Once again, Roarke had allowed himself to be bitten by one of his attackers, this time on his right hind leg. But when he saw Abby and Donald sprint for the front driveway and the waiting Town Car, he turned and threw himself into the fight in earnest. Thank God. She was getting away.
He, however, was weaker due to his wounds, and a quick check of his brother’s situation wasn’t all that encouraging, either. Aidan was a strong wolf, but so were his attackers, and there were two of them.
Roarke had even less going for him than Aidan. He’d expended most of his energy running through the forest to get there. He wondered if Gentry would allow his thugs to kill both Wallace heirs. Maybe. Gentry could always claim that the Wallace boys had put the werewolf community at serious risk and thus deserved to die.
As Roarke tried in vain to throw off his attackers, he noticed that Gentry was up and running to the driveway, too. If Abby had been on foot, Gentry would have caught her, but by now she should be in the car on her way down the drive. She might have to smash through the gate, but the Town Car was built like a tank.
But wait, why was Gentry reversing course and running back this way? The roar of a powerful V8 echoed against stone walls as the Town Car rounded the building right behind the racing wolf. If Gentry hadn’t leaped out of the way, Abby would have run him down.
And she kept coming, plowing through manicured hedges and knocking statuary right and left. The wolves working Aidan over glanced up as the car bore down on them with a redheaded maniac at the wheel. They ran, and Aidan staggered to his feet.
The car kept coming, roses and forsythia tangled in the front bumper and multiple scrapes and gashes in the glossy black hood. The rental company wasn’t going to like this. But Roarke loved it.
As his attackers bounded away, Abby and Donald each leaned over the seat and popped open the back doors. Roarke made for the right side and Aidan leaped for the left. They were both still scrambling for purchase on the leather seats when Abby took off again, the doors swinging wildly.
“Watch your tails, guys!” she called out. She yanked the steering wheel to the left as they rounded the other end of the house. The car went up on two wheels and the right door slammed shut. She made a hard right around a giant spruce and the left door banged into place.
Roarke glanced over to see how Aidan was doing. He’d braced himself against the seat in an attempt to stay as stable as possible. He had several wounds and had smeared about as much blood over the leather upholstery as Roarke had.
“Hang on!” Abby yelled. “We’re going through the gate. Donald, are you sure those air bags are deactivated?”
“Yep.”
“I hope you’re right, because here we go!” She smashed into the gate, and although the hood buckled, the gate popped open.
Donald punched a fist in the air. “Yee-haw!”
Abby swung the car out on the main road and it lumbered along as if it had at least one flat tire, maybe two.
Roarke looked at Aidan.
Luckily for you, Abby’s in the insurance business.
If you think I’m putting in a claim, you took one too many blows to the head, little brother. So far as the rental company knows, this car disappeared without a trace. I’ll write them a big check, and everybody will be happy.
Roarke looked out the window for the first time and noticed which direction Abby had chosen. She was heading toward her grandfather’s place.
Hey, Aidan, we didn’t script this part.
Guess we’ll have to sit tight and trust that your girlfriend knows how to handle it.
She’s not my girlfriend.
Then she’s done a terrific imitation of your girlfriend. For God’s sake, Roarke, the two of you have risked life and limb for each other. What more evidence do you need?
Shut up, Spot.
Just try not to be a complete butthead, Rover.
Abby pulled up in front of Dooley’s General Store because she didn’t know what else to do. Yet she couldn’t let her grandfather, or Donald, for that matter, find out that she had a backseat full of werewolves. If she left them in the car, they could shift, but then they’d be naked, and a backseat full of naked guys wasn’t a whole lot easier to explain.
Maybe they’d shift and disappear into the woods, but she didn’t want that, either. They needed clothes and medical attention. No matter what Roarke said about their healing abilities, she’d feel better if she could watch over them.
She turned to Donald. “I need to let my grandfather know I’m okay. Come on in with me.” Then she turned toward Roarke and Aidan. “Both of you, stay. I’ll be right back with . . . stuff.”
Donald looked doubtful as he glanced back at Roarke and Aidan. “Are you going to just leave them here? They’re wounded and bleeding.”
“I know, and because they’re part wolf, you have to be careful with them when they’re injured. If we leave them alone to lick their wounds, they might allow us to tend them later on.”
“But—”
“I know my dogs, Donald. The kindest thing we can do at the moment is leave them to nurse their wounds. If we could provide them with a cave, they’d be that much happier.”
“If you say so. All I’ve ever had is cocker spaniels.”
“Way different.”
“Guess so.” Donald opened his door and stepped out.
Abby turned to Roarke and Aidan again and lowered her voice. “I mean it. Don’t slink off into the woods with no means of helping yourselves. I’ll get clothes for you somehow.”
She had no idea if they would go along with her plan or not, but she hoped they would. She’d rescued them, and she wanted them to stay rescued. But she had to admit the whole shape-shifting angle made things more complicated.
With one last glance at her two charges, she got out of the Town Car and walked with Donald up to the front porch of her grandfather’s store. Before she got totally in the door, Grandpa Earl met her and pulled her into a bear hug.
He put his mouth close to her ear. “I found the flash drive.”
She went still. No, this couldn’t be happening. If he’d found the flash drive, then he was in danger, too, and she couldn’t have that. Why in hell had she left it in a place where he could find it?
Her grandfather released her and bestowed a big smile on Donald. “So, who’s this?”
Donald stuck out his hand. “Donald Smurtz, Mr. Dooley. A fellow Bigfoot seeker.”
“Indeed, indeed. Well, you look as if you’ve been rode hard and put away wet, Mr. Smurtz.”
“You have no idea. Your neighbor, Cameron Gentry, kidnapped us and was trying to say we’d stolen from him. And he had these vicious dogs that attacked Abby’s dogs. She left them out in the car, but I’m worried about them.”
Earl nodded and glanced sideways at Abby. “Right. Abby’s dogs. I’m sure you are worried.”
“They’ll be fine out there for a little while,” Abby said. “Thank goodness you’ve been keeping them here for me, though, Grandpa Earl. Those dogs rescued us from the Gentrys.”
“Speaking of your neighbors,” Donald said. “Do you have any garlic around? Or wooden stakes?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I wouldn’t say this to just anybody, Mr. Dooley, but if you’re convinced that Bigfoot exists, you might not think I’m crazy if I tell you that I think your neighbors are quite possibly . . . vampires.”
“Is that right?” Earl looked properly amazed and impressed. “Well, that would explain a lot.”
“Exactly! And now that we’ve escaped, we should be safe until dark, but we have to take precautions.”
“I’m sure we do. But how about a cup of hot chocolate and a cheese Danish while you’re sitting in front of my woodstove in the back of the store? Doesn’t that sound good?”
Abby barely heard any of the conversation. She was still processing the disturbing information that Grandpa Earl knew that Roarke was a werewolf, and he wouldn’t have much trouble figuring out that this entire mess was about werewolves, not the vampires that Donald kept babbling about. How could she protect her precious grandfather from being embroiled in this debacle?
She heard him setting Donald up with hot chocolate and a Danish. Earl suggested Donald take his shoes off and warm his feet by the fire. With the kind of night Donald had been through, he might even fall asleep back there, which would be a huge help.
“Let me go check on my granddaughter,” Earl said loudly enough that Abby could hear. Then he walked quickly between the shelves of merchandise and ushered her over into a far corner of the store. “Are the dogs in the car werewolves?”
“Yes. Roarke and his brother, Aidan. Donald thinks they’re my dogs you’ve been keeping for me because I didn’t have room in Phoenix. My story was that they dug out of their pen and came to the Gentry estate looking for me.”
“So Donald has no idea that they’re—”
“No, thank God. He’s hung up on his vampire theory. But Roarke and Aidan need to shift back into human form, and then they’ll need clothes and possibly medication for their injuries, but I’m not sure about that. Apparently they can heal more quickly when they . . .” She looked at Grandpa Earl. “You really saw the pictures I took?”
He nodded. “When I got that ridiculous story late last night from Gentry, I—”
“What story?”
“He told me you and Roarke had eloped to Vegas. Then I got an e-mail from your BlackBerry confirming it. But the e-mail didn’t sound like you, so I got suspicious.”
“My BlackBerry.” Abby remembered having it on the hike, but she’d tucked it away when she’d realized there was no reception out in the woods. “He must have taken it when he dismantled our camp. I was too worried about being kidnapped by werewolves to think about something like my cell phone.”
“I got a call from your folks. They got a message from you saying that you were flying from Vegas to New York to meet your new in-laws. They didn’t think that sounded like you, either. So I started rummaging around in your room, and remembered the box with the secret compartment.”
Abby sighed. “I shouldn’t have left the flash drive in there. It’s one thing for me to know and have to deal with the fallout, but they don’t want their secret to get out, Grandpa. Anybody who knows becomes a suspicious person to them.” She glanced up at him. “Let’s pretend that you never saw it, okay? I won’t tell, and if you don’t tell, then—”
“But you’re in trouble, Abby. If I know what’s happening, I’m in a position to help you. Don’t worry about me. I’m an old man. They can’t do anything to me.”
She considered that for a moment. “I’m not saying I agree with you, but I do need help with something. They’re injured, and if they shift it helps them heal. But they need clothes.”
“That’s easy enough.” Her grandfather moved to the shelves of folded sweatshirts and sweatpants. “What size is the brother?”
“About the same as Roarke.”
Earl pulled down two generic gray sweatshirts and two pairs of sweats. “Let’s go over to the counter and take the tags off.” But as he was doing that, he looked up. “This won’t work. I assume when they’re dressed they’ll want to come into the store.”
“I guess so. We have to figure out what to do next.”
“Then what am I supposed to say when they walk into the store wearing my merchandise?”
“Oh.”
Earl frowned in concentration. “Can they understand what you’re saying to them when they’re wolves?”
“Yes.”
“Then here’s what you told me. They were in a fight over at the Gentrys, and their clothes are so ripped and mangled that they were afraid to walk in here like that and asked if I’d sell them something to put on. So you came in and got these things.”
Abby considered the explanation and hoped it would work. “I just don’t want them to know that you know.”
“Give that story a shot, and if it doesn’t work and they suspect I know, oh, well.” He finished removing the tags and refolded the clothes. “In any case, I’m glad I have something those boys can wear temporarily.”
She shook her head in bewilderment. Her grandfather was referring to a couple of werewolves as
boys
. Apparently their shape-shifting ability didn’t change the fact that they were young men who had been hanging out with his granddaughter, so that made them boys.
“They need something for their feet,” he said. “I think flip-flops are the answer for now. I’ll get a couple of pairs.” He headed toward the rack at the far end of the store.
When he returned, his eyes were bright. “My strategy worked. Donald’s asleep in his chair.”
“Grandpa Earl, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’re pretty important to me, too, kiddo, but I have to ask—did you see the Sasquatch pair?”
“I didn’t, but Roarke did.”
Her grandfather sighed happily. “I knew he would! I knew he had the right stuff for the mission.” He clipped the nylon string holding the flip-flops together and placed both pairs on the stack of clothes.