Night Runner, page 11
“Clearly not enough reception to ring, though.” I tapped the voicemail icon and put the speaker to my ear. “Just a voicemail.”
A digital voice greeted me. “Hello, Anthony Holder. We are sorry to inform you we have your tracker.” I groaned as though I’d been punched in the gut. “We have Ty, and we don’t want to kill him.”
In the background, somebody screamed. Was it Ty? I couldn’t be sure. The speaking voice was mechanical, recorded, almost as if programmed. The halting tones grated on my nerves.
“I repeat,” the voice went on. “We have Ty Winter, and we’re prepared to kill him unless you agree to our terms.”
Shit. The word slipped out of me, and Kobie peered into my face.
“Who’s on the other end of the line?” he demanded.
I shook my head as the digital voice continued. “Now we have your attention, Anthony Holder. Please don’t delay. We won’t kill Ty unless we must, unless you make this choice. Meet us at the shack in twenty-four hours. Bring Maury and Ty will live. We’ll trade. If you do not, Ty will die.”
Then the recording halted, and the phone kicked out of the voicemail app. I lowered my hand and scrolled through the missed numbers. I recognized nearly every number in the call log, except one. My finger hovered over the number. I could call them back… and what? Cuss them out? Tell them to rot in hell? No, I couldn’t call them back until we had a plan in place.
“What’s going on?” Kobie asked. “What was that?”
“They want to meet.” Holy shit.
“That’s great. We have a lead.”
“No, not so great. If we want Ty to live, we have to meet at the shack where Maury was attacked and bring her with us. We have twenty-four hours to agree or Ty dies.”
“Bring Maury?” Kobie echoed. “Why?”
“They want to trade.”
His eyes went wide and glittered in the moonlight. “Oh, shit. That’s not going to work.”
I clenched my fists. “No fucking kidding.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
maury
“I shouldn’t have let him go without me,” I muttered. “I already went off on him for that already.” If I’d gone with him, I could have soothed the set of his jaw and the tightness of his mouth. He wouldn’t be alone out there, and I thought that was probably what bothered me most. My skin turned clammy, and I felt almost feverish. Nausea churned in my stomach.
“Maury.” A timid voice interrupted my musing before I could close the distance between me and the makeshift command room. “Maury.”
It was Rose Winter again, and she had Jaimee Phelps, our cousin, in tow.
I gave them both a small smile, dreading whatever interaction came next. It wasn’t like the last one was great. I pronounced everything that had been wrong with my childhood and sent Rose running away in horror. Why had she come back?
Jaimee waved. “Hey. Rose said you didn’t mind having company.”
I laughed dryly at that and gave Rose a sheepish look. “Did she also tell you everything I said?”
Rose’s cheeks turned pink, and Jaimee studied the floor.
“Well, that’s answer enough,” I murmured. “It’s okay if you know. I don’t mind any of that.” I didn’t know whether to playfully punch somebody’s elbow or what. I took a step forward and then back. What was I supposed to do?
Jaimee glanced up then. “I’m glad it’s okay she told me, but that’s not why we’re here.”
I scowled. “Then why are you here?”
“We want you to eat dinner with us,” Rose burst out. “We’re all eating together. It’ll be Jaimee, Stephan, and me. My mom will be there, too.”
I winced at the mention of Ty’s wife. “Will she be okay with me being there?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“It’s my fault her husband is missing. They all went after Darius, and that was all my fault. Darius has been after me for two years, and they’re all out there because of me.” My stomach clenched and twisted like a wrung-out rag as I remembered Anthony was out there, and I wasn’t with him.
Rose drew back. “How would any of that matter?”
“It just does. People care about shit—stuff—like that.”
“Not to Shannon,” Jaimee interjected.
“Are you sure?” I didn’t believe them. Why would I? For my whole life, people cared about themselves and only wanted me when it was convenient. “Have you asked her?”
Rose laid her hand on my forearm. “I’m sure of it. We’re happy to add you in our family. I don’t think you understand how much Shannon loves adding people to love. It’s just who she is. Not once did she ever complain about you to my dad. When she found out about you, she didn’t want to overwhelm you with all the family, so she didn’t approach you, and she couldn’t wait for you to meet everyone as family.”
Shit. I’d seen Shannon with the kids and how good she was with them all. She loved them all and there wasn’t any difference between them. Tears flooded my eyes, but I knew there was truth in what Rose was saying. As much as I wanted to build a wall between me and this new-to-me family, I couldn’t.
“Will you come to eat supper with us?” Jaimee asked.
“Yeah, I’ll come.”
Rose beamed at me. “Do you like card games?”
“I-I… Yes?” How did I tell them card games weren’t really my strong suit? Solitaire was the only one I knew.
“Well, if you don’t like card games, what about board games?”
Finally, I shrugged. “I really haven’t played many, so I don’t know.”
“Oh,” Jaimee said. “That’s okay. We can teach you.”
Shannon approached from the side with an ashen expression. “All the parents are here and have their kids now.” It seemed the wrinkles around her eyes were deeper, and the twinkle they usually had was missing. “You ready to eat?”
I wasn’t sure who she was asking.
She nudged me. “Are you ready to eat?”
“Uhm, yes,” I said, trying to figure out how to ask how she was without asking about Ty. So, I scrambled to come up with something.
“Oh, don’t look so stricken, Maury,” Shannon said, keeping her voice pitched low. “It’s not the first time Ty’s been missing while he’s been out tracking, and it won’t be the last.”
Her comment surprised me and didn’t help me sort out what to say next.
“How do you get used to living with the worry?” I didn’t tell her I could sense Anthony as he moved out across the bayou, and it tore my heart like it was being unzipped and ripped in two. Or that the distance between us made my stomach churn as he got farther and farther away.
Shannon grinned at Rose and then at Jaimee. “You two go on. The Instant Pot should be done by now.”
“What did you make?” Rose asked her mom.
“Chicken and rice. Pretty boring stuff.”
Rose grinned and pointed at me. “Maury said she’s coming to dinner. Don’t let her back out, Mom.”
“I won’t.”
Rose and Jaimee darted away, and they both seemed younger than I had ever been, ever even felt in my whole life. I couldn’t imagine feeling so safe, so carefree.
I turned to Shannon. “Are you sure you’re okay with me coming to dinner?”
“Why don’t you believe I’ll respect you enough to be honest, Maury?”
“I don’t have much experience with honesty.”
She sighed. “Oh, my, now that’s something I believe is one of the truest things I’ve ever heard you say.”
I waited for her to continue, but her next action surprised me.
Shannon draped her arm around my shoulders. “It’ll be okay, Maury. Anthony will find Ty, and Ty will make it back home. And no matter what happens, you’re not responsible for any of it. Anthony intends to keep our pride safe, and Ty is one of the ways Anthony will make that happen. I’ve always known his job comes with risks. None of that is on you.”
I chewed my bottom lip as I considered her words about Anthony. She’d brought him up, and I had to know if my experience with Anthony was one that other mates had. I knew Ty and Shannon weren’t mated, but they were longtime mates, and maybe she had some insights.
“You’re a shifter,” I said. “And Ty is, too.”
Shannon chuckled. “True. On both counts. Now what’s the question you’ve been trying to figure out how to ask?”
“How do you know I have one?” I swallowed back my shock.
“Oh, I have ways of knowing,” she said and winked. “But mostly, your face is a billboard for what’s going on in your brain.”
“No, it’s not,” I said without thinking.
She snorted and dropped her arm. “Yeah, that’s something else you have in common with Anthony, hon’.” She paused. “So, what’s the question?”
“What’s it feel like when you’re apart from Ty?”
She tipped her head to the side, dawning a thoughtful look. “I miss him. He misses me, but I get the feeling that’s not what you’re asking. What are you asking about specifically?”
“Well, does it make your stomach upset? Feel a little like the start of a virus? A flu or something?”
She frowned. “No, I can’t say that I’ve ever felt like that. I miss him intensely when he’s gone, but it doesn’t make me physically ill.”
“Ah.” What else could I say? Anthony was getting farther away by the moment, and maybe most cat shifters didn’t have the same physical reaction I did when their mate was away. At least Shannon didn’t feel feverish or want to puke.
Someone called to Shannon, and she waved. After she gave me a squeeze, she said, “You’re welcome to eat with us, if you like, but don’t feel obligated. Sounds like your stomach might be giving you fits or maybe you’re coming down with something.”
“I’ll come around.” What I had wasn’t contagious, that much I knew. “In an hour or so.”
“See that you do.” Her firm nod punctuated the instruction, and she hurried away.
I stayed behind for a little while, still mulling on the sensation of Anthony as he moved away vaguely somewhere out in the bayou. I made a lap around the safe room and tried to expend some of the worry filling me. Three laps later, it wasn’t much better.
My stomach twisted and churned, as choppy as the Gulf of Mexico in advance of a hurricane landfall. Was it because Anthony was my fated mate? Was this what it was going to be like every time we were apart?
An hour later, Laura caught my elbow, and I slowed. She offered me a drink, a low-cal flavored soda water.
“Thanks.” The cap twisted off easily, and I took a long drink. I couldn’t stop pacing, and I was driving Laura nuts. It didn’t take a genius to figure out my constant movement annoyed her.
“Are you going to eat dinner with Shannon and her family?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I belong.”
“You’ll never belong unless you try.”
My shoulders drooped. I knew she was right. “Who told you they invited me to dinner?”
“Rose told everybody. She’s pretty starry-eyed over her new big sister, especially since her big sister has a relationship with the pride alpha.”
I rolled my eyes. “She’s…”
“Incorrigible.”
“Incorrigible?” I took a moment and then nodded. “That’s probably pretty close to what she is.”
“Aren’t you hungry?” Laura asked.
“No, my stomach is upset.”
She put her hand to my forehead. “You coming down with something?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s because I let Anthony go alone. It’s bothering me.”
Her eyebrows lowered as she studied me. “Really?”
I leaned close to her. “It’s because we’re mated.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’re mated.” I nodded toward her with my eyes wide.
She crossed her arms. “That doesn’t make sense. I mean, even if he’s the first sex you’ve ever had, why would it make you feel sick?”
I sighed. “No, we’re fated mates. At least that’s what the pride historian says.”
Laura squealed. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No,” I whisper-yelled. “Would you keep your voice down? I’m not interested in the whole pride knowing.”
Then she winked at me. “Don’t worry. I already knew.”
“Who told you?”
“Kobie,” she said.
“Kobie?” My gaze narrowed. “Also, what the hell is going on with you two?”
Her face turned bright red. “Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.
“You should go eat,” she snapped. “I think they’re saving you a bowl of rice or something. They’re in the far corner of the safe room.”
Covering my grin, I gave her a look. Apparently, all I needed to do to get her off my back was to ask her about Kobie. “Sure. Got it.”
Ten minutes later, I was in the Winter’s makeshift indoor camping area. They had an Instant Pot in the middle of the folding table. Shannon dipped from the inside of the pot and then handed me a warm bowl, filled with chicken and rice. Bits of broccoli accented the bowl filled with mostly beige food. I took a deep breath, savoring the scents from the bowl.
Shannon nodded once and then gestured to a grouping of camping chairs. “Have a seat. The kids will be back soon enough. I had them take some of our extra food to one of the families.”
“Smells good,” I said. Then I used a deep-bowled spoon Shannon handed me and scooped a bite out. The moment the rice hit my tongue, my stomach reacted with a growl, and I was glad I’d taken time to work in supper.
Half-way through my dinner, Rose bounced over with Jaimee and Stephan behind her. “Want to play something?” Rose asked. “Cards or a board game?”
I scrunched my nose. “I’m not sure I’m up for that.”
“Why not?”
“My mate’s out there in the bayou, and I’m not sure I should be in here playing games.”
Rose scowled and shook her head. “Anthony wouldn’t mind.”
I took another bite and thought about how I wanted to say what I wanted to say. “Maybe he wouldn’t care, but I do.”
“Oh,” she said, and the corners of her mouth turned down. “Well, what do you want to do?”
“Maybe you could tell me about your life.”
“My life? It’s not exciting like yours.”
“Mine’s sad not exciting.”
She snorted at that. “You rose from an underprivileged life, broke into the alpha’s apartment, and he fell in love with you the minute he saw you. Then he protected you from a rogue while a thunderstorm raged outside. Now you’re basically poised to become queen of the pride, and everybody expects a wedding invitation any minute.”
I stopped chewing and gaped at her. When she said it like that, it sounded exciting, but she missed a whole lot of what happened. “Is that what they’re saying?”
“Pretty much,” Jaimee said.
Stephan, who seemed to be the quietest of the three, nodded with eyes wide.
“There’s a lot missing from that version of things.”
“Oh, whatever. It has all the best parts in it.”
I placed my empty bowl aside and Shannon bustled by, taking it from the small table between the camping chairs. “Don’t believe everything you hear, Rose.”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
We talked about their favorite memories as kids, safe in their semi-normal life. Sometimes they lived in homes in suburbia. However, since Ty was promoted to chief tracker, most recently, they lived in the pride buildings. Rose went on and on about all the family members I’d meet eventually. Jaimee enticed Stephan and Rose into a game of poker while I watched.
Finally, after cleaning nearly everything twice, Shannon sat down in one of the camping chairs. “It’s been a day, hasn’t it?”
“For sure,” I said. “Any news about Ty?”
“None yet,” she said.
“Will you be doing the daycare tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “Oh, no. While we’re in lockdown, we’ll all be tucked down here. It pretty much puts everything on break.”
Covering a yawn, I nodded.
“Are you sleeping in the alpha bedroom?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Why would you ask that?”
“The alpha is your mate, and it’s your right. I think you should ask Laura about it.”
“I’m not ready to go to bed.”
She shot me a soft smile. “Well, I am. I’m going to turn in. You stick around as long as you want.” Then she climbed from the camping chair and made her way toward a makeshift bedroom behind portable partitions.
While my half-sister and my cousins continued bluffing over their cards, I slipped away, and I made a lap around the safe room. Then another, moving with the hope the stress in my gut would dissipate.
“For the love of all the cats, Maury, sit down somewhere,” Laura said as she joined me in another lap.
I stopped short. “I’m trying to burn off the worried energy.”
Laura crossed her arms and frowned as she considered me. Her gaze didn’t miss much.
“I can’t. I know he’s out there, probably in danger, and I can’t do anything about it.”
“Why do you think he’s in danger?”
I grabbed my middle. “Because he is. I can feel it.”
She didn’t answer.
But I didn’t want to talk about it, so maybe she wouldn’t ask anymore. I wasn’t sure how to tell her to mind her own business without putting a wedge between us.
Anthony was somewhere else, and pacing was all I wanted to do. Well, pacing and wringing my hands. He wasn’t safe, and it was like I could feel the danger circling him. Darius was out there, probably hunting Anthony since I hadn’t gone along.
“Well?” Laura pressed. “You ready to take a break? There’s a bed in the alpha bedroom.”
“No, I’m too worried about Anthony to sleep.”
“Why?”
I clasped my hands in front of my middle. “He’s in danger, Laura, and I can’t do anything about it.”
“You don’t know that.”
