Torn (7 page)

“That's a very generous promise, Alec...”

I cut him off before he could finish. “If however you ever act in a way I believe not to be in my family's interest I'll immediately withdraw everything currently sitting on deposit with you and leave you better than six million short of your statutory depository requirements.”

“There's no call to threaten me, Alec. You'll find I don't respond well to that type of talk.”

“It's not a threat Mr. Kard, it's a simple statement of fact. I'm aware that such an action would roll your bank up overnight, but quite frankly at that point it wouldn't be my problem. Please consider this your official notice that I'm very interested in Mrs. Paige remaining in our lovely town, as a resident of her current house. In light of that, is there anything you'd like to tell me?”

“Brandon isn't going to like this and I can't survive him taking all of his assets out any more than I could if you carry through with your threats.”

“You'll be even worse off when I get done talking to the federal regulators.”

“There may be a slight irregularity in the Paige mortgage now that you remind me of just how important their interests are to you. Apparently she lied about her employment on the original loan application. Something about a contract with the Mayor to do a tourism brochure.”

“I don't think you understand just how important this matter is, Mr. Kard. I want you to take it upon yourself to personally see to it the issue is resolved in their favor. This evening.”

It almost sounded like he was having a stroke. It took him several tries to find his voice.

“That's absurd. I haven't done anything to merit this kind of treatment.”

“Yes you have. You're alleging loan fraud and I know very well nothing of the type has occurred. Your people would have confirmed all of those details before you ever wrote the original loan.”

“I've got a signed confirmation stating that she was never promised the contract by the city. My people have seen it. If I fail to call the loan, I'll have some whistleblower calling the Feds.”

“You'll have a confirmation from the Mayor's office first thing tomorrow morning. The next time I catch you purposefully losing the original paper work on a loan though I will shut your bank down. Please fax over a copy of the confirmation your office received from the mayor.”

I looked at my phone for several seconds before punching in Donovan's number.

“Yes, sir?”

“Who's the member of the mayor's staff most likely to have been working on the tourism brochure?”

“I believe Peters has been taking point on that particular project.”

“Thanks, Donovan. Can you put me through to him?”

“Of course, sir.”

Peters didn't sound particularly happy when he finally picked up on the sixth ring.

“Mr. Peters, this is Alec Graves. I have reason to believe that you've been pressured to lie about a contract you recently signed with Mrs. Paige.”

“I need to talk to an attorney.”

“No, you don't. I'm not interested in seeing you prosecuted. I do want to see the Paige family dealt with honestly though.”

Peters didn't respond for several seconds. For a second I thought maybe his conscience was going to lose the battle.

“I'd like that too, but even if what you suspect were somehow true, there's nothing I can do about it. I need this job. If Wilkenson fires me, I'm done for.”

“On the contrary. I'll hire you as a factor for some of my holdings in Nevada. You can spend three days down there and work from home the rest of the week. When the honorable mayor comes up for re-election next year, I'll back you with at least three hundred thousand dollars' worth of campaign backing. You'll win in an unprecedented landslide.”

Peters' swallow was audible even over the phone. “Even with that, I'm not sure I can win. Wilkenson knows where all the bodies around here are buried. If I did win though, I'd be my own man, not some kind of puppet.”

“You might be surprised at some of the bodies that come to light during the period leading up to the election. As long as there aren't any skeletons in your closet that I should know about, then all you have to do is fax over a copy of the Paige contract.”

Ten minutes later Donovan sent me a text confirming that both faxes had arrived.

I dialed the mayor's number as I slowly paced back and forth across the room.

“Mayor, Wilkenson?”

“This is he. Who is this and how did you get this number?”

“It's Alec Graves, Mr. Mayor. I think we should talk about the tourism brochure you've been considering lately.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“I'm talking about your office awarding a legally enforceable contract and then lying in order to help Kard kick the Paige family out of their home.”

“You have no proof of that.”

“Actually I do. I have copies of both the original contract and your personally signed denial that the bank was sent just yesterday. It really was quite careless for you to get so involved. Brandon must have offered you quite the bribe.”

He was silent for a second. “Peters. That weasel sold me out.”

“No, Mr. Mayor, Peters just guaranteed himself a job. If you move against him then I'll see you thrown out of office and sent to jail.”

“You don't have the power.”

“Mr. Mayor, you have no idea what I'm capable of. Go to the Paige house tonight, apologize for the...oversight and congratulate Mrs. Paige on winning the contract. If you ever mention this conversation to anyone I'll make very sure your career comes to a very sudden, very bloody end.”

I needed someone to make sure the Mayor followed orders. Jasmin's room was empty. I turned to go follow her scent trail and almost ran Rachel over.

"She went with
James. They're taking a foot patrol around town to establish our
continuing right to be out there. Jasmin said they'd be fine because
Brandon's pack won't try anything with all those potential witnesses
around."

I almost swore. "The
two of them shouldn't be let out unsupervised."

The Porsche took
corners well into triple digits, but I still felt like I wasn't going
to get there quickly enough. There was no way I'd find them while
still in my car, so as soon as I reached town I bailed out and
started running in the direction of the strongest scent trail.

Less than a minute
later I came around the corner of the school just in time to see
Vincent shove James. Even well into twilight as we were, it was
obvious who was doing the baiting.

Cassie was circling
Jasmin and Nathanial was standing back with a smirk on his face. I
was still more than sixty feet away when Vincent backhanded James and
began shifting.

James' figure began
blurring into his own hybrid form even before he'd finished recoiling
from the blow. Jasmin knocked Cassie back into the flagpole and
dropped down onto all fours before Nathanial could do more than
blink.

It was insane for
Vincent to have pushed us into a confrontation out in the open, but I
let my own hybrid form explode outwards as I covered the last few
feet.

James was still
injured from our fight earlier, and he was rapidly losing ground to
Vincent, who was fresh and unwounded. Jasmin and Nathanial had
locked already. It looked like she might have the superior position,
but they were whirling about too fast to be certain.

Cassie spun around as
she realized they weren't alone, but I grabbed her with one hand and
hurled her into the brick of the outer wall. It would have been
simpler to kill her, but we couldn't afford a death out here. Unless
there was no question that they'd breached our territory, there was
too much chance we'd be the ones punished for the fight.

Vincent had clinched
with James, each wolf trying to immobilize their opponent's arms and
legs while savaging them with their mouths. It was obvious that
James didn't have much longer. I hit the pair of them with enough
force to warp the heavy metal doors, knocking Vincent loose.

Vincent tried to spin
around and attack me, but I already had a firm grip on his arm, and
spun him around and slammed him into the wall before he could regain
his footing.

James was back on his
feet and he sprung at the closest enemy he could find. Nathanial let
out a yelp as wicked, eight-inch claws tore him away from Jasmin.

"This is over.
Go back and tell Brandon to police his pack better or next time he'll
find himself explaining to the Coun'hij why it was the three of you
felt it wise to use your alternate forms so close to the middle of
town."

My voice came out low
and threatening, but that wasn't what caused Vincent and Cassie to
back off. With my arrival the odds had just swung soundly in our
favor. The fact that both James and I were still bleeding was
nothing compared to what Vincent and Nathanial had just received.

For a moment it looked
like James was going to refuse to put Nathanial down, but even
overcome with blood lust, his beast knew better than to tangle with
both Jasmin and I.

James dropped the
smaller wolf into a bloody heap that Vincent had to pick up and carry
away. He was going to miss a day or two of school, but he wouldn't
die.

As soon as the other
three were safely out of sight we transformed back to our human forms
and gathered up the scattered pieces of clothing.

I ordered James and
Jasmin back to the estate, and almost thought Jasmin was going to
argue. I followed them back to Jasmin's black Mercedes, just to make
sure she didn't disobey.

James was in my face
as soon as I pulled into the garage.

"We had them.
Dead to rights. They started a fight in a neutral spot, and we
would've come out on top. Why did you blow yet another chance to
kill Vincent?"

"First of all I
didn't blow the last chance. Second of all I'm the Kir'shan here.
You do what I say when I say it. Tonight wasn't the time to fight to
the death. Especially not in the middle of town. You were stupid to
have let them goad you into a battle right there, and only the fact
that they changed first is saving you from a beating."

It wasn't the most
politic of ways to handle the situation, but I couldn't tell him the
truth. The only thing keeping the pack together right now was the
belief that inside the ridiculous set of rules the Coun'hij had
established we had a chance at beating Brandon, or at least goading
him into the kind of mistake that'd cause them to take care of him
for us.

If James and Jess knew
the rules were being re-written to favor Brandon, there was a
distinct possibility they'd disappear on me.

For a second I thought
that James was going to attack me, but he'd picked up a whole new set
of wounds. He was even less of a match for me than normal and he
knew it. The energy level inside the garage ratcheted up nearly to
the point of a transformation, and then he turned and stormed out.

Jasmin clapped
sarcastically, reminding me that she'd just served as an audience.

"Ok, now that
he's safely out of hearing range how about if you tell me what's
really going on?"

"No, Jas. How
about if
you
tell me what's going on? We both know it was the
height of stupidity for the two of you to go into Sanctuary by
yourselves. What's gotten into you lately?"

"I don't know
what you're talking about."

"You're lying.
Lying and hiding something."

She was mad, but
unlike James, she was capable of controlling her anger. From time to
time.

"They've decided
to come down on Brandon's side haven't they?"

The abrupt change took
me by surprise. I couldn't respond without telling her exactly what
she wanted to know. Sometimes I could bluff Jas, or even use some
misdirection to convince her of something that wasn't exactly true,
but I wouldn't be able to lie to her. She gave me a second to
establish that I wasn't going to say anything and then shrugged.

"It was bound to
happen, Alec. I won't tell any of the others, but Isaac at least
will probably figure it out."

"You're right.
I'm surprised you're not heading for the hills, but you're right."

"Please. Isaac
and I have both known this would happen sooner or later. They
wouldn't have done what they did to your father and the rest of the
pack if they weren't completely terrified of what he represented.
You're a focal point. Not now; not with such a small pack behind
you, but every day you hold Brandon off is another mini victory.
Eventually the other packs will start noticing, and they can't afford
that."

"That doesn't
mean you all have to go down in flames with me."

"Yes it does.
Maybe we could have defected to Brandon early on, but that's not an
option now. We've become part of the symbol. Any reign of terror
only lasts as long as resistance is swiftly destroyed. If they let
us go, they risk losing control."

Whatever else Jasmin
might have said was interrupted by my cell phone. I recognized
Rachel's voice as I answered.

"Alec, mom needs
you. Where are you?"

"I'm in the
garage. I'll be there in a moment."

Jasmin turned to
leave. I thought about stopping her. She was hiding something, and
that didn't bode well for her continued cooperation, but there was a
limit to just how far I could press her. Bleeding both of us, her
especially, to get my answer would be poor repayment for someone
who'd chosen to stick her hand into the meat grinder we were headed
towards.

Rachel met me just
inside the front door.

"I'm really
sorry Alec. I tried to calm her down but she won't listen to me."

"It's ok, Rach.
I should have remembered this was coming. It always happens within a
day or two of the big break down."

I went to step around
her, but she reached a hand out to stop me.

"Alec, I was
wrong to ask you to promise that. I can see that now. I shouldn't
have traded on the guilt you feel to get something that could have
put the whole pack at risk."