Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

“I’d love to discuss Gerry, but why don’t you tell me what you are doing here and what you want from me first.”
    â€œI still don’t like what Bran’s doing,” David rumbled. “Not at all. But I like what Gerry is doing even less.”
    â€œGerry asked us to deliver the boy’s body to your doorstep,” explained John-Julian. “He said that you needed a warning to stay out of wolf business. We met him back at the house he was using for headquarters and that was when we found out that he’d kidnapped Adam’s daughter and left three of his wolves to die.”
    â€œYou don’t leave your men behind,” said Connor.
    â€œYou don’t attack the innocents,” John-Julian told me. It sounded like a creed.
    David gave me a half smile. “And, though I think Bran needs to be brought up short, only a fool would think he could get Adam to move a step he doesn’t choose to. I’d leave Gerry to learn his lesson, but our honor is at stake. We don’t hurt the innocents—so we’re getting Adam and his daughter away tonight.”
    â€œThey have Adam?” It wasn’t really a surprise. Whatelse could have kept the pack away from phones all day? It was even a relief to know because there had been a dozen other, worse things that had occurred to me.
    What did come as a surprise was the door opening, though I hadn’t sensed anyone on my front porch. Samuel, back in his human shape, let himself into my house. He was wearing only jeans. Even his feet were bare, and he limped a little as he came to me. “They have Adam,” he confirmed.
    I might not have heard him or smelled him, but David didn’t look surprised. He’d made a subtle gesture that kept his men where they were—though I could see they were tense and ready to act.
    â€œDavid Christiansen, meet Dr. Samuel Cornick,” I said. “Samuel, this is David, Adam’s old army buddy. He’s here to get Adam and Jesse out.”
    â€œSo I heard,” Samuel said, sitting down on the couch next to my feet.
    â€œWhat happened to you?” I asked.
    â€œWe got to the address we had for the other wolves and found a few signs, but nothing definite. We wandered around quite a while before Darryl realized the reason Adam wasn’t recalling us from the hunt was because he was gone, along with his car. Someone saw him with a cell phone—which he didn’t have when we left Warren’s house. Several wolves noticed the car drive away, but no one thought to question Adam.”
    â€œWait a minute,” I said, because I was getting a very bad feeling. “Wait a minute. The vampires would have checked out the address—Bran says there’s nothing more paranoid than a vampire. They’d have made certain there were wolves where they were supposed to be, don’t you think? Even just to make certain that it was wolves who’d come. But when half our pack shows up, they can’t find enough scent to track the others?” I looked at David. “And when Mac’s body was left on my porch, I couldn’t scent anyone else who shouldn’t have been there—I didn’t smell you.” I hunched my shoulders. “I should have realized it then,shouldn’t I? It’s not just Gerry, is it?” I saw Samuel stiffen and remembered he hadn’t known. “Gerry Wallace is working with our witch.”
    There were a lot of witches who could sterilize a body so that not even the keenest nose, or the best-equipped, best-trained forensics team could find a clue. But Elizaveta Arkadyevna was one of the few witches who could have removed the scent of David and his men without removing the scent of Adam’s house.
    â€œThere’s a Russian witch,” David said.
    â€œIf the wolf packs come out into the open, witches will lose a lot of business,” I said. “Staying hidden bears a high price—and the witches are some of the people who benefit. I’m not even certain it would be a breach of contract, not as long as Gerry wants to make Adam the Marrok.”
    â€œWhat?” Samuel’s voice was so quiet it made me nervous.
    â€œGerry doesn’t want the wolves to be made public,” I explained. “He decided Adam is the only one who can prevent it—by killing Bran.”
    He held up a hand, his eyes cool as they watched the other men. “I think that Mr. Christiansen