by Bianca D’Arc
“Ready?” He was all business now, about to enter the battle. The women seemed the same, which impressed the hell out of Trevor. He hadn’t fought alongside many females in his time, but if these gals were any indication, that was his loss.
“On three,” Sirena told him, joining him in the countdown before he opened the door, and they all sprang into action.
When they hit one, Trevor opened the door, and they burst into the night. The women turned for the stairway while Trevor kept watch, taking stock of the action at the same time.
He heard a gasp as Beth grabbed his arm. He looked at her, noting her skin had gone pale, and she was staring at one section of the fighting in particular.
A group of three men were standing off to one side, just watching. The two flanking the central man engaged occasionally, as if they were protecting the man in the middle. Trevor’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s Jonathan,” Beth whispered, clearly stunned by seeing her stepfather had come after her in person.
Trevor turned his back to the battle—perhaps foolishly, but it was more important to him at the moment to block any view of Beth. He put himself between her smaller body and the watchers. He’d noticed that Jonathan seemed to be looking for something…or someone. No doubt, he’d just been waiting for Beth to make an appearance, and Trevor wasn’t about to let her stand out in the open and let the bastard get a good look.
“To the staircase. Now,” he barked as quietly as he could. The other three women were close, but had moved more toward the safety of the enclosed staircase. If he could just get Beth behind the siding-covered rail, Jonathan wouldn’t see her. “Crouch as you go up and hide behind the siding. Don’t let him see you,” Trevor said urgently. Thankfully, Beth’s legs began moving as he gave her instructions. She was no longer frozen in place by shock.
He continued to block as she moved quickly toward the stairs, but he didn’t breathe easy until she was on the first steps, surrounded by her friends. Only then, when she was about halfway up the stairs, did he turn back to see what was going on with the battle. Thankfully, Jonathan hadn’t moved. He hadn’t seen her.
Or had he?
Trevor got an itchy feeling between his shoulder blades. Unable to ignore it, he started up the stairs. The women were already near the top, but he moved fast, following them. He had to see for himself that the roof was secure. He wouldn’t be happy until he’d checked every corner.
Something was off. He didn’t know what, but there was something that made his skin crawl.
Trevor flowed onto the roof behind the women. “Watch the stairs,” was his only comment as he passed Sirena, heading for the three-foot high façade that ringed the entire roof. He’d inspect every inch of it.
Trevor was aware of Beth following a few feet behind him, her trusty trident in her hand. He wished she’d stay closer to the others, but he couldn’t really justify telling her to go away. For one thing, that would be mean and he never wanted to hurt her feelings. For another, she might be safer closer to him. His pride made him think that he could defend her better than anyone else—especially a group of women he’d never seen in action. He had no idea if their fighting skills were any good at all. Sure, they looked fierce, but what if he trusted them to take care of Beth and they failed? What then?
He was about two thirds of the way around the roof line when he saw it. Grapples. More than one. Dark, to blend in with the dark roofing materials, which was why he hadn’t seen them from a distance. And there was movement. Someone was climbing.
“Get back!” he ordered in a rasp. “They’re coming over the roof. Go back to the stairs and hold the escape route.”
He didn’t have time to say more because the enemy was upon him. Three men in black fatigues bounded over the knee wall, heading straight for him. He saw the gleam of a pistol aimed toward the women, and he dove for it, knocking the gun out of the man’s hand as they both crashed to the ground.
He kicked upward to break the hand of a second man, who also held a gun, but he couldn’t prevent a shot being fired. It went wild though, knocked off course by Trevor’s destruction of the man’s wrist.
As if that single shot was some kind of signal that they no longer had to be quiet, other guns started firing below. All hell was breaking loose down there, and the bears of Grizzly Cove probably had their hands full. If these three were going to be stopped, it was up to Trevor.
He disarmed the third man, sending the handgun sailing over the edge of the roof, but all three were still standing, now sporting sharp hunting knives. Great. And as long as those grapples were still there, other climbers could join them at any minute.
He spared a glance to the wall and noticed Jetty standing near the grapples, a sharp blade in her hand as she cut the lines that led down to the ground. Unless the guys down there had more grapples, no more would be coming up that way.
Trevor almost smiled as he set to work on the three men. He hadn’t expected a knife fight when he’d gotten up this morning, but he was game. He’d already broken the dominant wrist of one opponent, so that guy wasn’t doing much except harassing Trevor, trying to make openings for his friends to advance. It wasn’t working, but Trevor gave them an A for effort. At least they were working as a team, which was more than he’d expected.
It made them a little harder to defeat, but Trevor was confident. It took about ten minutes longer than it should have, but eventually, all three of the attackers were down and out of the action. One was dead, or close to it. The other two unconscious. Good enough, Trevor thought, turning to check on the women.
He’d kept an eye on them as much as he could, and they were all still okay, holding their tridents like they meant business as they guarded the staircase. Trevor jogged over to check the descent, then turned back to the women. They had a right to input on this, since it was their safety at stake.
“Do you want to stay up here or go below? You could hole up in a room in the hotel, or make for water. It’s your call since you know your strengths better than I do.” It would kill him to let Beth go if they chose water, but if it was the only way to keep her safe, then he’d do what he had to do.
Trevor had turned his back on the staircase for the quick moment it took to talk to the ladies. They were facing him, but it was Beth who alerted him to what was probably the stupidest move he’d ever made. She shouted his name, at the same time, raising her trident like a javelin.
He realized in the nick of time that he should probably duck, and he hit the deck as that ultra-sharp three-pronged spear sailed through the air where he’d just been standing. He turned his head, and, as if in slow motion, he saw the trident hit Jonathan squarely in the chest.
The crime boss’s face held a look of abject surprise for the moment it took him to realize he was already dead. Red bloomed as other tridents hit him in other parts of his body. The mermaids were backing up their sister, making sure the threat was dead, once and for all.
Jonathan stumbled back, falling down the stairway, taking out his goons as he fell. They all ended up in a pile at the foot of the stairs, Jonathan’s dying body topmost…but not for long.
One by one, the hired killers worked their way out from under their dead boss. Most immediately put their hands up in the universal sign of surrender. A few kept fighting out in the open space behind the hotel until a piercing whistle cut through the night.
“Your boss is dead,” Ezra said bluntly, once he had everyone’s attention. “If you keep fighting, you will be too. Get it?”
Beth shouted from the rooftop as Trevor held her back from exposing herself to possible gunfire.
“And there’s nobody left who will pay your fees. Jonathan used my money, but no more. Consider yourselves fired.”
“She can’t do that,” one bleeding miscreant yelled. “We have contracts!”
“Come on, Fred,” Ezra said to a man on the edge of the crowd. “I know you and the Beaslys, and Ripcord and Whit are all bounty hunters, same as me. The man
who put up the bounty for the girl is lying dead at the bottom of the stairs. Ain’t nobody gonna pay for her now.”
A few curses sounded from the periphery of the crowd of fighters as weapons were thrown down and men knelt in the sand, their fingers interlaced as they put their hands on top of their heads. At least those guys knew how to surrender.
“As for any of you with contracts,” Beth made the word sound like a curse, “I’m in charge now. I’ll review your supposed contracts with my lawyer, and we’ll come to some agreement, but if you really feel you still are under contract to SeaLife Enterprises,” she named the shell company under which Jonathan had done all his business—dirty and otherwise, “then as the new CEO, I’m ordering you to stand down and surrender to these bears, whose territory you just invaded without provocation.”
Hot damn. Trevor was proud of his mate. This had worked out better than he’d hoped. Not only had she taken down her nemesis, but she’d found her nerve and stepped up to put an end to the bloodshed. Like a boss.
“All right,” one of the thugs who’d been guarding Jonathan said with a sigh. “You heard the lady. If we ever want to get paid, we’d better listen to her. I know for a fact that the reason J wanted her so bad is that she’s the one who inherited all that money and property. If he didn’t control her, he didn’t control the wealth, and now that he’s gone, it’s all hers to do with as she pleases.” The thug with more-than-average brains for his line of work looked directly at Beth. “I assume you’re pulling the plug?”
“You’ve got that right,” she affirmed in a strong voice that made Trevor proud.
More groans from the rest of the men, but they began to follow the bounty hunters’ example and knelt on the ground, linking their hands together on top of their heads. Trevor could hardly believe it. The Grizzly Cove jail was going to be overflowing tonight, but it looked like the hostilities were over. Thank the Goddess.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dawn was just breaking over the distant hills when the final enemy surrendered. The entire town of Grizzly Cove came out to help with the cleanup. Beth’s hunting party retrieved their tridents from Jonathan’s body, going down to the shore to wash the blood from their weapons in a ceremony that was as old as the hunting parties themselves.
Sirena, as leader of the hunting party that had been officially disbanded when they moved to Grizzly Cove but was still alive in their hearts, spoke the ancient words to Poseidon, Lord of the Deep, and the Goddess, Ruler of the Tides. She spoke for the souls of the lost—even Jonathan’s—and prayed for peace and the strength to maintain it.
Beth was aware of Trevor keeping track of her movements from a distance, but it didn’t bother her. In fact, she found it kind of sweet. And she valued the fact that he didn’t make any demands that she stay with him or tell him what she was up to with her friends. He let her be her own person, which was something her stepfather had never allowed.
When they were done cleansing their spirits and their weapons, Beth hugged each member of her old hunting party and thanked them for coming to her aid. Each one dismissed her profuse thanks with the simple statement that they were family and that’s what sisters did for each other. Beth was deeply touched.
When the three mated women moved off into the arms of their mates, Beth knew it was time to talk to Trevor. There was a lot of work ahead of her if she was going to unravel Jonathan’s criminal enterprises. She’d have to make a start, and she figured Trevor was just the man to help her figure out where and how.
Nansee and some of the mer arrived to help, as well, and Marla and Janice, as the only two who were still unmated from Beth’s old hunting party, went to fill in the pod leader on events. More than a few of Jonathan’s henchmen had been water shifters. Sharks mostly, Beth thought. They would have to face the law of the sea, and Nansee would be the one to mete out punishment to the survivors.
Trevor came over to Beth, and she went into his arms, glad of his warmth after the tumult of the pre-dawn. They stood quietly for a few moments, gazing out at the cove as the sun kissed the water. Behind them, the task of dealing with the injured and dead went on, the inhabitants of Grizzly Cove rallying to help.
“Brody’s got his hands full at the sheriff’s office,” Trevor told her. “Ezra’s helping him sort the bounty hunters from the henchmen, and Big John is laying down the law. He’ll probably let the majority of the bounty hunters go with a warning never to set foot in his territory again on pain of death. The goons who are mobile will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but the majority of the ones who survived are in the clinic. Drew’s mother, who is a priestess, is saying prayers over the dead.”
Beth let that statement ring in the air for a moment as she realized how bad things had been just a few hours before. She stood facing the water, Trevor’s arms around her shoulders as she leaned into his side. He made her feel safe, but he also made her feel strong. He was such a good man. A mate any woman could be proud of.
“Is it really over?” she asked, still a bit shell shocked after the events of the night.
By way of answer, Trevor held his free hand out in front of them. In it was a sleek, top of the line cell phone.
“This is Jonathan’s phone. You’ll probably need this, and the numbers it contains, to begin to unravel his criminal empire.” He handed it to her with no hesitation.
Beth took it, but kept her hand over his as she turned her head to meet his gaze. “I’ll need help,” she told him quietly, hoping he would volunteer.
Trevor didn’t disappoint. “I’ll make sure you have whatever you need, honey.” He sealed his words with a gentle kiss as the sun rose fully from behind the eastern hills, the first rays bathing them in golden light as they stood on the rocky shore of the cove.
The first call Beth made was to her mother. It was an awkward conversation that led to her mother breaking down in tears when she learned Jonathan was dead. At first, Beth wasn’t sure if her mother was crying due to grief at her husband’s passing, but it soon became apparent that her mother’s tears were ones of abject relief.
“Do you want to come up here, to Grizzly Cove?” Beth asked her mother. “I think my new pod would welcome you.”
Beth took strength from knowing Trevor was only a few feet away, there to support her through this difficult conversation. She didn’t mind that he could hear everything. After today, she really had no secrets left that she wanted to hide from him. Her mother countered Beth’s offer, by asking if Beth would come back to Catalina Island, but that was a non-starter.
“No, Mama. I’m never going back to Jonathan’s house. Never. I’d rather burn it down than ever set foot in it again. For now, I’m staying here. I’m sorry.” Beth was firm, but adamant. She would never go back to that gilded prison. Never.
Her mother was so glad to be free of the tyrant that had threatened Beth’s life to keep her mother in line that she was sobbing on the other end of the phone again. Beth hadn’t realized Jonathan was using her as a pawn against her mother. It made a lot of sense though.
A lot of other things Beth hadn’t really understood began to make sense as she rifled through the contacts list and text messages on Jonathan’s phone. His email accounts were another eye opener, and she spent a good few hours using a printer borrowed from town hall, creating a documented paper trail she could follow if need be.
Trevor had suggested printing out the emails, just in case Jonathan had an ally who could make all the evidence disappear. Right now, she had access, but once word of his death got around, the evidence might dry up unexpectedly.
Trevor was a huge help in identifying the most important information. Beth learned a lot about why he was considered an intelligence expert over the hours of that morning. He’d helped set her up in a spare hotel room that was unfurnished. He’d brought in a desk and the borrowed printer, a few reams of paper, file folders, pens, pencils, highlighters… All the things she’d need to get to work. Then, he’d brought her snacks and drinks
to tide her over while she worked.
He helped for the first couple of hours, but when she finally got the hang of following the intricate trails Trevor showed her how to find, he left her with Grace and Jack, who had come to offer their help. Jack, she knew, was meant to act as a guard, while Grace and she did the paperwork. It was a good arrangement and left her with friendly company that Trevor was certain would look after her safety.
She liked that he cared enough to arrange such things. And she was grateful to find that Grace was still her friend even though she’d mated one of the bears and left the water, for the most part. They had a good time while they discovered deal after rotten deal that Jonathan had been part of. Beth was certain of one thing after hours of weeding through the filth that was Jonathan’s email trail—heads were gonna roll.
She wouldn’t let this evil empire stand any longer than she had to. The work of dismantling it had already begun with a few well-placed email messages. More would follow. As would a long consultation with the best lawyers in Grizzly Cove, a mated pair that were both very experienced. For the first time in her life, Beth felt confident about her future.
In every area, except one.
For all his care of her, she still wasn’t completely sure about Trevor. Did he want to be her mate? Or was he merely interested for now, but not forever? It was killing her, not knowing where she stood, but there was a lot going on right now. She’d have to wait to get him alone…and work up the courage…to ask him what could be the most important question of her life.
Trevor took a few minutes that afternoon to request a meeting with the Grizzly Cove Alpha. He needed to set a few things in motion—or at least see if any of his tentative plans had a chance in hell of coming to fruition. Finding his mate had been a blessing, but he’d need to juggle a few very important things to make it all work out. He went into John’s office, ready to lay it all on the line. This meeting would make or break the best plan he’d been able to come up with. He had to get it right.