Freaky by Nature (9 page)

Brett let the tension leak from his m uscles. “You know how she

is. She’ll call when she’s ready .”

Shadow chuckled. “I’v e said it a thousand tim es. Strange

arrangem ent y ou two hav e.”

“That’s the way she wants it. Besides, I’d know if som ething

was wrong.”

Shadow lowered his v oice. “I just worry about her som etim es,

y a know? She can’t be as strong as she wants us to believ e.”

Brett felt a surge of pride. No one else but Shadow understood

Claire as well as he did. And, they would both be lost souls without

her. “She’ll call.”

Brett heard the deep beat of drum s and som ething close to a

war cry . “What the hell is going on there?”

Shadow laughed. “Relax, just the nativ es. What else y ou got

for m e?”

“We need som e help on a case.” Brett sum m arized the recent

action, not surprised when Shadow jum ped at the opportunity to

weav e in and out of the darkness. Only , he didn’t quite expect

Shadow’s next bit of adv ice.

“Sleep with her, jungle boy .”

“Say what?”

“You heard m e. Sleep with her. Get her out of y our sy stem ,

then y ou can concentrate on the case.”

That would be way too easy . And since Shadow knew him too

well, there was no since try ing to bullshit him self out of it either.

“Not this tim e.”

A long pause crossed the line before Shadow responded. “No

way .”

“She’s different. I can’t explain it.”

“What about Claire?”

“I hav en’t told her.”

“Hell, she probably already knows. You better pull y our head

out of y our ass and call her.”

“I will, just not y et.” Brett then rem em bered the bond between

Shadow and Claire. “And y ou better not say any thing to her

either.”

“Your funeral, m an.”

Although Brett knew Shadow was right in his assum ption

about Claire’s reaction to another wom an in his life, he wouldn’t

adm it it. “Are y ou com ing or not?”

“I’ll be there. Giv e m e a couple day s.”

***

He breathed fire as he entered Holly’s house and stabbed

numbers into the alarm keypad. Stupid airhead. Anyone in their right

mind would know to try her birthday first. Lucky for him, though, he

needed to get the formula and get out.

He closed the door behind him, braided the fingers of his black,

leather gloves, and popped his knuckles. Did Holly really believe the

cocky surfer guy could help her? The man only wanted one thing from

her, and it wasn’t a job. Then again, her error in judgment made

finding the formula that much easier.

He stomped into the study, yanked the top drawer from the desk

and scattered papers all over the floor. Why was Holly even interested

in the over-confident SEAL? She normally went for old guys. He

snickered while he pawed through the pile. Ole Albert really was a

genius. Even at sixty, he knew the key to keeping Holly was to make

her happy at home, in bed. That’s why the PermaSlim was the only

diet aid on the market laced with a hidden prize.

He tossed page after page onto the floor. Where was it? She put it

here, in this drawer. He witnessed it with his own eyes. He yanked

out the next two drawers, rage consuming him when he continued to

come up empty handed.

Sweat coated his brow and his heart pounded as he paused to

consider his next move. Maybe he had underestimated Holly. Albert

had mentioned several times her body was her only asset, but that

didn’t appear to be entirely true. Sure she was easy on the eyes, but

since Albert’s death she proved him wrong. She seemed stronger,

more independent, and a whole lot less trusting. Bile rose in his

throat. He was losing control of her, and that was very unacceptable.

His eyes darted around the room until they rested on a metal

cabinet in the corner of the office. Did the ditz even know how to file?

He snatched a paperclip from the top of the desk and straightened it.

Cursing both Holly and himself, he poked it into the cabinet’s silver

lock and jiggled it back and forth until he heard a snap in the silence.

Once the drawer rolled open, he shoved his hands inside, thumbing

through every paper. Nothing. He growled and slung the file folders

over the side of the cabinet before he headed back to the living room.

Where the hell did she hide it? He crammed his hands into his

pocket and smirked when his fingers grazed the cool metal of his

pocket knife. He stepped to the sofa, flicked open the blade, and

punctured each cushion until the fabric resembled a plate of spaghetti

noodles. Still, he didn’t find the bounty.

Sure he was now certifiably insane, he turned over tables, leveled

bookshelves and even emptied plants from their pots. He paused only

when he assured himself he wouldn’t find anything. Hatred and panic

had him by the balls; failure was not an option.

Suddenly, a shrill beep sounded from the front door. Warning

bells chimed in his head as he focused on the rectangular panel on the

wall. His eyes widened and he pushed his anger to the side when he

saw the red “armed” light flash in rapid succession. Someone had

remotely reactivated the alarm.

With a loud curse, he took several long steps across the room and

then slipped out of the house into the lazy Arizona afternoon
.

***

Holly hum m ed softly to herself as she parked in her driv eway ,

reliev ed that re-opening the gy m had gone rem arkably well.

Thanks to Max’s expert state-of-the-art design, the new security

sy stem assured safety . Ev en when she’d accidentally hit the panic

button this m orning, the police responded before she could explain

her error to the operator.

She grabbed her gy m bag and headed up the driv eway ,

encouraged that m ay be the pool incident had been a practical

joke. Although no one found it funny , at least there wasn’t a repeat

perform ance. And with the new security sy stem , she fully

intended to m ov e sensual dance class back to the gy m . When

Jack’s patrons figured out the girls practiced there, Jack had no

choice but to start happy hour a few hours earlier.

Holly reached into her bag for her house key and wondered

how she could conv ince Brett he could leav e her alone again. Ev er

since he discov ered the class, he insisted he attend ev ery practice.

She sm iled. Not a bad thing, really . She enjoy ed dancing for him

while he fidgeted and pretended he was only there for security .

She didn’t hav e the heart to tell him she secretly nam ed him

Pinocchio. No way could he conceal that lie.

She placed her key against the lock and frowned when the

added pressure popped open the door. Before she could analy ze why

the door was unlocked, an eerie, m uddied red haze swirled from

inside the house and pulsed around the door. Her heart rolled ov er

and she sucked in sev eral gasps of air as dark brown-y ellow

splotches m ingled with the haze and then flashed in blinding

strobes of light.

Evil. Hate. Anger
.

Holly forced herself to focus and eased the door open wider to

discov er the chaos inside. In m ere seconds, her head pounded and

she fell lim p against the doorfram e, sliding down until she sat

braced in the opening. She felt her brain sum m on a com forting

shroud of sleep in an effort to dull the pain. Fighting to stay

conscious, she fum bled through the depths of her bag until she

found her cell phone and pushed speed dial.

“Brett,” she whispered into the phone, “som eone’s been in m y

house.”

Unable to wait for his response, she slum ped to the cem ent and

succum bed to the darkness.

CHAPTER EIGHT

In what seem ed like hours later, Holly awoke to the sound of

her nam e.

“Holly .”

She forced her way through the fog in her brain and braced

herself for the excruciating pain she’d inv ariably find on the other

side. Except, once she pried her ey elids open, she felt only peace

and serenity . What happened to the pain?

Brett knelt beside her, one hand resting on her shoulder and

the other stroking the side of her face. Max stood behind Brett, his

expression hidden behind his tradem ark Av iator shades and his

aura doused in his usual soft blue calm . Thank goodness som eone

could rem ain controlled in the face of danger.

Brett grasped her chin and turned her gaze to his. “Are y ou

hurt?”

She blinked sev eral tim es to clear the fuzziness from her ey es

before she answered. “No.”

Turquoise bands with a silv er ov erlay wrapped the length of

his body as he slid a hand under her back and helped her to sit.

Relief ov ertook her when she recalled the m eaning of his color.

Protector
.

Still puzzled about her lack of pain, Holly stood and touched

one hand to her left tem ple out of habit. She wasn’t surprised when

she heard Brett’s m uffled curse. “Were y ou attacked?”

Holly returned her gaze to his. Heav y , thick gray stripes

outlined the hard contours of his body and she fought herself from

cowering from the force of his unm istakable anger. Her lips

trem bled and she forced a sm ile to reassure him . “No, another

headache.”

Afraid to say too m uch m ore, she stood silent and waited for

him to respond. She gav e his m ind a m ental push with hers,

am azed when she m anaged to slip through undetected. He was

deep in soldier m ode, determ ined to find and elim inate the person

responsible for her distress. Yet there was m ore. Much m ore.

Som ething beneath the pain and rage. Ray s of clear, bright, pure

red spurted from his chest.
Passion. Tenderness
.

Brett cleared his throat and the clink of arm or echoed in her

brain. Holly bit her bottom lip as she brought his face back into

focus. His head m ov ed m ay be a m illim eter from one side and then

to the other. She froze, fearful of her next thought.
No?
Did he feel

her intrusion? Holly quickly dism issed the possibility as

im possible, confident he couldn’t hide that particular skill. Besides,

the tell-tale color escaped him . Not a strip of y ellow in sight.

“Holly ,” he prom pted, “hav e y ou been inside?”

She concentrated harder on his color. Nothing. Holly wanted

to kick him . She knew the extent of his anger. Where was the

gray ? She inhaled and tried again.
Come on, give me something
.

He reached to squeeze her shoulder. “Are y ou okay ?”

Holly nodded. “I’m fine. I saw all I needed to from out here. I

waited on y ou.”

Scream ing sirens echoed in the quiet afternoon as Max shov ed

the door all the way open and stepped inside. “Hell.”

Holly peeked around the brick wall of Max’s body and her

heart pounded. The liv ing room looked like a war zone. Books,

separated from their spines, and paper shredded into confetti

littered the carpet. Stuffing from the sofa cushions resem bled

snowflakes on the end tables. The sofa rested upside down on both

arm s, the upholstery split from one end to the other. Som eone had

gone through the room with a fine-tooth com b and she knew

exactly why .

Brett turned to her with flam es in his ey es. “The form ula’s

here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but no one found it.”

Too late, she realized her adm ission. Strike two. Soon she

would hav e to tell him .

Brett’s ey ebrows cam e down in suspicion. “You know without

looking?”

Holly glanced around the room at the strewn papers and

ov erturned furniture, buy ing tim e to find a reasonable answer to

his question. There was really no need to panic. She was one

hundred percent sure the form ula was safe, a fact that didn’t hav e

to be prov en with her
talent
. “They didn’t look any where close.”

Interrupted by the arriv al of the police, Brett was forced to

stop questioning her. Max led the first two detectiv es to arriv e into

the house. Brett grabbed Holly ’s hand and pulled her inside behind

him .

Holly watched detectiv es coat the contents of the house with

powder and snap pictures of the v andalism until she saw polka

dots.

“Dam n.” Brett ran a hand across the top of his wav y , m ussed

hair. “Diet pills are a dim e a dozen. Why is som eone so desperate

for this one?”

She cleared her throat and braced herself for another round of

interrogation. “There’s som ething I didn’t m ention.”

Both Max and Brett folded their arm s across their m assiv e

chests and planted them selv es in the carpet, obv iously expecting

her to elaborate. Holly blew her bangs off her forehead. Another

explanation. Why m ust she alway s explain herself?

She glanced at the two m ountains of m ale and then at the

front door. A low growl left Brett’s throat. So m uch for av oiding the