Mistakenly Mated (13 page)

Dick smirked sardonically and turned back to his computer. He looked over the document he had on the screen.

“They had children. Local birth records can confirm that but there is no way to tell how they turned out. They might be black like you, they might be white like her, or they might be a new mix of the two. Will be interesting to see, won’t it? If you can ever find her.”

Dick’s snide comment brought the more immediate situation back to the forefront of Caleb’s mind. He looked down on Dick.

“Kerry is missing and I am worried about her. Susan said before, just before, that she used to be with you. She’s not here and I don’t know where else to check.”

Dick waved his hand in the air dismissing Caleb’s worry. “She’s a grown woman. She can go out for a few hours without you.”

“Normally I would agree with you but someone recently shot her and yesterday someone tried to run her down with a car.”

Dick looked suddenly much more concerned.

“Where? Who?”

“Outside of her place of work. I didn’t see the driver, the license, or the make of the car. She came home with me. She went out this morning but hasn’t come back.”

Dick spun in his chair to look at his computer clock. It was nearly 7:30 p.m. Kerry would have returned because she never missed a meal time.

“Do you have any suspects?”

“At first I might have suspected you but, considering the way you acted in the alley—I don’t think you’d want to do Kerry harm. My second road was to talk to Avrilyne, the woman I was supposed to take. Kerry overheard us talking.”

“Did she say anything about that?” Dick knew Kerry well enough to know that she may not outline her plans in full detail but you could usually figure it out from little things she said.

“Only that openly threatening her was going about it the wrong way. That I wasn’t being subtle.”

Dick scratched his chin thinking about that.

“I have to call Susan. I promised to if she wasn’t back in an hour.”

Dick nodded while Caleb pulled out his phone and hit redial.

“Susan, its Caleb again. There is no sign of her. I’m with Dick. She isn’t here either.” He listened as Susan let out a huffy breath into the phone.

“Then we need to worry. Do we have any idea where she was heading when she left your house?”

“No, but she took my car. I could call the police.”

“No, you report the car and they’ll arrest her if she’s just out driving around in it.”

“Where could Kerry go to find out about a gun?” yelled Dick, letting his thoughts spill out into the open air.

Caleb looked at him and then concentrated back on the phone. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, I have ears. If Kerry wanted to know about a gun—well, there’s Willard. He runs the gun and ammo place on Digwood, for his daddy. That loser couldn’t build up a business like that on his own. I don’t know how Paulie and he can be related. I’ll call Paulie and we’ll meet you there, okay?” Susan hung up.

Caleb headed for the door, realizing that Dick grabbed his jacket and followed right along behind him. Caleb gave him a glare that Dick gave him right back.

“I’m coming with you. Kerry might need my magic touch.”

Chapter Ten

Kerry woke very groggy. Her head was thumping and she was slumped on a cold hard floor. Her arms were pulled back around a pillar and her wrists were bound extremely tightly. She felt the rope rub against her skin as she tried to move. The room smelt damp and earthy, a smell she associated with being underground. She could hear the song of cicada’s. They were away from town then, closer to the country. This was backed up by the fact she heard no passing cars. Closer to her, she could hear two men arguing. Her vision was blurry and it hurt her head to try and look up at them.

“What the fuck have you done now, you idiot? Can’t you get anything right?”

“I know, man. I’m sorry I panicked. She was getting all nosey and I just panicked. I need a smoke.”

Kerry saw enough of the two figures to know that one of the men grabbed the other by the shoulders and shook him.

“Are you high? Again? That’s how you missed in the fucking first place. I told you to quit smoking that shit. It’ll rot what little brains you got left.”

“It keeps me calm. I need to be calm. This whole situation is getting way out of control Cuz.”

Kerry raised her head, fighting against the pain, and tried to make her eyes see straight. She clearly identified the one talking about taking a buzz as Willard. Willard who clocked her head in the store with something heavy while her back was turned. Why would he do that?

Because she saw that he’d bought a top of the range scope for a rifle. He was panicked because Kerry—even now with her groggy head—understood that meant he’d shot her. Not only that, but that someone gave him money for the scope and probably to shoot her as well.

Her vision finally cleared. Willard had only one male cousin. Kerry stared up at Paulie—one of her best friends in the entire world. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes.

“Why?” Kerry asked.

Willard looked at her with still bloodshot eyes. Paulie stood with his back to her, so it was Willard who saw her coming to.

“Hey Cuz, she’s awake. What are we going to do now?”

Paulie let go of Willard. Taking a deep breath, he kept his back to Kerry and poked Willard in the chest. “You are going to go take care of the surprise and don’t screw it up this time.”

Willard nodded his head and marched up stairs by the far wall. Kerry knew she had to be in a basement.

Once they were alone, Paulie slowly turned to face her. His face was stricken as, he walked over to her. He bent down in front of her and stroked her hair back from her face.

“Are you alright? Willard’s an idiot.”

“Why?” she asked again.

There was no mistaking from his face that he heard her. “I have to Kerry. It’s the only way. You’ll see.”

Kerry shook her head violently, which only made it throb. She pulled away from him. Paulie looked hurt.

“I never meant for this to happen. You weren’t supposed to know. I’m sorry about that. I promise it will be all over soon.”

“Why are you doing this?” she screamed at him and pulled at her bonds. She snarled because they were too tight. The more she pulled, the more the rope dug into her wrists and cut off her circulation.

Paulie looked at her as if she were the biggest dunce in the world. He cupped her chin, lifting it. “Because I love you, stupid.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped open.

Paulie chuckled. He placed two fingers under her jaw and pushed it up so it was closed, then he slowly leaned in and gave her a soft, chaste kiss. Kerry was so stunned that she couldn’t find words to object. He watched her face as she recovered enough to start questioning him again.

“Since when?”

“Since we were kids. You were so nice and kind and you always smelled so good. I used to love the scent of your hair when the wind blew it around your shoulders. I keep a lock of it with me.” Paulie tapped a pocket and smiled softly as if remembering the night he had cut it from her head to keep it for himself. She’d never let her hair grow back out again and he’d thought that was a shame.

“Why didn’t you just say something?”

“Because I used to believe it couldn’t go anywhere,” he growled angrily. “My mother worked out how I felt about you and told me very specifically that white wolves were cursed and couldn’t mate. She made me believe that if we tried, something would happen to you. That’s not true; not true at all because you mated and you’re just fine.”

Kerry looked at him, feeling bold. “Then why the hell are you and Willard trying to kill me?”

Paulie laughed at her and shook his head. He stroked her cheek. “You idiot. I would never hurt you. I’m not trying to kill you. I’ve never tried to kill you. I’ve been trying to kill your mate. Willard is a lousy shot when stoned and then he tried to fix it by nearly running you both down.”

“Why would Willard do that?”

“I asked him to. I gave him some cash and asked him to take Caleb out. I didn’t want you to connect it to me. I wanted him to just die. I would be there when you needed me and then we could be together. I had it all planned out. We had the month to get it right but Willard can just not do the simplest of things. It’s the dope, I swear. What little of his mind was there is now mush.”

Kerry wriggled her arms and pushed herself up into a better seated position. Her eyes darted around. She was definitely in a basement. She could see the street level windows but nothing in it looked familiar. Paulie lived in an apartment so it could have been Willard’s basement, but how would they have gotten her past Willard’s dad.

“It’ll be alright Kerry,” he said, petting her like some wounded puppy. “We’ll be together soon. We’ll be a much better fit than you and that stuck up prick.”

Kerry growled. She was murderously angry. If she could have shifted right there and then she would have gone for his throat. Paulie back off a little to look at her face.

“It is not all right. You’re trying to kill my mate. I am not going to be okay with that, even if you do succeed. I am going to beat the tar out of you the minute I get out of these ropes. God help me, it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re still bonded. You’ll feel differently once he’s gone.”

Kerry said nothing. She just continued to growl in an ominous way.

* * * *

Susan pressed her face to the glass of the door and looked inside. The shop was closed. The sign was turned and the lights were off. The shop closed at eight but Susan expected Willard to be there sweeping up, checking the days take, and such. There was only one car parked across the street—a shiny, cobalt grey one that looked way out of place in that neighborhood. She was surprised the thing wasn’t up on blocks with all but the framed stripped by thugs.

Susan turned when she heard another car pull up from behind where she had parked her Mazda. It was a sleek,red impala and had to be the most beautiful car she had ever seen. It was quite natural when Caleb stepped out from behind the wheel. The effect was ruined when Dick scrambled out of the passenger side.

“Looks like he’s shut up for the night. That’s unusual,” she said, greeting the pair of them.

Caleb looked at her in her khaki’s and strappy pink vest top but he noticed more the absence around her.

“Where are Paulie and Luka?” Caleb asked, “we need all the help we can to find Kerry.”

“Luka’s on call tonight at the hospital. I don’t know where Paulie is. I called twice and finally left a message on his voicemail. He’ll be here when he gets it.”

Susan looked around the deserted street. The other businesses—a hardware store and a workman outfitter—were closed too. People had gone home, or to a bar to enjoy the cool the evening brought in.

Caleb turned his gaze on the grey car.

“Well, that’s the car she took,” he said, walking over to it.

Dick and Susan stayed on the street as he approached it. Caleb was intent on looking for any sign of a struggle. He could clearly see through the glass that the keys were gone. He tried the handle and found the car locked. That was when he smelled it. There was another person nearby who reeked of triumph and fear. He was turning to go in their direction when a series of beeps caught his ear.

Caleb had enough time to think,
that’s odd
, before his car exploded in a column of fire and smoke.

Caleb was thrown several feet in the air. The fire seared his flesh while the smoke burnt through his lungs. He hit the road, raking his already weakened and tender body against the gravel. He darted his eyes quickly in the direction of the others with him before letting them drop closed. Everything hurt, he could almost feel each individual bruise forming. His ears rang and his nose was assaulted with the smell of burning things. So many charred scents blended together were confusing his senses and making it even harder to focus.

Dick grabbed Susan, pulling her to the ground as the explosion rocketed across the space. A flying piece of metal smashed through the storefront window, raining glass shards down on them. It sliced through the exposed skin on Dick’s legs. He let his eyes close and counted, just waiting, as smaller pops of sound came from the burning wreck.

Susan whimpered—keeping low to the ground—unsure of what was happening until she heard the sound of feet and a smug voice roar with laughter. Susan turned her head to see another willowy man standing over Caleb. The man kicked him with his foot.

“I got him this time, didn’t I? Got you good.”

Susan growled in recognition of the voice. Willard had been in the year below them at school. He was always a bit of a loner, a massive stoner, and a good-for-nothing. Susan pulled up to her hands and knees. Dick’s eyes were closed so she thought he was out for the count. She shifted. Her clothes ripped to shreds. She spun, pelting across the street towards Willard.

“Oh, shit!” Willard cursed when he saw the brown ball of fury coming at him. He turned, trying to run away but Susan was faster on four legs than he was on two.