by C. D. Hersh
“Also difficult to escape in a hurry.” Rhys tucked the binoculars into his vest pocket. “Time for reconnaissance.”
He lifted his shoulders, stretching them out to the side and willed his body into his animal ego. Bone, sinew, flesh, and fabric shrank into feathers. Alexi followed his lead, and together they flew above the treetops, soaring over the white, winding house. Rhys banked, making a wide circle around the building. On the lakeside, not a single door was visible. Corridors of glass connected cubicle-shaped buildings that also appeared to have no means of entry or exit. A large reflecting pond with a wooden bridge stretched across the water sat on the opposite side of the lawn across from the tree line where they’d hidden. As he flew around to the front of the building, shifter tingles rushed over him, ruffling his feathers from the tip of his head to his tail.
Rhys squawked and flapped his wings, rising higher. When Alexi didn’t follow immediately, he called again, until he had her attention. As she rose to his level, Rhys surveyed the scene below. A man and a woman sat on a hedge-encircled stone patio in front of the glass windows. Rhys zeroed in on them with his hawk vision.
Fiona and Falhman.
Neither one seemed to sense his and Alexi’s presence in the sky. Rhys circled above them, lifted on the air currents. Alexi copied his movements. As Falhman leaned forward and held Fiona’s hand in his, Rhys’ gullet jostled. The man was getting awfully friendly with his sister. Too friendly for Rhys’ taste. The question was whether or not she was encouraging his attentions or even enjoying them.
Rhys honed in on Falhman. From the depths of the space-hole blackness of Falhman’s aura, a brilliant red spiked then faded, reabsorbed in the hellish pit of the rogue’s black aura. Rhys had seen that same shade of red when Alexi looked at him in a passionate moment.
If he could have stopped mid-air, Rhys would have as the revelation hit him. Falhman was exhibiting emotions? Feelings for his sister? How could that be? The man had no love for anyone but himself. But love wasn’t something you could fake, at least not in your aura.
Fear gripped Rhys’ heart. If Fiona wasn’t in danger from Falhman before, she certainly was now. Falhman had already tried to take Alexi from him. Then he’d gone after his brother. His son. Now his sister. Was the devil planning to take away everyone Rhys loved?
He switched his focus to Fiona. Fear radiated from her, dark, muddy gray spiking into her now-brilliant green aura. He studied her, his hawk vision revealing ultraviolet colors he could not have seen with his human eyes. Something had changed since he last scanned his sister. The blackness in her aura had lessened. Bits of soft blue and gold pierced through the darkness in her aura, pinpoints of brilliance. Rhys took heart from this bird’s-eye discovery and prayed Falhman did not see what his hawk eyes had. Fiona was searching for the truth. Listening to the higher calling of her conscience. She could be saved, and he would see that she was.
Rhys cawed to Alexi, communicating for her to continue their survey of the property. He would stay and watch over his sister until Alexi returned.
Mike rescued her, and not a minute too soon. Falhman, however, did not seem pleased at the interruption.
“You told me to remind you when it was time to go,” Mike said as he strode through the door Pete opened to the patio. Looking directly at Falhman, Mike smiled openly and tapped his watch. “She’s got a thing with the future mother-in-law. Have you met the woman? She’s a dictator when it comes to this wedding stuff. Not a woman I’d want to cross.”
Falhman stood and yanked down the vest of his three-piece suit, irritation evident in the motion. Pete touched Mike’s sleeve and jerked his head toward the entry.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Holding his palms out toward Falhman, Mike backed away. “As soon as you’re ready, sir. Miss Kayler.”
“Cheeky,” Falhman said. “I don’t see what you see in him as security.”
“He swings a mean sword and shoots true. Enough for me.” Fiona rose. “I am sorry, but I do need to go. Thanks for taking care of the Mafia thing, and for any help you can give me on the Port Authority matter.”
Falhman’s face remained in a scowl. Fiona reached out and squeezed his arm. “Can we meet later?”
“Do you want to, my dear?”
“Yes.”
The answer must have had enough truth in it to please Falhman, because he smiled broadly.
She wanted to return and find some excuse to roam the supposedly cat-filled hall. She had a lot of questions and Falhman’s home held many of the answers.
“Can I call you when I’m free?” she asked, hoping he would provide her with a number they could track.
“Not the way this works, my dear.”
Not the answer she wanted, but it would have to do. She rose, and Falhman dropped behind her as she moved toward the door, his hand resting lightly on her waist.
She pretended Mike touched her, not Falhman. She twisted toward him and flashed a brilliant smile. The ploy worked. The rogue kingpin returned her smile with one she thought truly genuine.
When they reached the entrance hallway, Falhman bent and whispered, “I’ll be in touch.”
She dipped her head, pretending shyness. “I’ll be waiting.” Then she headed toward Pete and Mike standing across the entry, forcing herself to move with calmness and precision.
The twenty steps across the marble floor were torture. She longed to sprint away to safety. Instead, she kept her eyes pinned on Mike, forcing loving thoughts through her head in hopes of fooling Falhman should he scan her. Thank God Rhys trusted her and believed she would work with them. If he hadn’t he wouldn’t have told her the trick to masking her aura. Falhman would have seen her deceit the second he looked at her today. She smiled at her cleverness.
When she heard a door close behind her, she stole a glance. Falhman no longer stood in the entry. Fiona increased her pace, not bothering to stop when she reached Pete and Mike.
“Get me home as fast as you can, Pete. I’m late, and Mother Morrison will kill me.”
But she’d have to stand in line. Because if Falhman discovered what she now planned, he’d be her executioner.
Rhys and Alexi joined Mike and Fiona as soon as Falhman’s helicopter had left the airport.
“Are you okay, sis?” Rhys asked.
“Fine. Why?”
“I saw you and Falhman on the patio. I think his interest in you goes a bit farther than you might suspect. In my opinion, he’s not just after your company.”
Fiona frowned. How had Rhys figured out Falhman’s romantic intentions? “I didn’t sense your presence. Where were you?”
“In the sky. Too far away for either you or Falhman to sense, but I could see what he was feeling. He probably knows you can’t read auras, and he wasn’t guarding his emotions. He’s falling in love with you, Fiona. We can use it to our advantage.” She scowled at him, and Rhys hastened to add, “If you’re okay with it.”
Mike shot her an annoyed expression. “Is there anyone who isn’t in love with you?”
Yeah. You. She chose not to voice her opinion. Instead she faced Mike and replied in a snarky tone, “I’m exquisitely beautiful. What man wouldn’t love me?”
“He’s dangerous,” Alexi said. “Have you encouraged him?”
Fiona stared at the ground. “A bit, maybe. To get information I needed.” She looked at Alexi. “We all do it. Right? Use our sexuality to advance our causes.”
“Not me,” Alexi said, “and certainly not with dangerous men.”
Fiona shrugged. “I don’t think it’s me he sees, anyway. He’s enamored of my mother. He remembers how she took her tea and ate her danish.”
“That’s creepy,” Alexi said.
“We need to tell Eli,” Rhys said. “Just to be safe, we need to keep Fiona away from
him.” He addressed Mike. “What did you find out about the security system?”
“I lucked out. The pilot, Pete, is also the head of security for Falhman. I managed to get him to show me some of the system under the pretense of wanting to install it in Fiona’s home. He was under the impression since she’d been to Falhman’s before, and he allowed her own security to come with her today, discussing the system was okay. Our Marine Corps bond didn’t hurt.”
“Bond?” Fiona said. “Mike had the man chatted up the wahzoo before we barely left the ground. I’m surprised he didn’t set the alarms off for you.”
Mike grinned. “He did.”
Rhys clapped him on the back. “Way to go. Did he also show you the doors?”
“No. When he opened the door to where Falhman and Fiona were sitting, Pete blocked my view.”
Fiona grinned, pleased she had something to contribute. “I know how to open the doors . . . and how to shut the alarms off at the door.”
“How?” Mike asked.
“Falhman showed me. Well, not showed. But he didn’t hide the procedure from me, like Pete did with you.” She faced Rhys. “Falhman trusts me. We should play on his trust, not keep me from him. He wants to see me again.”
Rhys shook his head. “No.”
She braced her hands on her hips. “You’re not the boss of me, Rhys. If I want to see Falhman, I will.”
“Too dangerous,” Mike said. “You should listen to your brother.”
Fiona’s gaze swung around the group. “I need to get in there. I heard something in the hallway like a child’s cry.”
Rhys and Alexi’s gazes snapped to her.
“Pete said it was cats yowling,” Mike said.
“Did it sound like cats to you?” Fiona asked.
Mike shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“It wasn’t cats. It was a kid. I found a child’s toy on the patio tucked behind a flowerpot.” She pinned her brother with a stare. “There are children, or at least a child, in the complex. They may not be yours, but I think I should check.”
“No. Alexi and I will go. If the children are playing on one of the patios, we can survey from the air.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before Alexi ran for the cover of a dumpster tucked against an airport building.
“Let Eli know what happened. We’ll meet you at Fiona’s house.” Then he bolted for the same dumpster. In less than a minute, two hawks flew into the sky, wings flapping furiously as they headed along the coastline of the lake.
Fiona watched until they were nearly out of sight, then she faced Mike. “There’s no guarantee the children will be outside. He should have let me go. I have access to the interior of the house.”
“You heard your brother. Falhman is dangerous.” He hooked his arm in hers and led her toward the parking lot where they’d left the car. “Besides, you’ve got an appointment with your future mother-in-law.”
“After we see Eli.” She’d rather face the Keeper of the Stone than Mother Morrison and her endless wedding plans.
Chapter 38
The flight to Falhman’s house, straight along the lake shoreline, with no circuitous circles, took Rhys and Alexi half the time it had earlier. When they arrived at the estate, they perched in the same trees they landed in before.
Rhys sent out feelers for nearby shifters, using not only his enhanced vision, but his enhanced shifter senses. Upon determining the grounds were clear, he floated to the grass near one of the patios. When no shifter tingles ruffled his feathers, he did a mini dance and Alexi joined him. Together they investigated the flowerpots, searching for the toy Fiona mentioned. On the fourth patio they searched they found a yellow octagonal toy. Alexi grabbed it in her beak and flew off. Rhys then peered into the corridor, searching for any clue of the children.
Opposite the glass wall another corridor intersected the hall. A door opened. Rhys scuttled for cover behind the flowerpot as a woman pushing a baby carriage exited a room. Shifter tingles raced over Rhys. He checked the distance to the woman. More than thirty feet. Most likely, she couldn’t sense him, especially through the glass. To his knowledge, he was the only shifter who had that ability. He checked her aura. Blinking red and green. A low-life rogue who wouldn’t see his aura even shifted as a hawk. He ventured out from behind the flowerpot. As he did, a child’s head popped over the pram edge. Then another.
The first child gesticulated wildly, babbling as he stared at the window where Rhys’ hawk ego sat. Rhys pressed closer to the glass.
He’d recognize that face anywhere. Baron!
Afraid Baron would draw attention to him, Rhys flew off the patio, his heart breaking as he rose. He met Alexi mid-air and guided her to the copse of trees at the edge of the lawn, landing on the ground in the shelter of some low bushes. As soon as he could, he shifted into human persona. Alexi followed his lead.
Gripping Alexi’s arm tightly, to keep her from running off, he told her the news. “They’re here. I saw Baron!”
She tried to break loose, joy flooding her face. “Let’s get them!”
He threw his arms around her, keeping her from bounding out of the bushes. “We need a plan.”
She glared at his restraining hug.
“Promise me you won’t go all Amazon and rush to their rescue, and I’ll let go.”
“Fine. Fine.” She stared at him, eyes blazing.
“What?”
“Get your feathered butt in gear and let’s get home and make plans. I want my son!”
So did he. Rhys willed his body into a hawk and flew skyward. As he winged his way toward the lakeshore, every fiber in his being urged him to return to Falhman’s estate, storm the house, and take the children. But he knew a rash plan would be futile. Rescuing the children would require careful strategy, precision, and deadly risk.
“You’re certain it was Baron?” Fiona asked for the third time.
“I know my own son.” Rhys shot her an irritated expression. “What is your problem? You were the one who said you thought the children were there. Now you’re acting as if you don’t want to rescue them.”
“That’s not it at all. I just think we should wait a bit. If we go in too soon, Falhman won’t have time to fix things.”
“Things?” Rhys asked.
“The Mafia shootings. Clearing Mike’s name. Stuff like that.”
“I’ll take my chances with a jury,” Mike said. “We should get the kids ASAP.”
Fiona almost stomped her foot in frustration. “I don’t want you to take a chance. I want to know he’s fixed it.” Fixed it all.
Rhys pinned her with a deliberate stare. “Fiona,” he said, drawing out her name. “You’re hiding something.”
Crap! Rhys was scanning her, and she’d forgotten to mask her emotions like he’d shown her.
“Spill,” her brother commanded.
She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a big sigh. “In addition to the Mafia hit, Falhman promised to fix the Port Authority inquiry into the sinking of the KayFion. I—we—need him alive.”
“We?” Rhys asked.
“Me and Kyle. We have to get free of OmniWorld. Falhman’s the only one who can make that happen. If you go after the kids, you won’t stop there. You’ll be gunning for Falhman. I can’t afford that. I’ve got too much riding on him helping me.”
“Finally the lassie speaks the truth.” Eli pinned her with a stare this time. “But I’m disappointed ye think we’re merely pork liver.”
“Chopped liver,” Rhys said. “Pork liver isn’t a thing, Eli.”
“Liver, hamburger, haggis. ’Tis nae matter. What ’tis important ’tis yer putting yer faith in the wrong shifter. If ye have a problem ye should come tae family first.” He swept his hand around the group. “And we’re fa
mily.”
Fiona pointed at Rhys and Alexi. “They deserted me.” Then she aimed her finger at Eli. “I just met you.” Her gaze cut to Mary Kate. “She’s trying to steal Mike.” Then she indicated LJ. “She’s got no shifter power, just baggage with Falhman. As for him—” Her gaze captured Mike’s. “He hates me. With family like this, who needs enemies? At least Falhman hasn’t failed me.”
“Yet,” Rhys said. “But he will. As soon as he doesn’t get what he wanted.” He moved in close to Fiona. “When I was watching from the sky, I saw what he’s after. Do you want to be his consort? His mistress at his beck and call?”
She shuddered at the image Rhys evoked in her mind.
“I thought not. Then you need to side with us, Fiona. Make up your mind. Who do you really trust? The devil? Or us?” He motioned for the rest of the group to leave the room. “We need to give her some time to think about this.”
Everyone but Mike filed out of the living room. He moved to where she stood and faced her. “I don’t hate you, Fiona. I thought I made it clear when we talked on the pier.”
“All you made clear was you couldn’t be with someone like me. A shifter.”
“I never said that.”
“You couldn’t even say the word shifter. You called me a ‘what’.”
“Yes, I can say it. You’re a shifter. A beautiful shape shifter, who belongs to another man.”
“I don’t belong to anyone, Mike. Not my brother. Not Falhman. Not Kyle.”
But she wanted to belong to Mike. Needed to belong to him. Could belong to him. All he had to do was ask. She captured his gaze with hers willing him to say the words she wanted to hear.