Lunar Bound, page 12
part #4 of Sky Brooks World: Ethan Series
“From here on, the line stays open.”
Resisting the urge to reach up and press the Bluetooth deeper into my ear—and give away that I wasn’t alone—I picked up the blue tote bag from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car. Wary of an ambush, I strode toward Artemis’s hidden house. Would she stay there, once this was over? In her life on the street, she’d slept with one eye open, never comfortable. Nowhere was safe. The house was the oasis she’d never had growing up. McClintock had taken that from her.
Pausing next to the hedge wall, I listened for the occupants in the house. If I could count more than one, I’d know he was already there, in my trap. Faint, cheerful music played within, obscuring any other sounds. The hedges were too dense to allow the house or yard lights on the other side to reveal them. Peering through was impossible. I glanced at the ground, looking for footprints along the hedge, but found only animal tracks, a day old by the looks of it.
Winter whispered in my ear through the Bluetooth. “Ready to get this party of two started.”
I whispered back, “Thirty seconds after the dialogue starts.”
Warm light spilled through the gate. From there, I had a clear line of sight to the small brick house’s kitchen windows, as well as the stone path that led around both sides of the narrow yard. The gate was unlocked, slightly ajar. Scuffs of dirt appeared on the first few entry stones, veering to the left path. In places, the smear was broken, revealing the presence of at least two pairs of feet. So McClintock was already at the house, or had been recently. It appeared he’d walked through the gate, but appearances could be deceiving. I took another tour around the hedge wall, tugging and pulling, looking for a secret passage. I sniffed, smelling for fresh-cut foliage. I found neither.
Pushing on the gate, it creaked open. I made one last glance over my shoulder before walking into the narrow yard and following the path around the house to the front door. For someone intent on avoiding visitors, I noted the oddity of the bright welcome mat on the porch, the plastic green wreath on the door.
From the porch, I listened closely. Hearing nothing unusual, I tried the door. The handle clicked. The door gently swung in. Light and music spilled out. Peering in from the threshold, I found the small, cozy living room empty. Couch, recliner, and coffee table were exactly where I remembered. Shelves were stuffed with books and the odd knickknacks that Artemis considered her treasures, mementos that told a life story she’d never share. A vinyl record played eerily from a turntable in the entertainment center.
I checked the base of the threshold for a trip wire, then walked inside to the turntable. The record complained as I lifted the arm, leaving the room in welcome silence disturbed only by the hum of the refrigerator—no heartbeat, no breath, no shifting of clothes. Wary, I walked through the kitchen, noting the empty sink, the clear counters. From the short hallway off the living room, I peered into the bathroom and the single bedroom. She was tidy, but there were simple signs of her presence—nothing to indicate a struggle.
My search complete, I was alone in the house.
The sudden, obnoxious Darth Vader music blaring from the living room drew me to a white flip phone tucked into the arm-pocket of the leather recliner. Scowling, I picked it up. The phone was heavier than expected, as if carved out of a brick of lead. I flipped open the phone, answered.
“You spend a lot of money on phones, McClintock.”
“When dealing with wolves, one can’t be too careful.”
“I have your money,” I growled, glancing at the tote in my left hand. “You coming in, or are you too scared to face me?”
McClintock chuckled. “Aw, you are right where I want you, Ethan. You can leave the bag on the ottoman, the one to your left.”
My gaze flicked around the room until I settled on a camera duct-taped to an upper corner of the wall across from me.
I could hear the smug smile in his voice. “Aren’t you going to wave?”
“This bag isn’t leaving my hand until I have Artemis.”
“That is what we agreed to, but first there’s the little matter of your friends waiting outside.”
I stared hard at the camera, refusing to blink, to twitch, to give him anything but steadfast contempt. So far, the team could only hear my side of the conversation. Winter had started her countdown, but he’d already spotted her. Or had he found Marko? I needed to warn them without tipping him off in the process. Deliberately relaxing, I let my hand with the phone slowly slide toward the Bluetooth in my ear while my thumb tapped the volume, maxing it out.
McClintock continued, “It warms my heart to see you haven’t lost your arrogance.”
“Spotting my trap doesn’t change the fact that I’m still the one holding the money,” I shouted for my team’s benefit. If they heard me, neither replied.
“That’s because you’re dangerous,” McClintock said, “when you’re on your game. That’s your weakness, Ethan. From here out, you do what I say when I say and nobody gets hurt. You get your were-fox back. Everybody walks away happy, your bruised ego aside. Now put that bag on the ottoman.”
Still silence from my team. At least one of them was compromised and neither of them knew it. I placed the tote with the money onto the ottoman, using the dramatic gesture to hide shifting McClintock’s phone closer to the Bluetooth so that they touched.
Winter whispered in my ear, “Now.”
“You’re compromised,” I said aloud, giving up the game.
I heard some noise from her end, followed by whistling.
I snapped, “Winter.”
“I’m practically traipsing through the woods,” she complained, oblivious to my warning. “Nothing is happening.”
Panic rushed into my chest, pushing the air from my lungs. I pressed the Bluetooth against my ear. “Marko! You’re both compromised!”
Marko whispered, “It’s gotten awfully quiet in there.”
Winter answered him. “You seen anyone going in or out?”
“Nothing.”
McClintock said, “Time to pay the piper, Ethan. After all, you broke your word. Pick one of them, preferably your least favorite.”
Blood rushing to my face, I plucked the Bluetooth from my ear and shouted directly into it, loud enough for them to hear a block away, “You’re compromised! Back off! BACK OFF!”
“Eeny, meeny,” McClintock sang in a bored voice. “Miny, moe.”
Marko’s voice came from the Bluetooth. “Something’s going down now. I’m moving in.”
Winter answered, “Almost there.”
“Bang,” McClintock said.
A blast immediately followed that sounded like a cannon firing a single shot outside. I bolted out the door, racing around the house while pressing the Bluetooth back into my ear to hear Winter, an anxious edge to her voice.
“Marko?” she called.
His answer came as a distant groan.
I ran for the neighbor’s fenceless yard. Behind the wood pile in the near corner I saw Marko laid out on the ground, blood gushing from a gaping wound on the right side of his chest. Forgetting my own safety, I rushed to his side, crammed McClintock’s phone into my pocket, and used both hands to put pressure on the wound. Winter was beside me a moment later, sword in hand.
“Shit,” she exclaimed. “The heart?”
I shifted my hands to fix the location of the wound. “No, but close. He’s loosing too much blood.”
All were-animals shared the ability to heal rapidly. Marko’s wound should’ve already started to heal enough to slow the bleeding. The blood flow showed no sign of slowing. “Silver,” I growled.
“We’re sitting ducks out here,” she said as she reached a hand under Marko, feeling for the other side of his wound.
“McClintock’s gone.”
“There are exit wounds.” She frowned. “Small, several of them. A frangible round.”
The bullet had broken up on impact, turning into numerous silver fragments, most of which were still in Marko’s body. He wasn’t going to live long unless we got the silver out. We needed to get him to the retreat’s medical clinic, to Dr. Baker. I doubted Marko would survive the drive.
“Call Josh,” I said, pressing harder on the wound to try to staunch at least some of the blood flow.
Blood gurgled from his lips as Winter made the call.
“Hang on,” I commanded. “Josh is going to transport you straight to Dr. Baker.”
He struggled to speak, straining with effort to manage one word, “S-silver.”
“I know.”
Winter clapped a palm against her phone, tried the call again.
The panic in my chest turned to dread. “He compromised your phone. Mine too.”
She started to fish for Marko’s phone in his pocket.
“Forget it. We need to drive, now.”
Her eyes were reptilian slits as she declared, “He’s not going to make it.”
“The hell he isn’t. Take over the pressure.”
She pressed her palms over the wound as I pushed both hands under Marko, got my feet under me, and lifted. Grunting with the effort, I managed to jog with him in my arms and Winter awkwardly maintaining pressure. When we got to the Maserati, she let go long enough to fish my keys from my pocket and unlock the car. After I laid him across the back seats, she climbed in on top of him to continue pressuring his wound. I jumped into the driver’s seat, started the engine. A few seconds later, I was speeding toward the highway.
I sped through a traffic light, relying on the Maserati’s steering to weave through traffic. My eyes fixed on the road, I turned on the car’s computer system.
“Call Josh,” I said as I raced up the highway on-ramp and into traffic.
The computer tried to connect to my phone, failed.
Winter’s voice was tight as she said from the back, “I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
Marko gasped, “Ethan.”
I shouted, “Hang on!”
Accelerating, I pushed the limits of what I could safely drive. Surrounding cars became slow-seeming obstacles to weave through. My entire being was focused on the road, the cars around me, hoping none of their drivers panicked and did something stupid like swerve in front of me. At nearly a hundred miles an hour, a collision would kill us all. Part of me knew the race might be futile. If Dr. Baker wasn’t at the clinic, Josh would have to bring him. I doubted Marko had that much time, if he even survived until we reached the retreat. He was tough, wouldn’t give up, but at some point the blood loss wins.
I let loose a string of expletives as I was forced to slow to take the turn onto the retreat’s private road, losing precious seconds in the process. “How is he doing?”
“He’s passed out.” She felt for his pulse. “Heartbeat fluttering.”
I accelerated into the turn and began honking my horn until I brought the Maserati to a quick stop that nearly sent Winter through the windshield onto the front lawn. Instead, she crashed into the back of the seats, barked a curse as she climbed back onto Marko.
Dr. Baker and a handful of were-animals—Gavin among them—rushed out of the house to meet us, quickly assessing the situation as I climbed out of the car and pointed with bloody hands to the back.
Winter remained in the car while Dr. Baker ran to my side. I pulled the seat forward for him to climb in. I backed away, breathing hard as I watched. I didn’t even notice Josh arrive until he was next to me, taking in the scene.
He demanded, “Why didn’t you call me?”
I growled, “Not now.”
Dr. Baker waved Gavin and the others over to help him extract Marko and carry him to the clinic.
Josh got in my face. “I told you it was a trap.”
I took two fistfuls of my brother’s Sesame Street shirt, smearing it with Marko’s blood, and pulled Josh to within an inch of my teeth. “I said, not. Now.”
I pushed him aside and started for the house.
He called after me, voice taut with anger. “Sky was attacked.”
I turned, glared.
“I tried calling you,” he chided me.
Striding back to him, I resisted the urge to grip his shirt again. “Is she safe?”
He nodded. “Sebastian is with her.”
“What happened?”
“Some lone were-animals tried to kill her, or capture her. That’s not clear yet.”
Ringing started in my head as my anger boiled over, pushing the edge of blind fury. “McClintock’s going to pay for this.”
“It wasn’t him. Apparently they confessed to being hired by Sean. The rest of the pack is out looking for him now.”
“Where is she?”
“Sebastian took her to a safe house, one I didn’t even know about. He texted the address to both of us. I’m heading out now to take her some supplies and put up a ward.”
I glanced at the trail of blood leading through the retreat’s front door, then to Josh. “You’re sure they’re safe.”
He nodded. “Steven was there, but she fought them off on her own. Apparently she cut off one of the attacker’s arms with a sword. She wasn’t wounded. If she had been, I’d have taken Dr. Baker to her.”
Before I could ask for more detail, McClintock’s phone rang.
Josh watched as I pulled it out of my pocket. I answered the call with silence.
That damn confident drawl that flowed like molasses spoke first, “Did he make it?” When I didn’t answer, he said, “Thanks for leaving the money behind. You were a little light, but I won’t fault you given the circumstances.”
“You wounded him and drew me out in the open, but you didn’t take your shot. You really should have.”
“The parameters of my mission are to bring you in alive, if I can. Dead is fine, but alive pays better.”
My lips twisted into a snarl as I realized, “This was never about a ransom.”
“Hell no.”
“You want to come for me, do it!”
“When you’re ready, Ethan.”
“All I need,” I said between ragged, angry breaths, “is a time and place.”
“You don’t get it, I’m training you, son! Like a dog. I’ve got a crate right here, waiting for you when you graduate from McClintock University. I took your orphan, I took your money, and I killed your friend—probably; way I see it, it’s your move now. I’m waiting, Ethan.”
The call ended. Furious, I hurled the phone. It bounced off the grass a few dozen yards away. Immediately, my phone began to vibrate as backed-up text messages arrived from Josh and Sebastian. Voicemail alerts appeared on the screen. Realization dawned on me. Cursing the old man’s ingenuity, I strode across the yard toward McClintock’s phone, watching my phone as I went. I was within a few yards when the signal on my phone dropped. I stopped, stepped back, and noticed the signal return.
Josh appeared next to me, confused.
I snatched up the flip phone, handed it to Josh.
He felt the weight of it in his palm. “Heavy.”
“The phone blocked my signal. Winter’s, too. If I’d left it at the scene, I would’ve gotten your messages about Sky. I could’ve called you to bring Marko here in time to save his life.”
“How?” Josh turned the phone over, examining it. “How could it receive a call and block your phone at the same time?”
I said as I walked toward the front door, “Figure it out.”
The clinic was chaos. Dr. Baker had recruited Winter to help him, but she needed too much instruction. She couldn’t anticipate what he needed the way Kelly could. Glancing at the monitors, I saw the thin string Marko’s life was hanging from, his heartbeat barely registering. Gavin and the others were gathered around, watching in horrified anticipation.
I turned my back on the clinic and walked back to the game room where Josh examined McClintock’s phone on a table. His attention focused, he didn’t notice me start to pace. I turned within, finding my rage building toward explosion. I’d failed at every turn. Sean had been afraid of me because he thought I knew he’d been hired to attack Sky. As a threat, I’d dismissed him out of hand and Sky nearly paid the price. Marko paid for my underestimation of McClintock, possibly with his life. Reaching down, I picked up the end of a couch and hurled it into the wall across the room. From there, everything was blind rage as I tore the room apart. At some point, Josh tried to use a field to stop me. I broke it easily.
By the time the rage subsided, there was nothing left intact except my brother, who had slipped into the side room to avoid being hit by flying objects. Exhausted, I collapsed onto the floor among the broken remains of couches and chairs. My chest heaved as I caught my breath. Tipping my head back to open my lungs, I saw the Xbox embedded in the ceiling, controllers dangling.
Josh walked into the room but remained quiet.
“Go,” I said between breaths. “Sky needs you.”
She was safe with Sebastian, even safer once Josh arrived to put up his ward. I needed to get my shit together before I could be of any use to her.
Glancing over my shoulder toward the clinic, I said, “I’ll follow as soon as I can.”
He opened his mouth, glanced at the carnage around me, and decided to leave. Smart choice.
CHAPTER 7
After some digging, I found my phone on the other side of a hole in the entertainment center. Sebastian’s text was there with the address of the safe house he’d taken Sky to. As head of the pack’s security, I knew all of the pack’s safe houses. This house wasn’t on the list. It was Sebastian’s, something he maintained in secret even from me. While the Midwest Pack was stable and challenges were infrequent, life for any Alpha was never comfortable. Sebastian carried an Elite-sized target on his back. It was only natural that he had a secret retreat. He probably had several. I did. The secrecy wasn’t personal, but practical. That he chose to burn one of his safe houses in order to protect Sky reflected his level of concern for her. The pack retreat wasn’t safe for her. For the time being, we had to assume that Sean was competent. He’d pulled off the first attack. If it weren’t for Sky’s fighting skills, she’d be dead. Whoever was behind Sean had money and motive. We had to assume there was another team of assassins. We had to assume they’d be desperate to finish the job.
