She bit her lip. Surely Wade and Noah had nothing to do with this. She really didn’t want to talk about them.
Malcolm prodded her. “Even something that seems insignificant might turn out to be a big help.”
“Two new tenants rented an apartment. Two men.”
“What did they look like?” Malcolm asked quietly.
“Oh, God. They looked like you,” Janis cried. “And Sable. I remember thinking they had her eyes.”
“Did you see them again, talk to them?”
She looked at him stricken. “We spent the night together.”
Jude started to rise. “Janis—”
“Sit down.” Malcolm waved him down. “It’s okay. We don’t need all the details. Just anything that might help us figure out who they are. Did they say where they came from, why they were there?”
“First they said they’d be working with Roy Granger at the Institute, then—Oh, no.”
“What?”
“
Roy
. It’s got to be
Roy
. We broke up recently, but before that, he kept asking me questions about Sable. He wanted me to convince her to come to the FIRM for testing.”
“What!” Jonas jumped up and turned beet red. “Son of a bitch! Why didn’t I hear about this before?”
“The firm?” Malcolm asked. “What is that?”
“The Foundation for Infertility and Reproductive Medicine.” Jonas spat. “It’s been in all the papers lately. This is the asshole doctor you were dating?”
“Jonas, I had no idea. If I had known about Sable, I would never have said a word about her or the twins.”
“Janis,” Malcolm said. “It’s not your fault. They’ve probably had feelers out all over the country looking for others like themselves. To them we’re just specimens,” he spat. “I want to know why these two wolves let themselves get mixed up with a lowlife who wants to exploit them.”
“Money,” Jude exclaimed. “He’s probably paying them a fortune to collect his specimens.” He choked over the words.
“I remember a time when we weren’t much better than them.” Jonas’ voice caught in his throat.
“That’s in the past,” Malcolm reminded them. “The important thing now is to find your mate and boys and bring them home.”
Janis couldn’t look Macolm in the eye. “So you think Wade and Noah are definitely connected to
Roy
?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
God, she wanted to hate them. She couldn’t reconcile the men who’d been gentle caring lovers with the monsters who’d taken her family. If it really was them, she wanted payback. Wanted to make them suffer. “So what’s our next move?”
“Your next move is to get out of Dodge with Karin and my son.”
“No. These men got me mixed up in this, and I need to make it right.”
Malcolm looked at Janis’s brothers, and they shrugged.
“She knows them. It might be helpful,” Jonas said.
“Okay then. We go to
Philadelphia
and start with this
Roy
character.”
“Do you think he’s still there?” Janis asked anxiously.
“Yes. If we’re lucky, he has no idea we’re on to him, and he thinks his identity and position at the FIRM are safe. Hopefully we’ll have the element of surprise on our side.” Malcolm looked over at Karin. “You and Junior are taking a little vacation. Where do you want to go?”
“With you.”
He smiled at her. “I promise when this is over, I’ll come join you, and we’ll have a real vacation.”
“Okay then, make it someplace warm.”
“Good idea. You pack while I call the airport. We’re all leaving tonight.”
“We’ll go back to the ranch and grab a few things. Our place is closer to the airport. You pick us up there.” Jonas was already on his feet. “And Malcolm, thank you.”
“You can thank me when we get them back.” Malcolm bent down and rubbed Ralf’s muzzle. “Wish I could take you with us. You hold down the fort, boy.”
* * * *
After all that had happened, it felt strange to be back in the city. Janis had her apartment to herself while the men settled in upstairs. They were sleeping in Jonas’s old apartment. She’d never rented it when he went back home to Black Wolf. The building wasn’t at one hundred percent occupancy so she’d decided to keep it available for their use. It turned out to be a good call.
It was four a.m., and she doubted anyone would be going to sleep. She made coffee while she waited for them to come downstairs and talk strategy.
The coffee was done brewing just as she heard a light knock on the door. Janis checked the peephole and then let the men inside.
Jude sniffed. “Coffee. Good, I feel like hell. Maybe it’ll help.”
But Janis’s eyes were on Malcolm. His nostrils flared, and he walked toward the bedroom. She followed and stood by the door, watching him anxiously.
Malcolm sat on the bed, picked up a pillow and rubbed his nose over it. Janis clutched her stomach. Her guts rearranged themselves in her belly, and she thought she might be sick.
“It’s them. The two I tracked in the woods.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Where did they come from? And why are they kidnapping their own kind?”
“I think I have a plan,” Janis said softly.
Malcolm looked up at her. “I’m all ears.
Chapter Eleven
The redhead looked surprised. Good.
Roy
would be too. The whole idea was to keep them off balance. It would have been even better to wait a few days rather than walk in on the heels of the abduction, but understandably, no one wanted to wait. “Is Dr. Granger in?” Janis asked sweetly.
“Let me check,” the woman replied, just as sweetly. She got up and was already opening the door to
Roy
’s inner sanctum. Didn’t the bitch know how to use an intercom?
Janis tapped her foot and scanned the room while she waited. At last the door opened, and the redhead appeared.
“He’ll see you now.” She held the door open for Janis.
Janis ignored her and kept her eyes on
Roy
as she walked into his office. Seeing him sitting behind the desk brought back images of what he’d been doing the last time she stood in this room. She shook them off. He might be human, but he was more a wolf than the Lycans. She wanted to strangle him, but not because of the redhead. That was the least of what he’d done to her.
“Hello,
Roy
.”
“Janis, how are you?”
Roy
stood and came around the desk. Inwardly, Janis smiled. Was he trying to prove he was keeping it in his pants?
“Oh, I’m okay.” She tried to put a wistful tone in her voice.
Roy
took her hand, and she fought to keep herself from snatching it back. “Believe it or not, I’m glad to see you, Janis,” he told her. “I feel badly about the way we ended things. I owe you an apology”
“I understand how things can get ugly in the heat of the moment, and I accept your apology. It’s all water over the dam now.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. Have a seat.” He gestured to a chair and took a seat next to her. “Can I get you something? A drink?”
“No. Thank you.” Janis crossed her legs and composed herself. “I need advice. Expert advice. You’re the only person I felt I could turn to.”
“I’m always here for you. I hope you know that.”
Janis smiled. If the bastard was really involved, he’d be fishing for information pretty soon. “I do know that,
Roy
. Just like I know you’re the best in your field.”
He smiled slyly. “Are you trying to get pregnant? Or is this about your unusual family?”
“Neither.” Janis frowned. “I don’t hear from my family as much as I’d like. They seem to have forgotten about me since I moved here.” She hesitated, wanting his curiosity to grow.
“That’s too bad. Our families don’t always behave the way we want them to.”
Roy
sat back and waited for her to continue.
“This concerns a friend. A friend of my sister-in-law’s actually. She lives out of state. I only met her once when she flew in to see the twins.” Was
Roy
that good at keeping his composure or did this really mean nothing to him? She wanted him to be involved because he would be a solid link to Sable and the boys. On the other hand, she hated to think she’d been used by a master manipulator.
“Go on,”
Roy
said.
“She’s pregnant, and she wants to terminate it. She called me because she knew my sister-in-law would try to talk her out of it. And she thought I was still dating a doctor.”
“
Philadelphia
is a big city with a lot of doctors and clinics. Why come to me?”
Roy
asked.
“This is the strange part. She’s very secretive. Wouldn’t tell me who the father is or where she’s staying. I think the man has been abusing her. She might even be on the run.”
“That’s unfortunate. I might be able to help her, but I have to know where she is.”
“I don’t have a phone number for her, but she’s calling me back tonight at ten in the evening.”
“How about if I stop by? I can talk to her. Reassure her. Best case scenario, I can convince her that I’ll keep her situation in the strictest confidence if she comes to see me.”
Bingo!
“
Roy
, you don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that. I’ve been so worried about her, and I didn’t know where to turn.”
“I’m glad you came to me, Janis. I’ll take good care of your friend.”
* * * *
Before Janis saw
Roy
, Malcolm had her rub her dirty sheets all over her body. If
Roy
smelled a wolf, Malcolm didn’t want it to be his scent. Janis thought it worked.
Roy
hadn’t seemed suspicious in the least. Of course he was probably human and couldn’t tell the difference between a Lycan and a stray dog.
When she got back to her building, she went to straight to Jonas’s apartment so Malcolm could give her the sniff test.
“What do you think?” she asked him.
“He’s a wolf,” Malcolm said, disgust evident in his voice.
“I could have told you that,” Janis said wryly.
“A real wolf, a Lycan.”
Her jaw dropped, any attempt to lighten the mood forgotten.
“I was hoping he wasn’t. I hate knowing my people are doing this to one of their own. Your brothers covered my scent in your apartment as best they could. I won’t be going back in until it’s time. Be careful around
Roy
,” he cautioned. “He’s a lot stronger than you, and if he shifts, he’s lethal. Make sure you put the sedative in his wine. It’s not enough to knock him cold. We want to be able to question him. But hopefully it’ll slow him down.”
Janis stomach did flip-flops. Now that she knew what
Roy
was, the thought of being alone with him terrified her.
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Jude asked.
“No. I can do this. I want to do this.”
“Good girl.” Jonas came over and gave her a hug. “Remember the code words. When your phone rings, if you’re not ready say,
call me right back
. If it’s a go, just say
I have someone here who can help you.
Remember you’ll only be alone with him for a short time. Got it?”
“Yes.” She hoped she didn’t pass out when the phone rang.
Chapter Twelve
Janis’s small apartment smelled like sex. Evidently her brothers had rubbed those well-used sheets on every surface. Janis knew it had been necessary to cover Malcolm’s scent, but the aroma reminded her more than ever of what was missing in her life.
The initial disgust that she felt when she realized she’d bedded wolves had dissolved. A disconcerting mix of hatred and lust remained. She wanted revenge for the hurt these monsters had caused her family, but the intoxicating scent of Wade and Noah kindled a heat in her belly that threatened to become permanent.