Trouble Comes in Threes Read online

  “Thanks, man.” Remi dressed quickly.

  “Would you like a cup of coffee? It’s fresh.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Kirk smirked. “Not going to offer me one?”

  “After the morning you’ve had, I guess so. But you start bouncing again, and you might get to the worksite by noon.”

  Kirk chuckled as he took the cup from Dolf.

  Dolf handed Remi a cup too, then looked at the beta. “So?”

  “No scent blocker this time to hide the scent. It’s a male feline shifter.” Remi sipped the coffee.

  “But why not block his scent this time? That makes no sense,” Kirk said.

  Dolf shrugged. “Why do murderers send letters to the cops full of hints of what they’re planning to do or who they are?”

  “Because the cops aren’t moving fast enough or the killers want their attention,” Remi said.

  “They’re whacked in the head,” Kirk answered alongside Remi.

  Dolf nodded. “Exactly. I’m thinking it’s all of the above.”

  “At least we know it’s not one of ours now,” Remi said.

  “Not one of ours.” Dolf released a breath. “Thank the goddess.”

  “What a mess that would’ve been.” Remi drank more coffee. “Of course, that now begs the question of why an outsider is attacking your mate.”

  Kirk glared at his cup. “This is nuts.”

  Remi sighed. “The whole damn thing is nuts.”

  “We can’t expect rational thought or actions from a psychopath,” Dolf said.

  Kirk set his cup down. “Guys… what if I’m secondary? What if this is aimed at Dolf for taking a human mate? He is going to be the Alpha at some point. Are there other leaders out there with human mates?”

  Dolf shook his head. “I have no idea. It’s not as if the paranormal community has a census, you know? Can you imagine that information falling in the wrong hands? But why would some shifter in another clowder care what I do?”

  Remi tapped the edge of his nail against the top of his coffee cup. “Hmmm. Maybe the attacker thinks you’re setting a bad precedent by taking a human as a mate. Like maybe you corrupted the high-and-mighty office of Alpha or something.”

  “Then the guys is nuts,” Dolf said.

  “I think that’s a given. And if he is, then we shouldn’t expect his actions to make sense. At least, not to us.” Kirk heaved a sigh. “So, now what? How do we fight this?”

  “You don’t go anywhere alone,” Dolf said.

  “I’m already not doing that. You think I didn’t catch the fact that Remi is here whenever you two can’t be?”

  Dolf bristled. “It’s for your safety, and—”

  “Whoa, Dolf. I’m not complaining. Nor am I stupid. I don’t have the necessary equipment to go up against a shifter. I don’t care to be on the end of claws again, thanks all the same.”

  “You… never cease to amaze me.” Dolf took a cleansing breath. “I assumed you’d fight me over this.”

  “Nope.” Then Kirk smirked. “But never fear, there’s always next time.”

  Remi snickered.

  Dolf picked up his cup and turned to the coffee maker for a refill. “I was going to offer you breakfast, Remi, but I might have to reconsider that.”

  All trace of laughter fell from Remi’s face. “Bad Kirk! You should know not to fight with your mate. That’s bad. Bad, bad, bad.”

  “Turncoat,” Kirk muttered. “Offer of breakfast is all it takes?”

  “Hey, it’s Dolf’s cooking.”

  “You do have a point.” Kirk took his cup to the sink. “And on that happy note, my clawed-up truck and I are heading to the construction site.”

  Dolf walked back to the counter where Kirk sat. “Why not leave it here? I’ll call around and see if I can find someone to paint it. If I do, Remi and I can run it to them.”

  “I… okay. I’ll just pay you back. Keys are by the door.” Kirk stood.

  “Dolf, you have an extra pair of shoes I can borrow for a sec? I’ll walk Kirk to the site.”

  “Hold on….” Dolf left the kitchen, then returned holding socks and tennis shoes. “Here you go. They’re mine and may be a bit big. How do scrambled eggs sound?”

  “Sounds like I need to hurry up and get back here.” Remi gently herded Kirk toward the door.

  “I’m going, I’m going.” Kirk grabbed his jacket on the way out. “Jeez, man, we really need to see about finding your mate.”

  Silence descended on the kitchen once they left. Funny how Dolf noticed the drop in the energy level as soon as Kirk had left. He buttered a few pieces of toast since he was out of biscuits. His mind continued to race as he went to crack open more eggs. He’d call around about Kirk’s truck first, then see about having cameras installed… and maybe increase the number of guards. He’d also stop by and update his dad. Maybe he’d have some ideas, because Dolf was stuck. That burned his ass, but he didn’t know what else to do. How did he fight an enemy when he had no idea who the enemy even was?

  He was still thinking about it when Remi returned.

  “Kirk’s there, safe and sound. He and Tal were talking when I left.”

  “Good.” Dolf finished Remi’s breakfast and handed him the plate. “What a mess, Remi. What a damn mess.”

  “I say talk to the Alpha. Get his ideas. Increase patrols too.”

  “I am. I’ll call whoever isn’t on duty shortly. We’ll meet at my dad’s tonight. Guess I had better call him first so he knows. Oh, I’m going to add cameras around here too.” Dolf loaded the dishwasher while Remi ate. “Go ahead and finish, then return to your duty. I’m going to make a few calls.”

  “Couldn’t that be dangerous? What if someone was caught on tape shifting?”

  “I’m not planning to tell everyone in the clowder, you know, for that very reason. Only we will know. And I’ll take them down after this is finished.”

  “Gotcha. And thanks for breakfast. I’ll leave the clothes on the barstool.”

  “Tell the guards you happen to see too, will you? I can’t call them.”

  “Sure thing, Dolf.”

  THAT EVENING, Tal and Kirk returned. Kirk was in a better mood, and things were going well on the site. They cleaned up and ate dinner. While they ate, Dolf told them he’d arranged for cameras to be installed. He also asked Kirk if the paint shop he’d found was acceptable. Lastly, he told them of the meeting tonight.

  “Someone has been busy.” Kirk wiped down the counters while they cleaned up.

  “I’ll say.” Tal loaded the dishwasher and turned it on.

  “I’m good at multitasking.” Dolf handed them their coats. “Let’s take my truck.”

  Their Alpha’s driveway was full by the time they arrived. “Well, looks like everyone’s here.”

  Tal grunted when he saw Heller’s car. “Yeah.”

  “Be nice, sweetheart.”

  “Tell him,” Tal huffed.

  “I will, if there’s a need.”

  “I’d really like to know what his problem is with me,” Kirk said as they walked to the back door.

  “Oh, for goddess’ sake, please don’t ask him,” Tal whined. “I can just see him exploding right there in the Alpha’s living room.”

  “Huh.” Kirk pretended to ponder Tal’s words. “Could be interesting.”

  Dolf slapped Kirk on the ass. “Behave, mate.”

  “Like that’s going to discourage me.” Kirk smirked.

  Monty opening the door stalled Dolf’s response. “Welcome, boys.”

  The Alpha led them to his office, a large-sized room with a huge mahogany desk and a massive black leather chair. There were two black leather couches in the office and several wingback chairs. Shelves lined the walls, books filling them. Off to the side was a table and chairs. On the table were a plate with finger sandwiches, three different bags of chips, two kinds of dip, cookies, and drinks.

  “Nice,” Kirk said, helping himself to the cookies, then sat down on o
ne of the couches.

  Aidric, Brier, Remi, and Heller were already there.

  “Let’s start the meeting. Everyone have a seat. Dolf has brought to my attention yet another attack, this time indirectly, on Kirk. Someone clawed his truck down to the metal. Remi confirmed this, and Dolf took pictures as evidence.” Monty glanced around the room. “Remi didn’t recognize the shifter’s scent. Neither did Dolf nor Tal, but we can confirm the shifter is male. We believe it’s either a rogue or someone from another clowder.”

  “I’m installing cameras on my property too,” Dolf added. “Maybe we can catch this bastard in the act.”

  “I’d like for whoever has guard duty to swing by Dolf’s place more often at night. Try to go by once every thirty minutes.”

  “And if we do catch this guy?” Brier asked.

  “Restrain him,” Monty said. “Use force if necessary, but I want him alive. If there is an immediate threat, then you have permission to use deadly force. But keep in mind, I really want to speak to him.”

  “As do I,” Dolf said.

  Brier nodded. “So far, the attacks have been aimed at Kirk. Are we assuming it’s based on him being a human mate?”

  “We can’t,” Heller quickly added. “It’s dangerous to make assumptions when we just don’t know.”

  “Heller is right.” Monty nodded at Heller. “Dolf’s next in line to be Alpha. This may be related to him. We just don’t know, so I want everyone on alert. If there is another attack, it might not be aimed at Kirk. It might be Dolf. Or Tal. So be careful.”

  “I have a question.”

  “Yes, Aidric?” Monty asked.

  Aidric turned to Kirk. “Do you have any enemies? Anyone who bears you a grudge? Since the attacks are on you, I think we need to explore this.” Aidric looked at the others. “We can’t just assume it has to do with him being a human mate. Maybe he pissed off a shifter and didn’t know it.”

  “Fair enough. Just… give me a minute to think.” Kirk sat there, not speaking. “Okay. When my shop was running, there were a few people annoyed at what I charged, even though I was cheaper than the chain shops. No complaints were filed with the Better Business Bureau. Ah, let’s see…. Two guys from my old place of employment hated me because I was gay. I got in a fight with one of them at a bar right before I left my job. But that was over a year ago. Um… that’s about it.”

  “No nasty ex?” Aidric asked.

  “Not really. We broke up a year ago last Christmas.”

  “So there is an ex. Mind if I ask why you guys ended things?”

  “The usual. I worked sixteen hours a day. He said I worked too much. In turn, he disappeared for hours, didn’t answer his cell, and just generally acted as if he had something to hide. I thought he was out fucking around on me. He said he wasn’t but refused to tell me what he was doing. We had a big blowup, and that ended that. He went his way, and I went mine.” Kirk shrugged. “It’s not uncommon, you know. People break up all the time.”

  “Maybe, but I’d still like to check him out. What’s his name?” Aidric asked.

  “Carson Womble.”

  Chapter 23

  Kirk

  WE RETURNED home that night, made love, and went to bed. Tal’s breathing deepened into sleep as I lay on my side. Dolf soon dropped off to sleep too, and still I lay there. I turned over and snuggled up to Tal… and nothing. I just was not sleepy. Finally giving up, I eased out of bed. Quietly, I dressed in boxers and my robe. The first thing I did downstairs was fix something warm to drink, then turned on the gas fireplace. I left the sink light on in the kitchen. Between that and the fireplace, a soft glow lit the room.

  I glanced out of the endless bank of windows. For once I wished there were curtains. The idea that something out there might be spying on me…. It was unnerving. Considering Dolf had upped the patrols, there probably were shifters out there looking in.

  Jesus, talk about being on display.

  Shifters had excellent eyesight, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Feeling sorry for the guys out there, I saluted the window with my glass—a silent thank-you—and then I sipped. What I wouldn’t give for a good buzz right now. Stupid enhanced metabolism. I knew what the problem was. Too much on my mind. I really needed to stop the thoughts in my head. While I appreciated Aidric wanting to explore every avenue, his questions about Carson were off base. I didn’t know who was messing with me, but it wasn’t Carson.

  One major flaw in their plan happened to be Carson was not a shifter. Somehow, Aidric and the others had overlooked that. I’d spent time with the man, long evenings alone. We’d made love often. We’d laughed, fought, made up. For God’s sake, if Carson was a shifter, I’d have known. There was no way he’d been able to hide that he wasn’t human.

  Right?

  Shit. Who was I kidding? Shifters hid what they were all the time in order to fit in. The lady checker at the grocery store, the man behind the counter at the sandwich shop, the kid working in the bookstore could all be paranormals. So could Carson. And that was what was keeping me up. Was the man I’d shared my life with not really a man? Even if that were true, why would Carson attack me? We’d split up a long time ago, and I hadn’t seen him since. So why would he suddenly start stalking me now? It didn’t make sense.

  I spent another hour downstairs, staring at the fire, thinking of all the ways my life had changed. When I started yawning, I returned upstairs. Maybe I could get a little sleep before Tal and I had to be at the worksite.

  TAL RAN his construction site like a general, and oh my God, how sexy was that? It wasn’t so much that he was bossy; he wasn’t. It was more of the confidence he showed in his knowledge. It was obvious Tal was smart and knew his business. He was a pleasure to watch work. His crew was good too.

  There were men all over the place, digging and doing a variety of important-looking things. Trucks were crowded around the site too. I had no idea what the workers were doing, but they were sure busy doing it. I tried to stay out of their way, although I thought I recognized a few from meetings and such. I’d have to ask Tal what their names were. Then I saw someone whose name I did know.

  “Well, hell. What’s Brier doing here? Surely he’s not on Tal’s work crew.”

  It didn’t take long to figure out he was doing little things—but nothing major. He was doing a whole lot of nothing. Around the shop, we called it busywork. Even though he was working, he was tracking my movements. It finally dawned on me Brier was here because I was here. He was helping since he was on site, but his main job was to watch me. I knew Remi had been guarding me, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the other betas. From the things I’d heard, they weren’t too thrilled with my presence. So, I stayed out of his way and didn’t speak to him.

  It was a beehive of activity with Tal right in the middle, directing it all. I wanted to drag him off to a private spot for half an hour… or more. Around noon, everyone broke for lunch. Tal and I went back to the house to eat. Dolf was there, along with Remi.

  “Hey, you two. Remi and I are taking your truck to that shop I told you about, Kirk. We’ll be back soon. There should be guys coming to do the security cameras. How are things going at the site?” Dolf asked.

  “Good. Busy. No rain and warm weather forecasted for the next week.” Tal walked to the refrigerator. “You want a ham and turkey sandwich, Kirk?”

  “Sounds good. Mustard and lettuce, please.” I picked up a clear pitcher. “Is this the sweet or unsweetened tea?”

  “Your sweet tea is in the blue one,” Dolf said, kissing Tal, then me. “Okay, I’m off. Remi and I will be back shortly.”

  We told him good-bye and finished lunch. Tal grabbed a plastic bag, threw some snacks inside it, and we returned to the site while Dolf finished his errands. That afternoon, I stood off to the side watching Tal and someone looking at plans. They didn’t need me, so I wandered around, trying to stay out of the way. As I meandered along, I noticed a guy off to the right of me carrying a shovel an
d walking off toward where the trucks were parked. I peeked at him, not wanting him to know I was watching him.

  There was something about him, something familiar I couldn’t put my finger on. He wore a ball cap pulled down low, brown hair curling madly under it. I couldn’t really see his face. His clothes were bulky, but from looking at his hands, I’d bet he was skinny. What was it about him that was driving me crazy? I’d bet my shop I’d seen him, and not long ago too.

  “Hey, Kirk? Could you come here?” Tal held his plans in one hand. “Just got a quick question.”

  “Sure.” Maybe I could get Tal to introduce me to everyone. I glanced back at the guy, but he had disappeared. With a shrug, I joined Tal.

  The rest of the day passed quickly. We took another break in the middle of the afternoon and ate again. They weren’t kidding about needing to eat more, I’d found. Tal stopped for the day before dusk. We returned home, Tal dustier than me. I didn’t know much about construction, but one of the guys let me help on the smaller things. As long as he was there, I didn’t worry about messing anything up.

  All in all, it was a good day. I might not have done half the work Tal’s crew did, but I had done some. Having a hand in creating my shop felt damn nice. Tal and I showered, dressed, and came downstairs. Dolf still hadn’t made it home, and Remi’s car was still here.

  “Wonder where they are?”

  “I could call him and see what the holdup is,” Tal said. “I guess having the cameras installed didn’t work out today.”

  “Looks like. We’ll give him a few more…. Ah, there we go. I see headlights coming down the drive.”

  Tal and I watched as Dolf’s truck lights flashed through the front windows. He parked in the drive. Remi and he left the truck, walking to the front door.

  I looked at Tal. “You know, I bet Dolf’s tired. I’m not a great cook, but I could—”

  A hair-raising, deranged scream cut me off. The wailing anger brought chill bumps chasing over my body. “What in the fuck was that?”

  Tal eyes glowed that bright blue, and an increasing loud growl worked its way out of him. “That was—”