Chapter 926 Chapter 926
Webb didn’t know what to expect. He opened the man door and stood there watching for Deacon to drive around the corner.
When he did, he stopped beside it like he was doing nothing more than picking up supplies. Maybe Grifter had changed his mind. Tripp got out and opened the back door. His hand rested on his gun. A man got out. This wasn’t at all like what Webb had thought. He wasn’t cuffed or bound in any way.
Grifter was around Tripp’s height. It was hard to tell his size because it looked like he was wearing more than one layer of clothing. He could see white-blond hair hanging out of his worn hat. His beard was unkempt and as light in coloring as his hair. Webb knew one other person with that particular shade of hair. Eaton. Wouldn’t it be odd if they were related in some way?
Webb frowned and looked at the floor for a moment. Siblings. There was something he’d thought of about siblings when the teens arrived for the training program. He couldn’t remember what it was. He shrugged. It would come back to him at some point. He looked back at the three men.
Grifter slung an old backpack over his shoulder and glanced around.
Deacon came around the SUV.
“Lead the way.” Grifter grinned at him.
Tripp kept his hand on his sidearm, but he wasn’t on full alert. It was Tripp, so he wasn’t ever not on alert, but the gun wasn’t out of the holster, so Webb took that as a good thing.
Grifter smiled at him. “Hey, big man. I’m Grifter.”
“Webb.” He stepped back so the three could come in. Webb followed the three of them to the cage.
“If it’s all right, I wouldn’t mind a shower and razor later on. It’s been a long, cold winter.” Grifter hesitated at the door and looked up at the bars above his head. Blowing out a breath, he stepped inside, turned around, and looked at Deacon. “I can earn my way out of here, right?”
Deacon shrugged but didn’t say anything.
Webb looked at the door and wondered if he was supposed to shut him in or not.
Webb jumped when the door closed on the other side of the room. He turned to see Devin and Calum walking toward them. Following behind, with her gun in her hand, was Blaise.
Tripp moved over and stood beside the door of the cell Grifter stood in.
“That's the prince,” Grifter said softly.
It wasn’t a question. He knew what he looked like. That should be a concern, Webb thought, but it wasn’t his place to tell the warriors of the Alliance what they should have realized when he did.
Blaise moved around the two men and came over and stood in the door. She looked Grifter up and down. “You will be respectful.” Her voice was low, and there was no way to mistake it as a request.
Grifter held her look for a moment and then nodded.
When Devin and Calum stopped outside the cage, Webb noticed that Calum stood in a position where he could intercede if anyone tried to get closer to the prince.
Grifter lowered his head and kept it that way long enough that it was an obvious acknowledgment of who was in charge. When he lifted it, he looked at Calum. “I’ve seen you around.”
Calum’s expression didn’t change.
“Deacon says we can trust you, so I’m going to.” Devin crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s conditional.”
Grifter put his hands in his pockets, one more sign that he was submitting to the prince of the Alliance. “I figured.”
Devin studied him for a moment. “How did you hear that Aiden Tomas was removed from his throne?” There was no mistaking the venom in his tone.
Grifter glanced at Deacon and then to the prince. “Rogues have a communications network.” He sighed. “Pike and Maxton before him weren’t exactly on the list for it, but I have friends who kept me up to date.”
Devin exchanged a look with Blaise. “A communication network?”
Grifter nodded and then grinned for a second. “It’s nothing high-tech. It's more like no tech. It was set up that way so the Tomas family and associates couldn’t find groups of us and take us away to add us to their pet market.”
Devin looked at Blaise. “Has Cassius mentioned this?”
Blaise shook her head. “They’re all in, but I can’t blame them for holding back and having a backup plan.” She looked at Calum. “Rogues were considered as tainted as shifters like me.”
Devin sighed, and his rigid composure visibly relaxed. He looked back at Grifter. “We need to know everything about the three men you traveled with.”
Grifter nodded. “The sooner they’re not sharing good oxygen with the world, the better.” His expression went serious. “I wasn’t with them because I liked them.” He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “I was just trying to survive.” He turned and looked at Deacon, and something passed between them, but neither man spoke out loud.
“Can I come in now? Is it safe?”
Calum’s mouth quirked at Rayne’s voice.
Devin spun around and looked at the other side of the area. “Right now?”
The door opened wider, and she stuck her head in. “Yes.”
Devin looked at Calum and then stepped back from the cell. “Close it.”
Tripp moved and closed the door.
“No offense.” Devin glanced at Grifter and then watched his mate come across the floor, pushing a cart in front of her.
Rayne came over and pushed the cart right outside the door. “I couldn’t even guess your size, so I grabbed a bunch.” She smiled at Grifter, and then her eyes widened as she looked him up and down. “We’ll burn what you’re wearing.” She motioned up and down him. “Deacon can show you to the showers.”
“Rayne,” Devin said softly.
She sighed and looked at him.
Devin glanced at Deacon. “When we’re through, take him to get cleaned up.”
Deacon nodded.
Calum grinned.
Rayne turned back to Grifter. “I’m sorry, I’m…”
“I know who you are.” Grifter bowed his head respectfully. When he lifted it, he moved closer to the bars, and Calum did as well on the other side. “Mam’...”
Rayne smiled. “Rayne will do fine.”
Grifter looked shocked but nodded. “Miss Rayne, there’s a price on your head.” He looked at Devin. “She needs guards.”
Calum’s brows lowered. “What do you mean?”
Grifter stepped back from the bars. “It went out last year. My guess is Aiden Tomas started the ball rolling on it. Most don’t know he’s gone, so it’s still in effect.” He looked at Devin and then turned to Deacon. “If the princess is taken out of the picture, they figure the prince and the future of the Alliance would crumble.”
“Is that the sort of thing the rogue communication network relays?” Blaise sounded angry.
Grifter shook his head. “No. That mostly tells everyone where not to be because they’re hunting us. It lets them know safe houses and locations.” He looked at Deacon and then pulled off his worn tongue and ran his hand through his hair. “Since Pike took out Maxton, his group is more like hired thugs. They grab jobs from a different network.” He looked at Devin. “That you don’t want to get involved with.”
“What have you been doing?” Deacon sounded disappointed.
Grifter looked at him. “Me? As little as possible. I didn’t sign up for it and have managed to make sure the right jobs were botched.” He shrugged. “Unless they were drug runners or traffickers, then I helped enrich the earth with their decaying carcasses.”
Devin and Calum both turned to look at Rayne for a moment.
“I’m safe here.” She sounded annoyed.
Grifter spoke before they could reply to her. “You are. We had no idea you were here.” He looked around. “Or that here existed. Kiloh was just hunting for the girl and Cassius’ people.”
“I need to talk to Dad.” Devin looked at Calum and then turned to Deacon. “Take him to get cleaned up, get him some food, and then we’ll sit down and get some details.” He moved over and put his hand on Rayne’s back.
She smiled at Grifter. “Take whatever you need from this.” She nodded. “And welcome.” She turned and walked toward the door, Devin right beside her.
Calum didn’t move. He studied Grifter for a moment. “If you’ve seen me around, you know not to mess with me or my people.”
Grifter nodded.
“Good.” Calum turned on his heel and went toward the door.
Blaise looked at Deacon. “Trust is earned. I know he earned yours, but people can change.” She nodded to him and then went toward the back doors and went outside.
No one spoke for a moment, and then Grifter exhaled loudly. “That was a little tense.” He grinned at Deacon. “I like this bunch you’re with.” He looked at the bars. “Even with the cage view.”
Tripp looked at Deacon. “You need me?”
Deacon shook his head. “No. We’ll be fine.”
Tripp nodded. “All right. Amari and I are slotted for patrol, so I’m going to go do that.” He glanced at Grifter and then looked at Webb. “You got walkies that will fit in our run packs?”
Webb nodded. “Yeah. I charged a bunch up because it looks like we’re going to need them.” Webb watched Deacon and Grifter staring at each other and then huffed out a breath. “Come grab some. I was going to take them to the sign-in office, so anyone going out will have one.” He started to turn and then remembered the keys in his pocket. He pulled them out and held them up. “You’ll need these.”
Deacon looked at the keys and then reached over and took them from his hand.
Webb dropped his hand and motioned for Tripp to go toward the warehouse. Driving was beginning to sound like something he wanted to get back to. The turmoil in his head about Rhogue plaguing him was bad enough; now, he had to digest rogue communication networks and what he was pretty sure was a hitman-for-hire bunch.
“Better keep handbaskets in stock,” Tripp said as they went into the warehouse and kept walking toward Webb’s unofficial office. “Because hell is making room for us.”
Webb knew it was serious, but Tripp's way of telling him things were going to hell was the comic moment he needed right now. “I get some in bulk.”
“Good man.”