by Ann Charles
Is next door far enough?
Susan was in Doc’s office? What is she doing there?
Waiting for your stallion.
“Jezebel!” I shoved the phone back at Natalie. It turned out I still had a good helping of give-a-shit after all.
“Cover for me,” I told Mona, racing past her.
I didn’t bother with my coat, blasting out the front door. I barely felt the rush of cold air as I flew to Doc’s office.
The sight of Susan sitting in the chair behind Doc’s desk brought me to a hard stop. “Get out of his chair,” I ordered in greeting.
“Hey, big sis,” Susan said, her lips extra red this morning. She must not have wiped her mouth after finishing off her last victim.
“Get out of that chair now, Susan!” I planted my hands on my hips. “Or I’ll drag you out of it by your hair.”
“Wow,” she chuckled, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder. “You’re extra tense this morning. Did you forget to eat? I’d forgotten how grouchy you get without your plate of carbs.”
I reached across the desk for her, but she dodged my hand.
“Okay, I’m getting up.” She rose from the chair like a snake from a basket, her hands raised in surrender. “Relax, Violet.”
For once she wasn’t dressed like a pole dancer. Instead, she’d donned her black snow-bunny ski pants and a puffy white coat. Her gazelle legs seemed extra long in the knee-high faux fur boots with beaded leather tassels. She looked ready for the star-filled slopes of Vail, not the brick streets of Deadwood.
I swallowed a lungful of fire, facing the man-stealing harlot across Doc’s desk. “I’ll relax when you’ve permanently relocated to Antarctica.”
She snorted. “There are only research stations there.”
I was thinking more along the lines of a deep-sea submarine stuck underneath the ice.
Her gaze traveled down my dark green sweater dress, her smile smug. “Oh, honey.” Her tone had a razor-sharp cutting edge. “You really should stick to ankle boots and leave knee-high leather to those of us with long legs. Those just make you look chunkier.”
Forget shipping her off to winter with the emperor penguins. I was going to cram the bitch in a rocket and blast her to Neptune.
Movement behind Susan caught my attention. Harvey was inching his way toward us along the back hallway. He held his index finger to his lips, mouthing something to me. Unfortunately for both of us, I sucked at reading lips, especially when said lips were surrounded by a bushy beard.
Focusing back on Susan, I pointed my thumb behind me at the door. “Leave. Now.”
She crossed her arms, pouting. “But I just got here.”
“This office is off-limits to you from here on out, got it?”
Her chin lifted. “What if I don’t ‘got it’?”
As much as I’d love to sit on her and pluck her nose hairs out one by one, I couldn’t touch her. It’d break my mom’s heart, and I’d promised my dad not to do that again. But … “I’ll sic Natalie on you.”
Susan’s kohl-lined eyes narrowed. “You keep that psycho away from me.” She touched her hair. “She cut off a piece of my hair last Saturday when I came up here for our family dinner. I didn’t realize it until I got home that night and she texted me.”
This was news to me. “Oh, really? What did her text say?”
“She was making a voodoo doll with my hair and asked if I thought ten needles were enough to do the trick, or if burning the doll over an open flame would be more painfully satisfying.”
God, I loved Natalie and her warped sense of revenge. “I can try to keep Nat close, but she slips her leash every now and then. I can’t be held responsible if you are within reach when she’s loose. She does like to bite.”
“You have rotten taste in friends.”
“Ah, Susan. Jealousy is such an ugly color on you.” I pointed at the door again. “Don’t let it hit your skinny ass on the way out.”
Her nostrils flared. “Mom has a message for you. I’m not leaving until I’ve delivered it.”
“You know there are telephones made for the sole purpose of communication. You should use one next time. Better yet, pencil, paper, and a stamp.”
“She also wanted me to drop off some goodies at Zoe’s.”
Susan had stopped using the “aunt” prefix with Aunt Zoe’s name when she found out she was not my dad’s kid, but rather the child of a man whom our mom had briefly dated when she and my father were separated for several months. Aunt Zoe told me that Susan’s omission didn’t bother her. That she’d long ago learned not to allow my sister’s games to affect her. I wish I had Aunt Zoe’s strength on that front, because right now I was thinking about poking Susan with a bunch of pins, and I meant the real flesh and blood woman, not the voodoo doll version.
“Neither of these reasons explains your presence in Doc’s office.”
She pulled a pair of fur-lined gloves from her coat pocket. “I want to see your boyfriend. Mom won’t shut up about him. Call it a case of curiosity.”
“I call it a five-gallon crock of shit. Mom was drunk that night. I doubt she remembers much about Doc.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” She slid on one glove. “She’s quite enamored with him.”
“And you’re not here to see anything,” I continued. “You’re here to touch, steal, and destroy. That’s what you do. It’s what you’ve always done to anything that mattered to me.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Really, big sis. Your flair for the dramatic could burn this building to the ground.”
“Take an English class, tart monkey. Flair with an ‘i’ doesn’t mean the same thing as F-L-A-R-E.”
Her face pinched into the sneer I’d glared at across the dinner table too many times to count. “Sticks and stones, my li’l potbellied piggy.”
My fists clenched at her favorite childhood insult.
The door behind me opened. A gust of cold air washed over my backside. Oh, shit. My gut blanched. I hoped like hell that was Natalie and her voodoo doll and not Doc.
Harvey joined us in the front room, but Susan didn’t see him since her back was to him. Half of his face was scrunched in a big cringe.
Susan froze in the midst of pulling on her second glove, her gaze moving north. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then the ski-bunny shifted into street-corner-ho mode. “Well, hello Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.”
My ears started ringing, blocking out everything but the sound of her sultry voice. I watched the man-stealer lick her lips, making them extra shiny, and then bat her fake lashes several times. “You must be the one and only Doc Nyce.” She tossed her long, straight hair over her shoulder, mimicking shampoo commercials. “I’ve heard a lot about you, but my mother left out a few …” Her gaze trailed south, her lips parting ever so slightly. “Stimulating details.”
My stomach cramped. Nausea bubbled up my esophagus, burning the back of my throat. Sweat beaded my brow.
“I’m Susan, by the way.” She held out her hand like a princess, waiting for a kiss on the knuckles. “Violet’s much younger sister.”
Chapter Eleven
“You’re Violet’s sister?”
Stop the presses! That wasn’t Doc’s voice.
A wave of nausea steamrolled over me. I gagged a little, clutching my stomach, and looked over my shoulder.
Dominick Masterson closed the door behind him. He hit Susan with one of his mega-watt smiles as he took her hand, dropping a kiss on her gloved knuckles. “Hello, beautiful.”
I stumbled toward the far corner of Doc’s desk, putting the visitor’s chair between Dominick and me. I needed more distance from the charming devil, or I’d be spray-painting Susan’s faux fur boots with the contents of my stomach.
Harvey dropped into Doc’s leather chair, leaning back with a shit-eating grin on his bristly cheeks. “Looks like I showed up just in time fer some good ol’ honky-tonkin’ fun.”
“You shoul
d leave,” I told Harvey, swallowing another swell of queasiness. He wasn’t invulnerable to Dominick. I’d seen the slick son of a bitch lure men as well as women. Harvey was at risk as much as Susan of falling under the rogue’s spell.
“And leave you standin’ in the middle of this stampede?” Harvey shook his head. “I’ve been wantin’ to see what all the fuss is about, anyhoo.”
Dominick glanced in my direction as he released Susan’s hand. “Your sister is such a lovely flower. A delicate blossom ready to be plucked.”
Delicate blossom? Susan? Ha! She was more like poison ivy.
“But she doesn’t have your scent,” he added.
What scent was that? My Executioner scent? I decided not to ask him to clarify in front of Susan.
“Leave her alone,” I said half-heartedly. As much as I’d like to watch Susan be manipulated by a man for once, she was my mother’s child.
Susan let out a lovesick sigh that had me feeling the urge to hurl once more. “You are as handsome as Mom said.”
Harvey snorted. “She’s lassoin’ the wrong steer again.”
I squeezed the bridge of my nose. Over the last month, Cornelius, Cooper, and Harvey had all been mistaken for Doc. I thought I’d cleared the air on his identity after my family’s disastrous dinner party a week ago. Apparently not.
I debated on telling Susan the truth, but decided to focus on the bigger problem at the moment. “What are you doing here?” I asked Dominick.
He was dressed in biker garb today—black leather jacket, jeans, boots, and gloves. Quite a shift from his usual Armani suit, long wool coat, and expensive Italian shoes.
His wicked smile fit his bad-boy guise. Fortunately, I was immune. “You’ve been avoiding my calls, Violet.”
“Only one.” I’d missed a call from him yesterday while I was back in Slagton. After returning to signal-civilization, I’d been too busy trying to figure out what the hell I’d stumbled into back there to call him back. “How did you know to find me here?” Rather than at my office.
“I was driving past when I saw you rush over here.”
Susan’s moony-eyed expression was similar to Aunt Zoe’s when Dominick had her wrapped around his finger weeks ago at Bighorn Billy’s Diner. “I’d never avoid your call,” she said, running her fingers down his leather coat sleeve.
He scowled down at her hand, and then stared at her for several seconds. His dark gaze returned to me. “How is it you two are sisters? I can’t see any …”
“Their mouths are both heart shaped,” Harvey pointed out. At my glare, he shrugged. “It’s a natural-born fact.”
“Ah, now I see it. It makes one wonder if you kiss the same.”
Rex would have an opinion about that, but I wasn’t interested in hearing the bastard’s answer. “My sister is of no concern to you.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Susan said in an exaggerated whisper, then leaned into Dominick, sniffing his collar. “You smell delicious. I want to lick you all over.”
Dominick patted her head. “She’d make a cute pet.”
I’d be tickled pink to have him teach Susan how to roll over and play dead. “I thought you wanted my aunt for that.”
“My plans for Zoe are much more stimulating. She has depth that I will enjoy exploring with infinite patience.”
My molars ground at his use of the future verb tense, as if it were a fact that would come to be. Whether or not I could catch a lidérc would be answered in time. Until then, I’d appreciate a little bolstering of my abilities from the cocky cheeseball who hired me for the job.
“I do believe yer saddlin’ horses that don’t belong to you, Masterson.” Harvey spoke up, looping his thumbs in his suspenders.
“According to whom, Mr. Harvey?” Dominick lowered his head slightly, staring at Harvey from under his brows.
A fresh dew of sweat coated my upper lip. I looked over at Harvey, waiting for the ol’ boy to start spouting sonnets in Dominick’s honor like the other victims I’d witnessed falling under the scoundrel’s spell.
“Accordin’ to Zoe, fer one.” Harvey scratched his bearded cheek as he held Dominick’s gaze. “I can see how ya might be thinkin’ you can charm the skin off any ornery rattlesnake with yer knee-wobblin’ good looks, but Zoe’s stubborn enough to make a mule back down. That girl can whip her weight in wildcats, ‘specially when her horns are out.”
I did a double take. How was Harvey resisting Dominick’s magnetism? I thought I was the only one impervious to it.
“I appreciate your attempt to warn me off Zoe, Mr. Harvey. Like you, I prefer my courtesans feisty. It promises great fervor in bed.” Dominick stroked his finger down Susan’s cheek, drawing a cooing sound from her. “This one is a paltry comparison to Zoe, but she could be useful as a plaything while I wait for my prize.” His focus shifted to me again. “As well as incentive for her sister to return my lidérc with haste.”
Was he seriously trying to use Susan as a means to inspire me? A voice inside my head cackled with laughter. Schooling my expression in the face of his challenge made me sweat anew. “Let me get this straight,” I said, wanting to savor this moment a bit longer. “You want to ensnare my poor, sweet little sister with your merciless love spell, turning her into an amoral sexual slave in order to motivate me to hurry up and catch your pet?”
He beamed with confidence. “Exactly.”
I must be dreaming? I pinched my leg. Nope, it was the real deal.
Crossing my arms, I leaned my hip against Doc’s desk and pretended that I actually cared about Susan’s feelings. All the while, I tried to think of the ways this situation in which I’d found myself might come back to bite me in the ass. Besides my parents’ opinion on the matter, which held a lot of weight, why did I care if Dominick exploited Susan?
I had a notion of his game plan. He figured if he had my sister by the scruff of the neck, he had me on a leash, too. Oh, what delightful irony. I fought down a gurgle of giggles.
“Stay away from Susan,” I said, trying to sound like I meant it. Harvey’s throat-clearing told me how woefully short I fell from the mark. Robots showed more emotion in their tone.
“Your sister is not part of our original deal,” he said. “Only Zoe. That makes her fair game.” Apparently, Dominick was too taken with his plan to control me to notice my half-hearted objection.
An idea struck, sobering me. “Maybe we should make another deal, then,” I suggested. “An addendum to the original.”
“Careful, Sparky.” Harvey leaned forward, resting his elbows on Doc’s desk. “Yer wadin’ into quicksand here.”
Dominick’s eyes narrowed. “I’m listening, Scharfrichter.”
“I’ve run into a situation back in Slagton.”
“So I’ve heard.” Dominick chuckled. “You really should try to be more discreet when you hunt. Although some are of the opinion that staging an execution in the middle of town demonstrates extreme confidence.”
“Or she has a big gap in her hedge.” Harvey added his two bits, sounding like his nephew. He scowled at me. “I say let yer sister go and focus on tamin’ one wild mustang at a time.”
I respected Harvey’s opinion, but he hadn’t heard Mr. Black’s news about the not-so-mythical pack of hunters and the new target on my back. “I need information, Dominick.”
“What makes you think I can give you what you need?”
“You have the air of one who gets answers when he wants them.”
He crossed his arms. “If I acquire the information you need, what do you have in exchange?” He glanced at Susan, who was still clutching his arm, her eyes wide and starry. Was she even hearing this discussion through the heart bubbles popping in her head? “Your sister?”
Tempting. Very tempting. But no. “I’ll bring you a pet from Slagton.”
Harvey shook his head at me. “That there’s a leaky boat yer climbin’ into, girl.”
Dominick snorted. “What would I want with a Drakona Ragana?”
> Come again? It sounded like he said draw-cone-a raw-ganna, with a trill at the beginning of that raw-word. “A what?”
“Drakona Ragana,” he repeated more slowly.
“Does that mean ‘mutant griffin’? Because that’s what they look like.”
His sigh was edged with derision. “Let me use a word you might understand, Scharfrichter. They are a breed of chimera.”
“A chimera, ya say.” Harvey finger-combed his beard. “Isn’t that one of them fire-breathin’ critters from Greek mythology with a bunch of mixed animal parts?”
“Your description does injustice to a magnificent predator, but yes.”
“Chimeras are supposed to be big ol’ monsters,” Harvey said. “These critters’ heads are only about chest high.”
“They are obviously a sub-species,” Dominick clarified.
“Whatever the dang name is,” I interrupted. “It would make a great pet, and you could teach it to hunt.”
Dominick’s gaze narrowed. “I accept. What knowledge are you seeking?”
“My informant is missing.” Well, actually Cooper’s informant, but I’d rather conceal the detective’s connection to the matter as a precautionary measure. “When I visited his place in Slagton yesterday, there was a headless beast hanging from the porch.” I wasn’t going to open a can of worms about the official name of the decapitated thing with blue guts. “My informant was nowhere to be seen. I need to know where he is.”
“Why does this matter to you? You are a Scharfrichter, not a detective.”
“The reasons for my curiosity are no more your business than your motives for wheeling and dealing are mine.”
He nodded slowly. “And if I give you what you want, you will deliver a drako—a chimera to me?”
“Correct, as long as your information is timely and satisfies me.”
“Satisfies?” One dark eyebrow lifted. “And if you fail to deliver on your end of the deal?”
“I won’t fail.” That sounded far more certain than I felt.
“You might.” He toyed with a strand of Susan’s long, straight hair. “I want to play with your sister until I tire of her.”
I held his stare. How many times had Susan done that very thing with a man? It would be sweet justice to see her being used and manipulated at someone else’s will for once.