Page 84 of Crimson Heart

“Never gonna fly,” Austin insisted. “Remember when the brakes in Danielle’s car were tampered with, and she and Jude landed in a pond? We knew pretty quickly that it wasn’t an accident. The Leons will send somebody to investigate, and they’ll figure out it was us and then start a war to avenge their leader and his family.”

“It would only work if it looked like the Leons weren’t the target,” Byron mused. “And that is only the case if other people—innocents—are among the victims. Like that case where some guy put a bomb on a plane his mother was going to be on, because he wanted her life insurance money. The bomb killed everyone on board.”

Charlotte’s stomach flipped at the suggestion.

“But, honestly,” Byron continued, “We can’t do that. It would make us just as bad as the Leons.”

Relieved, Charlotte released a quiet breath. She caught Byron’s look and didn’t immediately look away this time.

“Do we know of any other packs that may have a beef with the Leons?” Jude asked, looking straight at his father.

“You mean in order to make it look like a rival pack was involved?” His father shook his head. “The Werewolf Alliance is not aware of any. Which brings me to another point: with all the evidence we now have against the leadership of the Leon pack, I could get my fellow elders to bring charges against them.”

“Charges?” Byron asked. “Fuck charges! Neither Charlotte nor Danielle will ever be safe as long as Steve and his father and uncle are alive.”

James glared at Byron and raised his voice. “Figures that you’re the bloodthirsty one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Byron snapped, making a step toward James.

Austin put his arm across Byron’s chest to stop him from getting any closer.

“Dad, that’s not helpful,” Jude warned. “I’m with Byron on this. We can’t solve this problem without spilling blood. So if you want to sit this discussion out, be my guest. But we’re not going to get the tribunal involved. If anything, that will make the situation even worse. This is something that stays between us in this room. And neither the Werewolf Alliance, nor the rest of the Gallagher pack will have to find out about this.”

James grunted in displeasure, but Maggie put her hand on his arm to calm him.

“I know this goes against everything the Werewolf Alliance stands for,” she said in an even voice, “but there are times when you have to choose a different path.”

“Fine,” he finally said and looked at Jude and Byron. “But if this goes south, and the Alliance hears of this, you’re on your own. I won’t be able to intervene.”

“It won’t go south,” Jude said confidently.

There was a brief silence before the assembled continued the conversation. All suggestions had one thing in common: the Leon pack had to believe that the hit was carried out by somebody not connected to the Gallagher pack. Again and again, ideas using disguises were suggested and then rejected.

“To get back to the bank robber idea,” Wendell said. “What if we actually stage a robbery, and time it so that we run into the Leons as they’re leaving their hotel and then hijack their car, and shoot them when they’re resisting? Which they totally would.”

“Too many things can go wrong with that,” Byron said. “This is something that would have to be planned down to the tiniest detail, and we don’t have that kind of time.”

When Wendell grunted, Byron added, “Don’t get me wrong, the idea of them being killed as part of a larger operation that has nothing to do with them is good, but it’s not gonna work on the fly. And there’s also the issue with the police. If we pull off a bank heist, then leave the bank to intercept the Leons leaving their hotel, the police will already be on our asses. And who knows how many others could get killed in the process.”

“Unless we are the police…” Charlotte murmured to herself.

Next to her, Ransom asked, “What are you saying?”

She didn’t answer Ransom’s question directly. Instead, she addressed Danielle, “The Leons are Latinos, although Steve looks a little pale.”

“The pack dates back to when California was still in Mexican hands,” Danielle explained. “So, yes, they are Latinos, but Steve’s mother is Caucasian.”

“That’s good enough. Bruno and Hector have dark enough skin.”

“Dark enough for what?” Jude asked, furrowing his forehead.

Charlotte smiled for the first time since the Leons had issued their ultimatum. “Dark enough for my idea to work.”