Santa' Wayward Elf (4 page)

“Sorry, dude,” he said to Derek. “The bathrooms are out of
order. You need to go somewhere else.”

Derek didn’t bother to slow down. Pulling out his badge, he
shoved it in the guy’s face, forcing him backward until he was pressed up
against the wall.

“Right now, I’m going to assume you aren’t with the assholes
who dragged that girl in the men’s room a few minutes ago. Because, if you are,
I’ll have to bust you like I’m going to do to them.” He lifted a brow. “Am I
right or wrong?”

The guy turned white as a sheet at the threat. His mouth
opened and closed, but nothing came out. Finally, he took off running down the
hallway. Derek watched him go. The bastard was so scared shitless, he probably
wouldn’t come within five blocks of the club again. Good.

Derek strode over to the door and shoved it open. The blonde
was cowering against the far wall beside the urinals, a terrified expression on
her pretty face while the three goons stood spread around her in a semicircle,
cutting off her access to the door. They turned at Derek’s entrance and he saw
that one of the men already had his pants half unzipped.

“Party’s over, shitheads,” Derek announced, holding up his
badge so they could get a good look at it. “Get the hell out of here.”

The guy in the center—the one with his pants
unzipped—studied it for a moment, then sneered. “That ain’t no real badge and
you ain’t a real cop. Why don’t you get the hell out of here,
shithead
,
before we beat the shit out of you?”

The show of bravado seemed to give the other two scumbags
courage and they advanced on Derek as if they intended to make good on their
friend’s words. Derek would have liked nothing better than to haul all three of
their asses down to the precinct and put them in lock-up for the night. But if
he did that, there’d be paperwork, and he hated paperwork. Especially on
Christmas Eve.

The guy in the center—the one with the big mouth—was the key
to diffusing the situation. He was clearly the leader of the group and the
other two were feeding off him. If Derek wanted them to back off, he needed to
take Big Mouth down a peg or two.

Before Derek could act, Big Mouth reached into his pocket
and came out with a switchblade. That gave the two guys with him pause and
their eyes locked on the weapon in surprise. Maybe this was going further than
they’d expected.

Derek didn’t waste any time. Lunging forward, he grabbed Big
Mouth’s wrist before he could open the switchblade, then brought his knee up
and rammed the would-be rapist in the balls.

The asshole dropped the knife and fell to his knees,
grabbing at his package and whimpering. Knowing the man would be out of
commission for a while, Derek kicked the knife across the floor and turned his
attention to the other two guys, silently challenging them to come at him. They
took one look at their buddy writhing on the floor, then ran for the door,
almost falling over each other in their haste to exit the bathroom.

Derek wanted to check on the girl, but there was one more
piece of business he needed to take care of first. Grabbing Big Mouth by the
shirt, he rolled him onto his stomach. Holding him there with one hand, he dug
in the guy’s back pocket for his wallet with the other. He flipped through it
until he found the jerk’s driver’s license, then pulled it out. Rolling the guy
over onto his back again, he tossed the wallet on his chest.

“Your license will be waiting for you at the door of the
club tomorrow night,” Derek told him. “Of course, by then every bouncer in this
part of the city will have a copy of it on his stay-the-fuck-out list, so if I
were you. I’d think twice about trying to get in any of the clubs around here.”

Big Mouth tried to say something, but all that came out was
a groan as he curled back up into a fetal position. He’d think twice about
trying to rape an innocent girl in the bathroom again, too. If his dick worked
after this.

At the reminder of the girl, Derek lifted his gaze to find
the blonde gazing at him with the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Damn,
those were some seriously blue peepers. A guy could lose himself in there if he
weren’t careful.

Realizing he was on the verge of doing that right there in
the middle of the men’s bathroom, Derek cleared his throat and held out his
hand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

She hesitated, as if unsure whether to take his hand or not,
but then reached out to grasp it. Her hand was small in his, almost delicate.
Giving her would-be attacker a wide berth, she quickly stepped around him and
let Derek lead her to the door.

Outside the bathroom, he didn’t linger in the hallway, but
took her directly back to the main part of the club. Derek didn’t want her
having to look at Big Mouth’s ugly mug when the bastard finally peeled himself
off the tile and wandered out.

Once back in the crowd of people, Derek turned to look at
her. He’d been too busy with Big Mouth to notice it before, but now he realized
how petite she was. Shorter than he was by more than a foot, she barely came up
to his chest even with the little heels on the black boots that went with her
costume. He could see why the people who did the hiring down at whatever
department store she worked picked her. With her small, slightly upturned nose
and creamy skin, she looked exactly as he imagined an elf would look.

Although he had to admit, he didn’t picture an elf having
quite so many sexy curves. While she was slender, she was rounded in all the
right places. As if that weren’t enough to get him going, she had long, silky
hair that hung down to her waist. Damn, he’d always been a sucker for a woman
with long hair. Man, if he weren’t at the club in a professional capacity, he’d
definitely be hitting on her.

Abruptly aware he was standing there looking down at her
like an idiot, he cleared his throat again. “Are you okay? Those guys didn’t
hurt you, did they?”

She shook her head. “No, but I fear they would have if you
hadn’t come to my rescue when you did. Standing up to them was very heroic.”

Derek felt himself flush at her words. Everyone called cops
heroes, but hearing this beautiful woman say it sort of got to him. He gave her
an embarrassed smile. “Just doing my job.”

She looked confused by that, but then her lips curved.
“Well, you have a very heroic job. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He glanced at the people on the dance
floor, then back at her. “It’s dangerous for a woman to be on her own in a
club. There are a lot of jerks like those guys in the bathroom back there who
hang out here, but they’re less likely to prey on you if you stay with a group.
You should stick with your friends.”

She regarded him with that same confused expression, as if
she had no idea what he was talking about, then her eyes went wide. Muttering
something under her breath that sounded like, “Figgy,” she turned and ran for
the exit.

Derek watched her go, a frown creasing his brow. What the
hell? He told himself it was none of his business why she’d run off or where
she’d run to, that he’d done his duty when he got her away from those bastards
in the men’s room. But the white knight in him came out and he found himself
pushing his way through the crowd of people to follow after her.

She was quicker than he thought, and by the time he caught
up with her, she was already outside. She was standing on the sidewalk, gazing
up at the roof of the building across the street, a look of what could only be
called disbelief on her pretty face. He followed the direction of her gaze,
scanning the rooftop in an effort to figure out what she was staring at, but he
didn’t see anything.

Derek turned his attention back to the girl. She was still
looking up at the roof.

He gently put a hand on her arm. “Hey, you okay?”

She tore her gaze away from the building across the street
to blink up at him with those impossibly blue eyes. “Wh-what?”

“You look upset,” he said. “Is everything all right?”

The wind swirled her long hair around her face and she
reached up to push it back. “Um… Yes… No… The people I came here with left.”

“Oh.” Her friends must have seen her go off with those guys
and figured she was going to hook up for the night. “I’m sure if you call them,
they’ll come back for you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t have a phone and
neither do they.”

None of them had a cell phone? That’s hard to believe.
“Well, maybe they went to another club or something. I’m sure they’ll come back
to get you soon.”

She nibbled on her lower lip as she considered that.
Although she still looked unsure, she nodded in agreement. “You’re probably
right. Once they realize I’m not with them, they’ll come back to look for me.”

Once they realize she isn’t with them? What is she, a pet
Chihuahua? She was short, yes, but damn hard to miss. Whatever. “Listen, it’s
kind of cold out here. Maybe you should wait for your friends inside where it’s
warmer.”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “I’d better not. I don’t
want to miss them when they come back.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure.”

Derek hated to desert her, but he didn’t have a choice. He
was on the clock for another two hours and she seemed adamant about waiting
outside for her friends. “Okay. Well, if you change your mind or you get cold,
tell the bouncers I said to let you back in.”

“Bouncers?”

“The two big guys standing at the door. Tell them Derek
Clayton said to let you in.”

“Oh.” She smiled and Derek couldn’t help but notice how it
seemed to light up the winter night. “I will. And thank you. Again.”

“You’re welcome.” His mouth curved. “Have a Merry
Christmas.”

Her grin broadened. “Merry Christmas to you.”

Giving her a nod, Derek turned and reluctantly headed for
the club. Before going back inside, he stopped to ask the bouncers to keep an
eye on the girl. He didn’t want her getting harassed by any more assholes.

Derek glanced back at her. She was still standing on the
sidewalk staring up at the building across the street, her beautiful smile
replaced by a worried look that etched a line between her perfectly arched
brows. She was so small and forlorn he had to fight the urge to say to hell
with his job at the club and go back over to her.

* * * *

Sosie couldn’t believe the transport sled had left without
her. Hadn’t they noticed she was missing? It wasn’t exactly as if she was an
easy elf to forget. Even if the other passengers had somehow failed to realize
she wasn’t on board, the sled crew should have figured it out.

Apparently not.

As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn’t put all the
blame on them. If she hadn’t given in to her curiosity and come down here to
dance, she would be safely on her way to the South Pole right now instead of
being stranded in a far-off city.

She hugged herself and looked up at the roof across the
street, wondering if she should go up there and wait. At some point, one of her
fellow elves was bound to notice she wasn’t with them and they’d come back for
her like the handsome man from the club had said. But the longer she stood
there, the less likely she began to think that was going to happen. For all she
knew, they’d realized she’d gone off somewhere and purposely left her. Not
because they didn’t care, but because it was too dangerous to venture into the city
to look for her. They had probably already reported the whole thing to Elf
Central. The Special Forces elves were most likely getting ready to mount a  rescue
mission even now.

That should have made her feel better, but instead it only
made her more nervous. She’d never heard of an elf getting lost. Just because
they set out to rescue her didn’t mean they’d find her right away. She would
have to fend for herself until they did. That was easier said than done. Going
into a dance hall for a few minutes was one thing. Living in a BP city for an
extended length of time was definitely another.

She glanced over at the line of people waiting to get into
the club. She wasn’t a Special Forces elf. She had no training on how to
survive on her own for long periods of time outside the North Pole. It was true
she’d learned about how the BPs lived, worked and played when she’d been in
school. In addition to that, there was all the research she’d done as part of
her job as a toy designer. And of course, she’d seen plenty of stuff on
The
Polar Evening News
. But all that was a far cry from actually knowing how to
live among them while keeping her identity secret.

While she waited for Elf Central to find her—if they
could—she was stuck with no food, no water and no place to stay. She was up a
Christmas tree without a ladder and she wasn’t so naïve to think she could
depend on everyone being as kind as the handsome man who’d rescued her from
those barbarians in the club. In fact, she thought as she watched a man and
woman arguing across the street, some of them were grouchy grinches.

Tears stung her eyes suddenly and she blinked them back.
Figgy, what was she going to do?

“Your friends never showed?”

Sosie was so caught up in worrying about the mess she was in
she didn’t realize anyone was talking to her until she felt a gentle hand on
her arm. She turned to see the handsome man from the club standing beside her,
a concerned look in his kind, dark eyes. She was so happy to see a friendly
face she almost hugged him. Of all the things that had happened to her tonight,
meeting Derek Clayton was by far the best.

She resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and shook
her head. “No. We got kind of separated when we got here and I don’t think they
realized I went into the club.”

She hated lying to him, especially after everything he’d
done for her, but it wasn’t as if she could admit her elfin transport sled had
flown away and left her. On the other hand, she hadn’t really told him a lie.
Her fellow elves didn’t know she’d gone to the club.