Chasing Trouble (6 page)

I braced myself for the worst and tried to ignore Todd standing next to me, trying to sniff me unobtrusively. I pushed him away. "Seriously, cut it out. I don't have any money, I can't --"

"I don't need money." The alpha drummed his fingers on the desk. "But I need whatever it is you just did. So. I tell you what I know, you owe me a favor."

"A favor?" Even I knew better. "What kind of favor?"

"Whatever kind of favor I need at the time I call it in." The alpha didn't blink. "Those are the terms, girl."

"That's crazy," I said, shaking my head. "Worst deal in history. Why would I ever agree to an open-ended favor?"

"Because otherwise you won't find out who took that ransom, and Mama Szdoka will kill you."

"But --"

"That's the deal."

Anger froze slowly over my heart and made it tougher to breathe. No wonder everyone hated this guy. But I didn't have a choice. If Miles told his pack not to help me, none of them would cross him. And I sure as hell couldn't go back to Aaron's, where we'd dropped the money, since Miles would put guards there to make sure the hyenas didn't return. This was my only option unless I took a loan from Bridger and Hanover, and I never wanted to do that again.

I swallowed hard, then nodded. "As long as the favor does not require harm to Ruby's pack, or the -- the Chase pride, I'll agree."

Eyebrows arched, Miles leaned back in his chair. "The Chase brothers? How are you mixed up with the lions
and
the hyenas?"

"That's my business." I tried to look fierce without meeting his gaze.

The alpha studied me for another eternity, then nodded. "Very well. I will not ask you to do anything detrimental to the BloodMoon pack, nor will I ask you to do anything harmful to the Chase brothers. You owe me a favor of my choosing in the future, at a time of my choosing. Agreed?"

"Agreed." I held my breath.

Miles nodded, then handed me a slip of paper with an address and a phone number on it. "We chased two bears out of our territory that night, near enough Aaron's that they could have had something to do with it. The polar bear and the brown bear, I think. This is where you'll find them."

I swallowed hard, and a squeaked, "Bears?" escaped before I could bite it back.

For the first time, the alpha's facade cracked and a hint of a smile ghosted across his face. "I would offer backup but I'm guessing you can't afford it."

"No. Thank you." I retreated, the paper clutched in my hand. Fuck me running. I thought the hyenas were bad, and the jackals were worse, but no one fucked with the bears. No one.

Lewis needed my nudge to get up and get moving, but Todd helped with the door, getting in one last deep breath near me and muttering about "Turmeric?" before he stepped back, still in the office. Miles called, "I'll be in touch, Eloise," before the door shut.

My heart sank. I couldn't have described the route out of that warehouse if my life depended on it, nor could I remember a single detail from the drive through the city. The sky had darkened while we were inside, and a chill bit through me. My hands shook, almost tearing the paper.

Bears. A polar bear and a brown bear. If they had Lacey, she was as good as dead, or wishing she were. Dealing with the loan sharks would be less painful for me; at least I had a chance of surviving Bridger and Hanover. I put my face in my hands and concentrated on breathing. The day just couldn't get any worse.

F
or a Saturday night
, O'Shea's wasn't particularly crowded. Benedict sat at the bar with his brothers and Natalia, Logan's mate, drowning his irritation and embarrassment in liquor. At least the food was better, since Natalia rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to cook for everyone, despite the bartender's objections. Unfortunately, Benedict and the rest of the Chase clan had grown accustomed to a higher level of quality in their food since Natalia moved in with Logan a month earlier, so the regular pub food didn't quite cut it anymore.

Natalia sat on Logan's lap so he could nose around in her hair, though she didn't seem to even notice anymore as she concentrated on Benedict. "So where did you meet this girl?"

Edgar, leaning his elbows on the bar on the other side of Benedict, chuckled into his beer glass. "Jail."

She gave him a look and shook her finger at Benedict. "Really, Ben, you know better. She probably just wants your money."

Benedict grunted and poured himself another shot. It had been a terrible idea to come to O'Shea's. Ruby and Rafe weren't even there, but caught up in some pack business in the back office. So he hadn't learned anything useful about Eloise other than everyone else thought she was a gold digger.

Logan didn't look up from examining Natalia's ear. "Like you just want all my money."

She gave him a look that should have singed his eyebrows, and Benedict's forehead thunked against the bar. The very last thing in the world he wanted around him was a happy couple, flirting and giggling. Edgar laughed and slapped him on the back, leaning to say to Logan and his mate, "There's more."

"No there's not," Benedict said, voice muffled against the bar. "There certainly is not."

"She's mixed up with the hyenas."

A curse exploded out of Logan with enough force that Natalia looked startled, holding onto the bar as the lap she occupied became a great deal less stable. "Are you fucking kidding me, Benedict?"

Benedict held up his hands and forced himself to sit up. He held out his phone after pulling up the photos he took outside the hotel. "Val Szdoka and her family. No idea how they're connected, but they visited her at the hotel."

Logan took the phone and thumbed through the photos, his expression darkening. "No way. No, we're not having --"

"Eloise?" Natalia frowned at the screen, and Benedict's heart seized up. Edgar blinked. She glanced up, then pointed at the screen. "That girl is the one you're talking about? Eloise?"

"Yes," Benedict said slowly. He didn't dare look away from her lest he see Edgar and realize it was all a joke. "Do you know her?"

"Sort of." She looked a little uncomfortable as she shifted on Logan's lap, until he caught her waist and said something in her ear. Then she laughed and flushed, but stilled. She handed the phone back to Benedict. "She used to come into the soup kitchen where I volunteer. It's been a year since I've seen her there, I think, but she used to be a regular."

"The soup kitchen." It hurt to say, to think Eloise was so needy she had to seek charity for food. Someone hadn't cared for her enough.

"She was a tough kid." Natalia frowned, leaning back against Logan's chest. "A really tough kid. She stood her ground and even the mean guys there, the big guys who would try to bully the girls into tricking for them, even they left her alone. No one bugged her. I always wondered what it was. I mean, one time she was mad about something and I kind of got the chills, but I don't remember ever being afraid of her." Nat reached for her beer. "Still. Everyone else was."

"What else do you know about her?" Edgar asked when it became clear that Benedict couldn't speak. He held onto the bar for dear life, the lion raging that she'd been so mistreated. That some son of a bitch thought she would prostitute herself.

Natalia didn't seem to notice Benedict's turmoil. "She never talked much, but one of her good friends was chatty as hell and used to help me chop vegetables. It sounds like Eloise lost her mother when she was in her teens and spent a couple years in foster care, but it wasn't easy on her. Got bounced around a lot until she ended up in a group home. She hustled, though -- I've never seen anyone work as hard as she did. I think some of that hustle was directed at illegal activities, but I never saw her hurt anyone. She was a nice enough kid, like I said, just a little odd."

Benedict concentrated on his hands, the smooth glass between his fingers, the amber liquid sloshing around. A nice kid in foster care. No wonder she ran at the first opportunity. No wonder she looked for family with awful people like Val Szdoka. He braced himself to stand and stagger back outside to take a cab home for the night. "Great. If you don't mind, I'll --"

Ruby stormed out of the back office, face a thundercloud, and the entire bar immediately silenced. The pack members jumped to their feet or cowered, depending on rank, but none of them looked at her. Logan moved Natalia off his lap and ushered her behind the bar, out of harm's way, and looked at Ruby and her brother. "Is something wrong?"

"Fucking
Evershaw
." A snarl boiled up in her chest and Rafe wasn't far behind, eyes flashing gold and red.

Benedict wobbled to his feet, ready for a fight. If the SilverLine pack dared attack O'Shea's, he would stand with the O'Shea pack. Miles was just a dick.

Edgar tapped the bar near Ruby's elbow. "Do we need backup?"

"No," she ground out, and a light dusting of hair sprouted along her arms, disrupting the myriad tattoos she had.

Benedict blinked. He'd never seen
that
before. Before he could ask what happened, though, the front door blew open and a hulking beast of a man staggered in. Benedict recognized him from the bar, so knew the trouble wasn't due to Lewis's return, but then he saw who squeezed in the door next to him, and his heart stopped. Eloise.

She looked stunned, disoriented. Hurt. He lurched forward, a roar starting in his chest, but Edgar grabbed his arm and yanked him back. Ruby beat him across the bar to grab Eloise by the shoulders. "What the fuck happened? Why is Todd fucking Evershaw calling me, asking about you?
What did you do
?"

"Christ," Eloise said under her breath, lifting up a pair of mirrored sunglasses to rub her eyes. "Can the interrogation wait until I've had a dr--"

And then she spotted him, and all the color drained from her face. She ducked, tried to bolt, but Ruby still had her arm and then Logan did as well. He loomed over them and grabbed her, hauled her over to the bar as a chorus of growls erupted from the rest of the pack. Ruby snarled and turned her ire on Lewis, interrogating him as the man cowered as if she weren't a foot shorter than him.

But Benedict only cared about Eloise as she squeaked and cringed, and Logan's hands were on her, squeezing her arms, bruising her --

He launched forward and knocked his brother back, shoved his
alpha
, with a roar that silenced the bar for the second time that night. He kept Eloise behind him as he squared off with his older brother, ready to draw blood. "Don't touch her."

Logan's eyes narrowed, already flashing gold, and his shoulders grew as he flexed. "You challenging me, cub?"

"Don't touch her," was all Benedict could say. No other coherent thoughts could make it through the rage and fury. Eloise scared, and hurt, and trembling as she leaned against his back. "You
hurt
her."

"I did not and you know it." Logan's teeth showed, far pointier than any human's. "Back the fuck off, Benedict, or we will brawl right here."

Benedict couldn't move. Couldn't risk something happening to Eloise. So he waited, and the tension simmered. Ruby and her wolves gathered on the other side of the bar, giving them room in case the lions started throwing down. And then Natalia said very calmly, "Logan Chase, stop being a bully this instant."

He blinked. Logan did not, but his expression darkened. "Woman, now is not --"

"You scared that girl." Natalia edged herself between her mate and Benedict, shoving Benedict back a few steps to get room. "And you know it. Now cut it out and let's go home."

He grumbled and snarled, fighting it, but then Edgar flicked the back of Benedict's ear and he jumped. The spell broke. Tension eased. Eloise still trembled behind him, but Benedict could breathe.

R
uby was snarling
from the moment we walked in, and I cringed back, thinking the other alpha called her about my little episode. I tried to hide behind Lewis, but he was absolutely worthless as she barreled around the corner and dragged me into the center of the room like I was a naughty kid. Before I could even really object, I looked up and saw three of the five Chase brothers sitting at the bar, including the lawyer. Benedict. My heart leapt.

Until the big one -- Logan -- charged over and hauled me away from Ruby and I squalled like a baby. He was fucking
scary
. Not the calm quiet kind of scary, like Evershaw, but enraged, rip-your-face-off scary. I fully expected to die, and then Val wouldn't have that to look forward to.

Except Benedict jumped up and bumped chests with his brother, shoving me behind him. I didn't mind in the least, since he had a lovely broad back to hide against, and he radiated warmth after the chill from the car. Lewis didn't believe in using the heat, apparently. So I leaned against Benedict and waited for the storm to blow over. And then I heard a semi-familiar voice, and leaned around the side of my large protector to say, "Charity lady?"

Her perfectly groomed eyebrows arched and I flushed, more than a little embarrassed. I should have remembered her name.

But she smiled and stepped forward to shake my hand, though she didn't get as far as she wanted because of the big dude's hold on her waist, and she had to both lean and stretch to touch me. I started to meet her in the middle but Benedict did the same thing, arms around me to keep me close. She rolled her eyes but pressed my fingers with hers. "It's Natalia, Eloise. It's lovely to see you. I was worried, when we didn't see you for a while."

I pushed away embarrassment. Lots of people needed a little help now and then. Going to a soup kitchen wasn't anything to be ashamed of. But I remembered being rough around the edges then, hating life a lot more and not able to control the scary mojo. "Sure, sorry I forgot your name."

I froze as the door burst open again and the two other Chase brothers came in, both with gold eyes and ready for trouble. Atticus straightened as he surveyed the situation and Edgar waved him off, then his gaze rested on me. Incredulity made him look younger than he really was. "Eloise?"

Well, damn. Benedict's arms tightened around me and that grumble started in his chest again. Atticus immediately ducked his head and held his hands up, backing up a step or two.

Natalia glanced between them, then back at me. She must have sensed my discomfort, I could see it in her eyes. But Logan didn't care, glaring at the lawyer who still tried to hide me behind him. "End it, Benedict. We don't consort with criminals or the hyenas, got it? I don't want
that
in our family."

Benedict's shoulders broadened and Ruby started growling again. But it was Atticus who jumped forward, hands up. "Dude, don't. Don't piss her off."

Silence rocked through the bar and I tried to make myself very small even as panic roiled up in my stomach. Atticus knew at least a part of what I was, he knew why the fight organizers had me on retainer to referee. If they knew what I really was, they'd never help me. Ruby and Rafe would kick me out. No one liked gorgons.

Logan's nostrils flared. "I beg your pardon?"

"Logan, man, she's not -- she's a --"

"Shut the fuck up," I said, jumping out and driving a finger into that massive chest. He was an undefeated street fighter but I could end him if I really wanted to. Which he knew very well, and tried to warn his brother. My hands shook and too much mojo curled through my brain and eyes. "Shut up about other people's secrets, Atticus."

He flushed but didn't look away from his brother, trying to sound calm. "Believe me, Logan. Let this one go. Don't piss her off."

Benedict caught my arm and drew me to his side once more. He took a deep breath, as if to assure himself I was still me, then he went stiff and held me at arm's length. "Why do you smell like Todd Evershaw?"

"For fuck's sake." I put a hand to my forehead and tried to collect my thoughts. "Could I just get a drink before we have to fucking talk about this?"

Ruby snapped, "Good idea," and pressed a shot glass into my hand. She downed three of her own before I managed to inhale mine. Then she pointed the knife-hand at me, some of her alpha fury spilling out and making the hair stand on the back of my neck. "Start talking, chickie."

I looked around at the collective audience, the silent pack members just waiting to be dismissed, and massaged my temples. "Somewhere else, if you don't mind?"

The BloodMoon alphas weren't pleased, and Ruby's patience hung on by a thread. She grabbed my shoulder and propelled me toward the stairs. "Get your shit upstairs and sit down. Benedict, Edgar -- you may join her. Logan, it is probably best you go home," and she slanted a look at the charity lady.

The Chase alpha practically took Atticus by the ear and dragged his ass out the door like another misbehaving kid, with charity lady not far behind and the worried-looking Carter on her heels. Edgar raised his eyebrows at me and gestured at the back staircase. "Ladies first."

I didn't want to like him, but I did. I slanted a look at Ruby, though. "Seriously, do we --"

"Go," she growled, and I went.

The upstairs rooms were for pack business only, usually, with a large central living room and a few smaller bedrooms leading away from it. There were at least two bathrooms that I'd found; I desperately wanted another shower. And a nap. Just the thought of the bears made me shiver. Something draped over my shoulders and I jumped, grabbing the blanket that covered my shoulders. Benedict had a hearty scowl on his face as he nudged me toward one of the couches. "You're cold."

"I'm always cold," I said under my breath. It came from having ice in my heart, quicksilver in my veins. But I collapsed on the battered sofa, the brown leather smooth and soft as butter under my hands. I curled up against one arm and Benedict dropped next to me, still looking irritated.

Edgar took one of the armchairs, studying me with an indecipherable expression. Rafe and Ruby stormed up; though Rafe placed himself with deliberate care in another chair, Ruby paced and stomped around the edge of the room, her eyes throwing sparks almost as well as mine did. I double-checked my sunglasses. All the strong emotions flaring around made me nervous.

Rafe pressed his fingers together at his chin, cold calm settling around him. "What did Miles say?"

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Edgar could also do the impassive, disinterested look remarkably well. I made a mental note to ask how he did that. I needed lessons in looking like I gave absolutely zero shits about anything.

Ruby growled, and the hair on her forehead started creeping toward her eyebrows. I held up my hands, sitting forward a little. "Jesus, okay. Fine. Everyone stay in their current form, okay? I can't handle any more of this posturing bullshit."

And four pairs of supernatural eyes landed on me. Since they were probably also at the end of their control, and a weirdo with silver eyes yelling at them probably didn't help. My head ached. I sighed, rubbing furiously at my temples. "Sorry. It's just -- can I get some aspirin or something, Ruby?"

Edgar handed me the bottle of whisky, instead. I definitely liked him.

I took a deep breath and a deeper swig, easing back on the couch and ignoring that Benedict edged closer and spread another blanket across me. "I had a job to do for Val Thursday night, and I did it. I did it exactly like she said, but something went wrong and the money disappeared. She blames me for it. So I have -- one more day," and my stomach dropped. Shit. "To either get her the money back or find her daughter. I dropped the money on SilverLine's territory, so Ruby and Rafe were kind enough to set up a meeting with Evershaw today."

"Fucking Miles Evershaw," Ruby said under her breath, teeth white and pointy as she whirled and made another circuit. She swiped at a shelf and knocked the contents to the floor.

I flinched, squinting behind the sunglasses, and the pain spiked to knives in my eyes. "When I got there, he said he wouldn't tell me what I asked unless I promised him a favor."

"Eloise," Rafe said, eyes darkening.

Flustered, I threw my hands up and drew my knees to my chest. "Well, fuck -- if you know what happened, why am I repeating it?"

"Tell me," Edgar said, smooth as a silk garrote and just as dangerous. Calm brown eyes, mild and unthreatening, caught mine. Eased some of the tension from my head and eyes. "What did he do to you?"

Like he was some kind of pervy rapist. I shook my head, fatigue rolling over me until I wanted to just curl up on the sofa and sleep forever. Preferably with Benedict as a pillow or a blanket. Maybe both. "It wasn't that. He wanted to know -- what I am, and when I wouldn't tell him, he got all alpha mad. Wouldn't let me look away and then I thought my head would explode, because of the -- stuff in it. Todd jumped in and knocked me aside, but then he wouldn't stop smelling me. He said I smelled good."

A threatening grumble rose in Benedict and his arm snaked out to catch me, draw me close. I should have minded. I didn't, not really. He was a warm backrest I could lean against, and his fingers started working at the knots in my shoulders. My hair unraveled and spilled across his lap. "Sorry," I said, and tried to corral it back to someplace manageable. "Sometimes it has a mind of its own."

"Did your hair just --" Edgar started, a frown drawing wrinkles across his forehead.

I flushed, sinking lower. "I can't help it."

Ruby leaned her arms on the back of Rafe's chair, her attention on Benedict more than me. "I can't help this either," and she gestured at the spontaneous hair growth on her arms and forehead. "Keep talking."

I twined the hair around my fingers, dreaming of another hot shower. Maybe with Benedict. Much better than alone. I sighed, sadness creeping over me. "Miles said he wouldn't help me unless I promised him a favor. I didn't have any other choice. Val will kill me, or the jackals will kill me, or
you
might kill me," and I poked Benedict in the ribs.

"Me?" He rubbed the base of my head and I went boneless, almost sliding completely off the couch. Benedict sounded almost hurt. "How could you possibly think I would hurt you?"

"Because you're not afraid of me." The words slipped out before I could think to take them back, and then they hung there in the middle of the room.

His hands paused, then worked down toward my shoulders again. His tone was too deliberately casual for it to be an idle question, though I couldn't sense the trap. "What do you mean?"

Maybe if I mopped the floors again, Ruby would let me stay. She watched me with such a fierce frown, I kind of doubted it. "Everyone is afraid of me." It helped that I didn't really have to look at anyone as I leaned against Benedict; the other three were in my peripheral vision, but if I concentrated on the blanket across my lap, it was as if we were alone. "Everyone is. That's the only way I stay safe. If they're afraid of me, even a little bit, they won't hurt me."

"Why do they fear you?" This from Edgar, so smooth and patient. He was dangerous, probably more dangerous than anyone else in the room. He was the patient hunter, the one who would chase you for forty or eighty or a hundred miles until you died of exhaustion.

I shook my head and Benedict resumed working his fingers against the knot of tension at the base of my skull, around to behind my ears. He said quietly, "So you agreed to the favor?"

"I had to," I repeated, trying to convince myself as much as him. "So he told me the bears had been on their territory, right near where the money disappeared, and he said they might know what was going on."

"The bears." This from Rafe in his flat, creepy voice, and I shivered. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did he say which ones?"

Benedict draped another blanket over me, frowning as I fumbled and pulled the piece of paper from where I'd stuck it in my pocket. I felt cocooned and sleepy, him a furnace at my back and side with layers of blankets all around me. I cleared my throat. "The polar bear and the brown bear. Do you know them?"

Ruby started pacing again, throwing her hands in the air and muttering under her breath. Rafe took a deep breath and shook his head. "If they took whoever you're looking for, Eloise, chances are there won't be much left. The bears aren't very nice people."

My throat closed up. I'd assumed the same, but to hear the normally optimistic Rafe say that Lacey was probably dead made it too real. I had to move the sunglasses so I could wipe some moisture from my eyes, clearing my throat. "That's what I -- that's what I figured. I just need to know for sure."

Benedict drew me closer, fingers working through my hair and kneading my scalp, but he spoke to his brother. "Ed, I thought Kaiser and his guys were doing security these days."

"They are. Bodyguard work mostly, from what I hear, but a variety of other services as well. What are you thinking?"

Benedict took a deep breath and I nearly sat up as his chest expanded. He leaned down and inhaled from my hair as well. "Kidnapping and ransom isn't their style. And they might not care about territory, as long as they can roam where they want, but they'd damn well know violating Evershaw's territory on behalf of the hyenas and whoever paid them to take the girl would jeopardize everything else they have going on. It's too stupid for them."

I tried to sit up. "It wasn't the bears?"

"They might have been providing security," Edgar said, then glanced at his phone with a frown. "Bodyguard services for whoever showed up for the cash. They don't like getting involved in other people's drama, but they're also pretty serious about keeping agreements."

"Would they help?" Hope gave me enough energy to push back the blankets and try to rise, but Benedict's arm looped around my waist.

Ruby scowled. "What, so you can owe them a favor, too? Damn it, girl, Todd Evershaw is
still
calling me, trying to figure out if you're spoken for."