Chapter Thirteen
Twenty minutes turned into two hours. I should’ve just walked away at that point, perhaps left him a note or something. Unfortunately, the receptionist got a good look at my face and could probably describe me to York right down to my black and silver earrings. All I wanted were answers to a few questions, and each time I came close, it turned out to be a pain in the ass. Literally, in this case. I had to get up and stretch my legs several times or end up with pressure sores on my butt. Six people entered the office, and all of them had left. Surely, York needed to take a leak at some point? Then again, he might have walked right past me, and I wouldn’t know because his face was a mystery to me. Hopefully, his memory was better than mine.
A woman showed up with her two rotten kids. Their screaming, running around and whining had worked a nerve on the side of my head. Once in a while, the mother would lift her head away from a magazine long enough to scold one of her miniature brats with a thirty-second timeout. Annoyed, I sauntered to the window to gaze ten stories below. York must have gotten hit by a case of Alzheimer’s and forgotten about me sitting in the waiting room. If it weren’t for the kids from hell and their defeated mother, the wait wouldn’t have grated on my nerves by the second. When she and her little hellions received her summons to the back, fury ripped through me. I glanced at the receptionist who held a hand against her earbud, busy with another call. Everyone had something to do except for me, and my growling stomach couldn’t stand waiting any longer. Flora had said she’d kill me if I missed dinner, and from the look on her face and the way she waved her spoon, I believed it. Not to mention that woman was a culinary goddess.
With the receptionist preoccupied, I gathered my things and headed for the counter. Making a scribble motion with my hand, the receptionist handed me a piece of paper and pen without looking. Guess it was commonplace for those without an appointment to leave a note and storm out of the office. A scent tickled my nose before I finished the first sentence. A touch of male musk flooded my mind with images of the dewy loam and pine, deer, and a bubbling brook. It was almost as strong as a men’s cologne, except this was much more wild and reeking with sexuality. A tall, gorgeous man emerged from the other side of the reception counter and slapped a folder down. I couldn’t pick my jaw up fast enough.
He had a set of dark eyes and jet-black hair that glistened under the sunken ceiling lights. Broad shoulders covered by an expensive gray suit made him even more staggering to the eyes. Putting a hand on Stripped
his hip, the jacket opened, revealing a slim waist and flattened stomach. I’d bet my life savings that he had abs like cobblestones and a butt tight enough to sprain your wrist if you tried to slap it. If it weren’t for this being a lawyer’s office, I’d swear he’d stepped out of GQ. Yes, for a white guy, he wasn’t bad. In fact, I could’ve melted in the palm of his hand.
“Janet, can you get in touch with IT? I need my trial notes on the shared drive and…” His focus went from the receptionist straight to me, glaring.
I swallowed.
Hooding his eyes, he sauntered around the large receptionist area. “I know you.”
I couldn’t move. Something about the challenging look on his face and the way he stalked toward me, I had my first deer-in-the-headlights moment. If I moved an inch, he might lash out, snagging my neck in his hands and cracking it in half with a single jerk. All that beauty and yet a monster hid underneath. Everything about him screamed predator.
“You came here for me, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Uh…”
“Yes.” The receptionist stood up and gestured toward me. “This is Ms. Leslie Austin. She’s been sitting here since—”
“Matthieu York.” He offered me his hand. “But you can call me Matt. It’s nice to see you again…Ms. Austin.”
My fingers turned into icicles, clutching the gold pen in my hand. When the tip started quivering, I put it down and backed away from both him and the counter. I needed to get out of here. His presence alone made it hard to breathe, hard to think.
“I have to go,” I whispered.
“Wait.”
Yeah right. I shoved the door open and barreled down the hallway toward the elevators. Something about that man scared the hell out of me. He was a dangerous beauty if I’d ever met one. Every inch of my body said so, and I’d learned to trust my instincts more than anyone I had met in my nightmarish journey. They screamed for me to get out. Run while I had the chance.
I jammed my finger on the down button, praying the elevator would arrive before that crazy man did. I never should’ve come here.
A hand clamped around my wrist, whirling me about-face.
Matt pressed his nose within an inch of mine, gutting me with a glare. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Let me go.”
“Not until you tell me why you’re here, Ms. Lex ‘Missing Person’ Wells. What the hell is going on? What happened to you?”
Marcia Colette
I stopped struggling.
He called me Lex. Not Alexa.
That name flooded my mind with images. They blurred as they slipped from my mental fingertips in no particular order, slamming into me like information overload. If the images weren’t enough, the emotions tore my insides to pieces. Anger, fear, lust, happiness. All of them. The questions trailed right behind them at such a fevered pace that I only latched on to a few of them. Like, was he the one who’d sent me to Battle Rose? Had he mucked up my memories? Who was he and was this part of some elaborate plan?
The last image scared me. It was Matthieu York standing before me wearing no shirt and a gorgeous hairless chest radiating sexual fire. When he fixed his dark eyes on me, the feral animal lurking behind them had turned gentle and warm. My stomach clenched as the back of his smooth hand caressed my cheek. Something inside me had linked with him on more than just an intimate level. Crazy as it sounded, I felt like I had found my lifelong mate.
A cold tear slipped down my cheek. I tried to blink it back, but it was too late. Another one slipped down the same trail. My heart slammed back and forth, threatening to break free. If my bowels broke free, I’d never live it down.
“What did…?” My ears hardly recognized my airy voice. “What did you call me?”
Matt narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t…” The bright lights began dimming around me although I swore my eyes remained open. “I don’t…know.”
Darkness sucked me under.
64
Chapter Fourteen
Voices mumbled near my head. Something about water and keeping this quiet. I wanted to open my eyes, but they were too heavy for me to lift. Almost drug-like. Smooth fabric covered my front, blocking out the cold air of the room. I forced a moan from my lips to let the people in the room know I was still alive.
“Did she say something?” A female stood somewhere beyond my closed lids.
“She moaned.” A heated hand touched the back of mine. “You in there?”
That was Matt…but I knew by his touch. Scary.
Pushing my eyelids open took some doing, but I got them to rise to a half-closed position. I tried looking around the room, but his handsome face took up most of my view. With a soft leather couch underneath me, he sat by my hip, dabbing a cool cloth on my brow.
“She’s awake.” He lifted his head over his shoulder. “Janet…”
The receptionist handed him a glass of water. Nutball that I was, I thought it was for him until he lifted my head for a drink. The cool water soothed my cracked lips and sandpaper throat. I wanted more, but I choked on one gulp too many. Matt handed the glass back to the receptionist and wiped my lips with the cloth.
“You still with us?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Good. Janet, would you excuse us for a moment. Ms. Austin and I need to talk.”
“But sir—”
“If anything comes up, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, if you could reschedule the rest of my day tomorrow, that would be great.”
She sighed. “Yes, sir.”
A door opened and closed. I leaned to the side to make sure she had left. We were alone in his office, a situation I bet had happened before in my previous life. If so, I wished to God that I knew what we had done. Although, if it had anything to do with sex, that memory was better left alone. Considering my state of mind, I didn’t want to think about getting it on with a guy who was a stranger to me.
“You mind telling me what all this alias crap is about?” Matt snorted. “And where the hell have you been all these months? For that matter, why didn’t you come to me when you got back? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking—”
Marcia Colette
I cupped my hand to his mouth. Wow, did he have soft lips. Were most men like that? Strangely enough, I had this eerie feeling my hand had been there before. My stomach lurched a second time before my cheeks filled with warmth. Forcing myself to sit up helped calm me. I needed some sense of control and conversing in an upright position was a good start.
Matt’s jacket sagged to my lap. That was sweet of him, though he could’ve used my coat. Marking me as his possession, perhaps? Nah. Even though it was the first thing that came to mind, that couldn’t be it. It made no sense.
He loosened his tie and scooted farther down on the couch. The invisible weight pressing on my personal space had lifted. It was as though he had read my body language and knew it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t help staring at him, nonverbally asking for confirmation on that. Of course, he didn’t answer, other than to maintain eye contact. I broke away first by swinging my feet down on the carpeted floor.
“Where’s my purse?” I asked.
He pointed at his desk. “You can hit me if you want, but I went through it.”
I continued to take in the abstract art on the ivory walls. A large bookcase was in the corner with books that overflowed to a nearby table. Behind his oak desk and leather chair was a fantastic panoramic view of the city that mimicked the one I had seen from the lobby. Based on the line of headlights dotting the bridge and not going anywhere, rush hour was in full swing. Opposite the view was another window that stared into the hall of his law firm.
“How did you get me here without anyone, other than Janet, knowing?” If he was smart, he’d understand my meaning behind that question. I wanted to know who else knew I was in his office in case things got out of control.
“You passed out, so I carried you through the back door. Bringing you through the waiting area would’ve had people whispering left and right. As it is, one of our law clerks has a mouth like a geyser. I had to threaten her with unemployment to shut her up.”
“Thanks…I think.”
“Now if you don’t mind, would you answer my questions for a change? Like where have you been? You disappeared off the face of the earth for months and out of nowhere you show up at my office.”
Forget his questions. I wanted to curl up on this couch and sort through the memories that had plagued me in front of the elevators before I passed out.
Speaking of which, what was up with that passing-out crap? I don’t pass out. There was a tough-girl aspect of me that refused to believe I had fainted like some 1950’s B-movie actress. In my gut, I knew there was a way to prove it, but I couldn’t figure it out just yet. I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. “Look, I don’t know you from Santa Claus. So if we’ve met, then you have one up on me. My memory is gone. I’ve got nothing for you. Had it not been for getting arrested and finding the Hills, I wouldn’t be here now.”
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He grinned. “Yeah, right. If this is some sort of game, you—”
“Look at my face. Do I look like I’m kidding? Why would I go through all this, if I didn’t have something to protect? Namely, my own ass. I don’t know you from any other pedestrian on the street down there. I’ve spent the last few days getting away from a hellhole in the backwater region of Arizona. Do you think—”
“Not even your name?” He sat back and arched his eyebrow in disbelief.
“Like I said, I’ve got nothing for you. Just bits and pieces from my past that are more like passing thoughts. I need to know what happened to me and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
A puzzled look knitted Matt’s eyebrows. “Are you saying you’ve been gone all these months because you’ve been suffering from amnesia?”
Did he not just hear a word I said? I remained straight-faced, refusing to answer him. He was a lawyer. He’d figure it out.
Matt went to his desk. His finger slid around the rim of a mug still steaming with hot coffee, based on my acute sense of sight and smell. “So…you don’t remember anything. Like how we met and what happened after that.”
“You tell me. What happened after that?”
Matt yanked his tie from around his neck and tossed it over his shoulder. “It was at an estate auction. The Garridans owned several antique and consignment shops around town. Their idiot accountant messed up and left them in one hell of a financial bind. They had to auction off half of their assets just to make ends meet. You showed up because you wanted to see if there was something to salvage for your bed and breakfast. Um…you didn’t buy anything because I kept distracting you. Er rather…more like hitting on you.” Pinkness flushed his dimpled cheeks. He lowered his head.
“Did you succeed?”
A devilish smirk stretched into his eyes. “More than you’ll ever know.”
Oh God, just kill me now. I wanted to die. What in the world had possessed me to sleep with a guy I hardly knew? Had it been a one-night stand? My gaze dropped to the floor while I allowed momentary heat to flood my cheeks. Hmmm…? I wonder if I was any good in bed? No. I can’t ask him that. Besides, it wasn’t important. Understanding how he was relevant to my life was. Matt chuckled. “Anyway, you said a close family friend with some ties to money had bought the Hill’s bed and breakfast. It wasn’t doing too good. Financially speaking. The Hills had some health problems to complicate matters, so they couldn’t take care of the B&B like they used to. Occupancy had dropped to less than fifty percent, which made it impossible to afford the mortgage. Anyway, your friend bought the place and turned it over to you as owner and manager. And if you don’t mind me saying, that’s one hell of a nice family friend. You took charge, renamed the B&B, and gave it a new image to bring it
Marcia Colette
into the twentieth century. Since your knowledge of the business was nil, you asked Charles and Flora to stay on. They were delighted and the rest is history. Any bells ringing yet?”
I shook my head. “But at least it corroborates some of the stuff that Flora told me.”
“You had a full-time job at one of the community colleges around here too. As a comp-sci instructor. In fact, that job brought you here to Boston from upstate New York. Did she tell you that?”
I nodded. It was one of the few things that didn’t come with my fleeting memories. He grinned. “I guess this means we won’t be picking up where we left off.”
“No, we won’t.”
Matt pushed a small black button on the wall. A spring-loaded door popped open. He reached inside the closet and pulled out a long overcoat. “We should go.”
“Go where?”
“You’re staying at your inn, right? Not a hotel?”
I grabbed my coat and purse from his desk. “Where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here. It’s not safe.”
“And you are? For all I know, you could be the person who dumped my butt in that strip bar in Battle Rose. Not to mention, probably sent your goons all the way up here to Boston to find me. Is that why you told Janet to cancel everything on your schedule? To bring me back yourself?”
Matt started for the door. “Could you at least try to trust me? If I wanted to hurt you, I had about ninety-three chances already. Your being unconscious was number one to ninety-two.”
“Then take this as a pity party if you want. But if these last few days are a clue as to what’s to come, I’ve got more than enough reason to not trust anyone.”
“Here’s a question. How did you know to come back to Boston if you’ve spent all this time on the other side of the country with amnesia?”
I reached inside my purse, fished out the real estate agent’s business card and handed it to him.
“Before you say anything, I’ve already called the phone number. It’s been disconnected.”
“And the address?”
“That was on my list of things to do after I visited you.”
Matt lifted my coat from my arm and held it open for me. “Then by all means, let’s go.”
“Just like that?” I slipped my arm into the sleeve.
“Yes. You see, you’re not the only one who’s a skeptic here. I was the prime suspect in your disappearance and it didn’t help that your friends and the Hills said they saw me with you on several occasions. We were dating a few weeks before you vanished. To the police, that was enough for them to get a search warrant for my condo. I could’ve lost my job because of you.”
I glanced around his office. “You poor man. May my good tidings of humiliation, stalking, abduction and murder rain down on you and give you the same joy they’ve given me.”
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Stripped
Growling—literally—Matt stepped around me, eyes taking a moment to drill into mine. I had to replay the sound in my head to make sure it was real. Though he didn’t appreciate the cynicism, there was no way he could compare his situation to mine. He’d had a few days of discomfort while I’d had months of it, and still no end in sight. I had every right to be more pissed than him. He knew it or he would’ve mustered up more than a stupid growl.
Matt filled his bag with his laptop, a couple of files and his cell phone. One more check of his desktop computer and he motioned me toward the door.
I stepped into the hallway first because I wanted some space between us. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be around him. Regardless of what we’d had in the past, everything had changed. Until I figured this mess out, my life, in every facet, was on hold.
After Matt locked up, he led the way down the hall to the reception area. A pencil-neck man stood and offered his hand to Matt, but we brushed past him heading for the doors. Janet stood, leaning over the counter.
“Mr. York?” she said. “There’s a message for you from—”
“Slip it under my door,” he replied.
“But what about—”
“Take another message.”
We continued down the hall in silence until we came to the elevators. Matt slammed his thumb on the down button. Eight elevators and this stupid building didn’t have one that stopped on this floor when we needed it. It figured.
I checked my watch, noted the time and said a silent prayer. Flora was going to kill me for missing dinner. Although I had only known her for a day, something made me hold the Hills close to my heart. My respect for them wasn’t just because they were old. It had more to do with honoring those who’d come before me and benefiting from their years of knowledge and experience. Instincts said it would be unwise on my part to neglect the guidance of the old guard.
The elevator behind us chimed. When the doors opened, an older couple exited. A guy with liver spots dotting his forehead and cheeks smiled at Matt. I stepped in the half-full elevator first. Matt reached around me and shook the liver-spotted guy’s hand. “Nice to see you, Mr. Streiber. We’ll have to do lunch some time.”
Oh brother. Here we were in a hurry and he wanted to make a lunch date. One thing. I had yet to figure out why the haste.
Chapter Fifteen
As we walked across the underground garage, I noticed Matt kept his eyes on his surroundings. He scanned the rows of cars as he turned his head from side to side. I couldn’t be sure, but I bet he made a mental note of every footfall, crack and drip that echoed across the decks. Funny thing was, I heard them, too, and even pinpointed which floor they came from.
Matt held out his key ring to disable the alarm on a black Grand Cherokee. He opened the back door and tossed his things inside. “You said something about stalking when you were in my office. What did you mean by that?”
“Two guys followed me from Battle Rose a few days ago. I thought I had lost them in the Lubbock airport, but apparently not. They turned up at the police station last night while my cab was pulling away. Why do you ask?”
“Because I can’t smell through metal.”
“Huh?”
“If I had, this musty bastard wouldn’t be alive now.”
“Who?”
Matt raised his hands and stepped away. A gun stuck out of the door, aimed at his chest. Hands slipped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I should’ve screamed, but I didn’t. That would be too much drama and probably please our assailants. Moreover, I got what I deserved if I forgot to use my heightened senses to their fullest.
The guy with the gun motioned for Matt to move to the back of the SUV. My assailant dragged me by force, leaving my heels to scrape across the pavement. Another car pulled up behind us, blocking Matt’s SUV in. Two more guys got out.
Matt kept his hands up. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Though I can’t say the same for the guy who’s holding me.”
“Shut up!” My attacker let go, shoving me toward the car’s open passenger door. That was a huge mistake on his part. Once again, he was one of those morons who just didn’t realize it yet.
I turned and smiled.
When he came at me again, I threw the back of my wrist into the gun to get it away from me and slammed my foot on the side of his knee. He screamed and grabbed his leg. I followed up with a right cross Stripped
and an uppercut to the jaw that laid him out on the pavement. A muffled click of an open door caught my attention. Two more guys had gotten out of the car with their glares on me. An uproar followed. Matt overpowered his guy, picked him up like sack of beans and hurled him across the hood at the car’s driver.
When the other guy dashed toward me, I jumped out of the way with roadrunner speed, twisted with my arms outstretched and shoved him into the back of Matt’s SUV. He smacked into the glass headfirst, leaving a crack in the rear window. When he grabbed his head and stumbled backward, I yanked a fistful of hair and rammed his face into the window again. More glass cracked under the blow. I looked to Matt and shrugged. “I’ll pay for that—I swear.”
He replied with a grin, but it was short lived. The guy he had tossed over the hood of a car was up, so he had his hands busy with him.
The guy whose head I had rammed into the window staggered on his feet. I decided it best to help him to wherever he was going. With the back door still open, I grabbed him by the back of his jacket and waistband and shoved him inside. He smacked into the closed door on the other side. I jumped into the driver’s seat and shifted the gear into neutral. We weren’t going anywhere until this car was out of our way and since they had parked on a slight incline, I needed gravity to lend a hand. It did. When the car started to move, I got out and gave it a bit of a shove for good measure. Glass shattered from a nearby car and an alarm whooped throughout the garage. After leaving one of our limp assailants across the back window of a nearby vehicle, Matt raced to the SUV.
“We gotta go!” He ducked behind the steering wheel.
I barely got my door closed before he skidded us out of the space in reverse. He flipped the gear into drive just as our attackers’ car plowed into the cement wall near the stairwell. Two more guys hurried between a set of cars and stopped about three car-lengths in front of our path. One of them pulled a gun.
I shrugged. “Does he not see this SUV?”
“Apparently not.” Matt slammed his foot on the gas and screeched the tires. The windshield cracked twice from the gunfire. I ducked before Matt could pick up speed. Both men dove out the way. We fishtailed into the back of our attackers’ crashed car, but continued around the corner to the next level.
“You know those guys?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not a clue. You?”
“Same here. You were telling the truth about that stalking thing. Do I even want to know about the murder you mentioned in the same sentence as the stalkers?”
“Probably not.”
Marcia Colette
Matt skidded to a stop when we reached the automatic gate. He lowered the window and flashed a badge about the size of a credit card in front of a black panel. Thank goodness, we didn’t have to dig up a couple of dollars for a parking fee. We didn’t have time to count change if these fools were coming for us. The gate lifted open. The SUV burst out onto the street to the sounds of blaring horns. I had to grab the dashboard to keep from flying into it.
“You done showing off?”
Matt grinned. “Not unless you are. Those were some nice moves back there. I’m guessing you don’t remember where you got those either.”
“Nope. They just…seemed like the right thing to do. Survival of the fittest, if you know what I mean.”
“Believe me, I do.”
My thoughts went back to Dane coaching me in archery. I had a feeling he had done more than show me how to shoot with bows and arrows. My fighting skills had to be due in part to his teachings. Boy, would I like to know where to find him because I’d love to have another lesson right about now. Matt brought us to a hard stop at the light. “This never would’ve happened had you listened to me about going to the Garridans’ house.”
I stared at him. “If you’re going to start pointing fingers, at least have the decency to wait until I get my memory back and can properly defend myself. Who the hell are the Garridans?”
When the light changed, Matt didn’t get very far before he had to slow again due to cars clogging the street. “They’re are Roma. Magical Roma, from what I understand.”
“What’s a Roma?”
“They’re Gypsies, but prefer to be called Roma.”
“And…?” I knew nothing about Gypsies and magic, and if I did, I didn’t anymore.
“Their businesses went south, which forced them to sell a few items to pay off their debts. I met you at the first auction, which was held on fairgrounds just past South Weymouth. That one had gained a lot of interest. Too much, in fact. Subsequent auctions were by special invitation only on their property. Until they had sent one to an acquaintance of mine, I’d never heard of them.”
“Why would you?”
Matt proceeded through the intersection, bouncing us across a couple of potholes. He stayed on the bumper of the car in front of him, slipping through the yellow light. “How much of your memory is gone?”
“What does that have to do with what I asked you?”
“Everything. You see, most supernaturals tend to keep their ear to the community. You know. To keep track of what’s going on. Not everyone knew the Garridan Roma were magical.”
“Magical. Yeah, you said that.” A grin bowed my lips. Why would an educated guy like him believe in something as fictitious as magic? Perhaps he hung out in Salem hunting one too many witches like Pippa.
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Then again, what woman lifted more than twice her weight and didn’t have a muscle to show for it? Whereas she might get a whiff of a man’s cologne, I smelled soap from Matt’s shower, fine traces of his sports deodorant and a cheeseburger with ketchup, pickles, onions and bacon bits on his breath. Even with the windows closed, conversations of passersby came in so clear that I could’ve been walking right next to them. From blocks away, license-plate numbers and letters were crystal clear. None of this was normal. What had happened to me went beyond the laws of physics. Perhaps that was why he brought up that thing about the Garridans being magical Roma. They might have had something to do with giving me whatever strange powers I had.
Matt continued. “Acute senses, incredible strength. The first time we met, you didn’t fall into the submissive role the way I had expected. There was this…arrogance about you. Like you were going to stand up to me without causing a scene. We would’ve gone after each other’s throats had it not been for people passing by with their freakin’ cotton candy and balloons. Of all the times to meet a human hybrid.”
I crossed my hands for the time-out signal. “Back the truck up.”
“Huh?”
“You know what I mean. You had me when you mentioned acute senses, but then you lost me far enough into the conversation that a lighthouse couldn’t point me in the right direction. Human hybrid? Is that what people call me?”
We came to the next light and stopped. Matt stared at me for what felt like minutes. “You’re not faking this amnesia thing, are you?” When I opened my mouth to yell at Sir Deaf-N-Dumb, because he obviously hadn’t heard me the first one hundred times, he raised his hand to silence me. “You’re part werewolf. I spotted you in the crowd at the fair because of your scent.”
All thoughts left me scrambling for something to say. Instead, I sat there staring at him like he had a hand sticking out of his ear.
Matt half-shrugged as if fighting through momentary discomfort. “I’m a full-blooded werewolf.”
“Uh-huh.” I leaned back in my seat.
The need to put some distance between us had overwhelmed me more than wanting to know the truth about my mysterious past. This was so not the history I wanted. Clutching my purse, I threw open the door and jumped out of the SUV in the middle of downtown Boston. I zigzagged around dozens of cars to make it to the sidewalk. Without looking back, I found a sanctuary in the form of the subway system.
Just when I was starting to somewhat like that guy, he had to go all shock factor on me. If he had been a part of my love life, then perhaps forgetfulness was bliss.
Chapter Sixteen
With everything going on, I started keeping a journal the second I got back to the B&B. If anything happened to me, I wanted there to be documentation. I had even emailed a copy to the Crescent Inn’s General Questions email address.
Flora walked in carrying milk and a saucer of chocolate-chip cookies just as I started journaling my meeting with Matt. She had given me several addresses I’d set up over the years, including my work one. All five of them had received a copy of my diary. Too bad, I couldn’t recall any of my passwords to get me in to check my eight months of emails. Then again, that might be a blessing in disguise.
“How did it go with that nice lawyer friend of yours?” Flora’s voice came just over my shoulder. “I notice you haven’t spoken to him in the last two days because you’ve locked yourself away in this office.”
I turned my attention from the screen. My innkeeper stared me with sincerity written across her pudgy face. “You mean Matt? I thought you didn’t like him.”
“In all honesty, Charles and I didn’t like him…at first. Face it, baby. When you went missing, we thought for sure he had something to do with it. Your friends had met him and didn’t like him either. We automatically assumed he was a bad apple. But after you were gone for a month or two, he came here asking about you. Said that you and him were…well…intimate.”
I turned my attention back to the laptop screen because I didn’t want her to see the heat warming my cheeks. “He said we were, but I don’t…I mean…”
“We’re grown folks, honey. I know what you mean. The point is he could’ve been one of these fools who showed up once and never returned. He called at least once a week and visited about three or four times, claiming he just happened to be in the area. Charles even caught him sitting out in his car watching the front of the place one time. He sort of freaked my hubby out. Charles tried to get him to come inside, but he wouldn’t. Just started the car and left. Like I said, he’s a nice guy, even if he’s a bit strange.”
I turned away from the screen to say something when I noticed another string of feathers hanging in the corner of the room from a shelf. I pointed at it. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what’s up with the ugly mobiles?”
Flora glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, that. They were gifts from a nice couple who stayed here a couple of months ago. Said they were good-luck charms. Considering what we’ve been through, we take all of the good luck we can get.”
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One of the first things I’d do when I got this place back on its feet was burn those things in the backyard. They made me nervous and I didn’t like being nervous. The more I learned my way around the Crescent Inn, the more it felt like home to me. Somehow, this place had imprinted itself on my subconscious, making it easier to identify with every inch of the twelvebedroom inn. A solid foundation of determination, pride and hope stood before me. Charles and Flora had started this fifteen years ago with the motto “A home away from home with a family away from family”. I was a part of that family. Even though it was my job to protect the business, in a way, it protected me. In a weird sense, it had become my personal den.
Although I didn’t want to believe Matt’s werewolf story, I couldn’t deny the possibility. I was my own proof. Every time a patron passed me in the halls, if I closed my eyes and concentrated on their smell, I knew what they had eaten or whom they’d had contact with. My eyes had no problem with reading the titles on the book spines even though I stood about twenty feet away from them in the library. Twice, Charles had caught me standing at the bottom of the stairwell listening to the conversations from the top floor. He had given me this look like I had lost it.
I even tested my strength by moving huge dressers and cabinets without breaking a sweat. When I dropped a sock behind the dryer, I simply shoved it out of my way, retrieved the item and pushed the appliance back in place. Had it not been an industrial-strength dryer, which normally required industrial strength to move it, I wouldn’t have given it another thought. I had enough evidence to wonder if the silverbullet theory was plausible. The jury was still out on that because the sterling-silver flatware did nothing to me. Although, Matt also said I was half werewolf…whatever that meant. Close to midnight, I sat on my bed wearing a mint green tank top and a pair of matching pajama bottoms. I had found some of clothes among my possessions that Flora and Charles had boxed up. They insisted I take a room on the top floor because my studio apartment in the basement had gone through a bout of water damage and needed some serious remodeling.
A howl beyond the inn’s walls jarred me from my book. I lifted my head and looked at the closed curtains.
That couldn’t be…? Could it?
Why was I so quick to believe I’d see a werewolf out there and not some stray dog roaming the streets?
Because I was just that curious.
Easing off my bed, I went to the window, opened it and stuck my head out. Ey-ya! A cold gusty wind slammed into my front, hardening my nipples against my thin tank top. Had I known it was this cold, I would’ve wrapped myself in a comforter.
From the third-story window, I made out six cars parked in the small lot, tree limbs swaying on the breeze around the edges of the property, a privacy fence separating our property from the one next to it and
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an alley between the fence the B&B. Just to the rear of the property line was a small two-bedroom, singlebath home. If Matt was out there, he hid himself well.
On second thought, not that well. An enormous black wolf stepped into a sliver of light passing through the backyard. How I knew it was him, I couldn’t say. Turned out my instincts were right after all. He. Was. Jaw-dropping. Gorgeous. Looking very much like the timber wolves I had researched on the Internet, Matt wore a thick black coat that begged me to run my fingers through it. Wagging his tail high as a show of dominance, he watched me with the same human eyes that I woke to two days ago after passing out at his office.
I ducked back inside and closed the window. I had my shoes in one hand and my coat hanging on my arm when my free hand rested on the doorknob to my bedroom.
My gut tugged at me. What are you waiting for? Go to him, it said. I felt funny about doing that after having jumped out of his SUV. He’d called the inn every day asking for me, and I’d told the Hills to tell him I wasn’t in or was busy with a customer. No wonder he decided to change. Talk about getting my attention.
I’d needed time to sort through my thoughts. Perhaps he understood because this was the first time I had heard a howl in the neighborhood. I bet anything that was his way of saying, you’ve had your alone time, but now it was time to get back to business. I’d buy that. Still, he might be mad at me for leaving and tear me apart once I got down there.
My jets had cooled. I put down my shoes and coat, and eased toward the window again. My fingers clutched the curtain while I peeked over the windowsill.
Matt stood in the darkness with his head tilted, nonverbally asking what was wrong or why didn’t I come down. If he wanted me to reply in wolf-speak, he was out of luck. I was half werewolf and didn’t respond to the full moon. On second thought, he didn’t operate according to folklore either if he was in wolf form now.
I looked up at the sky and noticed there was a crescent moon outlining the shadows of thick clouds. Now I knew where I had gotten the name for the inn.
Staying here would leave me in the dark and my curiosity in annoying limbo. Going down might loosen something hidden deep in my mangled brain. Whether Matt represented good or bad news, I needed to know more, and he might be the only one to lead me out of my mental fog. Enough of this back-and-forth junk. I had my shoes and coat in hand—again—and hurried out the door.
Flora had shown me where she kept the spare keys. I crept out the back door and onto the porch. If Matt was truly a werewolf, it wasn’t a good idea to show him off in the front of the building in case someone happened by.
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A gust of chilly air rippled my pajama bottoms around my ankles. Note to self: look to see if I have a long wool coat in storage tomorrow. Several twigs cracked. My heart swelled as I raced to the side of the wraparound porch and leaned over the railing into the alley.
The cold steel of a gun silencer lifted my chin. I threw my hands in the air and eased back. The gun followed, exposing an extended arm, a chest, and finally…a head. Great. Another replay of the garage scene.
“Do you have any idea what we went through to find you?” Paul kept the gun trained on me. Holy shit. I swallowed the tremble I knew would come out of my voice. “The same you went through to get past security in the Lubbock Airport.”
Man, I hoped my sassiness wouldn’t cost me a bullet to the cheek. Paul didn’t scare me as much as what his boss might have planned for my next routine. There was no way in hell I’d go back to turning tricks at Trixie’s.
Paul shrugged, grinning through his excess facial hair. “We would’ve grabbed you sooner, but we saw that you had caught up with an old friend. The boys in the garage were clumsy. They took little ol’ you for granted. We didn’t. That’s why I’m still standing behind this gun.”
“We?”
The back door opened. Sammy stepped outside onto the porch. The wind brushed his brown hair across his sullen face. Why he looked tortured now, I didn’t understand. It wasn’t like he was the one who had to go back to stripping for dollars.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, lips trembling into a tentative smile. Okay, perhaps he was just weird like that. I chose to ignore him and pour my attention on the guy with the gun instead. “If you shoot me, you’ll have a hell of a time explaining it to Gamboldt.”
“He gave us permission. After all, it cost him more than he was prepared to pay, but he wants you, Keish. What can we say? Robert misses his favorite.”
Oh God. Please don’t tell me that sick son of a bitch had his hands all over me like a bottle of Jack Daniel’s at a whiskey convention.
“That’s a pretty large B&B to get lost in,” Paul said. “You stayed out of sight most of the time, making it easy for Sammy to slip in as a houseguest. Thanks for the favor.”
“Don’t mention it. I mean it.”
Paul waved the gun, motioning me down the stairs. “Let’s go princess. Your vacation is over.”
A throaty growl resonated from the shadows like the vibrating engine of a Harley Davidson waiting for the green light. Matt stalked away from the bushes with his ears flattened against his head. Black lips peeled back, revealing a set of serrated white teeth, dripping with spittle. From this distance, he looked about the size of an Irish Wolfhound or a Great Dane. But something about his wolfish appearance made him more menacing. Judging from Sammy’s and Paul’s bulging eyes, they agreed.
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The gun began to shake in Paul’s hand. “What the hell is that?”
“A family pet. And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m family.”
“Shit.”
Paul pointed the gun at Matt. I leaped over the railing and tackled him to the ground. The gun exploded, bullet slamming into the grass next to the wolf. Matt’s growl turned into a ferocious bark that threatened to wake the neighborhood. Forcing Paul onto his back, I straddled his waist and plowed my hand into his throat. My fingers clenched his windpipe. I yanked the gun from his other hand and tossed it somewhere over my shoulder.
Paul struggled under my grip, hands clutched around my arm. “What the hell…?” He coughed. I smirked, loving the fact that I had his life in my clenched hand. “I’m something you don’t want to mess with. But then again, I think you already know that.”
Sammy made a move for the steps. Matt jerked his head around, pouring all of his ferocity on him. The bar bouncer froze, his hands going up in defense.
The light on the Hills’ front porch clicked on.
“Shit,” Sammy spat. “We’re out of here.”
Paul sputtered. “I’m not—”
“Now!”
With my attention on the Hills’ house, Paul backhanded me across the cheek. The force knocked me onto the cold, wet grass, a stark contrast to the burn on my face. A series of barks erupted from Matt. Paul scrambled to his feet and dashed down the alley toward the front of the inn. Matt charged after him.
The Hills’ door opened and Charles stepped out with a shotgun in his hands. “What’s going on out there?”
“A midnight stroll.” Sammy closed the distance and offered me a hand. “She tripped and fell.”
“Fell, huh?” Charles scowled. “You better not have pushed her.”
“N-no way, sir. Honest.”
Shotgun or not, Charles was old and my responsibility. I didn’t want to see him hurt while trying to defend me. So, I let Sammy win this round.
I glared at him before dusting off my hands and taking the one he offered. “I’m fine. Just clumsy.”
“Mm hm.” Again, Charles drew his gaze across both of us. “It’s late. You two, go on back in the house and try not to disturb the rest of the guests.”
“Charles,” Flora said from somewhere inside the small home. “Who’s out there?”
“It’s nothin’.” Charles flicked his hand at us. “Just these two kids out here causing trouble.”
“Trouble? Which ones?”
“Alexa and Sammy.”
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The front door opened a second time. Flora appeared behind Charles, buttoning the top of her housecoat. She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Tomorrow, young lady, we’re having a talk about fraternizing with the guests. It’ll only get you in a mess, and you know it.”
Fraternizing with what? Him? I wanted to say something, but the best I mustered was a sputter. It was too late and Charles was right. The longer we stayed out here, the more of a chance someone else would spot us. Although witnesses were my friends, they could also be a detriment if Robert Gamboldt was willing to let me, his so-called “most valued asset”, take a bullet. Charles nudged his wife back inside. “Let’s go, honey. I’m sure they get the point.”
Once their door closed and the light turned off, I put a few feet between Sammy and me. “I want you out of here. All I have to do is—”
“They’re watching from the window.” He stared over my shoulder. “Let’s just go back inside and play it up. You know as well as I do that if we stay out here, they’re going to think something’s up.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. The only good thing about Charles and Flora watching was that Sammy couldn’t try anything. Once we got inside, all bets were off and I’d be more than happy to try something first.
Chapter Seventeen
Sammy had a room on the second floor. As much as I didn’t want him anywhere around me, he’d paid for a full night. Throwing him out this soon would result in questions from Charles and Flora that I wasn’t prepared to answer. They didn’t know about Sammy working at Trixie’s and I wanted to keep it that way. Besides, Charles might get pissed enough to throw the bouncer out, ruining a good chance to question him. The only question I had was how that jerk had slipped by me.
“We need to talk.” Sammy got that much out before I shoved him into the lounge.
“Later. Stay here.” I closed the doors on him.
Going to the front doors again, I undid the locks and stepped out onto the porch. I didn’t want him anywhere around me unless Matt was there too. Even though his werewolf form took some getting used to, I’d take my chances with him because…? Well, I didn’t know why exactly, but there was a little light in my head that flashed the word “trust” whenever he was around. That was more than I could say for Sammy and Paul who’d made it clear that my place was in the Battle Rose hellhole. Matt loped down the sidewalk. When he spotted me on the porch, he quickened his pace. A pause while he crooked his canine head, then he finished closing the distance. He hadn’t expected to see me standing there safe and sound. Unfortunately, “safe and sound” was relative, as he’d soon find out. I crouched in front of him, my hand smoothing the soft fur on his head. For a vicious and wild animal, his silken pelt was a beautiful contradiction. Holding his snout in my hands, I urged him closer to run my nose through his coat. Resist as I might, tender kisses flowed from my mouth, smacking against the side of his head. His luscious heat poured into my hands. God, did he feel good.
“You comin’ inside?”
Sammy’s voice jarred me from my ecstasy. He had better be lucky I wasn’t a werewolf like Matt or I would’ve torn his leg off at the knee.
Matt lifted his head over my shoulder and growled.
I placed my hand on top of his snout. “Don’t. He’s here because it’ll take too much explaining if I throw him out.”
“Save your breath, babe. I doubt the dog understands.”
Ooooo, if he only knew. I had a feeling that growl wasn’t because Matt didn’t trust him. I think it had more to do with warning Sammy to keep his distance from me. A territorial thing, so to speak. How I knew that, I couldn’t say, but that was the impression I got.
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Stepping between both of them, I motioned my lovely wolf into the B&B. Matt twisted his head in a quick snarl as he passed Sammy. Yup. It was a territorial thing and I was pretty much a piece of land. We’d have to talk about that when he got his voice box back.
Once I had everyone gathered in the lounge, I took the couch with Matt sitting on the floor next to my legs. When he smoothed his wet gums and luxurious pelt against my knees, I stared. Perhaps it was the doggy thing to do, but he knew damn well he didn’t have to put on any airs for Sammy. We had nothing to prove to this guy because he wouldn’t be staying.
Sammy rested his butt in the matching Victorian chair, leaning forward with his elbows digging into his knees. “How long are you planning to hole up in here? You know we’re going to bring you home, darling.”
That southern drawl pricked my nerves. Nothing against southerners, but listening to his voice made me want to puke. “I’m not going anywhere with you. But as long as you’re on my property, you’re gonna level with me.”
“Sugar, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Matt growled. Sammy stared, wide eyes not missing a beat.
I couldn’t add anything more to that, but I certainly tried. “You had better say something. Otherwise I might let him have you for a midnight snack.”
“Keish—”
“Robert Gamboldt. Who is he? What does he do? Why does he want me so—”
“I told you, I don’t know.” Sammy sighed and slumped in the chair. “Robert Gamboldt paid us to keep an eye on you. He doesn’t give reasons. Although he’ll give me a cracked skull, if we don’t get you back.”
“Don’t sit there and tell me that I’m such a damn good ass-shaker that he’ll spend thousands of dollars to get me under his thumb again. That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Sammy shook his head, staring at an invisible spot on the floor. “You’re not like the other girls. Robert brought them to the bar for reasons he didn’t share with the rest of us. At times, he’d send them away for a few days and then they’d return. Usually, it was for a week or so. They’d never say where they’ve been other than doing some extra work on the side for Robert. But you? You were different.”
“How so?”
“Robert was really mysterious about you. Hell, he’s being cryptic about why he wants you too.”
A moan left Matt’s mouth. I rubbed his head while my instincts interpreted the question on his canine face. “What did Robert say exactly?”
Sammy glanced at Matt again with guarded eyes as if readying himself to run in case the “dog” tried something. “Something about you being important. That you were like a daughter to him.” He paused, a
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somber look penetrating his face. “He also said he’d make our lives miserable until we got you home. We’ve been in this business long enough to know he’s not screwing around.”
It sounded like Gamboldt was running some sort of business on the side with all of the women at the bar. They knew what was going on. My best guess at this point was the bar had to be a front for something else. It wasn’t like I was about to return there to find out. My curiosity wasn’t that piqued.
“So if one of his star strippers goes missing, he sends you and Paul with a small battalion to bring me back. How much is he paying you?”
“Now hold on, sugar.” Sammy hunched over his knees with his focus on me and Matt completely forgotten. “It’s not like that. Believe me. I’m not in this for the money. I’m in it because I want you safe.”
“Safe? Is that what you call letting me perform on stage in front of a bunch of drunks while they’re slipping their nasty fingers into my panties to drop off a wrinkled dollar?”
“Keish—”
“My name isn’t Keisha—it’s Alexa. Get it right.”
He rubbed a thumb against his forehead. “Alexa then. Honey, you were never in any danger there. I promise. Don’t you remember me sitting at the other end of the bar every night when you—”
“What the heck makes you think I remember anything? Did you not get the foot memo I left across Paul’s nose when he tried to drug me?”
“I only want you in one piece. We were an item, you know. You were the first girl I ever thought about getting serious with. You think I’m just going to let you go like that? I love you.”
That was something new and different. And scary too.
Ohmygod! That’s why he’d had such a forlorn look in his eyes that one time. At the Lubbock Airport, a smile had slipped onto his face when he saw me. It also made sense that they’d send him to bring me back. When a guy confesses his love for you, it made him do crazy things. So to speak. How stripping was good for me, I had no clue. Of course, that also meant that I…
Oh God.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” I slumped against the cushions. “Just tell me one thing. Tell me we used protection.”
A startled smile bowed his lips. “Of course. But—”
Matt leaped to his feet and charged Sammy. I threw myself onto his back before he snapped the man’s leg off. While Matt’s ferocious barks filled the room, Sammy’s yelling added to the madness. I had to claw at Matt’s hide, snagging skin and fur to keep him from tearing the guy apart. Sammy had climbed into the chair with his fist drawn and ready to pound Matt into the floor. The odds were two to one against Sammy. Matt’s thick muscles and sheer force left me sliding across the carpet on my burning knees. He had better be lucky I had enough superhuman strength to hold him down or this would have been a different story involving animal control and euthanasia. 82
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“Get out of here!” I put a chokehold on Matt to keep him still. That wasn’t enough to calm him down. Whatever Matt and I had, it must have been something really special. I needed Sammy gone before my strained muscles gave way. “Move, Sammy. Get the fuck out or he’s going to tear your heart out.”
Sammy jumped and tipped over the Victorian chair as he fell on his backside. He scrambled to his feet and dashed out of the lounge. Thank goodness he had the sense enough to close the doors behind him, although I doubt that would’ve stopped Matt from going through the glass to chomp into a piece of that ass.
“Stop it, Matt!” I tightened my chokehold. “I’ll throw you out of the window before I let you wake up this house with your barking.”
His last bark came across like a yelp. He whimpered under my grip. Slowly, his body began to relax, compacted muscles easing down underneath me. It was a good thing. He had stretched my limbs to their limit. Ten more seconds of that and he would’ve gone through the French doors anyway. A door clicked from somewhere on the first floor. Damn. I bet Charles and Flora had heard the commotion.
Panic kicked my butt in gear. I snagged the nape of Matt’s neck and hurried him to the door. There was no way I was letting him go just yet. I cracked open one of the French doors and peeked around the edge. At the end of the hall, a tall shadow that looked like Charles stood in front of the window. A turn of the knob and the door opened.
I dragged Matt out of the lounge and jetted across the lobby to hide in front of the stairs. “Keep your mouth shut or both of us are sleeping in the streets tonight. You hear me? Now get your behind upstairs.”
Matt took the steps faster than me, but even in human form, I didn’t have a problem keeping up with him. A moment of a shock came over me when he stopped on the top floor, right in front of my door. That doggone mutt had traced my scent.
I snorted. “Uh-uh. There’s no way in hell you’re coming in my room.”
Matt put on his puppy-dog eyes and tuned in to the whimpering channel.
“What kind of fool do I look like? You tote your ass in there and I’ll—”
A lock from one of the doors across the open landing clicked. Another bout of panic shot through me. Fumbling with the key, I jammed it in the lock and hurried inside the room. Matt stood in the hall staring. When the knob turned on room 3-A, I cursed myself under my breath. We had a No Pet policy in place. One look at Matt, the unfriendly “dog”, and heaven only knows what sort of problems I’d have.
Clenching my teeth, I flagged him inside and closed the door. I peeked out the peephole in time to see an older man’s head swiveling from side to side. I leaned against the door.
“You give me one ounce of trouble and I’ll mount your muzzle on the wall.” I turned, ready to give him a piece of my mind. Something about that wagging tail and goofy mouth hanging open, I bet he enjoyed every second of my agony. “You come anywhere near my bed and you’ll lose a testicle.”
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After dropping my coat and kicking my shoes across the floor, I marched to the bed and climbed under the covers. Oh, how I wished it were that easy to get Sammy’s confession out of my head. It was another good reason to make sure I bathed with a scouring pad come morning. 84
Chapter Eighteen
Tired of my empty grumbling stomach, I finally rolled my butt out of bed in a semicoma. After throwing on a pair of sweats and a zip-front sweater, I headed downstairs for some quick hellos while piling a bunch of food onto two plates. Flora gave me that “we have to talk” warning while flipping extra pancakes on the griddle. I nodded once before flying out of the kitchen with a large breakfast tray and returned to my room on the top floor. Knowing her, she probably thought one of these plates belonged to Sammy. Can I get a hell-to-the-no?
“Damn that smells good,” my bed said.
Son of a… A tremor ran through my arms and I nearly dropped the plates on the table. Matt crawled from underneath the bed wearing nothing. My eyes bulged at all his glory and then some. Toned muscles rippled across the upper half of his body, each of them moving with every nonchalant step toward the table. Arms, shoulders, chest and stomach. All of it left my jaw hanging until my mouth filled with enough juice to force me to a gulp. He didn’t have the bodybuilding physique, but it made a woman count her blessings that she had witnessed a man gorgeous enough to walk off the cover of a sexy magazine. With the dark eyes and matching velvet hair, I wanted to drag him into bed and explore his luscious body. What puzzled me the most was his eyes weren’t on me. They were on the food.
“Interested?”
“Uh…” I shook my head out of the gutter. “For heaven’s sake! Put some clothes on? This isn’t the Playgirl mansion.” I snatched up the small glass coffeepot and began filling it from the bathroom sink. He laughed. “I’m a werewolf, remember? I spend a lot of time in wolf form where nudity isn’t optional.”
“Whatever. I still think you did it on purpose.”
“What can I say? I’m just trying to do my part to jog your memory. Guess it didn’t work. Do you mind if I start without you? I just hate to see good food go to waste.”
“Dive in. Half of it’s yours anyway.” I exited the bathroom, shoved the pot under the coffee drip and started the brewer.
By the time I turned around, a third of Matt’s plate had disappeared in syrupy residue and grease. He chugged another slice of bacon before I made it to the other side of the table where he sat with the top of his butt exposed through the spokes of the chair. When my head began to tilt sideways for a better look, I Marcia Colette
shook it back to the upright position. He’d love to know I was checking him out and would probably hold it over my head again. Humph. Like I’d give him the satisfaction.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” he said, holding a slice of toast. “Changing forms burns a lot of calories. We eat about three times the average person.”
“In other words, you’ll want me to go downstairs and get more.”
He shook his head. “Stay right where you are. You look cute in that pink sweat suit. Even cuter when you’re sleeping.”
“Salmon, thank you very much.” I planted my hands on my hip.
Matt swooped out of the chair and scooped me off my feet. I pushed against his hardened chest, legs flailing to no avail.
“Put me down,” I demanded.
“No.” He marched to the bed and dropped me on the mattress. “You’re staying right here. After everything you’ve been through, it’s about time someone catered to you. I’d be more than happy to fit the bill.”
“Not when you’re making sexual innuendoes, you aren’t.”
A grin dug dimples into his cheeks. “You liked it before. Besides, I have to make up for lost time.”
“Noyoudon’t. ” I scrambled to the other side of the bed. Matt grabbed my ankles and pulled me back. The more I fought, the more he seemed to think that this was some sort of game. I clawed at the sheets and pillows, trying to get away from him. He finally hopped onto the bed and wrestled me onto my back. His lower half snuggled against mine, hardness bruising my thigh.
Okay…now what?
I lay there staring into his eyes. He did the same. I bit my lip to keep the urge to kiss him at bay. Boy was that a losing battle. When he lowered his head, eyes closing, I knew I had lost. His lips touched mine and the kiss turned explosive. Passion ran wild inside both of us with the way we explored each other’s mouths, drinking such heavenly juices. His lips were soft and smooth. They didn’t look that thick until I kissed him on the mouth and filled myself with complete ecstasy. The moment his hand slipped under my shirt, anxiety ran rampant through my knotted-up belly. I shoved him back and sat up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
It was then that I really noticed his naked body still kneeling between my legs and his heated member fully erect and ready to go. I had to catch my breath, and it had nothing to do with passion. This was a fullblown panic attack. Images of those creeps at the bar flooded my mind like a California mudslide. Muck, mire, disgust. The pain would come in the aftermath of realizing I had survived everything while my memories lay in ruins.
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I scrambled away from him and pulled myself to the foot of the bed. “I’m not ready to go where you’re going.”
“I don’t understand. We were… You…” He started again. “We were practically a mated pair before all this. Just you and me. The only thing we never did together was run free. Which is probably a little harder for you considering your human form.”
“Are you telling me I was able to change? Like into some bipedal half wolf?” Skip the bar creeps. Lon Chaney came to mind.
Matt shook his head. “Not like that. Man-beast form is a sign of insanity. It’s not possible to hold that form without having a few screws loose. When we change, we go all the way. You, on the other hand, don’t change. You have the heightened senses, strength, and some speed on your side, but that’s it.”
“Oh.”
Matt pushed himself into a sitting position. “Don’t be sorry either. If it takes having to win your heart a second time around, Alexa Wells, then I’ll be more than happy to work just as hard again. You’re worth it.”
That jerked a tiny smile into my cheek. Whether or not he had said that to me before, it was a good thing to hear. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for romance. I needed to get Robert Gamboldt and his hoods off my back before reentering my life again. Compared to the one I’d had at Trixie’s, I’d take this one in a heartbeat…even with an infatuated werewolf.
“By the way.” Matt returned to his plate, bit off half a slice of bacon, then pointed the remainder at me. “If you think I’m sharing you with that lovesick boy toy of yours, guess again.”
Oh my God. Was that not the pot-and-kettle situation? I snatched a pillow from the bed, marched across the floor and whopped him across the back of the head with it. “Smart ass.”
He laughed. “And while we’re at it, you shouldn’t be sending a werewolf mixed signals like that.”
“What signals?”
“Which do you think? Not only did you come to the front porch last night, but you marked me the way a wolf would with your kiss. You came onto me. I assumed you were ready for the next step.”
I stared. Like I remembered what life as a half werewolf was like. “I was…just enjoying your fur. It’s as soft as goose down, in case you didn’t know. Who could resist running their nose through something like that?”
Matt arched a single eyebrow in disbelief. “Whatever. Right now, it’s not important.” He jammed a fork into a pile of scrambled eggs and brought it up to his mouth. “You never mentioned the name Robert Gamboldt when we spoke.”
I pulled the chair away from the table and sat opposite him. “You never gave me a chance to tell you everything, remember? You hustled me out of your office.”
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He swallowed and wiped his lips. “Nevertheless, I know that name because his face shows up in the newspapers around town every once in a while.”
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me that bastard lives right here?”
“Somewhere, yes. His charitable donations are legendary.”
“Well, where the hell is he? What are we sitting around for? We should be going downstairs and rousting Sammy’s ass out of bed to show us where he lives.”
“Not possible. Your ex slipped out of the house about an hour after you fell asleep. I saw him leave through the front door and get into a pickup. I’m guessing someone convinced him that kidnapping you from the house was a mistake and that it might be easier to nab you on the streets.”
Great. I couldn’t believe Sammy had left like that. Matt was probably right about him rethinking his kidnapping methods. After seeing my tight relationship with the Hills and the “guard dog” we had on staff, taking me from here would be more of a headache than it was worth.
“But you know where we can find Gamboldt, right?”
“I called my personal assistant after you went for breakfast and left a message for her to find his address. She’ll call back, but my cell phone is in my car and it’s parked two blocks away. In the meantime, there’s something else you should know.”
“What?”
“Remember that business card you gave me? The one with the realtor’s address on it that brought you to Boston?”
“Yeah. What about it?” I sipped my orange juice.
“I’ve spent the last few days tracking him down. He was killed in a hunting accident. Someone shot him in the head with an arrow.”
I choked on the tangy sweetness.
First, it was Keisha Walker. Now, it was some real estate agent I couldn’t recall. If the police put both murders together with the only common denominator being me, my ass was going to the electric chair. 88
Chapter Nineteen
It took some maneuvering to get Matt out of the B&B without any clothes. I had to sneak into a guest room and rifle through their clothes until I found something to fit Matt. Once dressed, he wanted to jump out of the window from the back of the building because a three-story drop was nothing to a werewolf. Despite my image of him splattering across the pavement like an egg, he did it anyway. Matt’s assistant was good. She had found an address for Gamboldt and left it on his voice mail. Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain. His address amounted to an office the size of my bedroom back at the inn with the only occupant being a fax machine and a wastepaper basket. Oh yeah, there was a secretary. Either she was too old and decrepit for this job or a narcoleptic who had this habit of dozing off during questioning. It didn’t matter because her hearing aid only caught every third word. Her head fell back just as we were getting somewhere, gurgles rifling from her ancient throat. I wanted to drop a penny in her mouth to wake her from her coma, but Matt slapped my hand away and settled for shaking her awake instead. When all was said and done, we walked away with several brochures of Gamboldt’s charitable organizations. The man was very generous with his money, but I suspected that had to do with him needing a diversion from his other nefarious deeds. Like kidnapping, for instance.
“It doesn’t make sense.” I lowered a plastic-coated map on my lap and watched the sign for Kingston speed by on our way back to the city. Trees whipped past the window, including a small cross and flowers signifying someone had died. “For a guy who likes to donate to the children’s hospitals and orphanages, what does he get out of owning a strip bar in the middle of Battle Rose, Arizona? Where’s the venture capitalism in that?”
I threw my hands into the dashboard and reared back in my seat. The bumper of the car in front of us came too fast at our windshield.
“Matt!”
He slammed his foot on the brakes. The SUV fishtailed between both lanes, forcing another driver to lay on their horn. The tires tore up the grass median as they slid closer toward the center. Matt yanked the wheel back to the right and crossed over the dashed line. He pulled onto the shoulder and threw the gear in park.
Matt’s knuckles clutched the steering wheel, the bones about to break through the skin. His shoulders and chest heaved, his thumping reaching my ears without the need of a stethoscope. I touched the back of his tightened fingers. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
Marcia Colette
“Sorry.”
“That wasn’t what I was looking for. Thanks though.”
He glanced over his shoulder, looking at the opposite side of the road. “My pack lives down this way. I should’ve been more careful about paying attention to the road instead of looking at the traffic on the other side.”
“I’ll give you the ‘more careful’ part, but what does the traffic have to do with anything?”
“Red, beat-up Impala with a license plate I know all too well. I hope they didn’t see my truck. Otherwise, they might decide to follow just for the fun of it. They know I don’t come down here often unless I’m summoned by our Pack Alpha, Parry.”
“The local pack prick?”
Matt half-grinned. “Parry Casabianca is an old-fashioned bastard who’s very much set in his ways. He doesn’t run our pack. He owns us and never lets us forget it.”
It sounded like Pippa was right about him. Until now, I had forgotten that he was the leader of the werewolves and Matt’s overlord. “Then why stay?”
“Because strays aren’t allowed in our territory, which is all of Boston and the suburbs. If I break away, I become a stray on foreign land. Some of my pack would love to hunt me to gain favor with Parry. We’re territorial like that.”
“I guess so.”
That explained why I thought the Crescent Inn was more like my den and didn’t like anyone bullying me on it. Sammy and Paul were a threat, but what really pissed me off about them was they had come on my land and endangered everything I held dear. I would’ve thrown all I had into fighting them off.
“In case you were wondering, that’s why I tracked you the way I did back at the fair.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
Matt closed his eyes and shook his head. He shifted the SUV into gear, checked his rearview mirror and pulled back onto the road. “I thought you were a stray wolf. That’s why I confronted you at the fair. Of course, you don’t remember that. Anyway, I was going to tell you to clear out of Boston territory. The guy I was with, another member from my pack, wanted to do other things with you. I told him to back off and claimed you as my pet.”
“Excuse me?” I would’ve planted a hand on my hip, but it was hard to do considering I was sitting in the passenger seat and it would’ve had less of an effect.
A smirk bowed the corner of Matt’s mouth, digging a dimple into his cheek. “It was all for show. You didn’t know it at the time, and I knew you wanted to skewer my balls regardless. So, I pulled off my badboy act and it was enough to scare the hell out of you. I thought you’d leave right away, but you didn’t. Instead, you rejoined your friends just outside the Garridans’ auction tent. We spent the whole time following you around.”
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“More like stalking, I bet.”
“Yeah, you could say that. But it was with good reason. You smelled like a bitch in heat with cream filling.”
A glare narrowed my eyes. Had I heard what I thought I heard? “You know, if you’re trying to win friends and influence people, you should quit now or forever hold your teeth.”
Chuckling, he switched on his signal and passed a slow-moving midsize car. “What can I say? You smelled delicious. But that wasn’t the reason I was following you. I had never smelled anyone who was part werewolf before. Your scent is amazing. It still is.”
“You’re still losing friends.”
“Then understand this. Parry would rather have two wolves fight to the death to settle a dispute than try to break them up. He’s a purist fuck who drinks, eats and pisses too much, and doesn’t have a problem with selling drugs on the side. He had a great Internet business going until he sold it. When he got bored, he took up growing marijuana in the basement as a hobby.” Seriousness flooded Matt’s face, his eyes hooded. He remained quiet as though gathering his thoughts before speaking. “If Parry finds out you’re here, he’ll kill you, Lex. I won’t let that happen. He sees humans as nothing more than a means to an end. There’s no telling what he’d do if he found out you were a human hybrid.”
I said nothing. Supremacist jerks like Parry had a special place in hell, which surprisingly gave me some comfort. However, what he did to Matt by planting the worry in his eyes, bugged the hell out of me. I didn’t want him hurt on my account. “I’ll give you a reprieve on that losing-friends stuff. For now.”
“That reminds me.” He unclipped his cell phone and flipped it open. “Luz should’ve called back. She was looking for supernatural connections between Garridan and Gamboldt.”
Both of us held two pieces of a puzzle and we needed to know if—how—they fit together. Matt hadn’t known about my connection with Gamboldt and I never would’ve known about the Garridans had it not been for him filling me in. It was a long shot and not very clear-cut. If those two had dealings in the past, then maybe we’d find out what Gamboldt wanted from me now. That was better than just showing up on the man’s strip-bar doorstep and hoping he’d tell me everything over a spot of noonday tea. Which reminded me to check my watch. Did Monica have something planned for me? She’d rifled off a list of things we needed to do before my court date, but I couldn’t remember them. “Do you know Monica Hardcourt?”
“The name’s familiar. Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering if she was any good. The cops think I had something to do with the death of Keisha Walker because they found her ID on me. So, Monica is representing me.”
“What? ” Matt’s eyes darted from right to left, looking from one mirror to the other before he changed lanes again. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
Marcia Colette
“I didn’t get much of a chance until now. Truth be told, out of sight out of mind. Anyway, you might want to have your contact cross-reference Keisha Walker with Gamboldt, Garridan and anybody else you can think of.”
“You know, this just complicates the hell out of things. Supernaturals don’t do jail like they don’t do hospitals. We work alongside humans or use them as a means to an end. The supernatural world has been living in secret for millennia and we’ll do everything in our power to keep it that way. Even if that means paying someone off to kill you before you go to prison.”
“Good to know.” I leaned against the door just as a headache banded across my forehead with this new piece of you’re-so-fucked information.
After grabbing a bite to eat—he was hungrier than me—we traveled to Newton to visit Matt’s contact. He hired Luz Gonzales to handle highly sensitive research instead of giving it to one of the paralegals in his office. From what I understood, Luz was some sort of psychic who understood the implications of certain
“special” projects he gave her. If he handed them over to the law firm’s paralegals, a straitjacket and a Thorazine drip might be in order for him. It was better if someone understood where he and a few of his supernatural clients were coming from and knew how to use the right scrutiny to get answers. Luz lived in a large apartment building with the luxury of a small pool and garden area on the fifth floor. Strange, but at least it was a nice place to go if you wanted to smell fresh flowers, barbecue or simply sit under a tree with a good book.
When we reached the seventh floor, Matt gave the door one knock before he pressed his nose to the frame. He didn’t take the huge whiff I had expected.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Can’t you smell it?”
“Smell what? I’ve never been here before.”
He arched an eyebrow at me before trying the knob. It opened without a hitch. That wasn’t good. Nobody in their right mind would leave a door unlocked, whether in a big city or suburbs. Matt went inside first and I followed.
Dimness blanketed the apartment and the heavy air pressed against my chest. It was stale and musty, but…something else lay underneath it. I couldn’t place the scent, but my gut told me it was familiar. How was that possible when I’d never been here before? At least, not since my return to Boston. Matt went to the window and yanked on the shade. Light spewed into the room. A corpse lay on the couch.
92
Chapter Twenty
Luz lay with her arms frozen straight in the air and her palms pressed outward as if to fend something off. Her eyes had gone gray and empty, matching her ashen skin. Her mouth was open like she wanted to scream, but couldn’t get the words out. She had black curly hair splayed about her head, about twice the thickness of the average person. It was the only thing left alive in this lifeless place. Even the fish in the tank by the window had floated to the top of the water.
Matt knelt by her body and combed his fingers through her thick mane. His thumb brushed across her corpselike forehead.
Sadness came over me. Not for the pretty woman whom I didn’t know, but for Matt. “I’m sorry.”
Blinking the glaze from his eyes, his lips gummed together before answering. “She was a good friend. One of the few I trusted.”
I opened my mouth to say more, but Matt stood. He rushed to the window, twisted the locking mechanism, and shoved the pane open. He filled his lungs, but a choking cough cut him off.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Can’t you smell it?” He placed his sleeve over his mouth and continued coughing. “There’s no fresh air. It’s stifling. Like…it’s alive and wants to strangle us.”
I shook my head. “I don’t get it. How can stifling air kill anyone?”
“The air is nothing more than a conduit.” He rushed to another window and slammed it open. “This place has been cursed.”
Oh. This was my first curse, so what did I know?
I couldn’t take my eyes off Luz’s body. The smell my mind identified with was death. I had caused death more than once—I think—to know that scent. Perhaps I was responsible for killing both Keisha and the real estate guy after all.
“We should go,” I said.
Matt stopped running around frantic and stared. “We have to call the police.”
“The police? No way. I’m already the prime suspect in one homicide, potentially two. I don’t need the police asking what brought me to the scene of another one.”
“Did you touch anything?”
I glanced around the small, stuffy apartment. “No.”
“Good. I’ll call the cops. You go wait in the truck and stay out of sight.”
Marcia Colette
He got no argument from me. I started for the door.
Something like a combination of both physical barrier and a sinus pressure stopped me. When I tried stepping into the hall, an invisible weight came down on my neck, shoulders and head.
“Matt.” I touched the doorway, but my hand slid down the side and I dropped to my knees. Wood creaked with each step as he approached me. He didn’t get far either. Matt’s reply came in a strangled gasp. He fell on his side with a thump. So much for getting help. On hands and knees, I shoved my head through the entryway, weight drawing down my shoulders and extending toward my lower back. Using everything I had, I crawled through the heavy, invisible barrier surrounding the entryway and collapsed in the hall. There, the air was normal and I filled my lung volume with every ounce of it. Once I had my fill, I reached through the heaviness again and hauled Matt’s limp body through.
The spell barrier snagged his lower half, putting me in a game of tug of war with his body.
“Matt.” I strained, pulling on his shirt until threads tore along the seams. “You have to help me.”
I braced myself with my foot against the wall and heaved with everything I had. He wasn’t heavy so much as something was trying to keep him inside that death pit of an apartment. He moaned. One of his hands slapped against the floor. His body lightened up. Whatever force held him in that room had lost part of its grip. Or he had regained some of his. With his upper half lying in the hall, I reached down and snagged the waist of his jeans. Matt was of little help due to his groggy condition. Had it not been for his back moving with each deep breath, I would’ve sworn he was dead. I continued to haul his limp body into the hall. Lying on the floor, Matt rolled over and sucked in a deep breath.
Panting, I slump against the opposite wall. “What was that?”
“It’s what killed Luz. Probably more potent to kill her faster.” While propping himself up, he stared down the length of his body and back into the apartment. “Son of a bitch. When I get my hands on the bastards who did this…”
“What about the cops?”
“I still have to call them.”
It figures. “But if the air got to her, won’t it do the same to them?”
“I don’t know. If the person who did this is smart, it’ll only affect those with a hint of paranormal abilities. The chance of a witch or a vampire being on the police force and getting the call is nil. Even if I’m wrong, it’ll teach the sloppy bastard a lesson about leaving spells behind for untargeted humans. It’ll be their mess to clean up. They’ll have some explaining to do if humans succumb to their magic.”
In the short time I had been with Matt, I’d learned one thing. Humans could be a more effective weapon than teeth and claws when using them against a supernatural enemy. Even if the Boston Pack knew 94
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about me, they wouldn’t dare bring their war to my B&B where there were plenty of human witnesses around. Perhaps that was my reason for owning the place.
Hours later, Matt and I sat in a diner contemplating our next move. He had joined me down the street just as I finished off a cup of hot tea. His steak with russet potatoes, green beans and a basket of rolls arrived minutes after he sat. I couldn’t tell if he ate out of anger or simply enjoyed eating for no reason other than hunger.
The police investigation didn’t turn up any foul play, but they thought it was strange that Luz died the way she did. It looked like suffocation via carbon monoxide poisoning, but the time it took for her rigor mortis to set in made no sense. Her body had frozen in time. Plus, the gas would’ve leaked to the other floors and more people would’ve died. Everyone else in the building remained unharmed. Matt had planned to ask the few friends in his pack for an alibi, but it ended up coming from the one place nobody ever suspected. Gamboldt’s secretary called and left a message on his cell making sure he received all the information regarding Mr. Gamboldt’s charitable organizations during his earlier visit. Kind of ironic and convenient, if you ask me.
Matt cleaned his lips and tossed the dirty napkin on his plate. “That’s the bastard’s way of saying he’s watching us. Not to mention he probably doesn’t want to get a man like Parry hounding his ass about his precious werewolf lawyer.”
I pushed my glass of water away. This was getting more complicated by the breath. “Robert has to be a supernatural. It’s the only thing that makes sense in terms of his being able to track me.”
“Which begs the question of why he doesn’t show up here and now.”
I shrugged because I didn’t have an answer for that. Finding out what kind of supernatural he was might hold the answer.
Matt made room for his laptop on the table and booted it up while continuing to speak. “It could also mean that he’s found a way to tap into our world and have supernaturals working for him. Remember, the guy is a millionaire. Just like everyone else, we need money to survive too. Enough money will certainly pay for the power he needs.”
I folded my arms in front and leaned on the table. “What are you doing?”
Matt tapped away on the keyboard before turning it toward me. “One reason why I hired Luz is because she keeps copies of everything in her database. Even when she has news for me, it comes via a phone call and an email. I’m hoping she had the chance to send one.”
She had.
Hola Matt,
Marcia Colette
Robert Gamboldt is a slippery son of a bitch, but I managed to find something on him just searching through my own circles. It turns out he’s a psychic of sorts, but I have a feeling he’s a rare one because even my contacts weren’t sure. However, they warned me to stay out of his way because he’s bad news. In fact, one of them specifically said, “Whenever something happens and you’re left feeling like you’ve lost a sense of time, check the room to see if he’s around. Then, run like hell.” I also found out he was seen with an older woman, but nobody knows her name. The few who’ve passed close enough to her sense something earthy, yet powerful. But that’s it. The only earthy supernaturals I know of are necromancers, voodoo priests, witches and cunning folk. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t even begin to figure out how to contact any of those groups for confirmation. You might want to use your werewolf muscle to force that one because I have a feeling a simple psychic like me won’t get anywhere. I hope this helps, amigo. And before I forget, you owe me a beer at the next Patriots game. Don’t make me come find you. ;-)
Adiós,
Luz with the clues
I could’ve kissed Luz. Just hearing that letter made me wish I had a chance to see her and thank her for her help. I hated never getting that chance. Damn, Gamboldt. Damn him to hell. She’d risked her life to get us this information. One way or another, I’d see to it that her death wasn’t for nothing.
“Let’s go about this another way.” The pads of my fingers smoothed the surface of the table in small circles. “There was a woman at the hospital who said she was a witch. In fact, she followed me into the subway where I threatened her to leave me alone or else. She was the one who initially told me about your pack.”
Matt stared straight ahead with a frown knitting his brows together. “What were you doing at a hospital?”
Oh great. As if I hadn’t broken enough rules in the preternatural secret code. “Flora threatened to call my parents if I didn’t get my head checked. I’d like to meet them, but I can only take so many shocks at one time.”
“Their timing would suck too.”
Matt pushed his food aside and tossed enough money on the table to take care of the tab. Keeping mostly to his own, he gathered up his stuff and we left the diner. Something was turning those wheels in his head. I had a feeling it had to do with a new resolve to help me and to make sure someone paid a price for Luz’s death. At least, I hoped that was the case.
Once inside his SUV, I unclipped Matt’s cell phone. “I don’t remember her name off the top of my head, but I keep a journal of everything that’s happened to me since last night. I’m sure I typed it in.”
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Matt reached across the seat without looking and folded the cell phone down on my fingers. “Wait a minute. Just how much did you put in that diary of yours?”
Oops. I forgot to tell him about that. “Pretty much everything. About you being a werewolf and me being half. I had to. If something bad happened to me again, I wanted a frame of reference or at least some breadcrumbs for someone to follow. I even added in that stuff about Trixie’s and stripping in case my memory went AWOL again.”
“Are you sure you want Flora reading all that? I mean…she’s going to think you’re nuts and probably call your parents anyway. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Do we have a choice? If we go back to the inn and get the information ourselves, someone might trace us there and find a houseful of bait to use against me. I love the Hills, which is why I want to limit my contact with them as much as possible. Luz was one too many people killed in this. I don’t want any more if I can help it.”
Matt pulled his hand off the phone. “Good thing I’ve got plenty of minutes.”
I took that as yes and dialed the number.
Flora answered on the second ring, but it took her forever to find her glasses. Matt and I would reach the inn by the time she pulled up the email for me. I motioned for him to start the engine in case it came to that.
“Let me see.” Flora hummed a tune. “Honey, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“It’s just a dream journal. Honest.” I wished I had listened better to Matt and thought this thing through. When she came to that part about me stripping at a bar in Arizona, she wanted to stop reading and fax me a copy of the journal. That would’ve worked if Matt had a fax machine in his glove box.
“Here it is.” Several clicks came from Flora’s end. “Her name was Pippa. Honey, I don’t think it’s wise to be writing about stuff like this. What happened to the sweet young lady I used to know?”
“I’m still the same person. Honest. Just that the doctor at the hospital suggested I keep the journal because it might help me with my amnesia.”
“Don’t you think it’s time you called your parents? Baby, keeping this kind of secret from them isn’t good. At least call your friend Mr. Dane. He was just as sick with worry as everyone else.”
I dared to glance at Matt. This was one conversation I hoped his superhearing didn’t catch. After the way he’d acted around Sammy, I didn’t want to feel like I had to explain myself when I didn’t have the memories to do so.
Of course, I was wrong. His fingers clutched the steering wheel while he stared straight ahead. When Matt turned, he glared. I pressed my hand to the mouthpiece. “It’s not what you think. He’s a family friend, from what I understand.”
“Whatever.”
I rolled my eyes and took my hand off the phone.
Marcia Colette
“By the way…” A chair or something moved on the other side of the phone. Flora must have stepped away from the desk. “You got a funny fax this afternoon. The letterhead says House of the Muló, which is owned by Brody Lennor.”
“Sorry. Never heard of him. Is there—”
“I had thrown it away thinking it was just some lousy advertisement coming through. Now that I see you have this thing about going to an auction in your journal, maybe it isn’t.”
My thoughts paused for a breath. Flora wouldn’t bring that up unless she had good reason. I lowered the phone and pressed the speaker button for Matt to hear, too. “Do you still have the fax?”
“Hold on a sec. I was just pulling it out of the garbage.” Paper rustled in the background. “It’s an advertisement for another auction they’re having tonight in Nashua on Maynard Ave. The last time you got information about an auction, they sent it by special courier. Young lady, why didn’t you tell me you’re messing around with magic and witchcraft and stuff? I’d stay away from that junk if I were you.”
Matt and I shared a dumbfounded look that only lasted a few seconds. Realization slipped onto my face, straightening out my knitted brows. Romas were the only ones having auctions these days and they had this thing for me being their guest of honor. Was it possible that Brody Lennor was a Roma too? Either these guys were stupid and thought I’d go quietly or they had something else on their minds. Perhaps they wanted to talk, although I would’ve preferred an invitation from the Garridans.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Pretty much. Oh my Lord!” An ear-piercing scream wailed from Flora.
“Flora? ” God help me, I wanted to go through the mouthpiece to get to her. Helpless, I had the phone in a stranglehold while screaming into it. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”
“Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” Flora’s prayers ignited into panic again with huffs coming over the phone followed by cries. “Charles!”
“Flora! ” I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her. Please, God. Don’t do this to her. Not her.
A loud clatter jarred me away from the phone. Either feet or someone’s body shuffled in the background. Flora’s screaming tore a hole in my heart. I swore if anyone had hurt her, I’d beat the hell out of them.
I turned to Matt, pleading with him instead of speaking the words. Tears filled my eyes, ready to spill. He must have read my face or I did a good job with my unspoken terror. Matt threw the gear into reverse and peeled out of his parking space.
98
Chapter Twenty-One
The auction fax had burst into flames in Flora’s hand and burned her all the way up to her elbow. I doubt it had anything to do with the fax machine. One of the guests had managed to put the fire out before it burned the rest of her dress. Somehow, compensating our patron for his entire stay just wasn’t enough. By the time we arrived in the ER, we found Flora resting in a private exam room with Charles standing at her side. I wanted to hug her, but her sleeping, scrunched face and the layers of bandages covering her arm told me not touch her.
Charles half-smiled. This incident had aged him ten years with the tiredness in his eyes and sadness weighing down his cheeks. When I touched his shoulder, the best he mustered up for me was a pat on the back of my hand.
I was responsible for this mess. If I hadn’t gone back to the Crescent Inn, whoever did this would never have gotten Flora. Those damn auctioneers would pay for this. I’d shove their merchandise down their throats and choke ’em until it came out the other side.
“How is she?” I swallowed through my tight throat.
Charles sighed. “As well as can be expected. It could’ve been worse. Thank the Lord someone was around when she started screaming. If anything had happened to her, I’d…I’d…” He shook his head, unable to say more.
I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace. I knew exactly how he felt. Both of us loved that woman, though he loved her with all his heart as only a husband would. In the little time I had known the Hills, they were like extended family. I wouldn’t sit around and let some bastard get away with harming them. They were pack and I was the Alpha wolf. I’d be more than happy to put an arrow into anyone who messed with us.
An anger-fueled tear slid down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away when I released Charles and pulled out of our hug. I didn’t want him to see me cry, although I was sure the telltale sign of matted eyelashes gave me away.
Charles took a deep breath that filled his chest. He nodded with a smile that was for his reassurance instead of mine. “She’s gonna be all right, sweetheart. I’m sure of it. In fact, the doctors want to keep an eye on her blood pressure and stuff, so she’s staying the night. It was a little high when she came in, of course.”
Marcia Colette
“Of course.” I stared at her before slipping my hand in hers. My thumb smoothed across the back of her pudgy knuckles. “If there’s anything you guys need, just let me know. I don’t care what it is, Charles. Does the B&B have health insurance for you guys?”
His smile remained in place as he slipped an arm across my shoulders. “Of course. You’ve taken good care of us.”
“And what about—”
“Now don’t you worry.” Charles gripped my shoulders and turned me to face him. “The only thing she needs right now is rest. I’ll make it back to the inn a little later and take care of things. At eighty percent capacity, it’s a good reason to keep steaming ahead, you know?”
“You mean nobody is there watching over the guests?”
“Not exactly. After you disappeared, we went ahead and hired an assistant to work part time. She’s one of those college kids who needed some extra money on the side. Anyway, she’s with the guests right now.”
Boy, this was a huge setback. Even worse, I couldn’t just run out there and find the people responsible for this while our bread and butter sat in the hands of some college kid. Unfortunately, that auction was tonight. If I wanted answers then I needed to be there to get them. A knock came at the door. Matt stuck his head inside the room and smiled, motioning for me to come out with a tilt. I excused myself and followed him.
“What’s going on?”
He stared at the closed door. “I wasn’t prying or anything, but I overheard that the doctors are going to keep her. It’s that bad, huh?”
“If you mean by her high blood pressure, this is the first time I’m hearing about it. Or rather, the first time since my amnesia problem.”
“Yeah well, I’ve been thinking. You do what you have to do. Let me worry about going to the Lennor auction.”
My stomach dropped to my shoes. “Are you insane? What happens if they get to you too?”
“That’s just it. I have an entire pack backing me. If anything happens, I have no doubt that Parry will go through the entire Roma world to get me back. Trust me—they’re more scared of him than I am of them.”
“How will—?”
“I’ll leave word with my friend Tate that if anything hap—” Matt stopped just as a few nurses walked by from one direction and an orderly passed in the other. “If I don’t check in with him in a couple of hours, he’ll sound the alarm.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know about this, Matt. Suppose something bad happens to you? Luz is dead. Flora is hurt. I just don’t want…I can’t…”
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I closed my eyes before a fresh batch of tears embarrassed the hell out of me. Between my quivering stomach and the lump in my throat, it was a miracle I held it together. During the little time I had known him, Matt meant something. He had done more than his share to see me through this. I couldn’t ask him to take another dangerous step on my behalf.
Matt took me into his warm arms, hugging me tight. I stiffened at first because I hadn’t expected it and in a way didn’t want it. Once he crushed me to his chest, my rigidity melted away. Being in his strong embrace wasn’t half-bad.
“Nothing is going to happen to me.” He nuzzled my hair. “Right now your place is with your B&B. Flora’s blood pressure will skyrocket if their pride and joy goes downhill because nobody stepped in. I know how much you love them, so don’t pretend like it doesn’t matter. It does.”
I pulled away to see his face. “I can go with you, you know. Another few hours away from the B&B isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“Maybe not. But if an auction like this is what got you into trouble the first time, then it makes sense to send someone in your place. I can’t think of a better person than a lawyer. Not only that, if this invitation went out to enough people, they’ll be stupid to try anything with that many people around.”
I hoped he was right about that. For his sake more than mine.
Running this place by myself made me appreciate the Hills more than ever. Flora had a list of emergency phone numbers with notes listed by each of them in case something happened. I was sure she’d never expected anything like this, but who would argue about it being an emergency? We even worked out a schedule for the next couple of days. After that, I placed a call to the cleaning service to do the guest bedrooms and handle the laundry. The college freshman, Heidi, took care of all of the secretarial tasks, including booking outings with specialized tour companies and more reservations that came through.
Even with all of the help, the B&B took me to task. I thought about putting in an elevator for all the trips I made back and forth, climbing up those stairs. Not to mention one of the guests spilled a bottle of wine on the carpet and wanted me to clean it up or their entire world would come crashing to a halt. An hour later, they dropped chocolate-covered strawberries and whipped cream in bed. Another guest cranked up the TV, which turned his door into my punching bag for two hours straight, yelling for him to lower the volume. Even the other guests advocated for me to throw the jerk out. Then there was the older couple who didn’t know how to work anything including the shower, the television, the alarm clock and their automatic coffee maker. One would think they shouldn’t give a rat’s ass about coffee at eleven o’clock, but they wanted to be prepared for tomorrow morning.
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I made my first real managerial decision. Of the group we had, the last guest was scheduled to leave in three days. After that, no more guests. I didn’t want another person hurt under my roof until my chaos was resolved. It was time both Charles and Flora took a few days off too. The inn’s guests kept me hopping without any hopes of calling Matt. Well, that wasn’t going to work for me. I demanded the time by slamming the door to my office and picking up the phone. Unfortunately, he had left three messages on the answering service, asking me to call him back. I tried twice, but his cellphone service tossed me into his voice mail. According to his message, he couldn’t find the auction that was going down in Nashua as the fax had indicated. Too much of it was burnt to get the correct address, other than the street name.
I left a message for him to call my room directly when he arrived at the front door so I could let him in without waking up the house. The phone rang about an hour later. I dropped my John Saul book on the nightstand and picked up the receiver.
“It’s a bust,” Matt said. “Don’t get me wrong. They’ve got some pretty nice merchandise here. Want me to pick you something up?”
I smiled. “See if you can find me a twenty-four-karat diamond ring and I’ll upgrade your room.”
He chuckled. “What? I can’t spend the night with you again? Or is that the upgrade?”
“No. Your upgrade is from the second floor to the third.”
He laughed. “Just for that, I’ll bid on that sixteenth of a karat ring.”
I licked my tongue at the phone. “Are you going to tell me what happened once you found the place or do I guess?”
He sighed. “I told the guy at the door that I was representing you. Anything they had to say to you, they had to talk to me first.”
“Wow. That’s brave of you.”
“Don’t pick. Anyway, he stepped aside and let me in. He also said it would be a while before someone spoke to me and that I should enjoy the show.” He paused. “Hm. Looks like they’re stalking me again. Trying to figure me out.”
“What?” I sat up. “Get the hell out of there! What’s wrong with you?”
“Relax. If they wanted to try something, they would’ve by now. And if they’re smart, they’re using someone who’s good with auras to scan everyone coming through the door. I’m pretty sure they know what I am by now.”
“And that means?”
“They know not to mess with one of Parry’s werewolves. While he might be a bastard in every sense of the word, he’s also a psychopath. It works in our favor in situations like this.”
“Then the Lennors probably aren’t going to talk to you. Think about it. They’re waiting you out. Not only that, but it’s the Garridans we want. Not these guys. Supposed they’re too scared to talk to you?”
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As much as I hated to think about it, his trip to Nashua had backfired. They didn’t want Matt, they wanted me. Whether or not they had information to share, we’d never know unless I made an appearance. Come tomorrow, I just might have to do that.
“Maybe you’re right. So, how are things going at the inn? People running you ragged yet?”
“What do you have remote viewing or something?”
He laughed. “Call it a guess.”
“Um…there is something.” I folded my arm, the one holding the phone, and leaned back in a stack of pillows. “Monica called. They moved my court date. It’s two weeks away.”
“Damn,” Matt muttered. “You still have your journal?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Print me out a copy. I want to know everything that’s happened since you’ve been back. I’m pretty sure Monica will do her job, but…”
“It’s more important that I get the charges completely dropped than spend even one night in jail.”
“Something like that. Look, I’ll be there soon. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I understood his sense of urgency now more than ever. If he didn’t want me in jail, the same might be true of Gamboldt. Busted memory or not, I knew things about him that he couldn’t afford to leak out. He’d use everything in his arsenal to get me back. Which meant, more pressure on my shoulders to bring this to a close. I had two weeks to do it, which wasn’t nearly enough.
After hanging up with Matt, I headed downstairs to the office and found the extra copy of my computer journal. I sent it to the printer, and just to be on the safe side, I forwarded a copy to Matt’s email address. Luz had taught me that it paid off.
Once I finished, I turned out the light and started out the door. A force threw me backward into the room. I crashed into the two chairs before slamming into the desk. Pain pierced my skull and twinkling stars flooded my vision. Damn that hurt. Using the surface of the desk as leverage, I staggered to my feet.
An elderly gentleman, one of the guests, stepped into the room with a smirk on his face.
“What the hell?” I tripped over my feet with the first step.
“You should’ve declared the inn closed sooner.” The man waved his hand over his shoulder. The door closed behind him. “My sincerest apologies regarding your innkeeper. A friend of Mr. Gamboldt had cursed anything associated with the Lennors from showing up on your property. I bet Brody’s so-called auction was to warn you about us. That would’ve confused you and made things harder than they need to be. Besides, Mr. Gamboldt has been worried about you.”
“You son of a bitch.” I backed into a bookcase with my heart pounding in panic mode. “Who the hell are you?”
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Shaking his head, he smiled. “I’m Mr. Gamboldt’s butler, Thomas. Since the Garridans want to wash their hands of this, I’ve come to take you home.”
The lights clicked off in the hall behind him, putting the two of us alone in the dark. A sliver of light shone through the end of the closed curtain. If that was meant to scare me, he needed another gimmick. My eyes came to life. I made out the pieces of the broken chair and the smooth edge of the desk. My ears opened up to the surroundings and the noises beyond the walls. Outside, crickets chirped and a car sped down the street. A creak from somewhere above my head caught my ear’s attention. I looked to the ceiling, listening carefully to pinpoint the sound while my gaze picked out all of the divots on the surface. When I brought my attention back to the rest of the room, Thomas stood inches from me. When I lifted my arm to defend myself, everything went black. Unconsciousness hit me hard. 104
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hot damn. What a set. Ever since I got back from vacation, the guys have been dropping money left and right. Not to mention the new thongs that Dottie had given me with the tassels along the front worked wonders.
I made my way back to the dressing room flipping each of the ones and fives between my fingers. I loved the slick surface of a crisp ten-dollar bill. A few of those had ended up in my G-string tonight. As the amount increased, my heart tripled in beats. A huge smile dug into my cheeks. Some of the fools even gave me a little extra for my comeback.
The stories ranged from me being sick to a family emergency. What a bunch of dumb fucks. Like Paul said, I’d just needed a little time was all. Stripping is a tough business. Eventually, you get burnt out just like you would with any job.
Too bad I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it. According to Paul, my clumsy ass passed out while sporting a 104-degree fever. Thank God, it wasn’t during one of my sets. The doc said it had hiked up to 105 degrees and scared the shit out of everybody. He said my amnesia was due to the fever. I began throwing fits and running down the street screaming like a fucked-up whore on a bad acid trip. With all the kickboxing I had learned from TV, I kicked a couple of asses and worked my way down to Mexico. Paul and Sammy came after me. Was that sweet of them or what?
Whatever I’d done during my rampage, it had scared Paul into keeping a damn good eye on me these days. Shit, I could hardly take a pee break without his cowboy ass following me around and stuff. That was only half of the new changes.
A mandate had come down on high from the pimp daddy himself, Robert Gamboldt. He’d spoken to Dottie about sending me to another club in Albuquerque for safekeeping. Shoot, if he planned to send me to New Mexico, then I wanted a little cash in my hands first. I must have fucked up something bad on my fever trip for Robert to send me out of the state. I had at least a week left for them to get things ready for me, so I wanted to rake up as many dead presidents as possible because it might take a while for those Albuquerque pussies to warm up to a new face. A stripper has to eat too, you know. I bumped open the dressing room door with my hip.
“Hey, Keisha.” Several of the girls acknowledged me in unison with either a waving hand or nod of the head.
“How did your set go, girl?” Candy gave me a high-five.
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“That motherfucker was off the chain.” I scanned the room and noticed that she and several other girls were dressed alike with the feathers mounted on top of their heads, gobs of makeup and glitter on their cheeks and eyes, and Moulin Rouge beaded corsets. “You guys finally got the Vegas showgirl act together? Deeeee-ammmm!”
“Oh yeah.” Elaine cupped my shoulders and smacked a kiss on my cheek. She leaned her five-nine frame forward and hugged me tight. “I wished you had called me, little sister. You know good and well that half of us would’ve gone after you. We don’t leave a team member behind.”
Tiffany snorted and adjusted her bright red lipstick. “Speak for yourself. I don’t care what any of you say. She’s not one of us. Ain’t nothing but a place-filler as far as I’m concerned.”
I narrowed my eyes on her. “At least you’re putting the lipstick on the right cunt lips.”
Tiffany was second-in-command because she “commanded” more money than anyone else on stage. She was the bar’s main draw. Ever since my tips started catching up to hers, the slut had been hassling me at every turn. Nothing I did was good enough for that silicone D-cup bitch. I’d give anything to tear that black ponytail from her head. Maybe punch out her green eyes while I’m at it.
“Ignore her.” Elaine guided me to my seat on the other side of the dressing room. She took the stool next to me and smiled. “You sure you’re all right, sweetie? You’ve…you’ve change since you’ve been back.”
“Really? How so?”
She shrugged. “You’re acting…I don’t know. Weird, maybe?” She must have read something on my face because she leaned closer and gripped my hand. Her long fingernails dug my skin. “Don’t get me wrong or nothing. I saw your first set and it was great. But it took you until the third set to really loosen up. You’re usually on the ball the minute your foot hits the stage. The only reason why I bring it up is because Paul’s been watching too. You know he’s gonna ask. Not to mention, I’m sensing something strange about you. Like you’ve been living another life or something.”
“Girl, please. Use that psychic bullshit on those others fools ’cause I’m not paying for that reading.” I turned on my stool, keeping my upper body between the vertical lights lining the mirror. “Anyway, it’s only because I’ve missed a month of work. It takes some time to get back into the swing of my jiggly things.”
She giggled. “Honey, if you wanted some PTO, you could’ve put in for it. You’ve worked here more than six months as both a bouncer and a stripper. Trust me, you had the time.”
“Are you shitting me? I probably used all that up with sick time alone. Even after I got back, that damn bug kept me down for the last three days. I don’t even remember you visiting me.”
Elaine turned to the mirror and touched up her lipstick. “I still don’t get why Paul wants you in New Mexico. It’s not like you’re…you know. Like the rest of us. You can’t read minds and stuff or see the 106
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future. Ain’t no way you can really blackmail anyone. Besides, it won’t hurt to keep someone who’s somewhat normal around.”
I didn’t know what I had walked into when I came here all those months ago. Actually, I didn’t walk into anything. I remembered sitting at the back of the bar, watching the girls shake and swing their asses on stage. I couldn’t recall how I had gotten there, but Dottie sat next to me and said I should watch and take some notes. After all, I couldn’t stay unless I found a way to earn my keep. Not only did the girls strip, but they did other things on the side like psychic readings and stuff. Robert rented out their services for big parties that usually involved really important people. They’d come back with presents and gifts and all sorts of things. I couldn’t go because I wasn’t special like that.
Well…not exactly.
I earned my keep as a bouncer at first because I had beaten up a couple of the guys for getting rowdy with the girls. It hyped up the crowd to see a little thing like me whoop some manly ass. Patrons started handing me tens and twenties without my having to drop a stitch of clothes. After that, Paul had the girls teach me how to pole dance because he thought it would bring in more money. It did. That was why I was such a threat to Tiffany without having one ounce of silicone plumping my tits.
“Seriously.” Elaine turned her attention to the mirror and began dabbing her nose with face powder.
“What the hell is in Albuquerque anyway?”
I shrugged. “Whatever I did on the other side of the border, it might get back to Robert. You know how he is about things coming back to him and threatening his other businesses on the side. Trust me, Elaine, this is for the best. I’m sure of it.”
I knew that was a lie before it left my mouth. A nagging feeling said there was more to my life than this. In what previous life, I wondered, did I allow someone to have this kind of control over me? Unfortunately, I had trouble recalling a good part of those days. My shit-for-brains drew a blank at anything that might have happened to me before Trixie’s. For now, it didn’t matter. Until I got my fuckedup finances together to pursue other things, I’d hang around this joint and do what I did best. Dance my ass off.
“I know. It’s just that…I’m gonna miss you, hon.”
“And you think I won’t miss you?” I smiled.
The door opened.
Paul entered with the enthusiasm of a five-year-old being dragged off to church. Even his light brown hair and goatee looked a little ragged around the edges. Most guys would perk up if they entered a dressing room full of strippers. Not Paul. He had seen enough naked asses during his ten-year stint to know that they all shared the same purpose. Making money.
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He checked his watch and shouted, “Vegas Bitches, you’re on next. Get your shit together and let’s go. And make sure you guys hit up the banker in the back corner wearing the big rock on his ring finger. I want a good reading on him because we’re doing a private party for him tomorrow.”
Several, including Elaine, leaped off their stools and joined the clicking heels heading for the door. As always, whenever we had multi-girl acts, women whined about misplacing parts of their costumes or they accidentally messed up their makeup. The cursing started seconds later as two of them forgot something that made their showgirl outfits complete. With it being Paul’s job to corral the cows, the women knew he meant business and wouldn’t leave until everyone trickled out the door. He turned his attention on me. “Keisha, you’re on bouncer detail with Theo and Sammy for the rest of the night. Brad called in sick.”
Elaine snorted. “If that pussy calls in sick one more time, you might as well put her on permanent detail with them.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
Pouting, she grabbed her feathered headgear. Leaning forward, Elaine planted a kiss on my cheek and left the room.
With all the girls gone, Paul sauntered into the dressing room and stood behind me. He leaned close, putting his hand on the counter and blocking me on one side. “You all right?”
“Fine.” I turned a bottle of astringent up on a cotton ball and began cleaning my makeup. “A little tired, maybe.”
“Then I’ll get Jimbo to whip you up a cup of coffee. Maybe a sandwich too, since you’re looking a little thin these days. No more stage. Got it?”
“Whatever.” I tossed the spent cotton ball and reached for another. The strong astringent clawed the inside lining of my nose. I couldn’t recall the last time I was this fucking sensitive. Paul pulled away and leaned his backside against Elaine’s makeup station. He rubbed his goatee. “I just got off the phone with Patty in New Mexico. It’s set. You’re done at the end of the week. Dottie redid the schedule, so you’re going to Jasper’s Jungle to dance the stage there. It’s a little smaller, but it has a nice crowd. When the ski season opens, things will really rock.”
I stared at him. “Where the hell does Robert get the names for the bars? Couldn’t he come up with something more original like the Crescent Inn Saloon?”
Paul’s eyes enlarged. A swallow bobbled his Adam’s apple.
Now why would a name like that have such an effect on him? After all, it was just a name. The way his skin had paled, you’d think it was his mother’s name.
His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing me again. “You sure you’re feeling okay?”
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I shook my head before cleaning the last of the makeup off my face. “You’re weird, you know that? You must be sucking too much of Amelia’s sour patch juice.” A few days ago, three of us had exited through the staff-only door to find his face buried in her carpet in the flatbed of his truck.
“Hey, I’m asking the questions here, Keish. I need to know if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine! Just a little tired because I did three goddamn sets tonight and now you’re asking me to bounce people out of a bar. How the hell do you think I feel? Given the choice, I’d rather dance one and you leave me the hell alone.”
Crossing his arms over his chest. “You sure about that one last set?”
“If I have to say it again, I’m going to tear your damn ears off and use them as a megaphone.”
“Okay then. You’re up right after LaRonda. I’ll tell Sammy to cover your post. Although I’m sure there’s something else he’d prefer to cover.” Paul winked before leaving the room. Boy, did I hate that man sometimes.
Although I adored Sammy to pieces, something must have happened during my bad trip that put out the fire in my heart for him. Then again, I wouldn’t call it fire, exactly. The sex was good and that was about it. Nevertheless, I felt as though I had left a piece of my heart with someone else in Mexico.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Come one in the morning, I got my second wind. Once I cleared it through Paul, I put on my cowgirl outfit and waited just behind the stage, clutching the red velvet curtain. More money more money more money.
Jubilant applause welcomed me onto the runway. Being the only strip bar for a hundred miles, dozens of salivating guys crowded around the stage while those less interested continued with their pool game on the far side of the bar. Others hollered from tables, flapping their money in the air, knowing I hadn’t done anything yet. It never failed. A woman didn’t have to do much to get these dipshits turned on. That included the middle-aged bastard to the far left of the stage with his hand stuck down the front of his pants, massaging his bulge.
Note to self: if he touches me, sanitize the spot with bleach before going to bed. That was assuming I didn’t beat the hell out of him first. That motherfucker had better be dropping a twenty in my G-string or I’d break his arm.
Maggie finished picking pieces of her mermaid outfit off the stage before scampering away. She gave me a high-five and slipped behind the curtain. I planted my feet in front of the pole, waiting for my music. Closing my eyes, I went into my badass persona and masked my face with a stolid gaze. When Cher’s
“Just Like Jesse James” piped through the speakers, I went into action. The black chaps would go first, but I had to time it right or all of my clothes might be on the floor by the middle of the song. As a teaser, I whirled around and bent over with the bottom of my ass cheeks flapping in the breeze from my Daisy Duke shorts. Just like clockwork, the crowd went wide. The sick bastards practically begged me to take their money for a closeup. Taking my time, I removed the belt with the fake guns first. A quick wink and more bills came out.
Near the back of the room, my eyes met Sammy standing at the corner of the bar. A huge grin plastered his face. Shaking his head, he lowered it. He was the first to critique my cowgirl routine and enjoyed every slobbering minute of it. When we started showing interest in each other, I’d warned him that he’d never make me his little mulatto cowgirl. He still hadn’t, but I owed him this much for chasing me down after someone slipped a mad-dog mickey in my drink and had me acting a feverish fool in Mexico. About two minutes into the song, it was time for the shorts to go. The moment I let them slide down my legs with my ass bent to the crowd a second time, the dumb-fuck perverts whistled a second wind of wild wolf calls.
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The folded money hanging off the straps made my thong look more like the infamous banana skirt. Halfway through my number, I slipped some of the bills out, bent over and dropped my stash in my boot. Numerous guys showed their appreciation in the form of more five, tens and several twenties. Jerk-off at the far left of the stage waved a twenty-dollar bill at me. Fuck. I didn’t want to take that bastard’s money. Unfortunately, the last guy I skipped over caused the bar more problems than necessary. I danced to where he sat, leaned forward to make sure the bastard got a glimpse of the small breasts hiding behind my leather crop-top vest. Of course, his bloodshot eyes zeroed in on his target. When his hand reached forward, I pulled back and shook my head, keeping my smile in place. Dropping to all fours, I crawled in front of him, leaving the spot above my right hip open for him to insert the cash. A string of drool slipped down his chin.
What a nasty fuck. If this guy didn’t get the torture over and done with, I’d pitch him out of the bar myself.
When his rough finger slid between my skin and the elastic thong, I turned my head to keep from gagging.
“Get your hands off her or I’ll beat your ass into the next act.”
Hold on. That didn’t sound like Sammy.
Rotating my head to the jerk-off, my eyes traveled to another man standing beside him. He had bushy eyebrows with a few wiry grays dotting his temples. From the stout chest, thick arms, and the long fingers he had wrapped around the jerk-off’s neck, he looked like he meant every word of his threat. Very few wrinkles marred his face and his barely noticeable crow’s feet hung in the corners of his eyes. Then again, it could’ve been the intensity in his face playing tricks on me. Those frown lines alone were deep enough to plant a garden on his forehead.
Another man came up to the other side of the jerk-off. He had wavy black hair, dark-tanned skin and dark eyes. Something about his face reminded me of a rich playboy—not that I recalled ever meeting any. He looked like the type who had put on muscle just to fill out his clothes. His white tee shirt with faded jeans and a gleaming silver buckle on the front made him fit in around here, but the shiny black cowboy boots sold him out. They were too new to imply he was a local. This dry desert land would’ve roughed them up by now. Both of them were out-of-towners and out of their league. Their scents touched my nose.
Images of running through loamy woods, smelling of fresh pine after a light rainfall, flooded my senses. They scared the hell out of me, especially the rich playboy. His powerful scent flooded my mind with scenes of wolf packs hunting in the woods and devouring their prey. Gunshots rang out in my head and the wolves went down. More wolves converged on the scene and attacked the ones consuming the fresh meat. A severed human hand flopped onto the ground. One pack of wolves attacked the other ones while they tried to dine on human flesh.
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I yanked my thoughts from the horrific images. They left me more nauseated than the jerk-off massaging his Vienna sausage. One look at the playboy and our gazes met. There was something so primal and fearsome behind his eyes that my queasiness turned to panic saturating my veins and flooding my senses.
“You promised me you wouldn’t cause another scene, Avery.” The playboy stared a warning at his friend.
“Fuck off, Dane.” Avery pointed at the jerk-off. “You can’t expect me to sit back and watch another piece of shit like this degrade my little girl.”
“Little girl?” I remained stuck in my crawl pose, too busy and too frightened to move. “Dane?”
Why would they say that? I knew nothing about these people and yet…something. My conscience went to war inside me. They were figments of my dreams that had come to life. There was no way they were real. Unfortunately, my gut said otherwise. I knew these men, even though they scared the hell out of me.
“Hey!” Someone shouted from the other side of the stage. “What the hell’s going on with the show?”
“Yeah, man,” another chimed in. “I paid good money to see the whore dance.”
“Whore?” Avery whipped around. Dane placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder that did nothing to stop Avery’s mouth. “Motherfucker, that’s my daughter you’re talking about. I’ll whoop your ass across this stage.”
“Seet yer ass down, ya In-jin!” This came from one of the tables in the middle of the floor.
“Oh, hell no. You just earned yourself a meeting with my totem pole.”
Avery flipped several tables to get to the man who had opened his mouth. The waitresses shrieked and glasses shattered into thousands of pieces. He went through the bar-room floor like a person walking through a wheat field, pushing tables and chairs like pieces of straw. I’ve seen strength before, but this guy had plow power backing him.
Just like me.
I shook the thought from my head.
Another man jumped on his back. Avery reached around and snatched up a handful of hair. He peeled the guy off and slammed a fist across his jaw. The man stumbled backward and crashed into a table. More shrieks and more busted glasses.
When he got to the guy who had slandered me, Avery yanked him out of the seat, leaving his legs to dangle underneath him. He whipped the man around and sent him flying into a nearby wall. Pictures and rusted horseshoes fell to the floor.
Before Avery could turn his back, a full-blown bar fight broke out. Chairs, tables, glasses and people went flying throughout the saloon. I remained on the stage, too exhilarated by the brawl to move. It wasn’t every day someone fought over little ol’ me. Ain’t no way in hell I’d miss this. 112
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Sammy grabbed my hand. “Come on, sweetheart. I need to get you out of here.”
Dane snagged his forearm. “She’s not going with you.”
Sammy yanked away. He came up fast with a fist, but Dane caught the curled fingers and did a quick move that locked Sammy’s hand behind his back.
“Don’t you dare.” I leaped off the stage.
Going into my kickboxing stance, I delivered a roundhouse kick across Dane’s right cheek. He stumbled backward and loosened up on my bouncer boyfriend.
“Come on!” Sammy waved me to him.
Together, we worked our way through the rumble of flying beer mugs and smashed chairs. A heavy weight tackled the two of us to the sticky floor. I got to my feet and started again. However, I noticed Sammy wasn’t at my side. Turning around, I found him on the floor with Dane perched on his back. The stranger gave me a look that wavered between rage and confusion. I froze. Something in the look warned me to stay put and my instincts demanded I listen. Rough hands grabbed me from behind. I bucked and kicked as they pulled me backward through the crazed melee. No matter how much I kicked and screamed, he wasn’t letting go. When he stopped, I tried to use the chance to run. No such luck. The motherfucker tossed me over his shoulder like an old rug. Dane got to his feet and whirled Sammy around. He slugged my cowboy hard enough to knock him unconscious and lifted him into a fireman’s carry.
Avery and I weren’t the only ones who had amazing strength. Speaking of which, the scent alone gave away the person toting me out of the bar. It was Avery.
Two sheriff’s cars skidded across the gravel parking lot with sirens squealing, and red and blue lights reflected off the front windows and door of Trixie’s.
My kicking and screaming continued until that son-of-a-bitch Avery dumped me on the ground and raised his hands over his head. Damn, that hurt. I aimed my scowl at the no-good son of a whore for treating me like that. It was no wonder I had run away from home. No matter what, I sure as hell wasn’t going back.
Max and Jethro leaped out of one car while Cy and Loni got out of the other. All four lawmen and lawwoman had their guns drawn. Sad to say, I knew them by name because they frequented the bar. It didn’t matter that Max had a girlfriend and five kids under the age of eight or that Jethro and Cy each had a wife and three kids between them. Even Loni enjoyed an off-duty drink while watching her skank-ho girlfriend, Pamela, dance. Still, the Battle Rose police department wasn’t complete without all-brawn-andno-brains Johnny. Speaking of which, I began to wonder where he was.
The front door slammed open and a body stumbled backward across the stoop. The heel of his boot clipped a rock the wrong way and the cowboy landed on his ass.
Marcia Colette
He spat out his toothpick along with a clog of blood. “Goddamn bastard.”
That answered my question. That cheap chump must’ve sat in the background where I couldn’t see his behind. If I had, I’d probably tell his five-foot girlfriend, Effie, so that he’d spend the rest of the week with his head ducked low from the black eye she’d give him. The last time that happened, he was the joke of the town.
Fury burned Johnny’s eyes as he hauled himself to one knee, irate enough to go for another round.
“Ease up, part-nah.” Sheriff Max steadied Johnny by the arm. “Are you a drunk or an off-duty deputy right now?”
Again, Johnny spat on the curb. “Shoot. I’m a deputy.”
“Good. Then stand your ass up and fall in line or you’ll fall on the wrong side of the line. I ain’t got no time to be disciplining my own people when we’ve got enough trouble as it is.”
And just like that, the punk got off. As for the rest of us, we were going to jail. 114
Chapter Twenty-Four
Locked up like a common criminal. Who would’ve thought this shit? All because those freaks had to start a bar fight.
I sat on a cold bench while two other strippers paced around our cell. Bonnie was caught cracking a glass over someone’s head while Donella started helping herself to a few wallets during the fight. As for me, I was trying to flee the scene of a crime in their eyes. Those crazy bastards forgot to notice my thongclad ass slung over someone else’s shoulder at the time. Welcome to the fools of the Battle Rose Sheriff’s Department. Barney Fife would’ve looked like the Chief of Police compared to these morons.
A pair of keys rattled with each footstep clapping down the hall. Loni appeared in front of our cell. She continued to jumble the ring of keys in her hand until she found the right one and used it to pierce the lock.
A jail in the twentieth century should have better technology. But in this backward town, they were lucky to have four deputies and one sheriff. Ironically, they made sure there were enough cells to go around, including gender-specific wings.
Loni unlocked the door and slid it back on the track. The other two strippers leaped to their feet mumbling their relief.
She held a hand up and stopped them. Her index finger turned to me. “You. Out.”
“Me?” My face crooked with confusion. “Why not—”
“Look, Keisha. I don’t have time to give you a blow-by-blow, okay? You’re free to go.”
Donella snorted. “I bet she wants a blow all right.”
“Shut up, skank!” Loni cracked her baton against the bars. “Any more lip, and I’ll make sure your stay is more uncomfortable than it is now. Let’s go, Keisha. I ain’t got all night.”
No matter how disgusting that sounded, Donella was right. If Loni thought I’d do her in exchange for letting me out of jail, she might as well throw my ass in solitary confinement. That bitch wasn’t getting anything from me.
I continued down the hall, walking close to the wall while keeping an eye over my shoulder. Although I doubted Loni would do anything, many of the girls had returned to the bar in the past with stories of how they got their tickets reduced to warnings thanks to her. Given the disgusting choices, I’d just pay my fine or do my time—thank you very much.
Marcia Colette
I waited for Loni to unlock the gate at the end of the hall. While I kept my eyes on her short, curly hair, she never wavered from her duty. However, she needed her stripping-ho to dye those gray roots or they might take over the rest of her blond curls.
I came to a dead stop in the main office. Standing behind the spring-loaded gate was a gorgeous hunk with ink-black hair. But even with his back to me and wearing a pair of tight jeans and a dark gray tee, I knew he wasn’t from around these parts just like those freaks who had tried to kidnap me. This guy looked too clean and smelled of sophistication. In fact, he smelled rather scrumptious. His wild scent reminded me of running through the woods too, even howling at the moon. I bet he was a real animal in bed. Heaven knows, I’d love to test-drive his stick.
When he turned and smiled, his dimples pierced me like a shot to the chest. His eyes were dark and endless like a mysterious black hole. Now I understood the meaning of getting lost in someone’s eyes. The high cheekbones and toned muscle woven around his upper arms nearly did my thirsty libido in. Never in my life had anyone made me this horny. Not even that little cutie pie, Sammy. Still, I needed to play this up right. For all I knew, those rumors about one of the cops running a brothel out of this place were true. With this out-of-towner stepping in here, they probably wanted to cut him some sort of deal.
“What’s going on?” I planted my feet on the floor and folded my arms over my chest.