Fuck. Thian had a moment to realize shit was going to go down, and then it did. You don't threaten a pack. You definitely don't threaten a rogue pack that has nothing to lose. It happened in an instant, too fast for Thian to have been able to do anything to prevent it, even if he wanted to.
He heard the sound of a blade flicking open, a shout for help that was quickly drowned out by the music and sounds of laughter from the ballroom. Within moments, the gurgle of dying breaths filled the air as the Mayor took his last. No one had heard him. No one would have been able to get to him, even if they'd heard his scream. It'd happened that fast. No one knew what had gone on in the room except him. Shit.
Attention drawn to the men still in the room, Thian's lips firmed once he realized they'd already formed a new plan, or this had been the plan all along.
“Find the daughter. We can't have any loose ends. He claimed she knew nothing, but I don't trust him. We'll put her with the rest. She's pretty enough, though she could stand to miss a few meals. Keep her sedated. She'll earn us a good price, even as a human.”
Chapter Eight
As the other in the room agreed, Thian was already moving. He had no idea where the other two were stationed, but he assumed at least one would be outside somewhere. He'd deal with that when they came to it. If the one had doubled back around and was in the ballroom, this could go fucking sideways quick. He just needed to focus on getting to Adele. After that, he'd pause to formulate a plan.
The Mayor was dead. There was nothing they'd be able to do about it now. Law enforcement could handle it. With any luck, the men had fucked up and left fingerprints or something and they were on file somewhere. Either way, he intended to be long gone with Adele by the time they cleaned up the scene in there and regrouped. He could take on one or two himself. Four would be pushing it, especially with Adele at his side.
Knowing the one tasked with getting her would be out to drag her to the room where she'd see her father as they were cleaning things up, he rounded the corner, heading straight for her. Taking her arm, he led her from the small upraised dais she'd been on, giving a slight shake of his head as she tried to ask what was going on. They didn't have time for it. He'd explain later. Right now, they needed to get out of there.
Later, he'd pay penance for not allowing her to say her goodbyes to her father. For rushing her out without allowing her to mourn, to know what was going on. For leaving her father's body behind. Right now, he was less concerned with what happened to that fucker, and more concerned with what would happen to Adele if he didn't get her out of here before the rogues caught up with her.
He'd parked his Night Rod at the side of the street next to the Plaza, out of view of the cameras. Adele had driven in separately with her father and one of their trusted drivers. If they could make it there, he could get her to safety first, then get in touch with the Club. With the new clothes he was wearing, he hoped he wasn't shedding as much scent as normal, so it'd make it harder for them to track him to the bike, at the very least. Hopefully they hadn't already staked it out. It wasn't like it was subtle.
Adele looked worried, her gaze going from watching where they were walking to his face, but to her credit, she didn't ask questions and kept up with his pace. He liked that. The few times he'd been on rescue missions, the women panicked, asked a flurry of questions, slowed shit down. Made too much goddamn noise. Adele was a breath of fresh air, keeping quiet and focused, her head down and out of sight as best as she could. She seemed to realize if he was ushering her out of here quickly, something had happened.
Spotting an exit sign hidden under the stairwell leading to the second floor, he veered off that way, propelling them into fresh air. It would give them a bit of a head start to use a side exit instead of one of the main ones. The shifters would expect them to want to mingle with the crowds still coming in and out, not to be walking alone. Two people alone who weren't attempting to hide wouldn't be expected.
A quick glance around to get his bearings and he started off, heading towards the area where he'd left the bike. He could smell the other shifter in the air, but the scent wasn't strong enough to mean he was right on top of them. He was likely moving, scouting the perimeter, or waiting at the main entrances like Thian expected he'd be. They'd emerged at the perfect time.
Once they'd safely reached the bike, he handed her the helmet. He didn't need it, not really. He'd heal. Besides, her long blonde hair was far more noticeable if more from the pack were out here looking for them. The glaring white dress couldn't be helped, but he gave her his suit jacket to cover up with somewhat. It was the best they could do under the current circumstances.
With the familiar feel of the engine purring between his thighs, he made certain she was holding him tightly before he took off, weaving between the lanes of traffic. He vaguely heard a shout behind him, but it was far enough away that he knew they didn't get a clear view of him or the bike.
He wished he'd been able to feel her behind him on his bike in a different situation. Just them and the open road, no worries, no fears. The crushing weight of deaths on his conscience and suspicions he didn't want to name. His cat was still clawing at him to claim a mate he wasn't sure he wanted. The fucking timing was terrible, but that was pretty much the story of his goddamn life. He couldn't even sit down and think through if he was ready for a mate, if he wanted that mate to be Adele. There was too much at stake, too many questions unanswered. First, he had to get them to safety and sort this shit out. Then? He'd have time to worry about the rest.
Now that he wasn't on foot, they wouldn't be able to track them through the city by his scent. It was the one good thing about this fucked up situation, he supposed. On the bike, weaving through traffic with ease, he made a hard target to follow. Without his scent on the ground, the rogues would be running blind, exactly how he needed to keep them in order to stay a few steps ahead.
He rode until they were out of the city center before he stopped at the local Walmart, pausing on the side of the parking lot that was still well lit but off the road and out of view of most of the cameras. It was the best he could do at the moment, there were too many fucking eyes in the sky. It'd look far too suspicious if all the cameras in their area suddenly stopped transmitting.
“Go inside. Grab something more comfortable to wear, a toothbrush, whatever you'll need for a few nights. Some food you'll eat, shit like that. Make sure it'll fit on the bike. Here, use cash. Don't use a card that can be traced.”
He handed her a couple twenties as he said it, then waited for her to head inside before he pulled out his phone. He needed to let the club know what had happened, and he didn't want her to hear father was gone that way.
Besides, where they were going, he had bare necessities, and nothing for a female. He couldn't go back to his apartment in town, not with his scent left around the square and at their McMansion. Sending her inside for supplies was a quick diversion that would give him time to make his call to Knox and update him on the situation.
If the pack was any good at tracking, they'd find his apartment fairly quick. They'd find the clubhouse too, if they didn't already know the location, but they wouldn't dare to attack it, not with the rest of the members stationed there. Unless they were suicidal, in which case, he figured the rest of his pack would be sure to oblige them.
Nah, he knew where he'd be taking her. It was somewhere only he knew about, which made it perfect for privacy. It was far enough away that they wouldn't be able to track him through the city, no matter how damn good they were at it. He just needed to let Knox know he'd be indisposed. Dialing the number, he kept a careful watch on the front of the store as he waited for it to be answered.
“Prez. There was a situation. Yeah, the Mayor is dead. I got Adele out, but we're going to head to a safe house. We were right, he was in deep. They were paying him off.”
As he listened, he spotted Adele coming towards him with a few bags, and hurried to end the conversation. “He asked for more. They
didn't appreciate the request. They alluded to selling the females. We just gotta figure out where they're going. I'll leave that up to you guys for now. I'll get her to safety. I doubt she had anything to do with it, but I'll make sure before anything else happens.”
Ending the connection, he took the change she handed him, ignoring the look of worry and fear on her face. She wanted to know what happened, why she'd been pulled out so fast. He couldn't tell her that until she was safe. He couldn't risk her running off, trying to get back to her father. Trying to alert law enforcement or do something fucking stupid. Once they were at the safe house, he'd sit her down and explain what happened. Until then, she just had to deal with the silence.
Riding down the interstate headed west, he took the exit toward Morrow Lake, driving along the lakefront properties there until the road split, diverging into two. Taking the one that led further into the woods, he followed it the length of the lake until they came to a small row of cabins that overlooked the lake instead of being right on it. He'd bought the land years ago to have a safe place to shift and run every once in a while.
No one knew he had it, not even his uncle. It was his private hideaway, which made it perfect for his purposes. The other cabins were summer rentals, rarely used, which meant he normally had the entire place to himself. It'd be a safe place to stash Adele and allow them to regroup while he figured out whether she had anything to do with her father's business dealings, and if so, what that meant for the situation at hand.
Pulling into the small carport, he tugged the tarp down over the bike to protect it from prying eyes and the elements before taking the bags from her, leading the way to the door. Unlocking it, he kicked it open, allowing her to enter.
“Welcome to your new home away from home, Princess. Might as well make yourself comfortable, we're going to be here a few days until we can sort out this fucking mess. I'll get coffee on.”
She frowned. “I don't want coffee. I want answers.”
Chapter Nine
He should have known she wasn't going to settle down without knowing what had happened first. Besides, she deserved to know, he couldn't keep her father's death from her. He might be an asshole, but he wasn't that much of an asshole that he'd allow her to find out from her phone. Speaking of...
“You need to turn your phone off. Completely, just in case. I have no idea how far this shit goes and I'm not willing to risk your life, Princess. You did your father's accounting. Did anything ever not add up? Suspicious invoices, strange deposits or withdrawals?”
She appeared confused, brows drawing tight at the questions, before she shook her head. “I don't know what you're insinuating, but my father's records are clean.”
“Are they? Or are you covering for him? I saw the second set in the safe, darling. Your father may be many things, but clean isn't one of them.”
At that, she stood, face paling. “What second set? What safe? Thian, what are you talking about? I handled all of dad's accounting. He hated technology, that's why everything was paper for him. I'm the one that had to input everything into digital software to keep him up to date. There was nothing in those records that didn't fit. I never saw a safe or second set of records. Nothing went into that office that wasn't run through me first. Everything was put into my laptop, and then he stashed them in his file cabinets in his own weird system. My father's accounting was clean. I made sure of it.”
He'd curse himself later, but he was a fucking fool, because he believed her. The outrage on her face, the confusion at there being a safe she didn't know about seemed real. As she paced, mumbling to herself, he had to adjust his perceptions. Perhaps she hadn't known. The shifters had said as much back at the Plaza. They hadn't believed he'd kept his daughter out of it even though the Mayor insisted so. Maybe he had. Holding up his hands in a placating motion, he gestured to the couch across from him as he sat on the overstuffed chair.
“You might want to sit down for this, Princess, you ain't gonna like it much. The first night I was at the house, I found some paperwork in your father's office, hidden in a safe behind one of the paintings on the wall. There were mobile deposits to what looked like offshore accounts, large ones. We verified them... each came the morning after one of the women went missing near the campus.”
He gave her a moment to really hear what he'd said before he continued, this time quieter. “At the charity ball, I followed him and some suspicious looking men to a side room, where he was demanding extra money because whatever deal they'd made had put you in danger. He wanted them to make the extra stress on him worth his while. As you can imagine, they didn't take kindly to what they assumed was blackmail. Your father is dead, Adele.”
“Once I heard that, they began talking about you, stating they were going to kidnap you to sell with the other women. They don't believe you didn't know anything, that your father kept you out of it. I knew then there was no time, I had to get you out and deal with the fall-out later. I don't know how deep this runs, how high up the chain it goes. That's why we can't use your credit card or have your phone on. I don't know if they can get someone to track you.”
He'd expected hysterics. At the very least, some tears, maybe. Instead, she seemed to be in shock as she pulled her phone from her purse, carefully removing the back to pull the battery from it, and laid it gently on the table without a word. After sitting the phone aside, she stood, moving to the kitchen to open random cupboards until she found a glass, getting a drink of water.
Only then did he see her shoulders shaking as she stood with her back to him, pretending to be taking a drink to avoid showing her tears. His heart broke at the strength she was trying to hold on to, the way she was struggling so hard to prevent him seeing her getting emotional.
Giving her the space she needed, he went into the bedroom, straightening up a bit and grabbing the extra blankets from the closet. It was fairly clean, thankfully. He never brought people here. Hell, he rarely came here. Thian would give her his bed, it was more comfortable. He'd sleep on the couch. Not like he hadn't slept in worse places. When he went back into the living room, she was once again sitting on the couch, hands folded in her lap.
Her eyes were reddened, but the tears were gone. Sitting across from her once more, he cleared his throat. “Look, I know it sucks, but you had nothing to do with this. I believe you on that. Your father chose his path, to willingly look the other way while women were hurt. Right now, our focus needs to be on keeping you safe, not what's already happened.”
She nodded, sniffling quietly before she raised her gaze to his. “Did he really say he wanted more money to make me being in danger worth it? Truly?” At his slow nod of confirmation, the tears finally came. “I don't understand why he'd do this. Why he would put everything in jeopardy. For money? We had money. Mom was rich. When she died, we inherited equal shares. He got the properties and her investments, I got an inheritance he was in control of until I turned eighteen. He'd spent some of that, even. We had plenty of money. He didn't need more.”
Watching her trying to understand something that, frankly, was incomprehensible was the hardest part of this. He couldn't help himself, he moved over to sit beside her, carefully wrapping his arms around her as she cried. He couldn't explain it, either. He didn't see much need for money once you had what you needed to survive. Couldn't understand those that seemed to keep reaching for more of it to the exclusion of everything else.
Wasn't like you could take it with you when you died. So why waste so much of your life chasing after it? Especially to the point of putting those you were supposed to cherish and protect in danger. To him, the men who did that were fucking cowards. You protected your family. At all costs.
Patting her back awkwardly, he shook his head. “I don't know, Adele. For some people, too much isn't enough. They always want more and the lure of it is so strong, it gets to the point where they don't care who they hurt as long as it pays well. They lose their morals, their sense of self. All for the need of the dolla
r, their greed. Every man has a price. Some are just clearance rack.”
It was something he'd heard his mother say often when he was younger, usually about people she found distasteful and beneath her. It seemed to fit the situation now. Thian held her until the tears stopped flowing, until the silent shaking had eased. He wasn't any good at this comforting shit, but he didn't know what else to do.
He couldn't undo the mistakes the Mayor had made. Couldn't fix his death. Right now, all he could do was keep Adele safe and protected. He'd have done that anyway because it was his job, but now he had a more pressing reason.
She was his mate. The other half of his heart.
Fuck.
This was the first time he'd faced this. How did the others deal with it? He couldn't fathom simply telling her straight out and expecting her to understand. Most normal women wouldn't handle being told they were the mate of a goddamn cat very well. Hell, he hadn't handled being told he was a cat very well, and he'd watched the transformation with his own very confused and shocked eyes.
Those that knew about the shifters in the world were a small subset, and were generally allowed to live because they served a function for the shifters- protection, weapons, specialized clothing or supplies. People who found out about them by accident didn't live long. They couldn't be trusted. There'd been too many slip-ups over the centuries.
He didn't know if the Mayor had been one of those privileged few, or if he'd simply been blinded by the money and assumed he was working with human criminals. That was another piece of the puzzle that led to more questions. If he was getting paid each time a woman was taken, didn't he wonder what the purpose was?
If he'd been allowed to know what they were simply because of his station in the city and what he could do for them legally, that opened another fucking bucket of issues. How far did it go? Did he truly think he was working with bottom feeding human variety criminals? If not, had he been trustworthy enough to keep their secret because he was being paid well for it?
Wayward Son (The Wayward Trilogy Book 1) Page 5