Authors: Sheryl Nantus
Jess gave him an approving look. “Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. We try to keep it pretty well-stocked.”
“I’m thinking pasta. Fast energy and doesn’t take too long to cook.” He untangled himself from my legs and went into the kitchen.
Jess smiled. “Dang, you got one that’s trained to cook? Give me some DNA and I’ll get to cloning him.”
I almost choked on the drink.
“The kids are safe, right?” Jess asked. “No chance they’re going to get nabbed while you’re here.”
“Yes. I’ve got them tucked away with a friend.” I didn’t think it was the right time to mention Red.
“Hmm.” Jess held her glass up and peered at the whiskey. “Good stuff.” She rested the glass in her lap, caressing the cool smooth surface. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Rebecca. I can only do so much and then it’s beyond me.”
I nodded. “You’ve done enough. Thanks for having us here.”
She sniffed the air. “Oh, he’s raiding the cupboard. Canned tomatoes and the man knows his seasonings.” Her attention returned to the drink, dipping her index finger in to stir an invisible ice cube. “For the record I’ve already warned both families that farther sneak attacks on your person will not be tolerated. Felis may not kill Felis but that doesn’t give them carte blanche to beat the crap out of you by broadsiding you in an alley. McCallister was way out of line for slamming you like that.” She took another sip. “Damned idiots.”
I didn’t dispute her opinion.
We sat in silence, a comfortable quiet, for a good half hour. The alcohol sent a warm buzz through me and I felt fine, refreshed and ready to deal with anything.
It wouldn’t last but I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Come eat.” Bran appeared in the doorway, brandishing a ladle. “Now.”
Jess chuckled as she pushed herself up, letting out a grunt. I rolled off the couch and headed for the kitchen with my stomach already growling for food.
Bran whipped up a spaghetti dinner, salad on the side with giant slices of homemade bread hanging off the edges of the plates. He’d cooked for me before but this tasted extra good this time, the delicate spices dissolving on my tongue as I spun the thin pasta around my fork.
We ate in silence, a mismatched family enjoying the calm before the inevitable storm.
“Whoa.” Jess pushed the empty plate away and dabbed at one side of her mouth with a paper napkin. “I’ll have to add in an extra run tonight to make sure this doesn’t stay on my hips. Thank you.”
Bran gave me a saucy wink, and started to clear the table. He’d been the perfect host and I couldn’t have loved him more for it.
She patted her stomach. “That’s a meal that demands a round of applause.” Jess looked at her watch and sighed. “They’re going to be back in an hour. Anything you need me to do?”
“Stay around and make sure they don’t kill her,” Bran murmured from the kitchen counter.
“I was planning to do that anyway.” She got up from the table and carried the near-empty salad bowl to the refrigerator. “Got too much invested in you two.” After sticking the wooden bowl inside and closing the door Jess turned and rested her hands on the counter behind her. “What’s your plan?”
I mopped up the last of the sauce with a bit of crusty bread. “Same as before. Negotiate for the kids to come home and be allowed to continue dating each other. If they fall out of love or not is their decision, not their families’.”
Jess shook her head. “You are a hopeless romantic.” She picked up the electric kettle and nudged Bran aside to turn on the water in the sink. “And if they don’t give in? You’re fighting a feud that’s been going on for two generations.” She stuck the kettle under the stream of water. “You’re asking a lot of them. Jake and Mary were raised to believe their mothers were right in their actions and that the other side was wrong. It’s going to be hard, if not impossible for them to let that go.”
I chewed on the bread for a minute before answering. “I’m asking them to do what’s right for their children. The blood’s already been spilled and gone dry, there’s no point in continuing this insanity for another generation. Neither family will benefit in the long run and it won’t help the Pride.” I licked my lips, tasting the last of the tart sauce. “They can’t make me tell them where the kids are.”
“No they can’t.” Jess busied herself making tea. “But you know they can make you pay for your silence with more challenges and you won’t get away with that sneak attack again.” She studied my face. “Are you ready to take them on to protect two teenagers?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head and pulled down three mugs from the cupboard.
“Wait,” Bran interrupted. “You’re warning the idiots not to attack her again with one breath and in the other authorizing more challenges? What the fuck is that?”
Jess frowned and I knew she was trying to figure out how to explain something inherently Felis to him.
“It’s a matter of customs,” I started.
Jess held up her hand and stopped me. “Bran, it’s a case of procedure. When you were down in Penscotta and met those two enforcers you knew they’d do anything Carson asked, right?”
“They destroyed evidence that could have helped us find the killer faster. Redneck punks.”
“I agree. But they didn’t know that at the time, they were working for Carson. They were there to give Carson and the Board a private security force, someone they could trust to be there when needed.” She paused and I could see her trying to put words to something she hadn’t had to explain before. “What McCallister did was wrong. Enforcers aren’t allowed to attack other Felis unless necessary to protect the family.”
“Your own police force.”
She tilted her head. “In a way. Imagine them as sort of bodyguards with the ultimate goal of helping keep the Felis hidden.”
“But this has nothing to do with keeping your secret, chasing down two runaway kids. And they’re not working for the Board here. Carson at least justified his thugs by being the police chief.”
“Usually enforcers work for the Board. Some work for individual families, like in this case.” She frowned, her thin eyebrows drawing together as she searched for the words. “Enforcers do more than just punch and threaten. They help out when and where a strong man is needed, when a father’s been lost and a child needs help. They build barns and homes for those who need them. They help the elderly get around and deliver supplies if necessary. Think of them as a sort of Peace Corps with claws. We call them enforcers because they enforce our way of life, our code. It’s not an easy job and not every man wants the title. It’s a necessary part of our support system. I’m sorry you’ve only seen the negative side of it.”
Bran paused for a minute before nodding. “I get it. But what I don’t get is them beating on Reb and hunting down those kids. That can’t fall under helping the Pride.”
“It’s not. They’re not supposed to be active without approval from the Board and we sure as hell wouldn’t approve of smashing someone into a wall so hard she needed hospitalization.” Her left hand rose, waving away invisible flies. “A challenge, that’s different. That’s a traditional way of settling matters for the Felis. Family leadership, Board positions, it’s our way of settling matters in a definitive matter. Once it’s done, it’s done. No going back, no appeal process.”
“Might over right? Survival of the fittest?” Bran growled.
A flash of anger in Jess’s eyes signaled her impatience with him. “Look, you may not like it but it’s what we do. It’s how we survive, how we handle things. If you don’t like it—” She bit back the response.
Bran’s problem with the Felis was my problem and Lord knew I had more than one gripe with the system.
Bran took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “So they can challenge her again. And keep challenging until she either tells them or what, dies?”
“I won’t let that happen to her,” Jess said. “But I can’t deny them the right to try.”
Bran turned the hot water on and busied himself with the dishes. I knew he was dying to say something but it’d be pointless. This was a fight he couldn’t take on for me and he desperately wanted to.
The tea was ready by the time the last wet dish hit the drying tray. Bran sat down next to me. Jess brought over the Brown Betty teapot and put it in the center of the scarred wooden tabletop. She waved Bran down as he started to rise and got three mugs, adding a dash of milk to all of them before placing them in front of each of us.
Bran picked up the teapot and began pouring with a steady hand.
“When they come back you need to stay quiet.” Jess warned Bran. “They’re tolerating you being in the same room and that’s because I’m here. But I can only do so much.”
“I knocked out Carson,” Bran said with a touch of pride. “I can hold my own against them.”
“And they know that. Trust me, everyone knows that.” Jess smiled. “Which is why they’d love to take you on. But this isn’t the time or place for that, it’s Reb’s game and she’s got to play it out.” She poured out the tea and passed him the first mug.
“I won’t let them hurt her,” he said quietly, steel underlying the softness.
“Wasn’t asking you to.” Jess pushed the second cup at me. “Just asking that you think about the bigger picture before you act. Listen to your head before acting on your heart.”
I heard the spin of rubber on gravel.
It was time.
Jess got up and strolled out. Bran didn’t move other than to drain the last of his tea and study the invisible tea leaves in the bottom.
I stayed in the kitchen, listening to the Chandlers and Middlestons file back up on the porch and march through the front door. There was some mutterings but I couldn’t make them out even with my Felis hearing.
I probably didn’t want to.
By the time I’d finished my tea the two groups were back in the living room in their assigned seats.
Jess appeared in the doorway. “It’s time.”
I stood up. My legs were steady and I waved off Bran’s attempt to help me walk.
I couldn’t afford to be seen as anything other than at full strength.
I strode from the kitchen with a jaunt in my step and teeth clenched to the point of almost shattering.
It was a rerun of the previous meeting with everyone in the same place. Jake Middleston on one side, Mary Chandler on the other. Nathan McCallister glared at Eddie Longstrand from across the circular table but he didn’t say anything.
The Chandler kit’s nose was swollen but not broken. He whistled through it as I strode to the bottom of the stairs, Bran at my side.
Jess took up her position. Both family heads watched her like a hawk, waiting for her to make the first move. I suspected if she’d been a lesser woman one or both families would have challenged her position on the Board already.
But they knew Jess and her reputation.
Jake cleared his throat. “I think we’re ready to begin.”
I glanced at Mary. She sat there with her legs crossed and a prissy grin. That couldn’t be good.
“I’m prepared to discuss Evan and Lisa returning to their families under certain conditions,” I started.
Mary put up her hand, stopping me.
“I’d like to bring another option to the table.”
Nathan stood beside her pale and wheezing son, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
My stomach churned.
“You bring my boy home to me, right now.” She didn’t look at Jake other than to nod in his general direction. “This is between you and me. What he arranges with you is his business. I just want my Evan safe and sound and out of that bitch’s arms.”
Jake sucked in his breath hard but stayed seated. Jess gave him an approving nod of her head.
“I’m negotiating for both of them. A package deal.”
“No,” she said, the underlying growls sending a shiver up my spine. “Only my son. Only Evan and you’re going to bring him back to me.”
“And I would do this because—” I said.
“Because of this.” She reached up behind her, eyes locking with mine. Nathan put a photograph into her hand, a glossy eight-by-eleven sized page.
She pulled her arm back and tossed it onto the table in front of her, not breaking eye contact.
Chapter Eleven
I blinked first, pulling away to look down at the image.
Angie.
Gagged and tied to a chair. A copy of the
Toronto Star
, today’s edition, in her lap. Her eyes wide and scared, reminding me of a deer caught in the headlights.
Bran, God bless him, didn’t react. His breath stuttered but he didn’t move.
Jess did.
She flew toward the table with almost unnatural speed, snatched up the black and white picture and waved it in Mary’s face. “What the fuck is this? What the fuck is this all about?”
Mary stood her ground, staying seated as Jess hovered over her. Her angelic look increased Jess’s fury, her face shifting from pale white to an angry red, the scar on her left cheek becoming more visible with each second.
Bran shifted beside me, the floorboards creaking under his movement.
Mary turned her gaze on Jess. “This is no longer the Board’s business.” She spoke slowly, as if to a child.
I thought I could hear Jess’s blood pressure rise.
“The Board deals with Felis business. This—” Mary tapped a finger against the photo in her face, “—is no Felis. This is a human. For whom we will bargain with another human, leaving the Felis out of the equation.” Her eyes narrowed. “Therefore your presence, and your interference, is unnecessary.” She smiled. “We’ve just decided to change the battlefield.”
“By kidnapping a human,” Jess whispered.
“Not just any human.” Mary looked past Jess to Bran. “Your friend. Your very good friend, from what she told us. You get her back when we get Evan back.”
“I don’t believe you. I think you’re full of shit.” Bran poked a finger at the photograph. “That could be all faked, Photoshopped. I know the business and it’d be damned easy to fake all this.”
Mary smiled and looked over her shoulder at her bloodied son.
The punk stepped out to stand beside his mother. He pulled out his cell phone and tapped in a number before placing it on the table.
“Yeah?” The rough voice shot out of the tiny speaker.
“Give her the phone,” the young man said.
I allowed myself an inside smile at hearing the squeak in his voice.
“Hello? Hello?” Angie screamed. “Who’s there? Police? Is this the police?”
Jess looked at Bran and nodded.
Mary tilted her head to one side and grinned at me.
“Angie,” Bran spoke first, careful to speak slowly and clearly. “Listen to me. It’s okay. You’re going to be fine.”
“Bran?” She sobbed. “Bran, what’s going on? They said they’re going to hurt me if you don’t do something, something—” The words drifted off into more sobs. “They said they’re going to cut me, cut my face.”
A cold ball of fear curdled the remaining food in my belly. I’d seen what Felis claws could do to bare skin.
Bran had as well.
I couldn’t help looking over at Jess and the scar on her face. Delivered by my mother, the deep gash had taken Jess’s eye and marked her forever.
It took a lot to survive that.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out if Angela Degas was up to the task.
“I’ll come for you, promise. I’ll come save you—” Bran stopped as Mary’s son reached out and cut the connection.
Jess didn’t move. “This is not what we agreed on.” She shook her head with a slow, threatening pace. “You are going into dangerous territory.”
Mary stared at her. “This isn’t Board business anymore. This is between us and him.” She turned away from Jess and pointed at Bran. “You want her back, you give us Evan. Simple as that.”
Jake looked behind him at Eddie with a “why didn’t we think of that?” scowl.
Eddie said nothing and continued staring at the ground.
Jess snatched the picture up off the table and handed it to me. “Don’t think I won’t be taking this up with the rest of the Board. And the Grand Council.” She turned back to Mary. “You’ve made a big mistake pulling this human into our business.”
Mary got to her feet and placed her fingertips on the table. “You made a big mistake referring me to this outcast and her mate. And she made a big mistake underestimating how far I’ll go to get my son back.” She picked up the cell phone and handed it over to her son.
I stood there, frozen in place as Jake Middleston stood up.
He looked almost embarrassed. He shuffled his feet and avoided looking at me directly, addressing Jess with his head tucked into his chest.
“This doesn’t involve us. When you’ve finished your other business I’d be willing to talk to you again.” He strode out, Eddie and the unknown Felis in tow.
Mary beamed at Bran. “If you want your girlfriend back you’ll either bring my son to me or give us the information on where to find him before sunrise.” She looked at her watch. “I’m being generous with the amount of time. Don’t make me regret it.”
Jess made a sound, almost a hiss. “You are not going to get away with this.” She pointed at Bran. “He’s got nothing to do with this. You dragging him in is a violation of our laws.”
“No. That mutant you’ve got tucked under your tail is the real violation. I’ll take my chances with the Grand Council. But this’ll be done one way or the other within the next twenty-four hours.” She spun around, her ponytail whipping across her shoulders. Her bloodied son followed, grinning.
Nathan chuckled before taking up a spot behind Chandler and her son as they headed for the door.
Bran waited to react until the room was empty except for the three of us, his strained breathing echoing in my ears.
“McCallister,” he snarled. “He took her, the bastard. He must have seen her with me, with us when we were tracking the kids.” He shook his head, replaying the events in his mind. “When this started out we were looking for the teenagers, not for someone stalking us. That’s how he chose Angie.” He closed his eyes. “I handed her right over to them. I didn’t even warn her to stay sharp, take some precautions.”
I had to say something before he broke under the self-imposed guilt. “It wouldn’t have stopped McCallister. It might have gotten people hurt, more than just me or you. He’s a hunter, he would have gone over and through anything to achieve his goal. It’s that bitch Chandler behind him, she let him loose on her.” I flopped into one of the vacated chairs, my new-found strength ebbing away with the shock. “I didn’t even consider this happening.”
Jess came up beside me and touched my shoulder. “You shouldn’t have. This isn’t a case of life or death, it’s about two kids wanting their freedom.” She sighed. “I never thought either family would go so far. I’m partially responsible for this.”
“For bringing me in?”
“No.” She gestured toward the now-vacant parking lot. “For not taking this straight to the Grand Council as soon as I realized the two families were involved. This shouldn’t have ever landed in your lap, not with the way she’s thinking.” Jess swallowed hard. “I never thought Mary would take it to this extreme. I knew she took the feud seriously, been trying to destroy Middleston’s business for as long as I can remember but this takes it to a whole new level.”
“By grabbing a human hostage,” I filled in the blanks.
“Yes.” Jess snorted. “Damned fool. She’s not going to be able to show her face in public after the Grand Council finishes with her.” She curled her fingers into a fist. “After I finish with her. The Board’s going to drop a ton of bricks on her head for this.”
“But right now we have a problem.” I directed her back to the present. “And the Grand Council isn’t here, we are.”
Bran hadn’t moved from where he stood. “If they hurt her—”
“Leave that part to me,” Jess warned. “Let’s not cross that bridge until we get there.” She looked at me. “Who is this woman?”
“An old friend,” Bran said before I could respond.
She turned toward him. “Did I ask you?” The icy snap had Bran closing his mouth and waiting.
“She used to be one of the street kids from Bran’s article,” I interrupted before the argument could gain momentum. The last thing I needed right now was a split between any of us. “We ran into her while looking for the kids. She runs an outreach project and helped us get away from the hunters last night. Wouldn’t be hard to track her down either at her home or at the drop-in center and grab her there.” I closed my eyes for a second, trying to process what had just happened. “Mary’s willing to pull an innocent human into danger for her family? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. She’s put us all in danger.” Jess cleared her throat, enough to bring us both around to look at her. “Feud or no feud that’s not acceptable under any circumstances.”
I flinched inside. Mary Chandler had crossed over a line. By pulling Angie into the mix she’d put the Felis in danger of being exposed and that was right at the top of Thou Shalt Nots for the family.
“How tough is Angie?” Jess asked Bran.
He gave her a blank look. I knew what was going on—he was going into shock at the idea of exposing Angie to the Felis. He’d had a rough enough entrance and couldn’t imagine inflicting that on someone else.
“How tough is she?” Jess repeated. She strode over to stand in front of him, staring at him directly. “Look, they’re not going to kill her but she’s got to be terrified and wondering what the hell she’s gotten herself into. Is she going to fold like a delicate flower or can she hold her own against them and stay strong until we can get to her?”
Bran licked his lips before pulling them into a straight line. “Are they going to beat her?”
“Maybe.” Leave it to Jess to tell the harsh truth. “If we don’t hand over Evan in time they might. It’d be a way to push your buttons, just like that phone call. It was pretty obvious to everyone that you care for her and wouldn’t want to see her get hurt.”
Bran didn’t say anything. I imagined him turning the clock back and assessing how Angie had changed from the tough alley rat he’d originally befriended.
“She survived for years on the street,” Bran finally answered. “She’ll be good.”
“I hope so.” Jess turned back to me. “I’ve got to call the other Board members and then the Council, give them an update and start the wheels turning. Can you handle it from here?”
I heard the unspoken question. Could I figure out how to save Angie without giving in to Mary Chandler’s demands and keep our family secret?
I levered myself out of the chair with a grunt. “We’ve got to get moving.” My legs felt like wooden fence posts. “We’re running the clock down.”
Bran sighed. “I don’t like it.” He swept one hand in front of him, encompassing the room. “I brought you up here to keep you safe, give you a chance to heal. I can deal with this on my own.” He took the picture from me and stared at the glossy image. “I can call Hank, I can get some professional help—”
Jess replied before I could. “No you can’t.”
It wasn’t a question.
Jess continued. “They’ve got her someplace safe, surrounded by Chandler family and friends. You’d be tilting at windmills trying to find out where they are.” She poked at the photograph. “They grabbed her to get you to pressure Rebecca to give up the information about where Evan is. They don’t give a shit about you or Angie.” Her tone sharpened. “And they sure as hell won’t care about a SWAT team showing up on their doorstep. If you’re looking to expose the family you couldn’t pick a better way to do it. It’d be a bloodbath, pure and simple.”
The unwanted image flashed in front of me. Felis fighting with the police; injured or dead on both sides and our secret out to the entire world. There’d be no containing such a disaster—it’d be impossible.
“Wait a minute.” I drew a deep breath, banishing the bloody images. “They’d risk everyone finding out about us to keep Angie?” I asked. “Wouldn’t they run and leave her behind?”
Jess fixed me in place with a piercing stare. “Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how psychopathic the guards are. They might start firing or attack instinctively and not even think about leaving. A clusterfuck all around. Do you want to take that risk?” She answered before I could. “No, you’re not.” She pointed at Bran. “And you’re not. Period.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“I don’t know and I don’t want to know. But whatever you do, remember you’ve got to keep our existence secret.” Jess headed for the kitchen. “The Chandlers have kicked this up to a Code Red. I’m not happy and no one else is going to be when this is all finished.”
“Can you force them to give Angie back?’ Bran asked. “Get the Grand Council to issue some sort of edict, some sort of paperwork to turn her loose?”
Jess stopped in the doorway. “This sort of thing hasn’t happened before. It’s going to take hours to get through to all the members, the Board and the Council. Then they’ve got to consider some sort of action and all the politics involved.”
“Politics?” Bran’s voice rose. “This is a woman’s life you’re dealing with.”
“This is something we’ve never had to deal with before.” The stress in Jess’s words scratched the inside of my eyelids. “Mary Chandler’s gone off the deep edge and now we’re talking damage control. We don’t have a protocol in place for this, so it’s going to take some time to put things in place, decide what the best move would be.”
“There’s not enough time,” Bran replied. “You’ll meet and talk and talk and by God do nothing and she’ll end up—” The words caught in his throat.
He was imagining Angie under McCallister’s claws, screaming as he ripped her face to shreds.
To start.
“Probably not. Chandler thought this out, she knew it’d take too long for us to get the higher-ups involved.” Jess glared at him. “Whatever you’re going to do, get to doing it and let me handle it from this end.”
“Fuck.” Bran shook his head. “I’ll be in the car.”
The screen door slammed shut, bouncing twice before coming to a full stop.
“She means a lot to him.” Jess eyed me. “How does she fit into his life?”
“Whatever she was, that’s in the past. Bran said it was a one-way love affair. She adored him and he did the right thing and stayed focused on his article.”
“Doesn’t mean it was all one-sided. The way he reacted to that photo tells me it’s not.”
My stomach twisted into knots. “He’s upset because when he went back to save the kids, pull them off the street, they were all gone. Including Angie.”