Gage’s chuckle drew Clint’s attention.
“From the looks on your faces, I take it you’re good with being bait?” the Alpha asked.
Clint and Kurt both nodded.
“Of course,” Kurt responded easily.
“Crazy ass bastards,” Austin murmured under his breath. Everyone chuckled.
“Colt’s going to try to keep us appraised as best he can, but he can’t blow his cover. So unless your life is threatened he won’t step in. You will be on your own,” Tony told them.
Tony drew out his phone and clicked a couple of buttons before he handed it over to Kurt. Kurt took a quick look then passed the phone to Clint. Clint glanced down.
“That’s Colt,” Tony told them. “So at least you’ll know who he is.”
The picture was of a young attractive man sitting at a table with a mug of beer in front of him. The man was smiling into the camera, obviously happy with life.
Clint handed the phone back to Tony, who took it and glanced back at the picture. The soft expression on Tony’s face drew his attention. Clint recognised the look. He’d seen it plenty of times. Maybe not on his own face but on others.
Tony was in love with Colt.
He wondered if Colt knew or if he felt the same way. Being gay wasn’t anything that bothered Clint and he knew Kurt would feel the same.
Kurt’s brother Kenny was in a relationship with another man and they both respected the hell out of Todd—the shifter that Dan Carter had kidnapped in Riverwood.
“As much as we want to get to Dan Carter, we need to treat Perry Costa as a threat. He’s obviously in charge here,” Austin added to the conversation. “Colt’s never even met Carter. But Carter’s son Bruce is coming down with Colt’s group, so that is going to put a lot of heavy power in one place. They have to be planning something big.”
Silence fell.
“There’s more,” Alpha Babcock stated as he joined them.
Gage stood and offered his seat to the Council Alpha, but Alpha Babcock waved him back down.
“I’m on my way to a meeting with the other Council members. I just wanted to let you know that I just received a call from one of my guards in town. About fifteen minutes ago, the Church members started to show up in town.”
“How many members?” Gage asked.
“Around thirty or so,” Alpha Babcock answered. “And they are carrying protest signs.”
“They’re staging a protest in a town where they don’t even live?” Clint inquired.
The Council Alpha nodded. “Yes, and the publicity is a concern. That’s why a meeting has been called.”
Tony stood. He walked over to the large bay window. “What exactly are they hoping to do?”
No one had an answer for him.
Alpha Babcock cleared his throat. “I’ll give you a call later.”
Austin stood and went over to Tony. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and spoke to the other man quietly.
“It could be just a way for us to give in. Bring in the protesters and cause bad publicity for us until we agree to meet with them,” Clint offered.
“But if they really want the two shifters that we brought up here, why would they want the attention? They can’t pull anything off if we’re being watched. It just puts their own mission more in the open,” Kurt argued.
“That’s what I can’t get a handle on. When Perry Costa first appeared, he mentioned the two men we have in custody. But when he sent Colt and the others here, he didn’t mention them. Just wanted you and Kurt captured,” Gage said with a growl of frustration.
Tony and Austin walked back over and joined them.
“You okay?” Clint gently asked Tony. He didn’t want to pry but hoped Tony knew if he needed anything Clint would help.
Tony nodded and offered his a small smile. “It’s maddening. We worked so hard to make sure that when we went public that we were treated properly. We have the government behind us. Have friends in high places.”
“Hey, you did awesome bringing us all together,” Kurt assured Tony. “I was proud to have the wolves represented by you. We’ll take care of this mess and everything will be fine.”
“Then we need a plan,” Tony stated. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chapter Seven
Sara couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The normally small, quiet town that she called home was overrun with people she had never seen before, holding up signs and chanting. There were protesters in the streets in front of her shop and the other stores on the block.
She glanced over at Cecil as they watched from the front window.
Cecil shook his head. “I can’t believe this,” he whispered.
Sara wasn’t sure why he was whispering, but she nodded. It was an unbelievable sight.
Men, women and children were marching in the street and on the sidewalks, signs against shifters moving up and down, and every time someone walked or drove by, they would call out to try to get them to join in.
The coffee shop was empty. In fact, other than a few cars and some brave souls, the streets were almost deserted of locals.
She turned her back to the window and stalked to the counter, her temper rising. She slammed her hand down. This was just crazy.
Surprised when the front door opened, she whirled around. She had no intention of serving any of the protesters and prepared to turn the person down for service.
“Dad!” She waved him over. “What is all this?”
He shook his head, pulling at the collar of his uniform shirt. “Absolute bullshit. And one of my guys just called over the radio and said news vans were headed this way.”
“The news?” she gasped. “Damn, those aren’t even residents out there!” Anger had her clenching her fists.
“Don’t you get involved,” her dad ordered, pointing a finger in her direction.
She didn’t know what he’d seen on her face but knew she couldn’t make him any promises. She wished she had Clint’s number. That was number one on her list the next time she saw him. Okay, maybe a kiss first, but then right after she was getting his number. She hated to think that he might believe the residents were actually involved with this circus.
“I’ve already spoke with Kurt. They know what is going on and want us to do our best to ignore it,” he said.
This was something that was not likely to be ignored. But it also wasn’t really her place to push. “Coffee?” she asked.
He nodded and she began making his grande cappuccino with two raw sugars. Her dad grinned widely when she handed it over.
“I got to get back out there,” he said. “I just hope one of them does something illegal so I can arrest them.”
With that said, her dad waved and left. Cecil laughed and went to start sweeping up. Sara began cleaning the espresso machine. They’d been right smack in the middle of the morning rush when the protesters lined up outside. Everyone had stood around in shock and just stared.
Sara had walked outside with several of her customers while the first protesters launched into their chant. What had astonished her most were the young children that were holding up signs and repeating the words of hate their parents were yelling.
That… It was just wrong.
She was scrubbing the stainless steel steaming wand when the door opened again.
Six young men walked in and took a look around. Unease travelled up her spine, and she darted a look over to Cecil. Her employee looked back at her, wide-eyed, and scurried back to stand by her.
Cecil might be young, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d had a hard life already and Sara was overly protective of him. She shifted forward enough that she would be the focus of the strangers.
One of the guys strolled towards the counter, staring at Cecil.
“Hey, pretty boy,” he said. “What you selling?”
Cecil shook his head and backed up.
“Can I help you?” Sara asked curtly.
The man’s gaze went to her. He looked her up and down before his lip lifted in disgust. “You the shifter slut?”
“Excuse me?”
He laughed, a nasty sound that grated her nerves and fit the horrible man.
“You need to leave,” she stated and crossed her arms over her chest.
He snorted. “You gonna make me? Or maybe the pretty boy behind you is?”
Sara was almost shaking she was so pissed. “Yeah, yeah I am.” She’d started around the counter when another man stepped forward.
“Come on, Rudy,” he said quietly. “Let’s get out of here. The sheriff might come back.”
Rudy, the arrogant prick in front of her, frowned before looking over his shoulder at his friend. “You scared, Colt?”
The other man, Colt, dropped his head and just shrugged.
“Pussy,” Rudy spat out then turned back to Sara. “I’m here to give your boyfriend a message.”
Sara didn’t react. Clint had said he had been followed so it shouldn’t shock her that these men knew about her relationship. But if they thought they could use her to get to Clint, they had another think coming.
“Tell him that I’m coming for him. Gonna take him down like the animal he is.”
Sara glared at his back as the men left her shop.
* * * *
Clint searched his phone for the number of the coffee shop just as he and Kurt walked into the alley. They’d left the compound by the hidden exit and carefully made their way to town.
It appeared no one had spotted them and with the protesters drawing attention to themselves in town, Clint and Kurt did their best to remain unseen.
He hit connect and waited for someone to pick up the phone.
Sara answered with a friendly ‘hello’ and he felt immediately calmer. He had worried about how she was doing. The perfect morning had been soiled by the arrival of Dan Carter’s people.
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted her.
Kurt smirked beside him, and Clint turned away.
“Clint!” The relief in her tone was evident.
“Come open the back door for us,” he requested.
“You’re here?” she asked. “Is that safe?”
He chuckled. “Well, it would be better if you would come open the door.”
“Oh!”
He shared a look with Kurt as they heard the lock being undone and the door opened. Sara stuck her head out with the phone still held up to her ear.
“Hurry.” She motioned them inside.
Once they were through, she slammed the door closed and locked the deadbolt. She threw her arms around his neck. “I was so worried about you! That man! He said he was going to get you and I—”
“Hey! Hey! It’s okay.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. “What man? What are you talking about?”
She shuddered and he pulled away enough to look down at her face.
“These guys came into the shop earlier. They were…horrible—well, one guy, anyway—and he said to give my boyfriend a message,” she explained.
Kurt stiffened beside them.
“He said to tell you that he’s coming for you. Gonna take you down like the animal you are. Those were his exact words,” she finished.
“Hey.” He caressed her cheek. “I’m okay.”
She nodded then closed her eyes while leaning against him.
“What else did they say?” Kurt asked. “What did they do?”
They were still standing in the dark hall. Sara looked towards the front.
“I… I don’t want to leave Cecil alone. That man, he kept calling Cecil ‘pretty boy’, and I didn’t like the way he was looking at him.”
Clint pressed his lips together. The time that Clint had been coming into the shop showed him that Cecil was a great kid. It was also obvious how Sara was protective of him. “Let’s sit out front and have some coffee and talk,” he suggested.
“Out front? Are you sure? What if those men return?” Sara tugged where her hands were wrapped in his shirt.
He kissed her forehead. “Trust me, baby. Come on.” He led the way down the hall and when he pushed the swinging door open to enter the front of the shop, Cecil looked up.
“You okay?” he asked gently.
Cecil’s head bobbed up and down.
“Okay, let’s get a couple of coffees and sit.”
Cecil rushed over to the counter and started lining up cups.
Kurt moved to the closest table to the counter and sat in the chair that faced the front door. Clint sat beside him and angled his chair where he could cover the back. Sara sat next to him and he couldn’t help but run his eyes over her.
“Hi,” he said.
She smiled. “Hi.”
Cecil cleared his throat and set the cups of coffee down. “Here you go.”
Clint lifted his cup and took a drink. “Oh, man, I needed a cup of the good stuff.”
Kurt grunted in agreement then turned towards Sara. “Tell us everything.”
He listened as Sara told them what had happened from the moment that the six men had entered the shop until they’d left.
He picked up on the two names that were provided. Rudy and Colt. Since Colt had already given them the names of the men he was hanging with, it matched everything they knew. So Colt and his group had arrived in town.
“Kind of stupid to give us a warning,” Clint shared with Kurt.
“Yeah,” Kurt concurred.
“Stupid! They threatened you!” Sara cried.
“Hey!” Clint grasped her hand and pulled her closer. She slid into his lap. “We know what we’re doing,” he assured her.
“But—” she started to argue.
“Sara…” He cupped her cheek. He hated to see the worry on her face. “This is what we do. We protect people. If they are after us, then we know everyone else is safe.”
She rested her forehead against his. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“It won’t,” he promised.
She sighed but nodded. “I trust you.”
“You don’t seem surprised that these men came looking for you,” Cecil accused.
“We’re not,” Kurt responded. “We’d already heard that there were men headed this way. We’ve got it handled.”
Cecil shook his head. “Hope so, man. That Rudy guy…” Cecil shuddered. “He gave me the creeps.”
“Hey, kid,” Kurt said. “You just be careful. Watch your back and don’t go out at night alone. They aren’t after you but don’t take any chances. Don’t try to engage them for any reason.”
Cecil smiled. “I’m no hero. I’m not going to draw attention to myself, trust me.”
“Good.” Kurt reached for his wallet and pulled out a card. “That’s my number. You see anything that makes you uncomfortable, call me or Clint. One of us will be right there.”