Tainted Blood (17 page)

He nodded to the two, Mack responded in kind, but Carl just stared. He had a feeling Carl didn't appreciate Brian's presence from the look in his eyes.

“So, you two are here to help?” Brian tossed out.

Mack quickly nodded again, and in a somewhat southern accent responded. “Yeah, we are, and it's good to meet you.” He reached out a hand to grasp Brian’s.

Carl, on the other hand, made no motion to move any closer to Brian. In fact, if it wasn't for the movement of his eyes that followed him as Brian moved, the man stood like a statue. Well, Brian could tell that the guy breathed if he really bothered to pay attention, yet still the man didn't like him.

“So, you two don't have a problem with taking down one of your own kind?” Brian asked in all seriousness. To his surprise Carl was the one to respond in a low gruff voice.

“Do
you
?”

Brian shook his head in confusion, “Sorry, I don't understand?”

Mack spoke up before Carl could respond; obviously he was ready for Brian's response. “What my friend means, is he understands you're in town to deal with Jason.”

Brian didn't have a chance to respond before his aunt addressed him. “I have informed them of your mission here, so that they don't get in the way or misunderstand any of your actions.”

“Yeah,” Carl spoke up. “Wouldn't want no misunderstanding going on here.”

Mack spoke up again. “There won't be no misunderstandings, I'm sure. Our goals are the same here.”

“One would hope so.” Jenn glared at Carl, who only bared his teeth somewhat in response.

“No one wants any rogue elements running wild on either side.” Mack answered, nodding and smiling.

“I'm glad we understand each other,” Jenn responded with a bit of edge in her voice. She turned back to Brian and smiled. “Brian, you may see these guys about, and I didn't want you to get spooked when you did. They will be as discrete as possible as you wander around town.”

The last part caught Brian a bit off guard. “Wait a minute, are you saying they are going to be following me?”

“Technically, no.” She said, “they are just going to stay nearby you, mostly.”

“I don't need any guards, Aunty. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes you can.” Carl growled, “As long as the werewolf is unarmed and has its back to you.”

Both Mack and Jenn turned and glared at Carl. He just turned his back on the two and snorted in what sounded like disgust.

“Look, they're not here to guard you or babysit you. They won't be hovering around you; they will be hunting as well.”

“You got that right.” Mack smiled; his bright white teeth seemed almost too big for his face. “You see, Brian, we figure the best place to find him is to go where he's going. That's you. I think it would make it all the more likely we'll catch him this way.”

“I understand, I think.” Brian said. “My only problem is...won't these two jeopardize my mission? I can't just walk in somewhere incognito with these two tailing me.”

“No worries about that.” Mack answered. “We don't need to be that close to catch this guy's scent. Trust me; you won't even know we're there.”

This was iffy at best. Still, having two more people around to deal with Wolfe if he showed should make an impact while taking some of the pressure off of him.

“Alright,” Brian decided. “I don't have a problem if they don't get in the way.”

“This isn't up to you, blood sucker.” Carl whirled around, snarling at him. “We aren’t here asking your permission, we're telling you what's
going to happen
.”

Jenn stepped between Brian and Carl, while Mack grabbed a hold of the other lycanthrope and tried to calm him down. “It was my understanding that this was supposed to be in the spirit of cooperation and trust.” Jenn raised her voice to a commanding tone at Carl, who looked as if he were about to pummel her. The veins that stuck out across the man's forehead and neck were throbbing so hard that Brian could count the man's heartbeats from where he stood.

“Yes, yes,” Mack spoke up. “We all want this to go as smoothly as possible, Carl. Control yourself, or I will send you back.”

Carl turned on Mack, “and who will watch your back? This...I don't know exactly what he is,” the man pointed at Brian, “or a human? We know what we can expect from that lot.”

“Carl go outside and wait.” Mack raised his voice for the first time. If Jenn's voice had been commanding, his voice was more like a roar. Brian had no doubt that people out in the parking lot, and for that matter several rooms away heard that voice clearly. Carl looked visibly shaken at Mack's shout. He actually looked a bit sheepish as he turned to leave the apartment, but Brian saw Carl throw a withering glance back at him just before shutting the door.

That one was going to be trouble if Brian wasn't careful. He had no doubt that, if given the chance, Carl would take a chunk out of him.

“Don't worry about that one,” Mack spoke now in a jovial tone. “His bark is worse than his bite.”

“Where have I heard that one before?” Brian said without thinking.

“Commissioner, I assure you.” Mack turned to Jenn. “Carl will do his job. We all want the same thing here. You're just going to have to forgive his gruffness. I wouldn't have brought him if he wasn't the most trustworthy person to bring on this job. He just has a history he's got some problems with still.”

“You had better be right, Mack.” Jenn answered. “The company has a lot invested into this and we will not lose any of it at this point.”

“I understand,” the big cowboy responded.

“Wait a minute.” Brian interrupted the two. “Are you telling me that you are just going to capture this guy?”

“That's our hope.” Mack answered.

“Isn't that going to be hard? Not to mess up your plans, but wouldn't it just be easier to off this guy?”

“Not from our point of view.” Mack said

“But...”

“Brian,” his aunt said, “this decision has already been agreed upon. You need to concentrate more on Jason, and less on this.”

“Don't worry yourself about this.” Mack cut in, “we're both very good at this, you might say we're experts.” With that, he smiled at Brian. “Well, I'm going to go check on Carl if you don't mind, Madame Commissioner.”

Jenn nodded at the gigantic cowboy who smiled then nodded again at Brian before leaving the apartment through the front door.

“I hope you're right.” Brian shook his head.

“I am. If the company had listened to me from the beginning it would have saved several agents' lives not to mention we would most likely have taken care of this problem already.”

“You lost a few agents?”

“Happens every assignment, Brian. Just part of the job description.”

“What, dying?”

“So, what is the status of your assignment?” She asked without answering him. It made him not want to answer her, but he couldn’t see how that would help the situation, even if it did make him feel better.

“I'm just waiting on one of my people to get here, then we're going to move on him.”

“You mean the trucker? Do you think it's a good idea to involve him again?”

“I already have, so there’s no point in messing things up by making unfounded changes.”

She nodded as she listened to him. “You're growing up, Brian. I'd say I was proud of you for doing that except I'm not. Perhaps if I were your real aunt I would feel that way.”

“Whatever.” He couldn't believe she was rubbing salt in that old wound again. Here he had been willing to forget the past for the moment and just work as a team, but no, she just couldn't have that could she?

“Don't forget what your objective is here. The girl is just secondary, don't let her confuse you.”

Yeah right,
he thought.
I wouldn't even be doing any of this if it wasn't for Heather's involvement in it.
He wasn't going to tell his aunt that, however, the last thing he needed were agents tripping all over him as he tried to rescue Heather. Jason was going to get his, there was no doubt about that, just not for the reasons that his aunt thought.

“Alright then, I'll leave you to your business.” She said, and headed for the front door.

“What about those two?” Brian asked, “Should I help them if they get into trouble?”

“If they can't handle whatever they stir up, Brian, they don't deserve your help.” She smiled, then walked out the door. She could be a cold woman. He wondered what the possibilities of getting them to help him take down Jason were. Two big, strapping, wolves like that could come in handy when he took Jason on.

Well, assuming Carl didn't try to kill him first, that was. He was sure that was going to be a worry if he ever did come across those two. Well, he would just have to deal with that when and if the time ever came about. Now he just needed to be ready for when Bobby showed up later.

Around midnight, Bobby's rig pulled into the parking lot, and the old guy came tumbling out. He looked ragged and tired, and it looked as if he hadn't slept since Brian had last left him. Opening the front door, Brian let Bobby in. Rather than saying hello or anything, the trucker just headed for the bed and threw himself onto it.

“Bobby?” Brian asked slightly concerned. “You alright? We got work to do you know.”

“Just let me rest for a bit.”

“Bobby, we don't have time for this.”

Bobby sat up in the bed with fire in his voice and eyes. “Now, you listen to me. I just drove two states without rest and I damn well am going to get it now! And don't you lecture me about not having time, because I wouldn't even be here yet if I'd stopped and rested along the way. Now, you just settle down and I’ll be ready soon enough.”

Midnight slowly—no, to Brian it felt
agonizing--
turned into 3 a.m. He knew that Bobby's plans had called for him to arrive around midnight, but Brian had hoped that the two of them would be able to go as soon as he arrived to rescue Heather. The timing was as good as any. By going to Jason's at that time of night, it would mean he wouldn't have as many people around to help defend him.

Now, however, it was looking like they would be leaving during his regular business hours. That wouldn't do, but the alternative would be to wait until tomorrow night. Brian didn’t think he could handle that. Not another entire day without Heather. Who knew what could happen during that time? What if Jason decided he didn't need her anymore, and killed her? It was impossible for him to guess what that maniac would do with her.

The need to wake up Bobby was almost overwhelming. Brian found himself standing at the end of his bed staring at him as he slept, several times. The temptation to enter Bobby's dreams was strong. Maybe he could make him see reason, and thus wake up and get a move on. The plan had some merit to it. At least on the surface it did. The only real reason he didn't try it was the risk of somehow getting sucked into another one of Meryl's dreams instead.

If that happened, he could lose the whole night. He still wasn't sure what the reason was for him ending up in one of her dreams a few nights ago were. He suspected what those reasons were, yet he really didn't want to dwell on it. The easiest explanation was that her blood somehow drew him to her. At least that’s what he hoped.

Around 3:30, a knock on his door finally broke him from his vigil next to the sleeping truck driver. “Who could possibly be here at this time of night?” He wondered aloud. Would his aunt actually come back again so early? Perhaps it was Mack and Carl? That seemed unlikely, as the two of them had promised to stay hidden and out of the way.

The door opened to two of the most unlikely people that he had been expecting. Scot, the evening desk clerk for the motel, and behind him stood Meryl. It had been Scot who had actually knocked on the door, his fist still raised up in the air, as if he were about to knock again. His attention however was on his companion. Brian could see why as he looked at her in surprise.

The full body suit of dark leather hugged every curve of her well rounded body as she stood there, a large black backpack hanging from her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Brian, and immediately let herself in, pushing aside the little clerk and deftly slipping under Brian’s arm. Her very round behind came into view, and Brian could feel a tugging in his abdomen as he watched her head over to where Bobby now slept.

“Sir,” Scot broke Brian's attention from Meryl's wiggling backside. “May I remind you of the rule about sharing your room with others? Motel policy requires that you pay for extra people sleeping in the room you've rented.”

Brain could tell that the little man was very uncomfortable coming over and confronting Brian. Still, Brian could see that Scot had a hard time looking at him. The clerk's eyes constantly wandered over to where Meryl was as he talked.

“Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it.” Brian said with a smile.

Scot immediately relaxed as Brian answered him. Either the guy was expecting a confrontation, or he was just uncomfortable with his job in general when it came to him having to lay down the law. That was the most likely reason Scot had taken the night shift: so he didn't actually have to deal with as many people.

“Thank you” he said. “And about that truck?” He pointed at it parked in the middle of the lot. “It really does need to be moved.”