by Jaime Rush
Just then he knocked on the door. “You decent? I forgot to put on deodorant. Got a bit, er, distracted.”
She opened the door to his room, her eyes narrowed. “Did you know I was going to walk in on you?”
He gave her a totally innocent look as he walked in wearing just jeans. Damn, did he know what that did to her? “Of course not. I would have warned you.”
She couldn’t tell if he was being honest. She’d met guys like him before—well, not exactly like him. Playful, flirts, too good-looking for their own good. As much as she liked to flirt, too, she usually kept her cool with guys who actually stirred her senses. Rand was definitely one of those guys, even with the faded bruises on his face.
“Look, just because we”—she waved her hand to indicate the naked thing—“you know…”
“Saw each other naked?”
“Yeah. Just because…that, doesn’t mean…”
He waited patiently for her tongue to untangle the words in her head.
“Don’t get any ideas.”
He merely grinned. “Yes, ma’am.” He swiped on deodorant and was about to leave when he looked at her.
She wasn’t wearing any makeup. No one saw her without makeup, and now she was naked in another way. She dug out her bag and pulled out her foundation.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched her. “You look better without all that stuff.”
“No, I don’t.”
It gave her a funny feeling to have him watch her as she used her puff to layer on Urban Decay mineral powder.
“You don’t look like a tattoo artist.”
She stopped midrub. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“They’re usually Gothish, covered in tats—”
“Tattoos. We don’t call them tats.” She went back to rubbing in foundation.
“And scary-looking.” He leaned against the counter, making himself comfortable. “You’re too wholesome. You look like that cute redhead who acted in all those eighties films—”
“I do not look like Molly Ringwald. And I’m not cute.”
“You even sounded like her when you said that!” He put his hand over his heart. “I had such a crush on her when I was a kid.”
She thickly lined her eyes in black, trying and failing miserably to ignore him. “Don’t stereotype tattoo artists. There’s a lot of diversity in the profession.” But the thing was, she didn’t really fit in there, either, despite her statement. Most artists were covered in tattoos, a tribute to their passion; she only had four. Her employees were always trying to get her to adorn herself more, but she felt that too many tattoos detracted from the beauty of each one. Natch, she wouldn’t tell her customers that.
After swiping on lipstick that matched the bleeding roses on her shirt, she flexed her nails and bared her teeth at him. “Boo. Scary now?”
“Very.” With a grin, he pushed away from the cabinet. “Ready to head upstairs?”
What was he smiling about? Did she want to know? Probably not. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
She preceded him up the stairs. The others were standing around in the kitchen, and Zoe’s stomach perked at the smell of toast and coffee.
“I thought breakfast would be long over,” she said, gratefully taking the mug Amy handed her.
“We just woke up,” Amy said. “I’m a night owl anyway.”
Zoe poured coffee into her mug. “Me, too. That’s why being a tattoo artist is the perfect profession. Not many people wanting to get tattoos in the morning, thank goodness.”
Petra’s eyebrows rose. “I’d been thinking of getting one…before all this craziness started.” She wore a ruffled teal top, black pants, and high heels that matched her top. Pretty fancy for the tomb.
“Let me just go in and take the bastard out,” Eric said to Lucas where they stood at the far corner of the kitchen, obviously immersed in a discussion. “Burn the whole place up with everyone in it. Then it’s done.”
Lucas pressed his hand flat against the counter, impatience tensing his handsome features. “After we find out the truth. We can’t go back to our lives until we find out what happened and what’s in us.”
“You think that guy’s going to tell us anything? You think he’s going to let us waltz in and look through his files?”
“Eric, don’t go off half-cocked again. You almost got us killed last time. In fact, you very nearly got me killed. You deviated from the plan. It was stupid and dangerous.”
Zoe could see anger seething in waves off Eric; Lucas wasn’t too happy either. She grabbed a piece of toast and walked over to them. “If this man had anything to do with my father going in and shooting those people, I want to know the truth.”
Amy walked over, too, sliding her arms around Lucas’s waist. “Eric, you can have your revenge later. We need answers first. We have to find out what they injected into Lucas. We’ve got to approach this logically. Carefully.”
Eric slammed his mug on the counter. “What, you all ganging up on me?”
“If we have to,” Amy said.
Eric’s body tensed as he took them all in. Finally, he relaxed. “We take a couple of days and regroup, research. But then we make a move.”
Petra rolled her eyes. “The last time we were going to chill for a few days, we jumped right back into the fire to rescue Rand. Amy and I were held at gunpoint, Lucas was shot, blood—” She took a deep breath when she realized everyone was looking at her. Cracked her knuckles. “I’m not buying it this time.”
The need to find out why her father had done what he did grew inside Zoe. “Seems like we need to work as a team.”
“Exactly.” Lucas gave Eric a pointed look. “There are six of us now.”
“And more of them,” Eric said.
Zoe leaned back against the counter and took a bite of toast. “How many are there?”
Amy poured more coffee into her mug. “Two men run the project: Darkwell and Robbins, his second-in-command. Cyrus told me that the two men who headed the program are dangerous and powerful, and all they care about is their cause at any price. But Robbins appeared reluctant about what they were doing to Lucas. He even helped him, brought him a toothbrush and deodorant. From what we can tell, Robbins is our best chance to get information. He doesn’t seem as dangerous as Darkwell.”
“So how do we approach him?” Zoe asked.
“We kidnap him and see what we can get out of him.”
Zoe blinked. “Kidnap? As in, take him by force?”
Eric said, “That’s usually what kidnap means.”
Amy nudged Eric with her bare foot. “I know, it sounds crazy and insane and totally bonkers, talking about kidnapping people when just a few days ago your biggest worry was paying your bills or running out of toilet paper. Nine days ago I was sleeping in my cozy bed in my cozy life when a sexy stranger broke in and told me about being an Offspring.” She glanced at Lucas. “My life will never be the same again. To be honest, I don’t want it to be.”
Zoe shook her head as she lined up four spice jars on the counter in alphabetical order. “I do. I want to walk into my tattoo shop and bitch because my two o’clock canceled and get on Michael’s case about keeping his station clean and…” She leaned against the counter and pinched the bridge of her nose, despair washing over her. When she looked up, Rand was watching her with an intense look on his face. He quickly looked away. “I want my life back.”
Amy’s expression softened. “Yeah, I felt that way, too.”
Zoe said, “But then you met this gorgeous guy who obviously loves you. At least you got something good out of the bad.”
Amy tilted her head in sympathy. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, at least for the time being.”
One of the spice jars tipped over. Zoe took a deep breath. “Puerto Rico. Montserrat.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Where does that leave us? What does it mean for our future?”
Rand leaned forward, obviously wanting to hear the answer to th
at, too. “We can’t hide here forever. Nothing personal, but I’d rather them take me out than have to hide down in this hole for years.”
Petra’s eyes widened. “Years? No, I can’t be here for years. I won’t be able to shop and so what if I do have cute clothes if I’m stuck down here and—?”
Amy put her hands on Petra’s shoulders. “Right now we have to focus on our next step. We find Robbins. Unfortunately, we don’t have a clue as to how to do that. We need someone who can find people. None of us can do that. We have the names of two more Offspring. I say we try to find them, add to our ranks. And to our skills.”
“We need someone who can see into the future.” Lucas nodded to Rand. “No offense, but for longer than ten seconds. I hated those images, but at least I had a clue as to what was going to happen.”
Amy pressed her cheek against his back. “They were also tearing you apart.”
He gave her a look filled with fear. “It’s worth it if it saves your life.”
It was obvious that she didn’t agree. The depth of their love was so palpable, it twisted inside Zoe’s chest.
Rand was watching them, too, an odd expression on his face. She shifted her attention away. “These people, are they so ruthless that they’d hurt our friends or family? Would they go to my tattoo shop and threaten my employees? My mom? My granddad?” The thought tightened her throat.
Lucas looked at Amy. “When they were holding me at the asylum, they used Amy to coerce me into cooperating.”
Petra’s eyes widened. “When I was hiding at the asylum—” She turned to Zoe and Rand. “When we went in for Lucas, I got stuck there and had to hide out for a day. I overheard Darkwell talking about you, Rand. He said he’d found out you were close to your grandmother, that you sent her money.”
Rand’s body stiffened. “How the hell did he find that out?”
“He’s got government resources even if the government doesn’t know what he’s up to. He was going to use her to get you to cooperate, too.”
“I need to check on her. Warn the staff. Something.” Rand jerked his fingers back through his hair. “I’ve got to do that today.” It warmed Zoe that he obviously cared about someone, and even more so when he said, “What about your grandfather? Where is he?”
“Hospice, in Baltimore.” The saltshaker toppled over. She wrapped her fingers around it, hoping no one noticed her crazy energy. “He’s…dying of cancer. But I don’t want those bastards doing anything to him.” She set the shaker on the counter. “I’m going with you.”
She thought he was going to object. His mouth opened, and he had No written all over his face. Then he looked at her eyes. “All right. But I don’t have a vehicle.”
Petra said, “We’ve got a car.”
“I want to get my wheels. But I—we need a way to get to Baltimore.”
Eric shook his head. “Is your car still at the casino where they nabbed you? They might be watching it.”
“I’ve got another set of wheels in a friend’s garage. They’ll have no idea where to find it. Getting there’s the issue.”
Amy lifted a finger. “I’ll call Ozzie. He’s my neighbor and friend, and he sort of but not really got involved. He knows I’m caught up in something, but he thinks I saw some files on a hard drive I was recovering that I wasn’t supposed to see. I only tell him what he needs to know to keep him out of this as much as possible. The funny thing is, he wants to help in the worst way, and besides, I need to get my parrot.”
“Parrot?” three of them said at once.
Eric held out his hand. “No parrot.”
Amy stuck her tongue out at him. “Lucas said I could have one. So there.”
Eric nailed Lucas with a harsh look and a grunt. “Woman’s made you weak.”
Lucas pulled Amy against him and nuzzled her neck. “Weak is not always a bad thing, my friend.”
Zoe was absolutely sure these people were going to drive her nuts. At least when her employees bickered, she could stop them. She was in charge. She could order them to clean up or could organize things herself. But this wasn’t her place, and these weren’t her employees.
Obviously she wasn’t the only one feeling the strain of the chaos. Rand said, “I’ve got to get out of here.”
Amy said, “Let me call Oz, see if he’s up for a little adventure. He’ll do anything if I take Orn’ry out of his hair.”
“Orn’ry?” Zoe asked.
“That’s the parrot.”
Eric frowned. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“You won’t even know he’s around.” Amy walked over to her purse, which was sitting on the desk. “Except when he cusses, which is cute because he doesn’t do it right.” And in a lower voice, “Or when he screeches or has hissy fits. I’ll have to take a ride and call Ozzie. We can’t risk calling from here in case Darkwell’s monitoring his phone. We should give him one of our untraceable cell phones.”
Eric got up and waved her toward the hallway. “I’ve been doing some research. If we call from the computer, it’s a lot harder for anyone to trace. We unplug it, so it runs off the UPS, which is the uninterrupted power supply. It’s still got to be a quick call, though.”
He pulled up the software, unplugged the computer, and dialed the number. Immediately the UPS started beeping, signaling the loss of power.
When a man answered, Amy said, “Oz, it’s me.”
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack, not calling for days? I can only take so much, you know.”
Zoe whispered, “Sounds like your mother.”
Amy snorted. “Oz, you know I can’t call just to give you updates. But I’m fine, thanks for caring. You up for a little adventure?”
“Does it involve giving you the parrot back?”
“Yes, and a quick trip to Baltimore.”
“Deal.”
Eric groaned. “He’s way too eager to get rid of it.”
Petra leaned forward. “Did you get the ’Cuda, Oz?”
“Who’s that?”
“A friend,” Amy said.
“Yes, I got the car. A friend is storing it in his garage, and he thinks it’s stolen, which is just too cool.”
Amy grinned. “I’m proud of you. Thanks.”
Lucas leaned toward the phone. “Yeah, much appreciation, man.”
“All right,” Amy said. “Here’s the plan…”
CHAPTER 8
“T
his bird’s going to be a pain in the ass, isn’t it?” Lucas asked as he drove to the drop location. Amy shook her head, but said, “Yeah.”
Zoe felt like she was on a double date, sitting next to Rand in the back of the Camry. They’d arrived at the rendezvous site early and waited for their target. The bright green Toyota Prius pulled behind the shopping center. They waited ten more minutes to make sure he hadn’t been followed.
“This is how it’s going to be, isn’t it?” Zoe asked. “Being afraid of someone following me, waiting for an attack at any moment.”
Amy turned around in her seat. “Believe it or not, you do kind of get used to it. A little.”
“I don’t believe it.”
Rand ran his fingers down the strip of his goatee. “When you’ve got a good reason to run, you get used to it out of necessity.”
Zoe wasn’t sure she wanted to know how he knew that. He hadn’t been running from this Darkwell long enough to get used to it yet.
Amy pulled a garage-door opener from the glove box and handed it to Zoe. “Use this when you get back.”
Lucas started the car. “Let’s move in.” He drove around the back, where the Prius had gone.
A short, wiry guy with a big nose jumped out of the car, taking in Amy the way someone who hasn’t seen food in a week takes in the sight of a hamburger. He gave her a hug with such abandon, eyes squeezed shut and all, it made Zoe smile.
Ozzie’s hair was so shiny and perfect, he reminded her of a Ken doll. When he opened his eyes and saw Lucas, he pushed back
from Amy so fast she stumbled. “You’re okay. I’ve been really worried, and these government men have been questioning me, though of course I haven’t said anything, and…”
“What have they been asking you?”
“If I’ve heard from you. If I know anything about what you’re involved in. For a while they were following me, but I think they finally realized I’m in the dark as much as they are.” He looked at Lucas. “This must be the guy you were talking about.”
“This is Lucas.” Amy nodded toward them. “And this is Zoe and Rand, the two you’re taking to Baltimore.”
Rand stepped forward and gave the guy a shake of the hand. “Thanks for having our back, dude.”
“Uh, yeah, no problem…dude.”
Zoe also shook his hand, which felt a bit limp. “Yeah…what he said.” She frowned. Something was making an awful racket. “What’s wrong with your car?”
“That would be Orn’ry.” Ozzie ran back to his car and opened the rear door.
Amy followed, the only one wearing a smile. The breeze blew her frizzy hair in her face, and she pushed it out of the way as she leaned in the backseat. “Orn’ry!”
The racket stopped, and Zoe heard a long whistle. Amy pulled out a medium-sized cage half-covered with a bright orange blanket. She put her mouth to the wires, and a cockatoo walked over and did some kind parrot-kiss thing. It made clicking noises Zoe took for happy sounds.
Lucas took the cage from her. “I hate to break up happy reunions, but we’ve got to split.”
Orn’ry ran across his perch and tried to bite Lucas’s fingers as he carried the cage to the back of the Camry.
Lucas scowled at him. “Hey! Bad bird.”
“Kill the bird, kill the bird,” Orn’ry said, no doubt mimicking something somebody had said quite often. Obviously not Amy, who looked at him like a mother might look at her child.
Lucas put the cage into the backseat, and Amy followed with a PVC pipe perch.
She gave Ozzie a hug. “Thanks again. For taking care of him and driving our friends to Baltimore…for everything.”
“I like being involved. Other than taking care of that thing.”
