Chapter 23 #2
“We’re not finished with you,” she yelled. Then Crowe caught her casting a quick containment spell on the room. Chances are, if they tried to leave, they’d find the door impossibly stuck.
“I didn’t have the wrong guy!” Joell looked around the hotel coffee shop, then lowered her voice. “I eavesdropped long enough to hear him ask for a prescription for a Gabriel Moore. We were the only two people near the counter. There was no mistake. That guy knows something.”
“What did your psychic sixth sense tell you about the guy, and what did you get from the other one in the room upstairs?”
“They were both hiding something, but there’s more to it. The models were there at some point. There was a lot of fearful energy lingering—more than those two were capable of generating. I’ll bet they know where they are now. So, why did you drag me out?”
A waitress strolled over to the couple. “What’ll it be?”
“Could we have two coffees, and have you seen any of these guys?” Joell pulled out the pages from the models’ websites.
“Wow! If I had, I’d remember it, but unfortunately, no.”
“Well, thanks for taking a look. Oh, and could I have a washcloth?” she asked.
Oh, thank Goddess. Crowe might finally get cleaned up. His fur was almost dry enough to itch, but he couldn’t handle the humiliation another second. What a terrible day this had been for Crowe.
The waitress looked like she was going to protest, then she saw his vomit-encrusted head popping out of the bag. She rolled her eyes and said, “Sure. Comin’ right up.”
Joell leaned toward Rick. “So, what do we do now that you’ve blown our best lead? Go around knocking on hotel room doors?”
He glared at her but didn’t rise to the bait. “Probably call Stan. See if they’ve had any ransom demands. That’s the only reason I can think of for their being moved.”
“Well, I’d like to poke around here a little more.”
“You can’t. You blew your cover when you rushed into their room, quickie-pants.”
Her back stiffened. “I can still cast a disguise over myself.”
Rick pushed a couple of buttons on his cell phone. He must have put Stan on speed dial. While he waited, he said, “And the gun? I thought you locked up your weapons.”
“Just the bullets for this one.”
Rick closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s me. Any word?”
He looked at Joell and shook his head. Then his eyebrows rose. “You’re kidding. I’m in the middle of an investigation, and you want me to come back for some kind of meet and greet with the public?”
He listened a little longer, chuckled and shook his head, but it wasn’t out of amusement. It was disbelief. “And leave her to her own devices? I don’t think so. Another reason I was hired was to keep these women safe from themselves. Without me to watch her back, she’d be dead by now.”
“I would not!”
“Yes, you would. How do I know that? Because I have five sisters.” Rick put his hand over the phone. “Go wash your cat, will you?”
Joell crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. He clearly didn’t know her. No one gave her orders, except Bas. Now she’d sit right here, and Crowe wouldn’t get cleaned up anytime soon. Well, forget that. He’d have to take matters into his own paws.
He leaped out of her bag onto the table and overturned her water glass, positioning himself to take the brunt of the spray. “Meeeeooooow!” Crap! He’d forgotten about the ice cubes. That hurt, and now he was freezing cold too.
Joell jumped out of her seat, and even with warp speed, she caught a few drops. Crowe was glad she moved fast enough to avoid getting soaked.
The waitress rushed over with a disgusting, dirty dishrag and caught the spill after most of it had dripped onto the floor. “Why don’t you two move to a different table? I’ll have to get a mop.”
Joell grabbed Crowe by the scruff of the neck and plopped him onto a wooden chair at an adjacent table for four. “Stay,” she ordered, as if I were a dog! A stupid, mangy canine!
Rick said, “Call you back,” and slipped his cell phone back into his pocket.
Joell approached Crowe with the dirty dishcloth. He wasn’t usually a soap and warm water buff, but there had to be something better than this. He’d rather wait until they returned to the mansion, so he jumped off the chair and hid under the table.
Rick stood with hands on his hips, his eyes smoldering but not with lust. “I thought you said your cat was special. He just seems like a major pain in the ass to me. Why don’t we go back to the convention? Maybe you can find someone to cat-sit while we figure out our next move.”
“Quit knocking my cat, and who did you have in mind to look after him?”
“Don’t you have someone stationed in the models’ room?”
“Yeah, Crystal is monitoring it. Now that we know the prescription was picked up at the pharmacy, there’s no reason for one of the perps to return to his room. She’s probably enjoying a drink with Stan or mingling with the few models that are left.”
“Look, I’m out of excuses. I just want that cat out of the way, and if that means taking one of the other wonder-babes with me, so be it. I haven’t seen you use anything in the way of magic anyway.”
Aw, shit. Why’d he have to say that?
“Who knew motorcycles could fly? I’ve heard of flying brooms and bicycles, but not a flying Harley,” Rick babbled, probably trying to sound calm under the circumstances. He wasn’t.
Joell was in the driver’s seat, and her LV bag hung over Rick’s shoulder. I could feel him tremble right through the leather.
“I thought you had to lock up your powers as well as your weapons during this time of the… Well, you know.”
She must have heard him, although she didn’t answer.
“When we get back, I’ll call the K-9 unit. They can come to the hotel, give the dogs a sniff of the models’ clothes and—”
“No way,” Joell shouted over the wind. “Stan doesn’t want cops poking around the hotel. I’ll take their clothing and meet the cops at the other place. Crowe can do the sniffing.”
“The only thing your cat can smell right now is himself. Besides, this is too important to trust a damn cat. I’m sending the dogs in, and that’s that.”
“You really don’t understand what a witch’s familiar is, do you?”
“Look, you may be familiar with your cat, but I don’t know him from a hole in the wall. I know the K-9 dogs, and I trust them to do this.”
“Well, I trust Crowe.”
“You know, I’m tempted to drop this cat of yours into the Hudson River when we cross the bridge.”
If they had been on the ground, she might have slammed on the brakes and given him a taste of her martial arts skills. Since they were airborne, He’d have to pray she didn’t mean it.
“You’d better not, or you’ll follow him. Guess which one of you I’d swoop in and save?”
That’s why Crowe could put up with the craziness for about a week per season. No matter what, she loved him more than any other living creature. He hoped this guy would figure that out soon.
At last, they arrived at the hotel as a sudden, unexpected fog rolled in off the river. When they dismounted, Rick swung the designer bag over to Joell. Crowe had never been so relieved to be back in her arms in all of his lives.
They marched up the stairs. Joell was steamed.
“Irritable, dear?” Rick asked. Then he grabbed his cell phone and called someone, presumably at the police station.
She managed to hold her reaction at bay. Crowe couldn’t help but be proud of her.
“Yeah, we’ve got a good lead,” Rick was saying. “Get a K-9 unit down to the Golden Oak Hotel right away. A woman will meet you outside with the items you’ll need for scent.”
They arrived at Rick’s room as he ended the call. He opened the door with his key card and said, “After you, my darling.”
“What’s this dear, darling, and hon, stuff? Or is that just how you keep from calling your ‘babes’ by the wrong name?”
He clasped her arms and held her gaze with an intensity he’d never shown before. He said, “I’m not interested in other babes. I think we both know where this is going, Joell. If only we had more time, I’d ravage you right here and now.”
“Yeah, I lust you too, but don’t pretend it’s leading to more.”
“Who’s pretending?” Rick crushed her to his lips in a bruising kiss. Crowe thought he heard her give a little squeal of pain. Maybe it was just surprise, but if Rick hadn’t let her go right that minute, he’d have swiped him with his claws to get him to back off.
“Look, why don’t you leave your cat in my room while I do my thing downstairs and you do yours across town?
Here, I’ll give you my empty saddlebags.
Then you’ll have more room to carry the personal belongings with the model’s scents on them, and you can stop lugging around a mucky purse.
I promise I won’t hurt your precious cat. I know what he means to you.”
She hesitated as if thinking about it.
“You’d better hurry. I don’t want the perps to pack up and leave before you and the dogs get to the hotel. Here.” He handed her the saddlebags and keys. “I’ll even trust you with my Harley.”
Crowe meowed. Please, no. Don’t leave me!
He meowed again. I need you. You need me.
This time he really yowled! What we don’t need is this asshat telling us what to do.
“Okay, fine. But if you touch a hair on his head…”
What? All that communication, and she didn’t understand a word?
“I won’t, I promise. He’ll be perfectly safe. I won’t even be here most of the time. I’ll stop at the desk and ask them to give you an extra key to my room, then you can get in as soon as you get back.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she gazed at Crowe one last time. Then she pulled a packet of moist cat food from the other section of her bag, opened it, and spilled it onto his dresser.
Oh, thank Goddess. I’m famished.
He didn’t say a word, probably because it wasn’t his furniture in the long run.
“Be good while I’m gone, Crowe. I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can.” She blew a kiss instead of planting one on the top of his head. Gee, I wonder why.