Desert Heat (Complete)

{Mikey’s P.O.V.}

After driving for a few hours and eating most of the way, Lacie passed out in the backseat. We still had about another hour left before getting to Round Mountain, and we would get there around midnight. That gave us time to perfectly execute Maxine’s potion. I let Lacie sleep but told her she needed to put a block from everyone, including Aries.

When we arrived in Round Mountain, I pulled off to an abandoned crossroad by the hills. I looked at the clock and it was a quarter past midnight. Cool, this meant we could sleep for about three and a half hours before I had to kill Lacie. I hated saying it like that, but essentially that’s what I would be doing. This potion would kill Lacie for five minutes. My biggest fear and concern was that the benefactor would be late, even by just a minute, it could ruin this entire plan. Now that I knew what the errand boy looked like; I would know if I was being played come five this morning.

“Lacie, wake up,”

“Mmmm…”

“Come on, half-pint, wake up,”

“What time is it?”

“Quarter after four,”

“Ugh, just kill me now so I can sleep,” she mumbled.

“Lace, you’ve been asleep since for almost ten hours, don’t even complain,” Lacie finally opened her eyes and sat up in the backseat.

“Where are we? It’s creepy,”

“That’s the whole point. Anonymity in a town that has a population of less than 2,000,”

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” she said and stretched. “The fact that I’m out here in the middle of nowhere about to fake my death. How did my life turn into such a drama-filled mess?”

“You became a member of our pack,” she scowled at me and I had to laugh. It was true though, somehow new members always found themselves engulfed in drama. “Alright, I’m going to have you drink the potion at 4:35, no sooner and no later,

“But you told him to be here at five on the dot,”

“I did, but it will take a minute or two of pleasantries before I open the trunk to show him your body,” she nodded. One it was 4:30, Lacie and I got out of the car, she took the potion out of her pocket, and I tied her wrists again and had her sit in the trunk, I made sure to do her head wound but patted it off a bit to make it more dried. I looked at my watch, and as soon it hit 4:35, I popped the cork off the potion and down the hatch it went. Lacie made sure to take every drop as instructed by Maxine.

“Okay, now what?”

“Now, you lay down and let it work,” Lacie nodded and laid down in the trunk. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Now it was all a matter of waiting. One she slumped over like she had been thrown into the trunk, I closed it and waited for 5:00 A.M.

The next 25 minutes went by fairly quickly because I saw a car pulling up into the back of the school parking lot. I put on my game face. The car came to a halt, and I couldn’t see inside because of the headlights and the fact that their windows were tinted. But I could tell was that this was the car was semi-fancy. When the door opened, the scent hit me almost instantly, this guy was a werewolf and a young one. He closed the door, went to the trunk, and pulled out a duffle bag.

He walked over to me and I took a quick look at my watch,

“Well, I guess you’re not as stupid as you seem,” I tell him.

“Show me the girl,”

“First things first, show me the money,” he dropped the bag in front of me, I opened it up and checked a few of the stacks to make sure the money was real.

“This way,” I took him to the back of the car and popped the trunk. What appeared before my eyes almost made me want to gag. Whatever the potion did, didn’t just stop her heart, it actually made her look like a decaying body. The man picked her up by her hair and looked at her closely. I watched him and then a smile formed across his face.

“Well, I guess your reputation precedes itself,” he says and drops Lacie’s head into the trunk. I took a quick look at my watch and had about a minute before the potion wore off. I slammed the trunk closed. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean? You saw the body,”

“I want the body,”

“What?” s**t, this was not good. “Why?”

“I want to make sure that it’s disposed of,”

“That’s not your call to make. Our deal was for me to kill her, bring you the confirmation, I get paid, and then we never see each other again,” I reach behind my pants, “And if you have a problem with that,” I pulled out a gun and clocked it back pointing it between his eyes. “Then I have no problem getting rid of you,” the fear in his eyes that showed right then and there allowed me to see that this kid was way in over his head.

“Fine, you deal with the mess then,” he turned his heel and walked off. “Oh, and just so we’re clear, if you ever threaten me again, I’ll put a bounty on you,” he snarled and got back in his car and peel away. Once I was sure he was out of view, I put the duffle bag in the back seat and drove away myself. I didn’t want to risk being followed. I drove about ten minutes and stopped off the main road in the middle nowhere where were no cars or streetlights.

I got out of the car and quickly popped the trunk. I was relieved to see that Lacie’s face no longer pale or deathly looking, and she looked like a living person again. But she wasn’t awake yet. I check her pulse and sighed another sigh of relief to feel it regulating. I waited a few minutes by the trunk with it completely open so Lacie would have fresh air to breathe when she finally came to. It another ten minutes or so, but Lacie finally started to make some noise,

“Lace?” I shook her slightly.

“Mm…”

“Hey, half-pint, open your eyes for me,” she moved her head to the side a few times and finally opened her eyes. “Lace, you good?” she blinked a few times and then nodded her head.

“What the f**k?” she muttered.

“Whew, thank the goddess,”

“Mikey, what happened?”

“Lace, that potion did more than just stop your heart, you actually looked like a corpse in the trunk,”

“Wait, we’re done already?” I c****d my head and furrowed my brows.

“Lace, it’s been over half an hour since the meeting took place,” she just lifted a brow at me. “Come on, let’s get you home,” she nodded, and I helped her sit up. I took off the restraints and helped her out of the trunk. “Wait here,” I went into the backseat to pull out the duffle when something caught my eye. In a quick second, I saw a lens. I looked a little closer and realized that it was a button camera on the buckle of the duffle by the strap. That little fucker put a hidden camera on the bag.

I left in the bag in the car and went back out to Lacie. She was about to say something, and I put my finger to my mouth to shush her. I grabbed her arm and led her away from the car about fifty feet.

“Mikey, what’s wrong?”

“We’re in trouble,”

“What?”

“Lace, there’s a camera on the duffle bag,” her mouth dropped wide open. “I don’t know if it picks up sound or not, but if it does, whoever is listening may have picked up our conversation,”

“Oh no,”

“Stay right here, do not move,” she nodded, and I went back to the car. I grabbed the bag and picked up the little camera and clutched it in my hand. I took out my phone to call the errand boy, but the number was disconnected. Sneaky little bastards. I the camera into the duffle bag and the bag into the trunk. I signaled for Lacie to come back to the car, and sent her a mind link,

We only speak in mind link from now on until we get home.

Okay, I understand.

Climb into the car through the driver seat, we need to make it seem like only one door closed.

She nodded her head and climb into the passenger seat from the driver’s side. I closed the door. She went to put on the seatbelt, but I stopped her before she could. I gestured we do it at the same time since I have no idea how sensitive the microphone on the camera is if there even is one.

Remember half-pint, mind link only

I got it.

She gave me a smile and I smiled back. It was time to make the seven-hour drive home. The entire way, Lacie didn’t say much and just stared out the window. I had to stop for gas once and made sure Lacie got out through the driver’s side. We both used the restroom and picked up some more snacks and hot foods to eat in the car. The entire time we were driving, I was paranoid that the camera had a GPS tracker on it, so I decided that I would go the firm and have Dani shimmer, Lacie, back home to avoid any suspicion.

Mikey, why are we at the firm? Lacie asked in a mind link.

I need to get Sully to look into the hidden camera. I don’t know anything about it, which means it could be wired with a GPS tracker. I can’t lead these people back to the packhouse. It would blow our entire cover, assuming it’s not already blown.

Okay. So, how do I get home?

I’m going to text Dani as soon as I get the bag inside. Dorian’s building is equipped to block out any transmitters, so it will disable the camera’s GPS locator if it has one.

Okay.

Just wait in the car and I’ll let you know when it’s safe. She nodded her head. I got out of the car and popped the trunk. I grabbed the bag of cash and went inside. As soon as I went through security the alarm went off. Security officers jumped, and I held my hand up for them to be quiet. I grabbed one of their wands and scanned it over the bag, and sure it, it started to beep. That only meant that was a transmitter on or inside the bag.

I dug through the bag and found the camera. I clenched in my fist and had the security guard run the wand over my hand, and it went off. I was glad I made the trip to the firm instead of the house. Security gave me a lead box and I dropped the camera inside of it. This also prevented it from transmitting and kept those double-crossing fuckers in the dark.

“Give this box to Sully ASAP,”

“Yes, Mr. Rays,” I went back out to the car,

“Come on, half-pint, we’re good now,”

“Whew, not talking really sucks,” she said with a big smile.

“Have you called Dani yet?”

“Not yet,”

“Why?”

“Because if you can’t see in this garage, there’s a Lambo, a Supra, and…”

“Aries is here!” she jumped for joy.

“Come on, let’s go inside,”

{Aries’ P.O.V.}

“Aries, please stop pacing, you’re giving me a f*****g headache!” Dorian shouted at me.

“Babe, leave him alone, he’s just anxious,” Allie said putting her hand in his shoulder. I kept pacing Dorian’s office ignoring the fact that I was annoying him. Thankfully, Allie found a way to keep him distracted.

“Allie, not now,”

“Why?” she giggled, and I heard him m**n. I didn’t want to be in the office with them doing the deed, so I walked to the door to leave when the smell of cinnamon and apple hit me.

“Lacie,” I swung open the door, and there she was, right in front of me. “PRECIOUS!”

“Hi…Oh!” I picked her up and spun her in circles. “Babe, we’ve only been apart for less than 20 hours,”

“It felt like so much more than that, baby,” I kissed her and hard.

“Mikey, what’s wrong?” Dorian asked. I stopped kissing Lacie and saw the worried look on his face.

“We need to talk,” we all went into the office and closed the door. “So, I got a good look at the benefactor, he’s young, and a he’s a wolf,”

“How young?” I asked.

“Late teens, maybe early twenties. That’s not the problem we have though,”

“There’s a problem?” I asked.

“Babe, Mikey said that there was button cam on the duffle bag,”

“What?!” we all shouted.

“Dorian, I don’t know if had a microphone or not, but I didn’t see it until after Lacie woke up in the trunk, and we had a full-on conversation,”

“Why the hell would there be a camera in the first place!?” I asked.

“They probably didn’t trust Mikey, or they were trying to get recon on him,” Dorian replied.

“There was also a GPS transmitter on it, which is why I came here to the firm,” Mikey said. “I wasn’t sure if it had one at first, which I came here to be cautious, but once I went through security, it went out like a f*****g fire alarm,”

“Did you put it in a lead box?” Dorian asked.

“I did, and I had security send it directly to Sully so he could look into,”

“Forget the camera, did you get a picture of the benefactor,” Allie asked.

“I did,” Mikey replied and pulled out his phone. “There’s a camera on the front and back of the car, so I made sure that my phone was recording the data. Dorian, I just email it to you,” we call gathered around Dorian’s computer. We watched as he opened the email and double-clicked the attachment.

“Oh.my.god,” Allie said

“Baby, isn’t that?”

“It can’t be,” Allie mumbled. “It’s not possible, how!? When!? Why!?”

“Uh, can someone explain to the rest of us in the room?” I asked.

“THAT’S MY CLASSMATE!”

“Classmate?!” Mikey, Lacie, and I shouted.

“I don’t understand, how can this happen? How does he know Maya? How does he have ten million dollars just lying around!?” Allie grabbed her hair. “Why are the people I consider my friends turning into my worst enemies!?”

“Who is this guy?” I asked.

“His name is Brian Choi,”

“Cho,” Allie corrected.

“Whatever, the point is, he’s an Alpha,”

“WHAT!?”

“He was just given his title during the Christmas and New Year’s break,” Allie answered.

“Giz, where is pack located?”

“Reno, it’s called the White Lake Pack,”

“Alpha, should I send the men to pick her up?” I asked.

“No, we stick to the plan. We need both Maya and Heather to drop their guard,” Dorian said. “Aries, call Bernie and tell him Lacie was killed,” I nodded my head. “Baby, you call Cianna and tell her to work her social media magic,” Allie nodded.

I made the call to Bernie, and tried to put on my saddest tone of voice ever,

“Aries, how are you?”

“Not good,” I said on the verge of crying.

“What is it? Why are you …”

“Bernie, it’s Lacie,”

“What about her!?”

“She went out without her guards, and she never came back. I…” I paused trying to get my voice to crack. “I received a text with her picture, and a message saying that the bounty was collected,” I broke down. “I’m sorry Bernie! I tried to protect her! I really did! This is all my fault!” I broke down completely and just whaled like a baby. I pictured Lacie back in the hospital when she was first poisoned. I thought about how she was more than likely going to die, and all those raw emotions just came flooding back to me.

I could hear Bernie sobbing on the other end of the phone, and then I could hear a woman crying, Corinne. I hated lying to them like this, but we needed them to believe it.

“Aries, did you recover her body?”

“No, bounty hunters don’t return the bodies, they dispose of them,” I said through my crying. I looked at Lacie who was crying too. I wasn’t sure if she could feel my emotions or if she felt guilty lying to her parents like this.

“I don’t blame you; I know you loved my daughter, and you did your best,”

“It wasn’t enough, though, she’s gone. I might as just kill myself for failing her,”

“Don’t do that, Lacie would not want that,”

“But I’m alone again,”

“You have us, we will always be your family because you were Lacie’s family. Corinne and I will take care of the memorial services, and we will have it, here at our home. Because this where Lacie was born,”

“I understand, I will let Dorian and Allie know,”

“Has anyone contacted Cianna?”

“Allie is doing it now,”

“Okay, we have the memorial for Lacie next Wednesday, we need at least a week to prepare. We also need to and try and contact Heather,”

“WHY!? Heather’s the reason Lacie almost died the first time! Don’t forget, Dorian still wants her dead!”

“Heather still deserves to know what happened to her sister,” he said and hung up. I immediately stopped acting and looked at everyone.

“Well, maybe getting Heather to shower her face won’t be that hard after all,” I said to them. I looked at Lacie who was still crying. “Hey, come here,” she ran into my arms and kept crying.

“I love you,” she whimpered. “That was some good acting skills,”

“I told you, pretending to be sad when you’re fake dead would be easy for me,”

“Okay,” Allie said getting off the phone. “Cianna is going to talk with Bernie and help set up the memorial, she’s obviously going to be fake crying too,”

“Alright, now we just have to wait for the memorial to take place, and with any luck, we will catch everyone at once,” I said.

“What about your classmate, Gizmo?” Mikey asked.

“I don’t know to be quite honest,” She let out a big sigh. “On the one hand, I feel like he betrayed me, but then I realize that he was more than likely manipulated into doing it, so it’s not entirely his fault,”

“Wait, we put out the bounty for Maya, wouldn’t that deter her from coming to the memorial service?” Lacie asked.

“Not if she was really was only using Brian for his position as an Alpha to get what she wanted. If her ultimate goal is still getting Aries to take her back, she will leave Brian,” Allie replied.

“That’s a big gamble,” I tell the room.

“If she doesn’t show up, then we send the boys after her, or, I can go after her,” Mikey said. “I can always downplay that you reached out to me too,” he says to Dorian. Dorian just nodded in agreement.

“Alright, Precious, let’s get you home,” I tell her and brush her hair.

“Aries, hold up,” Mikey stops us from leaving. “We’re going to have Dani shimmer her home. We can’t afford anyone seeing Lacie alive, not until the memorial is done, and not until Heather and Maya are caught,”

“Wait, so I have to stay locked up in my room?!” Lacie whined.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Dorian replied.

“What about my pup!?”

“Don’t worry Lacie, Sam will take care of your pup until all the drama passes in the next week or so, once that’s all said and done, then I will call max to reverse the spell,” Allie said calmly. Lacie pouted in frustration. “Also, it would be a good thing for you and Aries to stay secluded in your room, have a little private time, no one will know,” she smiled.

“Allie’s right, it will look like Aries is mourning the loss of Lacie being secluded,” Dorian agreed. “Also, I suggest breaking a few things in the packhouse, and start a fight with someone, just don’t let it go too far,”

“I can do that,” I answered. “Precious, I will see you at home,” I gave her a k**s.

“I just texted Dani,” Allie said and in a matter of seconds, Dani popped up in a cloud of orange smoke.

“So, I guess I’m going to have to keep a big secret won’t I,” Dani said and smiled. “Come on, Lacie,” Lacie gave me one more k**s before taking Dani’s hand and disappearing.

“Alright, well, I guess I’ll go home and break a few things,” I said and walked out. As I walked to the elevator and got in, I smiled to myself. I was going to break something alright. I was about to go home and break Lacie’s sweet delicious body by f*****g her into the next millennium.

{Maya’s P.O.V.}

I was waiting impatiently in Brian’s office while he went to confirm that b***h Lacie was finally dead. I knew sleep with a rich young Alpha would be worth it in the end. I paced his office and stared at the clock. He should have been pack over an hour ago, and he was still not here.

“Ms. Maya, please stop pacing, you’re giving me a headache,”

“And should I care,” this guy was so f*****g annoying. I wanted out of this damn house, but that f*****g bounty that Dorian put one me ruined everything. I still couldn’t get ahold of my parents. I figured that they were also banished along with Esther if they haven’t called me back, but even rogues have cell phones.

“Ms. Maya, the master has returned,”

“Finally,” I grunted. A few minutes later, Brain came into his office with a smile on his face. “Well?”

“It’s done, Lacie Hamilton is dead,”

“YES! Finally, that little slut is gone!”

“Whistler, have you been following the camera feed?” Brian asked.

“Camera?”

“We put a button cam on the bag, I wanted to see if we can find something to use against the bounty hunter so we could leverage him to kill Shaw for us,”

“Why?”

“Killing Shaw automatically voids your bounty,”

“Oh, that would be nice,” I say and look at the butler.

“I have sir, and you’re not going to like it,”

“Why?”

“Because there is no microphone it, and we only picked darkness for a while. Based on the shaking in the picture, he appeared to drive for few a smiles before stopping the car. After what seemed like another ten minutes or so, then, it appears he threw it into the bag of cash,”

“What else?”

“For a few hours, all we had was darkness, and then there was interference with the feed, nothing but static, and now we’ve lost the transmission,”

“WHAT!? Are you telling me we have nothing!?”

“I’m sorry sir, but it appears that this Razor character is better than we thought,”

“I wish I could get a look at this guys, or least speak to him to thank him for killing that b***h Lacie for me,”

“I can show you what he looks like, baby,” Brian said to me. I looked at him. “My car has a dashcam,”

“Oh, show me,” he pulled out his phone and dug through the dashcam footage.

“Here,” he handed me his phone. I took one look at the photo and I dropped the phone. This had to be a mistake.

“Maya?” I picked the phone back up and looked again. I was shaking horror and rage. “Maya, what’s wrong?”

“This has to be a mistake; he can’t be the bounty hunter!”

“Maya! Talk to me!”

“Brian, are you sure!? Are you sure that he’s the bounty hunter you hired!?”

“I’m positive! What’s wrong!?” he asked grabbing my shoulders.

“Brian! That’s Michael Rays!”

“Who’s that?”

“HE’S THE GAMMA OF DESERT MOON!!”