Making the Rent the Hard Way - 36

Luca sat behind me on the stairs, rubbing my shoulders. "You're too tense."

I turned to look at him. "And you know how to relax me. Right? A great idea, if we were anywhere but here." When he grinned, I said, "Nope. We're staying right where we are."

"Aw, come on, Cade."

"Absolutely not. We’re not taking any chances, now that we're so close to finishing this."

He sighed. "I know you're right, but damn."

Chuckling, I asked, "Are all shifters as horny as you?"

"Well…I do have the reputation to uphold that we are. But before you take that the wrong way, it's being with you that turns me on. Anyone else? Not so much so. Okay, not at all, if you want the honest truth. For me, sex was just okay but only that, until I met you. Now"—he bent to kiss me—"I can't seem to get enough of it."

I knew exactly how he felt. I'd had my fair share of men on a casual basis. Very casual. None of them had been keepers until Luca had come along. I told him as much. He positively beamed when I did, then groaned. "Why the hell did we wait until now to reach this conclusion, when we can't do anything about it?"

"We will, when this is over."

"If we survive, and there's no guarantee about that. Farnham's an alpha with all that that means, including having biggest, baddest, bestest as his to command."

"Don't you trust that Rocky knows what he's doing and has his own fair share of shifters who can handle the ones Farnham will bring with him?"

"Yeah, I do." He said it, but I wasn't certain he believed it. That didn't exactly make my night. We sat in silence, Luca gently rubbing my shoulders. I think we were both wondering how the night would end—once I made the call to Farnham. With a lot of luck, we'd come out of it alive and in one piece. Otherwise… I didn't want to contemplate that.

"Everything's set," Rocky said as he and Orchid appeared in front of us. "Make the call."

I took out my phone, said a silent prayer Farnham would answer, given the late hour, turned it on and called. He did answer, sounding somewhat surprised to hear from me. "What do you want, Mr. Warner? And make it brief. I'm busy."

"I've located Luca Montana."

That seemed to perk him up. "Where? Can you give me an address? I need to talk to him, to find out why he disappeared. He's all right, isn't he?"

I knew he was asking the questions to keep me on the line so he could track my phone. I played along, of course. "He's fine. He said he had to get away so he could think. He didn't say what about, only that there was something he needed to figure out." I glanced at Rocky, who gave me a thumbs-up. "I can't give you an address because he's not in the city right now. He's staying with someone he knows, off in the boonies."

"Please, try to convince him to call and talk with me. I'm worried about him."

"I'll do my best. I just thought you'd like to know he's alive and okay."

"Thank you," Farnham replied. "He knows how to get in touch. I'll let you go so I can get back to what I was doing." He hung up.

 

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 35

 

"You've done something like this before," Luca said.

Rocky grinned. "Yep. I wasn't always a bartender. I was the tactical expert for my pack, way back when, defending against other packs who wanted our territory. Those were the good old days, before things calmed down and my skills weren't needed anymore."

"I'm not even asking how old you are," I muttered, getting laughs from the others. "Okay," I said when the laughter died down, "we have a plan. I suggest we put together what Luca and I need for our stay at the old house." I shot him a look. "Do you have sleeping bags here?"

Luca winced. "Nope."

"Don't worry about it," Rocky said. "We'll do this tonight, so you won't be there long enough to need them—or food."

"That soon?" I frowned. "You and Orchid only just delivered the second round of information."

"And one went to his stooge, Mr. Tipton. By now he's undoubtedly called Farnham in a panic, so Farnham's going to be out for blood."

"Ours," Luca muttered.

"That's the plan," Rocky agreed, asking Luca for an image of the basement at the house.

Luca gave it to him and Orchid. Then he took my hand, and bingo, we were there. 

"First, I need to get the lay of the land," I heard Rocky say, although I couldn't see him because there were no windows in the basement. "But even before that, you guys need light. I'll be right back." He was, carrying two battery-powered camping lanterns. He turned them on and I saw what Luca had meant about the basement being pretty barren. Battered was a kind description of the sofa resting on three legs against one wall. The shelves he'd mentioned were across from it, with a set of very narrow stairs to the ground floor next to them.

"Hardly a mansion," Orchid commented. "Hopefully, you two won't be here for more than a few hours, at best."

"Better not be. I don't do well in caves," I grumbled.

Rocky had already taken off again, presumably to see what he had to work with when it came to dealing with Farnham and his people when they showed up. That wouldn't happen, however, until I called the bastard.

Rocky came back, looking hopeful as he said, "Give me until midnight to get my friends here and in place. I'll let you know when they are, then you can make your call, Cade. Come on, Orchid. I could use your help."

She grinned. "As always. I don't know what you'd do without me." A split second later, it was just me and Luca.

"Are they more than friends?" I asked him.

"Got me. But from her comment, I'd say probably. Damn. We should have brought something to sit on. No way I'm using that." He pointed to the sofa.

"There's the stairs. Or we could go up and find something that's at least out in the fresh air."

Luca shook his head. "Not a good idea. We may think we know how things are going to play out, but if we're wrong and Farnham had someone following you here the first time that neither of us picked up on, he could be keeping an eye on the place in case we come back again."

I puffed out a breath as I sat on the stairs. "True. Not a nice idea, but…"

"Yeah. So, we're stuck in here."

 

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 34

 

Orchid and Rocky made it back around seven. They came bearing gifts, if you can call good take-out gifts. I did. I was starving and what Luca had in the fridge… Let's say there wasn't much and leave it at that. As he'd said, he had stuff in the cupboards, but the idea of canned spaghetti didn't turn either of us on, starving or not.

We ate then moved on to the question at hand. How to let Farnham know where Luca and I were hiding out without making it look like that's what was happening.

"The easiest way would be you getting in touch with him, Cade," Rocky said. "Technically, you're still working for him, right? Call with an update about… Well, you'll figure something out. I presume your phone has GPS."

I nodded, getting where he was going with this. "Right now, my phone is off, so I know I can't be found through that."  Apparently Orchid didn't understand, because she asked.

"Farnham's probably got, or can get, access to a way to track a phone using its GPS," Rocky explained. "Cade calls, pretending he's got new info on Luca. Farnham either keeps him talking, or tells him to call back. Bingo. He locks on to Cade's phone and knows right where the call's coming from."

"Whoa. I didn't know that. Is that why people use burners?" For someone who was good at breaking and entering, I was surprised she didn't know. But maybe she never called anyone while she was working.

"Yep," Rocky replied. "They think they're safer because they can get one without a contract or giving the store personal info. The phones are only really safe if you make a call then toss the burner right after. They're relatively cheap, so crooks are willing to do that."

"Would Farnham think Cade's so stupid he wouldn't know the call could be tracked?" she asked.

"He might," I told her. "After all, he didn't hire me for my brains but for my ability to spot who's a shifter. At least, if we guessed right about that."

"Do you always talk with him on your cell, not the office phone?" Luca asked.

"Yep, when I call him. It's easier."

"So he probably already knows your number."

"Probably."

"Good," Luca said. "Then he won't get suspicious when you call him this time."

"Nope. He'll continue to think I'm a dumb, second-rate detective when I tell him"—I rapped a knuckle on my teeth—"Yeah. I tell him I've located you."

"Which, as we've said, he'll have figured out already because of the leaked info," Rocky pointed out.

"True, but I'll say Luca wants to talk with him face to face, or he'll reveal even more evidence he has about what he knows."

"Implying he's willing to back off if Farnham pays him to." Rocky frowned. "He's going to know it's a setup."

"Maybe," Luca said. "But with his ego, he'll also think he can grab me, and Cade, without any problem."

"And bring along half his goons to do that," Orchid said. "We need backup, too."

"Not a problem," Rocky told her. "I can pull together a team like that." He snapped his fingers. "What's the terrain like around the house?"

"Corn fields and more corn fields," I told him.

"That could work to hide them. Chances are Farnham will send in one guy to get the lay of the land. Once he's got a visual, he'll teleport back, show it to everyone, and they'll arrive en masse."

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 33

 

"Any ideas where we could hole up that would make it seem like we think we're safe there?" I asked.

"Not off the top of my head." Luca went over to the fireplace. Resting his hands on the mantle, he stared at the unlit logs. "It has to be somewhere off the beaten path."

"What about the ruined house, way the hell-and-gone, you had me meet you at before bringing me here for the first time?"

He turned to look at me, nodding slowly. "It could work. You saw for yourself that no one can approach without being seen. There's more to it than what you saw."

"Meaning?"

"It has a basement."

"Full of mice and vermin, I'm betting."

Luca grinned. "Actually, no. I went all wolf on them."

"You had better be kidding."

"I am. Damn. It's really pretty clean, probably because there are no windows and only one door."

I thought about that. "Easily defensible, then."

"Very. They can't see in, so they can't teleport in. I suspect it was a storm cellar."

"I like. Is there any furniture?"

"A battered sofa. Some shelves, which were probably for supplies. They're empty now. But if we bring couple of sleeping bags with us and the canned goods I've got here, we'll be set for as long as we have to be there."

"Lanterns."

"Huh?"

"I'm not living in the dark like a mole," I told him.

"Ah. Okay. So, we've got our safe house. Now, how do we draw Farnham and his goons to it?"

"Let's wait until the guys get back, then brainstorm."

 

(OOC: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!)

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 32

 

Orchid and Rory showed up late Wednesday morning. They both sniffed, then grinned at each other.

"Told you," Orchid said gleefully.

"Like I didn't believe you?" Rory shot back. "But it's none of our business how they spent their time after we left."

"Guys, we're right here," I said, trying not to laugh.

"Better than in there." Orchid nodded to the bedroom. "Anyway, we're here and reporting in. We delivered the flyers to reporters at the various news outlets. We figured we might as well go straight to them, rather than hoping some higher-up might or might not decide there was a story in the info."

"What sort of reaction did you get?" Luca asked.

"Honestly, we didn't wait around. We just handed each man, or woman, the envelope containing the flyer then took off." Rocky chuckled. "On foot, in case you're wondering. No sense in announcing what we are. That could have slanted their opinions one way or the other."

"Good point," I agreed. "Okay. Let's start putting together the rest of the information for them."

"I was thinking," Orchid said. "We should give all this to the candidates, too. Well, not Farnham's stooge, but the others."

Luca nodded. "I like that idea. But give it to him, too, and make it apparent the others got it. You know he'll go straight to Farnham. Seeing it all laid out should tick Farnham off, big time."

We spent the next hour or so putting together a bulleted fact sheet listing everything we knew—or thought we knew—including who Farnham's stooge was. We made it as clear as possible, without coming out and saying exactly what Farnham was planning—and that it was him. That was accomplished by saying 'a local lakeside restaurateur with ties to the shifter community'.

"Whether the news outlets report that piece of information will probably depend on whether they're willing to take a chance on Farnham's suing them for libel," I said when we finished.

"Even if they don't," Rocky replied, "I'm willing to bet the mayor and at least a couple of the other candidates will let it out."

"Let's hope," Luca said. "The more pressure on Farnham, the more likely it is he'll make a mistake that will end his plans."

"We'll get on this right away," Orchid said, waving the final mockup of our next missive. 

"As soon as you're finished, get back here," I told them. "We have to plan our next step."

"Which would be?" Rocky asked.

"We'll discuss it when you return."

Orchid rolled her eyes—she was good at that—before they took off.

Luca chuckled. "You don't have a next step, do you?"

"I have a glimmering of a plan. It'll mean us finding somewhere else to stay—a place Farnham can find out about."

"Oh boy. Why doesn't that idea make me feel all warm and fuzzy?" he grumbled.

I grinned. "You're already warm, and probably very fuzzy in your wolf form."

He whapped me, shaking his head. "This is not the time to be making bad jokes."

"Yeah. Sorry." I kissed him quickly then started pacing.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 31

 

"This will work, won't it?" Luca asked.

"It had better. We both want our old lives back."

"Yeah." He said it, but he didn't look as if he really meant it.   

"You didn't like what you were doing?" I asked, collapsing onto one of the chairs.

"I did. I do. It's something I'm good at."

"Then why don't you sound more…enthusiastic?"

It seemed as if he was going to say something then thought better of it. Instead, he replied, "I'm stressed and worn out is all. If you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep." He smiled tiredly. "Since there's only one bed, feel free to join me when you're ready. I'm a heavy sleeper, so I doubt I'll wake up."

"I… Sure. No problem." I watched as he went into the bedroom, wondering what was up with him. Probably exactly what he'd said, but there was an undertone I couldn't decipher, so I didn't try. I was tired, too, but still wound up enough I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for a while. There was a small bookshelf along one wall. I checked it out, found a book I hadn't read, so I settled down with it.

I was a few pages in when it suddenly hit me, or at least I thought I had an idea what was bothering Luca. If I was wrong, I'd sound like an idiot, but I needed to know.

He was just getting into bed when I came into the room. He looked at me guardedly when I sat on the edge of the bed.

"If you're worried we'll go our separate ways once we've dealt with Farnham..." I hesitated, "we don't have to."

He stared at me for a long moment. "You might want to, though."

"You might, too. If that's the case… Well, what happens…happens."

"Would you seriously want me to stick around?"

I nodded. "Why not? I like you."

"But do you like me?" he replied.

"I'm beginning to think I do. It's still early on and—"

"If you say it could just be the situation," he grumbled.

"I won't, but it might be. Time will tell, I guess."

"You're willing to find out?"

"Yes." I grimaced. "If we make it through this in one piece, I am."

"So am I." He rubbed his knuckles over my jaw, sending a frisson of desire through me.

I caught his hand, kissing the palm. Obviously, that wasn't enough for him. He cupped the nape of my neck, urging me close enough to kiss my lips. I returned it—gently, at first. The kiss deepened. After that, it didn't take long for me to get undressed and crawl into bed with him—and not to sleep. At least, not for a while.

 

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 30

"Makes sense to me," Rocky said, "but it still didn't answer Orchid's question."

"Sure it does," Luca replied. "Once this information's released to the press, Farnham will be damned sure that Cade found…what? Notes I made and hid somewhere? The recording? Whatever it was, in Farnham's mind, Cade would be the logical choice to be The Tetrad."

I nodded. "He might figure I located you somewhere along the way, and you gave me more information. That won't make him happy." I looked at Luca. "He's going to want your hide, as well as mine."

"Then we set it up so he can get it. Well, not really. I like my hide on my body, not being used as a fireplace rug."

That got laughs from the others before I said, "The best way to get him to come after me…us…in person is to keep taunting him. First, these flyers, then more detailed ones revealing other things we found in what Orchid got for us. Keep upping the ante until he's pissed enough he decides to take things into his own hands."

"And hope he doesn't send half his goons after you first," Luca said with a worried frown. "You're hardly in hiding, although you should be."

Orchid looked at me, then Luca. "Starting now, he will be. Right, Luca?"

"You're asking me?" Luca said.

"You're the one with the perfect hideout."

"Well…" Luca shrugged, "so far, anyway."

"There you go, then. Cade's staying here until this is over."

"Who died and made you queen?" Rocky asked. I wasn't sure if he was kidding or pissed.

"Well, one of us has to make sure Farnham doesn't get his hands on Cade until we're ready," she pointed out. "He doesn't know about Rocky and me, so we can play delivery people." She frowned. "Persons?"

I shook my head. "Whichever. We get the point." I paced, thinking. "Two things. If I'm staying here, I need to set up a message on my machine that I'm going to be out of town for a while. Before you ask, I can do that remotely with my cell phone. Then, we have to get the flyer printed up and come up with the next one. All the info's on Luca's laptop, which helps."

Luca snapped his fingers. "You're pretty well known in the shifter community for your ability to spot us, Cade. Would you be willing to say you've checked out the people we're after and know for certain what they are?"

"Hell, I'll already be on Farnham's shit list after the news outlets release the information we're giving them."

"If they do release it," Rocky interjected. "They might think the whole thing's a hoax."

"Some will. Some won't. I know at least a couple of the reporters are shifters," I said. "We'll make sure they get copies. Then, when we get to that point, if I announce to the world that I know for a fact the people on the list are shifters working for Farnham, they'll believe it."

"We need a printer," Orchid said, looking around the room.

"We can use the one in my office," I replied.

"There's no we in this case," Orchid retorted. "Just me and Rocky."

"I have one at my apartment," Luca told her. "Rocky's been there."

"Good, and goodbye." She linked her arm with Rocky's, startling him momentarily before he obviously got the point. Then they vanished.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 29

"Tetrad?" Rocky said.

"Well, there are four of us, if you want to be involved, and The Tetrad sounds better than The Four," I replied.

Rocky nodded emphatically. "If my involvement means bringing down Farnham, I'm in." Orchid agreed she was, as well.

"You're definitely playing into the humans' distrust of shifters," Luca said. "Let's hope it doesn't backfire on us."

"Why isn't Farnham's name on the list?" Orchid asked. "Isn't he on some of the planning commissions? That's what it said in one of the files I copied last night."

"I wanted to keep it to government officials for the time being," I told her. "Yeah, the police chief was appointed by the present mayor, but the rest have been elected. I suspect the mayor had no idea the chief is a shifter."

"Or he didn't care," Luca said. "The guy moved up in the ranks and was the obvious choice. If the mayor had brought someone in from the outside, the police union would have had a hissy fit."

"Next question," Rocky said. "How are we going to distribute these once they're printed up?"

"Send them to all the news outlets, for starters. Then to the public officials who we know aren't shifters. We probably shouldn't give this info to the ones who are shifters. We know from the information Orchid found that some of them are in Farnham's pocket."

"Then send this to the ones who aren't," Luca said. "The more people, human or shifter, we have on our side, the better."

"I agree," Rocky said. "It'll get the ball rolling. I wish it was safe to out Farnham now, rather than waiting."

"That's the next step," I told him. "Once we've delivered these"—I tapped the flyer—"he'll be so angry he'll come after me, knowing I had to be the source of the information."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Luca spat out furiously.

I barely smiled. "Probably, but it's the only way I can think of to get him out in the open."

"How do you figure he'll know it was you?" Orchid asked.

"He hired me to find Luca because Luca overheard things that were said at the meeting with his cronies, but Farnham doesn't know how much, so he searched Luca's place."

"And found nothing, since I had the info with me," Luca said, nodding.

"Exactly, but he didn't know if you'd decide you were safe after a couple of weeks and come back to your apartment, so he has someone watching. Then I show up, the same afternoon that he hired me to find you. He might think I found something he missed, since I'm a pro." I chuckled. "At least, I'm supposed to be one. Anyway, he figures if I did, it would be in the files in my office."

"Which explains why someone broke in. But why make it so obvious?" Luca asked.

"Best guess at this point, the guy was in a hurry. Then he heard the elevator, figured it was the building's security guard on his rounds, and got the hell out of there. He could have been human or shifter, but I'm betting on human. Farnham would have given a shifter a visual of the office, so there'd be no reason for him to break in."

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 28

 

I turned the corner of the hallway leading to my office and just about had a panic attack. Mr. Bracco, aka the bruiser, was standing by the door. Then I remembered that Farnham said he'd send him to pay the bill for what I'd done so far. The bruiser handed me an envelope, told me that Farnham expected results on my search for Luca by the end of the week, then left.

"Fuck you and him," I muttered once I heard the elevator doors close.

The first thing I did when I was in my office was make a visual check to be certain I hadn't had any visitors. What held true for my foray with Luca to Farnham's house held true here. Farnham was a shifter. He could get in here without coming through the door and setting off the security system. As far as I could tell, nothing had been disturbed. The file on Luca was where it belonged. Not that it mattered if someone had accessed it, since I'd somehow neglected to make any notes on my visits with Rocky or Nick Allen at the repair shop.

The only message on my machine was from an old client who was expanding his business and wanted me to install security on his new building. I picked up what I needed from my supplier and spent the rest of the morning on the job. After stopping at the bank to deposit my client's check, I got some take-out Chinese food then returned to the office to eat and think about how we could deal with Farnham.

The problem was, I couldn't come up with anything that we hadn't already talked about, and ditched, the previous night. We had some proof about what he was doing, but making anyone believe it was something else. He had too many friends in high places who would back him to the hilt because it was in their own best interests.   

Then I got an idea. A screwy one, but it might work. Booting up my computer, I set to work.

*****

I called Rocky late in the afternoon at Luca's suggestion, asking if he could take the night off from work. As it turned out, it was his day off. When he asked what was going on, I told him I'd let him know after we were at Luca's place. That was fine with him. He told me where he lived and said he'd have Orchid meet us there. She did, gave Rocky the visual of Luca's living room, then we descended on Luca en masse.

"What do you think?" I asked, when everyone was settled, handing them mockups of a flyer I'd designed.

"As a graphic artist, I think it's nothing to write home about," Luca replied, chuckling, after looking it over, "but it gets the message across."

The message was pretty basic.

 

In the interests of full disclosure, the following public servants are shifters, who may or may not be serving the interests of their human constituents.

 

It then went on to list the names of the five shifter city council members, the police chief, two shifter judges, and the DA.

 

This information was obtained from files leaked to us by sources that shall remain unnamed for their own safety. – The Tetrad   

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 27

"All clear," Orchid said when we landed. "At least in here. No clue if anyone's out on the street watching."

I wasn't about to go to the windows to check. Instead, I turned on the light in the bedroom as if I was just getting up for the day. She stood in the doorway, looking at me. "You and Luca?" she said.

"Are just friends. Nothing more."

"Just friends don't fuck," she said pointedly.

"Sure they do. What do you think 'friends with benefits' means?"

She waggled a finger at me. "That's not what you said."

"Damn, Orchid."

She grinned. "I'm betting you getting involved with him has more to do with how you feel about him than a need to screw to release tension."

"Then you'd be wrong. Besides, it takes two and I haven't gotten any vibes from him that he sees me as more than someone who's trying to get Farnham off his back."

"So he's paying you with sex?"

"No," I protested, even as her question made me wonder if that was exactly what Luca was doing.

She must have caught my dismay, since she gripped my hand, saying, "I was teasing, Cade. I've never met him until tonight, but Rocky's talked about him. Luca is nothing else if not honorable. He's not the kind of guy who'd do that."

I nodded, hoping she was right, because, against my better judgment, I did find Luca interesting. Was it the situation we were in? Maybe. Maybe not. I wasn't sure. That didn't negate the fact I liked him—more than I should, all things considered.

"Go home," I said, unwilling to continue the conversation. "I have to shower, eat, and get my ass out of here."

She smiled, shocked me by kissing my cheek, then vanished.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 26

"What do we know about Tipton?" Luca asked.

"He's a Realtor on the planning commission, as it says here," I replied, tapping the screen. "From what I've heard, he and the mayor have locked horns more than once over rezoning issues. Tipton wants to turn residential neighborhoods into areas of shops, hotels, and high-density housing."

Orchid frowned. "How would that benefit Farnham's plans?"

"You'll have to ask him," I replied. "I have no idea, unless… Yeah. If he owns some of the prospective businesses and housing, he'd stand to make a lot of money. If they're all run by shifters, forcing humans out…" I spread my hands.

"In the end, he'll have his own shifter city with him as the alpha, which is what he's going for," Luca said angrily.

"Exactly. With the mayor and other city officials in his pocket… Hell, he's got that already, to some extent."

"How do we stop him?" Orchid asked.

"Feed the info we have to The Chronicle, for starters," I replied. The Chronicle prided itself on exposing the behind the scenes wheeling-and-dealing of government and businesspersons who were more interested in making money than working for the people they supposedly served.

"I bet, the minute we do, Farnham will send some of his goons to make them retract the articles—or else," Luca said. "We're in over our heads, Cade."

"We'll figure something out. We have to. I don't feel like setting up business in some other city. I like it here."

"Who can we get to help us?" Orchid asked. "Other than Rocky, that is. They have to be shifters. Humans"—she slanted a look at me—"can't tell who's a shifter and who isn't. Nor are they strong enough to take one on, to say the least of a whole pack."

"This human is," I told her. "Okay, not fighting them, but pointing a finger and saying he is or he isn't."

"You're kidding."

"Nope." I explained my ability to her.

At first she didn't believe me, until Luca convinced her otherwise, telling her I was fairly well-known, or my name was, within the shifter community. "Probably the reason Farnham hired him to find me," he told her.

"I'd say that's a given," I said as I checked the time. "Right now, I suggest we head home. Well, me and Orchid. It's almost five and I need to clean up, eat, then get to the office. I do have a business that I'd like to keep up and running."

"How are you getting there?" Orchid asked, as if she didn't know. When Luca said he was going to take me, she vetoed the idea. "You know Farnham undoubtedly knows where he lives. It would be better if I took him, in case Farnham's got someone watching the place."

I doubted he did, but she was right. Why take chances? I gave Luca a fast kiss—because why the hell not? Orchid just rolled her eyes, asking Luca for an image of my apartment. Then she took my hand and, instantly, we were in my living room.

 

'Lies of Omission' is live!

 Lies of Omission

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/lies-of-omission-p-3599.html 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PBCWNTK

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lies-of-omission-edward-kendrick/1138401267?ean=9781646566464

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lies-of-omission-4

 

GENRE: Gay Paranormal Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 78,057 words
RATING:

Lyle Atwood's company is hired to costume a party given by multi-millionaire Warner Radclyffe. As he and his employees begin preparations for the job, Lyle begins to feel as if someone is watching him. Then he meets Damien Sauvage, the newest tenant in the apartment building where he lives.

Damien tells Lyle that he's a waiter, and when Lyle confides in him that he thinks he's being stalked, Damien offers to help find out who it is. What he neglects to tell Lyle is he actually works for Radclyffe, who wants him to protect Lyle from a very powerful enemy.

As Damien gains Lyle's confidence, he becomes attracted to the younger man -- an attraction that Lyle reciprocates. He fights his feelings, knowing Lyle will hate him when he finds out his secret -- and even more so when he learns what Damien really is.

Radclyffe orders Damien to continue the job, as he has a secret of his own involving Lyle. A secret that cannot be revealed until the night of the party.

Can Lyle survive what is to come, or will the lies of omission be the death of him -- or worse?

EXCERPT:

When they arrived at the apartment building, Damien drove slowly around the block before entering the parking garage. He didn't see anything or anyone who piqued his interest, and said so to Lyle.

He was equally as observant when they walked from his car to the elevator, and made it a point to get off first when they reached their floor. He gestured for Lyle to wait while he scanned the hallway in both directions, and again when they got to the turn leading to Lyle's apartment.

"Your place or mine?" he asked when he had determined no one was hiding in wait for Lyle.

"Your choice."

"Then your apartment."

Lyle gave a nod, went down to it and unlocked the door. He was about to go in when Damien put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Might as well go the whole nine-yards," Damien told him under his breath before entering. A fast survey let him know no one was there, so he beckoned for Lyle to join him, saying, "I could do with some coffee."

"Me, too." Lyle went into the kitchen to fill and turn on the coffeemaker while Damien leaned against the doorway. "You can come in." Lyle gave him a shy smile.

"I know." Deciding it might be better to talk in there than the living room, Damien took a seat at the small table in one corner.

When the coffee was ready, Lyle poured it into two cups, brought them over, and sat as well. "Okay, as I've said more than once, there's no reason why someone should be stalking me, especially a woman unless you're right and she's helping someone else. The problem is, why would whoever it is bring in another person?"

"You're asking me?" Damien flashed him a brief grin. "It's pretty obvious, though, that someone is interested in you."

"Yeah, although I wish it had only been my imagination. That I could deal with. This ..." Lyle shook his head in obvious frustration.

"I wish I was off tomorrow and Monday. Then we could hang out together and see if she or the other person puts in another appearance. Not that the other one has, so far. That we know of, at least."

Lyle chortled. "Too bad you aren't. You could help me lug my groceries to my car and then up here."

"I'm not certain it's safe for you to go shopping," Damien retorted.

"Come on. They haven't done anything more than watch me, and I'll be out in public in broad daylight. Hell, if they planned on grabbing me for some reason, they they've had ample chances to do that already."

Damien had to admit he was right. I need to find out from Radclyffe who 'they' are and why they haven't taken Lyle already. Okay, that last could be because he hasn't come into his powers and won't until his birthday, but why wait until then to kidnap him? Boss, you and I are in for a long talk, I think.

Lyle sipped his coffee. From his expression he wanted to say something but wasn't certain he should. Then he blurted out, "Are you really a waiter? You seem to know an awful lot of things a detective would."

"Trust me, I spend half my time waiting," Damien replied. The truth, although not the way he knew Lyle would take it. "You can call my boss if you want."

"No." Lyle shook his head sharply. "If you say you are I believe you, although ... Maybe sometime in the past you worked for a detective agency?"

"Nope. I had an uncle who did. I probably picked up some ideas on what to do from listening to him tell stories about it."

"Okay, that makes sense."

Before Lyle could probe anymore, or get back to who was interested in him, Damien said, "I hate to spoil the party but unlike you, I have to work tomorrow. The boss wouldn't be too happy if I fell asleep on the job."

Laughing, Lyle agreed he probably wouldn't. He put their cups in the sink and then walked with Damien to the door.

"You be careful," Damien said. "I know you don't think you need to worry during the day, but still, keep your eyes open and if you feel threatened at all, head to the nearest group of people. You don't have to tell them what's going on but being with others should keep your stalker from doing anything."

"Got it. I promise I'll be hyper aware."

"Good. Okay, I'll check in when I get home tomorrow night."

"I'll be here." Lyle's expression was rueful.

"If you're not, I'm sending out the bloodhounds," Damien teased.

"Yuck. Slobber." Lyle gave a mock shudder of distaste.

Laughing, Damien said "Goodnight," and returned to his apartment.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 25

 

"Looks like I'm interrupting something," a low, female voice said, her words tinged with laughter.

"Yep," Luca replied, not in the least fazed as he turned to look at her. "You must be Orchid."

"That would be me." She was petite, maybe five-two at best, with unbelievably bright orchid-colored hair and eyes to match.

"What the hell kind of wolf are you?" I asked in disbelief.

She grinned. "I'm not a wolf, but I am a canid. A fox, to be exact. The coloring? Dye and contacts."

"Jeez. Okay. Did Rocky tell you what we need?"

"Other than my skills? Nope. So, lay it on me."

We did. When we finished, she nodded, saying to Luca, "Give me an image. And don't go anywhere. I want to find you when I'm done."

"Hang on," I replied. "We're not spending the rest of the night in this alley."

She glanced at Luca. "You got a safe place to stay? And do you trust me enough to show me?"

"Rocky trusts you, so yeah, sure," he replied. They stared at each other for a long second, then she vanished. We left the alley right after her, ending up back at Luca's hideout.

I started toward one of the chairs, only to find Luca in front of me. I had no illusions why, so I wasn't the least surprised when he said, "Let's finish what we started behind the bar."

That was fine with me. I was still wound up from our visit to Farnham's house. Like the previous night, the sex was good. We seemed to mesh well on that level. The only fly in the ointment was the fact I kept expecting Orchid to drop in at any minute, wanting to know if she was interrupting something. Thankfully, she didn't. In fact, she didn't show until around four in the morning.

Luca and I were asleep when there was a knock on the bedroom door. We both shot up, ready to take on whomever, until Luca said, "It's her. It's safe."

We dressed quickly then went into the living room to find her seated in one of the chairs, smirking at us.

"Don't say it. Because you didn't. Interrupt us, that is," I said.

She laughed. "I know." Then she sobered. "I found a lot of information. Photographed it all, so he won't know I got into the safe. Do you have a computer here?"

Luca got his laptop so she could download what she'd gotten. Then we read through it. We found out which of the mayoral candidates was Farnham's stooge, a man by the name of Dexter Tipton, who was on the city planning commission. A good start, as far as I was concerned. There was also a list of humans who were working with Farnham. Some of them were, shall we say, less than savory types. Small-time gangsters, to be exact.

"What do you want to bet he's convinced them they'll get a share of the pie when he takes over the city," Luca said.

"They'd be stupid to believe him," Orchid said, rolling her eyes. "But then, most punks are just that, so I'm betting you're right, Luca."

There were two damning reports on the incumbent mayor that I had the feeling Farnham planned on releasing when it got closer to Election Day.

"I wonder how much truth there is in them?" Luca said pensively.

"Probably fifty-fifty. I suspect it wouldn't be that hard to come up with things that look like the truth. If Farnham waits until the last minute, the mayor won't have time to refute them."

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way – 24

It seemed like an eternity before Luca returned.

"The downstairs' light is the kitchen. The upstairs' ones are for a bedroom the size of a small living room and a hell of a large bathroom off it. Best bet, it's his."

"Anything that says someone's around?" I asked.

"Nope. Oh, and nothing went off when I moved around, so probably no motion sensors."

"We'll still wait. We don't want to be inside when the cops or security company personnel come streaming up the drive because the alarm's silent."

Fifteen minutes later, we figured it was safe to enter. Luca dropped us in the kitchen then we began to explore, using my laser penlight and the illumination coming through the windows from the exterior spotlights. The house was as awesome as the photos in the newspapers had led me to believe. When I make my first million, I might find one like it. Sure. Like one man needs this much house. Apparently Farnham disagreed.

We found his office behind heavy oak doors in the library. It contained a huge desk in the center, bookshelves on one wall, and filing cabinets on another. Luca checked out the computer on the desk, deeming it too well secured for him to be able to access in the time we had. The filing cabinets were locked, which wasn't a problem since I'd brought along my lockpicks. I skimmed through the folders, using my penlight, looking for anything that would help us bring Farnham down. Nothing. But then the guy wasn't stupid—unfortunately.

I closed the last drawer then turned to find Luca studying the paneled wainscoting below the bookshelves. It matched what went around the rest of the room, even under the windows.

"Something?" I murmured, joining him.

"Maybe." He knelt, running his fingertips up the edge of one of the panels. "Got you," he whispered as the panel slid to one side. "Now all we need is a safecracker to get into this." This was a safe with a recessed keypad in the middle of the steel door. Not something I had any idea how to bypass.

"And you know one?" I asked hopefully.

"I wish. But…" He slid the panel closed, stood, put his arm around me, then we were in back of The Lycan Den, where Rocky worked.

Luca stayed there while I went in to see if Rocky could get away for a few minutes. He could, since it was Monday and slow, according to him.

He didn't seem all that surprised to see Luca, merely saying, "I figured you'd call him," meaning me, obviously.

"Yeah. We've hooked up to try to stop Farnham, but we ran into a problem." Luca explained about the safe. "I don't suppose, among your list of strange friends, there's one who can get into the safe."

Rocky thought for a minute before nodding. "Orchid." He chuckled. "That's what she calls herself. She's a shifter with what she calls 'mad skills' when it comes to getting into places and things people would rather she didn't. Give me a few to get in touch with her, to see if she's around. She travels a lot."

He went back inside—and we waited. Luca apparently decided the time would best be spent exploring my mouth. While I didn't object in the least, it was frustrating since I wasn't about to take it further in a dark alley. I'm a bed or nowhere kind of guy.

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 23

 

With my workday over, I went home to wait for Luca. I spent the time after eating supper doing more research on Farnham's residence. The photos in several society column articles showed a large house, which I knew from my map search. The living room was two stories tall with windows front and rear and a balcony along two walls that, presumably, led to the second-floor bedrooms. There appeared to be a solarium off the rear of the living room, which overlooked a large, tree-filled back yard.  There was one shot of party-goers in what I thought was a furnished basement with a pool table at one end.

Luca appeared just after eleven. Seconds later we were back at his place. Or, at least, the place where he was hiding out for the time being.

"Tonight?" Luca asked once we'd settled in the living room.

I nodded. "But only to do recon. You can bet your bottom dollar the house is well secured."

"You can get past it?"

"I'm a detective, not a burglar, but then, I don't have to be. You'll teleport us in when the time comes and pray there aren't motion sensors."

"There might be," Luca replied. "He's a shifter, so he knows another shifter can drop in without using a door or window."

"Good point. We'll deal with that, if necessary, when the time comes." I handed him the pictures I'd printed out. One showed the back yard through Farnham's living room windows. I tapped it. "Enough of a visual to get us into the yard?"

"Yep."

"Good. Let's hope he's at the restaurant tonight. If he was there Friday night, I didn't see him."

"He's very hands-on, so he usually puts in some time there every night. Plus, like I said, that's where he meets with his partners in crime—in one of the back dining rooms."

"One way to find out." I called the restaurant, asking to speak to Farnham. Whoever answered asked me to hold on while they went to get him. I hung up. "He's there. Let's pay a visit to his house."

Luca put his arm around my waist. Then we were in the trees behind the house. Security spotlights lit the exterior of the house, but they didn't keep us from seeing that there were lights on in one of the downstairs' rooms, as well as in two on the second floor. "Security precaution?" Luca asked in a whisper, pointing to the second floor.

"Let's hope it's that and not guests or the help."

Sticking to the trees, we checked out both sides of the house. All the windows were dark. The front yard was one long, well-manicured lawn, with a row of trees in front of the bushes on either side. We skirted the edge, looking back at the house. The only light, other than exterior spotlights, was in the entryway.

"Now what?" Luca asked when we returned to the back yard.

"We wait and watch." I pointed to the lighted windows. "If we see someone, anyone, we hold off."

Apparently, Luca didn't like that idea. One minute he was beside me, the next he was gone. I sighed, waiting for someone to raise the alarm when they saw him—because I knew he was inside the house.

 

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 22

I got to the office by ten. A quick check told me no one had been there since I'd left on Saturday. There were messages, however. Two from potential clients, and one from the woman whose husband I'd been tailing, wanting an update. I returned her call, telling her in all honesty that he wasn't seeing another woman. It took a bit of persuasion, but I finally convinced her she'd just be wasting more money keeping me on the case. I promised to send her a final bill and hung up. I might have been totally honest and told her that her husband was involved with another man, but, truthfully, I didn't believe in outing anyone who was gay. At best, it wasn't my business to. At worst, it could endanger them, job-wise and possibly literally, given the current political climate.

Then there was the message from Farnham. Put succinctly, it asked why the hell I hadn't found Luca. Little did the bastard know that I had, not that I'd tell him. Instead, I called him back.

"Well," Farnham said coldly, "how close are you to locating Luca?"

"I've checked out all the places where he's known to hang out, and the people who might know where he is—including those at your restaurant, in case no one informed you I was there. If anyone does know his whereabouts, they're not willing to tell me. However, I don't think he's been in contact with anyone. I'm good at reading people."

"I'm sure you are," he replied. "You've talked with shifters, too, I presume."

I wanted to say "No duh" but restrained myself. "Yes, sir, at several of the clubs he frequented. No one has seen him in the last several weeks or heard from him. He's definitely gone to ground." I paused. "I don't suppose you have any idea why."

"I don't think that's what happened," Farnham said. "He has no reason to be hiding out. Something's happened to him. Keep trying, Mr. Warner. That's what I'm paying you for. Speaking of which, email me your bill for last week and I'll have Mr. Bracco bring you the money."

I wasn't certain I wanted to see his bruiser again. To be honest, the guy sort of scared me. He could probably turn me into a human pretzel if he put his mind to it. I didn't say so. I just thanked him, told him I'd keep pursuing leads on Luca, and we hung up.

If Farnham hadn't been on the top of my shit list before, his highhandedness had definitely put him there now.

I called back the two people who were interested in hiring me. One was a woman who wanted me to find her runaway daughter. I set up an appointment with her for eleven-thirty. The other email was from the owner of a small apartment building who wanted me to prove that an ex tenant hadn't been as injured as she'd claimed when she'd slipped on a freshly mopped floor. It was your basic surveillance job, so I took down the particulars, told him I'd email him a contract that he could eSign and send back, as well as paying my retainer via PayPal. As soon as he'd done so, I'd see what I could find out about how badly hurt she'd been—if at all.

The rest of the day went forward as usual. I talked to the woman with the missing daughter, only to have her call me late in the afternoon to tell me said daughter had called to say she'd eloped with her boyfriend. Mama was not happy, but, as she'd said, it was better than all the alternatives she'd imagined.

I ran background checks for a regular client while I waited for the contract and payment from my other new client. They came, and I spent most of the afternoon following the injured—and I use the term loosely—woman around town. For someone who'd claimed she had, only a week ago, dislocated her shoulder and torn her rotor cuff in a fall at the apartment building, she had no problem carrying her groceries into the house after shopping—or in working out at a gym. I took photos and sent them on to my client. A short job, that netted me enough to buy my groceries for the next month.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 21

 

"Can you get online from here? Wait. Don't. We don't want anyone tracking you down because you did."

Luca smiled. "Never underestimate the smarts of a shifter who likes his privacy. I've got that covered."

I didn't know how he could, but I'd take his word for it. Maybe, when this was over, I'd ask.

It took a couple of minutes, then Luca pumped a fist. "Got it. Let's do it."

"Slow down, kid," I replied. "Not tonight."

"Kid?" His eyebrows shot up as he turned off the laptop.

"Right now, I'm feeling very old and tired, so as eager as you are to get going right this minute, you definitely qualify as a kid."

He studied at me. "Exactly how old are you?"

"Exactly thirty-three and seven months."

"Only two years older than me."

I snorted. "I'd guess you haven't seen thirty-one in at least"—I cocked my head—"fifty years?"

Luca laughed. "Forty, but who's counting?" Again, he studied me, a grin quirking up his lips. "I bet you're great in bed."

My jaw dropped. "Say what?"

"You heard me. You're old enough to have some experience under your belt."

With a hard, if amused, shake of my head, I said, "Are you coming on to me? Or just being very nosy?"

"Both? And since you won't let us drop in on Farnham yet, can you think of a better way to spend our time?"

"Actually…" What the hell was I doing, even considering his suggestion? I hadn't been kidding about being tired. I'd been up since three in the morning. It was, best guess, well after seven by now. I should be heading to work, not thinking about what he'd be like in bed. That didn't stop my mind from going there. It had been a long, dry spell for me. "There's a bedroom in this place?"

"No. I thought we'd screw around in front of the fireplace." Setting the laptop down on the floor beside his chair, he got up, and came over to me, putting his hands on the arms of the chair. Leaning in until we were nose to nose, he said, "Kiss me, then tell me you don't want to do it."

I did, and I couldn't—tell him, that is. The kiss sent my libido into the stratosphere. "Which way to the bedroom," I asked huskily.

He took my hand. Seconds later we were standing beside a wide bed, covered with a downy comforter. He stripped it off, then he stripped me. I returned the favor. He was everything I'd thought from the picture I had of him and seeing him in real life—lean and muscular. But then, he was a shifter. I sucked in my gut when his eyes raked over me, making him laugh.

"You don't have to do that," he said, running his hand over my abdomen. "You've got a great body." His hand moved down. "And a pretty impressive cock, for an older man." He winked, stroking it.

From there, things progressed from "holy shit" to "out of this world". Luca was a wonderful, considerate, and very active lover. If I had my druthers, this wouldn't be the last time we ended up in bed.

But all good things have to end. We showered, dressed, then he took me back to my car.

"I'll pick you up tonight?" he asked after I got in.

"Literally?"

He grinned. "Yep. At your apartment. In and out in thirty seconds or less, so be ready."

"Oui, mon capitaine." Slinging an arm around his neck, I pulled him down for a kiss. He returned it with interest, then stepped back and vanished. Neat trick and one I wished I could master, but I didn't have enough shifter blood to even come close.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 20

 

"Okay. Okay. So, our first step is finding out who it is then doing something to stop him. What you recorded won't do that."

"No kidding. Though Farnham must think it will, otherwise, why would he want me out of the picture?" Luca said.

I tapped my fingers together in thought. "Maybe we can use it."

"The recording? How?"

"I haven’t figured that part out yet," I admitted. "If I say I've got it or know what's on it, he'll know I found you. I'd rather not have to deal with the consequences."

"Yeah. He's a bastard. He'd do whatever it takes to get you to tell him where I am."

Curious, I asked, "You know that for a fact?"

Luca nodded. "More or less. One of the shifters who worked as a cook at the restaurant got in a fight with Farnham about his—the guy's—relationship with a human woman. Farnham told him to break it off. The guy said he wouldn't because his private life was none of Farnham's business. They almost came to blows. Two days later he committed suicide. At least, that was what the cops said it was. If Farnham can make that happen, you better believe he'd have no problem forcing you tell him where I'm hiding." He barely smiled. "Not that you can do that."

"Yeah. At which point I'd die wishing I could have. Not how I want my life to end, thank you very much."

Luca sighed. "We're at a dead end, unless we can get more proof about what Farnham's planning. Then we could let the humans know about it. Rumors in the shifter community are just that—rumors. And half of them like the idea of a shifter takeover of the city."

We sat in dismal silence for a long time after he'd said that. I knew stopping Farnham was probably not going to happen. He had too much going for him, including the tacit backing of a lot of the shifters in the city, if Luca was right.

"We could eliminate him," Luca said softly.

"Farnham or his candidate?"

"Farnham."

"If we did, one of the others would just step in to take his place."

Luca smiled grimly. "Not if I was the one who took him out. He's an alpha. Whoever defeats one, then becomes the new alpha."

"Defeats, Luca. Killing him without a fight doesn't count."

Luca's shoulders sagged. "Yeah. And there's no way I could beat him in a fair fight—or even an unfair one."

"Our only option is to get the goods on him. He has to have records somewhere on what he's planning. The steps. The details."

"Good luck with finding them, even if you could get into his office at the club or his house," he said, sounding disgruntled.

"Getting in isn't the problem, with you helping me."

"How would I…" Then he got it. "I've never been to his house."

"He's a bigwig, on lots of committees and what have you. I'd be willing to bet he's held get-togethers there. All we'd need are some pictures, right?"

"Right." Luca began to perk up again.