Dana Bell - Cat of a Different Color

“But I was still fooled by Rudy.”

He went cold again, hiding himself behind icy eyes. “Just because you can see deeply doesn’t mean you always think to look.”

He stood up, towering over them, and stared at their joined hands. “She’ll be safe with us. Go get the other female.”

And he turned and walked into the kitchen without a backward glance.

Sheri tapped her fingers nervously on her legs. She was watching television, trying to distract herself until the others returned. Richard’s utter stillness wasn’t helping, either; it wasn’t relaxed at all. It was the stillness of a predator waiting for his prey to come within striking distance. He stayed away from windows and doors, making sure she did the same, and he kept between her and the doors and windows the few times she moved. He inspected every room she went into before she entered it. He’d detailed his Marshal and men to outside guard duty. His Marshal had agreed, as he felt it was his job to guard them both. In short, he acted the perfect bodyguard. Gabe was outside with the other Wolves, since he was familiar with the wooded territory behind Adrian’s house and they weren’t.

Her cell phone rang. An amused chuckle came from over her shoulder as he heard her ring tone.

“Where did you find that?”

“On a website that had Looney Tunes sound waves,” she answered as she dug her phone out of her purse.

He chuckled some more as Sylvester the Cat’s voice said once again, “You’re darn tootin’, Buster. You did see a pussycat!”

“Hello?”

“Hello, Sheridan.”

She felt her blood run cold as Rudy’s soft, growling voice filled her ears. She looked up at Richard, hoping he could see the expression on her face, but his back was to her. “Hello, Rudy.”

“I hear you’ve been a busy, busy girl, Sheridan.”

She licked her lips as Richard moved to look out one of the kitchen windows. “Yes, I have.”

“I’d love to get together, discuss what you’ve been up to. Do lunch, maybe.”

“Sorry, my social calendar is booked full through two thousand sixty. Maybe some other time.”

“Really? Because Giordano would just love it if you joined us.”

She froze. “Adrian’s not with you.”

“No? Have you spoken to him since he left for the hospital?”

Richard turned back to stare at her but was too far away for her to see his expression. “No, I haven’t.”

“Tell you what, Sheridan. I’m a generous guy. You get on the phone and call him, see how he’s doing.

I’ll call back in five. Just to see if you’ve been able to get a hold of him.”

The connection cut off.

With shaking hands and voice she filled Richard in as she dialed Adrian’s cell. No answer. She tried Max’s, and then Simon’s.

No answer.

Her heart pounding with fear, she started to dial Emma’s number. When the cell phone rang again she jumped. She fumbled it open. “Hello?”

“Well, Sheridan? Were you able to get in touch with any of them?”

“No,” she whispered, terrified beyond belief.

“That’s odd, because I could have sworn I heard his cell phone ringing.”

The gloating triumph in his voice sent shards of terror straight down her spine.

“What do you want?”

“Hmm. Well, my men are getting hungry. Are you sure you won’t join us for lunch?”

She whimpered. Wolf packs in the wild had been known to eat lone pumas.

“I tell you what, sweetheart. I’ll arrange it so you can get away from the Neanderthal who thinks he’s guarding you. You leave the house, come quietly with me, and maybe I won’t feed Giordano to my packmates. Deal?”

Before she could answer Rudy disconnected.

“Don’t even think about it.”

She looked up at the large Pack Alpha. Menace rolled off him in waves. “I have no choice.”

“Then don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re leaving this house without me.”

The sound of a gunshot cut off anything else she might have said. A cry of agony was swiftly followed by another gunshot.

“Shit! Wait,” Richard said. “This must be what he was talking about. Move to the front door, I’m right behind you.”

She saw him pull something out from behind his back and figured it must be a gun. At least she hoped it was a gun.

She moved around the couch to grab Jerry’s harness but Richard’s hand stopped her. “Leave him. He’ll be safer.” She nodded her agreement and moved to the front door, opening it slowly.

A third shot rang out before it was open all the way, startling her. She heard Richard groan just before the large man fell, knocking her to the ground.

“Get up, Sheridan, let’s go.”

Rudy grabbed her arm and dragged her to a car. “Be grateful I don’t have much time,” he said as he shoved her in the car, “or I’d have made sure the big fucker was dead.” He got in behind her, crowding in close to her. “Drive,” he snarled to the man in the driver’s seat.

“Get off me,” Sheri said, trying to push him away from her. Another shot rang out, and this time Rudy cursed.

“Not on your life. You’re mine again, and there is no way in hell I’m letting you go.”

When he began ripping at her clothes she began fighting. A vicious slap stunned her long enough for him to rip away her sweater. She thought briefly about shifting but she was still mostly clothed. Getting tangled in her jeans would merely make her more vulnerable.

So she fought him with teeth and claws as he bit and snarled over her, praying that Adrian would arrive before Rudy got to finish what he’d started.

Max pulled up outside of Adrian’s house and snarled. “Problems.”

“No shit, Sherlock, what was your first clue?” Simon snarled back, climbing out of the Durango. “What the hell happened here?”

Gabe stepped out onto the porch, gun in hand. “Two shots out back, one out front. Richard’s down but not out. One dead, one wounded, both ours.”

“Sheri?” Adrian growled.

Gabe shook his head. “Not quite sure what happened but as soon as the shots rang out she took off for the front door. One of Rick’s men saw her go but wasn’t close enough to get to her. Rick tried to stop her but got taken out. We’ve got a license plate, and a Wolf followed the car for as long as he could before he had to double back.”

“Where the hell were you?”

“Trying to get to the sniper.”

“And?”

“He got away when I heard the shots out front. I shot at the car just as they took off, but missed the damn tire.”

“FUCK!” Adrian shouted. Both hands clenched in his hair. “What the hell was she thinking?”

A pained growl erupted from the Pack Alpha where he sat on the porch floor. “Rudy told her he had you. She couldn’t reach you, so she believed it. Is your cell phone on?” A dish towel was pressed against his shoulder and soaked through with blood.

“She is in so much trouble when I find her,” Adrian growled as he checked his cell. “Yes, it is.”

“Yours too?” Richard pointed with his chin to Max and Simon.

“Yup.”

“After what happened at Wallflowers? Damn straight it’s on.”

“Check in the car, see if there’s an RF jammer somewhere,” Gabe said to one of the Wolves. The man nodded and went to look.

“What the hell is an RF jammer?” Simon asked.

“Radio frequency jammer. Really illegal just about anywhere, but something a mechanical engineer would know how to build,” Gabe answered.

The Wolf came back quickly with a small yellow device the size of a deck of cards. “This is why no one could reach you.”

“Okay, Adrian, think! Where is she?” Max demanded.

“How the fuck should I know?”