The Detective's Dragon

by Karilyn Bentley

  Then she ran back to the children, her fingers fumbling to twist the key in the shackle’s lock. The girl drew the back of her arm under her nose as she sniffed, her gaze never leaving Parker’s fingers.

  “Where are you taking us?” The boy’s voice trembled as he yanked his leg free.

  Parker grabbed both of the chains and pulled them toward the man. “Draconia.”

  “I want to go home,” the girl sniffled.

  Parker snapped a shackle on each of the man’s meaty wrists.

  “You can’t go home,” the boy said. “Mother’s dead.”

  Whimpering filled the room.

  Parker held a hand out to the girl. “We’ll find you a new home with nice people, all right?”

  The girl looked at her brother who shrugged. She drew a hand under her eyes, her wary gaze upon Parker’s palm-up hand.

  Come on, take it. Come on.

  The boy grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her toward Parker. His grip tightened on hers, a silent entreaty for care. Parker returned the squeeze and rose slowly to her feet. She led the kids to the door, tossed the key down the hall and picked up the poker.

  Hefting it over her shoulder, she dropped the boy’s hand and peered both ways up and down the hall. “Stay behind me.”

  After a quick glance to show they obeyed, she tip-toed toward the stairs.

  “Sigmund!”

  Parker froze, her grip tightening on the poker. The voice was the same as who spoke downstairs. The same voice who harmed Jamie. Who knocked out her man. Who knowingly kept two children chained to a bed in rags. Fury exploded like a grenade.

  And the two small bodies pressed against her back, trembling hard enough to shake the material of her trousers only ignited the rage.

  The door next to the stairs swung open. “How long does it…” A tall, blond man stepped onto the landing, his eyes flaring as he caught sight of Parker. Then they narrowed as he stepped toward her. “You’re going to be sorry.” The trembling of the children against her legs turned into a metronome of distress.

  Anger fueled her strength, the iron poker becoming an extension of her arm. Parker screamed and ran forward, her momentum yanking free of the children’s grasp. She swung the poker at the man’s head, but he caught the thing and used her forward force to throw her into the wall.

  Omph. The air blew out of her lungs on a hard exhale. The man turned with her, his back to the stairs, one arm lifted in a punch. Adrenaline lent strength to her limbs, beat back the pain in her shoulder, fueled her kick.

  Her foot landed on his groin. His eyes widened. His hands dropped to cover his ’nads.

  Didn’t expect that, did you, jackwagon?

  A kick to the chin sent him tumbling head over feet down the stairs. Breath heaved in and out of her lungs, her captain’s words echoing in her mind as the man landed in a broken heap at the bottom, his neck at an angle.

  Conduct unbecoming of a police officer.

  Yeah, but sometimes the bad guy needs to die.

  A loud intake of breath ending on a whimper had her turning to the children. Good job, Parker. Kill a man in front of kids, why don’t you.

  She held both hands in front of her, dropping the poker to the floor. “It’s all right. He won’t hurt you again.”

  Two sets of wide eyes returned her stare. Then the girl moved forward. “All right,” she whispered.

  “Don’t look at him as we pass. You don’t need to see him.” She grabbed both their hands and led them down the stairs.

  The man’s wide blue eyes stared unseeing as they passed, and Parker used her body to block the children from the sight. She led them to Erik and Jamie.

  “Who’s that?” The boy pointed to Jamie and Erik.

  “My friends. The bad men knocked them out.”

  “With the darts.” The boy nodded.

  “You know about that?”

  “He used them on us. When we were bad.”

  Was it possible to resurrect the blond and kill him again?

  “That won’t happen again. I won’t let it. All right?”

  “Why are you taking us to Draconia?”

  “You are Draconi. You belong there. These men were sent to take you home.”

  “But that’s not home.” The girl shook her head.

  “It wasn’t his home either,” Parker pointed to Jamie, “but he was rescued and grew up there and loves it.”

  He loved his home. Could she ask him to leave it to go to her world? What was home? A physical place? A building with rooms? Or where the man she loved lived?

  The boy looked at Jamie, the girl remaining focused on Parker.

  “How do you know we’ll like it? Why can’t we go home?”

  “I told you,” the boy turned to his sister, “Mother died.”

  The girl sniffed. “I know that. But why can’t we go home?”

  “We have no home. It’s them or the bad men.”

  Her eyes narrowed on Parker, her thoughts as readable as a page: How do we know they aren’t bad too?

  Yep. Would cheerfully kick the blond down the stairs again.

  “What are your names? I’m Det—” No, she wasn’t. Not any longer. Parker cleared her throat. “I’m Ruby Parker.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “Like the stone,” she breathed. “I love rubies.”

  A Draconi trait? Jamie certainly had a fascination for the jewel. Not that she was complaining. A man could do worse than giving her rubies.

  Provided he planned to give her one.

  “Me too.”

  Both sets of green gazes fastened on her with a thief’s scrutiny. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. Which was an odd reaction to children.

  And she still didn’t have their names. “You’re right. It’s a pretty jewel. What is your name?”

  “Jathan.” Jathan gestured at his sister. “She’s…”

  His sister stepped forward. “I’m Flanna.”

  “It’s nice to meet you both. We’ll leave as soon as they wake.”

  “It could be some time.” Jathan nodded as if everyone knew how long the drug took to wear off.

  Damn it. Time was not on her side.

  Thud, thud, thud! Parker glanced to the shaking ceiling. Clearly, the unconscious creep woke and decided he hated being chained. Poor baby. Served him right.

  Jathan wrapped his arms around Flanna, trying to protect while his arms trembled in time to her body.

  “He’s not going to hurt you ever again. I promise. All right?”

  They nodded, continuing to shake. Poor babies. Her nails cut into her palms. Conduct unbecoming of an officer would be storming up the stairs and permanently knocking out the chained man.

  But damn if it wasn’t tempting.

  She knelt by Jamie, pressing her fingers against his wrist. The steady, thump, thump of his heart soothed a thread of tension.

  “Jamie,” she whispered in his ear, brushing a stray lock of hair off his forehead, “wake up.”

  His even breathing continued, unmarred by her request.

  Damn it.

  Parker sat back on her heels. Ran her hands through her hair. Stared at the ceiling. Thud, thud, thud, followed by garbled shouts. Tension coiled in her belly. The children huddled against the stone wall, a quivering mass of limbs.

  What she needed was a car. But those seemed to be in short supply here. Why would you need a car when transporting would get you there in a fraction of the time? Maybe a cart?

  “Did the bad men have a cart?”

  Jathan shook his head, following it with a shrug. “Don’t know.”

  Okay. She could leave the kids in the house with two unconscious men, one dead man, and a chained creep, to search the premises for a possibly existing cart in a town where she didn’t know a soul.

  Yeah, right. She blew out a breath. Sure, they could wait for Jamie and Erik to wake, but who knew how long that would take and Mr. Awake and Pissed Off could rouse help. Heaven only knew his shout
s were loud enough to wake the dead.

  A quick glance proved the dead man remained dead. As if he’d turn into a zombie or something. Get it together, Parker.

  “If they had a cart, where would it be?”

  “Outside.”

  Smart alec. “Would you like to show me?”

  “We’re not supposed to leave.”

  “Who’s going to tell?”

  A couple of blinks later their arms unwrapped from each other and Flanna took a hesitant step forward. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Me too.” Jathan glared.

  “Right, then. Let’s go out front.”

  When she opened the front door and stepped into a small garden, both kids stopped as if an invisible wall barred their exit.

  “Come on. It’s all right.” Parker held out her hand.

  But neither saw it. Jathan stepped out first, both hands turned palms up. Flanna followed, raising her face to the sun. Unlike the shadows in the house, the sun illuminated their stringy, unwashed hair and soot smudged faces. Parker curled her fingers hard against her palm, dropping her hand to her side.

  How long had it been since they’d been outside? How many months had they lived in that house chained like animals?

  The sharp scent of herbs snapped her attention to the garden. A rock-lined path led to a wall about head-high that ran the perimeter of the garden, disappearing on either side of the house. A barred iron gate sat in the middle of the wall.

  So much for getting friendly with the neighbors. Clearly the owners didn’t want anyone to see what went on inside. Creeps.

  And of course, no cart. Where would there be one? Along the sides of the house?

  She stomped through the garden, stepping over plants, trying to walk on the stones weaving a convoluted path. Neither child paid her any mind, too busy touching plants and staring at the sky.

  No cart on that side. Parker turned and headed for the opposite side. She peered around the house, a smile twitching her lips. Yes! A cart. If one could call it that. More like an oversized wheelbarrow. Which might be a good thing seeing how no horse stood around to pull it.

  The cart rested next to a pile of manure complete with flies. Parker shoved the tarp off the flat cart, grabbed the handles and lifted the cart to balance on its one wheel. Okay, she had the cart. Now how was she supposed to lift two tall men and hide them in a space the size of two large dog crates?

  Carefully.

  The wheel left the rock border, crushing several small plants before she stopped at the front door. Jathan and Flanna watched with wide eyes.

  “You found one.”

  “I did. But I need help getting the men inside.”

  “I’ll help you carry them,” Jathan volunteered.

  “Me too!”

  “Great! Let’s go.” Before chained creep’s shouts notified a neighbor.

  The children grabbed Erik’s feet and she took his shoulders. After some finagling, they managed to shove him into the cart, twisting him to the side so his legs fit. Then they lifted Jamie, tucking him with more care into the cart.

  Should she cover the two? What about the kids?

  The noon sun beat upon her scalp as a thin stream of sweat ran between her breasts. She wiped a hand across her forehead.

  Think, Parker, think. Cover or not?

  Probably needed a cover. Like a tarp. With some manure sprinkled around the edges. Less likely to have the gate guards lifting the tarp if the cart stank.

  Jamie’s handsome face caught her glance. She couldn’t dump manure on him. But she could on Erik.

  Conduct unbecoming of a police officer.

  Parker’s lips twitched as she walked to the side of the house, grabbed a shovel and carried back a load of manure. She dumped the manure against Erik’s back, mounding it in a way that with a bit of luck would conceal the two. Then she grabbed the tarp.

  “What about us?”

  “What about you?”

  “Should we hide too?”

  The ‘no’ froze on her lips. Maybe the kids should hide. After all, the merchants hesitated to acknowledge their presence to the point where they feared mentioning their existence. What would the townsfolk do if she tried to walk out the gates with two ragged children?

  Capture them all?

  But where would she hide them? The cart was full. Overfull.

  She ran a hand through her hair. “Can you squeeze in between them? You will have to remain motionless. Can you do that?”

  Flanna climbed onto the cart, huddling in the small space between the men. Jathan curled into a ball at their feet.

  “All right then.”

  Parker tossed the tarp over the four and tied it to the sides of the cart. Using the shovel, she sprinkled manure on top of the tarp, hoping the look gave the load authenticity.

  Here goes nothing. She grasped the handles and with a grunt lifted the cart. How the hell was she supposed to push this load out of town? Luckily the board-high footrest kept the men from falling off the front.

  Leaving the cart in the garden, she pushed open the gate to the yard and looked both ways. The main street lay to her right, busy with throngs of people jostling for the merchants’ attentions. A few people walked the opposite end of the street, dodging wagons parked in front of homes. No one walked in front of the house.

  Time to move.

  She propped the gate open with a rock, walked back to the cart, took a breath and lifted. Only to have the cart tip to the side, Erik spilling out to land on the manure before she managed to right the thing. The children scrambled from under the tarp, their squeals a red flag to anyone listening.

  Damn it. How was she supposed to get everyone out if she couldn’t push the damn cart?

  Parker stepped into the street, turning away from the main street, eyeing the homes for another way to escape. At least no one heard the chained creep shout. She hoped.

  How was she supposed to get everyone out of here?

  Her gaze landed on a wagon parked several houses down the street. A wagon complete with a horse. Taking it would be stealing. More like borrowing. And the closest she ever got to a horse was watching a Western. Once. It didn’t look hard in the movie.

  A quick glance showed no one watching her. Now or never. Parker drew in a breath and jogged to the wagon. An empty wagon. All the better. She gave the horse a pat and climbed into the seat, picking up the reins. She shook them. The horse stomped its foot. She shook the reins again. The horse stood still. Definitely harder than it looked on film.

  Damn it.

  Parker climbed down, grabbed the horse by the halter and yanked. This time the horse moved. Turning it with a wagon attached proved difficult, but at least no one came out of the house to watch her descent into criminal activity.

  Conduct unbecoming of an officer.

  On this she’d have to agree.

  The children stood at the gate when she arrived, their eyes wide as they stared at the horse. Leaving them to gape, she pushed Jamie, still on the cart, out the gate and parked the cart by the wagon. The children helped her move him into the wagon and then she repeated the process for Erik.

  Once again she covered the men with the tarp, then dumped several shovelfuls of manure around them. Jathan and Flanna climbed in and slid under the tarp. Ready to go.

  Parker shoved the cart back inside and shut the gate behind her. No sense in having an overly observant neighbor notice an open gate.

  Should she use the main street? Or a side street? She didn’t know the side streets, provided there were side streets. The main street might be crowded, but it was a direct shot to the gates. And her load stank. Who wanted to get in the way of a wagon of manure?

  Since she still had no idea how to get the damn horse to walk without her leading it, she grabbed the animal by the halter and started walking. The horse huffed and snorted, and Parker jumped. She gave one last look to the house she took the wagon from, but no one seemed aware she stole the thing.

  She gave th
e horse a pat. “I promise you’ll be returned. Eventually.”

  As if it understood her, it snorted, head nodding as they walked to the main street. As hoped, people took one sniff of the wagon and hustled out of her way. Now for the guards.

  But the guards seemed more intent on searching people entering the city than leaving it.

  Thank god.

  Parker kept walking beside the horse until the town disappeared around the bend in the road. She flipped back the tarp. Four green eyes stared at her.

  “We’re out of the town.”

  “I’ve never been out of town.” Flanna straightened.

  “Can we get down?”

  “Yes, as long as you walk next to the wagon.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re still going to Draconia.”

  “Where’s that?”

  Good question. How long did it take for the drug to wear off?

  Voices chattered through the trees, buyers or sellers heading to town. She gestured for the kids to walk close to her and grabbed the horse’s halter. They couldn’t stay on the side of the road all day waiting for Erik and Jamie to wake.

  Damn it.

  ****

  Jamie woke to his bed moving. Why was his bed moving? And by the Goddess, what was that stench? Did someone play a joke on him and dump manure into his house?

  High-pitched children’s voice giggled.

  Children?

  Jamie sat, batting at heavy material covering him. The movement stopped, jolting him forward as he threw off the covering. Bright sun splashed against his face and he blinked his eyes at the assault. Trees, road. Where…

  Hogsbreath. Halflings. Parker. Oh, Goddess, where was Parker?

  Fear lent strength to his limbs, propelling him out of the wagon, only to drop to his knees as he hit the ground.

  “Hey, now,” Parker knelt beside him, touching his arm, “careful there. You’ve been drugged.”

  Drugged? He remembered fighting and then…nothing. But Parker appeared to be all right. Jamie grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her waist, running a hand through her hair. His. And she was safe.

  “What happened?” He released his grip around her waist, but kept a hand on her arm.

  “You and Erik were drugged by these two creeps.”