Moon Lovers Box Set (BBW Werewolf Romance) (2 page)

"Hey boss, there's some underwear in this machine," one of the thugs piped up. I cringed and peeked around the machine to see what was going on.

Mr. Hat went over and inspected my laundry still swooshing around in the washer. He stopped the machine and pulled out the same pair of underwear Cartwright had played with. Mr. Hat plastered a wide, stupid grin on his face as he held it up for all the men to see. "Anyone have a girlfriend who wants these?" They laughed.

"I think I could get two of my Maria in there," one of them quipped. I rolled my eyes. Even these guys were weight critics.

I must have rolled my eyes too far out from behind the machine because one of the thugs pointed at my corner. "Boss!"the man yelled.

The boss scowled and marched over to me, where he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my hiding spot. My half-nakedness caught their lecherous attentions immediately, and Mr. Hat tossed me in the middle of those vultures. They practically consumed my flesh with their lustful eyes. Mr. Hat held up my underwear in front of me. "This yours?" he drawled with that sick grin on his face.

"Yeah, but you can keep it." I tried to push my way through them, but was pushed back into the circle. They edged in closer to me, and more than one had tight pants.

"No hurry, we jist want to play with you some," Mr. Hat insisted.

"I, um, I left my toys in my apartment. If you'll just wait here I'll go get them." I tried again to break through their line to the slightly ajar door, but like every other Red Rover game in my life I was pushed back and fell on my butt. At a signal from Mr. Hat one of the gang members grabbed my arms and another one caught hold of my legs. I thrashed and kicked, but they were stronger than me. "Let me go! Somebody help me!"

Mr. Hat knelt down beside me and slapped my chin. "Shut your mouth or we'll hurt you worse," he growled. They didn't get a chance because at that moment the lights in the laundry room went out. The windows along the outer wall didn't give much light because they faced an alley, and the light from the hall outside the room was extinguished when somebody shut the door. "Somebody get these damn lights on!" Mr. Hat ordered. I saw the silhouette of one of his men move toward the door, but another shadow overtook him near the switch and he let out a blood-curdling scream. The men holding me let go and backed away from the door and behind their leader. I sat up and scooted over to the outer wall in front of one of the machines. "Ricardo?" he called out to his missing man.

"B-boss, let's get out of here," one of his stooges pleaded.

I saw Mr. Hat's silhouette grab the scared man and toss him out front. "Then leave!" he shouted at his man.

The frightened man scrambled for the door, but the large shadow rose up from behind the end dryer and grabbed him. He screamed and thrashed, but nothing stopped the unknown vigilante as the gang member was tossed across the room. His body hit the wall and he fell to the floor. He didn't move, and I wasn't even sure he was breathing.

"Shoot it!" Mr. Hat ordered.

The men pulled out their guns and fired at the shadow. I swore they hit it with more rounds than those guns could hold, but they didn't even slow it down as the shadow barreled into their tiny group. The men scattered or were tossed aside, and Mr. Hat scrambled toward me. He slid behind me, wrapped his arm around my throat and pulled me onto my feet with his gun aimed at my temple. He shook hard enough to pull the trigger, but after so many shots I doubted he had any bullets left.

His men tried to escape the room, but each of them was thrown against the wall or machines, and didn't move. The shadow rose up and turned its head toward us, and through the dim light I could see a pair of yellow eyes. "S-stay back or she gets it!" Mr. Hat threatened. The creature raised itself up to a height of six feet and growled at him. "D-don't come any closer!"

In a flash the creature covered the short distance between us and grabbed the gun. It tore the weapon from his hand and I heard the metal crunch between its strong fingers. Mr. Hat screamed like a girl and dashed to the door, but the creature followed him. The thing's shadow covered him and he screamed. That was when I decided it was a good time to faint, and collapsed to the hard, cold floor.

Chapter 3

The next thing I remember is Garrison standing over me with a worried expression on his face. He cast his shadow over me and hid me from the bright ceiling lights. It must have still been night, but how late I couldn't tell. I tried to sit up, but he held me down. "Easy there, you've got a good bump on your head." I felt what he meant when a throbbing pain pounded into my head from the egg-size bump on the back of my noggin.

"Ouch..." I murmured.

Garrison slipped a pillow beneath my head. "I've called the cops, but it looks like whoever came in here and attacked the place left in a hurry." That reminded me of the gang members and that hulking shadow, and I whipped my head to the left and right. The place was a mess with machines torn from the walls and coins everywhere, but there wasn't a sign of any of the guys or the shadow thing. All that whipping gave me whiplash, and made my head hurt worse. "Don't go moving too fast," Garrison warned me. "Did you want any water?"

"N-no, I'm okay. Just let me sit up." He hefted me up so I sat with my back against one of the washers. It was the one that had held my laundry, though not anymore. My shirts, pants and underwear were strewn throughout the room, including on me.

Garrison picked a pair of underwear off my shoulder and plopped it on the ground. "Do you remember anything about what happened here?"

I shook my head, and I winced when that caused more pain to shoot through my skull. "There was this group of guys, some of the Green Bandanna gang, and they smashed up the machines. They found me hiding and held me down on the floor-" I shuddered when I recalled what they were going to do.

"Skip that part. What happened next?" Garrison asked me.

"Then the lights went out and somebody kept sneaking out of the dark and grabbing them. I got out of the way when they shot at him, but whoever it was must have been wearing a bullet proof vest or something because he ran into them and threw them everywhere." I glanced up and noticed the flimsy ceiling tiles were broken from the impact of a human body.

Garrison followed my eyes, and raised an eyebrow. "Even up there?" he guessed.

"Must have. I guess the guy may have chased them out of here when they were done."

"I'm not sure that's quite what happened," Garrison hesitantly argued.

I frowned. "Why?"

"Let me show you something." Garrison helped me to my feet and turned me around so I faced the exterior wall. All the windows were broken out and there were drops of blood on the shards around the sills. "They must have been really desperate to get out." He tilted his head to one side and frowned. "The police are finally coming." I listened, and sure enough there were police sirens coming down the street. "Come on, let's get you into my apartment so you can sit down on something warm. That floor can't be comfortable."

Garrison helped me into his apartment and set me back in the kitchen chair. His place was long and narrow like the laundry room, but it went back farther toward the stairwell where there were a few rooms partitioned off from the kitchen and living room. I assumed those were bedrooms and bath. Before he left to answer the knocking of the police at the front door he tossed me a shirt from his bedroom. "You might need that," he told me and left the room.

I glanced down at myself and was reminded that I only had my bra on. Even that was slightly askew, reveling more of my breasts than I cared to share with the world. I yelped and slipped into the shirt. Garrison was soon back down with four cops, three of which went to the laundry room and one of them followed Garrison back to his apartment to talk to me. The cop introduced himself as Officer Cranston.

"Mr. Garrison here tells us you were in some sort of a fight," Officer Cranston assumed. "Did you need medical attention?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine, just a bump on the head, but I wasn't really in the fight. I just kind of watched it."

"Can you describe to me what happened?" I described as best I could the happenings of the evening, and he jotted everything down in his book. "And how long would you say you were out?"

"I don't know. What time is it?"

"Almost eight," Garrison spoke up. "I heard some noises in the laundry room and when I flicked on the light I found Miss Taylor on the ground."

"You let us in through the front door, Mr. Garrison. How do you think these other fellows got inside?" Cranston wondered.

Garrison shrugged. "They could have a key, or maybe they picked the lock."

"Or they have a room here," I suggested. "One of the guys did look kind of familiar."

"What about this mystery shadow man? What did you see of him?" Cranston asked me.

I shook my head. "Not much except that he stood six feet tall and had some yellow eyes."

"Yellow eyes?" Cranston repeated in disbelief.

"Yellow eyes," I reaffirmed with a frown.

Another officer came into the apartment, and Cranston turned to him. "Well, Perkins?"

Perkins shook his head. "It's a real mess in there, sir. Lots of blood and damage, but no sign of where they went or who they were," Perkins told him.

Officer Cranston glanced over to Garrison. "We'll have to seal off the room for a few days to gather evidence."

Garrison smirked. "There won't be much use looking for fingerprints. I clean that place pretty often but too many people use it."

"It's the blood we're after. Hopefully we'll be able to trace the crooks and the fellow who beat them up."

Garrison raised an eyebrow. "The fellow? Why him?"

"To thank him for doing this neighborhood a favor and tell him he should watch his back. The Green Bandannas aren't going to let him get away with his life if they can help it." Cranston turned to me. "I'll have to warn you to watch your back, too, Miss Taylor. If word gets out that you know who beat them up, the Bandannas are going to go after you to find out what you know."

Garrison stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. "I'll keep an eye out for her," he offered.

Cranston looked the skinny nerd up and down, and smiled. "Are you sure? These guys are pretty tough. If you feel threatened by any strange noises or men, Miss Taylor, don't hesitate to call us."

I nodded and promised myself I'd put 911 on speed dial. "Sure thing." The cops left to seal off the laundry room and I slumped back in my chair. "Just great. I go to clean some messy laundry and end up getting into a bigger mess with the Bandanna gang."

Garrison patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be all right."

I oozed over the table and stuffed my head into my folded arms. "Only if my guardian angel with yellow eyes keeps looking out for me," I muttered.

Garrison slipped into his seat and had a peculiar smile on his face. "What if I told you that your guardian angel was looking out for you right now?"

I lifted my head and frowned. "I'd say I have an invisible stalker."

He chuckled. "Invisible except when someone needs their sink fixed or a light bulb changed."

"Um, I'm not following you."

"What if I told you I'm your guardian angel?"

I looked him up and down. He didn't look like the six-foot shadow I saw earlier. "Growth spurt?" I asked him.

Now it was his turn to be bewildered. "Pardon?"

"You're not exactly tall, and that guy I saw was tossing those gang members like they were footballs."

Garrison stood up and flexed his wimpy arm muscles. "You don't think this could throw someone ten feet?"

"Maybe if you had a giant slingshot," I teased.

He sighed and shrugged. "You can't blame a guy for trying to win a girl's affections."

"Yes I can, but I'll forgive you for your lying." I stood up and wobbled on my feet. He scurried around the table and kept my rubber legs from buckling beneath me.

"Wouldn't you rather stay here for the night? I can take the couch," he offered.

I shook my head. "I'd rather be in my own bed, but if you could help me up the stairs that would be great."

"All right. Just lean on me and we'll get going." Garrison showed more strength than I gave him credit for as he hefted me down the basement hall and upstairs to the lobby. The staircase was a winding snake of wooden steps in a narrow shaft. When you stood at the top you could look straight down to the lobby. At the bottom of the stairs Garrison paused and looked up.

"It's times like these I wish this place had an elevator," I muttered.

"That would be convenient."

"Which explains why one isn't in this place."

"I suppose there's only one thing we can do."

"Build an escalator?" I suggested.

"No, this." He swooped me into his arms and stepped up the stairs. I clung onto his thin frame and was surprised to find there was some muscle underneath those dorky clothes.

"Could you have warned me before you did that?" I snapped at him.