by Sara Dailey
*****
“Since the car is registered to me as a company car, the police called me when they realized that it had been abandoned here. I made up a story about the employee who drives this car, getting so intoxicated on New Year’s Eve that he forgot where he parked it. As luck would have it, the car was found in the back of a mall parking lot, very close to a nightclub. So if the sheriff asks, that’s the story,” Marcus explained as we pulled into the Santa Fe Hills Shopping Mall.
While Mr. and Mrs. Walker talked to the sheriff’s deputy, I walked around the car looking for anything that could tell me where Dad was before he went missing. The car was unlocked, so I opened the driver’s-side door and leaned in, trying to pick up on any foreign scents. All I came up with was my father’s and the sweet scent that must have belonged to Michelle. I closed the door and stood out of the way while Marcus thanked the deputy. We all watched as he got into his patrol car and drove away.
The moment he was gone, Marcus erupted. “I knew it! I don’t know which pack is fucking with us, but I will find out and when I do, I will make them pay!”
“Calm down, Marcus. We don’t know that,” Noel said.
I backed away as Marcus began to tremble. “They’re after us, Noel. Don’t think for one second that they aren’t. They’ve taken Phillip. Hell, he’s probably dead by now. I’ll be next. They’ll come after me, just like they did him. Then they will take the boys. They will pick us off one by one. They will come after you too, Noel. No one is safe,” Marcus ranted. Noel grabbed Marcus by the shoulders, trying to calm him down.
I stood there frozen. Did he really just say that out loud? That some pack had killed my dad?
“Noel, you don’t understand. We have to prepare our pack for the attack. We can’t waste any more time…”
Waste any more time? Waste any more time? Is that what Marcus thinks we’re doing? Wasting time? Is it wasting time looking for my father…his enforcer?
Tears stung at my eyes as my fists clenched, and the urge to beat the shit out of my alpha was almost unbearable. My eyes narrowed in on the rapid pulse in his neck.
“Marcus, you need to settle down—” Noel tried again, but Marcus cut her off.
“Let’s get out of here. They’re probably watching us right now,” Marcus said, looking around wildly. “This could be a trap.”
That was it. He didn’t give a shit about my father. My father had been his enforcer since they were nineteen years old, and this was what he got for it. Marcus thought my dad was already dead, and it seemed he couldn’t care less. He was more worried about himself at the moment.
I had to get out of here before I did something that could jeopardize the pack. I held my hand out to Noel with a look on my face that I hoped screamed give me the damn keys before I kill someone. Luckily, Noel was not a stupid woman. She stood in between Marcus and me and mouthed, I’m sorry, before dropping the keys in my hand.
Marcus was still looking around the parking lot for rival pack members and screaming about being prepared for war when I slammed the door the shut and drove away.
CHAPTER 40
Scarlett
My cheeks were flushed both from the cold and from the memories of last night when I walked through the back door. Before I went home this morning, I shifted into wolf form and went for a run. I needed to collect my thoughts before I faced my father. Things with Luke went further than I’d intended last night, and not just physically. The feelings stirring inside me were freaking me out. I knew before the night began that I had feelings for Luke, but now…now I was hooked, completely infatuated, and had moved well beyond the like stage.
I ran until my muscles throbbed, but it brought me no closer to an answer of what to do next. There was no way in hell that I would help my father, but I still didn’t know how to handle the situation. I tried to convince myself that in reality, I hadn’t really done much of anything, but the truth was that the intentions were there, and that I couldn’t deny. I had come here to Red Ridge to help my pack, and while I hadn’t actually played any real part in the plan, I had agreed to toy with Luke’s emotions, get inside his head, and try to get him to back Aiden for alpha. Instead, the opposite had happened. Luke had most definitely gotten inside my head, and my emotional state was like a perfect storm, set on a course of complete and total destruction.
I tiptoed through the mudroom, silently chastising myself for being a chicken-shit, but I just wasn’t ready to see my dad, or even worse, Drew. Relieved to find an empty house, I grabbed a bottle of water and a granola bar and hurried up the stairs. Tucked safe inside my room, I fell onto my bed. Immediately my mind was flooded with visions of Luke and me wrapped up in each other’s arms on the couch last night. Warmth spread throughout my body, causing my cheeks to flush and desire to pool deep inside me.
While everyone I knew, even my closest friends, believed me to be experienced in all areas of life, the truth was that I’d hardly rounded second base before last night. Oddly enough, it was my own pack’s enforcer, Justin King, who had supposedly had his way with me a couple of years ago. He tried, boy did he try, but I wasn’t ready. I had to knee him in the balls to get his paws off of me, but that wasn’t what he told the rest of pack. The next day, Justin claimed to be the proud owner of my virginity. From then on, everyone just assumed I was easy and didn’t hesitate to treat me as such, though I couldn’t deny that I was partly to blame. At the time, I was barely sixteen, and stupidly and blindly went along with it. Before I knew it, I was acting the part. While no other guy in the pack ever got anywhere near as far as Justin did, I started dressing in low-cut tops, short skirts, and tight jeans. Flirting became second nature, which only solidified my reputation, and nobody ever stopped to question who else I’d actually been with. It’s amazing how much bullshit people were willing to believe.
Now, here I was, little virgin Scarlett, completely enamored with a guy I’d just met and had actually almost gone through with it last night. If he hadn’t stopped us, I wasn’t sure whether I would have or not, but if I had to guess, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have said no. Being with him felt so right, which just made everything else so screwed up. I had to come clean. I couldn’t run off into the night and pretend none of this had ever happened. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pulled out my phone to text Gavin.
Hey I’m sticking around. I can’t leave just yet. Don’t try to talk me out of it. U just have to trust me. Stay put and I’ll keep u in the loop.
I stared at my phone for a few minutes, awaiting Gavin’s reply. I only hoped he wasn’t packing up his car right now to come rescue me from Red Ridge. When my phone chirped, my heart practically leapt out of my chest. Hesitantly, I peeked at the screen.
Fine I’ll give u a few days but I’m ready to jump in the car at a moment’s notice. Watch ur back Scar. Ur asking for trouble by staying there.
I hated to admit it, but he was right. Ditching Red Ridge would be my safest option, but I wasn’t going to leave Luke. I had to do whatever I could to make this right, or at least try to. I needed to be honest with someone. I needed to talk to my dad.
Minutes and then hours passed as I waited for my father to return. I’d picked up my phone at least a dozen times to call him but knew that what I needed to say had to be done in person. So I waited…and waited. I’d showered, picked at my lunch, checked my email, and read a week’s worth of status updates on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, at 6:05 p.m., the front door swung open. I was relieved to see that my dad was alone. I didn’t need Drew here for this.
When the door closed behind him, I asked, “Hey, where ya been?”
Barely making eye contact, he replied, “Just had some business to take care of.” He wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He pulled out a beer, popped the top, and gulped down half of it before coming up for air. “What are you doing here? Don’t you think you should be consoling Luke or something? This is the perfect opportunity to be his rock. He’s vulnerable right now, whi
ch means he’ll listen to you. Why don’t you text him? See where he’s at.” He took another long swig of beer before the glanced out the widow. “It’s about to rain, so you should head out soon.”
I placed my laptop on the coffee table and dragged myself up off the couch. As I walked into the kitchen, I took a deep breath to try to calm the hurricane of nerves brewing inside me. “Dad, we need to talk. I don’t want to be a part of this anymore. I can’t. I care about Luke, and I don’t want to hurt him. Before you ask, I haven’t told him anything, and I thought about just leaving, but now that his dad is missing and…” I trailed off as soon as I saw the storm of rage flash across his face. Suddenly I saw what everyone else seemed to see when they looked at my father. While I always thought he was intimidating as hell, he never really looked scary to me. But now…Now I knew I’d made a huge mistake by trying to explain.
He took a few steps toward me and I backed up, cowering like a frightened puppy. Slamming his near-empty beer bottle down on the table, he roared, “You what? You really think you can just run off and there will be no consequences? You were asked to do one little thing. One measly little thing and now you’re actually telling me you care too much. Give me a fucking break, Scarlett,” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked around the room before his rage-fueled eyes landed on me once again.
His glare caused to me to back up a few more steps. “Dad…I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do,” I pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt him. I want out.”
“You don’t want to hurt him?” He raised his chin and chuckled to himself. “You don’t just get to decide that you want out, you stupid, pathetic child! I should have known you couldn’t pull this off. You’re too selfish, too weak to do what it takes to save our pack. Guess you plan to just let our pack die, like you did your own mother.”
As his words sliced through me, my world grew fuzzy, and I found it hard to breathe, much less stand. Tears flooded my eyes, and when my back found the wall behind me, I slowly slid down to the ground. Wrapping my arms around my knees, I dropped my head and sobbed. I heard my father move and then felt him standing above me. For a brief moment, I thought he might reach down and gather me in his arms like he used to when I was a little girl. But that didn’t happen. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back to force me to look at his. He stood above me, my hair entangled in his hand, and stated flatly, “You don’t have the right to call yourself The Fixer’s daughter, you weak-minded piece of trash. Now get out of my house before I force you out. You have a job to do. So get your pathetic self together and do it!”
He released my hair, allowing my head to fall, and headed back to the fridge to help himself to another beer. I scrambled up off of the floor and hurried toward the door. I pulled it open and for a moment, watched as the rain poured down from the sky. I couldn’t turn around to get an umbrella and my keys were on the table in the kitchen. So, I grabbed my coat from the coat rack, covered my head with the hood, and ran out into the rain.
CHAPTER 41
Luke
After leaving Santa Fe, my day went from bad to worse. I drove all the way back to Red Ridge in pouring rain and a blinding rage. I was so pissed at Marcus, and as much as I tried, I could not calm myself down. I couldn’t believe how little Marcus actually cared about my father considering Dad had been his friend and enforcer since before I was born. Marcus just gave up hope completely, decided he must be dead. I doubt he would bother continuing to search for him, so I guess I’d be on my own then.
My mind was racing a mile a minute when the small grocery store on the edge of town caught my eye, and I remembered there was zero food in the house. Dad always did the grocery shopping, but I figured I should stop to pick up a few things to keep me going for a while.
I was wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles lost in thought when Michelle, dad’s girlfriend, walked up and rested her hand-held basket on her hip, “Honey, are you all right? You look kinda out of it.”
I snapped out of it and answered, “Oh yes, ma’am. I guess I’m just tired.”
Smiling, she glanced inside my basket to find it practically empty. “Where’s that handsome daddy of yours? I usually see him doing the shopping.”
Thinking quickly, I explained, “He had to go out of town. Some emergency business trip.”
“And he didn’t have time to shop for you, huh?” she teased and took my cart. She placed her basket inside and started walking. “Well, we can’t have you starve, and I don’t think you should live off of Fritos and bean dip while he’s gone. How about I help you out?”
Michelle was such a nice woman. Simple and genuine, the kind of woman my father deserved, but I knew he would never allow himself to truly have. I felt guilty for lying to her, for making her believe that my dad was safe in some hotel on business when the truth was that even his own alpha thought that he was dead.
Things got even more uncomfortable when we got to the front of the checkout line and Taylor was at the register. I didn’t even know that she worked there. Guilt washed over me when I realized just how little I knew about this girl. I never did call or text her after I stood her up New Year’s Eve, and if the look she was giving me was any indication, she hadn’t forgiven me.
“Well if it isn’t Luke Stanton,” Taylor said, oozing attitude.
Michelle looked at me and smiled, surely knowing that I had done something to piss this girl off. I decided that the best thing to do was to remain silent and get out of there as fast as possible.
I just stood there and watched as she rang up the groceries, ignoring the fact that she was shooting daggers at me with her eyes the entire time. After I paid, and she handed me the receipt, I finally looked at her and blurted out, “Taylor, I really am sorry. See you at school after break?” Then I grabbed the cart and took off out of the store, hoping Michelle had followed since her groceries were in my cart as well.
My quick trip to the store didn’t exactly go as planned. As if things weren’t complicated enough. I was already angry with Marcus and worried sick about my dad. Now I felt like an ass for standing up Taylor and guilty as hell for lying to Michelle, who obviously cared about Dad. Next time, I’ll just starve…or go eat at Gage’s.
“I can’t thank you enough, Michelle, really,” I told her as I walked her to her car.
“It’s no big deal, honey. You better get home before it starts raining again. If you need anything while your daddy’s gone, you call me, okay?”
After we packed up her car, I thanked her once more and as soon as I turned to head toward my car, rain began pouring from the sky with a vengeance, freezing cold rain that stings your face and burns your hands. Without hesitation, I ran to the car, threw my bags in, blasted the heater, and drove home as quickly as possible in the downpour.
After I pulled the car into the garage and put the groceries away, I did a complete search of my father’s car. I couldn’t find a single damn thing in there that would help me find my dad or even help me figure out what may have happened to him. The more I searched the more frustrated I became. After that, I tried to pull myself together, but my emotions were all over the place. I went from angry to sad to helpless to numb in record time. While in the stage of numbness, I made myself dinner, took a shower, and then sat in the living room staring at the weather channel on TV. I needed to figure out my next move, but I couldn’t focus. All I knew was that Marcus may have given up searching for my father but that didn’t mean that I would.
When I finally decided that my brain couldn’t handle being tortured anymore, I turned the TV off and planned to go sulk in bed. I was halfway up the stairs when the doorbell rang. I paused in mid-step, and contemplated ignoring it, then decided that probably wasn’t a good idea given how my luck was running lately.
I peeked through the peep hole, vowing if it was another impromptu sleepover, that I wouldn’t answer, but when I saw Scarlett soaking wet and shivering on my doorstep, I swung open the door and pulled her inside. “Holy shit, baby. Get
in here. What are you doing out in this weather?”
As soon as I shut the door behind her, I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her. I rubbed my hands up and down her arms to warm her and noticed she wasn’t only shaking uncontrollably because she was cold. She was sobbing.
“Are you crying?” I asked like an idiot. Of course she was crying. “Come here,” I said reaching for her. She weakly protested, claiming that I would get wet, but she was in no condition to argue with me. I tugged her into my arms, my T-shirt immediately soaking through. Feeling the shock of the cold cotton against my skin, I hurried us over to the fireplace and sat on the brick hearth, bringing Scarlett down on my lap.
I tucked a loose strand of cold, wet hair behind her ear, kissed her icy cheek, and asked, “You wanna talk about it?”
She lifted her head like she was going to say something, but once our eyes met she buried her head in my shoulder once again. I could feel her shaking sobs begin to quiet as I ran hand up and down her back. Soon Scarlett lifted her head again, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, “I’m sorry Luke. I shouldn’t be here.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re here. What’s going on?”
“I just got into a really, really bad fight with my dad.”
I fought back the urge to run out of here and punch her father in the face for hurting her, and it took every bit of self-control I could muster to stay put. I looked her over, looking for any sign that he’d gotten physical but didn’t see anything suspicious. That is until I looked into her eyes. They were full of fear. Complete and utter terror. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” The thought of that bastard putting his hands on her made my chilled skin burn red hot with the need to rip him to shreds.
Scarlett placed her still-cool palm on the side of my face and said, “No, he didn’t hurt me. Not like that.”