by Ann Gimpel
The car lurched away from the restaurant’s back door and down a narrow alleyway. “Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Good question. Where would you like to be taken?”
“I think Max expects me to be at work.”
“I suppose it’s as safe as anywhere else. Certainly a better choice than your house.” He blew out a terse-sounding breath.
“What happened back there? Why’d you tell us we had to leave?”
“I can’t give you particulars, mademoiselle, but you were in danger.”
Her heart seized. It was a full time job to keep her wolf at bay. “Is the bad guy still in there?”
“I’m afraid so.”
She clutched Johannes’ arm. “Turn the car around. We have to go back for Max.”
“He’s our mated one. We cannot leave him. Jump out of the car. Run back. Now.”
Audrey’s fingers curved into claws. One emerged, dark and shining, and snagged on Johannes’ jacket sleeve. She yanked her hands into her lap and fought the transformation with every shred of her being. “Stop that. If people find out, we’re screwed.”
Johannes glanced at her partially transformed hands with an odd expression on his face. “Get hold of yourself. Take a few deep breaths. Max has two guards to watch over him. Besides, he’s a big boy. He’s pretty competent at taking care of himself.”
The claw retracted, and she inhaled shakily. Why hadn’t Johannes said anything about seeing it? Desperate to change the subject, she asked, “How long have you known him?”
“Long enough.”
“I think it’s more than that. There’s something easy between you that makes me think you grew up together or something.”
“We didn’t.”
“Man of few words, eh?”
“Not always. I would lay down my life to protect Max, though. You’d be wise not to forget that.”
“I’m fond of him myself.” Her eyes widened. “Ah crap, I can’t believe I just said that. Forget you heard it, okay? Must be the wine.”
Johannes chuckled. “No worries, mademoiselle. I suspect Max is fond of you as well. There’s no easy way to say this, but you must learn to keep your, ah, other side under better wraps. This is your building. I will drop you within sight of the uniformed guard next to the front door. When you get out, run directly up the steps and go inside.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to help Max.”
“I thought you said he didn’t need any help.”
“He doesn’t, but I feel better when I’m close enough to do some good. Out, mademoiselle.”
She opened her door. “Don’t let anything happen to him.” The pleading in her tone stunned her.
“I don’t plan to. Close the fucking door, so I can get out of here.”
Chapter 7
Max walked slowly until he heard the back door open and shut. Christ! Everyone in the place probably heard it. The alarm went off like a klaxon. He quickened his pace. “Senator Bellotti. What a nice surprise.” Max extended a hand. The plump, middle-aged Italian grasped it with a sweaty palm.
With a knowing smirk on his face, the senator glanced down the hall. “What did you do to that poor girl? She was so anxious to get away, she went through a fire exit.”
“She’s just racing home to warm the bed for me. You know how they are.”
“Well, I used to. Not quite as, ahem, active as I was when I was just a young blade like you. Say, I wanted to bend your ear about that mess in Berkeley yesterday.”
Max nodded. It made sense. That was Bellotti’s district. “I think everything’s more-or-less under control—” he began.
The senator rolled his eyes. “Not judging by the volume of messages bombarding my office. What can we do to reassure the people they aren’t going to be ripped to shreds in the streets by shifters who’ve run amok?”
Max sat on anger that flared, pushing it deep so nothing would show on his face. He tried for a placating diversion. “Normally, I’d say time would cure things, but we’re close to the end of our resources. Water’s a huge problem in the southern part of the state. We’re going to have to tighten the ration coupon system and people always react badly to that.”
“What does that have to do with my people’s immediate safety?” Senator Bellotti asked indignantly. His dark eyes were nearly lost in folds of fat. Greasy dark hair was plastered against his scalp. Expensive aftershave nearly choked Max’s hypersensitive nose.
Max took a measured breath. He wanted to say it was obvious the senator hadn’t missed very many meals, so he couldn’t fully appreciate the looming ration coupon crisis. Instead, he murmured, “Everything is interconnected. People panic when basics like food and water are threatened. There will be an influx of people leaving southern California. Many of them will land in the Bay Area, straining already thin resources—”
Bellotti waved him to silence. “Never mind. I get all that. What are you going to do today about my problem?”
Sock you in your overfed gut? Max forced a smile. “How about this. You get together with the four other Bay Area senators. Call my secretary, Audrey Westen, and make an appointment. We can brainstorm some solutions.”
“I don’t want an appointment next week.”
Max swallowed irritation. “You can have one later today if you get moving on it.”
Something changed in the air currents. Maybe a different scent made it through the curtain of Bellotti’s aftershave, maybe something even more subtle caught his attention. Max threw himself over Bellotti’s body and drove both of them to the wooden floorboards.
“What the fuck?” Bellotti’s muffed shriek was drowned out by the phut-phut of laser weapons.
“Stay down boss,” someone, probably one of Loren’s men, called. “We’re on it.”
“Yeah,” the other yelled. “Put that tub of lard on top of you.”
“I resent that.” Bellotti writhed beneath Max’s weight.
“Stay put, goddammit,” Max hissed. “You’ll get us killed.” More gunfire. Muted shrieks. Max’s wolf lobbied hard, pushing for a shift.
“Let me out. I can get us out of here.”
“Yeah, right. Blow our cover all to hell. Shut up. You’ll get your turn. Just not now.”
“At least you got our mated one to safety.”
Max didn’t reply. His wolf seemed so certain about Audrey, but Max wasn’t buying it. His mated one would be a shifter—just like him. Audrey was an amazing woman, but she’d find another human partner, not a shifter like him. Pain hit him just beneath the solar plexus. It was so intense, he wondered if he’d been hit, but then he realized the sting was emotional. The thought of Audrey wrapped in another man’s arms drove him mad with jealousy.
“There are lots of shifter-human matings,” the wolf said. “Besides, you’re wrong about her. She’s just like us.”
“We’ll talk about that later. I need to concentrate to get us out of this.”
After what seemed like a long time, but was really only minutes, silence descended. “You can get off me now. I’m sick of eating dust. They really should clean this place better,” Bellotti complained.
“We stay put until my security squad tells me it’s safe to move.”
“Who wants to kill you? This is, what, the second attempt on your life in twenty-four hours?”
“How do you know they weren’t after you?” Max countered. “After all, you’re the one with all those relatives in organized crime.”
“Bullshit! You have no right to—”
“Oh, stand down for Christ’s sake. Your background’s not exactly a state secret. How about thanking me for saving your sorry ass? The lasers would have cut right through both of us. Look.” He pointed to gaping holes in the wall inches above their heads.
“I can’t see shit. You’ve got me pinned.”
“Okay, you can take my word for it.”
Footsteps raced toward them. Arms pulled Max to his feet. “Boss. Thank
the good Lord you hit the deck.” The guard, a blond who looked as if he lived at the gym, brushed dust off Max’s sleeves.
“Yeah, what tipped you off?” Loren, who’d arrived at some point after Max left the dining room, hurried to Max’s side with three other security personnel. “We saw the bastards sneak in through a side door. I knew you’d been warned and figured you’d be safe in your car. Why didn’t you leave?”
Max hooked a thumb at Bellotti. “He needed to talk with me.”
Red-faced, the senator looked as if he’d run a race, or tried to. He was breathing so hard, Max wondered if he weren’t about to have a heart attack or a stroke. “If I’d known what a shit magnet you were,” he muttered, “I would’ve kept my mouth shut.”
Max tapped Loren’s arm. “Assign a man to drive the senator back to the Capitol or wherever he wants to go.”
“Thanks,” Bellotti said dully. “I’ll take my own car, but if they could follow me, that would be great.”
“Now, about that meeting,” Max said.
“Never mind.” Bellotti shook his head. “It’s not safe to be around you.” He stalked down the hall. One of the guards ran after him.
“Come on.” Loren tugged on Max’s arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Johannes burst into the hall and launched himself at Max, thumping him on the back. “You’re looking alive. Sorry I missed the fireworks. Must have been a hell of a show judging from the fissures in the walls.”
Max turned to face Johannes. His heart had to be in his face, but hopefully only someone who knew him as well as Johannes would see it. “Audrey?”
Johannes smiled. “She’s fine.”
Max shut his eyes; relief coursed through him. When he opened them again, he said, “Let’s get out of here. Be sure and tell the proprietor we’ll take care of any damages.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Johannes said.
Max walked out of the restaurant flanked by Johannes, Loren, and four other guards. He headed toward Loren’s car, but Johannes grabbed his arm. “You might want to drive with me. We need to talk.”
“Fine.” A muscle in Loren’s jaw twitched. “We’ll be right behind you. Sure you don’t want one of my guys in the car?”
“If you put us in the middle with a car in front and one behind, that’s probably a better plan,” Johannes suggested. Max heard compulsion running beneath the words. It was part of Johannes’ shifter magic.
A corner of Loren’s mouth turned down. “Hate to admit it, but I agree with you. See you back at the shop.”
* * * *
Max sat in the front seat, not caring what the rest of the security squad thought of the arrangement. As soon as Johannes shut his door, Max asked. “Bugs?”
“Nope. Swept the car—again.”
“What the hell happened? Who’s targeting me?”
“We’re working on it. Ryan thinks it’s one of those virulent anti-shifter groups like Take Our Country Back or Humans Unite.”
“But no one knows I’m a shifter. Not for certain.” Max clamped his teeth together. “Besides, I thought it was the AG’s office.”
“Vigilante groups have always operated by the same rules: kill first, ask questions later.” Johannes took a breath. “The only thing we know about the AG’s office is they’d assigned an operative to you, and O’Hare happened to be a friend of his. Based on the full body lie detector data on our brand new bear shifter, Ryan’s convinced the AG’s office had nothing to do with O’Hare’s attempt on your life.”
“Great. So O’Hare belonged to some sort of radical vigilante group. Do I need to go into hiding?”
“Do you really want me to answer that? I’m the one who thought you shouldn’t leave the house until we got to the bottom of this. You, on the other hand—”
“Enough. What did you want to talk about?”
“Audrey.”
Max’s stomach tightened. Johannes had spent time with her. Was his friend about to disclose he wanted her for himself? Or worse, they’d had a skirmish in the car. Audrey had been so hot, it wouldn’t have taken much to make her come. Maybe she’d seen an opportunity and taken it. After all, Johannes was a magnificent man. All shifters had an almost ethereal beauty, but he was even more eye-catching than most.
It was hard to articulate the words, “What about her?”
Johannes grinned. Max’s heart sank into his shoes. He recognized that grin: knowing and lewd. He and Johannes had shared enough women over the years. “Well.” It was clear Johannes was enjoying himself and was going to drag this out. “She was quite upset at the prospect of leaving you behind. More than upset—distraught.”
Max groaned. “Don’t tell me. You comforted her. Damsel in distress and all that.”
“Not that I didn’t want to, but she got so wound up, the hand she had on my arm turned into a paw.”
Max’s eyes widened as the implications sank in.
“See,” his wolf crowed. “Told you so. She’s just like us.”
“W-what happened then?”
“I told her to get herself under control. She obviously doesn’t have very much experience keeping her bond animal hidden. They can be damned headstrong.”
“I resent that.” The wolf broadcasted his commentary so Johannes would be sure to hear.
Johannes grunted. “Resent all you like. It’s the truth. My cat is just as reckless and impulsive. He needs me, whether he knows it or not.”
“Great.” Max slammed a palm against his forehead. “Now you’re talking to my wolf.”
“He wanted me to hear him.” Johannes tossed a hand skyward in one of his trademark gestures.
“Could you tell what kind of paw?”
“Huh?” Johannes scratched the stubble dotting his chin. “Oh, of course you’d want to know. All I saw was a claw and a bit of fur. It could have been anything. Wolf, bear, cat. Who knows?”
Max shook his head, still assimilating the information. “I don’t understand. Unless her personnel records are fake. They say her mother was human and her father 75 percent shifter. By my count, that pegs her at roughly 37 percent, which isn’t enough to shift.”
“It is curious.” Johannes took over driving from the nav system and maneuvered the car into the underground parking garage. “I could be wrong, but I’m almost certain she hasn’t been able to shift for very long. If I hadn’t helped anchor her human form with a spot of magic, I think she would have shifted right here in the car.”
“Hmph. Arousal could have fueled the transformation.” Max’s jaw tightened. “Did she, uh, come on to you?” He steeled himself for an answer that would destroy him.
“Strong emotions push us to shift, but I don’t think you have much to worry about. She was frantic about your safety. Damn near forced me to turn the car around. I think that’s why her bond animal wanted out: to return to you.”
“It’s a lovely theory, but—”
“It’s more than a theory. You didn’t see the look on her face.” Johannes parked in Max’s personal spot right next to the elevator.
Something hot and bright speared Max, catching him in the heart. He pushed the car door open, got his briefcase from the backseat, and loped to the elevator. Johannes joined him. “You’re supposed to wait until I get out of the car and can cover you,” he chided.
Max rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
Johannes spun Max to face him and placed a hand on each shoulder. “Goddammit!” he snarled. “This is not a joke.”
“What? Let go, the elevator’s here.”
“We can catch the next one.” Johannes waited until the door closed. “There have been two attempts on your life. Serious ones. If you weren’t what you are, both probably would have been the end of you. We,” he moved a hand and jabbed a finger into Max’s chest, “cannot afford to lose you. And I’m not talking about the State of California.”
“Lighten up. I’m still here.”
“Mmph. We’re having a meeting tonight at nine with Ryan, De
von, and our primary folk in Europe and the U.K. We’ll make some decisions.”
“What if we’re not home by then?”
“Arrange things so we are. Ryan and I floated a bunch of times. Nine our time is five in the morning for our partners. It worked for everyone.”
“What are you hoping to accomplish?”
“Max,” the cat shifter switched to telepathic speech, “the first order of business is finding out who wants to kill you. If we can manage that, it might be safe for you to keep your dual life intact. If not, we need to rethink things.”
“What if I don’t agree with the consensus?”
“You know the answer to that.” Johannes dropped his hands to his sides.
Max pushed the button to call the elevator. He did know the answer. The shifter hierarchy managed by group decision-making. If they decided it was too risky, they’d ask him to step down from his governorship, except he wouldn’t be stepping down, he’d simply disappear. Long before he was declared dead, his lieutenant governor would take over, and then there’d be a special election to replace him.
They rode up the many floors to the one right below his office where reception was located in silence. The door whooshed open on a foyer full of people who wanted to talk with him. Audrey glanced up from her work and said, “They have numbers. I’ll send the first one in as soon as you tell me you’re ready.”
Max’s jaw clamped down, forming a determined line. What he wanted to do was whisk Audrey into his office, gather her close, and make the rest of the world go away while he asked her about what Johannes had seen. Instead, he picked his way through the crowd, smiling and pressing outstretched hands. A few tried to talk with him, but he shook his head. “Later. When your turn comes.”
Johannes followed Max up the interior stairwell and into his office. Once inside, he secured the door. Max took a cursory look at his electronic inbox and groaned. “Shit! There’s enough work here to keep me busy until tomorrow—and that’s without that crowd in reception.”
He clicked the display on his wrist computer. “Audrey.”
“Sir?”
“Find out what each of those people needs. Group them so I can see several at a shot. I’m ready for the first bunch whenever you send them my way.”