by Becca Van
“How would he have gotten my D…that slimy scum-sucking weasel,” Tami yelled. “He must have been in my room when he had dinner with my dad. They got together at least once a fortnight since they’re supposed to be friends.”
Liam rubbed at the back of his neck. “He had every opportunity to get what he needed if he was in your home regularly. All it would take was a strand of hair from your hairbrush.”
“He killed my father?” Tami covered her mouth as tears welled. Even though she tried to dispel them, she failed. She was shocked and the grief that was always in the back surged front and center. Her dad’s best friend of years and work colleague had murdered her father all because of money.
She hoped the FBI tracked the fucker down, arrested him, and threw his ass in prison.
Tami turned in Zayn’s arms, wrapped her own around his waist, and clung to him as the tears rolled down her face. If she ever met Jeremy Browning face to face, she was going to rip the bastard apart with her bare hands. She was so angry and devastated she was shaking.
“Shh, baby. I’ve got you.” Zayn kissed the top of her head as he caressed his hands up and down her back. If she hadn’t been leaning against his muscular body, Tami was sure she would have collapsed to the floor.
Zayn bent down and swept her up into his arms. She looped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his skin.
“I promise you that Jeremy Browning will go down for the crimes he’s committed, Tamika,” Preston stated in a hard voice.
“Do you know who Browning has gunning for our mate?” Karter asked angrily.
“No, but our sources are working on it. As soon as we know, we’ll forward the information.”
Tami was glad that the Louis men didn’t think she or her father were guilty. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end when she thought about the man who’d broken into her house and who’d been following her before she’d run. She felt safe in Zayn’s, Karter’s and Jace’s arms, but she hoped the FBI found the asshole and arrested him. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life looking at strangers and wondering if they were about to pounce.
A worse thought was one or all of her mates, the other shifters in Ambrose or the women getting hurt because someone was gunning for her.
Dusty was close to her due date. It’d destroy Tami if anything happened to Dusty or her baby.
She wouldn’t be able to live with that sort of guilt.
Chapter Eighteen
Chad gazed about as he slowly drove down the main street of Ambrose, North Dakota. All the shops and eating establishments were closed, but since it was three in the morning, that wasn’t a surprise. It’d taken him longer than he’d calculated to get to his final destination, but now that he was here, he could relax.
Thankfully, he had a canopy over the back of his truck tub, and he had provisions to be able to get some shuteye without being uncomfortable. He could sleep almost anywhere if he was tired enough, and right now he was downright exhausted. Once he found a place to park his truck out of sight of the town and the roads, he’d unroll his camping mattress and climb into his sleeping bag. When the sun rose, he should be rested enough to scope things out and try and find Tamika Darnel.
Chad stomped on the brakes when he spied the hairdressing salon. His excitement doubled as he read the sign on the shop window. “Tami’s Hairdressing Salon” had to be her shop. He was going to come back here first thing tomorrow, and after making sure the salon was hers—he was certain it was since the sign had a shortened version of her name on it—he’d walk in near closing time and make his move.
* * * *
“Hi, Tami, how are you today?” Dusty asked as she entered the shop.
Tami forced a smile she didn’t feel as she replied. “I’m good. How are you and the little one?”
Dusty grimaced as she rubbed her hand over her swollen belly. “We’d be better if he or she didn’t use my bladder as a football. Can I use your restroom?”
“You don’t have to ask, Dusty. You know where it is.”
“Thank you.” Dusty grinned as she hurried toward the facilities near the back door.
Tami finished sweeping up the hair left behind on the floor from her last haircut and made sure to place all the tools she’d used in the sterilizing agent.
Dusty came back from the bathroom a few minutes later. “Do you have any more clients coming in today?”
“No. I finished just before you got here.”
“Do you think you could wax my eyebrows? I noticed in the mirror this morning that they’re getting a bit unruly.”
“I can do that,” Tami said. “They don’t look bad to me.”
Dusty waved her hand in the air. “I just have this thing about my brows. I like them to be shaped and neat all the time. There are only a few out of place, but I’d rather have them waxed off than stand at a mirror trying to pluck them. My back is killing me.”
“Okay,” Tami said. “Would you rather sit in a chair, or are you okay lying on the bed?”
“The bed’s fine.”
“Then follow me.” Tami led the way to the waxing room, and after making sure Dusty was comfortable, she laid out the things she’d need and made sure the wax was at the right temperature. After cleaning Dusty’s skin and waiting for it to dry, she applied the wax to below both brows making sure she covered the stray hairs with it, and when it was set, she ripped it off. Tami applied soothing aftercare lotion to Dusty’s reddened skin. “All done.”
“Already?” Dusty asked as Tami helped her friend sit up.
“They weren’t as bad as you thought,” Tami answered.
“How much do I owe you?”
Tami snorted. “It’s on the house. I only used one applicator and didn’t even make a dent in the volume of wax.”
“Tami!” Dusty placed her hands on her hips.
Tami mirrored her. “Dusty.”
Dusty giggled as she collected her purse. Tami opened the door for her just as the front door opened and a man she’d never seen before entered the salon.
“Are you coming to the pub for dinner tonight?” Dusty asked as she walked toward the door.
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my m…the others when I’ve closed for the day.”
“I hope to see you there. We could share a big table.”
“Big wouldn’t be big enough.” Tami smiled genuinely this time when Dusty laughed.
“That’s an understatement.”
“See ya later.” Dusty waved before leaving.
“Hi, I’m, Tami. How can I help you today?”
“I want a trim,” the man said.
“Right this way, sir.” Tami seated the tall man and, after draping him with a cape, combed out his hair and sifted her fingers through his tresses. When she caught him staring at her in the mirror, she quickly lowered her gaze. She had no idea why, but this guy made her feel uncomfortable. “Is there a particular style or cut you’d like?”
“Nah, just as long as you make it short. I don’t care.”
Tami nodded and sighed as she collected clean scissors. There was such a difference between men and women when it came to grooming. Women always knew what they wanted. Men didn’t give a shit as long as their hair wasn’t in their faces or tickling the back of their necks. There were only a few men who knew exactly what they wanted and were able to explain it so she understood.
For the next twenty to thirty minutes, Tami cut the man’s hair, all the while aware of his scrutiny. Her stomach was roiling with nerves, and she kept shifting from foot to foot nervously, but finally she’d finished. After brushing the snipped hair from the back of his neck and face, she removed the cape and moved back so he could stand.
“Thanks,” he said as he walked toward the desk near the entrance. “I’ve gotta say, this has to be the best haircut I’ve ever had.”
Tami stopped behind the desk and sat as she rang up his fee. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.”
“How much
do I owe you?” he asked as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet.
Tami told him the price and smiled as she took the fifty-dollar bill he handed her. She opened the till and sighed when she saw that most of the slots were empty. She’d already removed most of the cash and taken it to the hidden safe behind the picture on the wall in the kitchen. She closed the till as she rose and met his gaze. “I’m sorry. I’ll just be a minute. I have to get you some change.”
“Sure. No worries.” He nodded.
Tami hurried toward the kitchen, opened the safe, removed the money she needed to make change after placing the fifty into it, and closed the vault door again. She turned and was nearly at the kitchen doorway when a shadow loomed over her. She glanced up from the floor toward the man’s eyes, but she never connected with his gaze. He moved too fast for her to thwart him, covering her mouth with his hand as he jabbed something sharp into her neck.
He wrapped an arm around her waist as the fast-working drug coursed through her blood. Tami tried to shove out of his hold, but she could feel herself fading quickly. Her knees buckled, and she tried to cry out, but all she emitted was a soft-sounding squeak of terror from between her parted lips. Tami thanked whoever was listening that Dusty had left without any harm to her or her baby.
She tried to send her mates a cry for help through their mating bond by letting her fear surge forward, but she wasn’t sure they’d felt her, or maybe she was already too weak to have any affect.
She forced her closing lids up and stared at his face, trying to memorize his features, but she was fighting a losing battle.
Tami sank into the oblivion of a dark drug-induced sleep.
* * * *
Zayn frowned at the clock on the wall behind the shop counter and then hurried toward the door. Tami should have closed up the salon by now, but she still hadn’t arrived like she usually did when she’d finished work for the day.
He and his brothers had been busy serving customers over the last few hours, and while he’d wanted to tell the people to fuck off, he’d held his tongue and pretended to smile as he rang up sale after sale.
Normally he didn’t mind too much when a tour bus stopped in Ambrose to have a break from their journey, but he was feeling agitated today and was almost out of patience. He’d had to restrain himself from growling at all the people to fuck off and leave him alone.
He’d endured more than enough and wanted, needed to see his mate. Ignoring his brothers who were balancing the till, he hurried toward the door. Zayn winced when the door he tugged open with impatience slammed against the door stop so hard the glass panes rattled, but he didn’t really care if the whole shop front shattered into a million tiny pieces. Nothing mattered except seeing Tami.
As he jogged across the road, the knot of dread in the pit of his stomach grew bigger until he was almost feeling ill. He had no idea why he was felt trepidatious, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
He slowed his pace when he got to the door of Tami’s salon and turned the handle at the same time he pushed it inward. He almost hit his nose against the glass. With a snarl of anger, he peered in the window and frowned when he didn’t see his woman. Normally after she’d locked the door, she spent time cleaning up the salon, making sure everything was sterilized for the next day. He canted his head and let his wolf come to the fore, listening for movement coming from the back, his frown deepening when he didn’t hear anything at all. Not even the steady beat of his mate’s heart.
Zayn looked inside himself, found the mating bond link he had with Tami, and followed it. When he got to the other end, he began to shake with fear. He couldn’t feel his mate at all.
There was only darkness on the other end.
Zayn used his enhanced strength, turning the door handle until the lock broke before racing through the shop sniffing as he went. There were so many scents it was hard to identify them, but when he got to the doorway of the kitchen, his knees almost buckled. The acrid perfume of Tami’s fear assaulted his senses, but that wasn’t all he smelled. There was the odor of an unidentifiable man as well as a chemical odor.
He followed the fragrant trail of fear toward the back door. When he saw the door was open, his heart stopped beating for a moment or two. His wolf leaped forward against his insides, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The narrow laneway was empty, but he could still smell the lingering stench of fuel from a vehicle, and from the scent, it used diesel. The only vehicles he knew that used that mix of gas were semis and trucks. He bet the latter was what had been here not long ago.
What terrified him most was that whoever had been here had taken their woman. Although he had no idea who had knocked her out so they could abduct the love of his life, he had a pretty good inkling of why.
Zayn’s chest expanded just before he let out a low rumbling growl the other shifters would hear as he began to strip out of his clothes.
“Karter, Jace, Tami’s been taken. From the smell of things, she’s been drugged. Get the fuck over here now!”
“What the fuck?” Karter snarled.
“Mother fucking son of a bitch,” Jace growled angrily.
“Where are you?” Tatum, their unofficial leader and a lion shifter, asked through the communal link.
“Behind the salon.”
“I’m sending Rex and Shaffer. I’m sorry I can’t come to help you, too, but some of that tourist group are in my diner,” Tatum explained.
“Brooks and I are nearly there,” Declan Swish said.
“I’m here,” Broden Higgens said as he came running up behind Zayn. “Can you follow the scent?”
Zayn’s wolf nodded just before turning away from the town doc and Kodiak bear shifter. He raced toward the end of the lane, his nose to the ground as he tracked his mate.
Zayn didn’t care if his wolf ran until his paws were bloody. He wasn’t giving up until he had Tami back in his arms where she belonged.
* * * *
Karter was out the door before he realized he’d consciously moved. Jace was right behind him. He sprinted across the road heedless of traffic, racing through Tami’s hairdressing salon, and burst through the open back door. Zayn was already in wolf form running toward the end of the lane. Broden wasn’t far behind him.
Karter ripped his clothes off, careless that he wouldn’t be able to put them back on since they were in pieces, and after toeing off his boots, he sank down to his hands and knees on the ground, calling to his wolf.
For the first time in years, he felt pain as he shifted. He pushed through the transformation as fast as possible, and when it was complete, he sprinted after Zayn. He bypassed Broden, who was still in human form, and figured the bear shifter wouldn’t change until he was away from prying human eyes. It was bad enough that he and his brothers were racing down the street in their animal forms, but wolves could be explained away as being pets. A Kodiak bear couldn’t.
He didn’t need to look back to know that Jace was with him. He could hear his brother’s wolf paws and claws connecting with the asphalt.
“Do you still have her scent?” Karter asked as he caught up with Zayn. His muscles and bones were aching, on fire because of his fast change from man to wolf, but he ignored the pain.
“Yes!”
“Which way?” Jace asked when they got to the crossroad on the outskirts of town.
“North on 127th Ave NW,” Zayn answered.
“Is he heading to the border?” Karter asked.
“Who’s on border patrol?” Jace asked.
“Airen and Archer are,” Broden answered.
“We’re on the lookout,” Archer said.
“We’ll search every car, truck, and semi before we let anyone through,” Airen said.
“I’ve just closed the border gates,” Archer stated. “No one’s getting through until we’ve found Tami.”
Karter’s wolf snarled in approval. They were going to get their mate back one way or the ot
her, and he didn’t care if he had to kill the fucker who’d kidnapped her.
* * * *
When Jace had heard Zayn’s angry, fearful declaration, he’d been so shocked and scared it had taken a few seconds for his brother’s words to sink in. If Karter hadn’t exploded into action, Jace might still be standing behind the shop counter with his heart pounding painfully in his chest, his hands shaking, and his mouth gaping.
Seeing Karter racing toward the door to the shop had been enough to bring him out of his fearful stupor and call on his Marine training.
His heart was still racing, not because he was scared but because of anger and adrenaline coursing through his blood. His muscles were full of lactic acid after pushing through the change faster than he ever had, but he’d been trained to ignore any discomfort as a soldier so he could keep going, no matter the cost.
The price of failure was way too high, and he was determined to win this fight even if he had to die.
Tami was his life, his every breath, his heart and soul. Losing her would kill him.
He wasn’t giving in until she was safe and sound.
Chapter Nineteen
Tami groaned as she came awake. Her mouth was as dry as a desert, and she felt so sluggish she didn’t think she’d be able to move. Something jostled her hard enough to lift her body up from whatever she was lying on, and she rolled as her world tilted. A moan of pain escaped from her dry lips when she slammed into something solid.
After taking a deep breath, she forced her eyes open and blinked, trying to clear the blurriness away and immediately wished she hadn’t. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach so she quickly shut her eyes and breathed some more.
It took her a few moments to realize she was in a vehicle, which was speeding over rough terrain. She forced her eyelids up and blinked the haze over her eyes away. A frown creased her brow when she noticed she was in the back of a canopied pickup truck, her back pressed against the hard side.