Ice Moon (19 page)

I pulled her into my arms, drinking in her scent. If there was any way I could take them along, I would, but we had no idea what might be in the lock box, and if it gave her more questions than answers, I didn’t want to risk upsetting her in a public place like a bank. Too much exposure.

Damian wouldn’t get by Sasha. She’d already shot that bastard once.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Taryn

C
harlie and I ate breakfast in front of the television. Hearing him laugh at cartoons lifted my spirits. Jared had to meet his family at the bank this morning. He’d left me with all kinds of instructions about keeping the doors locked and calling 911 if I noticed any sign of Damian.

All things I already knew, but allowing him to tell me seemed to make him feel better, so I let him get it all out. Charlie and I had been on our own since his birth. If anyone knew how to take care of us, it was me.

My phone chimed. I glanced at the screen and smiled.

Hey Beautiful. Just checking to be sure you’re all right.

I sent a reply.

All is well. We’re watching cartoons and waiting for you to get home.

My phone chimed again.

Be back soon.

“Mom, you gotta watch this part.”

“Okay.” I set my cell aside and watched SpongeBob try to save the crabby patty recipe while Charlie howled with laughter.

Tank snoozed in the morning sun coming through the glass of the back door. It was tough to believe someone was out there looking for me. Everything seemed so normal.

As the episode ended, my cell rang. Madison’s number flashed on the screen. Weird. “I’ll be right back.”

Charlie grunted a reply, and I pressed the button on my phone as I went into the kitchen. “Madison?”

“Thank god you answered. The office is still locked and we have four open houses today. We can’t get the signs out.”

I frowned, looking out the window. “Did you call Ray?”

“Yeah. I’ve left two voicemails.”

“Okay, I’ll try his house. I’ll call you back.”

Heat licked at my stomach. Ray was never late. Something was wrong. I tried to convince myself he was just under the weather as I clicked his home number and waited.

“Hello?”

“Gail? This is Ms. Goldstone. Is Ray there?”

“No.” Her voice wobbled. “He ran out for ice cream last night and he never came home.”

The heat kicked up a notch. I focused on my breathing. “Have you called the police?”

“I did. They said he hasn’t been gone long enough yet.” She sniffled. “They don’t understand. He wouldn’t just vanish.”

“No, he wouldn’t.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Maybe the car broke down. Please let me know when you hear from him, okay?”

We hung up and I set my phone on the counter, gathering my thoughts. I had to do something. Finding Ray was probably a job for the police, but I could run up and open my office. It would only take a minute. Besides, Damian wouldn’t risk a scene in broad daylight with a crowd of witnesses.

We could let everyone in and still be back before Jared got home.

“Charlie, get your shoes on. We’ve got to go to the office really quick.”

He groaned, but the TV clicked off and he stomped toward the back bedroom. I picked up my cell and called Madison.

“Ray went out for ice cream and never came back last night.”

“Oh, god.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Let’s not assume the worst. He might’ve broken down someplace without cell signal or something. I’m coming up to open the doors, but then I’ll need to leave. If I give you a key, can you lock up?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Perfect. Tell everyone I’m sorry, and I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

C
harlie and I got to the office without incident. I reminded myself again that Damian couldn’t grab us in the middle of the day in front of my employees, but his brother’s warning about Damian not being right psychologically kept echoing in the back of my head.

I got out of the SUV, keys in hand. Charlie came around and took my hand. Three of my real estate agents stood outside, checking their phones while they waited.

“Have you heard anything more about Ray?” Madison asked as I unlocked the door.

“Not yet.” I stepped inside and went to turn off the alarm. Only it wasn’t on. I frowned. “Did Ray lock up last night?”

She nodded. “Yeah, and I’d swear he set that. I was waiting on him to come out afterward.”

“Anyone here?” I called, feeling like an idiot in a horror movie. At least I wasn’t scantily clad in a rainstorm.

No one answered, but Bill passed by me. “Let me check it out first.”

I glanced at Madison. “The door was locked. Maybe he just forgot, or didn’t set it right.”

“Maybe.” But she didn’t look convinced.

Bill came back with an envelope in hand. “Everything looks copacetic, but I saw this on your desk, Ms. Goldstone. Thought you might want it since you’re here.”

I took it from him and smiled. “Thanks. Sorry I can’t stay. Madison will be locking up and setting the alarm.” I tugged Charlie with me toward the SUV. “See you all later. Call me if Ray shows up.”

“Will do.” Madison replied as she went into the building.

I got Charlie in the car and went around to my side. When I got in, I finally looked at the envelope. Ms. Goldstone was printed in block letters on the front. No other identifying marks. I opened the envelope and took out the single sheet of paper.

My pulse jumped.

Crimson drops ran diagonally across the letter.

“The next blood spilled will be your son’s unless you meet me at my new property, keys in hand, tomorrow.” Paperclipped to the back were two photos of Charlie on the playground at school. He’d been watching my son.

The scent of smoldering paper snapped me out of shock. I quickly folded and stuffed it back in the envelope and into my purse.

“Mom, you don’t look good. What did it say?”

“Nothing. Just a note about work.”

“Was it a bad note?”

Waves of heat shot through my limbs. We couldn’t stay here. “We have to get back to Jared’s. Now.”

After fastening our seatbelts, I drove as fast as I dared on the icy road down the Mt. Rose highway toward Jared’s house.

Without taking my eyes off the road, I cleared my throat and said, “You’re not going to school next week.”

“What?” I couldn’t tell if he was excited or disappointed. It didn’t really matter. There was no way he could go to school if Damian was watching him. “Mom, next week is minimum days for parent teacher conferences. I still have school until Thanksgiving break.”

“I’ll call your teacher.”

He glanced at my purse. “This is about why we’re staying at Jared’s, right?”

The vinyl on my steering wheel softened under my hands.
Shit.
I pressed the button to crack my window. Icy wind stung my face.

“It’s cold, Mom.”

“I know.”
Breathe
. “Sorry. I’m trying to cool off.”

Please, please let me cool off.
I tried to slow my breathing, while watching the road and the mirror to see if anyone followed us.

My phone rang.

“Charlie can you grab that?”

He pulled it out and pushed the button. “Hello?” His voice brightened. “Hi, Jared. Yeah she’s right here.”

Charlie held the cell out to me, but I couldn’t stop and get my Bluetooth. “I’m driving. I’ll call you when we’re home.”

Charlie listened and then relayed. “He says to be safe and he’s waiting for us.”

Be safe. Definitely my plan.

Chapter Thirty

Jared

I
drove Aren to the bank, too tense to ask many questions. Leaving Taryn and Charlie at home made me punchy, even with Sasha keeping an eye on the place. Adam jumped out of his Jeep as I parked.

We clasped forearms and Adam stared at his twin brother. “So this key was with the deed to Taryn’s place in Tahoe?”

Aren nodded. “Yeah, and the file was in a pile of stock documents in his wall safe. I’d seen them there before, but I never sorted through it. I don’t know if I ever would have if Jared hadn’t found Taryn.”

“Let’s get in there and check it out so I can get back. I don’t like them being alone when we know Damian’s looking for her.”

We went inside and the manager brought us into a quiet back room. After checking Aren’s identification, he placed the steel box in front of us and left the room.

“Okay Dad, what the hell were you hiding?” Aren turned the key and we all peered into the slender box.

Instead of rare jewelry or gold bars, or cash, we found a letter.

My sons Adam and Aren,

If you’re reading this, I must be gone. As I’m writing this, I hope to finish this task on my own, but this letter is my failsafe in case you need to handle this in my place.

Sylvia Severino, Antonio’s wife, slipped me a key once. Without it, you might never have been born. We escaped from Nero that night because of her, so please understand I owed her this favor. I probably owed her my life.

One of her students from a school in New York, a single teen-mother, needed a safe haven. Of course, I agreed.

I also agreed to keep her existence a secret.

Sylvia’s life depended on her husband never discovering her involvement in this, and certainly not with involving our Pack.

The girl Sylvia asked me to hide is named Taryn Goldstone. She’s a strong psychic with the gift of Pyrokinesis. In plain English, she can start a fire with her mind. Sylvia told me when she’s upset, the girl has trouble controlling her power which might make her a danger to all of us.

And the cherry on top? As impossible as it should be, her baby boy is a werewolf. His twin brother passed away. Crib death. And in her anguish, she set the entire apartment on fire. It was probably a blessing in disguise because the deceased werewolf child couldn’t be studied for an autopsy.

We hoped by placing her in Pack territory it would keep her and the baby off of Nero’s radar, and since her little boy wouldn’t be shifting for a few years, I had no problem agreeing to secrecy.

Our corporate lawyer was instructed to inform you of the whereabouts of this key on the boy’s thirteenth birthday. I had planned on paying Taryn a visit myself to tell her the truth about our kind and about her son.

Because of the danger of her psychic ability, I couldn’t risk sending anyone else. She trusts me.

But now you’ve got to win her trust.

Her son is going to need our Pack before his first shift. Make his mother understand.

And Adam, please be careful.

I love you both. I’m sorry I didn’t get to finish what I started.

Love,

Malcolm.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and stared up at the ceiling. For he and Aren, this note had to be like seeing a ghost. Aren sighed and leaned on the table. “If you hadn’t found Taryn now, I guess we wouldn’t have read this letter for a few more years.”

“You both know I loved Malcolm, but he’s wrong about Taryn. She’s no more dangerous than we are.”

Adam blinked hard and finally looked at me. “Except that we can control ourselves.”

My hackles raised, my voice dropping. “She can, too.”

Adam rolled his shoulders back, his gaze boring into me, demanding my obedience. “Then why haven’t you told her yet?”

“I didn’t say we shouldn’t be careful, I said she’s not some dangerous monster we need to hide.” I shook my head. “I love her.”

“And that could be blinding you to the danger, not just to you, but our whole Pack.”

Alpha or not, I wanted to clock him.

Aren came between us. “Jared has been well aware of the danger since he found out she was his mate.” He glanced my way. “But you said she’s been getting better at controlling it, right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, relieved neither one of them could see the burn on my back. “My dad invited them to Thanksgiving, so I’m planning to tell her then. That way, if she still doesn’t believe me, I can shift and show her.”

Adam ground his teeth, but wisely didn’t speak.

Aren raised a brow. “You think springing it on her in front of the entire Pack isn’t going to upset her?”

“There is no way on earth I can tell her that Charlie is a werewolf without it upsetting her. But I need to be sure she believes. Charlie thinks if she sees me as a wolf she won’t think I’m lying.”

Adam crossed his arms. “The way I remember it, last full moon you were off like a shot to her place and she
did
see you, me, and Gareth as wolves.”

“But I hadn’t told her yet. She never would have guessed it was me.”

Adam opened his hands. “I’m not trying to piss you off, but I have to think of the Pack first. If you drop this on her at Thanksgiving, what if she can’t control her power and burns the cabin down?”

I forced myself to take a breath and think before replying. “I’m not planning on telling her at the dinner table in front of everyone. We can go out back, talk about it, and when she comes in calling me a lunatic you can back me up, and Lana and Sasha can keep her and Charlie safe while we shift.”

Saying my plan out loud settled my nerves. It would work. It had to.

Adam looked at his brother and back to me. “So you’re not going to tell her in front of the Pack?”

“No.”

He stared at Malcolm’s letter again. “If it starts to go south, you have to signal us so I can get the Pack outside. My father left this to me to keep the Pack safe. If I let you handle it, my responsibility doesn’t change.”

“Everyone will be safe.” Taryn would never hurt me or my Pack. At least not purposefully.

My phone rang. I pulled it out and frowned when Sasha’s name filled the screen. “What’s up?”

“Taryn and Charlie just got in her SUV and drove off.”

“What?” My blood pressure spiked. “Are you tailing them?”

“I’m staying back, but yeah.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’m leaving now.”

I jammed my cell into my pocket. “I’ve got to go.”

No sense wasting time explaining myself to them. Werewolves had no trouble hearing both sides of a cell phone conversation.

“Keep me posted and be careful,” Adam called as I hustled to my truck. I forgot to tell him he’d have to give Aren a ride back. They’d figure it out.

I texted Taryn. Twice. Nothing. My pulse thundered in my ears as I drove home. Why would she leave? She understood the danger. She knew Damian wanted her.
Damn it!

My driveway was empty when I got home. I hit Taryn’s name on my cell. Charlie answered.

“Hello?”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “You’re okay.”

“Hi, Jared.”

“Can I talk to your Mom?”

“Yeah, she’s right here.”

Taryn sounded distant. “I’m driving. I’ll call you when we’re home.”

Hearing her voice made my wolf howl deep in my soul. Charlie came back on the line. “Tell your Mom to drive safe. I’m home waiting for you.”

He hung up and I got out of the truck. Tank met me at the door. I let him out and called Sasha.

“Hey, Jared.”

“Just talked to Taryn and Charlie. They’re on their way back home. Did you find out where they went?”

“She stopped by her office at Tahoe and opened the door. Her employees were hanging around waiting. She came out with an envelope and they left.”

“Okay, thanks for all your time today.”

“No problem. I’ll follow until they get to your street and then head home.”

“Talk to you soon.”

I called Tank back inside, but something bothered me. Ray was supposed to open for Taryn. He’d been fine all week. Why would he not show up?

When her SUV pulled in I went out to meet them. The second she got out, she rushed to my arms. I held her tight. Her body warmed me right through our clothes.

Charlie got out rubbing his hands up and down on his arms. “I’m freezing. Mom kept her window open.” He shook his head. “I’m going inside.”

“We’ll be in soon, Charlie.”

After he disappeared in the house, I kissed her hair. “You’re hot. What happened?”

Her voice was more of a sob. “I think Damian hurt Ray.”

“What?” I frowned, adrenaline igniting in my bloodstream.

She looked up at me. “Damian was in my office. There’s a note.” She pointed to the car. “He’s been watching Charlie at school.”

I loosened my hold on her, taking her hand as I went to her SUV to grab her purse. Steam rose from her shoulders in the cold as she took her purse and handed me the envelope. “You’re safe now, and Charlie’s okay. See if you can cage the fire.”

She nodded, slowing her breathing as I opened the envelope. The scent of blood hit me before I even withdrew the folded paper. Underneath his threat were pictures of Charlie on the playground at school.

“Charlie can’t go to school until we get this psycho, or at least run him out of town.”

“I already told Charlie no school next week. School’s closed the following week for Thanksgiving break anyway.”

“Good.”

Taryn met my eyes. “Do you think Ray is…dead?”

Given that Damian was a jaguar during new moon last night, my gut said he probably was, but she’d had enough upset for one day. “I hope not.”

I
sent a text to Sebastian about Ray’s disappearance. It was in my Pack’s best interest, as well as Nero’s, that humans not discover the body. The wounds would resemble an animal attack, but if an autopsy was performed, they might find traces of Damian’s saliva or hair and DNA testing would reveal a creature the human world had no idea existed.

If he wasn’t able to find Ray’s body and dispose of the remains, Adam would probably send Luke and Logan up to scout around. Both of them were excellent trackers.

I cooked up some killer grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and brought them to the table. “Soup’s on.”

Charlie streaked to his chair and Taryn looked up from her laptop. “I just got a breaking news alert of a car fire in Tahoe.”

My phone chimed on the counter. I got up and found a text from Sebastian.

It’s done. He was attacked in his car, it’s on fire now. Meet me tonight to discuss the information I need.

I glanced over at my family sitting around the table and sent a reply.

Can’t leave them unprotected. You come here. 7pm in front of my house.

“Everything okay?” Taryn asked as I sat down.

“It will be.” I couldn’t tell her about Ray. Not with Charlie right here. She’d hear about it soon enough once they identified his car and his dental records.

We decided to go ahead and take Charlie to play in his final soccer game. I’d be there and it was a public place in the middle of the afternoon. Damian wouldn’t dare to show his face. According to his note, he was expecting Taryn to meet him tomorrow anyway.

Charlie was all smiles when his coach awarded him the game ball. The banquet was in a couple weeks, hopefully we’d have all this mess with Damian behind us by then.

Again, my head spun at how much my life had changed in such a short span of time. Suddenly the needs of a little boy were more important than my own.

Taryn started on dinner when we got home, muttering something about how I made lunch so I should stay out of the kitchen.

“Jared, come play player two!” Charlie already had his video game system hooked up to my TV.

I glanced at the clock. Sebastian would be out front soon. “Okay, but just one game.”

“One?” He looked over at me with a wide-eyed expression that clearly stated he had no idea just one game was possible.

I grinned. “Maybe we can play more after dinner.”

“Yay!” He handed me a controller, gave me a brief tutorial on what all the buttons did, and then started the game.

I was reduced to button mashing in under a minute. Charlie squealed with delight, fighting the other characters while I struggled to keep mine alive. Seeing him laughing and enjoying himself buoyed my spirits. We’d get through this. We had to.

When the match ended, Charlie had high score and my character hung his head in shame. I chuckled and set the controller on the table. “I’ll be back for a rematch after we eat.”

I headed into the kitchen and stood behind Taryn, pressing a kiss to her neck, just below her ear. Her scent intoxicated me. “Sebastian is waiting for me out front,” I whispered. “My Dad had a little more information on Sylvia.”

She turned to meet my eyes. “Are you going to share it with me?”

I nodded. “Later when the little ears are asleep.”

“I heard that!” Charlie yelled without taking his eyes off his game.

Taryn laughed, rolling her eyes. “I have no idea how he does that…”

She’d know soon.

I went out front. Sebastian got out of a black sedan and leaned against the door. I didn’t smell anyone else, but my senses were on high alert either way. Once Sebastian had the information he needed, he’d be back to batting for Nero’s team. I had no doubt.

“Evening wolf.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know my name.”

“And you mine. What did you learn about my mother working with your Alpha?”

“When Malcolm and his Pack signed up for Operation Moonlight, they had no idea your father would be locking them up and running tests before declaring them inadequate for his assassin purposes due to their Pack mentality.”

“I am aware of Operation Moonlight. I hope you discovered more…”

“Your father decided they knew too much to be released. He had them discharged from military service, but had no intention of releasing them. That’s where your mother came in.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand.”