BK 2 - Chapter 42 - Lions and Wolves
Vasco, Raul, and Eddie stared at the large animals in fear. They would have never believed that the people standing before them would suddenly turn into gigantic animals. Kitty and Cat looked at each other and laughed when the smell of urine hit their noses. They didn't know if one or all were wetting their pants.
"I know Ricky wants me dead, but as you can see, that's not going to happen. I need to know which one of you is ready to talk." Kitty looked at the three men as Cat walked over to them. She lightly touched each one on the head, stopping at the youngest man.
"Kitty, I think this one is the most desperate, so he'll talk." Cat kept her hand on Eddie's head, and he could feel some of his fear leaving his body. He didn't know why but he felt calm and would tell them whatever they wanted to hear as long as he could live.
"Thanks, Cat." Kitty pulled out the piece of sheet that had been in his mouth. "Why don't you tell me what Ricky's plan is."
Vasco and Raul began making a lot of noise and shaking their heads at Eddie. He knew they were trying to tell him to keep his mouth shut, but he feared the lions and wolves more than he did Ricky. A lion and wolf went over to the two men and growled in their faces. Raul and Vasco stopped moving immediately. Eddie would have laughed if he wasn't worried about the animals coming after him.
"Ricky had wanted us to follow you around so we could tell him where you were when he comes to Sacramento next weekend. He was going to kill you and your boyfriend. When we saw your sister and her family, Ricky wanted us to kidnap them. He told us to hold them until he got here so he could kill them in front of you." Eddie ignored the glares from the other two men.
Once he was done talking, Cat removed her hand from his head and walked over to Atlas. She scratched him behind his ears, and he purred loudly. She had decided to see if her abilities worked on humans, and apparently, they did.
"Thank you for telling me. What's your name?" Kitty smiled, knowing what Cat had done to make him so willing to talk freely. Now that she wasn't touching him, he looked terrified again.
"I'm Eddie, and this is Vasco and Raul." His voice was quivering now as one of the wolves walked toward him, growling. Gracie and Wesley, who were still sitting on the bed, started laughing. They loved seeing their parents and the two lions scaring the men. Harley walked over to the kids and put his head on the bed so they would pet him. They squealed in excitement as they rubbed his head and ran their fingers through his mane.
"So this is what we're going to do. We're going to set a trap for Ricky. He'll have a surprise when he comes, but not the one he's expecting. Now, we don't need all three of you, so what do you suggest we do with the leftovers?" Kitty looked at the three men and then at her family.
"I'm Ricky's cousin, so you should let me live," Eddie said excitedly, as he was the only one who wasn't gagged.
"What do you think we should do with the others?" She looked toward Cat and nodded. Cat took Gracie and Wesley outside. They did not need to see what would happen, even if it was part of their world.
"I don't care what you do with them; they're worthless." Kitty laughed at his words. She could tell he was nothing more than an annoying young man who was probably sent here to get out of Ricky's hair for a while. She put the torn sheet back in his mouth.
"Atlas, who do you think we should keep? As a detective, I respect your opinion." Kitty turned toward the massive lion and smiled. He walked over to Vasco and sat next to him. Atlas could tell that he was the leader and, likely, was the one who was in contact with Ricky. He would be the only one who could lead Ricky on.
"Alright, men, the detective has spoken. Mom, Max, and Harley, please feel free to do what you want with the other two. I'm going to go outside with Gracie and Wesley." Kitty didn't know the names of Sandie and Max's wolves, but she knew they would understand.
She walked out of the hotel room to where Cat was with the kids across the parking lot. It was late, and no one was around. The hotel was almost deserted except for the van, Trey's truck, and a couple of cars. Kitty heard the kids laughing at something Cat said as she walked up to them.
"What's so funny?" She could hear the sounds of the lions and wolves killing Eddie and Raul. That was something Kitty didn't want to see. It almost turned her stomach when she had Harley mess with Ronaldo. However, they had kidnapped her family. They were also planning on killing them as well as her and Aiden, so the men brought this outcome on themselves.
"Cat was telling us about Atlas and Saira running through the forest playing like kittens, and we could hear Saira growl inside her," Wesley answered excitedly. He and Gracie loved having lions in their family.
"The first time I saw Harley, I couldn't believe how big and gentle he was. I would never tell him I thought he was an oversized kitten." The kids laughed, and it covered up the sounds of what was happening inside the room. Kitty and Cat exchanged a look as they looked toward the hotel.
Atlas and Harley sat down, looking at the carnage in front of them. They had torn apart Raul while the wolves took care of Eddie. There was nothing left but body parts and blood. Vasco had passed out when the first body part went flying. As a tough guy, it seemed he didn't like seeing that much blood.
Atlas and Harley grabbed their clothes in their mouths and shifted back into their humans. The wolves did the same. They all quickly got dressed and went outside to find Cat and Kitty. None of them enjoyed killing but threatening their family was an exception. The two women ran to their mates when they saw them.
"Is it done?" Kitty asked Aiden.
"Yes. Vasco passed out from the blood, so we need to figure out what we're going to do with him." Aiden would have liked to kill him, but they needed him to ensure Ricky still came.
"Mom, what are the names of your wolves?" Kitty asked as she walked over and hugged her. Sandie's wolf was a beautiful reddish brown color, and Max's was dark grey.
"Mine is Renata, Max's is Dion, and Wesley's is Sankar. We'll know Gracies in a few months when she gets hers." Sandie smiled down at her daughter. She was just as impressed by the lions as the kids were.
"They're beautiful. Are you okay, mom?" Kitty was still getting used to saying that.
"Yes, we're fine. We didn't think you would be so fast. They hadn't done anything to us besides putting us in the hotel. They did keep talking about you and Ricky, though. I can't help but blame myself. If I hadn't put you up for adoption, you wouldn't have been pickpocketing to survive, and none of this would have happened." Sandie started crying, and Kitty hugged her.
"You did what you thought was best. None of this is your fault. It's mine. I should have never pickpocketed Ricky. At least we know Ricky's plan. Now we need to make sure Vasco convinces him that everything is still as planned." She pulled away from Sandie and smiled.
"You are the strongest person I've ever met, Kitty. You still have a clear head with everything you've been through. I'm proud to call you my daughter." Sandie kissed her cheek and gave her another hug.
Trey drove Sandie, Max, and the kids back to their hotel while Aiden, Kitty, and Cat went back to check on Vasco. He was unsuccessfully trying to get his restraints off when they walked in. Cat and Kitty had to cover their mouths from the carnage all over the room.
"That's not a good idea. Do you want to end up like your friends?" Aiden asked him. Vasco looked around, and his face turned white.
"I didn't think so. You have to help us now, or that's what will happen. You have to convince Ricky that you have your hostages, so he'll come here this weekend. If you do everything we say, we'll consider letting you live. If you don't, we'll kill you and get Ricky ourselves." Aiden raised his eyebrow at him in question.
Vasco still felt like he was going to be sick, sitting in the middle of the bloody mess that was once Eddie and Raul. He didn't want to end up like them, so he had no choice but to agree. He looked up at Aiden and nodded.
When Trey returned to the hotel, he, Cat, Aiden, and Kitty spent hours cleaning up the room the best they could. There was still some evidence of what happened, but the hotel staff probably wouldn't notice.
It was the middle of the night when they finished, and they put Vasco in the truck. They drove to another hotel and rented a room. The two couples decided they would take turns staying with him until Ricky's arrival. They didn't trust him to leave him alone, even if they tied him up.
Aiden and Kitty took the first shift because Cat was pregnant, and Trey wanted to get her home so she could sleep. Aiden tied Vasco to one of the beds in the room, and he and Kitty took the bed by the door. They slept soundly, but their lions were awake, making sure Vasco didn't get loose.
When they woke up the following day, they allowed Vasco to use the restroom, and then they had him make a call to Ricky. Kitty promised him breakfast if he was able to pull this off. Otherwise, he wouldn't get anything other than a few sips of water.
"Hey Vasco, what's going on?" Ricky was hoping they had been able to get the girl's sister, but he hadn't heard from them yet.
"Ricky, the woman we saw, was the girl's mother. We were able to kidnap her and the two kids. We found out the girl goes by Kitty." Vasco looked at Aiden and Kitty, who nodded. They had gone over with him what to say before he called.
"Great. Now we have something to hang over her head when I get there. I'm sure she doesn't want anything to happen to her family. I may be able to come up a few days early because one of the prosecutor's witnesses played a no-show, so they asked for a continuance. I'll let you know so you can tell me where to go when I get there." Ricky looked out his office window. The missing witness was now buried in the Sutro forest.
"Okay, keep us posted." Vasco disconnected the call and looked at Aiden and Kitty. He had been talking on speakerphone, so they also heard what he said. Now they just had to wait.
