she can handle it, at least for a few more days. Luke is so upset with his dad missing. You can see it on his face. Let’s let him lean on Scarlett for support and just when he needs her most, we’ll se
nd her away. It will crush him. Either that, or she can try to convince him to join us.”
“No fucking way!” I snapped. “I have seen that shithead in action. He is way too loyal to betray his pack, and he’s too damn lethal to let live.”
“Then let’s speed things up. Marcus is fading faster than any of us expected. Phillip is out of the picture. Luke is distracted. Cade and Aiden are nowhere near coming to an agreement. I could send Scarlett away in a few days, kill Luke, Marcus, and Phillip, and take over the pack. What’s stopping us?”
“My father, for one,” I noted.
“We can always say that we had to. That we were discovered.” Brian shrugged and flashed another evil-looking smile.
Finally a plan with balls. “I’m in!”
CHAPTER 38
Scarlett
We were well into our third movie and I had been snuggled up next to Luke for a few hours, yet we’d hardly spoken. Since everyone arrived, we’d shared a few stolen glances but very few words. I couldn’t gauge what was going on in his head or how he was handling his father’s disappearance. I wasn’t even sure if he wanted us all here, but the longer we sat here in silence, the less comfortable I was saying anything, so the silence stretched on.
Unfortunately, it only gave me more time to sink deeper into my thoughts, thoughts filled with regret and guilt, and Gavin had been blowing up my phone all day, which only served to repeatedly remind me of the mess I’d made of everything. I finally turned it off before we all met up to go to Luke’s. But it didn’t stop that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach or the one question that had haunted me all day from popping into my head every few minutes: What the hell am I going to do now?