Omega Moon Rising (Toke Lobo & The Pack) (14 page)

“But you would have killed him?”

“Any number of times. This wasn’t the first time I went to Oak Moon to kill him. He wasn’t home the time before last. But after what you told me? I would have waited for him. And it would have been a slow, painful, specifically tailored, bloody, agonizing death for him. And I would have laughed the whole time.” Which wasn’t true. Werewolves couldn’t laugh as beasts. “Does that bother you?”

“No.”

He squeezed her waist. “Do you really want to talk about this now? I’m kind of beat. Didn’t get much sleep in jail.”

“No. You sleep.”

She didn’t even sigh.

He wished he knew what she was thinking.

Gary was dead.
Dead.
The details of how or why didn’t matter to Abby. What did matter was he couldn’t hurt her or Libby ag
ain.

Abby watched Luke sleep. Thick, golden eyelashes rested on the tops of his cheeks. His dimples had gone into hiding.

He went to kill Gary for her. He’d destroyed Gary’s computer. For her. He’d spent a night in jail because he’d tried to avenge her. Abigail Grant.

She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done anything for her.

She wished she had someone to talk to. But her high school friends were gone. They’d moved past Oak Moon, leaving behind only memories, one of which was poor Abby Grant. Sick mother. Weird sister. Yeah.

Not that she could check her phone for messages. Luke had further isolated her by moving her up the mountain. Loup Garou had no cell phone service. Internet only if she interrupted his grandparents’ TV reception. And as far as she knew, she hadn’t received a single sympathy card.

She didn’t understand Luke, except that he was good at telling her what he thought she wanted to hear.
I’ll call you. I’ll show your songs to Toke Lobo.
Now he was telling her he’d destroyed evidence to protect her. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe he was shielding her and keeping her secrets. But she couldn’t.

Maybe he really did kill Gary.

Luke slept nearly twenty-four hours. He woke briefly when Granny brought in meals for Abby and when his Aunt Macy dropped by for her daily visit. But he slept. Deeply. Without dreams. And when he awoke at dusk the following day, he was refreshed. He was ready to go. And the first thing he needed to do was talk to Abby and Libby. Separately. And he wanted to talk to them before Jasper or his government cronies got to them.

The bed was empty. He scowled, certain Granny had told him Abby was on bed rest.

He got up, pulled on his jeans, and wandered to the kitchen. Granny was at the stove. Again. The woman liked to cook. She was in her glory cooking for another homo sapien.

“Where’s Abby?” he asked.

“Abigail is in the living room, watching television. She has a sudden fixation with the nightly news. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“She prefers to be called Abby, and that’s what I prefer, too,” Luke said. “And she’ll want to know about the investigation into her stepfather’s death.”

“I figured,” Granny said. “And she never said she didn’t like her name.”

“Well, she doesn’t, and neither do I.”

“Don’t you growl at me,” Granny said. “You’re not so big and old I still can’t paddle your fanny with a wooden spoon.”

Luke grinned and kissed the top of Granny’s head, then wandered off in search of his wife. Who was reclining on the sofa, watching television, while Gramps sat in his recliner, either growling or snoring—Luke wasn’t sure which.

“Hey there,” he said.

“Hi.”

“Anything new?”

“No.”

He perched on the edge of the sofa near Abby’s belly. “We need to talk.”

“I know.”

“Let me shower, then maybe we can go for a drive or something.”

Her hand strayed to her slightly rounded stomach. “Granny has been limiting my activities. I’m not going to do anything that’s going to make me drink more of that squaw tea.”

His penis stirred. He tried to think of things like wearing a suit or eating a well-done steak or—thinking of Libby finally did the trick. He couldn’t get aroused over a kid. Thank the Ancient Ones.

“I’ll promise Granny I won’t try to jump your bones. Although your bones are jumpable.”

Abby smiled, but she didn’t look happy. “That’s the one thing we have going for our relationship. Your bones are jumpable, too.”

Oh, his shower needed to be a cold one. Did the girl have any idea what she did to him?

Luke boosted Abby into his truck. The palms of his hands were hot on her butt. The guy drove her crazy.

Not only had he replaced her guitar, but he’d remembered the brand and the narrow neck she needed. And sometimes, when he nuzzled her neck, she thought her heart would burst out of her chest like something from one of those old
Alien
movies.

They didn’t speak as Luke drove them away from his grandmother’s house, away from Loup Garou. But he headed up the mountain, not down toward Oak Moon. The aspens were losing their yellow leaves. The bare black branches reminded her of nothing so much as frail skeletal fingers reaching for the unattainable stars.

She shook off the gloomy mood. Her life was turning around. Wasn’t Gary dead? Wasn’t Luke showing signs of being on her side? She shivered and huddled deeper into her cardigan.

Luke was still in his T-shirt. He didn’t react to the cool autumn night air, not even a shiver. He fiddled with the radio, but there wasn’t any reception.

Luke finally parked the truck at the edge of a lake. Abby’s cheeks heated. Their child had been conceived here. She’d lived in Oak Moon her entire life and hadn’t known the lake existed.

Luke grabbed a blanket from behind the seat before climbing out of the truck. Abby opened her door, and Luke was there to lift her out of the vehicle. His hands were firm on her waist as he swung her to the ground. She noticed he was careful to avoid other contact. His grandmother must have really done a number on him.

He held her hand as he led her to the shore. They worked together to spread the blanket over the stony beach. The wind coming off the water was sharp, carrying tales of snow on the higher peaks.

When they were seated side by side, Luke took her hand again. “There are things I have to tell you and things you need to tell me. Stuff that’s nobody else’s business.”

Abby nodded. She’d been expecting this. His whole family kept asking if he’d talked to her yet. She had no idea what to expect.

“I know I mentioned I sometimes do favors for law enforcement, but I didn’t really tell you all of it. Mostly, when I do stuff, it’s for the Feds. Mostly the FBI. Kind of like spy stuff, you know?”

He expected her to believe that? Of all the things he might have told her, being a government spy wasn’t at all on the list. But it made sense, what with the way everyone kept trying to keep him from killing Gary. Even his readiness to kill Gary made sense now.

“Are you ever in danger?” she asked. “Or if you tell me, you’ll have to kill me?” She smiled to let him know she was joking.

“Sometimes. There was this one time last spring, when Stoker first met his mate—his wife—that things got a little heated. But mostly I’m a computer guy.”

“Oh. Your aunt said all your files were password protected when we let Libby get on your computer. Does she know what you do?”

Luke laughed and squeezed her fingers. “Everybody in Loup Garou knows. Not the specifics. And I’m not the only one who’s done—favors. We kind of owe the government for something they did for us.”

Then it clicked. The pieces came together for her. “That’s how you found the pictures. The ones Gary took of me. You were surfing the ‘net, looking at porn.”

Luke grimaced. “Turns out the feds were real close to busting Gary and whoever he works with when I destroyed Gary’s hard drive. So to make it up to them, I offered to help on the case.”

Abby stiffened. No. She was free. She wasn’t going to—

“I don’t know anything.”

“Anything?” His voice turned from gentle to edgy.

Hot tears stung her eyes. She averted her face. It was dark. He wouldn’t be able to see the blood gathering in her cheeks, but still she turned away.

“You must know something.”

She wanted to remind him his grandmother didn’t want the baby disturbed, and Luke’s questions were causing all sorts of stress.

“I’m doing my best, Tokarz is doing his best—we’re all trying to keep the feds from coming after you and Libby, but—”

“Tokarz? Toke Lobo? He knows?” She couldn’t believe Luke had broadcast her humiliation to the world. How could she stay in Loup Garou, in Oak Moon, when everyone knew there were naked pictures of her on the Internet?

“It couldn’t be helped.” Luke sounded grim. “I needed his help to contact this guy, Mitchell Jasper, who is with the State Department and is the go-between between us and the FBI.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know?” A stray sob escaped.

“Wait a minute.” Luke cupped her chin and turned her head until she faced him. “You’re crying. Why? You didn’t do anything wrong. If you’d been robbed, you wouldn’t care if anyone knew. Or if you’d been in a car accident–”

“It’s not the same thing.”

What she’d done was so shameful. She’d taken off her clothes. She’d shaved her private parts–at Gary’s direction–so she would look younger, and she’d let him take photographs of her. In provocative poses. Even taking a shower turned into a photo op for Gary. Locking the door didn’t deter him at all.
Pose,
he said.
Unless you never want to see your sister again. I know a man who wants to buy her. Wants to teach her to behave. Libby could use some lessons in behavior. My friend likes stupid girls, too. He gets to hurt them more until they learn.

Dying in a car accident like her father would have been easier.

Luke draped his arm around her shoulders. Pulled her close. “If I could have kept your secret, I would have. As far as I know, only Tokarz knows. And Mitchell Jasper. I waited until Restin was out of the car before I told Tokarz the whole story. And he’s doing everything he can to keep the feds away from you and Libby. But you’re the first victims they’ve been able to identify. And Tokarz can do only so much.”

She didn’t understand why Toke Lobo needed to know anything. He was a country music singer, not a . . .

“Because I’m now on the task force to nail these scat-eating, diarrhea drinking vampires, I’ll try to be present while you’re being questioned. Maybe with Libby, too.”

“Not Libby. I kept Libby safe. That’s why I posed.”

“I know. But you don’t know if Gary lied.” Luke brushed her hair off her wet cheeks. “I am going to do everything I can to protect you. You are not in this alone anymore, Abs.”

She didn’t say anything for a long time. Luke held her. Rested his cheek on the top of her head. He helped settle her brain. He’d brought her to this remote location to preserve her privacy. They never could have had this conversation at his grandparents’ house. Maybe, maybe he really was on her side. Maybe telling him about how it happened would be the catharsis she needed to purge herself and move on.

“Mama married Gary about a year after Daddy died.”

“How old were you?”

Tears plopped from her chin to her chest. “Sixteen,” she whispered. “I was a slow developer, so I looked younger. Like Libby.”

Luke leapt to his feet. “He put you through that for five years?”

He couldn’t have been any louder if he’d roared the question. His voice echoed over the water. He stalked through the stones to the edge of the lake, each step crunching like breaking bones. “Five fricking years?”

“I didn’t have any way to get away from him. And I had to protect Libby from him, and take care of my mother. I didn’t have any choice.” The words wobbled.

Luke stopped. Turned to look at her. He hurried back to the blanket. “I know. This isn’t your fault, Abs,” he said as he knelt next to her. “You’re the victim, not the criminal. You don’t have to make excuses. You don’t have to justify jack. Not to me, not to anyone.”

“I know I should have left. Should have told someone. But the age of consent is fifteen, so there was nothing anyone could do to him. I was legal. Besides, too many people thought Gary was a hero for taking on a sick woman and her two kids. So it was easier to stay, accept Gary’s care for Mama and Libby in exchange for taking off my clothes.”

You know what a snuff film is?
Gary’s voice was as clear in her memory as the sky overhead.
It’s a movie where the girl gets killed during sex. If anything happens to me, you’ll be starring in your own snuff film. Then what will happen to your mother and sister? So think real hard about your decisions, Abigail.

“If I’d been a stronger person, a better person, Gary wouldn’t have been able to blackmail me about Mama or Libby.”

“The age of consent is fifteen only if the guy is less than four years older. He played you.” Luke crushed her to his chest. “Never, ever think any of this was your fault. You were vulnerable and he frigging played you.”

“I thought if I could sell my songs to Toke Lobo, he’d pay me enough money so I could get away and take Libby with me.”

Luke uttered a string of curses she’d never heard before. “And I let you down.”

“You didn’t know.”