The priest crossed himself and Rain put a hand out to hold back the angry wolf.
“Why were you at the building, Father?” Rain asked.
“I told you, I go there every week.”
Tomás took a moment to translate for Maggie, who had her hand on his shoulder. The group took a collective sigh.
“You’re going there to check for new girls? Or what?” Alex leaned in to the priest’s face. “You like ‘em young, asshole?”
The priest recoiled, disgust on his face. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Rain pushed on Alex’s shoulder and backed him up. In English, he hissed, “Will you stop? You’re not getting anywhere.”
Miami flexed his chest and looked down at Rain’s hand. “Get your hand off me, jackass.”
“Think about this.” He leaned in to his ear. “You’ve asked him all these questions already, haven’t you?”
Alex shrugged. “Yeah, but you might have to ask things over and over until they get that you’re not joking around.”
“Look, I’ve done enough interrogating to know. He’s being deliberately cryptic.”
Miami cocked his head to one side. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You asked him all this. Multiple times. He keeps giving the same answers. There has to be some reason he’s not giving up the information.” Rain stepped back. “Just let me take a shot at him.”
Alex pushed Rain’s hand off him and huffed back toward the door.
“You think he’s waiting for some kind of password or something?” The Professor said from behind the girls.
“That’s what it feels like.” Rain turned back to the priest. “I don’t think he was a patron.”
“What, you think you’re Mr. Criminal Minds or some shit?” Alex’s voice rang out from behind the whole group, but Rain couldn’t see him.
“No. But I am a Ranger. I’ve done this before. Plus, I’m the team leader, so what I say goes.”
“Yeah, you’re doing a great job leading the team.” Alex’s taunt hung in the air and no one would meet Rain’s eyes. “So far, all you’ve really done is fuck the boss’s daughter—the person who was put in charge by the alpha council, I might add.”
Rain made a move and Maggie had him by the shoulders before he could push his way through the group. But he wasn’t going to take the bullshit from them anymore. They were in the middle of a mission. They needed to be united.
“Just let me interrogate the guy,” Rain said. “And stop getting in his face because you’re pissed at me.” He called those last words over the heads of the group, but Alex didn’t respond. Rain knelt on the ground next to Tomás. “Look, Father,” he said in Spanish, “We’re here looking for the man who owned that building. We’re running into dead ends, and we mean to see justice done. So I need you to tell me. Why do you go to that building every week?”
The priest raised one eyebrow. “You know the man who owns the building?”
“We need to find him, so he can be brought to justice.”
“Vengeance is mine, says the Lord,” the priest said, his eyes low.
“So you do know something about that place?” Tomás injected into the conversation, his voice earnest.
“I know that Father Juan asked me to go there every week.” He looked from face to face, around the group. “Are you here for the book?”
Rain nodded. “We are here for the book.”
“Father Juan said, if I ever came upon anyone at the building, I should put the book in the wing of the Statue of the Archangel Gabriel in the west alcove.”
A quick translation later, and the entire group leaned in.
Nora’s face wore a tiny smile, and Rain wanted more than anything to ask her what she was thinking. Could she feel how close they were to the end? To finding this guy, to punishing him? To completing the mission?
“Why would you put the book there?” Maggie asked in English.
Tomás translated and the priest looked down at his hands.
“Father Juan told me the archangel would take a message to God, and the Lord would exact vengeance on the man who used that building for his sin.” His earnest gaze and raised eyebrows gave Rain a little hope.
“Do you know what he meant when he said that?”
“Only that men would come down from the mountains and bring with them the vengeance that would eradicate this man from the human race.” The priest nodded, as though he were actually imagining angels flying down mountains in blazes of fire and dragging this man to hell.
It was exactly what he deserved. But more than likely, there were men in the mountains who knew something of this man, and were waiting for his return.
“Can you take me to this statue?” Rain asked. “We’ll put the book in the archangel’s wing and see the men come down from the mountains.”
The priest nodded and stood.
Tomás translated for the group, but Nora cleared her throat and stopped them.
“Ask him what the old priest said about the men from the mountains, first.”
“Why?” Rain asked. “We can ask them ourselves when they come for the book.”
“How do we know these men are good men?”
The LA wolf chimed in. “She’s right, y’know. Who knows why this priest wanted to bring the men down from the mountains.”
The Professor nodded. “Yeah, I mean, this priest seems like a good guy, but you never know what the old priest’s motives were. Otherwise, why sit on it all these years?”
“Well, we can’t ask him,” Seattle piped up. “He’s dead.”
“Then we should take a look at the book.” The LA wolf crossed her arms and took a wide stance next to Alex. “Who knows whether he’s talking about the Bible or what. We need to get more information first.”
“No, we should bring these men down from the mountains,” Tomás said.
“Tomás is right,” said the mobster. “We need to talk to these mountain men.”
“Except, what if they’re wolves,” LA shot back. “Then, they smell us from a mile off, and we never get to talk to them at all, and now they’re not looking for the book because they know we’re here.”
Nora’s eyes drilled Rain, and with a small shake of her head, she seemed to be saying the same thing he was thinking. This was getting out of control.
Rain whistled over the din and held his arms out. “Okay, we go to the church and look at the book. Maybe it will give us some idea of whether these men can be trusted.”
To Tomás, he whispered, “And you keep talking to the priest. See if he’ll tell us anything else.”
Maggie pulled out her phone. “I’ll Uber this time. The cabs are slow as molasses.”
“We should’ve rented cars,” said the Professor.
“Why can’t we just take the bus?” Alex’s anger came through even the simplest sentence.
Rain waited for the group to file out of the room, Tomás and the priest last, talking back and forth in quiet Spanish.
“They are out of control,” Nora said when the rest of the group continued arguing about transportation out into the hallway.
He let out a sigh and slid one hand onto the back of his head, rubbing at his short hair. “I can’t lead a team like this.”
“No one trusts each other. They’re all enforcers. I think it was a mistake for the alphas to pick ten random people and send them on a mission together.”
Rain’s laugh echoed in the empty room. “I thought that from the beginning.”
“Well, you were right.” She hunted around for her other shoe. Nora had done an admirable job of dressing herself quickly after Maggie had knocked on the door, but there were details that still weren’t quite right.
Her hair was a little messy—which he loved, because it reminded him of the sex they’d had, and almost had—and one of her earrings was missing. She only had one shoe on, and she hadn’t buttoned the cuffs of her white shirt.
But he loved the reminders of
the night they’d just spent, and the fact that each one of the missing pieces had a story that led back to him. He wanted her life to always be that way.
* * *
Nora was doing this. She’d told Rain she was all in, and she really was. If it hadn’t been for Maggie interrupting, they would probably already have done the bonding spell. Now she was excited and terrified at the same time. What was she going to do about her father? Where would they go? How fast could they finish this damn mission and disappear together? Would she get more tattoos on her arms? Would the ones she already had change?
“Nora?” His voice pulled her out of her worried haze.
She glanced up and started. He was standing outside the car they’d been riding in, waiting for her to follow. How did she miss him getting out? Of course, she didn’t remember much of the drive either.
Nora tugged the cuffs on her sleeves down to cover the edges of her tattoos before she took Rain’s offered hand and climbed out of their ride. Habit. She didn’t need to hide them anymore. Rain knew that secret. And he hadn’t cast her aside after hearing it. In fact, he’d only pulled her closer.
The whole group stood on the sidewalk. Even the priest gave her a once over. They all knew she and Rain had slept together. Obvious didn’t begin to cover it, but it was embarrassing to get a guilt-trip-frown from a priest. Who was he to judge her? He didn’t know her.
“Let’s do this,” she snapped, putting a little of her old attitude out there. They all already hated her because she was a Cavanaugh, because she’d been put in charge, and finally because she was sleeping with the man she’d put in charge. It was one gigantic topsy-turvy-clusterfuck. She was ready for it to be over.
Nora straightened her shoulders and flashed Rain a quick wink.
His features shifted from concerned mate to focused-soldier-face. “Where do we go, Father?” he asked in Spanish.
“I have it hidden. Please wait in the garden.” He pointed to an enclave with benches and a few green shrubs. Nothing was blooming right now. “I will bring it out to you.”
Rain nodded. “Thank you.”
Everyone moved toward the enclave, but no one sat down.
“So who thinks the priest is going to disappear into that cathedral and never come back out?” Dani asked, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. “Someone should’ve gone with him.”
“It’ll be fine, Dani.” Maggie tapped away on her tablet. “Quit worrying so much.”
“We’re not really going to let him put it on the angel’s wing and call forth the mountain people are we?” The uptight Kentucky wolf shifted from one foot to the other.
“Of course not,” Rain growled. “No one is signaling anyone. We go on our own terms to find them. I do have a feeling they will be the key to finding the man we’re hunting.”
Nora turned at the sound of footsteps on the pavement behind her. The priest was crossing the courtyard, book in hand.
The whole group stood quietly, waiting. The priest handed the book to Rain and everyone held their breath.
Nora took a step closer, but still couldn’t see the opened pages.
“It’s written for only those who can read it,” the father stated. “Do you know what it means?”
Rain frowned and handed the book to Maggie.
She took it and flipped through a few pages. “It’s a coded ledger.” Maggie glanced at Rain, then at the priest. “We need to get this to the alphas and scanned into a computer to be analyzed and decoded. On first glance it looks like names and numbers. Could be johns and transactions.”
Rain nodded to the father. “Thank you for helping us. This book is exactly what we were looking for,” he said in Spanish.
“You can’t take it. I have to put it—”
Rain spoke calmly, assuring the priest they’d make sure the book went where it needed to go.
Nora nodded in agreement. She understood enough Spanish to get the gist. They needed the priest to believe them and let them take the book without a fuss.
Tomás stepped forward and backed up Rain, speaking faster than Nora could keep up with. But whatever he was saying, the priest seemed to be relaxing more.
Nora pulled Rain aside. “We have to figure out how to find these men, but you and I can’t keep going on this mission.”
He nodded and leaned forward touching his forehead to hers. “I know.”
The contact soothed some of the worry in the pit of her stomach. They’d been so close to bonding before Maggie had interrupted. It would’ve happened. She knew he wanted it. And she did too.
“We need to be the ones who take the book back to the alphas,” he said softly.
“Yes,” she whispered. Alphas. Shit. “We can’t say the bond spell.” The words rushed from her lips. Her heart raced and her hands sweated. Her father would know. He would feel it. He’d be waiting and Rain wouldn’t make it out of Vegas alive.
“What?” he growled.
“Not yet. My father. He’ll know. He’ll feel it like he did with Paul. He’ll find a way to get to you.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. She brushed them away, hoping the others were too enamored with the priest and his stories about the angel and people descending from the mountains to see her meltdown.
“Hey.” Rain cupped her face and bent down, covering her lips with his. “Breathe. I have a plan.”
Chapter Nine
Las Vegas, Nevada
Rain woke to the worst sound in the world when he opened his eyes to the charter jet door opening. He’d planned on three solid hours of sex on the plane, but after takeoff, he had fallen asleep with Nora’s hand in his pants, and woken to find she hadn’t moved, either.
Best laid plans.
She busied herself with pouring cups of cold water and setting them on the little conference table in the charter jet. The only saving grace was that the jet cabin didn’t smell like sex.
They had very little time before Nora’s father would recognize that the strength of her presence had changed, and he needed to speak to Francis.
Clunking steps sounded at the front of the cabin, and Rain stood to greet his alpha. The old man smiled his big Santa smile and gave Rain a bear hug.
“You’re back.” Francis clapped him on the back. “I’m assuming you plan to tell me why I had to come here in secret, and why I couldn’t bring Nora’s father.”
Rain reached behind him and gripped Nora’s hand. She closed both of hers around his and leaned against him.
“We have the book,” Rain said. “Did you bring the cryptologist?”
Francis gestured behind him where a short, pixie-haired young woman was almost hidden by the bulk of his body. “This is Jeanette Sureda. I promise you, Edward Cavanaugh won’t miss her.”
“Is the council still meeting?” Rain asked.
Nora handed the leather-bound book to Francis and sat at the table. “And do you know where my father is, right now?”
“The council is not meeting.” Francis narrowed his eyes. “But Edward has been systematically meeting with each of the pack alphas, trying to determine whether or not anyone had knowledge of unbonded wolves before Jared found Elise at the LeBlanc charity auction.”
Nora squeezed Rain’s hand and pulled him down into the seat beside her. “He always wants to know what everyone knows, and when they knew it.”
“Well, it gave me a chance to slip away undetected, because he won’t need to meet with me.” Francis gave them both a wide smile. “He already knows everything I know.”
Francis passed the book to Jeanette and she ran her hands over the leather with greedy fingers. She opened the book to the first page, then flipped it over and ran her fingertips over the back cover.
“Jeanette used to work for the FBI as an analyst,” Francis said. “She’s with the Suredas in Miami.”
Rain had a momentary flash of Alejandro and felt a pang of sadness for the way they’d left things with the rest of the group, back in Guadalajara. If he had been a better leader, perhap
s it wouldn’t have been so contentious. Alex was a nice enough guy, and he had good instincts. But he didn’t respect Rain, and he couldn’t blame the guy. There’d been nothing he could do to fight his attraction to Nora. It would’ve over-ridden a monk’s chastity to be pulled toward a woman like this.
He ran his hand down her thigh, under the table. He would sacrifice missional integrity for Nora. And whatever respect Tomás or Alex might have had for him. Or anyone else. He didn’t care.
Nora deserved his undivided loyalty, above a team or a mission.
Francis slid a hand onto the table. “Rain. Are you okay?”
It took him a long moment to collect himself, but he met his alpha’s eyes and nodded. “I am now.”
“I need to speak to you about your instructions.” Francis glanced between Rain and Nora. “I need to know more about why you’re requesting this before I grant it.”
He expelled a long breath. “Nora’s father is all but holding her hostage, Francis. He tells her what she can and can’t do, who she can and can’t date or marry, and is generally medieval when it comes to her freedom.”
A long, white eyebrow rounded and Francis made a thoughtful noise. “I suspected as much.”
“I’m afraid of what he’ll do to Rain.” Nora scrabbled for his hand. “My last…boyfriend. My father did not approve.”
“I’m not afraid of Edward Cavanaugh.” Rain grunted. “He can come at me all he wants.”
“Except you will not always be with her,” Francis noted.
Rain pushed air from his lungs. He hated to admit this, but it was true. He wouldn’t always be able to protect Nora from her father. “If you were to bond with her,” Rain began, and Francis held up a hand.
“I know what you’re saying.”
“You have to override her father’s alpha bond before I can make her my mate.” Rain slid his arm around Nora’s waist and pulled her in to his side. “Otherwise, her father will always be able to find us.”
Francis folded his hands on the table. “He will feel it at once.”
The Werewolf Ranger (Moonbound Book 3) Page 7