Familiar Desires: 5 (Protective Affairs) (25 page)

“What about his phone? Did he have any contacts on it?”
Almost everyone carried some kind of tech. A phone, tablet, something. Luck
hadn’t been on their side so far, but she wouldn’t mind a little help.

“It was unregistered as were the two numbers on his call
list. The GPS chip had been removed or disabled from it, and since the closest
we can get is a triangulation to a general area on the last calls from the
other phones, we suspect the others have similarly been modified.” Mark slid
his tablet across the table. She looked at the maps. The man they’d captured
seemed to have been everywhere. Most of the area was highlighted with only
small sections of normal map remaining.

“Damn, this tells me nothing except that there are a few
areas he avoided.” She pushed the tablet back toward Mark.

“We’ve got someone working with a program to calculate
likely routes on the times when he seemed to be traveling, but that didn’t
happen often with him so it could be difficult.” Mark took the pad. “It’s not
going to help much on the location of those they’ve taken probably, but any
information is better than what we’ve had.”

Alana nodded. “All right, since we can’t get any information
on the one man involved in the kidnappings, how about we get to those calls to
Lisabeth. Is that right? They called you multiple times.”

“Yes, different people the first two times. The third and
fourth time it was the person from the second call. I recognized the voice from
the previous conversation.” Lisabeth shook her head wonderingly. “The first two
calls they were very circumspect and I didn’t put together what they wanted
until the third call.”

“Did you know the people who called you?” Alana frowned.

“I didn’t recognize the names they gave me, but they knew
me. They knew enough for me to realize they probably went to school with me or knew
someone who did. Incidents from high school and shortly after that weren’t
known to everyone.” Lisabeth spread her hands on the table.

“What names did they give you?” Mark ran his finger across
the pad.

“Taylor Collins and Delia Barrens. I checked my yearbooks
and even the phone book. I couldn’t find a record for either of them. There is
a Collins family here, but they’re shifters. They don’t have a daughter named
Taylor. Considering what’s been happening, I doubt any of them are involved.”
Lisabeth grimaced.

“There’s no one with the last name Barrens in Devoe and the
Collinses are wolves.” Mark confirmed.

“I really doubted they’d be stupid enough to use their real
names in the first queries anyway.” Alana drummed her fingers on the table. “Was
there anything they said that might lead you to believe they were close to you
at one point? Maybe something that only someone within your close friends would
know.”

“Nothing specific. I could tell they did know me and they’d
been around the group I was in during high school, but they didn’t reference
anything that would help us narrow down the list of people. Everything they
said was something almost any student in school would know. Well, at least,
they’d know if they were a witch or wizard.” Lisabeth gave a slow shrug.

Michael walked down the street. He had a few errands to do
and decided to use his lunch hour to take care of them. Since he was alone now,
he didn’t want to wait and waste any private time with Alana.

He resisted the urge to look around again. He could feel
eyes on him almost as if it was a physical weight. It was probably the people
sent to watch over him. He hadn’t seen them, but then they’d told him he
probably wouldn’t unless there was a problem. In the week since they’d learned
of the threat, life had returned to normal. They had businesses to run and a
sexy new mate.

Alana had been staying close to them, but today she was with
her brother. They were talking with some of the single shifters. They were
trying to discover if anything had preceded this. Someone in the Devoe police
department had talked about the investigators belief that a witch or witches
might be involved. While it hadn’t been kept strictly secret, it also hadn’t
been common knowledge. The rumor mill had gone wild and the Shifter Council
thought the local wolves and leopards might not talk freely with wizards
present. Although the questions had been asked before, maybe they’d remember
something or decide to talk after what had been happening lately.

He went into Sweet & Sassy, a lingerie store, and picked
up the package he had waiting there. Thinking about what was inside the dark-blue
box tied with a bright-pink ribbon brought a smile to his face. He hadn’t known
he’d be alone when he ordered it, so he’d had it wrapped. He wanted it to be a
surprise for Alana. After walking out of the lingerie store, he headed for the
grocery store to pick up a few necessities. On the way back to the office, he
grabbed a sandwich for lunch.

As he walked out of the café, he looked up the street. It
was almost empty. Not so strange since he’d taken his lunch a little later than
usual. He continued the walk back to his office.

He heard a vehicle start behind him. Although he noted the
sound, he didn’t pay much attention to it. When he neared the end of the
street, he saw a streak of black out of the corner of his eyes just before
something crashed into him. Strong arms wrapped around him. He stumbled when
the weight knocked him off balance , but couldn’t catch himself. A heavy body
landed on top of him, driving the air from his lungs. He rolled to get out from
under the man. Before he could get fully free, the man’s hands grabbed at him.
Michael twisted, ramming his elbow up and into the jaw of the dark-haired man.
The blow stunned the man enough for Michael to slide completely out from under
him. He resisted the urge to kick the man and to use his magic. It wasn’t
necessary.

When he glanced around the area, he saw a blue van start to
swerve toward the curb, but it veered away and sped across the intersection.
Michael didn’t know why until he looked over his shoulder and saw two officers
running toward them.

A groan from the male who’d attacked him focused Michael’s
attention. He flipped the man onto his stomach before the attacker could rouse
any further and twisted one of his arms up to the middle of his back to keep
him there. Michael rolled his shoulders. Pain shot through his shoulder and
down his arm. Damn, he must have landed on it. He could feel wind on his arm
and looked down to see his shirt torn at the elbow. Darkred stained the edge of
the ripped fabric. Warmth slowly trailed down his arm. It was the first time he
realized he was bleeding.

“Good elbow, Michael. You do know Alana’s going to go nuts
over that injury.” Mark put his hand on Michael’s unhurt shoulder while they
both watched an officer cuff the man on the ground.

“I should have time to clean it up and put on a new shirt
before she sees it.” Michael wondered if he should wallow in her care and
comfort or convince her he was hale and ready. He looked forward to benefitting
from her worry.

“I doubt it. She’s probably already on the way.” Mark
gestured down the street to a few women on the sidewalk.

Michael cursed when he noticed they were on their cell
phones. “Get Kane down here to help run interference with her. You also might
want to get him to a cell if you don’t want her to go after him.”

“He’ll be on his way momentarily.” Mark watched as the
deputy walked the prisoner toward one of the cruisers. “I had someone call Kane
the moment we saw the suspect running toward you.”

“Good. He might get here before she does.” Michael turned
his arm to get a look at whatever was bleeding. He saw a slice on his arm. It
was bleeding slowly now, but it didn’t look too bad.

Kane did arrive before Alana, but only by a few minutes.
Alana jumped out of the passenger side of her brother’s pickup and ran toward
him. She blew by the policeman standing there doing crowd control. Luckily, he
didn’t try to stop her. Michael didn’t know what she’d do to someone who got in
her way.

She stopped just short of him. Her hand touched his chest
and her eyes ran over him from head to toes. Her brows drew together and her
mouth turned down with worry. She stepped around him. Her fingers touched the
skin just inside the torn arm of his shirt.

“Where is he? I can still smell him on you.” Alana narrowed
her eyes. Her fingers lifted and trailed over the side of his cheek.

He knew there was a scrape there. “They’ve already taken him
to the station, Alana.”

“What happened? I want to know everything so don’t try to
keep anything from me.” She glanced over to where Mark and Kane stood. “How did
he get hurt when you were supposed to be watching him?”

“We were looking for a vehicle or a pair of men lurking around
the streets. One man came down the street. He was simply walking when we
spotted him. He didn’t look out of place until he started running at Michael.”
Mark held up his hands.

Alana narrowed her eyes, but her gaze had moved beyond Mark.
Michael tried to follow her gaze to see what she was had caught her attention.
He saw his sister, Gina, allowed through by one of the officers on the street.
He reached for Alana, but his hand merely brushed over her shoulder when she
took off running.

“Oh, hell,” Kane ran after her.

Michael grimaced and followed. He didn’t know why Gina was
here, but he had to keep Alana from ripping her to shreds. Mark followed, but
didn’t run ahead of them to get to her.

Alana grabbed Gina and pushed her against the nearest wall.
Her fingers wrapped around Gina’s neck. Michael saw the glint of her claws, but
she hadn’t used them yet.

“Damn you! How could you go after your own brothers?” She
leaned close and bared her teeth at Gina.

Gina frowned and looked confused and angry. “What the fuck
are you talking about, bitch? Get her off me! I’d never do anything to my
family. Jenny called me and said Michael had been hurt.”

Mark’s head cocked to the side. “I don’t smell a lie or any
kind of subterfuge. What about you, Alana?”

Alana took a deep breath, but it wasn’t a scenting inhale.
That was a centering breath to control her emotions.

“No lies about this.” Alana released her hold on Gina.

“Let’s go somewhere to talk about this where we aren’t out
in the open.” Mark tugged Gina away from Alana and guided her to his car.

Michael nodded. It was a good idea. Considering the fact
that the witches behind this might be someone Gina knew, it might be dangerous
for to be seen cooperating with the investigation. They followed Mark to the police
station.

Mark led the way to meeting room. Gina cooperated fully
until Mark tried to urge her to take a seat. She balked at that and then
stepped toward Michael and Kane when the door shut behind them.

“You thought I was behind this?” Gina looked over at Michael
and Kane.

“You hate shifters.” Alana stepped between them and Gina. “With
everything that’s been happening here, why shouldn’t someone like you be
suspected?”

Michael saw her smile. He’d seen other feline shifters at
work and knew a deliberate baiting when he saw it. His sister gasped. Her eyes
went wide. He hadn’t wanted to think his sister fully ascribed to the hate of
some of her friends, but her behavior, the way she kept herself separate and
her obvious loathing of Alana had made it hard to believe she was completely
innocent.

“I don’t hate all shifters. I hate you.” Gina stepped up,
her chin rose and she glared at Alana.

“Well, that smells true enough,” Mark observed.

“I knew she hated the dirt beneath my feet already.” Alana
rolled her eyes and a hand cocked on her hip. “And she hasn’t hidden it since I
arrived in Devoe. I did have someone look into her though and was relatively
sure she wasn’t involved in the kidnappings even before I got the report,
although surprise and anger at seeing Michael hurt did push away all of that
logic when we were out there on the street. She’s too impulsive and vocal about
her hate of me.”

“From the moment you met them, you’ve wrecked their lives.”
Gina’s hands landed on her own hips and she leaned forward.

“I ruined their lives? Your brothers are a lawyer and a
genius tech inventor. Both of them are successful. Michael was a success even
before I realized they were my mates.” Alana arched an eyebrow in obvious
disbelief.

Michael still didn’t understand why Gina had chosen to lay
all the blame on Alana. Although this really wasn’t the time for this, he wasn’t
going to stop the two women. Maybe they’d clear the air between them. Since
both Mark and Alana had said Gina was telling the truth, Gina wasn’t part of
this attack. The report Alana mentioned might completely clear her, but now
they had to see if she could give them any information about the witches around
her.

“Michael was going to move to California and start his own
company. He stayed here in case you returned. Kane had several lucrative
offers. He too returned straight here after college so they’d be here when you
returned.” Gina glared at Alana. “Do you know what they could have done out
there without you tying them to this place?”

That wasn’t true. Yes, he’d considered going to California,
but it wasn’t because of Alana that he’d decided to stay here. After looking at
the options he’d discovered, everything he could do there, he could do here,
surrounded by friends and family in a place he loved. Kane had made a similar
decision.

Alana slid a glance his way, but didn’t do more than that. “I
think there was more to their decision than me. I’m an easy villain for you,
but I was barely part of their life at the time. We’d just recognized each
other and then someone interfered. And yes, I left. You know as well as I do
that if they’d wanted to live elsewhere, their family, mine and both Councils
would have kept them informed if I returned.”

“What can you know of being a witch? Of the power we hold.
They deserve someone who will put them first and stand beside them, not run at
the first setback.” Gina took a step forward.

Michael couldn’t understand where his sister got her
attitude, but he was finished listening to her take shots at Alana. “Gina,
those were our choices.”

“As if being a witch is such a special thing. You have
magic. You’re not unique.” Alana held up her hand. “And witches and wizards
aren’t the biggest, most powerful beings on the block, little girl. There are
things that will rip you apart without raising their heartbeat. Your magic
wouldn’t even slow them down.”

“That is part of the reason why our ancestors began the link
between shifters and witches.” Carson Samuels shut the door behind him after he
came into the room. “We’re stronger together.”

Gina clamped her lips shut.

“Gina, you’ve been way too sheltered here. You might think
you’re special. Outside of a city or group of witches with Familiar ties, you’d
be lucky if they only ignored you. Most witches and wizards wouldn’t let you
through their door, because you aren’t like them. You should spend a little
more time in reality instead of in that insular, elitist fantasy you’re so fond
of.” Alana narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t sound angry, simply frustrated.

“I’m not sheltered.” Gina’s face flushed.

“Yes, you are, but there are more important things to talk
about right now than your isolated life.” Alana sighed.

“What’s more important?” Gina’s chin lifted.

“We’re sure you didn’t instigate the attack on your brother,
but it does leave the question of who did. We’re talking to you for a couple of
reasons. First, you care about your brothers and they will be in danger until
we finish this. Second, you associate with women who believe the same things
you do. At least one of them is even more hate-filled than you and is involved
in this.” Alana tilted her head.

Gina frowned. “Why do you think that one of my friends is
involved? A lot of them don’t hate shifters either. They simply think that
witches should be with someone with the same power, not someone different.”

“You mean they’re elitist and separatist. That kind of
attitude can grow into hate if it’s not already there, but back to the point. The
attacks on me and on your brother. Those aren’t tactical moves.” Alana frowned.
“That’s personal and the attack on me was part of the reason you were
suspected.”

“But they’ve attacked other shifters before. I don’t see
that the attack on you was so special.” Gina’s tone was snide, but the look in
her eyes was something entirely different. She did seem to be considering what
was said.

“But I’m not just a normal shifter. Everyone here knows I
work with the Protectorate. My disappearance would bring a flood of attention
here. Not a smart move when I hadn’t made much progress yet. It’s not like I’d
found any secret information yet,” Alana answered and her voice held the
frustration of the search thus far.

It was almost common knowledge that they had very little
real evidence connected with these kidnappings. These latest abduction attempts
were different than the ones before. They were more personal. Michael couldn’t
understand what the kidnappers were aiming for with these attempts.