Micah (24 page)

“
While this is very
entertaining watching the two of you roll in the dirt, I might
point out that our daughters will not come to visit you in prison
should you kill him. And when they arrest you for said crime, I’m
not going to bring you anything to wear. You’ll have to put on that
nasty orange jumpsuit that no doubt fifty other people have had on
too. Their naked dirty ass all over yours.” He growled and jumped
up to get her to teach her a lesson too, but she took off for the
house and he was left there with Tony. Pulling on his clothing, he
had to smile. She’d gotten him really good.

“
I came out to tell you
something.” Tony turned his back to him so he could dress in
private. “I’ve been offered a job when I get out of college. I’m
going to take it.”

“
Where?” He didn’t want to
have any of his family move away and would do most anything to keep
them there. “I’m taking this to mean that you’ve not told
Mom.”

“
No. And it’s not far.
Joey asked me to help him with the horses. I guess he’s going to
raise a few cattle too.” A real rancher his brother was turning
into. “I want to take it, but…but I sort of have a
problem.”

“
And that would be?” When
Tony didn’t answer, he asked him again. “If you don’t tell me, how
do you expect me to help you out? I’m assuming that’s why you came
out here.”

“
Yes and no. I came out
here to think. But I saw your naked ass and decided to have some
fun. It wasn’t until I was nearly on you that I saw Reggie. Who was
dressed, by the way.” Micah was glad now that he’d not hit Tony on
principle, tempting as it still was. “No, I have a problem with one
of my professors. She thinks…I mean there might have been a
misunderstanding between us.”

“
You slept with her.” Tony
shook his head and looked around again. “Damn it, tell me. This is
insane.”

“
She wants me. I know
that’s hard to believe, but she…I have a stalker and I’m not
fucking sure what to do about it. I think….” His brother ran his
fingers through his hair as he continued. “She’s been coming onto
me for a while now. I just ignored it for the most part. Then
lately she’s been touching me. I’m not a prude or anything like
that, but she’s fucking as old as Mom.”

Micah didn’t mean to laugh, but before
he could stop it, laughter was bubbling from his mouth. His brother
had a cougar…a real, honest to goodness cougar that was trying to
get a piece of him. Tony started to stalk away, but Micah caught
him. He was still laughing, but his brother was really upset, so he
stopped.

“
I’m sorry. Who is she and
what have you done about this?” He told him her name, then
explained how he’d gone to her twice and had nearly not made it out
alive. “She’s aggressive then?”

“
Aggressive? Fuck, Micah,
she’s got moves on her that make me think I’ve been with more than
one of her.” He moved ahead, stopping just short of the house. “I
need help. She said if I don’t fuck her, I’m going to fail. If I
fail her class, I’m done. I’ll still pass, with flying colors, but
I won’t be the top of my class, and that’s what I promised
Dad.”

“
I doubt that Joey will
care if you’re at the top or second.” But he nodded, understanding.
“But I’ll call in a few favors and see what I can do for you. It
will have to be a couple of days. I have something I’m working on
too.”

“
Just…graduation is in
five weeks. I want her off my back…and my body…well before then.
She’s…I just know that she’s going to tell others that I’ve come on
to her. She told me as much when I was talking to her the other
day. And there’s something else.”

Micah waited, and when Tony didn’t say
anything, he put his hand on his shoulder. “Whatever it is, we can
handle this. Mom will want to rip her eyes out. Even Reggie will
want a piece of her. Hell, I’d be more afraid of her than Mom if I
were this woman. But we’ll get it fixed.”

“
She wants money.” That
sent Micah’s mind working. She was going to blackmail Tony. Their
family was rich and she’d figured out how to get a piece of it. “I
told her that I didn’t have much, because I really don’t. Until I’m
twenty-five, I’m sort of broke. I didn’t tell her that, but she
seemed to know it already. I’ll be twenty-five in sixteen months.
And she knew. Plus, she threatened me with a kid. We both know
that’s not possible, but she said it.”

“
I’ll take care of her.”
Micah made a mental note of a list of things he’d need to do. “I
have a few favors I can call in and we’ll have her investigated
too.” He could already see the relief on Tony’s face. He was going
to make this his top priority as of now.

Tony told Reggie, who, in Micah’s
estimations, handled it very well. The fact that she’d gone to find
her gun instead of going directly to the woman’s house gave them
time to come up with a plan for her not to kill the woman. Tony had
explained to her that they needed to catch her, not kill
her.

“
She might have done this
before.” Reggie nodded, but she wasn’t happy. Micah decided that
when he had a big case, she was not going to know about it until it
was over. She’d close them, but with violence, and he needed to
work. Yeah, Micah thought, he’d married a hellion and he loved
every bit of her.

Chapter 14

“
I don’t know.” She really
didn’t know where she was at the moment, and this man pressuring
her wasn’t going to give her any more information than she knew
already. “She said she was going to be rich someday and that I was
going to be going with her. As far as I know, she doesn’t even know
my name.”

Angel watched the man pace. He was
really good at it, and she wondered if he had any idea how much he
resembled a cat. Smiling to herself, she was pretty sure that he
knew, being that he was a large one himself. She looked down at her
hand and curled her fingers into her palm. There was no reason why
they should both give things away.

“
Your boss, did you know
what she was doing? I mean, you do work right here beside her.”
Angel shook her head and then nodded. “That is not one bit of help.
You know that, right?”

“
I work for her. She is my
boss, but I have no idea what she does all day. I fill out the
paperwork, file it, and I even bill the clients. She cashes the
checks and pays me. So far as I know…she’s not really all that
useful when it comes to working here. Not that I really care so
long as she leaves me alone.” Angel looked out the window of her
tiny little office. “She’s going to be here soon. It’s almost noon
and she usually comes in about then.”

“
Not today she won’t.” Not
that Angel cared if she ever came in, but the man seemed so certain
of it. Thinking about his name while he seemed to take up all of
her five by ten space, she wondered, not for the first time, what
the fuck she was doing here. “What can you tell me about her
personal life?”

“
Like yours, it’s
personal.” The man, Micah was his name, turned to look at her. She
could see the hint of a smile, but she wasn’t fooled by it. “What
is going on that you’re in here asking me these questions? I don’t
have anything to do with Mrs. Greer any more than you
do.”

“
First of all, she’s not
Mrs. anything, especially not Greer. Her real name is not
important. And I know a great deal about her. She’s been laundering
money for a man by the name of Sandalwood. Do you know
him?”

“
Sam Sandalwood?” Micah
nodded. “Only that he has a couple of properties that are going
into foreclosure. He also…laundering money for him? The man can
barely afford the gas money to come in here twice a week to clean
the offices, she told me. I’ve never met him, but she has me
advance him money every week.”

“
He’s her boss.” Angel
didn’t say a word, but he must have thought she didn’t believe him.
“He is. One of the richest men in the world due to his activity in
the drug world. Also, all the houses that he has in foreclosure?
They’re now completely up to date in their payments, taxes are
paid, and there is a nice tidy sum in the bank to take care of any
issues that might come up. And do you want to know who’s in charge
of that money?”

“
No. I really don’t think
I want to know.” She stood up then and realized that there wasn’t
enough space for the two of them to pace the room. Opening the door
to the back parking lot, she inhaled deeply before she moved out
into the sunshine. “She told me last week via email that she was
going to be coming into some big money. What from? Can you tell me
that?”

“
She and Sandalwood were
leaving the country when they were caught yesterday. They have
named you in most of their dealings. They have claimed that you
were the boss and that they were leaving before you killed them.”
She turned to look at him. “I have another scenario in mind. Would
you like to hear it?”

Shaking her head, she walked toward
her car. She wasn’t leaving, but she wanted to get her cooler from
the back seat. She needed some sugar. As Micah leaned against the
doorjamb and watched her, she pulled her cola from the cooler and
drained it. Taking out a second one, she sipped it as she sat on
the trunk of her car.

“
I’ve read your mind.” She
nodded. Angel had let him to a point, but not everything. “You’re
as innocent as they are guilty, aren’t you?”

“
So you say. I am in this
anyway. But others?” She shrugged as she took another drink and
looked at the condensation on the can before continuing. “You’re a
panther. I knew that the moment you touched my arm. What you don’t
know is that I’m not human either.”

“
I didn’t know, but I
figured it. What’s the mark you’re trying to hide on your hand?”
She lifted her sleeve up and let him look. As he moved closer to
her, she warned him not to touch her. “I don’t think I’ve seen a
sigil like this before. That is what it is, right?”

“
It is.” He didn’t ask
more questions, even though she could feel them in his mind. “Where
do you have them held up? I’m assuming you didn’t let them leave
the country.”

“
No. And I’m just the
investigator in this. My brother is a lawyer for someone who they
tried to kill.” She snorted and emptied her can, tossing it to the
dumpster about ten feet away. “Nice shot. But why do you sound like
you don’t believe me?”

“
Because had they wanted
this person dead, they’d be dead, as you’ve already figured out.”
She hopped off her car and stared at the man. She was glad when he
took a step back. “If I were you, I’d arrest them all. Their
household, the man who drives their car, as well as anyone who is
on their payroll. Maybe me, but that won’t pan out well for anyone.
They’re more than likely doing this for a reason. Letting you catch
them, I mean.”

“
Are you going to tell me
what you really know? Or do I have to take you to my office?” She
laughed at him. It was just too funny. Instead of answering him,
she moved back to the office. Time to go, she supposed. “Miss
McKenzie, I’m afraid I have to insist that you answer my
questions.”

“
You can insist all you
want, but I don’t have any more information for you than you have
already.” When he touched her shoulder, she turned, grabbing his
hand at the same time. When she flipped him over, tossing him to
the ground so that he landed on his back, he shifted from man to
cat in seconds. And when he did, he pulled her other self as
well.

Mother fuck.
She heard him as if he’d spoken aloud.
What the fuck are you? You’re…Christ, you’re as
beautiful as you are scary. Is that armor?

“
Stay away from me, Micah.
I’m not one to be toyed with.” His big cat nodded but said nothing
else. “I have your scent and you have mine. We will both live a
good deal longer if we just forget what we’ve seen.”

I don’t think that’s
possible. And I’m pretty sure you know that, don’t you?
She knew he was right.
You didn’t answer me. What are you?

“
No, I didn’t.” Looking
around, she looked down at him once more. “Good-bye, Micah. And
you’d do well to follow your instincts. Arrest them
all.”

Moving out of the office toward her
car, she knew that getting away from the big panther was going to
be difficult. He was smarter than most men that she knew. Hell, he
was smarter than anyone she knew, including her family. Touching
the handle of her door, she looked around. There was something…off,
she supposed. Closing her eyes to reach out, she knew that it was
entirely too late for her. Then she was knocked to the ground just
as magic started to spray around her. And she knew as surely as his
weight weighed her down that she’d been fatally hit.

“
Stay down.” She nodded,
so surprised that the panther had touched her, much less tried to
save her. “Will guns work?”

“
No.” When he started to
move, she realized two things at once. He’d been hit and he was
naked. “They’ll kill you. You have to move away.”

“
I’m not leaving you.” She
didn’t really think that he would and wasn’t surprised when he
shifted around and she saw the gun in his hand. “What was that? I
felt it coming, but it was faster than I could move.”

“
You’re going to need
something. More than you are.” He didn’t say anything, but she
could tell he was looking for them. Even his body was stiff and
ready for them. But he’d never survive. “Micah, look at
me.”