Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

A s back-alley shadiness went, what Skippy witnessed seemed typical. Not that he made back-alley deals himself, but if he were going to, it would most likely be for something shady.

It turned out his mark paid for sex, but he seemed to like it somewhat public. Instead of renting a room for an hour or two minutes, as was the case for Jeff Montgomery, he fucked the poor woman in an alley next to a dumpster. It was in full view of where Skippy sat in his SUV. His windows were tinted, which was just about the only giveaway that a soccer mom didn't drive his very sensible vehicle. Every suburban family in America had an SUV. He wanted to blend in when doing surveillance. Blending in was key if he didn't want to alert anyone to his presence and, to a lesser degree, get noticed by the cops as he left from the crime scene. The cops weren’t a problem for Skippy this time.

When the man finished, he pulled up his pants. From Skippy's vantage point, he couldn't see the woman very well because she was in the shadows of an alcove, but he imagined her doing the same.

She didn't wear typical street clothes. Not that prostitutes stood on corners anymore. Everything was online these days. He wondered why Montgomery chose that spot, or maybe she was the one who picked it.

It was dark and hardly anyone was out and about. Maybe she thought that would work to her advantage if things went sideways. No one could be too careful anymore.

When she came out of the shadows, she had on sweats and a heavy sweatshirt. Her hair was in a ponytail, but it had come undone during the fucking. She had circles under her eyes, and she swayed as if she was on something. Maybe she was an addict.

Skippy watched as she held out her hand. The man sneered at her. He said something to her that made her angry. She went after him, dogging his heels when he walked away from her.

Skippy got out of his car and headed across the street toward the alley. He pulled a gun as soon as he was at the mouth of the alley.

Montgomery and the woman glanced his way. The woman's dark eyes grew large, and she shook when she raised her hands. She appeared as if she were going to cry. Montgomery had a similar reaction, but he scowled. If Skippy caused him to shake, it wasn't visible.

"What do you want? I don't have any money." Montgomery seemed confident. That's what Skippy wanted.

"Whatever money you have, you're going to give to her." Skippy pointed the gun at Montgomery's head. "Now."

Montgomery fumbled with his back pocket as he pulled out his wallet.

Skippy met the woman's gaze. "You can put your hands down, sweetheart."

She hesitated, but did what Skippy said. She took a step away from Montgomery. And when he tried to hand her a twenty, she glanced at Skippy as if asking permission to take it.

Skippy nodded. "You owe her more than twenty bucks, dickhead. Give her what you owe her. Consider the twenty a tip."

Cheap bastard.

The man dug in his wallet and pulled up a wad of cash. He handed it to her and then tried to hand the wallet to Skippy.

Skippy shook his head. "I don't want your money."

The woman clutched her cash as if it were a lifeline and looked at Skippy as though he was the one who gave her some sort of gift.

Skippy dug around in his pocket and handed her a card with a number on it. "Call that when you're ready to get clean."

She took it with shaky hands.

Skippy gestured to the mouth of the alley. "Get out of here."

"Thank you." She scurried away.

Skippy put his gun in the waistband of his jeans. He never liked them. He preferred the manual labor of using his fists. Only this time, he wouldn't get to do that either.

He had a different plan in mind for the rapist.

Skippy pressed a button on the phone in his pocket. It wouldn't take long for the officers to get there.

"I heard you liked little girls. I didn't realize you took advantage of addicts, too. But you probably like anyone vulnerable, don't you?" Skippy let his eyes shift, and he made sure the sicko rapist saw it.

The guy backed away.

Skippy chuckled.

When the guy turned to run, Skippy grabbed him by the back of his coat. "Oh no, you don't. Your last date will be with a doctor. And you're in luck. She's even willing to touch your dick."

Montgomery wouldn't like what the doctor did to him. By the time he woke up from the anesthesia, he wouldn't ever get an erection again and he'd wake up right back in this alley, unable to piece together exactly what happened. He wouldn’t remember the last two days of his life.

Skippy took the needle out of his pocket and shot it into the man's arm. Thanks to Gavin's mate, Easton, Skippy had a sedative that wouldn't interact with the anesthesia the doctor intended to use.

The man was so scared, he didn't realize a needle entered his body at all. Skippy inserted it where he could reach, which was his left shoulder. Skippy distracted him by playing on his fear. Anything for him not to realize what was happening.

Easton had said it would take about a minute for the medicine to work, but it didn't even take that long. Thirty seconds later and Skippy had the man over one shoulder.

He stood, waiting for a full five minutes. Finally, a cop car pulled into the alley as far as the dumpster would let it in.

The cops got out at about the same time Skippy opened the back door with his free hand and put Montgomery's limp body in the backseat.

Skippy scowled when he met his cousin's gaze. "It is typical of most cops to be late."

Amber rolled her eyes. Her dark hair was in a ponytail, but she didn't wear a cap like Gage, her partner, did.

Skippy held out his fist for Gage. He tapped it. He was human, but knew about paranormals. He and Amber weren't only partners, but also best friends. Skippy liked the guy well enough. For a cop, he was cool. But he was young. In his mid-twenties and still a bit na?ve for the job he was doing. Skippy had thought, after four years, he'd harden up and grow skeptical, but he still saw the best in everyone. It was a remarkable skill, all things considered.

"We got here as soon as we could." Amber rolled her eyes.

Gage smiled. "We just got off a domestic violence call."

Skippy found it difficult to be angry at someone who was so sunshine and rainbows. "I guess it was only five minutes or so."

Amber narrowed her eyes. "That response was way too nice and not nearly as sarcastic as you usually are. What gives?"

Skippy would have answered, but his phone buzzed in his pocket. "I'll call you and tell you about him later." He nodded to the backseat and their new passenger. "Get him to Cindy. Tell her he needs to be neutered."

Skippy answered the phone as he came around the car and gave Amber a hug. "Hang on, Gavin." To Amber, he said, "Thanks for transporting my mark."

"You're cleaning up my department's fuck up. It's the least I can do. And whoever ‘him’ is, congrats. You deserve someone who makes you happy." Amber smiled.

“He certainly does.” Skippy nodded and started across the road. "I'll call you. Tell Aunt Sharon I’ll call her sometime."

He put his cellphone to his ear. "Sorry about that, Gavin. What's up, man? Kinda late for an old man. It’s what, midnight? Way past your bedtime."

"If I'm an old man, then what are you?" Gavin growled, but Skippy could tell there was no heat behind it.

Skippy chuckled. "Older than you." He sobered. "You're calling for a reason. It's not to threaten me about Yael. So what?"

"Now that you brought it up. If you hurt him, I'll kill you. He's been through enough shit in his life without piling more onto him."

"I stand corrected." Skippy wanted to know more about Yael's past. He'd know who to kill if he knew who hurt him. But he wouldn't violate Yael's privacy by asking Gavin. He'd ask Yael directly and if he told him, then he'd count himself lucky for having Yael's trust.

"I need you to check on Yael. He seemed off at the game. Withdrawn a bit. It's abnormal for him not to confide in me. I'm hoping he will with you." Gavin didn't have to say why Yael was more likely to tell Skippy. The mating pull was strong.

When Skippy was in his SUV and had turned on his car, his phone hooked up with his car speakers. Skippy put the phone in the passenger’s seat and got underway.

"Are you sure about Yael? He wasn't just trying to focus on the game?"

Gavin snorted. "Yael doesn't like sports. He loves Eryn, who likes to play, so he goes to every game. But that's where it ends."

Skippy saw Yael as more of a reader, or maybe he played games online. Hell, he could have done both. "I was going to call him."

Skippy intended to spend the night in the city, but maybe he'd just drive home.

"Look, I wouldn't call if I didn't think it was something important. He's hiding something, and it's probably something big. He wouldn't hide anything from me unnecessarily." Gavin's sigh was more of a growl. "Whatever it is, I need to know. Yael's family are all dangerous people, Skip. His parents are dead, thank the gods, but he has other relatives out there. Some are in prison."

"Yael has family like that?" Skippy would never have guessed that about him. He seemed like the type of guy who was raised by June Cleaver, complete with being from a small town. But maybe the only part he fit was being from Wingspan.

Besides the Dragon Skulls mucking up the town's reputation, everyone were typical shifters and vampires from a small town. Even with Skippy's gang there, no one had to lock their doors. They knew none of the Dragon Skulls would steal from them. Even the thieves wouldn't.

"Yeah, man. They were bad news back in the day. It took a lot to drive them out of town, or so I’m told. That was before my time."

"But no one drove Yael or Eryn out?"

"Yael protected that kid with his life. Merc said he earned the respect of the clan."

"That's why Yael gave me a hard time about the job I'm on."

"If it's one of your vigilante justice things, I don't want to know."

Skippy chuckled. "But I'm just dying to tell you the juicy details."

"Anyway." Gavin dragged out the word as if that would stop Skippy from spilling the details if he wanted to tell them. But Gavin was safe. Skippy would say nothing about it over the phone. Especially not cellphones. "Yael has kept his nose clean his whole life, and he's made sure Eryn has had as normal a childhood as Yael could give him."

"Don't worry. I don't plan on fucking up his life by bringing him along on a job." Skippy suspected Yael was a little too soft to tag along, and that was just the way Skippy liked him. He wouldn't want him to be any other way.

"I don't know the details because he doesn’t talk about it. All I know is at least one of his parents abused him."

He would rather hear Yael’s story directly from the source, but Gavin wasn't going into detail, not that Skippy wanted to know, but it might help him understand Yael a bit better.

“What do you think the problem is?”

“I don't really know. Like I said, he sat in the bleachers, all tight-lipped, with shoulders to his ears. Something’s got him spooked."

Skippy would do his best to be there for his mate, but he wouldn’t force Yael to tell him anything.