A Forbidden Love (7 page)

"Yeah. Sure."

"Really!" Jamie insisted. "Anyway, this is unacceptable. I asked you out for dinner, didn't I? I'd better keep my promise."

Alison watched as he got up from the bed and found some takeaway menus in the bedside table.

"Pizza?" Jamie asked, with an apologetic frown on his face. Perhaps he'd wanted to take her somewhere nice, but they'd been so preoccupied with one another, they hadn't noticed the time. It was too late to go out now and besides, Alison didn't want to leave.

"Perfect," Alison said.

Jamie took the menu and left the room to place the order, leaving Alison alone with her thoughts for a moment.

What a night.

In the span of just a few hours, she'd gone from confused about the idea of dating the enemy, to understanding they were soul mates, now and forever. She ought to feel guilty about betraying her family, but somehow, she didn't.

Instead, Alison still felt terrible finding out she'd been instrumental in the abduction of Jamie's brother, Matthew. His capacity for forgiveness in the matter had amazed her. Matthew's disappearance had left a gaping hole in his being. That much was obvious from the way he'd talked about that day. No matter what he said, it was at least in part her fault. She'd do anything to help make things better.

"Done. It'll be here in half an hour," Jamie said, as he came back into the bedroom, phone in hand.

"Really. I wonder how we will pass the time," Alison teased, while obviously checking out his naked body from head to toe.

That was all the encouragement Jamie needed to get back into bed.

It was just another late morning at the Alliance office. Two days had passed since Jamie's first date with Alison, and although he'd made no real progress questioning the prisoners no matter how hard he tried, Jamie felt invincible.

He and Alison hadn't been able to stay away from each other and had spent every spare hour together. Gone were the days when Jamie didn't know what to do with himself once his working day was over.

Gone also were the sleepless nights, the endless restlessness and unnerving dreams that threatened to spill over into reality. He was a changed man, who no longer lived to work, but worked to live.

"What time is the pick-up?" Jamie asked Kyle, who had been coordinating with their contact at the Alliance Council.

"Depending on traffic on the M1, probably early afternoon," Kyle said, without looking up once from his computer screen.

Kyle was the odd one out at the office. Not only was he a black bear unlike Jamie and Aidan who transformed into brown bears, he was a bit of a nerd and awkward around people, especially women. His pale complexion stood out against the darker hair, a testament that he was less outdoorsy than the others on the team.

Though Kyle could fight if he needed to, his main weapon was his brain and Jamie was thrilled to have him on his side. In fact, perhaps Jamie could utilize Kyle's particular skill set for something of a more delicate nature...

Jamie looked over at Heidi, who was reviewing the tape from Alison's interrogation on her own. Aidan was out running a few errands, which made this one of the rare times Heidi and Aidan weren't joined at the hip. She was distracted, so Jamie decided to pull Kyle aside for a private chat.

"Kyle, a moment?" Jamie waved at him, then opened the bottom drawer of his desk and picked up the brown cardboard dossier he always kept in there.

"Sure. What's up?" Kyle approached Jamie's desk.

Jamie handed him the file. "This one's off the books, but I would appreciate if you could look into this case for me when you get the chance."

Kyle opened it and studied the photographs and reports inside. They exchanged a silent look. He understood. "Sure thing, boss."

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he'd hoped, Kyle hadn't demanded an explanation or made things more awkward than they needed to be. Jamie watched him walk back to his computer as if nothing of note had happened.

It was only a matter of hours before they'd lose the prisoners. The Alliance leadership had some bigger plans for them that Jamie wasn't privy to, and it was a professional loss for their office. Perhaps he'd take another crack at Lee Campbell in particular. If only the man knew what Jamie had been up to with his daughter for the past two nights, it might wipe that smug grin off his face.

But Jamie didn't get the chance to head downstairs. A loud bang on the door disrupted the calm atmosphere of the office. Was that the transport already? Kyle couldn't have gotten their arrival time that wrong, could he?

"Open up!" An unfamiliar voice filtered through the heavy, reinforced front door.

Jamie jumped up to face the threat, as did Heidi. They exchanged a look, while Kyle furiously typed something into a message window on his computer.

"It's not our people. They're still about an hour away," Kyle whispered, looking up at Jamie with an alarmed frown on his face.

Jamie nodded, then signaled at Heidi to head to the basement. She didn't hesitate for even a second. For all their differences, Jamie had to respect the wolves' ability to follow orders, especially in a crisis. She was out of the room before the second, much louder bang on the door. Jamie waved at Kyle to position himself behind him, who did so after triggering the silent alarm they'd installed as a precaution months earlier.

Seconds later, the door started to creak and splinter under the repetitive impacts typical of the same type of manual battering ram Jamie and Aidan had used during their attack on the Sons’ base. Whoever it was, they were determined to get inside and had brought the necessary equipment with them.

"The data!" Kyle shouted, as he sprinted back to his workstation and pulled the hard drive out of his computer. He hid it underneath the false bottom in one of his desk drawers, created just for this purpose.

"Get back, Kyle!" Jamie ordered.

The door swung open, revealing about a dozen determined-looking skinheads in full combat gear.
Crap
. Lee Campbell had been right. It was a counterattack.

"On the ground, filth!" The man in front bellowed, while pointing the muzzle of his weapon in Jamie's direction. If looks could kill... Green eyes, exactly the same shade as the pair Jamie had been gazing into for hours these past few days, shot daggers at him. This must be Alison's brother.
Shit
.

Jamie weighed his options. Should he comply or attempt to fight? They were outnumbered and outgunned. Shifters didn't use firearms, they rarely had the need to because of their greater physical strength compared to regular humans. Then again, large scale confrontations between the two were rare because both sides kept such a low profile.

There was no point to endanger Kyle and himself unnecessarily. Jamie grudgingly got down onto the ground and placed his hands behind his head. Kyle followed his example next to him.

"Good. Cuff 'em," the man ordered and one of his companions stepped ahead and reluctantly placed steel handcuffs around Jamie's wrists. From the solid clicking noise they made as they were tightened, Jamie could tell they weren't toys and would be impossible to break free from without help.

"Up on your feet," Alison's brother barked. "Tell us where you're holding our brothers, animal!"

Jamie got up and stared down at the man in silence. If they hadn't brought guns, this much shorter human would have been no match in hand-to-hand combat, even for Kyle.

"Don't worry, we have ways of making you scum talk." The man gave him a hateful look, then focused his sights on Kyle. "You. You tell me where they are!"

Kyle also didn't say a word.

Jamie knew how this would play out. Their silence would buy a little time, but these people would soon find their prisoners down in the basement on their own. Guarded only by Heidi, who also didn't carry a gun, they'd have no trouble freeing them.

After that, there was no way of knowing what these guys would do. The Alliance attack had resulted in two deaths, mainly because the humans hadn't known when to surrender. This strike was probably as much about revenge as rescuing their men, so once they'd found the cells, they might just kill Heidi, Kyle and Jamie for sport.

"They're alive," Jamie said at last.

Alison's brother shot him another hateful look. "Where? Or do I need to beat it out of you?"

Jamie felt his entire body tense up as instinct tried to take over.
Beat it out of him? Let this clown try.
He tried his best to remain calm, because if he shifted right here in front of a bunch of trigger-happy fanatics, he was certain he wouldn't survive it.

"Fine, have it your way," the man hissed, and stepped up ahead, until he stood right in front of Kyle. He held his weapon to Kyle's temple and turned to make eye contact with Jamie again.

"You tell me what I want to know, or your friend here gets it."

There was no doubt in Jamie's mind that the threat was real. These were the people who had been responsible for disappearances of shifters everywhere, and they'd think nothing of eliminating another one of their enemy.

If Kyle was afraid for his life, he didn't show it. Jamie knew it was over. If he gave up the prisoners, at least hopefully he could ensure Heidi didn't do anything to get herself hurt either.

"Downstairs." Jamie nodded in the direction of the door leading to the staircase.

"Both of you lead the way. Go on." Alison's brother prodded the muzzle of his weapon into Jamie's shoulder blade, forcing him ahead.

One of the armed intruders stepped ahead of them to open the door for Kyle and Jamie, while the rest waited for the two bears to step into the staircase.

"Don't do anything stupid, you hear?" The man warned, prodding his gun into Jamie's back again.

Jamie wasn't planning to. He'd go along with whatever these people wanted, just as long as it would keep his team safe. They went down the stairs into the dark hallway leading to the basement rooms they'd repurposed as holding cells. Heidi was waiting by the first door, tense, ready for confrontation.

"Oh, hell," Heidi said under her breath.

"Stand down," Jamie said, making a calming motion with his hand.

She didn't seem convinced, especially now that the men behind Jamie and Kyle came into view, but didn't argue.

One of the armed men stepped around the two bears, holding another set of handcuffs.

"It's okay, Heidi. Just give them what they want." Jamie watched while Heidi was being restrained.

Some of the other intruders started to fan out ahead, inspecting the doors leading off from the corridor. These rooms originally didn't have windows, so Jamie had ordered Kyle to install spyholes in the doors before securing each prisoner inside. The Sons members now benefited from the same, looking inside first and breaking down only those doors that contained one of their own.

"They're here," one reported, after peeking into the first cell.

Most of his associates scattered around to explore the rest of the rooms, leaving only two guys to guard the three shifters. This was as close to a chance to escape as they'd ever get, but still it seemed too risky to do anything rash.

"How the hell did they find our location?" Heidi whispered. She kept her volume so low, it would have been nearly impossible for human ears to pick up her words, but obviously Jamie and Kyle didn't have that problem.

"No idea," Jamie responded.

"Alison," Kyle mumbled.

Jamie tensed at his suggestion. "No way."

"He has a point. Our position has never been compromised before. Now these people turn up mere days after calling her in? It can't be a coincidence," Heidi remarked.

Jamie felt a red haze descend over his senses. It was an impossibility for Alison to betray him, put him in danger. But he couldn't very well tell these two that, could he? He couldn't reveal how he knew Alison was innocent. It was one thing for two shifters of opposing species to pair up, but a bear and a human? That was almost unheard of.

"I'm not convinced she's given us her real identity. Looking into it, there are precious few records mentioning an Alison Carter that fit her profile." Kyle gave Jamie a thoughtful look.

Jamie balled his fists and took a deep breath to regain his composure. He focused on Kyle again.

"We'll figure it out. But a good investigator rules out other options before being absolutely certain of a suspect's guilt. Remember that," Jamie said.

"Sure thing, Boss." Heidi nodded.

Kyle didn't look convinced, but didn't argue further.

This was a bloody nightmare. With the Alliance pick-up barely an hour out, he'd lost the prisoners. If they couldn't somehow recover the situation, the three of them could be killed. And who knew what the Sons would do with the intel they'd recover from the office eliminating them? This one incident could tilt the fight entirely in their favor.

Once the dust settled on today's events, the Alliance council would no doubt come to the same conclusion as Kyle and Heidi. It wouldn't be so difficult to figure out Alison's real identity, and that would be the end of it. They'd come after her next.