Ghost Moon (33 page)

Someone behind him made a strangled sound. And when he half turned, he saw that one of the guards who had been standing beside him was glancing around in confusion.

Behind him, Jerry Ruckleman was staring at the scene with a look of shock.

“Get him.”

Caleb found he could speed up.

But the men around him were getting more of their facultiesback, too.

“What the hell?” someone shouted.

“I don’t know. Just get him,” another panicked voice answered.

Other guards were moving, still slowly. But Caleb saw them picking up speed and knew that the mental suggestion had been broken. Now he and Quinn had only seconds to get away.

“Stop, or I’ll shoot.”

He kept going, pushing Quinn through the door, just as a bullet slammed into the woodwork too close to his head for comfort.

He grabbed her hand, dragging her outside and around a panicked-looking woman who was coming up the sidewalk. A group of students in track suits came jogging toward them. Caleb and Quinn dodged them as they sprinted for the van, which had pulled up in the no parking zone in front of the building. The back door was already open, and he flung Quinn inside, almost slamming her into Zarah, who was staringwide-eyed at the armed men behind them.

Caleb peered through one of the windows in the back door. He could see guards on the sidewalk, but they couldn’t get off a shot at the van because too many people were in the way.

“Go, go!” Caleb shouted to Ross.

“I’m trying, dammit.” As he attempted to make a get-away,a car pulled in front of them blocking their exit.

Ross pounded on the horn, then backed up, and started forward again, zipping around the car.

Beside Caleb, Quinn was pulling at the mask. She peeled it off her skin, then looked at it in disgust before stuffing it into a plastic bag. “Yuck!” She rubbed her face. “I hope I never have to wear something like that again.”

“We’ve got to disappear before they can get to their vehicles—or call in the cops,” Ross said as he turned down an alley, then into the parking lot in back of a gray stone church where Logan was waiting in his SUV. They all piled out, leaving the van—and no fingerprints because of the gloves they all wore. He saw Quinn also take the plastic bag with the mask. The cops would find the van, but they couldn’t trace the people who drove it. Except Caleb. But Ruckleman’s men had already seen him get inside.

The license plates were also a dead end—from a junkyard wreck.

Caleb breathed out a sigh as they pulled out of the parkinglot, then turned down the alley, moving at a normal pace.

“So much for getting help from Homeland Security,” Caleb muttered.

“That guy doesn’t like Reynolds much,” Ross observed.

“Yeah, I’d say Ruckleman hates his guts. I wonder why they ended up on the same assignment.”

“Bad luck.” Ross might have said more, but the sound of a police siren cut him off.

“I think the cops are on the case already,” Logan said.

The van had been windowless, except for the back door and the driver’s compartment. The SUV had tinted windows, but there was still some chance of being seen.

“Duck down,” Ross instructed Caleb and Quinn. They both slipped to the floor behind the front seat, resting their elbows on the cushions.

“What do you think they’re going to say happened in the lobby?” Quinn asked.

“Damned if I know,” Ross muttered. “The security tapes are going to be interesting.” He looked over his shoulder at Caleb. “They probably think you zapped them with something,which is further proof that you’re on the wrong side.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you all right?” Zarah asked.

“Yes. Thanks to all of you,” Caleb answered. Then his gaze shot to Quinn. “I didn’t like seeing you in there.”

“You mean with my clown mask?”

“No. You were in danger.”

“So were you. The moment you stepped into that damn building. Only we didn’t know it would happen that way.”

He started to say something else, when she scooted towardhim and slung her arms around his neck, pulling him to her. He couldn’t stop himself. He hugged her tightly, even though he knew everybody in back was watching.

He’d kept trying to distance himself from her. But it wasn’t working. Even when he’d been a ghost, he’d suspectedthat she was his life mate. And whether he liked it or not, they were tied to each other. When she slanted her mouth over his, he was helpless to hold back a surge of need. Then Logan slammed on the brakes, and Caleb pulled away, muttering, “This is a dangerous place to kiss.”

She kept her gaze fixed on him. “We’ll find a better place later.”

The way she said it made his temperature rise. And he knew she wasn’t thinking only about kissing. The very privateexchange in front of a carful of people made his face grow warm. He wasn’t used to such openness about sex, which was another unsettling aspect of this society. In his time, married couples in movies couldn’t even lie down in the same bed. In this century, you could see movies and TV shows with people doing everything imaginable.

Quinn reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers. And he squeezed back, silently admitting that it was impossible to fight what he felt for her.

But what about later? Five years from now, would she end up hating him?

A jangling like the ringing of an old-fashioned telephone made him jump. Would he ever get used to phone calls comingand going everywhere including the bathroom?

Ross answered, “Yeah?”

It was Jacob, who had stayed out at Flagstaff Farm to keep an eye on Bowie and the militia.

His voice came over the speaker—another modern feature.

“We’ve got a problem. There’s considerable activity on the property. I think they’re getting ready to make a move.”

“But it’s a day early,” Caleb answered from the backseat.

“Maybe that wolf in the bedroom made Bowie nervous.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

As they continued
to speak, Caleb kept his gaze on the back of Ross’s head, a sick feeling rising in his throat.

“How soon are they moving out?” the detective asked.

“I can’t be sure. But probably tonight. I’ll let you know if anything else happens.”

“What the hell are we going to do?” Caleb asked when the call had concluded.

“You were entirely focused on trying to get help from Ruckleman,” Ross answered. “But the rest of us have been making contingency plans.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“They’re not exactly fully formed,” Quinn put in, her voice heavy with frustration.

That was one of the things he loved about her. She was alwaysstraightforward. Well, maybe she hadn’t been when she’d been trying to get the Marshalls not to kill him. He wasn’t real proud of his attitude toward them back then. But he understood it. He’d been operating out of werewolf anger—and misinformation.

Ross turned to look at him. “We’ve been calling in reinforcements.By the time we get home, Sam and Olivia Morganshould be there.”

“Sam and Olivia?” he asked.

“Sam used to be Johnny Marshall, my brother. After he got framed for a murder in a bar, he took off for California. He’s had a very colorful career as a thief.”

Quinn goggled at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. He’s going to be a big help,” Ross answered. “And so will his wife, Olivia. Logan’s brother Lance is already there. He left his wife, Savannah, home because she’s pregnant.”

He gave Caleb a direct look. “Are you going to be uncomfortablewith so many of the pack on hand?”

“No,” Caleb answered, hoping he could handle it. Hell, he had to handle it. He swallowed. “Did you tell them what happened to me?”

“Yeah,” Ross answered. “They’re all intrigued to meet a man who was dead for seventy-five years.”

And what do they think about a werewolf who’s stuck in human form?
He kept that question to himself.

Logan looked at him. “Um, maybe you want to change your clothes before you meet them. I have a shower out back. And spare clothing in the shed.”

“You do?”

“So I can clean up after work without messing up the house.”

“Thanks for the offer.”

When they pulled into the driveway, he headed around back. After showering and shaving, he changed clothes. Then he took a deep breath and went to meet more of his family.

When he stepped into the great room, the conversation stopped.

“Here he is,” Ross said, then introduced him to Lance, Sam, Olivia, and his wife, Megan.

To Caleb’s relief, everyone acted like he belonged there.

Now that he’d gotten past his murderous rage at Aden’s descendants, he silently admitted that he liked these men— and their wives. Too bad he could never be their equal.

Later, he’d have to decide how much he could stand to be the impotent wolf among them. For now, they were all too busy working out a plan for keeping Colonel Jim Bowie and his men from leaving Flagstaff Farm with the bombs.

“Zarah and I can use the same technique on Bowie and his men that we used on the guards in Ruckleman’s building,” Quinn said. She turned to Zarah. “Why did it stop working?”

“Because we didn’t have a visual link between us, I think. This time we’ll stay where we can see each other.”

“Outside the farm boundaries,” Caleb said, his voice emphatic.

He listened to the conversation swirling around him. It was obvious that Ross was the leader of the pack, although nobody was stupid enough to say it out loud.

QUINN
and Zarah went off into a corner to practice strengthening the control technique, since it was a key elementin Ross’s plans for the attack.

“Maybe we should go off where we have more privacy,” Quinn murmured.

“We won’t have privacy during the operation. We need to work under battlefield conditions,” Zarah answered. “So let’s stay here.”

They built the link, focusing on each other’s minds as the others worked out plans. Then, suddenly, Quinn felt the connectionsnap.

“What happened?”

“Sorry. I’ll be right back.”

When Zarah got up and headed down the hall, Quinn figuredthat probably the baby had kicked her in the bladder.

She came back a few minutes later, her face white as chalk as she stood in the doorway.

Quinn quickly crossed the room to her friend. “What’s wrong?”

Zarah looked at her, her eyes large and panicked. “I . . . I’m bleeding.”

“Great Mother. When did you find out?”

“Just now. I felt . . .” She flushed and lowered her voice, turning her back to the people in the great room. “A little wet. So I went into the bathroom to check.” She looked at Quinn with brimming eyes. “It’s much too early for the baby.”

Megan, who was near enough to hear the worried conversation,rushed over. “Let’s go into the bedroom where we can have some privacy.”

Zarah gave her a grateful look, then turned to Quinn. “Will you come, too?”

“Of course.”

As they walked down the hall, Megan said, “You know I’m a doctor.”

“Like my obstetrician?” Zarah asked, hope in her voice.

“I have a different specialty.”

Zarah’s worried look came back.

“But we all have training in every field of medicine,” Megan said.

When they’d stepped into Zarah’s bedroom and closed the door, Zarah pulled off her panties and showed Megan the small bloodstain on them.

“You’re not in any pain? No cramping.”

“No,” Zarah said.

“What month are you in?”

“The fourth.”

“That’s all excellent. I think it’s just that a piece of the placenta broke off.”

Zarah sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that bad?”

“No, not bad at all. But you should have your doctor examineyou. I’ll take you to the emergency room,” she said.

“Would you?” Zarah asked, her gratitude shining in her voice.

“Of course.”

Quinn went out to report what was happening. Then Megan and Zarah appeared.

“I’m sorry, I won’t be able to help Quinn immobilize the men,” she said in a low voice as she looked at the expectant faces of everyone in the group.

Quinn could feel the tension that suddenly filled the room, since their role had been a key factor in the assault.

Ross was the one who answered. “Of course not,” he said. “You go make sure everything is all right with you and the baby.”

Quinn turned to her friend. “I should stay here, so we can come up with something else. Will you be all right without me?”

“Yes,” Zarah answered.

When she and Megan had left, Ross cleared his throat. “I guess we go to plan B.”

“What’s plan B?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know yet. But we’ll think of something.”

Before anybody else could speak, Ross’s cell phone rang, and he put it on speaker again. It was Jacob.

“Bad news,” he said. “I think they’re getting ready to leave the farm.”

“Before dark?”

"Maybe they’re moving to a staging area nearer D.C. They’ve got two vans and a couple of SUVs.”

“Can you stop them?” Ross asked.

“I’m going to try. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Meanwhile, maybe you’d better start driving out here.”

Ross stood. “We’d better finish the planning session on the way out there.”

JACOB
took one more look through his binoculars. Then he headed back to the woods where he’d left his backpack. He’d come up with a plan. It was risky, but he couldn’t think of any alternative.

First he got out a knife in a leather sheath. Then he changed to wolf form. Taking the sheathed blade in his mouth, he started back toward the fence that bordered the farm.

The two dogs he’d met the night before came trotting up when he slipped through the wooden rails. But this time they recognized him. And when he began humming to them the way he had the night before, they both gave him friendly greetings, then stayed with him as he headed toward the centerof the compound. Men were moving around, and he waited until the area was clear to slip under one of the vans.