“I’m not hiding in the woods while you go sneaking around.”
“I got this, Carlie Beth. Take a breather.”
The near miss with the dogs must have shaken up Carlie Beth more than Randi realized, because the tough-as-nails blacksmith stopped arguing and gave her a sharp nod.
“Look, confirm, and get your butt back here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Randi took off.
Once she hit the rear of the barn, she slowed her frantic pace. The paradise established at the front of the barn didn’t extend to the back. Weeds of all sizes crept their way right up to the barn. Gravel and concrete chunks dotted the area and a rusted tractor would soon become part of the natural landscape.
Jutting out from the center of the building was a tall chain-link dog run. Inside the run paced a large, anxious canid.
Calypso.
The wolf’s ears perked up as if she heard the silent call, then the breeding female scurried beneath the lean-to.
Wanting to set the wolf at ease, Randi moved closer, speaking in low tones to the scared animal. “It’s okay, girl. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Calypso didn’t take her eyes off Randi or seek her comforting touch. She stood, staring, her tail wedged between her legs.
Randi’s attention shifted to the pen door. She didn’t see a lock. Could she be so lucky? Could she lift the latch and set Calypso free? Would the wolf find her way home? Or would she roam the mountains lost and alone?
The floodlight outside the pen clicked on, startling Randi and forcing her to squint as she dashed for the woods.
“Leaving so soon, Miss Shepherd?” a bemused masculine voice asked.
Randi stumbled to a halt, searching for the man behind the voice.
With measured, nonthreatening steps, Norwood approached until he stood a dozen feet away.
She scanned the area behind him. No Ito.
“Why are you holding this wolf captive?” A lame stall tactic, but that was the best she could come up with in her fear for Carlie Beth.
“I’m sure you’re quite aware of why we’re holding the bitch.” He readjusted the rifle sling until the weapon rested in his hands. “Though I could be persuaded to release her.”
“How?”
“Give me what I want, and I’ll give you the wolf.”
“Which is?”
“Your property.”
“I’ve already given my word to another buyer.”
“Your lover’s brother will understand.”
Nausea crept into her throat. How could he know about her and Britt?
“If I sell you the property, you’ll hunt the wolves.”
“Of course.”
“Why would you when there are so few left?”
“They’re extinct already. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is only prolonging their inevitable demise.”
“How can you be so coldhearted about their plight?”
“How can you be so naive?”
“I would rather be naive than uncaring.” Anger straightened her back. “Besides, I’ll be damned if I sell my property to the man who killed my mother.”
Norwood sighed. “Worked that out, did you?”
“So you don’t deny it?”
“For the record, I didn’t kill Barbara Shepherd. That was the handiwork of my hotheaded Scottish friend.”
“You don’t seem too upset about it.”
“I would have preferred that he stuck to our original plan, but Barbara would never have sold to us. Ferguson simply hurried things along to Plan B.”
“Plan B,” Randi repeated. “Me?”
Norwood smiled. “So trusting.”
“The bad investment scheme was you.”
“Again, I cannot take the credit. Watters is our financial genius. He had a nice chat with your financial advisor.”
Humiliation scored Randi’s cheeks. How could she have been so stupid? Why hadn’t she listened to her instincts?
“So who are you?” she asked. “The puppet master who hides behind the curtain?”
The smirk he’d been wearing since stepping out of the shadows disintegrated.
“I’m the one who is going to make your boyfriend and his family pay for their interference, but not before I slaughter the entire wolf den before his eyes.”
“Fucking monster.”
“Careful, Miss Shepherd.” Norwood lifted his rifle until the barrel stared her down. “Ito, join us.”
A shuffling sound behind Randi tore her attention away from Norwood. Ito appeared. One arm clamped around Carlie Beth’s torso, the other around her mouth.
“Now, Miss Shepherd, you have two options. One, sell your property to the club and we all walk away with what we want. Or, two, stick to your stubborn convictions and you’ll send Miss Parrish into the cage with the hungry bitch.”
31
Using the last spears of the setting sun, Britt picked his way from the two-track to the den, giving his gut the reassurance it needed before meeting with Norwood. He had a full hour, more than enough time.
Since learning of Calypso’s capture, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her pack. Had Apollo moved the den? Had Norwood poached more than Calypso? Had any of the wolves been killed during the attack?
Reid had argued with him for several precious minutes about hiking to the den alone. Not until Britt had armed himself with a rifle, sidearm, and ankle knife had his Green Beret brother relented.
Britt made it to the bluff overlooking the den in record time. His heart kicked against the wall of his chest while his binoculars swept the valley below. Not a single wolf stirred.
Each second blasted in his mind like an endless line of artillery guns.
Then he heard it. In the distance. The excited yip-barks of a wolf pack returning to the den. Britt refocused his lens and caught sight of several wolves loping through the forest. He trained his binoculars on the den’s entrance, waiting, barely breathing.
Several glute-clenching seconds later, a tiny nose emerged from the shadowed opening. Then another and another, until all the pups appeared. They stretched and yawned and stared in the direction of their approaching kin.
Britt dropped his forehead against the back of the hand holding the binoculars, taking a second to absorb the relief pouring into his body. Tension had threaded around his muscles for so many hours the release was almost painful.
Lifting his head, he observed the pack’s reunion. And frowned. Something about their behavior was off. They appeared agitated rather than excited. Apollo stood away from the pack, his attention focused on the direction in which they’d arrived.
Britt set his binoculars back in place and scanned the woods. At this distance, he had a clean line of sight for a couple hundred feet in every direction. To the west, the landscape moved. Greens, yellows, and browns shifted, marking the progress of an approaching human storm.
Two figures dressed in full-on camouflage appeared. A tall, barrel-chested man and a shorter blond man trudged their way toward his location. Each carried a small animal crate—and a rifle at their back.
“What are you boys planning on doing with those?” Bold-ass shits.
Widening his search, he scanned the area for more poachers and found none. Britt fired off a text to his brothers before scrambling down the bluff.
He stayed low, using wide tree trunks and wiry shrubs for cover until he circled around and came up on their rear flank.
Britt recognized both men from his visit to the Carolina Club. Neil Watters and Angus Ferguson.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Watters asked.
“I’m following Harvey’s directions. This is the way he took while tracking down the male wolf that was stalking his livestock.”
Harvey.
The only Harvey Britt knew was Harvey Griggs, the sheep farmer on the west side of Steele Conservation Area. A decent, God-fearing family man and, evidently, the one responsible for shooting Mellow. If he’d been having troub
le with the wolves, why hadn’t he contacted him or Jonah?
Harvey wasn’t a hunter. He probably thought the animal was a coyote, and the law allowed open season on coyotes, all year long. The farmer would’ve thought nothing about killing a coyote to protect his spring-born lambs.
Britt understood now why he hadn’t been able to track the person who’d shot Mellow. If it were Harvey, he wouldn’t have bothered to trail the injured animal far, especially on Steele property. Outside of their work dogs, livestock farmers saw most animals as revenue or a nuisance. Lord help any who fell in the latter category.
Trespassing didn’t follow hunting seasons either, and Harvey would have to answer to Maggie when this poaching business was over.
“Going somewhere, gentlemen?”
They whirled around, their empty crates crashing into the side of their legs.
“Who are you?” asked the behemoth with a Scottish brogue. Ferguson’s eyes narrowed against the deepening gloom. “Steele.”
“You’re trespassing on private property, Ferguson.”
Taking in Britt’s rifle and holstered handgun, Watters set down his crate.
“Drop your crate, Angus,” Watters said.
“Now why would I want to do that?”
“Either set your crate down and leave, or I call the sheriff and you’ll be arrested for poaching,” Britt said.
The Scot looked down at his empty crate. “Oh? What did you see me poach?” When Britt said nothing, he laughed. “Stand aside. I might as well have a look at these troublesome wolves.”
Ferguson’s lack of concern set off Britt’s alarm bells. Most people reacted with either fear or belligerence when confronted with an armed landowner. The Scot’s amused indifference conveyed an inappropriate amount of confidence. Which could only mean—
“Put down your weapon,” a voice behind him demanded.
Ferguson smiled. Watters’s jaw hardened.
If he surrendered his weapon, everything would flip onto its backside. He could see it in the Scot’s glittering gaze. Their offense of poaching would become assault—or even murder.
Most poachers killed for either food or greed. Others, for the pleasure of ending a life. The Scot’s rabid expression told Britt which category he fit in.
Britt’s hold on his rifle tightened.
32
Jonah tapped out a text message before hitting Send. He waited for Delivered to pop up before zapping another ten grand from Norwood’s account. The thirty thousand he’d already redistributed had barely made a dent in the hedge fund manager’s fortune.
Norwood had millions stashed in banks around the world. Even the hundreds of thousands he’d spent over the years traveling to remote locations to kill exotic wildlife had no more effect on his finances than a grocery store stop.
His phone dinged, and he read the response.
Thanks for the heads-up, cuz.
Jonah didn’t pause long enough to enjoy his relief. Now that he no longer had to worry about Evie and the other ladies, he could get back to his cyber war. Evie would make him pay for his interference later, but he didn’t much care.
His fingers flew across the keyboard. He battled harder against his opponent on the other side of Norwood’s server, especially after everything went black minutes ago.
No longer was he fighting against a system programmed to respond to actions in prescribed ways. He was now in hand-to-hand combat with the server’s guardian. For every punch Jonah delivered, his opponent erected at least five more shields and seemed to be able to anticipate his next move well in advance.
At this moment, Jonah couldn’t care less about the wolf. His entire focus was centered on winning the most challenging game of his life.
He ignored the call of Mother Nature for as long as he could. But things started getting painful. He shot down the hallway to the only bathroom on the second floor and took care of business. His thoughts zigzagged back and forth, discarding move after move like a player considering a high-stakes chess game.
His mind thrived on solving complex puzzles. They made him feel alive, invincible, even when he feared he couldn’t win. Many years ago, he’d shared this exhilaration with Micki, but that all ended when she played hero, then abandoned him. He shook his head, dislodging the old, painful memory.
A repetitive sound snapped him back to attention. How long he stood there, lost in his head, holding his dick, he couldn’t be sure. A thud followed by screeching, cartwheeling metal, over and over. Had one of the gutters detached from the house? Or, had the wind tossed a lawn chair across the yard? No, whatever had hit the ground had some weight to it.
Zipping up, he stepped into the oversized tub to look out the window. Not a single leaf stirred. Everything below appeared clear, though he had a limited perspective from this high of an angle. Heading back to his room, he passed the stairwell leading to the main floor, and paused. He cocked his head to listen. The only noise he heard came from the family room TV blaring out his mom’s favorite DIY show.
He continued on to his bedroom. When he stepped inside, a light, cool breeze drifted across his face. A window stood wide open. He never opened his windows.
Slowly, Jonah pivoted, scanning the large space. Everything looked as it should, except for his desk. A cast-iron ball dropped in his stomach at the sight of the four dust-free spots on his desk where his monitors used to sit. Gone. The CPUs and backup system, too.
No!
“My apologies about your impressive computer system,” a voice said, echoing across the room. “I’m sure someone of your interests can grow quite fond of such inanimate objects.”
With the sun setting, shadows filled the corners of his suite of rooms. After Reid moved out, Jonah had knocked out a wall to create an office area or command center, as everyone liked to call it. Now the area seemed too large, too empty, too threatening.
“Who’s there?”
“Someone who has a keen interest in your activities.”
“How’d you get past our security?”
After an incident with Carlie Beth’s daughter, Reid had installed a high-end security system, complete with video-monitoring.
“My family is successful in more areas than real estate. All those homes and businesses must have a state-of-the-art security system. All systems have weaknesses.”
Real estate?
Jun Ito.
Shit.
He was screwed.
Jonah might have had a chance with one of the other poachers. But Ito was the lightning rod who’d taken down Reid before he knew what had hit him. Their patrols hadn’t stood a chance.
Backing toward the window, Jonah glanced out and found the backyard eerily quiet. The only thing that disrupted his view was the bits of mangled metal and shattered monitor screens all over the place.
He cursed his stupidity. Of course the bad guys would come for the lone, helpless computer geek. Classic Hollywood.
Why hadn’t he stopped long enough to consider the possibility? He’d been too wrapped up in winning against the machine that he hadn’t paused to think about the flesh-and-blood consequences. By getting caught up in his own world, he’d failed Britt and the wolf. And maybe his mom.
A wave of unexpected calm washed over him. “Time to stop hiding, Ito.”
From behind one of the two thick columns separating Reid’s former bedroom from his, the shadow transformed into arms and legs of a lean but fit Asian man.
“Where are the rest of your cronies?”
Ito’s features remained neutral. Except for his eyes. They tilted up in a way that announced, I’m going to enjoy this next part.
“Busy taking care of other business.”
Shooting a look toward the door, Jonah prayed his mother was too absorbed in her show to notice what was going on upstairs.
“Concerned about your dear mother?”
“What have you done?”
Ito smirked.
Jonah stormed across the room, intent on finding
his mom.
The other man blocked his way. “I think not.”
“Get out of my way, or I’ll break your fucking neck.”
“Your brother tried and failed.”
“I’m not my brother.”
“True.” Ito eyed him. “The Green Beret is driven by pride. Pride destroys. However, you are compelled by something far more dangerous, I think.”
Jonah’s insatiable curiosity nearly got the best of him. He wanted to know what Ito meant. But he forced himself to keep the question behind his teeth.
“Back away from the door,” Jonah said.
“If you leave this room, you are ensuring her death. I’m sure you do not want that on your conscience.”
The bastard stepped aside, giving him an impossible choice.
“She’s still alive?”
“For now.”
“If you’ve harmed her in any way, you won’t survive the Steele family’s wrath.”
“Perhaps it would be best to see how many of you survive this ordeal before making such bold statements.”
“Poacher to murderer—your parents must be so proud.”
The blow was swift and hard. Jonah’s world spun and he slammed down on one knee.
Ito grabbed a handful of Jonah’s hair. His features remained unchanged as he snarled his threat. “Mention of my family shall never pass through your ignorant mouth again.” Ito released him. “Sit down.”
Jonah shook his brain back into working order. “Then what?” He rose, massaging his pain-racked jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken.
“We wait.”
“Why? Mission accomplished. You destroyed my ability to find the wolf.”
“I have always found your kind to be resourceful. It is best if I remain here until I receive word it is done.”
“What’s done?”
Ito said nothing.
Jonah sank into a deep leather chair. Worry for his brothers, Evie, and the other ladies made his stomach roil. He had to play it cool for now. Keep Ito’s mind off his mom below while figuring out a way to get word to Britt.
Loving Deep: Steele Ridge Series Page 25