The Finding (53 page)

Hugh was in the
process of climbing down towards him, when Bryan grabbed him by the
knees, knocking the man backwards. They fell as one with Hugh on
the bottom, providing a bit of a cushion from the impact. Bryan’s
already sore body whispered its thanks. He pushed off the man, and
grabbed the railing to steady himself as he attempted to regain his
balance. Everything was swimming around him and he blinked trying
to clear his eyes. A groan escaped Hugh and Bryan turned towards
the noise. Two and sometimes three images of Hugh came in and out
of focus before him.

Wasting no time
to strategize, Bryan simply staggered forward and grabbed at the
middle figure, which luckily enough was the real Hugh. Closing his
eyes, he let his other senses lead him, drawing his arm back, and
swinging with all his might. He was rewarded with the jarring
feeling of his fist connecting with bone and opened his eyes in
time to see Hugh’s head snap back, his eyes roll upward, and then
his whole body falling limply to the ground.

Bryan flexed
his fingers and gave his head another shake, pleased his vision was
already clearing. He glanced around to see how the others were
doing and saw Kane and Ryne were climbing over the body of the
other man. Both looked slightly the worse for wear, but pleased
with themselves at the same time.

“You two all
right?” His eyes sought Ryne’s and then Kane’s even as he prepared
to start climbing again.

“Piece of
cake.” Ryne pushed the hair from his eyes, only wincing slightly as
he touched a large bump on his forehead. “Except for the fact that
when you pitched the guy over your shoulder, he hit me like I was a
bowling pin in an alley. Knocked me down a whole flight of stairs.
A bit more warning would be helpful next time.”

“I managed to
duck.” Kane smirked before his face turned serious again. He jerked
his head up towards the next flight of stairs. “Keep moving.
Something tells me Aldrich isn’t just sitting there twiddling his
thumbs, waiting for us.”

Bryan grunted
in acknowledgement, the delay the fight caused upping his concern
for Cassie even more. Turning, he started running up the stairs
again.

*****

Marla opened
her eyes, feeling disoriented. What was she doing sitting in her
office holding her head? She felt strange...disconnected...as if a
part of her was missing. With a shaking hand she pushed her hair
from her face and took a deep breath trying to regain her
equilibrium and recall what was going on. There was a vague
recollection of arguing with her wolf, but...?

She got to her
feet and carefully walked to her office door. Pulling it open she
frowned. Why was there a light flashing in the hallway? Wasn’t that
was part of Aldrich’s alert system, if the building’s security was
ever breached? There wasn’t a security test scheduled for today,
was there?

Stumbling down
the hallway she made her way to Swanson’s room, surprised to find
the palm print security panel deactivated. Marla peered down the
hallway, but no one was there. She’d only been in the security
office a few times and never alone, but she’d studied it carefully
enough to understand some of the basic functions. Stepping into the
room she looked around, wondering what was going on. All the
systems seemed to be activated. Reaching out, she shut off the
irritating flashing lights—they were making her head throb—and
began to study the monitors.

Movement on one
of the surveillance screens caught her attention. It showed Aldrich
walking across the living room with someone. She leaned closer to
determine who it might be, when out of the periphery of her eye,
she caught sight of a familiar face on another screen. Her
attention swung that way and she gasped, grabbing the edge of the
desk to keep her balance as everything came rushing back to her;
Cassandra Greyson, the connection to Ryne, Aldrich’s admission of
knowing about werewolves, the rigged elevator...

And now, oh
God, Kane, Ryne, and Ryne’s sidekick, Bryan, were running up the
stairwell that led to the penthouse!

She backed away
from the screen and out the door unable to take her eyes off the
men she’d feared for so long. They were coming and when they found
her...

Marla turned
and ran down the hall as quickly as her wobbly legs would take her.
Aldrich was in the main living room. He had to have another escape
route; the man was too paranoid to rely solely on an elevator and a
set of stairs. It all made sense now; his ridiculous security, the
fact that he was almost a recluse. If she’d known it was because of
werewolves, she’d never have set her sights on him. It was just too
dangerous. Well, however he was leaving, she was going with him.
She couldn’t be left behind to face those men. Who knew what they
had planned for her?

“
We should
stay and accept the consequences of our misdeeds.”
The wolf
inside her intoned solemnly.

She ignored it
and continued to hurry down the hall.

“
We can’t
run forever.”
The creature almost sounded forlorn. “
This is
not how we were meant to be.”

“Be quiet, you
stupid beast. Just shut up.” Marla pressed a hand to her head and
tried to force the creature down again, but it was struggling
harder than ever before. She rounded the corner and saw Aldrich
near the French doors that led to the rooftop terrace. There was a
girl—Cassandra Greyson—sitting in a chair close to him. Marla hated
her on sight. The girl was the cause of all this. If she hadn’t
come back, Ryne wouldn’t be here.

She’s one of
us
. Her own wolf proclaimed.

As if I give a
damn about that! She hissed back

”Leon, they’re
here!” She called out the warning as she crossed the room, holding
onto the various pieces of furniture to steady herself. Damn the
wolf for interfering; her own legs didn’t even want to obey
her.

Aldrich spun
around, an irritated look on his face. “I know that already, Miss
Matthews. Where have you been? Sleeping on the job? Or perhaps
watching movies? It seems to be the trend today.” He looked out the
glass doors and seemed to be searching the sky. “The helicopter
will be here any moment.”

Marla breathed
a sigh of relief. “Good. I’ll just run and get my purse and then
I’ll be ready to go.”

“Go? Go where?
The elevator isn’t working.” Aldrich swung his head around and
quirked an eyebrow.

“With you. In
the helicopter.” Marla paused in the act of turning. A bad feeling
swept over her. Surely Aldrich didn’t intend to leave her? She
swallowed nervously.

“Unfortunately,
Miss Matthews, there’s only room for 3 passengers; myself, Sylvia
and Cassandra Greyson.” He gestured with his gun towards the silent
girl.

“But...” Marla
sputtered unable to formulate a clear sentence.

Aldrich paid
her no mind. “Sylvia!” He called out as loudly as possible.

The woman
appeared in the doorway, almost as if she’d been waiting for her
cue. “Now, Leon. There’s no need to yell. I’m here and all ready
for our walk.”

“A slight
change of plans, I’m afraid.” He smiled gently at the older woman.
“We’ll be taking a helicopter ride instead.”

Sylvia gaped at
him. “A helicopter...? But what about our walk? I had everything
arranged at my house...” Her voice trailed off as she stared at the
gun in his hand. “Leon? What’s wrong?”

“A security
breach, my dear. That’s why we’re taking the helicopter. We have to
leave immediately.”

“Oh.” The woman
blinked. “So that’s why the lights were flashing? I thought Swanson
was running another test, especially when they just turned off
after a few minutes.”

“Never mind,
Sylvia. Just come over here and we’ll wait together—”

“No!” Marla
stepped forward, her hand held out. “You can’t leave me here!
Please Leon! I mean, Mr. Aldrich. You have no idea what they’ll do
to me. Leave the Greyson girl. She’ll be in no danger.”

“Back off, Miss
Matthews.” Aldrich’s soft gentle tones of a moment ago disappeared
and his face was an icy mask. He pointed his gun at her. “You’ve
served your purpose. Now it’s time for us to part ways.” A
contemptuous look filled his eyes as he looked her up and down.
“Why don’t you just use your ‘charms’ on them. That’s how you
usually operate, isn’t it?”

He gave a dry
laugh and then flicked a glance at Sylvia, urging her closer.
“Sylvia, come here.”

“I...I don’t
know, Leon.” The words stuttered from Sylvia’s lips and she
nervously fumbled with her handbag, clutching it close to her
chest.

Marla paid no
attention to the nurse. She was frozen in place staring at the gun,
her mind racing. Surely this couldn’t be how it all ended? There
had to be a way out. Sylvia was expendable, so was the Greyson
girl. Aldrich had to see that! Perhaps once they were outside, she
could push the nurse off the roof...

Chapter
24

Cassie sat in
the chair watching the scene that played out before her. Mr.
Aldrich had his gun trained on her, but his attention was divided
between the woman he called Sylvia and a blonde he called Miss
Matthews. She assumed Miss Matthews was Marla though no one had
used that name yet. Surreptitiously, she sniffed the air and
confirmed her supposition. There was definitely another werewolf in
the room, not that it would work to her advantage. From what she’d
been told Marla wasn’t to be trusted.

Slowly Cassie
exhaled, realizing she was on her own. A moment ago, she’d tried to
teleport out of the room, but nothing had happened. Kane had said
it was important to relax and focus in order to teleport
successfully, but that was hard to do when someone was holding you
at gun point. Besides, she couldn’t seem to form a mental picture
of where she wanted to go, since the only place she really wanted
to be was with Bryan. He was somewhere in the building; she had a
vague sense of him drawing closer, but exactly where that might be
she didn’t know.

Sighing, she
moved onto her second plan. With Mr. Aldrich distracted by the
conversation, she began to work on the tape that bound her wrists
together. It was the silvery-grey kind with fibres worked into it
and didn’t seem inclined to come loose easily. Still she twisted
and tugged, hoping to make some progress. Anything was better than
just sitting and waiting for fate to play out the scene.

The wolf inside
her wasn’t happy with the situation either, disliking the feeling
of being captured and bound. Cassie was beginning to find it
comforting to have the creature with her; at least she wasn’t
totally alone in her predicament.

She wondered if
it were true that werewolves had superhuman strength. If that were
the case, she should be able simply to break through the tape, but
unfortunately it didn’t seem to be happening. The only result of
her struggles was that her wrists hurt from the tape digging into
her flesh.

‘Why aren’t you
helping me when I need you?’ She inwardly muttered to the wolf but
it didn’t answer. It seemed distracted and kept wanting her to look
at Marla, though why she didn’t know. The woman wasn’t doing
anything except standing there. In fact, she seemed...odd almost as
if her body were present, but her mind wasn’t. Was Marla busy
talking to her own wolf? And if so, what were they saying to each
other? It likely wasn’t anything good, since her expression wasn’t
a happy one.

Mentally
shrugging, Cassie concentrated on her bound wrists again. The chair
she sat in had a wooden arm. She felt the edge with her fingers; it
was a nice ninety degree angle so it might work. Shifting slightly,
she began rubbing the tape against edge trying to keep her
movements small and unnoticeable. Her arms protested the unusual
motion and awkward position but she persevered.

‘Hello? Wolf?
Are you there? Can you help me out a bit?’ Cassie again tried
talking to the animal within, but she only got a distressed whimper
followed by a shiver that ran over her. Was the creature trying to
channel some energy her way, but didn’t know how? Maybe this was
another skill she had to tap into and practise, like understanding
scents and teleporting. Or maybe it required her to be—what was it
that Bryan had called it—at one with her wolf? Perhaps the strength
came from the beast and until she integrated with it, the extra
muscle power didn’t emerge.

Discreetly
huffing in frustration, she decided that at this point, it didn’t
really matter. She was stuck for the time being, so she might as
well concentrate on what was going on around her since the werewolf
route wasn’t going anywhere.

Continuing to
work on the tape binding her wrists, she flicked her eyes between
the room’s occupants. Marla was in a daze, Mr. Aldrich was trying
to cajole Sylvia into escaping with him, and Sylvia herself was
biting her lip and nervously fumbling with her purse.

“I’ve never
been in a helicopter before, Leon.”

Mr. Aldrich
smiled, his eyes taking on a gentle expression. “There’s nothing to
be nervous about, Sylvia. You’ll enjoy it.”

“Actually...I
don’t think I will.” Suddenly, Sylvia’s worried expression was
replaced by a ruthless sneer. No longer was she nervously playing
with the clasp on her purse. It had dropped to her feet and a gun
was in her hand!

Cassie stifled
a gasp as she swung her eyes between Sylvia and Mr. Aldrich.

“Sylvia?” Mr.
Aldrich blinked rapidly, shock momentarily showing on his face
before he schooled his features. “What’s this all about?”

“I was hired to
carry out a hit on you by the end of the month, but the job is
taking too long. You wouldn’t leave the building and go for a walk
like I initially planned and shooting you here wasn’t my first
option, too many witnesses, you understand.” She snorted
inelegantly. “And now that I’ve finally convinced you to go with
me, it’s too late! You know, I’ve found this to be a very
frustrating job.”