Chapter 9 #2
“Eat it. Please. I filled up on the fish and Megan will only eat peanut butter and jelly.” Then she glanced over at the man. “Hank’s got the only phone that gets reception out here, but we’ll have to wait until he’s done.”
Alan wondered how long that might be, but couldn’t frame any question around a mouthful of whole wheat bagel.
Food. Yes. That was the extent of his verbal ability, so he settled on nodding his thanks.
And then, finally, the boy went silent. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone, apparently, but the man who continued to squat calmly in front of the boy, still murmuring his same words.
And then he held open his arms. Nothing more than that while the child took a gasping breath.
Alan watched Gretchen tense and he was right there with her, absorbed in the drama.
Would the child start screaming again? Or was it finally over?
A moment later, the child crawled toward Hank, who leaned down, scooped him up, and held him. Just held him, still murmuring that he understood the boy’s anger. And then he said quite gently, “I love you, little man. We all love you.”
The boy burrowed into Hank’s neck, smearing tears and whatnot into the loose tee.
Then Gretchen stepped close and the man reached out an arm and snagged her, too, drawing her in close.
She wrapped herself around him and the boy while Alan and Megan looked on.
Megan had draped herself in a large blue towel and stood pouting as she stared at the group.
Hank noticed her, though, and he winked.
“There’s room on my other side. You’re part of us, too, you know.”
And just like that, the towel was dropped and she dashed straight to his open side.
Then there was all four of them in a group hug that teetered in fun.
Chuckles began soon after that, then giggles and outright laughs.
Soon the boy was squirming to get down and the whole clutch fell apart while Alan watched in a choking envy.
The love that suffused those four made him ache with a want so tight that he couldn’t breathe.
Meanwhile, the boy found a toy truck near Hank’s feet and began to play. Gretchen shooed Megan off to get dressed, and life resumed in its usual pace. Amazing. And Alan wasn’t the only one who thought so. Gretchen squeezed Hank’s arm while she smiled at the boy.
“I don’t know how you do that,” she said.
“He just wants to be heard,” Hank said. “That’s all any of us want.
To know that someone hears our pain.” And with that, his gaze landed on Alan.
There wasn’t any other message in those words.
The man was just looking over in wary curiosity at the stranger, but Alan felt the message all the way down to his core.
Was that really what everyone wanted? Half of him agreed, the other half rebelled in angry tantrum.
And all of him just sat in confusion as emotions collided inside him.
Envy, fury, loneliness, and pain were just a few that banged through his consciousness.
There was also hope and quiet, too. And he couldn’t process anything except for one thing.
“Can I borrow your phone?” he rasped. He had to call Tonya.
Gretchen nodded and turned to Hank. “He was mugged and just left to die in the woods. We need to call the cops—”
“Tonya is a cop,” Alan said.
Hank nodded and pulled out his cell phone, thumbing it on as he went.
But as he crossed closer to Alan, his nostrils flared and his brows lowered.
Shifter senses. Had to be. And Alan did everything he could to tamp down his wrongness.
And when Hank slowed his approach, Alan raised his hands in an open gesture.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Hank nodded, his gaze taking in every inch of him. “Your feet are pretty cut up. Do they hurt?”
Alan shrugged. “Everything hurts,” he said.
Then he straightened enough to take the phone, though he kept his motions slow and careful.
No sense spooking the huge shifter. He wished his senses were refined enough to know what species the guy was, but though Alan had increased sensitivity, he had no experience with this man’s scent. And then, finally, he had a cell phone.
Two seconds later, he was listening to it ring.
“Kappes.”
Every part of him sagged in relief. She was alive. She sounded strong and alert.
“Tonya. It’s me.” He swallowed, stunned at how winded he felt just from hearing her voice. “Are you okay?”
“Alan!” She sounded as relieved as he felt. “Where are you?”
He shook his head and looked around. “I have no idea. Some lake. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Alan, find out where you are. We’ll come get you.”
He frowned as he looked around for a marker. Fortunately, Hank understood his question. “Rand Lake. West side.” He rattled off more details of their exact location but Alan’s attention had zeroed in on a single word: we. Tonya had said We’ll come get you.
“Who are you with?” he asked.
“Mark. But it doesn’t matter. Where are you? Are you feeling all right? Let us help you.”
Alan closed his eyes, letting rage wash through him. Irrational feelings were becoming commonplace to him now. Rage that she would be with another man. He even knew that Mark had found someone else, and yet fury boiled through him.
“Why is he there?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice even. But even as the words left his mouth, he knew the answer. Mark was their tech expert and Alan had abandoned his laptop at the hotel. “You’ve hacked my computer. Tonya, I’m not the bad guy.”
“Of course you’re not!” she said, her words rushed. “But, Alan, it’s not your job to track Elisabeth. Leave that to the police.”
She said more, but he didn’t hear it over the roar in his blood.
She’d hacked his computer and seen his emails.
What he was doing wasn’t a secret, but the violation of his privacy was like kicking him in seeping wounds.
Elisabeth had already assaulted him in so many ways.
To feel this from Tonya and Mark was like getting thrust back into that cage.
Every part of him had been stripped away then.
And he still had no rights now. Not even from those who pretended to care the most for him.
He didn’t speak again. He just thumbed off the phone, then rapidly opened a browser. He had to get to his emails. He had to know what they knew.
He saw it immediately. A single short email from Johnny. It was an address in Pinckney, Michigan, and the words, There are kids there.
His jaw clenched, and he felt his arms prickle as fur began to sprout. To the side, Hank jolted. Alan barely noticed.
Kids. Elisabeth had kids with her.
Bad enough what she’d done to him, but now she had kids to work on. Children to twist or destroy according to her whim.
He wasn’t going to let that happen. Not while there was breath in his body. And at this point, he didn’t care who he destroyed along the way, so long as at the end, the bitch was dead.