Trent (11 page)

What does he look like? I mean, is there
anything about him that sticks out? Like markings or his coloring?
Joe tried her best
not to stare, but could see that he walked with a limp and had a long scar down
his right side.
You’re sure? His right side?

Yes, I’m sure. I guess I could tell you that
he’s facing me and that’s how I’m telling you what side it’s on, but it’s his
right. Do you know him?

When Trent didn’t answer her, she watched the
wolf closely while trying her best not to look as if she was. Reaching into his
mind wasn’t going to work, because she had a feeling that he would feel her
clumsy touch. She knew then that as soon as this was over, she was going to
practice this more until she was as good as Noah was. Then she remembered him. Reaching
out to him, she could feel his fear for her.

I’ve been trying to contact you, child. It’s
been as if I have been hitting a blank wall. Are you all right?
She told him what Trent
was doing and about the big wolf.
Look at him and then close your eyes for
me. Perhaps I can help this way. I don’t know who could be there either, but
between the two of us, we should be able to figure it out for the pack.

When she did as he asked, Joe knew who they
were looking at. Before she could tell Trent what she and Noah had discovered,
she heard a loud scream. Looking at the wolf and what he was doing, Joe felt
her belly lurch up as the animal dragged a man away by his throat.

He’s cat…panther, I think.
Joe said nothing as
the man was killed there in front of her.
Don’t look, child. You can do
nothing for him now. Just be very still and I’ll let Trent know that his alpha
is in the building with him and will know that he’s close.

I have to do something.
He told her to wait.
I
can’t wait and you know it. When he smells you or even Trent on me, he’s going
to be really pissed off. Their alpha his going to kill everyone here because of
me.

You don’t know that.

But she did know, and told Noah that the wolf
was coming toward her, and was now standing in front of her with blood dripping
off his muzzle. He could smell her, was all her mind could think about, and
when he tensed up and looked to his right, she knew that Trent had entered the
room. He looked back at her then, his teeth bared and the hair on his back
standing up. He knew that she’d contacted Trent and the others.

She never took her eyes off the big wolf
standing over her. Neither of them, it seemed, was going to be the first to
look away. But when he was suddenly gone, his face just seconds from being at
her throat, Joe closed her eyes for a second to let the fear of what he might
have done to her wash over her. Then she opened them and stood up.

Trent had attacked the alpha, she knew that
much. And she knew that he’d not looked around for the men with guns before
coming to her. She had a fear that one of the others would shoot him, and Joe
had to protect him.

Trent and the wolf, the alpha, were fighting
now, their bodies knocking over anything and everything that was close enough
to be destroyed. She saw Elijah as he made his way to her just as she broke the
neck of the first gunman that she came upon.

“Lead them to the lower levels.” He shook his
head at her. “I have to go and make sure that no one else is on this floor. If
they get hurt over this, no one will come out a winner.”

At his indecision, she moved to the offices
to her right. A gunman was just coming out of the room to no doubt see about
the noise, and Joe grabbed him from behind and snapped his neck too. Elijah
nodded once, as if he realized she could care for herself, and started for the
group on the floor. None of them moved.

“You want them to kill you too? They will if
the gunmen come here and see what’s going on. Go with him or you’ll die. I’ve
no energy to try and help those that do not care to help themselves.” The
sobber looked at her, then at the wolf, and whined about him biting her. “I
see. So you think that a bite is so much deadlier than a bullet? It’s not. And
he won’t bite you. Get up off your asses and get the hell out of here. Damn it,
what is wrong with you people?”

One by one they got up. The manager was still
sitting there when Elijah led the group toward the stairs. She looked at him
and told him to get going. He shook his head, his face full of anger.

“What have you done?” She asked him what he
meant. “They have to rob this place. Do you have any idea what they’re going to
do to me when they don’t get their money? Not to mention what is going to
happen to me if they get away. The higher-ups are going to think that I’ve
robbed my own bank. You have to sit down and let this play out or there will be
hell to pay.”

“I don’t think so. You should have thought of
that before you made this bank and these people’s money your own personal pay
thing.” He shook his head and she nodded at him. “You’ve taken so much money
that didn’t belong to you that you’re going to be lucky if you only go to jail.
These people will lynch you. Also, the authorities already know that you’re in
on this. So get your slimy ass out of here and face your problems.”

He was still sitting there when she moved
into the other part of the floor. Joe had enough problems right now, and not
one of them was about the bank manager. The third robber was standing with his
gun pointed at the alpha and Trent when she cleared her throat. He tensed but
didn’t look at her just then.

“You cannot kill him, I’m afraid. It won’t
work for me, you see.” He looked in her direction as he pointed the gun at her.
“I don’t think that’s in your best interest either. I need for you to lower
your weapon. I’m not going to hurt you too badly if you only do what I tell
you.”

The pain of the shot took her breath away.
But before she could take the gun from the man, he, like the alpha, was simply
gone. Elijah had come back and was tearing the man’s throat out before she
could move. She dropped to her knees, and Elijah came to her and whimpered
quietly.

“I’m fine, I promise. The wound will be
healed in a few minutes.” She put her forehead to his. “You saved me a great
deal of pain. I can’t thank you enough. I never knew that it hurt so badly to
be shot. Did you?”

When he licked her face, she stood up. Trent
was coming toward her, and his wolf looked as fit and sexy as she’d ever seen
him. Elijah stood beside her and didn’t move when she was knocked to the floor
so that her back was on it and Trent was laying over her.

Are you hurt?
She told him what
had happened
. You ever do that again and I will beat your pretty ass for
you. I need you in my life.

“And I you. But there are others here that need
to be taken care of. Several more that have been hurt.” He didn’t move, but
Elijah did. “Trent, are you all right?”

Yes.
The pause scared her a little
. He’s dead.
The alpha is dead. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to him, but you can bet
that someone is going to be pissed off.

Joe knew what should happen now. Trent had
killed the alpha, and that meant he was king. If no one protested it, Trent
would take his place as the pack leader. Not that she didn’t think he’d do a
wonderful job at it.

There were still things they had to do before
the police entered the bank. One of them was to get Trent and his brothers out.
She reached out to Noah and told him what she needed. He said he’d do it with
pleasure.

“Noah is going to alter the minds of the
humans to keep them from telling anyone that several big wolves were here. I
don’t know what they’ll tell the police, but you won’t be brought up.” He
looked down at her as she continued. “We have to get the rest of the people out
of here though. I’ll lead them out once the other robbers are taken care of.”

They’re all dead now. The others, my brothers,
have taken care of them, as well as the cameras in the halls.
She’d never thought
of that and was glad that he had. But he still hadn’t moved.
Dad is on his
way here with clothing for us. I’ll go out in…I love you, Joe.

Then he was gone. She wanted to call him back
to tell him that she loved him as well, but there were things that had to be
taken care of now. Later, she told herself, she’d make him pay for running off.
Smiling, she thought of all the things she wanted to do to him.

As she lay there, her mind going a million
miles a minute, she heard the door opening to the front of the bank and sat up.
When someone told her to put her hands on her head and not to move, Joe obeyed.
There was no point in making someone else mad enough to hurt her.

The bank was secured by the police in a
matter of twenty minutes. Then the questioning began.

“Are you telling me that you don’t know what
happened to anyone?” She told the officer again that she didn’t know. “You were
right there, in the main part of the building, and you don’t know what happened
to the gunmen or the naked man in the hall.”

“No. I’ve told you several times already that
I didn’t see anything, as they had us on the floor. I didn’t want to get
killed.” He looked at the blood on her shirt. It was hers, but she’d told him
she’d tried to help one of the other people. “I’m not going to tell you again
that I don’t know what was going on other than we were told to shut up and to
sit still.”

“You do know that there are six dead men in
the building, not counting the naked one, that look as if someone tore them
apart or broke their necks. Do you know what strength it would take to do that?”
She asked him if he thought she’d done it. “No. But someone must have heard
something. We have to close this case and there are no cameras to go on, and
all the people there have the same story as you. They don’t know anything
either.”

“And that’s my problem how?” He didn’t say
anything, but she could tell he was pissed off. “Perhaps you should go and find
out who the men are and see what they did to make someone so upset with them.”

When he walked away, she felt the nudge of
Noah in her mind. She wanted to scream at someone, but let out a long breath
when he asked her if she was all right.

I can come in there and kill him for you. Or
perhaps Trent will want to do that. He is most upset with everyone. Just as his
dad was showing up, he took off to the woods.
Joe knew that he was
upset. He’d told her that he’d come for her after he’d run off some of his
anger.
Is he going to be all right, my dear?

I think he was afraid for me.
Noah said that was
more than likely it.
He killed the alpha, Noah. There will be consequences
for that.

He will make a great leader, as you will his
alpha-bitch.
She told him she wasn’t so sure about that.
I am. As are the others. TJ is
about to burst, he’s so happy. I think that the man will be crowing for years
to come about this. Does anyone know why he was a part of the robbery?

Not that I’ve been made aware of. But then,
I’m stuck here in this room with these fools walking all over the evidence. Not
that they have much need of it. The men who did it are all dead, and the
manager has confessed to everything.
She laughed a little.
I don’t suppose you
had anything to do with that, did you?

I have no idea what you might be speaking of.
If he confessed, he did so because it was good for his soul. If he even has one.

She was released a few minutes later and
asked to wait for someone to clear her.

You’ll be fine, my dear. Even if I have to
take out the entire police force to see that you are.

As the police came in—one standing near her
with a gun ready to be brought up at any moment—she reflected on what was going
on. Joe could understand what he was doing. There had been a lot of death on
his watch, and none of them were taking any chances that they’d get shot as
well. When she was released, two of them escorted her to where the Calhouns
were, and she sat down on the chair when it was offered to her. She was worried
about Trent and hoped he was going to be all right with this.

I’m fine. I’m just...I’ll have to run this
pack or be killed. Well, not killed, I guess, but we would have to leave the
area. It’s more than I ever wanted in this life.
She told him what
Noah had told her.
I saw my dad when I left. Elijah was telling him what had
happened. I’ve never been so afraid in my life. But killing Casey was the only
thing my wolf could think to do when we saw him standing over you. I think he
planned to try and kill you.

He did. But you know that he wouldn’t have
succeeded.
He said he knew that
. The manager of the bank had been stealing from here
for years. He’s confessed to being one of the men in on the robbery, and to
have taken some of the cash prior to this. Did you know that?

Noah said he would take care of it, so that’s
more than likely the only reason that he confessed. I didn’t know what he meant
by that, but I really needed to get away and think for a moment. And short of taking
you out of there, I had to run. I never expected anything like that from Casey.
I mean, he could be a real bastard when he wanted, but to rob the local bank?
What did he hope to get from it besides money?
Joe knew but for now
kept her mouth closed.
I’ll be home by the time you are released. Then I’ll
come and pick you up. I need you.