Argus: Accepting the Challenge (5 page)

“Okay.”  He said and held up his hands.  “Well if you need some extra cash, let me know.”

Skye rolled her eyes; she knew what she could expect from that offer.  The sleazy man asked all the waitresses to work after hours for his group of friends that came over and had poker parties after hours.  They were all just as disgusting as Ronnie was.  She had seen them coming and going in the middle of the night when she could not sleep.  At first, she thought that Ronnie was a drug dealer, but then she got a look at the men that were coming out of the place.  They were all the same and none of them druggies, though they were drunks.  And she was not going to put herself in a situation like that again.

Picking up her money, she hurried out of the back door and took a deep breath.  She needed money fast, but she was not going to get it from Ronnie.  Looking around the sparsely lighted parking lot, she grimaced.  She hated even walking home alone, but there was no one to ask help from.

Pulling her coat tightly around her body, she put her head down and walked quickly to her motel.  Once again, she grimaced when she looked at the place.  She knew the two rooms in the front of the motel were where the hookers worked out of.  She had met them.  They were friendly and down on their luck like her.  The only difference is they actually had a body they could make money on.  She laughed to herself; she would never stoop that low.

Looking up at her room door, she frowned and stopped.  It was cracked open; she had not left it that way.  Oh hell no, she thought and stomped her way back to the office to talk to the manager.

The old man sat at the desk with a lit cigarette dangling it out of his mouth and reading a paper.  He had to be a hundred and his scrawny chicken body was clad in a wife beater tee-shirt and baggy brown pants.  He looked like an over aged thug with hair growing out of his ears.  She waved her hand in front of her face and said.  “Hey.  Someone was in my room.  I need you to go and check it out.”

The old man snorted and did not say anything but pointed at the wall where a sign was posted.  It said.  “MANAGEMENT NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BELONGS THAT ARE LEFT UNATTENDED IN ROOMS.”

“Nice.”  She said.  “What if the bad guys are still in there?”

“Call the cops.”  He said and went back to the paper he was reading.

She stomped her foot and turned to leave.  “Can I use the phone at least?”  She said thinking she was not going to wait to see if they were still there.  If she called the police now, she could wait in the lobby where it was at least somewhat safe.  The old man looked like he had a gun stashed behind the desk.  He would at least protect himself, she would benefit.

 He grunted and picked up the phone and dialed before handing her the receiver.  She rolled her eyes, smiled sweetly, took the phone from him, and spoke to the dispatch.  They assured her that they were sending someone out immediately and she was to remain in the lobby until the police arrived. 

“Thank you ever so much.”  She said and handed the phone back to the old man.

He just grunted and lit another cigarette.  Great, she was stuck with Mr. Puffy while she waited for the police to show up.

She saw Bambi and Heather let a man out of their room and kiss and wave at him while he got in his car.  She smiled when they saw her and waved then walked her way.

“Hey, girl.”  Bambi said.  “Why you hanging around grandpa here?”  She laughed.

“Someone was in my room.  I had to call the cops.”  Skye explained and the girls narrowed their eyes.

“Well at least our date left for the night.  We won’t have to explain what we were doing with the handcuffs and whips.”  Heather laughed and then peered out the window.  “You think he’s still there?”

“Old man, get off your ass and see if Skye is being ripped off.  I know you used to be in the mob or some weird shit like that.  And I know you have a gun under that desk.”  Bambi said over her shoulder.

The old man lifted up his hand and flipped her off.  “I’m too old for this shit.”

“Yeah, true.  Then give me the gun and we will go and check it out.”  Heather said with her hand on her hips.  “I ain't afraid of no meth head looking for something to pawn.  We can put a cap in his ass and then wait for the cops.  Say we found him pawing through your panties and shot him.  We won’t get charged on account of that law about defending your home.” 

Bambi nodded and snapped her fingers at the old man.  “Hand it over.”

The old man shrugged his shoulders and pulled a gun from beneath the counter.  “Don’t matter to me, not registered in my name anyways.”

Heather smiled and grabbed the gun and waved for Bambi and Skye to follow her.  They walked slowly against the wall.  She almost laughed out loud because of the picture that they made.  Two tall sexy looking hookers with Dolly Parton hair and micro skirts, followed by a short fat woman in an unflattering uniform, one of them carrying a gun, the other two purses they held over their shoulders. 

Bambi held up her hand and then motioned for them to get closer.  She whispered.  “He’s still in there.  I can hear him rustling around.  On three we go in.”  The two girls nodded.  Skye braced herself and then took a deep breath and followed the two hookers into her room.

“Freeze asshole.”  Bambi yelled and held the gun in front of her.

The man who was looking through the bag on the bed froze.  She was surprised; he did not look like a meth head.  He looked like a normal good looking man.  What the hell was he doing looking through her stuff?  She began to get pissed.

“Get out of my bag.  What the hell are you doing?  What do you want?”  She said and walked to the man who was standing still and looking at Bambi who held the gun on him.  He never saw her purse coming.  It was full of rolls of quarters that she needed to do laundry on her day off.  It hit him in the side of the head and he dropped.

“Woo, girl, nice aim.  Did you see that?  She dropped him with one swing.”  Heather cried and then ran to the man.  She dropped her purse, pulled out her fuzzy handcuffs, rolled him over, and cuffed him.  “Ha, take that.  These babies aren’t just for fun and games mister.”

Skye laughed and looked around the room.  Nothing was torn up or out of place.  It looked like he was being very careful to not make a mess.  What the hell kinda robber was he?

“Shit the cops.”  Bambi said and pushed the gun in her purse and then leaned against the desk and crossed her feet looking like she was hanging out. 

A young officer poked his head in the door and looked around.  “Uh, we are looking for a Miss Thomas?”

“That’s her, we’re her back up.  Did your job for ya.  Here’s the guy.  Book him Dano.”  Heather said and then looked at her friends.  “I always wanted to say that.”

Bambi nodded and then pointed to the man lying on the floor.  “We came in and he was pawing through our girl’s bag.  Skye just swung her purse and dropped him on account of her laundry quarters that were in the bottom.  Now take him away.”

Skye felt laughter bubbling up inside her.  This was crazy; she had captured a robber with two hookers and a couple of rolls of quarters.  Her life was on a downward spiral.  She had to stop it.  Looking around the room, she sighed.  She was not going to get the nice long hot shower she wanted.  Nor was she going to get her sleep.  And damn, she forgot the batteries.  The police entered the room and began to ask her questions.

Chapter 3

Argus and Jacob waited in the dining room for their food impatiently.

“How should we play this?”  Jacob said.

“I don’t know, maybe we should just ask her out.  See if she bites.”  Argus said and looked at the door to the kitchen.  The redhead came out with a tray and smiled at them.  Argus frowned when she walked toward them and set the tray on the end of the table.

“Howdy fellas.  I got your food here.  I will be your waitress for the rest of the night.  My name is Cherry and I get off in an hour.”  She said and winked at them.

“I don’t care, where is Skye.”  Argus blurted out.

“What my friend means is, we were kinda hoping that Skye would want to join us for the evening.  We don’t mean to offend, you being so pretty and all.  We’re just one woman type of men.”  Jacob said and smiled at her hoping to sooth the ruffled feathers.

“Damnit where is Skye.  She took our order and I want her to bring it.”  Argus said and growled.

Jacob rolled his eyes and watched the waitress huff and leave.  “Nice one, now we won’t have a clue where she is.”

Argus looked at Jacob and growled again.  His mate’s eyes got wide when he saw his eyes change.  “Dude chill.”

“Our mate snuck out of here, like a thief in the night and you are sitting here calmly?  What the fuck is wrong with you?”  Argus said.

“She is right across the street, remember?”  Jacob said.  “And our men are in place by now.  She is not going anywhere.  I say we finish dinner and then take a little walk.”

Argus took a deep breath and pushed his lion back in.  He could not be freaking out in public.  Jacob was right; they would go and check on her after they ate.  They dug into their food and chatted about what they were going to do to woo their mate, then the lights from a police car shone through the front door and Argus dropped his fork and rose.  He saw it pull into the lot across from them and he groaned.

“Shit, police at the motel.”  Argus said and Jacob threw a wad of cash down on the table and they walked to the door.  What if something happened to their mate and they had been sitting here eating dinner?

Jacob walked quickly to the Warriors who were supposed to be protecting their mate.  How had things gotten fucked up so quickly, he wondered and kept his eye on the police that were in the parking lot.

Ari had his head bowed and was trying to stop his laughter when Argus and Jacob approached him.  “What the hell is going on?”  Argus said stiffly.

Both of the Warriors snapped to attention and then looked at their leader with humor in their eyes and Ari said.  “Uh, it’s Warren; he kinda got caught in her room.  I guess that they didn’t take too kindly, to him pokin’ around like that and they smashed him over the head and called the police.  We were just fixin' to call you and have you bail him out.  They took him away a few minutes ago.”

Jacob’s eyes widened.  “Who is they, and how the hell did they knock out a Werewolf?”

Ari laughed and pointed across the parking lot to where their mate stood with two other women.  Jacob groaned when he saw the way the women were dressed.  Holy shit, they looked like prostitutes, and their mate was standing between them nodding.  Argus growled as he watched a police officer hold out his hand and touch his mate’s arm.

This was getting out of control fast.  Argus made a decision and to hell with right or wrong.  He stalked up to his mate and the group of people that were gathered and said.  “What the hell is going on here?”  He demanded and folded his arms across his chest and looked down on the police officer.

The young man looked over his shoulder startled and then narrowed his eyes and looked a Jacob who had come up next to him.  “Sir, this is official police business.  You need to step back and let us handle this.”  Then he turned around dismissing the two men.

Argus felt the anger grow in him and spat out.  “Skye is my business.”

Skye looked up from where she was standing and opened her mouth in surprise and stared at them.  Argus met her gaze and he felt the spark of desire run through him again.  Damnit he needed to control himself for just a few minutes.  The policeman snorted and then asked Skye.  “Do you know these gentlemen?”

Skye nodded slowly and then smiled at the young man and said.  “Yes, they are customers at the place I work.”

“Customers huh.”  The policeman snorted again and Jacob stepped forward.

“Hey, I don’t think I like what you’re implying.”  He growled.

Skye looked down and they could feel her embarrassment from where they were standing.  The taller of the two women, Heather, put her arm around their mate and comforted her while the other one stepped forward, pointed her finger at the police man, and started snapping out words like bullets.

“Listen you little shit.  We did your job for you.  Skye is not a ‘working girl’ when she says they were customers, she meant from the restaurant across the street.  She came home and saw her door open; we helped her go into the room and knock the big guy out before you arrived.  And don’t you act all judgmental on us.  We may be ho’s but we are honest ho’s, can you say the same?  If I remember correctly, you like to partake in a little lovin' while on your break with Shandy down the road.  I bet your supervisor would love to hear about how you like to have her cuff you to the bed and spank your ass.  We have a network here, we know everyone who likes to sample the goods, and you would do well to remember that in the future before you start throwing stones.”  Bambi snapped.

Jacob could not hold back the laugh that came out from the shade of red and green the police officers face had turned.  “Nice.  Did you say you name was Bambi?  I never knew a woodland creature could be so fierce.”  Jacob muttered which earned him and glare from both the police officer and Argus.

Argus raised his hand and said.  “Listen, I just wanna get the facts here and make sure that Skye is safe.  So what can you tell me?”