DARKSIDE OF THE MOON (17 page)

“I’m not paying one more cent.” He crossed his arms.

“Well, she said that since it was a mistake, they would let us have them for the same cost as the original cabinets.” She held up the phone. “Look at the picture. I think these cabinets actually look a lot better. What do you think?”

He took the phone and studied the picture.

“Still, they made a mistake. I don’t want someone you are doing business with taking advantage of you.” He handed her the phone back.

She grinned. “So you like them. I knew it.”

“When are we driving out there?” He needed to lay eyes on this contractor.

“Now, if you’re free from whatever top-secret business Barrett has you on?” She gave him a saccharine smile.

“Smartass.”

“You like my smart ass,” she quipped.

“You’re right. I do love your ass.” He reached out and clamped two hands on her butt and pulled her into his arms.

She giggled as she snuggled into his chest.

“So let’s go right now.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

He covered her mouth with his, taking his time to savor her sweet taste. He loved her with an intensity that frightened him at times.

“Fine. Let’s go.” He gave her ass a squeeze.

His phone buzzed in his jeans pocket.

“Ugh. Ignore it.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Can’t, babe. Might be work.” Reluctantly, he pulled away from her and reached in his back pocket for his phone. He sighed as soon as he saw it was Barrett calling.

“Ignore it.” She tried rubbing her boobs against his chest in an attempt to distract him.

“It’s Barrett. I have to answer it.”

She frowned as he hit the green button.

“Hey.”

“What the fuck took you so long? I was beginning to think you’d run off with those other three assholes who can’t manage to answer their fucking cell phones,” Barrett rumbled.

Damon fought a smile. His Pack Master was known for keeping his cool, but these last few days had certainly pissed off Barrett to put him on edge like this.

“I’ve got Ava here distracting me. Not planning on running off with anyone else.” He winked.

“No visuals. Please.”

Damon laughed.

“What have you found out? Where are my Guardians?”

Damon took a deep breath. “I tracked Lucien and Jaxon to a café this morning, where they looked like they were either hung over or their dog died.”

“That dog better not be Zane.” Barrett growled.

Damon shook his head. “Look, boss, I’m not sure what’s going on with those two, but I do know they are hiding something.”

“Has Zane gone rogue?” Barrett’s voice was eerily calm. Damon knew his Pack Master held Zane in the highest regard. He was his second-in-command.

“I’m not sure,” Damon answered as honestly as he could. “But that’s what I’m here to fucking find out.”

***

Lucien ran his hand through his hair and clenched his jaw.

“Dude, you look constipated.” Jaxon walked past him in the littered yard of an abandoned apartment complex and stopped at the entrance. They’d gotten a tip from a female attendant at the local gas station that this was where you could score some meth.

“Fuck off, Jaxon.” Lucien scowled and then glanced around at his surroundings. The apartment building was situated in an industrial part of town near the railroad tracks. The windows had been boarded up with plywood that was decorated with graffiti. The dark, dreary brick had a thick green blanket of ivy crawling up the side. The yard was bare without any grass. Not even weeds wanted to put down roots in this depressing place.

“The door is padlocked.” Lucien lifted his head. His gaze landed on the roof, where a good portion of the tiles had been blown off.

“Let me run around back and see if there’s another way in.” Jaxon jogged around the back of the abandoned apartment.

The Arkansas sun beat down on Lucien with a vengeance. Sweat beaded at his temple, and he swiped at the moisture with the back of his hand. Probably not the best idea to wear his leather jacket today.

Lucien clenched his fists. He felt like he was letting Zane down. He seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and no one had a bead on him.

He had to hurry up and find him before Damon did.

“I got something back here,” Jaxon called out.

Lucien made his way around the back of the building. His gaze landed on something poking out of the ivy. He stopped, bent down, and brushed the vine out of the way.

Concealed in the greenery was small plastic sandwich bag. He picked it up and held it up to his nose. Though it was empty, the scent of crystal meth was overpowering to his wolf’s sensitive nose.

“So we have found a trail after all.” Clutching the bag, he made his way over to Jaxon.

Jaxon frowned as he shoved the bag under his nose.

“Jesus, dude. That shit stinks.” Jaxon stepped back.

“At least we are following the right breadcrumbs. Or should I say ‘meth crumbs’?” He tossed the bag on the ground. “What did you find?”

“We have a basement window.” He pointed to the boarded-up window that was too small for anyone, let alone a werewolf, to fit through.

“Are you kidding? I don’t think a six-year-old could fit through there.”

“Wait. I’m not finished.” Jaxon walked over to the window and grabbed the board on the window. A click sounded, and then the board, along with a sizeable section of the brick, swung open. It was about a four-by-three-foot opening.

“What the fuck?” Lucien’s mouth dropped.

“I know, right? I mean, how genius is it to put a concealed door at the smallest window in the whole building? No one would have ever thought to try to get in here.” Jaxon smirked and pulled out his cell phone. He opened the flashlight app and shone it into the dark basement.

“Which means these are some highly motivated drug dealers.” Lucien pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of the hidden door. His Pack Master would be very interested in seeing this.

Lucien stepped inside the basement and Jaxon followed after him.

The scent of years of filth and dirt mixed with mildew had him wrinkling his nose up in disgust. The faint scent of crystal meth and sex lingered in the air in a far corner of the room.

“Yep. Drug house for sure. I’m surprised the scent isn’t overwhelming.” Jaxon held up the phone to a far corner of the room. Old blankets and empty baggies were littered across the concrete floor. All evidence that the users would get high and party.

“I think it’s been a few days since they last used in here.” Lucien held up his own flashlight app and scanned the room. Other than garbage, there wasn’t much in the room.

“Let’s go see what’s up there.” Lucien nodded toward the stairs that led to the first floor.

Jaxon followed his lead.

The door at the top of the stairs was locked. Lucien rammed his shoulder into the wood and the door gave and swung open.

He stepped into the darkened hallway of the building and blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkened room. Tiny slivers of light filtered in through the cracks of the boarded-up windows.

Wordlessly, they wandered through the litter-filled hallways, stopping only to peek into the rooms they passed. There were old, moldy mattresses in some of the rooms, suggesting that maybe it had once been a den of homeless people until the drug dealers had taken over for their own gain.

The scent of old urine wafted around Lucien, and he swallowed back the bile rising in the back of his throat.

“Why can’t people walk a few feet to go outside and take a piss instead of pissing inside?” Jaxon growled.

“Because they don’t give a fuck, I suppose.” Lucien wrinkled his nose and continued the trek. When he reached the last room, he nodded toward the stairs.

“Want to see what’s on the next two floors?” Lucien wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his arm.

“Why not? But I suspect it’s just going to be more of the same. More stink. More piss,”

Jaxon hissed.

“Probably.” Lucien snorted.

A few minutes later, after making the trek to the second floor and not finding anything out of place, they forced their way up to the third and last floor of the apartment building.

They turned left at the top of the stairs and opened the door to the first room.

What Lucien saw made the hair on his neck stand at attention.

“Jaxon, check this shit out.” He pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside. Jaxon was right behind him, muttering a curse.

This window was different. Instead of being boarded up from the outside, it was boarded from the inside. On either side of the window were two automatic assault rifles propped against the peeling wallpaper, and in the corner was a crate of ammo.

“What the hell have we stumbled upon?” Jaxon’s gaze darted around the room. “Why would someone leave thousands of dollars of guns and ammo in this shit hole?”

“My guess is because they are coming back.” Lucien jogged out into the hallway. “Check all the rooms.”

“For what?”

He met his brother’s gaze. “I’m betting that each corner room with a window has the exact same setup. It’s like a guard post. Go check that end and I’ll get this end.”

Lucien went to room opposite and opened the door. He wasn’t surprised to see another window boarded up from the inside with guns resting against the wall. He ventured farther into the room and over to the window. He felt around the edges of the wood panel covering the window until his fingers brushed against a hook and latch. Flicking the hook up, he pulled on the wood. The wood panel swung open from a side hinge that had been screwed into the wall, allowing the whole board to swing free.

Sunlight filtered into the darkened room, and he rested his hands on the top of the windowsill and gazed out. His position offered an unobstructed view of the back of the building and of the backyard.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall with Jaxon’s approach.

“Hey, you’re right. Both rooms on the end are set up the same. I noticed a latch on the side of the window in both rooms and both windows open up.” Jaxon rested his hands on his hips.

“This isn’t just some low-rent drug-dealer setup.” Lucien’s gaze rested on the guns. “This is something else. And my gut tells me that it’s going to help lead us right to Zane.”

***

“What the hell’s she doing?” Zane mumbled to himself as he pulled into the driveway of the construction site. His gaze zeroed in on Skylar with her hands full of a large kitchen cabinet. It was obvious she was struggling to get it from the back of a truck into the house.

He stopped his Harley by her truck and killed the engine. Setting the kickstand, he slid off the bike and jogged over to her.

“Here, let me.” He took the large cabinet out of her hands, despite her protests.

“It’s not that heavy. I can carry it.” She pouted as he ignored her.

“Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t be carrying it anyway. Not with all these assholes here to help.” He said it loud enough so a passing worker heard him and dipped his head in embarrassment.

“They offered, but I told them I could do it.”

“Figures,” he mumbled as he stepped into the kitchen. “Where do you want this?” He turned to face her.

“Over there. It’s the last cabinet that needs to be hung.” She motioned with her hand.

He carried it over and hefted it up to the worker standing on a ladder. He held the weight from the bottom while the cabinet was screwed into the wall.

Once it was secure, he stepped back and admired the work.

“This looks really good. Did you pick these out yourself?”

She grinned. “Not exactly. The owner picked out a different set of cabinets, and these were delivered by mistake.”

That couldn’t be good.

“Don’t look so worried. I already talked to the owner and sent a text with the new cabinets and explained what happened. I think she liked the fact that I talked the supplier into letting us have these for the same cost as the other ones.” She shrugged. “In the end, it worked out.”

“Wow. I got to say I’m impressed. You must be one hell of a businesswoman.”

“No, I’m one hell of a construction worker.”

He didn’t suppress his smile as he let his gaze drift over her body.

Her T-shirt sleeves were rolled up to her shoulders, revealing her toned arms. Sweat dripped from the ponytail she was rocking onto the front of her shirt, making the fabric cling to her like a second skin. Her jeans were tucked into her work boots, and her tool belt hung off her hips at an angle.

“What?” She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip.

“Never thought I would be saying a tool belt was sexy.” He grinned.

Sanchez coughed and cleared his throat while Skylar’s face went as red as her hair.

“We need to get busy since the owner will be coming by today.” Sanchez continued to ignore Zane and turned his attention to her.

“I know. Too much to do and not enough workers.” She brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“I can help,” Zane offered.

“You?” Skylar’s skeptical eyes matched what he was feeling.

He’d never done construction work in his life. But now he was suddenly feeling all Bob the Builder.

“Sure. Just show me what needs to be done.” He glanced at Sophia as she entered through the back door. Her hair was messy, her clothes were dusty, and she was clutching a block of wood in her chubby hand.

“Hey, little bit.”

“Hey, Zane,” Sophia quipped before wrapping her hand around Skylar’s thigh and resting her head. “Skylar, I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll get you a drink, honey.” Skylar’s fingertips trailed though the little girl’s dark strands.

Zane’s heart clutched with longing. Mesmerized, he couldn’t move or tear his gaze away from the sweet interaction between Skylar and the little girl. She was a natural with the child. An image of Skylar with a baby in her arms filled his mind. With
his
baby in her arms.

Skylar looked up at Zane and narrowed her gaze. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He quickly looked away and forced his mind on other things, like the job at hand, instead of imagining what Skylar would look like pregnant. “Tell me what needs to be done.”