“It’s time you learned to mind your own business, lady. What happens in the hallway may be public, but you stick one toe inside anyone’s apartment and you’re trespassing.”
She tried to respond, but as soon as she opened her mouth, something soft rammed past her teeth. She struggled but couldn’t move her arms. He had them pinned. Panic set in and she thrashed back and forth for all she was worth. That’s when her vision blurred and she passed out.
“What do you want me to do with her?” Sly looked over at the limp body lashed to a rickety chair in the basement—hisbasement.
Nathan leaned against one of the stacked storage boxes. “Just watch her. When she comes to, we’ll make her sweat a little before we let her go.”
“Are you out of your ever-lovin’ mind? If she comes to downhere, I’m screwed. She’s not supposed to know I live here.”
“She doesn’t have to know. You have your place hidden, right?”
“Yes, but what am I supposed to do with her in the meantime? If the sun starts coming through those windows, I’ll have to crawl into my hidey hole.”
“I’ll be back long before that.”
Sly shook his head. “Why me? Why do I always have to baby-sit the problem people?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“What? You mean because I’m a vampire?”
“Of course. If she gives you any trouble…”
“You want me to drain her if she doesn’t cooperate.” It was a statement, not a question. A statement he hoped conveyed his disgust.
“Not really. Just scare her a little. Face it, you’re an intimidating guy.”
“I’ll be sure to add that to my resume.”
A faint moan escaped their captive, and she righted her posture.
“Oh, crap. She’s waking up.”
“Just keep an eye on her for me until I fix my door with a hidden spring-loaded latch. I won’t be long.”
Dottie’s eyes fluttered open, then darted around the basement. When she spotted Nathan and Sly her eyes popped. Soon after, she must have figured out what they’d done because her eyebrows bunched together, and a litany of muffled sounds leaked through the gag.
“Now, now, Dottie,” Nathan said. “My friend here is going to hang onto you for a little while. It’s for your own good. Once you know just how upset people are about the invasions of their privacy, we’ll take off the gag and allow you to apologize.”
More sound blasted through Dottie’s gag and Sly was prettysure he could guess what she was trying to say.
“Bapherredz! Umpie mi if mimih!”
“I’m sorry, Dottie. This was none of my doing,” Sly said.
“Ey dong caah. Et mi goo.” She squirmed, rigorously.
“Iwoulduntie you except that Nathan is probably unsafe until you calm down.”
“Heh dethufs ta dah.”
“No one deserves to die, Dottie. But, in my opinion, you deserve a stern talking to—at the very least. What you did was breaking and entering.”
Her expression and posture deflated.
Nathan clapped Sly on the back. “Thanks. I knew you were the right para—I mean, man for the job. I’ll only be a few minutes, I swear. The snow is coming down pretty heavily. I’ll just run to the subway and make a quick trip to an all-night hardware store.”
“How quick? I can’t think of any all-night hardware stores around here.”
