My mouth went dry. I leapt from the bed and kicked off my dirty boxers. Wiping myself with them, I tried not to think about what remained. After pulling on a pair of new boxers and stepping into sweatpants, I opened the door to find Jared staring at me.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Tim. He just called me. He’s on his way to Jen’s house.”
I grabbed a shirt and threw it on. Picking up dirty socks and my shoes from the floor, I stepped into the living room. “I’ll put them on in the car.”
“He’s got a gun.”
“How do you know this?’
> Jared’s silence was all I needed to hear. Jared was probably the one that gave Tim that gun. And that was a problem for all of us. Not only was he responsible, he was tied to the weapon. But luckily shapeshifters don’t have to follow the rules. At least, most of the time.
“Should we call Officer Bendholder?” He was our go to guy when things got too rough for us to handle. Which was mostly never.
“I don’t want to use up our good graces unless we really need to. I think we can handle Tim on our own, right?”
I’m sure Jen knows how to calm Tim down. He still is her husband after all and the father of their children. She could probably handle it until we arrived. I made a silent prayer to the Mother that she would be safe. I couldn’t handle it if she was ripped away from us. We started running as soon as we exited the apartment. If we didn’t go the speed limit, we could be there in ten minutes. I only hoped that Tim was far enough away that we could get there first.
Chapter 21
Jared
Why the fuck is Wes not answering his phone? And, where is he? I haven’t seen him since he went to give Jen a car. Did he never come home? Something was off about Wes lately. He was quiet, whiny, and not at all down with the direction of our pack. I needed to have a discussion with him when this was all over. My brothers were not supposed to oppose me. Other members of the pack and opposing alphas were bad enough. And now, I had no idea where he was when I needed him the most. I checked my cellphone. Eight minutes had passed. We were almost there. Tim had sounded insane on the phone. He kept talking about getting his family back and making Jen listen. He wanted my help to force her to return.
“Don’t you know people?”
“Of course I know people, Tim. What kind of people are you talking about?”
“People that can force her.”
I treaded very carefully. He seemed like he was fragile. His mind was glass-like. “I know people, but you won’t need to do all of that. Forcing her isn’t the best way. Why don’t you wait for her to come around on her own?”
Jen was never going to come around. Tim was the type of guy that didn’t value what he had until he drove it out of his life. He had her up on a pedestal now, but as soon as she came back to him, he would start mistreating her again. There was no cure for the type of man Tim was. It was in his nature to destroy anything less powerful than himself. What we really needed to do was to get rid of him. Plain and simple. It might be a messy way, but otherwise Jen was going to always have to deal with him. And if she was going to be our mate, it was unacceptable. Of course, we could hide her. But I’m not cowering from anyone, particularly a low life like Tim.
“I am going to her. She won’t be able to refuse me. And I’ll make sure she never runs away from me again.”
Tim sounded a bit unhinged. “Why don’t you meet me somewhere. How about getting a drink first and we can talk about it?”
“Let’s get a drink after to celebrate. I need to make her listen first.”
I decided to try another approach. “You might not be able to make her listen. What if she’s done with you? She could call the cops or worse. You don’t want to deal with all of that. You’ve got a record. Cops hate bikers. You know what I’m saying is true. You’re going to end up in jail or worse.” I didn’t exactly think of this as a fair warning, but I hardly wanted him to know we were coming.
“The only way that I’m going to stop is if I’m dead. She’s mine damnit. And I can’t live without her. And kids should be with both of their parents. I don’t want my girls growing up with an absent father. I don’t want that on my conscience.”
Sure. An absent father is terrible. But, beating your wife senseless is fine? “Remember I told you the deal. No violence.”
“It’s only going to be violent if she resists. That decision is hers not mine. I am fine to be peaceful. I’m a peaceful guy. Unless you cross me.”
And he didn’t know the storm of hell that was coming for him. This bastard was testing my last nerve. I went against my better judgement and let him go because I hoped that he would eventually clean up his act and be able to see his kids again. So much for being soft. I deserve this. The trouble of cleaning up my own messes. The problem is Jen didn’t. I was going to have to correct my mistake. But, I also didn’t want Jen to be aware. We were going to have to find him before he spoke to Jen. Her being afraid of us is unacceptable.
“Listen dude. I’m on my way. I’ll help you out, just wait for me.”
“I don’t need any help. Especially from you. You think I can’t handle my own wife? You’re crazy!” He began slurring his words. It sounded like he already had a few drinks. This should be a lot easier if he’s sloshed. Drunk people have terrible reflexes and no self-awareness. They will walk right into a trap. I turned towards Frank, who was busy steering us through nighttime traffic.
“Try not to run every single red light. We don’t want to end up on any cameras around her house. Just in case.”
“If so, we can deal with that later. We’ve got to get to her first. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”