Notes: Renard deals with the men who came to buy his Grimm and sends a bloody message to his family overseas.
Warnings: Hinted at violence and death. Use of kittens as weapons of annoyance.
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Sean had barely stepped off the aircraft steps onto wet tarmac before the steward raised the stairs and sealed the door. He smiled a little as he hurried towards his SUV. The threatening clouds had finally broken open, oozing a steady stream of cold rain with just enough wind to make it really uncomfortable.
"They seem to be in a hurry," Serena commented from where she was using the side of his vehicle as a windbreak, warm and dry in a knee-length cashmere coat.
Sean gave her large umbrella a sour look. "Can't imagine why," he replied dryly, opening the passenger door of the vehicle to place the aluminum briefcase on the floorboard. He stripped off his gloves and dropped them into the plastic bag she held out.
Serena raised her voice over the whine of jet engines. "Did you make your point?"
"I think my family will understand the message." Whether they heeded it or not would remain to be seen. He expected a phone call tomorrow.
She nodded and watched the airplane taxying away. "You have blood on your tie."
Sean sighed in aggravation and set to working it loose. The whole suit would have to go once he was at the hotel.
"You should have let us handle it," she scolded mildly.
"This was personal." They had come after someone under his protection. It was time to let them know he was serious. He shoved the tie in the bag as well.
"Oh, I can see that." She returned to a place in the sheltering bulk of the SUV, "I'm surprised you left the staff alive."
He smiled unpleasantly. "Someone had to remove the crime scene from my territory." And the staff, unlike Cousin Phillip, had no involvement beyond being part of the transportation.
"Shall I head back to Portland tonight?" Serena asked.
"No. I want you back at the hospital in Sultan. Make sure no one bothers the Grimm or his companions."
Serena shifted uneasily. "The blutbad is already suspicious. And Camilla said there was a jagerbar there this afternoon. You know how strong their noses are."
"Then be more circumspect," Sean suggested. He'd had a long day of driving, standing around in the wet and cold explaining her job to her was not making him happy. "Watch them. Let me know when they leave town."
"Yes, sir." Serena disappeared into the rain with a click of high heels.
Sean tucked the plastic bag in next to the briefcase containing 1.5 million in US dollars that was supposed to buy a Grimm. There was also a rather nice 9mm Glock and silencer which he was keeping for some future use. His cousin has gone through so much trouble to bring an unregistered gun into the country it would be a shame to waste it.
According to the emails on Capra's laptop, part of the payment had been a one-way trip out of America and a clean identity. There had been no sign of any paperwork and Sean suspected the only way Capra would have disembarked was folded up in a suitcase on its way to the closest river. No loose ends could have been the family motto.
Sean climbed into the driver's seat and started the car, turning the heat up. He had people monitoring air traffic control; they would make sure the Learjet reached its destination. For now he had 1.5 million of his family's money to disburse in ways guaranteed to annoy. A petty gesture, but disposing of his cousin had barely scratched the surface of his anger.
Perhaps a donation to the ASPCA in his brother Eric's name. For a start.
Lieutenant Perez had done that to him once. It was with the best of intentions but still—God! He'd been inundated with animal paraphernalia and donations requests for years afterwards. He'd had to keep the calendar of kittens and puppies hanging in his office for the rest of the year to avoid hurting her feelings.
Sean smiled broadly as he shifted into Drive and headed out of the airport, imagining his brother's face when he received twelve months of fuzzy animal adorableness at his private mailing address. With the size of the donation Sean intended to make, the calendars would never stop coming.
The End
