Bad Blood Leopard (Bad Blood Shifters Book 3) Read online

  “He was?” Flynn drawled. “Huh. That is a coincidence. Careless of you, too, misplacing him like that.”

  Jared frowned, but managed to stay on track. “The subjects in question have committed very serious crimes, including treason and murder—a murder that took place on your business premises. I suggest that you turn them over to our agents immediately, lest you find yourself on the wrong side of the law in this matter.”

  Flynn roared with laughter. “Seriously?” he said. “You’re threatening me with the law? You’re running an unsanctioned black op out of an unregistered interrogation center, grabbing shifters without warrants and making them fucking disappear, and using physical and psychological torture that was in no way sanctioned by anybody who counts. You’re so far on the wrong side of the law I can’t even fucking see you from here.”

  Jared opened his mouth, but Flynn talked right over him.

  “Furthermore, asshole, if there was a murder in my shop—which you can’t prove, because all blood and other physical evidence has been eradicated by your cleanup crew, thank you very much—and you think Sloan may be responsible for this alleged murder, kindly provide me with copies of all the material gathered by your crime scene investigation team. That includes, but is not limited to, crime scene photos, photos of Sloan with blood or other evidence on him, photos and descriptions of the murder weapon, and reports of any fingerprints, DNA or other evidence found on such weapon.

  “You can send all that to Aramina Reston, care of Kane Colton, Enforcer of the Silverlake Pack. Arrange for her to examine the body, observe the autopsy, and to examine the coroner’s findings.

  “Once all that is taken care of, you can have the Shifter Council Enforcers present me with warrants for the arrest of Sloan McCall and Caitlyn Anderson, to be served by Kane Colton. At that time, should I happen to know where they are, I’ll consider turning them over to the custody of the Silverlake pack until such time as they are brought to trial.”

  Jared’s face was dark with anger. “I still have grounds to arrest McCall,” he said. “There’s an outstanding warrant on him for war crimes and treason.”

  “Uh huh,” Flynn said. “Run that shit through the Silverlake Enforcers too, and get me official documentation from Shifter Special Ops.”

  “Now wait just a minute,” Jared started, but Flynn talked over him again. Caitlyn swallowed a giggle—Jared hated being interrupted.

  “And,” Flynn added, “I just thought I’d mention that I’ve activated the boundary magic on my territory. If you or any of your minions happen to stray over the border, I’ll know it, and I’ll come and shoot you down. Or I’ll give you to one of my animal crew to play with.” He held up his right hand and shifted it partway, so that his wicked-looking three-inch claws came out.

  “Oh,” he said. “And in case you were wondering, the territorial magic extends into the airspace above my territory. And me and the boys love us some skeet-shooting.”

  He bared his teeth in a snarl. “Peace out.”

  Chapter 27

  Brody cut off the call, and Flynn put down his AK-47, still looking pissed.

  Sloan could tell he wasn’t just pissed at Donnelly. Flynn hated calling on the Silverlake pack for anything—his relationship with them was uncomfortable at best. He’d bailed Silverlake wolves out of life-and-death trouble a whole bunch of times, and Sloan knew they still felt they owed him.

  Especially since the whole Bad Blood Crew had almost died the last time he’d helped them out.

  After that—and after Israel Jonas had bound this territory to Flynn with his dragon magic, Jesse Travis had forced the Nashville pack to buy the land and the cabin from Alexander Grant’s holding company and legally gift it over to Flynn, with enough seed money to get the crew started.

  Which made Flynn feel like he owed them—even though that was the second time the Bad Bloods had helped save Jesse’s life. Flynn hated like hell to owe anybody. He also hated asking for help.

  But Silverlake had the juice to handle the legal shit—they were Enforcers by trade, working for the Wolf Council and the Shifter Council. Just invoking Kane Colton’s name should be enough to make Donnelly think twice.

  Because Flynn was right. Sloan’s arrest and detainment was unsanctioned from beginning to end. Which meant that no warrants would be forthcoming—that was the good news. The bad news was, that meant there were no holds barred as far as what Donnelly was willing to do to get what he wanted.

  And he wanted that damn artifact.

  Flynn grabbed a giant mug of coffee and perched on a barstool facing Sloan and Caitlyn. He fixed his flat dark gaze on Sloan.

  “Spill it, Leopard,” he said. “What the fuck kind of shitstorm have you brought down on the crew?”

  Damn it, Sloan should have known it would come down to this. He’d kept too much to himself for way too long. Taking a deep breath, he told Flynn his story from beginning to end, while the crew gathered around to hear it.

  He went through it all, everything he’d kept from them for so long. The mission in Afghanistan. His loss of memory. The nightmares, the sleepwalking, even the ghost—and how Caitlyn had saved him from ugly death. Twice.

  Caitlyn chimed in at that point, filling them in on her visions, and her relationship with Jared and the Intelligence Agency.

  And finally, Sloan told them about his aborted meeting with Korchak, and Jared’s desperation to find the artifact.

  When he was done, Flynn sat for a minute, clearly running everything through his steel trap of a mind.

  “One other thing you need to know,” Caitlyn said. “I have a copy of an official report from the Intelligence Agency. And it’s really different from what Sloan just told you. It says Charlie suspected Sloan of seducing Kayisha just to get the artifact, and he was watching him all along, getting ready to take him down after Kayisha made her contact. It also says that Kayisha was killed with Sloan’s Ka-Bar. They found it with her body.”

  “Shit,” Flynn said, at the same time Sloan said, “It does?”

  Xander glared at Caitlyn. “You didn’t show it to him?”

  She shook her head. “I was going to, but…”

  “I didn’t think there was any big hurry,” Sloan finished. “I didn’t realize Donnelly was actively working the case. Or that he was willing to go rogue to take me down.”

  Flynn shook his head. “Why the fuck don’t people tell me these things?” Sloan could see he was really angry, and Sloan didn’t blame him. As the alpha, Flynn was entitled to know about any potential threats to the crew.

  Flynn turned to Tank. “Go over to Sloan’s and get Caitlyn’s laptop,” he said. “I want to see that report.” Then he said to Tristan, “Can Rachelle Colton’s secret black ops contacts get us some information unofficially?”

  “Of course,” Tristan said. “Although clearly they’re not as secret as we thought. What do you need?”

  “The Shifter Council’s original report on this mission,” Flynn said. “And the Intelligence Agency’s. And Charlie Racine’s mission logs. I want to see if they match each other, and if they match the info that Donnelly gave Caitlyn. Maybe we can at least figure out who falsified what, and when. That could tell us who’s behind this.”

  Tristan nodded, pulling out his phone and heading out of the room to make his call. “I also want to know every single person involved in that mission,” Flynn demanded. “Not just the team. The handlers. The analysts.”

  “The secretaries,” Caitlyn added. “They transcribe the reports. They have access to everything.”

  “The fucking secretaries,” Flynn called after Tristan. “Everyone!” Tristan waved in acknowledgement and disappeared.

  Flynn returned to business. “So, they used your meeting with Korchak to set you up,” he said to Sloan. “Who tipped them off?” He turned his gaze on Caitlyn. Sloan felt her shiver at the darkness in his eyes.

  “Not Caitlyn,” Sloan said immediately. “Leave her the fuck alone, Flynn. I don’t know
how the hell Donnelly knew, unless Korchak was working with them, and Donnelly double-crossed him. After all, I’m the one who they think knows where that fucking artifact is. Once Korchak lured me in, he was a loose end.”

  “Yeah, that damn artifact,” Flynn said. “What the hell is that thing?”

  “Damned if I know,” Sloan said. “Kayisha said it was a dragon relic, and I guess it must have been, if Korchak and Donnelly were still so eager to get their hands on it after all this time. But I can’t say for sure. I never had the thing, no matter what anybody thinks. And I don’t know where it is.”

  “So that explains why Donnelly set you up,” Brody said. “But how the hell did he pull it off?”

  “That’s the part that’s driving me crazy,” Sloan said. “I cleared that whole damn building an hour earlier. I had eyes on it the entire time—even a camera in the back. Nobody got in there.”

  He shook his head in frustration. “They killed him right as I was coming through the door, so that I’d be standing over a fresh body when they came screeching in. I even heard it happen, heard the fucker’s footsteps, but ten seconds later they were gone. Just a couple of muffled sounds and a scent of… I don’t know. Dry grass, maybe?”

  “Well, they must have gotten in somehow,” Jasmin said. “People don’t just step out of thin air.”

  Tank went very still, and then turned to look at Tristan, who had returned and was standing quietly in a corner.

  “Sometimes they do,” Tank said.

  The rest of the crew turned and looked at Tris as well, comprehension dawning on their faces.

  “What?” Caitlyn said.

  “Shit,” said Tristan.

  Chapter 28

  Tristan turned to Caitlyn. “Last year, in an… emergency situation… I was able to travel through the spirit world with… a friend.”

  “But… not in physical form,” Caitlyn said. “That’s impossible.” She’d never really believed it was possible to travel into the spirit world at all—she’d figured the stories were just fairy tales.

  “Not impossible,” Tristan said. “Dragons can do it, and ki-rin. A few other creatures. When they arrive at their destination, they create a rift between the worlds and step through.”

  “Witches and wizards can do it too, with the right tools,” Flynn added, looking thoughtful. “Of course, it makes them crazy as shit if they do it too much. But it’s possible.”

  Caitlyn looked from one of them to the other. “So someone could literally have stepped out of thin air and killed Korchak? And then gone away again?”

  No one answered. A chill went through her.

  “But who the hell in Donnelly’s organization would have the power to do that?” Brody asked.

  Tank rumbled, “Whoever was in charge of that mission, four years ago. Charlie Racine must have been working for someone else—someone who still wants that artifact.”

  “Fuck,” Sloan said. “And now he’s got Donnelly working for him too?”

  That made Caitlyn’s blood run cold. Jared had always been ambitious, but she would never have suspected him of being a traitor.

  “Looks like it,” Flynn said. “Stay on your contacts, Tris. There’s some real fucking power behind this—somebody who has dragon magic and isn’t afraid to use it. And we need to know who it is.”

  As the others discussed the ramifications of what they’d learned, Caitlyn drew away from the group, guilt gnawing at her insides. She was the one who had caused this. In trying to save Sloan, she’d led Jared right to him, and now they’d never leave him alone.

  Not even if they found the artifact. Because it was no accident that the way they’d chosen to set up Sloan was to kill his friend—the only other person who might know what really happened in Afghanistan.

  Once Sloan’s usefulness was ended, they’d kill him too. He’d just found a crew here, people he loved who loved him back. And now, because of her, his life was in danger.

  Pretending to be heading to the bathroom, she fled out the back door, knowing that if Sloan saw her this upset, he’d want to know why. She didn’t know what to do anymore, how to help him. She couldn’t protect him against Jared and the whole Intelligence Agency.

  If it would help him, she’d even leave him and go back to Jared. But it wouldn’t. Whatever she did, there was no way out for either of them.

  There was nothing they could do until they heard back from Rachelle, unless Sloan remembered something more. And right now, his head felt like it had been… Shit. He was so fried he didn’t even have a metaphor.

  No wonder Tristan had been afraid to fuck with it, in the van. If he tried to dig out Sloan’s alleged memories of what happened to the artifact, he’d probably turn his brain into a bowl of spaghetti.

  Instead, he asked the question that had been bugging him all morning. “How the hell did you find us, last night? You didn’t even know we were gone.”

  Flynn gave him one of his “how stupid do you think I am?” looks.

  “You were brooding around here for days, asshole. When you had that spat with Caitlyn and took off, I was keeping an ear out for you to come back. And when you didn’t, I activated the backup tracker on your truck.”

  Sloan almost choked on his coffee. “It has a backup tracker?”

  Flynn didn’t even dignify that with an answer. “By the time I got to the shop, they were gone. Both doors were broken, but the inside was too damn clean—and there were way too many fresh tire tracks in the lot for it to be a casual break-in. So I tracked the truck to Donnelly’s not-so-safe house, cased it, and broke you out. The end.”

  “Except the part about how stupid they were to take your truck with them,” Xander said. “Amateurs.”

  “They wanted you to think I’d just taken off,” Sloan said.

  That was greeted with snorts and headshakes.

  “We knew you wouldn’t to that,” Tank said in his low, rumbly voice. “But you shouldn’t have gone to that meeting alone, without us for backup. Why the fuck didn’t you tell us about any of this?”

  Tank didn’t just look pissed. He looked… hurt.

  “Dammit,” Sloan said softly. “This is government shit we’re talking about. I didn’t want to drag you all into my mess.”

  Xander snorted. “Seriously?” he said. “This is the Bad Blood Crew. Everybody’s in everybody else’s mess. Why should you be different?”

  Sloan looked around the room. Some of his crew were looking at him, some down at their hands or their plates, but they all had the same look on their faces. Like he’d somehow betrayed them, by keeping them out of it.

  Caitlyn’s voice came back to him. They really love you, she’d said to him once. He’d glossed over the idea, not really believing it, but the looks on their faces told him something different.

  “Shit,” he muttered, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. “I just thought… I don’t know. I’m used to dealing with shit myself.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. And… thanks for coming to get me. It meant…” His voice cracked, and he had to stop and take another ragged breath. “Thanks.”

  The meeting was over after that, and they all started to drift out, stacking their plates in the sink or draining their coffee mugs, uncharacteristically silent.

  Before they left, though, each one passed by where Sloan was sitting, touching him or brushing up against him, reassuring themselves and their animals that he was all right.

  Sloan was stunned. The Bad Bloods weren’t big on showing affection, except with their mates, which meant he wasn’t on the receiving end of a whole lot of it. Xander put his hand on Sloan’s shoulder. “Moron,” he muttered. “If you weren’t so banged up, I’d fucking bleed you.” He rubbed his cheek roughly against Sloan’s, making his bruises ache, and walked out.

  In a few minutes, only Flynn was left. He leaned his hips against the counter top, gazing at Sloan with those dark, intelligent, wild eyes.

  Sloan waited. After a minute, Flynn said, “You were the f
irst one to join this crew—the first one of all these fucking misfits to hit your knees and pledge to me as alpha. Before I even fucking wanted to be alpha.” He shook his head. “And then you pull a stunt like this, as if you don’t get how losing you like that would tear up this crew. We’ve all lost too damn much, and in some ways you’re the center of our entire bond.”

  Sloan didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

  Flynn went on, “I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, Leopard, but whatever it was, don’t fucking think it any more. I may be alpha, but I’m not the only one who can’t afford to just think of myself anymore. What one of us does affects all of us. So from now on, don’t keep shit like this to yourself. Ask for help when you fucking need it. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, and you won’t lose our respect.”

  Sloan gave a little huff of laughter. “Yeah?” he said. “When was the last time you asked for help?”

  Flynn snorted. “A minute ago, when I had Tristan call Silverlake,” he said. Sloan knew he knew that wasn’t what Sloan meant. “Besides, I’m the alpha.”

  “So?”

  Flynn gave Sloan his crooked grin. “The rules don’t apply to me.”

  He cupped his big hand around the back of Sloan’s neck and rubbed his cheek briefly on Sloan’s—something Sloan had never seen him do with anyone. “Don’t fucking die on me, Leopard,” he said quietly. “I can’t take losing my crew.”

  He walked up the stairs to his office, not looking back.

  It wasn’t until everyone else had left that Sloan realized how long Caitlyn had been gone. A bolt of anxiety hit him in the stomach.

  Had something happened? Was she okay? Had Jared hurt her worse than he realized?

  Sloan checked the powder room, and the big bathroom across from Tank’s room. Nothing. Then he heard a tiny muffled sound from the mudroom, like someone stifling a sob.