Falke’s Captive (18 page)

She twisted around, grabbed her own hair at her skull and tried ripping it from his grip, but he had too much, too big of a handful. She couldn’t break free, no matter how hard she tugged. And then he slapped her in the face hard enough to snap her head back, and she cried out as stars danced in front of her eyes.

Got it,
she heard Sindre say, but didn’t understand what he meant until her eyes cleared and she saw him paw at the vial that must’ve been kicked near the cage during their struggle.

“Sit down, Elizabeth,” Whitmore said in a too-calm voice. “Be a good little student.”

Her stomach heaved, and her breaths came out in short pants, but he gave her no choice. He forced her to sit hard.

“Good girl. Try that again, and I’ll have no alternative but to hurt you.”

He already had, she thought as he retrieved a roll of duct tape from another drawer.

“I’m not sure why my ace student has decided that it’s more important to have sex than to complete the tasks I laid out for her, but she has.”

“I don’t—” She blinked. “What did you say?”

“You think I don’t know where your allegiances lie? My room is right next to yours, Elizabeth, and I wasn’t born yesterday. I know what a woman in the throes of an orgasm sounds like.” He ripped the tape with his teeth, grabbed her wrists and reached around her, his body inches from her face, as he wound the tape around her wrists.

“It even sounded like there were two men in your room last night.” He gave her a smile that was more sneer than comforting. “The walls are very thin.”

She thought she might throw up. She figured sitting silently and letting him tie her up was the best course. If she was quiet and not a threat, maybe he wouldn’t kill her. So long as she was still breathing, there was hope. She couldn’t help anyone if she were dead. The potassium chloride was standard in any lab, used for a variety of tasks. But one syringe would drop her, or Sindre, like a ton of bricks. Stone cold dead. Chances were Whitmore needed more tests on a live cat before he actually killed Sindre, so there was time.

She watched Sindre cover the vial, now inside his cage, with his big paw. It would help buy some time, but not much. Whitmore wouldn’t reach into the cage for it, but he could always tranquilize the cat again to search the cage.

Sindre’s family would know if he were missing. Right? She wanted to ask, but Whitmore was wrapping the tape around her body, anchoring her to the chair. She glanced at Sindre who lay staring at her. If a cougar could look worried, he certainly succeeded.

She tried to convince herself that Whitmore wouldn’t really kill her. How would he explain her death? Or her disappearance if he dumped her body? Tim wouldn’t help Whitmore, would he?

Never in her life had she been so terrified, and she couldn’t stop the tears that trickled from her eyes. How had she worked with this man for six years, studied under him, and never seen this side of him? He’d always been a little hard edged, but this was all wrong. He’d go to jail for this.

Torsten should be looking for me
, Sindre said to her.
I was supposed to be right behind him, and that had to be a couple of hours ago. If I shift, we—

When Whitmore moved behind her, she mouthed silently to Sindre,
Don’t change
. Then said aloud, “Please don’t,” looking into the cat’s eyes.

“You leave me no choice,” the professor said.

The cat grew quiet, but his tail flicked in agitation as he watched Whitmore’s every move.

What else can I do? I can’t sit here and watch him kill you.

A tear fell, but again she mouthed,
No, please. Don’t shift.

Whitmore came back in front of her and stood looking down at her. He shook his head and made a face of disgust. “I had hopes for you, Elizabeth. You disappoint me.”

“I’m sorry, Professor Whitmore,” she said, trying to stem the tears. “But don’t you see what you’re doing is wrong? It’ll destroy everything you hope to accomplish with this research.”

“Shut up.” He shook his head and ripped off another piece of tape. “You’re wrong, but I haven’t the time to waste dealing with your insubordination.” He sighed. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?” He pressed the tape over her mouth, then sat in the other office chair, turned her laptop to face him and went back to studying the video.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm her rapid heartbeats. They’d come after Sindre. His family would rescue him. They had to. She looked at Sindre through her watery eyes.

Or Tim. Tim would be back. Whitmore said they’d move as soon as Tim returned. He must be in the forest, because the ATV wasn’t in the trailer, and she hadn’t seen it outside when she drove up. When Tim got back, he’d call the police.

If I change, I can get us out of here
, Sindre said.

She furiously shook her head. It could be a disaster. It
would
be a disaster for the Falke family if Whitmore learned what she had that morning.

The professor glanced up from the computer. “What?”

She shook her head again, this time at Whitmore.

He made a face then turned back to the laptop.

Sindre sat on his haunches and stared through the thick wire cage.
I don’t know what to do. I think someone will come for me, but…

Her heart ached for Sindre. He was younger than Kelan and Reidar, and probably had never been in this kind of trouble. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was. How this was all her fault for capturing Kelan the first time.

She dropped her head forward and couldn’t stop the tears.
Please, Kelan. Reidar. Come for us. Your brother needs you.
I
need you.

“I think we need to think about moving into the extra apartment above the store,” Reidar said as they walked toward Catamount Outfitters.

Kelan cast him a glance. “Why?”

“Well, for one, we wouldn’t have had to drive out to our dads’ place to pick up uniforms.”

Kelan nodded. “True.”

“Get ready to hear Axel’s wrath for being late,” Reidar warned good-naturedly.

When they reached the store’s front door, however, it was locked. The Closed sign was still in place.

“What the hell?” Kelan peered in through the glass. “Something’s not right.”

“Let’s check around back.”

Before they turned the corner into the dead-end alley, chaos was evident in the form of Torsten’s frantic tirade. “I don’t know, damn it! I told you everything.”

This isn’t good,
Kelan told Reidar who saw Axel raise his gaze and spot them in that same instant.

“You’re late,” Axel snapped. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Hey, chill, Ax,” Kelan said. “We’ve been dealing with our problem.”

“The hell you have!”

Dakota touched Axel’s arm. “Let’s focus on Sindre, okay?”

“What’s wrong with Sindre?” Reidar asked as he and Kelan walked deeper into the alley. Gunnar was in puma form, sniffing around the ground. Axel looked angrier than he’d ever been before. Not even his mate’s touch seemed to have any effect. But it was Torsten’s expression that put a frown on Reidar’s face. “Tor?”

“Sindre’s been kidnapped.”

“What?” Kelan echoed the shock Reidar felt.

“It’s that damn bitch scientist,” Axel accused, forcing Reidar to grab Kelan’s arm to keep him from advancing on the family’s alpha.

But a hand on the arm couldn’t curb Kelan’s tongue. “Watch your goddamned mouth.”

“She didn’t do this,” Reidar said, keeping a firm grip on Kelan’s forearm.

I have to agree with Reidar, Ax,
Gunnar told the group.
I can’t pick up any scent of the woman, just one other person. A man, a stranger I’ve never smelled before. And see the drag marks? Whoever took Sindre dragged him from the base of the fire escape and lifted him into a vehicle. That little woman couldn’t have done that.

“See?” Kelan said with equal anger toward Axel.

Reidar knew Kelan was acting on instinct, protecting his mate, even though they’d yet to claim her, but Axel didn’t know that, and emotional outbursts wouldn’t do anyone any good right now. It damn sure wouldn’t help them find Sindre.

“Maybe she stayed in the vehicle,” Axel said, glancing at Gunnar who continued to sniff around an area that showed two tracks of burned rubber. Someone had peeled out of the alley in a hurry. “Got the other guy to help her. We all know she’s not here working alone.”

“I’m telling you it wasn’t her.” Kelan spoke through gritted teeth, and Reidar tightened his grip on his brother’s arm. It spoke volumes that Kelan didn’t try to yank free.

Axel glared at them, an expression the polar opposite of the worry in Dakota’s caring eyes. She stood with one hand on Axel’s arm, her other splayed protectively over a growing belly.

“It’s her,” Axel insisted. “You’re just too fucking blind to look at this objectively.”

“How can you be so sure?” Torsten asked, his gaze locked on Kelan instead of Axel.

“I just know.” Kelan refused to say more.

Torsten shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”

Reidar dared another glance at Torsten and spoke softly. “Because we were with her this morning.” Kelan stiffened beside him. Reidar looked back at Axel and Gunnar who now sat next to him, still in puma form. “We spent last night,
all
night, in her hotel room and in her bed, right up until about twenty minutes ago.”

“Goddamn it!” Axel pulled away from his mate and spun with both hands diving into his hair out of obvious frustration. “You tell us you’re going to deal with the threat to our family, and
that’s
the way you two decide to do it?” He turned back to point at them again. “Did it never dawn on you two dolts that she could be using you? Keeping you occupied while her cohorts kidnapped Falke?”

“You don’t know a—”

“Kelan,” Reidar said, stopping his emotional brother in midyell. “Arguing over this is not going to get Sindre back any sooner.”

I agree,
Gunnar said.
Whether or not the woman is involved is a matter to debate later. We need to find Sindre.

“I agree too,” Torsten said, standing up from where he’d been sitting on the back fire escape.

“Okay,” Reidar said, looking at him. “Fill us in. What happened?”

Torsten’s troubled gaze met his, and Reidar could sense the stress this was putting on his little brother. “Look, all I know is he wanted to take a quick shower before he shifted to Falke for the day, so I headed down before him to open up. He was supposed to follow soon after, and I left the back door ajar for him, but he never showed.”

“Okay. Did you see anything?” Torsten shook his head, but Reidar continued the interrogation. The others might have heard it all already, but he and Kelan needed the details. “What about noises? Did you hear anything?”

“Just some tires squeal.”

“When was that?”

“About five minutes after I opened up, but I had a customer at the counter. I didn’t get a chance to look outside.” Torsten was visibly torn with guilt, but Reidar tried his best to soothe the pain.

“It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s mine,” Kelan said, making Reidar and everyone else look at him. He took a second to look at each person and cat. “It’s not Beth, but if it is someone she’s working with, then we’ll stop them and get Sindre back. We know where they are, but we have to move fast.”

“I’m coming with you,” Torsten said, stepping closer.

“No,” Axel said, putting the full weight of his alpha position behind that one word. “You’re going to get Heidi and go to Dads’ and stay with them until all of this is resolved. They need to be protected too in case this is something more than I think it is. These people might not settle for one cat.” He looked down at Gunnar and then up at him and Kelan. “I’m going to go with you.”

No
, Gunnar said at the same instant that Dakota grabbed Axel’s arm again. He placed his hand over hers.

“It’s final. They obviously can’t handle this situation on their own.”

That statement made Kelan and Reidar bristle, but for once Kelan made the wise choice and let someone else do the fighting.

Without raising his voice, Reidar said, “You have to think of Dakota, Ax. You have babies to worry about.”

“Don’t you think that’s what I’m doing?”

“You’d put Dakota through the stress of worrying about you? While she’s carrying your children?”

I’ll go.
Gunnar stood up on all four massive paws.

“Like that’s gonna make it any better for Dakota,” Kelan said softly.

“None of this is going to make me feel better,” Dakota said, showing some of the spunk that won the hearts of two Falke men. “Not until Sindre’s back and everyone is safe again.
Everyone!
So stop all of this damn bickering and go find him.”

“Amen,” Torsten said, giving her a smile.

I’ll go,
Gunnar repeated.
You may be the family alpha, Ax, but none of you will succeed if you’re at each other’s throats and too busy arguing over this.

After a brief hesitation, Axel nodded, and Gunnar told Kelan,
Get me some clothes. Reidar
,
bring your truck around back.

“Torsten can go get Heidi while Dakota and I lock things up here,” Axel said. “We’ll all meet at Dads’ place.”

Okay.

Reidar nodded and headed back down the alley, but before he turned the corner, he heard Axel tell Kelan, “Finish this.”

“So, now that we’re all dressed like trees, what’s the plan?” Gunnar wanted to know.

They’d changed into camouflage apparel taken from the store’s racks. But Kelan appreciated Gunnar’s willingness to let them take the lead. Axel wouldn’t have done that, but it was best if they worked together. And Kelan and Reidar knew more than all the rest combined. Where the lab was, what it looked like both inside and out. What Beth’s lab partner looked like. And they both were certain that Beth was not involved in this latest incident, but if her lab partner was to blame for Sindre’s kidnapping, that meant she might’ve walked into trouble after leaving them at the hotel.

Kelan continued to stare out the windshield as Reidar weaved his four-wheel drive pickup through the underbrush along the ATV track they’d gone up the day before.

“Sneak in, confirm Sindre is even there, and then rescue him,” Reidar said before glancing at Gunnar and then back to the trail. “You know, he might already have gotten away. I mean, if they leave him alone, he could do what Kelan did and get himself out of this mess.”

“I hope you’re right,” Gunnar said, “but if not…”

It was the
not
that worried Kelan and kept him silent. He’d tried to call Beth on her cell phone twice already, but she hadn’t answered. His gut told him something was seriously wrong. His fingers curled into tight fists.

When Reidar pulled to a stop at the fence, Kelan was the first to leap from the truck.

“Okay,” he whispered, thinking there was too damn much daylight. “The forestry’s base camp is about a hundred yards west of here, over that fence. We’re going to have to shift to get over it and then change back. We don’t know if they’re at the mobile lab or out scouting the area. Let’s keep it quiet.”

Reidar and Gunnar nodded, both stripping as fast as possible. Reidar was the first over the fence and kept a lookout, with Gunnar following next. Kelan tossed all of their clothes over the fence, shifted and made the leap over while Reidar dressed and Gunnar watched for trouble. Soon, with all three fully dressed in camo once more, Kelan’s brothers fanned out a few feet to either side of him, and they began their trek through the woods to the base camp.

Kelan felt as if he didn’t breathe again until he was close enough to see the lab was still where they’d left it the night before. And there was Beth’s Jeep. He took a second to close his eyes and fill his lungs with fresh air, which he let go with a sigh.

The vehicle’s presence at the base camp didn’t explain why Beth wasn’t answering her phone, and until that mystery was solved, he wouldn’t be able to breathe without the ache in his chest.

He and his brothers ducked down a few feet inside the tree line that surrounded the base camp when the sound of a revved motor echoed through the forest. Seconds later, a man he recognized as Tim came barreling out of the brush and onto the dirt drive, throwing a dust plume into the air as he whipped the ATV into a turn and pulled up to the back of the trailer.

Who’s that?
Gunnar asked.

Kelan answered,
Tim. He’s another student who’s working on the field project with Beth.

Kelan watched as a second man, the older, heavier one they’d seen last night with Tim, stepped from the side of the trailer, shutting the door behind him.

The professor
, Reidar suggested, and Kelan concurred. But where was Beth? The professor met Tim at the end of the trailer as the younger man lined up the ATV to a pair of ramps. From the brothers’ vantage point, Kelan had a clear view of the trailer’s back doors, but they were closed, so he couldn’t see if Beth and Sindre were inside. And unfortunately, without a sight line to Sindre, they couldn’t communicate telepathically.

But Kelan was close enough, hidden in the heavy overgrowth that lined the clearing, to hear the conversation between the two scientists.

“I’ll put up the ATV,” the professor said as he grabbed onto the handlebar. “You go around and hook the trailer to the truck. We need to head back to the university.”

“Why? I thought we were staying here ’til the end of next week.”

The professor frowned. Apparently he didn’t like being questioned. “Plans have changed. There’s some more equipment that’s come in, and I want it installed in the lab. Plus I need to get back to the campus lab where I can do more in-depth tests on some of the research Beth started. After you drop me off, and the equipment’s installed, you can go back to the northernmost point on the map that she marked and begin gathering other samples from the wildlife up there.”

“Oh, okay. Where is Beth? I wanted to tell her—”

“She’s not here.” The professor sat on the ATV and revved the engine once.

A confused look crossed Tim’s features. “But her Jeep’s over there.”

“She rode into town with a ranger who stopped by earlier to check on us. I sent her back with him to check all of us out of the hotel and arrange for someone to drive my truck back to Seattle. She’ll meet you in Chelan tomorrow evening. Now get moving. I want to meet with Professor Sayers as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” Tim said, but Kelan could tell the professor’s explanations made no sense to him from the confused expression on his face.

At least good ol’ Timmy wasn’t involved in whatever was going on.

Something’s wrong
, Reidar said telepathically.
Beth would’ve called or told us if there’d been a change of plans.
The concern was evident in his tone, even though the words weren’t spoken aloud.

I know, brother. We’ll find her. Just stay put. We’ll figure something out.

You think she might be in trouble too?
Gunnar asked.

Yes. She was supposed to come here this morning and convince the professor that she’d talked us into letting her have another sample of Falke’s blood.

What?

Kelan winced at Gunnar’s reaction, the volume pounding at his brain.
It was a ruse! We were going to find another cougar, a non-shape-shifter, and pass off a sample of its blood as Falke’s. We could’ve used it to convince him that the originals were tainted.

The professor got off the ATV, but waited for Tim to climb into the semi and crank the engine before he unlatched the double doors in the back of the trailer and shoved them open. The sight revealed had Kelan and his brothers cursing.