The Keeping (49 page)

Ryne noted the
whiteness of Melody’s knuckles as she held onto the edge of the
bench on which she sat. He surmised she was still feeling ill,
still fighting the effects of the approaching full moon and the
genetic changes taking place inside her. He wished he was beside
her, offering comfort, explaining the strange feelings and thoughts
that were no doubt going through her at this moment. He watched as
she shook her head before speaking.

“You know, this
doesn’t make any sense to me. Ryne Taylor is just a photographer.
No one goes to these lengths to get a report on a guy who takes
pictures.”

“As I’ve told you
before, it isn’t your place to be asking questions.” The man lifted
his chin and stared down his nose at her, as if daring her to make
another query.

“Sorry. Asking
questions is part of my job. There’s something strange about this.
All along I thought it was just eccentricity, but now, you’ve
basically kidnapped me—”

“Kidnapped? That
could be considered slanderous, Ms. Greene. You have no proof that
you’ve been kidnapped. For the past several hours, you’ve been
delirious with fever. This is merely a safe place to stay until
your condition can be properly assessed. Who knows? You might be
contagious with some strange disease you picked up in the wilds of
Stump River. You don’t want to risk infecting an unsuspecting
public now, do you?”

Melody looked
around. “A safe place? In a garden shed? Come on, Mr. Aldrich. Do
you really expect me to believe that?”

From his position
outside, Ryne nodded, noting the name Melody had used. So this was
the mysterious Aldrich that she had called every day. Well, she
definitely didn’t appear to be in league with him at this
point.

Back inside the
building, Aldrich shrugged. “It was convenient.”

Ryne weighed his
options. He could easily slip into the shed in his wolf form and
attack the man, who he now knew was Aldrich. The problem was, he
still wasn’t sure what he was dealing with. From what she’d said,
Melody didn’t know what she’d stumbled into, unless she was lying;
at this distance, he couldn’t tell for sure. Aldrich appeared to
know the real story; he just needed the report to confirm his
facts. And then there was the mysterious and wealthy Mr. Greyson.
Ryne knew in his gut, that the supposed art collector had it all
figured out. The question was, how to get to him?

A sound from
inside drew his attention. Melody was groaning and clutching her
stomach. His wolf leapt inside him, and before he realized what he
was doing, he was rounding the corner and pushing open the door of
the shed. The sound of his arrival drew the attention of the other
two.

“Ryne!” Melody
looked up, pain etched on her face.

“Mr. Taylor? How
kind of you to stop by.” Damn, but Aldrich was fast. Ryne chastised
himself as he saw the gun now pointed at his chest. In the brief
second that he’d used to look at Melody, the other man had drawn
the weapon. Shit! His wolf’s attachment to Melody was going to be
his downfall, he just knew it.

Adopting his most
annoyingly arrogant manner, Ryne leaned against the door frame and
sneered. “Yeah. This looked like such a nice little place; I just
had to see inside.” He kept a bland expression on his face as he
tried to ignore the gun. All too well, he remembered the burning
pain of the last bullet wound he’d sustained. At this close a
range, the shot could be lethal and if he was even just seriously
injured, he’d still be unable to help Melody. Best to not irritate
Aldrich too much.

“That was an
ineffectual attempt at humour, Mr. Taylor.”

“Yeah? Well, what
did you expect? I’m a photographer, not a comedian.” He shrugged
and looked casually around the room, slowly shifting closer to
Melody under the guise of checking out the atmosphere of the shed.
“You know this place could use some fixing up. A few of my pictures
on the wall could go a long way towards improving the overall
impression of this room.”

“Ah, yes. A
photographer. Hmm...I wonder how an ordinary ‘photographer’ managed
to follow me here; I was very careful.” Aldrich narrowed his eyes,
seeming to consider this new turn of events.

Ryne watched
nervously as the man ran his finger back and forth over the trigger
of the gun, giving an imperceptible sigh of relief when the
movement eventually stopped and the lawyer shrugged.

“At this point,
how you found this place is irrelevant. Though I will figure it out
eventually—can’t have any loose ends now, can we?” What might have
been a smile flickered over the man’s face. “Your wolf picture has
been a source of fascination for my client, Mr. Greyson. Would you
care to speculate why?”

“Not really.” Ryne
watched as Aldrich’s finger flexed on the trigger again. The man
was not quite as calm as he would have others believe.

“Mr. Taylor—”

A sudden scream
from Melody cut him off. Both men turned to stare as she crumpled
to the ground, her face twisted as if she were in agony. The air
around her shimmered like waves of heat rising from hot pavement.
Her form wavered in and out of focus and for a brief moment a wolf
appeared in her place before shifting out of focus and returning to
that of a young woman.

“Melody!” Heedless
of the gun wielding man, Ryne rushed across the room and gathered
her shivering body in his arms. Beads of sweat trickled down her
face as she panted, barely conscious, while spasms wracked her
body. Instinctively, she curled into a ball, wrapping her arms
around her middle. He could only imagine the pain she was
experiencing as her ill-prepared body tried to readjust to its
changing form.

“What...?” Aldrich
stared for a moment before seeming to gather his senses about him.
“Well, well, well... Now, this does make things interesting doesn’t
it? Hmm...” He rubbed his chin. “Might I speculate, Mr. Taylor,
that the issue at hand is not so much photographing wolves as it
is...werewolves?”

“I have no idea
what you’re talking about.” Ryne smoothed his hand over Melody’s
trembling form. “There’s no such thing as werewolves.”

“Mr. Taylor, I am
neither blind, stupid, nor subject to hallucinations. As a matter
of fact, something of this sort was actually one of my theories
when considering Mr. Greyson’s avid interest in wolves, but I
passed it off as too fantastical for serious consideration. I now
see that I need to revise my thinking.”

Ryne kept his face
bland, ensuring he did nothing to confirm the man’s suspicions. He
slowly eased Melody to the floor. If Aldrich was busy speculating,
then maybe he could...

“Ah, ah, ah! I
know how your mind is working, Mr. Taylor. Lunging for this gun
would be a serious mistake, especially since we have so much to
discuss.” The man leaned back against the old potting table. “Now,
let me see if I can figure this out. You took a picture of a
werewolf and Mr. Greyson somehow realized this. Did you know your
subject wasn’t what it appeared to be?”

Ryne quirked his
brow and snorted derisively. “I’m a nature photographer, not some
guy into Hollywood special effects, or an eccentric old man on the
edge of senility.”

“Mr. Greyson will
be seriously offended when he hears of your disrespect.” Aldrich
mocked.

“I’m trembling
with fear.”

“And so you should
be. My employer is not a man to be taken lightly. But I digress.”
Aldrich gave a tight smile before continuing. “Mr. Greyson is
immensely curious as to where you took that picture. Now, I can see
why. If we find that location, our chances of capturing a real live
werewolf increase astronomically. The money that would be paid for
such a specimen is mind-boggling.”

Ryne forced
himself to not flinch or tighten his fists, despite the fury raging
inside him. The man was talking as if his people were little more
than animals to be bought and sold.

“The one thing
that has me puzzled though, is how Ms. Greene fits into all of
this. She’s obviously some form of werewolf herself. Why didn’t Mr.
Greyson just use her? He chose her specifically for the job, so he
must have had some knowledge of her background.” Aldrich stared at
Melody with a furrowed brow. When he continued, he seemed to be
talking to himself. “This requires further analysis before I make
my next move. It’s no longer an issue of obtaining a report to keep
Mr. Greyson happy. It’s a question of whether or not I tell him
about what I’ve discovered.”

He smiled coldly.
“Working for Mr. Greyson has opened a number of doors for me, but
he also likes to believe he has me on a leash. With Ms. Greene
under my control, I’ll be able break free.” Standing, he focused
his attention on Ryne. “Tell me, does she do this changing thing
often? Is it under control?”

Clenching his jaw,
Ryne made no reply.

“Nothing to say?
Is it that you don’t know the answers? Or possibly, you’re in shock
yourself.” Aldrich paused and snapped his fingers, his eyes
widening as if he suddenly came upon an amazing discovery. “That’s
it isn’t it? You didn’t know your girlfriend was an animal until
this very moment. I must say, you seem very calm about the fact.” A
speculative look came over the man’s face. “Tell me, did you have
sex with her?”

A growl threatened
to escape Ryne’s chest as Aldrich’s gaze slowly went over Melody as
if stripping her naked. How he wanted to wipe that leering
expression off the lawyer’s face. Only the knowledge that any
reaction on his part might further endanger the packs, kept him
from reacting.

“Tell me, Taylor,
what’s it really like...fucking a bitch?” Aldrich stepped closer
and laughed darkly when Ryne shifted so he was in front of Melody.
“Don’t worry. I have no plans to do her...yet. Though it might be
an interesting experience.”

The civilized
veneer seemed to slip from the man’s face and he now reminded Ryne
of some of the more unsavoury people his stepfather had associated
with; thugs and petty criminals, ‘friends’ who would stab you in
the back if the price were right. Hmm... It would appear there
might be more to Aldrich than met the eye. Ryne stored the
information away; it paid to know your enemy.

Aldrich played
with the trigger of the gun, seeming to relish having someone under
his power. His dark eyes narrowed as if gauging the response to his
comments, looking for a reaction, a sign of fear.

Ryne wasn’t about
to give the man the satisfaction and forcibly relaxed his muscles,
assuming a careless pose. His forearm rested on his bent knee and
he blinked at the man slowly, conveying the attitude that he was
unimpressed with the other man’s posturing and rhetoric. “Are you
through? This is really getting tedious.”

For a moment
Aldrich’s face began to flush at the insult—Ryne cursed himself for
not keeping his mouth shut—but then the moment passed. The man’s
face cleared and the smooth cultivated tones of the successful
lawyer reappeared. “I see you’re going to be difficult. Well,
luckily time is on my side. Mr. Greyson won’t be back for a while,
so I’ll be able to leave you two here to think things over.
Possible when I return, you’ll be feeling more cooperative. Hand
over your cell phone.” He waited with his hand extended and the gun
at the ready. When Ryne finally complied, Aldrich nodded and left,
bolting the door behind him.

Chapter
35

“Aldrich! Is that
you? Dammit man, what the hell are you doing on my property?” The
voice of Anthony Greyson boomed across the lawn, obviously
startling the lawyer who had just exited the supposedly abandoned
hut at the rear of the estate. To give the lawyer his due, he
composed himself quickly but Greyson still had the satisfaction of
knowing he’d caught the man off guard. His amusement faded though,
as he pondered what possible excuse Aldrich might have for being
where he shouldn’t be.

“Mr. Greyson, sir!
I’m surprised to see you. I thought you’d be gone for a few more
days.”

“I never said I
was gone. Merely that I was incommunicado. There’s a difference,
Leon. As a lawyer, you should know that.”

“I do, sir. It’s
just that the reports stated—”

“I know all about
your ‘eyes and ears’ that report my movements to you. But they only
see and hear what I wish. I left, and as soon as they reported me
gone, I returned.” The older man rocked back on his heels, secretly
enjoying the flabbergasted look that briefly passed over the other
man’s face before it disappeared behind a carefully schooled
expression. Greyson loved playing mind games with those around him;
people thought they could pull the wool over his eyes, that he was
an old man in his dotage. Ha! He was sharper now than he’d ever
been.

“I beg your
pardon, sir. I never meant—”

“Don’t start
boot-licking now, Aldrich. You watch me. I watch you. Neither of us
got where we are today without hedging our bets. It’s smart
business, even if it is damned impertinent of you.”

Aldrich nodded,
but Greyson noted how the man’s eyes were assessing him. It
appeared Leon might be getting too comfortable in his role, maybe
even considering usurping his master. Well then, it was definitely
time to consider a little shake up. He gave the lawyer a steely
look. “Just remember I sign that pay cheque you’re so fond of, and
no matter what you think you know about me, I know even more about
you. If I wanted to make you squirm like a worm on a hook, I
could.”

The lawyer didn’t
even so much as blink, but Greyson was sure Aldrich’s busy mind was
wondering exactly how much his employer really knew about certain
past indiscretions. Good, let him sweat a bit. People got too
damned complacent; they needed to be kept on their toes.

“A worm on a hook,
sir? Not a pretty picture. I’ll certainly do my best to avoid
inciting such a circumstance.”

Greyson guffawed
before turning serious. “Your attempts at humour are pathetic, but
even still, you amuse me. Now, why are you here? I believe my
orders were quite specific. All non-essential staff were to be off
the estate for five days. Last time I looked, you weren’t essential
to the running of this place. Explain yourself.”