Blood Diamond (17 page)

“Rabbits,” she complained, wrinkling her nose at me.

I stabbed a tomato and pointed it at her. “You’re just mad it got away.”

I should have known she would steal it. Huffing at my loss, I wrinkled my nose back at her.

“It’s okay, Evelyn,” Richard said, his laughter rumbling in his chest. “We’ll make certain he eats real food.”

Alex waved his finger at his brother. “Says the man who kept an entire duffel bag of chocolate in our room in Las Vegas. If I recall correctly, your wife demolished your stash in the matter of a single morning.”

The Alpha Fenerec sniffed and said in his most dignified tone, “Chocolate is good for you, and my wife has exceptional tastes.”

I relaxed at the banter, staying quiet as I ate. When Richard deposited a piece of roast beef on my plate, I looked up to see everyone staring at me. “What?” I asked.

“How are you feeling?” My brother leaned towards me, his elbows resting on the table.

I pointed at him with my fork. “I’d feel a lot better if you removed your elbows from the table, Mr. Anderson.”

Laughing, he obeyed. “Seriously, how are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better, for obvious reasons. I’m sore, but nothing a few days and a long soak won’t cure. Thanks for the save, by the way.”

My brother’s expression darkened for a moment before he forced a smile. “I came for a healthy dose of revenge, but I’ll take a rescue op instead any day. Anyway, Brandon did the real work—we were the distraction, it seems.” Elliot nodded in Richard’s direction. “He came along, offering his help to find out who was responsible.”

“No one kills one of my friends and walks away,” the Fenerec growled. “Next time, call me when you land in hot water. I can swim.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Doesn’t it ever get old, you all teasing me about my inability to swim?”

Before Richard or Elliot could reply, Evelyn snarled, “There will not be a next time.”

Raising his hands in surrender, Richard said, “In the hopefully non-existent possibility that someone attempts to kidnap you again, you should give me a call.”

I poked at the piece of meat on my plate dutifully, shaking my head at the uncomfortable direction the conversation was taking. “What I want to know is why she came after me and not my brother. He’s the real problem.”

“Problem?” my brother asked, straightening in his seat. “Excuse me?”

“You’re easier to grab?” Richard suggested.

“You’re wealthier,” Vicky added, smirking at my brother. “You’re also much better at your taxes. I’m impressed, Mr. Jackson.”

“Has everyone seen my taxes?” I grumbled, matching my brother’s glare. “Respect your brother’s privacy.”

“My brother was
dead
,” Elliot snapped at me.

“Enough, both of you,” Alex said in a firm tone. “We all had a look at them, Jackson—we wanted to see if we could find any connection with your work and who might have wanted you dead. Once we knew it was a kidnap attempt and not a hit, we wanted to know who wanted you and why.”

Vicky set her elbows on the table, tapping her fingertips together. “We didn’t find anything obvious, to say the least. Do you know anything at all?”

“I don’t know anything. Evelyn?”

With a shiver, the Fenerec leaned closer to me, staring down at her plate. Bones were all that remained of her chicken. “They were all Normals. There wasn’t anything other than human scent about them. They were armed with silver, and they seemed to know what they were doing.”

“How did you get away?” Richard asked, watching Evelyn. I bristled at the way his attention was focused entirely on her. Clenching my teeth, I straightened. Evelyn’s hand slipped into mine, and she tugged on me until I looked at her.

“Luck,” she replied.

“They shot you and left you to die,” I said, my voice deepening as my anger grew at the memory.

“Is that true?” the Alpha asked.

Evelyn kept her gaze lowered to her plate and didn’t reply. I sighed, answering, “I think so. We missed the edge of the blast radius by about fifty feet. That’s how I got bit; the explosion took us both by surprise. My hand was too close to her muzzle.”

If they wanted to know the rest, including our staring contest and her lack of interest in clothing, they’d have to find out from someone other than me. All I could do was hope that Evelyn remained quiet on the matter.

“Why did you have your hand close to her mouth in the first place?” my twin demanded. “I warned you about injured Fenerec. Also, will you
please
stop staring them in the eyes? That tops the list on things you shouldn’t do. I told you this once, I even told you twice. Would you please listen this time?”

“I’ve managed just fine around them up until this point,” I replied, matching his curt tone. “If you must know, I had been holding her muzzle shut so she wouldn’t howl when I cut the silver bullet out of her leg. She didn’t mean to bite me.”

Richard nodded. “Lesson learned. Now you know not to do that. What I want to know is what happened to that truck. I saw the before and after photographs, and the destruction is impressive.”

I gawked at Richard before turning to my brother. “You have pictures?” I held out my hand, waggling my fingers at him. “Show me.”

With a heavy sigh, Elliot took out his cell, and after a few moments, he handed it to me.

All that remained of where the truck had been was a crater. Twisted metal littered the forest. A splotch of red drew my eye to the trees, where the charred remains of the fender dangled from a branch. A collection of shrapnel was embedded in the tress that had somehow managed to survive the detonation. Most of the wreckage was unidentifiable. I held the phone out to Evelyn, who took it from me.

“So how did you do it?” Richard demanded, leaning towards me. “It’s a horror show. We found debris at least half a mile away. There were a few trees blasted to mulch.”

I couldn’t help myself; I chuckled at the destruction. “Thirty pounds of C4 spread throughout the truck. I didn’t think it’d be quite so effective.”

“Thirty
pounds
? That’s insane, Jackson. Ten would have been more than enough. Why thirty?” Richard pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

I held my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know how much I needed, so I used it all.”

“He let me hit the button,” Evelyn said in a smug voice, spearing my piece of roast beef. She batted her lashes at me as she took a bite.

“So I did,” I replied, still laughing a bit as I handed my brother his phone. “Sorry, Elliot. I’ll set up your replacement toy when you get it, and I’ll make sure to include a nice present or two under the hood.”

“You better,” he mumbled.

Vicky grabbed Elliot’s phone out of his hand, grinning at the picture. “Damn, Anderson. He’s even more thorough than I am.”

My brother flinched. A flush darkened his cheeks as he muttered, “That’s not funny, Vicky.”

“Too soon?” was her amused reply.

I watched them with interest, and after deciding Vicky was the most likely to answer me, I said, “I detect an interesting and funny story somehow involving my younger brother. Do tell us, Vicky.”

“Please don’t,” my brother begged.

Vicky met my gaze before pointing at my empty plate. “Eat some real food, and I’ll indulge you.”

As my brother groaned, Richard slid over the plate of roast beef. “I told you, protein is what you need right now.”

“Carnivores,” I grumbled, taking a few slices to appease the Fenerec surrounding me. “What did you do to my brother?”

“I played dead and blew up an SUV to do it,” she replied, turning to face my brother. They stared at each other for a long moment before my brother sighed.

“Vicky has multiple personality disorder and enjoys pushing me around,” he said, scowling. “And the second time you almost died; yes, it is too soon.”

I sucked in a breath at the emotion in Elliot’s voice. It took me several moments to remember the explosion in Washington—and the fact that my brother had been at ground zero, escaping with more than a few scrapes and bruises. “You were in D.C. for that funeral a while back. I remember him calling me about it.”

“I was in the middle of it,” she confirmed. “I hit my head.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it. You cracked your skull,” my brother snapped.

Revenge wasn’t something I did often to my brother—mainly because of the lack of opportunity. I pointed at him and said, “He was about twenty feet from losing his head altogether.”

Vicky stiffened, her eyes widening. “What? You were there? You didn’t tell me that!”

My twin stared down at the table, his face turning redder with each passing moment. “Of course I’d gone.”

“You just hit pay dirt on your brother,” Richard informed me with a grin. “I do believe he is blushing.”

I smiled. “It does indeed seem like he is blushing. Elliot, I hope you’re aware that I still have those photographs,” I said to test his reaction.

My brother lifted his head, his eyes wide. The red bleached to a sickly gray.

“Pay dirt indeed,” I told Richard, my smile broadening to a grin.

Elliot groaned, covering his face with his hands.

~~*~~

Long after I was full, my brother and the Fenerec plied me with food. By the time they deemed I had eaten enough, I was ready to sleep for a week, something I doubted any of them would appreciate. While I watched, the Fenerec each ate enough for four, both disgusting and enthralling me. Evelyn was working her way through yet another plate of fried chicken while I wondered where she was putting it all.

I was so engrossed in watching her devour her food that I flinched when Max whispered in my ear, “The captain wants to see you in his quarters after dinner.”

Once I could speak without gasping, I replied, “Aren’t his quarters right next to mine? He should come visit me.”

Max laughed, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Captain’s orders.”

“He’s so pushy. Is now fine?” I glanced at the Fenerec, who didn’t seem inclined to want to leave their feast.

“Now is fine. I’ve been told you’re welcome to join him, Mr. Anderson.”

My twin rose from his seat. “If you’ll excuse us, ladies and gentlemen?”

The Fenerec waved us off. Evelyn smiled at me and said, “I love buffets.”

My knee ached as I stood, but the pain didn’t stop me from returning her smile with one of my own. “I’m glad. Please excuse me.”

If I had my way, I’d make sure she never looked so hungry again, even if it meant I had to take out stock in a cow farm to make it happen. I limped for a few steps before I forced myself to even my stride. Derek fell in behind me as we crossed the dining hall. The captain’s quarters were far enough away that by the time we arrived, I was wincing with each step.

“Are you okay?” my twin asked as Max knocked on Zachary’s door.

“It’s sore, that’s all. I’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”

“That’s not happening,” he replied. “When I’ve dealt with those behind everything that’s happened, then I’ll cease worrying.”

Zachary opened the door and waved us inside. “The Fenerec are still at dinner?”

“They’re going to savage the supplies at the rate they’re going,” I warned, wondering if the ship could handle the presence of so many Fenerec; if four could eat so much, how was Zachary going to feed all of the ones on board?

“We’ll be fine. I planned accordingly. How are you feeling?” He held the door open, gesturing to the opened door across the entry.

I waited for Zachary. “I’ll feel a lot better when everyone quits asking me that. What do you need?”

“I don’t need anything. We’re going to watch a movie,” he informed me, shoving me in the direction of his entertainment room. I blinked, letting him propel me along. Watching a movie was a tradition of ours, but one we usually indulged in during the first night of a voyage.

The last time had been my choice, not that we had a wide selection of our preferred genre. “Which one?” I asked.

“I’ll let you decide, but there are certain rules you must follow when choosing. We can watch one about a sinking ship, one about a sinking ship, or one about a sinking ship.”

I chuckled. “Sorry, but I’m not picking
The Titanic.
If you even try to convince me, I’m asking Richard to take you for a swim.”

“Oh, come on, Boss. We could wait for the wolves. I’m sure Evelyn would love an excuse to cuddle with you on the couch for four hours,” Zachary replied.

Shaking my head at my friend, I claimed the armchair, sinking down into its comfortable embrace with a low groan. “How about
The Poseidon Adventure
?”

With a huff, he countered, “
The Perfect Storm.
”

My brother sat on the couch, stretching his legs out. “How about
2012
? That has a shipwreck in it, doesn’t it?”

“Disaster films are always fun,” I replied, leaning the chair back. “However, I stand by my original choice:
The Poseidon Adventure.
”

Zachary pointed at me, striking a dramatic pose. “You want to sleep through it, don’t you?”

I widened my eyes, pressing my palm to my chest. “Me? Sleep through
The Poseidon Adventure
? Why would you think such a thing?”

“I don’t know who improved your sarcasm skills, but I want to hit them,” Zachary grumbled, sitting beside my brother, snatching the remote from the coffee table. “Pick a movie you won’t sleep through.”

My brother ran his hand through his hair. “Are you seriously telling me that you watch ships sink while on a ship? Is this your idea of fun? Dante, you can’t even swim. Are you insane?”

Zachary laughed. “It was the Boss’s idea. Makes him feel all safe and secure, I think. Max, you have popcorn duty.  Derek, take a load off—this is a strict no-working zone.”

“Security doesn’t work that way, sir,” Derek replied.

“Order one of your minions to go guard something—maybe the boss’s lady. You can watch over him from the comfort of the couch.”

“How effective, Zach. Why hire a security detail if you’re going to tell them not to do their jobs? Don’t listen to him, Derek. Guard and watch as you can—from the couch.”

Derek shook his head, sitting on the far end of the couch. “You’re as bad as he is, sir.”