Trinity's Choice: Gray Wolf Security Shifters, #6

By Glenna Sinclair

This is book six of Gray Wolf Security SHIFTERS and contains over 50,000 words of paranormal romantic suspense.

 

Tunstall knows that war is coming. The new leader of the Mahoney Cartel has a personal vendetta to carry out against him. But, more, she wants the child he's taken under his protection, a child who could potentially be nuclear in her hands. So, even though he's ended the sixty-year battle between himself and his pack, he still has to protect himself and those he's grown to care about from this other threat. But, with a traitor in their midst, have they already lost?

 

At the same time, Trinity comes face to face with a secret from her past, a secret whose revelation could mean time in prison for her. Is it worth it? What about the two men in her life, two men waiting for her to make a choice between them? Will she make that choice, or will fate intervene first...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Glenna Sinclair
• Release date: Apr 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9798224533916

Glenna Sinclair

Experience the heart-racing novels of Glenna Sinclair, the master of romantic suspense. Sinclair's books feature strong male protagonists, many with a military background, who face real-world challenges that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Books2read.com/GlennaSinclair Facebook.com/AuthorGlennaSinclair GlennaSinclairAuthor at Gmail dot com

Book preview

Chapter 1

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Tunstall

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I sat out on the back porch of the property my cousin had given to me and stared out at the obstacle course that was the first modification I’d made to the place. I was here to run a security firm, but thus far we hadn’t done much in the way of security. But we were working against the new Mahoney cartel, a criminal organization that was rising out of the ashes of a larger organization my cousin and his operatives had taken out more than a year ago. And the year before that. And several years before that. Ash had been fighting these people almost since he began his security firm, Gray Wolf Security. And he’d trusted me to help him this time.

It was an honor. I just hoped I could fulfill his expectations.

I had a plan in place. And now I had information that confirmed what I thought I’d known for a while. But so much had happened in the last week that I was still reeling. My friend, Levi, had died. He’d died because I’d allowed a personal conflict with my former pack to get too far out of hand. He was dead because I wasn’t paying attention to my own business.

And I had an operative falling in love with my sworn enemy, a man I had vowed to exact revenge against because he’d killed my cousin’s wife sixty years ago. But how could I do that now when he’d come to offer me information in exchange for peace? The war with my pack was over now. Finally. And I owed him for that. I should be grateful, but how could I forgive something so terrible?

That same operative was telling me that a man I trusted, a friend, had betrayed me. And he was a friend even if we were in competition for the same girl. Creed wasn’t betraying me. I couldn’t believe that. And even if he was, what was I supposed to do about it? He’d saved my life on multiple occasions. I couldn’t turn my back on him.

And now the girl I cared for was about to face the darkest moments of her life. I wanted to be at her side, but what about Creed? Was it the right thing to do?

Life was never easy. But this was more complicated than it ought to be.

Oh, and then there was the little girl that everyone wanted, the girl with powers that were mind-blowing. How was I supposed to keep her safe while dealing with all this other drama?

There was only one answer that I could see: one thing at a time.

***

Nearly a week ago, Trinity had told me a secret.

I told you there was a whole group of us that would go to the lake and hang out in high school, right? The lake where they had the party that night.

I’d nodded.

There was a dozen of us. Jane and Bradley, Tony and Bridgette. Kurt and Toni Lewis. There was Becky and Lisa, John and Billy, and me and Jordan. She’d closed her eyes when she’d said that last name. Jordan was... She’d hesitated, clearly searching for words. She wasn’t really part of the group. She was more of a follower, just this girl who somehow always showed up where we were. She’d dragged her fingers through her hair, her thoughts clearly tortured. Everyone always made fun of her because she wasn’t the prettiest girl at school. In fact, she was a little on the heavy side and she wore glasses, and her hair was always a little greasy. Trinity shook her head. But she was the nicest girl you’d ever know. I liked her well enough.

She’d hugged herself, staring down at the floor. The others were always making fun of her. None of them really liked her all that much, but they tolerated her. Her parents had money, so she could get us things sometimes: beer and food and stuff like that. She liked to buy stuff for us and the others took advantage of it.

She’d shaken her head, the memories unfolding in her mind. It was stupid. I saw where it was going, and I should have stopped it sooner. But I didn’t.

What did they do, Trinity? What are they so afraid will come out in that courtroom?

She’d looked up at me, her eyes red-rimmed, a little swollen. The worst thing they could have done. They killed her.

My mind had been going somewhere else. I’d thought she was going to accuse Kurt of rape again. I’d thought that maybe even Kurt and Tony had ganged up on the girl. But this... Murder. That was big.

They killed her? But how have they gotten away with it for this long?

Everyone thinks she ran away. It happens, in these little towns around here. People just leave and never come back.

Just like that? Where’s her body?

In the lake. Trinity had shivered. Tony... he came onto her. At first she was okay with it. Even let him kiss her a few times. But then he did what Tony always did: he got a little aggressive. I was the only one close enough to see what was happening. Everyone else was off in their little cliques, the couples making out up by the parking lot where there was more privacy, where it was a little warmer. I’d been at the picnic tables with Jordan, talking about a basketball game that was coming up, one where she was hoping her crush would notice her. And then Tony was there and she forgot about all that because he was kissing her.

What did he do to her? I’d asked, aware there was anger in my voice but unable to keep it from leaking into my words. What did you do?

She’d shaken her head. Nothing. I did nothing. She’d been quiet for a long time, her thoughts clearly moving through unpleasant memories. She tried to get away from him and he grabbed her, pulled her back by the arm, but they were too close to the lake and the mud was like ice. She slipped, hit her head on a rock. There was blood everywhere. Tony panicked. I told him to get his truck, that we had to take her to the hospital. It was only an accident. But then Kurt came over and started telling Tony he’d go to jail, that they’d call it attempted rape or assault. Jane was crying, Kurt yelling at her to shut up. Bradley and Lisa were there too, huddled together by the trees, trying to pretend it wasn’t happening. I told them to take her to the hospital, and then I went to Lisa, dragged her out of there. We left together and went back to her house, where we sat up all night crying and wondering what they’d done.

You left. You left that injured girl alone with them? More anger had seeped into my voice, even though I could see it beating Trinity about the head, could see each blow falling and pushing her deeper into her own regrets. You had to have known what they would do!

She’d sobbed, her voice breaking. I did. I just... I couldn’t believe they would. But they told us the next day how they’d believed she was dead, so they’d pushed her into the water, weighing her down with some heavy rocks. They’d stayed and waited for over an hour, hoping she’d wake up and try to get out of the water, but she never did. They were afraid!

They murdered her! I’d pushed away from the wall, unable to stand still anymore. How could you let something like that happen?

I told you I was a monster!

I’d shaken my head. No. You were just the scared child who let the monsters do what they do best.

She’d groaned deep in her chest. What’s worse? I was her friend. I watched her parents search for her, met with the FBI agent who came to town in hopes of finding her. I went to all the assemblies at school where they told us if we knew anything we had to come forward because her parents were beyond themselves with grief. I watched everything change overnight—our little town where secrets stayed behind closed doors and everyone pretended life was perfect, turning into this place where children disappeared and the FBI came looking for them. People were afraid even as they told their neighbors, their friends, themselves that she’d just run away. And they were right to be afraid. We were monsters.

She’d begun to sob, folding into herself as she sat there on the edge of the bed. I’d hesitated, but finally went to her. I’d rested a hand on her shoulder and felt the anguish rush through her body.

That’s why they brought you here. They thought you were going to tell.

It’s been seven years. Who was I going to tell?

She’d leaned toward me, pressing her head against my side. I’d run my hand down the center of her back, too angry to offer more than a vague touch. I don’t know why I was so angry with her. I’d done things in my past that I wasn’t incredibly proud of. I’d never walked away when someone needed my help, but I’d taken lives. Whether that life deserved to be ended was a matter of debate, some of them taken in the name of war that left me with nightmares for a long time afterward. Life was a messy thing. I knew this. But I was still angry—angry with her for needing my comfort, angry with her for putting herself in this position, angry that she’d given those people this power over her.

We have to go to the police, I’d said.

Trinity had nodded. I know.

It’s the only way to end all of this. You have to tell Erik what you know. And you have to show him where it happened. You have to allow him to dig the evidence up and end this once and for all. And you have to do it soon.

He’ll charge me.

I know.

She had gone to Erik—Sheriff Erik Os—before I could, and had arranged to start this whole process. We’d found her a lawyer, spoken with the local prosecutor. Got the ball rolling. And then, this morning, we’d come out here and begun sniffing around, searching for the remains.

It hadn’t taken long to find the body. Just a sniff of the cooling autumn air, and I knew right where it was. Simple.

Not so simple for Trinity.

We sat on the top of a picnic table, our feet resting on the bench. She was huddled under her heavy sweater, pulling the edges of it tight around her chest. Her eyes were on the ground, like she was afraid to look at the cops wading into the shallow water as they stuck their sticks into the mud. We’d only been there about fifteen minutes when Erik came over.

They found her. It’ll take a little bit to dig her out of that mud, but we’ll have her out before the sun goes down.

Thanks, Erik, I said. Trinity didn’t even look up.

She’d sat on this for seven years, this terrible secret that she’d carried around with her from the time she was seventeen, too young to know how to deal with it. This was the secret that she wore around her neck like a talisman, a stone that held her down. And when she’d come back home to bury her father, it was this secret that had brought her to the darkest night of her life.

And it had brought her to me.

It’s all going to be over very soon, I said, resting my hand on her thigh.

Do you think they know what’s happening?

I didn’t know how to answer that. We’d contacted the local sheriff only the day before, informing him of the information we’d already given to Erik. That sheriff had contacted the local prosecutor who had called the prosecutor in Koochiching County. That prosecutor had asked for an indefinite continuation of the assault case he’d been trying against Trinity’s high school friends, the same friends who’d attempted to rape her in the woods in an attempt to keep this secret a secret.

We’d been assured that as soon as there was a body and a medical examiner was able to corroborate the cause of death, those men—as well as a couple of ladies—would be arrested.

It was nearly over, this nightmare Trinity had been living for seven years. Those men who’d attacked her would be behind bars for a lot longer than a simple assault charge would have guaranteed, and she wouldn’t have to live with this secret’s sword hanging over her head.

I think they’ll know soon enough.

She nodded, leaning into me, resting her head against my shoulder. We didn’t talk any more, just sat there and watched the activity in the lake. So much had happened over the last few weeks, it was hard for any of us to catch our breath. We’d just buried Levi a few days ago. Coulter had come out of my dreams and into our lives, this perfect little girl who had abilities that I still didn’t know the full extent of and didn’t know how to help her live with. My pack’s hitman crew was mostly dead now, and the one man I’d been hunting for sixty years, needing to exact revenge against, was now living under my roof, the lover of a woman I thought very highly of. Everything I thought I knew, that I thought I understood, had suddenly turned upside down. And now Trinity was probably headed to jail, and we had this drug cartel coming after us, threatening to take us all down in one fell swoop.

My life had never been what you could call simple. But it’d never been quite this complicated, either.

She’s coming out! someone called.

Trinity moaned, turning her face into my shoulder. I watched as a large, mud-covered shape was pulled from the water. The police officers were very careful as they carried her to a waiting body bag that had been laid out on the ground. The coroner came over after the cops stepped back, and used a hand-held pump to spray water over the remains, revealing a skeleton that had pieces of flesh still clinging to it in a few places. There were also a few tattered pieces of cloth that they were very careful not to wash away.

What now? I asked Erik as he came back over to where we were sitting, turning to watch the activity.

They’ll take her to the coroner’s office. When he finishes his preliminary report, he’ll send it over to the prosecutor. If there’s anything there, he’ll take it to the grand jury. If not, then they’ll wait for the coroner’s final report.

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