Justus

I whistled as I stepped out of the hotel, shaded from the morning sunlight by the covered drop-off at the front of the parking lot. The day was shaping up to be hot, even though it was hardly past nine am, but the rental car had a great air conditioner and Kaci was—

Where was Kaci?

Frowning, I rounded the side of the hotel building headed for the back of the parking lot, expecting her to pull alongside me in the car any moment. She liked to drive, and for all I knew, she’d gotten bored waiting for me and had decided to fill up the tank. And grab snacks for the road.

But the car was still in the lot, exactly where I’d parked it the night before. The trunk was closed, the doors locked, with no sign that she’d ever opened them. I tried the trunk, but it could only be opened from inside the car or with the key fob. Fear building inside me like a steady, bitter pressure, I’d just decided to break open one of the windows when the tip of my shoe landed on something that scraped against the concrete.

Keys.

Our keys. I bent to pick them up and discovered Kaci’s phone lying just underneath the car. The case was scuffed, the screen cracked.

Kaci was gone.

No.

“Kaci!” I shoved the keys and phone into my pocket and raced toward the rear hotel door—the one she’d gone out—but it required a hotel key card to get in, and I’d already given ours back to the clerk. So I jerked on the door as hard as I could.

Metal groaned, but the door was solid. It held.

I pulled again with both hands, wedging one foot against the door frame. Something popped, and the door flew open. Something small and metal bounced off my shoe, but I was already pounding down the back hall before I realized it was the bolt from the busted door.

My shoes skidded on the tile floor as I raced past the elevators and rounded the corner into the lobby, then stood in front of the desk clerk, panting not from exertion, but from utter terror.

Kaci was gone.

I had let her out of my sight for four minutes, and she was gone.

“Have you seen her?” I demanded, and the clerk gave me an alarmed, but blank expression. “Kaci. The woman I checked in with. She’s about five-seven. One hundred ten pounds. She has hazel eyes and long, dark hair, and she’s gorgeous. You would notice her.”

“I do remember her sir, but I haven’t seen her since last night.”

“Okay, what about…cars? Did you see any cars leave since I checked out? Is there a back way out of the parking lot?”

“The only way out is right through there.” He pointed behind me, at the parking lot entrance in front of the hotel. “But I think I did see a car leave while you were checking out.”

Fuck!

“What did it look like?”

“I—” He frowned, clearly trying to remember. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t remember.”

“Was it a car? A truck? An SUV?”

“Definitely a car. I think. Four doors. Oh!” His brows shot up. “It was low to the ground. It nearly bottomed out on that bump in the entrance.”

“Great. What color?”

“Um… Something dark. Red, or green.”

A growl exploded from my throat. “Those are two completely different colors.”

“I know, sir.” He looked flustered. “But my point is that it definitely wasn’t white or silver. It was a real color.”

“As opposed to a made-up color? Honestly, I don’t even know what to do with that description.”

“I’m trying to help you, sir. Has she been assaulted? Kidnapped? Should I call the police?” He lifted the desk phone.

“No!” I snatched the hand piece from him and slammed it down on the receiver. “Just…are there security cameras?”

“Yes, but—”

“Let me see the footage. Please. Right now.”

“I can’t do that without my manager’s permission, or a warrant. But it wouldn’t matter anyway, because none of them face the entrance.”

“None of your security cameras face the entrance to the hotel? How the hell can you call them security cameras, if they don’t see who comes and goes?”

“They don’t face the entrance of the parking lot, sir. So, unless whoever you’re looking for came into the hotel, we probably don’t have footage of him or her anyway. Now, if you’d like me to call the police for you, I’d be happy to help. But if not, I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do for you. Sir.”

“Fine. Thank you.” I spun, ready to storm out the front entrance, when a new possibility occurred to me. When I turned back to the clerk, he actually groaned out loud. “Just one more question. Please. Is possible that this low-riding four-door car that wasn’t silver or white was actually blue?”

“Yes!” His eyes lit up in triumph, as if he’d remembered that detail on his own. “A dark blue. Like, from fifteen years ago, or so.”

“Ten,” I corrected. “Thank you so much.”

Jared.

The Southwest Territory enforcer with the old blue Honda Civic. The car Kaci and I had stolen, then thoughtfully left safe and sound in the parking lot of a taco place two hours down the highway.

We should have left it in the bottom of a lake. With that bastard in it.

I raced around the building and back to the rental car, and I’d already shifted into reverse when I realized I had no idea where to go.

Think! Where would a Southwest Pride enforcer take his…captive?

If he stuck to I15—the only major highway in the area—the choices were north and south. North would take him farther into the free zone, according to Kaci. And within a couple of hours, south would take him back to Las Vegas. Back to the Southwest Territory.

If he was acting under the authority of the council, he would likely take the fastest route out of the free zone. But if he’d gone rogue and had taken Kaci for any purpose other than an official apprehension…

I would find him and rip his dick off and shove it down his own throat until he suffocated on it.

But if he had gone rogue, I had no idea where to look for him.

If I took off toward the south, I might be able to catch them before they crossed out of the free zone. But if he hadn’t gone south, I’d just be wasting time while he took Kaci farther and farther away from me.

A roar erupted from my throat. My fist slammed into the dashboard, and I didn’t even realize I’d swung until I was picking fragments of plastic out of my knuckles.

A little girl screamed in the parking lot, and I looked left to see an entire family staring at me. I growled at them, and the parents hustled their kids into their mini-van, then tore forward out of their space toward the road.

I brushed more shards of plastic off my lap and my focus fell to my phone, where I’d dropped it in one of the center cup holders. I could think of only one way to find out for sure whether Jared was acting on the council’s orders. So I swallowed my pride and dialed.

“Hello?” Marc answered on the first ring. “Justus? Are you there?”

“Yes. I need help, and I swear I wouldn’t be asking, after what I did, if it were just for me. But Jared took Kaci, and I don’t know where they’ve gone.”

“Slow down. Actually, hang on.” Something brushed the phone, and his voice was muffled. “Karen, can you watch them for a minute? I have to take this. No, let Faythe sleep.”

A door closed over the line, and everything got quiet. “Okay, say that again? Jared took Kaci? Jared who?”

“I don’t know his last name. He’s an enforcer for the Southwest Pride. One of Blackwell’s men, right? I think Kaci said he’s Blackwell’s grandson.”

“Jared Taylor. Big guy with a thick neck?”

“You’re describing every enforcer I’ve ever met. He was there yesterday with Vic and Chris. At Caesar’s Palace. They can tell you who I’m talking about.”

“Vic’s fine, by the way,” Marc growled.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about his arm. I’m sorry about all of this. I never meant to drag her into anything. In fact, I’m trying to drag her back out.” I sucked in a deep breath. Then I did what I should have done twenty-four hours ago. What I should have said from the very beginning. “You have to help me get her back. I swear, I’ll drive her straight to the ranch, then I’ll disappear. You’ll never hear from me again, if you promise me you’ll keep her safe.”

“That’s all we’ve ever tried to do for her. And we want the same for you. No one wants you to disappear.”

“No, but several of them want me to die.”

“That’s not—” A frustrated growl rumbled over the line, as if Marc had stopped the lie before it could be spoken. “We’ll sort the rest of this out after we’ve found Kaci. Okay?”

“Yes. Done.” I nodded at myself in the rearview mirror, as if I were looking at Marc. “Whatever you want.”

“Where are you?”

“St. George, Utah. It’s two hours up I15 from Las Vegas.”

“You two didn’t get very far yesterday.”

“We stopped to…rest.”

He growled. “Do not say anything that even gives me the slightest mental image of you in bed with the girl I’ve raised like a daughter.”

“I’m serious, Marc. We rested. I swear on my life I haven’t touched her. I bought her dinner and we talked. That’s it.”

“But you’re married? Faythe and Vic said you two got married.”

“Not that I want to discuss the particulars of that with you right now, but yes. We’re married, but not yet… Um…”

“Stop there,” he snapped. “I understand.”

“Thank God.”

“Okay, I want you to sit tight and wait. I’m sending Vic and Chris your way from Phoenix.”

“I don’t need—” I bit off the objection before Marc could interrupt me. I would take whatever help he offered, if it would get Kaci back. “Okay, it’s not that I don’t need them. But Jared could be heading back toward Las Vegas as we speak, so maybe Vic and Chris should head that way. I need to know whether Jared’s acting on the council’s orders or… I need to know… Marc, why the hell would he take her, but leave me?”

“I don’t know. Let me call Blackwell. I’m going to put Chris and Vic on alert, but have them stay put until I know more about what’s going on. You stay put too. I’ll call you right back.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I plugged my phone into the car charger, then I drove across the street to fill up the gas tank and grab a cup of coffee, so I’d be ready for whatever orders came down the pipeline. Then I sat in my car and waited. And waited. After what felt like forever, I checked the time on my phone and discovered that only fifteen minutes had passed.

Somehow, Kaci had been kidnapped and time had slowed down.

Finally, my phone rang. Marc’s name appeared on the screen, and I jabbed the talk button. “Hello?”

“Please tell me you have a full tank of gas.”

My heart slammed against my sternum. “I do.”

“Now tell me there’s nothing illegal in your rental car, at all.”

“Of course not.” Shit. “Well, except for the fake ID I used to rent this car. And to play poker at Caesar’s.”

“Fine. That’s nothing.”

“What’s going on?”

“Put me on speaker, then get on I15 and go south,” Marc said. “I’ll explain while you drive.”

I tapped the speaker button and dropped my phone into the cup holder, then pulled out of the gas station onto the road. A quarter mile later, I merged onto I15. “I’m on the highway. What’s going on, Marc?”

“It’s Blackwell. He’s decided to take action against Kaci for trespassing.”

“That means he can just kidnap her?” I put on my blinker and shifted into the left-hand lane, then stomped on the gas; it was clear where I was headed. “How bad is this, Marc?”

“Bad enough that I’m going to have to wake Faythe up from her nap. And I try never to wake Faythe up from a nap. Blackwell’s calling this a by-the-book apprehension, and the problem is that he’s not wrong.”

“What book says it’s okay for an enforcer to grab a girl half his size and just take off with her? Did the council okay this? How could they have, if he didn’t even tell you and Faythe?”

“The council doesn’t get a say except on capital offenses—those potentially punishable by execution. Trespassing is serious, but it’s not a capital crime, and Blackwell has jurisdiction, because the crime occurred in his territory, against his Pride.”

“And he didn’t even have to tell anyone?”

“Because she’s our Pride member, he has to give us the details once she’s in custody, but he doesn’t have to alert us beforehand.”

“So why didn’t he give you the details?”

“Because she’s not officially in his custody until she’s back in his territory. And once she is in his custody, in his territory, he can try her there without interference from anyone else.”

Anger raged like fire in my veins, yet I saw the proverbial writing on the wall. “But if she’s not in his custody? Or in his territory?”

“If you can get to her before Jared takes her back over the border, then get her back onto our land, we can petition the council to try her here. Blackwell would still get to sit in judgement, but he’d have to do it on our turf, and he’d have to negotiate with me and Faythe about the rules of the hearing.”

“So, I’m going to take her back, right?” Adrenaline exploded in my heart and raced through my veins.

“You have to get her back. And to make it legal…” Marc actually groaned over the line. “I’m temporarily appointing you as an enforcer of the South-Central Pride. And I’m waiving the usual swearing in, due to the emergency circumstances.”

“Holy shit.” I swerved around some asshole going sixty in the fast lane. “I’m an enforcer? Just like that?”

“Temporarily. And without pay, or any other benefits. And please let me be clear here. I’m giving you this job not because you’re the most qualified—or because you’re at all qualified—but because you’re the only one close enough to get to her. Your one job in the world is to catch up with Jared before he gets Kaci over the border, stop them safely, and take her safely into your official custody. Then bring her safely back here. Did I mention safely? Don’t run them off the road, or do anything that could get her hurt.”

“What about him?” I pressed a little harder on the gas, and the needle edged toward eighty-five. “Can I hurt him?”

“If you have to fight him, yes. Vic says you can fight. But nothing more than what has to be done to get her back. Do you understand? Once you have her—if you get her—do not strike out against him. Your authority to act against him ends when he’s incapacitated. But only if he has to be incapacitated.”

Oh, he’d have to be. I knew that from the way he’d grabbed her arm in Vegas. And from the way he’d kidnapped her when I wasn’t looking, like a sneaky little bitch.

“There’s one more thing.”

“What?” I watched the needle edge toward ninety.

“If they cross over the border, let them go.”

“No way in hell.”

“Justus. Jared didn’t bother with you because he knew he didn’t have to. He knew that if he took Kaci, you’d follow him right into their territory. Where they can hold you on another count of trespassing and keep you in custody until your trial for murder and infection.”

“I’m not going to leave her—”

“They won’t hurt her,” Marc insisted.

“You don’t know that.”

“Actually, I do. Blackwell is old fashioned. He believes women should be cherished, protected, and provided for. And that they should be mothers and homemakers. He’s an asshole, but he would never let anyone hurt Kaci. However, he also believes that strays are a problem that the US prides must not accept, but confront. I’m saying this to you from one stray to another. Blackwell was part of the ruling that exiled me into the free zone several years ago. He stood by and watched Faythe removed from her position as Alpha, which nearly got her killed and got us all kicked out of our own house. Off the ranch. He won’t break the rules, but he will interpret them in a manner that supports his beliefs. And that will not benefit you.”

“I understand.”

“So, you’ll stop when you get to the border, if you don’t have her back yet?” Marc demanded. But I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I let silence speak for me. “Justus, I can’t let you go after her if I know your intent is to go past the boundary, where you have no authority, even as an enforcer.”

“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing you don’t know that. I’ll call you when I have her.” I hung up and turned all my attention toward the road.

Marc called me back, and I let the call go to voice mail so he couldn’t un-appoint me as an enforcer. Then I stomped a little harder on the gas.

The needle hit ninety. I flicked my blinker on and carefully eased back into the left-hand lane. As much fun as it would’ve been, under other circumstances, to test the limits on a car I didn’t own, if I wrecked the rental, I’d have no way to get Kaci back. Or get her to safety, once I had her back.

I watched the mile markers as they ticked past, counting down the miles toward Las Vegas. I passed from Utah into Arizona, then half an hour later into Nevada, where I panicked for a moment until I remembered that territorial borders don’t follow US geopolitical lines. They follow natural boundaries like mountain ranges and rivers. I hadn’t left the free zone yet.

As I drove, I scanned the cars ahead, trying to determine their color. Unfortunately, the morning sunlight glaring off the rear windshields kept me from seeing the colors of the cars. And for the ones in the distance, I couldn’t even determine size, unless there was another vehicle nearby to compare them to.

For nearly an hour, I counted the passage of time in my own heartbeats. In the miles that raced by beneath my tires.

Please let Kaci be okay. Please let me get her back. Please, please, please…

Then, up ahead, a small car swerved into the left lane, in front of a white delivery van, and my pulse spiked. I couldn’t be sure, but at a glance, it was about the right size. About the right color.

It had to be her.

I pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor.