Phoenix Ablaze (BBW / Phoenix Shifter Romance) (Alpha Phoenix Book 1)

by Isadora Montrose

  “We should park a few streets over,” said Ames. “I’ll bet that son of a serpent knows your ride and your tag by now. I’d just as soon he didn’t know ours.”

  It took Ames and Gardiner only minutes to do a walkthrough and confirm that the subject was Venom. “Yup,” said Gardiner after one sniff of the condoms. “Subject was wearing latex gloves, as per fucking usual. But he dropped his scent everywhere just the same.”

  Ames turned from his inspection of the living room curtains. “Wonder why he didn’t run like the wind when he smelled D’Angelo?”

  Gardiner grunted. His eyebrows waggled. He was laughing. “Damned snakes. They can’t smell worth a damn in human. And he may never have smelled a phoenix. Think the subject will come back in snake morph?”

  “That’s his MO,” said Ames.

  “Yeah.” Gardiner scratched his head. “Think he likes to slide into bed as a snake and turn into a woman’s even worse nightmare?”

  “Could be,” said Pierce. “But I think he uses his morph to gain access when he can’t enter any other way. He picked Diana’s locks — because he had the right lock picks. Be interesting to see what he tries once the locksmith has fitted a chain key to her door.”

  Ames grinned. “Mind explaining that in plain English?”

  “It’s the latest in unpickable locks. Key is literally a floppy chain. Lock picks can’t go up and around all the curves. And since there are no electronics, it can’t be scanned and bypassed.”

  “The hell you say,” said Gardiner.

  Pierce allowed himself a smile. “I had two couriered to me last night before I even knew the bastard had a key. They should be waiting at the FedEx depot. That should keep him out of here.”

  “Maybe it’s unpickable today,” allowed Gardiner. “But if humans make it, another son of a bitch will figure out how to pick it. You want to handle this, Ames?”

  “If he can’t get in by the door, what about windows?” Ames asked wryly.

  “You’ve seen,” said Pierce. “They’re latched and have barrel bolts. The slider is wedged shut. Which leaves vents. If the belly-crawling son of a gun comes down the bathroom exhaust pipe, he will be sorry. I’ve installed a coil of razor wire.”

  “Jesus,” said Ames.

  “I don’t think he would approve,” murmured Gardiner.

  “Did much the same in the space between this apartment and the one below,” said Pierce. “The kitchen plumbing cannot be accessed without removing razor wire.”

  “Of course, we want to catch the sum bitch, D’Angelo,” Gardiner said gently. “But if the douche can’t get in, how do we catch him?”

  “Well, dang.”

  “It’s okay, D’Angelo. We got a plan,” said Ames kindly. He opened his black bag.

  “Haven’t read any of those, myself,” Pierce said politely.

  Within half an hour Ames and Pierce were watching the video feed from the rear of Ames and Gardiner’s rental van. The pictures switched smoothly between one book-encased camera to another as Gardiner walked through the apartment.

  “Diana would never leave a book in her bathroom,” objected Pierce.

  “The one in the bathroom is a magnifying mirror.” Ames moved the mic of his headset. He spoke into it. “Two degrees north.” A pause. The bathroom ceiling sprang into focus. “Good enough. Get the hell out. Spritz first.” He moved his mic again and drank from a water bottle. “Is it always this dry here?”

  “No. Often it’s drier. What do you mean ‘spritz’?” D’Angelo said.

  “We’re experimenting with a product that dampens scent. Grabs the molecules floating in the air or trapped on surfaces and neutralizes them.” Ames’ mouth twisted wryly. “Doesn’t work that great yet. But it’s better than nothing.”

  Someone knocked briskly on the rear door. Like many vehicles in the Southwest, the rear windows of the big van were blacked out with dark sun-excluding film. Ames looked out. He opened the door and Gardiner got in the back.

  “How are we doing this?” the lynx asked unsmiling.

  “We’re going to get D’Angelo here to buy us some lunch,” Ames said. “You’re going to take a nap on the bench. We’re pretty much tied to a half-mile radius from those wireless cameras. Not much signal after that. So we’ll camp out in the van. D’Angelo is going to concentrate on keeping the lady safe. He’s going to get the locksmith to rekey the existing locks. Save your fancy crap for when the shit settles, son. Once you’ve brought the food, just forget we’re here, D’Angelo. We’ll call if we need you.”

  “Just when things are getting interesting,” Pierce said.

  “Interesting,” Gardiner gargled with the word as if it had a bad taste.

  Ames clapped his buddy on the back with a huge hand. “Just like old times,” he said sardonically. “Spread too thin, and not enough intel. Good thing they sent Marines.”

  “Huh.” Gardiner’s brows waggled. He turned to Pierce. “Better get a couple cases of water while you’re at it. And I like meat.”

  “I’ll do my best. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

  “We won’t be here,” Ames said. “Gotta keep this puppy moving. I’ll call when we’ve found a better location.”

  * * *

  “What did you do?” Ruby asked. Today she had worn scrubs with an improbable pattern of dancing fruit.

  “Called the police,” Diana said.

  “Did they dust for fingerprints?” asked Hazel wide-eyed.

  Diana shook her head. “They didn’t believe me. They thought I had made the whole thing up. That I was just forgetful and blaming my carelessness on an intruder. Even this morning, when I said the keys were gone and a knife, they just made a note.”

  “You didn’t drive that car to work?” gasped Ruby.

  “Nope,” Diana assured her supervisor. “Pierce called a garage. He asked them to check it from headlights to trunk for anything out of place.”

  “You can stay with me,” Hazel offered at once.

  “I’m staying with Pierce,” Diana said.

  Ruby cleared her throat. “Do you think that’s wise?” she asked gently. “I mean, how well do you know this guy? How do you know he isn’t the creep behind all the weirdness? You gave him access to your place. He could have taken the keys and staged the entire thing.”

  Diana felt chilly fingers brush against her spine. “Mrs. Benoy didn’t recognize him,” she said weakly.

  “Thelma Benoy has cataracts,” Hazel said. “You be careful that you haven’t jumped from the frying pan into the fire.”

  * * *

  “He stayed the fuck away yesterday,” Ames reported. “But around ten hundred hours this morning, subject waltzed into the apartment through the front door. He was dressed like a local cop. Right down to the badge. Put gloves on before he engaged the deadbolts from inside.”

  Pierce grunted into the phone.

  Ames level voice continued. “Did a walkthrough. Put the knife back. Looked in the trash, left the lid open. Took something out of the freezer and dropped it into the drawer beside the stove. I reckon it’s going to be some nasty stink when that thaws out.”

  “Diana is not going back there. Not even to get her stuff,” growled Pierce.

  “Yes, she is. She’s going to be brave and go look at whatever the fuck he stuck in her dryer and in that kitchen drawer. He also checked the bathtub, and the medicine cabinet. He checked his condoms were in place and fiddled around in the linen closet. Cameras didn’t catch that too good. Then he mooched around picking stuff up and putting it back down. For all the world like he was on inspection. That bucket of rotting shit is one squirrelly dude.”

  “Who has gotten away with murder,” Pierce said.

  “There is that,” Ames said. “Squirrel has a method to his fucking madness. We just gotta figure it out.”

  * * *

  Chunky Bunny had fucking moved out. If she had been home, that anal retentive bitch would have scrubbed her whole home by now. He hadn’t spent tw
o weeks watching her so he could be fooled. The whole apartment should have stunk of bleach and disinfectant. The milk hadn’t been touched.

  The bitch showered her fat ass twice a fucking day. She dusted daily. Yet he had found the bathtub and shower curtain bone fucking dry. Dust filmed even the kitchen counters. And the bitch never moved her fucking laptop. If it was gone, so was she. Military Fucking Issue had taken Hermann’s prey. Now he was part of Hermann’s game. This one would be even more fun.

  Hermann considered. He had left his stuff in the apartment. Could any of it be traced to him? Not a chance. He would leave it there in case Fatso moved back home. And retrieve it if there was an opportunity. It would be fun to snatch evidence from under the noses of the filth. But now he needed Plan B.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  This business of staying with Pierce and stopping by her place morning and evening was getting old fast. On the one hand, being with Pierce made her feel safe. On the other, she missed her stuff. She didn’t like not having her own things. Maybe she was shallow, but she wanted her life back.

  Now that the mechanic had given her car a clean bill of health, she was driving it to work each morning and parking it in the lot before she went home and watered her plants and ran a dust rag over everything. It was disheartening. Her home had a vaguely neglected look. It made her sad just to go inside.

  But she also knew she could never have slept in her bed while she waited for a rapist to show up and use the knife he had so helpfully sharpened and returned to her rack. She had wanted to call the cops over that. And the slice of Ricky’s christening cake the intruder had tossed in her kitchen drawer. But Pierce had persuaded her that it was part of the trap he and his team had laid. His invisible team.

  The situation had now dragged on for an entire week. A week of great sex, she reminded herself. Which was part of the problem. Every day she fell a little bit deeper in love with her moody airman. Sure he acted loving. But this huge house was a constant reminder that the D’Angelos were from a whole different social stratum. This episode in Pierce’s life would end as soon as he was told he was fit. He seemed plenty fit to her. The man was a veritable Energizer Bunny in bed.

  The weekend had been great. Like being married. Not like the reality of marriage to Cody. More like the reality of her parents’ marriage. They had tackled the windows of the house together. Because, to her surprise, Pierce had been shocked at the idea that he employed people to keep the place clean. They had washed every window, inside and out, making music together. Then he had wiped out the fridge while she tackled the pantry. They had gone grocery shopping together, checked her plants, and picked up more of her clothes.

  It had been pleasant and domestic and uneventful. It was almost as if there had been no intruder. She looked around when she went into the apartment. Looked damned hard. But there never was a sign anyone had been back. And Pierce didn’t seem as alert as he should have been if it was a possibility.

  She looked up from her book as he came into the cabin, locking the door behind himself as he always did.

  “Hey,” he said. “Do you want to go hiking in the hills today?”

  “That might be nice, but I have to go to my place to water the plants. We only went once yesterday.”

  “We can go after we go by your place.”

  “Are we still on for Halloween?” she checked.

  “I think so. And I know that Batman would be disappointed if you didn’t come.”

  “You haven’t even decorated?” she said.

  “No point. We’re too far from town. No one ever comes. What about you? Do you normally decorate?”

  “I don’t bother with a Jack-o’-lantern. But I have some pumpkin lights for my balcony. And I buy candy. But this year, I will just go to Tina’s.”

  “We should get your lights out. Might be just the thing to lure buddy back.” Pierce spoke absently.

  “Why do you think he’s staying away?” she asked.

  “Because he knows you’re not home,” Pierce said resignedly. “We haven’t fooled him worth a damn.”

  “Do you think he’s gone for good?”

  Pierce shook his head. “Not a chance I’m willing to take.” He tugged her gently off the couch and held her close. “It will be fine,” he said soothingly. “I’ll make sure of it. We’ll catch that creep.” He kissed the side of her head. “You have anything you need to do before we go into town?”

  “I want to swap some clothes around. I’m so tired of wearing the same things.”

  He shook his head as if he didn’t get it. Probably Mr. Button-Front-Shirt-and-Chinos didn’t even realize his civvies were also a uniform. But once she got out of her scrubs, Diana liked to switch it up more than that.

  * * *

  Military Fucking Issue had fucking taken Hermann’s plaything. For a torn ten-dollar bill, he would walk from the entire operation. But, hell, a man had his fucking pride. He had taken Jones’ fucking money. He fucking well had to deliver. How hard could it be to do Fatso while Military Issue watched helplessly? And doing Military Issue before he offed them both would settle a whole lot of scores. Win, win.

  Arnold Hermann watched while Fatso and Military Issue drove off. Could be she was moving back to her apartment this morning, but Hermann didn’t think she had enough stuff with her for that. From his spot on the hillside he had watched them come and go for a week. Bitch kept bringing more shit into the house after every trip into town. No fucking way that bitty roll-on suitcase was big enough for all her fucking shit.

  He wasn’t going to risk going too close to the house. For all it sat on the hillside as if it had fucking grown there, it wasn’t some rustic dump. There were cameras everywhere and maybe some kind of motion detection device. He would have the fucking element of fucking surprise only once. The house was out as a kill site. But that left the whole rest of the planet. All he needed was to think this sucker through.

  Hermann hunkered down in the hollow he had dug for himself in the paltry shade cast by an ironwood tree. He had food and water and all the time there was. He and Military Issue were going to fight to the death over Chunky Bunny. Hermann would prevail, as he always did over inferior beings.

  The sun kept rising until it stood directly over Arnold’s hole. The fucking tree might as well have not fucking been there. Asshole and Fatso didn’t fucking return from wherever they had fucking gone. The sun was sinking when Asshole drove up the winding drive to the fucking front door. Where the hell had they been?

  Fatso was laughing at something Asshole had said. He carried her bag into the house like the bitch didn’t have fucking arms. He kissed her and muttered something Arnold couldn’t hear. Fatso pranced into the house. There would never be a better time.

  Asshole would put his fucking SUV in the garage which he would lock up tight as a fucking drum. Damned thing looked like it was made of fucking adobe, but like the fucking house the fucking garage had steel running through its fucking walls.

  Hermann had better get his ass down there while the front door was still ajar, and Chunky Bunny was vulnerable.

  * * *

  Pierce heard Diana’s voice as soon as he locked the garage door. “You’ll never get away with it,” she said calmly.

  “Shut up.” There was the sound of bare flesh striking bare flesh.

  The front door was shut. Shit. He would have to wait to take phoenix until he was inside. Pierce glided down the path, hitting speed dial as he went. From inside he heard furniture crash and a single scream that was cut off. How the hell had he been so careless as to let Venom grab Diane?

  The door did not open when he unlocked it. From inside a voice freighted with lust and an unholy amusement spoke. “If you want to see the bitch again, step back from the door. I have a knife. I’ll cut her up if you don’t behave.”

  “Okay.” Pierce tried to sound abject.

  “Where is your fucking phone?”

  Pierce pulled it out of his pocket.

  “Thro
w it away.”

  Pierce hurled it into the night. He knew that Venom could see him clearly. From the knees down, the lights on the path cast their bright light. But there was enough illumination to make his face and hands visible.

  “Put up your hands.”

  Pierce complied.

  The door opened. Diana stood in front of a short, muscular, naked man who had her long hair wrapped around one fist. He held a knife to her neck with the other. One of Pierce’s kitchen knives. That sucker was certainly sharp enough to do her a lot of damage.

  “Get in. Close the door. Leave the fucking bolts alone. Did I say to touch the fucking bolts?”

  Diana made a noise that was cut off. Pierce turned, keeping his hands extended. Diana’s neck was bleeding slightly and her eyes were terrified.

  “I’m going to have some fun now,” Venom continued. “And guess what, Asshole, you get to watch.” He turned Diana roughly and kneed her in the back. She stumbled and Venom kicked her legs, jerking her by the hair when her knees gave.

  Keep going, Pierce begged her silently. As if she were already his phoenix bride and sharing his thoughts, Diana let her weight carry her to the floor and rolled away from Venom’s loosened grip and the knife in his hand. Pierce exploded into lesser phoenix while Venom was still off balance. He struck with both feet, feeling the flesh of the intruder’s face give.

  Venom made his own change. The knife clattered to the ground. A snake opened its jaws and dislodged the talons in its face. Now Pierce was the one off balance. The reptile struck. Fangs punctured one of Pierce’s thighs. Pain like wildfire coursed through his rapidly pumping blood. He managed to fly away from the coiling serpent but his body was growing numb.

  Diana had vanished. And then she was behind the snake trying to aim her pistol at its writhing body. The front door burst open as Pierce marshaled his strength and went for the snake again. Diana discharged her gun. The snake was flaccid in Pierce’s talons. Ames and Gardiner moved out of his way as he carried the dead weight out into the night.

  His wings didn’t want to move. Every beat of his heart drove venom through his bloodstream. He was on fire from the inside out. The snake was lax in his grip, but he could feel its heart was still beating. He had to make sure this brute could not get near Diana ever again. Vision blurring, wings faltering, he flew out over the gray scree that scarred the north slope of the hillside.