Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10) (3 page)

The unique and varied cultures that
had contributed to what the Ozark region was today made it one of the most
diverse and underrated cultures in the US. It was also one of the most mocked,
but BJ loved it, and strange murders aside, she was still glad she was back
home.

Chapter Two

Niklosi silently fumed as he tried
to wake up his beast to no avail. The Taser had effectively shut down Targe,
and Nik had no idea how to wake him back up—which left him seething in the back
of the old car and still wondering why the hell Traze and Decano had done
nothing to get him out of this.

The cop had spent an hour carefully
collecting evidence, and instead of knocking her unconscious and helping him
escape, they were nowhere to be found. Nik had considered and discarded a dozen
different ways of escaping on his own, but all the scenarios he came up with
entailed either he or the female being gravely injured, and harming her wasn’t
an option.

He groaned and shook his head when
he saw the headlights coming up from behind and saw an old man get out of the
most ancient vehicle Nik had ever seen and make his way to the car.

Niklosi kept his face averted as
the man’s dull eyes studied him for a moment before he spoke to the cop about
the evidence she was collecting.

He watched as the cop and Buford
headed towards the car. Buford gave him a curious look as he passed and helped
the cop put the black cases and evidence bags into her trunk before he got into
his truck.

BJ slammed the trunk shut and
looked around the area again before opening the driver’s door and sliding into
the front seat.

Nik was just stunned that Traze and
Decano had let it get this far.

I’m going to kill them both
, he
thought as he eyes clashed with the cops in the rear view mirror.

“We got about an hour drive to
town,” BJ told him as she looked away from his gaze and slowly did a three
point turn on the narrow dirt road.

Niklosi scrambled to think of what
town was nearby and knew damn well he hadn’t run far enough to be close to one
of the towns in the area where they’d dropped.

“Uh . . . what town?” he asked,
coming up blank on where they could be.

“Baker’s Creek,” BJ answered,
seeing no reason not to since the guy was being really compliant.

For a killer
, she
reminded herself.

“What the fuck is a Baker’s Creek?”
Nik asked in irritation.

He never saw such a place on any of
the maps they’d looked at before they dropped from the transport. He looked
around the car suspiciously before he turned narrowed eyes on hers in the rear
view mirror.

“Does it even exist, or is
abducting travelers how you make money?” Nik accused.

BJ snorted, assuming he was making
a dig at her small town when she saw the mistrust in his eyes. She told herself
she didn’t care what some killer thought of her or her town but surprised
herself by responding.

“We have 354 full time
residents—none of whom hold killers hostage for ransom,” BJ said, trying to
keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“Wow, a whole 354?” Niklosi
snipped, hoping like hell Decano and Traze had a damn plan and enacted it soon.

There’s going to be an hour of
driving on a desolate road that would make it easy for them to pull off an easy
rescue
, Nik thought.

“Yeah, a whole 354. And a half if
you count Mary Jo’s baby that’s due in another month. Buford and his wife, Mary,
couldn’t be happier to welcome their first grandchild,” BJ added with a
chuckle, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

“Sarcasm does not look pretty on
you,” Nik snapped at her like a petulant child.

BJ laughed at the pouty expression
on the handsome man’s face. He was amusing if nothing else.

“I’m not going for pretty, I’m
going for bitch. I guess I’m doing a kick ass job then?” BJ joked and grinned
when she saw his reluctant smile in the rear view mirror.

Even with Buford behind them, BJ
felt it would be wise to keep the large man in a pleasant mood. In an effort to
keep the mood light and Nik calm during the bumpy ride, she decided to go with
levity. She definitely didn’t want him stewing in the back seat for the whole
ride and being a hulking asshole to deal with at the station.

“Yeah,” Nik agreed with a grin and
a nod, “you got that covered pretty good. Taser to the face, check! Mace to the
eyes, check! Yeah, you’re rocking the bitch theme.”

As much as Nik wanted to be pissed
off at her, he couldn’t stay angry for long. She was beautiful, witty and
charming in a way that peaked his interest and tugged at something inside of
him. He knew she was being cautious, he could feel it in her energy, and he
felt an overwhelming need to keep her from being frightened of him.

BJ laughed. Even though it was
funny, she really hadn’t intended to Taser him in the face.

“So what’s the deal here?” Nik
asked, unsure what the human law process entailed.

BJ sighed and puffed out her cheeks
for a second as she studied him in the rear view mirror.

“Well, when we get to the station,
you’ll be booked into custody. I’ll fingerprint you, take some pictures, and do
a lot of paperwork,” BJ admitted.

She didn’t see any reason to lie to
him since she’d have backup waiting at the station to help her get him into a
cell without incident, and Buford was following them in his truck

“You’re arresting me for what?” Nik
asked, incredulous that this situation had gone so far and Traze and Decano had
hung him out to dry.

BJ’s mouth hung open in shock as
she stared at him in the rear view mirror for a moment before turning back to
the dirt road they were bouncing along; the shocks were stressed from his
immense size.

“You’re kidding right? You do know
that you killed someone back there? Never mind. Don’t say another word until we
get to the station. We’ll be there soon,” BJ said, wondering if the man was
insane.

She quickly dismissed the idea of
insanity as she looked at his uniform. He looked more like a mercenary or
member of the military. Taking another peek at him, she figured mercenary
suited him better. BJ knew she’d find out once she ran his prints, and she’d
rather wait until they got to the station anyway.

“Why don’t you talk like a
hillbilly?” Niklosi asked, hating the silence as he waited for his beast to
recover from its electroshock treatment.

“Not everyone from the mountains
talks like that. I’ve never spoken with an accent, and I’ve lived here my whole
life,” BJ admitted, having heard the same thing whenever someone in St. Louis
had found out where she’d come from.

Niklosi sat up straighter and
narrowed his eyes at her, his vision still a little blurry. He could still make
out her hazel eyes in the mirror.

“You don’t think it odd that you
don’t speak like the people you grew up with?” Nik asked, instantly wondering
if she were a hybrid or gifted and if he could use it to escape.

BJ snorted and glanced at him in
the mirror.

“Trust me, everyone has their own
accent around here depending on what family you grew up in. But we all speak
English and can read and write too!” BJ said sarcastically.

Niklosi snorted and looked out of
the window, again wondering where the hell his backup was.

I wouldn’t be here wondering why
the hillbilly cop doesn’t have an accent if that fucking Traze and Decano
hadn’t screwed me over,
Nik thought in anger.

Mostly he was worried for the two
and hoping they hadn’t been ambushed by another group of Relians while he’d
been chasing down the asshole who got him arrested.

Arrested,
Nik
thought with a groan.
Grai is going to kill me for this one, and Balduen is
going to tease me until I beat the hell out of him.

Nik knew he’d been more reckless
and restless than usual, taking more chances than he should. But he damn sure
hadn’t expected to run right into a backwoods cop while shooting a Relian
either.

“So what’s your name?” BJ asked,
not wanting the man to brood and put up a fuss before they got to the station.

“Nik,” he said. “What’s yours?”

BJ laughed and shook her head.

“I see the game. I’m Markson,” she
said.

Nik snorted and shrugged his
shoulder.

“Whatever, Markson. So, this your
first month as a cop?” he snapped, assuming she was new and wanting to needle
her.

“Damn!” BJ said, a little surprised
at his nasty attitude. “You’re just full of offensive snips and snaps aren’t
you? I’m sorry if watching you kill someone has ruined
your
evening.
Feel free to remain silent.”

“Yup, mastering the bitch-i-tude,
and going for top of your class,” Nik muttered.

BJ smiled sweetly at his face in
the rear view mirror and kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t about to let a
murderer goad her, especially not over something so stupid.

Nik shook off his disappointment
that she hadn’t taken his bait and again tried to wake up his beast. He sighed
when he was still met with silence and began resigning himself to actually
being arrested and whatever that entailed. Whatever had happened with Decano
and Traze, he just hoped they were all right.

*****

Decano ducked down behind the thick
bushes and watched in horror as Niklosi stomped right in front of the
policewoman standing a few feet from the dead Relian. There had been no way to
warn his friend before he’d already exposed himself to the cop—not that killing
the Relian and having its body skid across the road in front of her had helped
Niklosi.

Decano silenced Traze when the boy
finally caught up to him and waited patiently as Traze quietly crawled to where
he was hiding behind the bushes.

Traze clapped a hand over his mouth
when he looked up and saw Niklosi tasered in the forehead, maced in the face,
and subsequently handcuffed with a series of zip ties to accommodate his large
hands and shoulder width.

“Why isn’t he breaking free?”
Decano whispered, wondering why Niklosi was putting up with this when he could
easily overpower the woman.

Traze shrugged his shoulders.

“He probably doesn’t want to hurt
her,” Traze suggested.

“Then how are we supposed to help?
I’m not hurting her if he’s not willing to do it. Maybe it’s his mate?” Decano
wondered aloud.

“I bet that’s it!” Traze agreed
with a grin. “Let’s get the transport and find out where the hell she’s taking
him. We can pick him up there. Maybe the time alone together will help them
bond before she realizes she’s stuck with an asshole.”

“He looks really pissed off. Are
you sure we shouldn’t step in? I can sneak up behind her if you create a
distraction,” Decano suggested, seeing the look on Nik’s face as he was placed
in the back of the car.

“Nah,” Traze assured Decano. “He
looks fine. A little surprised, but who wouldn’t be finding your mate way the
hell out here. A cop too! Who knew there were cops way the hell out in bum fuck
this place?”

“Oh shit!” Decano whispered when
they saw the beat up old truck crest the hill and park behind the police car
Niklosi was in.

“Well, looks like we’re waiting
until they take him in. I don’t think that ambushing humans in the woods like
this would bode well for any of us,” Traze said, looking around and seeing no
way to prevent something from going wrong if they tried to interfere now.

“Yeah, that old man doesn’t look
like he’s any slower with that gun he’s keeping his hand on just because he’s
ancient. Why isn’t he dressed like a cop though?” Decano asked, unsure if they
were doing the right thing.

“Hell, I don’t know. Maybe he was
the closest thing to backup she had. She’s a little thing, and Nik’s pretty
big; she was probably scared. All the more reason to not make her start
shooting,” Traze reasoned.

“I think we should call Grai,”
Decano suggested, thinking they needed a little more guidance on the best way
to rescue Nik.

“Nah,” Traze said with a grin as he
put a hand on Decano’s shoulder. “This is one of those really backwoods places;
we can probably get him out and be gone in no time if we need to. What could go
wrong?”

Decano looked at Traze
incredulously and gestured to where Niklosi was now being driven away in the
police car.

“I think it went wrong already! We
should call Grai,” Decano argued as he stood and watched the car bounce
awkwardly down the uneven dirt road.

“No, we’re not. We can do this!”
Traze said before he contacted their transport pilot. “We need pickup and we’ve
got to get the scanners on the vehicles leaving our location. Nik’s in the back
of the car.”

“Traze, I really think we need to
let Grai know we’ve had a problem, and we should really call in another team
for backup,” Decano argued.

Decano had a sick feeling in his
stomach and the man-child’s nonchalant attitude wasn’t making him feel any
better about the situation.

“Look, our ride’s here. Let’s just
go check out where she’s taking him, and we’ll decide from there,” Traze
suggested before he ported into the ship.