Wolf’s Heart (10 page)

She nodded, and he shut the door, making sure it locked behind him.

Initially, she just looked at the gun. She had to wonder if she would actually be able to pull the trigger if needed. Sure, she shot guns plenty of times in the lab and on the range, but firing at a live human target was something altogether different. Closing her eyes to block out the memories of the attack, she concentrated on Ryden. How easy it was to be near him, how the old banter between them just came back so naturally. Whatever the reason was for him finding her, he would be leaving again. She needed to find a way to keep her distance. Her heart never fully healed from the last time he left. The last thing she needed was for him to bust it wide open again.

Lying there, she didn’t expect to fall asleep, but apparently she did. The drugs were obviously still working in her system. After what seemed only moments later, she heard the door knob jiggle and opened one eye. She picked up the gun in one hand, pointing it towards the door with her hand shaking uncontrollably. Ryden walked in, juggling his key card and bags of food. He set the bags down and approached slowly, lowering the gun and taking it from her hand.”

“Guess it’s a good thing you didn’t shoot first and ask questions later.”

He kissed the top of her head before placing the gun back in the holster at his side. Trying to sit up, she grumbled. “I don’t know what I’m capable of these days.”

She moaned as she smelled the delicious food. He placed the bags on the table then came back just as she was rolling out of bed. His strong arms reached out before she could stand, picking her up and placing her in a chair. He grabbed pillows from the bed and made sure she was comfortable before handing her the milkshake. She watched as he sat across from her and opened the containers, a
twelve ounce steak along with all the trimmings taking most of the room in the Styrofoam container, a huge milkshake, and apple pie for dessert.

She might be a vegetarian but, damn, that meat smelled good. 

“Looks like leaping small buildings at a single bound worked ya up an appetite.”  She grinned as she drew the first mouthful of the milkshake through the straw. The sweet chill that ran down her throat had her thinking she had gone to heaven until she looked at Ryden’s steak. His knife cut into the obviously rare meat, and she almost gagged at the blood that came to the surface.

“You aren’t seriously going to eat that. It’s raw!  Seriously, Ryden! That looks ready to moo. Haven’t you ever heard of
E. coli
?”

He looked her in the eyes and grinned as he speared a piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth, groaning for emphasis and closing his eyes, savoring the taste as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

“You are a sick man, Peaches. When all this is said and done, I am going to take you to a farm, and you can pet one of those cute little cows
then
we’ll see how much you like your steak.”

He smiled as he chewed, filling his fork with potato and reaching across the table. “Open and eat. You need more than just that shake. “

Carlee started to talk. “Hey, bossy, I think I know what I need, and I don’t know if it will…” That was as far as she got when the fork was shoved in. Potato, covered with lots of butter just the way she liked it. She closed her eyes and moaned softly. When she opened her eyes again, she heard him laughing.

“Good, Buttercup.”

She smirked back at him. Watching him, she thought to herself how much she loved his smile and his laugh. They were two of the things that hadn’t changed since the last time she had seen him.  

“Quit being a bossy, smart ass, and gimme another bite.”

Talking about anything other than what was actually going on right now was a welcome relief. Carlee found herself rambling. Most would think it was a nervous habit. One of her professors once said that maybe the years of isolation as a kid and being so advanced academically made her unsure of how to react in social situations. She always felt it was just how she was.

The curtains were drawn, and the room was dark except for the light of nightstand. She had no clue if it was day or night and didn’t care. For the first time in days, she felt safe. 

“Just eat.” Ryden shoved the potato across the table, and she didn’t argue.

He took another bite while Carlee eyed him with distaste. “Trust me, this is a good meal, and you’d do well to eat some of it. I can get you one, cooked a bit longer, of course.”

She spoke quickly. “No thanks, Peaches. I’ll eat a few bites of your potato and milkshake, and maybe just a bite of that apple pie.”

He grinned at her. “Now what makes you think I got this for you? Maybe I want to eat it all.” He chuckled and pushed it across the table so she could eat all she wanted. “Now that you’re feeling a bit better, how about you tell me what the deal is with the boyfriend who shot you?”

She took another bite and chewed slowly. When she swallowed, she placed the fork down on the table and sat back in her seat. “Come on, Carlee. I need to know what we’re up against. What’s going on?”

Carlee had eaten most of his potato and half his pie. It was like before with Ryden, comfortable, teasing, and she felt she could relax. The little voice in her head reminded her she had relaxed with G, too, and she had known him a whole lot better than she knew Ryden now. Or, she thought she had. 

She took a deep breath and began to talk, the words flying from her mouth at record speeds.

“First you have to tell me, do I have big
L
tattooed on my forehead? Wait, I would see that. Maybe it’s on my ass because I sure can pick ‘em. Stick a fork in me, Peach, I am
done
with the whole men thing. Give me a lifetime supply of D batteries and sappy chick flicks, and I’ll be good to go.”

He didn’t seem to get the humor or the diversion. Looking across the table, he was obviously not in the mood for jokes.

“Well, I thought he was one of the nice guys, sexy as hell and great in b...um, well maybe you don’t need
those
details.”

Did he seriously just growl?

There was a spark, a flame or something in his eyes when she mentioned G in bed. Throwing it off to a glare from the light in the room or the drugs, she curled her legs up in front of her. Pressing them against her chest just felt better. She still couldn’t understand why he was there and why he was helping her. There was something he was hiding, but at this point, she was in no shape to push. She’d never seen Ryden’s temper and had no intentions of pushing him while she had no way of defending herself.

“Your cases?” His voice was impatient, and she gave a resigned sigh.

“I’m really not supposed to talk about my cases. You know that. Of course, I’m not supposed to get beaten up either.” Ryden raised a brow, the look unmistakably directing her to stay on track. “Okay, okay, don’t get your boxers in a bunch. That day I was close…really,
really
close to figuring out a connection between two cases. G had been going on all week about a surprise he had for me. I made sure I finished up a little early. He works for the department too, or, is it
worked?
He works there, but I’m pretty sure I’m unemployed. Anyway, we went back to my place. It was a great night, bubble bath, hot sex, good meal and wine by the fireplace. He had come back with some clothes, told me to get dressed, we were going out for dessert. I followed him right into that stupid alley where his friend was waiting.”

Ryden’s face almost contorted as his jaw locked. “I got that part Carlee. What…cases?”

“I said there were two. The one I was working on that day had another body come in with missing parts. Body parts as in organs missing. You know, kidneys, livers, hearts, that kind of stuff. Each body was being sent to our lab for us to check out. I was psyched. I was given the forensics lead on the case. Each person died in different parts of the country. The only thing that they all had in common was the missing organs. The second case was part of what I thought was a new designer drug war that was going on. The body that came in that day still had the designer drug in his system. It was the same drug that was being used in a war on the streets in some major cities. There was also jet fuel on the dude’s clothes, which would explain how people that were seen alive and well in California were found dead in Baltimore. The two cases have to be connected.”

There was one thing about Carlee that drove Ryden bat shit crazy—her ability to tell him something and nothing at the same time. There were two cases that, according to her, were connected somehow. One was missing body parts and the other dealt with a bad street drug. It was a safe bet that Carlee would be able to find the connection.

“Okay, so we get a hold of your notes and piece it together. Unless we can hack into the database, we’ll need to go back to DC and get into the lab without anyone finding out.” He shrugged as if to say it was an easy job. Truthfully, with someone after her and not knowing why, that wasn’t so easy.

He pushed the empty boxes away and stacked them on the table while she finished off her milkshake. The scent hit him without warning, the cheap cologne he remembered smelling in Carlee’s apartment and again at the hotel in Virginia. As soon as the thought registered, he heard the faint click of someone chambering a round.

He was up and out of the chair in a split second, dragging Carlee with him as fast as she could move.

“Grab your stuff, we’re moving now!”

Her eyes widened as he stuffed their few belongings in his bag and moved to the window. Two goons were standing out in the parking lot near what, he assumed, was their vehicle. Luck was with them when they made for the front desk, moving in the opposite direction from their room.

“Time to go, stay close. The car is right outside.” Her face was ashen, filled with fear as he opened the door and eased out in front of her. “Hurry, get in the car, Carlee.”

His back was to her, but he could hear her slow shuffle as she made her way around the car and got in. He followed behind her, getting in on the driver’s side, all while watching the front door of the hotel lobby. How they found them, Ryden didn’t know, but he’d be damned if they’d get caught now.

The doors were shut, and he turned the key. The Mustang roared to life when he saw them come out of the lobby. Goon One saw them and raised his pistol to fire.

“Oh fuck, no, you don’t! Not my car!” He floored it and spun out of the parking space, making for the back entrance that wasn’t visible from where they were. “
Hang on
!” He made quick glances right and left and pulled out into the traffic, barely keeping his front end from clipping a car as shots rang out behind them. Luck was on their side as traffic wasn’t heavy this time of night.

“
Fuck this shit
!” He floored it and shot down the highway, weaving in and out of traffic, leaving the assholes behind. How the hell did they find them?  He knew there had to be something on her. 

”Carlee, where’s your phone? Do you have it with you?”

“Yes, it’s in my purse, but I turned it off!” Her face was white. She had a death grip on the dash as she tried to steady herself as the car weaved easily in and out of traffic despite the high rate of speed.

“Hand it to me.” She did, and he rolled the window down a few inches and dropped it out the window.

Carlee nearly whimpered, “My
phone
!”  She turned and watched it bounce across the pavement. Ryden could see pieces flying in every direction from the rearview mirror.

“Ryden Coulter! My life was in that phone, or at least what was left of my life. It had everything in it! My phone numbers, email addresses, bank info…Candy Crush! I pre-ordered that phone, waited for weeks, and you just tossed it out the window!”

Ryden heard a groan as the fight went out of her. “It’s just a phone, Carlee. They’re tracking it. Off or not, they probably have it chipped and that’s how they found us.”

The sound of defeat registered in her voice, “Why the hell didn’t I think of that? I knew that, I
know
that. I have to be more careful. Why can’t I seem to think straight?”

Ryden never let up on the gas, handling the car with ease. “You know what, you don’t owe me anything,” Carlee said. “Just take me to my car and I'll disappear. Not that I don’t appreciate everything that you’ve done because I would probably be dead right now if it wasn’t for you. They found me at the first motel and then this one…wait, how did you know he was there?”

Ryden kept his eyes on the road and the mirror and remained silent.

“You know, now people are shooting at me and shooting at your car, Ryden. I know how you feel about this car. I still remember the first time you talked about her. I swear you got a hard on. You don’t want anything to happen to her. Just take me to Ernie and we’ll part ways.”

Ryden caught something on his left periphery and snapped around for a better look. His hand came down on the top of Carlee’s head, pushing her down in the seat and on to the floor. He was pissed, beyond pissed.

“Keep your head down, Carlee. Fuckers wanna play with the big dog, let’s fuckin’ play.

It was like watching a movie in slow motion, only he was in the movie. With one hand he rolled down the window, and then reached for his gun as his foot slammed on the breaks, the other hand turning the wheel, tires squealing as he did a one-eighty in the middle of the road to the blare of horns and screeching breaks. Ryden heard the crash of cars behind him as they attempted to avert collision with him, only to hit another car. He hoped no one was injured, but he needed to get out of this situation fast before the cops showed up.

“Ryden, what are you doing? When the hell did this become
The Fast and the Furious
? Ryden?  Ryden?   RYYYYYDEEEEN!”

The last scream came as Carlee peeked up over the dash from where she huddled on the floor. Ryden glanced over and knew that she saw them traveling the wrong way on the street, going right for the black sedan that had been following them. Just as they got close, Ryden extended his left arm out the window and fired. The sedan lost control, sideswiping a parked car before rolling towards them. At the last possible moment, he jerked the wheel back to the right side of the road and placed the gun back on his lap, watching the rearview mirror, his teeth still clenched. It was over as fast as it started and his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel.