In Hawke's Eyes (8 page)

He had flown to New York just hours ago, and yet already he missed Stephanie. Everything inside him wanted to give her a call, but he refused. Not until he had news to share. He knew her fear, could sense it when she came to him, and after the clumsy way he had dealt with revealing the existence of shifters, he didn’t know how long she would stick around after he made sure the coast was clear. However, he would do all he could to win and keep her for his own.

The offices Jessica Wringer lay south of central park in Manhattan. Hawke first scoped out the area walking, hands in his pockets, eyes open to observe the comings and goings. When he was satisfied with the view at street level, he planned to find a rooftop. Concrete and tinted glass stretched as far as the eye could see. Cars raced down the streets, honking horns, slamming breaks, and squealing tires. Even those on foot seemed to be in a hurry—and pissed about it. He wondered how Michael found Jessica. Maybe she’d found him. That might be how she did business, preying on the desperate corporation owner.

Hawke’s research into Stephanie’s dead husband turned up that he’d owned several other businesses aside from his family’s joint venture. Upon the man’s death, the profit went to Meechi. What Stephanie had told him about the coming divorce from her husband had apparently been true. He refused to provide for her directly, but he seemed to have no problem with Stephanie caring for the girl and using her allowance. Maybe he knew Stephanie loved Meechi enough for the both of them.

A woman exited one of the buildings nearest to him and sashayed along the pavement. The red heels were a bit much for the dark-suited drones and the business casual wearers. Two bulky men shadowed her, keeping their distance. Hawke recognized the woman as Jessica Wringer from his sources. When she drew alongside him, her gaze roved him from top to bottom, and she made a noise of appreciation. He resisted a cringe in revulsion and walked on.

The noise and the many people began to crowd in on him like they never had before. He put it down to leaving Sutland too soon and wanting nothing more than to lie in bed next to Stephanie. Her creamy brown skin felt incredible beneath his hands. Hell, her body with its perfect curves and her full breasts gave him visions that hardened his cock every hour. He would get more of that if it killed him. All he needed to do was wrap this business up and get back to her. Then he could listen to her call out his name in that husky way she had when he brought her to the point of an orgasm. Oh yeah, he would do that again and again.

Hawke returned to his office and first opened the window. He peered out onto the street and made a quick judgment on wind conditions, which had come naturally from as far back as he could remember. He shed his clothing. Then he shifted into his bird form. He had no idea how it happened, whether it dealt with magic the way his bones shrank or some weird defiance of the laws of physics. He only knew he did it, and feathers sprouted to protect his skin and give him flight.

He hopped closer to the window and opened his wings. A small flap brought him to the ledge, and he stepped out onto it. Walking with wings folded, he waited until that surge of air rose in just the right way, and when it did, he took to the sky. Faster than he could have arrived by car, he found himself back at Jessica’s workplace and chose his spot. So high, the people would look like insects to a human, he watched. Still and quiet, he let the hours pass until night fell. One might think she’d gone for the day, but he knew different. At long last, a car drew up to the curb, and the driver ran around to open the back door. Jessica Wringer placed a delicate foot to the ground and unfolded from the car. Hawke flew across the street to the building opposite and made his way to the spot that would give him access to the interior.

* * * *

“I want her found. Do you understand me?” Jessica was saying to the man in front of her, in her office. Hawke had had no trouble locating her nor of procuring clothing for himself. “She’s a cash cow. Her daddy left her loaded, and if I can get those shares…oh, it gives me shivers. If the mother gets in the way, kill her. What do we know of the man she’d been seen with? Anything?”

Hawke hitched his shoulders and stepped into the doorway. He knew anger drove him at the way they spoke about Stephanie and Meechi, but he couldn’t hold himself back. “His name is Hawke Cooper,” Hawke said, “and he is the one that will bring you down.”

Jessica jumped to her feet and snapped her fingers to the men standing around her. “How the hell did you get in here?”

He picked up on the man drawing a weapon from his jacket and zipped over to him in the blink of an eye. Hawke raised him off his feet with one hand and tossed him backward. He hit the wall with an
oomph
and slid down it. “You will not touch her,” Hawke emphasized.

Another man came at him with a knife. He sidestepped the jab and caught the man’s wrist. A slight twist and crack of bone followed a bellow of pain. Hawke sent a punch to the man’s gut and had him on his knees shaking. Jessica lunged for the phone and stabbed a button on it. Hawke would have made it to her in time to stop her if the man he’d just taken down didn’t wrap himself around his legs. To the man’s credit, he managed to trip Hawke and drive a fist into his ribs. Hawke winced but elbowed the guy in the nose. Blood spurted everywhere.

“You realize this is futile?” Jessica shouted, a plaintive tone in her voice. “I have people everywhere.”

“No, you don’t,” he countered. “I know your type. You’re greedy and mean. You’d want all the money for yourself.”

Her face paled. “I can make it worth your while to walk away. We’ll say no more about this.” When he didn’t respond but shoved her bodyguard off him, her hands fluttered as if she searched for a solution. Whoever else was in the building wasn’t coming fast enough. “There are many more where those two came from.”

He grinned and stood in front of her desk, a mere reach to grab her. He could send her through the glass behind her desk and let her fall to her death. Too bad she didn’t know he did not murder women, but the temptation remained. After all, she threatened Stephanie. “I’m willing to bet you’ve got a lot of enemies. I just need to leave you vulnerable and let them take care of the rest.”

When her expression of fear turned to relief, he knew he was screwed. The shot went off before he could turn around, and a fire burned through his gut. He tried sucking in a breath, but even that created intense pain. With effort that felt like it drained him of all energy, he leaped to the side just as another shot was fired. When others followed, Jessica ducked as well. Hawke pressed a hand against his side and crawled to the back of a couch to assess the situation.

“Hawke, you okay?”

He frowned in surprise, recognizing his friend’s voice. “Jim, what are you doing here?”

“I thought you could use a little backup.”

“I didn’t want to drag you into any trouble. I had the situation in hand.”

His friend chuckled. “So I can see, but don’t worry, I made sure I had enough evidence against Ms. Jessica Wringer before moving in. You taking out her closest boys saved me some trouble. Jessica,” he shouted, “you’d do yourself a favor by giving up now. None of your lackies are standing on their feet. If you want to make this hard, by all means…”

Hawke stared down at the blood staining his shirtfront and the pants he borrowed from a guard. Since he hadn’t shown his face, there wasn’t a reason to tie up that loose end, but he couldn’t leave examinable blood at the scene either, and if he didn’t get out of there quick, more questions would need to be answered. He redirected his gaze to his fingers, which had already begun the change. When injured, he tended to shift. From his experience, all shifters were the same. Transformation made for faster healing, as long as the wound wasn’t fatal.
Damn it, I fucked up.

Hawke peered over his shoulder in time to see Jessica standing with her hands raised. Officers rushed up to lead her out. He noticed Jim giving a status report in his phone. While no one watched, Hawke struggled to his feet. He staggered to the phone on the desk, which was still off its hook, and depressed the button so he’d get a dial tone. He punched in a few numbers and then paused a couple beats before punching in a few more. That would do it.

“Hey, you need a ride anywhere? Hawke?”

Hawke made his way along the ventilation tubing in bird form, cursing himself all the way. At least he knew he’d called in another contact, this one a shifter who would mix in with the forensics team assigned to go over the office. Hawke’s blood and any evidence that someone nonhuman had ever been in the room would disappear forever. The only problem he saw now was that he didn’t have a medical connection in New York. He never got sick, and if he did have issues, he would fly to Sutland. In his current condition, he wouldn’t make it. In fact, it was looking like only a miracle could get him out of this building and to somewhere safe.

Chapter Eight

“Stephanie.”

She looked up at Toron’s voice. They didn’t have much need for chatting since she’d come several days ago. She spent time with Sienna and Meechi, and when she got a little bit braver, she joined her friend at her shop in town. Convinced she would not be here long, Stephanie had kept Meechi home from school. Her bravery didn’t extend to leaving her baby in a place where there was nothing but young lion shifters.

Toron stopped where she sat near the living room window to do some writing. Something in the way he spoke her name didn’t sit right with Stephanie. Butterflies stirred in her stomach, and she set her pad and pen aside. “What’s wrong?”

“Hawke.” He scratched his head and drove rough fingers through the blond locks. “He’s missing.”

Stephanie gasped, and her eyes widened. “B-but how do you know? Maybe he just hasn’t checked in because he’s busy—”

“He had been calling me every day. In the last thirty-six hours, I’ve heard nothing. I checked with a couple of his contacts that I know of, and they haven’t seen him either.”

Stephanie couldn’t believe it. Hawke hadn’t called her once since he left. Not that she thought he should report in, but she’d worried, and now that feeling intensified. What if he lay dead in an alley somewhere, or in the river? The people after her didn’t play, and while Hawke was an investigator, that didn’t mean he was invincible.

She rose, hands fluttering and mind racing about what to do. “I need to look for him.”

“No, I do,” Toron corrected. “Sienna convinced me you deserved to know what was going on. You can stay here, but I promise I’ll bring him back. I’m taking my two best hunters with me.”

Stephanie eyed the two people behind Toron, one being a woman. She frowned. “If she’s going, I can go too. You probably think—”

“I
think
Stella is a shifter,” he interrupted.

Sienna smacked his shoulder. “Stop being so mean, Toron. Everybody here is worried about Hawke, not just you.” She faced Stephanie. “Sweetie, you and I can hold down the fort until they come back. Stella don’t play. The female lions are serious hunters. She’ll sniff Hawke out real quick.”

“I’ll bring him back,” Stella said, her tone full of determination.

Stephanie had no choice. She couldn’t force them to let her come along, and she would lose valuable time if she tried making her own arrangements. “Okay, I’ll wait, but if you’re not back here with Hawke within a day, I’m doing things my way.”

Toron grunted. “Understood.”

They pulled out in a couple of vehicles flying down the drive at top speed. Stephanie estimated it would take them five hours to get to New York, less if they floored it and the police didn’t pull them over for speeding. She heaved a sigh, and Sienna slipped a hand in hers. “Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream.”

Stephanie frowned. “I’m not in the mood…” She fell silent, remembering Meechi, and then moved to pull her daughter close. Meechi hadn’t said a word, but Stephanie sensed her little one was just as scared for Hawke. “It’s okay, baby. Come on. Ice cream sounds good.”

Sienna got her son Jamie and the rest of them in her car, and soon they were in the local ice cream shop. For the first time, Stephanie didn’t concern herself with the fact that people who weren’t human surrounded them. She let the normal conversations, the chatter, the laughter, and even young girls getting fresh with boys, bring a bit of calm to her mind. They were like her, she realized. They loved and were sad, worried about work and school. The one difference beyond changing into animals Sienna had told her was that their rate of divorce was almost nonexistent. They only married after they were mated. She didn’t fully understand the meaning of the word, but the sense of an everlasting love touched her. She and Hawke were not mated as far as she knew, and they never would be.

By midmorning the next day, after a sleepless night, Stephanie rushed down the steps toward the front door. They had returned. “Where is he?” she demanded of Toron who had just walked through the door. He held something in his hands in front of him.

“I have him. I’m just picking you up. We’re headed to the doctor’s. Are you ready?”

She squinted at the shadows but nodded. Maybe they dropped Hawke off first and had come back for her. That made sense if he was injured. “Yes, I’m ready. Is he okay?”

“He’s been shot.” Toron’s tone was flat, but she picked up on the strain as well. “I think there’s infection.”

They rushed from the house and piled into the car. Stephanie noticed Toron didn’t drive. He sat in the front seat, still with whatever it was in his arms. She strained to see and thought she heard a squawk like a bird but figured she must be mistaken. Who the hell cared about a bird when Hawke was in trouble?

The doctor’s office crowded with people, but Stella stepped forward and commanded most of them out. Toron led the way into a back room. Sienna took her hand to follow.

“I’ll watch Meechi,” Stella said. Stephanie allowed it. She needed to know.

“Doc, he’s in trouble. I have no idea how long he’s been this way. We sniffed him out in an abandoned building.” Toron turned to Stephanie. “You might as well know the truth now.”