Page 16 of How to Hack a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #2)

Chapter 16

Liam

Q uinton and I spent the day researching with a break for lunch, and in the afternoon we picked up Aiden from work. After I dropped them off at their place (with a kiss and a “shoo” from Quinton), I met with the pack to discuss strategies for getting the hellbound mortals.

“Best if we split up, obviously, although we need to leave someone here to watch over the humans,” Jude reasoned. “I’m happy to take the first shift and go out later for my hunt.”

“I can dispatch one and then come back and relieve Jude,” Dexter said.

We divvied up the hellbound, and I took the manager. I didn’t expect securing him and bringing him back would take that long, but if Quinton and I were absorbed with him in the basement, it would still be good for a hellhound to be a lookout for the humans. We agreed that aside from the manager, the rest would be taken care of in the field. In a larger sweep like this, it made more sense.

“Atlas will be happy to hunt, too,” Corbin stated.

I hadn’t seen much of Atlas, and he avoided my cameras in the woods pretty well, but I knew Corbin could track him down with crows. He seemed to be generally staying in the area in his hellhound form.

“Point me in his direction, and I’ll debrief him on his targets,” I told Corbin.

With that, we set off. Jude went to find Toby, and he said they’d drop in to see Aiden and Quinton. I guessed they were hoping to be included in dinner plans, and I shot Quinton a text to warn him and Aiden. I had no doubt that if Aiden was uncomfortable, Quinton would kick Toby and Jude out.

I headed to the woods behind the houses, setting off in a swift run in the direction Corbin had indicated. Occasionally a crow cawed at me, and I adjusted course as necessary. I could smell Atlas’s hellhound, but that meant little. He’d been all over these woods—the entire place smelled of him.

When I happened upon a clearing, I was mildly surprised to see the structure of a cabin. It looked like the frame was completely finished, and I guessed the inside was a work in progress.

“This is public land, you know,” I stated, confident that Atlas was nearby. I wasn’t surprised when he sauntered out of the woods in his hellhound form, but he changed forms to converse with me.

“You’ll fix that,” he grunted.

I sighed. “I was hoping to fix that before you guys built a cabin. This is pretty far back, too. Running electricity and water might be a pain.”

Atlas merely grunted, staring at me. Then he smirked. “You’re just mad you didn’t know.”

I growled in response. He wasn’t totally wrong. I liked knowing everything that was going on, and I had wanted to figure out the logistics with the property first. But it was pointless, because my guess was that Atlas had started work on this place before Jude even mentioned the idea to me. Atlas was like that—all action, no talk.

“I would have helped,” I muttered instead.

Atlas just shrugged, then he sat on the first step leading up to the door of the cabin. It was really a nice place—not a small place, like I had been thinking of building. It had a porch and looked like it would probably hold two bedrooms pretty easily. It would be a good place for Atlas—nearby, but far enough away to give him privacy.

“You’re gonna get splinters in your ass,” I commented. I was used to Atlas walking around naked, but no one wanted splinters, and this was new construction. “And I’m not pulling them out, either.”

Atlas just laughed at me.

I sighed. “You’re going to need clothes if you want to hunt. We have a ring of human traffickers to bring down. You want in?”

Atlas perked up and nodded. He walked inside, and I followed. I explained who his targets were going to be while he got dressed. The inside was covered in sawdust, tools, and construction equipment, but it was coming along nicely. They already had the floors in and the framework for cabinets done. Atlas kept some clothes in a garbage bag, probably so they didn’t get filthy from the construction.

When I was done debriefing him, I turned to head out the front door. I didn’t expect conversation from Atlas, and I was ready to go find the manager.

“The humans?” he asked before I could go.

I turned back around, confused. “What humans?”

“The ones living here. They can’t be left alone.”

Aww, Atlas was worried about our human packmates. That was nice, if unexpected. “Jude is taking the first shift, then he’s heading out when Dexter gets back.”

Atlas nodded, and I headed out, swiftly jogging towards the houses. I was aiming for the cars, but somehow my feet took a detour of their own, and I ended up at the back house. I could hear Toby, Jude, Aiden, and Quinton all inside, and it sounded like they were all fine.

I hesitated outside the front door until Jude yelled, “Q, Liam’s looking for you.”

Of course Jude knew I was there. A minute later Quinton came out the front door, shutting it behind him. He was smirking. “Did you come for a good luck kiss, my sexy stalker?”

“Yes,” I answered. I hadn’t realized that was what I needed, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it down.

He leaned up, grabbed my face, and pulled me down for a kiss. He tasted delicious, and I had to resist the urge to deepen the kiss even more.

“Hurry back with our guy,” he muttered. “Toby keeps looking at me funny, and I swear he’s trying to get me alone for some reason. I don’t know what kind of freaky questions he’s going to ask. Or, god forbid, what sort of weird plans he has for us to become better friends.” Quinton rolled his eyes at that, and I laughed.

“I will. Be safe, hellcat,” I murmured. I probably would have stood there staring at him, but Quinton turned around and went back in the house, shutting the door in my face.

He was mine. I nodded my head once. Yes, he was definitely mine. My mate. My pack. Dexter had said something about mating humans, and I’d have to find out the details. I’d ask Quinton if he wanted that, of course, because humans liked to be asked that sort of thing, but I figured I had a few decades to convince him if he said no.

I was his sexy stalker. I’d wear him down until he agreed. My hellhound grumbled in satisfaction. We were going on a hunt, and Quinton was ours—life was a beautiful thing.

It didn’t take long to hunt down the manager. He was working a shift at a club, and a text message from one of his current lovers was easy enough to fake to get him out the back alley door. When he walked out, I incapacitated him and gave him a light sedative since I knew Quinton wouldn’t want to wait to interrogate him. I put him in the trunk and headed back to Paradise Falls, excited to bring Quinton his gift.

Of course, it wasn’t quite that easy. When I got back into town, lights and sirens flashed behind me. I looked at the speedometer. Yup, I’d been speeding. I sighed in frustration at myself; I was usually so careful.

I really hated getting pulled over when there was a body in the trunk, especially if the owner of the body was still alive. At least dead bodies wouldn’t wake up and make noise.

I pulled over to the side of the road and reached over to shut the computer on the passenger seat that had the cameras in Quinton’s apartment on screen. I didn’t think that would be easy to explain either.

Maybe the cop would be a crooked one and I could deal with him and move on. I opened my window, but no scent of rot filled my nose. In fact, the cop smelled like sunshine—just my luck. He walked up, and yup, he was definitely a good soul.

Hopefully Dev would stay unconscious. I didn’t want to have to incapacitate the cop or figure out what to do with him, and I really didn’t want to be shot. Bullets sucked. I looked at his badge and blinked in surprise. Not even just a patrolman; it was the sheriff. He must’ve been relatively new, because I didn’t recognize him, and I’d done research on everyone of importance in the town.

“Good evening, sheriff,” I said. “I just realized how fast I was going, and I’m so sorry about that. Would you like my license and registration?”

He looked a little surprised, then answered, “Yes, about twenty miles over the speed limit. I’ll take your insurance card as well.”

I pulled out my wallet and grabbed the documents, handing them over. “Will the ticket take long to write?” I asked.

He looked even more surprised at that. “Most people aren’t so willing to get a ticket. What’s the rush?” he asked.

“Just hurrying to get home to my boyfriend,” I said. His face softened a bit at that. I wasn’t surprised he wasn’t a bigot—he smelled way too pure for that.

He looked down at my documents. “Liam Smith?”

Ugh. That freaking last name. Atlas had gotten the honor of picking our most recent last name, and he’d gone with the most boring choice possible. Really, it was better than what Jude or Corbin had come up with in the past. I did not enjoy being Liam Lennon, and Liam Crowe was only vaguely better.

“Yup, that’s me.” I tapped the steering wheel a bit impatiently. I figured I probably had at least ten minutes before Dev woke up, maybe longer. Still, it wasn’t impossible that he’d wake early. “I have a romantic evening planned for my boyfriend and I, and I hate to keep him waiting,” I explained, trying to rush the sheriff along. I wasn’t lying, either—bringing my little hellcat one of the villains who had orchestrated his kidnapping was definitely a romantic gesture.

He nodded at me and headed back to his car, and I continued to impatiently tap the steering wheel. How long did a ticket take? Would it be suspicious if I went into my trunk to make sure the victim stayed incapacitated? I wouldn’t let the sheriff see in, obviously, but I wasn’t sure what excuse I could have for going in the trunk at all. Plus, if he happened to walk up at the wrong moment, that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.

I heaved out a sigh, and I saw him get out of his car and head back. Well, that was quick.

“I’ll let you go with a warning today, but be more careful,” he said, handing me back my documents. “Your family bought the two houses out by the woodlands, didn’t they? Lots of property out there.”

“Yup, it’s a beautiful area,” I responded. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

“That suspense writer lives out there, too. There was a bit of trouble with him, but nothing seems to have come of it,” he continued, looking at me.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that,” I said, smiling. I certainly wasn’t aware of the fact that Toby’s stalker had been killed on our property. Nope. Definitely not aware of anything like that.

He looked at me, and I had the urge to shift under his gaze, but I kept still. This sheriff was a predator in his own right, shining soul or not, and I did not need him poking into our business.

“Perhaps I’ll come around and check on him,” he said.

I just shrugged. “I’m sure if he had some trouble he would appreciate that. I haven’t heard much, but I only moved here recently.”

He looked at me for another moment, then he patted my hood and walked back toward his car. There was a light thump from the trunk, and I looked quickly in the rearview mirror, but the sheriff was back at his car. I put my blinker on and pulled out onto the road without waiting. No need to hang around if Dev was going to start thumping and yelling. He was gagged, but he could still make noise.

The rest of the drive back was uneventful and mostly quiet from Dev—he’d probably just rolled around a bit. The sheriff didn’t follow me back, at least. He seemed to know a bit about us, and I did hate for human law enforcement to get involved in things. It was always so messy. I’d have to do some digging into him.

When I got back, I hauled a semi-conscious Dev down to the basement and texted Quinton. He bounded down the stairs not five minutes later.

“Thank god. Toby was getting really shifty looking. He is definitely up to something, and I really don’t want to find out what is on his twisted little mind,” Quinton announced. “What is he, anyway? He said Dexter was a hellhound, not that anyone believed him, but he didn’t say what he was.”

I blinked in surprise. “Toby?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah. Is he like a vampire or something? Shapeshifter? Demon?” Quinton said, walking over to look at Dev. The man was barely conscious and was just sort of vaguely staring at Quinton in confusion.

“Toby is human,” I answered.

Quinton looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “No fucking way. He’s so bloodthirsty, I figured he was something ferocious, despite his cute little exterior. I mean, the guy takes notes on torture methods.”

“He’s a writer,” I reasoned. “Dexter helps him out with plot points sometimes.”

Quinton snorted at that, shaking his head. “I’ll bet he does,” he muttered. He looked back at Dev, pulling the gag out of his mouth.

I had secured Dev to the chair, so I wasn’t concerned with their proximity. My hellcat wanted a chance to get his claws into the hellbound mortal, and I had no problem with that. He really did need to be a little more awake first, however. I walked over to a drawer and took out a syringe.

“Oh, what’s that? Truth serum? A torturous liquid that will slowly burn him from the inside out? Poison that only we have the antidote to?” Quinton asked gleefully.

I shot him a droll look as I injected Dev and then stepped away. “A little bit of adrenalin, just to get him focused and aware.”

“Aw, bummer. But I guess it’ll do,” Quinton said.

Dev was starting to look more aware, and he was staring at Quinton in confusion.

“Q,” he rasped out. “Fuck, where are we? You gotta untie me, and I’ll get us out of here. We must’ve been kidnapped.”

I stepped forward so he could see me, and he gave a little shriek in surprise.

“Oh Dev, Dev, Dev,” Quinton said, shaking his head slowly. “I was kidnapped, but you know that already, since you helped orchestrate it. I’m just returning the favor.”

“Would you like me to torture him a bit before you ask questions?” I asked. “They seem more receptive if they’re softened up first. I could break a few bones, maybe some mild electrocution.”

“Or we could pull out his teeth—very painful and he’ll still be able to talk. I’m afraid cutting off his tongue will need to wait, though. I do need some information from him,” Quinton said, turning around and winking at me with a grin.

Oh, my feisty little hellcat. He might be squeamish about watching such things, but he could play along and make the most excellent threats.

“I don’t… I’m not…” Dev stuttered.

I walked over to the drawer and took out pliers, carefully looking at them. Dev started to whimper as I walked back towards him. I let a little flame show in my eyes.

“Shhh,” Quinton said, pulling Dev’s face back to look into his eyes. “There’s no use in denials. Marcus is dead. James is dead. Todd is dead. The others are all being dealt with as we speak. Who were they again?” he asked me, not turning away from Dev.

I rattled off the names, and Dev grew paler with each one.

“So you see, we know everything already,” Quinton said. “There’s no use pretending you weren’t involved. It will only make things worse.”

“I didn’t want you to get kidnapped! You were a regular!” Dev said desperately. “I figured you would be missed and argued against it, but the buyer was insistent! They said you had no close friendships, and they could cover it up. They knew everything about you, and they wanted you specifically. I swear it wasn’t my idea!”

Quinton looked back at me, raising an eyebrow. That was interesting news, and I didn’t think Dev was lying.

“Who is the buyer?” I asked.

“I don’t know!” Dev cried out. “None of us know, but it has to be someone who knows the club and who knows us. They always know details they shouldn’t. I thought for a long time it might be the owner, but I don’t know. I don’t think he knows as much as the buyer does.”

I put the pliers down and grabbed a computer. “Time for you to get us some information, Dev,” I said, bringing it over.

“You better hope you can get us some good stuff,” Quinton said. “Otherwise, it’ll be rather bloody for you. Especially if you tip off the buyer.”

My little hellcat was so cute. I leaned over to kiss him before I settled in a chair to hack into some of Dev’s accounts and hopefully make contact with the buyer.

Some threats, the promise of torture and vengeance, and a little hacking—a romantic evening indeed.