Chapter 2 #3
bags packed because he was sure they wouldn’t stay
tonight.
Had his mate found the time to take her
bath? Duroc suspected she had when she just smiled. They dropped
their bags at the truck then drove to the only other place to eat
in town. This was where the only breakfast could be found. The two
of them ate a big meal even little Bindi seemed to be
starved.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
Duroc asked.
“I did. I’m ready to get on
it now.” She smiled at him and his heartbeat faster. They paid and
got out of there.
The next two jobs were just average and
no trouble at all. After that the jobs were harder with extras
requested or needed for their setups. He was afraid they would run
out of needed special requirements at the rate they were using
them, but they made it through the list and headed home. Even
though it wasn’t really home, and he was leaving for good soon, it
was good they would be there tonight.
While that made no sense, he thought
Bindi felt the same way. When they got there, Rita hurried to them
and hugged them both. “Hey! What is this greeting for?”
“Your last job position was
attacked and when the police couldn’t find you, we worried that the
worst had happened. Neither of you were answering your radios but
we could track you, so we waited to take action since you were
getting closer to us.”
“Damn! I’m so sorry. The
last client didn’t want radios on around her father’s pacemaker. I
forgot we turned them off.” Duroc admitted.
“Okay, you guys go on.
We’ll see you in the morning.”
They went their separate ways and he
hated it. Someday, he promised to himself, he would stake his claim
and they would go home together. Right now, it might be a sweet
dream, but someday it would be his reality.
The next week everything went well
enough and somehow Bindi had been with him. Had she complained, he
knew Rita would have moved her. They’d become the best of friends
and he’d managed to hide those qualities that had pissed her off so
much before. As a team, they moved through their jobs at top speed
and Rita was pleased.
“I should have dumped Tammy
long ago. They say she’s still hanging around here somewhere. Maybe
she’ll stay away from all of us.”
“Can you imagine us having
that kind of good luck now?” Duroc asked.
“Not really, but I don’t
know where she could be staying.”
“I see your point. Maybe
she’s staying with a local guy?”
“Okay. I see where you are
going. No house, no money, but she could have a
boyfriend.”
“Exactly. She may stay
forever. If she has a man, she may settle down.”
“Do I sound mean when I say
I wish she had left and stayed away from here?” Rita
wondered.
“Not if they knew
her.”
“Thank you. Here’s your
list.”
Duroc and Bindi made their way out of
the office and headed to the first job. This job was two hours out,
but the other jobs today led back to home. There would be no reason
to stay anywhere but home. Things had quieted somewhat with just an
incident every two or more weeks. This week was fine, and they
received word those new specialists would be arriving and several
of the older ones would be leaving.
He knew Bindi and he would be two of
those but two more were going. Who they were he had no idea and
since he was leaving, it didn’t matter to him. Going to HQ might
improve or hurt his odds with Bindi but she’d chosen to go. What
choice did he really have? No one and nothing would keep him away
from his future mate.
Usually, they all worked over the
weekend unless they needed off. If he was poor, this would have
given him the money for a down payment on a car or even a house. He
wondered why Bindi had worked more and more overtime. She must have
had a goal and it was hard not to wonder what that was. Duroc had
asked her some questions, but she’d told him little. That made him
think there were things in her past she had no desire to
share.
This weekend, it was different. Only
those on call might have to orkwork because they had a week before
those leaving would go and it would be every hand on deck for that
week in order to catch up, Once they were caught up, until Tyne ran
an ad, there probably wouldn’t be an issue. When he added new
services, that would create an issue too, but new people would
arrive again.
He was glad Tyne’s business was
thriving but just as happy he was leaving here. Alaska had problems
other places might not. Duroc would bet they’d tried to affect the
business in other areas, but it was too well established, and it
was harder to find areas isolated like many places here. As far as
Wilde went, their record wasn’t good, and any businessman would
retreat and try something different.
Maybe they were backed by people with
unlimited funds. If this was true, they had lost incredible amounts
of cash in this endeavor. They’d managed to recruit large numbers
but lost high numbers on each attack. In this area their group was
known as nuts to the average citizen. Even a crazy group would back
off for now to regroup, but this one had only slowed
down.
This made him wonder if they were
attacking other areas as well. That made sense. Maybe they were
testing the people there and hitting the weakest areas the hardest?
Tyne was big on secrecy, but Duroc thought it caused a
weakness.
“What’s on your mind?” Rita
asked.
The party was in full swing, and Bindi
and Mollie seemed to be bonding. It should have happened months
ago, not just as Bindi was about to leave. A guy was approaching
them, and he just knew he was going after his mate.
“You need to chill out.
That guy is mated. He and his mate are cats. She’s a fourth and
uncomfortable being around the other cats. His lady was treated
badly by her grandpa, and they didn’t want her to go around other
cats. He considered her a lingering reminder of an old
indiscretion.”
“How long have you known?”
Duroc asked.
“A few months, Tyne is hard
to get close to. I didn’t believe it right away. But Trail was
still here, and he showed me. It scared me at first, but I
understand they’re like humans. Some are good, a few are bad, but
most are in the middle.”
“How long have you
known?”
He grinned. “Since I was
born.”
“I can’t tell. Tyne said
supes could tell by smell, but human senses aren’t strong
enough.”
“In my life I’ve met a
handful that can. Usually, they have some form of supe in their
family tree.”
“Do you hope Bindi will
change?” Rita asked.
“It’s unlikely. That
doesn’t matter. She’s my one and no one else will do.”
“Others have said there
kind has fated mates and if you find yours, there’s no point in
trying to fight it.”
“Fighting it never works
out.” Duroc admitted.