Authors: Maddy Barone
Tracker shot her a glance. “I reckon Omaha thinks we all do way too much of that,” he drawled.
“So what do we do now?” Taye asked, stare fixed on Sky.
“You’ll all stay here. I need people I can trust to stand guard and keep my people safe. The mayor will probably send someone around to take Odell away from us.” Sky looked around, meeting the gazes of each man. “Odell Graham is Snow’s mate. We can’t allow anyone to take her away from us.”
The men of the Pack all snarled viciously. Zoe and Cayla both gasped. Zoe looked fascinated while Cayla looked nervous. Rose wished she could pat Cayla’s arm in sympathy and encouragement, but the other woman was too far away.
“No one will take one of our women away from us,” Taye promised in a hard, flat voice. “What will you be doing?”
“I’m going down to the jail to get Shadow.” Sky looked around again. “I need Joe. Where is he?”
Without thinking about it Rose looked for him with her mind and found him. “He’s out in the yard, around the side of the house. With Tasha,” she added.
Taye raised one brow. “You’re doing that again?”
Rose shrugged one shoulder, looking away. “Sometimes it just happens.”
Sky nodded at Snake. “Go bring him in. Taye? I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. Will you take charge until I get back?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, thanks. I’m suspending operations indefinitely, so there’s no reason for any strangers to come in. When the mayor’s goons come for Odell, tell them we have the measles here and we’re quarantined until further notice. No one comes in and no one goes out.”
Rose watched her husband with admiration. When was the last time anyone gave orders to Taye? But the alpha accepted his orders without protest or questions.
“If anything goes wrong and I don’t make it back,” Sky went on calmly, “do whatever you have to in order to keep my people safe.”
Rose suppressed her automatic twitch of protest.
Sky and Taye stared at each other for a long silent moment. “Take care of them, Taye.”
“I will.”
Sky thumped a fist on his cousin’s shoulder, and then looked at Ms. Mary and Rose. “You keep the ladies busy. Keep them all inside.”
“Not everyone is back yet.” Ms. Mary appeared serene, but Rose noticed her hand opening and closing at her side. “What do you want us to do if they don’t come home?”
“You, Rose, and Taye can discuss that if it happens.” Muscles bunched in Sky’s jaw. “I don’t want to lose anyone, but going after them might be dangerous. We don’t need anyone else arrested.”
He looked over their heads. “Joe. I need your law skills. And your counterfeiting skills. My brother’s been arrested because he didn’t have his travel permit with him. How long will it take you to make one?”
The slender, fair-haired lawyer stopped dead. “What? Oh, I have blanks already made up, so I can have one done in about ten minutes. What’s your brother’s name?”
“Norman.” Sky’s lips quirked in a smile that hinted at dry amusement. “Wolf’s Shadow Norman Wolfe.”
Joe scratched his thinning blond hair. “Norman would be quickest. Got it.”
“Good. You get to work on that while I change.” His eyes were bleak but his small smile was real when he looked at Rose. “Want to help me tie my necktie?”
She almost made a crack about that being a euphemism, but that was just nerves. He was making preparations for them in the case he didn’t come back. He could be arrested next, and she didn’t know what she would do then. She had no idea how to tie a tie, but she smiled. “Sure. I love tying ties.”
She followed him up to their room. He stripped off his polo shirt and dropped it on the bedside chair. She admired the muscles in his back as he took a silver gray dress shirt of out the closet. When he turned to face her, she saw the wolf and rose tattoo on his chest before the shirt covered it. When he buttoned the last button he selected a tie and held it out to her.
“Um. I lied. I have no clue how to tie a tie.”
“I knew that.” He smiled at her with such tenderness she felt tears threaten to build. She ignored them. He pulled her close. “I love you. I always thought I loved you, all these lonely years here in Omaha. But I was wrong. I think I loved the
thought
of loving you.” He must have seen the confusion on her face, because he laughed softly. “I survived well enough without you. But if anything happened to you now, I wouldn’t survive at all. I wouldn’t want to. Because now I know you, and knowing you has made my love for you real.”
The tears welled no matter how hard she blinked. “Geez, Sky, don’t talk like that, like you’re never coming back.”
“I’m definitely coming back.” He kissed her lips, a hard, quick peck. “Tell me how you feel about me.”
“I really care about you.”
When she saw the hurt, quickly hidden, on his face, she continued, she was more deliberate, thinking through her emotions to find the words to tell him and herself what she felt for him. “I like you now. A lot. At first I didn’t like you. But when you brought Odell here, I saw why you stayed in Omaha. And then I saw your tattoo.” She laid a hand on the crisply pressed cotton of his shirt over his left pec. “That’s when I knew you really hadn’t forgotten me.”
His embrace tightened fiercely around her. “I never forgot you.”
He drew away, his reluctance obvious on his face. “I have to go now.” His lips curved in a small, self-mocking smile. “I’ve been saying that to you since we came back to Omaha, haven’t I? I’m sorry. I promise that someday I won’t have to say that to you.”
Forcing a bright smile, she stepped back so he could loop his crushed tie around his neck and knot it. “Just be sure you come back. You owe me a long, hot shower with slippery, soapy sex.”
He must have tightened the tie a little too much. He let out a tiny yelp and jerked the knot away from his throat. He cleared his throat. “I’ll pay up, princess.” He leaned close to whisper, “With interest.”
Fully dressed in Businessman Lethal, a style, Rose thought, that suited him very well, he escorted her downstairs and through the kitchen. Rose saw that Rita and Susan were busy at the work table, and smiled at them as she went by. She would find out who was here and who was still missing after Sky left.
Joe was waiting for Sky in the foyer, briefcase in hand. He was speaking quietly and urgently to Tasha. Just inside the reception room, Katelyn held a feather duster with one hand and Paint’s with the other. He mouthed words at her, and she blushed, looking away. Her expression changed to a slight frown as she watched Tasha give Joe a peck on the cheek.
When Tasha saw them, she left Joe to pat Sky’s cheek. “You be careful out there,” she said, and smiled at Joe. “Both of you.”
“Yes, ma,” Joe said meekly, but ruined it by rolling his eyes. “Ready, Sky?”
Taye came out of the reception room to give Sky an affectionate punch in the arm. “That’s good advice.”
Sky clenched a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” His eyes were beautifully, vividly blue when he smiled at Rose. “Save some hot water,” he said, which might have sounded obscure to anyone else, but Rose blushed and grinned.
The words
I love you
almost came out of her mouth, but she changed it to, “Count on it.”
One more smile, and Sky and Joe were gone.
Chapter 22
Rose stared for a long minute at the closed door, already missing Sky. She loved him. How had that happened? Just a few days ago she’d resented the heck out of him. It could be the stress of the moment that made her think she loved him. Maybe it was the combination of great sex and his sudden change in attitude that softened her to him.
No sense wallowing in the matter now. She turned away and went to Sky’s office to find pencil and paper. The first thing she needed to do was make a list of who was here and who was still out. She thought she had met everybody at least once, but Sky had so many people working here she wasn’t sure of all their names. She ran into Ms. Mary in the hall outside Sky’s office and explained her plan.
“I can help you make the list,” Sky’s partner offered, “if you’ll do all the leg work. I’m afraid my old bones aren’t up to all that wandering.”
Rose gladly allowed the elderly woman to draw up a list of businesswomen, entertainers, and workers. Armed with the list, Rose went through the house to check off the names of those present.
She checked Jocelyn, Zoe, Tasha, Katelyn, and Cayla, off her list. She went upstairs and found Aimee, Michelle, Camille, and Stephanie in their rooms. Michelle said Cheri and Berniece were here somewhere, but Rose wouldn’t check them off until she actually saw them. Rita and Susan were in the kitchen along with Mrs. Nord and Dena the prep chef. She was told Kim was lying down out in her room in the dorm. She found several of the girls out there and checked them off. So far, she was missing Debbie and Patty, the laundresses, and Tanya, the dancer.
Tasha was in one of the reception rooms painting her toenails. “Debbie? I saw her a while ago. She’s probably downstairs in the laundry room.” She capped the little bottle of polish and jumped up. “I’ll go with you.”
Rose stared pointedly at Tasha’s toes. “That’s okay. You should let your toes dry.”
The businesswoman laughed, slipping on a pair of sandals. “No, I’ll go with you. I’m bored and I can’t go out shopping like I normally would, so I’ll settle for whatever excitement I can find.”
“All right, but walking downstairs to have a word with Debbie won’t be all that exciting.”
“You’d be surprised.” Tasha giggled. “More exciting than staying up here and watching my paint dry.”
That was probably true. Rose led the way through the dining room and the kitchen, passing Katelyn mopping the mudroom floor. Katelyn might not even have seen them, since she had her back to them. Rose switched on the light and went down the narrow steps into the laundry room. Behind her, Tasha closed the door, probably so it wouldn’t block Katelyn’s mopping.
The first thing Rose noticed was the strong scent of urine and feces.
Oh, darn
, she thought.
We put a litter box down here for Mitzi when we first came. She must still be using it instead of going outside like she did at the den.
“Sorry about the smell,” she said over her shoulder to Tasha when she reached the cracked cement floor. “I guess I’ll need to clean that up. I wish Debbie or Patty would have said something about it.”
“That’s okay,
Rose
,” Tasha replied in a near shout. “I don’t see Debbie down here, do you,
Rose
?”
Rose stopped and turned to look up at Tasha, who was still standing on the landing. “Why are you shouting? I can hear you just f—”
Movement flickered at the edge of her vision. She jerked around an instant too late. Something crashed into the side of her head and then the light went out. Or maybe her eyes closed?
A man’s voice smeared the darkness in front of her eyes with wavering streaks of red. When did voices start having colors? “It’s about time you got her down here. We’ve been waiting since last night.”
“I can tell,” Tasha’s voice snapped. “What did you do? Piss and shit in the corner?”
“It’s not like we could stroll upstairs and use the bathroom. Here, Al, take her legs. Drag her feet first out that stinking tunnel.”
“Be careful with her,” Tasha said. “She’s no use to us dead.”
“Relax. I barely tapped her.”
Inside her mind, Rose blinked. She was lying down. Why was she lying down? And where were they dragging her? Tunnel, he said. But Taye had boarded it back up…
Dimly she heard Tasha say, with a peculiar brand of cheer, “So long,
princess
.”
*
As she slid the mop over the mudroom floor, Katelyn pondered what she’d thought Tasha and Joe said before he left with Sky. She’d had a clear view of their mouths while they were speaking, but their words didn’t make sense.
A slight vibration in the floor made her lift her head. Had someone just gone downstairs? She thought she saw the door move. Probably Debbie or Patty. She’d see if they needed any help with the laundry after she finished here. She returned to mopping, still thinking about the conversation between Tasha and Joe.
I pried the boards off the door last night, but I won’t be able to help here today
, Joe said.
Tasha said,
That’s okay. I’m smart enough to find a way to get her down to the laundry room by myself. You just take care of Sky.
Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t like it, especially with all of Sky’s relatives here.
Don’t be a baby, Joe.
When Tasha said that, she was smiling, but Katelyn was sure the words weren’t spoken in a pleasant way. Her lips were curved in something like affection, but her eyes didn’t look affectionate. They looked cold. The contradiction confused her.
Just go. I’ll take care of everything here.
Take care of what? Katelyn set the mop aside to get on her hands and knees to scrub the corners and edges of the floor with a brush. As far as she could tell, Tasha was popular with everyone at The Limit. She’d never been mean to Katelyn, but there was always a hint of condescension from the businesswoman. Maybe people who could hear didn’t pay attention to subtle body language the way she did.
Still running her brush along the baseboards, Katelyn moved to the farthest corner of the mudroom. This time she was sure of the vibrations beneath her hands. She lifted her head in time to see the basement door open and Tasha walk through it. Was she singing? Her lips shaped the words,
So long, farewell,
auch wiedersehen, goodbye
in time with her steps. Although she wasn’t smiling, the bounce in her step told Katelyn the other woman was pleased about something. That was strange. Tasha never went near the basement. Katelyn’s arm stilled, leaving soapy water to puddle around her scrub brush. What had Tasha said to Joe? She was smart enough to find a way to get
who
down into the basement? Rose. Maybe it was someone else? No, it had to be Rose.
Tasha disappeared through the kitchen door. Katelyn doubted she had even noticed her kneeling on the floor. She looked at the basement door, wondering if Rose was down there and why. She straightened up on her knees and arched her back to ease the ache at the back of her waist. Tossing the scrub brush into the bucket, she stood up. She felt footsteps coming toward her from the kitchen and turned to see Sara carrying a covered plate. It must be meant for Odell.