He rapped on the door, catching the attention of the father." I'm sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you a few questions." He took out his ID and held it out to them." I'm Agent Atticus Steele with the DEA."
" I don't understand," the father said.
" We believe your son took a new designer drug. It has several names. Pixie Dust. Liquidlust."
" Our son would never do hard drugs."
" The word on the street is that this drug is harmless, safer to take than Ecstasy, but we've seen a growing number of deaths in young men like Paul here who frequent the rave and dance club scenes. We think this new drug is the cause."
Atticus thrashed in Hellena's hold, desperately trying to escape her power. He tried to turn his thoughts from the memory, but Hellena kept firm, pushing on to see what he was hiding now.
. . . footsteps sounded behind Atticus. He knew the length of the stride, the scent . . .
"No." Atticus groaned. "No."
. . . the father's eyes shifted to the newcomer. Without turning, Atticus indicated the man behind him . . .
"No!"
" This is my partner, Agent Hikaru Takahashi."
With a roar of anger and fear, Atticus yanked himself out of Helena's control and surged to his feet. The Pack melted backward, having seen enough to convince them, their relief obvious. Ukiah felt his brother's fear for his partner and stepped back, clearing a path to Ru.
Atticus and Ru communicated in some secret language, a look, a touch of left hands, and relief swept through Atticus. Ukiah sensed that Atticus ached to hug Ru tight, as if all his body wanted part of the reassuring contact, but his brother ruthlessly shoved the desire away to focus on the surrounding Dog Warriors. The two DEA agents put their backs to each other and faced the Dogs. Despite the rush of terror for Ru's safety, part of Atticus filled with calm; Ukiah realized that as Atticus protected Ru, his partner guarded Atticus's heart.
But was there anyone else in his brother's life? Atticus had seemed to view Kyle as an odd mix of friend and child; someone protected with affection and yet kept at a slight distance. Ukiah supposed that was the nature of children, that the act of protecting them built a shell around them, keeping them from your own dark thoughts of disappointment and despair. And in Atticus's memories, there had been no one else. What a desolation of a heart. For Ukiah, in the wilderness, there had been only the rough affection of the wolves. How much harder it had to have been for Atticus, surrounded with examples of what he lacked. From Jo finding Ukiah in the woods, onward to the Pack and Indigo, he'd been blessed with those who loved him.
"We're not going to hurt you," Ukiah said.
"I don't believe you." Atticus stood panting, one arm still out flung to shield Ru. "You set us up, you little bastard. I can't believe I was fucking worried about you."
"We only wanted to be sure you're a decent man." Ukiah didn't need to check for a vote; he sensed the lack of dissension among the Dogs. "You passed."
Atticus clenched down on a curse, but still it struck like stones against their minds. " Fuck you. Fuck you all."
" Atticus." Ukiah stepped close, attempting to merge back to one mind, to explain. " We don't care that you're DEA. You're family. We test everyone. They even tested—"
"Get out of my mind!" Atticus hit him with the force of a truck, smashing him off his feet.
Without thinking Ukiah put out a newly healed arm to catch himself as he fell. The many fragile knits shattered in an explosion of pain. As the Dogs closed back in with a snarl of anger, Ukiah fought to stay conscious. " No! Don't hurt them!"
"I said stay out of my head!" Atticus roared. "We're not family! I'm not one of you, and you don't have any right to do this fucking mind rape! You have no right to go in, mess with my head, and pass judgment on me!"
"We're brothers," Ukiah whispered.
"We're nothing but an accident with an axe. I don't know you. I don't wantto know you." Atticus caught Ru's elbow and hurried him toward the waiting Jaguar, radiating his anxiousness to get his all too human partner away from the Dog Warriors. "Stay out of my head, stay out of my life, and stay out of my investigation, or so help me God, you'll find out how little I value our family tie."
CHAPTER FIVE
Boston Harbor Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Why, Atticus wondered, did life continually try to confound him?
The sudden addition of an outlaw brother had been bad enough, but an entire species of criminals? Hypocritical ones at that—judge if he was a good man? Unlikely. What had they really been after?
The answer came while they were at a truck stop off of Route 3, where Atticus changed into dry clothes while Ru filled the Jaguar with gas. Atticus had just gotten back in the car when the Jag's phone rang.
Atticus pressed the talk button. "What is it, Kyle?"
"The Dog Warriors just raided Sumpter's room. They've taken the drop."
"Damn it! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, they didn't come down to our rooms."
Because they knew from Atticus's memories that Sumpter had the drugs.
"What about Sumpter?"
"He's pissed."
Which meant he was at least alive.
"We're on our way back."
"I tried both of your phones and you didn't answer."
His phone had been killed by the dip in the ocean. Ru's phone had gone missing sometime during the day. "We're fine. I'll explain later. We'll be there in twenty minutes."
***
The door to Sumpter's hotel room was smashed open in a manner that was entirely too familiar. The room had been thoroughly searched; all the dresser drawers were pulled out and couches overturned. The computer, Atticus noted, was gone from the desk. On the floor was the plastic evidence bag that had held the drugs; his signature was still readable on the tamper-proof tape. They found Sumpter in the bathroom, nose bloodied, checking the tightness of his teeth.
"Steele, you asshole." Sumpter grimaced at his reflection as he found a loose molar. "You were followed here after the buy."
"Yeah, something like that." Atticus scanned the room. "What did they take?"
"Everything, even my sheets and blankets."
That puzzled Atticus until he remembered that the FBI reports stated that the Dog Warriors were known to camp outdoors and Ukiah was without a sleeping bag. He felt a moment of remorse, remembering the flashes of pain as bones splintered; it had been like he did the damage to himself. Angrily, he pushed the sense of guilt aside. Yes, he hurt his brother, but look what the Dog Warriors had done after raping his mind.
"They took my copy of the surveillance DVD." Sumpter wet down a hand towel and dabbed at the blood on his face, wincing in pain. "It's only reasonable to assume that they did it to cover up their involvement in the Buffalo shooting."
Bitter as Atticus was at the Dog Warriors, that didn't seem right. The images on the DVD had been fairly clear; none of the shooters had been the Dog Warriors at the beach. Ukiah and the Dogs had been full of feral grace, something that the shooters lacked. "I think it would be wrong to jump to that conclusion."