took hardly any time at all.
Bay’s voice in her mind brought her back. His concern. His love. His need for her. Sighing, Manda turned away from the body lying in a pool of warm blood at the base of the cliff. Feeling somewhat dazed, she shifted once more and headed back to the house at a slow trot.
She needed a shower, badly. Needed to wash away the stench of death, the ugly feeling in her soul. She’d long dreamed of vengeance. Wanted the visceral satisfaction of seeing her tormentors dead.
Unfortunately, she’d never realized how empty it would make her feel. How sad. She had the crazy thought that she was thankful wolves couldn’t cry.
Baylor met her at the back door. He’d slipped on a clean pair of faded blue jeans. His feet were bare, his chest covered only in the thick mat of dark hair. Manda shifted and flowed into his embrace. She burst into tears, sobbing, unable to catch her breath or form any coherent thought.
Blood covered the kitchen floor. There was more on the back deck, spatters on the walls, but the bodies were nowhere to be seen. Bay walked Manda through the house to the front deck where everything seemed perfectly all right. Where the only things she could smell were the rich, clean scents of forest and fresh air.
Bay sat on the old porch swing and pulled Manda into his lap, holding her, soothing her. Long minutes later, she managed to catch both her breath and her composure.
“He’s dead, Bay. I killed him.”
“I know. I sensed his death through you. I know it wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the right one.” He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers. “There’s something you need to know.”
Manda raised her head. “What’s wrong?”
Baylor sighed, as if he’d rather not say anything. He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her very gently on the mouth. “Anton called a few minutes before you got back. Someone tried to kidnap Xandi and Keisha’s babies last night. The intruders are dead and the babies are perfectly safe, but it was a close call. This morning, five men went after the women from the San Francisco pack while they were in Golden Gate Park. They wounded Tinker in the attack but everyone else is okay. Unfortunately, so are the bad guys. They all escaped.”
Manda pushed herself away so she could focus on Bay’s eyes. “What else?”
He gazed out across the meadow in front of the house. “The ones up in Montana? The guys that went after the babies and their mothers? They’re all from the South Bay. They worked for a bio-engineering lab. Not the same name as the one where you were held, but the way these places change names and ownership…”
“They know about us. They know about the Chanku.” Manda covered her mouth with her fingertips.
“It appears that way. I checked the IDs from the two I killed here. Nothing to tell you where they worked, but one was from Belmont, the other from Oakland, both cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s too great a coincidence, especially since you ID’d two of the three.”
“Have you told Anton?” Manda felt a chill run up her spine when he nodded, and along with that, a huge dose of guilt. They were all in danger because of her.
“When Jake and Shannon get back, we need to find the men’s car. I’ve stashed the bodies of the two guys I killed here, but I want to run the car into one of the old quarry ponds. They won’t be found in our lifetime. We need to see if there’s any evidence in their car, any hint of why they’re after us.”
Manda nodded. She looked absolutely numb. “Bay, we need to do something about Allen’s body. I just left him there in the woods.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll go in the car with the others. We’ve got time. We’ll take care of things once Jake and Shannon are here. I don’t want to leave you alone. Are you okay?” He touched her chin with his fingertips and turned her to face him.
She loved him so much. He’d sacrificed for her. Killed for her. She’d never before realized how difficult that was…killing. But in so doing, Bay had saved her from the worst kind of hell. She felt like such a failure. Manda bowed her head, unwilling to make eye contact. “I didn’t think it would feel this bad.”
“What, sweetheart?” Bay wrapped his fingers lightly around her upper arms and softly rubbed her skin.
“Killing. I feel terrible for killing Allen. Even though he…”
“I’m glad. Killing should make you feel horrible.”
“What?” His grasp on her arms tightened. She raised her head and frowned. “I don’t understand.”
He slid his hands down her arms and wrapped his long fingers around hers. “I don’t kill easily. When I worked for the government, that was pretty much my job, but it’s not something I ever did lightly. There are times…to save my life, to save the life of someone I love or have sworn to protect, that I’ve had to.” His voice dropped even lower. He shook his head slowly, but he smiled at her. “Never for pleasure. Not for sport. Wolves kill to eat or to protect the pack. If you had not killed him, he would have found a way to capture you. You had no choice, but you should feel badly for taking a life, even one as foul as his.”
Manda leaned back against Baylor’s chest and thought about what he’d said. She wondered if Allen had a family, if he had children he’d loved. She finally decided she couldn’t go there and survive intact. He was dead. That ugly part of her childhood was over. It was time to consign him to the past.
Bay’s arms tightened around her waist and she snuggled against his chest while he held her in his lap like a child. They were still sitting there when Jake and Shannon arrived with some very unsettling news. Still there when the phone rang.
It was Anton Cheval. He wanted all of them to come to Montana. Another attempt had been made, this time against Keisha and Xandi when they’d gone to town for groceries. It looked like an all-out attack. Someone wanted the Chanku badly enough to kill for the chance to make a capture.
Wanted them badly enough to die. The question was, who? And why?
It wasn’t until Baylor and Jake retrieved the body of Manda’s rapist that they got their first bit of solid evidence. Allen carried a mobile phone in a small leather holster fastened to his belt.
One loaded with names, phone numbers, and dates. Baylor slipped the phone into his pocket and helped Jake carry the body back to the car.
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