Romance: Wanted by the Alpha Lion (A BBW Paranormal Suspense Romance) (Heroes of Shifter Creek Book 2) (33 page)

Finally, they snuck back into their building. Commander Jones left to patrol the perimeter, telling the group not to move. Nina sat frozen, her hands stained with red too. Cassius hadn’t gotten a good look at her in the night.

“What happened?” Cassius asked her.

She looked at him. “I killed Gregor. I cut his throat with a broken bottle.”

“She’s a badass.” Jimmy raised his hand to give her a high five. She didn’t raise hers.

“What happened to the others?” Leo asked. “The other two guys?”

“Jones sent them to a safe place to meet,” Orion answered. “They messed up.”

“Did we all mess up?” Jimmy asked. “I got a little ahead of myself with the drinks.”

“You shouldn’t have actually drank them. I poured them out when I could,” Nina said. “Thankfully Orion and Leo had their wits about them, or I’d be a goner.”

Orion nodded, leaning back against the wall behind him wearily. Commander Jones returned and stated they should all just get to bed. They’d “debrief in the morning.” Cassius swallowed the nerves and horror he’d experienced and focused on something even more terrifying: talking to Nina about her feelings (or lack thereof.)

He kept his door slightly open to listen for her. Finally, she came down the hall, whispering a goodbye to someone he couldn’t hear. He stood to go toward her room, but she knocked lightly and peeked her face in.

“Hey, I just wanted to check on you,” she said. “Did I scare you? What are you standing for?”

“Oh, I was just about to go and talk to you. I didn’t think you’d come in.”

“It was a hard day. I kind of have been checking on everyone.” She entered and sat next to him on the bed. “What’s up, Cass?”

Cass?
“Well, um… I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Do you… do you have feelings for me?”

Her eyebrows raised, her eyes clear. “What?”

“Do you have…
romantic…
”

“Oh, Cassius. What would give you that idea?”

“I mean, you’ve been really nice to me and you kept looking at me during the mission.”

“Yeah, I was checking in on you. We don’t know who that bartender is working with.”

“She also kind of suggested that maybe you…”

“She was probably just feeling you out to see if you were interested in me and vice versa,” she said in monotone. “Cassius, I’ve been friends with your brother since I was eight years old. You’re like a little brother to me, and I care about you. But I don’t have romantic feelings. I’m sorry.”

He took a relieving breath. “It’s okay. I didn’t really think you did.”

“Okay.” She gave a slight smile. “I’m going to leave now since this is awkward.”

“Of course, of course.”

She stood and moved to the door, but turned before she exited the room. “Are we okay?”

“Yes, we’re okay.” He smiled back at her.

She grinned and left the room. He sighed, laying down on his bed and pulling out the phone number from his pocket. He liked the way Amy swirled her numbers and wrote her name. Could he dare to hope she was just feeling him out? For some reason, he hoped for that since his mind was completely clear. He didn’t want Nina to be in love with him anyway - it would make things most inconvenient with his brother, the obvious adoring suitor. 

But he wondered if he should make an adoring suitor out of himself. Could the bartender be in on the crimes?

V.

Commander Jones debriefed them the next day. Hernandez (as it was confirmed her name was) had been poisoned after the enemy figured out her job. The two nameless escaped and hid in a shack until Jones saved them - they’d been found out as well. It seemed the group didn’t know “subtlety.” Nina, on the other hand, happened to be lured in by Gregor, the playboy of the group. He tried to force advances on her, and she killed him in self-defense. Orion and Leo took care of his guards so she could get away.

“Hernandez was poisoned after Gregor was killed, so I think they did it because they thought it was her,” Jones said. “It said explicitly in the plan to not approach any of the men. In Baldwin’s case, one of them approached her.”

“But they don’t suspect me?” Nina asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

“I am not sure right now. I think I have a way we can find out though.” He rounded on Cassius. “Little Morello formed a bond with the bartender. I’ve had short conversations with her before, but nothing to the degree Morello did. It’s up to you to get some intel.”

“I don’t think she’s in on it, Sir,” Cassius replied.

“She may not be, but she does know something about it. We need all the information we can get right now. As it is, we have to stay under the radar until it’s confirmed they didn’t know it was Baldwin. Those two especially need to stay under cover.”

The nameless stared down at their feet, each of them with cuts and bruises on their faces.
Apparently the Russians got to them before they could get away.
Petey kept a pleasantly vacant face, listening to every word with wide eyes. He raised his hand, sitting up a little in his chair.

“Can I go out since I didn’t go on the mission?” Petey asked. “They don’t know me.”

“I think they can sense stupid though,” Orion said, rolling his eyes as he held his hand in his arm leaned on his knee. He looked bored and weary with caverns under his eyes,signaling he may have recently been crying.

Commander Jones didn’t respond as the others snickered, though his frown slightly upturned. “We need to figure out what’s going on first. I certainly don’t want another one of you to die during a preliminary mission. Little Morello.” He tossed Cassius a phone. “Give the bartender a call. I know she gave you her number.”

“She gave you her number?” Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. “Good job, dude! She was beautiful. Not as beautiful as my Daisy, but beautiful all the same.”

Jones frowned. “Morello, please.”

Cassius nodded and stood, exiting the room. Orion watched him with interest, but said nothing. Jimmy clapped until Leo punched his shoulder to stop. Jones rubbed his forehead, nonverbally wondering what he’d gotten into with this new set of recruits.

Cassius hurried to his room to get the number. He dialed slowly, his breathing increasing with each number pressed.
Maybe she won’t answer. Maybe I can leave a message.
He inhaled and pressed the “Call” button.
Please don’t answer, please don’t answer, please don’t answer.

“Hello,” a female voice answered.

Damn it.
“Hello, is this Amy?”

“This is Amy. Who is this?”

“This is Cass… Casey.” She didn’t respond. “From last night?”

“Oh yeah. How are you doing, Casey?”

“I’m all right. I talked to my friend like you suggested.”

“And?”

“Turns out she’s not interested.”

She laughed, making caterpillars squirm in his stomach. “I thought that might be the case. I kind of just wanted a reason to give you my number. And get rid of the competition, of course.”

He smiled in spite of himself. “Very crafty, though I am heartbroken now. I’m not sure how I’ll go on.”

“Well, I can cheer you up with some coffee at a nice, non-war zone. Or I can have you killed.”

“I guess the latter would solve all my problems.”

She laughed again. “Meet me for coffee. Are you busy today?”

Oh no, should’ve asked Commander Jones the plan.
“I don’t think I am.” He rose and started making his way down the hall to where the voices from the others still bounced off the walls. “Did you want to get together soon?”

“Well, I just woke up. I work nights, you know.”

“Right.” He tried to stop his panting as he moved faster to the room.
Why is it so far away?

“So how about in a couple hours?”

“Um… I think that might…” he moved into the room finally, and everyone silenced. Commander Jones leaned against the wall facing them, looking wearier than ever. Cassius mouthed “two hours?” to Jones, who narrowed his eyes.

“What?” Petey asked. “I can’t read lips.”

Leo covered his mouth and shook his head as Jones glared.

“Casey? Are you still there?” Amy said on the other end.

“Yes, sorry. One of the other students came into the room and distracted me. Two hours sounds good to me. Where do you want to meet?”

“Bruno’s. It’s tucked away downtown away from the mess. Do you want directions?”

“I think I can figure it out. Is it hard to find?”

“Where?” Jones mouthed.

“Bruno’s,” he mouthed back. Jones nodded in recognition.

“Not too hard to find if you already know where it is,” she answered. “It’s kind of in an alley by the butcher shop next to the lingerie shop. The signs are in Russian but there is meat and bras in the windows.”

“Okay, I can figure that out.”

“All right. Just give me a call if you get lost, okay?”

“Okay. See you in a few hours.”

“See you then. Bye.”

“Bye.” Cassius hung up with a deep breath, then smiled at the room. Jimmy gave him a thumbs up, but Jones didn’t look pleased. The others gave neutral expressions except Petey, who appeared vacant as usual.

“Two hours isn’t enough time to figure out a plan or get you wired,” Jones frowned. “I’ve been to Bruno’s before, so at least there’s that.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do,” Cassius answered. “She suggested it, and I froze.”

“It’s fine. Let’s get to it.”

Jones quickly made up a plan. The nameless would sit out. Nina would listen to the tapes with Jimmy and Orion off-site and control communication. Leo would be disguised and enter the coffee shop with Petey to keep an eye out because Leo could speak Russian, while Petey could barely speak fluent English. And Jones would hide in the shadows near the shop just in case. Orion argued that he’d rather be more on the scene just in case, but Jones denied him.

“You’re kind of a live-wire, Big Morello,” Jones said. “I can’t read you, and I can’t trust you yet.”

Next, Jones set up microphones on Cassius’s body, which Cassius didn’t enjoy. He didn’t really want to be wired on a date with a beautiful woman, but Jones insisted the necessity of it. They then tested everything to make sure everything worked correctly. In all, it seemed like a well-oiled machine - of course, Cassius thought the first mission appeared pretty organized too, and that didn’t exactly go as well as it should have.

Cassius rode a bike to the coffee shop with the listening van following close behind. He somehow found Bruno’s easily - he found the shops with the meat and bras in the window. He left the bike in the alley where Jones already stood - he’d headed over early to case the area. Cassius felt his heart in his throat as he had at the last mission, but the fear came from a different place. He’d never been as popular with women as Orion was - he didn’t have the natural charisma or charm.

A girl he liked in high school had said he was “creepy and sullen. Like a serial killer.” She never went out with him.

“Hey, Casey,” Amy greeted as he walked up. She stood outside waiting for him.

“Oh, hi,” he answered. “I didn’t see you there.”

“I worried you’d get lost, but it looks like you’re smarter than I thought.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

She laughed and led him in. The barista smiled at her as she walked up, the two of them familiar with each other. She spoke to the woman in Russian, giving a slight nod to Cassius. He longed to know what she was saying - he knew he should’ve taken a more worthwhile language in school than Spanish.
Maybe Russian and Spanish are similar languages?
He listened to the conversation.
They’re not.

“What did she say?” Jimmy’s voice asked in the earpiece.

“She said she tricked Cassius into a date with her, so the barista needed to give them the best drinks they have,” Orion answered.

“Since when do you speak Russian?” Nina inquired. Cassius could see her eyebrow raise in his mind.

“I learned before we came. I have a knack for languages. I just didn’t think it’d be appropriate to speak Russian when we’re supposed to be English college students.”

“I killed a guy with a beer bottle, so you can shut up.”

“Let’s keep this professional, recruits,” Jones’s voice said in monotone. “Keep the channel clear unless there’s a reason.”

Cassius closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. Amy handed him a drink and picked a table for them.

“Are you nervous?” she asked with a chuckle.

“I’m a little nervous,” he answered. “Still a little freaked from last night.”

“You’ll be safe here. They don’t come this way. The butcher’s a scary guy, so they stay away.”

“Oh. You seem to know a lot about them.”

She shrugged. “It comes from my place of work. You all left pretty quickly last night. Did Gregor creep your friend out?”

“We just wanted to keep bar hopping, but things got too crazy. We ended up just going home.”

“What do you mean things got crazy? Just people getting drunk?”

Should he mention what happened? What he knows?
“One of our friends did drink a little bit too much. We thought it best we just go.”

“Oh, I see. Some stuff did go down, so I didn’t know what you saw or knew about.”

“She’s trying to question you,” Jones warned. “Be wary.”

“There was a girl puking her guts out in the alley next to the place, but I didn’t see much else.” Cassius shrugged, trying to keep it cool. “That’s why we went home - we didn’t want to have to clean that up.”

She looked away, her blue eyes losing their luster slightly. “Yeah, it was definitely hard to clean up.”

“Was she okay?”

“Let’s not talk about it. We’re on a date, and that’s gross and depressing.”

“I guess it is. Thanks for the coffee by the way. It’s really good.”

“I told her to make the best she’s got. She and I went to school together.”

“Ask her about Gregor,” Jimmy said. “She has to know something if she cleaned up whatever that girl’s name was.”

“Don’t ask that. Let her talk about it naturally,” Jones said. “Earn her trust.”

“Are you Russian then?” Cassius asked. “A name like Amy isn’t exactly…”

“My mom was Russian. My father was in the military, and we came back here when he died,” she answered.

“Your mom and you?”

“Well, my brother came to live with us too after my dad died. He lived here with my grandparents. My mom was quite young when she had him.” She waved the topic away with her hand. “It’s a complicated story. Too much to tell.”

“What’s his name?”

“Alexei.” She gave a slight, sad smile.

“Are you two close?”

“Not anymore.”

“My brother and I aren’t very close either.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary right now,” Orion muttered.

She took a long gulp. “I have other family here though. Gregor was actually my cousin. He helped Alexei and me get jobs at the bar.”

Gregor
was
her cousin.
“Oh, was your brother there last night?”

“No.” She drank again, her eyes clear. “Gregor seemed to really like your friend. Was he the reason she said she doesn’t like you?”

“She’s fishing again,” Jones said.

“I think it had to do with something else.” Cassius shrugged. “We’ve known each other for a long time, so...”

“Right.” She looked into his eyes and smiled. The caterpillars in his stomach moved again, perhaps cocooning into butterflies. “What do you say we go somewhere else? There’s a guy over there staring at us.”

Cassius looked back to see Petey sitting alone, blatantly staring at them. The disguised Leo stood in line for coffee, not noticing. Cassius rolled his eyes.
Should’ve predicted that one.

“He’s probably just a dumb kid.” Cassius leaned back in his chair. “Blinded by your beauty, probably.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s it.” She leaned in, keeping an eye on Petey. “Around here, if someone is staring at you, you get the hell out. Got me?”

“He doesn’t look dangerous,” Cassius leaned in as well, whispering and almost forgetting the mission.

“They rarely do. Come on, we’ll go out the back way. I’ll go first, then you.” She drank, then stood, walking confidently toward the “Restroom” sign and the dark hallway beneath it.