Disclaimer – This is Stephenie Meyer's universe. I'm just playing in her world for a long bit. Any names and characters not found in Stephenie Meyer's books are definitely mine or my wonderful beta and good friend Liljenrock's creations.
This is another OPI color! And.. this chapter is kinda cut into 2 parts. This is Paul's part. Next chapter will be Rachel's.
Short AN this time. Was sick for the past 3 days and just came back to work today. Work has piled up.
Colors of My Life
Chapter 11 : Atomic Orange
Paul
Tuesday at 10 a.m. is always Sales Meeting Day. It's the day my Seattle sales team sits down together and the managers from all the other showroom branches of Shipo conference call in to talk about sales for the week. There's always a market trend to observe. Leather jacket sales always drop during the summer but the light weight jackets sales always shoot up at these times. It is my belief that market trends should always be studied, enabling us to make the necessary preparations or preventions in some cases to always remain on top of the game. I work with data, it's the true secret of my success. It's a dirty job, but I'm the man to do it, especially since both Jacob and Embry my fellow business partners do not have the patience to sit through these meetings. Jason, my head analyst and fellow Six Sigma Black Belter leans forward to question one of the sales managers and I let my mind wander as I stare unseeingly at the numbers on the projected slide.
It'll be a week tomorrow since the stupid barbeque and since Keegan last looked me in the eye. I hate this. He's my boy, my mini me, and the disdain he feels for me is hard to handle. I've tried everything, tried reasoning with him, tried bribing him, tried yelling at him. The past two nights I've also phased and made sure he knows about it, but I suppose the damage is already done. I think the last time I've felt this low was back when I was a new wolf and my parents thought I was mixed up with drugs or gang activities. How simple that problem looks now, on reflection. How painful my heart feels. Did my dad feel this way when I used to walk out on him mid lecture? Was this karma raising up to bite me in the ass? How do I explain my decision to a 5-year old? How do I make him talk to me again? I want to hear him call me Daddy again as he asks me question after question. How easy it always has been for me to answer all those questions and how stupid I've been to hold this from him and letting him find out the way he did.
Where is the spirit that is supposed to be watching over us, guiding us? Where the fuck have you gone to? You can't just be there to match us to our mates. I need you now. I'm losing my son. Help me! What do I do? Is he even there to hear me? They always said the spirits of our ancestors watch over us. Did my father pray the way I am now? Are you watching?
There's a knock on the door and Darla my secretary timidly peeks in. I scowl at her. She knows better than to interrupt a meeting.
"Mr. Winter's? I'm sorry. It's your nanny on the phone. She says she needs to talk to you and that it's important."
"Tell her to call my wife," I snap and turn back to the slides.
I try to concentrate but I can't help but grouse over Phyllis's nerve in calling me. She knows better. Plus she's always more comfortable liasing with Rachel over anything and everything and stays out of my way. Why the hell was she calling me? Why wasn't she calling Rachel? Unless Rachel had to be in court and if so, would have to have surrendered her cell. What would be so urgent that she's not able to wait and needs to call me? I'm out of my chair and almost at the door when Darla's back again. It's my boys. Something's up with my boys.
I snatch the phone out of Darla's hands before she's able to get a word out. "What happened?" I snap.
"Mr. Winters, Keegan, his school just called. He's missing."
"What do you mean missing?" I can't really explain the feeling that runs through me when I hear that. It's as if I can feel my heart literally fall to the ground. Keegan. Oh God. My son, my son! Why aren't you watching over him? You're supposed to be watching over him! You're my son's ancestor too!
"Mr. Winters?" I hear Phyllis on the phone, she sounds frantic.
"Where are you? Where's Logan?" I rasp back at her. I remember when we found Griffin, he had been sedated, but we didn't know at that time and I had looked at his little body and Keegan's face had been on my mind. I don't know how Jake survived it, but I don't think I'll be able to go on living if anything happens to my kids.
"We're at home, sir—"
"Do not step out of the house, no matter what," I tell her and turn to Darla. "Find Embry Call and Leon Cowley. I want them in my office in 2 minutes," I snap at her and hurry to my room.
"Mr. Winters, Mr. Winters? Do I call the police? What should I do?" Oh, I'm still holding the phone.
"Which phone are you calling me from?"
"The one in the kichen," she sounds confused.
"Okay, Phyllis listen to me. Stay off the phone. If there's a ransom call, it might come to Rachel or me, or to the house. But keep your cell with you and please, please hold onto Logan."
"Of course, sir! I—"
"If you get a call, I need you to call me immediately. I'm gonna get my cousin to get over there, and maybe some of the other guys, my friends. Don't call the cops yet. Phyliss—Logan."
"I won't let him out of my arms, sir. I promise."
"Thank you." I'm about to hang up when she goes on.
"Please find him, sir," she's crying.
"I will."
"Paul? Is everything okay?"
It's Jason, he must have followed me out. "My kid's missing," I tell him. "I'm not coming back in Jason. Handle things for me."
He looks shocked. "Is there anything I can do?" he offers.
"Just handle things in here. If you can't handle the meeting, cancel it," he's not pack. He can't help me. I slam my door on him and I dial Jake.
"Lo'."
Griffin's kidnapping remains fresh on my mind, like it happened now, like I'm right now standing by that stupid bed and looking at what I thought was my nephew's dead body. "Where's your sister?" I yell. "Where's your psychotic bitch of a sister?" Was she out? I've always been adamant of not wanting to know anything about Rebecca. Has Rachel kept the news of her release from me? It's too soon, right?
"Eerr, you and Rachel have a fight?"
I feel my heart pounding and my breathing getting hitched. Why didn't the school call me? Did they have something to do with this? How could anyone walk into the school and grab him? My kid doesn't go to public school where security is a fable, this was one of the reasons we sent him to private school. It was supposed to be safer. My mind is everywhere. "Rebecca! I'm talking about Rebecca." People know that he's my kid, and I appeared on last month's Forbes. Fuck! Money, this could be all about money! Why haven't they called me?
"Is it one of the boys? Keegan?" I guess that's why he's Alpha. He's clued in immediately.
"Keegan's missing." What was it they say on TV? The first 48 hours are crucial in finding a kidnapped victim? Cops or wolves? What do I do?
"Paul, are you alone?"
"Yes." My mind is running like a playback machine. Every time Rachel had a child on her table she would come home hurting. I've always listened to her talk and cry, with a part of me detached. I guess it's easy when it's other people's children but when it's your own child, it's a whole other level of pain and turmoil. I've never stopped to think of that aspect of Rachel's cases, that there's a father and mother missing their child somewhere. Oh my God! My son! My son, he's a person. A little boy with his own thoughts and opinions. He's a person of his own. Don't let anything happen to him. Please, please! He's going to be the most awesome wolf! That's all he wants.
"Are you going to phase?"
I look at my hand. "No." I'm shaking but this is a different kind of shaking, one that comes with a cold sweat. I've never felt this before.
"Stay where you are. Get Embry on this and get one of the other guys to round up Rachel and Logan. I'm on my way."
I'm still by the door holding my phone when Embry appears. "I heard," he says as he looks me over. "You gonna phase?"
Why does everyone keep asking me that?! I shake my head. Surprisingly, in the face of what I've just heard, through all the turmoil in my head, I've got complete control on my wolf. Now? I get control now?
"Darla just told me," Leon jogs in. "What do we do?"
Embry takes charge. "Paul, where's Rachel?"
I shake my head. "I've not tried calling her yet."
Embry nods. "Leon, track down Rachel, get her home. Get a couple of guys to get to Paul's place—"
"Tokala. Get him to my place. I want Tokala with Logan."
Embry nods. "Get Tokala to watch over the nanny and Logan. Paul and I will get to the school and decide on the next step from there."
That's a good plan. I'm all for it. Embry is extremely cool headed and I remember this is how he was when it was Griffin who was missing. Other people's kids. I'm always cool when it had been other people's kids, I suppose this is what it is to him. And suddenly I'm thankful that he's here. The first 48 hours are crucial and Embry is cool headed. Then I remember her. "Leon, Rebecca Black. She was incarcerated in Gig Harbor. Can you find out if she's out early?" "He looks surprised. "And Rachel had court this morning." He understands but I still wait for his nod before I'm out the door behind Embry. I'm glad he's here. I'm fucking glad he's here and he's cool right now. My mind is all over the place.
"Should we call the cops?" Leon asks.
"We'll decide once Jake gets here and we get a feel of the school."
I nod erratically as I walk with Embry towards the elevators. First 48 hours are crucial. Stastics. Am I making a mistake? Should I call the cops? I don't know what to do and these thoughts keep on repeating themselves over and over and over. The elevator doors are sliding closed when my phone rings. Caller ID shows it's Schumac, the overfriendly neighborhood vampire. Fuck. We're allies and we help each other out now and then, but seriously, now is so not the time for me to exchange pleasantries with a blood sucker. I reject the call and dial Rachel. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. What if the kidnappers call her and her phone goes to voicemail?
"Rachel, baby. Leon's coming to get you, go with him, please. Keegan is missing and I'm gonna get him back. Please, I need you to listen to Leon. I'll get him back. I promise. And baby, your phone, you may get a call."
I don't want her to panic but I don't know how else to break it to her. I should be there to hold her and to be there for her as she breaks down. She's bound to be as scared as I am. We get to Keegan's school in record time and I'm out the door before Embry's even got the car in park. I look down at the caller ID with a snarl. It's the fucker Schumac. I reject the call once more and head indoors. I want Rachel to call, or the kidnappers. They can have anything they want, as long as they give me back my son.
Inside, everyone's in a flurry of activity and I get shown to the principal's office immediately. Ms. DeWitt, she's probably my age, professional and efficient and she's also fucking worried and defensive—for all the wrong reasons in my book. Ms. Peters, Keegan's teacher, tells me realized that Keegan was missing when she was doing a headcount as she was walking the kids back to their classroom after their playtime in the yard. Why wasn't she more careful? Do they know if someone got him? Do they know if anyone unauthorised got into the school? Was anyone employed by the school missing right now? Why haven't they called the police? She's not able to give me a straight answer to any of my questions.
Shumac calls again as DeWitt is telling me that they wanted to talk to Rachel or me first before they called the police. Why? But I know why. They want to keep things quiet. A high profile kidnapping case would be so bad for business, wouldn't it? Well lady, pissing me off would be bad for business, and if my son is hurt in anyway, you can bet your sorry ass that you'll be finding out just what I can do to your fucking business.
"I'll get my own security team on this." No police because I'm gonna personally kill the son of a bitch who took my son. "But I promise you this, if he's hurt in any way, I'm suing." Suing my ass, I'm going to buy her and break her.
I find Embry jogging back to the entrance of the school as I step out. "Anything?" I ask as I reject the call on my phone once more. I want Rachel to call. And this fucker won't stop calling me.
"Yeah. I can track him. I have his scent. Let's go before it rains."
I'm right with him when my phone pings. I glance at it. "That fucker won't stop calling," I grouse to Embry. I open the image file he's sent me and I feel all the blood in my body drain out of me. "No!" The word tears itself out of me and people on the street stop to stare. Oh God! Oh God no!
"What is it?"
I tilt the phone so Embry can see what I'm seeing. Keegan, my son, my first born, sitting at a table, a wide bowl of ice cream in front of him. He looks scared, terrified. He's five years old, he shouldn't be feeling scared like this. It's Schumac. He's had him all this while. Oh fuck! Oh fuck! This is not a ransom case. The vamps have my boy!
"You gonna phase?" he asks and I shake my head. I'm not gonna phase but I am going to kill that bloodsucker.
I think he's still worried that I might phase as we head back to his car. Oh god. I'd die if anything happens to my son. I won't survive this. Embry's on the phone, he's talking to Jake, then he's talking to someone else. "Gather everyone," I hear him. "All family members go to Paul's house. Lil' G, Luka and Scott stand guard. No one get's past them. The rest of you, standby for the venue. Tokala too. I want him here. Hey," his voice drops a little lower, softer. "Petra's lunching with Ava O'Brien. Don't scare her, okay?"
My phone rings again and I shake Embry loose. "Schumac, I swear to you, hurt one hair on him and I'll—"
"Anyone ever tell you how rude you are? I've been calling you."
"Stop talking, you son of a bitch!" I roar into the phone. "Where the fuck is my son?"
"If you would just let me explain—"
"Schumac, I swear to you –" and the next instant Embry snatches the phone out of my hand. I snarl at him but he turns away from me, and puts the phone on speaker.
"Schumac, this is Embry Call. Where have you got the boy? What's your game?"
"Call, there's a restaurant on Third Avenue , Sweet Irons Waffles. Come and get him."
"What's the catch?"
"There's no catch, Call. This is not a kidnapping. Found the kid wandering by himself. Smells of his old man. Looks like him too. He's not in danger. I promise you."
"Right."
"The kid was running away."
I'm fucking glad Embry's here to take charge. The kid was running away. That's the thought thats on repeat inside my head. The kid was running away. My kid was running away. Because of me, right? Wait, Schumac is messing with my head. He's lying, right? I find myself talking to the spirits in my head once more as Embry drives. His name is Keegan Lahote Winters. He is 5 years old. He is my son. His mother is Rachel Black. He is Quileute. He is your descedent. Watch over him. Please watch over him. He is to be wolf. He is my son. Keep him safe. Please, please! I don't know when I learnt to pray like this, I've never prayed before.
The phone rings, it's finally Rachel. "Baby."
"Oh Paul!" she sounds scared, very scared."Have you found him?"
"I'm going to get him now."
"Where is he? Is he okay?"
"I'll call you once I have him, okay?" I don't want to tell her that Schumac has him. "Rachel, I need you to do something for me. The guys are gathering all the imprints. All of you—they, the guys, they'll be standing guard at our place. Please don't fight them. Listen to what they say."
"Gather the imprints? That never happens unless—oh God, Winters," there's horror in her voice. "Vampires? They have him?" Her voice has gone soft, it's the fear, I know it. "Why would they pick him? Is it retaliation to the pack? Why? Why would they take him? How do they know about him?" Her own intelligence fills in the blanks and now she's panicking.
"Rachel!" I yell. "I don't know, okay! I'm going to get him back. I swear to you, I'll bring him home to you. But I need you to stay put, baby. Please. I need to know that you and Logan are okay."
"Oh Paul!" she's crying now. She's freaking out and a part of me wishes I could do the same. The panic is so close to the surface.
"I can't do this now, Rachel. I need to concentrate on him," I tell her sofly, feeling guilty as hell.
"Go, go get him," she tells me softly. "I'll be at home." Then as I go to hang up, she sobs once more. "Bring him home, Winters. I need both of you back home with me."
"I will, I promise. I love you, baby."
"I love you too. Please be careful."
We get to Third Avenue in record time. Embry parks right in front of the waffle place and the stench hits me. It's just like at that Gallery that handles Nessie's art. It reeks. This is vamp territory. I head straight for the door but Embry stops me when he sees one of our bikes parked down the street. It's a turquiose blue Shipo, custom built. And he knows just who owns each and every custom bike that we've ever churned out. This is Masimo's, Jeremiah's top security leech. It's not his head I want, so I turn to head inside the restaurant.
"Paul, wait! Let's talk to Masimo before we find Schumac."
"I want my kid, Embry! Then I want to kill them all."
"Listen, why would Schumac be calling the shots? He's way down the line. Let me talk to Masimo first," he scans the area and throws his head back, trying to zero in on one particular stink in an area that's almost impossible to breathe in.
The kid was running away. That's the thought in my head. I want to wait for Embry, it would be sensible to walk into a vamp den with backup, but it's Keegan who's highest priority and I hear his voice. He's scared, and he's trying to be brave. He's my son.
"I don't want it!" he says.
"Come on. This is the best selling food in this whole place. Taste it and tell Uncle Schumac how it is."
"You're not my uncle!"
"Yeah, if I were your uncle, I'd teach you some manners. You're as rude as your dad."
"My daddy's going to kill you!"
"No, he won't. We're best friends."
I don't to wait for Embry anymore. He makes a phone call to Masimo and he appears like magic. There's tension in the air as they talk and I head into the restaurant leaving them behind. I spot them right away, Schumac and another ginger haired leech have my son in a back booth. The table is ridden with full dishes of deserts. It's like they've ordered the entire menu, and I can't help but feel proud that Keegan has the self control at five not to succumb to sweets the way any other five-year old would have. But then he's also scared. And unlike any other five-year old, my son knows all about vampires.
For a bunch of old vampires, they're both really oblivious. I'm barely in the door and I know that the shadowy corner of the room holds three more vampires. Watching out for business, I guess. The middle aged guy, reading the paper over coffee by the window is human, as is the teenage waitress. I stop by the newspaper guy first.
"We're closing. Get out." He looks up at me for a moment and something must clue him about the potential danger. He drops a couple of dollars on the table and leaves without looking back. I turn to the waitress next with a look of disgust. She's in here with a bunch of vampires and she's scared of me? "Out," I tell her as pleasantly as I can. She looks to the back table and one of the vamps nods at her. Grabbing her purse from under the counter, she dashes out.
The three vamps from the back make their slow way to me. But my gaze remains on Keegan. The relief in his eyes is plain to see. I recognize all three of these vamps. They helped us when we fought the hoodie's new born army.
"Paul, we've met before. I'm Sanchez," the leader steps forward with his hand out to shake mine. I look down at it and look back into his eyes. I don't think so asshole. He drops his hand a second or two later. "Call Jeremiah," he tells one of his chums. "I don't understand. Your kind has never come into any of our establishment before."
"It would have remained that way if your little Schumac didn't decide to kidnap my kid."
"Your kid?"
Schumac scrambles up. "Paul, we didn't kidnap him!"
"Yeah!" the ginger vamp cries out. "We found him wandering on the streets."
I ignore him. "Are you alright?" I ask Keegan.
He nods andscrambles onto the seat when I hold my arms out and launches himself at me. Oh God! I lift him up and he wraps his arms around my neck. The feel of his solid body, the beat of his heart, it's a relief. He's okay, he's okay. I run my hand over his hair as I clutch him close. He clings to me like the little monkey he is.
"I'm sure there's an explanation to all of this," Sanchez says.
I turn to him with a smile. "Please, do explain. You've been here the whole time. The fact that your little minion was sitting here with a human kid seemed fine to you, huh? What's that about, Sanchez? You guys feeding off innocents now?"
"No, I—"
I hold a hand up to him. I don't want to hear it. And with Keegan safe in my arms, logic sets in. Why would they bring him to a waffle house? Why would they buy him food? I run a hand up his back and through his hair. "Kee-man? Did they hurt you?"
He buries his face in my neck and shakes his head no.
"I wouldn't hurt him, Paul. We're allies. I did what any of your wolves would have done if they had found him wandering the streets!"
"Schumac, right now I want to kill you really bad. I'd suggest you keep your mouth shut."
I head out the door, just as the rest of the guys arrive. I watch a Limo pull up with a sort of a detached feeling. For all the low profile he keeps, this is how Jeremiah travels. I look up at the skyline. The way the buildings are, puts this street in the shade. He's thought of everything when looking at real estate I guess.
Jake gets to me first. He's got his Alpha face on, and looks concerned as he runs a hand over Keegan's back. "Is he okay? Hey, buddy? You okay?"
Keegan nods, not easing up on his hold on me. And I hug him back tighter and press a kiss to the top of his head. "He's fine," I whisper.
"Hand him over to one of the guys," Jake tells me. "Let's handle this thing with the vamps."
I know that tone of voice, the flat way he said it. He's all set to call off this co-existing "friendship" thing we had going with Jeremiah's little gang. And I'll admit, when I first got here, that was what I wanted too.
"Jake, wait," I say softly as I shift Keegan in my arms. He doesn't give me much room to move him around, he's holding on so tight. "Keegan? Hey, hey, Kee-man?" I bring a hand to his chin to tilt his face away so I can look into his eyes. "Hey, Kee. Can you talk to Daddy and Uncle Jake for a while?" He doesn't say anything.
"You're safe now, buddy. Uncle Jake or your dad won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Jake assures him.
"Kee? Kee-man, look at me," I urge, and finally he looks up at me. "I won't be mad at you, okay. I love you too much, kiddo. But I need to know, how did they get you? Tell me."
His eyes fill with tears but they don't fall. He looks guilty as he sniffs once and glances up at Jake. "I sneaked out of school, Daddy. I wanted to go to La Push."
It felt like someone drenched me with ice water. "How did Schumac get you?"
"I...I walked for a long time, Daddy, and then this other person caught me and he took my bag," his tears started falling then and he shuddered a little, in remembered fear. "I was scared, Daddy." I hugged him close once more.
"It's okay to be scared, Kee." He's only five. Even at my age, I still feel fear. "Then what happened?"
"The man kept touching me, Daddy, and then Schumac came and got me away from him."
My heart turned cold. "Where did he touch you, Keegan?"
His eyes grow round from the tone of my voice, but he answers me. "My face, and my mouth. He kept touching me here," he said pointing to his lower lip and I release my breath slowly as I hug him close once more.
"Paul, you okay, man?" Jake asks slowly.
"Yeah," I say as I turn away from him. "Yeah, I'm fine." I breath in and out for a while, I need control. I was not afraid of phasing but it was hell coming to terms with the emotions running riot inside my head. "I wanted to kill Schumac," I tell Jake.
"Yeah," he says as he reaches out to ruffle Keegan's hair. "I'm going to talk to Jeremiah. Why don't you two call Rach, and then we can all go home, huh?"
Yeah, yeah. That's what we'll do. "Hey, Jake?" He turns to me in question. "Don't let them leave just yet, okay? I'm gonna have to say thank you to Schumac, and apologize."
A/N : Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. I like hearing your thoughts.
