Finley’s Feisty Mate (Dixon Pack Book 3) Page 14

  This was a question she already knew the answer to. Dominic already had police on his payroll. How far up the chain did he have in his pocket? The only choice she had was to go directly to Malton, tell him what Dominic Santora was doing and give him the thumb drive. She didn’t care about the information and she sure as hell didn’t want anything in return except to be left alone.

  She was pretty sure Malton would take care of the rest. Everything she had read about him was about bringing his family into the corporate world and he planned to be a multi-billionaire. Malton had set goals for him and his family. He always called it a family but everyone knew he was a mob boss. None of that mattered to her, only that her family was safe.

  She was a hacker and knew how to find people’s money and that’s what she was going to do this one time. Find Ramone Malton’s private cell number. She scrolled down farther and found she didn’t have to hack into anything, Dominic Santora kept all kinds of information on this drive.

  Alex picked up the phone and walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower then called the cell phone. “Who is this?” the voice demanded.

  Alex swallowed hard. “Sir, you don’t know me, but I have some information I think you will be interested in. My parents owned a computer company in Chicago and they worked on a system for an employee of yours. His name is Dominic Santora and he wanted them to get a virus off the computer.

  “Well, they found something and it has to do with you. He killed my parents because of it. He’s been embezzling millions of dollars from your accounts. And, sir, before you ask, your account number is 5499990322220, is that one of your accounts? It would be from the Malton Food Binder account.

  “Sir, I’m not making this up and if you would do some checking you will see. However, I have the account numbers where he is putting this money. I will hand the thumb drive to you if you will guarantee me and my little brother will be safe from Dominic. He tried to kill me once and if he finds me he will try again.”

  “You do realize you are accusing one of my top men of theft and murder? These are very serious charges. What did you say your name was?” She was scared to even tell him her name, but for this to work, she had to.

  “My name is Alex Marsh and my parents were Ross and Peggy Marsh. They were killed by Dominic Malton. Please do some checking and then call me back. I’m constantly moving so don’t try to track my phone. I have masked my cell phone location, as well. I will be waiting for a call.” Alex hung up not giving the man a chance to change it. She needed this plan to succeed. Haine needed stability and she was ready to start their life here in New Hope.

  Alex tried not to make any noise. Placing her ringer on vibrate, she waited for the call. She ran some bath water hoping that would cover up her conversation and so far, she didn’t hear Finn pounding on her door asking her who she was talking to.

  Honestly, she didn’t know what she was going to tell him except to get out, but she had already fallen in love with him and would never hurt his feelings like that.

  Thankfully the phone started buzzing. “Hello.”

  “So, all you want in return is for you and your brother to be safe?”

  “Yes, sir. We want nothing but our lives back. We never wanted to be a part of this, but Dominic plans on taking out my whole family. I’m not going to let that happen. If you will come to my location I will personally give you the thumb drive where you can retrieve all your money and the interest he’s made. He wants this information and is willing to kill us to get it. You will never hear from me again. What do you say, Mr. Malton?”

  “Where are you?”

  “I will call you back in fifteen minutes and give you the exact location.”

  “I don’t like to wait, Ms. Marsh.” This time the Malton crime boss hung up on her. Which was exactly what she thought he would do. Plus, fair was fair. She had heard Quinn talking about some land for sale with an old barn on it. She said it was right out of town near the Dixon pack property and they were thinking of buying it. Everyone would be at work and she could slip out tomorrow. She quickly got on the realtor’s website and got the address.

  Alex repeated the address two times and then asked, “Can you get there by ten thirty tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I will be there. Don’t even think about double crossing me, Ms. Marsh. I won’t be happy and you don’t want to make me angry.” The phone went dead. Alex started shaking. She turned off the water and put her PJs on then crawled into the bed. This had to work and she had to go alone or she would have to run, leaving everyone she loved. She would have to leave Haine, too. The pack would protect him but she had to draw the men away from everyone in New Hope.

  Finn looked surprised when he opened the door to find Alex waiting for him. Her hair was perfectly placed in a ponytail. She wore little makeup, but it didn’t matter, she was a gorgeous woman. “Well, hello, beautiful.” Alex jumped into his arms and started kissing him hard. The kiss lasted until Finn pulled away. “Wow, now that’s a good morning. Did you sleep okay?”

  “Not really,” Alex said frowning.

  Finn asked concerned, “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

  “Nothing like that.”

  Finn tilted his head sideways. “What’s wrong then?”

  “You’re not in bed with me.”

  Finn pulled her up and hugged her tightly against him. “I was hoping you would say that. I missed you like crazy. I wanted you in my bed.”

  “Tonight, but I’m starving, are you hungry?” Alex said, changing the subject. Knowing she was lying to Finn about her plans was eating her up inside, but she wouldn’t let him get hurt.

  “I’m a shifter, baby, I can always eat. Come on, let me feed you,” Finn said closing his door.

  Alex loved the way Finn smelled. His scent was addictive. He smelled like sweets, like cinnamon buns. The sweet sugary scent of cinnamon along with the bread was making her mouth water just walking next to him.

  “Hey, Alex,” Haine said. He sat at the table along with Lucky, Simone, and Bane.

  “Hey, buddy.” Alex hugged him tightly against her. She was scared that after today, she would never see him again. If Ramone Malton double crossed her, then she had it setup for the information to be sent to every news station in the United States and to every police department including the FBI. If he even thought about messing with her, she would make his life miserable.

  Without missing a beat, Alex hugged Lucky, Simone, and Bane. She rubbed her cheek against the wolves except Bane. She only hugged him not wanting Simone to get mad.

  “You’re learning, Alex,” Simone stated. “Once you’re turned and part of the pack, I won’t be jealous of you.”

  “Turned?” Haine asked. “Will I get turned, too?” All eyes moved to Haine.

  “Not yet, Haine. You’re too young, but Alex is an adult and her mate can turn her,” Finn explained, before Alex could say anything.

  “But Lucky is a shifter,” Haine said.

  “Yeah, but Lucky was born a shifter. Look, it will happen, but only when you are an adult and you know what to expect and you accept it as an adult, but right now you’re just a kid and it’s against our laws to turn someone as young as you are.” The conversation stopped when a family staying at the B&B came into the dining room. Even Haine stopped talking. She could tell he was mad, but he continued to eat.

  Chapter 22

  Alex glanced at her watch then checked it with the one on the wall. She had thirty minutes to get to the meeting place. She already had her computer set up and ready to send out the information if she didn’t discontinue it. She knew what she was doing and nobody could hack into her computer before another alarm went off and sent it before scheduled.

  “Hey, Quinn, do you mind if I take a break for a few. Not a lot going on,” Alex asked nonchalant. She didn’t want to make Quinn suspicious. “Is there a lot of pretty furniture in the furniture store?”

  “Oh, yeah, the pack owns it. Go check it out. I’m sure you will like what you
see,” Quinn answered.

  “Eventually, I want to get Haine a bedroom suite. Thanks, I’ll check it out.” Alex picked up her pocketbook and walked out the door. She walked toward the furniture store but once she saw Quinn wasn’t looking, she walked back to her car and quietly pulled out. She already had the address in her phone and was following the directions. She had twenty minutes to get there.

  Thoughts of her dying and her body not being found for days went through her head. She had a text message going out to Finn if she didn’t cut it off by a certain time. She wanted to make sure she gave herself plenty of time, but not too much in case she needed help. She’d hoped that she planned this perfectly but she knew when dealing with these kinds of people, there was always a problem.

  Simply, she was tired of running and Haine needed a home. She sent all the information to Chief Egan as well including Quinn and Simone. She had put a letter in the mail granting guardianship to Simone, praying they would take care of her little brother if something went wrong. But she had no plans on not coming back.

  “You have arrived at your location,” her phone said. Well, she was here, and now she would find out if she was going to have to run for the rest of her life or if Ramone Malton was a man that could be trusted.

  She parked at a farmhouse and slowly got out of the vehicle. Quietly, she walked over to a clearing and waited behind some trees. A black SUV pulled up and three men got out. They all were wearing black hats and coats one would see in Chicago. This had to be Ramone Malton and two of his people. Alex took a deep breath and walked out from behind the trees. She had already showed them she was here. “Might as well get the party started,” Alex whispered.

  As she walked closer, she knew something was wrong, but she was too far into it now to run like hell. Even the wind was whipping her hair around, yelling at her to get away. It was when the wind blew a hat off one of the men that she realized she should have listened to her gut.

  “Surprise. I take it you were expecting someone else,” Dominic Santora said, smirking. Today she had no reason to wonder where the man got his nickname, The Bull. He looked just like a bull ready to charge.

  She would not let him see her panic. “Yes, actually, I was waiting for your boss,” Alex said, thrusting her chin out, waiting for that comment to sink in.

  Dominic started laughing, the two men joining in. She didn’t smile or laugh back. She was in trouble here.

  “Ramone Malton wouldn’t step his precious foot in this backwoods country. So, I’m calling your bluff, sweetheart, but I give you ten points for the try. Now, give me what I want.”

  Even his voice made her sick. The butterflies were ramming against her stomach but she couldn’t let the sick son of a bitch see her sweating. “You really think I’m joking about Mr. Malton?”

  She froze when Dominic started speed walking toward her. She couldn’t show her fear or he would chew her up and spit her out. “I know you are.” Dominic said, grabbing her around the neck then licked her across the face. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, but first you’re going to give me those account numbers.”

  “I would rather die. Ramone Malton said I could trust him, now I see he doesn’t care who steals his money, even one of his men.” Alex could barely breath as she tried to pry his hand from her neck.

  “Just so you know, Ramone Malton is dead by now and that money is mine. I earned it for taking all the shit he’s dished out all the years. I should be head of the family. He wants to bring us into the new wave. We’re mobsters and we should act like it. He’s become weak, but I will take over soon enough and the money is going to help me do that.”

  Dominic jerked his gun out. “Now, give me the thing with my accounts on it or I’m going to shoot you.”

  “Never,” Alex grunted out. If she was going to die then the files would go out as planned. The Malton family along with Dominic Santora would have to explain and when they found her body that would also be known. She added a video at the end that said if this evidence went out then she was dead by the hands of the Malton family.

  Alex could feel the burning feeling in her stomach. She almost laughed because the stories people gave of not even hearing the gun fire was a lie. At least in her case. She heard it go off just before her body fell to the ground like a bag of trash. As she glanced down, blood began saturating the outside of her shirt.

  The pain was bearable at first until more blood leaked out. She was going to die now. At least she knew the pack would protect Haine. They would never let anyone touch him. But Finn would be without a mate. She prayed he would forgive her and understand why she went without him knowing. Her plan backfired but the world would know what kind of animal Dominic Santora was.

  She pressed hard against her stomach praying that something would happen to the bastard before she passed away. Anything, like a wild bear charging out of the woods because it smelled fresh blood. Wait, skip that because she was still alive and they had guns and she didn’t. Plus, she couldn’t run.

  “Now, give me the drive or I will go into town and kill the boy. I’m not playing, stupid girl. Now!” Dominic screamed.

  Alex moved to her side. “It’s in my pocket.” Dominic reached down and pulled the thumb drive out.

  The howling of a wolf was beautiful to her ears as the wind blew. She could only imagine that it was Finn or one of the members of the pack as he raced to save her, but he didn’t know where she was.

  “You won’t get away with this,” Alex groaned as the pain got worse.

  “Sure, I will. I brought the law with me, too.” Alex glanced at the detective she was supposed to meet from the police department. “Anyway, who’s going to know?”

  “Me.” A man and three others stepped out of the wood line.

  “Money…Ramone…what are you doing here?” Dominic stammered. He was shocked. He could have come out earlier so she wouldn’t have gotten shot, dumb ass. She could feel her mind slipping in and out of consciousness, but she prayed she could hold on, if only to see what was going to happen between them.

  “You’ve been a naughty boy, Dominic Santora. A very bad boy.”

  “No…no, Money. That money is safe exactly where it should be. It’s making you a lot in interest. Only the Cayman Islands can give you that kind of interest rate.” Alex heard the desperation in Dominic’s voice. She watched as he pocketed the thumb drive and backed away from Ramone Malton.

  “You expect me to believe you were just making me more money by putting my money in a different account in a different country under your name? Really? And you put a hit out on me. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? Mick is my friend, you dumb schmuck.”

  Dominic pointed his gun at Ramone. “Well, since you put it that way. No, but I’m the one with a gun. Looks like I’m the one who’s in charge now. You won’t be around long enough. I’m so sick and tired of taking orders from you. You don’t deserve to be over the family. All you want us to do is work together,” Dominic said, putting his fingers up like quotation marks. “Teamwork. We’re fucking mobsters, Money, not a team. We fucking kill people who get in our way.”

  “You don’t get it, do you? You never did. Haven’t you realized the mob is nonexistent now. We have to move into the future, but it doesn’t matter, you’re not going to be a part of the family much longer.”

  Dominic waved the gun around in the air. “How do you see that? I’m the one with the gun and it’s pointed at you.”

  The howling of wolves sounded so close. She was fading fast when she saw a huge wolf run out of the woods along with Arden and Bane. It almost looked like Quinn and Simone.

  “Alex?” Quinn yelled. Yep, she was dreaming. If she could have moved, she would have, but the wolf was so beautiful as it came closer to her. God, he was beautiful. Finn, she knew it was him. The wolf licked the side of her face then moved down to her stomach and started growling.

  “Oh no, Alex. You’ve been shot. Arden, she’s been shot,” Quinn shouted.

&nbs
p; “Who are you people? What the fuck is that?” Dominic stared at the wolf who was now stalking him.

  “No, Finn, he has a gun. No…Finn!” Alex could barely talk as she pleaded.

  “Who are you people?” Dominic demanded waving the gun at Finn and the others.

  “Who are you and what are you doing on my land?” Arden turned the question back to him.

  “Well, I’m getting something that belongs to me and killing as many of you as I can,” Dominic said, trying not to act like he was scared.

  “Not today, you’re not,” Arden said.

  “Hey, buddy, I don’t know if all of you people are just plain stupid or just shy of common sense or what, but I have a gun,” Dominic said again waving it in the air.

  Arden and Bane both laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You think we are scared of a gun?” Arden narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to Dominic.

  “Hey, I’m not with him. I’m here to help the girl and she’s not looking too good right now. Do you have a doctor?” Ramone Malton asked looking down at her.

  Before Arden could get any closer, Dominic fired his weapon hitting Arden in the chest. “What the fuck?” Dominic backed up when Arden started shifting and the bullet fell to the ground.

  “If I were you, well, actually I’m ready to see the shifter rip your throat out, saving me from having to do it,” Ramone Malton said.

  Finn could tell Alex’s body was shutting down. She didn’t have much time left. He had to do something fast. He had to bite her. He watched as his Alpha partially shifted extracting the bullet from his body then shifting back.

  Alex’s gasps for breath gained the pack’s attention. “Finn, you have to bite her now or she’s going to die,” Quinn gritted out.