Loving Her (Keeping Her) (12 page)

It had taken them no time
at all to find where the cop was staying.  The other information had been harder
to get, but worth every penny they spent.  It had taken quite a lot to talk
Demon into staying behind, but they had managed it.  They made sure Eli didn't
find out what they were doing, or he would have wanted a piece.  As it was,
they had been unable to shut out Shawn, who trailed them in bird form and
generally made a nuisance of himself until they stopped. 

No one in their pack was
particularly fond of woman beaters, but besides wanting to beat his ass on
principle, everyone liked Cassandra.  The bastard was lucky they were going to
leave him alive.  If he hadn't been human, and a cop, things might have gone
differently, but they didn't want any of this to blow back on Cassie.  This was
why she was at home under time stamped surveillance.  That and they just
couldn't knowingly put her in a dangerous situation.  Period.

Now they stood in the
hallways of the Hilton, outside the hotel room door, Shawn at their backs a few
feet down the hall as a look out. 

“You do know that Cassie is
going to be pissed we did this without talking to her first,” Ben said
morosely.

“So you keep saying, but
better that than in danger, and we both know she would never have agreed to
stay behind,” Mac said just as grimly.

“Right.  I know.  I’m just
restating it so when the time comes I can honestly say I told you she wouldn’t
like it and throw you under the bus,” Ben said seriously.  “When she gets into
that ‘my shit and your shit’ speech, I’m pointing my big finger right at you.”

Mac whipped around, his
hand raised.  “Bastard,” he said viciously, glaring at Ben.

When Ben just shrugged his
shoulders unrepentant, Mac turned back to the door with a curse and pounded so
hard the solid oak shook against its hinges.

With much muttering and
cursing from the other side, the door finally opened and Detective Marcus Sykes
stood there looking scruffy and none too pleased in khaki shorts and a truly
horrendous Hawaiian shirt.

"Dude," Ben said,
with an overly friendly grin.  "Channeling Magnum P.I. only works for
private detectives.  Plus, you have to be as cool as Tom Sellek."  He
shook his head.  "Many put on the shirt, few can truly wear it."

"Can I help you?"
was the belligerent response.

"Yes.  You can pack
your bags and go home."  Ben smiled again.  "Please, take the shirt;
continue to wear it in public.  The thought brings a smile to my face."

"Well, I'm glad I
fucking amuse you, but who the hell are you?"

"Benjamin Cormak and
Noah MacAllister.  But all you really need to know is that Cassandra is under
our protection and you are leaving her alone."

"Cassandra?"  He
narrowed angry eyes, "I don't know what she told you, but she's a
liar."

"Worst liar I ever
saw,” Ben grinned, it turned cold.  "You on the other hand are fairly
convincing I understand. 

Probably comes with being a
detective, fighting the good fight, but having to do it from the gutter.  You
roll around with pigs and you're going to get dirty.  No pun intended with the
pig reference.  I always had a soft spot for a man who puts on a uniform to do
the tough job."  Then his voice got hard and mean.  "Of course,
nothing more fucked up than a man who puts on the uniform, takes the oath and
then shits on his duty.  That always makes me want to fuck a man up."  He
turned to Mac.  "What about you Mac?  How does that make you feel?"

"Pissed," Mac
said.  His eyes unswerving cold steel.

"Yeah, me too."

"I don't know what the
fuck that bitch told you,” Marcus started, belligerence in every word. 
"But I’m a decorated detective of the Seattle PD.  I do the job, just like
every other cop out there.  Trust me when I say you want to walk away.  You get
involved with my business and I will rain badges down on your asses."

"That was a beautiful
statement.  Almost poetic.  Course, that doesn't mean shit to us."  Ben
suddenly got very serious.  "Cassandra is off limits.  Get used to it,
move on, or the dealings you have going with the Cosca Cartel will come to
light and you'll be the one getting the badge shower."

Other than a small
tightening of his mouth, there was no other reaction.  "I don't know what
you're talking about."

"That's good,"
Ben said.  "Look that seriously annoyed when you're in front of the grand
jury.  You might only lose your badge, and not face prison time.  Not likely,
but hell, other people have got off with less chance than you, so why
not?"

"You don't want to
play this game with me," he said.  His teeth gritted.  "You have no
idea who you're fucking with."

"No," Mac said,
his voice low and full of wolverine.  He moved so fast he had Sykes pushed
back, and lifted by his neck.  Turning, he slammed the bigger man into the
wall.  "We don't want to play games, and we sure as fuck do not care who
you think you are."

Ben followed, closing them
into the room.  “What we really want is an excuse to beat you down and bury you
in a shallow grave,” he said calmly while Mac slammed Sykes repeatedly against
the wall by nothing but the grip he had on his neck. 

The asshole was starting to
turn red in the face, clawing up Mac's arm, and then going for his eyes.  Mac
slapped his hands away like he would any annoying insect. 

"But this is what we
got," Ben went on.  "You cause Cassie or anyone associated with her
any more problems and your dirty deeds come to light."

Slam, slam.  "You come
anywhere near Cassie again and we get what we really want for Christmas." 
Ben finished.  "Please reference afore mentioned beat down and shallow
grave."  Slam, slam.

Then Mac dropped him,
turned while Sykes was still sputtering on the floor, and walked out.  Ben
knelt down beside the wheezing man.  He grabbed him by his hair and and pounded
it down on the floor.  "You listening?" he asked in a whisper.  Sykes
looked up with dazed eyes, dribbles of spit on his chin.  "My friend who
just walked out is seriously pissed and wants nothing more than to rip out your
throat and eat your heart so he can't really get his talking time.”  Ben
slammed his head back down.  “I'm all about the talking time, so let me
reiterate while you aren't so worried about breathing.  Get out of our town. 
Get out of our state.  Today.  Tomorrow, we get serious with this shit.”  Ben
dropped his head with a thump and followed Mac out the door, closing it softly
behind them.

"Well that was
fun."

Mac, who was still
struggling with the wolverine desire for a more permanent satisfaction, just
hissed out a warning, eyes flashing silver.

"Look on the bright
side, he doesn't look too smart, maybe he'll be really stupid and stick
around.  Then we can come back tomorrow and 'go medieval on his ass.'"

Shawn, who was silently
following them out, made a face, shaking his head.  "How long have you
been trying to work that phrase into conversation?"

"Since I saw Pulp
Fiction two years ago," Ben answered, hitting the button for the
elevator.  "Too much?"

"I suppose we should
just be happy you didn't actually use it on the target."

Mac opened and closed his
fists, his eyes swirling shades of silver, his jaw aching from clenching
sharper than human teeth.  The others continued to try to distract him from his
wolverines need to rend and tear, but he wasn't going to feel human again until
he had Cassandra in his arms.

"It would be tacky,
using movie quotes to scare people," Ben continued.  "I prefer to
confound with subtle sarcasm and droll wit."

"Is that what you
do?"  Shawn asked, following them in when the elevator doors opened. 
"Here all these years I just thought you were an asshole."

"Well, whatever
works."

***

 "You have to know
where they are." 

"Honestly, Cassie,
they didn't tell me where they were going, if they were going after that piece
of shit Sykes, I would have volunteered to go with."

"Demon?"  Cassie
asked, looking at Demon who was glowering at both her and Clytie in equal
measures.

"What?" he barked
out.

Clytie narrowed her eyes. 
"You know where they went, don't you?"

"I know they had business."

"Really?" she
asked, her hands going to her hips.  "Are you really pulling man
solidarity on this?"

"I am if you think
you're walking out that door and heading for a confrontation with a piece of
shit dirty cop that likes to hit women."  He leaned down until they were
nose-to-nose, and growled.  "Not.  Happening."

"They're going to get
arrested," Cassie said, pacing back and forth across the control room. 
"No way will Ben not aggravate the shit out of Marcus, no matter what
intentions they start with."

"I'm betting that is
the intention they start with," Demon mumbled.  Cassandra stopped to glare
at him, then continued her pacing.

"I'm an adult.  A
powerful woman who handles her own problems.  I don't want or need some big
shapeshifting ex-navy SEAL to come to my rescue."  She stopped for a
minute in her frantic pacing.  "No matter how hot that sounds."  She
started pacing again. 

Clytie snorted out a laugh,
then cleared her throat when Cassie sent another glare winging her way. 
"Absolutely."

Demon snorted, his arms
crossed firmly over his massive chest. 

Eli watched, fascinated
with his head leaning on his closed fist, wondering if he should feel guilty
for enjoying the sight of Cassandra’s sashaying ass quite so much, but then he
saw Roxanne peaking out at them all from beside Demons leg and did his best to
look elsewhere.  Course she kept crossing right in front of him, so not
entirely successful.

"Who knows the number
to their phones?" she asked suddenly, whirling to look between them all.

"I have it in my
phone," Clytie said, patting her pockets like she ever carried it with her
in the house.  Demon just studied the wall over Eli's head. 

"It's on the
charger." she said, turning to run out of the room.  "I'll get
it."

Cassandra was still pacing,
practically wringing her hands in her agitation, and occasionally ranting.

"Do I get up in their
business?  No.  I let them be who they need to be and I expect the same
courtesy."  She pointed an accusing finger at Demon, "And don't try
to tell me they just want to protect me, because we both know they left me
behind so they could kick his ass without me watching."  Demon, who hadn't
said a word continued to glare.  "How do they think I'm going to feel when
they are shot or exposed for my sake?"

She whipped around and took
Eli by surprise by pointing at him next.  He had to shift his focus on the fly
and hope she didn't notice where his attention had once again wandered. 
"What happens if he dies?  He's a decorated police officer.  Someone will
notice he's missing and come looking for him.  I'll be number one on the list
for suspects. 

I don't care how much
Lucas' people cleaned and disinfected after the battle, they bring one of those
little blue lights in this house and we're screwed."  She turned to make another
circuit.  "And stop looking at my ass Eli; we are in crisis here."

Eli cleared his throat
loudly.  Careful not to look at Demon who had switched his glare Eli's way. 
"Nobody is going to die today.  Lucas' people know what they're doing;
there isn't anything for forensics to find."  His smile turned a touch
wicked, his Scottish brogue thickened.  "And may I say darlin', it's an
arse well worth watching."

"Here it is,"
Clytie said, running into the room, out of breath and pink cheeked.  She handed
over the phone with the numbers displayed.  "I pulled up both numbers just
in case."

Cassie took the phone and
dialed the first number shown.  Then the other, both went directly to
voicemail.  "Damn it!" she said.  Right before the alarms for the
front gate went off. 

Eli was pulling up the
cameras before they all made it over to the terminal.  Cassandra had to blink
twice when she saw who was at the gate, then her eyes narrowed and she felt her
heart speed up.  It wasn't the fear that cops were coming to break down the
door and arrest everyone.  It was pure unadulterated rage.  Demon growled and
said succinctly what they were all thinking when they saw who had come to
visit.

"What.  The. 
Fuck?"

"Is that who I think
it is?"  Clytie asked, her voice low with anger.

"If you think it's the
woman who accused Ben of raping her and, along with his best friend, did her
best to get him beaten and thrown out of his pack, then yes.  It's who you
think it is."  Cassie's own voice had gone ice cold while she studied the woman
at the gate.  "I think you were wrong Eli.  Someone is going to die
today."

"Whelp, she can stand
at the gate until she rots as far as I'm concerned," Eli said, ignoring
the page from the front gate.