Betrayed: Days of the Rogue (46 page)

A story. He rubbed his eyes,
feeling wearier than he had in ages. They’d have to create some
plausible story to tell Eve and the local authorities. Constable
Duffy would be looking for a report on the rogue wolf that had
supposedly been in the area. Eve would wonder why she’d seen three
wolves, not just one. And what if she asked about the hiker? Good
thing Reno’s wife, Brandi, was a Disaster Control officer; this had
the potential of blowing up in their faces.

“Rafe, can you come out here?” Reno
cracked the door open and peered inside.

“Sure.” He squeezed Eve’s hand and
quietly left the room.

His living room had become some
sort of command centre. Captain Fielding was presiding over the
coffee table, a laptop open in front of him and a cellphone pressed
to his ear as he barked out orders; the man had arrived sometime
during the day though Rafe couldn’t really say when. Brandi stood
in another corner, also talking on the phone, and nibbling on a
pencil in between jotting down notes on a small pad of paper. Reno
was waiting for him near the kitchen and Damien… Well, he was
staring out the window with a distant expression on his face.

The professional side of him wanted
to talk to the rogue, but Reno let out a low impatient growl
obviously not willing to wait much longer.

“Still the epitome of grace and
good manners,” Rafe gently gibed as Reno jerked his head at him and
then strode towards the kitchen.

“Glad you noticed.” Reno gave an
amused huff before getting down to business. “Can you give the
bastards you and Damien trussed up another dose of tranquillizers?
It would make transporting them easier.”

Rafe raised a brow. He was already
treading on ethically thin ice, administering meds for non-medical
reasons. On the other hand, he thought of how they’d planned to
cold bloodedly murder Eve simply because she was Fae… Heading to a
locked cupboard, he took out several vials of tranquillizer and
handed them over. “Here.”

Reno nodded. “Good. I was hoping
you weren’t going to go all prissy on me.”

If the comment had come from anyone
else, Rafe would have grabbed their collar and shown them exactly
how un-prissy he was. But Reno was just…well…Reno. “Did you find
out anything more about Grant?”

“Yeah. Turns out, he’s in our data
base—or actually the Fae data base.”

“Fae?” Rafe stiffened.

“Yep. There’ve been complaints
registered against him. Brandi has the whole file, but suffice to
say, he’s known to be unstable. Apparently no one knew exactly how
unstable though.”

“And the Fae aren’t organized
enough to have protocols in place for dealing with him.” Rafe shook
his head. “All his victims were Fae, weren’t they?”

“Yeah. I’m afraid so.”

“Most likely they refused to form a
mental bridge with him, and he killed them because of it.” Rafe
walked over to the counter and stared out the window into the
darkness. Forcing someone to form a bridge was akin to rape in the
Fae world. He ground his teeth and squeezed his hands into fists
imagining he had Grant’s neck within his grasp. “Your captain was
right not bringing him here. I’m not sure if I could control myself
around him.”

Reno grunted in agreement.

“Damien said there was an Anti-Fae
group at work, orchestrating the murders of Fae. Any chance that
was overstated? That it was actually Grant all along?”

“No. The Anti-Fae have definitely
been active. Grant was an unexpected twist that strangely enough
led us to be in the right place at the right time.”

“How so?” Rafe turned to face Reno,
resting his hip on the edge of the counter.

“The Anti-fae killings followed no
pattern that we could see, but Grant’s moved across the country.
Not realizing it, we used his movements to help us predict where
the next murder might take place. By some good fortune Eve had two
sets of people interested in her.”

“You have a twisted definition of
good fortune, Smith.”

Reno shrugged. “In the end, it
saved her life.”

“Yeah.” Rafe pushed to his feet and
began to head towards the door, intent on returning to Eve. “If
there’s nothing else…”

“Actually… There is.” Reno sounded
hesitant, and that was unusual enough to cause Rafe to turn and
study him carefully.

“Yes?”

“It’s about Damien.”

Rafe shook his head. “Sorry. I’m
not taking on any new clients. My last case went sour and—”

“I know. You don’t trust your
instincts or your empathic links, or whatever the hell you call
it.” Reno rolled his eyes. “That’s a bunch of crap, but you’ll
figure it out on your own eventually. Besides, I doubt Damien would
agree to go to your clinic anyway.”

“Then what?”

Reno sighed and rubbed his neck,
uncertainty showing in his furrowed brow. “He’s changed. I know his
mate died, that’s he’s been a near rogue, but there’s something
else. He’s hiding something.”

Rafe was silent, not sure what to
say. The few times that Damien had been in his wolf form hadn’t
been the most appropriate for getting an empathic reading. Still,
there’d been some hints, yet was it his place to reveal what he
knew, even to a close friend? “All I can say is that he and his
wolf have been in a major conflict. Not just a struggle for control
but on moral grounds as well.”

“Is that all you can give me?”

Rafe shrugged. “Talk to him. Ask
him what’s going on. You’re supposed to be like brothers.”

“Yeah.” Reno pulled a face. “I suck
at that talking it over shit. Just ask Brandi.”

A grin tugged at the corner of
Rafe’s mouth. “I rather suspect Damien ‘sucks at that shit’ as
well. You might surprise yourself, though, once you get
started.”

The sound of a chopper approaching
drew their attention, and Reno moved to look out the window,
glancing skyward. “That’ll be the transport I arranged. We’re using
the meadow as a landing pad.”

“Nice of you to ask,” Rafe
murmured.

Reno ignored the comment and
continued. “We’ll load the prisoners, and the captain will take
them back to Lycan Link. If you don’t mind, Brandi and I will camp
out in your living room. By noon tomorrow, you’ll have the place to
yourself again.”

“Fair enough.” Rafe nodded. “You do
what you need to do. I’m going to check on Eve.”

Chapter 49

An argument erupted as Reno entered
the living room, loud enough to even cause Rafe to change
course.

“What the hell are you up to,
Masterson?” Captain Fielding stood almost nose to nose with Damien,
fists clenched and face flushed. Even though he was in human form,
it was easy to imagine how his inner wolf’s grizzled fur was likely
ruffled, and there was no mistaking the growl in his voice.

“None of your damned business…sir.”
Damien tacked on the respectful title at the last minute, but the
sneer on his face took away any meaning it might have had.

“I won’t tolerate insolence from
you.” Fielding grabbed at the front of Damien’s shirt, but the
younger man knocked his hand away.

A low rumbling warning rose from
Damien’s throat, and he appeared about to launch himself at the
commanding officer when Reno pushed himself between the two. He
shoved Damien back while shooting a warning glance at Fielding.
“Both of you, knock it off!”

“What happened?” Rafe questioned
Brandi who stood poised by the doorway, her eyes wide with
apprehension.

“I’ve no idea. I was working on a
story to cover up our activity here. Damien got a phone call, and
the captain went ballistic.”

“A phone call?” Rafe quirked an eye
brow.

Reno looked between the two
potential combatants. “Explain.”

Damien compressed his lips and said
nothing, but the captain wasn’t so reticent. “Not willing to say
who it was from?” He taunted Damien before snorting in derision. “I
might be old, but my hearing’s fine, and one name was all I needed
in order to know what you’re up to.”

The captain began to walk in a
circle, eyeing Damien up and down as if he were the scum of the
earth. Damien began to prowl around as well. It was obvious he was
more than ready for a fight.

Reno was forced to move to keep
himself between the two of them. “What name? I don’t have time
tonight for cryptic games.”

“Deirdre.” The captain stopped and
spat the name out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

The announcement was one Reno
hadn’t been expecting, and it made him go completely still. It was
a name that was whispered in the back alleys, vaguely hinted at,
yet never openly spoken. Slowly, he turned to stare at Damien, not
quite believing what he’d heard. “Damien?”

For a moment, Damien gave the
impression of being uncomfortable, almost shuffling from one foot
to another, before a mask seemed to fall over his face. His
expression hardened. Lifting his chin, he narrowed his eyes and
casually hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “I got a phone call.
Big f-ing deal.”

Reno stalked towards him. “From
Deirdre.”

Damien took half a step back before
seeming to catch himself. He shrugged. “So?”

Reno responded by shoving him
backwards with both hands. The move caught Damien off guard, and he
stumbled before regaining his footing. “So! She’s poison, you
idiot. The head of a for-hire assassination ring.”

“Lycan Link uses her services.”
Damien threw out the taunt.

“Like hell they do.” The captain
bristled from the other side of the room.

“Wake up old man. Smell the
coffee.” Damien mocked. “When Lycan Link doesn’t want to sully its
oh-so-clean hands, it calls in black ops.”

Fielding growled and appeared ready
to attack. Both Rafe and Brandi rushed to grab his arms and hold
him back.

“Captain!” Reno was struggling to
keep hold of his temper, to keep the situation from erupting into
an all-out brawl. He didn’t need the captain stirring the pot, even
though he could understand the man’s outrage. Deirdre was uncommon
enough of a name that there could be no mistaking who had contacted
Damien. And according to rumours, she didn’t make social calls.
While some might think she was righting wrongs, the truth was she
brokered in death, managing a team of assassins that had little
regard for who got in the way of their target. The fact that Damien
was part of such a group left him feeling… Hell, he didn’t know how
he felt, but there was a sick sensation in his stomach as he
contemplated all the implications of this news.

Reno tried to speak calmly, to keep
his own emotions in check and smooth things over. “Captain, you
know the rumours as well as I do. You can’t pretend you don’t know
certain divisions within Lycan Link have occasionally bent the
letter of the law.”

Captain Fielding jerked his arms
free from Rafe and Brandi’s grasp. A muscle worked in his jaw as he
seemed to consider Reno’s words, his breathing heavy, his fingers
clenching and then releasing. When he finally spoke, his voice was
deep and low.

“Reno might be right, but you’re
still a disgrace, Masterson. Real Enforcers don’t associate with
the likes of Deirdre and her lot. We answer to a higher call.” When
Reno would have spoken, the man held up his hand for silence. “I’ll
not deny there’s a certain element within Lycan Link that might,
occasionally, call upon her, but in my mind they’re no better than
Purists and Anti-Fae—”

With a roar, Damien leapt forward.
Reno spun around quickly and tackled him, his shoulder hitting
Damien in the gut, the momentum propelling both of them into the
wall. Despite the force with which they struck, Damien barely
paused. He struggled to be free, spewing vitriol at the captain
over Reno’s shoulder. “Don’t you ever put me in the same category
as those maggot sucking bastards! They killed my mate—”

“And you’re no better!” The captain
shot back, once again being restrained, this time by Rafe and
Brandi. “Assassinating for money. You’re a disgrace to the term
Enforcer. We
enforce
the Book of the Law, not take matters
into our own hands. You’ve betrayed the sacred oath you took when
you became an Enforcer.” Disgust twisted the captain’s face. “We
gave you a chance when you went rogue. Do you have any idea how
many hoops Reno jumped through to save your ass? And when he did
find you, he twisted my arm, saying you’d be perfect for an
undercover job, yet this is how you repay him? Thank God, McRae is
here. He can drag your sorry soul to his Rehab clinic and keep you
there until I can get charges laid!”

“McRae? Rehab?” Damien pushed away
from Reno and shot a scathing glance at Rafe. “And the shoe finally
drops. I can’t believe I was so stupid. And here I thought you
might really be a nice guy who got caught up in this mess.” He
shifted his gaze to Reno. “Did you put him up to this? Decide to
use me for your undercover op and then lock me up in a padded cell
once I’d served my purpose?”

The accusation cut Reno to the
quick. “No, of course, not.”

“We’re like family,” Brandi
added.

“Like hell we are. I don’t need
you. Any of you.” A sneer twisted Damien’s mouth, hatred blazing in
his eyes as he looked at those gathered around him. “There’s no
fucking way I’m going into Rehab. You dare talk about betraying my
oath—”

A loud banging on the door
interrupted him and had everyone turning. Three Enforcers stood in
the entryway, arms folded behind their backs, eyes straight ahead
awaiting orders. A fourth man, his insignia proclaiming him to be
the leader of the group, looked uncomfortable at having
interrupted, but determined to carry out whatever assignment had
brought him there.

“Excuse me, sir. Reporting in that
the chopper you ordered is here, sir.”

Reno gave the man a nod before
returning his focus to the matter at hand. “You,” he glared at
Damien, “wait for me in the kitchen. We have some talking to do.
And you,” he rounded on the captain, “have some prisoners to take
back to headquarters.” When the captain would have spoken, Reno
growled. “You might outrank me, but right now I don’t give a rat’s
ass. You’re out of line and need to cool down.”