Heartsblood (6 page)

Nicky had always enjoyed his company because Gabe was so outrageous and full of fun. He was originally from Alabama, like Jax, and he loved country music and stupid line dances like the Canadian Stomp, which he would jump to his feet and perform at the slightest provocation, hooking his thumbs in his belt and twisting his ass just to see Zack squirm. He liked to bicker with Nicky over who was the best looking, though Rory said you would hardly be able to tell them apart except for their coloring. Probably that wasn’t so true anymore.

“You know we won’t be able to be as friendly with him anymore, now that we’re becoming more wolf than human. Zack wouldn’t like it, not to mention Marco and Cade.”

“I know,” Jax said softly. “But Zack’s pretty good with Gabe. He knows how far he can push it with him before Gabe puts his foot down. Besides, I don’t think the alphas think of us as
real
wolves yet. Not like themselves.”

“Adapting to change has never been their strong suit.” Nicky gave Jax a rueful smile. “Damn, I have to get some new jokes now that I’m becoming one of them.” He put his feet up beside Jax’s. “So what time do Gabe and Zack get here?”

“After lunch, I guess. I came to see if you wanted to go over to Highlands to go shopping with me in the meantime. I’ve outgrown almost everything I own. I thought you’d probably be having similar problems, so…”

“Yeah, okay. Let me grab a quick shower and we’ll go. If I can find something that still fits.”

“Try something of Marco’s. It’ll still be too big, probably, but maybe it will do until you find something else.”

Nicky smiled. Marco was extremely picky about his clothes, not even letting Nicky send them down to be washed. They had their own apartment-sized washer and dryer stacked unit in their rooms so he could do them himself—or have Nicky do them. “It would really piss him off if I wore some of his things.”

“So business as usual with you two then, right?” Jax said, flipping through one of the magazines Nicky used to read so voraciously.

“Pretty much,” Nicky agreed and was still smiling as he went into the bedroom.

* * * *

Three hours later, Jax flopped down on a bench outside the fudge shop on the little town square. His feet hurt, he was hungry, and he still hadn’t been able to persuade Nicky to come out of the men’s shop to get some pizza.

Jax had never been much of a shopper himself, not having had much money in the past. His idea of a big shopping spree was to buy a couple pairs of Wrangler jeans and a few T-shirts at the local Walmart. Even though he had access to as much money as he wanted now, he still didn’t see the sense in paying a hundred dollars for a damn shirt, and he couldn’t even think about some of the price tags he’d seen on the jeans in that expensive store Nicky had dragged him into.

Nicky, on the other hand, seemed to be right at home. He’d picked out four or five pairs of jeans with names Jax had never heard of, but which Nicky greeted as long-lost friends. He also exclaimed over some men’s briefs with names like Pistol Pete and Gregg Homme, and shirts that, in Jax’s opinion, were too tight and way too expensive. Jax had finally bought two pair of jeans at Nicky’s urging and one of the shirts, but he passed on the barely-there underwear. He told Nicky he’d wait outside for him to try his things on, and that’s where he was now, his sunglasses in place to filter out the strong sun, watching the tourists and shoppers as they meandered up and down the main street.

Finally, after some twenty minutes had passed, he saw Nicky come out loaded down with bags. He saw Nicky spot him sitting on the bench, and head his way. Then a fur shop on the square caught his eye. He headed determinedly for it, but Jax jumped to his feet to intercept him. “Oh no, you don’t,” he said, catching Nicky’s arm. “It’s too warm for fur, and what kind of wolf are you anyway that you condone wearing animal skins?”

Nicky smiled and Jax saw a flash of the
old
Nicky on his face. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed that Nicky until then. Since the incident on the mountain, which Jax had also been a part of, Nicky had been pretty different—moodier and much more subdued.

“Hell, I’ve fucked a lot of animals in my time. Is that any worse than wearing their skins? No, I know, don’t answer that. Besides, they’re not wolf skins, and I only wanted to go in and look. Believe me, Marco will skin
me
when he sees how much money I spent, and he won’t think twice about it.”

“Come on, let’s go get something to eat. There’s a great pizza place down the street.”

“What’s wrong with that place over there?” Nicky said, jerking his head toward a café on the square with tables out front. Several people were sitting at the tables eating lunch, drinking wine or just enjoying the nice weather. “It’s right here and my feet hurt. I think I might need to go up a shoe size after all.”

Jax groaned. “More shopping? But not until we eat, please. I’m starving to death.”

“Okay, okay,” Nicky said, taking his arm and leading him over to find a table. “Order me a big salad and some iced tea. I’m going to the bathroom, but I’ll be right back.”

Nicky left and Jax looked over the menu. A waitress showed up and took the drink orders and while she was there, Jax also ordered a hamburger for himself and a grilled chicken salad for Nicky. The waitress had just taken down the order and walked away when a man stepped up to Jax’s table.

He was tall and good-looking, from what Jax could see of him behind the oversized sunglasses and baseball cap pulled down low over his face. He was probably in his mid-thirties, and his clothes looked expensive. He bent down and put his hands on the table to avoid the low-hanging umbrella.

“Excuse me, but I was wondering, do you come here often?” He gave a soft laugh. “Sorry, that was pretty clichéd, wasn’t it? But I really was looking for a good place to have lunch. And maybe an interesting companion to share it with.”

Jax smiled back at him. The man’s tone was polite enough, though he was staring down at him a little too intensely. It made him vaguely nervous. “Sorry, but this is my first time here. My friend suggested it, so he might be able to tell you, but he’s in the rest room now.”

The charming smile never slipped. The handsome stranger straightened back up and lifted one elegant shoulder. “Your…friend? Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying. Sorry to bother you. I hope you enjoy your lunch.”

He turned and walked away down the length of the square towards the main street, leaving Jax staring after him. Odd—not to be propositioned, necessarily, though it usually didn’t happen in broad daylight on the streets of a little mountain town like Highlands. This was a tourist town, but despite its influx of visitors and reputation as a haven for the arts, it was still a place with roots firmly planted in the deep south. Nicky pulled out the chair next to him, startling Jax out of his thoughts. He’d never even heard him come up behind him.

“Who was that walking away as I came out?” Nicky said in an odd tone, staring after the man’s retreating back. The man had almost made it to the sidewalk on Main Street, some ten or twelve yards away and still had his back to them. “He looks a little like…”

“Hmm? Oh, I have no idea. I think he was trying to pick me up, but he left when I told him I was with a friend.”

“Pick you up?” Nicky stared after him thoughtfully and Jax followed his gaze. The man had reached the sidewalk and turned back to glance over his shoulder at the two of them. He saw them looking at him and stopped. He turned completely around, reached up to pull down his sunglasses and smiled. When he did, Nicky gasped aloud and fell back in his chair, his face draining of color.

“That’s Jeremy Tate,” he said, in a low, horrified voice. “I’d know him anywhere.”

“What?” Alarmed at how rapidly Nicky’s chest was rising and falling, not to mention the by-now total lack of color in his face, Jax grabbed his arm. “Calm down, Nicky. It’s okay. He’s gone.”

“Call Marco, quick. I think my hands are shaking too hard to dial the number.”

“Okay,” Jax said, trying to keep his own voice calm. He’d only gotten a quick glimpse of Tate that day on the mountain when all hell had broken loose and high-powered rifles were keeping them all pinned down and picking them off one by one like targets in a shooting gallery. He’d gotten an impression of a tall, dark man running toward Nicky, but that was about it. He was too busy trying to stay alive and keep his little brother and the other children safe to really pay close attention to what the guy looked like. His own hands shook a little with anger now, though, to think the son-of-a-bitch had been so close to him a few minutes before. All the wolves had vowed that Tate would pay dearly for the near massacre that day. One pet murdered, three others gravely wounded, and Nicky so close to death that at first they thought he wasn’t breathing when they got to him that day.

Jax dialed Cade’s number, hoping Marco would be with him. “Cade,” he said when he picked up. “Nicky and I are in Highlands, shopping, and…”

“Is Nicky buying out all the stores? Wait a minute, Marco wants to talk to Nicky.”

“No…wait!” But Cade was already handing Marco the phone.

“Hi Jax, is Nicky there with you? Is he wearing my blue shirt? Tell him I said if he spills so much as one drop on that shirt, I’ll…”

“Marco, listen to me. We just saw Jeremy Tate.”

A stunned silence met the words and then Marco asked quickly, his voice low and tense, “Where’s Nicky?”

“He’s right here.” Jax thrust the phone over to Nicky. “Marco’s freaking out.”

“Hello?” Nicky said in a small voice. His entire demeanor had changed since he saw Tate. He looked stunned and frightened. “Okay,” he said softly. “No, I won’t.”

He handed the phone back to Jax and this time Cade was on the line. He sounded winded, like he was running, and he knew they must already be on their way to get them. “Listen to me, baby, don’t move from where you are. No, go inside the building and stay there until we come for you. Did you see any kind of vehicle he might have been driving? Was anybody with him?”

“No,” Jax said, “he was on alone and on foot and we’re perfectly capable of making it back home on our own steam, you know. I’m parked right on the main drag here in town. We’ll be fine.”

Cade started yelling and Jax held the phone out from his ear. He glanced over at Nicky, who shrugged. “Let them come. They’ll want to look for any sign of Tate in the area anyway, though he’s no doubt long gone by now. No sense in arguing with them anyway when they get like this.”

Jax let the loud voice go on for a while before he put the phone back up to his ear. “Should I go after him and see if I can spot what kind of car he’s driving?”

Cade began yelling again, so Jax sighed and held the phone away from his ear until some of the shouting stopped. “Okay, okay. We’ll be here at the café eating our lunch,” he said, and ended the call before Cade could say another word.

Nicky shook his head. “You’re only making it worse. Besides, they’re right. You don’t know Tate. I wouldn’t put it past him to open fire on us right here, and the hell with the witnesses and the collateral damage. We’d better go inside, I guess.”

Jax threw down his napkin in disgust, but he followed Nicky and waited while he asked for an inside table. They were soon seated near a window where they could watch for Marco and Cade’s arrival. It should take their mates about thirty minutes to drive there from the lodge, though Jax was betting on an even faster arrival.

Jax apologized to their waitress when she brought them fresh drinks and delivered their food, but she was gracious and friendly about the whole thing and flirted with both of them outrageously. Jax reached for his hamburger and French fries and attacked them with the delicacy and finesse of a bear just out of hibernation. It had been a long time since breakfast, and once he finished his sandwich, if Nicky was still picking at his salad, he had designs on it too.

Neither of them had much to say to each other, and Jax was happy about twenty minutes later to see Cade and Marco coming down the sidewalk toward them, their faces serious and determined. Jax had to concede that he was glad to see Cade. He didn’t like to admit it, but it was getting harder to be away from him, even for a few hours. Nicky stood up and went outside to greet them, while Jax paid their bill and collected his and Nicky’s bags.

By the time he got outside, Cade and Marco had drawn Nicky over to a more secluded bench in the square. They seemed to be questioning him urgently, though Nicky kept shaking his head.

“I told you what he was wearing, and that’s really all I know. I never spoke to him,” Nicky was saying as Jax approached. “He came up to Jax while I was inside.”

In a rare display of public affection, Cade slipped an arm around Jax’s waist as he came nearer and kissed his cheek. “Are you okay? He didn’t touch you, did he, or get close enough to slip something into your drink?”

Jax shook his head and pulled away a little, feeling embarrassed and bothered by the sideways glances they were attracting. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

“We’ll walk you two to your car. Rory and Casey came with us, and I sent them on ahead to make sure no one messed with it. Then they can take you home while we look around,” Marco said, already pulling Nicky toward the sidewalk.

Nicky extricated his arm and glared at him. “Stop it, Marco, I don’t need Rory and Casey to see me safely home. I called you because I knew you’d want to search the area for any sign of Tate, not because I needed you to babysit me.”

Marco glared back at him, his face flushed and irritated. Before he could say anything else, Nicky laid a hand on his wrist. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but Tate startled me, that’s all. Sometimes I forget how bold he can be. Jax can do as he pleases, but I’ll be driving myself home. You should take the others and look for Tate, though I’m sure he’s crawled back in some hole by now. You forget that I know Jeremy Tate better than anybody. This was all about reminding me he was close by, and letting me know he was watching.”

Marco paled visibly and couldn’t seem to stop himself from pulling Nicky close to him again. Nicky allowed it, and gave him a brief hug before pulling away and taking his bags from Jax. “I’ll go home and put all this away. Jax, are you coming with me?”