Laurann Dohner - Wrath

“You wouldn’t dare. It took me months to get Monty the creepy-ass mortician to stop calling me. He sent me flowers and I swear to God he stole them from graves. He missed one of the condolence cards once. He said he really wanted to have sex with me in a coffin and that was his version of tempting me to go on a second date with him. I refuse to talk about the jockey. He asked me if I’d ever worn a saddle while I tried to eat my dinner. I don’t even want to go to that bad, ugly place, Lauren. That was just mean to remind me. You just forget Grandma’s number and I’ll make up something nice to tell your family if they call me.”

“Love you. I’ll call.”

“You better. Love you too.”

Lauren hung up, dropped the suitcase on the bed, and returned the phone to the cradle. It didn’t take long to pack, shower and grab her e-reader. She downloaded a bunch of books while it charged, packed it, and prepared Tiger to be alone for a few days.

Wrath was coming! She glanced at the clock, only had a few hours to go, and time couldn’t move fast enough.

Chapter Thirteen

Lauren grinned when the doorbell rang early and rushed for the door. Wrath must be as impatient to see her as she felt to see him. She’d already gotten dressed, had eaten an early dinner and was more than ready to leave when she threw open the door with a grin in place.

Her joy died instantly when a stranger stood on her doorstep instead. The tall, thin woman bore an uncanny resemblance to her boss, Mel Hadner. Her heart raced, she tried to hide it, and had a sinking feeling this person just might be related to the woman who had tried to hurt Wrath and his team.

“Hello,” she got out. “May I help you?”

“I believe so. You work for my sister, Mel. I went to her office today after receiving an urgent message from her yesterday that she needed to speak to me but no one was there. Do you know where my sister is?”

“No,” Lauren lied. “No idea at all. She was in her office when I left.” That part was true.

“Today?”

“Yesterday. Today is my day off.”

A frown curved the woman’s thin mouth downward and lines appeared on her forehead. “I came here because I spoke to a few of the businesses near the office and they saw you pushing a man out of the office in a chair. They said he appeared drunk. My sister is missing and so are a lot of your coworkers. I’ve already been to their homes and they aren’t there, didn’t sleep in their beds last night, and haven’t been seen.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Their cars are in the parking lot but they have just disappeared. Do you know anything about that?”

Shit! Think! “I had a man come in to see condos yesterday who had a bad knee. He injured it when he stood after sitting so long viewing listings. I had to push him out to his car.”

The woman’s arms slowly lowered and a cold look entered her eyes. “That was almost believable. Not bad. You’re a fast thinker, aren’t you, Lauren?”

Mel’s sister lunged suddenly and grabbed Lauren’s shirt with both hands, shoving her back. A large man suddenly stepped out from where he’d been hiding against the wall next to the door and entered the apartment. Two more came from the other side of the door and yet one more entered and closed the door firmly behind the five intruders who’d invaded the living room. It was the last guy who held Lauren’s attention.

He wore a hat and sunglasses but his features were something she’d learned to identify with the wider cheekbones and flatter shaping of his nose. His full lips were sealed but she knew he was New Species. His big frame and tall height also pointed to him being one of them. Of course the three human men were no slouches in the muscle and sheer-size departments either. They all were bruisers.

“Where are they, Lauren? I’m not screwing around. I want answers.”

“I don’t know. Who are you?” She knew she was in deep shit. The only thing she couldn’t figure out was why a New Species was with Mel’s sister. She forced her gaze away from him to stare at the woman still fisting her shirt. “I haven’t seen them since I left the office yesterday.”

“140? Tell me what you smell right now.”

The New Species lifted a hand, removed his glasses, and stepped forward. He inhaled, sniffed a few times, and his eyes widened slightly while he frowned. Lauren stared into his eyes. They were catlike—an amazing swirl of bright blue, rimmed along the outer edges with deep amber. They were beautiful, striking, and almost unreal. No one should have eyes that looked like that. His tan skin and black hair only added to how dramatic and exotic they appeared.

“Well?” The woman turned her head and shot him a glare. “Tell me, damn it.”

“Their scent isn’t here at all. Not on her or inside this place.”

“What do you want to do, Mary?”

The woman shot a glare at one of the thugs with her. “She knows something.”

She shoved Lauren hard enough that she hit the back of the couch but she was free. Lauren assessed her situation and knew it was grim.

Mary backed up a step, held her gaze, and it chilled Lauren to the bone. If the eyes were the windows to a person’s soul this woman had a dead one. A shiver ran down her back.

“I know you brought a New Species into the office yesterday. My sister called me and told me that. She was freaking out and scared. I didn’t get home until this morning to hear her message. Where the hell are they, Lauren? Tell me the truth and stop playing games or you’re going to regret it.”

“I don’t know anything,” Lauren lied. “Mel pulled me into her office and said the client was a rapist and she shoved me out the back door. That’s all I know. She wasn’t alone with him though. Brent and both John T and B were in her office with her.” She paused. “I was sure Kim was still there when that happened and Gina should have been in her office. Ask them again because I’m sure they were there after I left.”

One of the thugs snorted. “They can’t talk. They had accidents.”

Horror hit Lauren and she didn’t need to ask. They were dead. She wanted to scream but managed to stay on her feet, a real victory since her knees wanted to collapse under her.

“I’m a real bitch,” Mary admitted. “You’re going to tell me where my sister and her friends are or I’m going to have 140 start breaking your bones one at a time until you tell me what I want to know I have my sister back. You took that New Species out of there in a chair after he was shot with a tranquilizer dart. My sister said they had one of them out cold and two more captured. All the witnesses couldn’t be wrong and they know you. Kim and Gina were pawns who are no longer a threat.” Her gaze raked Lauren. “A chubby blonde was pushing him out of the office and down the street. Tell me now or you’re going to die a really slow, agonizing death. You are done lying to me.”

Lauren stared up at 140, decided she’d be honest, but only with him. “Why are you with them? You’re being called a number as though you weren’t freed. Is that it? I’ve seen two New Species fight and you could kick these humans’ asses. Your people have been freed and you don’t have to stay with these people.”

He growled. “They have my female.”

Shit. Lauren swallowed. “Can’t you just kill them and get her back?”

Mary struck hard and fast, backhanding Lauren in the face, and the blow threw her back against the couch where she nearly flipped over the thing. Pain made her curse, grab her injured cheek, and glare at her.

“I guess you weren’t joking about being a bitch, were you?”

“Where is my sister and her men, Lauren?”

She figured out quickly it would be a death sentence the moment she confessed they’d been taken by the NSO. They’d already killed the other two innocent people who’d worked in her office. Kim and Gina hadn’t worked for Mercile but they’d been witnesses to what had happened inside that office. Her only hope would be to stall for an hour until Wrath and his team arrived. If they arrived at seven. Otherwise there’d be two hours to drag out to give her any hope of surviving.