Kate Allenton (11 page)

Cathy grinned. She grabbed the map with the
GPS
coordinates, a pad of paper off the table,
and shoved a pen behind her ear. She knew just
the
person to ask for answers. She might not be able
to trust him, but with a little concentration, she’d
be able
to read him and tell if he was lying. Cathy
made her way into the kitchen. She made sandwiches, grabbed some cookies out of the cookie jar
and two bottles of water. She walked down the
hall and
pulled the door open to the basement. She
trotted down the stairs and came to an abrupt halt. They’d moved Jonah into a cell, and Tessa was
inside administering medicine and doctoring up
his
wounds. Even though he was shackled to the
bed with chains, he was still afforded some room
to
maneuver. A big, beefy commando-looking guy
stood guard with a wolf at his side.

    
The wolf swiveled his long nose in her direction
and
growled, giving her a glimpse of his
elongated, very sharp teeth.
The hair on his neck was straight up in the air. He
began to crouch as
though he was going to leap at her. Cathy dropped her things, pulled the gun, and aimed it at the
wolf. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

    
He growled again as the commando turned in her direction.

    
She cocked the hammer, and the commando lifted his hands. “Easy, doll, you don’t want to do
that. You can only take out one of us, but the one you leave standing will tear you to shreds.”

Cathy narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think Ethan would take too kindly to you killing his mate,
and I’m pretty sure Edward won’t stand for you tearing apart a guest under his protection.” She
tilted her head. “But if you’re feeling lucky, stud, we can see how all of this plays out.”

    
Tessa stepped through the opened door of the cell and in front of the wolf and the man.
“They’re just doing what they were told. They’re standing guard.” Tessa lifted her hands and patted
the air. “Put the gun down. No one here is going to hurt you.”

    
Cathy un-cocked the hammer and shoved the gun back in her pants. “I need to talk to Jonah.”
Cathy glanced over Tessa’s shoulder. “Alone.”

Tessa turned to look at the men before meeting her gaze again. “I don’t think that’s a good
idea.”

    
“He won’t hurt me.”

    
Tessa’s lips quirked. “I’m not worried about him hurting you. I’m worried about you hurting
him.”

    
“I won’t hurt him.” Cathy raised her hand
to her
heart. “Scout’s honor.”

    
Tessa chuckled. “I doubt you were ever
a scout.”

Cathy grinned and picked up her belongings.
“I just
want to talk to him, and I brought him
some food.”

    
Jonah narrowed his eyes, but his stomach growled
at
the mention of food. He was hungry and
she could work with that.

    
Tessa bit her lip and glanced back at Jonah.
“Do you
want to talk to her?”

    
His frown eased, and he gave a slight nod.

Tessa handed Cathy the key and motioned
for the
guards to follow her. “The guards will be
upstairs just outside the basement door, and if they
hear
any screaming from either one of you,
they’ll be down here in two seconds flat, and visiting hours will be over.

Cathy placed her hand on Tessa’s arm. “Thank
you
for your help. I’m not sure I could have
handled anymore testosterone from the alphas.”

    
Tessa’s grim look eased
into a smile. “Anytime, Cathy. If there’s anything
you need while you’re
here, don’t hesitate to ask. Us girls have to stick together.”

    
And, with that comment, Tessa followed the growling wolf and the commando up the stairs.
She was finally alone with Jonah.

    
Cathy walked into the cell and set the stuff down before standing in front of Jonah. “You
know…we trusted you.”

    
Jonah dropped his head. “He told me he wouldn’t hurt any of them.” Jonah looked up. “And
he didn’t.”

    
Cathy nodded and dropped to her knees. She unwrapped the sandwich and handed it to him
through the bars still debating if it was wise to go inside his cell. “For what it’s worth, I believe Black
didn’t give you much choice. You were between a rock and a hard spot.”

    
Jonah’s brows dipped. “You do?”

Cathy twisted the lid off the bottle of water and handed him that too. “I do. You must have
forgotten that I’m a human lie detector. I’d know if what you said were lies. I can only imagine what
it’s like to be around a bunch of people who had stronger abilities than you.” She glanced up. “But
you were the best at what you did. That’s the part you don’t understand. You have this unparalleled

IT ability that the others couldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, even if they’d studied computers all of
their life. You didn’t give your own ability or us enough credit.”

    
“Cathy, you have to understand…”

Cathy shook her head. “No, you have to understand. You were wrong, and now I need your
help fixing everything. In return, I’ll do everything
in my
power to ease whatever your punishment
is. I’ll tell them you helped me. I’ll do everything
I can to
convince the higher-ups that it was

because of you that we won.” Cathy let out a long
breath
and rested back on her heels. “I know
somewhere deep down inside you’re a good man,
Jonah.
Help me prove it.”

    
“Why the change of heart? A couple of hours
ago,
you were ready to put a bullet in my head.
Why are you trying to act like my friend?”

Cathy swallowed around the lump in her throat.
“I
am your friend. Yes, you were wrong for
helping Black, but I would never turn my back on someone who needs my help. And you are in
need of my help, just as much as I am of yours.
So let’s
do this together.”

    
The pause was brief. Jonah clenched his eyes
closed
before meeting her gaze. “Is your lie
detector on?”

    
Cathy’s lips twitched. “Yes.”

“No one should have
that much power. It’s just not right…Let’s bring this
bastard down.”

     
Cathy and Jonah sat for an hour eating their sandwiches and cookies while he gave her detailed
information on Black. Detailed information that would have been helpful a year ago, but she held
back from stating the obvious. He was helping now, and that was all she needed. He told her where
Black’s facility was. He told her how to get around his security system. He went on to tell her how
many territory bosses there were and when the best time to strike would be. She made notes. She
marked the locations on her map. Black was less than a hundred miles to the north. His property
butted up to Edward’s. Ethan must have been crazy to think that Edward’s home would be the
safest place for her to be. Either that or he, too, had his own agenda.

    
A plan was starting to form in her head, her throbbing head. She rubbed her temples, trying to
fight the oncoming headache. Who could she trust to help her? Was there anyone?

    
The door to the basement creaked open. One of the tall guards ambled down the stairs. “I’m
afraid your time’s up, Ms. Fleming. Ethan asked for you to join him in the kitchen.”

    
Cathy rose and began picking up the sandwich wrappers. Mr. Beefy took them out of her hand
and nodded toward the stairs. “I’ll take care of this. You should really go.”

    
Cathy moved to the bottom step and stopped. “Please make sure nothing else happens to
Jonah. I’m a Phantom, and he’s mine to deal with.”

    
Beefy raised his brow. “I’m sorry, miss, but I don’t take orders from you.”

    
Cathy stepped back down in the room and
turned
around. “I tried to do this the nice and polite
way.” She stepped closer to Beefy and narrowed
her eyes.
“Let’s try this again. If you, or anyone
else, harms a hair on his head, you’ll be answering
to the
Phantoms.” She spun on her heel. “All of
them.”

                                                 
Chapter 7

    
Cathy moved down the corridor toward the
kitchen.
Instead of trying to figure out what Ethan
could possibly want, her mind jumped around playing
out
different attack plans she could use on
Black.

She pushed through the swinging door into
the
kitchen and paused. Ethan stood in front of
large French doors that looked out onto the back
of the
property. His hands were clasped behind
his back. His stance was rigid at best. If he knew
she was
there, he didn’t let on. A few growls came
from deep in his chest followed by mumbled curse
words.

    
“Come take a look.” His deep voice interrupted
her
perusal.

    
She stepped up next
to him and stopped.

    
Edward was outside at the wooden pavilion, along with ten other men. Several of them were
sticking their hands in every crevice there was, one was on his belly trying to look underneath the
structure, and Edward stood against the railing where she’d been. Cathy’s mouth dropped open, and
she grabbed the doorknob. “What the hell?”

    
Ethan stopped her. She glanced up at him, and he shook his head. “Now what do you think of
him?”

    
She snatched her hand away from his and cradled her fist in her other palm. The bastard was
smirking. He’d called her in here on purpose. She shrugged. “Him, I’m not so sure about.” She
turned to look at Ethan. “But you…you’ve just confirmed it for me. You’re still a jerk.”

    
Cathy jogged out the kitchen and away from Ethan. Men. Her stomach roiled in knots, and her
throat constricted. When was he ever going to get a clue?

    
“Cathy, wait…”

She didn’t even turn around. Instead of using the elevator up to her suite, she took the stairs
two at a time. Her heart raced, not from the exercise but from what she’d just witnessed. She didn’t

need to ask to know what Edward was doing. She knew perfectly well. Cathy patted the vials in her
leg pocket before she pushed open the stairwell door.

    
A gush of breath escaped her mouth as she was tackled and pushed back into the stairwell.
Ethan’s hand quickly covered her mouth.

    
“Mmmmmm.” She mumbled around his
hand covering
her mouth.

    
He leaned down next to her and whispered,
“I took
the elevator and stepped out into the hall as
two wolves were headed into your room. It sounds
like
they’re tossing it. We have to get you out of
here.”

He slowly removed his hand. Her heart threatened to beat from her chest. She could barely
catch her breath from her jaunt up the stairs. To
know
that someone was in her room snooping
around… The hairs on her neck stood up as she
tried to
gather her wits. “I’m sure Edward has a
good explanation.”

    
Ethan clasped her hand in his and started to
lead her
down the stairs. “I overheard the wolves
talking. He wants the vial.” Ethan squeezed her
hand.
“You aren’t safe here. Edward may be one of
Black’s lieutenants, but he’d do anything to destroy
the
bastard.”

    
“Why?”

    
“Black destroyed Edwards
pack, and if he thinks that vial is the key to
duplicating Black’s
powers, then we need to hurry and get the hell out of here.”