Max gestured to the dance floor. “Over there with Spider-Man.”
Feigning disinterest, he tracked Max’s arm and spotted the guy immediately. “I better find Melanie before she changes her mind,” he muttered. “Good luck tonight.”
His date’s drink long forgotten, he wound his way through the crowd until he had a good view of Spider-Man.
And Charlotte.
The ponytail and T-shirt were gone, replaced by sleek auburn waves, tight leather pants, and a neckline that draped off her shoulder, the fabric clinging to her figure.
He took another long drink as he watched her chatter with the asshole in the Spider-Man shirt, her animated movements giving tantalizing flashes of her stomach before she paused and tugged the hem of her top down. When the guy put his hands on Charlotte’s hips and pulled her closer to him, he took an involuntary step forward.
“Where’s my drink?”
“Shit, sorry,” he muttered, reaching for his wallet as Melanie crossed her arms and lifted a perfectly plucked brow. “I’ll get you another.”
“Never mind.” She sighed in exasperation, wrapping her arm around his. “Let’s just go.”
*
The light of the fuller moon illuminated the desert floor, allowing Alex to easily maneuver through the brush as he tore across the sand.
Bo was an idiot.
Get over one woman by getting on top of another.
Dumbass advice from a dumbass.
As a hound, his sense of smell was unmatched. Even against the multitude of scents kicked up as he ripped over the hills, Melanie’s expensive lotions and perfume clung to his skin. The chemical taste of her lipstick was still on his tongue.
The assaulting odor of latex intermingled with the unmistakable smell of sex.
So, this is what regret smells like.
He slowed to a trot as the sun peeked over the horizon. He lifted his nose to the sky and howled, mildly pleased when coyotes across the land joined in.
I could just stay out here for a decade or two. No women. No work. Just rabbits and beetles.
The idea was almost appealing, the thought of staying topside to avoid the servitude dealt to him through his birthright a harmless fantasy as he pawed over to his backpack and scanned the area for intruders before transforming. Focusing on imagining an existence untethered to the politics and games of the underworld pushed out the less pleasant images of a certain park ranger cozying up to some random guy.
A random guy that wasn’t him.
Not that it mattered in the long run. Once he tracked the Pirithous and Cerberus dragged the bloodline down, he’d be right back to guarding Hades’s realm, patrolling the banks of the Styx for another dozen centuries or so until his boss decided to send his junkyard dogs topside again to clean up another mess.
Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he tossed his backpack onto the passenger seat and started the engine. What little freedom he had up here was an illusion, and pretending it was anything else was a dangerous game.
Chapter Five
Charlotte turned her phone facedown and pushed her unfinished breakfast toward Max.
“Aren’t you gonna answer that?” Max asked, shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “Might be your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she muttered. “We went out for coffee once. Hardly even a date.”
“So now you’ve had your fill?” he snorted. “What was wrong with the guy?”
She sat back against the fake leather of the booth. “Nothing. He’s nice.” She tore a piece off her napkin and rolled it into a ball. “He has an iguana named Stuart. It’s a girl. She likes oranges.”
He dropped his fork to his plate with a clank. “But?”
But he’s vanilla.
With a shrug, she changed topics. “You heading out with the waitress tonight?” she asked.
“Yup. Days of phone tag and I’m finally in the zone,” he stated triumphantly. “I’ll swing her by the tavern after dinner.”
She rolled her eyes and pulled her wallet out of her purse. “Have fun with that. Call me later.”
Unable to protest with his mouth full, Max waved her off and returned his attention to the cold scrambled eggs.
She climbed into her car and drove the winding streets back to her apartment. With Chris’s missed calls piling up, she’d have to deal with it sooner rather than later.
She just wasn’t good at the intricacies of dating.
Rather, she didn’t care much for them.
At the age of thirty, she was well versed in the danger of falling for the smooth tongues of gorgeous men who caught the eye of every woman in the vicinity. Men who drew smiles and collected phone numbers while they shopped for groceries. Men who were passed drinks with whispered offers in the bars.
Men who stared down temptation day in and day out until they finally relented.
She didn’t need to relive those experiences again. It had taken a few tries, but she’d learned her lesson. One year here, two years there, so much time and heartache wasted on bad boys who inevitably lived up to their reputations, their red flags waving in the breeze as they ripped out of her life, leaving her heart and bank account drained.
Her phone pinged loudly, earning a muffled moan as she fell onto her bed and checked the message. “I’ll consider it a personal favor if you size my date up tonight.”
Pursing her lips, she glared at Max’s text before responding. “We’ll see.”
*
“Alex, my man! Two tequilas, one Bud, and a paralyzer, please.”
Alex glanced up at Max and grinned when he saw the blonde waitress tight to his side. “I’ll bring it right out to you.”
Max motioned for the woman to head over to the table of rangers that had been filtering into the tavern over the past hour. “Chuck here?”
“Is she supposed to be?” Alex asked, keeping his voice disinterested.
With a frown, Max looked around the room. “Yeah. Like, an hour ago. Well, I better get over there. If Chuck comes in, send her my way.” He leaned in closer. “I need a woman’s opinion on Steph.”
Alex gave Max a quick salute and got to work on the drink order, refusing to look toward the door where Charlotte should be entering any moment.
Probably on the arm of the Spider-Man jerk.
His mood appropriately soured, he began loading a tray.
“You can take off after you run those out,” Thomas barked out from the kitchen door. “It’s slow enough for me to be up front and your overtime this week is going to put me out of business.”
Nodding, he made his way to the table and began handing out drinks.
“I hate it when she does this,” Max muttered absently, staring at his phone as he handed Alex a twenty. “Hey, Jerry. Who’s on shift tonight?”
A short man across the table leaned forward. “Becky and Jonas. Why?”
Alex gave Max his change and began collecting the empty glasses from the table.
“What are the chances they’re still in the station?” Max asked, rising from his seat.
Jerry took a sip of his beer. “Probably nil. Why?”
With his phone to his ear, Max walked toward the exit. Alex poked his head into the kitchen. “I’m out!” he called to Thomas, collecting his keys and wallet from under the till as he left.
Max stood outside, a lit cigarette hanging from his lip and his phone tight to his ear. “I don’t know,” he snarled. “Maybe start with the place of the sighting and go from th—Yeah, I get that you have to cover the west, but… Well, you’re the asshole who told her about them, so yeah, you’re the asshole who’s going to go look. Yeah, I’ve had a few. Call me every time you hit the station.” He looked over at him. “Aren’t you working?”
“Thomas gave me the rest of the night off,” he replied, refusing the offered cigarette. “There a problem?”
“Probably not,” Max grumbled, taking a long drag. “Jonas let it slip that there’ve been a few more dog
sightings this week, and now Chuck’s gone off on one of her save-the-animals quests.” He looked at his phone. “At midnight. Alone.” He ran a hand through his hair and dropped his cigarette to the ground, crushing it with the toe of his shoe. “She’s probably fine.”
Alex’s stomach knotted.
Dog sightings.
“Want me to take a quick tour through the east end?” he offered, his feet already moving him toward his SUV. “I know the area pretty well.”
Max followed him as he opened the contacts list on his phone. “She’ll stick to the paved roads in her coupe,” he said, passing the phone to Alex. “Put your number in and I’ll text you so you have mine. Phones don’t work in the park, but if you loop around and see her…or don’t…I’d appreciate a call once you hit the highway.”
Alex entered his number quickly and leaned into the SUV to start it. “Last dog sighting?”
“Lower southeast quadrant,” Max answered, firing off a text to him. “Probably eleven miles from here as the crow flies.”
*
Charlotte scooted higher onto the trunk of her car and leaned against the windshield, carefully setting her flashlight down. “Here, puppy, puppy, puppy,” she cooed into the darkness, closing her eyes to give them a break. “Come on, boy. If I don’t catch you, someone else will. And they might not be as nice as I’m gonna be.”
Her stomach was the only growling response.
Popping another saltine into her mouth, she sat back up and resumed scanning the moonlit desert with her binoculars.
She’d been at it for hours, sitting atop her car and calling into the night for a dog that was probably miles away by now.
But it was better than sitting in a lounge watching her crush play tonsil hockey with the stunning woman she’d seen clinging to Alex’s arm at the Washout. The woman was supermodel-gorgeous and looked expensive.
“Show yourself, you damn dog,” she muttered, her mood souring again as she used her flashlight to scan the immediate perimeter for snakes and other nocturnal creepy-crawlies.
Popping another cracker into her mouth, she froze when her ears picked up the yipping of a coyote to the south. Sliding the rustling saltine package away, she cocked her head as other coyotes joined the chatter from all directions.
The southern yipping stopped abruptly, replaced by a long, low howl. Every coyote in hearing distance joined in, their voices spreading through the park. She eased herself onto the roof of her car and slowly scanned the peaks and valleys of the terrain as the southern howl morphed into a territorial growl, silencing the others instantly. Lifting her binoculars back up, she zeroed in on a movement over the ridge three hundred yards southeast.
Rabbit.
A fast rabbit.
“Dammit,” she whispered, fumbling her binoculars and cursing when they hit the ground.
*
One brave, or stupid, coyote let loose another call into the night air and Alex lifted his nose to the sky to snarl a warning until quiet returned to the park.
He’d run the terrain for well over an hour, his SUV, clothes, and cell phone a good thirty miles away by now. With no sign of Charlotte near the Lost Horse Mine trail, he had ventured farther east toward the Keys, sticking as close to the paved roads as he could without being seen by a wayward tourist or determined hiker.
“Dammit.”
His ears perked up when Charlotte’s familiar voice carried on the breeze, stilling and listening as something thumped to the ground eight hundred yards to the north. The rockier terrain slowed his progress as he maneuvered toward the sound, his nose finally picking up her scent when he reached the apex of a ridge.
He sat and watched, unnoticed, as she slid off the hood of her small car and bent over to retrieve something. Cocking his head, he let out a snort of appreciation for the view, raising his ears when she jumped in surprise and spun toward him.
“Oh, my g—” she breathed, taking a step forward and zeroing in on him. “Woah. You are a big boy, aren’t you?”
When she took another step off the road, he rose up and flattened his ears back.
“Okay, okay,” she cooed, backing up and lifting an open palm. “You come to me, boy.”
A slew of dirty dog jokes ricocheted through his head as he padded down the rocky incline, his ears instinctively tracking the movements of the rabbit to his left. When he was just over a hundred yards away from the road, he sat back on his haunches.
She knelt, extending her hand out farther and rubbing her fingers together. “It’s all right, boy. Come on. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Bullshit.
He chuffed and lifted his front paw. When she inched forward, he dropped his head and growled low.
“Fine.” She laughed. “You come to me. Let me make sure you aren’t injured. I… Wait.”
He tilted his head as she rose to her feet slowly and opened the trunk of her car. She hefted a green bag onto her hip and resumed her position beside the car. “I brought something for you.”
The bag crinkled as she opened it, releasing an unpleasant scent into the air.
Dog food.
He recoiled slightly and pointed his nose to the hare that had gone motionless under a cactus.
“You leave that poor little bunny alone,” she chastised, dipping her hand in the foul-smelling bag and holding a pile out to him. “C’mon, boy.”
He let out a whimper and lowered his nose to the ground, his ears dropping.
“It’s not that bad,” she cajoled, shaking the food pellets in her hand and sending the atrocious stench across the desert. “How about I put it in a bowl? Hmm?” She leaned back and opened her car door, reaching across the console to the passenger side. “Still a few crumbs in here from dinner, but it’ll work.”
Rising to his full height, he closed the gap between them by a few more yards and stopped.
Walk away.
Now.
Walk. Away.
His hackles rose as Charlotte got to her feet and took a slow step his way, Styrofoam container of dog food in hand.
“I’m just putting this out here,” she purred quietly, her steps hesitant. “And when you’re hungry, you can come get it. Okay, boy?” When he snorted in response and began pacing back and forth, she lowered the food to the sand and began to retreat to the car. “Kind of a beast, aren’t you, boy?” She laughed, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she sat in the driver’s seat and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees.
He watched her watching him as he continued to pace across the sand.
Get closer.
Run.
Closer.
Run.
*
Charlotte glanced back toward the ridge and sighed.
One hour.
She’d been so certain the lure of food would bring the enormous dog close enough for her to assess, so certain his stomach would win out over his wariness. When his pacing had stopped and he’d torn back over the hill he’d initially appeared on, she had slumped back in her seat in defeat.
Finally resigned to the fact the dog wouldn’t be returning anytime soon, she sealed the bag of food, tossed it into the back seat, and started the car. She eased her way through the curved paths, continuing to scan the dark plateau for any sign of the animal until the bright lights of an approaching vehicle temporarily blinded her. As it came to an almost complete stop beside her, the driver’s hand shot out, almost grazing her car.
“What the hell!” She gasped, hitting her brakes and checking her rearview mirror. She squinted as the other vehicle’s door opened, her foot ready to hit the gas.
“Charlotte?”
“Alex?”
His large hands gripped the top frame of her car as he leaned over her window. “Fancy meeting you here,” he stated, one brow lifting.
“I…” She looked down at the time. “What are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you,” he said flatly as he looked around. “Am I good to text Max and tell him you’r
e fine?”
Dammit. Max.
“Oh,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze from the biceps twitching in her peripheral vision. “Right. Max. Yeah. I’ll text him when I hit the highway. Did he send you out looking for me?”
He hummed in response, his lips drawn tight. “I got off early and volunteered.” He pushed off the car and began walking away. “I’m following you back to town. Don’t speed. Last thing I need tonight is a ticket.”
Chapter Six
Alex stood at the bar, his back to the door while he carefully removed each bottle of alcohol from the top shelf and wiped it down before replacing it in perfect alignment. A slice of sunlight pierced the lounge when the heavy door opened and the first patrons of the afternoon entered. “Be with you in a moment,” he called over his shoulder, finishing up the row and inching the final bottle into place.
“Take your time, Alexandros.”
His hand froze midair as the familiar voice slithered across his spine. He turned to Hades, giving Persephone a tight smile. “Hey.”
Seph hopped up onto a stool and reached across the bar to push Alex’s hair behind his ear. “Hey yourself, boy.” She glanced around the empty lounge before giving him a bright smile. “Keeping busy?”
Nodding absently, he dropped his head a fraction in deference to his master. “Been a long time since I’ve seen you venture topside.”
Hades’s black eyes flicked to his wife, her pointed look urging him to pull up a chair beside her. “Someone’s becoming anxious to have her boys back home,” he stated, sitting down and placing one hand on Persephone’s knee. “How’s the hunt going?”
“Slow and steady,” he replied, grabbing two chilled mugs from the cooler and holding them up for Hades’s approval. “It’s a big area to cover, but I’m making my way through it.” He fought the desire to roll his eyes as Seph reached over again and rolled down the wayward hem of his shirt sleeve. “Are you here for business or pleasure?”
Hades waved off Alex’s gesture toward the beer taps. “I’m here to find out why my tracker hasn’t locked on to the Pirithous scent in this region despite a second sighting.”
Junkyard Dog Page 4
