Familiar Desires: 5 (Protective Affairs) (22 page)

“Of course, I’ll call for you. What happened?” The woman
frowned. “Come in and sit. There’s a bench right here.”

“Taken from the street and shot when I escaped.” Alana
stepped into the woman’s house and immediately felt warmer now that she was out
of the wind and rain. The kidnapping would be common knowledge and the wound in
her thigh was obvious.

“Oh, hell, they’ve started doing that right in town now?”
The woman’s mouth gaped open.

“Don’t know if it’s the same people or if it’s only about
me.” Alana shrugged. Regardless of what she thought, she knew better than to
let her mouth get away from her.

The woman called the police and then came back with some
towels. Alana used one to work on drying her hair a little. The woman wrapped
the other around her thigh.

“It doesn’t look too bad. Must hurt like a bitch though.”
The blonde held the towel in place. “I know it did when I got shot in the arm.
I’m Gabi, by the way. According to the woman I talked to, you’re Alana. Unless
there’s another missing woman in Devoe today.”

“Hi. Yes, I’m Alana. I sincerely hope they didn’t take
another woman from Devoe today. Getting taken myself is bad enough.” She ran a
hand across the back of her neck.

Alana really hadn’t expected it. Oh she knew Gina wanted her
gone and preferably in a permanent way, but this was much too obvious and
blatant. Although Gina wanted her out of the area, she wanted to protect her
relationship with her family more and this would jeopardize that. Gina would
want whatever happened to her to look like an accident or remain unknown
forever. This was too close to home and too soon after her last warning for
Gina to be part of it. So this probably wasn’t her work. That just left
numerous other bigoted witch suspects they knew of and more who remained hidden
among them.

“They should be here soon.” Gabi smiled reassuringly.

“You said you were shot in the arm. How did that happen?”
Alana tried to focus on anything other than the pain in her leg.

“I was a cop before I met my husband, my mate, Brendan.”
Gabi kept the pressure on the wound. “A young kid tried to rob a house, got in
a standoff with owner. Even when we arrived, he wouldn’t put his weapon down.”

Alana didn’t urge her to go on when the woman’s explanation
stopped. She knew what had happened next. The situation had escalated and the
kid had been shot when his gun had pointed at Gabi.

“Thank you for calling the police for me and letting me in.”
Alana drew in another deep breath. She wouldn’t have been the first to ignore
the knock of a stranger. The sound of sirens approaching reached her ears.

“You’re welcome. You looked bedraggled, but not dangerous. I
thought you might have gotten the wrong house or street until I opened the door
and smelled blood.” Gabi shrugged.

“Yeah, I can feel the sting of a few scratches on my face
and arms. Bedraggled is probably being kind.” Alana grimaced. She was fairly
sure that she had leaves in her hair and wanted to start fingercombing her hair
to check, but didn’t. A quick brush of her fingers wouldn’t suffice. Once
started, she wouldn’t stop until her hair was leaf-free. The sound of sirens
abruptly cut off. “I think they’ve finally arrived.”

Gabi turned to the door. “I’ll check. Keep this pressed to
the wound.”

She looked out the peephole and opened it. “Ambulance and
police are here. You won’t have to wait long to get medical attention once the
officers are assured that no one here is a threat.”

Alana exhaled in relief. Maybe they could get her something
to ease the pain. She grimaced. Lord, she needed to see Michael and Kane. Her
cat was clamoring to be with her mates. That probably wouldn’t happen until she
arrived at the hospital. They would be out helping with the search and might be
on the other side of the little city. With the rain, they wouldn’t make it here
before she was transported.

Two police officers she hadn’t met entered the house
cautiously. They made sure no one was a threat and the house was secure before
signaling the EMTs to come into the house. Alana pointed out where she’d come
from the forest. She gave a brief sketch of what had happened. The two cops
nodded and let the medics tend her.

They were able to surmise which road she’d been on from the
direction she’d traveled, but she noticed when she was loaded into the
ambulance that one of the officers was walking across the park. They’d try to
track her directly just to be sure, but the rain wasn’t going to make it easy.

The ride to the small hospital passed quickly. She was ready
to get there. Her cat was close to making her nuts with the demand to see her
mates, to make sure they were safe. Intellectually, she knew the attack was directed
at her. The cat saw it as an attack on their still-unsealed mating. Her leopard’s
agitation pulsed through her, feeding the storm overhead again. It wouldn’t
settle until she was with her mates again and maybe not for a little while
after that.

When she was wheeled into the emergency room, she looked
around, hunting for her mates with both sight and smell. The bite of antiseptic
filled her nose along with the tang of blood and the scent of humans and other shifters.
None of those scents belonged to her mates and her cat wanted to scream with
frustration.

She was transferred over to the care of the hospital staff.
Alana concentrated on controlling her temper. If it got out of control, she
could take a swipe at one of the doctors or nurses. That would get her strapped
down and make the frustration and anger worse.

“Well, hi, Alana, I knew you were back in town, but I hadn’t
seen you yet.” A nurse came up to the side of the bed.

Alana looked at her and recognized one of her friends from
high school, Tammy Parker. “Hi, Tammy, it’s seemed to be a whirlwind of
activity since I got here.”

“I can see that. We’re going to have to cut these off you.”
Tammy indicated the pants. Thunder boomed sounding loud even inside the
building. “That’s you, right? Any chance it’s going to calm down soon?”

“Only if Michael and Kane hurry their asses up and get here.
My freaking cat is driving it right now with the agitation and panic over
someone trying to deny her right to her mates. It won’t listen to reason.”
Alana lowered her voice so that anyone walking nearby wouldn’t be able to
overhear them.

“I’m sure they’re on their way.” Tammy patted her shoulder
and got to work. “I’ll try to keep the people around you to a minimum since you’re
having a few issues at the moment.”

Alana nodded. That would be wonderful. With her cat feeling
territorial, it wouldn’t do to have too many people between her and Michael and
Kane when they arrived. Alana endured the poking and prodding. They’d inspected
her injury and confirmed what Alana had known. There was no exit wound.

She now wore one of those ugly hospital gowns and had no
clue what they did with her clothes. No exit wound meant the big “S” word, at
least the exploratory kind. Hospitals were one of her least favorite places to
even visit and she hated surgery. Being shifter meant she’d heal faster, but
there were still consequences of being shot. Sometimes, a shifter didn’t handle
leaving the bullet inside the body as well as a human did.

“Alana!” She heard Michael’s voice through the door. Even
though her leg still hurt, she smiled. It had taken those two men longer than
she expected. Tammy and the nurses had gotten her through the scans. From the
sound of it, he was moving down the hall yelling her name. Surely he’d gotten
the room number from one of the nurses.

“Could you get him in here before he gets himself thrown
out?” Alana looked over at Tammy.

“Sure. We don’t want you to walk on that leg yet and you
would if someone tried to keep them away from you. Stay put. You don’t have
long until they come to get you for surgery.” Tammy nodded and went to the
door. “Alana’s in here. She’s been waiting for you. You’ll only have a few
moments and then she’ll have to go to surgery before the wound closes around
the fabric and bullet fragments.”

Michael came in the door first, followed quickly by Kane.
They rushed across the space between them. Michael leaned down and hugged her
tight before stepping back so Kane could wrap his arms around her.

“You scared us, Alana.” Kane muttered against her hair. He dropped
a kiss on her forehead before drawing back.

“I scared you? I didn’t expect something like that to
happen. Not yet if at all. Whatever else she is, your sister isn’t stupid.”
Alana reached out and grabbed Kane’s shirt, tugging him down so she could brush
her lips over his. She turned and did the same to Michael. She needed more than
a hug.

“Alana, it’s time,” Tammy said from the doorway.

“I want you two right here when I wake up.” Alana stared at
Michael and Kane. They nodded, but looked worried. She relaxed while they
transferred her onto a narrow gurney. “See you soon and I want explanations
then.”

Michael held Alana’s hand while they waited for her to
surface from the surgery. The nurses had moved her from recovery to a private
room so he knew she was stable, but he wanted to see her awake. She’d been
asleep since he and Kane had been allowed to come in the room. Not that he
blamed her for wanting some sleep. She’d had a rough night.

He wished they could have gotten here earlier, but the storm
had built on its own along with the power Alana forced into it. It had resulted
in fallen trees and a couple of flooded roads. On top of that, he was on the
opposite side of the city. Everything had seemed to conspire against him
getting to her once they discovered she’d been found.

Her slow, even breathing reassured him. Kane should be back
soon with clothes for her and food for them. Kane had gone to a store to find
her something to wear when she left the hospital, since going all the way to
the house might take too long. Neither of them wanted to be away from her for
long after what had happened.

He’d been so afraid they’d lose her. While they’d been
searching for a strange car in the area, he hadn’t been able to stop the litany
of disastrous possibilities flowing through his mind. They could have easily
killed her while she was unconscious or when they discovered they couldn’t take
her out of the area.

Kane came into the room carrying a bag of clothing and a sack
of food. Good. Michael had been afraid Alana would wake while Kane was gone.
She’d wanted them both to be here when she woke up. He’d seen the intensity in
her eyes. He didn’t want to put any pressure on her if the cat was behind that
request. From what he knew, that might be part of it.

“Still hasn’t woken?” Kane settled into a chair and passed a
box over to him.

“No, not even a flicker of an eyelid. One of Mark’s
investigators is waiting to talk to her, but he’ll wait until the sedation is
completely out of her system. He said she’s probably a little stressed.”
Michael sat back in his chair and opened the box, revealing fried chicken,
potatoes and a salad.

“Must be one of the shifter officers. Ryder called me and
told me we should stay near her at least for most of the day.” Kane handed
Michael a drink and then opened his own food.

“As long as she needs us.” Michael nodded.

“Food.” Alana’s voice sounded a little raspy. Her head
lifted from the pillow.

“Well, hello, baby,” Michael put his food aside and rose to
get a good look at her. A sense of relief washed over him now that she was
awake and moving. Even with shifter abilities, she’d require a few days to
heal, but he could finally believe she was going to be all right.

“I’m hungry. I want some of that chicken.” Alana sat up. Her
voice was rough and she sounded grumpy. She adjusted the bed until the mattress
was at her back.

“I’d give it to you, but I’m sure solid food is off the menu
so soon after surgery.” Kane came up to the other side of the bed and took her
hand. “How about we call one of the nurses?”

“They’re going to make me eat tasteless broth and hospital
food.” Her lower lip jutted.

“Well, then when you get out, we’ll have steak and chicken
and anything else you want.” Michael brushed her hair back. That pouting lip
was just too damn cute.

She grumbled through the nurse’s visit and grudgingly drank
the water and broth the dietician gave her. She glared at them while she sipped
her broth. They’d finished their food out in the waiting room while the nurses checked
her vitals and the bandage on her leg. They hadn’t wanted to torment her by
eating in front of her. The investigator was on his way in now and maybe they
could get some answers about who was behind this.

Investigator Jack Casey came into the room and took one of
the chairs. Kane stood by Alana’s bedside and Michael relaxed in the other
chair. The big man took out a tablet and after a few moments looked at Alana.

“Are you ready?” Jack asked.

“Yes, let’s get this finished.” Alana moved restlessly on
the bed.

“All right, why don’t you just start with what you remember?
We’ll address any specific questions as we go.” Jack fell silent and tilted his
head.

“Do you want the story from the beginning, just the escape
or from when I woke up in their van?” She raised a brow. “You probably know
what happened on the street. Do you actually mean everything?”

“Start from when you were on the street. I want to know your
impressions of everything,” Jack encouraged.

“Well, I was walking back to meet Michael and Kane. I felt
someone watching me, an intense feeling of being hunted, stalked. I thought it
might be one of the witches who don’t like Familiars. I really didn’t expect
anything to happen in the middle of Devoe. The most that I expected was a
little verbal abuse by Gina’s friends.” Alana bit her lip when she thought
about it.

“Do you think that it was the men who took you who were
watching you?” Jack leaned forward.

“No, they were hidden in that narrow alley. There wasn’t any
way for them to see me. Someone else was watching.” She frowned. “I don’t know
if they were a part of it or simply hate my guts, but it is a big coincidence
that, only minutes after I felt watched, I get darted and kidnapped.”

Michael squeezed her hand. Kane’s fingers stroked over her
shoulder and down her arm. Michael’s anger built. He wanted to comfort her and
he wanted to know who was behind this so he could stop them. She might have
been the target. He couldn’t think how anyone would know she’d be walking that
way or when.

“The drug hit me fast. I’ve never felt anything like it. My
vision became blurry. I was dizzy and I couldn’t get my arms and legs to do
what I needed them to do. I bounced off one of those walls.” She scowled. “I’ll
want to talk about that later.”

“We’ll find out who did this, Alana, and we’ll stop them.”
Michael wanted to kill the men who’d done this to her. Hunger for vengeance burned
through him. He ignored the quelling look Jack sent him. It wasn’t as if Jack
could send them out of the room. Alana definitely wouldn’t cooperate with that.

“The drug is relatively new here.” Jack nodded, continuing
as if Michael hadn’t said anything. “Go on. Do you know what color the vehicle
was? What make or model?”

“It was a blue van, not dark, but not light either. I think
it’s been modified from a passenger van. It had square, tinted windows along
the sides and gray carpet. When my body hit the carpet, they jabbed me with
something, drugged me again. That, on top of the dart, put me completely under.”
Alana shook her head. “I hate that out-of-control feeling.”

“Did you get a look at the men who took you? We found two
separate scents in the alley. So we know there were at least two of them.” Jack’s
fingers moved over the tablet in his hand.

“Better yet names. Did they talk to each other in front of
you?” Kane grazed his fingers over her cheek.

Michael smiled when he saw Jack scowl at Kane. Kane just
raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t even get a good look at them when they took me,
but the van only held the scents of the two men who were there when I woke.
They talked, but they didn’t say names.” Alana frowned.

“All right, tell me about them.” Jack instructed.

“The one I saw best was the brown-haired man. He’s the one I
kicked. He’s slim to the point of looking too thin. Long, thin face and his
skin was fake-tan orange.” She bit her lip and her eyes seemed to be focused on
something beyond them while she thought.

“And the second man?” Jack busily jotted down notes on the
little tablet.

“The other, I basically saw the back of his head. He had
very close cut black hair, almost to-the-skin shaved head. There was a bald
patch at the back of his head. His skin was dark-brown.” Alana shrugged. “I
wish I could have seen more of the man, gotten a better description of him.”

“Finish telling me what happened. You woke up in the van,”
he prompted. “Then you can tell me about what you heard.”

Michael’s muscles tensed. He tried to keep his hand relaxed.
He didn’t want to crush her fingers on top of everything else she went through.
She tightened her grip, leaned a little closer and grinned at him. Michael was
amazed at her strength. She was trying to comfort him when she was the one who’d
been kidnapped.

“When I woke, they were outside the van arguing. They did
that a lot.” Alana frowned. “While they were out there, I tried to get as much
movement as possible back. Whatever was in the injection, my muscles felt almost
locked, frozen at first.”

“I’ve heard of those symptoms in abductions in other areas,
but not anywhere near here.” Michael rubbed his thumb across her knuckles.

The investigator’s lips pulled back in a snarl. Alana sat up,
a low growl rumbling in her throat. Her body tensed and she looked ready to
lunge at the other man. The investigator held up his hands.

“Can they stop interrupting? I want to get everything while
you remember it. I don’t want you to lose any detail because they draw your
attention away from it.” Jack’s conversational tone was meant to soothe Alana’s
anger.

Judging by the narrowing of her eyes and the way she leaned
forward, Jack’s attempt to calm her wasn’t working. Michael knew a territorial
cat when he saw one. He gave her hand a gentle tug and saw his brother urging
her back onto the pillow.

“You don’t snap at my mates.” Her voice held a distinct
rumble.

“He’s right, baby. We wouldn’t want anything missed, either.”
Kane’s hand patted her shoulder.

“I won’t warn your mates again. If they interrupt, I’ll have
to ask them to step out.” Jack nodded and settled back in his seat.

She narrowed her eyes. That statement didn’t sit well with
her either. Michael wasn’t going anywhere, but he wasn’t going to make an issue
of it. Alana was tense enough without getting into an argument with the
investigator about it and making it worse.

“Tell him what he needs to know, Alana,” Kane urged. “We’ll
be right here.”

“They were silent for the most part after that until they
got a call. The one with the bald spot said their contact had spotted a gap in
the search. There was a mechanical sound. I think it was a garage door opening.
They drove out and started down the road.” Alana took a deep breath.

Michael waited and squeezed her hand to encourage her. He
wanted to hear everything, but a part of him only wanted to hunt down the men
who did this and make them pay. Unfortunately, he knew that couldn’t happen.
They had to have some help to find the men’s “contact”.

“They hit the barrier and one got out to see if it was only
the car. They weren’t so sure the witches involved in the plan didn’t somehow
help stop them, but believed it was a spell set by those searching for me to
keep any vehicle from leaving. One of them was going to dose me again so they
didn’t have to worry about me waking up and attacking them while they waited
for someone to come get them.” Alana leaned into Kane for a moment.

Michael wanted to pick her up and hold her. With her out,
they could have done anything to her. It would have been so easy for them to
kill her.

“When he came up to the door, I called a few bolts of
lightning. It drew his attention enough to allow me to kick him and make a run
for it. The other man shot at me while I was sprinting away. I damn sure wasn’t
stopping though,” she said. “The rest you know. Scrambled through the woods,
knocked on the first door that I came to.”

“All right, now why don’t you tell me more specifically
about what they were saying?” Jack busily scribbled on the handheld computer,
filling in the details she’d given him.

“They talked about not trusting the witches, because they’re
turning on their own people. That was while they were waiting to hear from
their contact. One of them said, they were just using them.” She bit her lip. “But
you know that kind of justice never does bite the ones who most deserve it.”

“Fate knows to leave that to the law.” Jack might have tried
to lighten the mood with those words, but his serious tone negated any humor. “We
might be able to use that distrust and turn one of them on the other. The
witches won’t put much faith in them either.”

“I didn’t get any names or even what they’d planned to do
with me. The men listened to a scanner for most of the time I was awake. From
what they said, I did get that their contact was involved in the search some
way, but it could be one of hundreds of people, from dispatchers to actual
searchers.” Alana shrugged.

“You’re right, but the fact that they are involved means he or
she isn’t one of the most obvious suspects,” Jack offered. “It tells us we need
to be aware of whom we trust.”

“I was already almost certain Gina wasn’t behind this
attempt.” Alana shrugged.

Although he hated to think about it, Michael knew their
sister might be involved at some point. She’d made her feelings about Alana
very clear. He still didn’t understand her reasons and, at this point, he
didn’t want to try. If she was behind this attack on Alana, he’d cut his sister
out of his life.

“I’m going to send a sketch artist over to draw the man you
did see. If we can get these men, we might get a leg up on stopping some of the
enemies within our ranks. We might even find out what they’re doing with the
captives and where they’re taking them.” Jack stood and slid the tablet into a
case.

They’d ruled out the usual reasons for the kidnappings.
There were no bodies. There hadn’t been any sightings of even one of them since
they’d been taken. What made it worse was they’d known witches were involved in
helping to arrange it.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere, yet.” Alana glanced around
the hospital room pointedly. “They probably won’t release me until tomorrow.
After they do, you’ll find me at their house.”