Werewolves In Love: Ready To Run Part 14

"No! f.u.c.k me, I-I wasn't thinking! I've got GPS coverage!"

His heart tried to thump out of his chest as he looked at his watch. When had he last seen her? Thirty minutes ago? Forty? How far had they gotten? What's he done to her by now?

He stabbed at the keys on his phone, cursing at the progress bar as the browser loaded, and then he was online, and he punched in the GPS site, and...

"There!" he shouted, and the howling outside the condo grew louder. He stared at the blinking yellow dot like it was his own heartbeat. "They're on 59 going north."

"He's taking her back to Luxor," Nick said.

"I gotta go, I gotta-"

Nick grabbed his arm as he headed for the door. He tried to pull away, but his Alpha's fingers were an iron band around his biceps and he couldn't get loose. Nick's face betrayed no sign of exertion as he held a two-hundred-fifty-pound werewolf in place with one hand and dialed his phone with the other.

"I'm calling Taran," Nick said as the phone rang. "We'll call the Feds and tell them what's going on. You'll fly up there and beat Hedges to Luxor. Stop trying to get away from me, wolf, it's p.i.s.sing me off. Taran? Listen to me. Sara Hedges just got s.n.a.t.c.hed by her uncle. He shot TJ."

Taran began shouting questions.

"I don't know!" Nick barked. "Call Lark. Tell her to get to St. Joseph's. Then come pick us up here at Bryan's condo."

"What's so f.u.c.king funny? Answer me, G.o.dd.a.m.n it!"

Wayne swatted her, the pistol grip striking her hard right behind the ear and knocking her head into the window. She struggled to catch her breath as stars danced behind her eyes.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n it, Sara-"

"All right, all right! I can't talk if you knock me out, can I? You want to know why I'm laughing?" Because if I don't, I'll lose my mind. Please, TJ, don't be dead. "Because you're a moron!"

Wayne blinked, his tiny, watery blue eyes opening and shutting with a twitch that always made her itch to punch him.

For the first time, she noticed how awful he looked. Besides the bandaged hand, he had bandages on all ten fingers, bruises on his forehead and cheek, a cut on his temple, and a sickly yellow cast to his face. And beyond that, he looked...scared. She'd seen Wayne Hedges enraged, petulant, resentful, frequently confused, but she'd never seen him scared.

She wished she could enjoy the spectacle, but a scared Wayne was a dangerous Wayne.

"You really don't know?"

"Don't know what?" he yelled, fear and uncertainty seeping through his bl.u.s.ter.

"Those guys-the Russians?" Actually, Bryan had said they were from the Czech Republic and Serbia and a couple other countries she was certain her uncle had never heard of. "They're werewolves, Wayne. Just like Bryan." And no wonder Bryan never heard Wayne discussing them.

Now Wayne looked truly sick with fright, blanching beneath the blue and purple bruises. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. The wet, raspy sound of his breathing filled the car.

"You couldn't tell? You didn't notice anything weird about them? They weren't super strong or unbelievably fast?" Of course, she hadn't realized Bryan was a werewolf. But Bryan had deliberately hidden his strength and speed and senses, while these guys probably hadn't. Wayne was just that stupid.

"I didn't spend a lot of face time with them until your boyfriend f.u.c.ked everything up, and then I was kind of busy being tortured!" He waved the gun around as he yelled. She regretted bringing up the subject. "Yeah-tortured, Sara! They tied me to a f.u.c.king table and worked me over for two days! You don't know how hard it was to convince them I didn't know anything!"

On the contrary, Sara imagined most people would readily believe Wayne didn't know anything.

"They only let me go because I promised I'd bring you back. They told me where Keeton lived and said if I didn't show up with you in twenty-four hours, they'd finish taking me apart!"

G.o.d, the whining. He probably expected her to feel sorry for him. "And then what? You think if you turn me over, they'll leave you alone?"

"No. They're not gonna leave me alone. They're gonna make me part of their organization."

"What?" Could he be that stupid?

One look at his smug, sweaty smile answered the question.

"That's right. They want to add my network to theirs. A merger, they called it. I'll keep my operation. They'll probably expand it, give me more territory."

"What, so you'll be their regional sales manager? These werewolves-werewolves, Wayne-make the Mexican drug gangs look like a church choir. What are they gonna need you for once they've got all your business? If you're lucky, they'll tell you to get lost, but I bet they just kill you as soon as you hand me over, and then-ow!"

He'd batted her head again, harder this time, and the pistol grip struck her behind the ear again. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden surge of tears. She would not cry in front of her psychopath douchebag piece of s.h.i.+t uncle.

Bryan would expect her to keep her wits.

"Little Miss College Girl thinks she's so much smarter than me," Wayne sneered. "If you're so f.u.c.king smart, how come I'm dragging your fae a.s.s back to Luxor?"

Yeah. That was a good question.

Chapter Ten.

An hour and a half after the ambulance took TJ away, a small plane lifted off from a private airport in north Houston. On board with Bryan were Taran Lloyd and a human FBI agent named Mauro. Bryan had turned off his phone to save the juice. Mauro's laptop had a strong WiFi signal, and the agent was tracking Sara on the GPS site.

Bryan listened as Taran talked to Nick, who'd stayed behind at the hospital with TJ.

"She's in recovery but not awake yet." His Alpha didn't sound as lost and frightened as he had when they'd found TJ, but his voice was still tight with worry. Bryan could almost smell his distress over the phone. Nick Wargman's air of aloof control was legendary among werewolves both inside and outside the Houston pack. To witness him losing it had scared the h.e.l.l out of Bryan's inner wolf.

"But they got the lung reinflated, right?" asked Taran.

"Yeah," Nick replied. "She needed a couple pints of blood, but it looks like she'll be okay. We got to her in time. n.o.body here could believe she'd managed to crawl into the bedroom and make the call. I knew she was a tough little redneck, but Jesus."

"When she wakes up, tell her Bryan and I said she's officially the most bada.s.s chick we know."

"Lark's with her now-want me to get her?"

"No, that's okay. I'll be calling you when we land in Marshall anyway. Later."

Mauro looked up from his laptop. "She's okay?"

"She will be," Taran answered.

"Good. Okay. It looks like Hedges is still headed for Luxor. He's a little past Carthage now. We should beat him by an hour and a half. Gives us plenty of time to talk with local law enforcement and get set up to intercept him. Four agents from the Dallas office-all werewolves-are waiting in Marshall. We can head out as soon as we land."

"Only four?" He wanted to go in with enough guys to take out all the werewolves they a.s.sumed Hedges was planning to meet.

Mauro started to say something, but Taran spoke first.

"Look, B, I know you want to take these a.s.sholes down right away, and I do too, but I don't think we need more than six armed wolves. And Mauro, of course."

"Hey, man," the agent protested. "I may be human, but I'm a Marine."

"Second Recon," said Bryan.

"Fourteenth Marine," replied Mauro.

Taran, an Army wolf, rolled his eyes and continued, "There'll be seven of us. In a place like Luxor, I think Kuba's boys are keeping a low profile. You didn't even run across any until the other night."

"Yeah, you're right," Bryan admitted.

"So if we're following Sara's signal, we go where Hedges is going and grab him when he stops. Hopefully we catch him with some wolves. If not, we make him find them for us. And, Bryan? Hey, look at me. Stop fidgeting."

"I'm not fidgeting."

"Bulls.h.i.+t. You're coming out of your G.o.dd.a.m.ned skin. Get a grip. You need to be psyched and ready for when we hit the ground. And we're hitting the ground on two feet, not four. Guns, not claws."

"But-"

"But nothing. We want Hedges alive. A worm like that will turn state's evidence in a heartbeat, and we need his information."

"But, Jesus, Taran, that just doesn't..."

"That just doesn't what?" Taran asked in a hard voice, wearing his best I'm a cop, you're a P.I., STFU and do what I tell you face.

"It just feels wrong!" Bryan exclaimed. "It feels like a p.u.s.s.y move. I mean, it's what I did with Kuba's guys, but-"

"And you were right to do it that way, because you got us our only live suspects so far. Now we'll do it again to get Hedges, understand? Werewolf sc.u.mbags don't get honorable treatment, and human sc.u.mbags don't either. Besides, we're gonna be in an Apocalyptic town. Why make things even harder by getting furry in front of the rednecks, you know?"

Bryan sighed. "You're right."

"I know." Taran looked at Mauro. "Speaking of rednecks. We still planning on surprising the two local cops?"

"Yes. They're as crooked and lazy as anything you've seen in a movie. I don't want them trying to warn Hedges. 'Course, once we tell them he's running around with werewolves, they might be happy to give him up."

Taran made some notes. "We split up and put a couple of guys at different spots around town. Tracking the GPS is great, but we'll hit Luxor before he does, and if we're waiting for him..."

"Good idea," Mauro replied, "but how do we know where to put people?"

Bryan shrugged. "There aren't that many places to choose from. The old lady's house, Wayne's house, maybe Cafe Caddo if he decides it's safer to meet in a public place. Besides, it's not like Luxor takes up that much room. Wherever he goes, if we've got three or four cars, someone can get to him in minutes."

"Good," said Taran with a curt nod. "Because that's all it'll take for the wolves to grab her and run."

Somewhere around Nacogdoches, she had to pee. It was the first time they'd spoken in over an hour.

"h.e.l.l no. Hold it 'til we get home."

"Wayne, that's another hour! I can't make it." And she couldn't call Bryan unless she got away from the sc.u.mbag for a minute.

"I'm on a schedule. I'm not stopping."

"d.a.m.n it, Wayne! In a couple hours I'm gonna get s.h.i.+pped off to a wh.o.r.ehouse for wolves who like to change while they're s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g! You're turning me over to get killed!" He winced, though whether from guilt or from the pitch of her shrieking, she couldn't tell and didn't care. "The least you can do is stop and let me pee!"

She got no answer, but when a rest stop came into view a few minutes later, Wayne pulled off the highway.

He came around to uncuff her and waited, pistol in hand, as she climbed out and shook her legs awake.

"Okay, go. Hurry up."

The gun poked her spine all the way to the restroom.

"I'll be right here when you get out. Don't try to pull anything stupid. I will shoot you, Sara."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she muttered. She'd have to whisper on the phone and hope he didn't hear her.

The foul bathroom contained no window, no second door, nothing to use as an improvised weapon. So she peed, and then she called Bryan's cell phone.

It went straight to voicemail.

"Bryan?" she whispered. "Bryan, it's me. I'm with Wayne, and he's taking me back to Luxor. He's got a gun, and- And he shot TJ, and I don't know if- G.o.d, don't call me. Don't call me, understand? I don't want him to know I have-"

"Sara!" Wayne pounded on the door. "Get your a.s.s out here!"

"I don't want him to know I've got the phone and I don't have time to call 911, so just-"

"Sara! I said get the f.u.c.k out here!"

"I have to go."

She hit end, turned all sounds off, and dropped the phone back into her pocket. Taking a second to put her game face back on, she walked out of the restroom and straight into Wayne.

"I was about to come in there and shoot your a.s.s!"

"I don't think your buddies would've appreciated that, Wayne."

"Get back in the f.u.c.kin' car!"

He looked ready to explode. Fortunately there were no other people around. The whites of his eyes showed all around his eyeb.a.l.l.s, the right one twitching spasmodically. His head kept jerking side to side like something was catching his attention, but there was no one and nothing to warrant the reaction. He smelled like he hadn't showered in days, and she knew he hadn't slept. It wouldn't take much to push him over the edge. She didn't want another innocent person getting hurt on her account.

Sara refused to believe TJ was dead, but she was past worrying about her own life. She'd find some way to get herself killed before she'd let herself be handed over. Since she still had no brilliant ideas for escape, suicide was starting to look like a safe bet.

Wayne shoved her back in the car and cuffed her left wrist to the glove compartment again. Then they were back on the road.

It had seemed to take an eternity from when they'd found TJ and realized Sara was gone to when the plane lifted off from Houston. Bryan had prowled Nick's office, then the station where Taran worked, and finally the airport hangar, all the while obsessing over everything Wayne could have been doing to Sara at any moment.