Flamingo Fugitive (Supernatural Bounty Hunters 5)

by E A Price

  She rolled over, uncaring as the covers slipped from her body. She could feel a distinct lack of warmth in the bed, and her patting hand confirmed his absence. Her flamingo whined like a lovesick bird. “Stone?”

  “He’s gone out,” said a cheerful, female voice.

  Francine squawked, and instinct kicked in before reason did. She shifted to her flamingo and promptly yelped and flapped around the room, spraying feathers, in the vain hope that this display would scare the intruder into running away. Well, it was pretty much her only defense in these situations.

  A thin, blonde woman with glowing yellow eyes held out her hands in a placating manner. She made shushing, soothing noises. After a few more minutes squawking, and as soon as Francine was sure that this female wasn’t there to rob or eat her, she felt comfortable enough to shift back. Her flamingo wasn’t sure and viewed this other female with deep suspicion, but her flamingo form hampered her options for escaping.

  Francine quickly draped herself in a sheet and glared at the blonde. The woman gave her a Cheshire cat-like grin, and Francine was sure she was some kind of cat shifter. The type that probably swallowed birds whole.

  “I’m sorry,” said in a disturbingly reasonable voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. What must you think of me? I’m Caitlyn; it’s nice to meet you.”

  The woman was being sweet and reasonable, but for some reason she made Francine nervous. Perhaps it was the fact that the woman had just turned up while she was sleeping and naked.

  “What are you doing here?” snapped Francine, not feeling sweet or reasonable at all.

  Caitlyn frowned as if the answer to this question was obvious. “I’m here to see Stone.”

  Francine held her breath as she waited for the explanation. Sister? Cleaner?

  “I’m his fiancée.” She beamed.

  Well, crap.

  “You’re engaged to Stone?” asked Francine, slowly, ignoring the loud complaints from her bird.

  Caitlyn nodded in a humble yet happy way.

  Her heart raced as doubt, fear and embarrassment all vied for dominance in her head. “But… but…” she spluttered. “He never said a word!” It was quite a big thing to forget?! And why exactly was this cat shifter standing in front Francine – a female who had just been fast asleep and naked in her fiancé’s bed - and wasn’t trying to tear her eyes out?

  “Stone’s just sowing a few of his oats before we get married,” she explained as if this was a perfectly normal thing to say.

  Francine clung to the hope that this was all just a mistake. Maybe the cat had wandered into the wrong apartment. Cats did things like that, right? There certainly didn’t seem to be any feminine touches or female clothes. And where exactly were the pictures of his fiancée?

  “But he doesn’t have any pictures of you here!” It was a stupid thing to say, even if her flamingo thought it was a valid point. She felt like she was on the cusp of stamping her foot like a petulant child. “But…”

  Caitlyn gave her a tinkling laugh. “He doesn’t need pictures; he keeps me right here.” She pressed her hand over her heart and closed her eyes.

  Flamingos were generally considered soft, mild creatures. But on hearing and seeing this, Francine had the urge to vomit. “In your boob?” she replied, flippantly. She wasn’t in a particularly soft mood.

  The female’s features tightened, slightly as she opened her eyes. “Well, I do have this.”

  She held up her hand, and Francine stared at the engagement ring. She shrugged. That ring could have come out of a cereal box for all she knew.

  Caitlyn grabbed a framed picture of an older, stocky looking woman that was on the dresser. Francine noticed that it had been directed away from the bed, and when she found out who the person in the photo was, that made sense.

  “Now look at that picture of his grandma.”

  Francine clutched at the picture as her eyes darted between the picture of what must have been Grandma Stone and the ring on Caitlyn’s finger. Yep, that was definitely his grandma’s ring. Men didn’t just give those away to any old cat. She became very aware of the fact that she was dressed in a sheet and standing in the bedroom of another woman’s fiancée, and undoubtedly the scent of sex lingered in the air. She was upset and wanted nothing more to give in and cry like her bird, but that would have to wait.

  Silently, Caitlyn took the picture back and placed it on the dresser. “Besides, if we weren’t together why would I have a key to his apartment?” She wasn’t angry. She was… reasonable, and that was scarier than anger.

  But the female had a point. Why would she have a key to his apartment and his grandma’s ring if they weren’t engaged? Francine tried her best to think, but the ring and the key were not easy to explain away. Her flamingo urged her to try, but she just couldn’t. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

  “Hey, not your fault,” said the disturbingly tranquil female. “We have an open relationship.”

  Francine wanted to argue that she was nuts, and if Stone were hers, she wouldn’t let him chase after loose women. But then she realized she was one of the loose women. She was nothing more than just a brief fling to him. He never intended to let her be more than that. She almost wished that Caitlyn would slap her. The physical pain might make this all a little more bearable.

  “I’ll just go,” she whispered.

  “Probably for the best.”

  *

  Stone whistled as he returned to his apartment. God, he’d never felt so good. He’d never slept so well. Having his warm bird in his arms all night had been very… satisfying. Very… right.

  In deference to her, he’d forgone his usual morning routine. Why would he be out running when he could be in bed with her? His rhino chuffed happily. It was a no brainer!

  He’d also run down to the deli around the corner. He shocked Willow the cashier by, in addition to ordering his usual health food shake that he guzzled in the deli while wishing everyone he saw good day, purchasing a box of breakfast pastries. He had no idea what she liked so he’d bought one of each. He looked forward to watching her eat them. Watching while she licked the various custard, jelly and chocolate off her fingers as she made those happy little cooing noises was definitely going to be the highlight of his morning. Until they moved to other more exciting endeavors.

  His rhino rumbled in happiness. He wasn’t sure where they were going with this. He was trying not to think beyond letting her out of bed. Speaking of which, he didn’t need to get to work for a couple of hours yet. He needed to enjoy every moment he could with her.

  He quickened his step before slapping his forehead, making a few onlookers blink at him. What was he doing? Why walk when he could run? So he did. He ran all the way home, making sure he didn’t crush the pastries. He virtually knocked Mrs. Lewinsky over in his haste. He considered turning into his rhino and charging all the way, but then he wouldn’t be able to carry the pastries. Darn.

  Stone flew through his door and juggling the pastries, he slipped out of his clothes. No point in making it too hard for his pretty birdy. He didn’t want her to think he was playing hard to get.

  He slipped into the bedroom and saw a lump under the covers. Aww, she looks so tiny in his big bed. Well, she was tiny next to him. Curvier than the usual women he dated, but no less beautiful. No, because she was more beautiful.

  His rhino grumbled as he inhaled a noseful of artificial floral scent. Ugh, maybe she’d sprayed deodorant. He’d try to discourage her from doing that from now on – her natural scent was far too beautiful to hide.

  Stone scooted onto the bed and frowned as he rubbed a very slender thigh. Something felt slightly off, but he plundered on anyway. “You miss me, feathers?”

  The lump turned over to reveal Caitlyn. “So much.”

  Stone roared, throwing the pastries into the air and falling backward. His rhino sensed danger and instantly shifted. In place of the moderately large Stone was now an absolutely enormous rhino. The bed instantly gave up under
the stress of the additional weight of a howling rhino and collapsed on the floor.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I don’t think I can go back to that gym.” Hey, maybe there was an upside to having your heart broken by a asshat rhino shifter. Although that wasn’t much of an upside. Francine sniffled and told her flamingo, for the hundredth time, that her heart wasn’t broken. It was just… slightly battered. And besides, hadn’t she gone to bed with him with the intention of it being a one-night stand? She was no different from him. Except, she wasn’t getting married to someone else. He was probably laughing at her at that very moment. Laughing at the chubby flamingo for believing that he found her beautiful…

  She was a dumb, gullible pile of feathers.

  Felicia spouted the usual conciliatory words about hoping his balls fell off, and Francine gave an obligatory giggle.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” said Felicia, sternly.

  “You’re out for my gym membership.”

  “Well, we’ll see about that, I can be pretty nasty when I want to be.”

  “Please.” She was about as nasty as a kitten with a cold.

  Francine almost heard the eye roll all the way in the theatre district. “Fine, but I can be pretty annoying when I want to be. If I go down there, I’ll create such a flap that they’ll give in and be forced to give me my money back.”

  “What if they don’t?”

  “If they don’t they don’t, honey, we can afford it.”

  “Yeah, but I’m annoyed on your behalf.” She’d find a way to pay her back… probably. Maybe if she gave her a dollar a month…

  “Welcome to the world of one-night stands.”

  “How would you know?” Felicia married her first boyfriend; she was never introduced to the sometimes humiliating world of adult dating. She’d never had her heart broken. Sigh. If her flamingo could, she would have blown her nose.

  “I told you, I read. What are you doing right now, how about lunch?”

  “I’m at an audition.” She flipped through her script. “Myra came through with something.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Felicia sucked in a breath, before asking in a rush, “Was it good last night?”

  “Oh, amazing!” she sighed before she could stop herself. Well, it was the truth. “He was… oh!” So many words sprang to mind, but they didn’t seem to do him justice.

  “So he gave you a fabulous orgasm?”

  “Two if we’re counting.” A brief flicker of pleasure ignited in her chest as she remembered their lovemaking. It was extinguished as Caitlyn’s face floated in front of her.

  “You lucky birdy, and now he’s out of your life before he has a chance to cheat on you. Or steal your money for new headshots. Or dump you because he was jealous of you professionally. Or before you came home to find him trying on your shoes and stretching them out.”

  Those were all things that had happened to Francine. “Those red pumps have never been the same,” she muttered, unenthusiastically.

  “Exactly!” cried Felicia, clearly trying to put a good spin on this. “It’s a win-win situation.”

  Except where she never got to see the stupid rhino again and he was getting married to a strange cat shifter. She was about to let her flamingo do a little more wallowing when a harried looking woman called her name.

  “Ummm, look I gotta go, they’re calling me.”

  “Yes and don’t worry, there are other gyms.”

  Yes, but are there other delicious, rhino shifter trainers?

  *

  Francine went through the usual motions of an audition. She gave it her normal gusto; she didn’t stumble over her words and yet… something was off. Everyone seemed to be conversing and whispering loudly – or at least louder than usual.

  But she rallied – she’d done dinner theatre – if she could play Ophelia while people were shouting for more gravy, she could do this.

  She opened her mouth and abruptly shut it again as a shrill ‘thank you’ echoed through the theatre.

  She smiled a brittle smile. “Everything okay?”

  “We’re sorry, dear,” called the campy director. “But none of us are looking to get stabbed, dear.”

  It was like a punch to the gut and her flamingo whined. “But…”

  He waved his hands about as if he was directing traffic. “If this whole situation with Michael St. Fontaine blows over, feel free to come back.” He paused, “But not until then.”

  “Surely any publicity…” she tried, limply.

  He snorted. “Yes, we’ve all heard that saying. It’s not true. Bad publicity is what bombed Pearl Harbor.”

  “I don’t think that’s…”

  “I meant the film. Just come back and audition for our next production… if you’re not in jail.”

  “Right.”

  *

  Stone was in a bad mood. He never had bad moods. So everyone was a little startled to see him coming towards him with a face that would scare thunder away. He was having trouble coming up with a good spin on the current situation.

  He wanted to kill Caitlyn, and he wanted Francine back. Was that so much to ask? He didn’t ask for a lot in his life – but losing his flamingo and acquiring a stalker seemed like a bit much.

  The lioness had apparently told his flamingo that he was already in a relationship with her. Francine, most likely devastated and heartbroken at the thought – or at least that’s what his ego said - had left. Even worse than that, she hadn’t returned to the gym for their next appointment.

  Her friend had come back and harangued Gabby into refunding her money, and she made it clear that neither she nor Francine were returning. Gabby was livid, and she almost yelled at him, until she saw the dark stare he leveled at her, and instead she settled for giving him a stern lecture.

  He was currently on a stakeout looking for a new skip. His rhino was pissed and restless and chasing someone at that moment in time certainly appealed.

  Fellow bounty hunters, Noah an arctic fox shifter and Adam a white tiger shifter asked him for help with a vampire bounty, and he agreed. He’d have done it for free if they wanted. He was currently sitting in Noah’s car watching and waiting for their skip while Adam scoped out the apartment building and last known whereabouts of the vamp. He was a fairly young vampire who had been arrested for lewd behavior – he kept sneaking into women’s bathrooms and spying while asking random women how they felt about eternity. Young vamps were weaker than the older ones, but much more unpredictable and, therefore, tricky. Hence the request for a rampaging rhino.

  Stone reached into his pocket and ran his fingers up and down the feather. He leaned his head up against the car window. That’s all he had of her, the few feathers she had left at his apartment. And they were blue. She was a blue flamingo – so rare, so beautiful. She was one of a kind – he’d never meet another girl like her in a thousand years. He wished he’d been there to see her shift. The feathers were the only thing keeping him sane.

  He had to find her. Except, he didn’t even have her last name, never mind a phone number or an address. What was her friend called? Felicity? Flora, Fauna? Merriweather? Hell, if he knew even that. He tried demanding the information from Gabby, but she was clear that there was no way in hell.

  He couldn’t even get hold of Francine, yet Caitlyn virtually knew everything about him and had keys to his apartment. He was having his locks changed and getting a new phone number that was for damn sure. He almost laughed at the stupidity of the situation, but his rhino grumbled, and he quieted.

  Stone thought that Caitlyn may have finally gotten the message but no she hadn’t. She sent a gift basket to his home that morning with a selection of fruit, a toy rhino and a t-shirt with the slogan ‘rhino you love me?’. The card said she was sorry, and she didn’t want this to end their relationship.

  Jeez.

  After discovering that Francine was missing, she told him what she did – proudly, he might add – he told
her in no uncertain terms that there was nothing between them, and there never would be. He managed to refrain from screaming at her... just. Even when she tried to pout and touch him, he didn't lose control. He was naked from having shifted to his beast and she took this as some kind of invitation to try and seduce him. He kept her at arm's length and told her to back away. She seemed to accept this and left – but with her, who could tell. One moment she appeared reasonable and the next… not so much.

  Course, now, he was lumbered with buying a new bed, but that was nothing compared to finding Francine. He hadn’t gone through this before with a woman. Women knew the score with him. None of them had ever wanted to date him before now. He wasn’t dateable material and certainly not marriageable. He made sure of that.

  Like his dad always said – gotta be crazy to tie yourself to one woman forever, and then his dad usually added that bitches be crazy.

  But, although he agreed with that in theory – except the bitches be crazy part – he couldn’t deny the fact that he didn’t want his flamingo to be with anyone else. She made his heart beat a million miles a minute, and she made his gruff rhino practically coo at her. The thought of her being out there and perhaps being with another man infuriated him. He needed to find her. No, he just… he just needed her, even more than he needed Caitlyn out of his life.

  Stone considered trying to take a restraining order out on Caitlyn. But, judging by how many bounties he’d collected for men, and the occasional women, who’d been arrested for ignoring those orders, he doubted they worked. Besides, he did kind of feel that was the last resort.

  His rhino rumbled something about making her disappear, but Stone ignored that and put it down to the fact that they were going on very little sleep. It wasn’t easy to rest when his body was pining for a flamingo. While the rest of him was worrying that a mountain lion shifter was going to jump out of his closet, stick her hands over his eyes and squeal ‘guess who’.