Sharkbait Down Under

Vicki Lawrence’s POV

I didn’t see the rest of the girls before they left. Alpha Steven was still in Cancun for cleanup. He stayed to help Esmerelda and Master Monique Robinson remove any evidence of a vampire presence.

Alpha Steven did hire a jet to take the twins, Amy, Carly, and his remaining Pack members back to Eugene. The girls went straight from the police station to the airport and would rejoin the Three Sisters Pack as soon as they met with Luna Carolyn. With the FBI and the American Embassy helping hide them, the press didn’t know they were gone until they were in the air.

Fiona was still at the hospital and kept me informed via the link of how she was doing. They took X-rays, and she saw a doctor. Fiona had two cracked ribs from one of them kicking her; she’d never let on that her injuries were that bad. How she was able to throw a knife accurately with cracked ribs, I’d never know. The doctor taped her up and released her with a bottle of Tylenol 500’s for pain. Those rapists had worked her over good; her body would heal, but she’d never get her virginity back.

“Alpha, I’m leaving for the airport with Joseph, Nicholas’ parents, and the rest of our Pack members,” Fiona linked me late in the morning. “We’ve got a flight to Los Angeles in a few hours, then a stop in Sydney before connections to Melbourne and Adelaide.”

“Have a good flight,” I told her.

“Thirty-three plus hours of travel time by definition isn’t a good flight,” she complained. “It’s no wonder I never found Joseph before now, with him hiding on the other side of the world. I still can’t believe what I did when I finally DID find him.”

“You have your mate, Fiona. You can get married, have children, and create something special down under.” I could sense her longing for pups through the Pack link. “What you did for us will not be forgotten. Nicholas and I have vacated the remainder of your punishment. Go home and claim your mate as soon as his divorce is final.”

“Thank you, Alpha.”

“I’ll see you at the wedding,” I promised.

“You might need to have a press conference before you go, Vicki. It’s a zoo out front with all the cameras. They even wanted ME to talk, but I don’t get paid to be out front,” she told me.

“Thanks a lot, Fiona.” The press angle would need handling. I reached out to Nicholas, asking him to talk to my publicist and Linda about how I should handle them.

I was finally released in the afternoon, as the fluids and food helped stabilize my blood pressure at an acceptable level. I asked the hospital to set up a podium outside for a press statement; they gladly complied, happy to be getting rid of the circus out there. Adrienne had dropped off some clothes for me, so I changed while she and Leo went to get the car. I got dressed in a conservative Bodyglove shark print dress with grey heels while Nicholas gathered my discharge papers. I sat in a wheelchair, and Nicholas walked alongside me as the nurse pushed me into the hall.

We went out the front door, and I stood up and took Nicholas’ hand as the press corps gathered around and shouted questions. I walked to the podium and held up my hand until they quieted down. “Hello, everyone,” I said quietly. “I want to start by wishing you all a Merry Christmas. This Christmas will always be special to me because it is the day my friends and I got rescued from a fate worse than death. One moment I was excitedly talking to my friends about diving this incredible cenote, and then I was watching in horror as bandits killed our guide in cold blood. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Juan and Santiago, who don’t get to go home.”

I paused for a moment, wiping away a tear. I squeezed Nicholas’s hand and moved back to the microphone. “The girls and I survived, thanks to family and friends who never gave up looking, and the swift actions of the Mexican Federal Police to rescue us. They are all heroes to me, along with the anonymous caller to the tip line that set the rescue in motion. I’d like to thank everyone involved today, including the staff here at Angeles Metropolitano. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to spend some time with my fiancé and my family. Thank you.”

The press shouted questions, but I wasn’t taking them. Nicholas pulled me into his side and led me through the crowd and into the waiting car. Colleen pulled out before the door even closed, and a minute later, verified we had no tails. “Nice job on the press conference,” Leo said from the passenger seat.

“I still get nervous every time a camera goes on that I’m not controlling,” I said.

“Well, Linda’s been busy. She wanted me to tell you that the season-ending episode of your show is going to be huge.” The last episode was supposed to be our final tour stop in Acapulco, but now it would be our kidnapping and rescue. “Your publicist wants to know when you can sit for an interview with the press. She’s fielding calls from every major network and news show, and Discovery Channel wants to promote your series with this.”

Our series wasn’t premiering until Sweeps Week in February. “What’s the schedule for us?”

“We’ve got first-class tickets on a commercial flight into Boston. Master Emily has placed her jet at our disposal, so we’ll use that to go to Chairman Carver’s funeral in Lake Placid tomorrow night. They won’t be happy to see me, I’m sure.” Adrienne cracked up, and I looked between her and Leo.

“What did you DO, Unky Leo?”

“A lot happened we haven’t told you about yet, Sharkbait.”

“It’s a long drive to the airport,” I replied. “Spill.”

Over the next thirty minutes, they caught me up on everything that happened while I was gone. I was sad to hear about the framing and murder of Lawrence Fenwick; he was a good wolf, and we’d already missed his funeral. I was shocked hearing what Leo had done, attacking Alpha Stan and faking the murder of Chairman Carver after accusing the Werewolf Council of being involved in our kidnapping. “Where were you when he was acting like a bull in a china shop,” I turned and asked Adrienne.

“I was having drinks in New Orleans, actually,” she said with a smile. “I went to find out if Master Pontalba set you up. Hammer and I were ready to kill him if he was a part of it. He wasn’t, and he put together a coalition of Masters to take on Master Vespucci and his lawless Coven.” She told me everything that happened. “Your Vampire friends came through for us,” she said. “Without their help, we couldn’t have taken on a hundred vampires without horrific losses.”

“All this over werewolf blood,” I said.

“Werewolf blood was a tool; this was about power and ambition,” Leo said. “Vespucci wanted to be the Supreme Vampire. He wanted to start a werewolf war, then take over the vampire world and wipe us out.”

Adrienne patted my leg. “Your travel schedule was on the Internet, but we haven’t figured out how he knew about the Council moves. Somehow, Vespucci knew Lawrence went to meet you in Jamaica.”

“I don’t remember anyone there except the Council enforcers and Lawrence,” I said. “I didn’t scent any other wolves the rest of that visit.”

“The four Enforcers returned home the next morning; we’ve verified that already,” Leo said.

“What about Timothy Lords? Did you pick him up in the raids?”

All three people looked at me with blank expressions. “What?” Leo looked confused. “What does that little bitch have to do with anything?” Timothy was my fated mate, who rejected me at the Scratch ’n Sniff in favor of his girlfriend.

“I scented him at the Cancun hideout. He arrived with the vampires but never came to the building.” I remembered how I felt when I scented him on the wind. I was over him, and I had another mate now. That didn’t stop the feeling of betrayal I felt, knowing the man I helped rescue from Vampire captivity was complicit in mine.

“We had no idea,” Leo said. “We’ll find him, and you can decide what to do with him.”

I just shook my head. My fated mate meant nothing to me now; he was dried up dog poop on the treads of my shoes, unworthy of my attention, just an annoyance. His actions resulted in my friends getting hurt and seven wolves dying, though. That could not go unpunished. “When the vampires arrived with him to the bandit’s hideout, it was a little weird. They called Mateo ‘Lawrence,’ and Timothy didn’t say anything.”

“What did Mateo say?”

“It was more what Carlos, the leader of the gang, said to Mateo. We think Timothy hired the bandits to kidnap Vicki. He was going to pay a half-million for me, and Carlos was going to auction off the rest of the girls to slavers. Somehow, Mateo got involved and took over the deal. He negotiated $1.2 million for all of us. It didn’t matter, as the vampires killed them all moments later.”

“I never scented Timothy, but if he stayed with the vehicles, he probably bleached the whole area,” Colleen said. “An air scent would never last that long.”

“I’ll put out a reward on him at the funeral today,” I said. “If the vampires didn’t kill him, let Mary do it.” Lawrence Fenwick’s widow deserved to get her revenge.

“I’ll make it happen,” Leo said.