Flirting Under a Full Moon (5 page)

Fortunately, he was alone. He dragged a folding chair from the corner to approximately ten feet in front of the bound adults and opened it. Then he took the gun from his waistband and sat down. “I’m here to guard you. No talking. Those are the boss’s orders.”

Probably
so
he
won’t fall for my asking to go to the bathroom or some other escape plan.

Nick just nodded and remained calm. If he could stay cool, she could too.

“Hello, Aunt Sadie. How’s every little thing?” Anthony kissed his “aunt” on top of her gray head.

Sadie smiled up at her “nephew,” a vampire who masqueraded as an ordinary bar owner. He was actually more than three hundred years old and her seventh great-uncle. “I’m worried about Brandee.”

“Really? Why?”

“She worked the earlier shift, but an old friend from art school was supposed to meet her here tonight. Brandee never showed and Angie can’t get hold of her.”

“Maybe she just forgot and went out. She could have left her cell—”

“No. It’s more than that. I sensed a portent of danger earlier. Now I’m sure it’s connected to Brandee. I really think she’s in trouble.”

Sadie’s psychic gift was so accurate that he didn’t dare ignore it. “How can I help if no one knows where she is?”

“Maybe you can enlist the talents of some of your regulars.” She glanced over at the bar. “I’m sure they’d lend you their tracking skills if you asked them.”

Anthony scoped out the bar and saw them sitting at one end. Ex-military helicopter pilot Kurt Morgan was a wizard. Tory Montana was a shapeshifting coyote. Perhaps with one in the air and the other on the ground they could find Brandee. “Thanks, Sadie. Are you sure you have no idea where she might be?”

“Just one. Last night I was helping Nick Wolfensen find a kidnapping victim. I told him to look in the theater district. Brandee overheard and wanted to go with him. Apparently she’s related to the victim.”

“Nick let a waitress accompany him on a kidnapping case? That seems bizarre
.
Why would Nick take a mere human into a dangerous situation?”

“I don’t think he did. At least he didn’t mean to. I got the definite feeling Brandee wasn’t about to take no for an answer.”

“Maybe I can find her on my own. The fewer people who know, the better.”

Anthony sensed someone approaching. A quick look over his shoulder revealed Ruxandra striding toward them. “Speaking of not taking no for an answer…”

Sadie whispered, “Oh no. She still won’t leave you alone?”

“She’ll have to—eventually.”

Ruxandra stopped a few feet away and planted her hands on her hips. “I know you’re talking about me.”

“We weren’t until you came over here,” Anthony said.

Sadie returned to shuffling her tarot cards. Anthony suspected it was a nervous habit, and he knew his ex-girlfriend made Sadie nervous.

“Not only that, but I know you were talking about one of the waitresses before that. It was the little harlot Brandee, wasn’t it?”

Don’t rise to the bait.
“I have things to do. Important things. Please leave us.”

Ruxandra focused her glare on Sadie. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? I suppose you’re trying to fix up your nephew just like you play matchmaker with everyone else.”

Sadie took a deep breath. “I was doing nothing of the kind. Now, if you’d like a reading, I can give you one in a few minutes.”

“Ha. I make my own future.”

Anthony took Ruxandra’s elbow and escorted her away from Sadie’s booth. “Don’t cause a scene.” When they got farther away, he whispered to her, “You know Sadie’s readings bring in a lot of business. I won’t have you undermining her.”
Or
scaring
her
to
death.

“Fine. I’ll leave then.”

Finally.
Anthony schooled his features so he wouldn’t look too relieved. “Very well. Have a nice evening, Ruxandra.”

She headed toward the back door. Anthony wondered why she’d want to go out the alley way, but at the moment he didn’t much care. As long as she was gone.

***

Mr. B. was doing that nodding off and snapping to semi-consciousness thing that Nick hoped meant he was about to fall sound asleep. Little Katie’s breaths were lifting and lowering her sleeping bag in long, slow motions, so she seemed to be sleeping too. Now if he could just be sure Brandee was out, he could shift. His smaller paws would slip out of the ropes, but his wolf body would hurt like hell bound in his present position.

Nick really didn’t have any better options. Even if he broke a shoulder, he’d heal quickly. He glanced over at Brandee. Her head lolled to one side. She
could
be
asleep. Mr. B. started snoring and Brandee didn’t seem to notice.

It’s now or never.

Nick gritted his teeth and steeled himself for the inevitable pain of a shift. He concentrated mainly on his wrists. The minute he was able to slip his bonds, he’d do so and hope for the best.

His muscles began to change and pop. The sound of his bones grinding could have awakened Mr. B., but he continued to snore. Nick breathed his way through the sharp pain and continued.

A gasp came from his right. He had no choice but to complete his shift. If Brandee or Katie had seen him, at least they hadn’t screamed.

At last his left paw slipped from the ropes and he was able to spin toward the pole, yanking his right paw out. He lay on the floor for a few moments, panting and waiting for the pain to ease.

When he raised his furry head, he saw Brandee staring at him—her eyes so wide he could see white all around the irises. He couldn’t blame her. He bet it wasn’t every day she saw a wolf in people’s clothing.
Shit.

***

“Angie!”

Anthony had to raise his voice to be heard over the din of the crowd. She held up one finger. “Be right there.” On her way to see what he wanted, she dropped off the bottle of Corona Tory had been patiently waiting for and gave him a smile.

She ignored a customer who called to her as she walked by because Anthony was drumming his fingers on the edge of the bar. “Hi, boss. What’s up?”

“Have you heard from Brandee yet?”

“No. I’ve left three messages.”

“Is she apt to ignore her messages for a while?”

“No. In fact her phone beeps every five minutes if she misses a call.”

“How long has it been since your last call?”

“Hours. This isn’t like her. I’m really, really worried.”

Anthony raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m going to look for her. Any idea where she might go?”

Ruxandra strode in from the back hall and slammed her fist on the bar between them. “I knew it!”

Angie just about jumped out of her skin. Everyone sitting around the bar halted their conversations and stared in Ruxandra’s direction. The owner’s psychotic ex-girlfriend was about as subtle as a brick through a window.

“I knew you were having an affair with that redheaded slut.”

Thank
God
I’m a blond.
Angie backed away slowly, leaving Anthony to deal with something that obviously didn’t involve her.

“Ruxandra. Lower your voice.” Anthony’s lips thinned, and for once, he looked like he wasn’t going to mollify her.

“Why? So people won’t know you’re a lying, cheating dog?”

“I don’t have time for this.” Anthony strode out the front door.

“Come back here!” After waiting several moments, Ruxandra must have realized Anthony had ignored her and was gone. She shrieked, picked up a stool, and smashed it over the bar. Angie squealed and ducked behind the cash register. She couldn’t see what was happening, but she heard several more loud crashes and curses. Not all of them from Hurricane Ruxandra.

When items stopped flying and smashing, Angie peeked over the register. Ex-NFL player Tory and Kurt, an ex-marine, had Ruxandra firmly in their grasps.

“Put me down, you Moorish, boorish bastards!”

Kurt jerked his head toward the back door and Tory nodded in silent agreement. Ruxandra screamed and struggled, but she was no match for the two strong, black men. They lifted her off the ground and carried her wriggling body to the back.

Tory called over his shoulder, “Angie, honey. Would you kindly get the door? We have our hands full.”

She was starting toward them when Ruxandra threatened, “If she comes near me, I’ll break free
just
to gouge her eyes out!”

Angie halted, unsure what to do.

“I’ve got it,” Kurt said. He squeezed Ruxandra’s arm with one big hand and opened the door with the other. Together the men tossed her into the alley and slammed the door shut. Tory twisted the dead bolt but continued to hold on to the handle while it shook. Ruxandra sputtered curses from the other side until, at last, she seemed finished with her tirade.

“One of us better stand guard here for a little while,” Kurt said.

Tory nodded. “I’ll hang out by the front door—just in case.”

Angie reached for the wall telephone and said in a shaky voice, “I’ll call the cops.”

Tory vaulted over the bar so fast she didn’t see him coming. He gently pried her fingers off the receiver and replaced it back in its cradle. “No need to do that, Angie. She’s gone, and we’ll keep an eye on the place. If Anthony wants to report it later, he can. I doubt he will, though. Blue lights outside are bad for business, you know?”

“So is Ruxandra.”

“Anthony will know how to deal with her better than the cops.”

Angie took a deep breath and let it out, willing her calm to return. “Yes. I guess you’re right.”

“That’s a girl. Don’t worry. We won’t let anything happen to you.” He smiled in that soft way that meant he was genuinely fond of her.

Angie relaxed a little more. “I believe you.”

***

Oh, my Little Red Riding Hood… What just happened?

Nick had turned into a large dog. Or a wolf. Or some version of both…or neither.

Brandee’s head began to spin. She suddenly realized she had taken in a huge gasp of breath but hadn’t let it out.
Breathe, Brandee, breathe!

The doglike creature was free and looking up at her with soulful eyes.

What now? Should she try to get Lassie to untie her? Could he? She could barely wrap her head around whatever kind of trick this was.

The only thing she knew
not
to do was make any noise. Mr. B. snorted a little like he might wake up, then smacked his lips and returned to snoring.

The dog—wolf, whatever he was—struggled to his paws and watched the snoring man for a moment. Then he glanced back toward Brandee and Katie. He seemed as confused about what to do as she did.

Is
this
some
kind
of
magic
gone
wrong? Is he cursed?

At last he seemed to make some kind of decision. He crept over to Mr. B. and gently worked the gun out of the man’s loose grasp. She held her breath, hoping Mr. B. wouldn’t wake up and shoot the dog.

As soon as the dog had the gun in his mouth, he trotted over to Brandee and hid behind her. She heard a couple of metallic clicks as if he’d laid the gun on the floor. Then the same noises that woke her came from behind her—popping and grinding.

She wished she knew what the hell was going on, but as long as Mr. B. slept, she wasn’t going to say a word. She was just happy he no longer had a weapon he could put his hands on. Speaking of hands, she felt warm fingers on the back of her neck and Nick’s voice whispering in her ear. “Stay quiet, sweetheart. I’ll have you out of here in no time.”

She nodded and waited anxiously while he worked on the knots binding her to the pole. Before long, she could move again. She pulled her arms forward and the ropes fell away. She wanted to jump to her feet and throw her arms around his neck, but any sudden movement or noise could wake Mr. B.

She rose slowly and tiptoed over to Katie while rubbing her tingling arms. Nick held the gun trained on Mr. B. while Brandee woke Katie with a gentle wiggle to her arm. When the girl opened her eyes, Brandee held a finger to her lips and whispered, “Shhh…” She unzipped the sleeping bag as slowly and quietly as she could, then peeled back the top layer.

Mr. B. snorted and adjusted in the chair.

They waited an anxious second, and when he returned to his rhythmic snoring, Katie crept out and stood on her bare feet. Brandee wondered if her cousin should take the time to put on her sneakers but decided against it. She just picked them up and gave them to Katie to hold. Then she looked to Nick and he tipped his head toward the staircase.

The girls glanced at Mr. B. while silently padding their way over to the stairs.

Nick followed behind them. He stopped Brandee with a hand on her arm and whispered, “Wait for me at the top.”

She nodded and stepped in front of Katie. If the little girl had an adult on either side, hopefully, she’d be safe.

The three of them crept silently up the stairs. Nick maneuvered around them as soon as they reached the top step. “Stay behind me until you see an opportunity to get outside, then take it.”

They both nodded. Brandee held her breath, wondering what he had planned.

He threw his whole weight against the door. His body smashed clear through and broke the lock. He shook off the door and checked behind him. Brandee suddenly realized he was using himself as a shield to get them to the outer door.

“Hey!” Mr. M. charged out from the office with a gun. Mr. B. had awakened and was swearing as he dashed up the stairs.

“Run, girls,” Nick yelled.

She grabbed Katie’s hand and rushed toward the outside door. A shot rang out and then another. Someone swore loudly, but she didn’t stop to see who it was. She yanked open the door and ran out of their prison, holding Katie’s hand.

Brandee didn’t stop running until they reached the end of the block and rounded the corner. She leaned over, panting, and her hair covered her face. “Call the police,” she yelled to no one in particular. Then she bumped into a tall, dark, solid body.

Looking up, she saw her boss. “Anthony?”

He braced her with his hands against her arms. “What happened?”

“Nick needs help.” She pointed to the alley.

“Stay here,” he ordered.

When Anthony rushed down the alley, she called out to stop him. All she wanted him to do was call the cops, not go running into gunfire.

“Oh, my stupid bravery!”

A young couple neared them, took one look, and began to cross the street.