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She tucked the cash into her tin, then gave me a smile. "T. J. lives down the road in Elwood. He likes to be near his investments. "
She grabbed a scrap of paper and wrote down the address before handing it to me.
I shoved the scrap into my pocket. "So he has more than one brothel?"
"Yeah. The other one is in Caulfield. It's a little more upmarket. I used to work there when I was younger. " She shrugged, like age and demotion weren't really a problem.
"Can I ask why you're still in the business? I mean, you seem pretty savvy, and I suspect you could get a job doing something else easily. "
"I trained as a personal assistant and I'm a damned good one, so there's no doubt that I could. But the money here is good, I can set my own hours, and medical is included. " She shrugged again. "Another year or so, and I'll probably open my own - "
She paused and cocked her head sideways. "T. J. 's just walked into the building. "
"He's a shifter?"
She nodded, amusement playing around her lips. "Unfortunately for him, his alternate form is less than exciting. He's a hare. "
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "A hare?"
"Yeah. It does explain his penchant for the sex business, though. " She paused again, then frowned. "Those men are back. The bird-shifter - "
The rest of her sentence was cut off by two short, sharp gunshots.
Chapter 6
As screams erupted from the floors below, I glanced at Cass and whispered urgently, "Get under the bed and don't come out until I say so. "
As she scrambled to obey, I headed for the door. There was a blue silk dressing gown hanging from a hook near the door, so I grabbed that and put it on - more to blend in than to cover my partial nakedness. Then I pressed my back to the door frame and switched on the com-link.
"Jack, we have shots fired at the brothel. Something's gone wrong. "
"Did they spot you coming in or out?"
"I'd say no except for the fact that they're back here and shooting. Maybe there were some security systems that weren't taken out by the power outage. "
"And maybe they got wind of us tracking down Surrey and are now erasing all possible leads back to them. And that would mean the phone number Surrey knew, and possibly anyone who knows its location. "
"That's pretty cold-blooded. "
"And so are your targets. "
He probably had that right. I took a quick glance around the corner. Shadows and sunshine vied for prominence in the hallway. The door down the end of the hall was still closed, but as I looked, a bolt slammed home. The occupants had obviously heard the shots - not that a bolt would stop a determined shifter. I glanced over my shoulder to ensure Cass couldn't be seen, then edged out into the hallway.
There were people running up the stairs and others running for the rear of the building. The air was thick with the smell of fear and blood, but at least the screaming had stopped. But although there were no more gunshots, those men were still down there. I could smell the wolf, as he could no doubt smell me. Hopefully, he'd just think I was working here. It might be unusual for a wolf to work in a brothel, but it wasn't unheard of.
They were obviously going after their main target first, and that had to be the owner, the man who'd rented them the room. Anyone else they'd take care of when and if they had the time.
I reached the banister and took a quick glance down. Two half-dressed women were fleeing up the stairs, and several yards behind them ran a man wearing a lot of gold jewelry. Behind them all, one flight down, was the blond bird-shifter with the gun. His movements were calm, assured. Maybe he knew there was no way out up here - other than jumping out a window. And if anyone who didn't have wings attempted that from this height
. . . Well, he'd probably save himself some bullets.
I reached out telepathically, intending to slip into his mind and stop him, only to hit an electronic wall. The bastard was wearing a nanowire. And a strong one, if the recoil of energy was any indication. I could break it, but it would take time and, more important, leave me open for attack from the wolf. I couldn't psychically attack two men simultaneously, even if I was one of the Directorate's strongest telepaths.
I stepped back into the shadows and waited. The two women ran past, smelling of sweat and fear and sex. They didn't even see me, just ran toward Cass's room. Then the man appeared. He was small and wiry, with big ears and a twitchy nose - currently dripping sweat. My inner wolf snarled - she liked hunting rabbits, not saving them.
I grabbed him with one hand and hauled him over the banister, then clamped my other hand over his mouth, cutting off his yelp before it could leave his throat.
"Riley Jenson, Directorate," I whispered, my lips so close to his ear I could almost taste the blood from a bullet wound on his neck. My wolf soul ached to rip and tear into the flesh she so often hunted up in the hills of Macedon, but the vampire wasn't having anything to do with his foul stench. And that in itself was a reason to celebrate, given the sudden swing in my DNA toward vampire.
