by EJ Whitmer
A lump of donut lodged itself in my throat. I coughed my way through it and with a strong wallop on my back from Rose, managed to breathe again. “Yes. Rose … How did you know about Gia?”
She poured more coffee in my mug and tittered about the kitchen for a moment before answering. “I told Mr. Vance to hire her, of course.”
I jumped out of my chair and rushed to her. “You saw her in a vision? Was it a good one? A bad one? Is she secretly a killer succubus bent on world domination via control of the male penis?”
She considered his for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know. I guess she could be. My visions are rarely crystal clear. That one came to me while I was eating a cheese Danish. All I could see was a beautiful woman standing on a boat, cursing at the sea. I called up Lloyd Vance, told him about the vision and said if he has a pretty blonde woman apply for a job, he should hire her.” Rose glanced up at my shocked face. “Of course I told him I had no idea what to expect, so he should watch her closely. Don’t worry. If she’s someone to worry about, they’ll know.”
I knew there was something funny about Gia.
“Who’s Gia?” Sophia rushed back into the kitchen and stood before her grandma for inspection.
Rose eyed her outfit up and down before giving a nod of approval. “Good job, squirt. Gia is a friend of Anna’s. Now quit listening in on her thoughts. It’s rude.”
I scooped up Sophia and give her a kiss on the forehead. “I gotta go, stinky. You have fun with your grandma.”
“Oh, Anna,” Rose chirped. “Eric noticed you drove him home in his vehicle last night. He said to tell you to take his other car home and he’d come pick it up later. The keys are by the back door.”
I barely contained my squeal of excitement. Blake never let me drive his weekend car. I gave Rose a quick hug and dashed to find my purse, which was sitting on the coffee table, along with my cell phone. I checked my messages and grinned at the one missed text from Blake.
*Scratch it and die. I mean it, Jennings.*
I grinned evilly and typed out a quick response.
*Oops! Just got this. Don’t worry – It’ll buff out.*
Rose was waiting for me in the back mudroom when I returned. “Here you go, honey. I’ve packed you some banana bread and my special canned beets.”
I took the sack she had extended to me and tried my best to look excited about the canned beets. “Yum! Thank you, Rose.”
She patted my shoulder and walked me to the door. “Oh! I almost forgot! Are you left handed or right handed?”
“Uh … Right handed. Why?”
She waved me off with a flick of her wrist. “Just curious. But that’s good. Excellent. Well, you’d best be off. I’ll see you around, Anna. Give Carl a hug for me.”
I shrugged off the eerie sensation crawling up the back of my neck and exited into the garage. There in all its glory sat Blake’s precious Jaguar F Type. I’d dreamed of driving that car. Blake only drove it to work on days where there was zero chance of rain and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had security cameras installed to monitor it during the day.
I slid in behind the wheel and inhaled the intoxicating new car scent, giving myself a moment to enjoy the beauty before hitting the garage door button and starting her up. I loved the sound of my Mini’s engine turning over, but that was nothing compared to the sound of Blake’s Jag rumbling to life. As soon as the goosebumps began to fade from my skin, I carefully backed out of the garage and headed home.
28
Lucky for Blake, after just crashing my own car, I wasn’t in the mood to test out his car’s performance. I stuck to the speed limit (sort of), checked my blind spots and used my turn signals, arriving home without a scratch on me or the car. The guest stalls in my parking garage were closely monitored by security, so I parked the Jag in one of those and beeped it locked.
Figaro was waiting for me when I walked in my front door. I bent to give him a pet and he dodged my hand, racing to his food dish and giving me a pointed stare. After freshening his water and pouring him a cup of kibble, I headed to my bathroom to enjoy a nice soak in the tub.
As the hot water did its work on my body, I ran through my mental list of clues and questions about our invisible foe. Until then, we’d only had interactions with him near the water. Was that because he was staying nearby, he was most familiar with that area, there were more escape routes or places to hide? Was he acting alone? What did he gain from killing the Boston team and why come for us in Chicago? The questions swirled in my mind until I was dizzy.
While I catalogued my information, I lathered up my leg and began shaving. After a few passes of the razor, it dawned on me that all we needed to do was find something, like shaving cream, to spray on the invisible man. As far as we knew, he didn’t have any other powers like super strength or mind control. His one and only advantage was that he wasn’t able to be seen. I made a mental note to find some travel baby powder or spray paint for my purse and finished the rest of my bath routine.
Once I was clean and dressed, I began the always exciting task of cleaning my loft. Lea and Jo were due to come over for girls’ night within a few hours and while usually I tried to keep things tidy, the week had been a little crazy what with werewolves and car crashes and naked Tom Sellecks.
The gloomy weather from the previous day had carried over and threatened to worsen to some serious storms. By the time I finished cleaning and had taken a second shower, the skies had turned an ominous shade of green. Lea and Jo arrived just after seven and instantly uncorked a bottle of wine and poured generous glasses. We each grabbed an arm full of munchies and collapsed on the couch.
“So what’s new, pussycat?” Jo asked as she popped an entire chocolate chip cookie in her mouth. “How’s your hunky boyfriend?”
I cringed and reached for my own cookie. “I wouldn’t exactly call him my boyfriend.”
“Uh oh … What does that mean?” asked Lea. “I just saw the two of you together a few days ago and nearly erupted in flames from the sparks you were shooting.”
“We still have sparks. It’s not that. It’s just … Somehow we accidentally dove into the ‘what are we’ talk and apparently what we are is not on the same page. He said he has zero plans to ever get married or even move in with a woman. He just wants things to stay casual like they are now. We see each other two or three times a week. We rarely stay over at one another’s house. And all that is normal for a relationship that’s only been going for a month or two. But apparently that’s how he wants it to be for … forever.”
Lea tipped her glass to drain her wine. “He’s sure about that?”
I nodded and refilled her glass.
“Lots of guys say stuff like that,” offered Jo. “They think they don’t want to get married and then they meet the perfect woman and fall to pieces over her. Maybe you’re that woman. Maybe in a couple months it’ll just hit him that he can’t possibly live without you and he won’t be able to resist buying a house with you and making fifty babies.”
Noticing my discomfort, Lea rubbed my knee and asked, “Do you want to be that woman?”
I stared into my wine glass and fiddled with a cookie. “I don’t know. I hadn’t exactly been creating Pinterest boards dedicated to our future wedding or anything. When he told me he didn’t want a wedding or kids, I was disappointed. But I’m not sure how disappointed I really was. I’m not devastated and I’m not super motivated and gung-ho about changing his mind.” I looked up at my friends. “What does that mean?”
Lea smiled sympathetically and topped off my wine. “I’m not sure, sweetie. But you don’t have to decide anything right now. You can just enjoy your semi-casual relationship with Emmett and figure out your feelings as you go.”
The intercom rang, interrupting our discussion, and I breathed a sigh of relief. After the ten thousand fiascos I’d dealt with that week, I didn’t want to think about my quasi-relationship anymore. Assuming it was Blake coming to retrieve his
car, I buzzed him up and grabbed his keys off the counter. At the sound of the elevator arriving down the hall, I opened the door and immediately shut it as I recognized my guest.
“Girls … Let me just apologize in advance.” A rapid knock on the door interrupted my warning.
I opened the door and bit back a small scream. There stood Carl, clad in his pleather pants and no shirt, his arms overflowing with a massive amount of chains and locks. He looked like PeeWee Herman mixed with a dominatrix.
“Carl,” I choked. “What are you doing here? What’s with the chains?”
He brushed past me into the kitchen and plopped his cargo on the counter. “It’s the full moon, Anna. I realized I can’t do this alone. I need you. May I please stay here? I brought supplies to control my wolf form after the shift. We can just chain me down before the sun fully sets, and I’m sure you’ll be safe.”
Lea and Jo wandered to the kitchen and took a long look at Carl.
Lea walked a slow circle around him. “Whoosah … Trying to spice up our girls’ night, Carl?”
I’d forgotten that Lea and Carl somehow knew each other. Explaining the situation was going to be a mess.
“Is that a butt flap?” Jo asked. “I know you read those BDSM novels, Anna, but I didn’t think you were involved with that kind of stuff.”
I shot Carl a warning look and shoved the three of them in the direction of my living room. “Jo, this is Carl. He’s a friend of mine. He’s … taking on a new hobby as an escape artist. Just dropping by on his way home from a gig.”
“That explains why he’s so skinny,” whispered Jo.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” said Carl. “I can come back later.”
“Nonsense!” cried Lea. “Sit your skinny butt down. I’ll grab you a glass of wine.”
Two hours later, it was pouring outside. Carl was drunk, Lea was having way too much fun styling his hair with gel, and Jo was yawning.
“Alright, quit messing with Carl. He’ll pass out on my couch and wake up with his hair plastered to my silk throw pillows.” I glanced over at Jo. “Are you alright?”
She nodded sleepily. “Yep. It’s been a long day. We had a birthday party at my in-laws’ house. The kids were insane. I’m beat.”
Lea drained her glass of wine and stood. “Alright, Momma. Let’s hit the road. You’re exhausted and if I have one more glass of wine, I’ll hate myself tomorrow.” She hugged me tight and patted Carl’s cheek. “See ya later.”
Jo took their empty glasses to the sink, then hugged me goodbye. “Don’t think for a second that I bought that escape artist story,” she whispered in my ear. “I expect a full explanation the next time I see you.” She gave me her best stern mother look and pulled Lea out the door.
I slid the lock into place and turned to face Carl. “So, big guy, how do we do this?”
He rose from the couch and swayed toward the kitchen where he picked up his pile of chains. “Well, your guest bed has a wrought iron headboard. Maybe we could loop these around the bars?”
“Good thinkin’. Let’s do it.” The wine had obviously destroyed all of my sense at that point.
I followed Carl to the bedroom and waited for him to lay down and get comfy before administering the restraints. I wound several lengths of chain around the bars on the headboard and secured the rest to the legs at the foot of the bed. After wrapping Carl’s wrists and ankles with athletic tape to protect against the metal, I looped the chains around his extremities and secured them with padlocks. If I’d have been completely sober, I would definitely have been questioning my sanity as I looked down on my skinny, blonde friend, bound to my bed with chains and wearing only a pair of tear-away pleather pants.
Once Carl was as comfortable as possible, I clicked off the lights and shut his door. The rain outside had picked up and the lightning flashing through my windows made the living room look like a 90’s rave. I was idly wondering if full moons affected werewolves when hidden by clouds when a loud yowl pierced through the silence. I knew that yowl. The poor calico cat must have gotten caught in the rain. I rushed to my window and peered out into the darkness. There on the sidewalk below my window sat a very wet, very unhappy cat.
Figaro isn’t the biggest fan of other cats. Or dogs. Or people. Or anything with a heartbeat. But I couldn’t just let the poor calico drown in the rain. I’d give him a warm place to sleep for the night and contact the local animal shelter the next day. After administering a stern warning to my antisocial feline, I rushed downstairs to retrieve our new friend.
As soon as I stepped outside, the cat rushed to me and brushed his wet body against my legs. I scooped him up and cuddled him to my chest as I sprinted back inside. The poor little guy purred in my arms during our elevator ride and rubbed his forehead against my chin. I carried him into my loft and headed for my bathroom. Figaro sauntered in as I rubbed the calico down with a towel. Surprisingly, neither one of them tensed upon seeing each other. Figaro gave the calico a long look before turning around and heading back to my bedroom.
Once both of us were toweled off and semi-dry, I deposited the kitty on my bed next to Figaro, shut and locked my bedroom door and climbed into bed.
29
I woke the next morning just after dawn and snuggled into the warm body behind me. The moment was perfect. The sun was just beginning to shine through my curtains. Figaro was purring at the foot of my bed. I was being held tightly, as if I was the most important thing in the world.
It took about ten seconds for me to remember that I went to bed alone the night before. I struggled to regulate my breathing as I glanced down at the arm wrapped around my waist. A strangely feminine arm. Had Carl somehow broken through his restraints? I slowly lifted the arm, turned over, stared into a pair of alarmed green eyes, and screamed like a banshee.
“What the hell are you doing here!?” I shouted as I launched out of my bed.
Gia scrambled to her feet and raised both hands in surrender. “I’m sorry!” she cried. “I can explain!”
Figaro hopped off the bed and ambled over to Gia, curling his tail around her naked calves. I don’t know why I noticed that her calves were naked before I noticed that so was everything else.
“Why are you naked!? Why is everybody always naked!?”
Gia quickly grabbed for my comforter and wrapped it around her body. “Can we sit down and talk? I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
“You are not sitting your bare ass on any piece of my furniture. Don’t move. I’ll get you some clothes.” I rushed to my closet and grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. “Here.” I threw them at Gia and sat down on the edge of the bed.
She quickly threw on the clothes and perched on the other side of the bed. “Okay. First, I apologize for scaring you. I didn’t mean to fall asleep last night. I can’t hold my form when I’m asleep or unconscious.”
“Hold your form?”
She nodded. “I have a certain ability. This is going to sound crazy, but just give me a chance.”
I rolled my eyes. “You have no idea what my life has been like lately. Nothing is crazy anymore. Just hit me with it.”
“Well, actually, I do have kind of an idea what your life has been like. At least what your week has been like, anyway.” She paused and stroked Figaro for a moment before continuing. “This ability that I have … It’s more like the super powers your coworkers possess. I’m able to shift into animals. Last night I shifted into the form of a calico cat. I was hoping you’d eventually feel sorry enough for me that you’d bring me inside.”
“Hang on,” I interrupted. “How do you know about my coworkers?”
“Do you not remember a wolf saving your lives the other night at the marina?”
I gasped. “That was you?!”
Gia nodded. “I was following you when everything went down. I couldn’t just sit there and watch you all get killed. Plus, I owed you. You saved me from Figaro and let me go outside. You know, not many people would do that.”
“I saved you from Figaro? You mean you can shift into a mouse too?”
“Yep. Any mammal. I usually don’t do the mouse thing. People are way too eager to stomp me or sic their cats on me.”
“But why have you been following me?” I asked.
“My real name is Gia Watts.”
I gasped and jumped off the bed. “Watts! Are you related to Ian?!”
She nodded and bit her lip. “Ian is my brother. I came to investigate his disappearance. I followed you because you were the only one I’d found so far that knew him as more than a personal trainer.”
“How much do you know about your brother?” I asked, worried about where the conversation was headed.
Gia sighed and looked away. “I know he was … troubled. Toward the end, he certainly wasn’t the brother I grew up with. We’d always been super close. Best friends. But a few years ago he started distancing himself. He became cold and mean. I didn’t know how bad it was until a boy that bullied Ian in high school wound up dead. He was electrocuted. The police couldn’t figure out what he’d touched. They found him in the parking lot outside of his apartment. His family was told he was hit by a lightning bolt, but I knew better. Soon after that, Ian left town. He said he’d been hired at Vance Publishing as their new personal trainer. I hoped he’d changed. But … I get the feeling that wasn’t the case.”
