by C. D. Hersh
Fiona rose halfway out of her chair and held out her hand in greeting as they sat down. “This is strange,” she said when they’d shaken hands. “Meeting you again like this. Not as a P.I. but as a brother.” She twirled the mug in front of her, the steam twisting into a tight spiral. “Sorry. I’m nervous. I chatter when I’m nervous.”
Rhys reached over and stilled the rotating mug. “I’m nervous, too.”
He gave her one of his charismatic smiles meant to charm. Alexi kicked him under the table in an attempt to warn him. The bright smile faded a bit. Fiona didn’t need her big brother inadvertently persuading his sister to like him before they got a chance to really know each other.
“So what do newly introduced siblings discuss?” Fiona asked.
“Tell me about Mom,” Rhys suggested.
“Not a lot to tell. She was a good woman. Hardworking. Always smiling, but even as a child I could see the sadness in her eyes. I never understood why, until now. She loved me and my dad a lot. Did she love your dad?”
“Considering she went into hiding from him, I’d have to think not. At least not by then.”
“Sorry. That wasn’t considerate of me.” She took a gulp of her coffee.
“That’s okay. I dealt with that a long time ago.”
An awkward pause filled the air. To keep from filling the silence, Alexi bit her tongue. No matter how much she wanted this to work for Rhys, she must remain the observer.
“I see you’re not wearing Mom’s ring.”
“I took Alexi’s advice and locked it in the safe at home. It seemed a prudent thing to do.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want to lose you before I got a chance to know you.” He smiled warmly at her, and Fiona relaxed. “So, what do you want to know about me?”
Leaning in close to him, she whispered, “What are you if you’re not a werewolf?”
“We don’t reveal that,” he whispered back.
“Oh.” Disappointment filled her face.
“It’s safer this way.”
“Then what can you tell me? Is being a shifter a good thing? A bad thing?”
Concerned over the direction of Fiona’s questions, Alexi laid her hand on Rhys’ arm and, channeling Rhys’ powers, scanned her sister-in-law’s aura. Bright lemon spikes in a dark brownish yellow, tinged with muddy green and a hint of muddy blue. She feared losing control or power, stressed, feeling like a victim, and perhaps afraid of facing the truth. All easily related to her business struggles or the recent knowledge of her family and herself. Still, discussing shifters wasn’t appropriate in such a public place.
“If you want to know more, we need to plan a private meeting,” Alexi said. “We thought meeting the first time as siblings,” she emphasized the last word, “would go easier in a public setting.”
“Oh,” she said, the disappointment obvious in her voice. “What was our brother like?”
“He looked a lot like me.”
She smiled at his joke.
“But that’s where the resemblance ended. He was bad. Very bad, at first. But he died saving me.”
“I’m sorry I can’t meet him.”
Rhys laid his hands on the table, palms up, and Fiona placed her hands in his. “I’m sorry too, but now we’ve found each other, I’ll be there for you. Speaking of being there, I need to tell you something. Break off all relationships with OmniWorld. The representative I saw in your office the first day I visited is an evil shifter.”
“What does he want with my business?”
“Don’t know, but we’ll figure it out together.”
“I’m counting on that, Rhys,” she said with a smile that faded as seven people surrounded the table.
“You need to get out of here, now,” Mary Kate whispered in Alexi’s ear as she touched her on the shoulder. “We have incoming. Grab Fiona.”
Motioning to Fiona, she said, “We have to go. All of us.”
“What’s happening?” Fiona asked.
Sweeping her gaze around the coffee shop, Mary Kate replied, “Shifters, and not ours.”
Rhys jumped up from his chair and moved to Fiona’s side. “I’ll take care of her. Lexi, go with Mary Kate and your protection detail.”
Fiona blinked rapidly and her forehead wrinkled. “She has a protection detail? Why?”
“Because rogue shifters have attacked me twice.”
“What do they want?”
“Don’t know and I don’t plan to find out.” Flanking Fiona on the other side, Alexi ushered her to the front door. “Hurry, and do everything he says. We’re all in danger. We don’t know who they’re after.”
Eli, shifted into his young man mimic, was waiting at headquarters when the protection detail delivered Alexi. Not having her sensing powers was like driving a car blindfolded. She hated being in the dark like this.
“You didn’t need to call him,” she said to Mary Kate when Eli rushed toward her like a concerned parent.
“Keeper’s orders, and I never question the Keeper of the Stone.” Mary Kate took her usual stance beside the door, her hand inside the waist of her jacket where she kept a dangerous looking knife.
“Sae, how did the meeting go?”
“She’s more interested in the shifting side of my husband than the brother side. I’m not sure I like that.”
“’Tis probably curiosity aboot the unknown, but I agree it warrants keeping an eye on. If she’s aiming tae join us, we need tae know as soon as possible. Aside from that, what did ye think?”
“She’s afraid and stressed, not that I can blame her. Her whole world, professional and personal, appears to be crashing down around her. Rhys promised he wouldn’t let her down. I just hope she does the same. I don’t think he could bear to lose one more family member.”
“Then we’ll just havetae see she doesnae let him down.”
A knock interrupted their conversation. Mary Kate opened the door and ushered in Owen.
“I didn’t expect to see you today,” Alexi said. “Do you have some hard proof?”
“I managed to get more, but I need help.”
“That’s always your story, Owen. First it’s something for Sylvia. Now something for you. What do you want this time?”
“Remember the RFID chip I told you Falhman implanted in my arm?”
“Yeah.”
“I want to get it out, and I need the photo to do it. I thought cousin Rhys could help me.”
“Cousin?” Alexi said, arching an eyebrow at him.
“You did get the DNA test back, right?”
“I did. But you’re my cousin, not his.”
“Tiny technicality. Cousin-in-law.”
“What does he need to do?”
“Identify Falhman when he leaves his penthouse and watch for his return so I can go in and search his office. He takes a regular night appointment each week. I can’t scan auras and I’m sure Rhys can. He could spot dear old dad, I’m sure, and let me know when he returns.”
“You’re just going to waltz into Falhman’s office?”
“I think I can pull the wool over the butler’s eyes long enough for another search.”
Eli leaned close to her. “’Tis a cocky little son ‘o the—”
“Shush,” she commanded.
He clamped his mouth shut with a snap.
Rotating away from Owen, she whispered to Eli, “This may be what we need to solve Hugh’s dilemma. If Rhys can identify Falhman’s aura, perhaps he can connect him to Hugh’s mimic shifter. We’d know who slept with LJ. And we’d have a fix on the kingpin himself. With Rhys knowing his auric signature, we could track him.”
“Verra well. We’ll talk tae Rhys aboot it.”
Facing Owen she said, “Okay. I think we can arr
ange that. Now, what do you have?”
Withdrawing a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket, Owen handed it to her. “I don’t know all the details, but Falhman’s plans involve something during the Cleveland Rocks event on New Year’s Eve. I found this the last time I searched his office.”
“Blueprints of Public Square?” Alexi said as she looked at the paper.
“Not just the square. If you look closer you can see he’s marked some of the surrounding buildings, as well as planter boxes and lighting.”
“One of the attacks on me occurred near this marking.” She pointed to the spot where she was attacked. “Some of the lights were blinking that night.”
“You might have surprised some of his shifters working on whatever he’s planning.”
“I’ll have someone check this out.”
“Dinna remove anything. Until ye’ve got the rest o’ the plan, ye dinna want tae tip him off.”
“Smart thinking.” Returning her attention to Owen, she said, “I’ll contact you once I know if you’ve given me reliable intel. We’ll discuss your problem then.”
“What about my mother?”
“I’ll have an answer soon.”
Owen stood and moved into her personal space. Unable to sense him, she fought the urge to step back. Eli and Mary Kate jumped on either side of him, dragging him backward. He shook them off and squared himself to her. “I’m keeping my part of this deal. You’d better do the same.” His voice sounded low and menacing.
“Are you threatening me, Owen?”
“I never threaten. Remember that, cousin dear.” Spinning on his heel, he strode from the room.
Alexi tried to hide the shiver running over her. Eli was right. The Son of the Moonless Night was no better than his mother. Suddenly, a wave of nausea flooded over her, and she ran to the bathroom.
How would she protect herself and this baby if facing down the likes of Owen Todd Jordan Riley gave her the willies?
Hugh and Rhys slammed the pickup doors shut in tandem. As Rhys beeped the lock, Hugh asked, “Think we’ll see Owen tonight?
“I’m counting on it. Alexi said he came into the precinct this afternoon and gave them Public Square blueprints and a story on something going down New Year’s Eve. She’s assigned a detail, along with some of Mary Kate’s shifters, to check it out. We should know in the morning if he’s actually given us something to work with. Did we get the video feed working?”
“Yeah. Nothing new has happened though. The dry runs must be over since Owen said the shipment should arrive soon.”
As they rounded a corner of one of the warehouses, Rhys threw his arm out. Hugh halted, his senses tuned to high, wishing he knew what stopped his partner. “Shifters?”
“A lot. I don’t want to go any farther and risk them sensing me. You’ll have to take the lead on this.”
“I’ve got the transmitter.” He searched the area around them. No onlookers. “Wanta go hawk?”
In the blink of an eye, Rhys shifted to his animal persona and flapped up from the ground, perching lightly on his coat. After attaching the transmitter to the hawk’s leg, Hugh put the earpiece in his right ear and hid the wire under his scarf. “Watch my back, buddy,” he said. The hawk bobbed its head and flew off. Once airborne, the bird squawked and then started circling. Taking the motion as a direction indicator of the shifters, Hugh crept forward.
The knot of men gathered in the shadows of a warehouse, voices pitched low. Hugh inched toward them, slipping between pools of light cast by the security lampposts. As he neared, the cluster of men opened slightly, and he caught sight of the man in the middle, handing envelopes to the press of men around him.
Owen Todd.
Doing what? A pay off? A handout of instructions?
Adjusting his billed sock hat lower on his brow, Hugh moved to the edge of the group, careful to stay far enough away to avoid contact. Rhys told him if he touched a low-level shifter they would know immediately he wasn’t one of them.
One of the men checked the envelope. “This ain’t all my pay,” he grumbled.
“You’ll get the rest at completion. When the ship comes in, start a riot. I don’t want anyone to notice what’s coming off the cargo dock.”
“How much of a riot?”
“Can we burn stuff?”
Hugh could hear the evil how-much-ass-can-I-kick tone in the questions, and he didn’t like it. Riots were ugly. So was mob mentality, and from what he understood of rogue mimic shifters, they were as close to mob mentality as one could get.
“No arson. We don’t want the fire department here. Knock a few heads together. Create chaos. Keep the attention off the loading docks, but don’t kill anyone.”
“Falhman don’t care if we kill.”
“Well I do. It’s my ass on the line if we get caught. Don’t kill the humans.”
A disgruntled grumble ran through the men. “You ain’t my boss,” one of the men said. “If I want to off a human, I guess I can.”
In one fluid motion, Owen grabbed the protester by the throat, lifting him onto tiptoes. “I am your boss. Falhman says so.”
A low growl rolled from Owen and his eyes glowed gold, highlighted with a black strip in the center. A ripple of surprise ran through the circle of men and they stepped back, watching him dangle his opponent, choking him until he nearly blacked out. Suddenly, he loosed his grip and the man fell to the ground, gasping.
“You can off one, if you want to, but you’ll be next.”
The gasping man scrambled backward on the ground. “Ain’t gonna. I swear.”
Eyes still glowing, Owen looked around the circle. “Anyone else want to question my orders?”
A chorus of “No. Not me’s” ran through the group.
Owen tipped his head to the side, as if loosening a kink, and his eyes returned to normal. “Great. Now get out of here.”
Hugh flattened himself against the building as the men rushed away. When the tail end of the group passed, he joined them and hurried off before Owen could make him. “Meet me by the truck,” he whispered into the transmitter. Rhys’ affirmative squawk sounded in his ear.
As Rhys shifted back into his human persona, he asked, “What’d you hear?”
“They’re planning a riot timed with the arrival of a night shipment.”
“That should help narrow it down. Did he say what was coming in?”
“No. Just that the riot needs to draw attention away from the dock.”
“We’ll let Fiona know in the morning and check the arrival logs.”
“Did you see anything from the air?”
“The shifters dispersed after the meeting. All the crew left in the shipping yard is human.” He opened the truck doors and they climbed in. “We’re done here.”
“Some of the shifters wanted to torch the dock and kill during the riot.”
Rhys stopped, his hand halfway to the ignition. “We’re going to need a lot of backup. Police. Fire. Even the Coast Guard.”
“Don’t think so. Owen backed them down. Threatened to kill them if they harmed any humans. I think it scared the crap out of them.”
“Not a very Falhmanish move. The safeguarding of humans. Falhman takes every advantage to terrorize his people.”
“Do you think Owen’s on the level?”
“Hard to tell. Rogue shifters are a tricky lot. Eli says it’s why they couldn’t catch Osama bin Laden.” Rhys started the engine.
“Bin Laden? What’s he got to do with this conversation?”
“He was a shifter. It’s easy to disappear into thin air around humans. They have no idea they’re looking right at you when you’re in another form.”
“Does Homeland Security know this?”
“Sylvia Ril
ey was Homeland Security, until just recently. What do you think?”
“Another reason why we need to stop these terrorists.”
“Alexi will like hearing Owen is protecting humans. Might lend some credibility to him.” Rhys put the pickup in gear and headed toward the gate. “We’re having trouble convincing Eli to help Sylvia.”
“Can’t say as I blame him. With rogues supposedly protecting us at Homeland Security and shifter terrorists on the loose, it’s getting harder and harder to know who to trust.”
Chapter 32
Kat scrambled over the chain link fence surrounding the shipyard and headed to her car. She’d seen enough tonight to know Owen was up to no good. As she hurried home, she scoured her brain to find a connection between what he was doing at the shipyard and the murders he’d committed. Nothing made sense.
The good and bad of him jumbled together like a knot she couldn’t untangle. What was she missing? Which thread would unravel this mystery? The only thing touching every part of his activities was his supernatural persona.
Except the child, Roc, and the brother. Who were they? How were they connected to the shifter world? She needed to find out more about the captain’s brand of shifters. Maybe something would click.
She’d barely closed the door and hung up her coat, when Owen arrived. Sweeping her into his arms, he kissed her like they’d been apart for months.