Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (31 page)

mound.”

“I vote we hit while they’re full and sleepy from dinner

and booze. August doesn’t allow them to drink on duty, but

that hasn’t ever stopped them from sneaking a few rounds

after he goes to bed.”

“Good to know. Stick close to me.”

Crouching low, Ryon led them from their post at the

front gate around to the back. Hugging the wall, he located

the approximate place he’d entered the estate a few days

before. Using the thick vines as handholds, he hauled

himself up and over the wall, then dropped to the ground

on the other side.

Blazing fire shot through his injured leg, and he gritted

his teeth to keep from making a sound. With an effort, he

fought down a wave of nausea and dizziness. Daria had

been right. He was fast becoming a serious liability. If

they were forced to make a run for it, he wasn’t sure he’d

make it to the pickup point. For Daria’s sake he had to try,

and if she had to go on without him, at least the mission

would be complete.

Daria dropped beside him with a soft thud, and he

caught her around the waist to steady her. Once the guard

on the other side of the swimming pool turned to amble in

the other direction, he readied the M16 and headed for the

pool house. At the moment, it was locked tight, windows

dark. They crept across the porch to the door, which

sported nothing more than a simple lock. Ryon picked it

easily with his pocketknife and let them inside, shutting the

door behind them.

He walked past the wet bar and into the tiny storeroom.

Once inside, he shut them in pitch blackness before turning

on his penlight. Daria’s anxious whisper sounded beside

him.

“What are you doing? There’s nothing in here, unless

you’re planning to get back at him by drinking all of his

guests’ wine.”

Ryon flicked the penlight at the modest wine rack that

covered the left wall of the room. “That’s what you’re

supposed to think. Nick told me where to look, remember?

Watch this.”

Striding to the rack, he braced the rifle on one hip, and

slid his hand along the right edge until his fingers found the

latch and pressed. The rack gave a pop and he swung it out

to reveal a hidden door.

Daria was suitably impressed. “Well, I’ll be damned.

The wine rack serves as a fake wall. Does this lead where

I think?”

“Even better. The stairs behind this door descend

straight underground to a lighted corridor, which travels

toward the estate for about forty yards. At that point, it

branches off. The left corridor continues to the main

house, the right one to his computer room.”

She arched a brow. “That’s damned good intel your

boss has.”

“I’m sure being able to see the future helped a bit.”

“True,” she agreed.

“I wonder why he built access through the pool house.

That’s pretty risky.”

“Nick said August likes to have a hidden route out of

the main house in case of emergency, like a raid or a house

call from a dangerous enemy. Besides, nobody knows it

exists except his current right-hand man, August, and now

us.”

“Is the corridor monitored by camera?”

“Motion sensors. No cameras, unless he’s added them

recently. Getting inside isn’t the difficult part, if you know

the route. Once we’re in, though, if they discover us, the

danger of being trapped down there is pretty high.”

“I don’t like this.”

He linked their fingers. “Me, either. Personally, I think

the whole deal stinks. Do you want to quit? Whatever you

decide, it’s now or never.”

“I want to get the rest of those files and watch him hang,

but you’re—”

“Then it’s settled.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, cutting

off further protests about his health. Releasing her, he

turned and went to work on the door. In short order, they

were standing at the top of a steep, narrow staircase. He

left the exit behind them open a slight crack for their return

trip.

“Follow me. When we get to the bottom, stay to the

right,” he instructed. “Don’t stray toward the center of the

hall. The motion sensor beam runs straight down the

middle. August likes it positioned that way so he can make

a quick escape without worrying about setting off his own

alarms and alerting the enemy as to which direction he’s

taken. Anyone else wouldn’t know not to walk down the

center and they’d get busted.”

“And if he’s changed the sensors?”

“We’re screwed. But if we make it to the computer

room, I think I’ve got us covered.”

With that mysterious pearl of wisdom, he started down,

weapon ready. Once at the bottom, they followed the

corridor to the intersection, then veered right. So far so

good. No shouts or pounding footsteps rushing to intercept

them.

A massive metal sliding door dominated the end of the

corridor. A control panel mounted on the wall to the right

resembled the cockpit of a small plane with its array of

buttons.

“Terrific,” Daria muttered. “How do we get in?”

Ryon smiled grimly. “With the override code Nick’s

security contact was able to provide, since August uses

one of the same systems they serve. What’s more, the code

deactivates the sensors until the doors close again.

Brilliant, huh?”

She peered over his shoulder and frowned. “I wouldn’t

get too cocky if I were you.”

“Why?”

“Because the room is empty.”

Ryon spun and stared in disbelief. He walked inside,

fists clenched. Solid concrete walls and nothing else.

“Son of a bitch.”

“No telling how long ago he cleaned it out. Apparently

Nick’s all-seeing eye isn’t foolproof. Any other brilliant

ideas?” She waited, glancing around nervously.

“I’m open to suggestions,” he bit off. He felt like a fool.

Of course August would’ve moved his files the instant he

learned that his estate had been breached. Ryon’s mistake

had cost him and Daria time they couldn’t afford to lose.

“I think the files in his office are the real ones,” Daria

speculated. “Dad said he’s been really preoccupied with

some sort of construction off the far wing. He told Dad he

was adding on to the estate, but now I think it’s possible

that he’s building a better headquarters for his

transactions.”

“Makes sense, but why wouldn’t he just leave the files

down here until the new facility is ready? His data is more

secure here than upstairs.”

“He’s a spider waiting to spring his trap. The million-

dollar question is, do we take the bait?”

Every instinct he possessed was urging him harder than

ever to get Daria the hell out, forget the whole thing. But

he longed for August to roast for what he’d done to Ben,

and to other humans and shifters. If nothing else, he could

give Daria that much.

Ryon waved a hand. “We’ve come this far. Let’s do it.”

“Wait,” she said softly. Stepping close, she laid her

palm on his chest. “I’m sorry I pushed you into coming

back here, especially now. You’re sick and I don’t want

anything to happen to you.”

“It’s all right, baby. If I didn’t want to try again, you

couldn’t have made me.” He gave her a quick kiss. “We’re

going to accomplish what we came to do and get out of

here, trust me.”

Daria looked deeply into his eyes, as if trying to discern

his sincerity. After a minute, she stepped back, satisfied.

“All right. So, did Nick say what part of the house the

corridor leads to?”

“The kitchen pantry.”

Her jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. What better place to hide the other entrance than

behind a wall of food? We can restock our packs, too.”

“Clever,” she admitted.

“We’ve got to hurry.”

Every cell in his body alert, Ryon padded toward the

house, Daria pressed to his back like a second skin. The

narrow confines of the bright corridor made him more

uneasy than before. He half expected the passage to be

booby trapped, then dismissed the notion. A man like

August would prefer to mete out pain himself and witness

the results.

They reached the stairs and ascended slowly. Ryon

found the latch, and the mechanism emitted an audible pop,

the wall creaking when released from position. He tensed.

After a minute, he used the tip of his rifle to inch the gap

wider. Light from behind them flooded the large walk-in

pantry. Quickly, he stepped inside and motioned for Daria

to close the panel behind them. If anyone in the kitchen had

seen the strange light below the door, he and Daria would

soon find out.

Nothing. Breathing a sigh, Ryon used the tiny penlight to

scout for food to replace what they’d consumed. Being a

man of finer tastes, August didn’t allow the cook to buy a

lot of junk. However, Ryon did locate several packages of

crackers, jerky, and a few granola bars. With a grimace,

he stowed them in Daria’s pack, thinking he’d give his

small fortune for a juicy steak and a baked potato. An open

case of bottled water rested on the floor and Daria put

several bottles in his pack. Ryon figured he’d rather

collapse from carrying the extra weight than to starve or

dehydrate. What a choice.

This done, he flicked off the penlight and opened the

pantry door an inch. All was quiet. A clock on the wall

revealed the hour to be one thirty in the morning. His tired,

aching body felt every minute of it.

They made their way from the kitchen into the open, airy

living room, placing their steps carefully, keeping to the

perimeter. Moonlight filtered in through the floor-to-

ceiling glass windows overlooking the pool on one end of

the room, the front lawn on the other. A burly guard stood

next to the patio door with his back to the glass, facing the

pool, shifting restlessly.

August’s office wasn’t far, just across the living room

and a few feet down the hallway. Ryon barely made the

safety of the shadows in the hall and turned to beckon for

Daria to hurry, when the guard suddenly pressed his face

against the window. The big man jerked upright in

surprise, shouldering his rifle.

Shit, he’d spotted her!

Daria saw him, too, and froze, the SIG trained on the

man’s broad chest as he strode inside, stalking her. His

cocky smile flashed in a sliver of light. Totally ignoring

her gun, he lowered his own weapon and pressed his body

against hers.

“Well, what do we have here? August’s sweet little do-

gooding niece can’t shoot, so what are you going to do?

Shall we work out a trade for my silence?”

Ryon’s wolf snarled in rage, and he barely kept the

sound from escaping. The claws on his hand lengthened,

and he waited.

Daria didn’t answer, but began to back away, bringing

the guard closer to Ryon’s hiding place.
Good girl. Just a

bit more
. Ryon clenched his teeth as the dirtbag crowded

her and cupped a breast, confident in his ability to

overpower her. A sloppy fool, smelling faintly of

whiskey. And groping his mate. It would be his last

mistake.

“Very nice,” the man laughed, low and nasty. “You’re

going to come with me, open your pretty legs, and learn

how to treat a real man. Then I might be persuaded to

forget you were here—”

Ryon had heard enough. Moving silently, he came at the

goon from behind, reached around him, and delivered a

vicious, lethal swipe to his neck. Blood sprayed over the

pristine floor, and he could muster no sympathy for the

slimy bastard.

Working fast, he lowered the huge man to the floor, laid

the rifle on his chest, took him by the ankles, and dragged

him away. The living room offered no place to stash the

body, so he secreted it inside the pantry. Next, he grabbed

a couple of kitchen towels and quickly wiped as much of

the blood as possible from the floor. A hurried inspection

would pass in the darkness, but the guard would be missed

eventually. After relieving the man of his shirt, pants,

handgun and bullets, he rejoined Daria.

She hadn’t moved, but stood like a small, pale ghost

with wide, fathomless eyes that he couldn’t see in the

dark. Only the firm line of her unsmiling mouth gave voice

to her thoughts. He touched her cheek.

“I had no choice, baby. He would’ve killed us both.”

“I know.”

But her tone was dull. She was coming to terms with the

fact that the man she loved was a natural-born killer. He

wasn’t some romantic commando from a Stallone movie,

but the real thing, and he had other abilities tacked on for

good measure. Knowing that and witnessing it were

different matters. Heart heavy, he dropped his hand and

turned to head for the office.

Daria swept in ahead of Ryon, and he left the door

cracked a bit before joining her at the computer. She

settled into August’s black leather chair, retrieving the

thumb drive case from her pack. She wiggled the mouse to