The Mane Squeeze
Page 69
Well, if nothing else, Gwenie had him. She had Bren. The Shaw brothers would protect Gwen ONeill. It was perfect actually. Shed stay in New York, where they could keep an eye on her, but that bearthat bear was going to have to go. Between the grizzlys clearly unstable motherMitch was never one to trust those
intellectual typesand Gwens tendency to be squirrelly, the whole thing was a recipe for disaster. Mitch couldnt take the risk his baby sisters beautiful face would be mauled should that bear misplace his vat of honey or she startled him by hissing or something.
But first he needed to figure out who was helping Blayne in her evil plan to destroy Mitchs happiness
Tamping down his growing rage that things werent working out exactly as he wanted them to, Mitch brought up to his mother the one thing hed sworn to Sissy he wouldnt. So Gwen and Blayne got jumped while away at Brendons on Labor Day weekend.
Not remotely surprised by this informationam I the only who didnt know?Roxy nodded and pulled eggs and milk from the refrigerator. I know. She told me. Couldnt hide that limp from me.
Her leg healed up nice, though, huh, Rox? Marie asked.
Better than I would have thought from one of those Jersey doc-in-a-box centers.
Yeah. Mitch scratched his chin, watched his mother walk back over to the counter. But did Gwenie mention she was jumped by the McNelly Pack?
When the eggs and milk hit the floor and his aunts juice sprayed across the room, Mitch leaned back in his chair and reminded his mother, Uncle Cally warned you McNelly would never let that go.
It wasnt until the waitress slammed the food down in front of her that Gwen opened her eyes.
Dont worry, Lock told her while he reached for the ketchup. You werent snoring.
She sneered but kept her fangs in, since it was a full-human restaurant. It would be your fault if I was snoring.
Lock grinned around the burger in his mouth. He seemed to be a regular in this place. The waitress didnt blink an eye when he ordered four of their Big Enuf 2 Kill a Man Burgers. But the way the same waitress eyed her, Gwen got the feeling hed always come in alone before, and the waitress was hoping shed one day be the one sitting on the other side of the table with him.
Too bad. Hes with me, and apparently Im his girlfriend.
For the moment, anyway.
Gwen gave a big yawn before she dug into her pancakes. It was almost two oclock, but shed been all geared up about getting some breakfast. Thankfully, this diner sold breakfast twenty-four hours a day.
You knew them, didnt you? she asked.
Knew who?
The guys in that blue van from last night. You knewthem.
Probably.
She didnt mention the Unit, because she didnt have to. Mitch had told her once what they did.
Portraying prey to lure out the full-human hunters who focused on shiftersand then killing them. Its been three years. Theyre still following you?
Maybe. Theres been a few problems lately with former members, so they may be checking up on me.
He wiped his hands on a napkin now that hed finished devouring those four burgers in record time and dug into his basket of fries, leaving it in the middle of the table to share with Gwen.
He pulled out his cell phone and Gwen tensed, thinking it was Blayne again. Lock let out a sigh after reading a text message, glanced at Gwen, and asked, Would you mind if we hit a bar after were done here?
A few hours with me and already you need a stiff drink?
He grinned. No. But I figure you could use a little more rest before we head back to my place.
And damn himhe was right.
Lock walked into the Jersey bar with Gwen behind him. Hed given her what Ric called The Speech
when theyd driven over. Theyre mostly full-humans there. Dont talk to anybody. Dont look at anybody. If someone moves toward you, let me know and Ill deal with them.
Hed practically grown up in this bar and hed seen enough over the years to know what the lowlifes at the bar went for and what they didnt. Lock had learned early that full-humans were worse than any predators hed ever encountered in the wild, and being in the military had only driven that belief home. Yet it wasnt what was in the main bar that he wanted. It was in the back room.
As soon as they entered, every full-human eye turned their way. They immediately turned away from Locks direct gaze as they always did, but they all latched on to Gwen the second after that. He popped his jaw and those whod watched him grow from five-foot nothing to what he was now instantly refocused on their drinks or racing forms. A few of the newer, younger ones were unaware of past incidents and their gazes stayed right on Gwen. Lock could see them debating whether shed be worth the fightand she was. For him.
Gwen, being a true feline, seemed not to notice anyone or anything. She moved casually through the bar, her gaze examining the framed pictures tacked to the wall and the ancient jukebox shoved into the corner. But as they neared the hallway leading to the backroom, a new full-human Lock had never seen before spun his bar stool around and made a move to stand. It wasnt that Gwen turned to look at him. It was that only Gwens head turned to look at him. A good 180 degrees if Lock were to guess. She didnt say a word, she didnt hiss, she didnt do anything because that one move was all it took.
intellectual typesand Gwens tendency to be squirrelly, the whole thing was a recipe for disaster. Mitch couldnt take the risk his baby sisters beautiful face would be mauled should that bear misplace his vat of honey or she startled him by hissing or something.
But first he needed to figure out who was helping Blayne in her evil plan to destroy Mitchs happiness
Tamping down his growing rage that things werent working out exactly as he wanted them to, Mitch brought up to his mother the one thing hed sworn to Sissy he wouldnt. So Gwen and Blayne got jumped while away at Brendons on Labor Day weekend.
Not remotely surprised by this informationam I the only who didnt know?Roxy nodded and pulled eggs and milk from the refrigerator. I know. She told me. Couldnt hide that limp from me.
Her leg healed up nice, though, huh, Rox? Marie asked.
Better than I would have thought from one of those Jersey doc-in-a-box centers.
Yeah. Mitch scratched his chin, watched his mother walk back over to the counter. But did Gwenie mention she was jumped by the McNelly Pack?
When the eggs and milk hit the floor and his aunts juice sprayed across the room, Mitch leaned back in his chair and reminded his mother, Uncle Cally warned you McNelly would never let that go.
It wasnt until the waitress slammed the food down in front of her that Gwen opened her eyes.
Dont worry, Lock told her while he reached for the ketchup. You werent snoring.
She sneered but kept her fangs in, since it was a full-human restaurant. It would be your fault if I was snoring.
Lock grinned around the burger in his mouth. He seemed to be a regular in this place. The waitress didnt blink an eye when he ordered four of their Big Enuf 2 Kill a Man Burgers. But the way the same waitress eyed her, Gwen got the feeling hed always come in alone before, and the waitress was hoping shed one day be the one sitting on the other side of the table with him.
Too bad. Hes with me, and apparently Im his girlfriend.
For the moment, anyway.
Gwen gave a big yawn before she dug into her pancakes. It was almost two oclock, but shed been all geared up about getting some breakfast. Thankfully, this diner sold breakfast twenty-four hours a day.
You knew them, didnt you? she asked.
Knew who?
The guys in that blue van from last night. You knewthem.
Probably.
She didnt mention the Unit, because she didnt have to. Mitch had told her once what they did.
Portraying prey to lure out the full-human hunters who focused on shiftersand then killing them. Its been three years. Theyre still following you?
Maybe. Theres been a few problems lately with former members, so they may be checking up on me.
He wiped his hands on a napkin now that hed finished devouring those four burgers in record time and dug into his basket of fries, leaving it in the middle of the table to share with Gwen.
He pulled out his cell phone and Gwen tensed, thinking it was Blayne again. Lock let out a sigh after reading a text message, glanced at Gwen, and asked, Would you mind if we hit a bar after were done here?
A few hours with me and already you need a stiff drink?
He grinned. No. But I figure you could use a little more rest before we head back to my place.
And damn himhe was right.
Lock walked into the Jersey bar with Gwen behind him. Hed given her what Ric called The Speech
when theyd driven over. Theyre mostly full-humans there. Dont talk to anybody. Dont look at anybody. If someone moves toward you, let me know and Ill deal with them.
Hed practically grown up in this bar and hed seen enough over the years to know what the lowlifes at the bar went for and what they didnt. Lock had learned early that full-humans were worse than any predators hed ever encountered in the wild, and being in the military had only driven that belief home. Yet it wasnt what was in the main bar that he wanted. It was in the back room.
As soon as they entered, every full-human eye turned their way. They immediately turned away from Locks direct gaze as they always did, but they all latched on to Gwen the second after that. He popped his jaw and those whod watched him grow from five-foot nothing to what he was now instantly refocused on their drinks or racing forms. A few of the newer, younger ones were unaware of past incidents and their gazes stayed right on Gwen. Lock could see them debating whether shed be worth the fightand she was. For him.
Gwen, being a true feline, seemed not to notice anyone or anything. She moved casually through the bar, her gaze examining the framed pictures tacked to the wall and the ancient jukebox shoved into the corner. But as they neared the hallway leading to the backroom, a new full-human Lock had never seen before spun his bar stool around and made a move to stand. It wasnt that Gwen turned to look at him. It was that only Gwens head turned to look at him. A good 180 degrees if Lock were to guess. She didnt say a word, she didnt hiss, she didnt do anything because that one move was all it took.
