Wolf’s Heart (17 page)

“Kyle? Dad? Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Everything was quiet. Her heart went to her throat as she thought she was too late. Kyle had promised he would never leave her without at least saying goodbye. She had made him the simple promise not to leave. Period. She knew that her blood transfusions always helped him. He could have as much as he wanted as long as he was okay.

The place was giving her the major creeps. This was obviously not where they were living. The furniture was shabby and dusty, looking as if no one had bothered to clean in months. It smelled musty, the AC was turned off leaving it stifling hot. It obviously had not been occupied for a long time.

Turning the corner she felt the blinding pain as her head jerked back with the force of the blow and she fell backwards landing on her ass hard enough that she felt it all the way up her spine. She touched her jaw carefully as her vision cleared. When she looked up, her heart stopped.

“G.”

She did a mad scramble back crawl to get away, not taking her eyes off of him, waiting for the gun to appear as her thoughts flashed back. G only looked down and laughed. Was it just two weeks ago that he had claimed to love her? Now, he stood over her laughing. She turned her head in the direction of another voice. Dark, laughter came from the hall behind her and belonged to a man she had never seen before.

“Remember, we’re supposed to take her alive again. Difference is, once we find out what she’s been up to, you might get to kill her later.”

She looked from one man to the other, hoping and praying for a miracle, or that she could bluff her way out of this. “I hope you brought more than just the two of you because it’s gonna take more than that.”

Flipping around, she began to crawl and almost reached her purse to get her gun. She didn’t quite make it when one of the men grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. She was twisting, fighting, turning, and screeching like a banshee, doing anything she could to get away. She held back a whimper as a hand reached down and grabbed her hair and pulled her up into a standing position. Her scalp felt like it was on fire. One man grabbed her wrists, pulling them behind her back. There was the familiar pain in her wrists as zip ties bit into her skin. She looked into G’s eyes as the guy put a piece of duct tape over her mouth.

“Do us all a favor, love. Just shut the fuck up.”

She glared at G, not even trying to hide her hatred. She knew that there was little hope. G had already tried twice to kill her and everyone said that the third time for anything is a charm. She leaned in closer to him as if to place her head against his chest in search of comfort. His laugh became louder, at least until her knee connected with his balls, and she watched him drop. She had one chance and ran for the door as her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She almost made it when she was grabbed from behind and forced to turn around. A fist connected with her already injured jaw and she swore she saw stars shooting across the sky. G’s laughter was the last thing she heard before she hit the ground.

When Ryden finally arrived at her apartment, he was on edge. He could feel the tingle, the itch across his skin that signaled the need for his wolf to break free and rip something to shreds. His jaw cramped as he ground his teeth, and his hands ached from gripping the steering wheel.

The tires squealed as he pulled into the lot, and he had barely gotten the car in park when he was out and racing to her door.

“
Carlee!
” He called out but got no answer. He took a deep breath and nearly choked on the stench. Going through the apartment, looking in every room, he saw the chaos. Someone had been here and trashed the place. He was certain Carlee hadn’t done this, so it had to be whoever was after her. He growled at the thought that came to his mind.
Even God won’t be able to help them if they hurt her.
 

He walked back through, looking for anything that might tell him where she was, sifting through the various piles that had been tossed here and there. Whatever they were looking for, he wondered if they’d found it. About to leave the bedroom, he spotted the corner of the room where the carpet was pulled up. He walked over and knelt down, feeling underneath. Finding the loose floor board, he managed to pry it up then ripped it from the floor. There was an empty space beneath. 

“Carlee, what were you hiding here?”

He tossed the board back down and got up. Walking back out of the room, he noticed the flashing light on her answering machine. He walked over and pushed play, hearing a few random calls. One was a telemarketer, another from work, yet another that was just an empty message. Then he heard a man’s voice.

“Carlee? Carlee, if you’re there pick up. Your mother and I have been trying to reach you. Kyle is in bad shape. Carlee, you need to…
BEEP
.”

It didn’t take much for Ryden to figure the male voice on the phone was her father. She had rarely spoken of him when they were together. He knew that she had a brother, Kyle, but she never talked about him, and he never pressed her for information on him. She had only said that growing up he had been ill. Father or not, if he harmed a hair on her head, Ryden would tear him apart. Playing it again, he figured Carlee must have been here and picked up the call. At least that’s what he hoped and prayed for. There was nothing else to go on.

His wolf was so close to the surface, it was a struggle to keep him back. In the blink of an eye, his vision changed. Everything in the room became clearer. He could see the tiny particles of dust that lay on top of the counter, the indents in the carpet where her feet had walked across it. His wolf eyed a note pad that lay on the table near the phone, and he could see across the top where a piece of paper had been ripped, leaving small sliver of it behind, along with the indents on the note pad. A hundred times as a kid, Ryden had seen those cheesy detective shows on television where the guy gets a pencil and uncovers a secret message on the notepad. He figured there was nothing to lose, so in the fashion of Dick Tracy, he angled the pencil just right and rubbed the lead over the pad. 

“Bingo, I’m on my way Carlee. Just don’t do anything stupid...again.” Back on the road, with his GPS locked into the address, Ryden hurried to Carlee. “Just sit tight this time, Buttercup. Let me get to you.”

Traffic was heavy as Ryden made his way to the address, hoping like hell she would actually be there. He couldn’t lose her. She belonged to him, his mate. He had finally admitted that to himself, but it took seeing her drive away before the human side caught up with the raging wolf.

“Come on, you fuckers.
MOVE
!” He beat the steering wheel in frustration and honked his horn so he could get by. His wolf was still at the surface refusing to retreat. Ryden’s reflexes were lightning quick but in Baltimore traffic, there was no rushing, not to mention cameras at every traffic light. Ryden knew he couldn’t afford to draw unwanted attention his way.

Getting off the expressway, he followed his GPS to the address. The place wasn’t what he was expecting. Hell, he wasn’t sure what he did expect, but an old warehouse was not on the list. This was a rough part of town, thugs on every street corner along with abandoned houses, graffiti and prostitutes trying to get some cash for their next fix. The place was large but seriously run down. There was no one around the building itself, but he circled the block before he made a move to get closer.

He parked the car down the street, hoping it would still be there when he got back, and moved to the rear entrance of the building. His sidearm was in hand, his nose in the air and he listened for any sudden sounds that might alert him to danger. He eased around the corner to the front door, and his wolf caught a faint whiff of Carlee, not much, but it was enough to tell Ryden she had been here. As he got closer, he could smell the cheap cologne he had smelled before. One of the goons that had been after them was, or had been, here as well, and it was the same scent from her apartment.

His wolf raged inside him wanting his female, wanting to tear apart anyone who dared to touch her. Ryden’s hands were clenched as he kept himself from shifting. 
You’ll get your turn when we find her
.

He suppressed a growl and ducked inside, looking around the nearly empty space for Carlee. Her scent didn’t get stronger. Instead, it was weaker the farther he got inside. She’d not made it very far past the front door. But where did they take her? There were a few drops of blood on the floor. He touched the blood drops and brought his fingers to his nose. He knew the blood was hers.

When she left here, he knew she was still alive. Deep in his soul, he could still feel her. She was his mate. If she was dead, he would
know
it. That pain he felt when she had been beaten would be nothing compared to the pain that would come with her death. 

He couldn’t go there, couldn’t think of it. His need to find her was primal on the most basic level. But, where did he to go from here? His only thought was to find out where the MedVision labs were and where Carlee’s parents lived. Either one of those two places were the most obvious to start, so with that in mind, he hurried back to his car.

He rounded the corner to see three guys wearing what were obviously gang colors and sporting gang tats down their arms attempting to steal his Mustang. There was no time for niceties. With the safety off and one in the chamber, he called out to them.

“Can I help you guys?” As one, they turned at looked at him, guns raised while Ryden’s remained in his left hand against his left side. He preferred to just shoot all three of them but that would only draw unwanted attention he couldn’t afford.

“Move ‘long, sucka. Nuttin’ ta see here.” This one was surely the brains of the bunch.

“Doesn’t look that way to me. Looks like you three are jacking some poor guy’s car.”

“Are ya deaf? I said move yo’ mutha fuckin’ ass.” He pulled back the hammer on his .38 revolver and pointed it at Ryden’s chest. It was obvious to Ryden the three of them were high on something other than intelligence or they’d realize he was the owner of the car.

“I can’t do that. You see, that’s my car you’re trying to jack, and I’ve got my girlfriend’s life to save, so I need my wheels. I’m gonna have to ask you nicely to step away from the car and move along. Go bother someone else.” Ryden was itching for a fight; his wolf was itching for blood. They had no clue what they were up against.

“We ain’t goin’ nowhere wid’out dis car an’ you gonna get yo’ punk-ass shot if ya don’ get lost, mutha’fukah.”

“Hmm, it seems we’re at a stalemate then. I suggest you come and make me leave.” The punk’s eyes narrowed as Ryden flipped the safety back on and slipped the gun back into the waistband of his jeans. He knew the leader would put his gun away in favor of a fight. He did just that, and signaled his two buddies to come at Ryden.

First one and then the other swung fists at him. Ryden moved only to get out of the way of the wildly swinging fists. He ducked and side-stepped to his left as they attempted another swing only to meet air. His right foot swung out, catching brother number one behind his right knee and clipping him with a left hook to the jaw. Brother number two was behind him and Ryden ducked under, swinging his left leg out in a low arc to the ground, knocking both of the punk’s feet out from under him. He landed with a thud on his back as Ryden’s leg came down across his midsection. Brother number one was back up, and grabbed Ryden in a choke hold from behind. That didn’t last long. All it took was his boot to his knee and then a sudden lunge toward the ground, and the punk was flying over his head and landing on his buddy’s prostrate form.

Neither moved, but he knew it wasn’t over. The ring leader was looking on with eyes wide as his boys were taken out quickly. Ryden was back on his feet and moving so that he could see the two down and the leader as he waited to see what he’d do.

“Make your move, my friend. You can walk away, or I’ll put you in a body bag. You won’t get off as lucky as your two drones.” He saw the leader’s hand twitch. Ryden could have his gun out, safety off and a shot fired before the punk ever got his hand on the revolver. The punk obviously knew that if he moved more than an inch, he wouldn’t walk away.

“Go for it, buddy. Be a man, take me out and crow to your friends. Or you could end up dying yourself. Do you want to risk it?” A line from one of Ryden’s favorite movies came to mind. Dirty Harry said it best,
“Do you feel lucky, punk?”

Apparently, the leader of this little gang didn’t. Instead, he turned tail and ran before his buddies could see him for the coward he was. With a quick glance at the two semiconscious almost-thieves still on the ground, Ryden unlocked his car and got the hell out of the area. He needed to find a Wi-Fi hotspot and put Carlee’s laptop to work. The clock was ticking, and he didn’t have long.

Waking up in the trunk of a car was no damn fun at all. A tire iron was pressing into spots where tire irons definitely did not belong. The potholes on the streets didn’t help the situation at all. Carlee tried to make a mental note that when she got out of this one, she was going to write a letter to the city to make sure that they were filled in. A few times the car came to a stop, and she waited and waited…and waited some more, but no one came. Wiggling her way around, she kicked at the back seat. She smelled…pizza?

The assholes stopped to
eat
?

When the car finally stopped again, she held her breath as she heard the key slide into the lock on the trunk. She knew this was it. She was turned and ready. As soon as it opened enough to see light, she kicked out with both feet. She wanted to scream and yell, but the tape over her mouth only came out as mumbles of the obscenities she had planned.

“Hey, bitch, quit it before I knock you out again.” G snarled, grabbing her feet as she got in a kick or two. She was pulled from the car, her back and head hitting the bumper right before her ass hit the pavement. She groaned as the stars came back and she couldn’t fight as she was carried inside. Two men had her, one holding each arm. She couldn’t tell much about the building with the fog in her head. She only saw that it was some sort of glass; it looked like a professional building of some kind. She swallowed hard as she managed to make out the sign on the door, MedVision.