The KinKaid Wolf Pack Trilogy (33 page)

The approaching hum of another vehicle jerked Arick into alert. His driver popped the SUV into drive, readying for the chase. A Jeep buzzed past, top down, a blonde female behind the wheel.

Got you.

“That’s her!” Arick slammed his fist onto the dashboard. “Go, go, go!” The tires spun, biting into the loose dirt and gravel, fishing-tailing as they launched forward onto the pavement. Wild and pounding, Arick’s ears roared with the rapid beat of his heart. In seconds, they were right behind Rosa. After the wide bend in the road, this particular section was a straight away, descending down the mountain. The solid yellow lines opened up for passing, and Arick’s fingers curled, tightened. His veins standing out in sharp relief along his forearms.

“This is it!” He hissed. “Get her!”

The SUV swerved hard left, the engine downshifting in a throaty roar. Speeding past the driver’s side of Rosa’s Jeep, Arick glanced through the passenger window. Rosa’s gaze darted his way, and he didn’t miss the widening of her eyes when recognition dawned. Satisfaction spread a smile on his face. She knew he was coming for her.

Before his next breath had cleared his lungs, Arick’s driver had passed Rosa. He jerked the wheel, taking them over into her lane and slowed, forcing Rosa to either ram them in the rear or choose the grassy shoulder.

Brakes squealed.

Hers.

Theirs.

In the side mirror, Arick watched as Rosa’s Jeep bounced hard on the soft shoulder’s uneven surface before coming to what had to be a spine-jarring stop.

“Yes!” Arick swung his head around, assessing the distance between the vehicles. “Back this damn thing up!” he demanded. The SUV lurched into reverse. “Come on. Come on.” They had to get there before she could take off. The dark shifter behind the wheel slammed their SUV into park a couple of feet from her Jeep.

“Out! Out! Don’t you fucking dare let her get away,” Arick growled.

Doors flew open around him, and they rushed from the vehicle, engine still humming. Rosa scrambled from her Jeep, making a beeline for the brush, but two of his shifters were on her before she’d made it three feet beyond the hood of her Laredo.

One of his thugs snagged her by a fistful of hair. Rosa’s head snapped back on a yelp. She stumbled into the larger male, and he fumbled for a subsequent hold. Rosa spun, a pistol appearing in her hand aimed at her attackers.

“Shit!” Arick hissed. The bitch had brought a gun.

Kapow!

Arick jerked back, head bowing, palms flying to his ears.
Fuck!

A howl rent the air, drawing Arick upright. One of his men clutched an arm, blood oozing down his torn black sleeve like a garnet oil spill. The taller of the two, Johnson, or maybe it was Jackson—who the fuck knew—seized her wrist, knocking the weapon from her grasp. But before he could get her under control, Rosa pivoted, kicked, taking out the male’s knee. He dropped.

“You fucking bitch!” the downed male roared.

The third hired shifter charged forward, attempting to body slam her to the ground, but Rosa was too quick. He landed with a
humpf
onto the hard packed earth.

Incompetent bastards.
Arick shook his head.

As usual, he would have to handle things himself. Yanking the tranq pistol from his waistband, Arick closed in on the female. “Rosa!” he called out. “Don’t make me have to take you down like a dog.” He raised his arm, muzzle pointed at her back.

She spun, facing him, but her feet kept moving in a reverse course. “You do this, Arick, you are a dead man,” she cried out. “My brother will kill you.”

“Darling, that’s exactly what I’m counting on him trying to do.” Arick squeezed the trigger. The projectile ejected, hitting its mark—Rosa’s shoulder. She gasped, staggered, flinging her hand over the protruding dart. “Perfect.”

Within minutes, she’d crumpled under the potent sedative. Arick strode forward and retrieved his prey.

Now the real fun would begin.

***

K
aleb perched on a stool in the KinKaid mansion’s kitchen, sipping on another cup of coffee. Not that he really needed the shit right now. It was late in the afternoon, and he was so damn jacked up after the Gregorsons’ visit that sitting still, waiting for Landry to exit his meeting with the alpha was an excruciating lesson in patience. He white-knuckled his mug, lifting it for another gulp of the black brew. The duo had been holed up in the study for the past couple of hours, and with every tick of the clock, the lining of Kaleb’s gut wore another millimeter thinner.

What the hell was taking so long?

The thump of boots sounded in the hallway, and Kaleb plopped his mug on the counter. At that moment, Landry’s tall frame rounded the corner. His expression was stoic, but Kaleb had known the shifter for too long not to detect the marks stress had left behind around the male’s eyes. Kaleb slid from his seat and met his partner on the other side of the island.

“You ready to head out?” Landry asked before Kaleb could open his mouth.

“If you are.” He nodded.

“I am. Nothing more to be done here.”

“Okay...” Kaleb filed in behind his friend and headed toward the side door that led out to their vehicles. He wasn’t sure how to take Landry’s last statement. “How did your meeting go with the alpha?”

“Not here,” Landry stated.

Well, that didn’t sound good. After Landry’s reveal, Kaleb couldn’t help but wonder how the alpha would handle the next bit of news Rosa had to share. Kaleb glanced at the empty space beside his SUV where Rosa had parked her Laredo earlier that morning. She’d disappeared right after Landry’s request to speak with her brother. He’d have to stop by her place on the way home. Rosa had an appointment to keep with Evin whether she liked it or not, and Kaleb planned to make sure she followed through.

Landry had parked on the other side of Kaleb’s vehicle, and Kaleb followed him over to the driver’s door.

“So your talk with Evin...” Kaleb began.

Landry popped the lever, opened the door, but didn’t get in.

“It didn’t go well?”

“It went fine.” Landry turned and faced him. “You know Evin. He’s tough, but fair. A lot more understanding than I probably deserved.”

“Stop. Dammit, Landry.” Kaleb shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Landry’s hazel glare hit Kaleb with the chill of an early winter’s breeze. “You’ve always been such a fucking optimist. That is when you’re not drinking. Then it’s God save us all from your mouth.” He rolled his eyes.

“Here’s what I got to say about that.” Kaleb flipped up his middle finger.

“Kiss my ass. You know it’s true.”

“Whatever,” Kaleb drawled. “So does Evin believe there’s a connection with what went down between you and Arick and what’s happening between the packs?”

“He said he might not have considered the possibility before today. But after watching how Stefan reacted during their visits and his comments, he’s pretty damn sure Arick is up to his neck in this shit.”

“Damn.”

“My coming to him with the information about having a connection with Arick before the attacks narrowed his list of suspects. Arick is the only person that made sense, the only person we know of who would have something to gain if there was a war.”

Was the bastard that power hungry? “You mean if his brother ended up dead, he’d be positioned to assume his alpha status?”

Landry nodded. “And I guess his encounter with me not ending so well has only added more fuel to his drive for power and payback.”

“What a sick son of a bitch.”

“Revenge coupled with the lust for power. The combo invades the mind like a ravenous disease, blinding the person until all he can see is the endgame and the reward waiting for him there. If this is the case with Arick, no matter how many bodies pile up along the way, it won’t deter him.”

“Then we have to stop him before it goes too far,” Kaleb stated.

“Let’s hope we’re not too late already.”

An hour later, after stopping off at his home to change his clothes, Kaleb pulled up in Rosa’s driveway. Except her Jeep wasn’t there. Maybe she’d already left to meet with Evin?

Kaleb grabbed his cell from the passenger seat and tapped her name in his favorites list. After six rings, it went to voicemail. He frowned. More than likely, she was with her brother, and nothing suggested there was a problem. So why couldn’t he shake the uneasy feeling in his gut?

Mason.

Yes, if she were talking with Evin and wasn’t answering her phone, Mason could at least verify she was there.

Kaleb shot off a quick text to the alpha’s mate. It didn’t take long before his phone beeped with a reply. One that said Evin was home and hadn’t seen Rosa since that morning. Kaleb stared at the vacant slab of concrete in front of his Land Rover.

“Where have you run off to, Rosa?”

This was no time for her to assert that damn independent streak. Tensions were too high between the packs, and she knew that. His stomach roiled. No matter how upset she was over the early rise in her heat, Rosa wouldn’t be so careless as to roam off. Not now.

He dialed the front gate, sending up a silent prayer she hadn’t left the grounds. Until things calmed, the alpha’s sister was a hell of a lot safer behind the gates.

The guard on duty answered on the second ring. “Front gate.”

“This is Dalton. I need for you to check your records and tell me if Rosa KinKaid has left the grounds today.”

“Yes, sir. I don’t even have to check. She did. I was here when she left.”

Kaleb gut twisted.
Dammit!
“How long ago did she leave?”

“Let’s see...” The
clicks
of a computer mouse echoed into the receiver. “About three hours ago. Said she was heading down into Hollows.”

“Hollows, huh?” Well, at least he knew her general path. “Okay. Thanks for your help.”

“Anytime, sir.” The line went silent.

Still, something didn’t feel right. She hadn’t mentioned needing to leave the grounds today. Kaleb stared at the glowing display on his dashboard.

GPS.

Yes.
Kaleb tossed his cell back onto the seat, shifted his vehicle into reverse, and gunned it back out onto the road. Landry had obtained approval from the alpha to acquire tracking software for several of the vehicles belonging to the KinKaid family and the enforcers.

Rosa may be fine, shopping herself into oblivion, but he’d feel a lot damn better about the timing of her trip if he could verify she was indeed exactly where she was supposed to be—in Hollows.

Kaleb made it over to Landry’s in record time. At the door, he put his knuckles to the wood with a few hard raps. Seconds later, footsteps sounded on the other side and Landry opened the door.

“Didn’t we part ways already for the day?”

“Get over yourself,” Kaleb grumbled and brushed past the guy.

“Come in, why don’t you...” Landry flipped the door closed with a
bang
.

“You have the program that can track our vehicles loaded on your PC here, right?” Kaleb aimed for the large monitor sitting on the table near a bank of windows in the living room.

“Yeah... Why?” Landry joined him and plopped down in the black, vented swivel chair, facing the flat screen.

“Because I need you to run a quick search and locate for me.”

Giving the keyboard a few taps, Landry entered his password and had the software up and running. “Who am I tracking?” He glanced over his shoulder at Kaleb.

“Rosa.”

His fingers stalled on the keys. “Why do I need to be looking for Rosa’s vehicle, Kaleb?” Landry swiveled in Kaleb’s direction, his mouth drawn tight and thin. “She’s on the grounds, right?”

Shaking his head, Kaleb uttered, “No.”

“Fuck. Me.” He spun back around. “Could this day get any worse?”

“Shit. Let’s hope not.” Kaleb glared at the monitor as Landry pulled up the appropriate VIN for Rosa’s Jeep. “According to the front gate, she’s supposedly on a trip down to Hollows. But I don’t know...”

“Why? What’s got you thinking Rosa’s not where she claimed?”

“Something doesn’t feel right. Rosa never mentioned to me she’d planned to leave today, and especially since she promised to have a talk with her brother this afternoon.”

“What’s so critical about her talking to Evin that she’d need to make a promise to you?”

At that moment, a map popped up on the screen, hopefully saving his ass from having to divulge any more information than necessary. Her...status was Rosa’s news to share, not his. A red blinking icon drew Kaleb’s attention.

“Is that her location?”

“Yeah.” Landry leaned in closer to the monitor, as if the new position would somehow cause what they were seeing to make more sense.

“That’s only about ten miles from here.” Apprehension coursed through Kaleb’s veins, making the act of standing still more of a challenge. “The guard at the gate said she’d left at least three hours ago,” he bit out.

Both men stared at the fixed red dot, waiting.

“Why the hell isn’t it moving?” Kaleb growled.

Suddenly, Landry launched from his seat. “That’s what we are about to find out.”

Chapter Eleven

––––––––

R
osa stretched out her limbs. Her body ached. Damn, every joint and muscle felt bruised, overworked. Dragging her eyelids apart, bright lights screamed into her retinas. She clamped them shut again.
Where am I?

The scent of dirt, mold, and... Rosa sprang upright, her eyes going wide. The sudden change in position had gravity draining the blood from her head. She swayed. Blinked. Clasped at the edge of the cot beneath her, doing her best to absorb all the visual input of her surroundings. A small metal cage that couldn’t be more than twenty-five square feet enclosed her and a small bed. Other than the twin fluorescent lights above her head, the rest of the room was dark. Based on the smell, she had to be in a basement.

Kidnapped.

The word clanged around inside her head like an ominous bell of doom. It was all coming back—the text, the dark SUV running her off the road, the gunshot, then...Arick Gregorson. He’d shot her with a tranquilizer.