Chapter 10 – Ambush

The next morning found John and Joss parked in their car down the street from Mark's house, munching on doughnuts and sipping coffee while they waited for him to make a move. Mark appeared to be a late sleeper and it was a couple of hours before he strolled out the door and got into his late model luxury car. He leisurely drove to the local coffee shop and purchased a large latte and a muffin. Both John and Joss noted that he was wearing expensive designer jeans, shoes, and shirt.

"Our boy likes his money," Joss observed.

"He likes it enough to kill for it," John growled. It felt surreal to John to be watching the man he was sure had murdered his parents and numerous pack mates casually strolling around town like nothing had ever happened. It felt even more surreal to know that he was finally close to the truth after all these years.

Joss watched her mate with concern. She could feel his tension; he was coiled like a deadly cobra, ready to strike. It worried her when John got this intense; bodies usually started dropping and they were far from home, they were far from her jurisdiction where she could usually explain things away to the authorities. They might not be so lucky here. Everett might not cut them any slack when he discovered they were about to finger his siblings for all the murders.

Joss gently laid her hand on John's arm where it rested on the console between the front seats. "I'm fine," John said tightly without moving his eyes from Mark.

"Don't lie to me, John. You know better."

"I'll be fine," he repeated firmly in a tone of voice that plainly said the conversation was over. Joss decided not to press the point right then.

They watched Mark finish his muffin and duck into a convenience store to purchase a few items. He returned to his home, put his groceries away, and then sat at his computer for a while. After about an hour, he got up and walked out to his car. John and Joss followed him carefully at a safe distance, but it was obvious that Mark was not looking for a tail.

Mark picked up his sister who was carrying a large package. They drove to the outskirts of Tacoma and pulled into a grocery store parking lot. John parked a distance away where he had a clear view of the twins, but far enough away that the twins would not notice them.

Joss put her phone on speaker so they could listen over the cloned phone connection. John kept an eye on them with the telephoto lens of his camera while Joss closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, focusing her full abilities on the twins.

They only had a few minutes to wait until the twins were approached by a tall, thin, middle aged man.

"Larkin," Mark said in greeting.

"Ellison," Larkin nodded. "I assume you brought the stuff?"

Marie handed over the package and Larkin handed over a smaller package, probably cash to cover the Wolves' courier fee. "The boss wants you again tonight, as many Wolves as you can bring. We got a big shipment."

Mark shook his head, "No can do. We have some out-of-towners snooping around. Marie and I are going to have to take care of them tonight, then we'll have to lay low for a few months. We should've taken a break after we took out the Alphas."

Larkin grunted, "Boss will be unhappy about that; our other couriers aren't as efficient as you two."

Mark shrugged, "Can't be helped. We don't like giving up that money either, but things will be super hot after we take out those snoops. We'll be back in business as soon as we can."

"Well, good luck. Call me when you are ready to get back to work," Larkin walked off.

As John and Joss were following the twins back to Puyallup, Finch called. "I hacked the GPS in both Mark and Marie's cars. Marie's car was parked only about a half mile away from the Hunters' farm for a couple of hours the night the Hunters were killed."

John's lips went thin and Joss knew that was a bad sign. Whenever John's lips vanished like that, bad guys tended to wind up in the hospital if they were lucky, in the morgue if they weren't. She could feel his tension and anger through their mating bond. It was almost overwhelming.

"Let's go back to the hotel room, John," she said firmly. She needed to get him calm and centered again.

John bared his teeth and he actually snarled at her in anger, but he complied. She felt his pulsating rage and it was a struggle for her to remain calm herself during the short drive.

As soon as they got back to the room, Joss snapped at her mate, "What is wrong with you, John? We are so close to putting them away. Don't lose your cool now!"

"They have taken so much from me, my parents, my pack, and now they want to take you too." John's voice choked off and he turned to stare out the window.

Joss stared at her mate, stunned by the depth of his emotion and the anger drained out of her. John had lost so much at the hands of the twins, but she was not going to let him lose anything or anyone else. She moved to his side and slid under his arm, placing her arms around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder.

"We know they're coming, John, and we'll be ready. I'm not going anywhere, promise."

John hugged her tight against his body, "You're right. They don't know you can feel them coming."

Joss snuggled up to his side. "How do you want to handle this? We can't go to Everett with what we know, since it was obtained through what is basically an illegal wiretap, breaking and entering, and felony hacking. We're going to need some solid evidence before we go around accusing his family of murder."

John's arm tightened around her. "Then we have to become targets and let them come."

John and Joss spent the rest of the day making themselves attractive targets. They walked everywhere instead of driving, they took less traveled streets when they could and they acted like they were oblivious to their surroundings, though in reality, they were on high alert. However, Joss didn't feel the twins and John didn't see them. Finally after a light meal, they decided to head back to their hotel.

As they entered the hallway where their room was located Joss stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes. John recognized that she was sensing something and waited quietly while she reached out with her Wolf senses.

Joss opened her eyes and looked up at him, her face grim with determination. "They're in our room waiting for us," she said.

"Just the two of them?"

"Yes."

John looked grim, "Ready?"

Joss smiled up at her mate, "I was born ready."

John couldn't help but smile. He laid one of his large hands on his mate's cheek "That's my girl," he said softly while his thumb caressed her cheek bone. "Let's go take down a couple of killers."

They walked down the hallway and John slipped the key card into the slot. He gently kissed his mate before he pulled the key card out the slot unlocking the door. They nodded to each other, John opened the door and they rushed in.

Mark and Marie were completely caught off guard as John and Joss tackled them.

John leaped on Mark with a roar and they rolled over the bed onto the floor on the other side. They hit the floor hard with Mark on the bottom, knocking the air out of him, but he still managed to get a good hard hit on John's cheek. John rolled to his feet in one fluid motion and turned to face Mark. Mark got to his knees and whipped out a gun. John, with the speed of a striking cobra, kicked the gun out of Mark's hand so hard he broke Mark's wrist. Mark screamed in pain, grabbing his wrist. John grabbed him by the shirt and picked him up so they were nose to nose. Mark looked into John's eyes and saw death.

"You killed my parents," John said in the most menacing voice Mark had ever heard. Then John began punching him in the face while Mark screamed and kicked.

Meanwhile, Joss and Marie were locked in a struggle on the bed. Marie grabbed for Joss's throat, but Joss brought her arms up and flung them out hard, breaking the hold. Joss grabbed Marie's shoulders and flung her to the floor at the foot of the bed. Joss leaped off the bed and braced herself for the next attack.

Marie pulled a knife and waved it at Joss, but Joss was far from impressed. She could tell from the way Marie was holding the knife she had no idea what she was doing. Joss curled her upper lip into a snarl, "Well, aren't you an inexperienced little bitch? Let's see how you handle an experienced one!"

Joss's taunt had the desired effect; Marie shrieked in anger and recklessly lunged for her. Marie had several inches and about forty pounds on Joss, but she'd had no hand to hand combat training. Joss neatly sidestepped, grabbed Marie's knife wrist and smashed her elbow into nose breaking it, causing it to gush blood. Marie went down to one knee stunned, whimpering in pain and dropping the knife. Joss swiftly cuffed Marie's hands behind her back.

With Marie neutralized, Joss finally had a chance to check on her mate and saw John pummeling Mark. She grabbed her mate's arm. "John, stop!" she commanded. "It's over, baby. It's over." John looked at Joss in confusion for a second, then he dropped Mark who collapsed in a heap onto the floor and gathered Joss into his arms. He put his head on her shoulder and began crying. Joss held him tightly and stroked his hair, murmuring soothing words to him. After twenty-two years of wondering, of angst, over his parents' death it was finally over.

A few minutes later, someone began pounding on the door. John opened the door and Everett walked into the room, "We got a report of a disturbance…" He stopped dead when he saw his siblings, bloodied, beaten and handcuffed. "Oh my god."

John laid his hand on his friend's shoulder. He'd been dreading this moment. "I'm sorry Everett, but Mark and Marie have been running a smuggling operation under your nose for over twenty years. They killed my parents and then the Hunters when they discovered what was going on."

Everett leaned against the wall of the room like he was going to be sick. All of a sudden a lot of things made sense to him now. He looked so sad that Joss's heart ached for him. "I should have known, I should have known," Everett said in a broken voice.

It was only then that Joss noticed the cut on her arm. It was a small slash on her forearm but John fussed over her like it was a fatal wound until the paramedics were called.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Everett called for backup and for the paramedics. The paramedics treated Mark, Marie, and Joss for their injuries. Mark and Marie were booked and questioned. John and Joss gave their statements and were sent back to their hotel in the early morning hours.

The hotel had moved them to another room across the hall so that the blood could be cleaned out of the carpet in their old room. John and Joss gratefully climbed into the bed as soon as they got to their new room and John curled protectively around his injured mate. They slept soundly for the first time since they had gotten to Puyallup.

The next morning, Everett found them in the diner having a very late breakfast. He looked gray and haggard and Joss ached for him all over again. As rough as last night had been for her and John, it had turned out so much worse for him.

"Are you alright?" She asked as he sat down heavily next to her in the booth.

"I will be someday," Everett replied tiredly as he rubbed his hands over his face.

John waved to the waitress to order Everett a cup of coffee and a plate of pancakes. "Thanks, you didn't have to do that," Everett said.

John grinned at his friend, "A certain someone keeps telling me that food is important. You looked like you could use some."

Everett sighed, "I thought you should know that we have made a positive fingerprint match between Mark and Marie and the prints found at your parents and the Hunters' murders. There is no doubt that they killed them all." Everett paused and looked down at the table, "They even killed Mark's own mate when she wanted to stop smuggling. Just like they killed Pete and his whole family. All for money."

"I'm sorry Everett," John said sympathetically.

Everett shrugged, "I knew Mark and Marie were rotten, but I never would have thought they would kill their Alphas, twice, and their pack mates. How could Mark kill his own mate? My god, think about it John, he must have felt her fear and panic through their mating bond while he held her head under water. He felt her die. How could anyone do that?"

"I don't know, Everett," John answered honestly, looking over at Joss. "But you can't torture yourself with it."

Everett's food arrived and they ate in silence. When he was done eating, Everett stood up. "I'm going home to take a nap. Will you guys be around later?"

John nodded, "We will probably be at the Den. Mags wanted us to spend some time with her before we leave."

Next chapter Joss and Lisa have that confrontation that you all have been asking for! :)