“Nope. And we need proof that Anderson is actually in the building. Just because Hugh—he’s the goon—said he’d there, doesn’t mean the information is good.”
“Or that he’s even still alive.” Ryne added.
Cassie gave a gasp, her gaze flying to Bryan’s. Bryan grimaced at Ryne’s lack of tact, but knew it was a fact they had to face.” He nodded slowly. “So we need some proof.”
“Have them send a picture via cell phone. It has to show Anderson and today’s paper.” Ryne smirked. “Isn’t that how they do it in the movies?”
“Good idea.” Bryan pulled out his cell phone.
Cassie grabbed his arm. “Let me call. I’m the one they want.”
He hesitated, but then nodded knowing she probably needed to feel as if she were doing something for her friend. As he watched her dial the number, he wondered yet again exactly what her relationship with Kellen was.
*****
“See Leon? It was no trouble at all.” Sylvia smiled warmly as she patted his hand. Aldrich smiled back and adjusted the silk scarf that covered his breathing tube. He closed his eyes briefly as she laid her hand on his brow.
“You’re a trifle warm, Leon. Are you feeling well?” She inquired, a look of concern in her eyes.
“Yes, just excited about a certain business project that is finally coming together. No need to fuss.” The chastisement was delivered gently and he boldly reached out and patted her hand.
“That’s why I’m here. To fuss over you.” Sylvia put away her equipment, then slowly wiped the counter down with a disinfectant.
Aldrich watched her work, not rushing off as he usually did. There was something soothing about being with Sylvia.
“Leon, have you thought any more about going for a walk with me one day? The weather’s quite lovely, but the forecast says it won’t last.” She stared at the counter she was wiping as if too shy to actually look at him. Aldrich found it refreshing after the bold advances of Miss Matthews.
“Ah, Sylvia.” He sighed and responded regretfully. “It’s not that I don’t want to go for a walk with you...”
She turned to face him, the cloth clutched in her hands. “Leon, I know I’m probably out of line talking to you like this, but it isn’t good for you to be inside all the time. You’re pale and look stressed. Some fresh air and sunshine would do wonders for you.”
“Sylvia, the world isn’t a safe place—”
“Pshaw! That’s just an excuse and you know it. Lots of handsome, wealthy men stroll about freely. You need to realize that you’re letting your wealth and position make you a prisoner. What good is it, if you never get out to enjoy life?”
Aldrich stared at her impassioned face. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks glowed becomingly. “Well, perhaps...”
A smile spread across her face. “We could go for a walk together through the park. There’s a lovely cafe I know that serves tea. Or perhaps you’d come to my home to see my garden? I make a wonderful lemon loaf that we could share on the back patio.”
He chuckled over her enthusiastic response, but his laughter stopped at the sound of a snort from behind him.
“Really, Sylvia. Mr. Aldrich is much too busy to spend his time cavorting through your garden and eating mediocre pastry out of doors. He has several important meetings and a slew of paper work to deal with.” Miss Matthews stood in the doorway looking down her nose at Sylvia, a faint sneer twisting her blood red lips.
“Oh...” Sylvia wilted under the condemning look. The sparkle left her eyes and her shoulders slumped. “Of course. How foolish of me.” She twisted the cloth in her hands and then turned back to the counter. “I’ll just finish up here and let you get back to work then.”
“No!” Aldrich reached out and touched Sylvia’s arm. “She’s wrong.” He glared at his personal assistant. “Miss Matthews, I am well aware of my schedule. If I choose to cancel a meeting and spend time otherwise occupied, it is none of your concern. I will talk to you later. You’re dismissed”
Miss Matthews' mouth opened in surprise then snapped shut. She pivoted on her stiletto heels and marched out of the room her whole bearing betraying her disapproval.
Turning, he addressed Sylvia who was looking at him with obvious confusion. “Sylvia, there is nothing I’d like better than to go for a walk with you. How about tomorrow morning around ten-thirty?”
“Really? Leon that would be splendid!” She beamed up at him and he tentatively reached out to take her hand.
“Perhaps I could even take you out for lunch?”
*****
Marla stomped into her office, barely resisting the urge to slam the door. How could Aldrich even consider spending time with that woman? And he was taking Sylvia out to lunch! In three years the man had never so much as bought her, his very own personal assistant, a cup of coffee!
She ran her hands through her hair and gave a silent scream of fury. It was ridiculous, preposterous even, that Aldrich was attracted to Sylvia Robinson and not her. For three years she’d all but thrown herself at the man and gotten nowhere. But Sylvia... All she had to do was suction up some mucous and the man was almost salivating over her.
Looking around the room Marla wished she had something to throw or break to ease the anger and frustration inside her. Of course, everything in the room was too expensive to destroy so she resorted to dumping the recycling bin and tossing balled up pieces of paper about the room. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the crashing sound of breaking glass, but it was all she dared allow herself.
Marla couldn’t let Aldrich or Sylvia know how upset she really was. That would never do. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Plopping down in her desk chair, she turned to pick up the phone, then blinked in surprise as she noticed the shadowy reflection of her wolf on the blank computer screen. It was pitiful creature, a dull grey colour that she’d never liked. Snorting derisively, she shook her head. It had been such a disappointment the first time she’d transformed. Honestly, why couldn’t she at least have had a wolf that suited her image.
A cold heartless image, her wolf reminded her.
“So?” She snapped back at the wolf annoyed with its comment.
Is that how you want to be seen? Little wonder you had few friends in the pack.
“I didn’t need friends in the pack. Besides, they were all dull. Happy to be stuck in a little hick town, living lives that went nowhere.”
You had a few friends and you could have had more, if you’d tried. Instead you pushed everyone away.
She shrugged. “They weren’t worth the effort. Besides, I didn’t want to stay there. I wanted to make something of my life.”
Make something of your life? Like what? You work all alone in a luxurious apartment with no friends. You go home to an empty apartment. The man you’ve been trying to catch shows more interest in a middle aged woman than he does in you...
“No! That’s not true. I have a lovely apartment. I spend time with Jeffries—”
Who only wants you for sex.
She ignored the interjection and continued on. “And I’m getting rid of Sylvia. Then Aldrich will notice me.”
I won’t be a part of it this time, the wolf warned.
“As if you have a choice. You’ll do as I say.” Marla glared at the computer screen, seeing her own face again. It was contorted, ugly red blotches on her cheeks... She schooled her features into their usual calm, unflappable expression, smoothed her hair, and then folded her hands neatly on the desk top to consider the situation in a rational manner.
Aldrich has been busy all morning on some project in the back rooms of the penthouse. It was the one area to which he refused to give her unsupervised access. She suspected he kept certain private records back there and she’d tried on various occasions to get in, but like certain computer files, she was locked out. The entrance was fingerprint activated and she hadn’t figured out how to get past it. Plus Swanson’s office was the first door down the hallway and the m
an was always in there reviewing security tapes and checking codes.
Marla knew something big was going on. There were people in the back rooms now, something that had never happened before. Aldrich had let two new persons into his sanctuary. She could detect their scents; both were males, one was injured. The slight coppery scent of blood tinged the air, but it wasn’t a serious injury. A drug was being used too, probably a sedative though she couldn’t be sure.
She’d spent part of the morning straining to hear what was going on, trying various rooms, standing by ventilation ducts, but to no avail. The rooms were well secured and she had no idea what was going on. It bothered her greatly that Aldrich hadn’t mentioned anything to her and was probably one of the reasons she’d snapped at Sylvia like that.
Her reaction had been a strategic error, but what was done was done and now she’d just have to deal with the consequences. Picking up the phone, she called Jeffries.
“Jeffries? ... Marla here ... Yes, I miss you too ... Remember our conversation this morning? ... Uh-huh. ... I still want to play that trick on Sylvia. Any idea when you could be ready?” She frowned listening to him making excuses. “No. I haven’t changed my mind and you’d better not either. Not if you want any more of what I gave you this morning ... It works both ways, Jeffries. I make your ‘elevator’ go up and you ... Uh-huh. Now you get the idea ... Good. I really need to do this by tomorrow morning ... Thank you. I’ll give you a big reward tomorrow night if this works.” She blew a kiss down the phone and then hung up, a satisfied smile on her face.
*****
Cassie stared at the picture of Kellen as it appeared on the tiny screen of her cell phone. The kidnappers had sent it, as requested, when she said she’d turn herself over to them tomorrow, but only if she had proof that Kellen was alive. Well, he was alive, but his eyes were unfocussed as if he’d been drugged. At least the swelling of his eye and lip were less than in the picture she’d found pinned to her front door. She bit her lip, holding back the sympathetic tears that threatened to fall and studied the picture again. Someone was beside Kellen though she could only see the person’s finger tips. They were holding a newspaper that showed today’s date.
She supposed she should be glad that at least he was still alive, but a sort of numbness was coming over her. This couldn’t really be happening, not to her, not to Kellen. Things like this happened to famous people, important people... Well, she supposed being an heiress she did fit into that category, but she’d never seen herself as anyone special. The only thing special about her was that she was a werewolf and this didn’t even have anything to do with that fact!
Bryan plucked the phone from her unresisting fingers and squinted at the picture, then wordlessly passed it to the other men in the room.
“Well, that confirms it.” Ryne tossed the phone on the table and ran his hands through his hair. “The Anderson kid is there. Now how do we go about getting him out?”
“And how do we get in to find Marla and Aldrich?” Kane grumbled from the window where he was observing the view. “The Chicago pack reports that he hardly ever leaves the building and when he does it’s in a limo. Damn thing is built like a tank apparently.”
Bryan paced the room. “The front door is guarded and we can’t just take the doorman out. It’s too public. There’d be too many questions.”
“There’s probably a closed circuit TV as well. If we go in the front it will give Marla and Aldrich too much warning. Quite likely Aldrich has a backup escape plan, given how paranoid he is.” Ryne stood up and went to the small bar fridge and took out a beer. After taking a swig, he sat on the edge of the dresser, one leg languidly swinging back and forth. “We need to sneak in some way. But how?”
Cassie remained where she was, curled up in a chair in the corner, watching the men warily. For all that Bryan had tried to ease some of her fears, she was still extremely aware of the fact that she was surrounded by three werewolves. The Alphas especially exuded a sense of dominating strength that had the wolf inside her tucking its tail between its legs. For once, Cassie was in total concordance with the creature. She could sense the men were angry and frustrated and even though she knew it wasn’t directed at her, it didn’t make her any less uneasy.
Cautiously, trying not to draw attention to herself, she reached for her cell phone and stared at the picture of Kellen. At present it was zoomed in on his face. She reversed the zoom, easing the picture back, taking in his whole self. The poor man was tied to a hard wooden chair. It seemed as if the kidnappers were taunting him, seeing as how he was surrounded by soft carpeting and expensive art work. Even the curtains seemed to be of a high quality. As she scanned the picture of the room, an idea began to form.
It was crazy, but... Cassie nibbled her lip and considered the idea again. It might work, but could she really do it? Perhaps... She stared at Kellen’s slumped figure and realized she had no choice. It was probably the only way...
“I can do it.” She said the words out loud while staring at the picture. The conversation in the room stopped and she looked up to find the three men staring at her.
“Do what, Cassie?” Bryan looked at her puzzled.
She licked her lips nervously, but then stood up and said it again. “I can get in to the penthouse and then let the rest of you in.”
Kane gave her a condescending smile and shook his head while Ryne outright laughed. “Bryan, did you overstate the abilities of werewolves to her?” He chuckled again. “It’s nice of you to offer sweetie, but—”
She cut off the man’s comment. “I mean it. I can get in there by... What did you call it, Bryan? Tele-something?”
“Teleporting.” Bryan supplied the word, but shook his head. “Uh-uh. No way. You aren’t just popping into a viper’s den by yourself. Besides you can’t control it. You’ve never done it at will.” His words held a certain finality as if he thought he had the final word as to what she could or couldn’t do. Cassie bit back an instinctive retort at his high-handed manner.
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Ryne looked between the two of them, obviously not understanding what they were referring to.
“Teleporting, Ryne.” Kane walked closer, staring at Cassie as he addressed his brother. “Don’t you remember the lessons we had on the ancient ones? Or was that another of the classes you skipped?”
“Ha, ha. I remember, but...” Ryne also walked closer to Cassie and she took an involuntary step backwards. He turned to look at Bryan. “How does she know about teleporting? I told you to bring her up to speed on werewolves, but that’s not the first topic I would have picked.”
Bryan rubbed his neck and chuckled. “Me either. Um... I haven’t had time to tell you all about our newest pack member Ryne, but it seems she’s no run of the mill lone wolf.”
Ryne raised his brows. “How so?”
“Well, Cassie says that she’s had a few rather odd experiences during the full moon. Experiences where she’s apparently disappeared from her locked bedroom and reappeared in another location.”
“Damn, I don’t believe it.” Ryne stared at her in obvious surprise, then ran his hand through his thick black hair. He shook his head and whistled. “If it’s true this is some stray we’ve found.”
Cassie bristled at the term stray. “I’m not some lost dog, you know.”
“He didn’t mean it that way,” Kane spoke softly. “My brother’s not known for his flowery phrases, but he is right. If you can indeed teleport, you are an exceptional werewolf.” He turned to look at Bryan. “Has she reported any other signs?”
“Well...” Bryan shifted a bit uncomfortably. “She says she’s had constant dreams of a certain wolf. Always the same wolf.”
Kane nodded. “It fits. Her wolf knows its mate and has already formed a blood bond without even having met.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back on his heels. “Congratulations, Ryne. You’re probably the only Alpha on the continent with a royal blooded wolf in your pack.” br />
The three men all gazed at Cassie speculatively and she gave them a hesitant smile, not at all liking being the centre of attention. “So...um...do any of you know how to teleport or have any pointers for me?”
“No.” Bryan gave his head a shake. “No I don’t know how, nor do I have any ‘pointers,’ and no I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“But why? None of you seem to have come up with a better idea yet.” She warmed to her idea in the face of Bryan’s outright dismissal. He was trying to tell her what to do again and she wasn’t about to put up with it. Jutting her chin, she frowned at him and he glared right back. The tension grew between them and Bryan issued a low growl from his throat. Startled, she blinked, instinctively looking away only to encounter the gaze of the two Alphas. They were studying the interaction with expressions of mild interest. Suddenly, Cassie felt incredibly ill at ease. Here she was surrounded by werewolves and what was she doing? Showing attitude. Looking at the floor, she bit her lip hoping she hadn’t been too insubordinate.
Bryan muttered something under his breath and turned away to look out the window, but the other two seemed interested in her idea.
“She’s right you know.” Ryne nodded. “There’s no obvious way for us to get in. Aldrich has made his own little fortress.”
“It just might work.” Kane concurred. He nodded towards the cell phone in her hand. “She has an image of the room to focus on so she’d know where she was going. It’s not a complete stab in the dark.”
Cassie stood a little straighter, pleased that they seemed to like her idea.
“But she’s only done it a few times and has no idea how to control it.” Bryan faced the room again, a frown on his face.
“We could practise here in the motel. I could go from room to room.” Cassie clutched the phone in her hand and looked anxiously at the men.
Kane cocked his head. “You realize it could be dangerous, don’t you? When you suddenly appear in Aldrich’s penthouse, you’ll be by yourself and there’s no guarantee that the room will be empty.”