Zane knew he needed to find the time soon, because the more he was around Rachel, the more concerned he became. He’d caught her glancing over her shoulder more times than he could count, her heart thumping out of control like she thought someone was about to jump her. Other times, she’d stare off into space like her head was a million miles away. Zane didn’t know what trauma she’d gone through when she’d become a werewolf, but his gut told him she was dealing with some serious post-traumatic stress. He had enough experience with PTSD to know it when he saw it.
He turned his attention back to the two girls. The drug must have fully kicked in because they both looked really out of it.
Even as he focused all of his attention on them, a part of his head casually noted the same pleasant scent he’d picked up when he’d first come into the club. Only it was closer this time. It completely overshadowed the scent of the new werewolves, and Zane couldn’t remember ever smelling anything so delicious. It was almost enough to make him drool. He probably would have, too, if he didn’t have a job to do.
Over by the bar, the twin werewolves swayed a little on their feet. The same waitress who’d given them the drinks immediately rushed over, saying something about helping them to the restroom. The girls nodded, sudden panic in their eyes as they realized something was off.
The shorter and stockier of Stefan’s three bodyguards disappeared into the crowd, no doubt heading for their car, while the other two casually followed the waitress, maintaining their distance as the woman led the girls to the back of the club.
Zane had hoped to help the girls without completely blowing his cover, but he stopped giving a crap about that the moment the waitress led them away like sacrificial offerings. His fangs extended a little as he strode after them. He was going to save those werewolves, to hell with how much of a mess he made.
As he expected, the waitress led the twins past the restroom, steering them down a dark hallway, toward the back door. There was a metal click and a gust of fresh air—well, as fresh as it could be in a city like LA—as the woman opened it and urged the girls outside. The three men followed, closing it behind them.
Zane hit the door at a full run, slamming it open with his right hand and bursting into the alley. He immediately turned right, his nose telling him that was the way they’d gone.
The waitress was nowhere in sight now, but there was a big, black sedan parked fifteen feet away that the three men were stuffing the two girls into. The girls were little more than limp zombies now, neither putting up a fight of any kind.
Growling, Zane raced down the alley. When he reached the car, he grabbed the first jackass by the back of the neck, digging the claws of his right hand into the thick muscles there and yanking the man off his feet, then slinging him toward the building behind them. The thud when the guy slammed into the brick was incredibly satisfying, and Zane had a crazy urge to grab the guy and do it all over again.
Bloody hell.He was losing control of his inner werewolf. He hadn’t done that since he’d first turned into one. But the aggression, not to mention the growling, fangs, and claws, were seriously out of character for him.
Zane was so distracted he didn’t realize the other two wankers had pulled their guns and were pointing them at his chest. He wasn’t worried about getting shot. Nothing less than a bullet through the heart or one in the head would put a werewolf down. But still, getting shot wouldn’t feel good. Not only that, but the men would quickly figure out Zane wasn’t exactly human.
Not something he wanted their boss to know about, especially if Stefan was the one helping Curtis.
But as Zane took a step forward to close the gap between him and the two men with guns, he realized he didn’t have a choice. He could almost certainly take out one of them before the guy pulled the trigger, but he’d never deal with both in time. Not with his bum arm.
He prepared himself for the unpleasant sensation of a large copper-jacketed slug tearing through his body when a beautiful blond appeared from behind the car, quickly moving up behind the men like a bloody ninja. She wrapped an arm around one man’s neck, flipping him over her hip and slamming him onto the pavementhard.
That was when Zane figured out she was the woman putting off that pleasant scent he’d picked up inside the club. Except now that he was close to her, he decided it was a lot more than pleasant. In fact, it was a yummy combination of cinnamon, chocolate, and roses.
Zane wanted to take a minute to figure out how she could smell like all of those things at once—and what she was doing out here in the alley—but the last asshole standing made up his mind about who to shoot first. Turning his weapon on Zane, he started to squeeze the trigger.
Bloody hell.
Perhaps he should stop drooling over the blond and do something before the guy shot him.
* * *
FBI Agent Alyssa Carson pegged the tall, good-looking, muscular guy with the dark, piercing eyes as a cop the moment she saw him. There was something about the way he carried himself. He had an aura of authority that screamedlaw enforcement. Then, when she saw him move across the dance floor, all animalistic grace and power, she started thinking maybe he was CIA or some other three-letter agency. Because he slipped through the crowd like a trained killer. Either way, she was stumped as to why someone like him would take a sudden interest in two random girls heading for trouble.
Alyssa doubted the man could be there for the same reason she was. To the best of her knowledge, Christine Howard, her friend in the LA FBI field office, was the only other law enforcement official in the state who knew about the case Alyssa was investigating. In fact, it had been Christine who’d called and told her about the three young women who’d gone missing two weeks ago.
Los Angeles was a city with a population of almost four million people. They disappeared at a terrifying rate there—so many that, after a while, it seemed like nothing more than a blur of pictures appearing and disappearing on a host of websites and the occasional billboard. But when the body of one of those missing women had been found in a landfill with a bizarre cause of death, Christine had called Alyssa. Because, unlike most people in the bureau, Christine knew Alyssa specialized in the strange and bizarre.
In fact, Alyssa was at the club tonight thanks to a rumor Christine had heard. It wasn’t much to go off of, mostly whispers suggesting the missing women might have been there around the time they disappeared. But it was all Alyssa had to go on, so she’d trusted her instincts.
When she’d seen the player in the expensive suit charming the two girls, she knew those instincts had been right. The way the man eyed them was creepy to say the least. Alyssa had no doubt the guy was planning to grab the girls. Considering he had four big Neanderthals with him, Mr. Creepy had all the help he needed to make it happen.
The guy she thought might be a cop seemed to figure that out, too. He didn’t seem too happy about it.
Is Tall, Dark, and Gorgeous also looking for the missing girls?
It seemed unlikely, but then again, those two young women at the club tonight definitely matched the profile—attractive and a little naive. No doubt, they were runaways from Small Town, USA, who’d come to LA to become famous.
Alyssa parked herself in a dark corner, so she could keep an eye on the situation and try to figure out exactly what was going on. She frowned as Mr. Creepy gestured a waitress over, one who already had a tray of drinks ready and waiting. That wasn’t suspicious at all, was it?
Within a few minutes, the twin girls were going glassy eyed, and it was obvious they’d been drugged. Damn, sometimes Alyssa hated that her instincts were so good. On the other hand, this was the break she’d been looking for. If these guys were the ones who’d grabbed the other women, maybe Alyssa could follow them and put an end to this before any more bodies found their way into the landfill with all the blood drained.
