Rick had said it had gotten bad for the werewolves here. This was the first chance I’d had to really talk to them.
“Jenny wasn’t strong,” I said. “She wasn’t confronting him. Did he just lose it or what?”
Becky nodded. “It’s like he can’t control himself anymore, and Meg isn’t any help, she’s right there with him. God, Jenny. I thought if I could get her away from him, she’d be safe. I thought if anyone could convince her, you could, Kitty. I should have looked out for her better, if we had all just looked out for her—” Shaun rested a hand on Becky’s arm, quieting her.
I hadn’t realized how much T. J. had been a buffer between me and Carl. How much his presence had saved me from some of Carl’s ire. Another debt I owed him, that I could never repay. Jenny hadn’t had someone like T. J. looking out for her.
From the first, Rick had told me that the pack wasn’t healthy. A pack needed balance. Checks and buffers. Everyone needed to take part, to share in the responsibility. Carl had cowed everyone, and subsequently, had collected all the power. He couldn’t carry it all by himself.
She continued. “It’s like we’ve been waiting for something to give, waiting for something to break, to shake things up. We’ve just been waiting for a chance to bring him down.”
“And you think that chance is me,” I said.
“It’d better be,” Shaun said. “Or we’re all dead.”
Frustrated, I said, “Why are you guys putting so much faith in me?”
Becky didn’t even have to think about it. “We all saw what happened to you in Washington, D.C. And you came through. You’re strong. I’ve been listening to your show. I can hear it in your voice. You’re a natural leader. We’ve been waiting for someone to follow.”
I wasn’t ready for this. I just wanted to get rid of Carl, I didn’t want to take over the whole pack. Right?
I took a deep breath. This was one of those moments where everything might change. I felt the tracks of my life curve in a new direction. “If you guys believe that, then you need to believe that I can’t do it by myself. I need your help.”
Becky ducked her gaze. “It’ll come down to a fight. We’ll have to fight, we know that.”
I shook my head. “Not if I can help it. I’m not that good in a fight. I’m happier using wit and guile.” I braced, waiting for a snappy remark from Ben. He only raised an eyebrow. In respect of his refraining from commenting, I refrained from kicking him under the table.
“Here’s what I’d like you to do,” I said. “Call up everyone from the pack you think you can talk into leaving. Or at least into not standing with Carl when the time comes. We need allies, and you know the pack better than I do now. The more defectors we can get before a fight, the better off we’ll be.”
Shaun grinned. “I’d love to see Carl standing there all alone, when he thinks he has a ton of backup.”
“I don’t want everyone to leave right away,” I said. “Once they leave, they can’t go back. But if they stay, they might be able to let us know what he’s up to.”
“Or give him a false sense of security,” Ben added.
“They’d have to be really careful,” Shaun said. “Carl and Meg would both pick up on it if they thought someone was turning on them.”
“Then maybe it’d be better for them to just leave. I don’t want anyone to get killed because of me. Anyone else.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Shaun said.
“We’re going to need help before it even gets to Carl and Meg,” Ben said. “We’re expecting them to go after alternate targets. We’ll need help—”
“Alternate targets?” Becky said, her brow furrowed.
“Probably Kitty’s family. We have to make sure they don’t get hurt.”
Becky set her jaw, and Shaun nodded with new resolve. The pack will grow, we will win this war. Wolf was sure of it.
“Thank you,” I said. “Have you guys had enough sleep? Are you okay with keeping watch today?”
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us,” Shaun said.
I dropped Shaun and Becky off at the KNOB parking lot. “We’ll call if we see anything,” he said, before leaving. They left together in Shaun’s car.
Almost, it felt like a plan. Ben and I headed back to the freeway.
Some research into wolf behavior—wild wolves, not the lycanthropic variety—suggests that the alphas of a pack aren’t necessarily the strongest, biggest, and toughest wolves, contrary to conventional belief. Instead, the leaders were sometimes the wolves best able to keep peace. They were the most diplomatic, the ones most able to negotiate compromise and organize the pack into the most efficient unit for hunting prey and raising young. The alphas were the ones who were best able to keep more members of the pack alive.
This was a theory I chose to embrace. Carl was undoubtedly the strongest, toughest wolf in this pack. But the pack wasn’t healthy. He wasn’t keeping his members alive.
I had to believe I could do better.
We had one more stop before we could go home. We met up with Dack at the bar on Colfax. Or rather the parking lot of the bar, since this time of day the place was closed. It looked plain and derelict in the morning light.
He was alone, driving the SUV that Charlie and Violet had been driving last week. When we arrived, he was leaning against the hood, arms crossed, staring out at the world through a pair of aviator sunglasses. He looked tough and worldly.
“What’s the story?” I asked, getting out of the car.
He shrugged and spoke in his round South African lilt. “Nothing to tell. Nothing happened. The vampires are bedded down for the day, your family’s all right.”
My nerves trembled with relief. “Thank you, Dack,” I said. “Thanks for watching out for me.”
He almost sounded amused. “No problem. What’s next, then?”
“Waiting. See who jumps first. Keep your phone on, be ready to move when something happens. Maybe you should get some sleep for now.”
“Plenty of time for that later,” he said.
He started to get back in the car, but I stopped him. “Dack?”
“Yeah?”
I collected stories. That was how I kept doing the show week after week. There were always new stories to tell, each one stranger than the one before it.
“African wild dog?” I said. “You want to tell me where that came from?”
His smile went crooked. “Don’t know. I’ve only met one other. The one who turned me.”
“Where is he?”
“I killed him.”
Ah. Right. That wasn’t really a surprise. “So you’re the only one?”
“Only one that I know of. Haven’t really gone looking for others.”
“And you met Rick how?”
He grinned. “Rick said you were a nosy one.”
“I talk too much. That’s my superpower. I still want to know why the world’s only were-African wild dog is here working for Rick.”
Dack had hired muscle written all over him: the well-built frame, the wary stance, the attitude of bullheaded confidence. I recognized it from Cormac. This was a guy you’d want watching your back. If you could trust him.
“Vampires are strong,” he said. “It’s a good thing, having a vampire owe you a favor. You want to be with the strongest.”
“And that’s Rick?”
He just smiled.
“Well then,” I said. “On to the rest of the plan, then.”
With that, we zoomed off in our respective cars and charged up our cell phones. I began to think this might turn out all right.
On the drive home, I dozed and kept jerking awake, waiting for a phone call to tell me something had happened, Carl or Arturo or someone under their orders had struck. When the phone finally did ring, I slept through it. I only woke up because Ben stopped the car.
“I wonder what they’re waiting for,” he said, speaking into my phone. I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the line. It wouldn’t b
e Rick, not during full daylight. After listening a moment, he said, “We’re going to get some sleep. Call if anything changes.”
He looked at me. Bleary-eyed, I stared back at him. “That was Shaun. No sign of anything.”
“Where is he?”
“Keeping an eye on your sister’s place. Your dad’s at the hospital, and I figure their security can look after your folks during daylight hours.”
That made sense, not to mention the place would be busy during the day. I hoped Arturo and Carl were still sane enough not to want to draw too much public attention to this.
I ought to go. I told Mom I’d go see her. But I couldn’t, not in the middle of this. I didn’t want to bring more trouble down on them.
“Cheryl’s going to start wondering why strange cars keep parking outside her house.”
“I bet she doesn’t even notice.” He handed my phone back to me.
Moving at half speed, I climbed out of the car. “Ben? Why are you doing this? You keep saying you didn’t sign up for this like you don’t want to be here, but then . . . ” I trailed off, not sure what I meant. He’d turned out to be good at this, leaping to the fore, keeping me going. What would I have done if it had just been me?
I’d have run away.
“We’re pack,” he said. “Isn’t that what you’re always saying? We have to stick together.”
That would always be an acceptable answer. That would always be there to fall back on. I wasn’t satisfied with that answer anymore.
“Will that be enough to keep you and me together?”
“I hope so.” He walked away.
Slowly, I followed, letting my brain run down so I wouldn’t have to think anymore.
Arturo and his vampires couldn’t move until nightfall. Carl probably wouldn’t make a move until he did, which might have been why he hadn’t come looking for me. Maybe they wouldn’t strike at all. As the silence drew on, as the calls from my lookouts didn’t come, I didn’t start to hope. I’d become too cynical for that. Too many blows had undermined my safe little life.
I was trying to nap on the sofa when the call came. I lunged for my phone on the coffee table.
“Yes? What is it?”
“It’s Becky.” She sounded breathless, panicked. “I just got off the phone with Mick.”
“Mick, the short guy with the brown hair?” One of the tougher wolves in Carl’s pack.
“Yeah, yeah. He says Carl’s on the hunt. He’s called in everybody, he’s going after you.”
I sat on the edge of the sofa. “Here? He’s coming here?” That would be best. If he was going to go after anyone, I wanted it to be me. I was ready for him.
“No,” Becky said, and I could imagine her shaking her head vehemently. “He—Mick I mean—said Carl wants to hit you where it’ll hurt the most. It’s like he’s not even pissed off at you, he’s pissed off at what started this whole thing.”
“Where?” I asked anyway.
“The radio station. He’s going after KNOB.”
“When?”
“Now, he’s headed over there right now!”
chapter 12
What does he think he’s going to do? Kill everyone there? Does he really think he’d get away with that? Or maybe he just wants to pee on the rugs,” I grumbled at Ben as we got in the car. He didn’t answer, just wore his smirk and gave me his hawk’s stare. His courtroom lawyer, moving in for the kill hawk stare. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself.
He drove, and I let him because I had things to do. I’d signed off with Becky, after asking her to call Shaun and whoever else she could get to meet us there. We could have ourselves a regular rumble. I ought to decide whether I wanted to be the Sharks or the Jets.
I had an advantage over Carl: an in with the Denver police. I called Hardin.
“Hardin here.”
“It’s Kitty, I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?” She sounded serious and businesslike, which heartened me.
“I think I’m in trouble. It’s the werewolves, they’re after me.”
“This has something to do with your little gang war, doesn’t it? I’m not going to pick sides.”
“My little gang war? I didn’t start it, I’m just trying to clean it up!”
“So you admit you’re involved?”
I couldn’t say anything right, could I? “I think these are the werewolves involved in those murders at the warehouse.”
“Are you sure?”
Then I realized that while I trusted Becky, we had no reason to believe that Mick was telling her the truth. Mick might not really be on our side. Carl might have told him to feed us the information, give us a false lead while he struck at another target.
At least, I might think that if I believed Carl had a clever cell in his entire brain.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At the station. At KNOB.”
“I suppose you’re headed there now?” I told her yes, and she said, “I’ll meet you.” And hung up.
Looked like we were going to have us a rumble.
“You ready for this?” Ben said.
“I don’t know.”
“How many people you think he’ll have with him?”
“Six, seven maybe. More if Meg is with him, too.”
“And we’ve got the Denver PD. Not bad. What happens if Hardin and her people are late? Three of us can’t fight seven of them. Four if Shaun gets there in time.”
“Maybe I can talk to Carl. Talk him out of this.”
“Like Gabe did? You bring the gun?”
“No,” I said softly, knowing what he’d say to that. I was being weak. I was in denial. “Maybe I can claw him to death.”
“No worries. I’ve got the extras in the trunk.”
Extras. Plural. The more tired I got the more ludicrous this plan sounded.
“I don’t want to face him again.”
“You only have to face him until the police show up. Remember this isn’t about you. It’s for Jenny.”
That got me angry all over again. That, and the fact that Carl, predictably, hadn’t gone after me directly, but after something close to me. The part of me he’d never been able to touch—my job. What a jerk.
Far too quickly, Ben’s car roared into the station’s parking lot. Becky was already there, and Shaun pulled in right behind us. They were hunched and wary, in defensive fighting stances. They looked like they might spring into battle, or leap back in the car and drive off at the slightest hint of danger. I couldn’t decide which.
I jumped out of Ben’s car before it stopped completely. “Is he here yet?”
Before they could answer, a truck pulled up to the curb, tires squealing, not even bothering to take the few extra seconds to swing into the parking lot. Carl and another man climbed out. He was another werewolf. A breath of musk and wild came with them, fur and skin, and something foreign. An enemy, an intruder. Opposing pack. Another truck and three more followed them. No Meg. Somehow, this was a relief.
I didn’t have time to go for the weapons in the trunk. They spotted us. Without hesitating, Carl stalked toward the door. He was huge, tall and muscular—a monster even if I didn’t know his other nature. His brown hair and beard needed trimming, and his whole manner was as animal as it could be without him shape-shifting completely. His pack held back, wary, watching what we would do.
Near the doors, I moved to intercept him, trusting that Ben would watch my back.
“Stop!” I called at him.
Carl didn’t slow. “Who told you I was coming here? Who warned you?”
“You can’t be here, Carl. You need to leave.” Brave words. Stupid brave. I braced like my slight body could actually stop him, or even give him pause.
He bent his arms, cocked his fists, and I knew the move he’d throw at me. He’d punch up with one, drive down with the other, trapping me and smashing me into the ground. His lips drew back in a snarl.
I waited for him. I kne
w what was coming, and I waited. When the blow came, double fists moving like I knew they would because I’d seen this before, I ducked. I wasn’t there, and when he lurched into the space I used to be, I shoved. Planted my shoulder in the soft space under his rib cage and pushed.
He stumbled but kept his feet, and for a moment we both froze, staring at each other, panting though our expended effort so far had been slight.
After all this time, something still bound us. Because of that, we couldn’t tear each other apart like animals. The thought came to me, incongruous: I used to have sex with this man. I almost laughed. I couldn’t remember what he tasted like.
“Stay back!” Ben shouted. I didn’t look away from Carl, but in the corner of my vision I saw Ben move forward, holding a gun out and ready to fire. Carl’s followers had spread out, arranging themselves in a line to move in on us—a wolf pack surrounding weak and injured prey. Ben halted their advance.
“You got silver?” one of them said.
“You bet your ass,” Ben answered. “Now let these two have their little chat.”
The wolves stayed back.
That left me and Carl to hash it out.
“What did you think you could do here?” I said.
“You invade my territory, I can do the same. I can tear you apart.”
“The police are coming. They’ll arrest you. It won’t take them long to figure out what you did to Rick’s people.”
“That’s none of their business.” A tacit confession. He didn’t even try to deny it, or pretend that he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You’re a murderer! That is their business!”
He donned a thin smile. “You shouldn’t have come back. You shouldn’t have gotten involved.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Sucks to be me.”
“Now, I attack you, and your boyfriend shoots me. Is that your plan?”
It would be so easy. End it—or at least this half of it—right here. Then Hardin would drive up, see Ben with a smoking gun, and throw him in jail. I didn’t think I could handle that. Not again.