Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ethan cut into his steak, listening intently as Billy reiterated everything he’d learned about the Fosters over the past week.
“How come Isaac hasn’t stepped down and relinquished the reins to Eric?” Ethan questioned in between bites.
Billy leaned forward to be heard over the murmuring voices of the crowded restaurant. “Honestly? I don’t think the old man trusts Eric. I mean, I know he’s his son and all, but from what I’ve learned recently, Eric isn’t privy to everything that goes on in the pack.”
Ethan thought about that for a moment. “And where are you getting all this intel?”
“Oh, ye of little faith.” Billy grinned. “I’m sleeping with one of their pack members.”
With a blank look, Ethan repeated, “You’re sleeping with one of their pack members? And she doesn’t know that you are associated with me?”
Billy shrugged. “Not likely. She’s cute as hell, but not a lot going on in her head, if you know what I mean. She also used to be Eric’s lover. And there’s no one more talkative than a woman scorned.”
Ethan continued to eat while listening to Billy explain everything he’d learned from the Kenwood female.
His mind drifted to Piper, the longer Billy talked. Ethan wondered why he hadn’t heard from her yet.
Digging his cell out of his pants pocket, Ethan swiped the screen to find an unopened message from Piper. Going to Sally’s Diner to have lunch with Rhonda. Taking guards with me. Text you on my way home. Xoxo
The time stamp was over an hour old.
Ethan wondered why he hadn’t heard the text come through, but then, with all the noise in the restaurant it was no wonder.
“Is there a problem?” Billy nodded toward the cell Ethan held in his hand.
Sending a quick response to call him ASAP, Ethan pocketed his phone and shook his head. “Just a text from Piper. Apparently, she and Rhonda are having lunch at Sally’s Diner.”
“Did she take the guards?”
Ethan absently nodded. “She said she was taking them. It’s been over an hour though. I think I should give her a call just to check on her. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Winding his way through the crowded and noisy restaurant, Ethan made his way outside to the blessed quiet of the parking lot.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Piper’s number. It went straight to voicemail. “Hi, babe. Just wanted to hear your voice. Call me.”
Ethan returned the cell to his pocket and strode back inside to his table.
Billy had nearly finished his steak by the time Ethan took a seat.
“She okay?”
“She didn’t answer,” Ethan murmured, a kernel of worry forming in his gut.
Billy waved his fork in the air. “I’m sure she’s having a good time and probably left her phone in the car or something. She’ll call you back.”
Ethan wanted to believe that, but something felt off to him. Piper always kept her phone within reach.
His appetite suddenly gone, he pushed back his plate and once again stood. “I’m going to try the guards that are with her, just to be on the safe side.”
Billy got to his feet as well. “Come on, let’s just go. We can call them on the way out.”
Ethan was already moving toward the front counter before Billy finished speaking. He pulled a hundred-dollar bill from his pants pocket and handed it to the cashier. “Keep the change.”
“Thank you.” She beamed, already ringing him out. “Would you like a receipt?”
Ethan waved her off, dialing Samuel’s number as he strode toward the exit.
“No answer,” he growled, trying Gene’s number.
Billy caught up with him at the car, anxiety evident on his face. “Neither one answered?”
Quickly unlocking the car, Ethan climbed behind the wheel, started the engine, and sped out of the parking lot before Billy’s door completely closed.
Exceeding the speed limit, Ethan weaved in and out of traffic, nearly running stoplights.
“Her car isn’t here,” Ethan growled, slowing to a crawl in front of the diner.
He abruptly threw it in park, jumped out, and hurried inside.
“Have a seat wherever you’d like,” a Southern-speaking waitress informed him.
Ethan approached the counter. “Have you seen a tall woman with long auburn hair in here recently? She would have had a short blonde with her and possibly two men?”
An indention formed between the waitress’s eyes. “I remember them. The tall one didn’t eat her food. She ran out of here with a sheet-white face.”
Ethan’s stomach lurched. “Thank you.”
Spinning back toward the door, Ethan burst outside, jumped back behind the wheel, and drove like a madman to Piper’s house.
“What happened?” Billy gripped the dashboard to keep from eating it as Ethan slammed on brakes behind a stopped car in front of him.
He jerked the wheel to the side and passed the car on the sidewalk before bringing it back to the road on the street beyond. “She was there. But something was wrong. The waitress said she ran out of there sick or something.”
Taking the next corner entirely too fast, Ethan skidded to a stop in front of Piper’s house. “Her car is here.”
The smell of more than one unknown shifter hit Ethan square in the face the second he jumped from his vehicle. He jogged over to Piper’s car to find Samuel facedown on the sidewalk and Gene slumped over in the back seat.
“Check on them,” Ethan snarled, already running toward the house.
He burst through the front door, his heart hammering and his teeth gritted together to keep them from descending.
“Piper!” Ethan yelled, his voice more animal than man.
The shifters’ stench was far more prominent inside than out by the car.
Rhonda’s still form lay facedown in front of the couch. Ethan dropped onto his haunches next to her and laid his fingers against her neck. She had a pulse.
Ethan surged to his feet and flew up the stairs, charging into Piper’s bedroom without slowing.
The scent of blood exploded through his senses, wrapping around his brain in brutal finality. Piper’s blood.
Shouldering his way past the bathroom door, Ethan roared in denial as the evidence of her blood stained the corner of the countertop. And he knew it to be hers as surely as he knew Foster’s men had taken her.
His vision sharpened, and his breath punched forcefully in and out of his chest.
And then his gaze landed on empty pregnancy test box in the trash can next to the toilet.
A small white stick lying near the back of the sink caught his eye.
His claws had extended to the point where he could barely grab hold of the damn thing.
After two failed attempts, Ethan snatched it up and turned it over.
His world quickly shifted on its axis as he took in the positive sign in the display window on the front of the stick.
Ethan’s mind went back to the diner and the words the waitress had confessed. “I remember them. The tall one didn’t eat her food. She ran out of here with a sheet-white face.”
Piper was carrying his child. Ethan’s entire world changed in that moment, and a protective feeling such as he’d never felt rose up inside him.
“They’re going to live,” Billy announced, suddenly appearing in the bathroom doorway. “They were shot with darts. I’m assuming to keep the noise at a minimum. Who is that in the living room floor?”
Billy grew quiet for a moment before hesitantly stepping forward. “Ethan?”
Raising his unfocused gaze from the test stick he held in his hand, Ethan turned toward the door. “She’s pregnant, Billy. Piper’s pregnant with my child.”
“Are you sure?”
Ethan held up the test stick he still held. “I’m sure.”
“Jesus,” Billy whispered, backing up as Ethan stumbled past him. “Did they take her?”
Gripping the top of Piper’s dresser, Ethan threw back his head and roared, allowing his beast to be free.
The sound seemed to go on forever, drowning out the rapid pounding of his shifting heartbeat.
Piper’s face floated around inside his head like a carousel, haunted and afraid.
Billy’s voice abruptly penetrated his rage, pulling him back from the edge of insanity.
Ethan lifted his head, realizing he was on his knees and the claws of his hands had shredded the carpet beneath them.
“You can’t go out there like that,” Billy was saying from somewhere far away. “Ethan! Stay with me, man!”
The deep growl that rumbled from his throat had no evidence of humanity left. “Foster…”
“I know, Ethan. But if he’d wanted her dead, he would have left her in that bathroom. She’s still alive.”
Ethan prayed Billy was right. If Piper wasn’t alive… He couldn’t finish the thought.
Pushing to his feet, Ethan fell against the wall, staggering his way to the top of the stairs.
Billy was suddenly there, his shoulder under Ethan’s arm. “Lean on me. You have to calm down, Ethan. I know you love her. But you can’t help her in this condition.”
“I know,” Ethan responded in a guttural voice. “I can walk.”
Shaking off the fury swimming inside him, Ethan forced his wolf down enough to make it to the door.
He turned to Billy. “Get Samuel and Gene and meet me back at the penthouse.”
“Are you sure you’re able to drive?”
“Move!” Ethan snarled when Billy hesitated. “I’ll see you there.”
Ethan managed to reach his vehicle on two legs. He slid behind the wheel and spun the car toward home.
Piper…