“I don’t know. They might have changed their minds. I figured they would be happy for me if I was happy. But maybe with me leaving, I’ve only caused trouble for them.”
“They’re in Cancun for two weeks.”
“Right, so Kintail can’t be doing too much to them, yet. But he could very well have told them to disown me or else they could be kicked out of the pack.”
“But he wants more pack members, not fewer,” Elizabeth said.
“Still, he has to make an example of someone. You know how he is about having to at least look like he’s in complete control. Besides, you and I are of pup-bearing age, and that’s another reason he would be furious we both left.” Sheri wiped away her tears and stuck her phone in her pocket.
“And you haven’t talked to your parents since the last time?”
“No. I’m trying to get settled in here, work a job, and enjoy being with the pack. I’m not going back no matter what. If they want to disown me, I can’t do anything about it. If it helps them in dealing with Kintail, then it’s really okay.” Sheri frowned at Elizabeth. “Did you put your home on the market?”
“I’m calling the real estate agent when we get back to the office. And we need to get new phone numbers.”
“Why?” Sheri asked as they got into the car and headed back to the agency.
“We need local numbers, and…it might be better if we can get in touch with people in Yellowknife but they can’t get in touch with us. At least for now.” Which meant Bentley, Sheri’s brother, and Kintail. None of them would know the new numbers. At least for a while.
***
When Elizabeth and Sheri arrived back at the office, Sheri was noticeably quiet. David hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Slade. On the other hand, maybe that would be better. If it was something to do with Kintail, that was definitely worse. Not just for Sheri but for all of them.
David put it out of his mind for the time being, concentrating on helping Gavin with the Ms. Moore case. “Hey, Gavin, I found another instance of that business partner being accused of skimming off a company, but the charges went nowhere. Claimed it was a mistake in the accounting department and the feds weren’t able to convict him. Either this guy falls face-first into a whole lot of bad luck or he’s really good at covering up his tracks.”
“Let me see that.” David handed him what he’d found. Gavin looked it over and nodded. “It’s looking more and more like this guy is dirty. I instructed Ms. Moore to have a forensic CPA go over everything. This guy might be good, but so are we.” Gavin rubbed the back of his neck, his mouth tight. “What really sucks is the husband, he was dying of cancer, right? On all sorts of pain medication toward the end. And this guy, we know he borrowed heavily against the business, presumably getting Mr. Moore to sign off on it. What kind of person takes advantage of someone like that?”
“We’ll get him,” David said grimly.
Gavin nodded. “Hell yeah we will.”
***
Elizabeth and Sheri continued to get their new life in order, working toward making Minnesota their official place of residence. That included taking a driver’s test to get a new license. Using David’s forged documents, they did the whole stand-in-line, deal-with-bureaucracy thing necessary to be official Minnesota drivers. After passing their tests with flying colors, they took care of getting new phone numbers. When they returned to the office, they shared them with the rest of the pack. Elizabeth felt free in that moment, like she’d finally truly cut ties with Kintail and the others. She should have done that right away, though no one had bothered to try to contact her.
The same wasn’t true for Sheri.
“I’m glad we got that done,” Sheri said as they settled back behind their desks, looking a little more at ease than she had earlier.
The phone rang, and Sheri immediately answered it. Her face went pale.
“What is it?” Elizabeth asked, her stomach clenching.
Sheri put the call on speakerphone, waving frantically for the others to come listen.
A low voice echoed through the reception area: “Imagine my surprise to learn you’re answering Cameron’s phone at the office.”
Kintail. The office was deadly silent, every single PI focused on the voice none of them ever wanted to hear again.
“What do you want?” Sheri managed to say.
“You to return home. Your family loves and misses you. So does Bentley. Elizabeth has her own life to live,” Kintail said. The line went dead.
Before a word could be uttered, two cars pulled up into the parking lot. Elizabeth didn’t need to look to know who it would be. She’d smelled him even before she saw him.
Kintail and four other males, who looked like they were bouncers in a nightclub, walked into the lobby. At least there were no clients in the building at the time.
“So we meet again,” David said, and if his hair could stand on end like a ridge down the top of his head, it would have. Everything about him screamed protective. Dangerously protective.
“I’m their pack leader, and neither of them told us they were leaving. Sheri’s parents are worried sick about her,” Kintail said.
“Leaving was their choice to make.” They should be able to go where they pleased, and the pack couldn’t hold them hostage any more than they could have held Owen and David against their will. “They came down here of their own free will. They’re happy here. Let them be.”
“I know better,” Bentley said, stepping forward. “Sheri, I know you wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for Elizabeth”—he sneered at Elizabeth—“and the others forcing you to hide that she was leaving us.”
“That’s Sheri’s boyfriend,” Kintail explained. “Bentley.”
“She’s happy to be working with us,” David said. “And from what she has told us, the two of them are no longer seeing each other.”
“That’s a damn lie,” Bentley said.
“She belongs with us,” another man said. “I’m her brother, Hans, for your information. And we’re taking her home.”
Every single one of the pack members bristled. On both sides.
And Elizabeth knew the showdown she’d dreaded had just begun.
***
David smelled Sheri’s nervousness. Elizabeth’s too. But the Yellowknife pack, thankfully, seemed to be resigned to Elizabeth’s new life.
Not so much Sheri’s.
Kintail stood with his arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face, trying to make himself as tall and as intimidating as possible. Hans, Bentley, and the others took their cues from him and maintained the same stance, each of them with a look of determination on their face.