“Shit.” He raked a hand through his hair, frowning at Dave. There had to be another way. “Are any of your cars in the underground lot?”
Dave’s lips pressed into a line.
Chad crossed the bedroom and reached inside one of the cabinets, moving aside a wooden panel to open a secret locker where Dave often hid his car keys.
To Chad’s dismay, there was only one. The shiny red Ferrari.
Oh, give me a break. Something moved in the periphery of his vision, and he grabbed the key and strode back to Dave. If he had to kidnap Dave in a Ferrari, he would do just that.
Dave had lifted himself into a sitting position, propping his back against the wall. Snatching Dave’s phone from the nightstand, Chad reached down to haul Dave up to his feet.
“You better not make a scene in the parking lot, or you know me—I will beat up the guards and smash a few cars before we leave,” he threatened as he dragged Dave to the exit.
His feet barely obeying him, Dave just growled and stumbled along.
Either too weak to fight him or just defeated, Dave didn’t cause any more trouble. Chad peeled out of the parking lot and into the gray streets, one eye on Dave’s still form to his right, and headed to headquarters. A call to Pain ensured that no one would be gawking in the hall when they arrived, and that Doc was waiting for them in the infirmary.
Chad wasn’t surprised when he found Marco waiting outside, arms spread wide at the sight of the Ferrari. But once he saw Dave’s pale face and the dead look in his eyes, he just grabbed his keys from Chad and helped him carry Dave inside.
Chapter 18
“Do you know what Peter’s planning?” Pain asked.
Chad pushed the sixth floor button with a shake of his head. The elevator lurched and took them up, Marco and Ryan a towering, whiskey-reeking presence behind them.
Pain peered at Marco over her shoulder. “Could you please not breathe for a minute?”
Marco spared her a single glance before switching his expressionless gaze back to the doors.
Pain let out a shaky breath and glanced at her sister. “He’s gonna send us away.”
Chad looked at her but didn’t say anything, probably not in the mood. But she was having the worst case of word diarrhea since she’d opened her eyes that morning, and there was no stopping it.
“We brought this on him, and he’s gonna round us all up and ship us far, far away, to the other side of the globe. Some village in Siberia, with a population of three humans and fifty-five bears, where Dave can live out his life without harming anyone or giving away what he is. I’m telling you, we shouldn’t go to this meeting.”
The elevator doors slid open, and Chad huffed as he stepped out of it.
“Why would he send Marco with us though?” she kept thinking out loud. “He would attract too much attention.”
“Gee, I don’t know,” Chad muttered, grimacing. “But I’m sensing we’d need something to repel all the bears?” He glowered at Marco over his shoulder, only to trip the next second. Ryan’s mouth twitched, but Marco didn’t even blink, keeping his eyes pointed forward as he pretended he had not just tripped Chad for no other reason than to spite him.
Pain kicked open the waiting room doors. Skull glared at her, and she cringed. “I didn’t kick it, I swear, it was my arm!”
“It better be, or I’m gonna rip it off and stick it where the sun don’t shine.”
She winced, dashing to the office.
Sitting next to Dave, Peter watched them spill inside. “I’ll pretend I haven’t noticed it took you twenty minutes to finally honor me with your glorious presence.”
Pain swallowed hard and took a seat across from Dave. He still looked somewhat pale, his face gaunt and his gaze blank as he stared at the table. Having spent a day restrained in the infirmary, he was probably relieved to be out. Then again, he didn’t look relieved. He didn’t look much like anything, really.
Chad sat next to him, together with Marco and Ryan, while Jane followed her.
“So, where are you sending us?” Pain cut straight to the chase.
“How do you know I’m sending you somewhere?”
She gulped. “He is, he’s sending us to Siberia,” she hissed to Jane.
Her sister rolled her eyes.
Peter exchanged a look with Dave, its meaning a mystery, and rested his forearms on the chair as he stood behind it. “You’re going to Santa Barbara for the weekend.”
Pain blinked. “We are? Why? How?”
She knew Peter wanted to snap at her, but he was too preoccupied with smelling the air and peering at Marco.
At last, his gaze turned to her. “It’s been a rough week. Dave needs a change of scenery, Ryan’s arm is still healing, and you all could use a break. You’re going to visit an old friend of mine, someone who might be able to help Dave, and since he lives just outside Santa Barbara, I figured you might as well take a couple days off to make the most of the trip.”
“Is it the same friend you called that night?” Pain inclined her head toward Dave.
“Yes. I didn’t want to bother him at first, but seeing how things are now…” he trailed off, probably avoiding the subject of Dave trying to drink himself into a coma. “I called him today and asked him to talk to Dave face to face. And to any of you, if you would like to speak to him.” He gave a pointed look to Marco, who cast his eyes skyward.
Pain
