The Finding (32 page)

It was strange
how all the current fiction showed werewolves as alpha-types, but
no one ever mentioned the intellectuals of the species. She tucked
that fact into the back of her brain; she planned to write a story
about werewolves some day. Given that she lived in a pack,
surrounded by hunky men, she figured she’d be able to create some
kind of plausible tale. But that was for some distant time in the
future. Right now, she had a more important problem to deal
with.

Finally, Daniel
rolled his chair back and spun around to face her. “Sorry to keep
you waiting Mel. I’m working on a job for Bryan and had just hacked
into a computer system. I needed to ease my way back out before any
alarms started to ring.”

She nodded,
wondering if alarms really rang when a computer system was
breached, but decided to not ask. Half the time, Daniel’s
explanations went way over her head anyway. “I didn’t mind waiting.
Actually... Bryan was the one that suggested I talk to you.”

Mel walked into
the room, perched on the edge of his bed and rubbed her hands over
her denim clad thighs. Her palms were damp, betraying her
nervousness about the topic she was about to broach.

“Really?” He
quirked an eyebrow, then glanced at the computer screen and clicked
a few buttons before directing his attention back to her. “What
about?”

“You lived with
Ryne and his old pack in Oregon, right?”

“Uh-huh. I was
raised there, but after that whole incident with Marla and Rose, I
felt I needed to make a new start.”

“Rose, she was
your girlfriend, right?”

He shrugged. “I
guess. We were both kind of quiet and into computers so naturally
drifted together, but then Marla started in on her, filling her
head with nonsense and...” A flash of regret passed over his face
before he shrugged again. “It’s all old history.”

“Old history.
Yeah.” Mel exhaled slowly and stared down at her hands. “That’s
sort of what I’m interested in actually. You know, Ryne never talks
much about his family or growing up. I really don’t know that much
about him.” She hazarded a peek up at Daniel.

He frowned.
“His childhood was...rough.”

Mel leaned
forward, eager to learn whatever she could. “Can you tell me about
it?”

“Why don’t you
just ask Ryne?” Daniel leaned back in his chair and laced his
fingers behind his head.

She shifted
uncomfortably. Darn. He was just as tight-lipped as the rest of
them. Why couldn’t he just start spouting off what he knew rather
than making her beg? “Well, he’s not much into reminiscing and with
the baby coming, I guess I’m just curious...” Mel let her voice
drift off, not willing to give Daniel the real reason until she had
her facts straight.

Daniel cocked
his head and studied her, possibly sensing her reticence. After a
moment he seemed to come to some decision and gave her a half
smile. “Why not? You have your reasons I’m sure. And Bryan did send
you to me, so it must be okay.” Reaching to the side, he rifled
through a pile of papers and bags to pull out a box of granola
bars. He offered her one, but she shook head; her stomach was too
tied up in knots to be interested in food.

Shrugging in a
‘more for me’ manner, Daniel selected one for himself. After
unwrapping it, he took a bite and stared thoughtfully at the
ceiling while chewing. “Well, I’m a few years younger than Ryne you
know, but I do recall looking up to him and his brother, Kane. They
used to come and go from the pack a lot back then. His father was
always on the move...”

Mel dug her
hands into her palm and prepared herself to listen. There were
specific questions she needed the answers to, but didn’t dare voice
them for fear of raising suspicion. Hopefully, she’d be able to
slip a few into the conversation...

*****

Bryan stood in
the dingy hallway outside the door to Dollar Niche and listened
carefully. The sounds of traffic drifted up from the street below,
but from the office there was total silence. All the other doors
that led from the hallway were locked and equally quiet; he’d
checked them as they’d made their way down the corridor, walking as
silently as possible. The old floors had creaked under the weight
of each step, the faint noise sounding loud to his sensitive ears.
Luckily, any humans that might be about probably wouldn’t
notice.

He inhaled
slowly, filtering through the array of scents and wrinkling his
nose at the staleness of the air. Smoke, sweat, fried food,
perfume... The smells of humanity wafted around him, the only
pleasing scent was that of Cassandra; alluring and spicy, it
brought a faint smile to his lips.

She stood
behind him, pressing close, waiting for him to announce their next
move. The warmth of her body felt good against his and he longed to
lean back, bringing them into closer contact, stretching out the
moment as long as possible. But unfortunately, they had a job to do
and with a sigh, he resisted his body’s urging. Besides, it wasn’t
appropriate for him to view the girl as anything other than a pack
mate at the moment. If his wolf insisted on being attracted to her,
well...it would just have to wait until the situation was more
settled.

The animal
wasn’t pleased, but knew better than to kick up a fuss during the
hunt for Kellen. Stalking required concentration. Having one’s
senses addled by outside concerns could be dangerous. A split
second break in focus could lead to deadly results. Bryan repeated
these well known facts to himself, as he tried to ignore the woman
behind him. He shook his head. What had he been thinking when he’d
allowed Cassandra to come with him?

True, she
wasn’t
supposed
to be here. As a matter of fact, he’d left
her with strict orders to wait in the rental car since he wasn’t
sure what he’d be walking into. However, he’d gone no more than
half a block from where he’d parked when he’d heard her tiptoeing
along behind him, trying her best to hide in doorways and behind
lamp posts. When he suddenly turned around, she’d been scrambling
to conceal herself behind a garbage bin.

Shaking his
head, he’d stalked back to confront her, rolling his eyes when
she’d innocently claim she was just stretching her legs.

“I specifically
said to wait in the car.” He’d glowered at her, but there was only
the slightest flicker of acquiescence in her eyes before she’d
lifted her chin and glared back at him.

“Kellen’s my
friend. It’s only right that I help rescue him.”

“Or get
yourself killed by being in a situation you can’t handle.”

“I can handle
myself. I nearly took you in your motel room this morning.”

For a moment he
considered telling her that this morning he’d been trying to be
gentle, not wanting to hurt her. If he’d really tried, he could
have killed her with very little effort. However, the information
would likely scare her and he was trying to build up a degree of
trust between them, not push her further away. He sighed heavily
and stared at her, trying to decide what to do.

Part of him
wanted to show her what happened to disobedient wolves, but he
reined in his temper. As appealing as it might seem to leash her
with his belt again and lock her in the car, he knew he really
couldn’t go around treating her like a common pet; besides someone
might see him forcing her transformation. There were lots of
windows in the buildings on either side of them.

Knowing he
really had very little choice, he gave a quick nod. “All right.
I’ll let you come along, but you have to follow my orders. If the
thug who took your friend is inside, stay back and let me handle
him.”

Cassandra had
nodded solemnly, though he’d been sure he saw a hint of a smile
playing over her lips.

They’d made
their way into the building without incident, Dollar Niche being
located in a less than prestigious building, which didn’t appear to
have any form of security. After making their way up the stairs,
they’d cautiously approached the door at the end of the hallway.
Faded wording on the door proclaimed this to be Dollar Niche’s
‘head office’ while a cardboard sign thumb-tacked to the wall said
the two chairs placed by the wall constituted the ‘waiting
area’.

Bryan had
noticed Cassandra eyeing the nearby bulletin board covered in
flyers and advertisements. Was she wondering if that was where her
friend had found her picture? It seemed a likely theory since
Aldrich owned Dollar Niche.

“Do you hear
anything?” Cassandra brushed his shoulder lightly with her
fingers.

The soft touch
sent tingles of awareness through him and he closed his eyes
enjoying the sensation before answering her question.

“No. What about
you?” He looked over his shoulder at her.

“Me? You’re the
one with the wolf ears.”

“Not only me.
You’re a purebred werewolf, too. You can hear and smell just as
well as I can, the only difference is that you haven’t been trained
how to use your senses.” Her face clouded as if she wasn’t pleased
with his pronouncement, but he ignored the fact. This was a good
opportunity to slip in a little bit a werewolf training without her
being aware of it. “You know Kellen’s scent better than I do. I
want you to inhale deeply and tell me if you think he’s
inside.”

Cassandra
seemed about to protest, but after a brief hesitation closed her
eyes and did as she was told. Obviously, her concern for her friend
was sufficient to make her override her aversion to using her
natural talents. Bryan’s dislike of Kellen was growing by leaps and
bounds. He bit back a nasty comment about the man not deserving her
and focussed instead on the rise and fall of her chest as she
checked the scents drifting on the air. The sight of the curving
flesh had his fingers twitching and he wondered what it would feel
like to cup the soft weight.

He gave his
head a little shake when he realized the direction his thoughts
were taking and forced his gaze up to Cassandra’s face. Her brow
was furrowed in concentration.

Unaware that
he’d been ogling her, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “He’s
not there now. I can...smell him, but it’s not strong. Not like
when he’s in the room with me.” The reluctance with which she
delivered the information was evident.

“See? You use
your abilities every day; you just don’t realize it.” Bryan pointed
the fact out quietly and then straightened, ignoring the slight
pout that had appeared on her face. She didn’t like being proven
wrong, he decided with an inward chuckle, tucking the little fact
away for future reference. “It would seem that no one is home, so
we might as well go inside and do some snooping.”

He tested the
handle and found it locked. After double checking that no one was
about, he hit the wooden panel with his shoulder and it popped
open. Cheap construction he thought to himself, recalling all the
renovations he’d completed on the pack house over the past three
years. None of the doors he’d installed would have given in this
easily.

Easing the door
open a crack, he did a visual check for any sign of alarms or
sensors. Finding none, he rolled his eyes; Dollar Niche was
definitely a two-bit operation. Now why would a man of Leon
Aldrich’s purported power, keep his fingers in this particular pie?
Shrugging, he stepped inside.

Cassandra
followed, quietly closing the door behind her. “Should I turn on
the lights?”

“Better not.
Someone might come by and realize that the office should be empty.”
He answered distractedly as he looked around the room. It was
rather shabby, and furnished with mismatched chairs and old filing
cabinets. Definitely not what he’d expect Aldrich to be associated
with.

There was a
wooden chair in front of the desk, a single drop of blood on the
floor beside it. Bryan bent and touched it with his finger. It was
still wet so who ever it had spilled from had been here recently. A
quick sniff revealed it had come from Kellen. Tightening his jaw,
he glanced up at Cassandra knowing the news would upset her.
Opening his mouth to tell her, she spoke first from her position
near the desk.

“Here’s the
flyer Kellen had.” She held up a piece of creased paper. “And
there’s a number on the bottom that you’re supposed to call if you
find me.”

“Really?” Bryan
rose to his feet, deciding to put off informing her about her
friend for a moment. He took the paper and studied it. “Hmm...
Maybe we should call the number and see who answers.” Taking out
his cell phone, he ensured his number was blocked from display and
then dialled. After a few rings, a woman answered.

“Hello. You’ve
reached the office of Leon Aldrich. How may I help you?”

Bryan froze,
shock washing over him. He knew that voice even though he’d only
heard it once or twice before.

“Hello? Hello?”
The woman’s voice sounded irritated as it echoed from the
receiver.

He ended the
call and flipped the phone shut, his mind swirling with memories,
past betrayals...

“Bryan? What’s
wrong? Who did you end up calling?” Cassandra looked at him, no
doubt puzzled by his stillness.

“Um... It was
Aldrich’s office.”

“My uncle’s
lawyer?” Cassandra raised her brows in surprise. “I suppose it
makes sense that he’d be looking for me. My uncle relied on him
heavily so he’s probably in charge of the estate.” She frowned and
shook her head. “I still can’t believe he’s alive.”

“He is. We—the
werewolf community—keep close tabs on all his activities, though
this particular one, Dollar Niche, somehow escaped our notice.”

Cassandra
swallowed hard and pushed her hands in her back pockets. Bryan
could tell she was uncomfortable thinking about why they kept tabs
on the man. She exhaled slowly, then continued. “Do you think Mr.
Aldrich knows that Eddie and Hugh have Kellen?”