Bound (Dark Reflections Volume 1)

by Dean Murray

  "So we don't swap out sim cards without turning off our phones and then traveling for a ways before swapping and then turning our phones on."

  It was more of a statement than a question, but Alec nodded in response to what Jasmin had just said. "I have your first two sets of sim cards programmed into my phone. We should only be separated from each other for an hour or two. I'll call you with instructions once I have Rachel. If I don't have her, or if she sounds unnerved when I put her on the phone then you'll know I was captured and Kaleb is trying to lure you into a trap."

  I nodded. "Okay, Alec, that all makes sense, but what do you actually want us to do?"

  "I just need you to give Rachel and me a ride—a very short, harmless ride—and then you'll just need to drive north for a little while."

  Chapter 22

  Alec Graves

  Graves Estate

  Sanctuary, Utah

  Sunset was less than an hour away and I'd just watched Kaleb leave the estate in a motorized cavalcade that was headed to the airport.

  Two months ago Kaleb would have never considered meeting Brandon at the airport. It smacked of weakness, but now apparently Kaleb needed Brandon badly enough that he could no longer just snap his fingers and expect Brandon to come running to the estate without a proper greeting.

  I must have done a better job convincing Kaleb that I was a changed man than I'd thought I had. I'd half expected for him to assign me a minder or two to make sure that I didn't get into any trouble, but his people all seemed busy with a combination of keeping the estate running and preparing for Brandon's visit.

  I'd never paid much attention to just how many people it took to provide security for the house and the grounds, but it looked like Kaleb had scraped the bottom of the barrel when he'd sent reinforcements down to Arizona to support Brandon. Now that he'd left the estate, and taken along a suitable escort to show that he was still the one in charge, the house was practically deserted.

  It was an opportunity that I hadn't anticipated, but it was one that I wasn't about to let slip by without capitalizing on it. I walked calmly through the halls and turned into Kaleb's office. I'd been prepared to find a single guard standing just inside of the suite to ensure that nobody came in to snoop around in his office. I'd mentally run through the idea that I was going to have to fight, and possibly kill, that guard in order to get what I'd come for. Somehow I hadn't ever considered the possibility that it would be Donovan that I would find there waiting for me.

  "I see your mother's warning was correct, Master Alec."

  "I won't let them have Rachel without a fight, Donovan. I don't want to hurt you though. Stand aside and I'll let you be out of respect for everything you've done for me over the years."

  Donovan's smile was sad. "No words of recrimination for me, Master Alec? Your mother told me what you said to her. I fully expected that I would receive at least as scathing a rebuke as what you delivered to her."

  "I don't have any energy left for anger, Donovan. I have a very narrow window in which I might be able to save Rachel. Anything that doesn't help me get her somewhere safe isn't worth the effort involved."

  Donovan took a deep breath. "I understand your position entirely, but honesty compels me to tell you that while I did not know all of your mother's secrets, I was party to some of them and I too had a hand in keeping important information from you. I would not have you leave your home with a false understanding of the part that I played."

  I suddenly felt as though I had the weight of the world settling on me. "Why, Donovan? Why didn't you just tell me what you knew?"

  "In the final analysis it doesn't truly matter, Master Alec. Your mother was, I think, quite honest with me in her recounting of your conversation with her from a few hours ago. I would not offer you another set of excuses. Ultimately you are right, the reasons matter less than the outcome. I didn't come here to stop you, but to help you, to begin to regain some small measure of the trust that I've betrayed."

  "You can't help me, Donovan. Kaleb would kill you when he found out."

  "I believe you are wrong there, Master Alec. There will be a price to pay for my help, but if we are very careful about how we proceed then there is no reason to believe that your father will ever know of my part in what you're about to do."

  Donovan didn't wait for me to respond, he simply walked into Kaleb's office and pointed to one of the wood panels behind the desk.

  "Do you notice anything odd about this panel, Master Alec?"

  I shook my head which caused Donovan to take a deep breath as though testing the air. I got closer to the panel in question and sampled the scents coming off of it. Walnut, lacquer and a host of other scents that one would expect, but there were three scents that were fine at first blush, but which I realized were the key to what Donovan was trying to tell me.

  I could smell Kaleb, which was to be expected, but not as strongly as this. More importantly, I could smell both Donovan and Sam as well. I pushed the corner of the panel where their scent was the strongest and was rewarded with a click as the panel swung open to reveal a safe that had a biometric lock on it.

  I looked back up to find Donovan holding his hand out. "You must do it, Master Alec, so that I may say with complete truth that you grabbed my hand and used it to unlock the safe. I will resist you, but you will have no problem overpowering me."

  "You're walking a very fine line there, Donovan."

  "Indeed, Master Alec, but Kaleb will not think to ask what form my resistance took. I will resist you with all my strength and therefore my response to his questions will be entirely truthful."

  I took ahold of Donovan's wrist and pulled it toward the safe and he resisted just as he'd said he would, but he was right. He was entering his third century of life and spent most of his time behind a desk or managing the house. His best efforts were no match for mine and it took only a second for me to run his index finger across the sensor.

  The safe beeped once and the LED light on the front turned green. There was cash in the safe, another fifty thousand dollars, but that was nothing compared to the rest of what was inside.

  There was a stack of bearer bonds that looked like they were worth somewhere between ten and twenty million dollars along with a small tablet complete with an attached keyboard and a wireless card. Further back there was a paperbound ledger that, as I flipped through it, proved to contain accounts and amounts along with passwords and usernames for the online portal of each of the accounts.

  "That is your father's insurance policy. It won't give you access to all of your family's assets as a large percentage of the Graves holdings is in real estate and private companies that aren't very liquid, but if you move quickly you should be able to move several billion at least out of the accounts you see there and into your own account."

  My head was spinning. I'd known that Donovan and Mother had set aside several million dollars for Rachel and me, but this was something else entirely. Donovan had just given me the power to wage a small war if I was so inclined. Rachel and I would still be fugitives, but we would be fugitives with almost unlimited options.

  "Thank you, Donovan. This will make all the difference for us."

  "I fear that it will make less of a difference than you think, but I'm glad that I was able to help in some small way. I would suggest that in a moment you rip the hard drive out of your father's computer. It's encrypted, so it won't actually do you any good, but it will help hide the fact that you have that ledger and the records on the tablet for a precious few extra hours."

  "I don't have an account to move all of this into, Donovan."

  Donovan stepped forward and held out a slip of paper, a driver's license and a passport.

  "I took the liberty of setting up an offshore account under a pseudonym with your physical description many years ago. I picked the country with the most favorable banking laws I could find at the time, but you'll still want to physically move the money to another bank the first chance you get. If
there's no electronic trail then they won't have anything further to go on even if they do manage to get the bank in question to give up any kind of transactional detail."

  I accepted the identification from Donovan and then reached inside to load everything into the small backpack that was in one corner of the safe, but Donovan grabbed my arm before I could get started.

  "I must ask that you now do a convincing job of overpowering me. I'm a frail old man, but I'm still a shape shifter. You're going to have to provide a very believable set of wounds if I'm to avoid suspicion for my part in this."

  I felt like my mind had stripped its gears. Donovan was right, and it defied belief that I hadn't come to the same conclusion myself. The only explanation was that I hadn't realized what was going to be required of Donovan because I hadn't wanted to see it.

  "I was thinking that there should be quite a lot of blood. If you can manage something that will provide a convincing amount of blood loss without killing me that would be ideal. You could finish off by knocking me unconscious, which would explain my inability to summon help."

  I shook my head. "Donovan, don't do this. Come with us. There's no reason for you to stay here."

  "There is the most important reason in the world, Alec. Your mother is going to need my support more than ever once you and Rachel are gone."

  "I can't guarantee that whatever wound I give you won't kill you before we get far enough away for me to call back and have someone come help you. You're risking death for her."

  There was an oddly compelling serenity to Donovan's nod.

  "Indeed, I am. I understand entirely why you feel that to be a fool's bargain right now, but there is tremendous good in your mother despite some of the mistakes that she's made during the course of her life. I hope that someday you'll have a chance to see some of the redeeming qualities that she possesses."

  My voice cracked slightly as I addressed the man who'd been more of a father to me than my biological father. Out of all three of my parents, adopted or otherwise, Donovan was the only one that seemed willing to pay the price for redemption. I was younger, stronger and faster. I could easily knock Donovan out and then carry him away from the estate, but I knew it would be wrong to stop him from paying the price he was willing to pay. It wasn't my place to interfere with his efforts at atonement.

  "You're sure, Donovan? Absolutely sure?"

  "Indeed, Master Alec. I've never been surer of anything. May I just say before you proceed that I'm incredibly pleased at your reaction to all of this. You're becoming the man I always hoped that you would become. I never doubted for a moment but that you would move heaven and earth to save Rachel."

  "Thank you, Donovan. That means more coming from you than it possibly could from anyone else."

  At another nod from Donovan I let some of the rage that had been dancing at the edge of my self-control into the bubble of calm that had been the perfect protection from what was going on around me. A shaft of white-hot power raced down my arm and my right hand shifted into a clawed weapon that entered the right side of Donovan's chest like it was going into warm butter.

  Donovan gasped as I pulled my hand out of his body and then I backhanded him with just a fraction of my strength and watched as he crumpled to the floor. I ripped Kaleb's computer open and pried the hard drive out of it before I let my hand shift back to its normal shape. Shifting form took care of some of the blood, but not all, so I wiped most of the rest it off on the heavy drapes that were only a few steps away.

  It took only seconds to pack the hard drive and everything from the safe into the backpack. I was careful not to get blood on the money or the bonds but make sure to leave some on the inside of the safe before I closed everything back up and slipped my arms through the straps of the backpack.

  After everything else that had happened, I nearly forgot my original reason for coming, but just before I turned to go I saw the ancient sword that had watched over Kaleb's shoulder as he'd put his own interests above those of the pack again and again over the years.

  I lifted it out of its stand and left Donovan there in a pool of his own blood. Even more now than ever, I was working against the clock.

  Chapter 23

  James Wright

  Graves Estate

  Sanctuary, Utah

  My mom was on her way to the airport. We'd had a short, but very heated discussion before she'd agreed to leave. I was pretty sure that if it wasn't for me she would have chosen to stay and help out Samantha even knowing that the two of them were playing a losing hand and that it was only a matter of time before Samantha couldn't protect her anymore.

  Me being in the picture changed all of that though because she knew that if she refused to go, and I stayed out of the middle of Alec's plan to save Rachel as a result, I'd still more than likely pay a terrible price in the aftermath of Alec, Rachel and the others leaving.

  She didn't like it, but she'd taken all of the money that Alec had given me and one of the prepaid sim cards and she'd gone. Her part in all of this was actually the safest. Even if someone happened to be watching the trackers on the vehicle she was using they still wouldn't think anything of it. The cars from the estate motor pool went back and forth to the airport a dozen times a day most days.

  As long as she could avoid being seen by Kaleb and the others at the airport then she'd be fine. I'd told her to park on the north side of the airport because from there she'd be able to safely watch until Kaleb and the rest of the convoy headed back here. We were running late, but even according to Alec's original timetable she wouldn't have had to wait for very long. As it was now, there was even a decent chance that she'd pass them on the road as they were coming back to the estate.

  Jasmin was nervously tapping on the steering wheel. It hadn't been particularly hard to find someone who was scheduled to leave the estate on official pack business, but we all knew that convincing Cassie to let us make the run into town to buy six gallons of ice cream that somebody had forgotten on the last shopping trip was a very slender shield.

  Alec was trying to give us enough deniability that we wouldn't be killed if he failed to get Rachel out, but Jasmin, Jess and I had talked on the way back from the cave and we'd decided that if that happened we weren't going to just go back to Sanctuary and hope that Kaleb was feeling lenient. We'd make a run for it and deal with being fugitives for the rest of our lives.

  In a lot of ways it simplified the plan, or rather it would have if we'd had a good way to get ahold of Alec and tell him about our consensus. Since we didn't even know where he was right now, we couldn't do that, and Jasmin wasn't the only one who was getting antsy about the fact that Alec was running late. What we needed right now was a good head start and every second that passed by while we waited for Alec was another second we weren't on the road speeding away from this place.

  Jasmin's tapping had speeded up to the point where it sounded like one long roll of miniature thunder, and then Alec walked out of the house with Rachel at his side. Alec still seemed mostly to be surrounded by the odd bubble of calm that I'd noticed earlier in the cave, but Rachel was obviously holding herself together by nothing more than sheer will.

  I didn't notice the long, sheet-wrapped object that Alec was carrying in his hand until he was almost to the SUV and I didn't realize it was his dad's sword until he and Rachel were climbing inside with us.

  "Thank you so much, everyone. I'll never be able to repay any of you enough for what you're doing."

  Rachel's voice cracked there at the end, but Jess reached up and patted her on the shoulder.

  "You deserve a lot better than this, Rachel."

  "Let's go."

  Alec's order came out abrupt and harsh, but I was pretty sure it wasn't intentional, it was just the first signs that maybe the wall of space he'd put up to protect himself from the knowledge of what was coming had started to crack a little.

  "You do realize that thing is going to do nothing but bring you trouble, right?"

  Ale
c looked down at the sword and then shrugged. "I've already pretty much declared war against Kaleb, which means the rest of the Coun'hij will be blacklisting me as well. This isn't going to make any of that worse and it just might come in useful at some point. Besides, it's a symbol of a better time and place. It doesn't belong with Kaleb."

  I looked up and my heart sank. Someone was manning the front gate. Most of the time the small guard post at the entry to the estate was empty, but I should have realized that Kaleb would have someone there to put on a good show for when Brandon arrived. If Kaleb had left orders that Rachel wasn't to leave the estate then we were sunk before we even really got started. I looked back at Alec, but he didn't seem particularly worried.

  "Turn the radio on and set it to be louder back here than up front. We'll just have to hope that's enough to disguise Rachel's uneasiness."

  He was putting it kindly. Rachel actually looked like she was going to throw up at any moment. I was sure it wasn't going to work, but I turned on some music and adjusted the fade as he'd requested. A second later we were to the gate and Jasmin was rolling down her window.

  "Jasmin, James, everyone. Where are you all headed?"

  Scott was exactly the kind of guy that you'd stick on guard duty. He was conscientious and followed orders exactly. If Kaleb had told him to stop everyone on their way out and find out what their plans were then he'd do it and never wonder why Kaleb wanted the estate turned into a prison.