"Ah."
"Ashe, in this business, it's unavoidable. Vamps, weres and shifters don't have normal lives. We like to protect our kids, but the talented ones get thrown into it early."
"I've already been informed that I won't have a normal life," Ashe sat on the opposite end of the sofa Winkler occupied.
"Ashe, the trick is to keep as much as possible as normal as possible. Last night was definitely not normal. My wolves are extremely loyal as a rule. Every now and then, there's someone who thinks money might be more important. I handed Nick to Gabe because Nick killed Spencer. That's the worst kind of betrayal. It would have been more honorable to call Spencer out and offer to fight, instead of convincing him to trust Nick enough to allow him inside the house."
"Yeah," Ashe dropped his head in his hands. He hadn't slept. He'd been misting, flying as the bat or hopping—his newfound talent of jumping from one place to another—all night.
"Come on, you can call your mother and we'll both talk to her, and then you'll go to bed for a while. Trace and Marco are taking the early shift. They have to deal with getting glass replaced in the doors."
"How are you going to explain that?" Ashe studied the boarded up frames.
"Werewolf-owned glass company," Winkler said. "You'd be surprised at how many werewolf businesses are out there. We have our own phone directory. Shirley called him last night. He said he'd be out around nine."
"So, what's gonna happen to the one who hired Nick?"
"Ashe, we're working on that, all right? Most of my wolves don't know as much as you do right now. In the meantime, I have to get my Second back on his feet."
"Yeah. Trajan asleep right now?"
"Want to check? I'll let you take breakfast in if you want."
"I will." Ashe went to see Winkler's cook. Jimmy was preparing a meal in the kitchen as if nothing had happened. Ashe got two plates of food on a tray and went to Trajan's bedroom on the second floor.
"He said no coffee," Ashe set the tray down on Trajan's bedside table. Trajan had asked for coffee the moment Ashe walked through the door after knocking.
"Who?" Trajan was grumbling.
"The cook. You know—Jimmy."
"I'll have a talk with him later. Kid, I've got to find a way to stop getting rescued by you."
"I'd hope you'd do the same for me. Or Sali or Marco or Winkler."
"Yeah. Hand that plate over, I'm starved." Ashe handed a plate and a fork to Trajan, who'd slid his legs over the edge of the bed so he could eat.
"Your mother," Winkler handed his cell to Ashe after walking into Trajan's bedroom.
"Mom, I'm fine," Ashe said right away. "I was nowhere near the grassy knoll." Winkler threw back his head and laughed.
"Ashe, do I need to come over there?" Adele asked, worry in her voice.
"I think everything is under control. Everything all right there?"
"Yes, things seem to be fine. Another werewolf showed up to help Ace guard Marcie's boys, but that's it. One of Shirley Walker's, I think." Winkler was nodding—he knew about it already.
"Good. I guess Dad made it home okay?"
"Yes, but he was worried about you."
"I only went down the beach a little way. Nobody saw me, I promise."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Really. And so are Mr. Winkler and Trajan."
"All right. But if anything like that happens again, you'll come straight home. Do you hear?"
"Mom, don't worry, okay? I'm fine."
"I'll be bringing in more guards, Mrs. Evans," Winkler promised. He knew she'd hear.
"Fine. Ashe, your father will call tonight when he rises."
"Okay."
"I love you, honey."
"Love you, too, Mom." Ashe flushed. Winkler and Trajan both grinned.
"Here's your mail, Adele." Denise handed over the stack of mail she'd gotten from the Evans' new post office box. Nobody in the community had mail delivered to their homes. It was safer that way. Mailboxes were lined up outside the housing addition, but those only received advertisements and flyers addressed to occupant.
"I got a card from Dawn Smith," Adele lifted the postcard so Denise could see. The photo on the front depicted a famous chapel in Santa Fe.
"What does she say?" Denise asked.
"Doing fine, hope the move went well," Adele read. "Randy heard from Cori that you had to leave Oklahoma. Sorry to hear that. Love to you and yours—Dawn."
The card had been addressed to the old post office box in Cordell. Dawn knew it would be forwarded.
"That was nice of her," Denise said.
"I wonder if she'll ever marry again," Adele sighed, setting the card on the kitchen island.
"I don't know. She and Terry were so close; I think it did major damage when he was killed and then Randy was almost killed, too."
"Randy would be dead if Ashe hadn't pulled him away."
"Too bad nobody else remembers that, including Dawn and Randy," Denise agreed.
"It's just too dangerous—too many people would come looking for Ashe. I wish there was some way we could protect him better, so he can lead something close to a normal life. Want a cup of coffee, Denise?" Adele went toward the coffeepot.
Ashe blinked at the television screen. And then blinked again—he was still half-asleep. Winkler had gotten him up to see the breaking news on all the television stations.
"Congressman Howard cannot be located," the journalist reported on a popular, twenty-four hour news program. "The Justice Department has warrants out for his arrest, for investing campaign funds in South American casinos and other illegal enterprises, with profits funneled to an offshore account. It seems that the congressman may have been tipped off and chose to leave town before arrests could be made." A photograph of the congressman, coming back from the supposed elk hunt in Colorado, was shown on the screen.
"I think he's running to Pruitt and Pruitt's contacts in Mexico," Winkler muttered. "If he makes it past the border, we may never get our hands on him again. If my hunch is correct, Pruitt was helping Tanner—with a lot of things. That means Howard knows of Pruitt and vice versa."
Ashe's hands were balled into fists. The congressman had tried to kill Wynn. He wanted to curse. "That creep. We should have taken care of him when we had the chance," Ashe snarled.
"We don't always get what we want, and criminals go free every day," Winkler said gently. "Don't let it worry you. He's likely out of the country, and Wynn is safe."