Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1) (35 page)

He put a chill up my spine, and I wasn’t even the person he was mad at. No wonder he was such a successful lawyer.

“I see. I’m very sorry for your…” He caught Mikah’s look and changed his word at the last minute. “Uh… current difficult circumstances. Of course, both the bank, and myself will do what we can to expedite the situation. Who did you say you were working with at the police department?”

“Lieutenant Clark. And I’d appreciate if you don’t call him as soon as we walk out. He’s a little busy at the moment trying to keep innocent people from getting killed.”

The teller, Miss Atkins, I guess, came in with bundles of cash. She started counting them out and Mikah held up his hand. “Give me something to sign so we can get on with this. I’m going to presume you aren’t trying to rip me off. This has taken too much time as it is.” He brusquely signed the receipt and started shoving the neatly-wrapped bills into the leather satchel.

He finished, and snapped the satchel closed. “Your cooperation has been noted and appreciated. We’ll be leaving now. Good day.” He spun on his heel and walked out of the office.

I followed close in his wake. “Remind me to never face you in court, Mikah. I bet the other attorneys get frostbite.”

We got back in the car and sat for a moment, but my phone was stubbornly silent. “Maybe we should drive back to the house. I have to believe he’s going to call.”

The phone didn’t ring until we pulled into the driveway. I didn’t recognize the number, so I was sure it was Colby.

“Get out of the car. Open that bag you took to the bank and make sure the money is visible. Hold it up. Don’t talk. Just do what I say.”

We both got out and Mikah handed me the satchel. I opened it, tilted it, and turned in a circle.

“Very good. Don’t say another word unless I tell you to. Leave any weapons you might have on the ground. Drive yourself and the money to the address I’m going to give you. Just get in your car and leave. Nod if you understand.”

I nodded.

“Good. Here’s where you’re headed. You have fifteen minutes. I hope you don’t run into traffic. My associate will meet you there.”

I pressed my lips closed and gave Mikah a tiny shake of my head. He looked alarmed. I opened the door, throwing my purse and the satchel into the passenger seat. As I got in, I aimed low at the ground and focused my will. I scrawled the address onto the gravel with a spray of dark gray ink, staring at the spot for a moment before pulling the door closed. All I could do was hope Mikah checked where I was looking, and that everyone else was ready to go.

Everyone Has a Stupid Plan

Colby spoke again. “You can put the phone down and put it on speaker. I wouldn’t want you to get pulled over. I’ll tell you when to pick it up.”

I drove, white-knuckled, trying to ignore the sounds from the phone. Someone was crying and it sounded like Cordie. Two people were moaning, but only one sounded like he was enjoying himself. I kept telling myself,
we have a plan
, but that didn’t stop the tears. My only solace was the ghostly pterodactyl I caught a glimpse of in my rearview mirror.

I was just coming up on a small park when Colby barked, “Pull over! Right here at the park.”

I nearly got rear-ended by an SUV as I lunged across two lanes of traffic to follow his orders. A ghostly compy pivoted and sped away. At least Razaini and May knew what was going on.

“I changed my mind,” he said. “Take the phone with you, along with the bag. Don’t hang up. Leave your purse in the car. You can even lock it if you want. Walk to the fountain and take a left. Follow the path until I tell you to stop.”

My legs were shaking and I felt like I was going to be sick. In my head, I heard Leo telling me, “No plan has ever survived engagement with the enemy.” That had become painfully clear.

Colby couldn’t stop gloating. “I can’t wait until you get here. I’ve been waiting much too long for this.”

I reached the fountain and turned. A landscaping truck was parked up ahead on the access road, and a man in coveralls stood near the truck bed. Maybe a heroic gardener was going to interrupt our little melodrama.

Nope. As I got closer to the truck, the man in coveralls turned and leered at me. He tapped the earbud he was wearing. “She’s here.”

“Good job, Olivia. You can be taught. Do everything my little droogie tells you to do, and you’ll soon get to save your sister and your friend. If I hear anything I shouldn’t, somebody here is going to start losing body parts. Tell me you understand.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now hang up the phone. I’ll be seeing you soon enough.”

His droogie held out his hand. The tag on his overalls read
Evans
.

I turned off the phone and handed it to him. He dropped it on the ground and smashed it under his boot heel. This was so surreal, and all I could think was, “
You know the damn warranty isn’t going to cover this
.”

“Boss says you liked watching cop shows and might get stupid ideas. Hand me the bag, and you start stripping.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Don’t make me tell the boss you weren’t cooperating. ‘No weapons, no wires’ he told me. Strip. Boss says if clothes don’t start hitting the ground, sis is going to lose a finger.”

My hands shook, but I tore off my clothes as quickly as I could and dropped them on the ground. He gestured for me to bend over and then to turn. “Don’t see no wires, boss. Are you sure we have to come straight back?”

He winced, so I’m guessing Colby didn’t feel like sharing. He glared at me. “You stand there and don’t move. When I say, you get in the truck.”

I stood there second-guessing everything I’d done from the first day I met Colby, while his buddy took forever to check each bundle of bills before dropping it into a dirty burlap sack. When he finished, he left the satchel, my clothes, and the ruins of my phone in the middle of the path and tossed something slippery and purple in my direction.

“Put that on and get in the truck, girlie. Time to go.”

The purple turned out to be a long silky nightgown. It had a plunging neckline and both sides were slit to the thigh, but at least it was something to wear. As I pulled it over my head, I caught a vaguely familiar scent. It took me a second to place it, but then I had it. It was Vivian’s perfume. I had to believe that Colby had stolen this from her, because the alternative was that she was in on the whole thing and he already knew our entire plan.

The inside of the cab was sweltering on its own, but it was the sun-heated, cracked vinyl seat that seared my skin through the thin gown. It was all I could do not to scream.
Whatever happens with Colby, this one dies, too
, I promised myself.

He looked over at me and adjusted himself. “Colby’ll share sooner or later, girlie. Be a good girl and I’ll be gentle.”

I bit back the “fuck off” that sprang to my lips and said nothing.

His eyes finally traveled up, and he noticed my holy symbol. “That too, girlie. Boss said no jewelry, unless of course you had your nipples pierced. That would be okay.” He grabbed it and yanked it off, breaking the silver chain. Sadly, it didn’t appear to bother his hand at all. “Bet I can get a few bucks for this,” he said, tucking it into his pocket.

He stayed away from main roads, but I did manage to catch occasional glimpses of the mountains. The mountains are always to the west in Denver, so we were moving south east. That was a good sign. The house Korembi sighted last night was south and east. If everyone else followed the plan, Leo and the others should already be there by the time we arrived, as long as there weren’t any other surprises or detours.

I was miserable, half-blind, and the asshole next to me smelled like manure. I was doing this for Cordie and Berto. And once they were safe, the bastards would pay.

We turned off into a residential area. The further we drove, the older and more decrepit the houses looked. The occasional gang tag decorated the rotting fences we passed. I didn’t see any sign of a SWAT team or anyone I knew, but I suppose that was the idea. If I saw them, the bad guys would, too.

Evans abruptly turned into an overgrown corner lot. The house was an indeterminate shade of gray, and one of the windows was boarded over. I saw Colby’s car under a rusted carport, along with four beat-up motorcycles. There were wooden privacy fences along the north and east edges of the place. There was something big behind the house, along the east fence, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The whole thing was covered with an assortment of paint-spattered tarps.

Evans tapped his ear piece. “We’re here, boss. She didn’t try anything funny. I’m kinda disappointed.”

I smiled at him, thinking to myself,
I’m going to cut off your balls and feed them to you later. I hope you choke.

His own smile wavered a bit. Maybe I was starting to get the hang of the Dark Elf Smile of Death and Destruction. About bloody time.

A door opened in the side of the house, and Colby emerged from under the edge of the carport, still looking Human. I didn’t see the ravaged side of his face until he turned. “Bring her here.”

Evans grabbed my arm and dragged me across the bench seat and out through the door on the driver’s side. I couldn’t stop myself from falling hard onto the gravel driveway. Fabric tore—the gown had caught itself on something, but I was still mostly clothed. I was already sore from being dragged across the seat. The chaser of road rash added insult to injury.

“That’s it!” I punched Evans in the balls as hard as I could.

He howled in pain and tried to grab me, but I rolled out of the way. Hot gravel and broken glass were fresh shards of agony.

Colby roared and we both froze, staring. I couldn’t believe how fast he shifted from man to wolf. The movies had it all wrong. “You said you’d follow the rules,” he snarled.

“You said you’d produce Cordelia and Berto, unharmed. Nobody said anything about getting mauled by this asshole.”

He threw back his head and laughed out loud. “You’re right. Nobody said this asshole got to maul you, including me.”

He reached Evans in three massive steps, and yanked him into the air. “I told you not to touch her.”

Evans was still stammering some kind of excuse when Colby swung him head first into the front grill of the truck. Blood ran down his face. “Please, man, I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” said Colby, and twisted the man’s head sharply to the left before dropping the limp body to the ground. “You always were a putz, Evans, and the worst gardener ever. This place is a dump.” He turned back to me. “Now, where were we?”

“You promised to release Cordelia and Berto, unharmed. I’m here, as promised, and Evans dumped the cash into the sack on the floor in front.”

“This was never about the cash, Olivia, but I’m glad your friend’s little butt buddy was able to come through for you.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, marching me around the truck toward the back of the house.

Two more men stood at either end of the thing covered in canvas. It had to be the dog run that Gracie told us about. “Show time, my little droogies,” he said.

They grabbed the heavy canvas and pulled it off to the side. It took a minute to make sense of what I was seeing. Inside the dilapidated dog run, two forms lay on the ground. “Let’s have a closer look, shall we?” growled Colby.

Cordie and Berto were dripping with sweat, sprawled on the weed-covered dirt. They wore heavy leather dog collars and nothing else. Each was chained to a solid metal ring driven into the ground. There were two cracked dog bowls on the ground between them. I couldn’t see if anything was in them.

My blood ran cold, looking at them just lying there. “Cordie! Berto! Please say something.”

“There they are, alive and relatively unharmed. They do look hot though, don’t they?” taunted Colby. “Help them out, my droogies.”

One of the men picked up the end of a hose from the ground. He aimed it at Cordie and pulled the trigger. She flinched and moaned when the jet of water hit her. Berto was next, and he, too, jerked back and groaned.

“See, they’re fine.

“I kept up my side of the agreement. Let them go.”

“You’re too funny, Olivia. I never promised to let them go. I said they’d be alive and unhurt when you got here. They are.” He ran a claw down my back, parting the soft fabric and leaving a line of blood. “Besides, if I let them go, how would I get you to behave? I don’t think you thought this through.”

I flinched and bit back a gasp of pain, but I couldn’t stop the tears. One way or the other, this was going to end today. I thought I heard a muffled
oomph
from over near the dog run, but I never took my eyes off of Colby. “You’d be surprised.” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have my droogies keep your pets watered and fed. It’s time to go inside now,” he said, “or we can stay out here and your sister can watch.”

I looked back over at the enclosure. The hose was on the ground, with no sign of Colby’s two buddies. Cordie and Berto were huddled together in the middle of the cage with their backs to us, but their guards were gone. It looked like some scraps of fabric were stuck to the fence.

Colby finally noticed the lack of guards for his hostages. “Bill! JT! Where the hell are you?”

Whatever Cordie and Berto knew, they weren’t volunteering anything. I thought I heard a scuffling noise from the other side of the fence, but evidently Colby didn’t. Nobody commented on the white cat sitting quietly on top of the dog run.

Colby thought he was so clever with his dog run. Maybe I couldn’t get to them in there, but he couldn’t reach them very easily, either. I dug in my heels. “The only thing my sister’s going to watch is me kicking your furry murdering rapist ass. You’re going to regret the day you ever crossed my path.”

“You ruined my life, bitch. I’m just returning the favor.”

I gathered my will, but he must have sensed something. He kicked me hard in the knee, sending me to the ground. It was two heartbeats before the pain went screaming through my brain. “Try your trick again, bitch. I’ll break something else for you.”