Freaky by Nature (23 page)

hav e a future once Albert was out of the way .”

“You killed Albert.”

“Not alone, but y es.”

“I’m not going any where with y ou, Ev an.”

“You don’t hav e a choice. I hav e a gun in m y waistband and a

knife in m y boot. You either leav e here quietly with m e or som eone

gets hurt.”

“All of these m en are arm ed.”

“They won’t risk hurting y ou, Holly . Now stop arguing or I’ll

show y ou.”

Ev an positioned her in front of him and urged her forward.

***

“Shadow,” Claire said faintly , “Holly ’s in trouble.”

Shadow froze. Claire nev er m issed. His ey es scanned the

crowded concert. No way could they m ake a quick escape.

“Sonuv abitch.”

“Hurry !” She wrapped her fingers halfway around his left

biceps and tugged. “We hav e to find her!”

“We can’t leav e Hawke hanging. We hav e to m aintain our

position.”

Claire stood, determ ined. “I’m going.”

“Dam n, Claire, stop! Just wait a second.”

He reached for his radio. “Steele, Claire Voy ant say s Holly ’s in

trouble.”

Claire crossed her arm s.

“Shit!” Brett cursed across the line. “She just went to get

Cam eron som ething to eat. What else did Claire say ?”

Claire grabbed the radio. “Som eone has her. A m an. He’s

dragging her away from the concert.”

“I’m on it. Any thing else?”

Claire glanced at Shadow and raised one fine ey ebrow.

“Be v ery sure of what y ou’re about to say .” He gav e her one

last opportunity to think about what she would say .

She gav e him a sm ug grin. “Yeah. Shadow saw m e naked.”

“Enough!” Max’s v oice echoed a warning. “The com puter

shows she’s m ov ing toward the exit.”

Shadow glanced beside him and cursed. “Sterling, I’v e got to

go. Claire’s on the m ov e.”

“Steele, what’s y our status?”

The radio crackled in response.

“Steele!”

***

Holly watched in horror as the guard at the exit gate left his

post with sev eral scantily clad wom en in his grasp. She fought the

urge to stom p her feet and scream bloody m urder. What was it

about a rock star that caused wom en to lose all good sense?

Ev an took the opportunity to slide through the exit with her in

tow. She struggled to keep his hurried pace as he pulled her

further away from the v enue into a bordering clum p of trees. The

ev il perm eating the air nearly took Holly to her knees.

Holly bent ov er and pulled m uch-needed air into her lungs.

“Ev an, wait, I’m going to be sick.”

“It’s about tim e y ou got her out of there!” Holly raised her

head at the v oice that cackled from the shadows.
Marla
. “That

horrible racket giv es m e a headache.”

Coal black strings squirm ed down from the air and em bedded

them selv es in the top of Marla’s head until she resem bled the

sinister Medusa herself. Holly ’s ey es burnt from the stench of death

and for a m om ent she thought she m ight actually turn to stone.

She tried desperately to think of a way to sum m on help.

Holly closed her ey es and concentrated.
Brett
. May be since he

was able to block em otion from her, he could intercept her pain.

Instead, Holly felt her walls crum ble piece by piece. She

reached deeper inside and som ehow sum m oned the strength to

continue.

“I should hav e known y ou were behind this, Marla.” Holly

opened her ey es, jerked her hand from Ev an’s grasp, and took a

step toward Marla.

The gun that suddenly appeared pointed straight at her

stopped her adv ancem ent in her tracks.

“I want that form ula, Holly . Albert prom ised.” Marla wav ed

the gun toward the trees. “Com e on, Ev an. Let’s get her out of

here.”

Holly stum bled when Ev an shov ed her toward Marla. She

reached out with both arm s to catch herself, rev ealing the bracelet

in the process.

“What the hell is that?” Marla screeched.

Ev an frowned. “What?”

“On her wrist, idiot.”

“I don’t know.” Ev an twisted Holly ’s wrist from side to side. “It

could be som e kind of tracking dev ice.”

“Get it off her. Now!”

Holly jerked her arm away from Ev an.

Marla slapped her. Caught off guard, Holly fell to the ground

and she tasted blood. Her head threatened to explode from the hate

and ev il in the atm osphere. She couldn’t block it out any m ore. She

wanted to just giv e in to it.

Suddenly , healing shards of blue-green fleeted across her

tortured m ind.
Brett
. And then clairv oy ant bright, roy al blue

ribbons wrapped her thoughts with clear, m etallic gold ray s.

Claire
. Finally , the inv ading, determ ined force of am ber-red stripes

with intertwined coral bands entered to take control.
Shadow
.

Ebbs of strength from the three of them flowed through her like

adrenaline.

Ev an grabbed her hands and dragged her further into the

trees.

“The car is on the north side!” Marla hissed. “You’re

worthless.”

“They can follow us easier in the cars than in the woods. Com e

on.”

Holly planted her feet firm ly in the dirt as Ev an continued to

drag her, m arking an obv ious trail for her trained heroes to follow.

Although now com pletely worn out, Holly continued both her

phy sical and m ental struggle and fought to focus through the

dingy gray fog. Finally , in a clearing through the trees, she saw

Brett, determ ination on his handsom e face and his gun drawn.

“Drop the gun,” Brett growled at Marla as he closed in.

Ev an shov ed Holly in front of him and Marla rushed to his

side. She cocked the gun’s trigger and poked Holly ’s tem ple with

the barrel. “No, drop y ours or I’ll kill her.”

Ev an groaned. “Marla, rem em ber the form ula.”

“Shut up!” Marla pushed the gun harder into Holly ’s

throbbing tem ple.

Brett’s hold on his gun nev er wav ered.

A slight whisper of m ov em ent behind her caught Holly ’s

attention. Wav es of reassurance rolled through her m ind. Within

seconds, Shadow squeezed Marla’s neck in the curv e of his biceps

and twisted until she was forced to release her weapon. Claire

kicked the gun to the side. Marla’s ey es fluttered closed.

“I’v e still got Holly .” Ev an reached to pull the knife from his

boot and held it to her throat.

Holly squeezed her ey es closed. She knew what would happen

next. A determ ined pop echoed from the trees. And then she

watched the action in the depths of her m ind.

Brett fired once. The knife fell from Ev an’s hold. And then

again. The second, clean, fatal shot landed right between Ev an’s

ey es. Claire fell to the ground. Holly bounced off Ev an’s chest from

the force of his fall.

Shadow cursed. “Claire’s down.”

Holly forced her ey es open to see Brett stood ov er her. “Hey .”

“Claire,” she m um bled.

Brett squatted and rolled Ev an from under her. “Backlash.

Shadow and I concentrated so m uch on Marla and Banister we

forgot to block. She’ll be fine. Death hits Claire hard.”

He rem ov ed his shirt and wiped blood from her arm s.

Brett’s radio crackled and then Max’s v oice boom ed across the

wav es. “I want a status report, now!”

Brett unclipped the radio from his belt and spoke. “Banister’s

dead. He had an accom plice and Shadow put her down. Holly ’s

safe. We’re all clear.”

“Marla?”

“Yeah. How’d y ou know?” He gav e Holly a slight grin as he

continued to talk into the radio. “Don’t tell m e y ou’re going

psy chic on m e too.”

“No. Just a hunch. Diablo PD is en route. As soon as I take

Cam eron back stage, I’ll be there to help y ou deal with the

situation.”

Brett glanced down at Holly . “It’s ov er, Baby , he’s gone.”

She untangled herself from his arm s and stood. “That’s just it,

Brett, it’s not ov er. Things like this will alway s be a part of m e.”

He stood and attem pted to calm her with a caress to the side of

her face. “Not if y ou’re with m e.”

“You don’t get it, do y ou? I can’t just turn it off and on. I

always
know. Ev il, sy m pathy , passion, anger, it all follows m e.”

“I can help y ou.”

“No, y ou can’t. Albert was right. I’m just a freak of nature,

dodging shadows ev ery where I go.”

“You can’t possibly believ e that.”

She watched, bewildered, as a storm y grey -blue cloud floated

across his features. Fear and sadness. Two things she nev er hoped

to cause him . She felt tears break through her weak barriers.

“I do,” she whispered. “I can’t sentence y ou to a life of

heartache.”

Brett crushed her against him and tucked her head beneath

his chin. “I know y ou’re scared, Holly . Let m e help y ou.”

Holly allowed herself to wallow in the safety of his arm s for

just a m om ent before his despair pum m eled her like a rocky

av alanche. Despite his ov erwhelm ing grief, she felt his deep,

honest lov e fight to win a battle he would ultim ately lose. Shaking

her aching head, she placed both hands against his chest and

forced herself from his grasp.

“I’m sorry .”

Tears scalded her cheeks as she left him there, hoping

desperately his broken heart would ev entually forgiv e her.

Brett watched her until she disappeared from sight then

allowed his anger freedom . What the hell just happened? One

m inute they lov ed until they were both sweaty and satisfied and

the next, she ran. Sprinted. All because she didn’t trust him . Holly

lov ed him , he felt it deep down in his soul. Yet, she couldn’t find

the courage to trust him to accept her. Ev en after she found out

about Claire. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his racing

heartbeat as he knelt next to his sister.

Shadow laid a hand on his shoulder. “Let her go, Steele.”

“I m ay nev er see her again.”

“Just giv e her som e space.”

Brett frowned. “Since when do y ou know so dam n m uch?”

“Since I saw y our sister naked.”

Brett pinned Shadow with a heav y stare, sure his best friend

had a death wish.

Shadow didn’t dodge the issue. “Figured y ou needed to punch

som eone right about now.”

Brett ey ed Shadow for a full thirty seconds and then decided to

sav e that battle for another day . There were a m illion reasons why

he didn’t want to know the specifics of Shadow and Claire’s

encounter and another m illion why he did. Just not right now.

Instead, he glanced back at the concert stage where Hawke

kept the crowd m esm erized. “Do y ou think any body realizes what

just happened?”

Shadow shook his head. “Negativ e. Once again we prov ed just

how silent but deadly we are.” He grinned when the sound of shrill

sirens filled the air. “Then again, m ay be not.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Steele!” Max bellowed from behind the locked door. “Open

up.”

Shadow heard an angry m oan from inside.

Max turned to glare at him . “Where’s Claire?”

Shadow narrowed his ey es. “Why are y ou asking m e?”

“Where. Is. Claire?” Max repeated through gritted teeth.

Shadow sighed in defeat. “With Holly .”

Max reached for the brass doorknob and cursed when he found

it locked. “Steele, open the door or we’re breaking it down.”

“C’m on, Steele,” Shadow urged. “He’s serious.”

Brett threw open the door. “What the hell do y ou want?” Max

pushed passed Brett and m otioned Shadow inside.

“Get dressed,” Max ordered.

“No.”

Shadow shifted uneasily in the cold stillness and labeled Brett

certifiably insane. He’d personally witnessed what happened the

last tim e som eone challenged Cpt. Sterling, and it wasn’t pretty .

Shadow edged closer to the door.

Max stood ram rod straight and issued a challenge. “You really

want to cross that bridge?”

Brett sighed. “No, I just don’t feel like getting dressed.”

“Do it any way . We’re going out.”

“Hell, Sterling! I’m not going any where.”

Shadow took a deep breath and braced him self for the

firestorm . Max crossed his bulky arm s ov er his chest. “You’v e got

exactly fiv e m inutes.”

Brett glanced at Shadow. Shadow shrugged helplessly .

“Where?”

Max didn’t m ov e a m uscle. “Four m inutes, thirty seconds.”

“Dam n,” Brett Steele m um bled, heading to the bedroom .

Shadow cleared his throat. “There’s a window in the

bedroom .”

“He won’t bail.” Max peered ov er the top of his sunglasses.

“How do y ou know about the window?”

“Claire told m e.”

“Better not tell Steele y ou know about it.”

“Didn’t plan on it,” Shadow answered quickly . “You think this

will work?”

Max curled his lip. “Hell y eah.”

Brett am bled back into the liv ing room , his shirt untucked and

his hair m ussed. Shadow shook his head. Brett had it bad.

“Don’t bother dressing up,” he teased.

Brett snarled and tucked his shirt into the front of his jeans.

“No sense dressing up where we’re going,” Max interrupted.

“No one will care.”

Brett palm ed his key s as he stepped to the door. Max held out