Obsessions (17 page)

Chapter
22

London woke up with a terrible headache. She’d
continued her drinking even after Ryder left the cabin. Big mistake. After a
bath and most of a bottle of tequila, she’d stumbled around in her bedroom
packing up all her clothes, while cussing Ryder and Jamie at the top of her
lungs. She knew they had to have heard her. She was drunk enough to not care at
the time, but now she was embarrassed at how she acted. She should have just
packed and called a cab to come take her to a motel until she could find an apartment.

She knew her grandmother would believe her. London
would call Me-Len when she got to the office to talk with her about the woman.
She shook her head as she looked over at the bottle lying on her dresser. Now
he probably thought she was a drunk. Every time something bad happened, she got
the bottle out. She vowed to never drink again.

She slowly got up trying not to throw up on the
floor. She didn’t think she had the energy to clean that up too before she left
for work. Zoey would be there bright and early probably before the time she
said she would pick her up. Ryder most likely called her last night to tell her
about her crazy ass friend seeing things.

“Damn them,” London hissed as she ran to the
bathroom emptying her dinner into the toilet along with the tequila.

She couldn’t fix her hair like she wanted to,
because she didn’t have the energy to go all out. So she pulled her hair back
in a ponytail then applied just a little mascara and lip-gloss. She didn’t want
to look like a dead person so she gave her cheeks a little color too.

She heard Zoey in her kitchen before she even opened
her bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, London picked up her pocketbook and
went to face her best friend. Grabbing her suitcase, she dragged it to the
door, and she didn’t even look up to see who was in the kitchen. Then she went
back in and grabbed two more, but this time when she walked out she finally
looked up into the faces of Zoey, Ryder, and Jamie all watching her.

Freaking figures, they would try to gang up on her.
“I’m not in the mood this morning so if we could just go Zoey, I would
appreciate it.” London marched back over to the front door.

“London, stop for a minute and let’s talk this out.”
Ryder suggested.

She glared over at Jamie who smirked at her pulling
the suitcase. “Yeah, okay well let’s talk then Ryder. On the way home, I saw a
woman on the mountain glowing, with her hands out toward me then she threw some
type of energy toward my head. I didn’t imagine it or dream it up for
attention, and you don’t believe me. So don’t, I will get out of your hair, and
you...” she pointed furiously at Jamie, “You act like I’m some kind of crazy
woman, but if I were you, I would want to know why a woman was on your land and
you couldn’t sense her.”

“Hey I believe you,” Zoey said half-smiling. London
could see it on her face clear as day that she was only pacifying her so she
wouldn’t be mad.

Shaking her head at her friend, she frowned, anger
blazing through her. “Don’t try to pacify me, Zoey. Not you. If you could take
me to the office, I will sleep on the couch until I can find a new place to
live.” She jerked her suitcase up and hurried to the door.

“London stop,” Ryder demanded, his voice shifting
from sweetly understanding, to a growl. Donnie was pulling up when London
walked down the steps.  Great they called him too.

“Can I catch a ride into the office with you?” she
asked as he stepped out of the car. “Pop your trunk okay?”

Donnie glanced at Zoey who nodded her head telling
him to do it.

“Look, don’t start looking to them for your answers.
Either you will or you won’t so make up your damn mind.” London smarted off to him.
His face paled at her tone. She had never said a cross word to him, ever, and she
knew she should apologize to him, but for now, she wanted off the Alpha’s land.
Moving into this cabin was a mistake of epic proportions, but she was going to
rectify it today before it ruined her relationship with Zoey.

London hiked one of her suitcases up into the trunk
as they all watched.  She marched back to the house and pick up the others putting
them in the trunk. Before she got into the car she walked over to Jamie and
held the cabin keys out to him. Jamie shook his head and turned around refusing
to accept them. London glanced back at Ryder who was watching her with a frown
on his face. She didn’t care anymore. She pitched the keys to Ryder, but before
they could hit him in the face he caught them in the air.

“Drama free now, boys.” London smirked, getting into
Donnie’s car.

They didn’t speak on the way to the office, but she
could tell he wanted to ask what was going on. London didn’t want to talk about
it yet. Her mind was still reeling from them calling her a drama queen. Well
not actually, but pretty damn close. She still found it hard to believe that
they didn’t scent the woman. She was on their land for God sakes. How could
they not?

Donnie pulled up in front of the office, and before
he could ask her anything she grabbed her pocketbook and marched up to the
doors. Pulling out her keys, she let them inside, turning off the alarm, and
turning on the lights without a word.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Donnie
asked sharply.

“Not right now. I’m still pissed and I haven’t had
any caffeine. Let me get some in me and settle my stomach then I will explain
it all to you,” she replied, attempting a smile for him.

Donnie nodded then went into his office, but London
felt bad for shutting him out. He looked like she took his favorite play toy
away from him.

She marched into her office and over to the mini
fridge and grabbed a Mountain Dew. She needed the big guns right now. Her head
was still pounding and thinking about everything was only making it worse. 
Sitting down on the couch, she groaned as she started to think about what had
happened. Opening the Mountain Dew, she didn’t waste any time, and drank the
whole drink at one time. “Brain freeze,” she moaned as she stretched out on the
couch.

“Serves you right,” Zoey muttered as she strolled
into her office.

She didn’t open her eyes but she felt Zoey pull up a
chair and sit beside the couch.

“Look London. You’re my best friend. If you say you
saw a woman and she threw some type of energy ball at you then, I believe you. If
it would have been someone else who said it, maybe not, but not you,” Zoey
explained.

London smiled without opening her eyes. She was glad
Zoey believed her, especially since it looked like the woman on the hill was
trying to kill her.

“Zoey, the woman looked like she wanted to kill me.
Why would someone want to kill me? I don’t know anyone here and I don’t have
anything for her to want. So why would she be trying to hurt me and better yet
why couldn’t the wolves smell her scent?” London asked as she stared at her
best friend. If she believed her, then these are important questions she needed
answered.

“I don’t know, but if she’s masking her scent
somehow, then that means she could come up on the property and kill any of us
and no one would know she was even there,” Zoey whispered startled. Knowing her
best friend, she could see how upset Zoey was. She had good reason to be.
London decided that if the woman were after her then she wouldn’t bring this on
the pack or to Zoey. She wouldn’t risk any of them to hide from this mysterious
stranger.

“I will stay here at the office, Zoey. I won’t take
a chance on this woman hurting you or anyone from the pack. I think it would be
better for me to stay off Pack land until we figure out who this woman is and
what she wants with me.” London’s mind was jumping with ideas, so she jumped up
and went to her computer.

“I know that look and you’re working on something
that will help find her correct?” Zoey said, moving to her side.

“Yes ma’am. I need a map of the city limits and of
where pack land is located. Also, I need a list of the Sanders Pack and this
woman the Alpha is married too. I bet money that Jamie has their pictures too. Can
you get that for me while I start this program? I feel like he would give it to
you quicker than me,” London asked.

“Jamie is really a good guy, London.  He is just the
type, that if he can’t smell it, cook it, hear it, or kill it then it is hard
for him to accept. He feels bad for how he acted.”

“Maybe, but he can turn into a werewolf, Zoey. If he
can accept that and witches, then maybe he needs to open up that narrow mind of
his.” Zoey nodded and got up and left the room to search for the map and to
call her brother.

Chapter
23

Later in the day, London heard the bell go off to
the front door. She could hear Donnie talking to someone as she typed in the
information she needed to get the program running. She needed information from
Me-Len to make the program work and only a witch would know this type of
information. It was easy to think of a program like this but working with magic
was something different. She had no clue if this would even work.

She looked toward the door as Nolan walked into her
office smiling. He was holding the biggest fruit basket she had ever seen. Piled
high in the basket were apples, oranges, plums, and nuts. It had to be
expensive for a basket that big.

“I came bearing gifts to the newest business and
best looking owners on the block,” Nolan laughed, as he put the basket on the
table in front of her.

“Thank you. That was sweet of you, Nolan,” she
replied opening the basket up and taking a plum out. She offered him a seat
then sat back down.

“So how are you?” she asked sweetly. She felt like
Nolan was playing with her, but she planned to enjoy it while it last. Ryder
surely didn’t care what she did or with who.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day. Counting down
the time I get to take you out for our date,” he answered. He looked more
amused than anything.

“You sure are a sweet talker Nolan Banks.” London
grinned back at him. He could probably talk the underwear off a woman in three
minutes flat. However, that didn’t help her at the moment. She already had one
man trying to get into her pants.

“Are you excited about tomorrow night?” he asked
leaning forward. If anyone looked real close they could see the yellow glow to
his eyes. Zoey explained that Nolan was beautiful when he changed into his
tiger form and freaking huge. She said that his powerful jaws could bite your
head right off your head. London had already decided to stay away from him if
he changed.

“Well of course. Where do you planning on taking
me?” She laid it on thick, putting her feet up on the table while eating her
plum.

“Well I want to take you to Saint Peers for dinner
then dancing at the Rusty Nail Pub,” Nolan suggested.

London busted out giggling then it turned into a
full laugh. “The Rusty Nail Pub? What kind of name is that?” she asked,
thinking that she would have to actually dance. Nolan arched a brow as he
smiled.

“Don’t let the name fool you. Rusty Blair has a
great place. Plus, he is a member of my clan and I try to support his business
whenever I can. Everyone will be there and I want to show you off.” London
smiled even though she was nervous about all the people being at the Pub, she’d
promised herself that she would start dating and enjoy her life.

She began thinking about the different shifters
being at the Pub. “When you say that everyone will be there, do you mean other
packs, shifters, and witches?”

“Yes ma’am. We have a great time getting together
with the others. That’s the beauty of Alpha City. We all get along. Now we have
our disputes here and there but nothing major. If someone gets into a fight we
take them down to the local gym and let them punch it out. Most of the time,
they let it go and keep drinking.” Nolan explained.

London smiled and nodded, but an idea was
formulating in her head. If she could get the product here in time then she may
be able to apply it to the program she is writing to help find the woman on the
mountain.

“I will be ready with bells on. You can pick me up
here,” she suggested.

Nolan frowned. “Why can’t I pick you up at the cabin?”

“I don’t live at the cabin anymore. I will stay here
temporarily. Until I find an apartment or another house to stay in,” she
replied. She tried to act like it was nothing but she could see Nolan becoming
agitated the longer she explained.

“What happened?” he asked.

London got up and put her hand on Nolan’s shoulder.
“Nothing for you to worry your pretty big head about.” Nolan’s lips twisted up.

“We will have time to talk tomorrow on our date. You
can explain then.” He got up and hugged her, “I always get my way. You will
explain what the stubborn ass did.” Nolan added, as he walked out the door.

London sat for a few minutes staring at the door,
deep in thought, before Zoey walked in.

“Hey,” Zoey said as she sauntered in her room and
sat down on the couch.

“Hey. Listen I’ve been working on this program that
could help the pack out with the wards. However, I was thinking about the woman
on the hill and trying to figure out a way we could find out who she was. A
while back I was doing an internet search for the AS 2000 and I saw an article
on spy stuff. I thought it was fascinating and started researching it. The
article said that there was an easy way to covertly track a vehicle, package,
or person. It is used with some type of invisible tracking powder or
liquid. They said that the Soviets did this back in the late 1970’s and early
1980’s by using a substance called "spy dust."” London explained. She
could tell that Zoey was already interested.

“Spy dust? You mean this kind of stuff really
exists?” Zoey asked.

“Yep and we are going to have it shipped here and
use it on people we suspect of tampering with the wards and try to pick out who
the woman is. I think this might really work,” London suggested.

“How does it work?  Has it ever been tested on
humans or animals?” Zoey asked concerned.

“It’s a combination of nitro phenyl, pentadien, and
luminal, and it comes in a powder. What makes this great is that it is odorless
and it will glow when illuminated with the right wavelength of ultraviolet
light. The KGB used it. The articles said that they would sprinkle some of the
spy dust on a person and then monitor their movements by setting up certain
“check points” while performing routine foot surveillances. We can do this,
Zoey.” London explained. She couldn’t help how excited she was getting. It felt
like this when she came up with the AS 2000 program.

“What do you think?” she asked Zoey.

“How are we going to get it on the right people?”

“Tomorrow I have a date with Nolan, and he is taking
me to the Rusty Nail Pub. He said all the shifters show up there to let loose.
I figure with Nolan and you introducing Donnie and me we can tell people that
we hug when we meet someone and rub it on them. They won’t be able to smell it
or see it so we should be okay. It says it doesn’t take much.”

“Sounds good. You have the number to call and order
the spy dust?” Zoey asked. London got online and gave Zoey the number.

“Tell them that if they can get it here before lunch
tomorrow we will pay double. I think we could rig something that shoots the
powder out when someone tampers with the wards. Hopefully, this will happen at
night and they want be able to see anything as it shoots out. We will set up
some infrared cameras and watch whoever is messing with the wards and who the
lady in white is. If luck was on their hand, the dust was so light in color
that you would only think it was dust particles floating in the air.” London
explained how she hoped they were going to accomplish this. She prayed it would
be that easy.

Zoey left the office so she could go place a rush
order. London figured she needed to go and talk to Donnie. She needed to
explain to him what happened at the cabin and about shifters and super
naturals. He needed to know what was going on around him. She was going to need
his help if this plan was going to work. Donnie was like family to her and she
didn’t like keeping secrets from him. She got up and went into his office. He looked
up and smiled, but his smile faded when she closed the door.