Cattitude (32 page)

***

Phil parked in front of the house and took
the keys out of the ignition. “Well, here we are.”

He felt Tory’s gaze on him but was afraid to
turn. If he looked into her blue eyes, he’d be pulled to her, like
a drowning man caught in an undertow.

“It’s getting late.”

She shifted her body. He tensed his.

A sigh came from her side. He held his
breath.

She moved toward him, he smelled her coming
closer. He grabbed the door handle. “I’ll walk you to—”

One slender hand grasped his jacket sleeve,
pulling him to her. He should resist, but how could a thirsty man
back away from water?

He grabbed her and his open mouth met her
open mouth.

The next second they were lying across the
seat of the car, necking like horny teenagers, which exactly fit
the way he felt.

***

Belle looked at Caroline, hopping on one leg
with her pants half off, her bare breasts bouncing. Belle’s gaze
shifted to the bed where Max lay sprawled on his back, his mouth
open, his eyes closed. A blanket was draped over him, one naked leg
and one naked arm sticking out.

Inside Belle, a cold feline anger unfurled,
growing and growing and growing...

“Well, I guess you caught us,” Caroline said
with a laugh. “When Max wakes in the morning I’ll tell him— Stop!
What are you do—”

Belle lunged at Caroline, her arms raised,
her fingers bent in the claw position. The huntress was out and was
in control.

Caroline screamed and put her hands out to
ward her off.

***

Headlights streamed into the car. A horn
honked.

“Oh shit.” Phil pushed up from Tory,
propelling himself back to the driver’s seat. She giggled and
struggled to a sitting position. Phil ran a hand through his hair,
then opened the door and stuck his head out. He felt like he had a
fire hose in his pants. From the passenger side, he could hear
material rustle as Tory shoved her top into her jeans.

Ted’s head poked out of the open window of
his car. “You’re blocking the driveway. Did you want to get
interrupted?”

A scream ripped through the night air,
snapping Phil’s gaze from Ted to the house.

“What the hell?” Ted’s car door crashed
open.

It took Phil a second longer to react. He ran
stiff-legged after Ted, not all of his blood returned to his brain
yet.

“Wait for me!” Tory yelled behind him.

“Stay back,” he yelled, and kept running. He
heard her rushing after him, ignoring his warning.

They piled together on the front porch while
Ted tried to unlock the door and swore when the first try didn’t
work. “Get back!” he snarled.

Phil gave him room, forcing Tory to move
behind him. Ted slid the key in the keyhole and shoved the door
open. As the three of them stormed into the house, another scream
shattered the air.

Ted ran toward the lit hall. Phil turned, his
arm out to hold Tory back.

“I can’t let you go.”

She put out her palms and shoved him in his
chest. While he stumbled into a side table, she raced past him. The
table toppled to the floor. Glass shattered behind Phil as he leapt
after Tory. From the end of the hall came the sound of something
smashing too.

“Shit,” he said, and pumped his legs faster.
No telling what they’d find.

***

Though still in her human body, Belle felt
more like a cat as she watched Caroline fall onto the bed, holding
her hands over her face.

Belle was on her in a second. Her jaws
clenched, her breaths coming out in hisses, she dug her claws into
the back of Caroline’s hands and scraped down. Screaming again,
Caroline tried to swat Belle. She kicked out her leg, thumping
Belle’s thigh. Her flailing hand swatted the bedside lamp, sending
it crashing to the floor.

Behind Caroline’s hunched body, Belle saw Max
lying on the bed, not moving. He looked like one of Tory’s old
dolls. Another kick landed on Belle’s leg. She barely felt it, all
her senses concentrated on hurting Caroline and saving Max.

She grabbed Caroline’s hair with both hands,
jerking her head up. “What did you do to him?” she shouted.

Caroline lifted her hand from her face and
screamed.

Pulling handfuls of hair so tight she could
see Caroline’s scalp stretch, Belle shook the blond woman’s head
back and forth. “Tell me. What did you do to him?”

“Nothing!”

“You lie.”

Releasing one hand, Belle whacked Caroline’s
face just as Ted burst into the bedroom.

“What the hell is happening here?”

Belle turned, her hold loosening.

“She’s crazy!” Caroline shouted. “She drugged
Max, and now she’s trying to kill me. Max should never have let her
stay in the house.”

Belle slugged Caroline again.

Caroline screamed.

“Sorcha, stop!” Ted leapt behind Belle and
wrapped his arms around her, his hands below her breasts. His arms
pinning hers, he pulled her back from Caroline.

Belle bit back a scream of anger. She wasn’t
finished with Caroline yet. Not until Caroline was crawling on the
floor, pleading with her to stop.

“Look at me!” Caroline held her hands out.
“I’m bleeding.”

“You’re also naked,” Tory said, standing
inside the bedroom. Phil stood behind her, his hand cupped on
Tory’s shoulder.

Caroline gasped and scooped up her clothes.
She held them over her breasts and ran out of the bedroom. “I’m
leaving,” she said. “That woman is a maniac.”

Belle struggled to free herself from Ted’s
hold, but his arms tightened.

“Let her go,” he said. “I don’t know what’s
gotten into you. You’re lucky if she doesn’t call the police.”

She slammed her heel on his shin. He yowled
and hopped, but since she wore no shoes it didn’t hurt enough to
make him loosen his hold. Bending her head, she bit his hand.

He yowled again.

This time he released her.

“You idiot!” she shouted. “If Max is drugged,
she did it, not me.”

“I think she’s right. Caroline’s the one
who’s naked.” Tory leaned over Max and shook him. “Are you all
right? Wake up, Max. Wake up.”

Belle hovered, wanting to stay to see if Max
was all right and wanting to chase after Caroline and bat her
around, making her suffer more with every swipe.

Ted clasped Belle’s upper arms and turned her
around to face him. She’d never seen his face so serious.

“You swear you didn’t do that?”

She punched him in the stomach.

“Ouch.” He bent over, grabbing his
stomach.

“I think we should get Max to the hospital.”
Tory was lifting one of Max’s lids, squinting into his eyes.

Belle felt as if Tory stabbed a knife in her
heart. Tory wanted to take Max away. To the hospital! Tory of all
people should know better. Didn’t she see the man in the doctor’s
jacket sneak into the room of Amanda’s twin sister and strangle her
with his Latex-covered hands?

She lunged for the bed and pushed Tory from
Max, shoving her to the floor. From the corner of her eye, she saw
the shocked look on Tory’s face. Belle ignored her and flattened
her body on Max’s. Holding out her hands to warn everyone to get
away or get mauled, she glared at Tory.

“You’re not taking him to the hospital.”

“Huh?” Sitting on the carpet, Tory bent her
legs, knees in the air and feet on the floor.

“People die in hospitals.” Why was Tory
looking at her if her brains were leaking out of her head?

“And people get better,” Tory said.

“She has a hospital phobia.” Ted looked at
Max, then toward the hall. “I better find out if Caroline gave Max
anything.”

“Of course she did.” Tory heaved herself to a
standing position. “Go find out what she gave him.”

“I’ll go.” In an instant, Phil dashed from
the bedroom.

Ted raked his fingers through his hair. “I
should go too.”

“Face it, Ted,” Tory said, “what you’re best
at getting from women is telephone numbers. Phil’s an FBI agent.
He’s trained in interrogation. He’ll find out what she gave
him.”

Max’s warm breath puffed against Belle’s
cheek. She put her hand on his forehead. It felt cool beneath her
heated palm. She laid her cheek against his.

“No one’s taking Max away. No one.”

Phil caught up to Caroline in the foyer where
she was pulling on her pants. She was fully dressed, except for the
lacy bra hanging over her shoulder. When she’d run from the
bedroom, he’d gotten an eyeful of her breasts, bouncing the way
only the real ones did. Then her ass, rounded and firm. Now he kept
his gaze on her face. An FBI agent wouldn’t look below her neck,
would he?

Maybe he wasn’t a trained investigator, but
he knew a little about human nature from the gym, working
one-on-one with men and women desperate to get in shape. In his
experience, give people a little sympathy and you couldn’t stop
them from talking, even when you wanted them to stop.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice soothing.
“I’m not blaming you for what you did.”

She glared at him. “I didn’t do
anything.”

“C’mon, we know that’s bullshit. You wanted
Max and decided to go after him before he left. As simple as that.
To tell you the truth, I admire you for that.”

“You’re playing the good cop.” She took a
step backward, her butt almost touching the front door. “You’re
trying to charm me. I won’t admit to anything. It was Sorcha who
drugged Max and attacked me. Why don’t you believe me? She’s the
interloper. She’s the one you should be talking to.”

“That’s not going to fly. You were naked, she
was dressed. It only fits if you did it.”

“It’s not fair, not fair.” Caroline twisted
around and pounded her fists on the front door.

He stepped over to her. Should he put his
hand on her shoulder, or would that make her—

She shrieked.

He jumped back.

Her hand in the air, she turned slowly.
“Look,” she whispered. “Look what she did to me.”

Her eyes stared at the long scratches on the
back of her hand, blood seeping out of the welts.

He winced. That must have hurt.

Her desperate gaze transferred to his face.
“You have to arrest her for this.”

Only a thin strip of blue showed around her
widened pupils. Spit dribbled from the corner of her mouth down her
chin. Looking at her feral eyes, Phil felt like making the sign of
the cross and running to the kitchen for some garlic.

Whatever edge of sanity she’d been standing
on, she’d leapt off.

He firmed his shoulders and reminded himself
of his promise to Tory to find out what Caroline gave her brother.
At least he could do something good for Tory before she found out
he was scum.

“They’re scratches, they’ll heal.” He grabbed
her hands and pulled them down.

She didn’t fight him. Instead she bent her
head to see them better, her fixation with the scratches making him
nauseous.

“Oh God, look how deep they are. I’ll have
scars!”

He was opening his mouth to tell her not to
be ridiculous when a strobe light went on in his head. “I’ve had
experience with deep scratches. They heal usually if...” He stopped
and rubbed his jaw, as though he were thinking deep thoughts.

“Yes?” Her body rigid, she fastened her gaze
on his face as if he were the wise man on the mountain with the
answer to the meaning of life.

He continued to stroke his jaw. One of his
buddies, a real estate broker, said the more you made them wait,
the more they wanted to buy it. When she started to shake, he
decided he’d left her hanging long enough.

“If they’re cleaned and taken care of right
away.” He pictured the little bottles crammed together on his
mother’s bathroom counter. “Our secret weapon against scars is aloe
lotion and Vitamin E oil.”

A moan came from her throat and she started
to turn.

He grabbed her wrist. She’d accused him of
playing a good cop.
Bad cop, here I come.
“Too bad they
don’t keep any lotions and oils in the local jail.”

“Let go of me.” She tried to tug away from
him. “I’m not going to jail. You can’t prove I did anything.”

He tightened his grip. “You’re right. You’ll
probably be let loose in the morning. But first you’ll be locked up
all night. What do you think is going to happen to these scratches
during that time?”

She stopped struggling. “Please, don’t do
this. I’ll do anything.” She stepped closer to him, her breasts
brushing his chest. She tried to smile and it came out a grimace. A
scent emitted from her skin, overpowering her flowering perfume.
The stench of desperation.

He stepped back, his neck and hands clammy
with repulsion. “I won’t call the police. I’ll let you go home and
take care of your wounds.”

Her body sagged with relief. “Thank you,” she
said. “Thank you, thank—”

“
If
,” he said, and she stopped
talking, her mouth open, “you tell me what drug you gave Max.”

Her mouth snapped shut. She stared at him
with loathing.

He shrugged. “I mean it.”

“You’re a son of a bitch.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Are you
going to tell me? Or am I going to call the cops?”

“It’s the date rape drug. Does that make you
happy?” She glared at him, as if the only way he’d make her happy
would be to collapse onto the floor with a massive coronary.

“Which one? And what’s the dosage?”

“How do I know?” She jerked her hand back,
and he clutched her wrist tighter. Her glare intensified, shooting
hatred at him. “I used one pill, it’s all I had. I was told he’d
sleep a few hours and be fine in the morning.”

“And you believed it?”

She made a scornful noise from her throat,
her mouth sneering. “Thousands of women have taken it without harm.
It shouldn’t hurt one big man. Now let me go, I don’t know anything
else.”