Chapter nine
“Hale knows the people who own this place?” Lark asked, awe filling her voice as they drove through the large metal gate protecting the entrance to what could only be described as a mansion.
Stonework on either side of the gate connected to the ten-foot-tall perimeter wall that appeared to surround the entire property.
Beyond the gate, at the end of a long tree-lined driveway, stood a grand two-story home.
“And they’re willing to let us use it for free? ”
Mike took in the big picture windows, wraparound porch, and acres of property.
The way the sun was starting to set behind the house only made it that much more beautiful.
Eight thousand square feet with fifteen bedrooms, it was perfect for what they needed.
And if it gave him a place where he might reconnect with his family, so much the better.
He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Kal looking out the windows in excitement, his head moving this way and that.
“A few months ago, Hale and his fiancée, Karissa, who works as a private security specialist, saved the life of a CEO of an automotive company,” Mike said to Lark.
“The guy keeps this place to host VIPs he wants to impress. He had no problem letting Hale use it as long as he wants. Just returning the favor in his mind.”
“Wow. I feel pretty good about having a guest room at our place in Washington,” Lark said with a snort. “Must be nice to have so much money you actually have a guest mansion for when your friends and family come for a visit.”
Mike chuckled, parking in front of the house along with everyone else. Members of both their packs began to climb out of their vehicles, Violet and Jasper leading the way toward the front door. Xander followed with Khaki, Connor, Trey, Carter, and Hale.
“Do you really think we’ll be safe here?” Lark asked, looking over her shoulder at the high stone wall as they stepped out of the SUV.
“Yeah, I do. In addition to the wall that runs around the entire property, the house has a state-of-the-art security system,” Mike said, placing a gentle hand on Kal’s shoulder and nudging him toward the door.
“There are cameras, motion sensors, flood lights that move based on sensors, bullet-resistant windows, and a panic room. But the best thing this place has going for it is that Roman has no clue we’re here.
In fact, no one outside of Wayne Bowers and our two packs has any idea you and Kal are staying here.
If we’re careful, it will stay that way.
At least until we can deal with Roman and his crew of supernaturals. ”
Lark nodded as she and Kal walked ahead of him into the house. Mike breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind them, feeling better having his family out of sight. Even if there was very little chance of Roman being anywhere within twenty miles of this place.
As predicted, their combined packs had no problem finding enough bedrooms for everyone.
Kal led the way up to the second floor and down the hallway to where theirs were located, looking around in excitement like a kid at Christmas.
The fact that all the banisters and balusters were already wrapped in lights and garland for the holidays in the two-story entryway probably had a little something to do with that.
“Once everyone gets a room and puts their stuff away, we’re having a house meeting in the living room,” Xander called out from somewhere below them. “There’ll be food.”
Kal moved a little faster at the mention of food, running the rest of the way.
When he and Lark caught up, Mike saw that they had three rooms side-by-side, all located along the backside of the house.
He and Lark decided Kal would take the one between theirs, but they were nearly identical anyway, each with a balcony overlooking the pool and the gardens bordering the nearby pond.
Beyond that were a set of barn-shaped outbuildings, hidden several hundred yards deep within the trees.
Mike assumed they were for the property’s maintenance equipment, but if so, they were the nicest barns he’d ever seen.
Five minutes later, they all made their way back down to the first floor and headed toward the back of the house until they found the large living room that opened onto a huge chef’s kitchen.
There was a beautiful twelve-foot-tall, lavishly decorated Christmas tree in one corner of the living room, as well as some holiday decor on the mantel above the fireplace.
It occurred to Mike then that he was going to need to start thinking about what to give Kal for Christmas.
A smile tugged at his lips as a dozen possibilities already came to mind.
His parents were going to absolutely shower Kal with gifts when they found out their one and only grandson was alive.
Of course, he couldn’t tell them until they neutralized Roman.
Everyone else was already there and had taken seats wherever they could find them, leaving one of the leather couches free for the three of them.
Mike, Lark, and Kal grabbed some sandwiches and sides as well as drinks from the trays on the big kitchen island, then took their seats, Kal sitting between them.
“As far as the Dallas PD is concerned, we’re here from SWAT on loan to Wayne’s task force, doing our part to track down Roman,” Mike said, digging into his potato salad. “Now that everyone knows he’s back, the department has put all its focus on taking him into custody.”
“This arrangement gives us carte blanche to go after Roman, while also allowing us to keep an eye on Lark and Kal,” Xander added.
“We just have to be careful about how we balance those two missions. We can’t let ourselves get tricked into sending so many people after Roman that we leave Mike and his family unprotected. ”
“Violet and our pack will focus on protecting Lark and Kal,” Jasper said firmly. “We’ll do whatever we can to help you deal with Roman, but taking care of them has to be our first priority.”
“I agree,” Mike said.
On the other side of Kal, Lark frowned at him, worry clear on her beautiful face.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to go after Roman yourself?
Clearly, the only reason he kidnapped Kal in the first place was to get to you and that flash drive.
What’s to keep Roman from grabbing you and torturing you until you give him what he wants? ”
Between them, Kal gulped, fear flashing in his eyes as he looked at Mike. “Would Roman do that?”
Mike felt like he’d been sucker punched. He’d missed so much of his son’s life already. He didn’t want to miss anymore. And knowing he was making both Lark and Kal worry made it even worse. But he also couldn’t sit here on his hands while Roman was a threat to his family.
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Xander said, coming to Mike’s rescue. “He’s never going out without at least three of us with him. And I promise we’ll do everything in our power to make sure he comes home to both of you every time, no matter what.”
Mike didn’t know if Xander’s words would actually help—especially since he made looking for Roman even more dangerous—but after a moment, Lark seemed to relax.
“Okay,” she said, reaching out to squeeze Kal’s hand. The simple contact immediately calmed his son’s rapid heartbeat. “But you have to promise to be careful, Mike. For both of us.”
The emotion in her eyes made Mike’s own heart beat a little faster.
“I will,” he promised. “I have too much to lose to take unnecessary risks. But Roman needs to be stopped, and this time, I’m going to do it.”
“With help,” Xander said firmly, his words quickly echoed by everyone else.
As they ate, they talked about how to guard the house. Jasper, in particular, was worried about how they’d manage to lock down a place this big with their limited numbers.
“I can help with that,” Hale said. “The cameras, motion sensors, and lights are worth having another half dozen people available, but I’ll also be giving everyone small radios with ear buds. That way, we can all stay in constant communication.”
“We’ll also be available to help pull guard duty any time we’re not actively out tracking down leads on Roman,” Xander added.
“Speaking of Roman,” Violet said, sipping her iced tea. “How are you going to find him?”
Before answering, Mike quickly brought Lark’s pack up to speed on the undercover case he’d worked a decade ago in Roman’s organization.
Then he moved into current events, with the recent uptick in organized crime activity in the city, followed by the incident at the warehouse where they’d found Lawrence Stewart’s body.
“I think Roman set the entire situation up so he could confront me about his flash drive,” Mike added. “I’m not sure what could possibly be on it since none of the ones I handled when I worked undercover would have any value now.”
“It has to be something seriously important,” Carter pointed out. “Roman wouldn’t have risked coming back into the country just for a shot at rebuilding his criminal organization. Now that we know he’s here, he has to realize there’s no chance of pulling that off.”
“I agree,” Mike admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I know what Roman could be looking for.
Or why he thinks I have the flash drive.
It’s not like I kept any for old time’s sake.
It’s probably with all the other evidence we collected.
I’ll talk to Wayne about getting some people to look through the stuff and see what they can find.
Either way, we can’t pin our hopes on finding a flash drive that might not even be there.
Since we need to focus on finding Roman, I think the first thing we need to do is check in with the ME’s office to see if they have any leads, then talk to Roman’s known associates. ”
Unfortunately, Kal didn’t know where Roman’s hideout was. From what Kal had told Mike, Roman had confined him to what sounded like a storeroom of some kind the whole time, with a TV to watch and video games to play.
“Anyone in particular we should start with?” Xander asked.
Mike thought a moment. “Yeah. A guy named Rogelio Roy. I didn’t know him very well, but he was Roman’s accountant when I was undercover.
I tend to remember him wheeling and dealing his way out of any prison time.
It’s a long shot, but maybe the guy might have heard something about where Roman has set up shop here in Dallas. ”
“That’s the plan then,” Xander said.
After they’d finished dinner, everyone but Lark and Kal left, most taking up security positions around the property while the rest probably just wanted to give him some time with his newfound family.
As Mike sat there with Lark and their son, laughing at the stories Kal told him about Nugget, and school, and hanging out with his friends back in Washington State, he couldn’t help forgetting about Roman and the threat he presented. For a little while, at least.
Kal was in the middle of telling him about teaching Nugget a new trick when his son let out a big yawn. Mike wasn’t surprised Kal was exhausted. He’d probably been going on adrenaline the whole day.
“Ready for bed, big guy?” Mike asked. “It’s getting late.”
“Really? I’m not even sleepy,” Kal protested even as he yawned again. “Can’t I stay up a little longer?”
“Your father is right,” Lark said with a smile. “It’s time to head up to bed. You’ve had a really long day. You can spend more time with your dad tomorrow.”
Kal looked like he wanted to argue, but reluctantly hopped off the couch with a mumbled, “Okay.”
Mike was glad Lark had backed him up, because he’d had no idea what he would have said if their son had put up a fuss. He hadn’t perfected that part of parenting yet.
“I’m going to give Gage a call,” Mike said. “I’ll come up to say good night in a little while.”
Lark nodded, going upstairs with Kal.
Bringing Gage up to date on their plan to find Roman didn’t take more than a few minutes, and Kal was in the bathroom, getting cleaned up and brushing his teeth, when Mike bumped into Lark in the upstairs hallway.
They ended up doing that weird thing when they each kept stepping left, then right, in their attempt to get around each other.
The dance ended with both of them laughing, then leaning back against opposite walls to smile at each other.
It had been such a long time since they’d had fun together that even something so simple felt good.
“I appreciate everything you did to help get Kal back safely,” Lark said, taking a step closer and gazing up at him warmly. “Without you, I don’t want to think about what could have happened.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Mike assured her, subconsciously moving a little closer himself. “He’s my son, too. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. Or you.”
Silence fell between them, and in that moment, Mike heard Lark’s heart beat faster as she gazed up at him. The urge to completely close the distance between them and kiss her was strong.
But before he could, Kal charged out of his room to throw his arms around Mike and hug him tight.
“Thanks for coming to rescue me today, Dad,” Kal said, turning his head to smile up at him. “And for letting us be a family again.”
Mike’s heart was the one that beat faster this time. The warm sensation that crept into his chest at hearing his son call him Dad was like nothing he’d ever experienced. But he liked it.
Lips curving into a smile, Lark came over to wrap her arms around both of them. And Mike couldn’t help but wish this moment would last forever.