New Species 06 Wrath (18 page)

Lauren gritted her teeth. Amanda was eyeing Wrath’s body as if he were a pork chop, which she loved.

“Please tell me that you’re single.” Amanda sat in the chair by the door, crossed her legs and seemed to get comfortable.

Wrath smiled. “I am.”

Amanda glanced toward the ceiling. “There is a God.” She laughed and batted her eyelashes at Wrath. “I’m single too. And looking.”

Wrath kept his smile in place. “Okay.”

“Amanda,” Lauren said in a tight voice, “Mr. Williams is a client. What are you doing here so early?”

“I was bored and thought I’d come to see if you could have dinner with me this evening before the movie.”

“I’m busy. As a matter of fact I’m going to have to cancel our movie plans. We’ll go tomorrow instead.”

Amanda pouted.

“I’m showing Mr. Williams some condos.”

Amanda grinned. “I have a condo to show you. Mine.” She winked. “I think you’d particularly enjoy my bedroom.”

“Amanda,” Lauren warned. “Stop.”

Amanda ignored her. “Want to go home with me and see my bedroom, gorgeous? Why buy one when you could just move right in with me? I think you’d cheer my place right up. You work out a lot, don’t you?”

“Amanda!” Lauren was getting pissed.

Amanda flashed her a smile. “This is why you’re single. I’m trying not to be. Hush. He’s all big and single. How many chances do I have to try to lure him home with me?” Amanda grinned at Wrath. “So, what do you say? Want me to show you my condo today? We could leave right now.”

Wrath stopped smiling. “I appreciate the offer but Lauren is going to show me condos today.”

“I want to show you more than just a condo.” Amanda smoothed down her shirt, shoving her chest out again. “And I know I want you to show me more than a condo.” Her gaze dropped to his lap and stayed there.

“Amanda!” Lauren gasped.

John T came to the doorway. “Meeting time, Lauren.”

Lauren stood, shaking with anger. She turned to Wrath. “I shouldn’t be long.” She spun, giving her friend a glare. “Amanda, knock it off and behave.”

Amanda grinned. “But I don’t want to be good.” She winked at Wrath. “I want to be bad. Verrrry bad.”

Lauren stormed out of her office, silently swearing to kill her best pal later for hitting on Wrath. Amanda should never hit on one of Lauren’s clients but she could have laughed that off. What wasn’t funny was that she’d gone after Wrath. Her anger burned.

Mel’s door was open so she just entered. Her boss stood by the desk facing Brent and both of them turned to stare at Lauren. She tried to hide her shock at seeing him there. They’d somehow missed him passing by her office and she wished she could signal Wrath. She schooled her features, she hoped, and tried to appear calm. It was rough, knowing she was in the same room with a killer and someone who had abused New Species.

John T and John B entered the office behind her and closed the door. Gina was absent. Mel quickly walked forward and gripped Lauren’s shoulders.

“You need to tell me right now how that man in your office contacted you and when.”

Alarm shot through Lauren. Her heart pounded in her ears and she stared mutely at her boss. She finally managed to get her brain working. “He called yesterday and set up the appointment. Why? What’s going on?”

Brent glared at her. “Didn’t you notice something off about him?”

Lauren shook her head. She hoped Wrath’s good hearing could detect what was going on in the office. Fear gripped her that they suspected the truth but she didn’t understand how they’d know Wrath wasn’t exactly a normal guy. Brent hadn’t seen him and he was the one who might recognize a New Species.

“No. Why?”

John T frowned. “He’s got glasses on. How the hell would she know unless she’s seen one of them, seen the facial differences? I doubt she ever has.”

Oh my God.
Lauren panicked but tried to control her features to hide her fear.
John T knows for sure what Wrath is, but how?

Mel nodded. “You need to leave now, Lauren. That man in your office is…a rapist. He gets realtors to show him properties and he attacks the second they’re alone. We’ll handle this.”

“But…” Lauren was at a loss for words. She studied the people in the office and felt chilled to the bone. They were lying and all four of them knew Wrath was a New Species. “Okay but my purse is in my office. I’ll get it, make an excuse, and leave.”
Warn Wrath.

“Just leave it.” Brent suddenly grabbed Lauren. “Go now.” He shoved her toward the back door of Mel’s office.

“But…”

Lauren was pushed out the back door and into the alleyway before she could protest. It slammed in her face, the bolt slid loud enough for her to hear, and shock washed through her at being locked out.

They knew Wrath was a New Species, had gotten rid of her, and they were protecting Brent for some reason. Terrified for Wrath’s safety she spun and ran down the alleyway to get to the SUV to tell his team what was going on. They needed to warn Wrath to get out or they needed to go in there.

Amanda was with Wrath. More fear drove her to run faster. She almost broke an ankle in her haste, the high heels impeding her, but she was grateful when she spotted the SUV. A car nearly hit her when she forgot to look before crossing the street. The driver hit the brakes, honked his horn and flipped her off.

Brass opened the passenger door, climbed out and caught her when she practically slammed into his big body. Firm hands gripped her arms.

“What is wrong? Where is Wrath?”

“I think they know he’s New Species. They fed me some bullshit about Wrath being a rapist before they shoved me out a back door. Brent is in there, they were all acting weird and my coworkers seem to be protecting him.”

Brass cursed. “Stay here.” He lifted her off her feet, pressed her against the side of the SUV and let go. “We’re going in.”

Lauren tried to catch her breath. “The alley.” She panted, swearing to buy a treadmill in her near future to get more in shape. “They can get out the back if they try to make a run for it.”

Brass turned to Brian—both he and Shadow had exited the SUV. “You take the alley and make sure they don’t escape that way.” Brian took off at a run in the direction Lauren had just come from.

“You stay, Lauren.” Brass checked the guns strapped to his hips. “You’re safe here.”

“My friend Amanda is in there too. She’s a blonde wearing a blue shirt and a black skirt.”

“Understood,” Shadow said.

Both men jogged across the street and down the sidewalk toward her office building. Lauren finally caught her breath and frowned. She didn’t want to wait with the SUV, too worried about her friend and Wrath to be that patient. They might need her. She pushed away from the side of the vehicle and quickly followed them.

She was so worried and distracted by what could be happening to Wrath, his team, and Amanda that she nearly fell on her butt when she spun to face the voice that called out.

“Hey!”

Amanda waved at her from the street, standing in front of the open driver’s door of her car, which was parked a few away from her at the curb. “God, that man was hot. I want to strip him down and sprinkle him with salt so I can take tequila shots off his body.”

“I thought you were inside.”

“Your boss ordered me to leave. She said she had sent you on an emergency call to let in a plumber at a property. That woman is such a bitch she probably wanted to take a shot at him herself but I’m not letting it go down. Tell me you have Mr. Williams’ number and what in God’s name, is that man’s first name? He wouldn’t tell me.”

Lauren twisted her head to stare at the office building. “Stay here. Just…stay here. Don’t move!”

“Okay! Bring me his number.”

Lauren nodded, turning her attention back on the office, dying to know what was going on inside it. Amanda was safe. That was a big relief but she wouldn’t calm down until she saw Wrath. She walked across the grass and avoided the front sidewalk, which could be seen from the reception area. Kim’s desk was empty when she inched up to the window and peeked. Lauren frowned.

Lauren eased around the side of the building and crept toward one of the windows of the office area. She hesitated, lifted her head and peered inside. What she saw made her gasp. Brass and Shadow were facing a wall and John T had a gun pointed at their backs while Mel and Brent stood close by, arguing. She could hear their raised voices but couldn’t understand the words.
Where’s Wrath? Where’s Kim, Gina, and John B?

Lauren ducked and kept low to prevent being seen through the windows. She practically crawled toward the back of the building until she reached the alley. She gasped. Brian was sprawled on his back on the ground next to the back door. She ran for him. Fresh blood was smeared on his forehead. Someone had hit him with something but he was breathing. Her hands shook badly as she searched his pockets and located a cell phone, glad he had one.

The top number said BASE when she checked recent outgoing calls and she pressed it to have the cell dial it. A man answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“This is Lauren Henderson. Is this headquarters?”

The man hesitated. “Who is this and how did you get Brian’s phone?”

“He’s bleeding on the ground.” She rattled off the address and name of her work. “They have Brass, Shadow and Wrath inside. My coworker has a gun pointed at Brass and Shadow. I haven’t seen Wrath yet but he was inside. Should I call 9-1-1?”

“No,” the man ground out. “We’re on our way. Stay with Brian. Is he breathing?”

Lauren checked Brian over again, verified his chest rose and fell and took a calming breath, trying to control her panic. “Yes but he’s out cold. He was hit in the head by something but it’s not here next to him and I don’t see anything with blood on it. We’re in the alley behind the building.”

“Don’t move and stay on the phone. Do not hang up. We will have teams out to you in minutes.”

Lauren left the phone line open and tucked it into Brian’s vest so it wasn’t in sight but the guy could still hear what was going on. She had no intention of just standing there to wait for help to arrive when Wrath could be in danger. She got to her feet, rushed to the other side of the building and crawled past the windows until she reached her office.

Lauren listened, heard nothing, and raised her head enough to stare into her office through the window. Wrath remained in the same seat he’d been sitting in when she’d left her office but it appeared as if he’d fallen asleep—his head was tipped back and his arms dangled limply over the arms of the chair. A red-tipped dart stuck out of his chest. She could see it move as he breathed, which assured her he was alive but obviously drugged.

Adrenaline rushed through her. Wrath needed help. She had no idea how long it would take for someone else to arrive. No way was she going to just stay there and do nothing. The screen came off easily and she gently rested it against the side of the building. Her gaze lifted to the inside lock, knew that window well since it stuck often when she opened it, and gripped the metal side with her fingers. She wiggled, tried to be quiet about it, and focused on her open office door. There was no movement but she’d have to hide if someone came.

The lock popped and she paused, straining her ears for any sign that someone inside could have heard it. She faintly heard yelling but couldn’t make out what was being said. No one rushed into the room so she eased the glass along the track to get it all the way open. Wrath was so close. She had no idea what to do once she reached him, but maybe she could barricade her office door to lock them both inside until help arrived.

The voices were loud enough with the window open that she could distinctly make out her coworkers’ angry shouting. She lifted up to the waist-high opening, raised a leg and jerked her skirt out of the way. Climbing in wasn’t easy but she managed and dropped to her knees to crawl behind her desk to hide.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Mel demanded.

“Just calm down,” Brent said. “I keep telling you that I’ll think of something.”

“It’s probably your fault!” Mel yelled. “Did you get drunk and tell someone who you really are? Damn it, Bill. I told you that you were putting us all at risk but would you stop being such a selfish prick? Hell no!”

“I didn’t.” His voice dropped and she couldn’t make out the rest of what he said.

“They found us!” Mel shouted. “You said no one would be able to trace us here and I trusted you.”

“They did find us.” It was John T speaking and he was obviously mad. “Let’s just think of what we’re going to do now. I say we kill them and get the hell out of here.”

“And go where?” Glass broke, Mel was so irate, she’d probably thrown something. “We sank all our money into this place for our cover identities. They probably froze our account at the bank. We’re screwed! I’m going to have to call my sister and you know how much I don’t want to do that. I wanted away from this shit. I never wanted to see one of those bastards again and now we have three of them. In…our…offices!”

“Enough!” John B roared. “They offer reward money for them. We have three. Everyone calm down. I can’t think when you’re shouting. We can use them to get fast cash and start over somewhere else.”