“Shh.”
Frank rolled his shoulders and straightened his back. “Mark.”
I responded, “There’s probably more fucking truth to that possibility than anything else.”
He said, “Don’t go off half-cocked. Get the facts before you start another war.”
You see, this was Frank’s problem. Or my problem with Frank. He couldn’t see that the war was already in motion, that we couldn’t trust anyone, not even our own. At least, that’s what I thought at the time.
“If I go off--” I didn’t finish the thought aloud, and I blocked my thoughts so no one else could read them.
Some wolves have E.S.P. You never know which ones, either. Not until they’re in your head, or you’re in theirs. And obviously someone in that boardroom had been picking my thoughts--and was brave enough to whisper it. Or maybe it was mind talking?
I had been thinking that if I went off, I’d be gone, not mass-murdering. It occurred to me that it was really quite funny. Of me and Bark, I would have bet on my slinking off into the shadows long before him. I’d always been a lone wolf. The thought of me in the role of expected hero seemed laughable.
* * * * * *
I paused in my journal writing, picturing Amber in bed. The jump isn’t that hard to follow. I was braced over the top of her, nuzzling between her breasts, growling a little in enjoyment, asking, “Tell me what you like.”
She laughed, and my head came up.
Looking her in the eyes, I asked, “What’s so funny?”
Her lips curved. Her eyes lit up. And she said, “I have a list.”
That’s how she is. Got things set in her head. She knows what she wants.
Amber dangled this, “You fill the list, you’ll be my hero.”
That gave me pause. I remember staring at her, and asking myself,
how serious do I want to get? Do I want to be her hero? Anyone’s hero?
I said, “Gimme the list, I’ll see how I feel about it.”
“One thing at a time.” She closed her eyes and pushed me lower. “Start at the bottom and we’ll work up. How’s that?”
I wonder where I am on that list of hers.
* * * * * *
Frank said, “We need to get an organized front here.”
I could see that. Bark had always said, “The thing that makes Wolf Enterprises and Lobos so perfect is the united front. If the whole world could--”
Bark was a little too idealistic, I think. He genuinely liked everybody, wanted us all to get along. He’d been a great leader--impossible to imitate. He engendered honest admiration.
I’m sure everyone was as fuddled as I was over his disappearance. It
looked
like he’d just taken off...after moving the money around. I could not decide which was the most unbelievable part.
Something I need to get straight at the beginning of this...I was not looking for control of the damn company. You probably figured this out, but...I sure as hell wasn’t looking for steady companionship, either. At least nothing more than a nice screw, anyway.
But there I was, with more on my plate than I’d ever asked for. Remember, I was a second son, never expected to take over anything. I was good with my place.
A lot of dogs actively work up the pack, wanna be alpha. Not me. I liked beta position--being the muscle, not thinking too hard, not watching my back all the time. I was just wading through it all, trying not to get too far in over my head. I’d even thought about calling Lobos and handing Wolf E. over to them--let them get someone else to worry about their P.R., because really, that’s what Wolf Enterprises did for them.
I sure as hell had no romantic dreams looming. A nice holiday in a foreign spot never entered my mind, except for thinking it would have been nothing to take what solvent cash we had and move on, start fresh. A signature at the bank, a plane and no one would ever see me again, not until I’d revised my image, established a new persona. We were experts at that.
Believe me, I’ve thought about taking Amber off somewhere. Spreading her out on a beach blanket, starting at the bottom...
I might’ve zoned out for a minute, there, in the hallway. Couldn’t think of anywhere I wanted to go, though. And besides, I’d already threatened, no more disappearances--or I’d hunt the culprits down, kill them myself.
If I took off? There would be no mercy. I could see the whole pack coming after me. My branch of the family tree and Lobos, too. The
whole
pack. The whole worldwide organization of lupine brotherhood. Now, there’s a friggin’ scary picture. I pity those who find themselves in that position. Where would you run?
At that point in time, I had not heard about Hood’s sister disappearing from Pack City. Hood is the brains behind Lobos. One of the demi-gods of wolfdom. And Pack City’s like Switzerland, a neutral zone. You do the math. It’s not long division.
What’s that got to do with me and Amber? And this whole mess? It’s just another sign that the whole fucking world was going nuts. And it figures in, too, to my brother’s disappearance, believe it or not. But I’ll get to that.
The big point is...the one thing you’d never want, that any garou in his right mind would know, is that you don’t want the whole fucking pack coming after you. Let me tell you, there is no place to hide. And everybody you love? Instantly at risk.
The only person who would willingly expose themselves to something like that would have to be somebody with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. And they’d have to be Gaia-damned unnatural. That’s all I’m saying.
I’m not that stupid, and neither is Bark. And we’re not unnatural, so that ends that talk of stupidity.
But
, if the pack did come after us...nothing would be left. Not even a damn jacket. All physical traces would disappear from the planet.
I’m not kidding. They’re that thorough.
We’re
that thorough, making the CIA and Secret Service look like kindergarten kids at recess.
Frank would be dead, and our whole line would be eliminated. No cousins. No aunts. No birth certificates. No trace.
No. I needed to stay. Too many people depended on me.
I wanted to punch the wall.
Truth is, I really wanted to walk out. I never asked to be responsible for the whole damn family.
Frank said calmly, “The company can’t take any more media hits, whatever you’re thinking. We’ve got to get a good P.R. line ready.”
I know what he was thinking.
You can’t go anywhere.
“Make no mistake, M--Mark. We’re going to have to call another press conference to discuss the M. W. D.; the world will want to know if Wolf or Lobos or one of its subsidiaries can help solve the problem.” Frank’s eyes darkened. “Or
is
the problem.”
“What I’m worried about is that some son-of-a-bitch is gonna connect Bark’s disappearance to it.”
“If they do,” Frank said smoothly, “We’ll tell them that, yes, in fact, he was researching it before--and that we’re a little concerned that he hasn’t checked in, and that we at Wolf suspect that he may have been a victim of--”
I cut him off. “Whoa.”
Frank was firm. “Wolf has a reputation for being on the scene before the world news shows up.”
“Questions about missing people, my ass. It’s not going to happen on my watch.” Jonesing to get the hell out of that hallway, I said, “Replay the news report in your head, Frank. Mass murder. People slaughtered. Mad Wolf Disease suspected. Lupus tracks. Bark’s belongings on the scene. Bastet satellite.”
Frank put a hand on me, actually held me there. I was so shocked by it and busy staring down at it that I missed part of what he was saying. “You have to think, Mark. It doesn’t make sense that--that your brother would disappear--walk out without a word.”
“I know that, but apparently he did.”
He peeled his hand free, but kept on talking like he hadn’t heard me. “Or that he--he would do--”
No getting around it. There were things about the M.W.D. and crime scene that suggested Bark had been there, that maybe he was responsible. I said it before they whispered behind my back. “I know what you’re thinking. In my eyes, I think he’s exonerated. The proof is plastered all over the news. He didn’t embezzle and run. He was either kidnapped or hunting down the culprit. Probably got caught between a rock and a hard spot. Either way, they caught him snooping around.”
I had to call Lobos before they called me. I said, “Before long, I’ll be getting calls from L. I..” I clicked my tongue and said the one thing no one wanted to think about. “If the united packs comes down on us, for any reason, we’re dead. We’ve got to get our house in order, Frank--and fast.”
There were gasps from every direction. I didn’t care. Somebody better ferret out our weasel, and pronto.
Talking about it just pissed me off more. I am a man of action. I could feel my muscles tightening with the unreleased tension.
One more time, I considered taking what money wasn’t tied down and getting out. I knew that the outside world would never accept us, if they knew who and what we were--despite the fact that we had lived with them for--how long? Forever.
The great secret. The horrible truth. Genetic throwbacks to primitive man--and beast. A pure line to the beginning of time.
Who would trust us for keeping that hidden?
Think on this...most of the pharmaceutical companies across the world were wolf run. Imagine that. You can’t take your heart medicine because a wolf engineered it.
“The timing--just seems too coincidental. Worst possible considering the economy, and I’m talking before this other stuff blew up.”
“You know what?” Exasperated by Frank’s one-track mind, I said, “You work through it at your own pace. I already have.” I turned to walk away.