Blind Acceptance (9 page)

“I don’t know how much help Maddie and I could be, but what’s your plan, Zander?”

“Well, we know he had a secret facility in Canada, but we’ve never been able to find it. Truthfully, I don’t think anyone ever looked all that hard since it was over the border. With him in custody, they probably figured there was no one left to run the show. The Canadian packs are not always willing to work with the American ones. Now, I think it’s important to get a team up there and find the place, no matter the cost. If his work has continued with some kind of heir, then there are probably hostages that need rescuing.” He stared intently at Remus. “Are you interested in helping?”

“No,” Maddie screeched. Zander’s teacup slid off the table, crashing to the floor.

“Maddie,” Remus cried.

Before she could say anything, the back door opened, and Eric stuck his head into the kitchen. He glanced down at the broken cup. “Sorry, is this a bad time, Aunt Maddie?”

Remus got to his feet. “No, Eric, it’s not a bad time. I think our discussion is over, at least for now.”

Zander nodded and stood, grabbing a napkin from the table and drying his pants. “Sure, Remus. I think we’ve covered pretty much everything. We can always talk again later.”

“What’s all the commotion?”

Maddie turned to see her daughter standing in the door to the living room.

“There’s no commotion, dear. I just knocked over a teacup. Nothing for you to worry about.”

Remus sighed and motioned toward his daughter. “Zander, this is our daughter, Eloise. Eloise, Zander is from the National Council.”

“Pleased to meet you, young lady.”

Eloise snorted and then walked over to hug Eric. “Where you been keeping yourself, cousin?”

“Come on in, Eric,” Remus said.

“What brings you here today?”

Maddie watched as Eric walked in, followed by David and a pretty, young girl.
This must be the mate that’s
causing so much worry.

Remus grabbed his daughter’s arm.

“Eloise, please escort our guest back to the banquet hall so he can avail himself of the women’s fine cooking.”

Zander grimaced. “That won’t be—”

Remus growled. “Yes, I must insist.”

Zander looked at him for a moment and then nodded. He smiled and held out his arm to Eloise. “Shall we go?”

She rolled her eyes and followed him to the door. Just before she went out, she turned to look at her mother. She mouthed her words.
You owe me!

Remus waited until the door closed.

“Eric, David, I’m sorry, but I’m supposed to tell you to be patient.

Latan’s business is taking longer than he thought, and they won’t be back until tomorrow. I do apologize. They’re handling a personal matter for me. Now, introduce us to your friend.”

Maddie watched the girl swallow convulsively while David performed the introductions. Her white-knuckled grip on David’s hand, along with her scent, broadcast her fear. There was no way she’d allow this situation to continue.

She turned and caught her mate’s gaze.

“Remus, would you show our guests to the living room while I have a word with David?”

“Please,” Laynee said. “I just need a phone to call my father.”

Maddie walked over and took Laynee’s cold hand between her own. “I promise as soon as I speak to David we’ll get you taken care of. You’re safe here with us.”

Laynee nodded, and her shoulders slumped as she meekly allowed Eric to lead her from the room.

David sighed. “What are we gonna do, Aunt Maddie? She wants us to check on her father.

She’s convinced that something happened to him out in the woods and wants us to call in the authorities to go look for him. Until we get some idea of why he did this, I don’t know what to tell her, and we sure can’t let her go back to the bastard. He might succeed the next time he tries to kill her.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “You can’t keep the girl here without explaining. I know you can smell her fear. If she’s really your mate, she won’t appreciate you keeping the truth from her. We’ve got to tell her what we know happened and that we’re investigating to find out why it happened. Only then will she calm down enough to be comfortable around us. Right now, she’s probably beginning to feel like a prisoner.”

“Aunt Maddie, I can’t lose her. We can’t let her go back.”

She hugged him close. “Honey, give her a chance to make the right decision.

We’ll give her the facts and see what happens.”

“How can we make her see how dangerous he is?

Maddie turned toward the door.

“Don’t you worry. I’ve got something I think will make her see the light about her scheming father.”

“No,” Laynee cried. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.”

Eric knelt at her feet. “Laynee, I heard your father and some other man talking around their campfire.”

She sniffed and clasped her hands between her knees. “What did they look like?”

“Your father is middle-aged, close to six feet tall, and probably weighs in at around two hundred pounds. He dressed very preppy, like he had money.”

“What about the other man?”

“Around the same age, maybe a little younger, but not quite as big. He was sort of puny with a pale complexion.”

“I’m sorry, Laynee,” Maddie said, “but why are you asking for descriptions? Have you ever seen either man in your lifetime?”

Laynee sighed and wiped the moisture from her eyes. She didn’t like to think that she wouldn’t even know her father on the street unless he opened his mouth to talk. “No, I’ve never seen either of them.”
David and Eric’s aunt has a
kind, soothing voice. Her husband is
kind of gruff, but still seemed nice. But
I don’t care what they say. My father
would not try to kill me. I know we’ve
never been really close since Mom
died, but that doesn’t make him a
killer.

“Laynee, would you recognize your father’s voice?” asked Maddie.

Laynee frowned. “Of course. I’d know him in an instant.”

“Good, then I have something I want you to listen to.”

“What is it?”

Maddie patted Laynee’s hand. “After David explained what happened this morning, I taped the next newscast that covered your story.”

“The news is covering a story about me? I don’t understand.”

“Honey, your father reported you missing, and the news media has been all over it. He even gave an interview. I taped it, so why don’t we let him tell you in his own words what happened?”

Laynee heard a click and then the sound of the television shot out into the room. She listened as some woman asked her father questions.

“What was the reason for this camping trip, Mr. Conners?”

“My daughter has always been blind, and it’s one of the things she’s read about, but never been able to do. Her whole life has been spent in a type of protective cocoon, and she feels like she’s missed out on life. She begged me to let her experience a little of what the other girls talked about, so I agreed to stop and camp for a couple of days when I brought her home from school. Her grandfather passed away recently,” he sobbed, “and I thought it would be a good time to tell her, when she’s relaxed. I was bringing her home to stay.

She wasn’t going to have to return to that awful school.”

“No, he’s lying,” Laynee cried. David and Eric each grabbed one of her hands as the sound of her father’s interview went on.

“Was there anyone else traveling with you?”

“No, I wanted it to be a father-daughter bonding time. I just wanted to spend time alone with my little angel and to let her experience life like other, normal girls do.”

Laynee pulled her hands away. “Turn it off, please.” A second later there was silence. She cleared her throat. “He didn’t have Jeremy with him when he picked me up at the school. We drove for about twenty minutes and then stopped and picked him up. When I complained about him coming on our trip, Father said he’d brought him along to do all the work so we could spend more time together.”

“Laynee,” Remus asked, “what’s the last thing you remember?”

“Father took me out of the car and sat me down by a tree. I could hear water nearby, so I had to be close to a river or pond of some kind. The air was cooling off, and the breeze was strong enough to ruffle the hairs on my head. I could smell pine and rotting wood.”

“Wow!” Maddie patted her shoulder.

“That’s a really good memory you have.”

“That’s the first thing I teach new students. Their other senses will develop more fully when they lose their sight. Since I’ve always been blind, I’ve had years to focus on my other senses.”

“Do you remember drinking or eating anything?” Eric asked.

“Yes. Father stopped for gas and got me an orange soda. It was my favorite when I was a child, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I haven’t drunk them in years. It was a long drive from Portland and I was thirsty, so I drank it anyway.”

Eric picked up her hand. “What happened then?”

She thought for a minute. “I got really sleepy. I knew he was picking me up to take me home, and I hadn’t slept much the night before.” She pulled her hand away and rubbed her palms over her jean-covered thighs. “When we stopped, he left me in the car. He said he’d come get me after they got the tents up and a fire started. I remember feeling sick at my stomach.” She shook her head. “I asked Father to help me, and he said for me to just relax and everything would be okay.”

“Laynee.” Eric picked her hand back up and held it tightly between his own.

“They put some kind of drugs in your drink. That’s why you were so drowsy and why you felt sick.”

She bit back a sob. “Maybe it was just an accident.”

Eric briefly pressed her hand to his lips. “Honey, they threw raw meat around on the ground behind the tree where they left you. I heard that Jeremy fellow ask if your father thought the bears had gotten to you yet.”

“No,” she cried, yanking her hands away and covering her face. “It can’t be true.”

It nearly killed Eric to see his mate experience such pain. He moved closer and drew her fully into his arms. David quickly knelt between her knees and slipped his arms around her waist.

They’d take away her pain if they could.

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was her quiet crying. When she slowed to an occasional hiccup, Remus stood.

“Laynee, I’ve sent my best investigator to find out why this happened. Nobody does this on the spur of the moment.

Your father had to have some kind of reason for what he’s done, and I, for one, want to know what that reason is. I think you’d be safer if you stayed away from him until we have all the facts. You can stay here, in the guest house, for as long as you like. Nobody knows you’re here, so you’d be safe. It’s got more than one bed, and the boys could stay there with you for protection if you want.”

Laynee lifted her head from Eric’s shoulder. “You’d do that for me, Remus?

What if you get in trouble for having me here?”

Remus laughed. “You let us worry about trouble. This is my mountain, and I make the rules here. The boys brought back the can of soda that was drugged, and it’s being tested now. I can handle any trouble that comes our way. We just want you safe until you have all the facts, and then you can decide what you want to do.”

She wiped her hand across her eyes, stood, and held out her hand. She smiled when Remus’s big hand closed around hers. “Thank you, Remus. I appreciate your kindness. I’ll stay here until you find out what’s going on, and then I’ll decide what to do.”

Remus took a deep breath and smiled.

“Excellent! Boys, why don’t you take our guest back to the house? I can have someone bring over a selection of foods for you. I don’t think any of you are up to socializing with all the folks that are here. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

Laynee bit her lip. “What happens if someone comes looking for me?”

Remus laughed. “There’re only two roads up the mountain, Laynee. Both are guarded at all times. Nobody can get up here without our knowledge. I promise, you’ll be safe.”

“Why would you need your roads guarded all the time?”

David took her arm. “The family’s really private, and Remus believes in protecting everyone. There are a lot of women and children that live up here, and he’s just really careful.”

Laynee’s brow furrowed, even though she nodded. “Okay, well, I thank you for everything. I’m ready to go back. I think I’d like to lie down.”

“Come on, honey.” Eric let her take his arm and headed for the door. Just as he started to open it, it slammed back against the wall, and Lyssa came barreling through with Victor right behind her.

Laynee’s hands flew up to grab Lyssa’s arms when the women crashed into each other. “Oh, I’m so very sorry.”

Lyssa growled. “Watch where you’re going.” Her gaze flew to Eric. “Why don’t you keep your little pet on a leash?”

Laynee gasped and jerked her hands back.

Victor scowled and gripped Lyssa’s arm so tight his knuckles turned white.