In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(25)

Liam made it sound like he and the Albanian were equals. He was even further gone than she’d thought if he didn’t know Kos was using him.

She threw a disgusted look over her shoulder as she kept walking. “You keep believing that right up until it’s too late.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Liam asked.

She stopped and turned to look at him. Liam was standing at the bottom of the steps, an annoyed look on his face.

“When we first came down here, you said your debt would be paid off in a few weeks,” she said. “Well, it’s been a few weeks and we’re still here.”

Liam didn’t answer right away. “We’ve got something good going here, Jayna. We’d be crazy to leave. Can’t you see that?”

No, thinking Liam might actually come clean with her and admit there was no debt and never had been was crazy. She should have known better.

Jayna didn’t say anything as she turned to climb up the stairs again. Fortunately, Liam was smart enough not to follow her. If he had, Jayna knew she wouldn’t be able to help what happened.

She walked down the hall to the small, one-bedroom efficiency apartment on the third floor that she and Megan shared and tapped on the door. Even though they both had a key to the place, they had no idea if Kostandin or one of the other Albanians had a second one. So anytime one of them was in the room, they slid a chair under the doorknob to wedge the door closed even after they put the chain on it. It wouldn’t stop any of those thugs for long, but it would slow them down.

She heard Megan move the chair aside and undo the door chain. A moment later, the door opened. Megan stepped back so Jayna could enter, then closed the door and locked it again.

“Hey! I was wondering when you’d be back.” Megan smiled. “You smell different. New shampoo?”

Jayna opened her mouth to tell her best friend about Eric, but then closed it again. She wanted to trust Megan, wanted to think she wouldn’t tell Liam anything Jayna asked her to keep secret. But honestly, Jayna wasn’t sure what Megan would do if Liam got in her face and asked her straight out if she knew where Jayna had been. Even if Megan could keep from telling Liam, she still might slip up and tell one of their other pack mates, which was essentially the same thing. The guys, especially Joseph, were still really tight with their pack alpha.

So, feeling like a piece of crap, Jayna smiled back. “Yeah.”

Jayna was careful not to look at her friend as she wedged the chair back under the door. By the time she turned around, Megan was sitting cross-legged on her bed, regarding her expectantly.

“What are we going to do?” Megan asked.

Jayna walked over to the other bed and sat down. “About what?” she asked as she took off her boots.

“About these things Liam and Kostandin are making us do. I heard them talking earlier about a job they want us to take lead on. Something involving a jewelry store.” Megan sighed. “I don’t know anything about security at a jewelry store, but I’m guessing there will be guards—and guns. If things keep going like this, one of us is going to get hurt or worse. At the very least, they’re going to ask one of us to kill someone, maybe even one of those alpha werewolves from SWAT. I know that we have to stay here until the rest of the debt is paid off, but I don’t want to have anything to do with killing anyone.”

Jayna’s stomach clenched at the thought of one of her pack mates killing someone, especially one of the alphas from Eric’s pack—if that was even possible. She wasn’t sure about Liam anymore, but the rest of her pack weren’t killers. She knew it in her soul.

She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I don’t want any of us to have anything to do with that.”

Megan chewed on her thumbnail. She always did when she was worried. “Do you think Liam could work something out with the Albanians? Maybe he could pay back the money some other way.”

Jayna was so close to telling Megan that Liam had lied about everything, but she couldn’t make herself say the words. Liam might have gotten them into this mess, but she wasn’t ready to turn her pack against their alpha yet.

“Something tells me the Albanians won’t go for that,” she finally said.

Megan nibbled on her nail some more. “Maybe we should just leave. There has to be someplace we can go where the Albanians won’t be able to find us.”

If only it were that easy. “Liam won’t leave. And I don’t think the guys will go if he doesn’t. Are you ready to leave them behind?”

Megan sighed and shook her head. Then she looked at Jayna sharply, her pulse suddenly pounding so fast it seemed to echo in the room. “You won’t leave on your own, will you?”

The panic in Megan’s voice was so painful to hear, it almost brought tears to Jayna’s eyes. Getting up, she walked the three short strides that separated her bed from Megan’s and plopped down beside the other girl. She wrapped her arm around Megan’s shoulders and hugged her close.

“I’ll never leave you,” she murmured, resting her cheek against Megan’s silky, dark hair. “Never.”

Megan immediately relaxed, her heart rate slowly returning to normal as she wrapped her arms around Jayna. Megan had been through so much and depended on Jayna. Jayna would die before she let the girl down.

“We’ll be okay,” Jayna whispered. “We’ll find a way out of this. I promise.”