Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves) (21 page)

“We can all get out of here.” Evan motioned toward the door.

Amy shook her head. “You have a better chance if it’s just the two of you. Plus, if I can get to the main panel, I can lock the hotel down and trap them. If we all take off, they might burn the inn then hide. We don’t want them to show up again later and keep tormenting us.”

“You’re not going to go wandering around the inn when they could kill you.”

Her expression sharpened. “Dexter can’t escape by himself, and you can’t talk to the computer, can you? I know it’s asking a lot, but this is my pack as well. I need to defend it, and this is the best way I know how.”

Evan’s heart fell as the seriousness of what she was asking hit.

He had said he trusted her, had even given her space during the fight in the bar, but this was their real world. This was a challenge not only to her leadership, but for the entire pack.

If he turned her down, he was as good as saying she wasn’t worthy of leading. He had only one option if they were going to make it as mates, as sick as the choice made him.

“I’ll take Dexter.” He caught her by the chin and forced her to look him in the eye. “But you leave a trapdoor so I can get back in.”

“Evan—”

She was about to argue. Forget that noise. He spoke firmly. “I trust you, it’s not that. But don’t ask me to stand by and do nothing to defend the pack. More importantly, I need to help
you
. I want to stand at your side while we do this.”

She didn’t hesitate. Just pressed up on her tiptoes and planted her lips against his. A fiery kiss full of desperation and passion. The two of them together, even though for a time their skills were needed in different directions.

Evan put everything he could into the kiss before pulling back.

“I’ll set the side service door on a code block,” Amy promised, sneaking her hand out of his pocket and holding up his cell phone. “I need to borrow this as well. The password for the door will be ‘united’.”

Evan nodded then turned toward Dexter. “Okay, buddy, it’s time for you and me to do a little sightseeing inside some secret passages. Hold on, and we’ll get you to your mom as fast as possible.”

A set of arms wrapped around his neck as Dexter settled in tight. Evan spared one last glance over his shoulder at Amy, then crawled into the ductwork and headed for the roof.

Chapter Twenty-One

Evan vanished with Dexter. The lovely sense of certainty her mate left with her washed away the urge to worry.

It wasn’t cockiness, but confidence. Even while they were apart, they were working together to get the job done.

Amy closed the panel and turned her back on the duct, focusing on the task ahead.

She opened Evan’s phone, made a couple of adjustments, then turned it on. She used the 3G connections to access the main computer she had hacked into so long ago.

She had been using illegal access to the system as part of her revenge. Now it looked as if having the cheats in place might save them.

One after the other, she checked the systems for ways to give Evan time to get Dexter free. She turned on alarms in three different sections of the hotel. None of them connected to outside authorities, but hopefully the clanging would be bothersome enough that Mike would send someone to check them.

Her thumbs flew over the teeny keyboard as she accessed a direct line to the security cameras. It took her thirty seconds to find her targets, figuring out not only where Mike waited, but where Lance and Toby were setting up mischief.

Mike had taken over the bar. All the curtains to the outside were closed—no prying eyes could spot what they were up to. It also meant she’d have to go through the side hallway and take the back door into Evan’s office.

Toby concerned her more. He was in the mechanical room, a soldering iron in his hand. She wasn’t sure what modifications he was making, but in reference to their discussion about explosions, it didn’t look good.

The entire situation had a deadline, and she had to make sure she was in the right place at the right time to get out alive.

With Evan’s phone set up to show multiple camera angles, she risked opening the door and scooting into the hallway. It would be far faster if she could take the direct route rather than crawling through ducts. She snuck forward, placing each step to avoid making any noise, moving to the emergency staircase like a ghost. She ducked through the door seconds before two wolves passed where she had just left.

By the time she reached the top of the landing, her thighs were burning from lactic acid. As she moved, she kept one eye on the shifting camera reports, the phone clutched in her hand like a lifeline. That’s how she saw the roof grid open, and Evan’s head and shoulders appear. He glanced around quickly, but none of the rebels were on the roof.

Evan sprinted to the fire escape, checking over the side of the building before crawling out of sight, Dexter clinging to his back like a monkey.

If things went well, Evan would be on the ground in less than fifteen seconds. Amy paused for long enough to set off a new series of alarms, all of them on the far side from where Evan and Dexter were descending.

Now it was her turn. She ran the length of the hallway, fiddling with the set of keys she’d taken from the maintenance room. A group of wolves were approaching, and she used the master key to access one of the larger suites.

She closed the door silently behind her, leaning against the door. Mike’s wolves paced past, unaware of her presence only feet away. Incompetent fools. They should have been using their noses. But, she was glad their skills at espionage were as bad as they were. It meant she and Evan could get the jump on them.

Amy looked around as she got her breathing under control. It wasn’t her final destination, but the room she was in was a good second choice. One of the fancier suites in the hotel, this one had an Internet connection along with the television. It was like Christmas, Hanukkah and every birthday wish she’d ever made. A couple adjustments later and she’d hacked into Evan’s system again.

Now more than one security-camera view was visible at a time. Her alarms had worked, and outside the building Dexter was in Laney’s arms, just barely visible across the street in a gathering of familiar faces.

There was no sign of Evan.

Amy took the time to trigger a program she’d written ages ago during her revenge-planning days. The one that would set off alarms at random intervals. She added in the power grid, which would set up the lights to fail in a random series. She hit start, then headed back to the door ready for the next stage of the adventure.

Down one more set of stairs, around the corner, she slipped into Evan’s office and stood motionless against the side wall, waiting for her heart rate to slow before she risked opening the mainframe.

Mike was only a dozen steps on the other side of the door from her.

She checked Evan’s phone again, but it only confirmed what she had suspected. While Mike seemed in no rush to burn things as he’d threatened, Toby was no longer in the mechanical room. Instead, he and Lance were both on their way back to the bar.

She bet anything they were hoping Evan would show up.

Which meant she couldn’t wait any longer. She tiptoed across the floor and opened the computer in the corner. Evan had crashed all the Moonshine Inn laptops at one time or another, and Amy had slipped remote access codes into all of them.

But the big old mainframe was the jackpot for taking control of the final touches.

She opened the master control and stared for a moment at the flashing command box. All of the doors in the inn had an electronic safety lock. When given the order, the doors would automatically swing open to allow visitors to exit in a rush during an emergency.

If she reversed the command codes, the opposite would be true. None of the doors would open without her specifically setting them to release. She only needed the password, and the change would be complete.

So. What would Evan pick for a master password? She was sure he would have chosen it, even if Caroline used the controls one hundred percent of the time.

No hesitation. There was only one thing Evan would have selected before anything else. The one thing always on his mind, at least when he would have set up the code.

She typed in “whitehorseforever”.

The screen she needed popped open. She did a happy dance silently in her chair as her fingers flew to input commands.

One set of commands locked the doors.

The next set primed the service entrance with the access code “united”.

The third shut down all programming access again.

Amy turned away from the computer and rushed to the main door of Evan’s office. She hesitated briefly, but it had to be done. The wolves on the other side of the door had made some big mistakes in staging a rebellion, but they didn’t know they were trapped. They didn’t know the game had changed, and unless they were told, they couldn’t change their mind and give up.

She stepped through the door and into the immediate attention of the rebel wolves.

Evan thrust Dexter into his mom’s arms, spinning on the spot to head back to the building.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Shaun was at his side, sprinting forward and matching his pace.

“Amy is still in there. I’m going to get her.” Evan attempted to jerk the door open, but it was firmly locked. “Shit, that’s right. The code.”

“Takhini has the place surrounded,” Shaun reported as Evan opened up the control panel and entered the password. “And those geeky computer dudes from Canyon who work for Amy did something they said would override any calls from inside the inn to the fire department or police department until we give the word. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I hope so too.” Evan tried the door again, but it still didn’t budge. “I need you to stay out here and keep things under control. If anything explodes, call the fire department. I’m going in and getting Amy.”

Shaun rested his hand on Evan shoulder. “She’s a smart woman, your mate. She’ll get it done, and then we can kick some butt and get those rebels to smarten up.”

Evan tapped in
united
again, hit enter and sighed with relief as the door swung open before he even touched it. “She is smart, and I have no idea why she’s willing to put up with me. But I’m so glad she is.”

He stepped through the door and pulled it shut behind him.

It was déjà vu. So much like a few weeks earlier when he’d walked into the darkness, only this time he knew somewhere ahead of him, his mate was waiting. He’d found her, and damn if he’d let anyone take her away.

She’d been in the hall recently. He followed her trail all the way to his office, getting in without any trouble. That’s when he realized what she’d done.

The door on the bar side of the room was open a crack, and laughter poured through. Nasty, mean laughter, followed by the sound of skin smacking skin, and the faint cry of pain from his mate’s lips.

Fury enveloped him. At that moment he had no desire whatsoever for the authorities to come and pick up the bastards. He wanted to tear them apart one piece at a time for daring to touch her.

He slung open the door and stepped through like an avenging angel, infuriated by the sight of Amy held tight between two wolves. Toby stood before her, his fist raised for the next blow.

“Touch her again and you die,” Evan promised. His words soft, but deadly.

“The guest of honour has arrived.” Another wolf rose to his feet, throwing the drink in his hand to the floor where glass and liquid splashed up over his flunkies. “We can do this so many ways, but the old ways are sometimes best. I challenge you for this territory. You’re not worthy to be in charge.”

“Let her go, and you and I can dance.” Evan stepped closer to Amy, keeping an eye on the wolf he assumed was Mike.

For some reason, Toby didn’t get out of the way. He opened his mouth to say something, but Evan had zero tolerance left by this point. He simply raised both fists, catching Toby under the chin with his rock solid hands, sending the wolf crashing into the others.

Evan turned a cold eye on the pack members who’d betrayed him and were now holding Amy’s arms. “Are you deaf? I said, let her go.”

He wasn’t sure who they were more afraid of, him or Mike. They glanced in both directions before opening their hands and stepping back.

Who they should have been afraid of was Amy. The instant she was no longer restrained she swung, one fist flying in an uppercut that crushed a jaw even as she followed through the opposite direction with a kick. The second wolf’s head snapped back as his feet lifted off the ground, and he flew backwards a good three feet.

Evan smiled at his mate. “Nicely done.”

Amy gingerly touched the swollen corner of her mouth, wiping away the blood. “Toby’s swings were getting a little boring. I’m glad you could join us.”

“Why, this is all so lovey-dovey and friendly-like.” Mike picked up the chair next to him and threw it across the room. He roared before setting himself squarely to face Evan and Amy, big fists rising to the ready. “Enough. Take the challenge, or get on your belly and crawl.”

“Hold that thought. Even though it was a touch too melodramatic.” Evan faced Amy. “Your choice.”

She looked confused, watching Mike out of the corner of her eye. “What are you talking about?”

“Do I fight him? Or do we let the authorities take care of him for everything he’s done? I’m pretty sure we can get him locked up for quite a while.”

In spite of the bruises on her face, he’d never seen her look more beautiful. “You would do that for me?”

“Anything. Because you’re my mate.”

“I’m just going to kill the both of you,” Mike snapped, picking up another chair and smashing it on a table. The wood shattered, leaving him with a long, deadly weapon. He lofted it in the air, stomping toward them.

“Kick his butt,” Amy ordered. She got out of his way, headed for the side of the room where the rest of the rebels were moving uneasily. “Any of you even think about interfering, and I’ll pull your lungs out through your eye sockets.”

That’s my girl
, Evan thought, but he was too busy ducking Mike’s attack to say it out loud.

“We need to get out of here,” Toby groaned from his fetal position on the floor. “There’s no time. There’s no time.”

The deadly chunk of wood swung over Evan’s head again. This time he darted forward under the attack and into Mike’s space. He slashed out with an uppercut, following it immediately with a vicious jab to the man’s throat.

Mike jerked aside at the last second. Evan’s knuckles grazed his neck. They were too close together for the piece of chair to be effective, so Mike tossed it aside, the wood clattering on the solid floor of the bar.

Their dangerous dance continued, the physical battle somewhat reassuring. Amy had skills Evan could only dream of, but this? This was his area of expertise.

He jabbed again, making contact with the man’s temple before he scooted out of reach, headed for the bar. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, smashing the glass over Mike’s head seconds before the brute ran into him, driving him back against the solid rock lining the bar.

Somewhere below them an enormous explosion went off, the reverberations echoing through the hallways and changing the pressure in the sealed building. Evan’s ears popped, but he was too busy diving from Mike to worry about what was happening elsewhere.

Lights flickered overhead, the fire alarms going off in a strangely musical sequence all over the hotel.

Inspiration hit. He caught Mike by the shoulder, using momentum to drop his arm around Mike’s thick neck and put him into a chokehold. At the same time he brought his knee in sharply, smashing it into Mike’s kidneys. The man’s legs buckled, and he fell to his knees, Evan a heavy weight on his back.

Another explosion sounded, and this time Toby shrieked. “We’ve got to get out of here. The gas line is open. The whole place will go up around us.”

“I’ll let you go,” Amy promised, her volume rising to carry over the shouting and distant rumbling. “Just give me your word that you’re done with this foolishness.”

Evan jerked backwards, taking Mike with him. He twisted at the last moment to slam the other man into the floor first, once again driving a knee into his back. Mike groaned loudly, hands scrambling on the floor as he struggled for air.

“There’s no use in fighting any longer,” Amy snapped. “Take a look at the leader of your rebellion. Any of you want to fight Evan once he’s done? Any of you want to fight
me
?”