“So who are you going to see?” she asked, knowing he’d only be allowed to head upstairs if the Pack wanted him up there.
“Jessie Ann.”
She snorted and got a raised eyebrow for her trouble. “We all call her Jess,” she explained.
“I knew her a long time ago when she was just Jessie Ann.”
“I’m Kristan. This is Johnny.”
“Nice to meet y’all. I’m Bobby Ray Smith, but y’all can call me Smitty.”
She laughed a bit. “You sound just like my mom. The accent.”
“So you’re May and Danny’s daughter.”
She liked that he didn’t assume because she was Asian she was automatically Maylin’s daughter. “Yup.”
Kristan glanced up at Johnny, surprised he hadn’t said anything yet. But she had no idea she’d find him glaring at the wolf—the much bigger wolf—like he really believed he could take him on. Just great. Now his testosterone decided to kick in?
Smitty stared back at Johnny; although his body lounged casually against the wall, his eyes let her know he was feeling anything but casual. “Is there a problem, hoss?”
It was a low growl, but one from Johnny’s gut. Startled into action, Kristan stepped between the two, her hand against Johnny’s chest.
“So,” she said way too eagerly, “what was Jess like back then? Did she always have her nose in a book? I bet she did. She has like a ton of books. Stuff you couldn’t pay me enough to read. Boring, boring, boring. But I do like—”
“Christ,” Johnny snapped, “stop babbling.”
She knew that would work. Johnny hated when she rambled. But most important, she’d defused a situation she wasn’t really in the mood to deal with.
She briefly wondered if the skill was built into her DNA. Her mom could do the same thing.
Smitty stepped out of the elevator, working hard not to smile. The kid wouldn’t appreciate it much if he did. Smitty wasn’t mad. He had no reason to be. At that age, challenging adult wolves was normal. A rite of passage. It was also a right of passage to get your ass kicked by adult wolves. Of course, being around a Pack of dogs, this might have been the first time the kid had felt the desire to take on a male he didn’t even know. Obviously it was the first time little Kristan had witnessed it.
Together, the three of them walked into the office.
Pairs of desks facing each other ran down the middle of the room. Only one office sat tucked away in a corner. Although it had a door, you couldn’t call it private since it was made completely of glass. The door, the windows looking in... all of it glass.
Toys and games littered the floor. He could see paused computer games on some terminals, and there were several televisions set up with the high-end game consoles attached. Posters for the Stars Wars trilogy, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Logan’s Run, Raiders of the Lost Ark—every geek movie ever made—decorated the walls. They also had full-size standing displays from Star Wars, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Star Trek.
And Smitty’d thought Mace had gone overboard by investing in those quiet eight-by-ten pencil drawings of the seaside for their front office. How these wild dogs got anything done, Smitty would never know.
“That’s weird,” Kristan said softly. “Where is everybody?”
It did seem strange, with it not even being six yet, that no one would be around.
Smitty wouldn’t put it past Jessie Ann to run out on him, but he didn’t see the rest of her Pack running with her. Of course, he’d always heard that wild-dog Packs were uncommonly close.
He scented the air and walked to the back of the office, the two pups trailing behind. The back door led to a long hallway that appeared to still be under construction. Jessie’s scent went down the hall, past bathrooms and storage rooms, until he hit another doorway. Smitty pushed through and walked down the ten flights of stairs.
One door led out. A fire exit, he would guess. He could hear their lowered voices stop abruptly when they sensed someone on the other side of the door.
Smitty went right up against it and he could hear whispering from the other side—and sniffing. Grinning at the pups, Smitty loudly barked, “What are y’all doin’?”
First, they screamed in surprise. All of them, male and female, screaming like a bunch of girls. Then they started laughing and didn’t stop. Smitty finally opened the door and found them sitting on the ground, laughing as only dogs could.
Goofy. That was the best word he could come up with for them. Goofy.
“So,” he said to all of them, but with his eyes on Jessie, “anything I can help y’all with?”
CHAPTER 9
Okay, yeah, she’d lied to him. And they both knew it. They both knew she’d pulled a story about someone trying to break into their office through the emergency door out of her flat ass. She’d even done it with a straight face, but she could see it in his eyes. He didn’t believe a word she said. Too bad. He wasn’t Pack. Not her Pack. Therefore, it wasn’t his problem to deal with. And the fact that she wouldn’t tell him anything bugged the living holy hell out of him.
Jess didn’t care, though. She had bigger issues to deal with at the moment.
May had not taken the news of the possible return of her ex very well. Bursting into frustrated, panicked tears, she took off running, heading out the back exit until Danny caught up with her. The five of them then stood in the cold doing their best to calm her down. The sock puppet seemed to help. Everyone loved Mr. Wizard.
After that, they’d discussed strategy and next steps. Informing the whole Pack at this stage was a bad move since it risked moving through the puppy rumor mill like lightning and ending up in Kristan’s lap. So only the five of them would know at this point. They’d bring the rest of the Pack up to speed if necessary.
Now, however, they had a nosey wolf to deal with. A nosey wolf who knew she was lying. Toe-to-toe they stood as he quizzed her, trying to trip her up so he could get the truth. She didn’t trip up. She’d learned to lie back when the Pack still stole diapers and baby food for a newly arrived Kristan. Lying to protect her Pack didn’t bother Jess, so if Smitty hoped to see some kind of guilt in her eyes, he might as well stop looking. She felt none.
Eventually, when he seemed to realize his questions weren’t confusing her in the least, Smitty grabbed the cell phone hanging off his jeans pocket and flipped it open.
Frowning, Jess asked, “Who are you calling?”
“Mace. If people are trying to break in, and that is what you’re telling me, right?” She nodded, even as they glared at each other. “Then we need to get this place locked down tight. Tonight.”
“Locked down?” Locked down sounded expensive. “I don’t remember saying we’d pay for that.”
“You didn’t. But you will.”
Jess’s eyes narrowed and she reached out to twist his nipples, but May slapped her hands down.
As always, May tried to diffuse the situation. With false cheeriness, she asked her daughter, who’d been watching the power play between Jess and Smitty with obvious eagerness, “And what are y’all doin’ here?”
Kristan grabbed Johnny’s jacket and yanked him forward. “Johnny has something to tell you guys.”
But Johnny looked like he wanted to be a million miles away from here.
“Go on,” Kristan urged. “Tell her.”
With a sigh, Johnny pulled out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Jess. She almost dreaded taking it. Not surprising when most envelopes from any of the kids usually came from their school and involved something they’d done or didn’t do or said or should never had said.
Without looking at the envelope, Jess slipped the wrinkled but high-quality paper out and quickly read it.