Murder Kicks the Bucket

by Diane Darcy

  “It’ll give us a chance tae capture whoever is trying tae get at that car.”

  “How so?” Caleb asked.

  William’s mouth set. “I believe Heath has been feeding Thorne love potions set to work on Lena.”

  Neither of his men looked surprised by that information.

  “So, we’re going tae use that tae our advantage. Thorne is going tae openly court Lena,” William tried to suppress the beast rising up inside him and continued, his voice slightly rougher. “I am going tae look distracted by the situation.” He was probably actually going to be distracted by the situation. “And while the three of us are otherwise occupied, ye two are going tae keep an eye on the Corvette, and catch Heath trying to steal the thing.”

  Caleb sighed. “Why do you suppose he’d kill his friends over a car?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” William said. “Tis possible he’s been trying to get Bianca to himself. She was sure to turn to him with Emilio and Dimitri out of the way.”

  Caleb and Quinn both nodded and Quinn pushed himself off the wall. “When do we get started?”

  William stood, helping Lena to her feet. “Nae time like the present.” He tried to keep his expression neutral as he looked at Thorne. “Give us an hour tae get the car situated, but in the meantime, start drinking at The Monster Mash. Take your drinks directly from Max. If anything strange happens, or if you start to feel ye’ve been drugged again, quickly send me a text.”

  Thorne stood and gave him a wry salute. “Let the games begin.”

  William waited until they were alone to escort Lena out of the office.

  It was a solid plan. If he had to take Thorne outside afterward, and thrash him soundly, well, sometimes sacrifices had to be made.

  Chapter 16

  Lena watched the whole thing play out, and had to admire William for his showmanship and ability to work a crowd.

  She could learn a thing or two from him.

  When he’d announced they were delivering a BMW to replace the Corvette, interest in the shiny new vehicle drew a huge audience.

  It grew bigger by the moment as William made much of the old car leaving, and the new one arriving. “Can anyone here see themselves driving about in this shiny, red, piece of gorgeous machinery?”

  He got a lot of takers.

  “Ye think? I doonae know. The horsepower this vehicle packs might be a little much for some of ye in the crowd. What do ye think?”

  He was booed and generally dissed and he laughed at the rude comments thrown his way.

  “I doonae know. It seems tae me there has been a lot of talk about what some of ye would have done, had ye won the last vehicle. Let’s see ye put yer money where yer mouth is.”

  “How easy is it going to be to win?” A blond gentleman in the crowd lifted his glass.

  William winked, smiled, and made an elaborate gesture toward the vehicle. “She’s a beauty. Are ye saying ye’re no’ up for the work in earning one such as she?”

  There was more laughter, jeering at the gentleman who’d asked the question, and demands to get on with it.

  William lifted both hands and shot a gee, shucks glance toward the crowd. “All right, all right. All I’m willing tae say is that I’ll no’ be surprised if someone wins this fabulous beast tonight. Or, no’.” He grinned, paying no mind to the taunts and abuse thrown his way. Exclamations of both interest and disgust rolled through the crowd, but the seats were filled quickly enough, standing room only once more.

  William gestured for Lena to follow him, and she wove her way through the crowd.

  “What do ye say we play the roulette wheel for a while?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve heard you’re a thrifty Scot, so I have to wonder, is it your treat? Or am I expected to spot you?”

  William grinned. “I’ve been saving for a rainy occasion or two, so let me indulge ye, will ye?”

  She laughed. “In that case…”

  They headed toward the table and had barely placed their first bet when Heath stood at William’s elbow. “What exactly are you playing at, Wolf?”

  Interest from their table and others turned in their direction.

  “What do ye mean?” William asked in a condescending tone, sure to anger.

  Heath rose to the bait. “I mean,” his voice rose. “Emilio won that Corvette fair and square, and you’re trying to get out of turning it over to his family?”

  William casually placed a bet on red seven, then indicated for Lena to place hers. She did, placing two coins on black five, watching Heath peripherally the entire time.

  William finally turned his head to look at Heath. “I’ve stored it in the garage downstairs, in the valet area, tae be precise. As soon as we receive word from Emilio’s estate, we’ll have it shipped directly tae his heirs.”

  She admired the smooth way William inserted the cars exact location into the conversation.

  Heath’s face reddened and he looked livid. “Why are you doing this?” His fingers dug into the wood at the edge of the roulette table. “Why can’t you just give it to us, his friends, now?” Heath’s fangs elongated, and Lena tensed, but William didn’t react, he simply stared the other man down.

  “Are all bets placed?” The dealer did a quick glance around, and then spun the wheel.

  The sound of the roulette ball dropping and spinning seemed very loud to her as the two men continued to lock gazes, Heath looking ready to murder William on the spot.

  “Because there are two dead vampires in my hotel, and I would hate tae turn Emilio’s winnings over tae his murderer. Do ye understand now?”

  “Black five for the win,” the dealer called, and then using his crop, slid some coins toward Lena.

  “Oh. I won!”

  William pulled his gaze from Heath and looked down at her pile of chips. He shot her a grin. “So ye did. Shall we try again?”

  Heath’s eyes narrowed and he lifted a finger to punctuate each word. “If you think that we’re just going to—”

  “Lena Deville!” Thorne’s approach, finally, was something of a relief. Everyone looked up to watch. Tall, blond, and in fine form, he placed both hands over his heart, his expression one of adoration. “Love of my life, I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

  Heads swung to look in Lena’s direction. Or maybe they were looking at William whose hand was tightening into a fist on the table beside her. She quickly searched Thorne’s expression, hoping he was still playing his part, and that he hadn’t somehow been drugged against his will once more.

  A slow wink from the man had her relaxing and placing a hand over William’s fist.

  “Ye’re tae stay away from my mate, Thorne. Ye’ve been warned in the past, and I’ll thank ye no’ tae force me tae correct yer behavior once again.”

  Thorne didn’t so much as take his gaze off of her. “You are the sun, the moon, and the stars rolled up into one.”

  Ha. She had to laugh to herself. Thorne was handsome enough that he probably didn’t have to do much chasing where women were concerned. His lack of originality showed.

  Thorne pushed forward until he was directly across the roulette table, forcing several people to give way as he pressed closer.

  “I didn’t know what love was until you stepped into my life. Now I can’t think of love without Lena, or Lena without love.”

  Ha, ha. She clenched her teeth as keeping a straight face was an effort.

  William growled, a hair-raising sound, and if they hadn’t set this up beforehand, she’d be more worried for Thorne than she was.

  “Oh, my.” She raised a hand to her heart, trying to look affected by his words, even as she struggled not to laugh--- at herself now. Ha, ha, ha!

  Apparently, it was the wrong thing to do, as whatever control William seemed to have over himself broke, and he rounded the table to grab hold of Thorne.

  “That’s it! Ye are out of here! Ye’ve been told no’ tae come in here, tae stay away from Lena, and ye are going
tae have tae pay the price this time.”

  Thorne started to fight him off, calling out Lena’s name as he wrenched away from William and darted around tables and customers.

  Almost everyone seemed amused as they watched the by-play, William chasing Thorne, Thorne dodging him, and Lena playing the wilting damsel.

  The whole thing really was amusing. Or, it was until she caught sight of Heath’s smirking face. Heath, who was supposed to be trying to steal a car at that very moment. Why wasn’t he taking the bait? She didn’t dare look in his direction for too long.

  William eventually caught Thorne again, and as Thorne called out to her, William led him toward the exit.

  Lena followed, glancing back to look for Heath, but he’d disappeared.

  When the three of them cleared the casino and stepped into the lobby William’s phone rang before she had a chance to say anything about Heath.

  “What?” William barked into the phone.

  A second later he hung it up and stopped short.

  “What is it?” Lena asked.

  “It’s gone.”

  “What’s gone?”

  “The Corvette, my men were watching it, and it suddenly disappeared.”

  They hurried down to the parking garage, and met Caleb and Quinn who were pacing, obviously awaiting their arrival. Thorne, a little wary of William, followed at a distance.

  The men hurried forward, both looked upset, and Caleb rushed into speech.

  “I don’t know what happened, Boss. It was … it was right there,” he forcefully pointed to the corner parking space, confusion and anger evident in his expression.

  Quinn looked a little bit freaked out. “It was.” He nodded. “Until it wasn’t.”

  They all looked to where the car was supposed to be, and Lena could see, clear as day, that it was parked right there. Black, sleek, compact, it sat in the garage like a well-fed predator, sleeping until its next meal.

  She glanced at Caleb, Quinn, Thorne, and then at William, positive that he, at least, wouldn’t appreciate the joke.

  Well, positive that she didn’t anyway, and wondering if this was a werewolf thing or something.

  Werewolf humor?

  William took a few steps for a better look at the empty space, and he looked angry, upset. “Did you see anything? Smell anything? Hear anything?”

  Both men shook their heads.

  “We were quiet, waiting, alert.”

  William took a breath and let it out. “Let’s see what the film shows.”

  “Aye, Boss. I’ve already called Alistair, and he’ll have it queued up in security.”

  William let out a frustrated sigh, and then held his hand out to Lena. “All right, let’s go.”

  Lena didn’t take his hand, and didn’t move as she looked from face to face, still wondering if she was being left out on the joke.

  Was this some sort of paranormal initiation for her?

  At her expression, William grew alert. “What is it?”

  Lena crossed her arms, took a deep breath, and glanced at the car once more. She raised both eyebrows. “Is this … is this a joke?” she finally asked, waiting for the men to burst out laughing.

  When they didn’t, she cleared her throat. She didn’t have brothers, and hadn’t had a lot of boyfriends, so maybe she just wasn’t getting it.

  “Because if it is, I am so out of here. I mean it, William, if you think this is funny, then I’m going home, and you can take your version of humor and stuff it where the sun don’t shine.”

  William was gaping at her. “Lass?”

  “William?” she said in return.

  He quickly glanced at the other men, then back at her closed off expression. “Have I said something amiss?”

  Lena flung out her right arm in an exaggerated show of disdain. “The car?”

  William glanced at the car once more, sucked in a breath, as if ready to say something, and then finally, confusion evident, said once more, “Lass?”

  Lena rolled her eyes deciding that they had all taken this too far. She crossed the distance to the car, lifted her hands and hit the trunk three times, the sound loud in the enclosed space. She turned around. “The car is right here. I have no idea why you are all pretending it isn’t, and if you’re playing a joke on me, I feel like I need to tell you that this isn’t the time, the place, and I’m not in the mood.”

  Every single one of them gaped at her.

  “What?” She glanced around, feeling once more like she wasn’t getting it.

  She took a breath, shook her head, and started to stomp off.

  She threw her hands up in the air. “You know what, just forget it. It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m going home.”

  William had her swung up in his arms within seconds.

  He looked shocked, though she didn’t know why he would be. Most girls didn’t stick around for this type of behavior.

  “Lass,” William was breathing hard and his heart was pounding in his chest. The hairs at the nape of his neck were standing on end and, with Lena in his arms, he glanced back to see the three men swarming the spot where Lena had smacked the car, but unable to get close to it.

  They seemed to swerve at the last moment every time they tried to approach the location.

  “William, what is going on?”

  Lena watched the men until they finally gave up and stood on the perimeter of the parking spot.

  “The car, lass. None of us can see it. We didnae know it was there.”

  Lena looked at him, as if gauging the truth of his words, and then pushed his shoulder, in an effort to be set down.

  He released her slowly and made sure she was steady on the pavement before straightening.

  She approached the car, slid past the men, and laid her hand on … something?

  They were all watching her closely, and with a laugh, she turned around, hiked herself up, and sat on what he could only guess was the trunk of the car.

  She looked like she was floating in air.

  Out of nowhere, her cat jumped up to float beside her, nudging against her for attention. As she pet the creature, she noted their expressions and laughed. “Take a picture. I want to see what this looks like.”

  Caleb got out his phone, snapped a picture, and laughed himself. “Boss, look at this.”

  William moved to look, and Lena jumped down and came forward as well. The picture showed Lena with her cat, sitting on the black Corvette, grinning for all she was worth.

  William lifted his phone, turned on the camera, and could clearly see the Corvette on the screen.

  “More witchcraft?” Quinn asked.

  Thorne shook his head, lifted his own phone, and looked at the screen. “This is wild!”

  William’s phone rang, and he took the call. It was Alistair, telling him what he already knew.

  “Okay, thanks,” he said, and hung up.

  He looked around at his men, who had overheard the conversation, but Lena was looking at him expectantly.

  “Alistair said the car is in the video, and he can see us all standing beside it.”

  “You still can’t see it?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “Or touch it?”

  William tried to move forward, but had no more luck than his men, swerving away at the last moment.

  Lena chuckled. “Should we call Esmeralda?”

  William’s lips tightened, but he lifted his phone and made the call. Esmeralda answered after the first ring.

  “William Murray here. I’m in the parking garage, valet section, and I think mayhap I’ve run across one of yer spells. Would ye like tae come down here?”

  “I don’t know … from the tone of your voice, I might not like that at all.”

  “Lena’s here and has discovered something.”

  “In that case, we’ll be right there. Just give us a minute to close up shop.”

  William hung up and rubbed his forehead. If he had his way, they’d close their shop, per
manently.

  He glanced at Lena, grinning and floating in the air once more, and kept those sentiments to himself.

  Shadow rubbed against Lena’s legs as she stood with William, while across from them, his men stayed busy scouting the area.

  “Somebody is really determined,” Lena finally said, trying to read William as he leaned against the column beside her.

  He shot her a searching look. “It willnae always be like this, ye know. I know it probably seems like that tae ye at the moment, with everythin’ that’s been happening, but generally, we do get some sort of downtime.”

  “You mean, between murders?”

  His expression was pained as he moved forward to take her hand.

  “I willnae lie, tis part of the business we’re in, part of the world we’re in, unfortunately.”

  She felt the need to reassure him and she squeezed his hand in return. “Don’t worry, I understand. You’re in security, and this is part of your job.”

  “But it’s no’ my entire job, nor my entire life. I just need ye tae understand that.”

  She could see the concern in his expression, understood that he was trying to tell her that she was important as well. “Let’s just hope this is over soon, and then you can show me what you mean.”

  “Tis a deal.”

  William reached down and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck. It hissed, but other than that, hung there rather than fighting to escape or scratch as Lena would have expected.

  William sniffed at the thing.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Assuring myself tis a female. It is.” He set the cat down and it ran behind another column, only to twirl around and glare at William.

  “She doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

  William shrugged. “As your familiar, I can see why she might think she has a prior claim.” He chuckled. “She’ll have to learn to share ye.”

  “My familiar?”

  William looked at her, curiosity in his gaze. “Aye, your witch familiar. Your animal guide and protector.” He looked from her to the cat again. “Is she no’? When ye were kidnapped, she was there. I saw her.”