by Kit Tunstall
His answer surprised her. “Now I go talk to the others, and we plan a raid on that island. The shifters still being held prisoner there need to be rescued, and that entire operation has to be shut down. I can’t wait for Javier Calderon to find his brother and destroy his little island empire. The shifters would probably be killed in such a scenario anyway.”
Shock coursed through her. “You mean you’re planning to go back there?” At his nod of confirmation, she started shaking her head. “You can’t do that. It’s too dangerous. You were lucky to escape the first time. You might not make it off that island if you go back.”
His mouth was firm. “The others we left behind certainly won’t make it off the island if we don’t try to rescue them.”
She frowned. “Are they even part of your tribe?”
“Clan,” he corrected. “Except for Alex, they aren’t part of the clan on Bear Island, but they’re my people now. We shared an experience so ugly and intense that it can’t help but change you and bind you to the people involved. I’m lucky I didn’t have to kill any of the ones left behind.” His expression darkened, “With Alex still there, and he is certainly part of the Bear Island clan, I’ll be able to rally support from the others to rescue him. It won’t be a one-person operation.” He winked at her. “Or should I say one-bear operation?”
She was too worried about him and his mission to find any humor in the situation. “If you know all about Calderon’s brother, and I’m still fuzzy on those details, why don’t you just call him?”
He laughed softly, though it wasn’t a mocking sound. “I’m afraid I don’t happen to have the phone number for the leader of the largest drug cartel in Mexico. I don’t know all the details myself, but I overheard enough in captivity to piece together some of it. They’re amazingly lax with their topics of discussion when we we’re drugged, thinking we were more insensate than we were.”
“Well, what do you know?” She was still pinning her hopes on somehow contacting Javier Calderon, thus negating the necessity for Hale to feel compelled to rescue the remaining bear shifters on that island.
He shrugged. “From what I pieced together, Luis ripped off his brother, who used to be his partner. He disappeared with a couple billion dollars from their drug sales, and he’s hiding out from his brother to avoid losing his money and his life. Like I said, I didn’t pick up a lot. I just managed to piece that much together during the months I was stuck in that cage. Stone liked to gossip like an old lady, and Guillermo was just as bad.”
“I have a contact, the one who told me about Bear Island to start with. He might know how to get a hold of Javier Calderon, or at least send us in the right direction. Let’s try that and let him handle his brother. Then no one here has to risk their life.”
His expression closed, indicating he wasn’t open to that idea. “It’s likely Javier will come in with guns blazing, and he won’t care who gets killed in the crossfire as long as he takes out Luis. I can’t risk that.”
She glared at him. “I don’t want you to risk you either.”
Hale’s expression looked grim, and he was clearly feeling tortured. “After everything I’ve done, it’s the only way I can think of to make amends. I have to get my people out of there.”
“What happened wasn’t your fault, and you need to stop blaming yourself.”
With a small roar, he pushed away from the table so quickly she barely saw the motion.
He was on his feet as the chair crashed to the floor, his chest heaving, and his eyes wild. “I killed my own kind. I couldn’t stop myself, and I couldn’t regain control. I can’t live with myself if I leave the others behind. You won’t be able to live with me either, because I can’t let go of what happened. My mind dwells on it. The only time I’m not thinking about what happened and the things I did is when I’m inside you. We can’t spend all our time in bed, so if you’re determined to be my mate, I have to do this. I have to do it for myself, and I need to do it for you too. I need your support.”
She bit her lip, searching for another argument that she couldn’t seem to discover. With a sigh, she nodded. “If I lose you, I won’t survive it either. You have to come back to me.”
His posture remained rigid, and his words were less than encouraging. “I’ll do what I can, but I have to see the others freed. It’s the only way I’ll ever feel worthy of the freedom I regained, and of having you as a mate. Otherwise, I’ll become trapped in my own bitterness, and there’s no way we can make a future work under those circumstances.”
It felt like emotional blackmail, though she was certain he didn’t mean it that way. Hale no doubt was simply telling her the way he felt, and she tried to interpret it that way, rather than allowing her own filters to distort what she was hearing. It was still difficult not to feel betrayed that he would risk their future on a rescue mission when someone else was available to take down Luis Calderon. She couldn’t understand exactly what he’d been through, because it was his unique experience, but she thought it was clouding his judgment. “I just need you to promise you’ll come back.”
He let out a ragged sigh. “I can’t promise that.” Another moment passed, and he didn’t speak. His eyes blinked, and he looked away from her. “I’m going to go talk to Kade and the others to figure out a plan. I’ll be back.”
She watched him go, not speaking either. She was torn by the hurt she felt at him being willing to risk his life despite it being inexorably intertwined with hers now, even as empathy forced her to see his point-of-view. If she had been in his position, she couldn’t have turned her back on the remaining captives either. Even not being in his position, the idea was intolerable, and she was certain they needed to be freed. She just didn’t want it to be her mate who risked his life to do so.
The door to the cabin closed behind him a few moments later, and she didn’t wait much longer past him. Once he’d been gone a few minutes, she got to her feet, quickly tidied the kitchen, and left the cabin. The only place she knew for sure where she could find a working phone was in the Sheriff’s office, so she headed in that direction. She was hoping to time it just right so that Calderon could bring down his brother, and Hale wouldn’t need to mount a rescue mission. If he had to step foot on that island at all, she hoped it would simply be to extract bear-shifters being held there. If the others were engaged with fighting Calderon’s people, or he had already decimated them, it would make Hale’s mission a lot easier.
She hoped.
The Sheriff’s office was unlocked, and she slipped inside, letting out a relieved sigh when she saw the building was empty. She hoped there was some kind of meeting somewhere else, imagining Hale was laying out his plan at the moment. It would keep them occupied for a while, and there’d be no one to tell her she couldn’t try to reach Javier Calderon.
It was dangerous, but no more dangerous than allowing her mate and his people to storm an island where they were heavily guarded with machine guns, ruled by death, but had no regard for any kind of life, and wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all or enslave any of the survivors.
With those thoughts in mind, her first call was to Suzy Hanlon, who was a member of Hand & Paw, and the one who had brought James to a meeting, so he could tell them about the bear fights. From Suzy, she got James’s number, and she dialed it seconds after hanging up with her friend.
The phone rang three times, and she was almost anticipating going straight to voicemail, grimacing at the possibility, when he finally answered. “Yeah?”
“James McCoy?”
His voice became guarded. “Who wants to know?”
“My name is Maya Coleson, and we met at a Hand & Paw meeting. You wanted us to stop the bear fights.”
There was a hint of relief in his tone when he spoke. “Yeah, I remember the meeting. I also remember your group decided to do nothing because it would cost too much money to get into the fights.”
“We changed our minds.” He didn’t need to hear all the details. “We made it ont
o the island, and we realized it was run by Luis Calderon. He had a falling-out with his brother a few years ago, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, a falling-out is one way to put it. What does it matter, Maya?”
“I want to tell Javier where to find Luis. I was hoping you’d have his number.”
James laughed, though the sound held no amusement. “I don’t have his phone number. I’m not enmeshed in cartel business.”
She didn’t doubt that. It was unlikely his involvement with the cartel extended beyond gambling, perhaps owing them money, and maybe a drug habit. The last part was just speculation. “You have some dubious contacts, so you might be able to point me in the right direction. Just give me a lead.”
With a smothered sigh, he said, “Jennings Brooks.” He reeled off the phone number almost more quickly than she could write it down, slowed as she was by the necessity of taking a pen from an organizer on the desk and writing on a Post-It. She repeated the number back to him. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, and that’s all I know. Don’t call me again unless it’s with the good news that you managed to stop the bear fights.”
“If all goes as planned, I’m sure your gambling debt will be settled.” The words were snarkier than she had intended, but his attitude annoyed her. He’d plan to use their animal rights group as a way to get out of his gambling debts. She didn’t feel like she owed him anything, especially the news of Calderon’s downfall, should it come about.
After hanging up, she called the number he’d given her and gently, but insistently, wearing down that man’s defenses, until he gave her another number and another name. Five names and calls later, she reached a contact identified simply as Alejandro. “You don’t know me, but I need to speak with Javier Calderon, and I was given your number as a way to find him.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment before Alejandro spoke. “I don’t know who this is, but you don’t call this number to goof around, puta.”
“I’m not goofing around. I need to tell your boss where he can find Luis Calderon. Please let me speak to him?”
“No,” said the man firmly.
Disappointment surged through her, but she wasn’t going to be defeated just yet. “Are you telling me he doesn’t want to know where Luis is?”
“I’m telling you I’m not authorized to put you through. Give me the information, and I’ll pass it along to him.”
“I want to speak to him myself.”
He let out a sharp bark of laughter. “That’s not happening. If you want to leave a message for him, you leave it with me. If it’s good enough, I’ll relay it to him. This is as close as you get to Javier.”
She bit off a sigh of impatience, knowing it would do her no good to utter it. A glance at the clock revealed she had already been engaged with this task for too long. If Hale had called a meeting of the other shifters on the island, surely it would be wrapping up soon. She knew he didn’t want Javier involved, so she wanted to complete this task before that meeting ended. “Fine.” She gave him as much information as she could, not entirely certain of the location of the island, but hoping it would point him in the right direction. “Will Javier be going after Luis?”
“If your intel checks out, I’m sure he will. He’s eager to see his brother again.” There was an ominous note in Alejandro’s voice.
A shiver went down her spine, and she was glad she wasn’t the one being hunted by Javier. No wonder Luis had gone to ground, clearly frightened of his brother with good reason. “There are some hostages being held in cages there. Please tell Señor Calderon they are not to be harmed.”
Alejandro sounded amused when he spoke. “Are you trying to issue an order to Javier?”
She bit her lip, trying to find a suitable way to phrase it. “Yes, I guess I am. The people in the cages are innocent, so they should be taken care of, and not injured. Will you tell Señor Calderon what I said?”
“I’ll tell him, señorita, but I don’t know if he’ll comply.”
Anger surged in her, and she was certain it reflected in her tone. “The people in those cages are the most important thing on that island, and Calderon needs to take care of them.”
She didn’t have an opportunity to find out the resolution to the conversation, because the phone suddenly hung up. In the corner of her eye, she saw a muscular arm reaching forward to press the cradle, ending the call. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she turned to face Kade Lassiter, intimidated by the anger she saw on his face. “What…?” She didn’t get a chance to finish the question.
Kade ripped the phone from her hand and slammed it down into the cradle. He glowered at her as he gripped her bicep, dragging her from the desk toward the only cell in the one-room jailhouse. “How could you betray him like that?”
She tried to tug free. “I wasn’t. I’m trying to save Hale. He shouldn’t go back to that island. None of you should.”
“It’s obvious you’re protecting your boss, not the man who thinks he’s your mate. Do you have any idea how it’s going to destroy him when he finds out you deceived him?”
Tears came to her eyes, and she blinked them away. “I’m not trying to betray him. I’m trying to save him. I got a message through to Señor Calderon—”
He sneered at her. “Yes, I heard. You’re warning him to guard the shifters, because we’re coming to rescue them.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head. “That wasn’t what you heard.”
His eyes sparkled with anger. “That’s exactly what I heard. Fortunately, you didn’t know the details of our plan, so you weren’t able to give specifics. I’m going to lock you in here where you can stay out of trouble and out of our way until we get to the island and back. If some of us don’t come back, that’s squarely on you for issuing a warning to Calderon.”
“If you’d just listen—”
He glared at her. “I don’t need to listen to you. I heard everything already. You betrayed your mate and all of us. It’s up to Hale what happens to you, but I’m going to suggest he banish you. You can’t be trusted.”
She glared at him. “You’re a narrow-minded jerk, Sheriff Lassiter. You won’t listen to the truth, so why bother wasting my time on you? Send Hale to me, and I’ll talk to him. He’ll understand.”
He turned away from her, barely taking time to answer as he walked to the door. “There’s no time to send for Hale at the moment. We’re heading for the island later today, and there are details to plan. In the meantime, I know you’re out of trouble, or at least out of the way of causing trouble. Hale will be occupied with formulating our rescue plan, and he won’t have time to listen to your lies until it’s all over.”
“No, you can’t let him go. None of you should go.”
At the door, Kade turned to face her before he walked away. “I couldn’t stop Hale from going if I wanted to. He needs to know the others are safe and free from that island, or he’s never going to be able to move on and get over what happened to him. As his mate, you should understand that, but I don’t think you’re ready to be his mate. It’s too bad for him that his bear identified a traitor as his mate. He’s going to be devastated, perhaps even more devastated by losing you than what he’s been through for the last few months.” Without another word, the sheriff disappeared through the door, closing it behind him and locking it a moment later.
She wanted to continue to shout at him and yell for him to let her out, and to listen to her explanation, but she knew it was futile. With a small sigh, she moved away from the bars and over to the cot in the corner, sitting down on it. She eyed the cell dubiously, surprised to find it scrupulously clean. Perhaps there wasn’t much call for its use, maybe aside from acting as a drunk tank upon occasion.
It was surprisingly comfortable, and she tried to settle in for a long wait, racking her brain to think of some way to escape, or at least get attention. If she could get someone to listen, they would get Hale, and he would listen to her.
Eventually.
She hoped.
Chapter Seven
Hale stepped out of the water, shivering slightly at the cool temperature, though his shifter metabolism made it a little more than slightly unpleasant. All around him, his brethren stepped out of the Strait as well, having swum the last distance from where they had left the boat anchored to remain out of sight of the island. Once everyone stood together on the shores, no one bothering with clothing so they could slip easily back and forth between their bear and human forms, they enacted the next stage of their plan. The group broke in half, all without speaking, and each approaching different sides of the island.
Hale, flanked by Kade, his uncles Wyatt and Ben, and Wyatt’s daughter Poppy, moved quietly through the island, not wanting to betray their presence until it was necessary.
It wasn’t long before they came across a guard detail, and Kade and Hale slipped into their bear forms, quickly dealing with the two men and taking the machine guns they carried. He handed his to Poppy after returning to his human form. “Do you know how to use that?”
She shrugged. “You press a button, and it shoots bullets.”
“Trigger,” corrected Wyatt, clapping his daughter lightly on the shoulder. “It’s pretty much idiot-proof.”
She shot him a sour look. “Thanks, Dad.”
Hale let their quiet teasing wash over him, enjoying the moment of normality amid the strangeness of being back on this island. At least this time he was the aggressor, not the captive. His sole goal was to free the bear-shifters and destroy this place so that Calderon couldn’t rebuild. If that meant killing Calderon and Stone, he would do so, though killing anyone, even those two, held no appeal.
They moved on, dispatching other guards in their path until they all ended up armed, though so far they hadn’t needed to fire any shots. They were hoping to keep it that way as long as possible to remain a stealth presence on the island.