Until Forever
Page 8
Mike’s phone chirped. He pulled it out and saw he had a text from Theo. He ignored it for the time being. All Mike wanted to do was get some heat into room five and get back to Kester’s room. He’d check the text later.
They reached Smitty’s door, and Mike knocked. When his knuckles hit the wood, the door creaked open. Mike set his toolbox down and let the claws on his right hand slide free. He heard a quiet gasp from behind him but didn’t have time to turn around and reassure Kester.
“Stay behind me,” he whispered to his mate. He would have made Kester stay outside, but Mike wasn’t sure what was going on and didn’t want to leave his mate alone.
“Mr. Green?” Mike used the tips of his fingers to fully push the door open. The room was freezing. From one quick glance, he saw the heating unit had been turned off.
This felt like a trap. Mike walked backward while scanning the room. Smitty wasn’t in there. He moved until he and Kester were outside the door.
“What’s going on?” Kester asked. Mike had kept his mate behind him, and he doubted Kester was that observant. He wouldn’t have seen that the heating unit was off or noticed the cold in the room or the fact that Smitty wasn’t inside. Kester simply thought they were on a maintenance call, unaware of the danger they’d just stepped into.
Mike turned, leaving his toolbox on the ground as he ushered Kester toward his truck.
“You’re scaring me,” Kester said, but he didn’t fight Mike on this. He moved swiftly as Mike hit the fob on his keys, but nothing happened. He hit it again, but the neither the headlights or taillights blinked to signify that the truck had been unlocked.
Mike tried the door handle, the passenger door opened, and Kester slid inside. Mike distinctly recalled locking his truck before he’d gone into Kester’s room.
A bad feeling swirled in his gut as he jumped into the driver’s seat and tried to start the engine. Nothing happened. Not one single light on the dashboard lit up. Mike pulled the lever for the hood and got out. When Kester tried to follow, Mike shook his head. His mate settled back as Mike popped the hood to find that his battery was missing.
Chapter Eight
Mike opened the passenger door and hurried Kester out of the truck. “Stay low and move fast.”
Kester nodded, seeming a bit pale as he followed. Mike had no idea what was going on, but his first priority was to keep his mate safe. From what Kester had told him, either one of Strabo’s men could be there or the agent. Though Mike highly doubted a federal agent would play this kind of game.
And where the hell was Smitty? Was he a part of this cat-and-mouse game? Had he been the one to remove the battery from Mike’s pickup?
Kester curled his fingers into Mike’s jacket as they moved to the front of the truck. Mike scanned the area then scented for strangers. The only thing he could smell was the crisp night air and the pine trees surrounding the motel.
“Get your key ready,” he told Kester. Mike wanted to get into the room as quickly as possible. He mentally counted to three then grabbed Kester’s hand and bolted toward room four.
Something whizzed past Mike’s head. He ducked low and threw Kester toward the door. “Get it unlocked, now!”
There was a small hole in the window of room three with spider webs of cracked glass around it. A bullet hole. Someone was shooting at them, which told Mike who he was dealing with.
A federal agent wouldn’t be trying to gun them down. Unless it wasn’t Gugino and some fed was on Strabo’s payroll. That could be a possibility.
He heard the key hit the concrete and Kester curse. His mate’s hands were shaking badly as he grabbed the key and tried again. As soon as the door was open, Mike shoved Kester inside, and then his shoulder exploded. He cursed as he stumbled into the room and kicked the door closed.
“What the hell is going on?” Kester shouted as he dropped down beside the bed. He looked as though he was barely holding himself together.
“I think your uncle found out where you were.” Mike ripped his jacket off then his shirt, applying pressure to the wound. He could shift and heal himself, but that would take time.
Time they didn’t have at the moment. Mike would have to stay in his human form for now. “Get my phone from my pocket.”
Kester looked over at him, and then his eyes went wide. “You’ve been shot!”
“I need you to concentrate,” Mike said with a ragged breath. “Get my phone from my back pocket.”
Kester crawled over to him and patted Mike’s butt. He pulled the phone free, but his gaze was riveted to Mike’s wound. “How bad is it?”
Mike shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll survive.” Although the pain was killing him and Mike was becoming a bit dizzy. “Just look for Darren Christopher’s number and dial. He’s a nonhuman deputy. Tell him we’ve got a shooter at the motel, possibly preternatural, so be careful who he brings if he decides to bring backup.”
“I…” Kester looked at the phone. “That’s too much to remember. I’m just gonna call him and put him on speaker for you.”
Kester’s hands were still shaking as held the phone to Mike’s face for facial recognition. Once the phone was open, Kester looked for and dialed the coyote shifter and then put it on speaker.
Mike repeated what he’d told Kester to say.
“Are you two in a safe location?” Over the speaker they heard Darren huffing, as though he were running.
“We’re in room four, but whoever is shooting at us could come in here at any second,” Mike said. If he had to, he would shift, but it was hard to take down an armed man when he was still injured. Especially if the person wasn’t human. Mike hadn’t had enough time to heal.
“I’m five minutes out,” Darren said. “But it’s night, and the temperature has dropped even more, which means I have to be careful of patches of black ice.”
The last thing Mike wanted was for Darren to get into an accident. The deputy would more than likely survive a crash, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be seriously injured. “Be careful, Darren. I need you here in one piece.”
“Count on it,” Darren said. “I’m almost there. You two stay as safe as you can.”
Kester set the phone on the floor beside him and looked at where Mike was pressing his shirt against his wound. “That’s…that’s a lot of blood.”
Mike’s dizziness had increased. “Stop worrying about me, hon. I told you, I’m gonna be fine.”
Mike just prayed he was right. He also prayed there was just one shooter, because if there were more, Darren would need his help.
Kester gasped and crawled in front of Mike when the door handle moved slowly back and forth. There was no way in hell Mike would allow his mate to be a shield.
“Get over by the bed,” he whispered. “Move, now!”
“Are you coming with me?” Kester whispered back.
Mike nodded and Kester quickly crawled away, keeping the bed between him and the door. He lay flat on the floor then looked over at Mike, who had yet to move.
When Mike tried, he fell sideways. The room spun as he tried to force himself back up. It wasn’t happening. Bile rose to the back of his throat. If he didn’t shift soon, he would bleed out.
He managed to roll to his stomach, leaving his shirt behind as he scooted as best he could toward the bed. He was halfway there when the door was kicked in, a cold sweep of air rushing inside.
Mike looked toward the door. A guy with thick black hair and green eyes stalked into the room, a gun aimed at Mike’s head. There was a silencer on the end of the barrel.
This wasn’t an agent. This was either Strabo or someone who worked for him. The guy had killer written all over his face.
“This was too easy.” The side of his mouth curved into a malicious grin. He scented the air and then looked toward the bed. “You can come out, rat. I know you’re hiding back there.”
Mike refused to look in Kester’s direction. He wanted to keep the stranger’s focus on him. As badly as i
t hurt, and as much as Mike swayed, he forced himself to his feet but had to hold on to the dresser in order not to fall over. “It’s just you and me.”
The guy scoffed. “I know what my cousin smells like. Spineless with a side of traitor.”
So this was Nunzio. Mike was actually surprised a low-level disposable lackey hadn’t been sent instead. He covertly sucked in Nunzio’s scent, but was not familiar with what a Loup Garou smelled like.
Nunzio moved to pass Mike, but Mike shoved away from the dresser and blocked his path. “You really don’t want to do that.”
Nunzio curled his lip. “I’d take that as a threat coming from a wolf shifter, but you look like you’re gonna fall over at any second. If you don’t want me to put another bullet in you, get out of my way.”
Mike let his claws slide free, as well as letting his canines descend. “I’d have to be dead to step aside.”
The guy studied him, and then realization dawned in his eyes. His cruel smile widened. “You’re his mate.”
Mike didn’t answer Nunzio. He took on a fighting stance, though he was seconds away from passing out. His wound throbbed badly, and the pain was almost too much to bear. He gritted his teeth and moved closer to Nunzio, letting the guy know he wasn’t to be counted out of the game just yet.
There was no way he was letting the guy near Kester.
“Fine, have it your way.” Nunzio pressed the end of the silencer into Mike’s other shoulder, but before Mike could react, Darren darkened the doorway, his own weapon raised. He shot at Nunzio, hitting the guy center mass.
Kester screamed and ran for Mike as Nunzio snarled, spun, and shifted. Mike took a step back as the guy grew taller, his werewolf form emerging. He stood on two legs, his arms long, his muzzle lethal. He bared his teeth at Darren as Darren shot him again.
Nunzio stalked toward the door. Mike shoved Kester toward the bathroom. His mate grabbed his arm, refusing to let go.
“I can’t fight if I have to worry about you,” he said to Kester.
Kester looked as though he struggled with what to do, and then he nodded and hurried to the bathroom, although he didn’t close the door. He peeked out as Mike shifted and attacked. In his weakened state, he was no match for the beast. Mike was knocked across the room as Darren unloaded his clip into Nunzio.
As soon as the creature reached the door, he dropped. Darren stood there staring down at Nunzio wide-eyed, his weapon still clutched in his hands. “What the fuck was that?”
Nunzio looked over at Mike, and with his last breath, he said, “You still don’t win. We have Kester’s mother.”
Kester ran out of the bathroom, hurrying toward Mike as Mike closed his eyes, unable to keep them open as he faded into unconsciousness.
* * * *
“Just trace amounts of silver on the bullet,” Dr. Bjord said as if he was speaking to himself. “You were very lucky.”
Kester hovered by the front desk as Dr. Bjord packed his medical bag. He couldn’t stop seeing the blood on Mike’s upper right shoulder and chest or the agony in his mate’s eyes as he squared off with Nunzio.
Kester had been more terrified of Mike getting killed than he’d been when Strabo had been working him over in that windowless basement.
Even though the situation was serious, Kester couldn’t help but stare at Mike’s naked chest. His gaze roamed upward then to the right. Kester’s stomach rolled at the thought that Mike had come that close to dying.
“Unfortunately, since silver was introduced into your system, you’ll have a scar and some minor aches and pains in the affected area,” the doctor said.
“Thanks.” Mike rotated his shoulder as if determined to make it one hundred percent better. But the wince said otherwise. Kester was glad Nunzio was dead. The lunatic deserved his fate.
It was Nunzio’s dad that Kester worried about. Once he found out that his only child, the one person who meant everything to him, was dead, hell was gonna rain down on them.
And Kester’s mom? He started pacing as he thought about her in his uncle’s clutches. Kester didn’t doubt that Strabo would abuse her just to make her cooperate. And if Kester knew Emma Oliver, she would fight him every step of the way.
She might’ve been a school teacher and diminutive in stature, but Kester’s mom had backbone, and that was what scared him. Her fiery spirit would only anger Strabo.
“We have to go save my mom.” Kester had no clue where to look for her. Strabo could have her stashed anywhere. If all the knowledge he’d gained from reading crime novels had taught him one thing it was that they had to get to her before Strabo found out Nunzio was dead.
But this wasn’t a dime-store novel. This was real life. For all Kester knew, his mom might already be dead. He refused to believe that. It hurt too much to think his uncle had already killed her.
If they made it out of this alive, Kester was talking his mom into moving to Maple Grove so they could live close to one another. He wanted to watch over her and couldn’t bear the thought of her living so far away if he settled here.
When he paced close to Mike, his mate pulled him into his arms. Kester blushed, considering the doctor and his assistant were still standing there watching them.
Heat radiated off of Mike as Kester tried to wiggle out of his arms, but Mike kept a tight hold on him, refusing to let Kester go. And to be honest, it wasn’t a forceful wiggle. Kester didn’t really want to leave the safety of his arms.
“I want you to call me if you feel there are complications,” the doctor said. “You should also rest.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Mike shook his hand before Dr. Bjord and his assistant flashed from the room. The sudden disappearance startled Kester, just like it had when they first appeared. The preternatural world still made him dizzy considering everything he’d learned from Mike.
“I know you’re not going to rest.” This time Kester was successful in pulling away. “You’re too stubborn to listen to the doctor’s orders.”
Lines creased Mike’s forehead. “We have to figure out how to save your mom, Kester. I don’t have time to go take a nap. Can you think of anywhere he would stash her?”
The guy had utter confidence in his voice that Kester couldn’t help but believe Mike would do whatever it took to save his mom. Too bad Kester didn’t have that same confidence. Not when it was Strabo who had her.
Even so, for a brief moment, Kester forgot all his troubles as he stared into Mike’s gorgeous brown eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he quelled the urge to reach for his mate. The attraction he felt toward Mike was ridiculously strong. If only he could curl into the guy and forget that the world could sometimes be such a cruel place.
Kester shook his head. “I was just thinking about that. Strabo owns too many properties, and if he decides not to use them, then he has men who work for him that could take her anywhere. The possibilities are endless.”
Mike framed Kester’s face with his hands, and Kester soaked up the warmth. “We’ll find her.”
But would it be in time to save her?
Chapter Nine
“I’m not leaving him behind,” Mike argued a few hours later when Moose showed up at the motel. They stood in the lobby of the office—Moose, Deon, and Darren.
Mike knew Moose and Darren had belonged to some black ops company before they’d settled in Maple Grove, and although he appreciated their expertise and willingness to help, he wasn’t keen on their plan to leave Kester behind.
“He knows what his mother looks like. We don’t. He also knows what Strabo looks like and how his uncle thinks.” Mike held up a hand when Moose looked like he would argue. “I know it’s risky taking my mate along, and I wouldn’t put him in harm’s way if there was any other choice, but we need him.”
And Mike didn’t want to let Kester out of his sight. He feared that they would leave to find Emma Oliver and Strabo would show up in their absence, no matter how much the men reassured him that Kester would be safe at Darren’s cabin.
What really bothered Mike was that Smitty’s black sedan was still parked outside his room. They’d done an extensive search of the motel rooms and the surrounding area, but they’d come up empty.
“There’re four of us,” Deon said. “I don’t see why Kester can’t come. We have the ability to protect him.”
Darren gritted his teeth. “You don’t take a civilian on a mission.” He waved at Mike. “It’s bad enough we’re taking him, but now you want to bring along a human who has no training.”
Mike would’ve been offended if it hadn’t been the truth. Still, he glared Darren’s way. He looked out the window at room four, where Kester was currently lying down. The only way into the room was the front door, so Mike hadn’t objected to keeping Kester out of this meeting. Just as long as Mike could see the room from where he stood.
“I’ll admit,” Moose said as he scratched at his jaw, “bringing Kester along will complicate things, but it could also be to our advantage. Like Mike pointed out, his mate knows Strabo better than any of us. He also knows a lot of the men who work for his uncle, so he can spot them before they spot us.”
“I don’t like it,” Darren argued. “Since when did we start putting mates in harm’s way? None of us has gone up against a Loup Garou before today, and I barely was able to put him down, even after shooting him multiple times. And now we’re going after his daddy, a seasoned werewolf?” Darren snorted and looked away.
His protest was duly noted, but Mike was still bringing Kester with them. He wouldn’t be able to focus if he left his mate behind, and having his head only half in the game could prove fatal.
“We leave before sunrise in the morning,” Moose said. “We’ll meet up here and take off after that, so everyone get plenty of rest. We’re going to need our wits about us if this Strabo guy is half as dangerous as you say he is.”