Dangerously Attracted [Werewolves of Hanson Mall 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (8 page)

“We’re about to go there, now.”

They passed a few more rooms and the hallway opened up again, this time to a dining area with four tables, each set for four people. A serving hatch opened into this area but the nurse took her around back through a swing door into a commercial kitchen all gleaming metal workbenches, cooktops, and appliances. “I’ll take you to Mr. Hamilton now and you can ask him any questions.”

“Thank you for showing me around.”

The woman knocked on a door before pushing it open and directing Dakota to go inside. Jackson Hamilton was sitting behind a desk. There was no computer on it, or any paperwork at all. Either he was a believer in the “tidy desk, tidy mind” theory, or else he didn’t want anyone to know what he was working on. Dakota suspected it might be the latter.

“Have you any questions for me, Ms. Rutherford.”

“I’d like to see a list of your fees and charges please. This seems to be very much the type of place where Grandma would be comfortable.”

He opened a desk drawer and passed across several sheets of letterhead paper, with list of costs and services on them. Quickly, Dakota ran her finger down the list. Again, everything seemed quite reasonable, although a little more expensive than the already expensive facility where her grandmother was living.

“That looks acceptable. Now what about when Grandmother doesn’t remember how to eat? Do your staff feed her? And she loves gardens. Will a staff member be available to walk with her in the garden most days?”

A few minutes’ conversation with the man and Dakota understood him perfectly. A client could request anything they wished and would be told they could have it for an extra fee. Feed grandma? Of course, fifty dollars a day. Take grandma into the garden? Not a problem. Twenty dollars for half an hour. Either his staff had to be the best paid aides on the planet or else Jackson himself was raking in the cash. But Dakota just smiled and thanked him. Finally she stood up. “You’ve been very helpful. I’ll contact you in the next day or two with my answer.”

He hadn’t expected that. His eyes became hooded and the sides of his mouth turned down, but he just nodded and stood up with her. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

They walked back down the hallway. Nothing had changed. Everyone was exactly where they’d been when she arrived. Dakota realized that while the nurse had been showing her around she hadn’t seen any other staff members with the other elderly people. She wondered if, in fact, Jackson and the women were the only staff. At the front door she smiled and thanked him again, then left.

That fit with what Lewis had said. He’d only ever seen two security guards apart from Jackson. Presumably the nurse stayed with the genuine guests and the security guards dealt with the other people.

Dakota slid into her car and started the engine. And that was another thing. It was lunchtime and there’d been no catering staff at work in the kitchen and no smells of anything being heated up or cooked anywhere else either. Most institutions served their main meal in the middle of the day because it was cheaper on staffing. Yet there wasn’t even an aide heating up pre-prepared meals in a microwave oven. Now that was interesting. Yes, and there’d been seating at the tables for sixteen residents but she’d only seen three. Four if she counted Norm whose door had been closed.

The gate opened automatically for her and Dakota left the property, looking all around her carefully, but she wasn’t able to discern CCTV cameras anywhere. Nonetheless she waited until she was five miles down the highway before texting Andreas and Lewis that she’d left, then putting in her earbud and calling Cadfael Hanson on her cell phone to tell him about her visit as she drove home.

* * * *

Andreas had left Patience and Amity in charge of the gym. The sisters worked reception for him, as well as doing just about everything he didn’t do including mailing out accounts, some bookkeeping, caring for equipment, and anything else he asked them to do. He knew they were total treasures and he hated asking them to do anything extra, but they never complained.

“Hey, I’m happy to help. I work in a gym. I can swim or ride the bikes or use the weights any time I want to. And Amity is always sneaking in the back of Marbella’s classes,” said Patience.

Shaking his head at them he hurried down to the third level to the camping store. If sex on a blanket on the roof had been good, real full-on sex in a tent on the roof should be even better. At least the flimsy structure would offer them privacy to remain naked. Oh how he wanted to be naked to worship Dakota’s body. He’d been worried sick about her visiting Jackson Hamilton. Even though everything had gone perfectly smoothly he still hated that she’d walked alone into the lion’s den. Besides, it wouldn’t surprise him if she planned to head back and do it all again. He’d be trying to dissuade her if he could though. Surely she’d learned everything she could so far. The business obviously had a very good front for customers, and quite likely those old people were regular clients and looked after appropriately. But what was the deal with the werewolves? Why had he captured Lewis and the other people Lewis had heard in the area where he’d been locked up?

Half an hour later he had everything he thought the three of them could need and he texted Lewis.

Can you please take me up to the roof?

I’m there already. What floor are you on?

Eight.

I’ll be there in a few minutes.

Andreas slung the tent pack over one shoulder and picked up a duffle with other things in it and the blankets, slammed his apartment door behind him, and walked to the elevator. Fortunately it really only was a minute or two before Lewis arrived and held the elevator door open for him to load his gear onboard.

“What’s all this stuff?”

“My brilliant idea. I’ll tell you when we’re up there.”

“Okay.”

Andreas liked that Lewis was so quick to pick up nuances. No, there wasn’t anyone else in the elevator, and likely there wouldn’t be either. But Lewis understood he didn’t want them to be talking privately and risk someone overhearing them. He was able to lock down his curiosity and wait patiently. Andreas really appreciated that in the other wolf. The more he knew about Lewis the more he realized he wasn’t a fearful person at all, merely someone who’d been treated appallingly and thrown into a situation he’d never known of and had no means of dealing with. Yet he’d triumphed over it and was very deserving of his new happy life.

Lewis held the elevator door open for him at the roof, and said, “Where do you want to go? I’ll carry some of the luggage for you.”

“I don’t really know. Away from the entry. Somewhere we can be private I guess. This is a tent.”

“Oh! I like the way you think. Just leave it all here for the moment then and walk with me.”

Intrigued, Andreas dropped the tent to the concrete of the roof, laid the blankets on top of it so they wouldn’t get dirty, and walked after Lewis. Lewis led him right to the end of the roof, to what was the very back of the professional suites, and stepped behind a head-height wall.

Sure enough there were no buildings near them. There was the roof of the mall itself seven floors below them, then some ground level parking around the edges of the mall, then just streets and other buildings. If he looked straight ahead there was nothing nearby, just structures in the far distance in another part of town.

“This is where I want to build my home. This wall will be hidden by trees and I hope no one will even know my house exists.”

“What is that wall? And how will you get to your house without a pathway or gate?” Andreas was almost certain he’d never been over here before.

“The old air conditioning units used to be attached to it, but the mall is temperature controlled by a much more modern system now. And I don’t know yet but my plan is that most people won’t think to go past the roof garden or the wolf run trail. Especially if my home is not easily visible. Now, where do you want to put up your tent?”

Andreas patted Lewis on the shoulder. “In the future I hope we three get plenty of use out of your home, so perhaps we should pitch the tent there. Lay claim to the land as it were.”

Lewis helped him set up the tent and it was completely hidden behind the wall. Of course a house would be taller. They had to be able to stand up and walk around in it, but it didn’t have to be particularly high, and they could easily have trees big enough to hide the roof line. “I think your plan will work. You’ll need some bigger trees, but yes, it’s workable.”

“The trees will grow but their growth will be limited by the winds across the roof in winter. I was thinking of not getting them enormously high. Bigger trees will be more expensive as well. But what I could do is have the pots on stands so they hide the house, and as the trees do grow, instead of risking their tops getting burnt off by exposure, I simply lower the stands until they’re eventually resting on the ground and still tall enough to cover the roof line.”

“That’s a damn good idea. You really have thought about it a lot.”

Andreas was filled with pride for his friend. Lewis would build a truly amazing roof garden. He was confident of that. And they’d have a nice little retreat up here where they could make love under the stars in the summer, and under a glass roof in less clement weather.

“I suppose we’ll have to stay in my apartment in winter. I don’t spend much time there so likely you and Dakota will need to renovate it somewhat. But we can work all that out later. When are you going to start building your house?”

“I’ll do it simultaneously with the roof garden and running track. That way it won’t be so obvious what’s happening, I hope. Everyone will just think it’s part of the garden.”

“Good point.”

Lewis walked him back to the elevator and swiped the door for him, and Andreas went back to the fitness center. After tonight Dakota would be on the midnight to eight shift, which was going to make it hard for them to spend time together. By the time she came off shift she’d be tired, and he should be at work already, yet they couldn’t spend too much time together before she went on shift as they didn’t want to wake her up too soon or exhaust her before her working day. At least they had tonight though. Tonight they would make love to her under the stars and explain how very much she meant to them both.

* * * *

Lewis stayed up on the roof for the rest of the day, taking measurements and making detailed plans. He’d now almost filled a sketchpad with meticulous designs of every garden bed, and of the winding path the running track would take. It would split in two with an optional “obstacles” loop for the wolves or those runners who were feeling more energetic. There were some long straight stretches almost the full length of the roof, and some chicanes, S bends, and tight corners as well as the obstacles, which were mostly going to be rows of plants in pots and a few low fences to jump over. It wouldn’t be a complete workout, of course, but that was what the fitness center was there for. It would be an opportunity to run outdoors though, and the more energetic males could always go around the circuit three or four times if they felt it was too short to use up all their excess energy.

He wondered if his chicanes and S bends were a bit tight for a human runner, so he drew them in chalk on the concrete and he’d ask Dakota to test them for him.

Dakota. She was safe. That was a relief. But he longed to spend more time with her and tonight she’d agreed. He couldn’t wait until they were all tucked up inside the tent. He ached to touch and taste her some more and he desperately wanted to fuck her. Hmm condoms. He wondered if Andreas would have thought of that. Probably Andreas had bought them, but likely he’d better buy some himself anyway. It was time to leave the roof for the day. In a city it never got truly dark like it did in the mountains, but dusk was clearly starting to fall and the stores would be closing soon. He’d just remembered protection in time.

Lewis bought his condoms, then stopped at the menswear store and purchased another pair of boxers and a new T-shirt. It seemed silly in a way because everything he owned was still almost new, but tonight felt special to him, different, and he wanted to honor that uniqueness of their first time having sex together. Well, he hoped it would be. At least he wouldn’t have to buy anything much for his little house. Undoubtedly between Dakota and Andreas they’d have everything he needed. A few plates and cups and forks, blankets and pillows, would be adequate.

Lewis hurried back up the stairs to his apartment, showered, and changed into his new clothes, then hesitated. It was too soon to go wait for Dakota but he didn’t want to do anything that might make him sweaty, and he was too full of the nervous energy of anticipation to sit quietly and wait.

He guessed most people would think living in a shopping mall was heaven. Any time they were bored they could go window shopping, or buy a cup of coffee and sit and people watch. And he could do either of those things. Except the stores were all closing now as it was after six.

But there was a deeper reason as well. He was still wary of exposing himself in crowds for any longer than absolutely necessary. Buried deep in his heart was the fear that Jackson Hamilton, or one of his henchmen, would capture him and take him back to the well-being center. The building was the symbol to him of all his deepest and darkest fears. He’d escaped once, and he never planned to be caught again. That was why Dakota visiting the place scared the shit out of him. He wanted to protect her, yet feared if he tried to do that he would only make matters worse because they might not care about her, but would be attracted to him. By being with her he might cause the very result he was trying to prevent. “I can never rest until Hamilton is stopped and his center closed down. Not just for myself, but for any other people he has locked away there as well.”

Finally he walked back down the stairs to the fourth level lobby entry of the professional suites and peeked out the stairwell door. Sophie, the receptionist was just locking the outer glass doors. Not wanting to startle her, he waited until she’d left before exiting from the stairwell and pacing around the lobby area. The center manager, Dylan Upjohn, had an office here, as did the nurse for the mall. Nurse Eilidh came out of the First Aid room and asked, “Why are you wearing a hole in the carpet, Lewis?”