Page 53 of Dominion

He gave him the name of the motel and the room number. “You’ll go now?”

“Of course. Where are you going?”

“To take care of Jack.”

“You shouldn’t go alone. Call Mark or wait for me.”

He shook his head. “No, I can handle him. You just make sure Ashley—” he swallowed. “Just go to her. Now.”

Zolla pulled on a Rockies cap. “I’m leaving.”

Ben shifted back to wolf form and followed Zolla out, taking off for the place he’d hidden his car Friday night. Using the hidden button to pop his trunk, he rummaged in the duffel bag for a pair of pants, shirt, and shoes. With the spare key, he started the car up and drove toward the address of Jack’s foothill residence. His mind was blank—or rather, held only clear focus of intent: eliminate Jack. After he dealt with him, he would open the box in which he’d stuffed his anguish over Ashley.

He parked in front of an ostentatious house with a cobblestone driveway and a giant fountain in the front. Getting out, he stalked up the sidewalk. He tried the door first, and finding it locked, slammed his shoulder against the heavy wood. The wood bowed against his shifter strength. He threw his weight into it again, then a third time, cracking the door from the hinges.

It swung open and he found himself face to face with Jack, who pointed a revolver at him.

Ben spread his hands. “What’s your plan, Jack?” he asked, stepping in and swinging the broken door shut behind him.

Jack’s nostrils flared, his little eyes darting past Ben toward the door.

“You planted a bomb in my laptop, but haven’t triggered it yet. You kidnapped Ashley’s sister. You just toppled every one of our servers. Are you trying to lower our stock so you can buy it all out with me out of the picture? Do you think Shayla would let you do that?”

Jack’s face had gone pale, that muscle under his right eye twitched as it always did when he challenged Ben. The hand holding the revolver shook slightly, but his expression was all sneer.

Ben advanced slowly. “The FBI knows all about the kidnapping and the bomb,” he said, only partly bluffing. Mark knew, after all, so if or when things came out with the authorities, Mark would see that the right people were prosecuted and any references to wolves were left out. “They already traced the server crash to your IP address.”

Jack fired the gun, hitting him in the gut.

Ben did his best not to flinch, despite the burn, and gave a mirthless laugh, his upper lip curling. He walked casually forward as if the bullet didn’t bother him. “Who are you working with? The Sandoval cartel?”

Jack gaped, his eyes dropping to the bleeding wound, then back to Ben’s face. The sneer faded, confusion creeping in. “I don’t know who that is.” He fired again, this time hitting Ben right in the sternum.

He lost his breath, but he did not stagger backward. “Who then?”

Jack’s hand trembled violently as he finally comprehended that Ben couldn’t be eliminated as easily as he had thought. “What are you?”

He grinned. “I can’t be killed, Jack,” he lied. “What does that do to your plans?”

Jack’s eyes darted around the room and he began to back up.

“Your idea was clever, I’ll admit that,” he said, hoping to get him to talk. He needed to know who else was involved and what Jack’s exact motivation had been. “And rather elaborate. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot me right from the beginning?”

Jack’s eyes fell to the bullet wounds again. “Yeah, but I wanted the server crash to be on your watch.”

“You wanted the board to fire me?”

His mouth twisted into a bitter grimace. “I wanted there to be nothing left of Stone Technologies,” he spat. “So my stock options from the employment package at Suma Games would make me rich.”

“You already are rich,” he muttered, then shook his head. Why was he arguing with an insane man?

A bead of sweat dripped down Jack’s face, but he gave a twisted grin. “It’s nothing more than I deserve. I invented the NE3, not Leon.”

A flash of irritation on Leon’s behalf made him surge forward.

Jack fired again. This time it caught Ben in the ribs, well below his heart. The impact seared and momentarily knocked him back, but he kept his face blank and snatched the gun out of Jack’s hands. Ben turned it around and smacked Jack on the head with the handle side.

Jack crumpled to the carpeted floor, groaning.