Vengeful Bounty (11 page)

But before I could climb out of my fluffy safe-haven, it started to move.

The cleaning lady, cursing at the surprising weight of her bundle, rolled me into the elevator and pressed a button and a pleasant
ding
sounded.

If I burst out of the sheets now, she was apt to scream and page the manager. If by chance she had a weapon, she might try to stun/hurt/kill me with it. I didn't want to risk holding her up with my laser gun because I wasn't sure if we were headed up or down. And the worst thing that could happen would be for the elevator door to open up on the ground floor, revealing me pointing a gun at an employee for half a dozen people to see. The men that had been chasing me might be down there, too.

I decided to stay put and wait.

I didn't have long.

The door
dinged
as it opened, and the woman cursed while she pushed me and the sheets through the elevator door and down a quiet hallway. Well, sort of quiet. I heard bass thumping loudly behind one of the doors, and the grouchy lady lugging my heavy ass stopped to pound on it.

“Excuse me?” she shouted.

A door latch
clinked
, and the music—finally some good old rock—streamed through.

“You are being too loud!” she said. “It's past time to make noise! There are other patrons on this floor!”

“Gee, lady, it's Mark's 18th birthday,” said a youthful voice. “Cut him a break, huh?”

“No, I won't!” She tried to push her cart to the side but cursed when the weight barely budged. “And what the hell is in here making it so heavy? I know I can't be that tired!”

With temper, she yanked at the sheets until I felt the one directly on top of me fly away from my body, sending my hair into a frayed mess.

“What is
this
?” she spat. “Who are
you
and what the
hell
are you doing in there?”

I stood up and waved, smiling my cheesiest, guiltiest grin I could muster. I felt one of my dress straps fall down my naked shoulder. She reached for her belt pager to inform the manager, no doubt. In the meantime, the pimpled but cute youth who had opened the door, shirtless with washboard abs, grinned from ear to ear.

“Oh!” he said in a most delighted tone.

He then turned to the party of older teenage boys drinking and roughhousing in the room and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify the following words, which he shouted like a battle cry:

“Hey, guys! The stripper's here!”

12

“So what did you do next?” Colt asked with brow furrowed.

“Nothing awful,” I said, giving his forearm an assuring pat. “I kept my clothes on, if that's what you were wondering.”

“Good.” He nodded, passing over a slower car, and then taking the next turn a little sharply. “I'd hate to have to hunt the brats down and give them a whipping for taking advantage of my Sissy.”

“No need. So, as soon as the boys let me in and shut the door, I knew we didn't have long before management got involved. I very politely asked to use the phone, and that's when I called you.” I laughed. “Poor young things didn't even know what to do with a woman anyway, so they were giving me plenty of space, waiting for their magic show to happen and being pretty damn loud about it”

“It
was
really noisy. They were in a hotel being that loud?”

“Oh, come on!” I jabbed at his shoulder with my fist. “As if you and your friends never did anything like that.”

He shrugged, dimples creasing his cheeks. “So?”

“So anyway, I wasn't in the room for five minutes before the actual stripper showed up. She was a blonde in a glow-in-the-dark trench coat and—well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination. She got really jealous that another ‘stripper' was already there, and she nearly started a fight. So—and you'll love this, I'm so brilliant—I suggested a strip-off contest, to see who the best one was.”

“What!”

“No, no! Listen! She took the challenge and I let her go first. So while the virgin crew was watching her, I slipped out, ran like mad to the stairs, dashed down, and met you out back.”

“Hmm,” he said.

“Smart thinking, huh?”

“I guess.”

“You know it!” I said, feeling pretty proud of myself. “So, yeah, if I give you my keys, would you and A.J. run by and pick up my car later and drop it off?”

“Yeah, that's cool. Did you have a good time with Jackson?”

Thank heavens we were pulling into my apartment. As if I'd try to explain the sudden attraction towards Jackson to him. The instant of fright. The statement that had meant so much more than just his suggestion to come to his concert.

Give me a chance.

“It was a lot of fun,” I said, toying with my thin silver necklace. “Jackson's a really cool guy. Cool like ice.”

“No doubt,” he said, stopping the car in front of my building. “Details?”

“Maybe tomorrow,” I said, stifling a yawn. I handed him my car key. “Thanks a lot for doing this. I don't know who those men were, and I really hope they mistook me for someone else.”

“Let me walk you up,” he said, furrowing his brow again.

The night air was pleasantly perfumed with the honeysuckle on a vine that crept up the side of my apartment wall. Frogs and crickets croaked and chirped, their song rising up from the river and into the night. Colt let me go first up the stairs, and we reached my apartment door. I pressed my thumb to the lock, and the door opened. Rogue greeted me with a wagging tail and a little whimper upon seeing my brother. I picked him up and let him lick my chin.

I turned to say goodnight, but stopped. Colt's eyes were lit with concern; he had started chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

He glanced down and to the side. “What happened to you tonight was my fault.”

I gave my head a confused little turn. “What do you mean?”

“If they were Roberto's men, I mean. It was my stupid idea to have you distract him that night, and—”

I covered his mouth with my hand and narrowed my eyes. Letting the silence prep him for the seriousness of my next statement, I cleared my throat.

“Now, you know that I agreed to it, and you know that we have no regrets when we go out and work as a team. We don't ‘make' each other do anything. It was a good plan, and it worked. We got Nando in the bag, and split the nasty Fish's catch payment. You're my brother, and you're an inventive bounty hunter, and I love you. It's most definitely not your fault if these guys are Roberto's people. And I don't think they are.” I lied. “So don't you worry one smidget.”

He nodded and gave the cheek chewing a rest. But his face hadn't relaxed.

“Colt? Did you hear me?”

“Can I come in for a minute?”

“Sure! Let me take Rogue down to potty first.”

“I can take him.”

“Okay,” I said, handing the dog to him. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah, I just have something I need your advice on.”

I nodded. It wasn't often that my brother wanted to talk or get advice. He was generally a fun-loving, high-on-life kind of guy. Whatever was bothering him must've really brought him some anxiety.

“I'll go fix us something to drink,” I said. “What do you want?”

“Got anything hard?”

“Nope, sorry, I may have some mini wine bottles, or there's tea or Diet Coke—is it that bad?”

“I'll tell you about it when I come back. I'll just have a Coke. Be right back.”

He carried Rogue down the stairs and I stood in the doorway. What was going on? When he turned to head down the slight slope of grassy lawn, I went into the kitchen and filled two glasses with ice. I'd barely finished splitting the soda between both glasses when I heard the door shut, and Rogue ran into the kitchen to sniff the air.

“No Coke for you, little buddy,” I said. “Do you want some milk?”

His wagging tail flapped back and forth so fast it was nearly a blur. I poured him a little milk in his bowl, then joined Colt on the couch and handed him his drink. Colt didn't waste any time.

“I have to go have dinner with Mom tomorrow night,” he said.

“Ah,” I said quietly. “I'm going to meet her the next evening.”

“There's someone I want to tell her about, but she's just such a bitch.” He sipped on the Coke. “You know how she is.”

“I know. Who do you want to tell her about?” I rested my back against the squishy arm of the couch and brought my legs up to sit with them crossed. A smile started to play on my lips. “Did you meet somebody? Is it a
girl
?”

“Doi, what else!” His cheeks went pink. “She's one of A.J.'s friends from college. Her name's Deirdre. I asked her to go serious with me, and she said she would.”

“Whoa—wait, my brother? Going exclusive? She must be some woman! I thought you were having a blast playing the game?”

“Well, I was. Until I met her.” He scratched Rogue's chest, the dog having jumped in his lap. “She's different.”

I knew better than to press him when he was open like this. He was doing good to say what he did. I was as bad as Jenny and wanted to ask,
How is she different? How long have you known her? What does she look like? How old is she? When can I meet her?
Instead, I said:

“That's great, Colt. I'm really glad you've found someone.”

“I think now I know that feeling you had for—”

“Let's talk about how Mom ties into this,” I said with my hand held up for him to stop right there. “Are you wanting to take her along tomorrow night?”

“Well, here's the thing. I'd already promised Deirdre a date tomorrow night, and then Mom practically twisted my arm until I told her I'd eat dinner with her. So I was going to try to fit them both in, and also introduce her to Mom. It might be the only chance for a while.”

“But?”

“But you know how Mom is.”

“Yeah, I do, but Mom's a socialite, and she'd probably talk Deirdre's ear off, and—”

“She's black, Sis.”

“Huh?”

“Deirdre's black.”

“Oh.” My eyes widened. “That is interesting.” I couldn't help but smile. “You know what? I think Mom will behave herself.” I made a mental note to call my mother and forewarn her of this meeting—and threaten her good and well, with one of the many bits of blackmail I had on her, that she'd better be cordial or else. “I think she will.”

“Yeah, but she's prejudiced. It's like she's stuck in some alternate reality, like 200 years ago when it comes to that.”

It was true. Why? I didn't know. I'd always assumed it was part of her eternal snobbery. It didn't really matter. What mattered was her acceptance of Deirdre and my brother's happiness.

“I think it'll be fine, Colt,” I said. “Just give Deirdre a heads-up. Let her know that Mom's kind of snooty.”

“She knows. She knows all about Mom. She says she doesn't care and that she's dealt with it, mostly from really old or really rich white people, and she usually laughs it off. She's just the greatest person, Mina. She's beautiful, she's sexy, she's gorgeous.”

I giggled, still having a hard time believing Colt was going serious. “Is she anything but good-looking?”

“No! She's smart too, and really funny, and adventurous. She's different.”

I finished the rest of my Coke and took his empty glass and mine to the kitchen sink. He stood and followed me, then leaned against the refrigerator.

“So you think it'll be okay?”

“Yes,” I said. “I do. And if she's rude, it sounds like your girl can handle her and that she's prepared.”

“Oh, she can. She is.”

I opened my arms and Colt stepped into my warm sister's embrace. Then I used both hands to totally mess up his hair. He pulled away, and it was war. He ruffled my mane into a bed of tangles and put me in a headlock before I cried Uncle and then hugged him again before seeing him to the door. Rogue turned a few circles and curled up in his bed.

“I feel better now,” Colt said. “Thanks, Sis.”

“Anytime.”

“Oh, one more thing.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little gray box. “I got her this.”

“Whoa, it's not a ring, is it?”

“No!” He screwed his face into a flabbergasted scowl. “I'm not that crazy. It's too soon for
that
. It's a necklace.”

He opened the box to reveal a slender gold Siamese cat with ruby eyes on a gold chain.

“She likes cats,” he said. “And Egyptian stuff.”

This
was
serious. Colt hadn't bought anything for any of his other girl toys, as far as I knew. This was a different side to my brother. I was touched beyond words.

“Good luck tomorrow,” I said.

“Thanks. G'night, Sis! We'll go get your car. It'll be here in the morning. I'll leave the key in your door box. What's the pass-code on it again?”

“
Seigi
.”

“Oh, yeah!”

“Thanks. Good night, Colt.”

His steps were lighter this time, as he bounded down the stairs. I closed the door and turned to face my quiet apartment. Rogue lifted his head and looked at me. Then he put it back down, his little brown eyes heavy and blinking.

Gifts were a special thing, weren't they? Just like my
Seigi
, the beautiful weapon as gorgeous as it was deadly. Dad had expressed wordless volumes of love and respect simply by giving it to me, and Colt's sword to him, as had Gakuya when he gave them to Dad.

I'd given Damon a number of gifts.

Funny.

I couldn't remember a time when he'd given me anything.

He always said he didn't do gifts because he never knew what to get anybody. But when you know a person, you know what they like, don't you? It was a funny reason not to get a person gifts. After all, I'd known his likes enough to buy him an iron skull, a Day of the Dead piece. That Mexican tradition had always fascinated him.

I had it saved for a special gift after the ceremony The Texas Bounty Hunters Association had given him when he'd gone Global…

“Come with me,” I said. “I have something for you.”

Damon looked down at me, his height towering above my shorter frame. He always seemed to slightly stoop over, perhaps from the pressure of gravity, perhaps from an effort to look sexy and jaded. I loved that look, natural or not. He strummed his goatee, cocking an arched eyebrow. His eyes had that half-lidded look, though not from the champagne he was drinking; his eyes always had that look. They radiated sex, and I loved getting drunk on them.

“All right,” he said.

I'd pulled him away from a group of fellow hunters, particularly the peers who had tutored him and guided him on his journey to this level. My father was among them. Everyone was having a fabulous time in the rented guest hall of Big T's Steak House. A roaring fire kept the room toasty, the giant taxidermy bull head nailed above it like a guardian of the flame. We passed empty plates on the thick chestnut tables, plates practically licked clean. Once we were outside, I didn't bother to zip my coat. The heat Damon always ignited in me kept me hot.

He wore frayed jeans and a black button-down, which he'd left unbuttoned at the top to show his lean chest. A worn leather jacket covered his torso. The deep auburn color of his hair, woven in the usual braid, was pale in the dark.

I fetched the skull from my car, and gave it to him.

“Mina,” he said. “Thank you.”

I smiled, dazed and dazzled by him.

He stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting one, he blew the smoke in the air, as aloof as a rock star. Then he took the present and put it in his pocket.

I don't know why my heart thumped then, why I was disappointed he didn't say more, why I was a little stunned that he hadn't asked me to privately celebrate with him.

“Would you like to go out after this?” I asked.

“I don't know if I'll have time,” he said, giving me a disappointed look that I believed. “I'm meeting up with some friends, and they're a rough crowd. I wouldn't trust them around you. Maybe we can do something next week. I'll need to come up to the station to get my paperwork, and maybe you can meet me there and we can do something.”