The Runaway Cat (Book 2 Cloverleah Pack Series) Read online

  Finally he got back to where the accident had occurred. Some men had stopped and pulled Diablo’s bike from the middle of the road where it had landed but of Diablo there was no sign. Hasty conversations with the humans who had saved the bike revealed that Diablo had been slung into a grey van which had taken off in the opposite direction. Griff pushed and pushed at their mind link, trying to get his mate to respond as he grew more panicked with every second that passed. It was only Kane’s firm presence and a healing touch from Shawn that allowed Griff to get his act together and head back to Cloverleah. With no scent to follow and no leads from Diablo the pack needed to regroup and come up with a plan to save Diablo. And leaving him in Georgio’s hands for the next 48 hours waiting for the FBI to act was not an option.

  Griff looked up at the men around him. Kane, Scott, Troy and Dean were all sitting watching the blue orb that flickered between Shawn’s hands as he tried to keep the tenuous connection with Diablo. Shawn was getting tired, Griff could tell and although it broke his heart to say Griff heard himself tell Shawn to let the link break. Shawn would need his strength if he was going to transport all of them to Baton Rouge and as far as Griff was concerned that was something that had to happen.

  “I am going to ring Tony and give him a heads up and find out if he has learned any more about the plans Georgio has for Diablo.” Kane looked surprised at Griff’s words because Griff was adamant that Diablo’s abduction was a pack matter and not one for the FBI. Griff caught his questioning look.

  “Oh don’t worry. I am not leaving Diablo with that fucker for a minute longer than necessary and yes anyone in the pack who wants to help is welcome. I know he is being held by humans but he is my mate and I am going to get him back as soon as they have stopped moving him. Shawn can I count on your help to get me there?”

  “Of course my friend, you don’t have to ask. And of course we,” Shawn pointed to himself and Kane, “will be coming with you.”

  “So will we,” Scott spoke up while Troy and Dean nodded. “No one takes a pack member from us. We are all here for you Griff.”

  Griff nodded his head. His heart was full of gratitude and thanks for the men by his side. Diablo had only been in their lives a few short days and yet the fact that now he was so readily accepted to the point where this small group of shifters were prepared to risk their lives was truly amazing.

  “Okay, well I will ring Tony and see what I can find out. Maybe you guys should rest and get something to eat because I want to head out as soon as we get a fixed position for Diablo.”

  Wandering away from the group he heard Kane explain to the others about Diablo’s last case and how Griff himself sometimes did a bit of work for the FBI. He didn’t begrudge the other men in his pack his secrets. Not now when they were all so willing to help. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the others in the pack to know exactly it was just up until today he had never had a reason to involve any of them.

  But this time Griff knew it was different. This wasn’t just a case with a faceless agent and human marks. This time a mark had gone too far and Georgio would pay for what he had done. Trying not to dwell on the image of Diablo shackled in a box he quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Tony’s number. Requests for a secure line had Tony ringing him back in a matter of seconds.

  “Griff, what’s wrong? Has something happened to Diablo?” Tony’s normally calm voice was tinged with worry and concern.

  “Yes as a matter of fact, how did you know?” Griff was too on edge to be nice to his friend and boss.

  “Oh fuck.” The fact that the older man swore was huge. Tony never lost his cool over anything.

  “What do you know, Tony? What haven’t you told me?”

  Griff listened in stunned silence for a few moments before swearing under his breath.

  “Well it’s not going to happen Tony. I don’t care what your plans are or what you have put in place. I am getting Diablo out of there tonight. You sort out your own bloody paperwork and shit and let me do what I do best.”

  “Griff come on. Don’t you realize how big this could be? To capture five of the biggest international criminals there are? Interpol is all over this and it has to be coordinated properly. Hold off until Friday, please.”

  “NO!” Griff was roaring now. “My mate, my reason for living is shackled in a bloody coffin, drugged and possibly hurt. I am not leaving him there and if you don’t like it then you can bloody stuff yourself and your job up your ass.”

  “Griff be reasonable my friend. You can’t go up against Georgio on your own.”

  “Well that’s something you don’t know about me Tony.” Griff looked up to see the others had come in after hearing Griff yelling. “I’m not on my own and this isn’t an FBI matter anymore. I have pack members with me and believe me we will get Diablo out. Make sure you have plenty of body bags handy when you finally get your men in place because you will bloody need them.” Griff was snarling as he ended the call.

  “What is it Griff? What’s happening with Diablo?” Dean had crept forward and laid a hand on Griff’s arm. Griff just stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

  “Georgio plans to sell him as a sex slave. He has five international crime bosses coming in for an auction on Friday. It seems once Georgio realized that I would probably take his boy’s virginity, because that is what I or rather Angel Bandures would do he decided that Diablo being sold as a sex slave was a fitting end for an FBI agent. Once Diablo’s new owner took Diablo out of the country Georgio knew the chances of anyone finding him would be next to zero.”

  The men all stood silently for a minute as they absorbed what Griff had said. The fact that someone would do that to another person just because the guy wouldn’t put out was a bit extreme to say the least.

  “But Griff, didn’t you say that Georgio had these plans in place before you, as Angel took him for the week?” Troy couldn’t work out why this didn’t sound right.

  “Yeah,” Griff sighed. “According to the information Tony got from the guy Corbin, Diablo’s FBI handler for this case, Georgio had planned to take Diablo’s virginity himself the Saturday night I took him. By force if necessary from what Tony could work out. Then figuring Diablo would then be used goods and a potential threat to his own criminal enterprise he figured by getting him out of the country any evidence that Diablo might have collected would be useless without Diablo’s testimony to back it up.”

  The fact that the whole plan had been in place for almost a month and that the scumbag Corbin had known about it all along was enough to make Griff sick. It was only the fact that Corbin was already in custody that stopped Griff from hunting the man down and killing him.

  “Shawn, have we got any idea where they have taken Diablo yet?” Griff asked, the plan forming in his head taking shape.

  Shawn flicked open his hands and he quickly zeroed in on Diablo’s essence. The picture Shawn bought up did nothing to ease Griff’s fears that his mate could be raped or worse before they got to him. The sight of his mate’s naked body strapped to some type of frame in a small room was both heartbreaking and a tiny bit erotic. From the slump of Diablo’s head it was clear the man was still drugged and asleep. Griff just hoped that he stayed that way just a little bit longer.

  Forcing his gaze from his mate’s naked body Griff asked Shawn to widen the view so he could get a handle on where the man was being held. A gaudy neon sign in the corner of the room confirmed Griff’s suspicions. Diablo was being held in a back room in Georgio’s club and from the signs of food being laid out and a bar being prepared this was obviously going to be some kind of private viewing - probably for Diablo’s potential buyers. With one last longing look at his mate, Griff ordered Shawn to break the connection.

  “Okay, we know where he is being held - at Georgio’s club. Now we have just got to get in there.”

  “How are we going to do that Griff?” Kane’s voice held traces of his own anger and as Griff looked at the others i
t was clear they were no happier about what was being done to Diablo than he was.

  “Well knowing Georgio’s arrogance I suggest we go in as Angel and his entourage. The man probably expects me to turn up and try and get Diablo back. The FBI has peppered the area with enough hints on how infatuated Angel is with Diablo, so let’s go crash this party.” Griff’s cold grin turned feral. “And when we are inside be prepared to shift. No one is getting out of that room alive.” With the chorus of agreement ringing in his ears the men prepared for Shawn to transport them all to Baton Rouge.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  “Wow this is how the other half lives aye Griff,” Scott said cheekily as the men looked around the massive hotel suite rented in the name of Angel Bandures. There was luxury and money spent in every detail of the room from the furnishings, to the wall coverings and the expensive furniture that graced the set of three rooms. Griff just shrugged it off as he pulled a phone out from the set of drawers by one of the beds. Hitting one of the numbers on the keypad he waited for a response.

  “Yes, Bruno, I want the car bought around the front for me in ten minutes.”

  Waiting long enough for an affirmative before hanging up the phone Griff looked over his friends. Griff of course was in his customary Armani suit and he had gotten Shawn to dress the others in similar attire. Walking over to a large closet he pulled out a big flat suitcase and set it on the bed. The others crowded around him as he opened it.

  Quickly moving through the upper level of clothes and other incidentals, Griff pulled at a hidden lever in the side of the case and a panel opened up revealing a variety of guns all packed away neatly.

  “Guns, Griff. Do we really need them?” Kane asked curiously as he pulled on the shoulder holster that came with his weapon.

  “Nope,” said Griff as he put his in the back waistband of his pants. He slipped another smaller gun into his boot. “But Georgio’s men are going to expect us to be armed and we need something for them to confiscate.”

  “Ah,” said Troy, “So we are giving them a sort of psychological advantage thinking they have rendered us helpless without the guns.”

  “You got it.” Griff grinned as he pulled out two large black leather arm bands complete with shiny silver studs decorated throughout. He indicated for Dean to come over and started putting them on Dean’s forearms.

  “What are these for Griff?” The younger man asked quietly.

  Griff looked at the Omega carefully. He knew that the smaller man often felt weak and useless when he wasn’t able to fight like the others. Shawn had been working with Dean to get him to understand that he didn’t need to fight with the others to have value and a place in the pack. All in all Dean was a good, quiet young man and no-one in the pack wanted to see him hurt.

  “I need for you to get Diablo free while the rest of us take care of the others in the room.” Griff flicked a few of the metal studs on the cuffs to show Dean the lock picking tools in one of the cuffs and a pair of sharp metal blades in the other.

  “But I can…” Dean’s voice rose aggressively.

  “I know you can. But this is more important. I don’t want my mate strapped up for a second longer than necessary. Regardless of what else is going on in the room I want you to head for that bloody rack and get Diablo untied and out of it. If necessary try and get him to shift so that the drugs will clear from his system. I trust you with this Dean, okay?”

  Heaving a sigh, Dean nodded and Kane smiled his approval. As the Alpha Kane knew the man would far rather shift and fight with the others but until they knew exactly how many men were going to be in the room and what weapons they were coming up against it made sense for Dean to have one specific, and important purpose. The rest of them could wing it.

  “Right guys. From the moment we step out of this room I am Angel Bandures, your boss and feared crime lord from Florida. It goes without saying that right at this moment I have ever right to be feared. They have got my mate now let’s go get him back.”

  ~~~

  Griff certainly had Georgio pegged correctly. When the men had arrived at the club and Angel demanded that he be taken to Georgio and Diablo, the men let them in without a problem although all of the weapons they had taken so much time to put on were, as Griff had predicted, confiscated. On their arrival the group had been greeted civilly enough and ushered into a small waiting room where two of Georgio’s goons quietly frisked all of the men and removed their weapons. Only Dean’s cuffs were allowed to remain as the guards had mistakenly assumed they were part of a BDSM ownership mark. Griff did not disabuse them of that thought even though Dean blushed a bright red when it was mentioned.

  “Happy now,” Griff asked the guards arrogantly. He flicked his long hair back from his face and flexed his muscles under his suit. “Do you really think I needed that weaponry you stupid man.” He slammed one fist into his other hand and the resounding smack made the goon in front of him gasp.

  “Er, no Mr. Bandures. Mr. Sheraton’s orders sir. No one is allowed into his party with any weapons.” One of the goons stammered out.

  “Fine. We are weapon free. Take us to Georgio…NOW.”

  The two goons led the pack through the main room of the club, which at this time of night was still fairly quiet. Griff didn’t look around him to see if the others followed. Not only was he playing into his persona of Angel, all round arrogant ass hole, but he was also desperate to get into the room with his mate. When one of the goons finally opened the door and ushered the men through it took all of Griff’s training to mask his anger and dismay.

  Inside the room Georgio and five other men all dressed in suits and holding drinks were standing in the center of the room where Diablo had been put up on display. He was naked, his tanned skin gleaming under the lights. Only his head was slumped forward, his long blond hair framing and covering the face itself. The man was still under the effects of whatever drugs his abductors had used. The buyers, for the want of a better word, were openly admiring Diablo’s physique, many of them running their hands up and down the sleek lines and well defined muscles. Griff fought his desire to shift then and there. Around the walls of the room were about a dozen other men, and from the way they were standing it was clear they were the bodyguards of the five international crime lords.

  “Him, the short stocky one in the front, he’s mine.” Griff murmured quietly to Kane who was standing directly behind him and to the left. Shawn was in the same position on his right with Troy and Sean flanking them. Dean stayed in the back ready to lock the door on Griff’s command. All men stood still as Georgio, because who else could it be, moved closer to them.

  “Mr. Bandures, Angel, what brings you back. I wasn’t expecting to see you until Friday.”

  “Cut the crap Georgio. You knew I would be here as soon as you took my boy from me. What are you up to, you stupid fuck? Did you think I would do business with you when you act in such a deceitful manner?”

  “Ah, but he’s not your boy, is he Angel,” Georgio came closer obviously totally unaware in his own arrogance of just how much danger he was in. “He’s mine!”

  “He was mine until Friday according to our agreement. An agreement you broke. And what, you share your pleasures, with these scum?” Griff indicated the other men in the room who were now watching the exchange with interest. Griff could feel the men beside him stand tense and ready to fight and/or shift as the need arose.

  “You defiled him, Angel.” A fanatical look took over Georgio’s face as he moved even closer. “You took what was mine for the taking and you defiled him. His ass was mine and you just took it!”

  Shaking his head, Griff growled. “It was never yours you dumb fuck. And I can’t take what was freely given. Get it through your head that Diablo is mine and I will take him with me, today.”

  “Even though he’s an undercover FBI agent? Hmm, you still want him Angel? Lying deceitful little shit that he is?” Georgio was almost laughing, sure that his little bombshell would sway Griff
’s opinion of the man. Maybe if he had been truly Angel Bandures it might have made a difference but then the stupid human in front of him had no idea about mates and how truly special they were.

  “A FEEB, ha? How long have you know about this little tit bit Georgio?” Griff was prepared to play him along a little bit longer but over Georgio’s shoulder Griff could see that Diablo was starting to come to and he needed to get this situation sorted and get his mate out of here quickly.

  “Six months.” Georgio positively purred he was so pleased with himself. “Hm, interesting situation. His handler came to see me personally. Said Diablo was close to finishing his job. He asked me if I wanted to be the one who would take this agent down. Well, how could I refuse an offer like that when there is a man like Diablo on the table?”

  “So you let a known FBI agent stick around for a full six months? Still gathering intel and still doing his job. Putting your associates and the people you did business with in danger?” Griff couldn’t believe this man’s stupidity. If he had genuinely been a crime lord he would have been horrified. As it was Griff was horrified but not for the reason Georgio thought.

  “Yes, but of course the man has to be around for the case to stick. Hence the need for some creative thinking on my part. Pretty clever don’t you think?” Georgio leant close to Griff, “I plan to sell him overseas. These gentlemen,” Georgio’s hand waved idly at the men standing behind him, “all know the score and have all agreed that if they become Diablo’s new owner, for the want of a better word, then they will be responsible for ensuring the little slut never sees the light of day. After they have had their own brand of pleasure with him, of course.”

  Closing his eyes, Griff took a deep breath, finally allowing the full depth of his anger and hatred for the man in front of him to show through. His wolf, pulsing just under the surface reflected through his eyes as he opened them and glared, grabbing Georgio by the neck and bringing the hapless man up to eye level.