The Blackwater Chronicles: Lex & Lawe

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lawe paced outside Blythe’s house. He felt nauseated and cranky and he knew why. His mate was in pain and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Not that he couldn’t fix the problem, but she wouldn’t let him fix it. Whatever Lex was doing inside Blythe’s house was only making things worse. Finally fed up, he started toward the door determined to make her see reason, but just before he reached it she came bursting out. He could smell her anger and frustration as he rushed to hide behind a nearby car.

“You promise to rest on the way?” Blythe asked.

“Don’t you start too; I’m not a child that needs a nap every ten minutes.” Lex snapped.

“If you don’t promise to rest, we don’t go,” Blythe said stopping halfway to the car. She glanced toward Lawe’s hiding place and he smiled. She’d seen him, but he wasn’t really concerned with her seeing him. “It’s a three hour drive from here to Trenton; by the time we get there it will be dark. There’s no reason for you not to rest.”

“Fine,” Lex said, Lawe smiled. If there was one word, other than cat, to describe Blythe it would be tenacious. The cat was smart enough to get two messages to him and not make it obvious. He watched as they got into her small convertible, she like most Ferals didn’t like enclosed spaces, and then they were gone. He had to move fast, so he quickly walked down the street and to the garage and burst through the door. The moment Karik and Duane saw him they were both concerned. He looked pale and he was sweating as though he’d run a marathon.

“What’s wrong?” Karik asked before Duane could ask where Lex was. The pup showing too much concern would really set Lawe off.

“Blythe is taking her back to Trenton to get whatever evidence Lex has. We have to follow them,” he said leaning against the door. He’d never been this tired, but he knew it was probably three times worse for Lex and she was still pulling through enough to fight with Blythe. Weak? Not his mate.

“Why would you let her do that?” Duane asked. Lawe was on him in less than a second pinning him against the wall by his neck.

“She tried to sneak out and Blythe intercepted her. Don’t ever question my decisions when it comes to what’s mine,” he snarled. Duane averted his eyes from Lawe’s and stared at his shoulder in submission.  “Now, I need you to take us to the garage we can’t afford to miss the welcoming party.” Duane rushed out the door to his car while Karik stopped Lawe halfway to the door.

“What the hell is going on with you?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Lawe said honestly. “I just know that Lex is in danger and in pain. We have to get to the garage.” Karik nodded knowing all too well the feeling. He was the only one who knew what it was like to be mated. He still felt the connection sometimes, that same nausea that he knew Lawe was feeling, but his mate had died a long time ago.

“Maybe you should stay,” Karik stopped hearing the low growl coming from Lawe. He’d have felt the same way if his mate was in trouble. “Fair enough, you come, but you rest on the way. I can’t have you going off the handle and we’re taking Zeph with us.” He didn’t wait for Lawe to say anything but started toward the door dialing Zeph’s phone number. He knew Lawe wasn’t in the best shape, but he couldn’t keep the man from his mate either. He quickly explained things to Zeph and jumped into the waiting SUV while Lawe jumped into the back. They pulled in front of his office and Zeph ran out and climbed in carrying a bag of weapons that he hoped they wouldn’t have to use. He looked at Lawe but kept his mouth closed. He could only pray he would never be in this position.

“So what’s the plan here?” Zeph finally asked as they left Blackwater’s town limits.

“Lex gets the evidence, I get Lex,” Lawe said leaning back and closing his eyes. He knew he needed to rest, a tired solder wasn’t worth the bullet that would kill him. At least that’s what they’d been taught in the labs.

“Duane, what do you know about the guys that killed her brother.” Zeph asked knowing that Lawe would be able to rest if he took over.

“They were hired thugs, nothing more. Jamison shouldn’t have gone to meet them alone…”

“How do you know he was alone?” Lawe asked.

“Because Jamison was too trusting, I mean the very first night I met him he let me move in with him and his sister. He didn’t do much to watch their backs…”

“Sorry Pup, but I don’t think anyone would be afraid of you,” Zeph said.

“Whatever pussycat,” Duane said. “Jamison was only overprotective of Lex when his business partner, Sinclair Darden, was around. He’d send her out for stuff at the store before his visits.”

“The other night you said he came around regularly?” Karik asked.

“He came to look at the books. He thought that Jamison was skimming money off the top, so he insisted on doing the books himself. Lex started looking over them. She thought that if he was suspicious of Jamie they should be suspicious of him. Shit…Jamison didn’t find anything Lex found it…”

“That’s what she meant when she said that she'd killed him. Dammit she told Jamison and he confronted his partner and then his partner killed him and went after Lex but why go after Lex?” Lawe asked. “From what you’ve told me about her brother there’s no way in hell he would tell them that she found anything.”

“And what the hell did she find that would get Sinclair in a snit?” Duane asked.

“Let’s start with the obvious what does Sinclair do?” Karik asked.

“He invests in small businesses as a silent partner, all the gains with none of the work. Every once in a while one of his businesses gets extra attention. Over the past year and a half the garage has been his pet project. Jamison started that garage so that he could take care of Lex when their parents died. Sinclair loaned him half the start up money and let Jamie run it. Half the businesses on this block have gotten help from Sinclair and everyone knows if you cross him your luck suddenly runs out.”

“How did he pull that off?” Zeph asked.

“Well it could be something small like a customer claiming to have seen a mouse. The health department shows, finds every violation you’ve got and shuts you down. Or something like what happened to Jamie.”

“That still leaves the question about Lex,” Lawe said.

“As far as I know Jamie has done everything in his power to give Sinclair the impression that it was just the two of us living here,” Duane reiterated.

“So he was hiding Lex? Call Orson and tell him to get everything he can on a Sinclair Darden, by the time he’s done I wanna know if its boxers or briefs.”