Laurann Dohner - Wrath

Shadow blinked. “He did?”

She nodded. “I was curious and asked him. I didn’t understand what Vengeance was talking about.”

Shadow glanced at Wrath before meeting her gaze again. “I wondered how the subject came up.”

Brass shook his head and the two men frowned at each other. Shadow turned back to Lauren.

“We would like to ask you a favor.”

“What do you need?”

Brass spoke. “We would like you to take one of us into your work and see if you can find out where Bill is.”

Lauren was stunned at that request. “You plan to just grab him if he’s at work?”

“We have the right to arrest him for his crimes against New Species,” Brass assured her softly. “I doubt he will be there but he’s made friends at work, hasn’t he? Perhaps you could find out from them where he is.”

Lauren glanced at their black clothing. “I guess I could do that but one of you would definitely have to change clothes and wear…” She studied their eyes. “Sunglasses. Otherwise if Bill is there he’s going to spot you right away. The black clothing will draw attention and if Bill worked for Mercile Industries he’s going to be alarmed to see a New Species.”

“We’re sure he’s the correct human male. We thought of this already.” Brass hesitated. “We thought we’d have Wrath dress up however you think he should. He could pretend to be a client of yours and walk inside the building with you. Would it be appropriate for you to take a client to work?”

“Sure. I’m due in to work at ten today.” She glanced down at her clothes. “Could we stop by my apartment first? I can’t go to the office wearing this and my boss would have my ass.”

Brass shrugged. “That would be fine. What would be appropriate for Wrath to wear?”

Wrath sat a plate of warmed scrambled eggs, bacon and toast in front of her. She gave him a smile and picked up her fork. She glanced at Wrath, who took the seat next to her and noticed he had two large steaks on his plate. That was all he had. He didn’t reach for his silverware.

“You may not want to watch him eat,” Shadow suggested softly. “We enjoy our meat barely seared on the outside and raw on the inside. We find it easier to eat with our fingers than with your utensils.”

Lauren glanced at Shadow before purposely smiling at Wrath. “Eat up.”

Wrath shrugged and dug into his food. He grabbed hold of one of the steaks with both hands and bit into it. His dark eyes met hers as he tore a section of the meat off. Lauren wasn’t horrified but she was more than a bit curious. Blood dripped onto the plate and the interior of the steak was raw, red meat. She wasn’t repulsed in the least. She glanced back at Shadow.

“Have you ever seen kids eat? I am from a large family. At least you guys don’t shove peas up your nose and shoot them out.”

Brass laughed. “No. We don’t.”

Shadow laughed. “Did you do that as a child?”

She shook her head. “No. But I used to gross my cousins out by telling them my spaghetti was worms and sucking them up. I was always kind of a tomboy.”

Brass smiled at her and asked, “What should Wrath wear to your job?”

Nothing. That was her first thought but she didn’t say it aloud. She’d love for Wrath not to wear a single thing ever again since he looked so good naked. “Nice jeans and maybe a casual dress shirt. Good shoes. Realtors notice those things right off the bat to judge if a client can really afford to buy a home. It’s how we try to root out the looky-loos from the real buyers.”

“What are good shoes?” Shadow questioned.

“Real-leather, casual dress shoes would work nicely. Do you happen to have any around?”

“No.” Shadow shrugged his broad shoulders. “We have military boots and running shoes.”

“Military will work. I could tell my boss that Wrath is in the service. We sell homes to them all the time. They always have good credit and the ability to get financing. I don’t suppose you could get your hands on a military uniform of some sort, could you?”

Brass stood. “That we can do.” He left the room.

Shadow continued to watch Wrath. “Brass and I had some time this morning to make plans while we waited for you to come out here.”

Wrath finally looked up from his food to meet his friend’s stare. “Good.”

Shadow and Wrath seemed to be having a stare down as the silence in the room lengthened. Lauren darted her gaze between them, watching their facial expressions change just slightly.

“You two are doing that silent mind communication thing again.”

Wrath turned his head, winked, and gave his full attention on his remaining steak.

“Eat quickly, Lauren,” Shadow ordered softly. “We want to leave here soon since you need to get clothing from your apartment.”

Lauren dug into her food. It wasn’t good but she was starving. Reheated scrambled eggs tasted rubbery, the bacon was greasy and the toast a bit soggy. She ate it all anyway since she wasn’t sure where her next meal would come from. The thought of Brent actually being at work when they arrived wasn’t a good one. Wrath and his friend would grab her coworker and set her free. She wouldn’t have a reason to spend more time with Wrath and that concept left her depressed.

Wrath excused himself to go change his clothing and left her with Shadow at the table. The blond one waited until his friend was out of sight before he spoke.

“He likes you.”

Lauren knew which him he was talking about. Wrath. “I like him too.”

Shadow’s blue eyes were intense and he frowned.

“What?”

“We are not similar to the males you know. I just want you to understand that.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“I’m just warning you. You’re playing with fire with Wrath.”

“I’m not playing anything.”

His blue eyes narrowed. “It was just a warning. Wrath is very intense and we have had difficult lives.” He stood. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Eight

Lauren got to her feet, wanted to ask Shadow what he meant by that, or why he’d accuse her of playing some kind of game with Wrath but he didn’t give her the chance. His long legs moved fast as he crossed the room and stopped at the elevator. She had to scramble to catch up with him as the doors opened after he punched in a code on a keypad.

“Aren’t we waiting for Brass and Wrath?”

“They are either already upstairs or will be along shortly. This isn’t the only elevator.”

“I don’t have keys to my apartment. They were in my purse.”

“Your car and your possessions are being stored above. We had them moved here last night. Your purse is in your car.”

“Someone drove my car?”

Shadow nodded, stepped into the elevator and pressed a button. She followed him before the doors closed.

“Yes. We were not going to leave it in the parking lot to draw suspicion. We weren’t sure if you were Bill’s girlfriend or not. We wanted him to find nothing wrong if he sent someone looking for you. Finding your abandoned car would have been suspicious.”

Lauren couldn’t fault the logic. “I can see that.”

Shadow smiled. “We know what we are doing. This isn’t our first hunt and capture.”

“You didn’t know I wasn’t Brent’s girlfriend. Sorry—Bill. You thought I was that jerk’s lover. No offense but you were way off the mark on that one.”

He shrugged. “You are the one who came in his place and you smelled of the perfume he gifts females he shares sex with. We have interviewed many of them as we’ve tracked him.”

Shock tore through her. “You have more women locked up down here?”

He shook his head. “We knew he had abandoned the females we spoke to before we reached them. They had all filed criminal charges against him for stealing from them and that’s how we were able to track him. He uses their money to fund his living but victimized women in this area recently. We used their photographs of him—ran them through the driver’s license database—and his false new name showed up.”