Revealed by Desire

by Melissa Stevens

  Consuming human meat had long since been banned in Vegas, though it went on elsewhere. Since Chris had taken control of the fraction, he'd learned his predecessor had let a black-market meat dealer operate here, with his consent. Chris was working on putting an end to it. Sure, he could have just ordered his people to stop, which he had done, and then punished those who didn't follow his commands, but he was after something bigger and had held off on the punishment so far. He knew of three weres who were active in the underground market currently, but that would only be temporary. Whoever was the leader of the operation, and Chris had already determined it wasn't someone in his pack, would just find new people to work for them and the trade of contraband meat would continue in Las Vegas. Instead of bringing the full heat of his anger down on those in his pack who were still dealing in black market meats, he had a couple men he trusted investigating them.

  Chris stared at the complaint in front of him for several long seconds, trying to decide whether he should hand the complaint over to his men or call the person who filed it himself. After a moment, he leaned over and hit the intercom button.

  “Maggie? Can you come in here a moment?”

  “Yes sir, I'll be right there,” her voice was a little tinny over the intercom, but he was getting used to it. The door to his office opened, and the short woman who had been his father's secretary for years entered. She wore the same style of skirt suit she'd worn for years. Once more, Chris was reminded how glad he was that she had been there to help him learn his new job. “What can I do for you, sir?” She carried a notebook and pen in one hand in case she needed to take notes. Chris had tried to convince her to use a tablet or recorder, but she insisted the notepad was what worked best for her, so he let it be.

  “First, what have I told you about calling me sir?” Chris lifted one brow as he watched her.

  “It's not going to happen, sir.” Maggie shook her head. “It's not respectful, and I just can't call you by your given name.”

  “You've been doing it for years though.”

  “You weren't in charge then, you are now. There's a difference.” Maggie sat on the edge of one of the chairs that sat across from his desk. She rested the notebook on her lap and held the pen ready. “What did you need?”

  Chris picked up the illicit meat complaint and held it out to her. “I need you to set up a meeting with him for me. Today, if possible.”

  Maggie took the page and looked at the name. “I'll contact him right away. Is that all?”

  “It is, but please keep the nature of the meeting to yourself. I don't want the wrong people to realize he's turning them in. He might be the next person to disappear.”

  “Very well, sir.” She stood, taking the page with her as she went back to her desk.

  Chris watched as she disappeared through the door then stood and turned to stare out the glass wall at the city below him as he wondered what he was going to have to do to put an end to the meat market for good.

  5

  Rachel spent the entire day pushing Chris from her mind. It seemed that no matter what she was trying to get done, he somehow kept creeping his way into her thoughts.

  “What's on your mind?” Teya asked late that afternoon as they sat in her office sipping cold coffee drinks and discussing the party the night before.

  “I'm not sure what you mean,” Rachel didn't want to admit she knew exactly what her friend was talking about. Her mind had drifted back to Chris again, instead of the scandalous mating of the vampire leader’s daughter to wolf shifter, which recently gone public.

  Teya gave her a pointed look, which meant Rachel wasn't fooling her.

  Rachel sighed. “I was asking people about Ricky last night, showing them his picture, you know?” She glanced at Teya, who nodded for her to continue. “Well, I saw this guy. I thought he was watching me, but I couldn't be sure so I ignored him and continued asking if people had seen Ricky.”

  “And?” Teya prompted.

  Rachel recounted for her friend what had happened the night before and when they'd met for breakfast that morning ending with, “I don't get it. I can't keep him out of my head. He's been popping into my thoughts all day long, and I can't stop it. No matter what I work on, he finds a way to creep into my mind again.” Rachel was getting frustrated, and she knew it showed.

  “And you're going to be seeing him again?” Teya tilted her head to one side as she watched Rachel. Rachel dropped her head until she was staring at her lap and the notebook she was holding in case she needed to take notes.

  “I am. I can't ignore that his help may be the key I need to find Ricky. Two people searching has to be better than one, especially if their disappearances are linked. He's coming to my place tonight so we can compare notes. I just can't let Ricky be gone. I have to find him.” Rachel was helpless to stop the tears that dripped silently down her face. Unable to stop herself, she bent forward and buried her face in her hands. Teya leaned forward and put her hand on Rachel's arm.

  “I know dear. I know. I want you to find him.” Teya was quiet for a moment. “Why don't you take off early today? Go home, get yourself together, and get ready for this Chris.”

  “I can't do that. You need me here.” Rachel hurried to wipe the tears from her face and pull herself together. She loved this job, and she wasn't going to jeopardize it, even if she was torn between the job and spending all her time focusing on the search for her brother.

  “I will survive for the last hour of the day without you, trust me.” Teya took a deep breath. “Besides, you didn't hear the last two questions I asked, so you're not doing me any good.” Guilt washed over Rachel. She should have been paying closer attention and not letting herself get distracted.

  “I'm sorry. What was it you asked?”

  “It doesn't matter.” Teya shook her head. “It can wait. You go. Do what you need to do. I'll take care of what has to be done today and probably take off a little early too.” She gave Rachel a secretive smile. “I don't need any more excuse than that to go spend more time with Jericho.”

  Rachel gave a small laugh. Teya had been so much happier since Jericho appeared in her life that Rachel had been more than a little jealous. She wanted someone who cared for her as much as Jericho loved Teya. It was both endearing and heartbreaking to watch them.

  Teya had waited more than three thousand years to find someone who loved her that much, Rachel hoped she didn't have to wait that long. She was only a little over a hundred now, and the idea of living alone for that long terrified her.

  “All right. I'll go.” Rachel stood, clipped the pen to the edge of her notebook, and glanced around, making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind as she started back to her desk. Half way across the room, she stopped and turned back to Teya. “Oh, I was going to ask you. What do you know about werewolves?” Teya glanced up and frowned.

  “Not a whole lot, why?”

  “Because Chris, and Ricky's girlfriend Emily, are both werewolves, and I don't know much about them, only what he's told me.” Rachel shrugged. “That's okay. I'll ask him for more details tonight.”

  “I'll check Dad's records and see what he had about them. They're basically wolf shifters, right?”

  “That's what I thought, but he says they're different. I know they have separate Fractions, but I thought it was all about politics.” Rachel shook her head and straightened her shoulders. “I'll figure it out.”

  The elevator door opened, revealing Chris standing in front of the doors as if he knew it was going to open any second. Maybe he had. Either way, he looked better than she could have hoped. Not that she had any business thinking about how good he looked.

  His jeans were snug and a dark enough blue that she could tell they were either new, or well cared for. His black t-shirt stretched tight across his chest and around his muscled arms, making Rachel's mouth water.

  “Hey! Come on in, and we'll go down to my place.” Rachel smiled and pushed the thoughts of how yummy Chris looked out of her he
ad. Where the hell had they come from anyway?

  “I hope I'm not too early.” Chris stepped onto the elevator, and the doors slid closed with a quiet whisper. She keyed her code into the keypad above the buttons for the floor, then hit the button for the floor she shared with Teya and Neo. With a soft jerk, the elevator began to move.

  “No, not at all.” Rachel faced him. “I actually got off early today so I have everything ready.” She ran her eyes down his delectable body, noting the folder he carried. Delectable, again, where the hell had that come from?

  “I brought what I have,” he lifted the folder, “Unfortunately, it's not much.”

  “That's okay, we'll put it together and see what we can work out. It will be helpful to have another perspective, someone I can bounce ideas off, or who can tell me what I'm thinking is stupid and to knock it off.” Rachel gave him a wry smile.

  “I'm sure it's not stupid. You're worried about him, that's understandable.” The elevator stopped moving, and the door slid open. Rachel stepped out with Chris right behind her. As the elevator closed, she turned toward her apartment.

  “My place is right down here.” She led him past Neo's door to her own. There were a couple of empty apartments on this level, but they were reserved for visitors, people who Teya felt merited a more secure, or luxuriant, living space than the floors above them, which had the smaller apartments most of the clan used. Rachel only got this one because of her position. She didn't need this much room, but she wasn't going to complain about the nicer accommodations. Not that the other rooms weren't nice, but they weren't like the ones on the same floor as Teya and her family. Rachel pressed her hand against the panel next to the door, and when the lock clicked, she pushed the door open. “Come on in. Make yourself comfortable.” She kicked off her shoes next to the door and curled her toes into the carpet. “Can I get you something to drink? I've got milk, water, soda, and coffee, if you drink it this late.”

  “Coffee is fine.” Chris followed her as she went into the small kitchen just off the living room.

  “Do you like different flavors or just plain coffee?”

  “Plain and black if you have it.” His gaze scanned the single cup maker and the tree like stand beside it, which held the small pods that went in the maker.

  “I do.” She started the coffee maker and put a clean mug underneath before pulling a bottle of water from the fridge. “We can work at the coffee table,” she motioned toward the short oval table in front of the sofa, “or the dining table, it's up to you.”

  “Let's go for the big one,” he said after looking back and forth for a moment. “I don't have all that much, but it will give us space to arrange and rearrange things and see what we can come up with.”

  “Works for me.” She went to the table. “This is what I have so far,” she set her hand on the stack of papers she'd left there before going up to get him. “I don't have a lot either, but it looks like it might be more than you have. Together, maybe they'll give us somewhere to start.” She watched as he sat down and started paging through the papers, sorting them in some method she didn't even try to figure out. Instead, she went back into the kitchen and grabbed his coffee, then went back to the table. Sitting beside him, she opened the folder he'd laid down and paged through it, wondering if he had anything different from what she had.

  It took them about thirty minutes to go through what the other had. Rachel didn't know if he read faster or if she was more meticulous about it, but he made it through her stack, which was about twice as many sheets as his, in the same amount of time.

  “Well,” Rachel asked as she flipped the last page over, “did you learn anything?” She leaned back in her chair and watched him. He leaned back and turned toward her.

  “I learned we have a long way to go.” Chris sighed. “Neither one of us has much about what could have happened to them, though you know a lot more about his daily life than I do about Emily's.” Chris motioned to the stack of papers Rachel had just finished. “As you've seen, I have an address, an employer, and that's about it. Her co-workers say she showed up, did her job, and left. Not one of them even knew if she had a boyfriend. Her emergency contact on her employment application is her mother. I've talked to her several times, but I've not been able to get anything more out of her. She's not here in town anymore, she left after my father was killed and only talked to Emily about once a week or so. What about Ricky? Did he take anything with him?”

  “No. It's like he just walked away one day with only what he was wearing. He packed nothing. His wallet is gone, but that's it.”

  “Does he have a credit card?” Chris narrowed his eyes as something occurred to him.

  “Yeah, I think so. Why?”

  “Because if we can figure out how to access his account, whether by logging in or hacking in, we can see if he's made any charges. It might not tell us where he is, but it will tell us where he's been. It could help us find him.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes had gone wide, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of checking his bank records.

  “Also, there's nothing in here to say,” he motioned to the pages scattered across the table. “Does your brother have a vehicle?” Rachel scowled.

  “Yes. He has an Accord; it's a few years old.”

  “Have you checked where he parks it?”

  “I did. It's missing. I also had security check the videos. He got his car and left three weeks ago yesterday, and he hasn't been back. They're watching and have promised to let me know as soon as they spot him.”

  “Do you have someone in the clan who's really good with computers? I mean... hacker good?” She thought for a moment then shook her head.

  “Not that I know of, and if we did I would probably know, but let me check with Teya to be sure.” Rachel took her phone from her pocket and sent a message to her boss asking if there were any hackers in the clan, or someone they trusted to help with something that might not be one hundred percent legal.

  “Also, when was the last time you checked in with security? You asked them to watch for him and contact you, but you need to follow up every few days to keep them from forgetting. They have other duties too and new things coming in all the time. Revisit them to keep it fresh in their minds.” Rachel stood and retrieved her notebook from her desk, which sat in the corner of the room.

  “We need to make notes of all this as it occurs to us. Actually, several lists.” Sitting back down at the table, she wrote TO DO at the top of the first page, then scribbled check in with security underneath. On a second page, she listed ideas like check bank account and track cell phone. Rachel sighed, leaned back and stared at the two lists while trying to think of anything else to add. Leaning forward, she went back to work.

  6

  After two hours of going over and over the information they had each gathered and thinking of places and things to check, Chris was wrung out, and he could tell Rachel wasn't doing any better. This part of their search wasn't physically exhausting, but it was emotionally draining. From what Chris could tell from the photos scattered through her apartment and comments she had made, Ricky was the only blood family she had left.

  Rachel seemed close to her brother, and she seemed to care truly about what had happened to him and about his well-being. Chris didn't know what that was like. His father had cared more about teaching Chris to be strong and to survive than being loving or kind. While Chris hadn't been beaten or abandoned as a child, it certainly hadn't been easy for him growing up

  Chris’s father had raised him to be strong and independent, and he knew it had been his father’s way of showing that he cared for Chris. He had never known the loving environment he'd seen in other families, even after Tiffany and Emily had come along. Chris had learned what it meant to be a werewolf, and what the difference between what he was and what the wolf shifters were. His father had taught him how to deal with the complexities and challenges of what he was, as well as to accept his other half, which wasn’t always the easiest th
ing when you were a were.

  “I think we’ve done as much as we can tonight.” Chris leaned back in his chair and watched Rachel a moment, waiting to see what she would say. Rachel let her head fall forward until her chin hit her chest. She let it hang a moment then sighed.

  “I hate to give up, even for the night, but you're right. I don't know if I can handle any more tonight.” She looked wilted and exhausted. With a sigh, she stood, scrubbed her hands over her face, and rolled her neck from one side to the other. “Come away from there for a bit. Let's think about something else for a little while. Maybe it will give us a fresh perspective.”

  “We can try that.” Chris pushed away from the table, stood and watched her a moment. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I don't really know.” Rachel arched her back then bent sideways, stretching muscles that had been still for too long. “Excuse me a moment. I don't know about you, but I need to use the restroom. There's another down this hallway, first door on the left,” she said over her shoulder as she headed down the hallway. “Like I said before, make yourself at home. I'll be right back.” Rachel disappeared down the hall, then he heard a door click shut.

  Chris used the time she was gone to look around. The apartment reflected what he'd seen of her so far. Simple and comfortable, but extremely capable. The sofa was a dark rusty brown, but it looked comfortable, there was a recliner to one side in a dark brown suede, which didn't match but somehow, it fit. A few photographs hung on the walls, several of which were of Rachel and a younger man who looked like Ricky, there was also several of a slightly older couple that resembled Rachel and her brother enough that Chris suspected they were their parents.