Alistair (Golden Streak Series) (15 page)

The shift from human to cat was almost instantaneous.
And there was no stopping Ryland either. He tossed the man to the floor and had
his giant paw planted in his chest so quickly that he was sure the man didn’t
even get a chance to take a deep breath.

“And this is my brother, Ryland. You
should know that he doesn’t care for you much, either. And he said to tell you
if you speak about his wife that way again, he will not just bitch slap your
balls for you but tear them from your body with his teeth.” Ryland snarled his
agreement, and Alistair reached up and rubbed his hand along his fur. “You
still think we can’t handle a human whose hurt one of us?”

“Is he going to eat me?” Alistair looked
at Ryland who turned to look at him. He heard his brother’s laughter and was
fighting hard not to join him. He looked back at Zimmerman who was still
staring at the tiger on him with wide eyes.

“I don’t know. He seems to think you owe
us all an apology. And a special one to his wife.” Ryland backed off but not
before he tore the man’s shirt open. There was no blood, but there were deep
marks that would hurt for some time.

Zimmerman lay there and glared at the
two men who were still standing. They were going to be out of a job before this
was over, and Alistair felt badly for them. When Zimmerman stood up, he walked
to Bronwyn and bowed before her.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mrs. Golden. I had
no idea that you were…were whatever you are. And your husband….” He shivered
and turned to look at the tiger that came to stand beside him. “I had no idea
that he could….”

He sat down hard and held his head. Bronwyn
nodded and put her hand on Zimmerman’s head and held him while Ryland moved to
the bathroom. Brock tossed a bag in there with him and pulled the door closed. In
seconds the room was set to rights and the two human agents were set on a
chair. Zimmerman was the only one that was left on the floor. When Bronwyn let
him go, he looked around the room, dazed.

“What happened?” Alistair shrugged, not
giving the man any clue what had just happened to him. “I had…my head hurts
and…did I fall?”

“You did. I think you tripped over your
own feet when you were telling us that you think Alistair’s plan works much
better.” Bronwyn sat back down and fanned herself. “Do you think it would be
possible for the air to be turned up a bit? I’m sorry but I’m roasting over
here.”

Zimmerman asked Marcus if that would be
possible. Marcus nodded and looked at his dad. Troy was laughing so hard that
tears were streaming down his face, but he nodded and reached behind him to
adjust the thermostat.

Ryland came out of the bathroom dressed
again and was adjusting his tie when he put out his hand to help Zimmerman up.
The man whimpered, and Troy lost control of his mirth. It was infectious
laughter, and soon the room was joining him.

“Oh my, I’m going to enjoy this,” he
said. “I surely am. You and I are going to have a talk when this little thing
is over. I have something I’d like to discuss with you and your family.”

Alistair nodded, not sure what the man
wanted, but wanting to get this going. He looked at his wife and she shrugged. He
smiled when she did, and they continued with the plan. An hour before Isaac was
supposed to land back in his home state, everyone was in agreement as to what
was going to happen. The agents along with the two officers that were assigned
to help them left a few minutes later. Alistair turned to Bronwyn.

“He was going to tell. Everything, and
when he was through, he had plans of getting with an agent friend of his who
has some paperwork on me that works for the CIA.” Bronwyn stood up to pace. “He
doesn’t know it’s about me or us, but he knows that this man believes there is
a woman who can change into a tiger and told her that her husband was killed. He
wants to bring me in and have me tested.”

“Did you get a name?” She nodded at Troy
who suddenly stopped laughing. “You tell me and I’ll see what I can do about
getting to the bottom of it before anyone else finds you. No one will touch you
as long as I’m around.”

“His name is Sheldon Pierce, and he
works in CIA in Files. He has the papers at his home, or I guess copies of
them.” Bronwyn looked at him. “I’m sorry, Alistair. I was only going to erase
his memory about the two men with him so he wouldn’t hurt their career when I
found that. He can’t know about us. It’s too dangerous.”

“It is, love, and you did the right
thing. I can’t stand the fact that this other man knows as much as he thinks he
does. But for now you’re safe.” She nodded, and Ryland pulled her into his
arms. “We have to finish this with Isaac. Then we’ll work in Zimmerman and the
other man. Everyone in agreement with that?” They all nodded and sat down to go
over what they were going to do to Isaac and his mother. Things were about to
go badly for the two of them.

By the time they were called to say that
Isaac was on the ground, they were headed to their points of the plan. Troy,
Marcus, Ally, and himself sat in the office waiting for the shit to hit the
fan.

“This is going to be so much fun. That
man isn’t going to know what happened to him.” Troy laughed as he continued. “Yes,
sir, best fun I’ve had in some time.”

Chapter 15

Lance hated his trip. Not even being in
first class had made his trip worth ever going commercial again. He was going
to have to see about getting his jet back as soon as he collected on his
policy. He held his one case in his hand as he left the plane, snarling at the
stewardess that wished him a good day.

“Stupid cunt,” he said just loud enough
for her to hear and smiled when he heard her sharp intake of breath. He would
never see her again and didn’t care if she was pissed off. He was on his own
turf now. Fuck her.

He had to rent a car because his limo
was no longer available to him. The woman behind the counter told him that the
company he had requested had refused to come for him until he paid his past due
balance. He told her to call someone else and wasn’t really surprised to hear
that none of them would help him. Lance had a feeling she was telling them he
had a large balance with another firm and that was why he had to drive himself
rather than ride like was befitting his station.

He’d not driven a car much, rarely if
ever did he find the need to take himself somewhere when a car could take him
there in comfort. Lance hated everything about the car and driving the thing
through traffic. He was sure that everyone on the road knew that he wasn’t as
well versed as he usually was in driving and set out to make his life a living
hell. It was all right. Soon, he’d have his money and they’d all wish they’d have
treated him better.

He drove to his house only to find there
was a notice nailed to the door saying that it had been seized for nonpayment
of taxes. He wasn’t sure how that came to be when he felt that taxes were
beneath him but didn’t know where to find his mother if she wasn’t here. He was
ready to pull out his new cell phone when someone came up the drive on a little
motor bike.

“You Mr. Lance Isaac?” The kid, who couldn’t
have been more than sixteen, stood there with his pants hanging to his knees
and his hat turned to its side. “I got a message here, if you are. If not, then
say so. I don’t have all damned day.”

“Who is it from?” The kid shrugged and
told him to fucking sign for it and he could find out himself. “You’re a rude
fuck, and I’m going to tell your company.”

Lance snatched the envelope and
scribbled “fuck off” on the signature line. The kid read it and laughed as he
flipped Lance off and drove away. He opened the envelope and read what it said.

“Darling, I heard you were coming home,
and as I had no way to contact you, I had to have someone watch for you. You
should have called me. I’m staying at the hotel on Winding Green Way. Come
there. I’m in suite seventeen.”

Suite?
How the hell is she affording
that,
he wondered as he got back into his car and made his way back into
town. He was just parking the car when he realized that his mother had been
holding out on him. She was staying in the best hotel in their town and in a
suite as well. She had a great deal of explaining to do when he saw her.

He went to the elevator and nearly fell
over his own feet when he saw the woman come out as the door opened. He turned
to follow her when she was swept up into the arms of another man. He had been
sure it was Ally.

As the doors opened on the seventeenth
floor, he knocked on the door in front of him and waited for someone to answer
it. When his mother did, she looked completely surprised to see him there.

“How did you find me?” He quirked a brow
at her. “You gave me no way to contact you, and here you show up like you knew just
where I was. How did you know?”

“You told me.” He moved in the room to
see it suited her. And him. He thought that living here would have a great deal
more advantageous than a house. For one thing, someone cleaned it daily and
made his bed. He’d not had that luxury for some time.

“I did no such thing. I only moved in
here yesterday, and I’ve not spoken to you since before that. How did you find
out?” He handed her the crumbled note and sat down in front of her lunch tray
and opened the covered plates.

“This looks good.” He picked up the fork
and took a mouthful of her salad. “I don’t care for this dressing, but I’ll eat
it all the same. What are you having?”

She sat down and shoved the note back at
him. “This isn’t my handwriting. You should know that. Do you know whose is it?”

“Yours. Don’t fuck around, Mother. I’m
tired and I want to eat. You should have some of this salmon. It’s delicious.”

“I was planning on it. Why are you
eating my dinner? Order your own.” She tried to take the plate from him, but he
wasn’t having it. She glared at him before she finally gave up.

“I want to know how you’re affording all
this.” He took another bite of the asparagus and moaned. “Unless you had a
stash hiding away, you’ve done something you shouldn’t have.”

“What about you? You’re dressed better
than I’ve seen you dressed in a while, and you seem to smell of good fortune. And
you never answered me about the handwriting. Do you know who this is?”

“As I said, it’s yours. Why do you care
anyway? It’s not like both of us haven’t been dealing the other dirty.” He
leaned back when he finished most of the meal. “And if it’s not yours, whose
handwriting it is?”

“It’s Allyson’s.” He felt his skin pale
and tried to think. He took the note when she handed it back to him and looked
at it carefully.

“How is that possible? She’s dead.” His
mother nodded. “You didn’t write this to make me crazy, did you? It’s okay if
you did, I’ll forgive you.”

“I didn’t do it. It’s sick and…where did
you get it? You said I gave it to you, and we both know I didn’t. So where did
you get this?”

“A kid rode up on this motorcycle and
handed it to me. Flipped me off, too, and had me sign for it.” He looked at the
note again. “I thought the handwriting looked familiar, and I suppose in a way
it does, but I never thought it was Allyson’s.”

He sat there for several minutes, not listening
to his mother as she prattled on about insurance and having her sign off on
other things as well. Then he looked up at her when she mentioned the
appointment she had.

“When?” She looked slightly panicky, and
he realized she’d just been emptying her head again, not really paying any
attention to what she’d been saying. “When is the appointment with the
insurance claims adjustor?”

“This evening. I’m supposed to meet him
in the bar downstairs.” Before he could ask her why she was meeting him, she
continued. “You said you weren’t coming back, and I have to have something to
live on. I told him you were killed in Ohio and that I was you’re only living
heir. He had to have a death certificate and…well, I used your father’s and
made a few minor changes on it. He didn’t even flinch when I handed it to him.”

“So you faked my death.” She nodded and
started to stand up. He wasn’t sure where she thought she was going now, but
she wasn’t going to claim his money. He had plans for that money, and none of them
included her, was getting any of it.

“What would you have had me do? Let the
IRS take everything we had and live with strangers in an apartment building
like cockroaches in the walls?” She snorted. “Oh please. I wouldn’t live in one
of those large pest-invested boxes if that was all I could afford. I deserve
more, and you owe it to me.”

“
I
owe it to you? How do you
figure that? And as for everything you had, everything in that house belonged
to me. You moved in because your husband had put a bullet in his head rather
than to tell you
no
. You ever think you might have been the reason he
was so fucking broke that he had not even a pot to piss in? It was a good thing
that he’d paid off his funeral before he killed himself or you would have put
him in a box in the back yard rather than go to the expense of putting him away
like he wanted.” She slapped him across the face, and he grabbed her around the
throat before she could back away. “You touch me again and I will kill you.”

She struggled with him, and he let her
go and went back to the table to think. She had had him declared dead. He wasn’t
sure that was going to hurt him or help him right now. He looked around the
room again and wondered if he let her go and get his money how long would it be
before someone found her body after he killed her. He decided not long and
looked at her as she glared at him from across the room.

“You’re going to go and get the money,
and we’ll split it and go our separate ways after that.” She started to open
her mouth when he held up his hand. “Or I go get the money and leave your dead
body in here for the maid service to find a week from now.”

“You’d kill your own mother?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“You’re a horrible man, Lance Isaac.
What would your father think of the way you’re treating me?”

“He’d probably tell me
thank you
.”
He leaned back in the chair. Either way, he would win. She just didn’t know
that he wasn’t going to split anything with her, and the service would find her
in a few days, not a week.

“I’ll do this your way, but I want you
to know that I hate you right now.” He nodded. “I’m supposed to have my hair
done in an hour. You’ll have to hide back there. Janet is coming here to do it.
So I’ll look nice.”

He only nodded. When she offered her
cheek as he walked by her, he ignored it. He was not leaving any DNA on her if
at all possible. A single bullet to the head and she’d no longer be a problem. He
just had to find a gun now.

~~~

Ally had been nervous that Lance would
hit her when she exited the elevator, but all he’d done was stare at her. She
had moved to Alistair’s arms, and they both had moved away. Now she was sitting
in the bar waiting with Ryland while Lance negotiated a deal for a gun. She had
her back to him. And when Ryland nodded, she stood up and walked by his table,
stumbling a little as she’d been told to do. She smiled as she headed to the men’s
room, where Alistair was waiting for her. Lance had seen her again.

“This is going to drive him insane.” Alistair
nodded and kissed her. “What’s next? Do I get to serve him a drink?”

“Getting into this now, are you?” He
laughed. “No, but you are going to see him a few more times. Wait here while I
go see if you can move yet.”

When he returned, she walked on his left
as they walked by the table where an employee of Troy’s was sitting, pretending
to be a gun dealer. He nodded to the bar, and they hurried by when Lance turned
to go back to the table with two beers in his hand. This was becoming fun.

The plan was to drive him over the edge.
She wasn’t sure that he wasn’t already there, but she thought it was a good
plan. Bronwyn had told her that she’d done something like this when someone had
tried to kidnap her. She’d faked her own death, then haunted him for weeks
after. He’d finally confess to what he’d done, and she had moved to another
city. He’d never bothered her again.

When she and Alistair had headed back to
their room, she saw Troy and Marcus coming out of their room. She felt sorry
for the two men. They’d lost so much, and now they were dealing with the man
again. She hoped that when they exhumed their child, and Paula had been a child
to them both, that they would find just what they needed to get justice for her
death.

“We were just going on. Donny just
called to let us know that he and Isaac had left the hotel and was in route to
get the gun.” Marcus laughed as the continued. “Hopefully the fool is as stupid
as we think he is and won’t bother with checking the gun out too closely when
Donny gives it to him.”

It was a prop. It would fire, make all
the correct sounds and actions, but it wouldn’t shoot anything but blanks. And
when Donny sold it to Lance, it would be loaded with them as well as the box of
extras that Lance had insisted that he might need. He was spending nearly three
thousand dollars on this gun as well as quiet money for Donny.

“We were about to have dinner, too.” She
glanced at Alistair when he told them that. “Would you mind if we joined you? My
family is going to be down there, too, if you don’t mind a noisy crowd.”

Marcus looked at his dad, but she could
see that he really wanted to join them. Ally liked both men, but she had a
special place in her heart for Troy. He was the grandfather she never had. When
Troy nodded, they moved toward the elevator together just as Sandra and Jed
came down the hall. By the time the elevator doors opened, all the Golden family
was standing with them as well as a couple who had come from their room at the
last second.

“We might be too heavy for one elevator,”
Ryland said as he looked down at his wife. “I mean, I think there’s a weight
limit.”

“You ass.” Bronwyn looked at Marcus when
he laughed, then turned it to a hard cough. “You might not want to ride with me,
either. There might be blood and mayhem in the one I ride in if my husband
comes with me.”

“How about we ride on the next one, ladies?”
Marcus put out his arm to Bronwyn and Sandra. “That way if their heavy egos,
and I have no doubt there is a great deal of that going around, get the better
of them, at least we’ll be safely in the dining room when they crash to the
bottom.”