Charity's Storm (Charity Series Book 4) (11 page)

When my tears and strength had both been exhausted, I took a seat on the closed toilet, not yet ready to face the others and their unending questions. That’s when my phone rang. I didn’t know why but I felt hesitant to answer it, but by the third ring I pressed the phone to my ear and hit talk.

“Yes?”

“Charity Bell?”

I gulped when I recognized the hideous male voice on the other end. I closed my eyes and somehow continued. “Yes.”

The man on the other end of the phone laughed. “I bet you’re worried sick right now, huh?”

Anger
rose up inside of me then unlike anything I had ever felt before. “If you hurt even a hair on my son’s head you will…”

“…I will what?! I’m in control of this situation, not you! Now shut up and listen! I will say this only once. I’m gonna tell you where to come, but you must come alone. You can’t tell anyone where you’re going. I’m not here alone. I have men surrounding me, so I’ll know if anyone follows you. If I even think that you’ve been followed the boy is dead. Got it?!”

I cringed. “I-I understand.”

“Do you think you can handle that? Can you get away without being seen?”

I squared my jaw. “I’ll make it happen.”

“Good. Now here is where I want you to come.”

As the evil Jason Franco murmured off the directions to a little cabin in the woods some two states away, I wondered how on this mighty round earth was I gonna leave this facility without being seen. As soon as the question entered my mind, I had an answer. Hector.

Chapter Eighteen

I had to remind myself why I was doing this as I peered anxiously out of the tiny peephole in the chest full of laundry. At least this time it was clean laundry, unlike that dreadful day five years ago when I had to sneak into the facility to see Levi. But unlike last time where Levi’s life depended on me, this time it was the life of my son. If I didn’t pull this off, my son would die. If I knew nothing else, I knew that Hector was the man to help me. And just like last time I was determined to get my way. Before I had even asked for his help, he was sworn to secrecy—and this he had to keep, and I knew he would, even if everything within him said otherwise. And just like last time I had to concentrate really hard not to vomit all over myself as Hector carried me, not so gently mind you, in the chest across the facility and into the parking garage.

I sprang from my hiding spot just as Hector sat the chest on the ground.

             
“Can I please come with you, Mrs. Charity. I don’t like the idea of you running all over the place alone looking for Deacon. You could get hurt, or lost. Please,” he begged.

             
I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, big man, but this is something I have to do on my own. Deacon’s life depends on it. I’ll be careful…I promise. Now, I need your car.”

             
Before he could even respond, I snatched his keys from his belt and was soon in the car and speeding up the ramp and out of the underground facility. I reached down and turned off the GPS on my cell phone, secretly thanking Eli for showing me how, and quickly turned off my phone. I couldn’t take a chance on Levi finding me until I needed to be found. I wouldn’t risk our son’s life…not for anything…not even my own. He was counting on me, and I couldn’t fail him.

             
I drove straight through the city of Happy, N.C., heading right toward West Virginia. The drive took almost five hours, and four hours in I became very sleepy. But by the time I reached the turnoff to the cabin, surrounded by thick, murky woods, I was wide awake and ready to see my son. As soon as I pulled onto the road leading to the cabin, I turned on my phone, turned on the GPS, and hit Levi on speed dial. It didn’t even ring once.

“Charity?! Charity!”

When I heard Levi’s frantic voice pick up, I tossed the phone out the window and into the trees. It would take him a while to get to us, but get to us he would.

             
The cabin was small and somewhat old, but the first thing I noticed as I pulled up was mounds of dirt piles in various and different places around the cabin. It seemed out of place and the piles looked fresh. Several men dressed in camouflage and carrying large guns stepped out of the woods as I turned off the ignition and I exited the car.

             
“Hands in the air!” they ordered.

             
I did as they said, punching one of them in the stomach as he got a little too frisky in his frisking.

             
“That didn’t take too long.”

             
I spotted Jason Franco stepping out onto the little porch. He was also dressed in camouflage. His cocky smirk was unnerving. I would have to remember to take care of that the first chance I got.

             
“Where is my son, you jerk?!”

             
“Now, now. No need for insults. We’ve taken good care of him, despite his attempts to get away. I have to say, Charity, the kid is just like you—bad temper and all.”

             
I snapped sarcastically. “I hope he didn’t hurt you too badly.”

             
Jason Franco’s face turned red. “He’s just lucky I didn’t shoot him.”

             
“Where is he?!” I demanded more fiercely this time.

             
A big man with his red hair cut in a military style crew cut came up behind me and pushed me with his gun. He guided me up the steps of the porch and into the small cabin. There, lying on a bed in the far corner, was my Deacon.

             
“Deacon!”

             
He jumped to his feet and his purplish blue eyes grew large as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Mommy!”

             
I ran to him and pulled him into my arms. “Oh, baby. Are you all right? Did these turkeys hurt you?”

             
He pulled back then and smiled wide. “No, Momma. But I was a pain just like I can be at home, only worse. I even escaped.”

             
I smiled back at him as I touched his face and searched for injuries. “Oh honey, I’m so proud of you for being a big boy. And you protected your brother too. That was so brave of you.”

             
He shrugged. “Dixon is the youngest. It’s my job to protect him. I was just doing my job.”

             
Despite my heartache at seeing him like this and chained, I smiled at his words that touched me so much.

             
“Mommy, I didn’t tell them anything about Daddy. He tried to get me to, but I didn’t.”

             
“There was no need,” Jason Franco said from behind me. “I know all I need to know about Daddy—him and his friends.”

             
I stood and spun to face him. “What do you mean by that?”

             
He turned to one of the men at the door and nodded toward me. The man approached me and pushed me onto the bed and grabbed another set of chains.

             
“Don’t you touch my Mommy!” Deacon yelled as he jumped on the man’s head and began beating him.

             
“Oww! Oww! Get him off me!” the man yelled as Deacon continued to hit and kick him.

             
“For Pete’s sake!” Jason Franco said as he grabbed a hold of Deacon and threw him beside me on the bed. He then grabbed my ankle and secured the chain around it. Deacon and I were now both prisoners of this maniac, and I still had no idea what he wanted. 

             
“Did you like the dead wolf I placed in the woods?” he asked in a condescending tone. “I had to have a reason for a park ranger to show up, now didn’t I?”

             
“What do you want with us anyway?” I asked in as calm a voice as I could. I needed to settle Deacon down before any signs of his wolfiness came out. Sure he couldn’t shift until he turned eighteen, but if he was angry enough small signs could show, like his eyes sometimes turned yellow, or his hair would stand up which was a little creepy to be honest. This was rare, but it had happened.

             
“I’m a little disappointed in you, Charity. You seemed so bright when you came to see me in prison. Actually, it was that visit that gave me the idea, so thank you for that.”

             
I was confused by his rambling and getting more than a little frustrated on top of that. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

             
He paced around the room, and he was a hand talker as he waved his hands around as he spoke. “You see, Charity, I was due to be released, having served my ten years in prison, and when you came to visit me that day with your husband, well I saw a side of him that intrigued me completely. I know all about what your husband and his pack are.”

             
My eyes grew wide and my mouth dropped open.

             
He smiled a disturbing smile that sent chills down my spine and back up again. “Oh yes. I know about the secret you’ve been hiding. Your husband is a furry beast and an alpha on top of that. Almost fifteen years ago I was escaping through the forest after a home robbery when I ran into a snarling furry beast with yellow glowing eyes. He gave me this scar,” he said pointing at the hideous scar on the left side of his face. “I escaped with my life that night, and no one believed me when I tried to tell them about the beast—about the werewolf. I know what I saw, but I’ve never been able to prove it—until now.

             
I gasped. “What do you mean, until now?”

             
His hand moved around the room, and that’s when my eyes spotted them…in every corner of the cabin were mounted cameras. “When your precious husband and his little pack come for you, we’ll have a surprise for them. We have traps set all around this place with stakes in them. It might hurt them, but they will heal.”

             
“You’re gonna try to capture them?! Are you completely insane?! Do you know what they can do to you?! Do you want to die?! Because this will only lead to death...for you and your men! You have to stop this before it’s too late!”

             
“Stop? Are you kidding? This is my chance to finally prove that what I saw fifteen years ago is real—that I’m not crazy after all! And once I expose your precious werewolves I’m gonna be famous!”

             
“Expose them to the world?!”

             
“Of course. Who else would I expose them to except the world? The world has a right to know what creatures are living amongst them…bringing them harm.”

             
I got mad then and charged at the man, but the chain attached to my ankle stopped me as it dug into my skin, causing a sharp pain. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! The werewolves don’t harm people! They protects us, you idiot!”

             
His eyes grew wide. “Protect us? From what? Are you telling me there is something more terrifying out there than your furry beasts?!!”

             
I shut my mouth, realizing that I was actually making things worse.
No surprise there.
“I don’t know about that, only that they protect us, mostly from each other I suppose. But they don’t hurt us!”

             
He started laughing, a very unnerving sound to be sure. Deacon began growling beside me, and I grabbed his hand to silence him. “It’s okay, baby,” I whispered to him. “He can’t hurt Daddy. I won’t let him. Do you hear me?”

             
He slowly nodded. “Yes, Mommy.”

             
I sat back on the bed and thought hard about a way to warn Levi. There had to be a way to warn him. Now I was sorry that I had thrown my phone into the woods. Not that they would’ve let me keep it anyway. My mind was racing. I needed my lip balm. It always helped me think. I reached down into my bra and brought out a tube and coated my lips heavily. After so many kidnappings in my past, I learned to carry my lip balm in my bra. That way I wouldn’t lose it.
Don’t judge!

I knew the humans were the werewolves’ biggest threat. If we were exposed, who knew the ramifications from such an event. It could be devastating…for all of us. I had to think of something. It was then that I peered down into my left palm and the blue vine-like symbol there. Maybe there was a way to warn him after all. I didn’t know if it would work, but I took my fingernail and dug deep as I traced the lines of my connection symbol. It was painful but not as painful as witnessing my beloved pack walking into an ambush. I bit my bottom lip as I continued to dig over my marking. I was surprised that it didn’t bleed.

              Most of the men cleared the room with the exception of the redhead with the crew cut. I lay back onto the bed and pulled my boy into my arms and cradled him as I hummed softly, in an attempt to calm our shattered nerves.