The Love He Squirreled Away (15 page)

“Are they there yet?” Nicolas asked.

Daniel conveyed the question to Soren. His wolf sent a wave of calm through their connection and answered,
“Yes, we’re here in the
club. The bouncers just ushered us in. We’ve had no problems so
far.”

“Anyone giving you suspicious looks?”

“Not more than expected, I guess. Don’t worry, Dani. At this
hour, it’s almost empty, and no one is going to risk pissing that Byron
person off.”

Daniel agreed but didn’t know if Byron could be trusted in the first place. With a sigh, he told Nicolas what his friend wanted to know. Nicolas became a bit more pacified and plopped down on the couch next to Daniel. He retrieved a small dagger and started playing with it. “How long is this going to take, do you think?”

“Ideally, Garth’s acquaintance will deliver that Heathcliff person on a silver platter. If that happens, they shouldn’t take too long.” He didn’t mention things rarely worked out in an ideal way and instead amused himself with wondering who in the hell had come up with the names for the fierce mafia sharks.

Judging by the looks his two friends gave him, they were both aware of the slim likelihood of a smooth resolution as well. Skylar rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Give me a moment. I need to make a phone call.”

Skylar retrieved his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hi, Gina.

How are things there?”

Because of his sharp hearing, Daniel had no trouble hearing the reply.“Fine, Mr. Pierce. The children are a bit anxious but otherwise all right,” the woman on the other said of the connection answered.

“Will you be coming in to see them?”

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“Maybe later,” Skylar replied. “Thank you for helping out.”

“It’s not a problem, sir,” she said. “I’m at your disposal.”

Skylar grimaced and, with a brief good-bye, ended the call. “Who was that?” Daniel inquired, unable to help his curiosity.

“Someone from the agency. She babysits for Garth when I can’t.”

Skylar grumbled under his breath. “Not my first choice, really, but Garth’s kids aren’t easy to deal with.”

“Garth has kids?” Nicolas asked, sounding surprised.

Skylar nodded. “Didn’t he mention it to you yesterday?”

Nicolas shook his head. “He didn’t stay long after you guys left.

He apologized and said he needed to get home but didn’t give me an actual explanation.” Nicolas looked angry. “I guess I got my answer. I can’t believe he’s married.”

“Oh, he’s not married,” Skylar piped up. “He’s a single dad. It’s a very long story and not mine to tell, but seriously, Nico… If you like him, go for it. He’s a good man.”

Daniel arched a brow. “Even if he used to be in the mafia?”

Skylar let out a laugh. “I’m still getting used to the thought, but yes, even with that. He’s the same guy I knew. Besides, he didn’t have to tell us about his past.”

“I suppose.” Nicolas still seemed doubtful. “I’ll give it some thought.”

Their conversation was interrupted when a sense of impending doom invaded Daniel. At first, he thought something had happened to Soren, but then the sound of shouts and gunshots reached his ears.

Skylar went white and stole a peek out the window. “Fucking hell, Dani. I can’t believe they dared to come here.”

Daniel experienced a feeling of complete déjà vu. He remembered all too well how he’d been forced to face the people who’d killed Carlie. His knees went weak as the sight of her dead eyes flashed through his mind’s eye.

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His fear might have choked him or incapacitated him altogether had Soren’s voice not cast away the fog of terror from his brain.

“Baby, what’s going on there?”

Daniel focused on breathing and looked out the window as well.

Black-clad men were appearing out of nowhere, fighting with the Pierces’ guards.
“We’re under attack. The same men that killed
Carlie, only more.”

Nicolas’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Come on, Dani. We have to get out of here.”

Daniel turned toward his friends, their presence making him feel better in the desperate situation. “Is there a back door to this place?”

Skylar nodded. “Let’s go. Hurry.”

He led them out of the receiving room they’d been waiting in, through a long hallway that seemed to take thousands of twists and turns. They stopped in front of an innocuous looking alcove. Skylar pressed an unseen button, and a mechanism activated with an audible click, revealing a hidden escape. “This house is very old,” he explained. “It has dozens of passageways like this one. Follow behind me and don’t make a sound.”

They rushed through the dark, damp halls, the sounds of the battle outside still reaching their ears. The race seemed to take forever, but at last, Skylar stopped in front of yet another inconspicuous wall. To Daniel, it looked like all the others, but when Skylar activated the mechanism hidden within it, it parted and allowed the three men out.

It didn’t take long for Daniel to figure out where Skylar had taken them. Tens of cars filled the area, from older models of famous brands to newer sports cars build for speed. Skylar chose one of the latter vehicles and gestured them inside. “Come on. Once they don’t find us in the house, the garage is the first place they’ll look.”

As if Skylar’s words had drawn their enemies to them, two men appeared in front of them, blocking their path. They weren’t wearing masks this time, but even with that small difference, Daniel quickly
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recognized they belonged to the group who’d participated in the attack on pack lands.

The bigger one grinned at Daniel. “This time you’re not getting away, squirrel.”

It was the same man who’d set his sights on Daniel during their fight. Daniel opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t get the chance. Two shots rang out, and neat bullet holes appeared in each of the men’s foreheads. The black-clad attackers were dead before they even hit the ground.

Daniel froze, but Nicolas’s voice snapped him out of his trance.

“Move, Dani. We don’t have time.”

In shock, Daniel turned toward his hummingbird friend. Nicolas was holding a wicked-looking gun, one of the latest models the other man had purchased. While Daniel’s gun had been sleeker and slimmer, a weapon somewhat easier to deal with, Nicolas’s seemed made for a professional killing.

“Jesus, Nico,” Daniel couldn’t help but gasp.

Skylar looked just as surprised, but the urgency of the situation stopped them from addressing the issue. They all climbed into the vehicle, and Skylar got behind the wheel.

“Ready?” he asked as he produced the keys and inserted them in the ignition.

Both Nicolas and Daniel nodded. Skylar used the remote-control system to open the garage doors, and they drove off just as a couple more men entered the garage.

The sports car squealed through the driveway and past black-clad men that tried to get in their way. Bullets wheezed past, narrowly missing the car. Skylar drove so fast that in instants, they were out of the Pierce estate and heading away from the mansion. But Daniel knew better than to believe they were out of the woods.

Indeed, just as they were merging into traffic, several cars appeared behind them. Daniel yelped when a bullet shattered the back windshield of the expensive sports car.

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On the back seat, Nicolas turned and made short work of the remnants of the window. With a precision that made Daniel wonder as to how often the hummingbird got into shootouts, Nicolas emptied the barrel of his gun, directing his attack at the tires of the pursuing cars. He managed to dissuade two of the vehicles, but more and more appeared out of nowhere.

Nicolas cursed as he replaced his empty clip. “At this rate, I’ll be out of bullets in no time.”

“We need a plan,” Skylar said, guiding the car effortlessly, even at the mind-numbing speed. He didn’t even blink when he engaged in an illegal maneuver, bypassing three of the cars in front of them. Daniel felt a bit dizzy. When had he fallen into a spy movie?

Thankfully, as always, Soren was there to comfort him.
“Baby,
tell Skylar to head toward our hotel. We’ll be there as soon as we
can.”

“But won’t they be expecting that move?”

“They might,”
Soren answered. “
I’m hoping we’ll reach you
before them
.”

Daniel didn’t have much choice. He told Skylar of Soren’s message, and his friend expertly directed the car toward the hotel. As they changed lanes, though, a bullet whizzed past Nicolas and hit Skylar.

Skylar let out a scream that sounded like a cross between a shout and a pop. It was the first time Daniel had heard his friend utter anything remotely animalistic. In a brief flash, Daniel identified it.

Seahorse. His friend was a seahorse.

His mind focused on that knowledge and on not panicking. He took hold of the wheel to prevent them from swerving away from the road and flipping. There was so much blood, Christ, so much blood, but Daniel knew he needed to be strong.

“Nico, help me. We need to stem the blood flow.”

With great effort, Daniel managed to change places with Skylar.

The seats of the sports car were mobile, and Daniel lowered it as far
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as it could go, giving Nicolas access to Skylar’s wound. After that, he focused on the road, now more than ever thankful for Carson’s gift to him.

“Hang on,” he told his friends as he buckled his seat belt. “It’s going to be a rough ride.”

* * * *

Soren sped through the streets, terror coursing through his system.

For the second time in the past week, he was in danger of losing Daniel. What kind of mate allowed his lover to be hurt like that? God, he’d failed Daniel so abysmally.

Through their connection, he absorbed Daniel’s knowledge of their predicament. “Jesus, they just shot Skylar,” he said.

By his side, Garth cursed. “I can’t believe this. I was sure Skylar’s family home would be safe. What about Nicolas?”

“He’s not injured. So far, Skylar is the only one who got shot,”

Soren answered. “Still, it’s only a matter of time until they’re caught.

We need help, Garth.”

If he’d known this would happen, he’d have tried to bring his pack members with him. He hadn’t actually believed they’d come into contact with Carlie’s killers one day after the beginning of their investigation in LA. He couldn’t even figure out how their whereabouts had been discovered. There was only one idea that came to him. Byron Cunningham must have betrayed them.

“We never should have asked you to call that man. He set those men on Dani, Nico, and Skylar.”

Garth shook his head. “Byron wouldn’t do that. He promised to help us. He wouldn’t break his word.”

Soren would have gotten angry at the comment, except the sound of Garth’s ringtone interrupted their conversation. Garth took the call, and Byron Cunnigham’s strong voice filled the car. “What’s going on,
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Garth? The guys at the club told me you took off like a hellhound was on your heels.”

“Your brother attacked our mates. Skylar Pierce is injured,” Garth replied. “Anything you’d like to share with the group?”

“If you’re insinuating I told Heathcliff something…”

“I’m not insinuating anything,” Garth snapped back. “Look, Byron, we don’t have time.”

“We’re heading to Hotel Venere,” Soren said, knowing the shark would hear him. He added the address, then said, “Help us if you can, but know that if anything happens to Dani, I’m coming after you and your family.”

Byron didn’t sound intimidated by the threat. “I’m coming your way. Just stall them, all right?”

The shark hung up, and Soren was left wondering if Byron would keep his word. It didn’t matter, though. Soren would die for Daniel, if need be.

He hung onto the connection with Daniel, the sight of the road blurring in front of his eyes. He was so focused on his mate’s mind that from time to time, he thought he could see the path Daniel took instead of his own.

Time seemed to take on a whole new meaning. Seconds turned into hours and minutes into ages. Soren almost couldn’t believe it when the hotel was in sight. He drove past it, following the instinct that led him to his mate. He knew Daniel had been forced to make a lot of twists and turns in an attempt to lose his pursuers but hadn’t managed to shake them.

Soren knew the exact moment when a bullet tore apart a wheel from Daniel’s car. He felt his mate’s panic spike, heard Daniel’s mental scream.
“Soren!”

After that, the images became a jumble until they stopped altogether. “Dani!” Soren tried to reach out to his mate. “Dani, baby, answer me.”

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No reply came. Soren didn’t know how he managed to keep his composure. It must have been just the fact that he could still sense Daniel, even if the man wasn’t answering to the mental call. Soren surmised Daniel must have been knocked unconscious.

He didn’t have much time though. Even if the squirrel wasn’t dead now, their enemies would fix that soon enough. Thankfully, in their crazy flight, they’d cut the distance between them, so it didn’t take Soren much longer to reach his destination.

His heart nearly stopped at the sight that greeted his eyes. Daniel’s car lay tires-up, leaking fuel, a virtual time bomb. Any moment now, it would blow up. Nicolas had managed to crawl out somehow and was struggling to rescue Skylar. Soren couldn’t see Daniel, but he knew his mate had to be stuck in the upper part of the car.

Soren stopped his own vehicle and, together with Garth, ran toward Daniel and his friends. He wasn’t surprised when moments later their attackers made their appearance. He ignored them and tried to open the driver’s side door. The twisted metal refused to cooperate, so Soren tore the thing out of its hinges.

He snatched his mate from inside and caught sight of Garth helping Nicolas and Skylar. They rushed away and took cover just in time. The sports car blew up, the scorching heat a dire reminder of how close Soren had come to losing his mate.