The Severed Thread (21 page)

“You cannot make him do that!” I said, aghast.  I felt the color drain from my face.  “Take the paper back!” I thrust the still folded sheet towards him as if it were on fire.

“Actually, I
can
make him do it,” he said with a growl.  Power swamped every corner of my office.  Someone was a little touchy.  “I have given him a lot of slack since it’s difficult to live an alternative lifestyle and still be pack.  That is over.”

“Please,” I said.  “I haven’t even looked at the name.  I will find someone else.”

“I thought you didn’t need any help?” he responded dryly.  Crap, betrayed by my own blabbering mouth!

“Regardless, I do not need
your
help,” I said, pointing at him.  “Give Corbin his freedom back.” 

“You misunderstand, Abigail.  I’m not taking his freedom, I’m giving it to him.  Besides, it’s too late for that.  He’s already agreed to my terms,” he said with finality.  The power overflow was starting to recede but it still made my head hurt.  “He only requested that I present you with the name.  You were neither required to accept the information, nor avail yourself of the assistance.  In fact, I got the impression he thought that you would turn down the help.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a bastard?”

“Yes but my mother wouldn’t like to hear you say it,” he said, unfazed by the insult.  “She and my father have been happily married nearly one hundred twenty years and since I’m only seventy-two...” he trailed off.  I knew he was older than thirty five I thought wryly.

“I guess now is when I’m supposed to politely thank you for the name,” I said.

“It was my pleasure.”  He seemed determined to ignore my sarcasm.  He rose to his feet.  “Think about using it.  Seems a shame to have Corbin making sacrifices for nothing,” he mused.

As he approached the door he turned and looked back at me thoughtfully.  “You know, I would have come even if Corbin had not offered anything in exchange.”

I looked at him skeptically.

“My wolf would have insisted.”  I was so not going to ask what that might mean.  I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.  Instead I focused on keeping my facial expression blank.

“You’re not even going to ask what that means are you?” he laughed.  So glad my discomfort amused. 

“No,” I said shaking my head.  “No, I’m not.”

“Stubborn,” he chuckled to himself before leaving.

 Once he was gone I peeled open the sticky edge of the florescent paper.  It contained two pieces of information; the name Joey Jansk and a phone number.  Despite my earlier protests, I knew I would be calling the number on the paper.

Chapter 18

Twenty seconds later there was a tap on my door followed by Samantha’s head peeking around the frame.  “Hey, I saw the pack-master leave.  You didn’t mention he was coming in this morning.”  She sniffed the room, looking a bit apprehensive.

“Much like you did not mention that Corbin had scent marked me,” I volleyed.

“Well, it hardly seemed like something I could explain with all those people waiting in line,” she said, flipping both of her hands in the air in exasperation.  She came in, sniffing again before finally taking a seat in the chair Wilder recently vacated.

“I guess not but to answer your question, I didn’t mention it because I didn’t know he was coming.”  Samantha leaned down to sniff the arm of the chair with a slightly bemused expression. 

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh?”  She looked up, her brows knitted in confusion.

“All the sniffing?”  I said, mimicking her actions by sniffing the air around me.  “And you look a little strange.”

“Oh,” she said, looking a bit sheepish.  “I can’t help it.  It’s the pack-master’s scent.  It makes the wolves in his pack feel like we have come home.”  At my bewildered expression she continued.  “Think of being cuddled on the couch during a snow storm in front of a roaring fire with a slice of apple pie and warm cider laced with rum.”

“I don’t like apple pie.  Or rum.”

“Then you would have a cup of tea and a gingersnap!” she said giving me an exasperated look.  “I think you know what I mean!”  I did think I knew what she meant and it was a little freaky.

“Really?  Does this happen to everyone or just the females?” I asked suspiciously.  It seemed odd that the males would get the same reaction.

“Yes, Abigail,” she said.  “The male wolves get the same feeling but the alphas feel it less intensely than the submissives.”

“And you said my Locating skills were creepy.”  I rolled my eyes.  I didn’t want anyone to have that much sway over my emotions.  It was a little frightening.

“They are creepy,” she said definitively.  “Useful, but definitely creepy.  Anyway, was he pissed about Corbin marking you?”

“I don’t know that that is quite how I would put it.”  McCallister was the one that seemed pissed.  “He seemed more confused at first and then concerned later.”

“Confused?”

Sighing I explained, “I took a shower right after Corbin left, so the scent was apparently subtle.  Jonathan originally thought that Corbin had marked me as his mate.”

“No way,” Samantha breathed, eyes wide.  “Well, that must have been a shock,” she laughed.  “I guess I was not thrown off since I smelled it when I hugged you.  I got a nose full.”

“Yeah well, I’m a little annoyed because apparently McCallister could scent it too.” 

“And?”

“Jonathan got the impression that McCallister took offense.”

“I told you getting involved in McCallister’s personal life was going to cause problems.”  Didn’t anyone ever tell her that it was not nice to say
I told you so
?

“Like I have a choice here?”

“You’re right, you’re right,” she said.  “So, is that what he wanted to talk about?”

“No, we sorted all that out last night.”  I waved my hand dismissively.  “This morning he came with a name for me.  Someone he thought might be able to help with the shipment.”

Her mouth dropped open.  “You told him?’

“No, of course not!”  Good grief did she think I was crazy?  “Corbin arranged it.”

“Corbin?” 

“Yeah, I guess he figured it out.”  It always amazed me how smart he was.  “Anyway, in exchange for the help, Corbin offered to
step-up
as your illustrious leader put it.”

“It’s about time.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s about time’?” I huffed.  “Corbin does not want to be involved with pack politics.  He has avoided it for years.”

“Abigail,” she said in exasperation.  “You have to understand.  A wolf can sense another wolf’s dominance.  All this pretending to be a mid-level Alpha is bad for the pack. It confuses everyone and it hurts Corbin’s wolf.”

“Hurts his wolf?”

“Yes.  It.  Hurts.  Him.  He is holding back, not letting it reach its full potential.”

“If you say so,” I said skeptically.  I didn’t get it.  If Corbin didn’t want to do something, he shouldn’t have to do it.

“Ask yourself something.  What if Corbin has convinced himself that he shouldn’t be a high level alpha because he’s gay?  Or even worse, convinced himself that he will not be respected enough, or that he does not deserve it?”

Hmm.  Yeah, that wasn’t good either.  When I didn’t immediately respond she continued.

“I think that is really what has been going on.  And, I know that you feel responsible because your problem precipitated his decision to step up.  Really though, I think Corbin was ready and you gave him an opening to act.”

“Maybe you’re right…”  I let the acknowledgement trail off.  I was still not one hundred percent convinced.

“I think I am but there is nothing we can do about it.  Once Jonathan Wilder decides something, it is as good as done.”

“Ah, yeah,” I said dryly.  “I got that about him.” 

“Before I forget, I have some information about Harvey Keltan.  Sal found out that he was transferred to Tioga about three weeks ago.  Apparently he requested the transfer.”

“Well isn’t that convenient.”
Too
convenient.

“The other tidbit that Sal turned up was that he likes to hang out at The Howler.”  The Howler was located on 7
^th
Street in South Philly.  It was predominantly frequented by Weres and shifters.  That niggling sense popped up again about Harvey.  I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  I covered my mouth as that nagging sense quickly turned into a solid memory

“You okay?”  Samantha asked.

“I just remembered something.”

“What?”

“When I got all muddled during my attempt to locate the missing shipment, I tracked it to a club where everyone was using Sapphire.  I think Harvey was there.”

“Are you sure?”

“I remember seeing someone familiar, but I was so out of it I couldn’t focus long enough to figure out who it was.  I just remember being momentarily repulsed by someone across the room.”

“And we all know you find Harvey repulsive.”  Samantha nodded in agreement.    

“At the time I just shrugged it off.”  I did not mention how I then tried to get my hands on the next hard-body in my radius.  She saw enough of my response to Liam McCallister in the shipping container.    The more I thought about Harvey Keltan the more certain I became…. He
was
there.

“Was it the Howler?”

“I don’t know.  I have never been inside.”  But you could bet your next paycheck I would be going soon.  “But think about it.  That would link Harvey to the distribution too.  That is a solid lead.”

“I don’t know,” she cautioned.  “It could also just mean that he likes to use Sapphire.”

“He’s human.  Sapphire would kill him.”

“Oh right… good point,” she conceded.  “What if he just likes to hook-up with high Weres or something?”

“Come on Sam, he had opportunity – he works at Tioga, Jason had been interacting with him more lately and he was spotted where the Sapphire ended up being distributed.”

 “It’s a little thin but you might be on to something,” she conceded. 

“So, can you call in your hacker friend now? 

“I already took the liberty of calling her.  She’s expensive but reliable.”

“How expensive?”

“Lassiter Shipping can afford it.  On the upside, she only takes payment upon successful information gathering.  We can pay her as a contractor and say it’s for computer services.  The bill will be for checking our network security.” 

“Sounds reasonable as long as she promises not to hack us.  How do you know her anyway?”  Before I found out it was a
she
, I pictured some unkempt, overweight nerd in a dark room surrounded by computer screens.

“She is someone that the pack uses occasionally, although you didn’t hear that from me.”  She gave me an exaggerated wink.  “Rumor is that she lives in the Wilmington area but no one really knows for sure.  All transactions take place electronically.”

“What is this mystery woman’s name?”

“Nemesis.”

“
Nemesis?
” I laughed.  “Really?”  She had either started out with a serious bone to pick with someone, or she had an inflated sense of her own importance.  Greek mythology depicted Nemesis as the goddess of inescapable justice.  Hopefully she lived up to the inescapable implication of her name because I really wanted to know what was going on with Keltan. 

“How do you tell people that your name is Nemesis and keep a straight face?”

“Who knows?”  The little shrug she offered said she really did not care either.  “I guess that’s the beauty of online interactions.  You don’t have to keep a straight face since no one can see you.  Regardless of the super-villain name, I’m sure she can find out what we want to know about Harvey.”

“Good.”  Then maybe I could figure out who killed my brother.  I was feeling more and more confident that Keltan was mixed up in it somehow.  My berserker lifted its head at the simmering anger that thought suddenly spiked.  I took a deep breath.  I needed to settle down, or I was going to find myself in a bad spot soon.

“Abigail,” Samantha’s concerned voice broke through my musings.  “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said with a little head shake to clear out the anger.

“If you are fine then why did your eyes just flash red?”

“I need to meditate.”  Talk about an understatement.

“That’s what I was afraid of.  Are you together enough to talk about one more thing?” she asked hesitantly.

“Sure,” I said forcing a smile and promising myself that I would do some work on my containment shielding later.

“Well,” she said slowly, obviously still freaked by my little display of temper.  “The final thing we need to talk about is that strange financial statement we received from the retirement fund.”

“Great.  I was wondering if you had had time to look into that.”

“I did.  I called and spoke with our account manager at Ferris Investment Services.”  They were the company that managed Lassiter Shipping’s employee retirement fund. 

“She told me that they only continue to manage the pension fund for Lassiter Enterprise Holdings corporate employees.  All of the Lassiter Shipping employee pension money was moved to Jamison Financial.”  Lassiter Enterprise Holdings was the parent company that owned Lassiter Shipping.  The only people who had their pensions under that would be me, Jason, my father and a handful of office personnel.  All of the crew, captain and support staff pensions were held under Lassiter Shipping. 

“He never mentioned that he was looking into a new management company let alone that he had actually hired one.”  What the hell was he doing?

“I was unaware as well.  I’m hopeful that the statement was screwy because of the transfer.  I can’t confirm that yet though.”

“Alright, keep looking into it and let me know what you find out.”

Chapter 19

The next several hours were spent catching up on paperwork, answering emails and fielding a few lingering sympathy calls.  The initial sensationalism surrounding Jason’ murder was settling down but Johanna was still receiving inquiries for statements and interviews, all of which were being declined.  Thankfully there were no media emails in my inbox.  Johanna had requested IT filter those and forward them directly to her.