Wolf Hills (22 page)

“I can’t find a connection to say that he is definitely involved in the immediate case. My gut says the hunters were solely responsible for abducting Jimmy. But the money trail is clear. He bought a place, and it’s a good bet, if they’re all part of the same club, he’s letting them use it. At the very least, it has to be searched in order to be eliminated as a possibility.”

Carly nodded. “But you don’t know exactly which property it is, right?”

“Well the odds here are much better than they would be in a big city. Only two real estate closings around the date in question. Only two places to check. Believe me, it could’ve been a lot worse.”

Seth loped in with a handful of papers and handed them to Sally. She scanned them, relating the information to what she’d already learned. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell which property was a better choice for the kidnappers. And both sales had been handled by the same attorney and the same bank, so no help there.

“We’re going to have to check both of these,” Sally said aloud. “Let me call Jason and see if they’ve found anything that might help narrow down our choices.”

She hit the speed dial on her cell and only dimly noted the way Seth’s eyebrow rose. Yes, she had the Alpha on speed dial. Why should the kid be so surprised?

Jason answered before the first ring had time to complete. “Have you found anything?”

“I think so. Two possible locations where they might be holding Jimmy.”

“Thank the Lady. Because we’re turning up big fat zeros here.”

“I was afraid of that, considering they knew enough to mask their scent.” Sally glanced at the papers and relayed the two addresses.

“We’ll have to check both of them,” Jason said on a sigh. “We don’t have anything that would make me choose one over the other right now. They’re almost on opposite sides of the county. Hang on.” Jason conferred with someone on his end, then came back on the line. “Dmitri is going to take the property down by the lake. He can get there faster than any of us. We’ll head for the closer address on Bush Hollow Road. It’ll take us about twenty minutes to get there because of the terrain. It’d be about the same whether we were coming on four feet or two. I’ll take those with vehicles by road and the rest will go across country.” It sounded like he was issuing the order even as he spoke to her.

“Judging by the map, I can be there in about fifteen minutes,” she offered.

“Don’t, Sally. Let us handle this.” His voice was a growl but she wasn’t backing down. She could growl with the best of them.

“I’m a cop, Jason. Don’t you dare tell me how to do my job.”

“You’re not on duty here—” he began, but she was ready for that argument.

“You want to tell that to Jimmy? Sorry, kid. Sally could have saved your life but she was on vacation. I don’t think so.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer that one. “I’ll meet you there.”

She disconnected the call, knowing he was probably cursing her out wherever he was. Fine. Let him blow off steam. They both needed to be level headed when they confronted the kidnappers.

When Sally stood, slinging her dark jacket over her shoulder, Seth blocked her path out of Carly’s office. The look on his face was grim.

“I promised the Master that I would look after you both. I know for a fact the Alpha doesn’t want you going. We all heard him on the phone just now.”

Damn werewolves and their keen hearing. Sally had just about had enough of this overprotective crap.

“You can look after Carly, but I’m going. Don’t you dare stand in my way.”

Seth’s eyes met hers for a few moments, but in the end, the kid backed down. He didn’t look too happy about it.

“The Alpha will have my hide if anything happens to you,” he said glumly.

“And I’ll skin you alive if you let anything happen to my friend.” The kid perked up. “You promised the Alpha and now I want you to promise me, that you’ll keep Carly safe. She’s not combat-trained, or even very good at confrontation.” Carly rolled her eyes but smiled at Sally’s assessment. “You will stay here and if anything nasty comes calling that you can’t handle, you phone me or your Alpha right away. Got that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seth said with renewed conviction. “But shouldn’t maybe some of us go with you?”

“Absolutely not. Your job is here. Guarding the Mistress. I’m armed and the rest of your Pack is going to be right on my heels.” She spoke as she headed out of the office, the rest of them trailing behind her. “I’ll have plenty of help when I need it. I’m just scouting ahead to make sure nothing happens to Jimmy before they get there.”

She swung up into the SUV and started the engine. With a quick wave to Carly, she set out as fast as she dared go on the gravel drive. When she hit the pavement of the road, she sped up, pushing past the speed limit on the quickest route to the nearby farmhouse.

It was a good location for bad deeds. There wasn’t much cover because the fields were empty, dry stalks from last year’s corn popping up at regular intervals. But nothing had been planted this year. Probably because the property had changed hands.

Sally had to leave the SUV parked in the last row of trees before the open pasture. She crept toward the house on foot, crouched low so anybody looking out would have less chance of seeing her approach. The half moon was behind clouds and there were no lights around for miles, so that helped. She wore her dark jacket and blue jeans. Black boots couldn’t be seen against the dark ground. Only her face and hands shone in the darkness, but she’d put her hair down to cover what she could, and kept her hands low, one holding one of her handguns. The other gun remained holstered for now, as a backup. She’d taken the ankle holster out of her suitcase that morning and put her backup gun in her boot. Just in case something went sideways.

She’d made good time on the drive over. Better than she had expected. If she calculated correctly, Jason and his Pack were still a good five or ten minutes behind her. Just enough time to take a peek and find out, first of all, if Jimmy was inside the house, and secondly, if he was okay. Discovering where the kidnappers were and how well-armed was another factor. A lot could go wrong in a very short amount of time. She’d seen it before in her years as a cop. Minutes could mean the difference between life and death for Jimmy. She had to find out if her detective work was going to pay off, because if not, they had to come up with another idea very quickly.

She’d set her cell phone to vibrate before leaving the SUV. So far, no news from Dmitri. Both locations were equally likely to be housing the kidnappers. So there was a fifty-fifty chance she would find the house empty. If that was the case, they could concentrate on the other location. Either way, time was of the essence. She crept closer on silent feet, keeping low to the ground, minimizing her silhouette.

There was a barn on the property. It was falling down on one side, but it would offer cover as she approached the house. She’d have to check the barn as well, since they could’ve stashed the boy just about anywhere. They didn’t necessarily have to be using the house.

She eased closer to the barn. No illumination came from within, but that didn’t really mean anything. Sure, it would’ve been nice if the kidnappers had lit a neon sign telling her where they were, but that didn’t happen very frequently in her experience. No lights shone from the house or the barn, from what she could see. She had to be on her toes.

“Well, lookie what I found.”

The voice came from behind her and Sally stiffened near the door of the barn. She’d checked the side as she approached, but apparently not well enough. She’d been outflanked by someone who’d come up behind her. With a sinking feeling, she turned to get a look at him.

Damn. It was one of the gunmen. The younger one. She knew his name was Bartholomew Samuels from the police reports she’d seen. She held her gun at her side, hoping he couldn’t quite see it in the darkness. The hope was in vain.

“Drop it,” he ordered, pointing with his own rifle toward her right hand.

Sally didn’t see that she had any choice. She dropped her weapon at her feet. The backup was out of reach for the moment, strapped to her left ankle, under her pant leg.

Jason and the wolves were on the way, only minutes behind her. She had to hold out until they got there, but there was no sign of Jimmy yet. The kidnappers had split up earlier in the day. They might still be operating separately. For all she knew, Mr. Samuels might be on his own here. Sally had to get confirmation that the kid was here. Until she knew for sure—until she had Jimmy away from the bad guys—she wouldn’t rest easy.

And she wouldn’t let this bozo distract her from her goal. In fact, he might be able to help, though he’d never realize it.

“All I want is the child.” Sally knew the guy remembered her from their earlier run-in. She’d seen the flash of recognition in his eyes, even in the dark.

“And all we want is to rid the world of their filth,” he spat, gesturing with the gun barrel for her to move into the barn. “Devil-worshipping werewolves.” Each of his words was dripping with hatred. There would be no reasoning with a mindset like that.

Sally went into the barn, scanning what she could see of the interior quickly as Samuels crowded her inside with the muzzle of the gun in her back. It was a small structure with no walls inside, only open box stalls that had probably once housed horses. There was a giant hole in one corner of the structure where the roof sagged almost to the ground. She might be able to get out that way, if she could get away from this jerk.

The barn was empty. Disappointment warred with relief. Given the opportunity, she could subdue Samuels without putting Jimmy in further danger. Samuels had already fired at her once. She knew he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her if provoked.

“Werewolves? Are you nuts?” She wanted to keep him talking. If he began to rant, she might be able to use his distraction to her advantage.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You’re one of them.”

He backhanded her and then she saw it. The tattoo on his wrist. It glowed evilly with dark energy now that she could see it close up. It made her shiver.

“No,” she said with deliberate calmness. “I’m a police detective from San Francisco, here on vacation, visiting friends. I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff living in San Fran and all, but I’ve never even heard of people thinking werewolves were real before. What kind of drugs are you on?”

“If you’re not one of them, you’re fucking one. Moore is their leader, or didn’t you realize it? We’ve seen you with him. We know you’re involved. He moves fast. Or maybe you’re just easy. I want to find out for myself. Get some of what he had.”

He maneuvered her toward one of the stalls that was mostly sound. If he got her in there, she’d be more or less trapped. But he didn’t know about her backup weapon. If it came down to it, she might have a chance to draw on him. She’d kill him if she had to. She’d killed twice before in the line of duty. She didn’t enjoy it, but if it came down to her life or his, she’d choose herself every time over a criminal. Especially a lowlife who would kidnap children and shoot at young girls in the woods.

“Jason Moore is an upstanding member of the community,” she protested loudly, hoping that Jason or one of his Pack members would hear her if they were near enough. “There’s no way he’s involved in anything occult.”

“He’s in it up to his eyeballs, missy. He was born to it. The worst kind of werewolf. But we’ll get him. Just like we’ll get all the other wolf filth he calls a Pack.”

He was gloating, and that’s when a terrible suspicion formed in her mind.

“Kidnapping the boy to lure him out, are you? Not smart, Mr. Samuels. He’s got to realize what you’ve planned. He’s smarter than you are.”

“He’s not smarter than a couple pounds of C-4,” he retorted with an evil laugh.

Oh, no.

Chapter Eleven

The rifle barrel smacked her in the face, causing stars to swim before her eyes for a moment as he pushed her into the stall. Outmaneuvered. Damn.

When the ringing in her ears subsided, she was flat on her back in the dirt, Samuels above her. He’d switched out his rifle for a wicked-looking blade. The rifle was out of reach, slung across his back. Double damn. And the knife was headed for her.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when the blade sliced through fabric instead of skin. He was undressing her with the knife, not murdering her. Not yet, at least.

Shit. Where the hell was Jason? She had to warn him! And she had to get free of this moron before he raped her.

She had to make noise. Jason would be here any minute. She had to give him a clue as to where to find her.

She struggled and screamed as Samuels cut her T-shirt and bra down the middle. He dropped the knife momentarily to fondle her and she tried to grab for it in the dirt at her side, but he retrieved it with a laughing sneer.

“You’re not getting away from me this time, girlie. I’m gonna fuck you before I kill you and then I’m going to enjoy watching the fireworks as we barbeque the rest of those filthy wolves.” He applied the knife further down, working on her pants.

She had to do something quick or she really was going to be on the menu for this lunatic, and that was completely unacceptable. Where the hell was Jason? The one time she needed backup in a big way and he was late. Dammit.