“He’s going to be a man in a few days. He’s a man now.” I sloshed the drink around. “He’s got to make adult decisions and this is the first one.”
“And if Evan says no and decides to run? Are you going to stop him?”
“I don’t know if I can.” I took another sip. “He’s an adult, not some little kid I can tuck under my arm and run with. I’m hoping he’ll be honorable enough to realize he has to deal with this now. There’s no putting it off any longer thanks to McCallister grabbing Angie.”
“Tell me the truth. Will they kill her?” The sharpness in his voice cut deep. “If you don’t get Evan to go home and we don’t or can’t drag his ass back—will they kill her?”
“No.” I paused. “I think not.”
I couldn’t lie. Not to him, not even on this subject.
He shifted on the couch. “What do you mean, ‘think not’? I thought it was illegal for a Felis to kill a human. We’ve seen that before.”
I swallowed. This wasn’t going to be pretty. “It’s not illegal but severely frowned on. You remember Shaw.”
The anger in his eyes ebbed a bit as he recalled Jess killing his half-brother’s kidnapper.
“She had to answer to the Grand Council for that. It’s not taken lightly. But it does happen.” I didn’t bring up our visit to Penscotta and the hard fact that the Pride down there had considered hiding Mike Hancock’s death if I’d discovered he was poking his nose in family business.
If Angie died the family would close ranks and she’d disappear, another statistic in the thick file of missing people.
I knew Bran knew this.
I knew he didn’t want to think about it.
“Look, I get that she means a lot to you.” I got up from behind my desk and walked toward him. “But I’m not going to lie to you and say it’s all going to be okay. I can’t guarantee that. We’re dealing with a mother who wants her son back and is willing to break all the rules to get him. I don’t know how to handle that.”
“I get that, I really do. I don’t know why I’m not calling the cops right now and calling in the damned SWAT team to get her back.” He rubbed his face with his hands, turning away from me. “I just don’t know what to do. Or what not to do.”
I pressed my hand on his back, his body heat searing my skin. “I’m sorry. All I can tell you is that I’ll do my best to save her.”
“That’s supposed to be my job,” he murmured through his fingers. “I’m supposed to be saving her. I fucked it up before—I’m supposed to be saving her.”
I didn’t know what to say.
I looked around the living room, imagining Nathan McCallister sitting not far from where Bran was, Eddie opposite him. The two enforcers invading our homes, our lives.
The options were narrowing and I wasn’t sure if my idealism, my belief in true love was going to carry us out of the storm this time.
Jazz curled around Bran’s leg, her short stuttering strides winding her between his feet. He looked down and chuckled.
“Silly cat. Got more common sense than all of us I expect.”
“At least she doesn’t spill salsa on the bedspread.”
“True. She barfs up hairballs instead.” He stroked the white cat’s back before looking up at me, the pain on his face ripping my heart open. “I can’t lose her, Rebecca. I can’t lose her again.”
The words caught in my throat, keeping me from answering for a minute. “I won’t let you.” I reached out for him. “Let’s go bring her back.”
We went down to King Street to grab a cab. I wasn’t sure if anyone was still following us, electronically or otherwise, but it never hurt to be careful.
We switched cabs twice until I felt comfortable with the third, instructing the cab driver to drop us off a few blocks from the camp.
It took me two passes to find the right opening in the fence, the bent and cut wire ready to catch and rip flesh if we entered the wrong way.
“Whew.” Bran wrinkled his nose as he maneuvered his way in. “What a dump.”
I sidestepped a mysterious puddle of liquid, trying not to inhale. “Tell me about it.” I didn’t want to insult Red by mentioning it before but the variety of smells coming from his fellow residents ran from nice and fresh soapy to rank and disgusting. Between the body odors and items in different stages of decay my stomach was doing flip-flops as we made our way toward Red’s camp.
I wasn’t sure how Red managed.
I’d be curious as to how the kids did.
No one gave us a second look, either due to having seen me before and assessing me as mostly harmless or not wanting to get in our way.
Lisa was the first to see me, leaping up from the piece of wood she’d been using as a seat by the small campfire. She rubbed her arms despite it being a warm evening.
“You’re back. What’s happening? Can we leave now?” The words tumbled out one after the other.
I didn’t need to be Felis to know she was scared. Whatever love she had for Evan had been sorely tested over the past twenty-four hours. But she’d held on despite the changing and dangerous circumstances.
This had to be more than an infatuation.
Red appeared out from under the makeshift tarp tent. “Suz!” He tossed something back inside the tent and charged at me, letting out a rolling gurgle.
He grabbed me and swung me around like a sack of potatoes. On one of the passes I spotted Bran, caught between scowling and staring.
Finally my feet hit the ground again and I extracted myself with a laugh. “Thanks for the hearty welcome but I haven’t been away that long.”
Red shrugged. “Pretty girl like you should get hugged every chance you get.” He looked at Bran, squinting as he sized him up. “You her mate, then?”
Bran looked at him.
“Good.” Red poked Bran in the arm, hard. “She deserves a strong man. Strong woman needs a strong man to stay balanced. Like daily fiber.” He nodded toward Lisa. “Like that one. She’s got herself a keeper as well.”
Lisa didn’t say anything but her cheeks went pink.
“Where’s Evan?” I asked.
“He’s over there putting a new wooden skeleton together for Ed. His tent fell down last storm and he hasn’t gotten the knack yet of making somethin’ that stays up.” He motioned with me to follow him. “Young man’s good with tools. That’ll stand him for a lifetime if he stays in practice.”
“‘Suz’?” Bran whispered as we followed, Lisa in tow.
“It’s a long story. Roll with it.”
We made our way under a stack of rotting wooden crates into a larger part of the camp where Evan stood with an older man, wrestling with some misshapen boards. He swung the hammer and bashed in the nails one by one.
“He’s got a knack for building,” Red said. He lifted a hand. “Ed—gotta take your handyman away for a bit.”
The white-haired man with a noticeable hump on his right shoulder patted Evan on the arm. “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”
“Okay.” Evan handed the hammer over. “Just be careful. Don’t put the nail in too close to the edge of the wood or it’ll split.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “What’s happening?”
“We need to talk.” I turned to Red. “Family business. You too.”
Red said nothing and led us back to his camp.
Lisa went to her previous spot by the wooden stood and shuffled her feet back and forth over the well-trodden ground. “Are we going home?”
From the tone in her voice it was obvious she wasn’t thrilled with the street life. I hadn’t meant to make her miserable but I wanted her to realize there was more to living free than snuggling in trees at night.