Wolf Hunt (Book 2) (14 page)

"Ally is missing, and you're going to wave a restraining order in my face? Is that what kind of mother you are?"

"I'm sorry, Peggy," said Robyn. "Obviously we're worried and we wanted to find out if you had any information. May we come in?"

"No. You can't. We can talk out here."

"Fine," said Shane. "Be a bitch about it. Let's talk out here instead of inside like civilized human beings."

"Shane! Knock it off!" Robyn gave Peggy an apologetic look that made him want to puke. "I'm sorry. He's really upset about Ally. We all are. You've talked to the police, right?"

Peggy nodded. "They've filed a report. I've been calling all of her friends but nobody knows anything, except that Trista walked most of the way home with her. That's it. That's everything I know so far. She's a teenager; she could've just gone to see her boyfriend and lost track of time."

"She has a boyfriend?" Shane asked.

"Not that I know of. I'm just saying."

"You don't think you'd know if she had a boyfriend?"

"What I'm saying, Shane, is that she is a teenaged girl, and teenaged girls sometimes do things like go off with boys without thinking to call their mothers to let them know where they are. I'm saying that, yes, I'm worried, but it's too soon to think the worst."

"Fine. So basically you have no useful information whatsoever. I'm going to look in her room real quick, and then we'll let you get back to all of the helpful stuff you've clearly been doing to aid in finding Ally."

"I told you that you can't come inside."

"And if you're going to stop me from doing a two-minute search through my own daughter's room to see if there are any clues about where she's gone, then you're putting our differences before Ally's safety, and I don't have to tell you what kind of a parent that makes you."

"The police already looked."

"And they know Ally better than I do?"

Peggy rubbed her forehead as if suffering from a migraine, then stepped out of the way. "Two minutes. Then leave."

"Thank you," said Shane, moving past her. He didn't expect to find any clues in Ally's room. What he needed, and what he would never admit even to Robyn, was to get a fresh scent. He hadn't seen Ally in a few weeks, and though he was sure he could find her if they got close enough, a deep whiff of an article of clothing she'd worn yesterday would be extremely helpful.

It would be even more helpful if Crabs did it, but no way in hell would Robyn or Peggy allow him up in her room, and some things weren't worth fighting over.

He hurried up the stairs and into Ally's room. Wow. It looked like it had actually been cleaned within the past couple of weeks. Incredible.

Shane opened the lid to her clothes hamper and looked inside. There was a pair of light blue cotton panties on the very top, and it was tempting, but he could hear Peggy's footsteps coming up the stairs and she'd have an absolute meltdown if she caught him. He supposed he couldn't blame her.

Instead, he grabbed a nightgown, pressed it to his face and inhaled deeply, then tossed it back into the hamper.

He paced around, pretending to look for clues, as Peggy entered the room.

Seriously, would it have killed her to hop on an exercise bike a couple of times after Ally was born and before their marriage crashed and burned? As far as Shane knew, she wasn't getting any, so obviously her toned body was just to make him jealous about what he couldn't have. As if he cared. If Peggy knew the things that Robyn let him do to her, she wouldn't bother trying to compete.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Peggy asked.

"I don't know. Anything."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"I'm sure you're right."

"I need you to leave now, Shane. I promise I'll call you the second I hear something."

"When did she quit playing the violin?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ally quit, right? Isn't that what you told Robyn? Why didn't you ask me what I thought?"

"We can't micro-manage every aspect of her life."

"Apparently not, since you can't even keep her safe."

"This is absolutely not relevant or appropriate right now. We can discuss it later. For now, I need you to leave before I call the police."

"You're gonna call the cops on me?"

"I don't want to."

"Did I really hear you right? I'm here out of concern for our daughter, who could be in somebody's basement with duct tape over her fucking mouth, and you're threatening to call the cops because I'm lingering too long? Is that what I heard?"

Peggy sighed and turned away. "I don't care what you do. I'm going back downstairs. Stay as long as you want."

That bitch
was
going to call the cops on him. Shane couldn't believe it. He wanted to change right here and start scattering her body parts all over Ally's room.

He wouldn't do it, not really, but, oh, he would enjoy every second of it.

* * *

No police cars were outside of Ally's home. Perfect. But there was another car in the driveway that hadn't been there before. Plainclothes cop? Private investigator? Concerned friend, relative, or neighbor?

"You recognize that car?" George asked, stopping the van about three houses away.

Ally crawled to the other side of the cage to get a better view. "Yeah! It's my dad's!"

"All right. I'll let you out."

CHAPTER TWENTY

Father/Daughter Reunion

George put the van in park but left the engine running as he got out and walked around to open the back door. If Ally didn't have an injured foot, he would've done this several blocks away, to avoid witnesses, but he'd have a complete meltdown if he released Ally only to have Mr. Dewey's men nab her again before she made it home.

"Lou, come on up front," said George. "Eugene, we can't risk anybody seeing you, and there's no room up there for you anyway, so you're going to have to stay in the cage until we get a new ride."

Eugene shrugged. "Okay with me."

Lou got out of the van, quickly followed by Ally. George didn't expect a hug or an "I'll miss you most of all, George," but he couldn't help feeling weirdly betrayed as she limped off toward her home without a word.

George shut the rear door, then he and Lou got back into the van.

"So...New Zealand?" Lou asked.

"In a minute. I want to make sure she gets inside."

"You're not dropping off a date."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, you're right. Let's go."

* * *

Every step hurt and she might be causing permanent damage to her ankle, as well as getting frostbite from walking in her bare feet, but right now Ally didn't care. She was free! She couldn't believe it. She'd thought she was going to die a horrible death at the hands of several different madmen today, but she was finally free!

Though she had a lot of new issues to work out in her life, for now she wasn't going to worry about anything but seeing Mom again. And Dad.

The back door of Dad's car opened and somebody got out. Ally stiffened a bit but kept walking.

Crabs.

Why had Dad brought him?

She'd only met Crabs once before, and that was plenty. He'd looked at Ally as if he wanted to lick her face. If he'd stopped by again, Ally would've asked Dad to keep him away during her visits, but fortunately he hadn't come back. She suspected that this was at Robyn's request (though she hated Robyn for stealing Dad away, she also couldn't deny that Robyn had always been nice to her) but hadn't wanted to bring up the issue.

"Hello there, young one," said Crabs. "I know some people who are concerned about you."

"I'm okay," she said, stepping up onto the curb with a wince.

"That's a lot of blood. I don't like to see a little girl bleed like that. Let me take you inside to see your mommy and daddy." Crabs reached out his hand.

Ally didn't take it. "I'll be fine."

"I guess you're a big girl now." Crabs walked ahead of her and opened the front door. She stepped past him and called out to Mom that she was home.

* * *

"Is it just me," George asked, "or was that guy seriously creepy?"

"He was a little creepy."

"Did you notice how Ally avoided him?"

"Maybe she's got a creepy uncle. C'mon, George, it's time to go."

"I don't like it. My gut tells me that something's wrong."

"My gut tells me that we're sitting here in a van filled with bullet holes outside the house of a girl we kidnapped today. This is not a good place for us to linger."

"I'm not sure if I get a vote," said Eugene from the cage, "but if I do, I'm voting with Lou. This is a bad, bad, bad place to linger."

"I'm telling you, there was something wrong with that guy."

"So what? He has nothing to do with us. She said it was her dad's car. Do you want to get recaptured? Do you want to go to jail?"

"I thought you were the one who was all concerned about her safety? You were the one who didn't want to kidnap her in the first place."

"I know!" said Lou. "And maybe that's why I'm feeling less guilt about the whole thing than you are! We've taken her back home. We're done. It's completely insane to still be here."

"As somebody who is teetering on the edge of insanity, I agree," said Eugene.

"Here's what we're going to do," said George, driving past the house. "We're going to drive around for five minutes, only five, and then we're going to drive past her street one more time."

"And what do we expect to see?" asked Lou.

"One less car. Mr. Dewey drilled a hole in her ankle. They'd take her straight to the hospital, right?"

"Yeah."

"So if we drive by and both cars are still there, we can agree that it's suspicious, right?"

"And then what? We walk up and knock on the door?"

"If we have to. I just murdered a psychopathic crime lord. I'm not so concerned about a mom, a dad, and a creepy uncle."

Lou shook his head. "No. This is stupid. I always go along with what you want, but we're in too much danger to hang around because of your gut. Eugene agrees with me. Let's go."

"Eugene doesn't get a vote."

"Well, I do. And I say we go."

"All right."

They drove in silence for a moment.

"We're going back there in five minutes, aren't we?" asked Lou.

"Yeah."

"Why do you even ask my opinion on things?"

* * *

"Ally...?"

Robyn wanted to rush over and embrace her, but she was unwelcome enough in this house as it was, and she didn't want to make things worse by being the first one to hug Ally.

It was definitely the dress from the pictures, and it was torn as if the wearer had suddenly increased in size while it was on. No question about it—Ally was a werewolf.

This was
fantastic
news.

Robyn couldn't have children herself, a fact about which she occasionally found herself locked in the bathroom, silently weeping. Ally had always been somewhat cold toward her, for obvious reasons. But if she just found out she was a werewolf, she'd be scared, confused, and seeking help.

Robyn would be there to help her.

They'd become far closer than even blood relatives.

Shane and Peggy came down the stairs. Peggy looked momentarily surprised to see Crabs standing there (did she even know who he was?) but then ran across the room and squeezed her daughter tight.

"Oh, thank God!" she said, bursting into tears. "Thank God you're home!"

"Who bruised you up?" asked Shane. "What happened to your foot? Who did that to you?"

"I'll tell you everything, I promise," said Ally. "I'm not sure we're safe, though. Can you take me to the hospital?"

"Of course, sweetheart, of course," said Peggy. "Let's go right now."

"Who did it?" Shane demanded. "Describe them. Did one have a thick black beard?"

Robyn almost let out a gasp. What was he doing? They couldn't talk about Lou and George right there in front of Peggy! There'd be plenty of time for questioning and vengeance later.

"None of that matters right now," said Robyn. "All that matters is that Ally is safe."

She opened the front door, and this time she did gasp.

* * *

Even though they were wearing facemasks, Ally recognized both of the men.

One of them, who she recognized from his jacket, was a guy with red hair and cruel eyes. The other was the man formerly wearing a white snowsuit—the one George hadn't killed.

The redhead pushed Robyn to the floor and pointed a gun at her. "Do not scream. Do not make a sound. If anybody tries anything, you're all dead, do you hear me?"

The other man waved his gun around at the rest of them. "
Did you hear him
?"

"Yes," said Robyn. "We hear you. We all hear you."

"We're only here for the girl. Nobody else gets hurt."

Dad stepped in front of Ally, shielding her with his body. "You're not going to get her."

The redhead pulled the front door closed behind him. "We don't have time to dick around. If we have to drag her out of here past everyone else's dead bodies, that doesn't bother me a bit. There are four other men waiting in a truck right outside, so if you think you're going to get out of here, you're wrong."

"I don't care if there are four hundred men waiting outside," said Dad. "You're not taking her. It's not going to happen. It's just not. So you can take your little toy guns and head right back to your trucks."

The redhead laughed. "You're heroic as fuck, aren't you? If somebody pointed a gun at me, I'd let them take my daughter and throw in my baby son free of charge."

"Just leave," said Dad.

"Everybody except the girl, get down on the floor. Anybody who isn't on the floor in three seconds dies."

"Please, don't!" said Ally, stepping out from behind Dad. "Don't hurt any of them. I'll go with you."

"The hell you will," said Dad. "You know that we called the police as soon as Ally walked through the door, right? They're on their way. You're going to get caught either way, so do you want to get caught with a kidnapped girl in your truck?"

"Her foot looks pretty bad," said the redhead. "I'm surprised you didn't call an ambulance, or tell the cops to meet you at the hospital. That's what I would've done."

"I don't care what you would have done."

"That's more than three seconds." He pointed his gun at Mom. "Why aren't you on the floor?"

"Mom, get down," said Ally.

Mom dropped to her knees.

"Flat on the floor."

Mom got all the way down.

"So that's one of you who doesn't die today." The redhead pointed his gun at Robyn. "You, down all the way."

Robyn also lay stomach-down on the floor, though she was leaning up enough to continue to watch the men.

The man in the bulletproof vest jabbed the barrel of his gun into Crabs' chest. "Why aren't you down yet? What are you, simple? Got nothing to live for?"

"I live in the moment."

Now the redhead pointed his gun back at Dad. "You're going to force me to make some noise, huh?"

Dad nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't invest in silencers."

And then, just like that, all at once, Dad transformed.

His clothes split apart, his body grew, and fur sprouted from his flesh like time-lapse photography of a plant growing. Within seconds, the process was complete.

It didn't matter that Ally had suspected that her own powers were inherited. Seeing that Dad was an actual werewolf surprised the hell out of her.

Mom shrieked.

The redhead shot Dad in the chest.

"Silver bullet, asshole," he said.

Dad walked toward him, snarling.

The redhead frowned. "Silver bullet, right?" he asked, looking over at his partner. "Weren't these supposed to be silver bullets?"

He shot Dad three more times before Dad stood right in front of him.

And now...wait,
Crabs
was a werewolf, too?

And Robyn?

The redhead dropped his gun.

* * *

Brent glanced over at the house at the sound of the gunshot. "Idiots couldn't get her without shooting somebody," he muttered. "I told you we should've gone."

Sean stuck a couple of fingers under his facemask and scratched his neck. "Should we go in?"

Brent shook his head. "Not quite yet. Maybe they just killed her mother."

"You should go in after them," said Mr. Reith, who sat in the back seat.

"We don't know what's happening in there. There's no need to panic just because we heard one shot."

"I am your boss now," said Mr. Reith. "And I say that the girl is still extremely valuable, and that if we lose her again, I will take all of my anger out on you."

"What are you gonna do, whack me with your cane? I worked for Mr. Dewey, not you. You're lucky your old slow ass is even in here with us."

"That's a very foolish attitude."

Three more gunshots came from inside the house, one after the other.

Sean scratched his neck again. "Damn it."

"All right,
now
we'll go in," said Brent. He looked back at that short little shit Glenn, who sat next to Mr. Reith. "All three of us, let's go."

Under other circumstances, Brent would've left Sean or Glenn here, in the driver's seat in case they needed to make a quick getaway. But he didn't know Mr. Reith, and didn't trust him not to order the driver to speed off if things got crazy.

"Sean will remain here," said Mr. Reith, apparently reading his mind.

Brent shook his head. "Nope. Sorry." He didn't care if Mr. Dewey respected that shriveled old fossil; Brent had no idea who the hell he even was, and until Mr. Reith coughed up some credentials, Brent wasn't going to let him decide the course of action in a dangerous situation like this.