Franklin’s expression turned serious. “Of course he can’t. That man hasn’t spent more than twenty seconds thinking about what he wants in a long damn time. He’s probably out of practice.”
Out of practice and scared by what could happen to her. “I’m an a**hole too. It’s a bad situation, all the way around.”
“Yeah. And shitty timing, with your family.” He smiled, a little lopsided. “Sorry, Carmen. You’ve had a week from hell, haven’t you?”
“Could always be worse.” She just wasn’t sure how.
Alec was running a red light when his cell phone rang.
At least it was at an intersection so deserted he didn’t feel guilty about slamming down the gas when the light turned yellow. He fumbled for his phone as he zipped through the intersection, then swore when he read the display.
Nicole Peyton rarely called him by choice. Jackson was her best friend and she was married to Kat’s cousin—if she had a message for him, it usually went through one of them. The only time she called him directly was when shit was going to hell fast—
—or the Alpha had a message he couldn’t officially give to a rogue bastard.
Alec fumbled for the answer button. “Yeah?”
“You have a problem,” Nick said without preamble. “The guy who attacked Kat disappeared from Conclave custody this afternoon.”
His first thought was, shit, followed closely by the more puzzling question. “How?”
“Oh, I thought I covered that part. He disappeared, as in a teleporter popped into his cell and popped right back out, with him in tow.”
“Jesus Christ, Nicole. Are you shitting me?”
She made a strangled noise that almost sounded like a laugh. “This isn’t my idea of a rollicking good joke, Alec. A Conclave guard watched it all happen, so it was either teleportation or one badass glamour affecting about a hundred people, because no one else in the building saw or heard anything.”
“Damn.” Not good news, considering he’d never heard of a teleporter strong enough to move themselves more than a few hundred feet, much less take someone else along for the ride. Then again, psychics with strong gifts that could be put to sinister uses had good reason not to make their presence known. “I can’t tell if that’s related to my current shitstorm or a completely different shitstorm.”
“The thing with the Mendoza kid?” Nick hesitated. “Look, Alec, I don’t say this a lot—mostly because you can take care of yourself—but watch it. Cesar Mendoza isn’t good people.”
Life really was circling the drain when Nicole Peyton started worrying about him. At least she was too distracted to ask painful questions about Carmen—questions Alec wasn’t in the mood to answer. “I know Cesar Mendoza’s a jackass, which is most of the reason I think this mess with Kat has to be separate. Mendoza wouldn’t send someone on a risky job if they needed rescuing. Maybe if they needed killing, but this….. Shit. Does your husband know?”
“Not yet. I thought I’d give you the heads-up first.”
“Don’t suppose you’d consider holding off for a bit?”
“Nope. I like being married.”
Married people were a pain in the ass. “Fine. At least tell him that his cousin’s fine, she dropped a shifter with a stun gun all by herself, and we’re taking good care of her.”
“I will, but don’t be surprised if he shows up anyway.”
“If he does, I’ll deal.” Alec whipped his truck around a corner and swore. “I’m on my way back to meet Kat and Jackson at your bar. Maybe I can convince her to call and fess up.”
“Works for me. In the meantime, I’ll keep an ear open for news.”
“Thanks, Nicole. Give me an hour to convince Kat she’s busted before you spill the beans to Derek, would you?”
“One hour. Talk fast.” The phone clicked.
Shit. One hour to get to the bar and convince Kat that independence didn’t need to mean cutting her cousin out of her life entirely.
Alec buried the needle.
Forty-seven minutes later, Kat capitulated and took her cell phone outside into the April sunshine to call her cousin.
Alec blew out a breath and wondered if it was too early to drink something stronger than beer. “She seems to have bounced back just fine. I think Zola’s stubbornness is rubbing off on her.”
Jackson finished his beer before answering. “Really? I think she’s getting more and more like you.”
“I hope not.” It sure as hell wasn’t a compliment, especially considering the mood he’d been in since Carmen had left his house—and left him regretting half the things he’d said.
“Oh, come on. Don’t get all wounded. It’s a good thing.”
“Uh-huh.” Alec tilted his beer bottle toward the leather satchel on the seat beside his partner. Carmen might not want to talk to him, but he’d still do what he could to keep her safe. “So what’s the news? Kat finally figure out what Cesar’s been doing with his money?”
“Yeah.” Jackson’s eyes shadowed. “You’re not gonna like it.”
“He buy a witch?”
“No. He didn’t spend it at all.” He reached into the satchel and drew out a sheaf of papers. “He’s been transferring it—cash, money market, even real estate assets. All to his brother’s kids.”
“What?” It didn’t make any sense, unless….. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah, looks like he’s sheltering his assets in anticipation of a challenge. Which, if I recall correctly, is a big cowardly no-no, right?”
“Christ, yeah. Assuming it even works.” A few generations ago, it wouldn’t have mattered. An underhanded attempt to escape the consequences of a lost challenge would have been brought before the Conclave, and retribution would have been swift and brutal. The Alpha would have taken his share of the wealth as penalty, and the wolf in question would have been lucky to escape with his life.
John Wesley Peyton might have the strength to be Alpha, but he abhorred unnecessary brutality. The man had been fighting a losing battle for years, trying to drag the wolves into the civilized twenty-first century. Cesar Mendoza might be crazy enough to think he’d get away with a stunt like this.
Jackson tapped his empty bottle on the table. “Kat tracked down the paper trail on the rental house in Algiers too.”
The bottom of Alec’s stomach damn near fell out. It had been the first thing they’d looked into, but the paper trail had gone in endless circles obviously meant to protect whoever had paid for the place. If Kat had been restricted to legal channels, that would have been the end of it.
Thank God it wasn’t—though confirmation of Carmen’s suspicions might make her feel worse, not better. “Was it her father?”
“Hate it like hell, but yeah. Diego Mendoza secured the rental six months ago.”
“Jesus. Wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision, was it?”
Jackson smiled mirthlessly. “I don’t think you can hit up the phone directory and find the kind of caster he needed for this shit. I’d be surprised if it took him less than a year of planning.”
That was going to break Carmen’s heart. “Did Kat include that in the paperwork?”
“Nope. I figured you could decide which parts to tell her.”
“She suspects already.” Alec sat back and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Suspecting isn’t the same as knowing, is it?”
“Not about something like this, it isn’t.”
He’d pushed her away because she wasn’t safe in his world. It had seemed stupid enough during the lonely nights he’d spent wishing she was in his bed. It seemed even stupider now, with proof in front of him in black and white—Carmen wasn’t safe in her own world, and it had nothing to do with him. She’d be in danger whether she was with him or not.
Hell, she’d be a whole lot safer with him. “I’m an idiot, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” Jackson replied instantly. “What are we talking about, specifically?”
Alec made a particularly rude gesture and earned himself a glare from the woman polishing the bar. “Acting like Carmen getting tangled up with me is more dangerous than the shit her family’s dragging her through. I blew her off like an a**hole.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, you did.” The waitress delivered another round, and Jackson thanked her with a smile. “Good news is, there’s probably still time to fix it.”
“Yeah, these files will make a great peace offering. ‘Hi, honey. Your dad tried to kill you and your uncle’s a spineless coward. Wanna screw?’”
His partner spewed beer all over the table. “And here I thought you were smoother than that.”
He was, usually, but Carmen scrambled his brain. She made the world blurry, like the mating urge was trying to take hold even though she wasn’t a wolf. Maybe the urge had been driving him the whole time, tying him in knots that nothing would ever undo. Making him dumb.
Only one way to find out. “I’ll polish my charm.”
“Good. I’m still putting out feelers about the witch but, like as not, we won’t hear a peep.”
“Dead ends and stonewalling. Business as usual.” Alec finished his beer and shoved the bottle away. “Anything else I need to know? Plagues? Rain of toads?”
“Nah, pestilence must have taken the week off.”
“Smartass. Just for that, you get to deal with Kat and her cousin. Keep Derek from storming the town and stirring up shit, would you?”
Jackson grinned. “You underestimate me.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Mm-hmm.” His partner slid the papers back into the satchel and handed it over to him. “In case Dr. Mendoza wants to see it for herself. I’m going to give Kat a ride and head home.”