Chapter Thirteen
Erik stifled a yawn as he turned a corner in his Hummer. It’d been a long night, and he’d wished he’d been able to rest more.
“Tired?” Leif said.
“After everything that had happened last night, it’s a miracle I got any sleep at all.”
The other man nodded.
Of course, Erik wasn’t about to tell Leif everything. He had slept like shit during what little hours he did manage to lie down. The damn woman kept flittering in and out of his thoughts, her face, her eyes, what he imagined her sweet body looked like.
He knew her form from the day with the sweater dress, but that wasn’t the same thing as seeing it in all its naked glory.
Erik didn't have a good reason for saying what he did at her apartment. As he’d carried her up the stairs, it was hard for him not to feel responsible for her. Sure, she’d come down to the basement on her own, but she’d been in danger because of him.
He should have been more careful. Should have made sure the building was clear. Lillian had gotten hurt because he’d gotten sloppy. Leif hadn’t said anything, but Erik didn’t need him to know that he’d screwed up.
If he were being truly honest, he knew there was more but couldn’t yet admit it to himself. Not truly.
Erik glanced over at the other man. He was glad Leif hadn’t brought that issue up again yet.
Lillian was just one part of the problem. The rogue wolf was the other and more major part. They had searched the streets for Hall to no avail. The damned pup had all but vanished. The blood red eyes also haunted Erik.
Something strange was going on. Something harming a member of his pack. He needed to figure it out. For all he knew, one of the other men could lose control at any moment.
“We’re close,” Erik said.
New construction had given way to old warehouses and closed down shops, with more than a few boarded-up windows.
“Looks like you need to pay more,” Leif said.
Under normal circumstances, Erik might have laughed, but the events of the previous night still weighed on him.
Erik hoped that Tyr could be some help and knew something about what was going on with Hall, but the younger brother had been secretive recently, not telling his brother where he was going or what he was doing. They only thing Tyr had been able to do was find an address he’d found that was listed under his brother’s name.
He gripped the steering wheel as he thought about the young wolf. They had a name for something like this. He gritted his teeth.
Even though he liked to dismiss the myths and legends concerning his kind, that didn’t automatically make them wrong. And that scared him.
He’d been taught that his kind had to learn to control their wolf early on. If they didn’t, they would lose themselves to natural instinct. Not just become a wolf, but something worse, a berserker. They’d all heard legends of ancient berserkers. Deadly, but all but mindless, permanently lost in the beast, not just for a few minutes.
That fear kept Erik in check. He assumed it kept all of his men in check. Even as they struggled against the wolf, they never blindly lost to it. There was always some control there, some part of the man remaining, some part that let them pull back even after they’d gotten violent.
He hadn’t seen that in Hall and his blood red eyes. He could understand him losing it in a fight, but to go after Lillian and then remain out of control after the fight was over was something different. It’s like he wasn’t even trying to control himself. The question was why hadn’t Hall tried to control that side of himself.
Erik stopped the Hummer outside of the dingy apartment building. He shook his head and glanced down at the address Tyr had given him. The address was correct, but the place wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.
"This is where he lives?" Erik said.
Leif shrugged, opened the door, and slid out of the passenger seat. "Tyr said this is the address. He’s gone back to the land with the men to see if Hall turns up there."
Erik looked up and down the street. It wasn't the sort of place he expected to see his men living or even hanging out. This was the seedy side of town. The place where drug dealers and prostitutes liked to hang out and likely their clients as well.
Leif’s joke aside, Erik made sure the men didn’t have to worry about affording a decent place. The last thing he wanted was for a werewolf to get caught up in something because they needed a few more dollars for rent.
"What do we know about Hall?" Erik asked.
"Good kid. Never really had much trouble. Tyr kept him on track when he was younger."
Erik glanced back over at the building and wrinkled his nose. Nothing about this seemed like staying on track.
He climbed out of the Hummer and hit the lock button. Part of him wouldn't have been surprised if he stepped out and found the SUV completely stripped. It stood out like a sore thumb in this area.
The door leading into the building had at one point been security locked but had long since been broken. It opened with the ease.
In most cases, Erik would've considered rushing up to the apartment and busting through the front door but decided the fewer messes they made, the better. With Hall on the loose, he didn't want the police out checking for the younger man.
A TV blared loudly from inside the apartment manager’s complex. Erik banged loudly on the door to be heard over the racket.
"All right I'm coming," someone shouted from inside.
Several locks clicked behind the door. Apparently, the apartment manager was a bit wiser about home security when it applied to him.
Chain still in place, the door opened a crack to reveal an upper middle-aged man sporting a white wife beater. His potbelly pressed hard against the door as he peered through.
"What the hell do you want?" The manager glared at them.
Erik frowned. Most people didn't bother talking to him that way. Not because he had money but because of his size alone. Apparently in this area that meant nothing.
"Our friend’s gone on a trip, and we need to get in," he said, keeping his tone neutral for the moment.
"I don't open doors," the manager said.
He tried to close the door, but Leif placed a firm hand on the door to keep it from shutting.
There were a couple of ways they could play this, but Erik decided against risking the police. He reached into his wallet and pulled out five twenty-dollar bills.
He arched a brow at the other man and held the money between his two fingers. "How about now?"
The manager’s gaze darted between Leif and Erik. Then a forced smile appeared on his face. “Well, you know, maybe I can in case of an emergency.”
“Yeah, this is an emergency.”
Leif took his hand from the door, and the man closed it. They could hear the sound of the chain sliding across the lock and dropping down.
After a moment the door opened, and the man appeared.
Erik wasn't certain the man could get worse looking after opening the door, but he found himself oddly surprised. The wife beater the man was wearing had obvious stains from several days of use. Hair littered his upper arms and chest. In fact the man was hairy all over except the one spot he likely wanted hair most. His head.
"What apartment did you say that was?" the manager asked.
The sloppy man placed his hand out palm up. Erik laid the money down.
"4C."
The other man quickly scrunched the money up and placed it in his pocket before stepping outside. He made sure to lock the door behind him using the large keychain he held.
The manager nodded to the stairs. As he grunted up the second floor, it was clear why the apartment manager had initially refused. He obviously wasn't so keen on making the long haul up the four flights of stairs. Erik and Leif could likely go up stairs all day long, but the apartment manager could barely last the time it took to make it to the second floor. He was already huffing and wheezing.
"So, what are you guys?” he asked. “You like connected or something?" The manager puffed as he made his way up the steps slowly. “If he did something, I want you to know I don’t know shit about it. I could watch for him, you know. I’d need some money for supplies though.”
Erik snorted from behind him. "We're just friends.”
The manager eyed him suspiciously as they turned the corner. "Well, in that case, maybe you should tell your friend that he and his lady friend might want to keep it down a bit at night. I've had complaints from all the neighbors."
“Same woman?” Erik asked.
The manager snorted. “Not like I pay that much attention, but I think it was the same woman.” He scratched his head. “Yeah, some chick named Anca.” He shrugged.
Erik frowned. He glanced behind him to Leif who shrugged, a confused expression on his face. It wasn't that unusual that one of their kind might meet someone, but typically they liked to play the field.
It was dangerous to get too close to a woman. Getting close meant you had to trust them with your secret, and it was hard, especially for someone as young as Hall.
Erik wondered who this woman was and what exactly she knew.
A knot formed in the center of his stomach. None of this shit was looking good for them. And if they weren't careful, there would be consequences for these actions. Other factors that he hoped to not involve.
Factors like the Council. If they stepped in, all of this would be out of his hands. People might have to die. Not a thrilling thought.
"The damn kids around here," the manager grunted. "Always coming in at all hours of the night. Drunk and high after hitting that damn club down the road. Causing problems for the rest of us in the building."
They finally reached the fourth floor, the manager sweating like he’d just finished ascending Mount Everest. He slowly made his way down the hall and stopped in front of a door with a large C. He pulled out the giant key ring, slid his key into the lock, then pushed open the door.
“Huh,” the manager said.
“What the hell?” Erik said.
Leif grunted.
Erik wasn't certain exactly what he was looking for, but it certainly wasn't an empty apartment. Everything had been cleaned out.
Well, cleaned out or cleaned up. Either way there wasn't hardly a trace that anyone had been living there at all.
Leif stepped into the apartment and looked around before turning to stare at Erik. “This doesn’t make sense.”
Erik shook his head. "Too clean.”
He turned to stare at the manager who was now making his way around the apartment, his face suggesting he was equally surprised.
"When was the last time you saw someone here?" Erik asked.
The manager shrugged his shoulders. "Couple nights ago. They were here making noise. Lots of screaming. Had about half a dozen complaints"
Erik looked around the room. He spotted thick gouges in part of the laminate floor. He narrowed his eyes and knelt down by the gouges. Far too much like something claws might have made.
"I told them no damn pets," the manager said, examining another set of gouges in the wall. “You run into your… friend, please knock him around after you collect whatever he owes you.”
“We’re not—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re not connected. There’s no such thing as the Mafia and all that.”
Erik didn’t press the point. If the man wanted to believe he was a mobster, it’d work for now.
He glanced up at Leif. The other man sighed and nodded. Maybe the last night wasn't the first time Hall had lost control. Everyone around had just assumed they were having sex, but it could very well be that Hall changed and attacked the poor woman.
Still, there was no sign of a struggle. Not that they could tell with all the furniture moved, but if Hall had killed someone, there would be blood. Even if they’d cleaned that up, there would be residue or chemicals that his sensitive nose could pick up.
"What's the name of the club that they like to go to?" Erik asked.
"The Garage," the manager said. "It’s a shit place where all the freaks go to hang out.”
It was about the best chance they had of finding anything. If they could figure out just who the woman was, then they stood a chance of finding Hall.
Erik and Leif headed toward the door as the man called out from behind to them.
"If you ain’t Mafia, then you tell him no refunds on that deposit. Keep their mutts out of my place. If you are, punch him a few times for me."
Erik grunted. If only it were that simple.