The Guardian (The Wolfe Series) (5 page)

“Why that sounds like a lovely day,” Julie said knowing that the two of them should be safe enough in the middle of the afternoon.
  “Don’t you think so, Laurie?”

Laurie wanted to strangle her friend right then and there.  Glaring at her friend she said, “I’m not sure I can make it on such short notice.”

“Nonsense,” Julie pouted.  “What else do you have to do in the afternoon besides play with that silly horse of yours?”

Laurie stiffened at the insult to her beloved Aragon.

“You have a horse?  Here in the city?” Luzaro probed, looking for some kind of common ground between them.  “What breed?  I have many beautiful horses at my rancho.  Peruvian Paso, Arabian, even some thoroughbreds, although they are my least favorite.”  He knew he’d struck a cord when he saw Laurie’s eyes light up for the first time since introducing himself.

“He’s an Andalusian.  I bought him when I first moved to New York.  I spend my afternoons riding him and teaching him tricks.  He’s very smart, you see, and quic
k to respond to my instructions.  He’s like a very large puppy dog and would sit on my lap if I’d allow it,” Laurie said with a laugh.  She wasn’t about to mention the mental telepathy that she shared with the animal knowing that neither Julie nor Luc would understand such a thing.

“He sounds remarkable.  Perhaps I could meet him before I leave New York,” Luzaro said, and felt a sudden twinge of jealousy toward the animals. 
Now you’re being ridiculous!

“Perhaps,” Laurie hedged, knowing it was highly unlikely she would ever see the man again after tomorrow.  She
might have enjoyed sharing Aragon with someone who would have appreciated him. 

“Until tomorrow, then,” Luzaro said, rising to his feet and taking her hand into his much larger one.  He turned her hand over and placed a kiss in the center of her palm before dropping her hand and turning away.

“What an interesting man,” Julie said as she watched Luc return to the VIP section and take a seat beside another equally handsome man.

“I don’t know,” Laurie said uneasily, absently rubbing her hands together.  “I wish you hadn’t committed us to the sight-seeing tour tomorrow.”

“Isn’t that why we came here tonight?”  Julie said, a peevish note entering her voice.  “So you could meet people?  So you could start to live a little?  Well, darling, you can start with Luc tomorrow.  You’re not marrying the guy, you’re just going on a tour of New York City with him.  You haven’t seen most of the sights yourself and I’ll be with you so there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

Laurie wasn’t
so sure she could agree with Julie’s assessment. 

Enrique watched as the two women got up and walked toward the nightclub’s entrance,
finally disappearing into the crowd.

“She’
s the one, Enrique,” Luzaro said as he, too, watched the women leave.  He wanted to take her now, to make her his own.  He didn’t like having to wait.  “Make arrangements for us to leave for home next week.  She’ll be going with us.”

C
hapte
r
S
even

T
here is nothing sadder than to see an entire family wading across the river, small children perched on the shoulders of the adult men, as they struggle across the Rio Grande in their search of a better life.

             
Jake Wolfe cursed as he watched the family struggle to get across the river, led by a coyote that he knew and loathed.  He’d been waiting for a chance to confront and dispose of this particular monster.  His only regret was that it was going to be done in front of the children in this family.  Life was hard enough for the crossers and Jake had already determined that he wouldn’t turn this group over to the Border Control authorities.  He’d make sure they turned back toward Mexico, even though he knew they would most likely try the crossing again.  He only hoped that the next crossing wouldn’t cost this family their lives.

             
Arturo Mendoza sniffed the air for danger like the coyote he was.  He’d heard tales of a wolf pack that roamed the area but had never encountered any of them.  He considered himself lucky as they were said to dispose of his kind in a rather ruthless manner. 

Arturo was slim and wiry, his skin deeply tanned and leathery from years of exposure to the harsh desert climate.  He was known to be cunning and ruthless, leading many of the immigrants into the desert and leaving them there to die.  He often laughed at the naivety of the crossers and their
lack of knowledge of American geography.  He could lead them as little as five miles north of the border and they believed that the I-8 was just ahead. 

You’ve led your last group of crossers
.
  Jake snarled from his vantage point overlooking the river.  Painlessly the change took him over, stretching his limbs, feeling the wolf’s power in his arms and legs.  His face elongated into a muzzle and his canines lengthened until they became razor sharp deadly weapons.  A double coat of unrelieved black pelt spread over his skin until he stood a predator in tune with the fierceness of the desert and the rolling grasslands he called home.  Jake watched his adversary, his stone cold blue eyes unwavering in their intensity as the coyote strode through the shallow water near shore, fifty feet ahead of the family struggling through the deeper water behind him. 

Jake was by himself tonight Taggert
being down with a cold and Rand checking the northern boundaries of the Altar Valley for a group of crossers he’d heard had been abandoned in that area.  Being alone mattered little to Jake as he watched the coyote’s stealthy approach.  He knew that Taggert would rouse himself to help if need be, cold or no cold and that the helicopter would be available to Jake if he was wounded and couldn’t make it back to the ranch under his own power.

Jake
’s wolf sniffed the air and looked toward the Altar Valley, searching for the smell of the one who would be his mate.  He didn’t catch her scent on the wind yet but he felt her danger and knew she was getting closer. 
Where the hell are you? 

His wolf raged at the frustration he felt deep inside and turned to direct that frustration and rage at the man who was just stepping out of the river.

As soon as Arturo stepped out of the water he sensed he was in trouble.  Jake leapt, not waiting for the coyote to recognize the danger he was in or to risk the coyote turning and grabbing one of the crossers to use as a hostage.

             
Arturo reached for the hand gun that he always wore on his right hip but it was already too late to draw and fire at the black demon.  He fell back into the water when the giant wolf hit him, knocking the breath from his lungs as the wolf sank razor sharp teeth deep into the man’s neck, effectively severing the jugular.  The man didn’t have a chance to utter a word, a gurgled cry the only sound that escaped from his throat as the torn jugular vein spewed his life’s blood into the water of the river.  Jake waited several more moments before releasing his death grip on the dead man and watching the body float away down river.  Jake turned to face the family that had stopped in the middle of the Rio Grand, a look of horror covering their faces.

             
Jake growled low in his throat, warning the father that he would be allowed to go no further.  The man took one look at the giant wolf’s fierce eyes and motioned his family back toward Mexico, all the while glancing over his shoulder to make certain the monster wolf wasn’t following them as they waded once again back into the deeper water. 

             
Jake raised his head and howled, a long drawn out howl that sent shivers down the spines of those hurriedly fleeing back across the river.  The howl was meant to intimidate, and not just the crossers he’d rescued.  This was his and his brother’s territory and the howl was meant to let others in the area know that in no uncertain terms.  Interference here would not be tolerated and those that tried would face the harshest of punishments.

             
Jake raised his head and howled again . . .

C
hapter
E
ight

             
“
D
id you hear that?” Laurie asked as she and Julie walked the final block to the Ritz where they were meeting Luc for lunch.  Laurie stopped and tilted her head, listening with all of her senses as the echo of the howl faded.

             
“Here what?” Julie asked breathlessly, struggling a little bit to keep pace with Laurie’s long-legged stride.  The new
Manolo Blahnik pump
s
she’d purchased for the occasion were killing her feet and she chided herself for not knowing better than to wear new shoes when they were going to be doing so much walking.  She glanced at Laurie’s much more sensible flats and sighed enviously.  “I didn’t hear anything.”

             
“It sounded like an animal in pain.”  Laurie cocked her head again, but the sound did not repeat itself.  Startled, she grabbed Julie and pulled her out of the way when a very large black dog with a studded silver collar dashed out of the alley in front of them and took off down the street. 

“Did you see which way he went?” A harried-looking policeman asked as he ran out of the same alley
moments later.  “Big black dog,” the policeman elaborated when the women hesitated to answer.

“That way,” Laurie pointed in the opposite direction of that which the dog had taken.  “He ran that way.”

“Why did you tell him that?  You know the dog went the other way.”  Julie pulled her jacket back down over her hips and straightened her hair, her heart still beating a fast tattoo in her chest.  “That dog probably bit someone.  It’s probably one of those killer dogs that you read about in the papers every now and then, sometimes even attacking and killing their own family members.”

“No, he wasn’t a bad dog,” Laurie explained, although she was certain the howl she’d heard hadn’t come from
that particular dog.  In fact she was almost certain it hadn’t come from a dog at all. 
A wolf?  In New York City?  How improbable is that?
“He’s just lost and scared.”

“Your imagination is working overtime again,” Julie chided, knowing that
Laurie’s imagination was also what made her such a successful writer.  “You’ll never admit that an animal can be bad.”

“People make for bad animals,” Laurie said as she warmed to
her subject.  “Animals are instinctual, they only kill to survive or to feed.  People turn animals into killers by their treatment of the animals.”

“Okay, okay,
I get the point.” Julie sighed, hoping to get Laurie off her soap box.  “There’s the Ritz.  Finally!  I’m starving and my feet are killing me.”

The Ritz-Carlton New York was premier among the luxury hotels in Manhattan.  Adjacent to Central Park it offered luxurious accommodations and amenities and its personalized service was second to none.  It featured two-hundred and fifty-nine lavishly appointed guest rooms and forty-seven luxury suites
and offered all of the elegance and charm of a private home in the heart of New York City.

“May I help you ladies?” The doorman inquired politely as he moved to open the
front doors.

“We’re meeting a friend in the Auden Bistro,” Laurie said, liking the friendly twinkle in the older man’s eyes.  She was nervous about this meeting with Luc and was desperately trying to still the butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach non-stop.

“A wonderful eatery, ladies.”  The doorman motioned toward one of the bell hops who hurried over to assist.  “Ricky will be happy to escort you.”

“This way, ladies,” Ricky said enthusiastically, a smile lifting the corners of his lips.  “I was wondering who our guest would be today since the whole bistro has been reserved.”

Laurie stuttered to a stop so suddenly that Julie almost bumped into her, wondering just how rich Luc Rivera really was.  “The whole bistro you say?” 

“
I’m so sorry, I believe I may have misspoken.  The reservation I was talking about is for tomorrow, not today,” Ricky said, suddenly realizing he had spoken out of turn and may have spoiled someone’s surprise and that such a mistake could cost him his job.  The Ritz prized their customer service and also their discretion where their guests were concerned.

Laurie knew a lie when she heard one and it was confirmed when she and Julie
were escorted into the bistro’s stunning space overlooking New York’s 6
th
Avenue.  The Auden Bistro perfectly mirrored the hotel’s impeccable classic design and the smells drifting from the kitchen caused Laurie’s stomach to rumble in anticipation.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Luc said as he rose to his feet and greeted the two wom
en.  He kissed Laurie’s hand, appreciating the understated knee-length pencil skirt that hugged her slim hips and the way her generous breasts strained against the soft sweater that she wore.  He forced his mind away from her alluring form, pulling out a chair for each of the women and making sure they were comfortably seated before sitting down himself.

Laurie wasn’t used to such sophisticated surroundings and found herself ne
rvous all over again.  The man she’d seen with Luc the other night sat at a table nearby flanked by two other burly men.  There were several groups of men like that seated at tables throughout the bistro.  The men all had hard eyes and even harder expressions, their unblinking eyes trained on the table where Luc and the two women sat.