Max peered at her.
“Long story. Let’s just say there was a really long weekend in a motel with a bunch of us when things were really bad at home.” She shrugged to dismiss it, the topic marked as off-limits.
Max slipped his hand over hers.
“So there’s what—thirteen of them? That’s like three or four rooms. Let’s say three rooms every night. Even at a dive motel’s rates, that adds up. Fast.”
“We know they are not averse to theft,” I pointed out.
“Right. The vending machines, the candy bars at the Grabbit Mart that Jessie saw Gabe take … petty stuff.”
“The owner of Skipper’s wound up dead,” I said solemnly. “That was a theft.”
Amy’s lips pursed. “I didn’t know that.”
I nodded.
“Okay, Skipper’s is by the Blockbuster, right? What do you think he took in a day? Several hundred—maybe a thousand dollars? I mean, it is after Christmas, so people have Christmas cash to burn—”
“Or Christmas bills to catch up on,” I reminded her. “Let us be generous. Say he took in two grand a day.”
“Fine. Two thousand dollars. Three hotel rooms a night…” Her eyes rolled up in thought, her lips turning down. “I don’t think you can even make it a month in a dive motel for that.… And they’ve been wearing much nicer clothing.…”
“You are really paying quite a lot of attention to them, are you not?” I asked.
“You sound impressed.”
“I never expected you to be so involved.”
“I have my reasons to be invested,” she assured me, her gaze falling on Max.
He smiled.
“So I think they’re being sponsored by someone with resources. Someone with deep pockets.”
Pietr’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
Amy twitched. “There’s only one person who comes to mind. Are you sure Dmitri left Junction?”
The temperature dropped at the mention of his name. The idea that “Uncle” Dmitri was lurking around and had made connections with the new pack after Pietr did his best—sacrificed the wolf within himself—to be rid of him …
We did not answer her. The chance she was right was too frustrating to put even in monosyllabic words.
Max rolled down his window, sticking his face into the biting cold. The breeze tore at his eyes and turned his cheeks pink. “Maybe I’ll pick up her scent when we get closer,” he finally said, closing the window and slumping down, his eyes on the landscape rushing by.
“What will we do when we find her?” Pietr asked me.
I gave him a sidelong glance. “Whatever is necessary,” I said with a coolness my racing heart betrayed.
“Hurt Marlaena? Kill her?” Pietr asked, peering out the window.
“Whatever is necessary.”
He nodded and mimicked Max, slouching down in misery. “And if there is no scent to find—if they’ve covered their tracks so well there is no trail to discover? If Jess is gone—forever?”
I pulled the truck over so fast we skidded, everyone jerking against their seat belts. “There is something you are not telling me.” I studied his impassive face. “Why would anyone kill Jessie? What else is going on here, Pietr? Kidnapping Jessie I understand to an extent. It seems nearly standard operating procedure in Junction. Things run smoothly, everyone feels comfortable and plans for a better future, and then it is time for someone to endanger a nearly average girl who lives on a wonderfully unremarkable horse farm. I think it is time to consider getting Jessie her own personal bubble,” I concluded.
Pietr looked at me in the completely dramatic-hero fashion he had cultivated and—I peered closer at him to confirm my suspicion—da, he had perfected since meeting Jessie.
“It is completely logical they would take Jessie. It makes us come against Marlaena and engage a foreign war strategy. But killing her … Why would Marlaena want Jessie dead? How does she benefit?”
He shook his head, the mop of his hair falling into his eyes. “I have a feeling,” he muttered. “There is something more here—something deeper … like someone wants to get at me by hurting Jess.…”
“Dmitri is far from your biggest fan,” Amy said.
Both Pietr and Max looked at her and then away again. None of us wanted to believe Dmitri had returned, regardless of how likely it seemed.
CHAPTER TWO
Marlaena
“Gabriel, you are truly something,” Dmitri said with a smile. “Taking the Gillmansen girl to lure Pietr to us…”
I didn’t like how the smile twisted on his face. Yes, having Jessica Gillmansen as my prisoner gave me a bit of a high, but knowing Dmitri agreed with it made me question every bit of that amazing sensation.
Gareth slipped out of his room and onto the breezeway to stand beside me.
Our conversation ended.
Gabriel looked down into the parking lot; my gaze followed his, focusing on an old muscle car in the third row. In my peripheral vision someone hurried into the space beneath the extensive balcony and out of sight.
Huh.
Gareth’s hand was on my arm, and I spun to face him. “Good to know my presence is so influential. Gareth, destroyer of conversation.”
I smiled, even though he wouldn’t approve of what we had been discussing. I needed to keep him in the dark a little longer.
He was so kind and compassionate, so willing to be the cowboy in the white hat, or the knight, coming to everyone’s rescue. He was the best of us. And I was going to keep dragging him down into the gutter with us. Just like Kyanne said. I pulled them out of one gutter to get them shot in another.
Some alpha I was.
I’d use the gift Gabe had given me, persuade Pietr to—what was I trying to persuade him to do? Let us stay in Junction? He didn’t care if we didn’t make any trouble … or have any fun.… What did I really want from Pietr? My palms pressed against the banister so hard the metal bit into me.
Did I want his pack to join ours? Yes. Why? It’d be an upheaval if he or Max tried for the alpha spot and … I cast a sideways glance at Gabriel.… I had plenty of trouble already.
Jordyn and Londyn opened the door to their room. “Uncle Dmitri!” they cried, hopping up and down like two schoolgirls.
I sighed. Because that’s exactly what they were—two schoolgirls.