He turned to look at her. “Now that we have all this settled can you untie me?”
She’d have to warn her parents and get Trudy. She shouldn’t have ever involved her in her family mess in the first place. If something happened to Trudy it would be all her fault.
But first the intruder was right. She’d have to untie him so that she could handle her business and get her family and Trudy to somewhere safe.
She got up and took a step forward, but paused. The threat he’d given her earlier rang in her mind. “What happened to your grand plan of knocking me out and taking me to the courtyard?”
“I’ll scrap it if you scrap yours.”
Fair enough. She went over to him and dropped to her knees. When she took the knife from the sheath wrapped around one of her ankles he shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Don’t judge me,” she said. She began cutting at one of the ties. “I’m a single girl. I have to protect myself.”
“And you don’t think you’re going overboard with it?”
“Hey, I came home and found you in my kitchen. What did you want me to do? Ask you what you were doing here?”
He raised a brow. “Yes.”
He was right. She probably should’ve.
She untied one of the knots, freeing his hand. “Kick ass first and talk later. That’s what my dad always says.” Well, not those exact words. He said to assess the situation and if she was in danger then kick ass.
He flexed his wrist and worked on the ties on his other hand while she moved to free his ankles. “And your dad, has he ever been in trouble with the law by chance?”
She bit her lip. Her dad was an ex-Yaruzi, a member of the largest gang in Japan. He used to have plenty problems with the law. But that was before. In exchange for his information about some high ranking members of the gang, the US had gotten her parents, her brother Miko and her out of Japan and into the US in the witness protection program.
Freed, he sat up and then stood. She got up too and took a step away from him. He was a lot taller than her, maybe six-two, but she was only five-foot-one, so a lot of people were taller than her.
“So, what’s your name?” she asked him.
“Lajos, Lajos Farkas.”
“Thanks for rescuing Trudy, Lajos.”
“I’m just glad my brother and I were able to get to her in time.”
So am I. Meisha would never forgive herself if something happened to Trudy. “So which hotel did your brother take her to?”
“Why?”
“Why?” she asked confused. “Because I’m getting my best friend and taking her somewhere safe.”
“You don’t have to worry. She’s in good hands, Kristof will watch over her.”
“And now I’m about to relieve your brother of that job.”
“Thank you, but no thank you. We know these guys, we can handle it.”
“Wait, so you know who they are? Did you contact the police?”
Lajos shook his head. “Let me rephrase that. I don’t know them, I know their…kind.”
“Murderers and people who attack women? That’s who you hang around? What exactly do you do Lajos Farkas?”
“I’m head of security for Dark Wolf Enterprises. I know some very unsavory types of characters who would do anything to bring a major corporation down—even murder innocents.”
“And you think the men that killed Mark and tried to get Trudy were really trying to target your company?”
“Yes, and unfortunately Trudy and Mark got caught in the middle of it.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“I have my sources. I’m on my way to her business to look for clues that might help me find out who these men are and bring them to justice.”
She hadn’t thought about going to Trudy’s business to see if the Yaruzi had left a message for her and her family. If it was them that had sent the men to kill Mark, they would’ve left something behind, warning her family that they would be next—a symbol. Her dad had talked about their gang sign and how they often left it behind to invoke fear in their victims.
The news hadn’t reported anything that could be described as a sign left behind, but would they? What if the police were holding that information secret while they researched the sign and what it meant? Meisha couldn’t wait around hoping for information to be leaked to the media.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going with you.”
He crossed his arms too. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
Chapter Four
“Yeah, right. Stay behind,” Meisha muttered to herself. She’d jumped on her bike as soon as he’d left. It wasn’t like she didn’t know where he was going.
She took a left at the light and peeled down the city strip. While Thursday night wasn’t as busy as Friday was, cars were still flooding the streets with people on their way to parties or just hanging out. There was plenty to do if you were young and loved the nightlife. Meisha had grown out of that phase of her life a long time ago. Right now the only thing that was on her mind was maneuvering her Yamaha R4 through the throngs of traffic so she could make it to Hollander Enterprises before Lajos.
She didn’t know Lajos, but if he thought poking around Trudy’s office was worth the effort then he might be on to something. If in fact he found a clue that would link the murderers to his company, she’d breathe a sigh of relief. But if he was wrong and she found the Yaruzi gang sign or any other indication that this was their handiwork, she’d do what was necessary to get her family and Trudy away.
At a stoplight she put down her booted feet on the pavement, waiting for it to turn green. It was hot, too hot for the black leather riding outfit and leather boots she wore, but she’d rather be hot and safe. In an accident, where she was sure to slide across the pavement, without the protective covering she wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving with all of her skin intact.
The car next to her blared out a popular rap song. She looked over at the driver, a young African-American man. He nodded up at her and smiled, flashing a mouthful of gold teeth. “Hey, shorty. You lookin’ good tonight.”
She shook her head and broke eye contact, focusing on the red light. The driver had no way of knowing how she looked. Her outfit was tight, but that was for safety reasons and her hair was in a long braid down her back. She also wore her black Nitro N-PSI Pump helmet and, just like the name implied, it was pitch black and prevented him from getting a look at her face. The driver only saw a chick on a bike. When the light turned green she peeled off down the road, leaving the car and the driver in the dust.
As she approached the five story building where Trudy rented an office, she turned into the empty parking lot. Either Lajos hadn’t made it yet or he was doing as she was, parking somewhere else.
She went through the parking lot and around the brick building to the back, where there were a few parking spaces for deliveries. She led her bike to a row of dumpsters and parked behind them, shielding it from view. She didn’t need any officers coming by and getting nosey, wondering what a motorcycle was doing parked near a building that was closed.
After shutting off the engine and getting off her bike, she took off her helmet and set it on the seat. She started to pull off her riding gloves but thought better of it. Since she was going to snoop around a crime scene, it would be best to leave the gloves on while she did it. No point in leaving her fingerprints behind.
She trotted over to the back door. She didn’t know how Lajos planned to get inside. Trudy may have even given him a key, but she doubted he would be willing to let her go through the front door with him. He’d already told her—firmly—to stay home.
If she tried to go through the back door she assumed some type of alarm system would go off. She looked at the closest window to her. There were bars on the window. In fact there were bars on all the first floor windows.
She took a few steps back and looked up. She could use the grooves between the brick to scale the wall.
The second floor didn’t look that far away. If her hunch was right, the first floor windows would be the only ones protected by an alarm. There wasn’t really a need to put alarms or bars on the second through fifth floor windows.
She put her gloved hand on the building. Nice brick wall, which was always good when someone wanted to do some scaling. Wood walls were a pain to climb and aluminum siding was virtually impossible.
Easy-breezy.
She jumped to the first window. She brought her foot up and placed it on the top of the window and, with a small grunt, used her thigh muscles to help push down on her leg while lifting the rest of her body up. She pressed close to the wall and found the grooves between the bricks. Good thing her leather boots weren’t the bulky kind. She’d stayed away from that kind on purpose. The movies always showed bikers in big hulking boots. She thought it was because the media always portrayed bikers as bad-asses that went around stomping faces. If someone wanted to do some head stomping, heavy boots would do the trick. But she never was the head stomping type. She was the head kicking type and for that she needed light feet.
She stuffed her toes between the bricks and lifted her hands up to find another good spot. Once she found one, she hauled herself up, continuing to scale the wall until she reached the second story. She pushed on the glass, trying to open the window. It wouldn’t budge. She tried again. Still no movement. She peered at the lock.
Damn. Why the hell would anyone lock a second story window?
Uh, dummy, so people won’t break in through it.
She was too far to turn back now. She would need to break it or try another window. She looked over to her right. That window was closed, but it might be locked too. She looked up. The window above was slightly open. She looked down. While the second story didn’t seem that high off the ground, the third story definitely was. If she fell she would be in some serious pain, but unless she wanted to add vandalism to her rap sheet, the third story it was.
It took her all of four minutes to make it up to the third floor window. She undid the screen and let it drop to the ground. On Monday it would appear as if a big gust of wind blew out the already rickety screen. With that out of the way, she climbed inside and looked around the dark room. Turning on the light wasn’t an option. She didn’t need anyone seeing the light from the street.
Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she was able to make out the desk and the rest of the office furniture. She crossed through the office and opened the door slowly. She peeked out to the hall—empty, which she expected. She trotted to the end of the hall and opened another door that led to the stairs. She ran down and went through the door with the number two on it. She peeked down that hall again. Nothing.
She trotted down the hall and stopped in front of Trudy’s business’ entrance. Someone had propped the door up on its hinges and put up yellow tape to block the doorway. All of which wasn’t enough to stop Meisha from entering. She pushed the door aside and maneuvered under the tape and into the office.
The scene that greeted her was gruesome. Even with just the street light coming in through the windows she could see blood splattered across one of the desks and on part of the wall. There was a dark stain on the floor. If she turned the light on she was sure it would be red—blood red.
The thought of her best friend being trapped in her back office, listening to someone get killed a few feet away, made Meisha shudder. Trudy was so sweet. She’d never even been in a fight before. But while Trudy was innocent in the ways of torture and death, Meisha was the complete opposite.
Her dad had told her stories about how the Yaruzi tortured their victims. Most people would find it odd that a dad would tell his daughter stories of torture and death, but her father had a reason behind it. He wanted Meisha to understand what would happen to her and her family if the Yaruzi ever got their hands on them again. He also taught Meisha how to take care of herself in the event that they ever came after her. She didn’t have any qualms about what she would have to do if they ever found her.
She would kill them.
A hand grasped her shoulder. Her instincts kicked in. With quick reflexes, Meisha brought her elbow across her chest and then back, as hard as she could, and slammed it against something solid.
“Holy fuck!” Lajos thundered. The elbow in his chest hurt like hell. He reached for Meisha but she’d already side-stepped out of the way.
She whipped around and jumped into a defensive pose, standing with one foot behind her and holding her tiny fist up, blocking her face.
He should be mad—real mad. Meisha had attacked him in her apartment and, if that wasn’t enough, tied him up after she’d knocked him out. He wasn’t going to tell anyone about that or about how she’d planned to roll him out into her courtyard for a public humiliation session. Andras would be able to pull those thoughts from him, but as far as Lajos was concerned he wouldn’t think about that ever again.
Plus, why would he focus on that when all he could think about was how good she looked right now? Good maybe wasn’t the right word. Fine. That was the right word.
She had smooth, light-brown skin and black-as-night hair that fell to her breasts. She wore an all-black leather outfit that hugged her petite frame. She was shorter than he usually preferred his women, but she still had curves—the body of a woman. At first glance she appeared to be a light-skinned African-American woman, but by looking at her eyes he could tell that she was mixed with something else, probably Chinese or Japanese. Her eyes completed her exotic look, and they were trained on him with a deadly glint.
When she saw it was him she relaxed, putting her hands down.
“You attacked me—again,” he said.
She shrugged as if what he’d said wasn’t that important. “Sorry, you shouldn’t be sneaking up on me.”
“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you, especially since you weren’t supposed to be here.” His rib cage hurt like hell, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of rubbing the sore area in front of her.
She squinted, looking him up and down. “Hey, your face and fingers. They healed.”
He ran a hand over his face. The broken nose and fingers were minor injuries to his kind and didn’t take any time at all to heal. He hadn’t expected to see her again. If he knew she was going to come, he would’ve never stopped at that gas station and wiped the blood from his face. He would’ve left it in place for visual effects. “It wasn’t as bad as you thought.
“Humph. I know my skills. You had broken bones.”
“Well, obviously you’re wrong.” He moved passed her so she couldn’t focus on his old injuries anymore. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to stay home,” he said, changing the subject.
She followed him. “You did.”
“And?” he asked over his shoulder.
“And since you don’t own me, I decided to do whatever I want.”
Chapter Five
“This is too dangerous. You shouldn’t go around sticking your nose in matters that don’t involve you.”
“Sorry, nose firmly planted.” She walked past him and over to where blood was painting someone’s desk red. “Do you see all this? Whoever killed Mark sure did a number on him first. Tru said they were torturing him, but damn.”
Lajos rubbed the side of his face. He needed free rein to do his job and he hardly thought having a woman snooping around would allow him to do that. He could tell her to leave, but he doubted she would listen. He could push her to leave, but he hated to do that to someone—even her. He’d started to at her apartment but wanted to first try to reason with her and, though it had taken forever, she’d finally untied him.
She looked down at her boot and then lifted it to inspect the sole. “Ew, gross. I think I stepped in some of it.”
He pulled her out of the puddle of blood. Without the light on, her human eyes wouldn’t be able to see all the blood on the floor. “You do know this is a crime scene don’t you?”
“Yeah,
one that the police have already combed over.”
He looked down at the carpet. There were tiny, blood-stained footprints from where she’d been walking. “Why don’t you leave before you make a mess of things? You’re just in the way. Plus you don’t know what to look for.”
She snorted. “Like you do.”
He raised a brow. “I oversee the security of a multi-million dollar investment firm. I think I know what I’m doing. What do you do?”
She turned away from him and crouched, pretending to look over some papers on the floor. “I’m an online teacher.”
“Wow. Go home.”
She shook her head. “Not until I find out who is after Trudy and why. You said there might be clues here. I’m here to find them.” She stood and glared at him. “So live with it.”
She’s stubborn as hell. I have to push her to leave.
He mentally prepared himself for the task. His wolf whined.
What’s the matter with you? he asked his wolf. You’ve been absent all this time. She kicked our ass, tied us up and was about to kick our ass again and you’re upset because I asked her to leave?
His wolf sent him pictures of Meisha in a bed, her hair spilling around her face and shoulders. Her perky breasts full and round, with erect brown nipples.
Lajos’ breath picked up a notch. Why did you have to go and do that?
His wolf projected another picture. This time Meisha was on her hands and knees, naked. Her round ass was up in the air, and she was staring back at him over one shoulder with those beautiful eyes.
He was undone.
He turned around, hiding his growing cock. Adjusting it in his pants right now would only draw more attention to his embarrassing situation. Sometimes his wolf got real particular about a female, wolf or human, but usually not during times when there was work to be done.
Cool it, he warned.
“I’d really like to get these lights on so I can see if anything is written on the wall.” she said.
Lover Claimed Page 3
