Siren Unleashed

Chapter Ten

Ben turned, looking at Natalie who sat beside him and wished he could take back the last three hours. There had been a great moment when Nat had laughed and completely accepted them and then she’d shut down. She hadn’t laughed or smiled since he’d set her on her feet.

He’d been trying to figure out what he’d done. Because it had been him. Chase hadn’t said a damn thing. Ben had been the one talking when her body had gone stiff and the day had gone to shit.

“What do you know about Juliet Kirkman?” Chase might not have been talking then, but he was controlling the conversation now.

Nat looked up from studying the menu. She hadn’t been happy about being forced to come into town, but they didn’t want to leave her behind. Not when she’d proven she could easily get away from Logan. Ben had been the one to sit with her while Chase had interviewed employees from the spa. He’d sat there while rerunning background checks, watching her while she pretended to flip through a magazine. “I know she married Stan about ten years ago, and she’s been spitting out kids ever since.”

Chase chuckled, but the last damn thing Ben needed was two Chases to deal with. If this was going to work, he needed to be able to take her places without others wanting to kill her. He frowned Nat’s way. Why was he always playing the bad guy with her? “That’s a bit rude.”

She flushed. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Honestly, I’ve met the oldest two and they’re actually really sweet kids. Juliet is a pain in my ass. Everyone’s really. She seems to think that a massage therapist is really just a whore with a fancy name. She told me I slept with all my clients.”

Chase’s brow furrowed, a sure sign he was getting pissed. “She said that to you?”

Nat shrugged. “She told the paper. I didn’t really know about it because I don’t read the Willow Fork Gazette, but one of the maids brought it into the locker room. Juliet wrote an editorial about how the spa was going to kill traditional marriage and we would all end up married to gays. I don’t think she understands much about the lifestyle. Or what gay marriage means. She literally thinks she’ll be forced to give up her husband and marry a lesbian. I think she might have been talking about Jack Barnes and Sam Fleetwood. She called her future wife her lesbian overlord. But she managed to mention me specifically. I’m a whore who’s attempting to lure all humans with muscular pain into my web. The muscular pain comes from Satan. And so do I, according to Juliet.”

“So she’s a scholar,” Chase mused. He looked up and smiled as his quarry walked out of the kitchens, an apron over her jeans and tight white T-shirt. Christa Wade looked damn good for a woman approaching fifty. She was Abigail Barnes’s best friend, and she owned the café they currently occupied.

She was also the epicenter of gossip in Willow Fork. It had been Chase’s idea to casually interview her. It was Ben’s job to make sure Christa Wade didn’t kill Chase because sometimes his version of casual was just plain rude.

“Hello, welcome to Christa’s Café. You’re Natalie, right? You work out at the spa?” Christa smiled down at Nat. There was nothing in her demeanor that made Ben worry, but the rest of the café he wasn’t so sure about. The minute they had walked in, murmurs started and several of the patrons had openly stared at Nat. Ben had made sure to take the booth in the back and to sit Nat where she couldn’t see that she was the center of attention. But she hadn’t let him herd her against the wall. She’d waited stubbornly until Ben had scooted in.

Nat flushed. “Yeah. I work out there.”

Christa’s smile widened. “Well, I knew it by the hair. You’re the only one in these parts with pink hair. I think it’s cute. You look like Katy Perry. I just love her. I thought about going blue, but my hairdresser shut that right down. Apparently eclectic hair colors are one of the signs of the apocalypse. Like that bright yellow she has on her head is natural looking. I don’t think so.” She stopped herself, her voice slowing down. “I was actually going to call you sometime next week. I have a horrible pain in my lower back. Abby says you’ve really helped Jack out. That man can be a real bear when he’s in pain. Apparently he twisted a couple of vertebrae trying to get Olivia out of a tree. She was rebelling against carrots. She doesn’t like carrots. Sorry. I tend to ramble.”

Ben was counting on her rambling. He needed some information the sheriff didn’t seem capable of giving them. “I’m sure Natalie would love another client.”

“Uhm, I think I’m on leave or something since the last dude died,” Nat whispered his way.

And then Christa just pulled up a chair and sat down, her eyes wide. Ben caught Chase’s self-satisfied smile. He hadn’t been forced to say a word, and the woman didn’t realize she was being interrogated.

“I heard about Stan. I always knew he would come to a bad end.” Her voice was just above a whisper.

“Why a bad end?” Ben asked. It was his job to be the innocent tourist, interested in a little gossip.

Christa took the time to look around. She seemed satisfied no one could hear her. “Well, you know there are rumors about old Stan.”

Ah, rumors. The lifeblood of the private investigator. “No. What kind of rumors?”

Even Nat seemed interested now. She put her menu down and turned toward Christa. “Are you talking about the rumor that he jacks up the prices of his sofas or the one where he’s actually selling stolen goods? Because I’ve heard both.”

So she listened to gossip. She didn’t just sit in her sad little apartment. She was still somewhat interested in what went on around her.

Christa shook her head. “No, hon. Stan put out the rumor about the stolen goods himself. He thought that if people around here believed they were really buying cheap, fell-off-a-truck designer furniture, then they would come in droves. No. His stuff came from just over the border, and let me tell you, he did charge too much for it. I bought a dining room set from him. It lasted two days before it started to wobble. How can a table be perfectly stable one day and then slightly wobbly the next? I don’t understand it. Now it takes two and a half People magazines to get it level.”

Chase growled a little, a sure sign that he was going to take over in a minute and then the whole interview thing would go straight to hell. Chase didn’t do bad cop. He was more like evil cop.

Christa looked at Chase, her brows rising. “Is there something wrong with him?”

Nat took a sip of her water. “I think that’s how he communicates.”

Eyes narrowed, Chase leaned toward Natalie. “I’ll show you how I communicate later, sweetness. Your backside will appreciate my version of Morse code. Benjamin?”

Yep. That was code for get this moving or the big bad wolf would take over. “So what are the rumors about Mr. Kirkman?”

Christa leaned back. “You’re from Julian Lodge, aren’t you?”

Well, she wasn’t a dummy. “Yes, ma’am. Julian prefers to investigate these things on his own rather than relying on local law enforcement entirely. We’re not trying to take over, simply enhance what I’m sure will be a thorough investigation of the matter.”

A booming laugh filled the café. “Well, aren’t you the politic one?” She turned to Chase. “I bet you aren’t. Tell me what you think of our sheriff, handsome.”

Chase didn’t hesitate. “I think he’s a lazy motherfucker who couldn’t find that enormous hat of his even if I shoved it straight up his ass.”

Christa smiled at Nat. “I like him. You should keep him, hon. Wait. Is this one of those crazy threesome things? It happens more often than you would think.”

“Ms. Wade,” Ben said, desperate to get this whole thing back on track. “The rumors?”

She flushed just a bit, and Ben knew this was going to be good. Maybe not true, but damn good. “You know how the spa has certain levels? Like anyone can go to the lobby or the restaurant but you can’t get to level three without the right credentials?”

Level three was the dungeon and the playroom. A guest had to have the right access codes to get in. They had to be vetted carefully before Julian allowed them a membership to his club. “I understand what you’re saying.”

“Well, there are some locals who tried to get in at the resort and couldn’t, so the rumor is they started their own club.”

Now that was very interesting. He’d heard Chris Linwood had vetted some potential members from the community and turned down almost every single one for one reason or another. Most because they offended Julian’s sensibilities. “There’s a private dungeon in Willow Fork?”

Christa nodded. “A couple, really. Jack and Abby and Sam have a whole guesthouse with the craziest stuff in it, but they are very, very private. This isn’t so private from what I hear. They don’t just let anyone in, but there’s a whole bunch of them. I don’t know if it’s the whips and chains stuff, but I think there’s a lot of swinging going on, if you know what I mean.”

Chase huffed, his nose turning up slightly. Ben nodded. They were on the same page. They didn’t swing unless it involved putting a sweet little sub in suspension for some play. They were both far, far too possessive to share their subs, and Chase was deeply picky. “No, we wouldn’t consider those types for club membership. The Club and its subsidiaries tend to encourage relationships between Doms and subs.”

“Well, I don’t think they’re real interested in relationships at this place,” Christa replied. “And it’s maybe not the cleanest place. I heard from Genna Sue who works for Doc Bob that they’ve had three cases of the Hep in the last year.”

Hepatitis. Easily caught from unprotected sex or needles. And Stan, it seemed, had been into both. Ben would really like to get an invite to that little club. “Do you have any idea where this not-so-private club might be found?”

“Out on the interstate, a couple miles past the old Haverford place. But I don’t know exactly what place they’re at. There’s a whole bunch of trailers and buildings out there that no one uses anymore. That’s unincorporated territory, so naturally that’s where the bars are and the triple-X stores, if you know what I mean.”

Oh, yes, Ben knew what she meant. He bet the sheriff never got out that far. It would be a strain on his system to drive out there. Ben cast a look at his brother who seemed to be lost in thought himself.

If Stan was into underground sex clubs and drugs, then Nat might be in deeper than they thought. He couldn’t see Nat being involved in either, but someone wanted to drag her down. The question was, who?

Those drugs had been planted. Even the sad-sack sheriff’s office had done its job and dusted for prints. There had been absolutely nothing on the small bag of pure China White heroin. Nat’s prints had been everywhere else along with the other two techs, but the needle that stuck out of Stan’s back and the drug paraphernalia had been mysteriously wiped clean. It was the only reason Nat wasn’t in jail on drug charges. The sheriff couldn’t prove she was the owner of the drugs.

The bell over the door to the café chimed, and Ben heard a restless murmur go through the crowd.

Christa turned, her face flushing. “Damnation. Sweetheart, maybe you should head out the back.”

Ben turned from his place beside Nat and saw a petite woman dressed in a perfectly pressed business suit. She was polished from head to toe, not a thread of her platinum-blonde hair out of place, but her eyes were red and there was a distinct downturn to her artfully painted mouth.

“Christa Wade? Since when did you start serving whores in this café?”

Fuck a duck. Stan’s wife. No doubt about it. Nat had gone pale, her fair skin turning a chalky white. It was obvious she was scared, but she didn’t reach for him or Chase. She simply sat there, her eyes staring down at the water in front of her, her hands in her lap.

Christa stood. “Don’t you start with that kind of mouth in my house, Juliet. I understand you’ve had a shock, but I won’t put up with it.”

“This place has always been where the trash of the town comes, anyway.” Juliet stalked across the floor, her heels clacking. It was easy to hear her move because there wasn’t another sound in the entire place. Everyone had stopped, not a single person moving a muscle.

“Sweetness, I think it’s probably time we left,” Chase said, his voice a laconic roll. “I think I’ve lost my appetite anyway.”

Nat nodded and started to scoot out of the booth.

Before anyone could move, Juliet bolted across the diner toward Nat. Before Ben could pull her back, Juliet’s hand flashed out, the smack across Nat’s cheek ringing through the café.

“You fucking whore. You got him into that shit. You think I don’t know what goes on there? You think I don’t know about that disgusting club? You ruined him, you piece of filth.”

Nat shrank back, Ben finally able to get her in his arms, but he didn’t have much of a place to go. He put his arms around her, ready to block whatever the insane chick decided to throw next.

Chase stood, his six-foot-four-inch frame seeming larger as he stood over the petite blonde, and Ben prayed he didn’t actually kill the bitch.

“Chase,” a deep voice called out. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t get yourself thrown in jail.”

The whole café seemed to stop at the sound of Jack Barnes’s voice. He stood in the doorway, all six foot four inches of pure muscle blocking out the sun. A well-worn Stetson sat atop his dark hair, and there was a toddler version of himself clinging to his side. Ben searched his mind. Josh. The kid had a hand on his dad’s jeans, but his eyes stared out of his small face, dark like his father’s.

“Why is that lady hurting my Nat?” Josh asked.

Nat sniffled a little, wiping her eyes as she shoved herself out of the booth. “I’m fine, sweetie. Don’t you worry about me.”

Ben followed Nat out because he didn’t give a flying fuck if that woman had just lost her husband. Juliet didn’t get to lay a hand on his sub. He knew he shouldn’t think of her that way. It was too soon, but he couldn’t help it. She was theirs, and they wouldn’t let anyone lay a hand on her. Nat raced around the petite blonde, and Josh let go of his father and actually put his little body between her and Juliet Kirkman.

Yeah, that was Jack Barnes’s kid.

“You okay, Nat?” Barnes asked, his voice low.

She nodded, her hand reaching for Josh’s. “I’m just fine. It was an accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Chase said. His eyes didn’t leave the blonde, and she’d started to get the idea that this was serious.

Juliet’s shoulders squared. “I’m not going to apologize to that piece of…”

“You finish that sentence in front of my son and we’re going to have a serious problem, Mrs. Kirkman,” Jack Barnes swore. “You watch what comes out of that mouth in front of children.”

Juliet turned, her face beet red. “You’re a good one to talk about children, Jack Barnes. You flaunt your perversions in front of everyone. You think you’re such a big man, but you’re going to hell. You just think you can take the rest of us with you, and I won’t allow it. I’ll take you down if it’s the last thing I do.”

The little bell over the café door jingled as she stomped out.

Josh looked back at his dad. “Daddy, I don’t like that girl. She’s mean. We should take Nat home with us.”

Barnes ruffled his kid’s hair. “I think you might be right, buddy, but we’ll have to take those two with us, too. Christa, could you get my to-go order ready? I think we need to take this conversation out to the ranch.”

Nat picked up Josh, letting him hug her. She looked sweet and frail and deeply maternal, the last bit pulling at Ben’s heart, an odd longing taking over.

Chase stared at the door, his voice going low. “Did you notice her shoes?”

Hell yeah he’d noticed. Juliet Kirkman liked stilettos. And she definitely seemed to have a problem with Nat.

“I’ll have Logan dig up everything he can on her.”

Whatever happened, he wanted to keep an eye on Juliet.

Nat sniffled a little as she walked into the ranch house owned by Jack Barnes, his partner, Sam Fleetwood, and their shared wife, Abigail.

It was a place she knew well. She often stayed out here with their two kids, Olivia and Josh, when they travelled or needed a night out. She also made house calls.

Sam Fleetwood’s eyes widened and a big grin crossed his face as he walked in from the kitchen. “Nat! Damn, it’s good to see you. You’re an angel from heaven, darlin’. Did Jack tell you what I did to my shoulder?”

Ranchers, Nat had discovered, were a veritable goldmine for the massage therapist profession. They were always pulling muscles.

“She’s not here to work.” Chase stalked in. He’d been brooding since the moment Juliet had walked into the café.

Nat swallowed down bile. God, how was she going to stay here in this town? Even with all the amenities at the spa, she had to go into town sometime. She couldn’t just stay out there. She wasn’t dumb. She knew how this town worked. Juliet had money and power. If she wanted to, and it seemed like she did, she could make Nat’s life unbearable. Nat had heard the rumors about Abby Barnes’s childhood in this very town. She’d been run out of Willow Fork. She hadn’t been allowed to shop or buy gas because she’d pissed off a powerful family.

“Natalie, sit down.” Chase’s low rumble brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up and he was pointing to a chair, a plush little sofa she’d sat in many times before reading a story to Josh or Olivia. She really did feel a little light-headed. She started to move toward it, but both Ben and Chase took places on the couch. They were really big men, gorgeous bookends with broad shoulders leaving no real room for her. She stopped.

“Sit down, Natalie,” Ben commanded. He patted the seat beside him. “Jack, I think she could use some lunch. We didn’t even get to order.”

Natalie looked around, but then thought better of it. She was a little worried that they would simply pick her up and place her where they wanted her. They seemed to enjoy lifting her up and proving just how freaking strong they were. She wasn’t exactly overweight, but she wasn’t tiny either. But when Ben picked her up and hauled her to his chest, his arms surrounding her, she felt delicate and fragile and more than that, it felt all right to be both because he would take care of her.

It wasn’t a good idea to think like that. Those types of dreams would just get her in trouble. And she didn’t want to get involved with a damn Dom, much less two. She sat between them, attempting to hold herself apart, but their hips touched hers, her legs sliding against theirs, making her wonder what it would be like to be tangled with them.

A big hand reached around, sliding under her hair and cupping the back of her neck. Chase. Heat flashed through her. Another hand, this time Ben’s, found her right knee, settling possessively there.

“Daddy, why are those men touching my Nat like you touch my momma?” Josh asked, his little mouth a firm, stubborn line. Josh had trouble with boundaries. He didn’t have a single issue sharing his toys or his treats. He would give those up in a heartbeat. People were another matter entirely. Josh was deeply possessive and protective of anyone he loved. She’d once watched a three-year-old Josh slug a five-year-old who had thirty pounds and a half a foot on him because the other boy had said something nasty to his sister, Olivia.

Josh had a little crush on Nat. He liked to hold her hand, and once he’d asked if he could marry her when he grew up. Of course, given his family life, she hadn’t been surprised when he’d promised to find them a third, too. Given how her life had been going up until yesterday, she might still be single by the time Josh was old enough to get married and settle on a friend to share a woman with.

She tried to pull away because the last thing she wanted to do was to upset Josh. Two big hands tightened on her.

“Josh, son, I think we should go and have a talk. Why don’t you help me find Benita?” Sam put a hand on Josh’s shoulder and they walked into the kitchen.

Nat turned to her two crazy cavemen while Jack Barnes settled into the seat across from them. “You didn’t have to do that. He’s just a kid.”

Barnes chuckled a little. “I don’t know about that, Nat. Josh is a little precocious to say the least. And he’s sure he’s going to marry you. He’s even talking to little Jared in his preschool class about potentially sharing you one day. Yeah, that was a parent-teacher conference I never expected to have.”

“The kid needs to understand that you’re taken,” Chase said as though he was talking about an actual real adult rival and not a kid who had trouble with tying his shoes. “He needs to learn not to horn in on other men’s women.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Nat shot back. “He’s four.”

Chase shrugged. It seemed to be his go-to move to indicate he didn’t give a shit. Chase shrugged a lot. “He needs a woman closer to his own age. Like a fetus, perhaps.”

Ben smiled, a little uptick of those gorgeous lips. “We’ll give him the number to Dani’s womb.”

“How about you two tell me what kind of trouble Nat’s in? We just got back into town this morning from visiting my daughter. Why the hell was Juliet screaming at Nat?”

Before Nat could reply, Ben was talking. “Her husband was found dead in Nat’s massage room out at the spa.”

Jack leaned back, a thoughtful look in his eyes. He didn’t seem particularly surprised that Stan had met a bad end, but then Jack didn’t put his emotions out there for all to see. The only time she really saw the man get soft was with his wife and kids and Sam Fleetwood. “And now everyone thinks Nat was having an affair with him and potentially killed him. Were drugs involved?”

“Interesting that’s your first question,” Chase said, his hand stroking her neck. He needed to stop doing that. She kind of wanted to lean against him and purr. “What exactly do you know about Stan Kirkman and drugs?”

“I know the rumors, Chase,” Jack replied. “We stay pretty much to ourselves out here. We’re isolated and we like it that way, but I had to fire a ranch hand a few months back because I caught him doing drugs. Word was he’d gotten it out at Kirkman’s warehouse. I didn’t really investigate. Just called Stan to let him know he had some trouble.”

Yeah, Nat could hear that conversation. It would have been a deeply unsubtle threat to clean his shit up or have Jack on his ass. “Was it heroin?”

The thought of all those drugs sitting there just waiting to be pinned on her made her nervous. Someone had tried to frame her for murder. It was unreal.

A slight shake of his dark head indicated a no. “Meth. It’s easily made right here in the sticks. It’s the redneck drug of choice.”

“Do you think Stan was dealing?” Ben asked.

“I think if he wasn’t, he knew what was happening and probably took a kickback. I don’t buy that his furniture store is doing that well. Juliet is driving a new BMW and Stan had just ordered a Porsche, but I’ve heard that sales were down. They’re either leveraged to the hilt or Stan has some other form of income.”

“Possibly a little of both. I think Juliet wants people to believe she’s doing better than she is. The tag was still attached to her designer suit and the $12,000 Chanel watch she was wearing was a fake,” Chase said.

“How on earth could you tell?” The whole event had occurred so fast she didn’t even remember what color Juliet’s suit had been much less that she’d been wearing an expensive watch.

“I noticed the watch when she smacked you, sweetness,” Chase answered in a grave monotone. “Trust me, that sight is burned into my brain.”

“And you know a lot about designer watches?” Jack asked.

Ben took that one. “Chase has a photographic memory. We worked a smuggling case for a designer a few years back. He studied designer clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Trust me. He can spot a fake from a hundred yards away.”

“Christa was talking about an underground club. Have you heard anything?” Chase asked, obviously dismissing the whole photographic memory thing.

A fierce frown crossed Jack’s face. “Yes, I have. It’s one of the reasons we just got back from Deer Run. I wanted to talk to my brother about how to shut that shit down. He actually told me to call you two in. Lucas knows how our sheriff works. If we don’t have a ton of evidence, I don’t think the sheriff will even investigate. I was going to call Julian to see if he would loan you two out.”

Ben’s hand moved on her leg as he sat up. “Why are you so worried about this, Jack? Aren’t you being a little hypocritical? The Club, for all its elegance, is really nothing but a more opulent underground sex club.”

“The Club doesn’t have missing girls,” Jack stated flatly.

Oh, crap. She’d heard some rumors. There was a young college girl who had supposedly gone out to meet friends and never returned. “You’re talking about Michelle Nelson.”

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face, a weary gesture. “Her uncle is one of my hands. He says she’s gotten involved in some nasty stuff these last few months, but he doesn’t think she would run off. That’s the explanation the sheriff is pushing. Another girl named Hannah Wells is missing, too. Now it was well known that Hannah was into meth. I think that little club is running drugs and Stan was involved. I can’t get into the club. No one will even talk to me about it. I’ve managed to figure out that to get an invitation you need to see a man at a bar, but they shut down the minute I walk in the door. I don’t even know if I’ve found the right one. They’ve started popping up all over the unincorporated parts of the county in the last couple of years.”

“You are a little intimidating,” Chase said. “You’re kind of worse than the law around these parts. It’s not so surprising that they don’t want you around. The question is just how secret is this club?”

“No one will talk about it. If it’s anything like other clubs, it’s likely easier to get in if you bring a submissive female with you,” Jack said.

Nat went cold. She knew where this was going. She’d been around long enough to know that submissive females were prized in the BDSM world. Ben or Chase would have to go into that club and they would need a female with them. They would need an experienced submissive.

Ben stood, pacing. “I’ll call Julian. He can send someone down.”

Chase’s hand stroked the back of her neck, a soothing sensation. She could feel him trying to settle her down because she just knew he’d already accepted what Ben had not. “And who will he send, brother? Tara? Darin won’t let her go. Marcy has a new Dom. She won’t leave him. Those are the only two I would even dare to take undercover with me.”

Ben’s face fell. “Kitten?”

That wasn’t going to happen. “Kitten would just as likely walk off with the drug dealer if he promised her spankings. That would be a disaster. Someone at the spa likely killed Stan. With all the locks and protocols, I would be very surprised if someone just happened to walk in off the street and managed to find the right room and killed Stan with no one seeing him or her. If there’s a connection between the underground club and the spa, then you need someone from the spa to go in with you, but she would have to be in disguise. And you have to keep it perfectly quiet or you’ll tip someone off.”

“But Ben and Chase have been seen around the resort,” Jack pointed out.

“I barely put in an appearance last night before my little sweetness here sent me straight to the back of the bar. I only talked to Logan, Kitten, and the brat, besides the waitress,” Chase said.

“How did I send you to the bar?” Nat asked.

His hand slid down her spine, causing her to shiver. “You drove me to drink because you’re all damaged and shit, and I couldn’t just do what I wanted with you.”

He never prevaricated. She knew she shouldn’t ask, but it just came out. She was so much more impulsive around him. “What did you want to do?”

“I wanted to put you on your back and fuck you so hard everyone in that damn dungeon would know that you’re my little bit of sugar.” He frowned. “It wouldn’t have helped me. Ben wasn’t in the dungeon at the time. He would still have tried to take my treat.”

He was back on that again? God, she couldn’t take another fight. She needed to talk to them, to tell them she wasn’t going to choose.

Ben winked her way. “I didn’t try, brother. I got that treat. I’ll get it again.”

“Not until I’ve had a taste. I demand equal time.”

“Done.”

Nat felt her mouth drop open. That didn’t sound like fighting. It sounded like negotiations.

“Can you two figure out who gets fun time with your girlfriend later? Has anyone thought about the fact that Nat hasn’t bottomed in years?” Jack asked. “She might not be able to.”

“I can do it.” The words came out on a whisper. Yeah, that wasn’t going to make anyone believe her. But someone had tried to frame her, and she wasn’t going to sit idly by. Gretchen was too weak. She would never send Gretchen or Kitten in. The other subs were either from the area or knew a lot of people. She didn’t get to town often, and she doubted if anyone would recognize her the minute she put on a wig and covered up her hair. She was perfect.

And she wouldn’t let Ben and Chase go in without her. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t going to stay with them, that she couldn’t stay with them long term. She couldn’t stand the thought of them being in danger.

“I can do it.” She sounded stronger this time. “But we might need to practice a little.”