Trouble Comes in Threes (25 page)

“We’re trying to find who did this to him.”

Kent turned so white Tal thought he was going to faint. “You—you must think because I said what I did to him that I…. Oh goddess, I didn’t attack him! I swear. Call the company! Check with them. I was there most of the day. I wouldn’t… please!” Kent swayed. “I didn’t hurt him.”

Tal stepped closer to Kent and braced him. “Easy, there.” Kent smelled of fear, worry, and disbelief. Tal wanted to scream because Kent did
not
smell of dishonesty. He wasn’t lying.

Dolf sniffed, frowning.

Kent’s knees buckled, dragging a surprised Tal to the floor with him. “
Please
check my story. I didn’t do this. Please!”

Dolf ran his hands through his hair. “Calm down, Kent. I believe you. You don’t smell of deceit.”

Tal patted Kent on the back. “And if you promise to adjust your attitude, we’ll let you talk to Kirk when he’s better.”

“Thank you. I-I’d… I’d like that. I’d like to say I’m sorry to him, face-to-face.”

Tal helped Kent up. “That’s fine, if you really mean it.”

“I do!”

“Okay, then. Give us a few days. One of us will call, if you’re serious.”

Dolf walked Kent to his truck.

Tal stared at the closed door they’d just walked through. “And we just lost a prime suspect.”

Kirk

I
T
HAD
been a week since the attack. Since then, Remi had taken to hanging around when Tal and Dolf weren’t there. I hadn’t asked, but I was sure this was Dolf’s doing. I was totally okay with that. I was no weeping willow, but I didn’t have claws and fangs either. Now that I’d been on the receiving end of those, I didn’t want to be there again. So, I was cool with Remi being here.

Good thing he and I got along well.

I’d also found that sleeping with two other people made it damn difficult to hide things: hard-ons, wet dreams… and fucking nightmares. Five of those seven nights ended with me waking up a shivering, soaked mess. Tal was upset, and Dolf was furious. Me? I was fast getting to the point I was afraid to close my eyes, and that pissed me off. I always dreamed the same thing. It was a repeat of the attack in slow motion. I was in the woods. The feeling of menace was in the air. Something was watching me. That big evergreen shook, leaves crunched underfoot….

By that point, I was fighting to wake up. I
knew
I was dreaming and knew what was coming. Living through it once was enough, thank you. I didn’t need to revisit the fear, the pain… all that fucking blood. My blood. No, I just wanted to forget it, but my damn brain seemed to be stuck on replay. On good nights, I woke one of them up mumbling and tossing. Those nights, I didn’t get very far into the dream.

Other nights, I managed to get all the way up to the moment of the attack. Those nights ended with me drenched in a cold sweat. That was bad enough, but then all three of us had to get up because the sheets needed changing. Tal wanted me to speak to a professional. He knew of a shifter an hour away I could see. I’d said no right off the bat, and he couldn’t understand why I refused. That led to our first argument.

It wasn’t because I was afraid to talk to a shrink. The argument ended with me yelling I didn’t want to deal with another fucking shifter turning his nose up at me. The sadness that came over Tal and Dolf blanketed the room, and I hated I’d caused that. But I couldn’t help how I felt. Thank goodness they understood and dropped the subject.

And okay, I had trust issues with some of these damn shifters. Wonder why.

So… it was five in the morning. Here we sat in bed, wide awake. Again. This was getting so old. Tal had changed the sheets while I took a quick shower to rinse the sweat off me. Tal and Dolf had on their robes when I joined them, so I slipped on mine.

“We aren’t going back to bed?”

“I have to get up in an hour anyhow,” Tal said. “I’m meeting the crew at seven. This is the last job before we start on the shop, so…. Let’s go downstairs and fix some coffee.”

“I need to go in to the office and get caught up on Tal’s invoices.” Dolf tied the belt on his robe. “Anyone want breakfast?”

“I could go for an omelet.”

“Kirk?”

“Absolutely.” I followed them down to the kitchen.

Dolf assembled the things he needed. “A full belly is a good time to talk.”

I flopped down in the chair, tempted to hide my head in my hands. “Aw, man. Look, guys, I’m not changing my mind about talking to a
—
”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

“We do understand why you feel that way too.” Tal fixed the coffee.

Dolf spoke while he diced the ingredients. “I’ve been thinking about this. You say at a certain point you start fighting to wake up.”

“It’s… right before the attack starts.”

“While I don’t blame you, have you stopped to think there might be a reason you keep dreaming this?”

“You mean outside of my brain being wack?” I asked.

Tal snorted.

“It’s not wack, but maybe it
is
trying to get your attention.” Dolf cracked open the eggs, added milk, then whipped them. “You’re not going to like this, but I think you need to let the dream finish.”

Tal finished the coffee and handed me a cup. Well, damn. “I knew you were going to say that.”

Dolf let the omelet cook but glanced at me. “I believe your mind is trying to tell you something. It may be something important.”

“Then it should send me a fucking text,” I mumbled into my coffee. Tal’s sympathetic smile didn’t help.

Dolf finished breakfast. We fixed our plates and carried them to the table.

“Mmm, so good,” Tal muttered.

I sipped my coffee as I ate, thinking about what Dolf had said. When they finished, I took the plates to the sink and cleaned them off. Once I finished, I returned to the kitchen table with the coffee pot and refilled their mugs.

“Has there been any new clues?” I asked.

“None.” Dolf set his mug down. “Remi even checked for blood after it happened, and… there was too much of yours. He found nothing.”

I sipped too much hot coffee and burned my tongue. Annoyed, I set my mug down. “So, we have no idea who did it, and no way to find out.”

“Remi has asked around to see if anyone did any bragging,” Tal said. “Nothing came from that either. So, no, we have nothing.”

“Okay, then.” I finished my coffee, turning over the lack of facts in my mind. There was only one thing I could do, as much as I didn’t want to. “I’ll try not to fight the dream. It’s just… shit. I really don’t want to relive that again.”

“I know, and I wish you didn’t need to. But we will be there when you wake up,” Dolf said.

“I….” Wow, this was hard for me to admit. For so long, I had only myself to depend on. “I’ll need you guys, especially if I have to relive that damn attack.”

Tal looked at me. “We will
always
be there for you. Always.”

“It’s settled, then. Guess we better get dressed and get to work.” Together, we headed upstairs to shower and get ready for the day.

I dreaded the night.

I
STAYED
at home while they went to work. They
had
to get my shop up and running. Soon. This sitting around with nothing to do was driving me crazy. I’d thought having some time off would be nice, but it wasn’t.

It wasn’t as if I were alone either. No sooner than Tal and Dolf left, Remi joined me in the kitchen. “Hey, man, how’s it going?”

“Slow.” Leaning against the counter, I sipped my third cup of coffee. “That’s how it’s going.”

Remi put his fingers up to his temples. “I’m getting… I’m getting…. The spirits tell me….”

I threw a dishtowel at him. “That you’re a smartass? No surprise there.”

Remi grinned, picked up the towel, and threw it back to me. “You want to stay here today?”

I glanced around the place. Now that Dolf and Tal were gone, there wasn’t a reason for me hang around too. “Naw.”

“Cool. Let’s ride.” Remi spun on his heel and headed toward the door.

Shrugging, I grabbed my coat and followed Remi to the Mustang. “Where are we riding to?”

“My house, if that’s okay. I have some things to do today. If you don’t mind helping, I could sure use it.”

Opening the door, I sat down. “Least I can do since you’re stuck babysitting me.”

“Hey.” Remi started the car. “Someone attacked you. You’re one of the head beta’s mates. Next to the Alpha’s mate, you and Tal are the most important to our clowder.”

“Boy, I bet that chaps some folks’ asses.” I stared out the window, watching the landscape speed past. “So, you’re not going to deny guarding me?”

“Nope.”

“Thanks for that. I hate it when people treat me like I’m stupid.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’re stupid. I have a feeling you might be as strong-willed as Dolf.”

Snickering, I glanced at Remi. “Are you saying I’m hardheaded?”

“Absolutely.”

Laughing outright, I slapped my leg. “You’d be right.”

We drove up his drive, his home slowly coming into view. “This is a great place, Remi. True old-world charm.”

“Yeah, well, that charm needs updating. I’m laying hardwood floors in the main living area. You up to spending the day on your knees?” Remi leered at me.

“Oh, that’s bad. Really bad. And I thought Dolf was a perv.” I got out. “And Remi? Can… and have.”

Remi’s rolling laugh echoed through the countryside. “That’s what I’m talking about! I need a mate like you.”

We were in the house, heading toward the living area. “Really? A mate like me, huh? A guy or a human?”

Remi stopped, head tilted to the side while he studied me. “I’ll be honest. I never thought about having a human mate. I’m not blind like some of my species, but I…. Well, I guess I really never thought about it. But a human mate isn’t going to send me running for the hills. It would be hard explaining the whole paranormal thing, though.”

“A human mate would be okay?”

“I’m beginning to think most of the folks acting like asses are those of us who haven’t found their mate, so they don’t
get
it. Kirk, I’d be so thankful to find my mate, I wouldn’t
care
if he were human. I want that forever love, you know?”

“He? I didn’t know you were gay.”

“I’m bi, but I have a feeling my mate is going to be a male.”

“Well, I guess if you have a feeling about your mate, then he must be out there, just waiting for you to find him.”

“I just wish he’d make himself a little more visible.”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll probably trip across him when you least expect it.”

“Probably.” Remi led me to where we were working. “Okay, let’s get to work. Dolf wants you home for dinner.”

I stared at the mess, his words ringing in my head. “Good grief, did he leave you emergency numbers and a list of foods I’m allergic to?”

Remi snickered. “Yes to the numbers, and no to the foods.”

Frowning, I turned him. “Are you serious?”

“Well, to be fair, we all have emergency numbers programmed in our cells.”

“Okay. That makes sense. It’s nothing special done for me.” I waved my hand at the floor. “Show me what to do, man. This is all new to me.”

Remi immediately got to it. It wasn’t hard, but I figured out quickly I
was
going to be spending a lot of time on my knees. Finally, we took a break, and Remi went to get us something to drink. I was the only one left in the living area.

“Well, shit.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Standing there was a tall, scowling man with dark, wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. He had stubble along his jawline, with a mustache and goatee. His slightly slanted eyes were a dark blue. A nice leather jacket covered a blue jean shirt that wasn’t tucked into khaki pants. Jesus, that was Heller standing there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“What am
I
doing here?” Heller glared at me. “What the hell are
you
doing here?”

Look at that. The scowl deepened. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit a small shiver crept up my spine. That pissed me off. Pissed-off-ness was getting to be a constant state lately.

“
Remi!
”

I flinched. Dude was loud. Remi came running, and that worried me. I slowly got up and faced this asshole.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Remi stepped closer to me.

I put my hand over the pocket that held my phone. What was going on here?

“Heller, what are you doing here?” Remi asked.

“What’s he doing here? When you asked me to help out, you didn’t mention
he’d
be here,” Heller spat.

“Um… ‘he’ has a name,” I volunteered, irked.

“I’m well aware of that. We’re
all
well aware of what you are.” Heller’s balled fists hung at his sides. Anger rolled off him.

“Oh good. Then you know I’m a mate. Dolf and Tal’s mate.”

“You’re human.”

Remi’s gaze bounced back and forth between Heller and me. “Um… Kirk—”