The Finding (38 page)

*****

Marla leaned
against the headboard, running her fingers through Jeffries’ hair.
He sighed and rolled over, then rubbed his eyes.

“Hello, lover.”
She cooed the words and watched the satisfied smile that spread
over his face.

“Morning.”
Jeffries stretched and yawned. “You tired me out last night.”

“Mmm... But it
was a good tired, wasn’t it?”

“Oh yeah. The
best.”

“I’m glad.” She
trailed her hand across his chest and then followed the arrow of
hair to his navel. “Do you remember what we talked about last
night?”

“No... Oh! The
elevator? You weren’t serious about that, were you?” He rolled onto
his side to face her and propped himself up on his elbow.

“Of course I
was. It’s just a bit of a joke on Sylvia, that’s all. She was
teasing me about being afraid of spiders and actually put one on my
desk! I know she’s afraid of heights, so if the elevator doors open
and there’s just this big black chasm, she’ll be scared
spitless.”

“But, that’s
kind of dangerous. I mean, what if she isn’t watching and actually
steps ahead, thinking the elevator is there?”

“Don’t worry.
I’ll make sure I’m there to grab her or I’ll string a bunch of
bungee cords inside the door. It will be harmless prank, that’s
all.”

“I still don’t
know, Marla.”

She gently
pushed him onto his back and slid her fingers lower, caressing his
manhood. It sprang to life and he groaned in appreciation. “Please?
For me?”

“I should have
never told you that I used to do elevator maintenance.” Jeffries
spoke the words through gritted teeth.

“I promise I’ll
make it worth your while.” She leaned forward, her bare breasts
brushing against his chest. Her lips trailed over his face and her
hand worked his shaft causing it to grow harder.

“Well...I
suppose. As long as you promise to make sure she doesn’t get
hurt.”

Marla traced
his lips with her tongue. “I promise to be right there to make sure
it works perfectly.”

“When...” His
breathing hitched as she slid on top of him and nibbled his chest.
“When do you want to do this?”

“As soon as
possible... Maybe this evening? Or tomorrow morning?” She worked
her way down his body, dipping her tongue into his belly
button.

“Okay... What
about Swanson’s security?”

“Don’t worry.
He’s not as diligent as people think. If need be, I’ll distract
him.” Marla pressed a kiss to Jeffries thigh. Her wolf whined and
whimpered but she ignored it and concentrated on the man before
her.

“Make sure you
have the doorway secured so she can’t fall.” Jeffries threw his
head back and bit his lip, his body arching in obvious
pleasure.

“Don’t worry.
Everything will be ready on my end. Everything.”

*****

Kellen slowly
drifted back to consciousness and tried to open his eyes. They felt
gritty and the lids were partially stuck shut. He tried to raise
his hand to wipe them, but found his arms wouldn’t respond. Or
rather, they were trying to respond, but seemed to be stuck. He
shook his head and forced his eyes open, squinting as his pupils
adjusted to the brightness.

His neck
twinged as he lifted his head, protesting the movement. Apparently
he’d fallen asleep sitting up, but where...? Looking around the
room, nothing was familiar. He furrowed his brow, trying to recall
recent events.

He hissed as
his memory kicked in, his whole body suddenly alert. He’d been
kidnapped by Hugh and taken to Dollar Niche. Eddie wanted to turn
Sandy over to whoever it was that was looking for her in exchange
for a hefty reward.

Eddie had
talked on the phone to someone—Kellen struggled to recall the name,
but it wouldn’t come to him—then Hugh had slapped him around. Last
thing he recalled was being injected with something.

Was he still in
Dollar Niche? No, this place was classier. Thick Berber carpet on
the floors, fancy window treatments... No furniture though, except
of course, for the chair he was tied to. It was plain wood without
an ounce of cushioning and his body was letting him know that fact
loud and clear. He shifted his weight, trying to ease some of the
strain and pressure on his back and upper legs.

Without
warning, the door swung open and Hugh walked in. The blond giant
looked well rested and ready for another game of beat-up-Kellen.
There were bandages on his neck and Kellen recalled the strange,
but well-timed dog attack that had occurred. It had given Sandy a
chance to escape. He hoped she was okay, wherever she was.

“You’re
awake.”

“Brilliant
deduction, Sherlock.” Kellen kicked himself as soon as the words
left his mouth. Being rude to the people who held you captive
probably wasn’t a good idea, but then again, dumb ideas seemed to
be his forte lately.

Hugh grumbled
and Kellen made a half-hearted effort to apologize. Irritating the
man wouldn’t help his cause any. “Sorry. I’m not a morning
person.”

He peered
behind Hugh to see a long hallway lined with doors. It gave no clue
as to where he was. “So, where’s your sidekick?”

“Eddie? He’s
gone; he doesn’t like the rough stuff. Drove us to the airport and
then took off.”

“But you
decided to stick around.”

Hugh shrugged.
“Sure. This is the type of work I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Being a thug
was your career goal?”

“Hey, we all
have our own aspirations.” Hugh folded his arms and looked at him
belligerently.

Kellen sighed.
If he’d ever harboured any hopes that Hugh might be a friendly
jailor who could be persuaded to let him go, they quickly died.

Another man
appeared in the door way and Hugh stepped aside to let him in. The
newcomer was probably in his late fifties, well dressed with a silk
scarf wrapped pretentiously around his neck. Kellen raised his
eyebrows at the sight of the scarf, but said nothing.

“Good morning,
Mr. Anderson.” The man’s voice was raspy, almost forced. He walked
around Kellen making tsking sounds. “I apologize for your
accommodations last night, but it couldn’t be helped. The same with
your appearance. If you’d been more cooperative, Hugh wouldn’t have
had to get quite so physical with you.”

Kellen recalled
Hugh grabbing him by the collar and taking a swing at him, but
beyond that, nothing. How had he been uncooperative if he’d been
unconscious? Or had Hugh only used that as an excuse to deliver a
few more blows than needed? Deciding that knowing the truth
wouldn’t make any difference, Kellen focussed on watching this new
player in the game. An icy coldness seemed to ooze from the man’s
pores as if his heart had quit beating years ago.

“Who are you?”
The words slipped past Kellen’s lips before he could stop them.

A shadow of a
smile passed over the man’s lips, the corners barely turning before
it became impassive again. “
Who
I am is none of your
concern. What I
want
is. And that is simply to restore that
poor child, Cassandra Greyson, to her rightful place as heiress of
the Greyson estate.”

“Sorry,” Kellen
shook his head. “She gave me the distinct impression that she
didn’t want to come back. She wasn’t happy in her old life. Even if
I knew where she was right now, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Chuckling the
man stood in front of Kellen, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Thankfully, that isn’t necessary any longer. You are merely the
bait now. I have it on good authority that she left Las Vegas on a
flight here just a few hours ago and should be landing about now.”
The man reached towards Kellen and he jerked back expecting another
blow. Instead the man smiled and patted his cheek. “You just sit
here like a good boy. As soon as we have the girl, we’ll let you
go.”

Hugh snorted as
if he knew some inside joke and held the door open for the other
man. As they left, Kellen was sure he heard Hugh address the fellow
as Mr. Aldrich. Not that it mattered. The name meant nothing to
him.

He pulled on
the ropes that bound his arms. He didn’t believe them when they
said he’d be free to go once Sandy—Cassandra—arrived. After all,
he’d seen their faces and could report them to the authorities. But
would anyone believe him, even if he did make it out alive?

Kellen Anderson
was just another gambling addict. Besides he had his own murky
past. It was just petty theft as a teen, but still... He clenched
his jaw tight and shook his head. The cops wouldn’t believe him.
They’d run his background first, question his own involvement in
the whole affair, and probably think he was just disgruntled
because he didn’t get his cut of the reward money.

But Sandy would
vouch for him, wouldn’t she? His spirits perked, hope swelling in
him before it plummeted like a popped balloon. Unless, she was too
angry about him selling her out. His stomach clenched and he felt
sick thinking about how Sandy probably perceived him at the moment.
For three years now she’d trusted him, believed in him and
now...

Swallowing
hard, he tried to reassure himself about his true intentions. He
hadn’t really been going to call that number, at least not after
he’d thought about it and talked to Sandy. It was just an impulsive
idea, but he’d never have carried it through once he knew her true
feelings on returning home. Surely, she’d know that...

He licked his
lips, the nauseous feeling growing inside him again. If Sandy lost
faith in him—if he lost her—he’d have no one. Even if she didn’t
love him the way he hoped, she was still there for him, still
someone he could call his own. Without her, there’d be no reason to
keep going...

Damn, but he
wished he’d never seen that flyer, never borrowed money from Dollar
Niche, never even gone gambling with his supposed ‘friends.’ Why
couldn’t he say no to the clawing need that rose up inside him? Why
was he so weak that he couldn’t resist the thrill of the game, the
adrenaline rush that came from teetering on the edge of winning or
losing a fortune? It was a sickness that left him shaking and
light-headed, yet had him returning over and over for just one
game, one more deal of the cards or roll of the dice. Even now he
could imagine how it would feel to be at a gaming table; his heart
would be pounding, his brain racing as he calculated the
odds...

He let his head
drop forward and cursed himself. His addiction had already taken so
much from him and now it was going to destroy the only good thing
left in his miserable life...

Chapter
17

Bryan and
Cassie spent the rest of the flight in large blocks of silence
interspersed with brief moments of overly polite banal
conversation. Recent revelations, especially the fact Bryan might
be her predestined mate...er...husband...were
extremely...unsettling. Her human half told her that it couldn’t
possibly be true; you didn’t meet people in your dreams. Another
part of her seemed to sit up, eagerly wagging its tail at the very
idea. She scolded that part of herself, telling it to try and show
some self restraint while ensuring her human half didn’t dwell too
much on Bryan’s very appealing attributes.

Of course, a
union between them would be totally unacceptable. Once Kellen was
free, she planned on escaping and going...somewhere. There had to
be a way to contain the animal within her and live a quiet, normal
life. Her brief excitement over being royalty and having the
ability to teleport had faded. The dangers involved were now
looming over her. She’d have to be even more on guard now, watching
her thoughts carefully, especially around a full moon. Thus far,
she’d been lucky, but one of these days she might teleport into a
group of humans or suddenly appear someplace dangerous, like the
middle of a highway. Clenching her fists, her nails dug into her
palms; the burden of her new found ‘talent’ weighed heavily on
her.

Feeling wearier
than ever, a soft sigh escaped her. Her life kept getting more and
more complicated; would things ever be simple again? She turned her
head slightly to stare at Bryan. Mates... She wondered how he
really felt about the possibility of them being...connected by
destiny. He’d been quiet, seemingly lost in thought for most of the
flight. Did he find the idea of her as a mate repulsive? Or maybe
he was just tired? He had been up early and sleeping on the couch
couldn’t have been comfortable.

Nibbling on her
lip, she turned back to watch the clouds skimming by the window,
still wondering what the man beside her was thinking, but was too
nervous to ask him in case the answer wasn’t to her liking. Though
why she even cared, she didn’t know. Just because he was good
looking, and a bit of a knight in shining armour who was willing to
help her rescue Kellen, wasn’t any reason to be concerned about his
opinion of her.

Besides, he had
those flashes of bossiness, like he thought he was in charge and
just assumed she’d fall in with his plans. So what if it was sort
of hot when he stared at her with that implacable look of his. She
was used to a gentler approach, like Kellen, and that was what she
preferred wasn’t it? True, Kellen’s indecisiveness drove her to
distraction at times whereas Bryan seemed to know exactly what he
wanted... Cassie flicked a glance at him out of the corner of her
eye and sighed at the pointless speculation. She had no business
being interested in Bryan, or anyone else for that matter. Her
future was sealed; she knew what she had to do. Glumly, she propped
her chin in her hand and stared out the window, dully waiting for
the flight to be over.

It was only as
they arrived in Chicago and exited the plane that she and Bryan
began to really talk again and then it was concerning their next
course of action.

Cassie hefted
her bag off the luggage carousel, slung the strap over her
shoulder, and started walking towards the exit. “As soon as we’re
outside where it’s a bit quieter, I’ll call the kidnappers. The
number they gave is different than the one that was on the poster
of me.”