Page 20 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

HEATH

S he fell fast and hard, the glass tumbling out of her hand and spilling bourbon all over the floor. He could smell magic, thick in the air, suddenly activating like someone had just cast a spell.

Heath dropped his glass, falling to his knees to get to her, but someone grabbed him, pulling him back. He didn’t register who it was. He turned fast, his fist slamming into a jaw, then he was back to reaching for her.

“Jacky!” he yelled, and it was the only thing he heard. The rest of the world muted as he grabbed her face, trying to see if he could wake her. “Jacky, wake up. Please.”

“Pa, let me help. Don’t touch the spilled bourbon. You could go down, too!” Hands grabbed his shoulders, and he snarled, but they didn’t release him. He fought the one pulling him back, but somehow, this werewolf was stronger than him.

“Pa, it’s me. It’s Landon. Come here. We have to make sure?—”

“Make sure she’s alive!” he roared.

“Pa!” The person holding him got around him and slugged him.

Heath went back, his head nearly bouncing on the floor, but someone had a hold on him still, keeping him from going down that far.

He blinked, seeing his son Landon with a fist ready to swing again. Landon looked terrified, which wasn’t right. Landon wasn’t scared of anyone, certainly not him. Heath never wanted his son to be afraid of him. Behind Landon, Dirk was beside Jacky, checking her pulse. Niko was right there with him, looking over his shoulder.

“She’s alive!” Dirk said loudly for everyone to hear.

“Yeah, I can hear her heartbeat. Let me get her off the floor,” Niko snarled.

Take a couple of deep breaths… Take control of the room. Figure this out.

His commands to himself were the only way Heath could think to pull himself together. He relaxed in Landon’s grasp, meeting his son’s gaze.

“Are you sane?” Landon asked him softly. “You knocked out Shamus. I need to make sure.”

Heath nodded and was glad to know his son was nice enough to help him discreetly maintain his own balance before fully letting him go.

“I need orders, Alpha,” Landon said strongly.

“Niko, take her back to the house and secure her in our room. Dirk, go with him, get everyone from your family on a call. Carey, go with them. Stay with Jacky if you want, or go to your room and lock the door. Landon, secure the building once they’ve left. No one in. No one out.”

“Yes, sir,” Dirk and Landon responded in unison.

“I need gloves,” Niko called out. “Anything will do. I don’t want this shit touching my skin. No idea what it will do.”

“Oliver, gloves from the kitchen, please,” Heath said coolly, and the human complied. Heath didn’t take his eyes off her, the woman who owned his heart, unconscious on the floor. He paid attention to the slow rise and fall of her chest, focusing on it intently, letting it keep him as grounded as he could manage.

Oliver ran, getting the gloves for Niko. He snapped them on and picked up her, carrying her out without another word, Dirk running to keep up with him. Carey was the last to leave, Landon lingering at the door for some time. Heath knew he was waiting to see that Dirk had grabbed Carey to help her get home faster.

With Jacky in the care of her brother and away from Kick Shot and his daughter away from the scene of the crime, he could finally focus on everyone else.

Carey, Dirk, and Niko were allowed to leave because he knew none of them had anything to do with this. Landon was the one locking the doors because he wouldn’t have done it, either.

Everyone else was a suspect.

“Stacy, Kody, you can pick your father up off the floor and put him in a booth, then find separate tables to sit at. Ranger, you will find a private booth across the room from Shamus. Jenny, there.” Heath pointed to a table in the corner. “Carlos over there.” He pointed to a different table for him, far from Jenny. “Roselyn, Piper, same deal. Sit across the room from each other. Teagan, Benjamin can stay with you as a minor. Arlo, find a private booth to sit in. No one will speak to each other. Put your phones on the table in front of you.”

No one moved quickly enough for him, and he snarled, which set off Landon.

“You heard your Alpha,” Landon snapped, pushing Kody to move, which started the chain of events Heath desired.

By the time they were all sitting and their phones were on the tables in front of them, the room was thick with fear.

“Oliver, take all the human staff upstairs. Windows will remain locked and closed. I’ll be speaking to them first.”

He should have been able to trust Oliver with that. He saw no reason for Oliver to betray Jacky or anyone else here, but he didn’t know if he trusted Oliver enough to rely on his testimony about the rest of the staff.

I’ll interrogate all of them. No one is leaving until they speak to me.

“Landon, collect the phones from the humans after you secure these,” Heath ordered. Landon was already grabbing all the werewolves’ phones.

“Yes, sir.”

Landon waited at the bottom of the stairs, and each human handed over their phone before they went upstairs.

“Isn’t this illegal detainment?” a human was bold enough to ask. “We have rights. Shouldn’t the police be called instead of?—”

“Find a lawyer that’s willing to sue me,” he said coldly. Heath knew there were legal issues he was treading a fine line with. He knew there were certain arguments he could make about being a werewolf and at a pack function when the attack took place. There were also arguments about how this was Jacky’s private property.

He didn’t care.

He hadn’t moved since Landon forced him to calm down and take charge of the building.

“Landon, get gloves and secure that bottle. Pick one werewolf to mop up any that spilled. Leave everything that touched it at the back door. I’ll take it with me.”

Landon was constantly moving. Heath would have helped if he wasn’t the Alpha or if the group was smaller. He was judging every face, taking in every scent, trying to get an idea of what happened, why it happened, and which of these trusted people had done it.

He found it highly unlikely it was done by a human unless one of them was secretly a witch they had never identified.

That meant yet another one of the werewolves he had brought into Jacky’s territory had betrayed him and her. Those simple deductions kept him from feeling any guilt about what he was going to do once Landon was back by his side.

While Landon had been cleaning up the bourbon on the floor, then moving the bottle out of the room, Shamus groaned and opened his eyes. Heath looked at him, and Shamus grew afraid, realizing what he was waking up to.

“Is she o?—”

“She was unconscious but alive when Niko carried her out,” Heath answered with no warmth in his words for Shamus. Shamus, smart werewolf that he was, stayed in his seat and offered no comment. Heath watched him check his pockets quickly and noted that his third was unsurprised to find his phone missing. Landon had taken it from his pocket.

Landon eventually got back to him, moving into position at his side, one step back. Heath didn’t have to tell his son about his plans. He could smell the rage clinging to his second.

“Stand up,” he ordered, power rolling through his voice as he robbed every werewolf in the room of their free will. Landon was the only werewolf who could even consider fighting it, and his son still lost, having accepted the position of second. Heath was experienced and strong enough, though, to intentionally aim the command at every werewolf who could hear him and exclude his son.

“Follow me to the pack house. Do not attempt to run, do not speak,” Heath continued, keeping the power in his voice as he started to walk out of the bar. Landon unlocked the front door. “Landon, bring up the rear.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Heath went carefully, not wanting to get anyone hit by any cars when they had to cross the street. They weren’t good to him dead. Yet. Eventually, at least one of them was going to die. He had to make sure he killed the right ones.

There was no one on-site at the new packhouse, thanks to it being the weekend. The basement was finished, though, and he was glad it was. He led them down and divided all the couples and families as much as he could, putting them between the different cells. He hated the necessity of building silver-barred cells on most days.

Today, he was not so soft-hearted.

“Do not talk to each other,” he said once all of them were secure. “Landon, call the crews and tell them to take the week off. We’ll pay them for the week. You’re also in charge of their containment. I’ll be back. There are other things I need to see to now.”

“I’ve got them,” Landon replied with a snarling smile

His son could have done this all for him, but Heath had wanted to. He’d wanted to march them out of Kick Shot and into the basement. It was also safer for him and Landon to do it together.

He went back to Kick Shot, stopping to check on Oliver but not freeing the staff yet.

“I will be back in one hour after checking on Jacky’s condition and discussing what happened with her family,” he told them. “Oliver is still in charge. If you leave, I’ll just find you later. It will only make this a longer process. Stay here, answer my questions honestly when I return, then you will be free to go… if you weren’t involved, of course.”

He didn’t stay to listen to complaints. They were all supposed to be working for another three to four hours anyway, so this was all their paid time.

He finally reached the house, his blood boiling as he considered how he was going to find Jacky. If her status had changed at all since Niko left with her, someone would have reached out.

He entered with purpose, going up the stairs into the room he shared with her to find Dirk and Carey there. Dirk was checking her forehead while Carey held her hand.

Neither said anything as he moved closer. He brushed his fingers against her cheek, aching for her to open her eyes and let them know she was going to be okay.

She looks so peaceful…

“She seems to just be sleeping, but I will tell you if anything changes.” Dirk hovered at his side.

“Thank you.” Heath turned on his heel and walked out, heading straight for her office, knowing he needed to face her family. He heard Carey whisper to Dirk how she fully trusted her dad to figure out who did this. Dirk gave a quiet agreement.

He could hear Niko before he was down the stairs. He could hear Jabari and Davor before he opened the door.

“Heath is coming,” Niko’s muffled voice said.

He didn’t knock.

Niko didn’t even turn in his direction. Heath walked all the way around Jacky’s desk, going to stand in the window where he could watch the tree line and be seen on camera. He looked at the screen, seeing that Aisha was with Jabari.

“How much do they know?” he asked Niko.

“These two have the full story as we know it. Poisoned bourbon. Wasn’t poisoned earlier in the reception. Someone in the building did it. Can we get an update from you?”

“I’ll wait for everyone else to arrive. Everyone who could be involved is secure,” Heath said, crossing his arms as he went back to staring out the window. He didn’t have to wait long, with Subira and Zuri showing up only a few minutes later.

“Thank you, Davor, for not reaching out to your father immediately, so I could hear this. I’ll tell Hasan what has happened after I know everything. I can’t risk him getting this news fresh without any details or a plan,” Subira said, Zuri over her shoulder. “This office is sound proofed. He won’t know anything is happening.”

Heath wasn’t sure if he agreed with that choice. As a father, he’d be furious if one of his children was hurt and others kept it from him. It wouldn’t have mattered what the relationship was like between him and his children. At the same time, he understood that it was easier for him to work with the family without Hasan there. He tried to take his other personal issues with Hasan out of the situation, like the things he had said in front of and to Landon and Dirk.

For now, I’ll just be grateful he’s not here. Dealing with him would only bog down what needs to be talked about right now.

“Now that everyone who can be here is…” Niko looked back at him. “I’ll tell them the entire series of events up until I left.”

Heath nodded and let Niko explain the reception to the moment he walked out of Kick Shot with Jacky, Dirk, and Carey. There was a control to the family, no one asking any questions about specifics. Niko gave a report, and they listened.

“I put her upstairs while Dirk reached out to Davor. We switched places once she was settled, and he had the call started. Carey has been with her since as well.”

“What have you been doing, Everson?” Subira asked, her gaze cool, an expression he recognized. He saw it on himself in the mirror before.

“Containing the potential assassins,” he answered. “Every human and werewolf outside of our families has been contained. The humans are still in the bar. The werewolves are in silver-barred cells. Landon and I will be questioning them once we know more about how to help Jacky. He’s currently watching the werewolves since they are the more likely culprit. The humans are still on their paid hours, and I asked them not to run. If one tries, they’re forfeit.”

“You or I will have to go and see if there’s anything we can concoct to help her rise from this sleep,” Subira said, looking up at Zuri, who nodded.

“I’ll go. I know the area and the werewolves better than you do. I can help with the interrogations as well, if they want it.”

“Start packing,” the matriarch ordered. “Good work, Heath. Tell us everything about the bourbon.”

He did, explaining its origin, the facility where he had kept it, and everyone who touched it before the reception.

“However, the poison was added during the reception. I had three glasses, intermittently going back to the table. Everyone was moving around and talking. We’ll review the cameras to see who all went to that table at any point.”

“It was a party,” Niko said, sighing. “No one had their guard up.”

“And with so few people in the building, all of whom you see every day, there’s no reason to think that something like this would happen,” Jabari elaborated further, his words understanding. “Dirk and Landon are never going to forget their wedding day, that much is certain.”

That shook Heath a little, having not let that thought sink in. He was going to need to check on both of them after this was over to see if they wanted a new party to create better memories than the ones they would now have from today.

Later. First, I have to help her.

They continued talking for another hour, going over every potential resource they would have for the investigation. Zuri had her bag ready and rejoined the conversation in only thirty minutes. They would check cameras, and all of those had audio. Dirk and Davor were going to dig through the emails of every pack member first, then the humans, if they still didn’t have all the answers.

All the while, he thought of something important, but it seemed no one was willing to say it. Every minute that passed from the moment she hit the ground, Heath had more clarity.

“It’s important to know not only who did this but why and where it came from,” Jabari said to everyone.

Heath found himself studying Subira’s face, wondering how she kept it so blank.

“Heath, do you have something to say?” she asked softly.

“You’re all allowed to say the obvious… I was the target.”

“You were,” Jabari agreed. “But we’re not going to blame you for Jacky’s situation.”

You should. I brought this into her home.

I also promised to pick her over the werewolves every time, and I intend to keep that promise.

“When looking into their accounts, keep an eye on news or contacts from other werewolves?—”

“Davor can’t do it, then,” Subira said softly. “We can’t have a werecat acting in a potentially hostile way against the werewolves. It will weaken our unity against the witches. Dirk certainly can, regardless of his position with our family, since he’s not only a werewolf but your werewolf.”

“Jacky was hurt?—”

“But we can be certain she wasn’t the target,” Subira said, cutting off Jabari.

“Mother, you have never cared about these sorts of politics this much.” Zuri was the one with her and was able to look her mother in the eye.

Heath was actually unbothered by the idea that Dirk would have to work alone. If the werecat ruling family could only work to protect Jacky and help her, it was fine by him. He could handle other werewolves. He knew how.

Carey screamed. Heath was at the door before he could think. Dirk was thumping down the stairs as he rounded the corner to run up them.

“What happened?” Heath snarled.

“Jacky is bleeding. She’s got abrasions on her hands and elbows. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Heath ran past him to see Carey holding the same hand, but now she was staring at the open wounds on Jacky’s hand.

“Heath!” Niko called out. “Change in plans! Subira is coming instead of Zuri.”