End of Lies

by Sara Dailey

  “I’m not lying, Kendall. Feel free to turn this place upside down. You won’t find him here.”

  I searched every inch of her home, feeling more like a fool every step of the way, but I wouldn’t dare let her know that. Finally, giving in to the fact that he wasn’t there, I headed for the door, but before I left, I had one more thing to say. “If you think for one second that I’m not going straight to Nathaniel to tell him that you’ve been holding Brian’s son hostage here this whole time, you’d be wrong.”

  Cami strutted over and stood right in front of me. “Go right on ahead. But what proof do you have? Gavin is gone and said nothing about being here before he left, so it’s just going to make you look pathetic and desperate for attention. You know…the usual.”

  Un-fucking-believable!

  “Keep it up, Cami. You’ll be strung up on that tree, just like Jake, before sundown. Only I’ll make sure you don’t walk away from it.”

  Fear flashed in her eyes, which was enough to make me feel at least a tiny bit better, so I turned and walked out the door without bothering to shut it behind me.

  CHAPTER 46

  Cami

  After Kendall’s not-so-surprising visit, I spent the rest of the morning wrapped up in Gavin’s arms. I hated to admit it, but I was more than a little shaken by Kendall’s threat. I shouldn’t have egged her on, nor should I have called her out on running off to her new alpha and throwing me under the bus.

  I knew Kendall well enough to know that she would do it in a heartbeat just to see me beaten half to death, especially if it would give her a leg up in her pack. All I could do now was pray that her lack of proof would keep her from ratting me out for the time being. I hoped we wouldn’t need much more time.

  Gavin caught me glancing at the phone once again and kissed me on top of the head before assuring me once again, “Don’t worry. He’ll call. Besides, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. If someone comes looking for you, they’ll have to get through me first.”

  My heart clenched at the thought. There was no way in hell I’d let the CH guards, or anyone else for that matter, anywhere near Gavin. I lifted my head from his chest and looked up to find eyes full of concern. That combined with his resolute tone told me that he meant every word that he said. Reaching up, I kissed him lightly and then warned him, “Don’t even think about it. You are not being a freaking martyr for my sake. If we have to, we will hide out in this room while they ransack this house before I give you up. You hear me?”

  Letting out a small chuckle, Gavin replied, “Yeah, I hear ya. But let’s just hope it won’t come to that because Kendall is going to keep her mouth shut, and Cade is going to call.”

  As if on cue, the burner phone rang, causing us both to jump and then simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief. We moved over to the table as I answered the phone, and after putting it on speaker, I laid it down between us.

  “Hey, Cade. You’re on speaker with me and Gavin,” I said before I realized that he had no idea that Gavin had returned. “He’s a…back.”

  “Back, huh? Glad to hear it. Gavin? Wanna fill me in?”

  Gavin explained what had gone down with Kendall, but before he could even finish, Scarlett must have grabbed the phone straight out of Cade’s hand because with no warning whatsoever, Gavin was interrupted with his sister ranting about what an idiot he was and how happy she was that he was okay.

  Cade took back the phone, but we could still hear Scarlett in the background shouting something about if he ever pulled that shit again that she would kill him herself, but that she loved him and couldn’t wait to see him. We couldn’t help but laugh at her bipolar fit.

  “Sorry about that, guys. Scarlett’s kind of had a rough twenty-four hours,” Cade explained. “Anyway, we have figured out our plan of attack. You guys ready on your end?”

  Gavin and I looked up from the phone and into each other’s eyes. Smiling, we both answered at the same time. Me with an “Of course,” and him with a “Hell yeah.”

  “Okay, so after reviewing the tapes, we decided the best time to begin is at 1:45, a.m. of course. There is a shift change with the guards at two, so the ones on shift are basically waiting around to go home and the others are just showing up to the lodge.”

  “And?” I said when Cade paused to take a breath. I knew there was more, but my impatience was getting the best of me.

  “And…I’ll be calling the others to give them their part in the plan and where they need to be, but you two will be in charge of taking out the guards on the path to the front gate, so that we can get in. You still have the tranq guns there in the safe room, right?”

  “Yeah,” Gavin and I answered in unison.

  “Okay, well you two will tranq every guard you come across, and then Sammy and Ryder will be coming behind you to collect the guards’ weapons and take them to the cell to lock them up. Luckily, Gage had a spare key to Luke’s and was able to secure some more tranq guns, so he and some of the other guys will be in charge of taking care of the guards that are already at the lodge. Once the rest of us are inside, we will rendezvous at the jail and begin part two.”

  After a more-than-detailed explanation of the rest of the plan and assurances that Gavin and I could handle our part, we hung up the phone and both turned our attention to the clock. We still had well over twelve hours to wait before we took back our pack.

  “Looks like we have a while before we have to get ready,” I casually mentioned.

  Gavin glanced my way with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Well until then…” Without bothering to finish his sentence, he was up out of his chair, and when his lips found mine, every bit of anxiety I’d been feeling all morning faded away within an instant and was replaced with nothing short of an overwhelming, all-consuming desire that I had no doubt was about to be filled…and then some.

  CHAPTER 47

  Gavin

  “Cami, baby, it’s almost time. Are you about ready?” I asked as I finished lacing up my boots. When she didn’t answer me right away, I went in search of her. I found her sitting in the dark curled up in a chair in her parent’s bedroom with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

  I walked over and sat on the bed, facing her. She lowered her legs and scooted up closer to me. Taking her hands in mine, I asked, “You okay?”

  She shrugged. “A little nervous, I guess.”

  Cami was always so sure and confident about everything, so seeing her there with her nerves so visibly getting the best of her just about killed me. Knowing I had to hide whatever doubt I was feeling inside and be the strong shoulder that she needed to lean on, I lifted her chin with my finger and said, “Hey, look at me.”

  I waited to see her beautiful brown eyes before I continued. “You are going to do great. We are going to do this together. Remember I told you, wherever you go, I go. As long as we are together, there is nothing that we can’t do.”

  “You are so cheesy,” she teased, surely trying to make light of her fear. “But, I love you for it.”

  I pulled Cami onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her waist. She snuggled into my arms and buried her face in my chest. I was both warmed by her affection and alarmed by her sudden lack of assurance in herself. We couldn’t afford for Cami to stop believing in her own ability. If anyone was capable of getting the job done, it was Cami.

  “Baby,” I whispered as I lifted her chin again so that I could see her face. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

  Cami breathed in deeply before she climbed off my lap and sat facing me on the bed. “I just have a bad feeling about all of this. So much could go wrong.”

  “Like what? Since when is my little badass scared of anything?” I asked with a small smile.

  “Make fun, I don’t care, but shit could go wrong, Gavin. What if we get caught? What if someone sees you with us, and they mark you as a traitor? We’re using tranq guns, but those guards out there, they aren’t. They’re using real guns
, Gavin, with real bullets. What if someone gets shot? Oh God! What if you get shot?” She carried on until she was a bubbling mess of tears.

  I didn’t know what to say. She was right. It wasn’t like we were trained mercenaries; I was barely out of high school. Damn, Cami was still in high school. She was right. Any one of those things could happen, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, chances of something going wrong were pretty damn high. It wasn’t like any of us had any training in any of this.

  What would I do if something happened to her? I may not have known Cami for long, but now, I couldn’t live without her. I wouldn’t. I’d been the one all along telling her that she was being reckless, taking too many risks. I had always known what my father was capable of. Unfortunately, for Cami, it finally sank in on the one day that we couldn’t afford to be scared.

  “We can’t think like that, Cami. If we go out there scared, we are as good as dead,” I said, trying to get her to focus.

  “I know…I just can’t stand the thought of losing you,” she said through her tears.

  I stood up and helped Cami off of the bed. Taking both of her hands in mine, I raised them to my lips and gently kissed her fingers. “You won’t lose me…ever.”

  She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. There was no way around the thought that this might be our last day together. As much as I tried to hide my own fears, and as much as I tried to fight hers away, they remained.

  “Let’s just trust each other. Let’s watch each other’s backs. Let’s try and stay focused and not think about the what-ifs,” I said.

  “You’re right. I know you’re right. I’m being stupid.”

  “You’re not being stupid, Cami. Not being nervous at all, now that would be stupid.” She took a deep breath, and I wiped the few remaining tears from her face. “We have about ten minutes before we have to head out, and I plan to spend the next nine minutes and forty-five seconds making out with the sexiest werewolf I have ever seen.”

  Cami smiled and pulled me to her for a quick kiss. “What are you going to do with the last fifteen seconds?” she asked.

  I lifted Cami up so that we were nose to nose, and she wrapped her long legs around my waist. “The last fifteen seconds I will spend putting my coat on. Girl, it’s freezing out there,” I teased.

  Cami rolled her eyes at me. “You are such a romantic, Gavin Reed.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “Now, please stop talking. You are cutting into my make-out time.”

  CHAPTER 48

  Kendall

  I’d been lying in bed in the weird state of half sleep for what felt like hours. Unsure if I was actually asleep or not, one thing was for sure: my mind had been running on a hamster wheel, and I was quite sure I could open my eyes at any moment and be wide awake, but for whatever reason, my eyes remained sealed. Maybe I was asleep after all.

  I tried desperately to clear my mind, to think of nothing, but it wasn’t working. I couldn’t get past the ominous feeling inside of me that something bad was going to happen. Gavin never returned, not that I really expected him to, but I couldn’t help but wonder where he ran off to or what he’d gotten himself into. Was he still here somewhere? Did he go find Scarlett? Would he be stupid enough to get wrapped up in whatever plan Cade must be cooking up to take back his pack? God, I hoped not. Unless he had a death wish.

  Why couldn’t I just shut down my brain and finally fall asleep? Or was I asleep? Or was I simply stuck in a nightmare where my overactive brain refused to behave?

  Then a strange noise outside shot my eyes wide open and my internal debate finally came to an end. Instinctively, my head turned to the side to see if Drew had heard it too. Nope. There he laid, the man who so quickly became the bane of my existence, sleeping soundly. Lightly snoring, even. Gross. I bet Gavin doesn’t snore.

  I slipped out of bed and tiptoed over to the window. Pulling the curtain aside just the slightest bit, I peeked outside. Even with the light from the moon, I didn’t see anything. By this point, I was sure I’d imagined the whole thing, but I wasn’t ready to get back on the hamster wheel just yet.

  I snuck out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Bypassing Nathaniel’s bedroom, I headed toward the front door. I considered opening it to take a look around, but that ominous feeling was suddenly back with a vengeance, so I just checked that the door was locked instead. While I was at it, I checked the back door as well, but before I made my way back upstairs, I stole a quick glance out the crack in the curtains of the living room window.

  Nothing out of the ordinary. Just one of the CH guards roaming aimlessly back and forth out in the near distance, probably counting down the minutes until the shift change. I watched for a moment wondering how these pseudo-guards would actually match up against Red Ridge at its best. Sure, they look all tough with their automatic weapons and camo, but we’re wolves for God’s sake. Not a damn military. When did they forget that? We have claws and teeth. Why did they feel the need to strap a small arsenal to their chests? Pathetic.

  Just as I began to turn away from the window, he went down. The guard literally dropped to the ground like he’d been shot, but there was no shot fired or any blood from what I could tell from where I was standing. My heart drummed in my chest as I surveyed the area. Someone was out there.

  And then there he was, causing my pulse to race even more. Out in the brush, I saw him. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew it was him. I’d memorized his stature long ago, the shape of his body, the way only he carried himself. Gavin was out there, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

  And so it begins.

  Before I could talk myself out of it, I turned around and headed back up the stairs and into my bed. I scooted as far away from Drew as possible, closed my eyes, and waited.

  CHAPTER 49

  Cami

  Ready as we’d ever be, we had taken off into the night, all geared up and ready to take out the guards one by one. Gavin and I stayed within sight of one another, neither of us willing to separate. With Gavin’s words of encouragement, I forced myself to put aside my fears and just get on with it, and after the first guard was down, thanks to my tranq, I finally found the confidence I was lacking. I could do this. We could do this. Together.

  Like seasoned spies in our own little version of espionage, we stealthily moved through the cover of darkness, seeking out our next target. With a head nod as his warning, Gavin took out the next guard. Two tranqs used, two guards down. I’d say we were off to a good start. We couldn’t afford not to be. One wrong step and the whole plan could be over.

  We continued down the path perfectly synchronized. I covered his back as Gavin led the way. CH’s biggest weakness was that we knew exactly where they’d be, which meant our only downfall would be if one of the guards changed course, but from what we’d seen so far, they were as predictable as they come. Not to mention lazy.

  We slowed up as soon as we came upon the area we expected to find the next guard, and just as expected, he was there, checking his watch and barely paying attention to his surroundings. Giving me his signal, Gavin took his shot, but the tranq whizzed right by the guard. He’d missed, causing the guard to immediately duck. But I was ready. Taking one step to the side to keep Gavin out of my line of fire, I aimed and pulled the trigger. Down he went, and I was rewarded with a sigh of relief and a smile from my guy.

  The next few guards went down as easily as the first, and we had actually made it to the gate unscathed. There were still four guards surrounding the gate, but we had gotten there just in time. They were all together, loading up their Jeep and awaiting the next crew’s arrival. If all had gone as planned with the others, no one would be showing up any time soon, and every guard standing between us and opening that gate were sitting ducks.

  Knowing we had to take them out as quickly as possible, the plan was to fire off our first shots at the same time and then immediately do it again, hopefully getting all four of them knocked out before they had th
e opportunity to either run or fire back, and we both knew it wouldn’t be tranqs they’d be shooting. It was risky, but it was our only option.

  We waited patiently for just the right moment, and when one of them pointed out something in one of the bags in the Jeep, Gavin gave the signal, and we fired off our first shots and then the next almost immediately and perfectly in synchronization. All four guards were down before they even had the chance to wonder what was going on.

  Once we had the gate open, Cade, Allison, Aiden, Teagan, Scarlett, and Luke hustled inside. After Gavin and Scarlett’s brief embrace, we all squeezed into the tiny guard shack and Cade, being in the ultimate alpha mode, took over. “Everyone find some camo and put it on. If there’s not enough, someone needs to go strip down the guards out there before Sammy and Ryder make it over here to collect them.”

  Without question, we began grabbing whatever camo we could find. While we dressed, Cade continued, “We’re going to drive back to the lodge, just as the guards would have for shift change. Hopefully, everyone is still asleep, but just in case, it will look less suspicious if we look like guards. Girls, make sure you find a hat and stuff your hair up inside. Once we get to the lodge, we’ll have more time to talk. Let’s just get through this part for now.”

  Moments after we were all dressed, Ryder and Sammy arrived and handed us all a weapon, a real weapon. “Just in case,” Sammy said when my eyes went wide. “We’ll see you back at the lodge.” Then he turned his attention to Cade and said, “So far, so good, Boss.”

  Just as instructed, we loaded up in the Jeep and headed toward our next destination. With my mind in overdrive, I focused on taking long, deep breaths in an attempt to cool my nerves. I hadn’t seen my parents since the night this all began, and all I could do was pray they were still alive and well. Until this point, I hadn’t allowed myself to believe otherwise. They had to be.