The Mercenary Read online

  Jodie could hear the argument start as Rufus closed the door behind her. Danny might have had stealth, but Rufus had brute strength. If he didn’t want Danny to leave, Danny would have a very dicult time going anywhere. Hurrying down the hallway and letting herself out, Jodie climbed back into Eddie’s SUV and roared off.

  Chapter 13

  Jodie sat at the dining table for the next four hours. Several cups of coffee passed her lips and still she sat there. She didn’t want to go to bed and she didn’t want to go anywhere else.

  Hating that she’d ended up alone but unwilling to bother anyone at this late hour, Jodie became disturbed by her mood. She just couldn’t seem to shake it. Despite her caffeine levels she fell asleep, awakened at 8:00 am by a knock on the door.

  Easing out of the chair, Jodie gave a groan, regretting the choice of bed as her back protested. Opening the door, Jodie found Eddie standing on the porch. That would probably be because I still have his car.

  “I had planned to apologize for the early hour, but it seems as though you haven’t been to bed,” he commented, scratching the back of his head, a hand shoved in one pocket.

  “I fell asleep at the table,” she said and gestured towards the living room. Eddie stepped in and made his way to the couch.

  “I really expected to find you at our place,” his unreadable tone confused Jodie and she couldn’t decide how much of an explanation to offer. Before she came to any conclusion, he kept right on going. “Then when you weren’t there, I got ready to kick Danny’s ass. Rufus told me you ran off in tears, are you all right?”

  It should have been Danny coming to check on her, though it was her own fault that he hadn’t. If not for the bad case of hysterics as she left, Rufus would never have held him back. Jodie felt so confused. She wanted Danny more than anything, and yet still felt compelled to push him away.

  “I’m okay; sorry I took your car home.”

  “It’s all right babe, don’t stress.”

  “I should make coffee,” Jodie decided. “Do you drink coffee? Everybody drinks coffee right?”

  “Whatever,” he said, distracted as he followed her to the kitchen. “Listen, I’d hate to see things go south between you and Danny. You guys would be really great together. There’s a lot you don’t know yet and I really think you ought to give him a chance.”

  “That’s the problem.” She sighed in frustration. “There is so much that doesn’t make sense. If he wants me to play by his rules, then he has to give me more. I hardly know anything about him; I don’t even know his phone number! He either trusts me or he doesn’t, it isn’t fair that I only know half the story.” The words started coming out in a jumbled rush.

  “It isn’t his story to tell,” Eddie said softly.

  “I don’t believe that for a second! Luke and I are so much a part of this that I don’t know where Danny’s job ends and our personal life begins.” Wringing her hands and getting worked up; Jodie became so tense it felt as though she might explode. “There are some very important pieces missing from this puzzle and I can’t take a single step further until I know what they are.”

  “I get that,” Eddie nodded. He seemed to notice that Jodie’s capabilities didn’t extend to making drinks and freaking out at the same time, so he took over and began spooning the coffee. “It’s just so complicated Jodie, we aren’t sure you’re ready to know some of this stuff,” his voice came out on an exhale as he poured in the boiling water.

  “We? You talk about me behind my back? I’m not some little kid. I’m a grown woman capable of making up my own mind.”

  Jodie’s hands trembled as she picked up the cup and took a sip. Eddie made fantastic coffee, which was fortunate since she needed it so much. He sat down opposite her, his own cup yet to be touched. Jodie could see that he contemplated what he should or should not tell her. That just made everything even more annoying.

  “Just tell me one thing Eddie, did they send Danny to kill Luke?”

  “No!” Eddie responded in an instant, with such unmistakable distaste, that Jodie knew he spoke the truth. “I can’t tell you everything, but I will tell you what I can.”

  “Thank you,” she said, grateful that he would at least try.

  Like Danny, Eddie had the ability to remain calm and relaxed despite the level of distress she displayed. “Danny intended to bring in the shifter who had been dating Mara, and in the process, met Luke. Danny is the reason Mara panicked and disappeared. Luke got it into his head that Danny had come for him, but Mara knew why he was there. Everyone knows Danny in our circles.

  “What Luke didn’t seem to realize, is that killing is a last resort. Our employers can’t always protect us and turn a blind eye if we break the law, especially if it’s done while we’re human. So we have to be really careful how we handle these kinds of situations. Danny and I tried to help Luke, but he wouldn’t have any part of it. That all got even more complicated after our boss learned about him. I hope Danny will tell you that story sometime. There is more to it, but we can’t talk about it yet.”

  Eddie took a long drink from the cup and combed a hand through his hair before clearing his throat to continue. “The bottom line is that Luke knows exactly who we are and what we do, which is why he doesn’t like us. He’s convinced that we’re responsible for everything wrong in his life. It’s not true of course, but there are so many rumors about us out there. The guy needed to blame someone for his misery and we’re easy targets.”

  There were still so many gaps, though she could rest easy now that Danny hadn’t ever planned to kill her brother. The aching relief in her heart told Jodie she could never have accepted that. Her brow furrowed as she realized the number of outstanding questions. The more I learn about Danny’s world, the more there seems to be that I don’t know. Every time she thought she neared a complete picture, a whole new area would open up.

  “Did you know Luke before he became a Lycan?” Jodie asked.

  “Yes,” Eddie confirmed. “I don’t know if I should be telling you, but Mara is one of our informants and also a Lycan. We’ve been following her for years. She likes the bad boys and often leads us straight to the people we need to bring in.”

  “Mara’s a pig? Then Luke must have caught it off her!”

  “No. Mara isn’t a pig, she’s a wolf. The guy who turned her is someone we had to eliminate, but that was before she had kids.” He waited for the information to sink in.

  “So you mean that Grace and Rose are going to be wolves too?” Her mouth went dry and the air threatened to stifle her.

  “Yes. You have a few years before you have to worry about that. Born Lycans won’t change until puberty and Therians have to be taught.” Eddie assured her. A strange look passed over his face. Jodie could have sworn that he had planned to say more, but stopped himself abruptly. What had he almost said?

  Eddie’s words didn’t offer much assurance. Though Jodie had learned a lot, even more pieces seemed missing from the puzzle now. A headache had begun to take residence. How would she ever wrap her head around any of this if the questions kept coming faster than anyone wanted to provide answers?

  She didn’t want the girls to be Lycans. Everything had already got so damned complicated. Why couldn’t everything just slow down? Oh God, what else weren’t they telling her? Jodie had a feeling a substantial amount of coffee lurked on the horizon.

  Once Jodie got over the initial shock, one thing stood out in her mind. If Mara had been a wolf all that time, why hadn’t Luke become one too? Eddie had great patience and answered almost every question Jodie threw at him. She learned more in the hour and a half with Eddie, than in the whole time she’d known Danny. He explained that while getting scratched, clawed or bitten transmitted the Lycanthropy virus from person to person, it had to happen when the Lycan was in animal form. Luke and Mara had obviously never been together while she took wolf form, so he’d never caught it.

  The guy who had turned Luke had been someone dating Mara. When sh
e moved on to the next affair, he took out his frustrations on Luke. From what Eddie knew, it sounded as though Mara had a lot more than four affairs. It made Jodie question whether Grace and Rose were actually Luke’s kids. Paternity tests could be done, but Jodie didn’t think that she wanted to open that can of worms; Luke had enough to deal with.

  After a fresh round of coffee, Jodie asked Eddie how long he and Danny had been working together and he told her eight years. That’s a long time, no wonder they seem so close. Working and living together for that long, they’ll be like brothers.

  According to Eddie, their little unit had been created just after Danny moved to New Zealand. He’d been specially brought in along with the Kodiak bear that Eddie spoke of, Mark Dion.

  Danny and Mark had never met prior to coming to Redcliffe though they’d heard of one another. They were both the best available at the time to begin the new shifter law enforcement regime.

  New Zealand was different to many of the larger countries. There were very few native Therians and the balance of Therians to Lycans grossly disproportionate. The Lycan population in this country had become substantial. Rumor suggested it the place to go if you were in hiding, on the run, or a rogue shifter looking for somewhere to settle down. Before Danny and Mark recruited, the justice system for shifters hadn’t been implemented at all. Now desperate, the government fought to get things under control.

  Danny’s boss had personally assembled the Urewera Unit. Eddie, Rufus and Jarvis trained to work alongside Danny and Mark. After two years, the government could see the Unit’s great success. They added Adam, Leon and one other shifter, while other units formed nationwide. There were no Lycans chosen for any of the units, being Therian a mandatory requirement.

  Once Danny’s unit was no longer the only one, they moved to a problem area. They’d lived in Redcliffe and the surrounding area for the past six years, their zone one of the most expansive in the country. The Urewera zone also boasted the largest diversity of Lycans and Therians.

  A team in Auckland, which Eddie referred to as ‘Head

  Office’, monitored the shifter activity around New Zealand. They worked in conjunction with International Shifter Information and Control, otherwise known as ISIC, to protect the rights of both shifters and humans. They were the ones to which each unit reported.

  Danny and Mark knew the team well. They had both trained under Captain Lancaster before immigrating. Lancaster handpicked all the units, but none of the others became his personal protégés as Danny and Mark were. He had placed them in Jodie’s region because he knew they would not let him down. Danny and Mark were experts in their field. They were given a lot more breathing space to get the job done, and could voice their opinions, knowing that Lancaster would listen.

  A part of Jodie wondered if Eddie had tried to elevate Danny up onto a platform to dispel her anger and frustration, but she quickly quashed that theory. In her heart, she had no doubt that Danny probably was ‘that good’. There had to be a reason that she had heard this from Eddie. It seemed a lot to take in but none of it information she couldn’t handle. Why had Danny chosen to let her walk away instead of telling her himself? What else are they keeping from me?

  Jodie hugged Eddie and thanked him for their talk, appreciating it more than he would ever know. She spent the rest of the day mulling it over. Knowing just a little bit more about Danny and his life made her less afraid, made her want to trust him. She wanted to let go of her inhibitions and knew that if she did, she really would fall head over heels in love with the guy. Jodie wasn’t prepared to do that, not yet. She needed to know why he kept hiding things from her.

  It felt as though something important rested on the tip of Eddie’s tongue, that they didn’t want her to know. Something vital that would ultimately explain everything. Eddie had told her so much, but there had been times where he’d said he could say no more. Then he would begin a new subject. Are they trying to protect me from something? Would it potentially devastate her, or could it be more ominous than that? What if they were trying to conceal something about themselves? If that proved true, how could she trust them at all? Jodie concluded that she’d overthought things, still no closer to resolving things with Danny.

  Zach arrived home in a great mood later in the day, eager to tell Jodie his sports team had placed second. Allowing him talk about his trip, Jodie decided it felt great to absorb something normal and not have to try to comprehend the situation with the shifters. She put on a happy smile and tried to suppress the panic over everything else that went on in the confines of her mind.

  Tuesday Jodie decided to go into the oce. Even though she had approval to work from home for another week, she needed to get out of the house. She’d stayed home Monday but struggled to keep Danny out of her thoughts. It would help to have familiar routines back in place and colleagues around her.

  Though Matt appeared surprised to see Jodie, he trusted her judgment. The colleagues all clustered around to ‘ooh’ and ‘Ahhh’ over the scar on her temple, expressing both concern and relief that she would make a full recovery. People brought her files and coffee, making it so that Jodie barely had to leave her desk all morning. She’d never been seriously injured before. It felt strange to have so many people fussing over her at once.

  Lunchtime had almost arrived by the time Jodie finally got her set of articles ready to submit. She had a couple of formatting issues that Matt needed to approve, but as she prepared to get out of the chair, Jodie noticed that he had someone in his office. Muttering silent curses, she really didn’t want to be delayed. No matter how easy a morning she’d had, Jodie was starving. She found things to keep herself busy and kept an eye on his closed door. When at last it opened Jodie stared in amazement as Danny emerged, the last person she expected to see at work. Cherie at the next desk leaned over to say something.

  “Oh wow that’s the bartender from The Furnace! He’s such a spunk, don’t you think?” She hissed, seemingly awestruck.

  Jodie wondered how someone who always went to Jive knew the staff at The Furnace, but it soon gave way to panic when she realized Danny was heading their way.

  “He’s coming over here,” Cherie squeaked.

  Walking right up to Jodie’s desk Danny perched himself on the edge. “Good morning gorgeous.” He smiled, flashing twin dimples and crossing both arms over his chest.

  Though her body felt more than pleased to see him, Jodie’s brain did not. How dare he come to my place of work acting all dreamy and charming! Even as those last few words passed through her mind, Jodie had already started checking him out, and not in any discreet way either. His dark blue jeans paired with the pale-grey and blue striped shirt were a great color on him, making his eyes even brighter. Jodie knew she’d started staring, her anger rapidly evaporating.

  “I’m here to take you to lunch,” he announced.

  Cherie’s jaw hit the floor. Ignoring her gawking colleague, Jodie dared to look at Danny and kept her tone clipped, “I’m really busy.”

  “I know, that’s why I checked with Matt first. He said since it’s the first day back and you don’t want to overdo it, some fresh air would be a great idea. He even said I could keep you an extra half hour. He’ll talk with you about your article later.”

  “Great!” Jodie feigned joy and forced a smile, so much for keeping my mind off him today.

  Danny pulled Jodie to her feet, sliding his arm around her waist. All she wanted to do was get it over with, but he seemed intent on taking his time. Resting a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face up toward his and kissed her. Though relatively short, it filled her with the promise of all the passion they had yet to share. It didn’t escape the notice of a single person in the room and several whooped loudly. Oh wonderful. The rest of the afternoon is going to be a nightmare now. Not wanting to make an even bigger scene, Jodie collected her handbag and allowed him to escort her from the building.

  Once they were outside, Danny drew her even closer, his arm sti
ll firmly around her body. Jodie suspected that he feared she would try to run. He’d parked right outside the newspaper office, so she didn’t have time to think about being restrained. Opening the front passenger door, he helped her climb inside. Does he have to be such a gentleman? Jodie struggled to retain her firm resolve.

  They drove to The Heads and Danny parked the car. His choice of location only served to irritate her further. He couldn’t have known the significance the place held for her, so it wasn’t his fault, but she wished he had taken her someplace else.

  “Do you want to have a picnic, or would you rather talk first?”

  Eying him with skepticism, Jodie pursed her lips together. “That depends on what you want to talk about.

  “Well we can start by you giving me your cell phone so that I can input my details for you. I’ll also give you your own house key, though someone will still have to open the second door for you.”

  “You talked to Eddie,” she whispered, doing as he asked. He sat there pressing buttons for a few minutes, then handed the phone back along with a key. A moment of awkwardness, but it didn’t last long as he began to speak.

  “I was born near Grindelwald in Switzerland and I speak five languages. I am the youngest of six children. My parents didn’t want six children, but the five before me were all girls and my father wanted a son. He expected more from me than I had to give; therefore, I walked away from that life. When I first left Europe, I translated my name into an English variant to blend in, becoming Daniel Henry Archer. I also spent hours with a voice coach to lose my accent and pass myself off as British.

  “In England, I went through a grueling training regime for two years. During this time, I learned a variety of Martial Arts, combat skills, and learned about the differences between human and shifter behavior. It’s nothing like being in the army or the police force. I’m not even sure I could explain it in a way that you would understand. There would be no going back once you started. You either found a way to cope with what they expected of you, or died trying. It turned out to be much much more dicult than what my father had asked of me, but I also learned more about myself than I ever would have done if I’d stayed in Switzerland. Lancaster showed respect for my achievements. That alone kept me going.