Forgotten (7 page)

Kate gasped and looked up. The customer was
frozen in place and there was a tall guy in a gray hoody standing
right behind him. He had a small but deadly looking gun pressed to
the side of the hairy customer’s head and he was looking grimly at
Kate.

How had she missed him? Kate couldn’t
understand it—why hadn’t her Knowing kicked in? Or failing that,
why hadn’t she at least seen him walk into the store?

I was too focused on
trying to sell this damn watch,
she
thought to herself numbly.
Too busy using
my gift for stupid, trivial things to notice when something really
important was happening until it was too late.

But was it too late? She had her own gun, of
course, but the Glock was tucked under her arm in the holster she
wore beneath her jacket. How could she get to it without causing
suspicion or getting her customer’s head blown off? Well, the first
thing was to get the assailant away from Mr. Denrek, who was
shaking like a leaf.

She looked around for help but there was no
one there. Store policy stated that there should be two employees
behind the cases at all times but Rosalie, the other clerk who was
working that night, had asked if Kate minded if she ran to the
bathroom. That had been five minutes ago, just before Mr. Denrek
walked in to look at the watch and she still wasn’t back. There
were no other customers either—she would have to handle this on her
own.

Kate took a deep breath.

“
Let’s just take it easy,”
she said in a low voice. “If you’ll just leave Mr. Denrek alone I’m
sure we can get you what you want.”

“
What I
want
is that watch he’s
wearing and every one like it you’ve got in the store,” the guy in
the hoody snarled.
“Now.”

“
Take it! You can have
it!” The customer suddenly unfroze and started fumbling desperately
with the clasp on the Rolex. He got it unsnapped but unfortunately,
a great deal of his arm hair was caught in the microfine links. He
howled in pain as he ripped it off and dropped it onto the glass
jewel case with a
clunk.

“
That’s a start.” The guy
in the hoody snatched up the watch and looked at it eagerly. Then
the expression on his face turned to one of disgust. “Ugh—there’s
hair all up in it—fucking nasty!” He looked at the customer. “You
know, they have like, hair removal laser surgery you can get. If
you’re rich enough to afford a watch like this, you sure as hell
could get some of that done.”

“
I…uh…” Mr. Denrek looked
offended but also still scared to death.

“
Shut up you fat furry
fuck—nobody cares,” the assailant snapped. He shoved Mr. Denrek to
the ground and pointed his gun directly at Kate’s face. “Okay now,
pretty lady, you’re gonna open the case and give me every single
watch in this place and you’re gonna do it
fast.”

“
All right.” Kate was
tense but despite the explosive situation, she still felt in
control of herself. “Just please stop pointing the gun at me and
I’ll give you anything you want,” she whispered, letting her voice
tremble appealingly.
“Please.”

She doubted her soft plea would have worked
if she’d been a man or even a larger woman but her diminutive size
worked in her favor this time.

“
All right, cutie.” The
guy in the hoody smirked and lowered the gun just a little so that
it was pointed at the jewelry case rather than her. “I’m not gonna
hurt you if you give me what I want,” he told her.

“
Anything,” Kate
whispered, still letting her voice tremble and pasting a look of
abject terror on her face. In reality, she felt calm and collected
inside.
I can take this guy—all I need is
just one good shot.

It was strange that she should have had a
panic attack earlier when confronted by the man from her dreams and
yet now, faced with a gun-wielding robber, she felt as cool as a
cucumber. But she’d never been the type to cry or faint—unlike her
customer, Mr. Denrek who was huddled in a ball on the floor
whimpering.

No help there,
Kate thought grimly. But she didn’t need any
help. All she needed was a split second and a little
luck.

“
I’m going to reach into
my inside pocket,” she told the assailant, moving her right hand
carefully up to the left side of her jacket. “That’s where I keep
the keys to the cases. Okay?”

“
Yeah, all right.” Clearly
he still suspected nothing. After all, how could such a tiny little
girl hurt him?

Oh, I’ll hurt you plenty,
asshole,
Kate thought grimly, though she
was careful to keep the look of fear on her face.
I’ll blow a hole in you big enough to read the
newspaper through. You’re going to be damn sorry you picked my
night to rob this place.

She already had her hand on the Glock when
the guy in the hoody started getting antsy.

“
Hurry up! And you better
not press no silent alarm!”

“
We don’t have any of
those,” Kate lied. Actually, they had one by every case but she
couldn’t reach the closest one without causing suspicion. Her gun,
however, was now firmly in hand. “I’m going to pull out the keys
now,” she said and with one smooth tug, she brought the Glock out
and pointed at his face.

Or that was what
should
have happened.
Instead, the small gun somehow got snagged on her jacket. There was
a small part of the lining that was coming unraveled—Kate had been
meaning to sew it but she’d just never gotten around to it. Now it
caught on part of the Glock—the rear sight maybe. Suddenly she
found herself stuck with the gun only halfway out of her jacket but
clearly visible.

“
What the
fuck?”
The robber’s eyes
widened. “What the hell are you trying to pull, lady?” He lifted
his own gun, pointing it at her head. “I’ll fucking blow your head
off you little—”

At that point, several
things happened at once. There was a blur at the front of the store
and then the big Kindred, the man from her dreams who had
confronted her in the hallway, was just suddenly
there,
standing behind
the assailant. Kate thought numbly that he must have moved with
supernatural speed—how else could he just
appear
like that?

At the same moment, Rosalie walked back into
the store, trilling, “I’m back!” Of course the robber’s back was to
her so she didn’t see the gun. Instead she noticed Mr. Denrek, who
was still huddled on the floor. “Oh my God—are you all right? Did
you fall?” she gasped, and ran over to help him.

“
Rosalie, get back!” Kate
snapped, still yanking at her own gun. Damn, it was
really
caught! Her heart
was starting to pound and her breath was coming short—it must be
because the big Kindred with the burning blue eyes was standing
near again—but she fought the panic grimly.

Can’t freak out! I have to deal with
this!

The robber, who had been momentarily
distracted by Rosalie’s entrance, still hadn’t noticed there was
someone behind him—maybe because the Kindred wasn’t touching him
and the hoody blocked his view. He turned his attention back to
Kate and started to point the gun at her head.

“
You
dare,”
snarled the big Kindred in
his ear. “You dare to threaten my mate?”

“
What the—” The guy in the
hoody started to turn but the huge Kindred already had him in a
bear hug from behind. He forced the hand holding the gun down and
pinned it to the other man’s body. He was so tall that his head and
shoulders stuck up above the assailant, making it look like he was
holding a child even though the man in the hoody was quite tall
himself—for a human.

Kate finally managed to get her own gun
free. With a low purring sound, the lining of her jacket ripped and
she whipped the Glock out and pointed it at the two men in front of
her.

“
Step back,” she told the
big Kindred. “I’ve got this. He…”

But the words died in her
throat. Before her eyes, something strange was happening to the
huge Kindred’s features. Something
wrong.

His eyes, which had been glowing blue
before, had suddenly turned a savage, pure silver. They were
wild—filled with a hungry lust she’d never seen before. A lust that
wasn’t human.

Oh my God—the Beast…it’s
the
Beast!
cried
a frightened voice in the back of her head.

Suddenly the panic was back and this time
there was no way to keep it in check. Cold sweat broke out all over
her body and her hands started to shake so badly it was difficult
to hold the Glock. Her airway narrowed to a pinhole and she
couldn’t get enough oxygen into her starved lungs.

“
It’s all right,
Lalli,”
the Beast
growled. “I’ve got him. He can’t hurt you.”

“
Leave me alone” Kate
gasped. Suddenly nothing mattered but getting away—putting distance
between herself and the Beast that big Kindred had somehow become.
She ran out from around the counter and sprinted for the front of
the store.

Rosalie and Mr. Denrek had gotten behind one
of the counters which gave them shelter but Kate didn’t think she
could have stopped to help them even if they were right in the line
of fire. She was gripped with a blind panic—a fight or flight
response that was completely beyond her ability to control.

Have to get out—have to
get away! Can’t let him get me!
the voice
of panic yammered in her head.
Go! Go, go,
GO!
Then, to her horror, she heard the big
Kindred’s voice behind her.

“
Kate no! Kate, stop—I
won’t hurt you!”

Risking a glance over her shoulder, Kate saw
that he had let the guy in the hoody go and was chasing her
instead. His eyes had shifted back to normal but that didn’t calm
her down. She still felt the blinding urge to get away from him—to
get as far from him as she could.

“
Come back—I said I won’t
hurt you!” he yelled at her in that deep voice. He was reaching for
her now, one long-fingered hand snagged the back of her tan jacket
and began reeling her in.

Kate acted on instinct. She pointed her
Glock at his face and fired.

Running and looking over your shoulder and
shooting are all things that almost never go together except in
action movies. The shot missed. Instead of plowing right between
those glowing blue eyes as Kate had intended, the bullet went
through his broad shoulder instead. The big Kindred gasped and let
go of her jacket to grab his bleeding right arm.

Kate kept right on running. The shot had
only incapacitated him—not killed him. Therefore, she wasn’t safe
yet—she had to get away. She was still looking over her shoulder,
making sure he wasn’t following her, as her heels clattered over
the slick tiles of the upper deck.

“
Kate, no!” She saw his
blue eyes widen. “Kate, stop—watch where you’re going!”

But Kate wasn’t stopping for anything. She
would have kept running forever if something hadn’t stopped her—the
waist high railing that ran around the top floor suddenly hit her
in the midsection, knocking the air out of her lungs. It should
have sent her sprawling but instead, her forward motion carried her
over. She felt her feet leave the ground and then she was flipping
down and over the banister, headed head-first for the ground floor
far below.

A scream rose in her throat but somehow, she
managed to grab one of the skinny rails that ran between the
support struts of the railing with her free hand and stop with a
jerk. A heavier person would have fallen to their death but Kate
was light. She gripped the thin rail tightly, hanging by one hand,
her legs dangling into empty space.

One of her sensible heels came off and fell
into the kids play area below. People who had probably heard the
echoing gunshot were beginning to look up and point and gasp.

Suddenly the big Kindred was there, leaning
over the railing.

“
Kate, oh Goddess!” he
gasped raggedly. “Hold on, baby—I’ll get you.”

He started to reach for her with his
unwounded arm but just then the guy in the gray hoody came up
behind him.

“
You son of a bitch!” the
robber growled, wrapping his hands around the Kindred’s neck. “I’ll
fucking kill you for messing with me!”

Caught off guard, the big Kindred choked and
reached up to try and fend the other man off. He pressed his hand
into the robber’s face, pushing him away, struggling to get rid of
him, presumably so he could get back to Kate.

Kate, meanwhile, could feel her left hand
slipping. She still held the gun in her right hand and she knew she
ought to drop it and use both hands to pull herself up. But somehow
the fingers curled around the Glock refused to loosen their grip.
She gave a terrified gasp as she felt the thin metal strut sliding
between her sweaty fingers.

It seemed impossible that the big Kindred
could pay attention to anything else while he was grappling with
the robber but he seemed to hear Kate’s gasp. He was still using
his left hand to fight off the other man but he managed to reach
down with his right arm—the one she’d shot him in—and grasp her
wrist.

At his touch, Kate immediately went into
panic mode.