Dirty Deeds (The Tulsa Pack Book 1) Read online

  There were so many patients, they’d expanded several times and the hospital actually made money for the pack. Other healers wanted to come here to learn from Grant so they’d started a small private college that Grant was president of. JC didn’t know much about it and as long as it broke even, he didn’t care. The pack made money from the apartments they rented the students and the other things they bought locally.

  Harvey was their accountant. He was five in pack hierarchy. Some upstart might think he was an easy target to get their rank from, but he was no pushover. When the suit came off, the muscles were easily visible. The pack owned an accounting firm Harvey ran for them. They only took the best and the brightest. Accounting degrees were available at their college so he had first choice of top students there.

  Jack the mechanic was number six. He was a great guy, but he looked like a brawler. Probably because he was. Sometimes he filled in as a bouncer because he just loved knocking heads together so much. His biggest disappointment was a night without a fight. He ran the packs huge garage. They had ten bays that they used to work on customers repairs, but two extra bays where Jack restored antique cars. His cars always sold high and were in demand. It was impossible to put them out faster than he could sell them. Pack got the first shot at buying them when they were finished in order of pack rank. JC would buy them all if he could. That’s how great they were.

  The other guys wandered in one at a time until they were finally all present. Some meetings were top ten, but most were just the six of them. “So what do we have to discuss at this meeting, Tanner?”

  Tanner looked up like he’d been caught off guard. “Me?”

  “You called the meeting, didn’t you?” JC asked.

  “Yeah, but Cade’s the one that wanted it.”

  All eyes turned toward Cade. “The council wants an updated list of all pack members.”

  “We already knew that.” JC observed.

  “They want it by Monday.” Cade explained,

  “How do they think we can get it that quick?” JC asked.

  “They don’t seem to realize how hard it is or maybe they don’t care.” Cade noted.

  “Did you talk to Damon?” JC asked.

  “He’s not available. Some kind of family situation.” Cade observed.

  “I hope it’s not the kids.” JC declared.

  “It’s extended family. They volunteered that much.” Cade offered.

  “We’ll do our best. What else?” JC asked.

  “Tyne wants to talk to you.” Cade said.

  “Tyne Wolf?” JC asked.

  “The one and only. I’ve never heard of anyone else with that first name.” Cade admitted.

  “What’s he want?” JC asked.

  “Don’t know. He wanted to discuss it with you.” Cade observed.

  “Okay, I’ll call him after the meeting. Now I need some help finding a bartender and a waitress.” JC instructed.

  “You two finally moved on?” Jack teased with a smirk.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” JC declared.

  “You and Tanner have been messing with the help. I’ve been expecting trouble for a while.” Jack observed.

  “Tanner and Donita parted ways. I’m waiting until we have a bartender to break the news to Mitzy.” JC admitted.

  “Warn us so we can stay home that night.” Grant advised.

  “It won’t be that bad. I was honest with her.” JC insisted.

  “Won’t make no difference. You’re going to be on the receiving end of hell unleashed.

  “Mitzy is a reasonable person.” JC observed.

  “Since when? If that’s true, why the extra waitress?” Harvey asked.

  Well he had him there. “Better safe than sorry?” JC hoped.

  “I need to go to supervise the census takers.” Cade informed.

  “You do that. We need to keep the council happy.” JC noted.

  “Since when?” Cade asked.

  “We always try to keep them happy. Not our fault they’re unreasonable.” JC informed.

  Cade left with Grant heading back to the hospital soon after. Harvey went next, but he was probably helping with the census since he kept tabs on a lot of numbers. “So what do you think Tyne wants?” Jack asked.

  “Don’t know. As soon as your nosy ass leaves, I’ll call him and find out.” JC admitted.

  Jack let out a very unwolflike snort. He jumped up heading toward the door as he shot twin birds behind his back toward JC. “That’s just rude.” JC said as Jack chuckled while he walked away.

  JC picked up his cell phone. He didn’t talk to Tyne much these days, but they’d been pretty close years ago. He’d helped JC with the pack when he’d first got it going. A spot had been his if he’d wanted it, but he refused. The male had big plans and while it had taken him some time, he’d finally built a well-known security business. That business was number one with supernaturals. It made him wonder if it was anything related to that.

  Hitting the button, he listened to the phone ring. “Tyne speaking.’

  “Hello. This is JC, Cade said you needed me to call.”

  “Good to hear from you, Man. How long has it been this time?”

  “About ten years, but who is counting?”

  Tyne chuckled. “You are apparently. I need to bring my mate with me to come by to see you.”

  “You’re mated?” JC asked stunned.

  “Yeah, Moe is one hell of a gal.”

  “Human?”

  “White wolf. She changed and is expecting the first pup soon. They’re having a baby shower in the other room. I have to thank you for calling when you did. She made me stay while they were playing games.”

  He could almost hear Tyne shudder. “She made you?”

  “Fated mates have their own type of power over a male. Someday you’ll understand.”

  “Okay.” JC wasn’t so sure about that. “So what’s going on?”

  “There’s a girl, a friend of my mate. She’s in some trouble making her need a place to lie low.”

  “You want me to take her? She got any skills? Can she waitress?” JC asked.

  “I suppose she can, but she’s a hell of a bartender. She put her way through college that way. It’s just for maybe three months or so.” Tyne guessed.

  “Send her to me. I have an opening for a bartender. There’s a room upstairs she can stay in until something else is found. She better be as good as you say.” JC was sure she had to be better than Sheila no matter how bad she was.

  “I’ll let her know. Her name is Destiny, parents are hippies. Could you text me the address? It’s been a long time.”

  “Just did. Did you get it?”

  “Got it. Thanks buddy. You know you could come here to see me. I’d even introduce you to the white wolf.”

  “You know Ariel?”

  “We’re family. She lives just down the road. Her mate and I were army buddies. Blake, he’s one hell of an alpha.”

  “I might take you up on that. I’ve always been curious about her.”

  “Just call before you come so my mate can prepare.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll keep an eye out for my new bartender. Congrats on the mate and pup.”

  “Thanks.”

  The line went dead, but JC sat in his chair for a while thinking things through. Three months would give him plenty of time to advertise to find a permanent bartender. Luck was with him, or so it seemed. A waitress, he wasn’t even sure he’d need one yet. That was up to Mitzy. If he had a chance to train one part time, though, that would just be the smart thing to do.

  “What did Tyne want?” Tanner asked.

  “You won’t believe this, he’s sending us a bartender for three months.” J. C announced.

  “Sounds like Lady Luck is on your side.” Tanner admitted.

  “It never hurts to have her there.”

  “We’ll keep looking for a permanent one, right?”

  “Absolutely. A spare never hurts.”

&
nbsp; Tanner left to take care of business leaving JC there to mull things over. He’d forgotten to ask if the female was human or something else. What the hell, it didn’t really matter. There were humans in his pack, mates that didn’t have any wolf in them so couldn’t change. None of them had caused any problems so he didn’t expect any now.

  There was enough work to keep him busy until quitting time. He’d always put in long hours. It was another reason the pack had done so well. None of his inner circle was afraid of hard work. These days much of the work was paperwork or managerial, but it was work that required a lot of time. They’d always agreed they’d work hard now so they could take family time once they mated and had pups. If that ever happened.

  JC had always thought he’d be the first to mate. He’d lead the way as he did in everything else, but now he wondered if it would ever happen. Tanner’s words had stirred up his own doubts. Fated mates had been all, but a myth in their community until the white wolves had been rediscovered, yet when he was younger, he’d been certain he would find his perfect one.

  He’d known he would someday lead a pack, it had happened. The prosperous life he’d anticipated was here. In the visions he’d had of his future the only thing he’d not achieved was to be mated with pups. Now it was all he thought about. Mitzi was alright, but she was too far from the female he needed to stand at his side. It was his decision, but all his inner circle agreed she was just the wrong one.

  Chapter 2

  Destiny

  She sat on the porch staring out at the lovely scene in front of her, but not really seeing the green grass in the fields that the cows were grazing on. The beautiful flowers made no impression on her otherwise occupied mind. Not even the dog chasing the cat across the yard got a second look from her though normally she’d be yelling at Scout to leave Muffy alone.

  Her mind was on the shambles one bad choice had made of her life. She’d picked the wrong man to date so in true white wolf fashion, when she messed up, she did it in a big way. The guy had been too perfect, she should have known a major flaw lurked just out of sight. Little Mickey, called that because his dad was Big Mick, had been the biggest mistake of her life to date. Destiny, or Dez to friends and family, had never known a mobster before much less intimately.

  Mickey was handsome in that underwear model kind of way. No imperfections to be seen, anywhere. He was a good lover too, if a tad selfish. She’d heard all the perfect looking ones were because they could be. Women fell all over themselves to get his attention, even when they were out on a date together. Who does that, anyway?

  There was a time she would have said most women had too much self-respect to pass their number to a guy out on a date with his girlfriend, but now she knew from firsthand experience that just wasn’t so. His good looks seemed to make some women lose their heads completely. It also seemed to affect their balance. Dez couldn’t keep track of how many women had fallen into him in a way that he had to catch them or let them fall. If she ever tried that with a guy, she’d be picking her ass up off the floor. He caught all but one, her aim was off causing him to be unable to react quickly enough to save her. Her head hit a trashcan. Ouch, that had to hurt.

  The man was pure poison, but she hadn’t seen that until three months into the relationship. She’d overheard some things, seen a few too. Enough that his dad, the Big Mick had her brought to him for a friendly talk. That was when she first realized what a mess she’d landed herself in. When she’d had the opportunity to grab a million dollars, she’d taken it then run.

  No, she hadn’t taken it for herself. She’d called Ariel, her wise and all-knowing cousin. Ariel had set her up with a meeting with Damon McDougal and his brother Cage who was with some kind of supernatural department of the FBI. Once she turned the money into them, she explained where it had come from. That made her feel better. Dez was able to fill them in on a lot they hadn’t known about the Scrazassi crime family. They hadn’t connected them with the local trash company or one of the local veterinarians. The small medical clinic they ran also had passed their notice.

  Assured she wouldn’t have to testify, Damon told her to let Ariel help her hide out for ninety days while they got everything underway. After that, she should be able to come home and just stay low, not calling any attention to herself. She could do that, couldn’t she?

  Right now she needed to get ready to go to Ariel’s. Her wise and all-knowing cousin had arranged everything for her. Dez had no idea what she would have done without Ariel to help guide her. Standing up slowly, she turned to walk back into the house. It was time to shake off the depression so she could put real clothes on to get back out in the world where other people were.

  Two weeks of PJs with fluffy house shoes had been all the time she could afford to give to the period of mourning she was going through. Sure, Mickey turned out to be a dishonest asshole. It wasn’t him she was mourning, it was the wonderful guy she’d thought he was before it had all come crashing to the ground.

  Now she was dressed and though not quite ready to face the world in general, she would go see Ariel to find out what was coming next. She was ready as she would ever be as she walked past the garage door which happened to be opened to the rest of the house. She didn’t use it for her car because she always seemed to have a project of some kind in it. Today was no exception.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement as she passed by. Stepping back to see what it was, she gasp in surprise. A grinning moron in a mask stood just inside her garage with three others coming in behind him. She was no fool, she turned running back to her bedroom pressing the lock then slamming the door closed. Dez could hear sounds of pursuit.

  Moving to her nightstand she opened the drawer pulling out her bodyguard gun. She took off the safety waiting calmly. The door was kicked open with a guy rushing in, but the first man’s eyes got big as she pulled the gun pointing it at him.

  “Now, Baby. There’s no need to get upset.” Fuck! It was Mickey the Dickey.

  She pulled out something to push a button. “This is my personal monitoring device. It is recording this conversation and sending it to my security team. They’ll be here in fifteen minutes or so. Now if you don’t want to be riddled with bullets, explain to me why you broke into my home, Mickey Scrazassi.”

  Mickey laughed so all the other idiots laughed too. “You don’t have a security team. I researched you and you can’t afford that. I bet that device doesn’t even do anything. Your gun probably doesn’t have any bullets if it’s even a real gun at all.”

  “Are you willing to take the chance, Baby?” Dez sneered.

  “Grab her, Jeno!” Mickey told one of his henchmen.

  Jeno was stupid he stepped around Mickey right into the path a bullet would take lunging at her. Aiming carefully, she squeezed off a shot. Jeno screamed like a girl as the bullet hit his upper thigh. “Consider that a warning. The next will be a kill shot.” She counseled.

  “The bitch shot me!” Jeno screeched falling down then rolling around on the floor.

  “You shouldn’t have done that, Sweetheart.” Mickey informed.

  “You shouldn’t have broken into my house. That wasn’t smart at all.”

  “You can still come back to me. Dad will punish you, but once that’s done, we can be together.” Mickey urged.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so. You can turn around to leave before my team gets here or stay to be taken into custody. The decision is all yours.”

  She could almost see the rusty wheels inside Mickey’s head spinning. He wasn’t much of a thinker so this was new for him. “I think shooting Jeno was an accident. You wouldn’t hit another guy. Johnny, grab her!” No one moved.

  Mickey turned around looking at Johnny. “Man, you’re embarrassing me. Do what I told you.”

  “Not doing it. She didn’t hit Jeno by accident. I was watching, she knows what she’s doing. I bet she’s an undercover. Your dad will be so damn mad.” Johnny insisted.

  “That true,
Baby? You undercover?”

  “No, but I do know how to shoot a gun.”

  Mickey got quiet as he thought over what she’d said. “You do know most people that know how to shoot are either criminals or cops?” He finally asked.

  “Or security or hunters or people who like to feel safe.”

  That made him take another moment to think. “Why would you need protection?”

  “From all the dark scary evil things that go bump in the night.” She explained. Mickey should understand that since he was one of them.

  She heard a car pull up fast its brakes screeching as it stopped suddenly. The doors slammed shut as people came running into the house. “Dez!” Someone screamed.

  “In here.” She yelled back. Tyne, Moe, and two more big security guys came running up to the room stopping behind the four intruders.

  “You okay?” Moe asked.

  “Yeah, but I had to shoot one of these fools. They wanted proof the gun was loaded.”

  Moe started to laugh. “Not funny. It hurts.” Jeno said.

  “Did the loser ex send them?” Tyne asked.

  “The loser ex is the one out front.” Dez explained. “He said he researched me so he knew I couldn’t possibly have security. He also believes your device doesn’t really record things to alert you to danger.”

  “Unbelievable! He came himself.” Moe shook her head.

  “What should I do now? Ariel is waiting for me.” Dez admitted.

  “Go on. We’ll take these guys to the witch’s jail so they won’t be able to talk to anyone until you’re gone. Ariel has a lot of important things to tell you about.” Tyne instructed.

  Dez took one more looked at Mickey and his followers before she turned tail hurrying away. If luck was with her, she’d never see him again. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe he’d only meant to scare her. If she hadn’t had a gun, Tyne and Moe would have found her raped at the least if not already dead. Mickey might be pretty, but he was a beautiful monster. The outside might be lovely, bit it hid an ugly evil that was lethal to the unwary.