Walker (Bowen Boys) (12 page)

“Damn it, I told you he’d find me.” She
took out another gun and handed it to Khan. “You know how to use this?”

“Yes, but why should I care about your
ass? You’re the reason this is happening.” He handed her back the gun and
started to stand. She knocked him to the floor again. This time Khan fought
back.

Walker didn’t know how he was suddenly
out of the chair, nor did he remember shifting, but he and Khan were going at
each other like one of them was going to die. And Walker was just pissed enough
to not care that this was his brother. The sharp pain in his leg had him turn
to the source and he stood very still while he watched Caitlynne stand with a
gun on them both. He hadn’t even heard the report and that’s when he realized
that she had a silencer on the big thing. Khan growled low and started toward
her when she shot him in the leg as well.

“Now here is how this is going to work. I’m
tired of fucking with you people. I never wanted this. All I did was take some
time off my job so that I could recoup from something that should never have
gone down. In that time since, I’ve found out that my boss really is a prick
and a liar, there are werepanthers in the world, and one of them hates me more
than I do myself.” She shrugged. “But that’s beside the point. I’m going to go
out that door and if any one of you even peek your face out, I’m going to blow
it off. Understand me?” No one moved and she pointed the gun at their heads. “I
know you can fucking understand me; that man over there did when I didn’t want
him to get hurt. So fucking answer me.”

Khan snarled and she shot him again. She
must have figured out that they healed quickly and her next statement confirmed
it.

“I know you won’t die from this because
that man took one to the gut and he’s walking around like he’s never been sick
a day in his life. But I’m reasonably sure that if I shot you in the fucking
head, there won’t be any recovering from that.”

“No, my dear, they won’t. But I would
like to point out that you’re bleeding again and quite badly.” His mom stood
and moved to her slowly as she spoke softly. “I would like to speak to you, if
you wouldn’t mind so much. There are things you need to know as well. Especially
about Walker and you.”

“There is no Walker and I. That’s what
I’ve been saying.” She swayed a bit and Walker let his cat go so he could
shift. Caitlynne started toward the door as he grabbed up his boxers and moved
after her slowly. The wound in his leg was just beginning to heal and still
hurt badly, but she was much more important at the moment. She didn’t even get
to the door before she fell back in his arms.

~~~

“Found her. She’s at a hotel on Route
Forty. She is there with some man, but we don’t know who he is just yet,” Nestor
said as he walked into the hotel room. “She has her truck and not much else. They
went in to get her without my permission and there were shots fired. I’m not
sure why the locals haven’t shown up yet, but that’s about all I have. What do
you want me to do?”

They’d been back from the jail for just
under two hours. Conrad had taken two showers and had used an entire bar of
soap and all the shampoo he’d packed. Nestor had been out getting him more and
tossed the bag from the downstairs gift shop. Conrad took the things, pulled
out the alcohol wipes, and began wiping down his watch, phone, and keys while
he thought of what he wanted done now that they had her.

“Where the fuck do you keep finding
these morons? Do you make them understand that we are in charge? Do you have
someone on her? It would really suck for you if she left.”

Nestor said that he had two men on her.

“Good. When do you go back and help?”

“Help? I thought you needed me here. There
are men on her much better at keeping her in their sights than I would be, and
they know that I’m in charge.”

Conrad turned to Nestor and laughed.

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t. But that debacle
that happened yesterday and now today, that was all
your
fault. Had you
taken the time to notify that fucking cop, we would never have had to call the president
and have him tell the cocksucker to let us go. Then you have people looking for
the bitch that doesn’t know what under surveillance means. Christ, you made us
look bad and for that…well, you might hold onto your job better if you simply
leave right now.”

He looked as if he was going to say
something, but he only nodded. Conrad was disappointed in the man. He’d hoped
for some sort of comment; anything at all would have made him happy because he
would have gotten to kill him. He sat down and tried hard not to think about
the call he’d made yesterday when Jerry hadn’t answered him. He’d had to call
the president.

“I need you to bail me out, sir. The
locals here are upset because they weren’t notified when I arrived in town
yesterday. They took my gun, as well as my badge, and said that until someone came
to collect me or paid my bail, I was stuck here. And as you have sent me here
to find McCray, I can’t very well do that from a jail cell.”

He’d spoken fast because he had been
told numerous times that he had ten minutes to use the phone. Conrad kept an
eye on his watch, figuring that they’d cheat him out of minutes if he didn’t. He
realized that a full minute had gone by without the president speaking. He
nearly said his name when he spoke.

“You go to a town that has had a major
explosion without notifying the local police that you’re in town. You get
arrested, disarmed, and your badge, your government credentials, taken away and
then you call me to bail you out.”

Conrad closed his eyes as Warren
continued.

“What kind of stupid are you? I mean,
you’re in charge of what I had thought was an elite group of men and women. But
with this…well, this kind of stupidity, I can only think that you might not be
the man I thought you were. Or maybe you are. Which is it, Garrett? You man
enough to do this job? Or should I get McCray to do it for you?”

“No, sir. I’m doing the job just fucking
fine. And now I need your help to do what you sent me here to do. Though why
you should think a cunt like her can do anything beyond fucking anything that
moves is beyond me. She has no respect for me and my position, she makes up
shit about the vice president, and for whatever reason, you believed her. And
now I’m stuck here. Are you going to help me or not?” He had snapped before he
thought. And now he was going to be left here, as he had predicted.

“You listen to me, you little
motherfucker. I make the rules and you do them. If I send you to ground zero to
find her, you will do it. As for your little problem in Ohio, you’ll get out,
but not before I’m ready to let you out. While you’re sitting there waiting I
want you to think of this.” Warren took several audible breaths before he
continued in that low, frightening tone. “I know a great deal more about all of
this shit you’re involved with Jerry in than either one of you can know. You
will go down with him, bank on it.”

The line had gone dead and five hours
later he and Nestor were let go. Conrad was sure it might have been a good deal
longer, maybe even weeks longer, but he wanted him to find his girl, as he’d
called her over the past several weeks. When he saw on the receipt that his
fine had been paid, it had a time stamp of ten minutes after talking to the
man. He had paid and had the cock-sucking cop hold him until then. Conrad stood
up when a knock came to the door.

The bellman took his luggage and waited
for him to follow. There had been a message when he’d returned that he was to
vacate the premises immediately or else. And he had to pay for the room with
his own credit card because his government one didn’t go through. If the
bastard had taken away his clearances he knew for sure that both he and the vice
president were so fucked.

As he was being driven away his phone
rang. He saw it was Nestor and almost didn’t answer it. The man was driving him
crazy and knew that as soon as he got back to DC he was getting rid of him.
Permanently.

“She’s gone. When I got back here, she
was gone, and the other agents you sent to watch her were in the coffee shop
across the street. They said they were ordered to stand down.”

Conrad had the driver pull over and
close the window between them. “Start from the beginning. What do you mean they
were ordered to stand down? I give the orders around here. Who the fuck did
they say told them to do that?”

It took Nestor long enough to answer
that he knew who it was before he answered. “The President of the United
States, Warren Russo. They said he called them directly and told them that the
mission they were on was not something he had sanctioned. That they were to go
have a cup of coffee and lunch on him and he’d see them when they returned. They’re
going back to the White House when they leave here, in Air Force One.”

Conrad was fucked. He opened the door to
the limo and stood on the side of the road just trying to get his racing heart
under control and to try to think. The president probably didn’t know the whole
story, but if he kept on searching he would soon enough. He realized that
Nestor was speaking when he saw his driver get out of the car.

“…I’m to come back too. In the same
plane. He told those other agents that McCray was under his care and that he’d
get someone to watch over her that she knew and trusted. Do you think he knows
anything?”

Conrad nodded at the driver when he
indicated with his hands, “what gives?”

“I’m on my way back to explain
everything to him.”

Like hell
, Conrad
thought.

“As soon as I get it cleared up, things
will be fine. You just do as I tell you and I’ll take care of the rest. And
Nestor, you say a fucking word about what you know and you’ll be going down
with me.”

Nestor said he understood and they hung
up. Conrad got into the limo again and decided that he was fucked no matter
what and had to make plans. One of them was to not go back to DC. He was as
good as dead if he did. As soon as the limo pulled up in front of the airport
Conrad knew he had to make other arrangements. There were five men standing
there waiting for him when he got out.

“Conrad Alan Garrett? We’re to escort
you to the plane and stay with you until it takes off. Do you have anything
that needs to be taken out of your bags before we get to the terminal?”

“No. My weapon. But no, nothing else. I
do have to use the facilities. Would that be possible?” He didn’t think they
were going to let him, but he was escorted there and left to use the stall on
his own after they took his service weapon. One of them stood just on the other
side of the stall door and he knew that one or more of the other agents were
keeping anyone from coming in. Conrad knew he was going to go to prison and
didn’t know if he could survive it.

He sent two text messages out and heard
from both men. He smiled as he took out the battery to his phone and broke it
in half. Flushing the pieces down the toilet had him nearly cry out when they
didn’t seem to want to go, but after the second try, they disappeared. He was
as ready as he would ever be.

He pulled the gun out of his ankle
holster and pointed it at the man he knew was probably standing close enough
for him to shoot and kill. Chuckling slightly to himself, he mouthed the word,
“bang.” Before he could change his mind he put the gun to his chin and pulled
the trigger.

Chapter Ten

Lynne woke, but didn’t move. She was
trying to get her bearings when a sudden flare of light had her turn away from
it. She heard someone mumble, “Sorry,” and it was dimmed somewhat. When she
looked, whoever it was had put a towel or something over it.

“I repaired your wounds, though they’re
healing a good deal faster than previously. The one in your shoulder is nearly
closed and the ones in your leg are doing much better. But there is still the
matter of your loss of blood. You’re going to be weak.”

She sat up and stretched her arms over
her head. Her nakedness didn’t bother her, but it apparently did Walker. His
low growl made her tingle all over, but she tried not to let it bother her.
Tried
being the operative word.

“Where am I? I don’t believe this is a
hospital, it’s too homey. Am I at your parents’ house again?”

“No. This is mine. I have a clinic in
the basement I use for the paranormals to come to if they want.” He took the
cover off the lamp and she could see him better. “You and I will need to talk. There
are things I’ve not had the opportunity to explain to you, and I apologize.”

“You can start by telling me why the
sudden heal factor? Is it because you think we’re mates or whatever? And so you
know, I’m coming back to the other ‘paranormals’ comment. I’m assuming that
means there are more than cats.” He nodded. “I can’t be your mate any more than
I can shift into something. Hell, it would be more likely for me to wear a
dress, and that so isn’t going to happen.”

“My blood is mixed with yours. When we
exchanged blood, that made you have some of my healing powers. I would guess
that you’ll be a little stronger as well, though the thought of you being
stronger frightens me a little.”