The Road to Redemption (32 page)

Rubbing his
neck, Damien considered the situation. “I guess the ‘how’ doesn’t
really matter; the fact is he knows and is threatening to tell
Sam.”

“Correct, and
I can’t let that happen. Samuel was adamant about it.”

There had to
be more to the story than Marcello knew; something between Sam
Harper, senior, and the Beta. “Your loyalty is commendable, Mr.
Marcello.”

“Samuel saved
my life once, many years ago. This is the least I could do.”

“Has Dante
been around since?”

“Just once. I
gave him his payment and he said he’d be back for more next week.”
The man got to his feet and walked to the corner, picking up a
baseball bat. “When he returns, I am ready for him this time. I’ve
worked too hard all my life to give it away to the likes of that
man.”

“With any
luck, I’ll have this taken care of by then.” Damien rose to his
feet. “If you hear from Dante before then, contact me right away.”
He scribbled his number down on a scrap of paper and pushed it
across the table.

Marcello
pocketed the paper. “Thank you. I care for Miss Samantha and don’t
want to see her hurt.”

“Neither do I,
Mr. Marcello. Neither do I.”

Sam sat in her office surrounded by boxes of
paper. The pack’s records were extensive, but in the attic, they
hadn’t seemed to be quite this numerous. At least the pack members
had managed to get through most of the files during the afternoon.
They’d found bits and pieces that would help her create a paper
trail to establish her grandfather’s role as Alpha back several
years.

She checked
the piles of paper she had arranged on her desk, one for each year.
Unfortunately, the most recent three were the smallest, only the
monthly reports to Lycan Link bore his initials. It would be
enough, wouldn’t it?

Damn Sinclair,
the greedy ass! Why couldn’t he be satisfied with his own
territory? She muttered under her breath as she counted the reports
in the pile designated for the current year. For some reason, there
were only seven reports and there should be nine…

Her office
door opened and she looked up to find Damien.

“Decided to
finally return, did you?” She scowled. He’d been gone much longer
than the simple errand required, and being surrounded by paperwork
had put her in a bad mood.

“It’s nice to
see you, too, Sugar.” He leaned against the doorjamb, his thumbs
hooked in his belt loops.

She bit back
her retort over his use of the name ‘Sugar’. He wanted to get a
rise out of her and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
“How was Mr. Marcello?”

“Fine.” Damien
straightened and stepped into the room, glancing over the stacks of
boxes. “Did you get through all of these?”

“Yeah. I’m
sure I have enough evidence to convince Lycan Link that Sinclair’s
claim is as insane as he is.” She counted the slips once more and
frowned, then checked the neighbouring pile.

“What’s
wrong?”

“I’m missing
copies of the last two reports to Lycan Link. I always have
Grandfather initial them—it makes him feel like he’s still
involved—and they’re part of my ‘proof’ that he’s still our
Alpha.”

“Did you wait
while he signed them or did you leave them with him? Maybe you
forgot to pick them up?”

“I might
have.” She stood up. “I’ll check his room. He has quite a few files
in there right now—going through old records and journals keeps him
busy—so they might have become mixed up.”

“I can help
you look.” Damien fell in beside her as she made her way
upstairs.

“You’ll have
to be quiet,” she warned. “He always has a nap at this time of the
day.”

Sam eased open
the door and peered inside. The room was in semi-darkness, the
curtains pulled. From the bedroom, the faint sound of snoring could
be heard. Years ago she’d never have been able to sneak into his
quarters, but age and medication had made him less alert.

As quietly as
possible, they gathered up as many files as they could and then
left the room.

Sam chuckled
softly. “That reminded me of how I’d try to sneak into his room to
get my allowance money when he confiscated it.”

Damien gave a
crooked smile. “Sounds like a stunt I would have tried. Did you
ever manage to pull it off?”

“Only once and
he noticed right away. I was on latrine duty for a month after
that.”

Back in her
office, Sam took the evidence she’d already collected and slid it
into a folder, clearing a spot for them to work.

Damien set the
files down and they began to read the headings.

“Some of these
are really old,” he commented looking at the dates. “The pages are
even discoloured.”

“Hmm… A lot of
these are my grandfather’s old records. Flip through them and see
if you notice any newer looking pages. We don’t have time to be
reading them.”

They worked
companionably, side by side, for some time. Sam found one of the
missing reports but not the other.

The clock in
the hall chimed and she sighed. “I’ve got to go fix dinner.”

“Wieners and
beans again?”

“No. Frozen
lasagna—and don’t you dare say anything.” She glared at him when he
would have commented. “I know I’m a pathetic cook.”

“I wasn’t
going to say a word about it.” He blinked at her innocently. “I was
only going to ask if you wanted me to keep looking through the
papers.”

“You’re a
liar, Masterson, but yeah, keep looking through the papers.”

Sam headed to
the kitchen pleased that she and Damien seemed to have fallen back
into their usual banter. They still had to work together,
regardless of the fact that they’d had sex. And while she still
hadn’t given up all hope of having some kind of relationship with
him, for the moment saving the pack had to take priority.

Dinner came
and went. The lasagna had been a bit cool in the middle and crunchy
on the edges–who knew that cranking the oven up an extra
seventy-five degrees wouldn’t compensate for shortening the baking
time? At least the garlic bread and salad had been good, and ice
cream for dessert was a no brainer.

Damien hadn’t
had any luck finding the missing report so as soon as the dishes
were done, she planned on returning the files to her grandfather’s
room and taking another look around. With any luck he wouldn’t have
too big a fit over her sneaking into his room earlier. The needs of
the pack overrode personal privacy…or at least that’s what her
defence was going to be! She rinsed the last pan, dried her hands
then went back to her office.

The door was
ajar and she could see a pair of booted feet resting on her desk.
Damien was settled in her chair reading.

“Make yourself
at home.” She folded her arms and gave him a hard stare.

“I did,
thanks.” He gave her a cheeky grin before gesturing with the file
in his hand. “This makes for some interesting reading.”

“I’ve been
going through some really old ones, trying to familiarize myself
with the pack’s history. Grandfather was always pretty tight-lipped
about it.” She shoved his feet off her desk.

“Hey! I just
got comfortable.”

“Your feet on
the floor or my foot on your ass; make your decision.”

“Fine.” Damien
set down the file and moved from her desk. “You’re a cruel woman,
Sugar.”

She curled her
lip and gave him a territorial growl before laughing. Glancing at
the date on the file he’d been reading, she frowned. “That was a
bad year. My grandfather and the Beta had a falling out over
something. Grandfather never replaced him.”

“Do you know
what they disagreed about?”

“No. I wasn’t
that old. I remember them arguing loudly. It scared me, and
Florence took me to see a movie. When we came back, the Beta had
left.

“Hmm…” Damien
seemed about to ask another question then changed his mind. “Are
you going to return these files to your grandfather or put them in
storage?”

“I’d better
give them back. I don’t know how many he’s read over.”

“Okay, I’ll
carry them.” Damien scooped up the files and gestured for her to
lead the way.

“Good. He’s
going to be pissed when he realizes we were in his room. If you’re
carrying the files, you can take most of the blame.” The look on
Damien’s face made her chuckle. It was one of the things she liked
about him; he made her laugh. There hadn’t been a lot of laughter
in her life, mostly only training and work. Being an Alpha was no
walk in the park.

Her
grandfather’s door was ajar when they arrived and she gave the
obligatory tap before pushing it open. “Grandfather, we… What are
you doing?”

A wave of heat
hit them as soon as they stepped into the room. Despite it being
summer, he had the fireplace lit and was sitting in front of it,
feeding papers into the blaze.

“Purging my
old notes.” He didn’t look up from his task, but Sam gasped and
hurried towards him.

“Don’t do
that!” She snatched the papers from his hand.

“Give me those
back. Those are my personal files!” He tried to grab them back, but
she moved them out of reach.

“No. I’m
missing one of the monthly reports and it might have become mixed
up in your papers.”

“Samantha!” He
shouted her name and tried to stand but lost his balance and tipped
sideways. Sam dropped the papers and caught him, struggling to
support his weight and keep him from crashing to the floor.

Damien rushed
over to help ease him into his chair just as Florence appeared at
the door, a tray of food in her hands.

“What’s going
on here?”

Everyone
started to talk at once until Damien finally put his fingers to his
mouth and let out a loud whistle that caused everyone to stop and
look his way.

He rubbed the
back of his neck and sighed loudly. “Can everyone calm down,
please.”

Sam scowled
but knew he was right. “Yeah. Everyone calm down.” She turned to
look at her grandfather. “First of all, you know better than to
stand up without your cane or something to hang on to. If you fall
and break a hip, you’ll really be in trouble.” When he would have
spoken, she raised her hand and continued. “And yes, you can burn
all the papers you want, as long as they’re yours and not recent
pack files. Once I’ve checked that the missing report isn’t in
there, you can do whatever you want with them.”

“You are
not
going through my papers. I’ll look myself!”

“Grandfather,
I don’t have time—”

“And why the
hell not?” He glared at her.

“Because of
fucking Sinclair!” She ran her hands through her hair, exasperated
and overtired from too many hours of sorting through papers. God,
she needed to go for a run or a ride on her Harley. Taking a deep
breath, she explained. “Sinclair says you’re no longer Alpha
because you’ve been absent too long and we’re operating under false
pretences. I’m trying to build a paper trail of things you’ve
signed to prove you’re still in charge.”

“Of all the
idiotic—” Her grandfather began to bluster, his face flushing with
temper.

“I know, but
Lycan Link is listening to him and somehow I’ve misplaced that
report and we need it.”

Her
grandfather flattened his lips then jerked his head towards Damien.
“Let him look for the paper. The rest of you, get out.”

“You want
Damien to…?” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Fine.”

“Samuel, you
haven’t eaten.” Florence held up the tray of food.

“Set it on the
table. I’m not hungry.”

Florence
looked as if she’d argue, but a growl emitted from the old man’s
throat and she gave in. Setting the tray down, she left the room
with Sam.

They walked to
the bottom of the stairs and then paused to talk.

“Any idea
what’s going on with him?” Sam leaned against the newel post,
rubbing her forehead as it throbbed dully. If anyone knew what was
going on with her grandfather, it would be Florence. The woman had
taken care of him for as long as Sam could remember.

“He’s been in
a stir all evening.” She hesitated, seeming to be weighing how much
to say. “Someone called just before dinner. Samuel asked me to
leave the room while they talked.” Her lips pursed in disapproval.
“Whoever it was on the phone upset him. When I came back, he wasn’t
himself at all.”

“Any idea who
it was?”

“No. The
person has called before—I recognized the voice—but Samuel’s never
used a name.”

Sam nodded.
“Okay. Thanks for the information.”

Florence
turned to go and then paused. “Oh, and Sam? Whoever it is that
calls, I don’t believe it’s a friend. Your grandfather is always in
a mood afterwards, but never as bad as this.”

Damien stood in Samuel Harper’s room waiting until
the door closed and the sound of Sam and Flo’s footsteps faded. He
then cocked an inquiring brow at Harper.

“Why me?”

“You’re a
rogue. You’ve seen the grimmer side of life, know we all do things
we aren’t proud of but have to do anyway.”

“And that’s
what’s in your papers? Things you aren’t proud of?”

Harper
snorted. “Perhaps. But would I do them again? In a heartbeat.”

Damien nodded,
understanding where the man was coming from. He’d been in those
positions himself more than a time or two. He gestured towards the
papers. “May I?”

“Go ahead.
I’ll tell you part of the story while you pick them up. Save you
trying to snoop.” The old man chuckled darkly and Damien quirked
his lips in a surreptitious smile. It was easy to tell that Sam and
the old man were related. “Don’t tell my granddaughter any of this.
She doesn’t need to know and it would only upset her.”

“Understood.”
That made two people now trying to shield Sam from the truth.
Damien didn’t see her as being that delicate, but said nothing as
he continued to sift through the pages looking for the elusive
missing report.