Sharkbait Down Under

Alpha Leo’s POV

I was getting tired of airplanes.

After the LONG flight from Australia to Los Angeles, I sent Joseph and Nicholas on to Cancun to be closer to their missing mates. While waiting for my flight to Jamaica, I called up with my mate from a small office in the first-class lounge. None of the news was good; the girls were gone, and we didn’t know where they were or who took them. We couldn’t talk openly, but I understood that our earlier information on Lawrence Fenwick might not be right. The kidnappers might be working with Lawrence, or they were setting him up to take the fall.

Either way, I’d be there in six hours to look my friend in the eye and find out.

I called Tom and Janelle Cartwright before I boarded my flight. The couple worked for Volkov Construction, Tom as a finish carpenter and Janelle as a kitchen and bath designer. In the Pack, he was a warrior, while she was our best tracker. Adrienne had diverted them to Jamaica as soon as Lawrence’s name had come up. As a young couple, they fit right in with the other tourists, and Janelle meant they could stay far away and not lose them. “How are our friends doing?”

Tom laughed. “I think he should hire a jet to fly home; it would be cheaper than paying all the extra luggage fees going commercial. He’s finding cafes and bars near wherever his wife is shopping and reading a book while he waits. I swear that Lawrence is more pack mule than predator now.”

“No indication he’s made you?”

“None. We’ve been careful to stay downwind and cover our scent. I’m in a car two blocks away right now.”

“No change to your orders. I’ll be there in six hours, and one of you can pick me up at the airport.” I gave him my flight information, then hung up.

I slept through most of my flight, waking when the plane landed. I felt a Pack member pushing into my mind. “Alpha? Did you see your phone messages?”

It was Janelle; she must be the one waiting for me. “No, I just woke up. What’s going on?” I powered up my phone while I waited for an answer.

“Mr. Fenwick is dead,” she answered.

“WHAT? How?”

“Lawrence was sitting at an outdoor table, drinking coffee at a café, when a car drove by and unloaded on him with an automatic weapon. He hit multiple times, one of them in the head. He never had a chance.” I could tell by her send that she was shaken up by it. “There was nothing we could do, boss. We were too far away, and then the people panicked, and Tom couldn’t get there with the car.”

Shit. “Any leads on who was responsible?”

“Nothing certain. The shooter had training; this wasn’t some gangster spraying and praying. The killer kept the rounds on target. He also deployed a tear gas grenade that cleared the area and prevented us from getting a scent or following the car. Jamaican police found it a few miles away, burning on the side of the road.”

I thought about it as I walked off the plane and down the jetway towards Immigration. “What about his mate? Is she all right?”

“Tom followed her to the police station; she is still there. My mate is thinking about breaking into their hotel room while she is busy with the detectives. He could see if there is any evidence of a plot before the police think of searching it.”

“No, don’t do that; she will know if another wolf has been in their room. Tell Tom to keep an eye on her, and I’ll handle it another way.” We talked about what they had seen of Lawrence while I waited in line at Customs. He behaved like a retired man on vacation with his wife. “We saw no suspicious behavior from either of them,” Janelle said.

“That doesn’t mean that Lawrence is innocent in all this, Janelle. You weren’t watching him the day the girls disappeared. It’s easy enough to fly from here to Cancun and back in a day, especially with your mate covering for you.”

“Do you believe it, Boss? I’ve met him, and I don’t.”

I let out a breath as I handed my passport over to the agent. “I pray to Luna he’s innocent. Lawrence was my friend, and I don’t want to find out that he betrayed us all.”

A few minutes later, I was in the passenger seat of the rental car as Janelle drove us to the hotel. I checked in and hung my clothes up in my room when I got a send from Tom that they were on the way. I’d been thinking about the best way to proceed, and after running it past Adrienne, I made the call. “Stan, it’s Leo Volkov. I just heard about what happened with Lawrence; I’m as shocked as you must be.”

The Alpha of the White Mountain Pack sounded like he’d had a rough day. “It makes no sense at all, Leo. Lawrence was a retired lawyer; who would want him dead?”

“I don’t know, Stan. So much is happening these days.”

“Oh, shit! Leo, I’m sorry. You must be going nuts with your niece and her friends getting kidnapped.”

No shit. “That’s part of why I called you, Stan. Adrienne asked me to talk to Lawrence in person; you know he met with Vicki a few days ago, at the request of the Council.”

“Yes, the Chairman wanted some documents delivered and asked me if I thought Lawrence would mind a free vacation. Naturally, I agreed, since he’s known Sharkbait for a long time.” There was a pause. “You don’t think…”

“I don’t know what to think, but I have to follow up. I just landed in Jamaica, and I’d like your permission to talk to Mary. I can help her settle affairs here and get her on a plane for back home.”

“I would appreciate that. It isn’t good for the newly widowed to be alone.” All Alphas knew how unstable a wolf could get after losing its mate; suicides often followed, and no one could afford a feral wolf roaming around Jamaica.

“I’ll bring Mary home,” I promised. “I can’t do anything except wait for news out of Cancun, and Adrienne is handling that. I owe it to Lawrence to keep his mate safe after all he did for me.” We talked for a few more minutes before I hung up when Tom said they were pulling in.

I was waiting when Mary walked in, escorted by a police officer. “LEO,” she said as she saw me. She fell to her knees, and I rushed to her side and pulled her head to my chest as she broke down crying.

“I’ve got this,” I told the policeman, who was now joined by two detectives and more uniforms.

“We have a warrant to search her room,” the lead detective said as I helped Mary to her feet.

“I can’t go up there,” Mary cried into my chest.

“I’ll take care of everything, Mary. Give me your room key.” I called Janelle over and asked her to take Mary to my room and stay with her.

I went with the police to their room. “Lawrence and Mary are old friends, and I flew in to meet with them today,” I said in response to their questions. “I want to see his killer caught, but I also have to make sure Mary gets the support she needs until she can get Lawrence home.”

The search didn’t take very long, and the detectives took photographs of the papers in Lawrence’s messenger bag instead of confiscating them. When they were gone, I switched places with Janelle. Mary couldn’t bear to look at Lawrence’s things or smell his scent, so I asked Janelle to pack their bags. I agreed to swap rooms, and Janelle stayed with her while she slept in my room.

It took two days to clear the paperwork to get his body released to us after the autopsy. Authorities had no leads on the killers. The baggage handlers loaded Lawrence’s body into the aircraft as Mary broke down again. I sat with her in our first-class seats on the flight to Boston.

I’d gotten no answers from Lawrence, but I did get copies of what he left with Vicki that day. Even his death answered nothing; the kidnappers could be ridding themselves of a loose end, or killing him would make the false narrative more convincing. My next move was to confront Chairman Carver, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

If I had to burn down the werewolf world to get my Sharkbait back, I was ready to light the match.