The Renegade Hunter (20 page)

"Stop that," she hissed.

"No," Nicholas said firmly. "We have to get out of here and she was about to back out of taking us through the kitchens because of Charlie."

Jo frowned, her gaze sliding to the dog and then to Beth. "Then we'll have to find another way out. I don't want to get her into trouble."

"She won't be in trouble," he said soothingly. "No one will see the dog."

"Right. How are you going to manage that?"

"The same way I'm managing Beth," Nicholas said calmly. "Now just relax.

We're here."

Jo glanced around as the elevator dinged. They'd arrived at the main floor.

She waited tensely for the doors to open,

relieved when there was no one in the hall, and then quickly led Charlie off and into the small hall she'd passed through earlier.

"This way," Beth said lightly, sounding more like herself as she slid out to lead the way. She also didn't look quite so blank-faced, Jo noted, and glanced to Nicholas in question.

He merely shook his head and gestured for her to follow.

Sighing, Jo fell into step behind her friend, leaving Charlie and Nicholas to follow. Beth headed straight for a door near the end of the hall. When she pushed it open, the sounds of clanging dishes, rushing water, and shouting voices rolled over them. Jo bit her lip and glanced nervously around, waiting for someone to notice Charlie, but no one even glanced their way.

Bewildered, she peered back at Nicholas to see his eyes moving quickly around the room, touching briefly on worker after worker before moving to the next as they walked. She had no idea what he was doing, but knew he was doing something to make sure they weren't noticed and stopped or interfered with.

The kitchens were brightly lit, hot and humid, and Jo was relieved when Beth pushed through a door, leading them into a cooler, darker area she recognized as the parking garage.

"Here we are," Beth said. "Are you guys parked in here or did you take the subway?"

"Nicholas parked here," Jo said, accepting the pizza Beth was holding out to her and hugging her quickly as she whispered, "Thank you, Beth."

"No problem," Beth said, hugging her back. "I'm sorry your night was ruined. Promise me you'll call the police and get a restraining order or something on that stalker guy of yours though. He's just getting beyond creepy."

"I will," Jo assured her as she stepped back. She glanced to the side with surprise when Nicholas then took Beth's hand.

"Thank you," he said solemnly, concentrating briefly on her face. He then released her and stepped back and glanced to

Jo. He took the pizza from her and said, "We have to go. I'll take Charlie to the van."

Jo nodded and glanced back to Beth to see her staring after him wide-eyed.

"He is so hot."

She smiled wryly. "Yeah."

"Enjoy the rest of your night," Beth said with a grin and turned back to the door. "I have to get back to work."

"Okay, thanks Beth. See you in class," Jo added as she turned to hurry after Nicholas. She caught up to him quickly, and asked with a sigh. "What did you do to her?"

"I just removed Charlie's presence from her memory so it wouldn't be a problem," he said quietly.

"And the workers in the kitchen?" she asked.

"I just gave them a psychic suggestion that they not notice our presence," he muttered. "Beth won't be in trouble and we got out without being spotted. It's all good."

Jo blinked at the words. It just sounded odd to hear such a contemporary comment like "It's all good" from him. It made her realize that he normally sounded a bit formal and even a little old-fashioned. His age, she supposed, and then glanced around sharply as he suddenly caught her arm and drew her to a halt.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly. They weren't far from the van. It was perhaps four vehicles away, but they had to pass the hotel's guest entrance from the garage to get to it, Jo realized, and immediately recognized the problem. The guest entrance was a double set of glass doors with wide glass windows on either side of it, and she could see Bricker inside.

His back was to them at the moment as he peered into the hotel, but if he turned a little to the right...

"What are we going to do?" Jo asked with worry.

Nicholas didn't answer at first, his eyes were slipping around the parking garage, and then he suddenly ushered her between the two vehicles next to them. When he dropped to his haunches, she did as well and peered at him in question, automatically petting Charlie when he slid his furry body between her and the car on her right.

"Wait here," Nicholas ordered. "I'll get the van and pick you up."

"How will you-" Jo began, but he was already gone. It happened so fast she was left blinking in amazement, and Jo rose

up a little to look around for him. She barely caught a glimpse of him disappearing around his van, and Jo shook her head at his speed as she glanced toward the door where Bricker stood. She never could have moved that quickly, but he appeared to have managed to make it past the guest entrance without being noticed.

A deep-throated growl from Charlie made Jo drop back down to her haunches and peer around with worry.

"What is it, boy?" Jo asked as she saw that he'd left her side to move to the front of the car on their left and was growling in the direction they'd come from. She heard the van start up and moved toward Charlie in a crouch. Pausing beside him, still between the cars, Jo leaned her head out a little, but all there was to see was the dim garage interior and the rows of vehicles.

Jo ran her hand along Charlie's stiff back, frowning when he gave that strange growl again. It was the same one he'd given when Bad-Breath Boy had been outside the apartment door, and Jo swallowed as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. This wasn't good.

Much to her relief the van pulled in front of them then, stopping just past the vehicle on their left. Jo immediately launched herself to her feet and hurried forward. She started out intending to run around the van to the passenger door, but a shout drew her attention to the fact that Bricker had spotted them and was now pushing through the hotel door, heading for her. Knowing how quickly immortals could move, Jo stopped abruptly at the back of the van, pulled the door open, and turned to see Charlie still standing at the front of the car they'd been hiding beside. The fur on his back was standing on end and his ears were down as he growled in earnest.

"Charlie come," she shouted, glancing nervously back toward Bricker. He was moving faster than she would have thought humanly possible.

"Get in," Nicholas roared, and Jo threw herself in the back of the van, grabbing at the still-closed door to stay inside when Nicholas immediately hit the gas sending the van jerking forward.

"Charlie come!" Jo shrieked, holding the other door open for him as the van moved forward and he came into view. The

German shepherd was still standing, growling, but turned at her call and launched himself toward the van. Charlie ran up behind the vehicle and was about to launch himself through the open door when Bricker was suddenly there, catching him in mid-jump.

"Get out of there, Jo!" Bricker shouted, holding on to her dog. "Get out of there!"

Jo stared at him silently, watching Charlie struggle to get out of his arms.

Bricker wasn't hurting the German shepherd,

but he wasn't letting him go either. Grinding her teeth together, she pulled the door closed as Bricker yelled, "Dammit, Jo, he's a rogue. Get the hell out of there!"

The door slammed shut, and Jo leaned her head briefly against it, her eyes closing. She knew Charlie would be safe with Bricker. He'd probably take him back to the house and Sam would look after him, but she felt like she was abandoning a child. She was also suddenly

questioning her decision to stay with Nicholas. She'd been following her instincts, but Bricker's words were ringing in her ears making her wonder if she should have. Jo, he's a rogue. Get the hell out of there! The worry and upset on Bricker's face as he'd yelled that had given the words more weight than she liked and she was suddenly having doubts where previously there had been none.

"Hold on to something, Jo," Nicholas ordered, and she glanced around briefly and then simply threw herself to the floor as the van suddenly shot around a corner. Jo slid with the boxes in the back of the van, slamming up against a tire well.

She tried to grab it and hold on, but it was smooth with nothing to grasp, and in the next moment she was rolling away and sliding down to hit the back doors as the van straightened out and careened up the street.

"Are you all right?" Nicholas called with concern.

Jo grimaced, but glanced up to see him peering back worriedly.

"Watch the road," she muttered, and crawled to her hands and knees to make her way to the front of the van. Doubts or not, she was there now. Besides, despite everything, she for some reason trusted the man.

"Charlie will be all right. They'll take care of him," Nicholas said quietly as she climbed past the pizza box and into the

passenger seat.

"I know," Jo said wearily, pulling out the seat belt and buckling herself in.

She closed her eyes briefly and sank back into

her seat. "Bricker said you were a rogue."

"Yes."

She opened her eyes and peered at him, but his face was as expressionless as his voice had been. "What does that mean exactly?"

Nicholas hesitated and then sighed. "Maybe I should take you to the enforcer house. You'll be with Charlie and they can explain everything."

"Do you honestly think they'll tell me anything? From all I've learned, they're more likely to wipe my memory, right?"

Nicholas was silent for a minute and then sighed and said, "Maybe that's for the best."

"What?" she asked with amazement, and then growing angry asked, "Is this the immortal version of wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am? Show me the best sex ever and then dump me off with your buddies so that they can erase it all from my memory?"

"They aren't my buddies... anymore," he added wearily. "And I never should have-" Nicholas cut himself off, swallowed, and said, "I have nothing to offer you but a life on the run, Jo. I can't even rent a cheap motel room tonight. I used up the last of the cash I had on hand for the hotel and chicken. I have nowhere to take you and I can't-"

"I have somewhere we can go," Jo interrupted quietly. "Sam's place."

When he glanced at her sharply, she shrugged and said, "It's her old apartment. Sam moved in with Mortimer, but couldn't break her lease. It's fully furnished and I keep telling Sam she should sublet, but she hasn't got around to it yet...

which works nicely for us. I have a key. It's free and we have pizza," Jo pointed out. "We can stay there tonight and talk.

You can explain what a rogue is and why you're one and then I'll decide whether to let you dump me at the enforcer house or not."

Nicholas was silent for a moment, considering the suggestion, and then asked, "What's the address?"

"I thought you said you had a key?" Nicholas asked grimly, his wary gaze sliding over the closed apartment doors in the hall outside Sam's apartment. "I do." Jo didn't even glance up from the lock she knelt before. "At home. The only thing I had in my pocket when we left so precipitously was my wallet. Don't worry, though, I've got this."

Nicholas shook his head and continued to watch the other doors, thinking he should have left her at the hotel for Bricker to catch, or, failing that, he should have taken her straight to the enforcer house. "It's a good thing you had all those tools in the van though. What do you use them for?" Jo asked as she fiddled with the lock.

"Stuff," he muttered, and she paused to glance at him, one eyebrow arched.

Nicholas merely shrugged. He could have

told her he hadn't used them for anything yet. They were all new, purchased that morning to replace the tools he'd lost with his old van, but why bother?

"Stuff, huh?" Jo asked dryly, and then turned back to what she was doing, saying, "It must be pretty technical stuff for you to have these tiny screwdrivers and-Got it," she interrupted herself happily as a click sounded. Retrieving the borrowed tools, she straightened and opened the door.

Nicholas followed her inside with relief, glancing around as she flipped a switch on the wall and a light burst to life overhead. His eyes widened as he saw that the apartment was still fully furnished. Sam hadn't yet taken out anything; even knickknacks and pictures still decorated the place. The decor was modern, the colors muted and calming.

"The pizza's probably cold by now," Jo said, turning into a room off the hall.

"Sam has a microwave though."

Nicholas grunted and followed her into what turned out to be a kitchen. His gaze slid over clean white cupboards and stainless steel appliances and back to Jo as she crossed the room away from him.

"Look, we even have wine," she said happily, and he followed her gesture to a wine rack on the counter holding half a dozen bottles as Jo added, "Pop is better with pizza, but beggars can't be choosers, right?"

Nicholas glanced back to Jo as she opened a cupboard door and retrieved a couple of plates. She sounded anxious; the

good cheer she was trying for seeming forced. He crossed the room, set the pizza on the counter, and then slid his arms around her from behind. Jo stiffened at once, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek and started to withdraw his arms, saying sadly, "You're afraid of me now."

"No." Jo released the plates she'd started to grab and caught at his hands to keep them where they were. She hesitated then, but finally sighed and assured him solemnly, "I'm not afraid of you, Nicholas. I'm more afraid of what you have to tell me."

He remained still for a moment, regret sliding through him. She had every right to fear what he had to tell her. Once Jo knew what he'd done, she wouldn't only be afraid of him, she'd no doubt loathe the very sight of him. The thought was painful to even consider and Nicholas tightened his hold on her briefly, holding her while he still could. He was about to turn her in his arms and kiss her when a scent reached his nose that made him frown and sniff delicately.