After dialling, he settled in his chair, quite surprised when Eddie answered the phone on only the second ring, Aldrich raised his eyebrows. Eddie wasn’t known for doing anything quickly.
“Dollar Niche, Eddie Perini speaking. How can I help you?”
“Edward, how efficient you sound today.”
“Leon...I mean, Mr. Aldrich. I was just about to call you.”
“Really? With good news, I hope.”
The man chuckled on the other end of the line. “Oh yeah. I think you’re going to like this news. You know that girl you’ve been looking for? Cassandra Greyson?”
Aldrich frowned. Eddie had never spoken of her before. He tightened his grip on the phone and answered slowly. “Yes. What about her?’
“I’ve found her!” Eddie fairly crowed as he delivered the news. “Or at least the next best thing to finding her. She’s been calling herself Sandy Grant and I’ve got a guy here who has actually been living with her for the past three years.”
“And where is Miss Greyson now?” Aldrich struggled to keep the excitement from his voice. It was never a good idea to let others know you were too interested in what they were saying.
“Well...that’s the problem.” The exuberance in Eddie’s voice faded slightly. “We had her, but then she slipped away. Her boyfriend—Kellen Anderson—is here though.”
Aldrich slumped in his chair. Damn! “Does he know where she is?”
“He says he doesn’t, but Hugh—my muscle—will be roughing him up if he doesn’t start talking soon.”
Same old Eddie, Aldrich thought. All threats, but no action. Well, he’d take over from here. Anything that had to do with Cassandra Greyson was too important to leave to the likes of Eddie Perini and his ‘muscle.’ Aldrich rolled his eyes at the ridiculous term then began using his free hand to access the computer. Flights. He needed to arrange a flight. Distractedly, he talked to Eddie. “I want the man flown to Chicago as soon as possible.”
“To Chicago? But why? The girl is here in Vegas.”
“You say Miss Greyson has lived with the fellow for three years, correct? Then there will be a strong bond between them. If he’s in Chicago, she’ll follow.”
“But...” Eddie sputtered on the line.
“We’ll even provide a little incentive. Allow Hugh to rough him up a bit, take a picture, and send it to Miss Greyson. I assume you have the address where she lives?”
“Yes, but...”
“Leave a note as well. Something to the effect that if she wants to spare her boyfriend further damage, she needs to head back to Chicago.”
“But what if she goes to the police?” Eddie’s voice reflected his discomfort with the plan. Really, the man was definitely in the wrong line of business. Aldrich made a mental note to remove Eddie from the organization once this was over, then focussed on the possibility of Cassandra going to the authorities.
He considered the point carefully. Would she tell someone? No. Not likely. She was living under an assumed name and she was a werewolf. Attracting attention to herself would be the last thing she’d want. And even if she did tell someone, they wouldn’t believe her because he already had papers drawn up, declaring her mentally incompetent. There was even a doctor waiting in the wings to sign them. No one could imagine a sane person running away from millions of dollars.
“Don’t worry, Edward. I have that taken care of. I’ll arrange for a private plane to meet you at the Vegas airport. It will fly him directly to Chicago and I’m sure Cassandra will soon be hot on his heels. You just get the man on the plane.”
“Yes, sir.” Eddie sounded resigned to the plan, which was just as well since he really didn’t have a choice. After a moment, Eddie spoke again. “Er...what about the reward? The hundred thousand dollars?’
“Edward, your...future...was rather precarious yesterday, wouldn’t you say?”
Aldrich could hear the man gulp before answering. “Yes.”
“It isn’t now. Surely that’s payment enough.”
The disappointment in the man’s voice was audible, but he didn’t argue. “Yes, it’s enough.”
“I thought it would be.” He paused, then continued. “And Eddie? You might want to start looking for another job before my benevolent mood wears off and I see the books for the next quarter. I think we should end our business association on this high note, don’t you?” His comment was met with silence, then the sound of the receiver being hung up.
Aldrich chuckled to himself. Talking to Eddie had lifted his mood considerably. He rubbed his hands together. If the Greyson girl took the bait—and he’d bet his last dollar she would, given how foolish young lovers could be—he’d have control of her and her inheritance in the near future. Then after waiting a suitable length of time, and judiciously rearranging the estate funds in his own favour, he’d reveal her for what she was. When the news broke, it would make him famous and, more importantly, finally free him of the werewolf threat. The beasts would be too busy trying to run and hide to ever bother him again.
He chuckled gleeful, then began to cough as mucous gathered in his trach tube. Reaching for the buzzer that would summon Sylvia to his side he coughed again, managing to smile in anticipation of her gentle attention. It had certainly been his lucky day when she came to work for him.
*****
Bryan watched Cassandra as she moved about the living room, tidying up the evidence of the struggle that had occurred earlier. The scent washing off of her was a veritable smorgasbord of emotions; fear, anger, distrust, confusion...and reluctant arousal.
The arousal he could relate to; she was a pretty, curvaceous female and the male in him reacted to that naturally, but there was something else. It was more than just basic lust. His wolf seemed to know hers even though they’d just met. Sure, he’d caught a faint whiff of her scent all those years ago in a motel room, but it couldn’t have been enough to bind the two animals together. Besides, Cassandra had never encountered him before this morning yet the animal within her had shown no shyness of him.
An earlier conversation with Marco came to mind; about how certain select wolves knew their mates in some dream world long before they actually met. The idea seemed a bit far-fetched and yet... Bryan thought about his recurring dream of a chasing a chocolate brown wolf. Coincidence or something more?
With half closed eyes, he examined each detail of her appearance and compared it to the nebulous female in his dreams. Her breasts were full, her waist narrow. Rounded hips perfect for holding during mating. Long legs that would wrap around his waist, her heels locking in the small of his back as he—
A sound from the computer drew his attention and the erotic dream images he’d been recalling disintegrated into a million pieces. Damn, just when it had been getting interesting; rather like his dreams he thought morosely. They always faded at the good part, too.
He checked the computer screen. A message appeared from Daniel. Bryan shook his head, as always amazed at what his friend could do when armed with a computer and internet access.
Leaning forward, he studied the information on the screen. Hmm... Now that was interesting. The van, which had taken Kellen, belonged to a company known as Dollar Niche. Dollar Niche was run by a fellow named Eddie Perini, though he wasn’t the owner. Daniel was still working on that. He called out the information over his shoulder.
“Cassandra? My friend just confirmed the van that took your friend belongs to Dollar Niche.”
She looked up from the pile of dust she was gathering, a thoughtful look on her face. “Dollar Niche? It certainly sounds like one of those shady loan places where you can get money quickly, and end up repaying for the rest of your life.”
“Uh-huh.” Bryan tapped the computer screen. “That’s basically what Daniel found out. It operates just this side of legal.”
Abandoning her cleaning she came to stand beside him, peering at the screen over his shoulder. Her sweet breath softly caressed the nape of his neck and he struggled to contro
l the shiver of awareness that raced over him.
“Did he find an address for the place? That’s probably where that goon took Kellen.”
“Just a post office box, but Daniel should have that information in a few minutes.”
In his peripheral vision, he saw Cassandra twist the hem of her shirt and nibble on her lip. “When we find out where he is, what will we do? Contact the police?”
Bryan snorted and spun the chair around so he was facing her. “No! Remember what I said earlier? Werewolves keep a low profile.”
“But Kellen isn’t a werewolf and I doubt Hugh and Eddie are either.”
“Cassandra, the police ask questions. They’ll want to know your name. Do you really want them checking into your background?”
Her hands stilled, then her fingers tightened into fists, as she shook her head. “So what do we do?”
Rubbing the back of his neck Bryan considered the situation. He could easily take on the two men, knocking them out, but it might lead to questions. Hugh might already be wondering what type of creature attacked him at the house. Another attack would definitely put the man on alert.
Lycan Link had been less than amused when Bryan informed them of Cassandra’s attack on the man. The Damage Control division had been put on alert for any rumours coming out of the Vegas region and a few Lycans would be deployed to the area just in case. He grimaced as he recalled the tone of the email which basically said Ryne’s pack was on the verge of being considered negligent in carrying out its duties as outlined in the Finding clause. If Cassandra wasn’t kept in line, there would be serious repercussions. Exactly what that meant, Bryan didn’t know and didn’t dare ask. Thankfully they’d liked his suggested excuse of an animal escaping from one of the shows; perhaps it would gain him some leniency. He just hoped Cassandra didn’t do anything else to upset... A thought popped into his head.
“Does Kellen know that you’re a werewolf?”
“No!” She backed away from him, appearing frightened. “I never told him, I swear! I said I had migraines once a month. He doesn’t know anything, honestly! There’s no reason to kill him.”
Perplexed by her reaction, Bryan stood and took a step towards her, but stopped when she backed up even more, finally running into the wall. He spoke slowly and calmly as if trying to gentle a wild animal. “Relax. I wasn’t planning on killing him—” As he spoke, his wolf muttered to the contrary, still not pleased that another male had been living with her.
Cassandra interrupted. “I’ve heard about the Keeping; how you kill anyone who discovers your secret. Kellen knows nothing. I made sure he never found out!” Panic laced her voice and Bryan raised his hands in a placating gesture.
“It’s okay. I believe you. I was just wondering what he knew.”
“What would you have done with him if he did know?”
Bryan sighed. “I don’t know exactly, but since he’s sort of like a part of your family,” he almost choked on the word. “We’d work something out, I guess.”
A look of relief washed over her face and she visibly relaxed. Bryan wondered about the depth of her relationship with the man, but before he could inquire, another message from Daniel appeared on the screen. He turned and leaned over the computer, bracing his weight on one arm.
“Way to go, Daniel. We have an address and... Huh! Imagine that!” He straightened and rubbed his chin. “Now this makes things a bit more interesting.”
“What?” She stepped closer, obviously curious.
“Dollar Niche is an anagram for Leon Aldrich who is the actual head of the company. And Aldrich is the name of the guy who tried to capture and sell our Alpha’s mate.”
Cassandra paled. “Leon Aldrich was my uncle’s lawyer. I saw a werewolf kill him!”
Bryan snorted in disgust. “Tried to kill him, but the bastard didn’t die.”
“What do you mean? I saw the wolf attack. There was blood everywhere. Mr. Aldrich was gasping for air.”
“And then you ran.”
She froze. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “The werewolf was Ryne, my Alpha. He told us what happened that night.”
“Your Alpha killed a man?” Shock echoed through her voice.
“As I said, he tried, but at the same time his mate, Mel, was in danger of dying from an ill-timed transformation. While Ryne was saving her, someone found Aldrich and got him to the hospital. Since then, we’ve never been able to get close enough to the man to finish the job.”
“Finish the... That’s horrible! How can you say something like that as if...?” She shivered and shook her head, obviously at a loss for words. “I can’t imagine killing being just a part of daily life.”
“It isn’t part of daily life. It’s actually very rare, but I’d advise you not to be so quick to judge until you know all the facts.” Bryan narrowed his eyes, not liking the way she seemed to view his people—hell, they were her people too, though she didn’t seem to realize the fact. “Aldrich had no compunction about kidnapping Mel, attacking her friend Lucy or holding both Mel and Ryne at gunpoint. The man had been planning on selling Mel to the highest bidder simply for fame and fortune. Aldrich had no respect for her as person. In his mind, she was just an animal to be put in a cage.”
“But—”
“Some of our laws might seem harsh to an outsider, but rest assured they aren’t enacted without careful consideration and full examination of all the facts. Aldrich’s plan would have resulted in the deaths of countless men, women, and children. He would have exposed us to the whole world purely for personal gain. There was no consideration for the lives that would be destroyed, the societal changes, the distrust, or even panic that would erupt because of his actions, because of his greed. Man and Lycan coexist peacefully only because our existence is kept secret. To reveal us to the world would have grave repercussions, not only for shifters, but for humans as well.”
She folded her arms, her disbelief audible in her voice. “I don’t believe it would be that cataclysmic.”
“History repeats itself, Cassandra.” He struggled to keep his voice calm in the face of her attitude when in reality he’d like to give her a good shaking. “Werewolves have kept their existence secret for millennia and with good cause. In ancient times we were hunted to near extinction. Only by banding together and following a strict set of rules were we able to save ourselves. The Book of the Law was our salvation and we adhere to its tenets. Maybe someday, when humanity is more accepting of those that are different—when there is peace between countries, races, religions, ideologies—then we might come out of the shadows, but not now. Humanity isn’t ready for us yet.”
Cassandra was frowning, but Bryan could tell she was considering his words. A heartfelt sigh escaped his lips. The girl was suspicious and unaccepting of her own kind. Finding out that Ryne—the man who would be her Alpha—had attempted to kill someone was not helping him build a case as to the benefits of belonging to his pack.
Deciding to leave the philosophical discussions for a more appropriate time, he concentrated on the matter at hand. Aldrich owned Dollar Niche. He was also the lawyer in charge of the Greyson estate and was searching for Cassandra. Cassandra’s boyfriend was being held by Dollar Niche because he owed them money and was willing to use Cassandra to get out of debt.
He shook his head. It was definitely a tangled web and he wondered how much was pure chance and how much, if any, had been engineered. When he had more time, he’d try to figure it out, but right now, getting Kellen out of the clutches of Dollar Niche was his main objective. Once the man was safe, he’d stand a better chance of convincing Cassandra to accompany him back to Canada.
“So... We’d better head over to Dollar Niche and check the place out. If your friend is there, I’ll get him out. Then we’re having a serious talk about Canada, agreed?”
Cassandra nodded, but Bryan questioned the look in her eyes. She was plotting something, he was sure of it.
Chapter 14
It was strange how all the current fiction showed werewolves as alpha-types, but no one ever mentioned the intellectuals of the species. She tucked that fact into the back of her brain; she planned to write a story about werewolves some day. Given that she lived in a pack, surrounded by hunky men, she figured she’d be able to create some kind of plausible tale. But that was for some distant time in the future. Right now, she had a more important problem to deal with.
Finally, Daniel rolled his chair back and spun around to face her. “Sorry to keep you waiting Mel. I’m working on a job for Bryan and had just hacked into a computer system. I needed to ease my way back out before any alarms started to ring.”
She nodded, wondering if alarms really rang when a computer system was breached, but decided to not ask. Half the time, Daniel’s explanations went way over her head anyway. “I didn’t mind waiting. Actually... Bryan was the one that suggested I talk to you.”
Mel walked into the room, perched on the edge of his bed and rubbed her hands over her denim clad thighs. Her palms were damp, betraying her nervousness about the topic she was about to broach.