Shifter Wars (22 page)

I sighed and punched my pillow, rolling onto my back to stare out the window. The moonlight was bright, bouncing up off the snow. It was one of the things I loved about winter, the clear nights and luminescent snow. I sighed again. I was frustrated in more ways than one. We needed a break in the case before someone else got hurt.

I closed my eyes and tried a few relaxing breaths. After a while I drifted off, until a raspy voice sounded in my ear.

“It’s time to wake up, Lieutenant, we have much to discuss.”

I opened my eyes and looked up into Sebastian’s pompous face. I gasped and scrambled away from him, slamming my back into the headboard.

He shook his head at me. “I forget how weak humans are. I would not have pushed you so hard before if I had known you would pass out. I do not have time for this.”

I glared at him, knowing this must be a memory, but my body reacted as if it was real. My heart was pounding, hands sweating, as tendrils of pain ran down my neck and along my spinal cord.

His eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward me. “Where is the Key?”

I opened my mouth, and Dalton’s voice echoed through the room. “I don’t know!”

“This is tiring and non-productive.” He reached for me, and his nails lengthened into points, puncturing my upper arm.

I screamed and jerked away from him. Blood beaded in the nail holes he had made and slowly ran down my arm. The streaks coalesced into a pool of blood in my palm.

Soon after, a tingling sensation on the back of my hands overshadowed the pain. I turned them over, and my fingers shortened and white fur sprouted from my skin. The tingling increased until pins and needles raced up my arms. I pulled them close to my chest, wrapping myself into a ball. A low moan erupted from my body, but instead of Dalton’s voice, it was a girl’s cry of pain.

I jerked awake, bolted upright, and escaped the bed, tripping over the comforter and landing with a hard thud on my hands and knees. I crawled to a corner of the room and sat there propped against the wall, shaking. I was alone, and morning light shone in through the window.

I hesitated for a second before looking down at my hands. There was no blood or fur.
What the hell?

“You okay, sweetie?”

I glanced up to find Marie hovering in the doorway, her brows knitted.

“Just peachy,” I mumbled. “Either I just had a bad acid trip, or I’m losing it.”

She floated into the room. “Neither, dear.”

I gaped at her. “Uh, Marie, are you floating?”

She grinned proudly. “Yep, I’ve been practicing. What do you think?”

“Cool, I guess.”

“You guess?” she huffed. “I have been working on this for a while now. It’s hard to let go of our human limitations once we’re dead. Floating is quite an accomplishment for a novice like me.”

“Sorry. Can we get back to what just happened?”

“Of course, dear. Why don’t you climb back into bed before you freeze down there on the floor?”

I almost protested, until I realized my teeth were chattering…whether from cold or fear, I wasn’t sure. I got back into bed and hauled the covers up to my chin, closing my eyes for just a second. When I opened them again, Marie was sitting next to me on the bed.

She smiled. “You don’t look quite so pale now. Do you want to talk about it?”

I rattled off the dream, waiting for her to tell me I was certifiable.

“You need to stop fighting these visions, Kyle.”

“Fighting them? I’m reliving them down to the nitty-gritty, painful details.”

“They’re trying to tell you something. You just need to listen.”

“How can I listen when they aren’t making any sense? Furry hands? Where did they come from?”

Marie shrugged. “Maybe it isn’t literal. Maybe it’s symbolic?”

“Of what? What does any of this
mean
, and how does it help with the poachers?”

“I think you need to tell your friends what’s going on. They might be able to help, especially that handsome Frenchman.”

I rolled my eyes, and she grinned.

“Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean my libido is.”

Oh Lord.
I had no response, so I ignored her. “I can’t risk anyone else until I have a better idea of what’s going on.”

“Now you’re just being melodramatic. Your friends can take care of themselves. Get up and take a shower. It’s time for work.”

Sympathetic Marie had left the building.

Chapter 27

After the night I’d had, work at the body shop was downright boring. I found a contact list in Monica’s desk and took a picture of it with my phone, then sent it to Misha so he could work his magic with Ken’s phone number.

By five o’clock, I was more than ready to shut down everything and go home. As I turned off the computer and straightened the desk, the back door slammed shut. C.J. stalked up front.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Ken’s just being a prick. No offense.”

I stood. “None taken. He didn’t try to hurt the cat again, did he?”

“No. I asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner with me and Bill, and he got pissy. Said he had some business to take care of at the Steak House tonight. I’m sick of trying to include him. He’s on his own from now on.”

I slipped into my coat, my adrenaline kicking up a notch. Maybe Ken was meeting with the poachers tonight. Booger strolled up to the front and jumped onto the desk. When Jason drove into the lot two minutes later, I scooped up Booger and went out the door.

Once outside, I spoke in a low voice. “Misha, did you hear that?”

“Yep, little one. I think we need to check it out.”

Fifteen minutes later, we met Misha and Jean Luc. Matthew was back in his human form again, and we had decided to take the van to the Steak House to see what Ken was up to. Misha was ecstatic, since stakeouts were a favorite hobby of his. It didn’t help that stakeouts reminded him of countless TV cop shows which he would then relate to his captive audience
ad nauseum
.

This time, while we sat waiting for Ken and the others to arrive, Misha regaled the group with
Starsky and Hutch
episodes. Jean Luc closed his eyes and was doing his Zen-vampire thing. I wished I could detach myself from the surroundings as effectively, but instead I got to listen to Misha and Jason argue over whether Huggy Bear added value to the show.

After a while, I couldn’t take any more. “Enough! Jason, you weren’t even alive when this show was on! How can you argue about it?”

Jason rolled his eyes at me. “Duh. Repeats on cable.”

“Excuse me for actually spending time away from the TV.”

Matthew chuckled, which increased my irritation. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. You guys remind me of my dysfunctional family, that’s all.”

Before I offered a retort, Jean Luc spoke urgently. “Children, it is time to pay attention.”

I peered through the front window to see Ken get out of a car with two other men and walk toward the restaurant. “Misha, are you getting this?” I asked.

“Yes. I never thought I would get to use my camera with the night lens—”

Jason interrupted him. “You’re getting their faces, right?”

“Of course,” Misha huffed.

Jean Luc sat forward. With his vamp vision, he didn’t need a night lens to see details. “The shorter man is the passenger from the Jeep that attacked our caravan.”

My heart sped up. “So Ken is definitely working with the poachers.”

A truck pulled into the lot, and another man got out. I didn’t look too closely at him until he walked under the parking lot lights and Jason muttered “shit.” My stomach bottomed out when I recognized who it was—Bruce. What was he doing here?

I shook my head. “I can’t believe he’s in on this.”

“It’s too much of coincidence he’s here,” Jason answered.

“I still don’t believe it. We have to find out for sure. We need to be on the inside.”

Jean Luc turned to me. “You and Jason cannot do it. They might also recognize Misha and me from the attack on Trina.”

“I can do it,” Matthew volunteered. “They haven’t seen me in my human state before. Give me an earpiece.”

Misha handed one to him, and he opened the door of the van.

I grabbed his arm. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He grinned wickedly. “Me? Never. If I can’t get too close to them, I’ll listen in with my super-duper shifter ears and relate it back to you when I can.” He sauntered toward the restaurant.

Misha turned on the equipment. “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” Matthew answered as he opened the door and disappeared into the restaurant.

There was silence from the listening device for several seconds, and we sat there impatiently. Well, maybe I was the only one, because when I glanced around at the guys, they all appeared calm. After a couple more seconds, I started to bounce my foot. Not being able to see Matthew was sending my nerves into high gear. After another minute, I couldn’t take it. “How can you be so calm?”

Misha shrugged. “We’ve been doing this for weeks with you. We’re getting used to it.”

“Right. Sorry.”

A voice came over the recorder. “What’ll you have?”

Matthew replied. “Scotch on the rocks.”

“Shouldn’t you be listening in on the conversation instead of drinking?” I blurted.

Matthew didn’t answer. Instead there was a loud rustling through the earpiece.

I looked at the guys. “What’s he doing?”

Matthew’s voice came through the device. “I took my phone out so I can act like I’m talking on it instead of talking to myself like a crazy person.”

“What have you heard so far?”

“Ken introduced Bruce to the others. He didn’t know them.”

I did an internal
hell, yeah!
“What are they talking about now?”

“Cars. Their boss wants to hire Bruce to work on some of his vintage cars. Now put a sock in it so I can listen.”

I clamped my lips shut.

Misha chuckled softly and murmured, “I’m starting to like that cat.”

An excruciatingly quiet hour later, Matthew stepped outside and walked slowly to the van. By the time he opened the back door, I was ready to yank him into the van and pummel him myself.

“Well?” I blurted before he was seated.

He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Patience is a virtue.”

“Spill it, Sylvester.”

He placed his palm over his heart. “You’ve wounded me with your insensitive cat references.”

“Matthew!”

“Okay, they are just finishing up in there and paying their bill. Like I told you earlier, Ken introduced Bruce to the two guys. They talked to him about working on some cars for their boss, a guy by the name of Lucas.”

“Is Lucas his first or last name?” Misha asked.

“Not sure. The conversation was pretty harmless until close to the end. The guys asked Bruce if he liked to hunt.”

My heart thumped. “They’re trying to recruit him.”

Matthew nodded. “It looks that way. Ken bragged about Bruce’s military background and the other two ate it up.”

“What did Bruce say?” Jason asked.

“He was pretty noncommittal about it, but I didn’t get the feeling he’s very interested. My guess is he didn’t want to alienate them since they’re potential clients.”

Jean Luc mused, “Bruce could be our way into the poacher’s organization.”

“I don’t like throwing him to the wolves,” I said.

“He’s already probably going to work for them,” Jason said, “wouldn’t it be better if he knew the truth?”

Before I could respond, Ken, Bruce, and the other two men emerged from the restaurant and walked toward their cars.

“Who should we follow?” Jean Luc asked.

I only hesitated for a second before answering. “Bruce. We need to talk to him.”

Jean Luc followed the truck. Bruce went straight to the body shop and was stepping out of his truck as we drove into the lot and parked next to him. Bruce tensed until Jason opened the back door of the van and we both climbed out.

Bruce’s brows lowered. “What are you guys doing here so late?”

“We need to talk,” I answered.

“About what?”

I gestured toward the door. “Can we get in out of the cold? This might take a while.”

Bruce unlocked the front door and walked in, flipped on the lights, and turned toward us with a wary expression. When Jean Luc, Misha and Matthew followed us in, he scowled.

“Kate, what the hell is going on?”

“My name isn’t Kate.”

Bruce took a step back. “Excuse me?”

“My name is Kyle.”

He studied me for a second. “If you’re running some sort of scam, I don’t have any money. All my assets are tied up in this business.”

I shook my head. “Jason and I are working undercover.”