Tangled Fates (12 page)

Warning: If Zombies chase us, I’m tripping you
. His brow furrowed while he listened to Noah, as

though he were in deep concentration. His mouth was a straight line—not smiling, not frowning.

She longed to see a rare smile from him. It lit up his face, and she had heard Abby and Faith

describe his laugh as deep and throaty, but no one had heard it in over ten months. A twinge of

guilt surfaced within her as she looked at the vicious, purple bruise on his jaw.

His eyes shifted to hers, and their gazes locked, his purple stare assessing her. There

wasn’t the hatred that was usually present, but more of a desperation, a pleading. But for what?

She had no idea. At least he wasn’t staring daggers of hatred at her. After a moment, a

new emotion came over his face that looked a lot like desire. Annis had witnessed the same look

from the Warriors around the table when they looked at their mates. The couple would usually

disappear shortly after.

Annis wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Heat flushed in her cheeks and her body

warmed, as she looked at the most beautiful male she had ever seen, and the one with the worst

disposition—especially toward her—she had ever met. Why he affected her physically, she

didn’t fully understand. His hatred of her was crystal clear.

“If I can make a suggestion, Noah,” Blake said, laying his hand over Annis’s. She still

couldn’t break the stare between her and Cohen, but anger flared in his face. Why? She didn’t

understand Cohen or his feelings.

“Sure, what’s up?”

Blake squeezed Annis’s hand, and Cohen’s cheeks turned red. He broke the stare and

looked down at the table.

Annis turned her attention to Blake.

“It looks like the entry point for the transportation of kids coming up from South America

is Arizona. They’re brought in on Mexican produce trucks, and are usually left at a guarded drop

house in Tucson or Phoenix. Do you have any police contacts down there?”

Noah studied the table for a moment. “Sort of. There was a guy a couple years ago who

needed some help on a case. That was when Rayner met Faith.”

Rayner nodded.

“I haven’t talked to him since then, but I could make a call. What should I say to him?”

“Tell him you have information. Big information that could make his career, as well as

stop some sick asshole. Tell him you’ll turn it over, as long as he doesn’t ask where you got it.

We don’t have to turn over the whole computer, just the file, which we can do by CD. If he starts

questioning you, pull his bluff. Tell him he was number one on your list, but you’re more than

happy to go to number two.”

“I don’t have a number two in Arizona.”

Blake nodded. “I know, and I find that hard to believe, but whatever. He’ll go for it.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“We move to Plan B.”

“And that is?”

Blake shrugged. “We can figure it out later.”

“Wow. I hope Plan A fails just so we can see Plan B in action,” Cohen said, sarcasm

lacing his voice.

There was silence and a brief stare-down between Blake and Cohen.

“No need to be an asshole,” Blake said.

Cohen shrugged. “Just my nature.”

“You’re very proficient at it.”

“What can I say, half-breed? You bring out the best in me.”

“All right. Cohen, quit being a dick; Blake, quit egging him on,” Noah said.

“Why don’t we just send the CD in anonymously?” Hudson asked, turning the

conversation back on the right path.

“We could,” Blake said, “but I kind of want to make sure that someone has their hands on

it. That someone is expecting it and has a vested interest in it would be best in my book.

Remember, it took me a year to do something with the anonymous letter that was sent to me

about you guys, and that’s only because I had a vested interest in it.”

Noah nodded, as did a few of the other Warriors.

“I agree with the half-breed,” Hudson said.

“He may be a half-breed, but he’s not a half-wit,” Jovan said.

Everyone chuckled.

“Sounds solid, Blake. I’ll make the phone call tomorrow. In the meantime, when the fuck

is dinner going to be ready, Hudson? I feel like I could eat . . .”

“A horse?” Cohen said quietly.

All eyes turned to him. Cohen usually remained quiet, or was being nasty to someone.

There was finally something out of his mouth—a cliché—that resembled the Cohen of long ago,

the Cohen she had heard so much about.

Noah smiled. “Exactly, my friend. Exactly.”

Chapter 15

Blake kept pace with Noah as they ran through the Nevada desert. Although it was the

end of fall, they were having a bit of a warm snap, so both he and Noah opted for shorts and a

tank top. Once again, he was surprised by how much his physical endurance had improved since

living with the Warriors. As far as he was concerned, he was running on all cylinders and in top

form.

His life had changed a lot over the past ten months. His whole existence had been a secret

since that day he’d shot his father in the heart and watched him turn to ash. He had kept his

distance from everyone and gone through a string of girlfriends fifty miles long, most whom had

left him because he would never “let them in.” Although he had been surrounded by people in

his job as an FBI agent, he had truly been alone.

Not any longer though. He was now surrounded by people who understood him, who

knew his secret, and accepted him. He even appreciated the half-breed razing he received on a

constant basis. It was better than the gun to the head he’d gotten when he first met the Warriors,

courtesy of Hudson.

Blake guessed they had run about three miles, and he was just starting to break a sweat.

Nice.

“Did you talk to your guy in Phoenix?” Blake asked.

“Yep.”

“And?”

“And it didn’t go so well.” Noah stopped and put his hands on his hips.

Blake put on the breaks as well. “How come?”

Noah sighed and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “He wants the CD, and he’s willing

to keep his trap shut on where he got it and not ask any questions. But he wants me to come

down.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons: He’s got some dead people on his hands, and he can’t help but feel like

they’ve all been killed by the same person. All of them were beaten and stabbed. He wants me to

look at the files. He also wants me to go to some stupid function down there that will have

representatives from all the states’ police and sheriff’s offices.”

Blake studied Noah. Obviously, the guy didn’t want to go, but it would be a good

opportunity for Noah to expand his network of police contacts. Blake told him this.

“I know. That’s why I’m going.”

They started the run again.

“And why are you hesitant?” Blake asked after a while.

Noah stopped again. “First, I hate large functions. They usually require a tuxedo, or at the

minimum, a tie. Second, I despise pretending that it’s nice to meet everyone I come in contact

with. Third, I hate being questioned. Why do people think it’s okay to pry into someone’s life?”

Blake couldn’t agree more. On more than one occasion when someone, mainly a woman,

wanted to “get to know him,” there were all sorts of personal questions about his past that he

wasn’t about to cough up the answer.

“Gotta learn to dodge and deflect, man,” Blake said.

Noah nodded. “Yeah, I know. I do a decent job at it, but it doesn’t mean I like it.”

Again, they got back to the running.

Blake noted large clouds on the horizon. It looked like their warm spell was about to be

snapped. Those clouds looked like they carried some nasty weather.

“So what’s the deal with you and Annis?”

Blake lost his footing at the question and stumbled. Quickly, he recovered. “Nothing.

What are you talking about?”

Blake knew that he was circling Annis like a hyena over a dead carcass. Yet, he stopped

before actually approaching the woman sexually, and he didn’t know why. Going over it a

million times did nothing to get him to closer to a conclusion. Annis was gorgeous. They got

along great, and he loved hanging out with her. As far as he was concerned, they were perfectly

matched; they just needed to get down to business.

“Oh, please, Blake. Anyone with half a brain can see that you have a hard-on for Annis.”

Blake didn’t think it was that obvious. “Really? You think so?”

“Well, I didn’t pick up on it. But Abby and the girls sure did. I heard about it from

Abby.”

Those damn observant women.

“So, what’s going on? Abby says it’s like you’re pissing on Annis’s leg to mark her as

yours every time another male walks into the room.”

Blake stopped and put his hands on his knees. “Abby didn’t say that.”

Noah laughed. “You’re right. But it would be funnier than hell if she did. She said you

were very protective of her when Cohen came in the room, like you were possessive of her.”

Well, Abby had that right. Blake was possessive of Annis. As far as he was concerned,

she was his. And frankly, Cohen’s behavior toward Annis was a little frightening. Blake sure

didn’t understand it, and neither did anyone else he had spoken to about it. Well, he had only

spoken to Jovan, who said that Cohen used to be an easy, laid-back guy, but after the death of his

mate, he became quiet, brooding, and seemed to direct all his inner turmoil at Annis. Blake had

told Jovan he should be a shrink with that glimmer of brilliant psychology.

“You ready to turn around?” Blake asked.

Noah nodded. “So what’s the deal with the two of you?”

Blake stared out over the sagebrush. The sun was getting ready to set, and all he could

think about was getting back to the silo so he could be there when Annis’s eyes lit up for the

night. He loved watching the glow start as a pinpoint on her pupil, then morph into the warm and

beautiful glimmering gold orbs.

“Annis is my friend,” Blake said.

“You’re giving me a non-answer, Blake,” Noah said.

“Exactly. Review the conversation we had earlier. Dodge and deflect, man.”

Noah laughed and they started their long trek home.

“When we get back, that will be about eight miles for the day,” Blake said.

“And that, my friend,” Noah said, “means that we deserve some whiskey. And two

helpings of dessert.”

Chapter 16

Annis put her clothes into her suitcase and sighed.

A week had passed, and Noah had handed down the orders that she was to accompany

him, Abby, Jovan, Liberty, and Cohen to Phoenix. There was a function that Noah needed to

attend, and he wanted Warriors around him, as well as Abby.

“Your job is to stick to Abby and Liberty like stink on shit. Got it, Annis?”

Yes, she did. But what she hadn’t understood at first was why Cohen had to be part of the

trip. She really didn’t want to be around him, and she hadn’t spoken but a few sentences to him

since that hot mess in the Great Room.

Apparently, Hudson needed to stay home with Beverly and the baby, as Beverly had

come down with a case of the flu. Faith and Rayner would be joining them on the trip to

Phoenix, but Faith was receiving an award from her Navajo tribe in Flagstaff for her efforts in

bettering the tribe, and Rayner would accompany her. Talin wasn’t in any shape to travel,

preferring to stay close to his computers and interact with others as little as possible.

So that left Jovan and Cohen.

In her opinion, Cohen wasn’t any better off than Talin, except he swung the other way.

While Talin was sad and distant at the loss of his mate, Cohen had become rude, mean, and just

plain awful.

Not that she knew the male that everyone described before her arrival. The male she

knew was not a happy, joking male. He was intense, angry, and . . . devastated at losing his mate.

However, he didn’t need to be flat-out cruel to everyone, especially her.

And why did he say that she enjoyed being raped?

Tears welled in her eyes and her stomach flipped as she thought of the brutality of his

words. Never in her existence had she experienced something so horrible as she did at the hands

of that doctor, and then to have someone say that she enjoyed being defiled? The depth of his

viciousness astounded her. She considered herself pretty tough, but with a few well-placed

words, Cohen had hurt her worse than Hudson’s knife. She wanted to hate Cohen, but she

couldn’t find it within to do so. In fact, she pitied him because he was so absolutely despondent

that he lashed out at others with such ferocity. It would be difficult to be that miserable, and it

was something she couldn’t fathom or understand.

Yes, only a fucktard, as Blake had called him, would say the words Cohen had said.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she steeled herself and pushed her thoughts about Cohen

aside. She needed to focus on getting packed and the trip to Phoenix.

There was a light knock at her door. She was expecting Liberty, but usually the female

just marched in without warning.

Opening the door, her breath hitched as Cohen stood in front of her. He said nothing, just

stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at her. Deep circles bruised under his

eyes, and his hair stood on end as if it needed a good wash and a comb. His red T-shirt said,

Don’t Curse
, and had seen better days. His jeans loosely hung from his hips.