Lucy's Wolverine (Lilly Town Shifters) (15 page)

Chapter 27

              Paul walked into Bill’s Bar and all eyes went to him. He guessed he was the stranger who wasn’t trusted at the moment, and he couldn’t really blame them for thinking that after everything he’d done. Sitting down next to Mike, he waited for everyone to arrive and for the meeting to start. He wanted this over. He had no intention of doing anything other than going after Zeke. If you take down the man in charge, especially if he has no successor, the organization will fall. They might find a replacement, but it would still take a long time to reorganize.

             
A few more shifters trickled in before Bill stood up and started talking. “I want this to be quick. When we’re done here, we’re doing this. Paul, can you tell us the layout of the building?”

             
“Other than the main entrance, the only other point of entry is a sliding door at the back of the house. There are windows, but they are always kept locked. As soon as you get into the house, there’s a set of stairs. To the left is the living room and to the right are the kitchen and dining room. There are four bedrooms upstairs, one of which is Zeke’s office.” He wasn’t going to tell them about the secret passageway. It wasn’t to betray them; it was to make sure he was the one to get Zeke. He needed that advantage. He knew that, if they knew about it, they’d have someone waiting there, ready to attack Zeke before he could get away.

             
“Anything else you can tell us?” Bill asked.

             
“I’m sure he knows now that I’ve switched sides. He’s probably called in a lot of men to kill me. Be prepared for that. We have the element of surprise, but I was keeping watch all night and there were at least fifteen men coming and going. Zeke’s also very agitated. I’m not sure if it’s because of me or Mike or both, but he is. Just be ready for a fight.”

             
“After we clear the area, it’s getting blown,” Bill announced, “so keep your ears and eyes open. We don’t want anything about this getting out, and we don’t want anyone hurt.”

             
“What about the authorities? Do we have that covered?” Mike asked.

             
“I’m taking care of the police report and I have some shifters in place at the fire department to take care of that end,” Basil said. “They’re going to conclude that it was a gas leak.”

             
“Okay, we’re going to be out of here in ten, so if you have to piss or call your loved ones, do so now.”

             
That wasn’t what Paul was expecting to hear, but whatever. This was the last time he wanted to have to deal with either the shifters or the Hunters. He wanted to get out of this place, out of the country, and get on with his life.

***

              Bill felt stupid after his bullshit excuse to delay for a few minutes. That was something he’d never said before and had never planned on saying before. This was a mission. They might be in a bar, but that didn’t mean he had to be so… caring. Pulling out his phone, he saw a missed call from Jason. That was one he hadn’t wanted to miss.

             
“What’s the latest?” he asked, when Jason picked up the phone.

             
“We’re at the airport. I’m going to rent an SUV. We’ll be there in about an hour,” he said.

             
“Okay. We’re about to storm the Hunters’ local base. Last report is that the leader’s there.”

             
“Good luck. See you soon,” Jason said and hung up.

             
Hopefully in a few hours he’d be making Mike very happy. He loved the kid like a brother. He’d give the man anything he asked for, and hopefully he’d be giving him his parents back. Bill walked back out into the bar and saw everyone waiting for him. They seemed just as eager as he was. Good. Maybe they could pull this off. He hoped they could. He had been afraid they wouldn’t have enough people. They probably had about eight, but the additional fifteen coming in for Zeke the previous night meant they were outnumbered. They did have surprise on their side; he hoped that was enough.

***

              “Hello?” Zeke said into the phone.

             
“Sir, there was a raid on the Washington bunker,” one of his men said. He couldn’t tell which one. There were so many that it was hard to tell.

             
“What?” he yelled into the phone.

             
“I got here when it was time for a shift change and everyone was dead. The shifters are gone too. I don’t know what happened, but the place was burned to the ground.”

             
“Why am I just hearing about this now? An alarm should have gone off to alert me. What the fuck happened?”

             
“I… I don’t know, sir. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know who else to call. I don’t think there’s anyone still alive. It doesn’t look like it anyway. I’ll see what I can find out, though,” the man said and hung up.

             
Everything seemed to be going wrong. Paul was destroying his organization, and he couldn’t even kill a fucking wolverine. He had to do something before everything he’d worked so hard for was destroyed. He needed a new second: someone he could trust. He didn’t know if he’d ever put so much trust in a person, but he needed someone to handle situations.

             
He hated this. He had Paul perfectly trained. He could run everything if Zeke wasn’t there. If Paul were still on-side, he would be in charge of finding out what happened in Washington. Now he didn’t know where the information had come from and there was nothing he could really do. He needed to find out what had happened. And he needed to find out who had called him.

             
That man knew what he was doing, and whom he was calling. He’d sounded like he was going to piss his pants, but he’d had the balls to call instead of just passing it up the chain. Not many would be willing to do that. Maybe he would be a good candidate. Zeke picked up his phone and started calling around until someone answered. “Hello?” a man said with sleep in his voice.

             
“You need to find out what happened to my bunker,” he said to Roger.

             
“What?” It sounded like he was sitting up in bed, quickly becoming alert.

             
“I just got a call from someone who just showed up for his shift. He said everyone’s dead and the shifters are gone.”

             
“Are you sure it was one of our men? The alarm never went off. There’s no way,” he said.

             
Zeke could hear him rustling around, getting dressed. “He was one of ours. He knew exactly who he was calling and was scared shitless. I want you to find out who he is, and when you do, I want to meet him.”

             
“Yes sir. I’m going to the bunker now. I’ll let you know what I find,” Roger said, and hung up. He was lazy, but good at his job when he put his mind to it. He’d better be busting his ass on this one.

***

              Lucy was sitting at her desk, trying to write. She wanted to get going on this story so badly, but she was worried about Mike. He’d been gone for about an hour and a half and she hadn’t heard anything from him. She was so afraid he’d gotten hurt again. She couldn’t stand seeing him like that, and that was before she really got to know him. She didn’t want to have to nurse him back to health, even though she did like the thought of him being naked in her bed. She just wanted that for a different reason.

             
She looked at the computer screen again. She had a title, which was something, but she was still pissed off. The night before, she had the beginning of the book written in her head, and now she was having trouble getting past the first sentence. And it was all Mike’s fault. The thought of him bloody and dirty in a filthy room somewhere kept creeping into her mind. She saw him captured and in some kind of dungeon, chained to the wall.

             
That was not something she wanted to think about. If she weren’t so scared, she’d be writing it down for some future book. They were actually some pretty good ideas. The only problem was that they all starred Mike, and he was reaching for her, begging her to come and rescue him. The thought of him dying was something she couldn’t imagine. No. He was not going to die. She loved him. Wait, she loved him? Where had that thought come from? She’d never loved anyone. She knew she had been on her way, but love? So soon? She’d only known him for a little over a week.

             
Sitting back in her chair, Lucy let it sink in. She loved him. “I love him. I love Mike,” she said out loud, and it didn’t scare her. Lucy closed her eyes and smiled. She was in love. Now she just had to get the image of him on some disgusting 70s kitchen floor with a bullet in his chest out of her mind. No, she needed to concentrate on something happy. She knew whom to call when she needed to get her mind off of something.

             
“Hello,” Lexi said when she answered the phone.

             
“I love him.”

             
“Who is this?”

             
“Who do you think it is? It’s Lucy.”

             
“Are you sure? My sister would never say anything like that. She would never call me and tell me she loved someone.”

             
“Lexi, I love Mike. Now I want to talk about it,” Lucy said with a smile. She knew Lexi would make her feel better. And Lucy knew that, if Lexi had any idea what was going on, she’d be sitting next to her waiting for some kind of news, but she knew she wasn’t able to tell her sister anything, and she hated it.

             
“Okay, give me details.”

             
“I slept with him.”

             
“And…”

             
“And all I can say is wow!”

             
“Does that mean he’s better than Levi was?”

             
“So much better. Oh my God! Lexi, if I could spend the rest of my life in bed with the man, I would.”

             
“He must be good. You seem to be choosing him over your writing.”

             
“He understands it. I never thought I’d find someone who understands my need to write. His mother was a writer, so he grew up with it. He doesn’t care that I want to write all the time and that I can spend hours sitting at my computer. I will say, I’ve never had anyone to distract me with sex before either, and you know it takes a lot to distract me.”

             
“Yes I know, I’ve tried. I’ve tried to tell you to eat and you just ignore me.”

             
“Shush,” Lucy said with a smile.

             
“He must mean a lot to you if he can do that, but are you sure it’s love? You haven’t known him all that long.”

             
“He didn’t care that I wanted to sit and write the other day. He was content to watch TV while I typed away. That’s something Levi never did. And now I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”

             
“Still not convinced,” Lexi said. Lucy knew her sister was just trying to be a sister and protect her, but really?

             
“He spent a few days here and didn’t care that I didn’t leave my desk for hours.”

             
“Well, I just know it takes a very strong and patient person to be with you.”

             
“Hey,” Lucy said. She knew she could be a difficult person to be with. That was why she didn’t have many friends, but she didn’t think she was that bad.

             
“Lucy, you know I love you. You just tend to forget important things, like eating and bathing, not to mention plans you’ve made. I had to get Mom to call and remind you to pick me up from the airport. We all know why you forget and we’re okay with it. We love what you do, we all love your books, but honey, you’re a little crazy.”

             
“I know,” Lucy said sadly. Hearing her sister say it made her afraid Mike would see it and leave. She knew she wasn’t an easy person to be with. She needed someone who would understand and take care of her to an extent. She did forget things. She would forget to eat all the time. She’d been so caught up in a book one time she’d lost a lot of weight. Since then, her father had made it a point to remind her all the time. He’d been so afraid she had an eating disorder that he’d almost had her hospitalized. She’d finally convinced him she didn’t, but he’d made her stay with them to make sure she ate until she was back to a healthy weight.

             
“Lucy, I wasn’t trying to upset you. I just want to make sure you love this guy before you jump into something with him. I mean, have you been safe? Did you use a condom?” Lucy gasped. She hadn’t thought about that. What if he had something? What if she were pregnant? She put her hand on her stomach, wondering if it would be so bad to have his baby. “That’s what I thought.” Lucy didn’t say anything. “You have your hand on your stomach don’t you?”