"Bastien gave me a company credit card to buy things for the house," Sam announced.
"Ah." Dani and Sam exchanged a smile that Decker fancied was a touch evil, and then the coffeepot went into the cart and the two women continued to the teakettle section.
"Women," Decker muttered, his eyes dropping to Dani"s derriere as he followed.
"What about women?" Dani asked, apparently hearing him. When she and Sam both turned back in question, Decker found his gaze lifting to Dani"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s, to the curve of her shoulder sticking out of her top, and then, finally, to her face."Incredible creatures," he answered finally. "Beautiful, s.e.xy, smart, know what they want and how to get it."
"And how to spend money?" Dani suggested, apparently not taken in by his words.
Decker hesitated, and then nodded as he added, "But worth every penny they spend and more."
"Good answer," Dani said with a grin before turning away to continue up the aisle with Sam. He saw them glance at each other and then heard Dani comment in an amused whisper, "Didn"t take him long to come up with that, did it?"
"Nope," Sam agreed, her voice just as hushed. "Mortimer has his smooth moments too. I think it"s because they"re so old."
"Geriatrics," Dani agreed with a solemn nod.
"I"m amazed they have so much vim and vigor at their age."
"It"s probably only temporary," Dani a.s.sured her. "The vim will no doubt fall off from overuse within a couple weeks and the vigor will die off without it."
"No doubt," Sam agreed on a sigh and added, "Such a shame. It"s really what they"re best at."
Decker was just stiffening up at the insult-there were a h.e.l.l of a lot of things he was good at besides vim and vigoring-when it occurred to him the women might realize he could hear them and be teasing him.
He was absolutely positive that was the case when Dani commented, "That and eating. You did eat most of that food you bought, Decker."
She hadn"t turned her head or raised her voice, but she had addressed him directly.
Sam was chuckling now as she said, "Mortimer has a healthy appet.i.te too."
"And like Decker, not just for food, I gather. How"s your back?" Dani asked, and the two women burst into peals of laughter.
He had no idea what they found so d.a.m.ned amusing, but merely shook his head and moved up between them with the cart. "All right you two. Enough, let"s get this done and get back to the house."
Sam and Dani began to move a little faster again, but they were still chuckling as they selected a teakettle and set it into the cart.
Decker shook his head and asked, "How much more is there to get? This cart is pretty full."
Sam paused to consider the cart and then frowned and said, "We"ll need another cart." .
"I"ll get it," Dani offered, but Decker caught her arm to stop her and tugged her in front of the cart they already had.
"You stay with Sam. I"ll get it," he said, and then slipped away.
The first cart was stacked ridiculously high with appliances by the time he got back, and so was the second one by the time they headed to the checkout. The clerk rang everything up, stacking box after box on her counter as she went until both carts were empty. She then read out the total. Decker winced and almost groaned at the amount, but Dani and Sam didn"t even blink.
As the clerk began to help stack the boxes back in the two carts, Decker commented, "This stuff needs to go to the car. Why don"t you two head over to the grocery store while I take care of that?"
"Thanks," Sam said, handing over her keys.Decker nodded as he took them and then bent to press a quick kiss to Dani"s lips. At least it was supposed to be a quick kiss, but Dani sighed against his mouth and he found himself urging her lips open so that his tongue could slip in. He felt her hands creep up to his shoulders, and then Sam said with amus.e.m.e.nt, "Maybe you should help him take this lot out, Dani."
"Yes," Dani breathed as Decker broke the kiss to hear her answer.
"All right. I"ll be in the grocery store," Sam said with a chuckle as she turned away.
Decker was just imagining what they could do after they got everything stowed away in the car when Sam called out, "Just watch out for the steering wheel."
He didn"t know what the h.e.l.l that meant, but Dani had suddenly gone stiff in his arms.
Dani blinked her eyes open at Sam"s parting warning, her gaze taking in the silver fire in Decker"s eyes. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind what would happen if she went out to the car with him. They might get the appliances and dishes in the car, but she was positive they would end up in it as well, probably in the front seat since all these boxes weren"t going to fit in the trunk and at least a couple would have to go in the backseat. Dani suddenly had a vision of Sam coming out to find them unconscious in the driver"s seat, she having fallen back, draped over the steering wheel, and Decker with his head slumped on her chest, both of them oblivious of the car horn blaring beneath her back and the crowd of curious onlookers it had drawn who were spread around the vehicle looking in.
Groaning, Dani shook her head and pulled away from him.
Decker frowned and raised an eyebrow in question.
"It might be better if I went with Sam after all," she said, flushing.
Decker looked disappointed, but nodded and said easily, "Okay. I"ll catch up in a couple minutes."
Smiling with relief that he wasn"t angry, she started to lean up to give him a quick kiss and then caught herself and shook her head. "Better not."
Decker chuckled and then bent to press a kiss to her forehead before turning her by one shoulder and giving her a gentle push in the direction Sam had taken. "Go on... Before I decide to try to change your mind."
Dani headed out of the store, glancing over her shoulder as she went. Her eyes traveled down his body as he turned to speak to the store clerk. Decker really was a fine figure of a man. Not as strapping as his uncle, who looked like he wielded broadswords for a living. Decker was leaner, but muscular for all that, she thought, recalling running her hands over his rippling stomach and wide chest. And he was super strong. Good Lord, she wouldn"t have believed some of the positions they"d explored that afternoon were even physically possible... and they wouldn"t have been for anyone but Superman. And Decker, she thought on a smile, finally turning her head away once he was out of view... just in time to see the wide chest she was crashing into.
"Sorry," she apologized, and tried to step around the man, but he"d caught her by the arms and held her in place. Dani lifted her head then, her smile dying as she stared into the face looking down at her and breathed in horror, "You."
Chapter Twelve.
"Thanks." Decker slipped a tip into the store clerk"s hand and sent him on his way with the two now-empty carts. He didn"t bother to watch him go, but turned back to close the rear pa.s.senger door and the trunk. Decker then hit the b.u.t.ton on the remote to lock Sam"s car and headed for the nearest entrance to go find the women in the grocery store.
Sam was in the dairy aisle, reading the back of a yogurt cup. He had no idea why. The woman didn"t need to worry about her weight; she was tall and Twiggy thin.
Sam glanced his way, her eyebrows rising when she spotted him. Setting the yogurt in the cart, she smiled and commented, "Well, that was certainly quicker than I expected."
Decker shrugged as she turned back to the yogurt shelf, not sure why she"d think it would take long, but asked, "Where is Dani?"
Sam turned back with confusion. "She went with you."
"No, she changed her mind and decided to shop with you while I took care of getting the other stuff to the car. She left right behind you," he added, and then frowned and asked, "Are you saying she hasn"t got here yet?"
"No." Sam bit her lip. "Maybe she just stopped to get something on the way."
"She can"t. She doesn"t have a purse." Decker glanced worriedly around, hoping to see her rushing toward them.
"Where could she be then?" Sam asked, sounding bewildered.
Cursing, Decker turned and started back the way he"d come, glancing up each aisle he pa.s.sed, but she was down none of those. Sam had been chasing around behind him with the cart, but paused when he did and suggested, "Maybe she went to the car."
"I told you, she was coming to shop with you," he said impatiently.
"I know," she said soothingly. "But she doesn"t know this mall and it"s big and somewhat confusing. Maybe she got turned around, couldn"t find the grocery store, and went to see if you were still at the car."
Decker considered that briefly, and then said, "I"ll go check. You stay here in case she finds her way here."
The moment Sam nodded agreement, he hurried off. He rushed through the halls, scanning the crowds he pa.s.sed for Dani as he made his way out to Sam"s car.
Decker could tell before he reached it that it was empty, but approached anyway to peer inside in case he"d not locked the doors as he"d thought and she"d crawled inside and fallen asleep.
No such luck. Straightening, he swiveled his head left and right, checking the parking lot to see if she was approaching, and then pulled out his phone and called Sam"s cell phone number.
"Is she there?" he asked the moment she answered.
"No," Sam said almost apologetically and then asked, "What do we do? Should I call Mortimer?"
Decker stood still for a moment, experiencing the panic trying to break free inside him and then said, "No. We"ll search the mall ourselves first."
He closed the phone without saying good-bye, his eyes scanning the parking lot once more, and then he started back toward the building. They would find her, Decker a.s.sured himself as he walked. They had to. He couldn"t lose Dani now."There he goes: your hero."
Dani ignored that comment from the man in the driver"s seat beside her, her attention instead on Decker as she watched him walk away. She wished she could throw open the pickup door and scream, wished she could move at all really, but the ugly b.a.s.t.a.r.d next to her had her firmly under his control. At least physically; he was leaving her to her own thoughts, though.
He was probably listening to them, Dani thought bitterly. It hadn"t escaped her notice that he had seemed to be enjoying her terror when he and the others had kidnapped her and Stephanie up north, and he"d seemed equally entertained by it as he"d made her walk out here to this beat-up old brown pickup truck. Dani was sure the people they"d pa.s.sed hadn"t noticed a thing amiss, none of them could have known that she was screaming with terror inside her head.
"I am actually enjoying your delightful responses to everything," he agreed, proving she was right and he was poking around in her head listening. "Although I will have to take exception to the ugly b.a.s.t.a.r.d bit. I am, and have always been, quite handsome.
Don"t you think?"
Dani"s head turned without her input, her eyes remaining open when she tried to close them as he forced her to look at him.
"Now, tell the truth," he insisted chidingly. "Is this not a handsome face?"
She stared at the face, resentment and anger temporarily sinking her fear and making her silently curse his hide. He was an extraordinarily good-looking man with a charming smile, sparkling yellow-gold eyes, and a glorious mane of golden hair that was brushed back off his face and fell to almost his shoulders... and he was still an ugly b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Dani thought grimly.
"Oh ho!" He laughed at her thoughts and turned to start the pickup, saying, "You"re going to be so much fun to play with. I can hardly wait."
Dani tried to control the fear that wanted to rise up in her at that comment. She didn"t want him to have the satisfaction of knowing he"d caused it.
This was obviously the fifth man from the clearing man, the one who had gotten away. He was the one the others had called Dad in the van when she and Stephanie had been taken. Dani had thought then that it must be a nickname because surely he was too young to be the father of the others. But back then-one whole day ago, Dani realized with amazement-she hadn"t known about immortals and how they didn"t age. All she"d known was that he had sat in the pa.s.senger seat at the front of the van, watching his sons terrorize her and Stephanie with a small smile that suggested he approved. Since Mortimer had explained that an immortal could completely control a mortal, and that they could have taken Dani and Stephanie without their even being aware or suffering, it seemed obvious that he wanted the suffering. That being the case, she was going to do her best to keep from giving it to him.
"Oh, now, that"s just being a spoilsport," he complained, turning to glance at her, and then he gave her a grin that made her skin crawl. "I guess it will be a challenge to see if I can get a response out of you, won"t it? Maybe I"ll make you dance naked for me when we get to the house. Or I wouldn"t mind trying out some of those interesting positions you and Decker tried in the barn.
Wouldn"t that be fun?"
There was no way Dani could prevent the horror those words sent soaking through her mind, and she was helpless to do anything but stare, her mind writhing at the very thought.
"There we go. Now you"re getting into the spirit of things," he congratulated on a laugh. "But you"re far too distracting to me right now, so it"s time for you to go sleepy bye. I"ll wake you when we get to the house," he promised.
Dani expected him to simply put her to sleep mentally as she knew he could, but instead he punched her. She saw his fist coming and couldn"t do a d.a.m.ned thing to escape the blow, and then pain exploded in her head and everything went dark."Well?" Decker stopped pacing beside Sam"s car as Mortimer, Justin, and Lucian approached. A curse slipped from his lips as his uncle shook his head.
"Everyone"s checked in and there"s no sign of her anywhere," Mortimer announced.
Decker turned to look out over the quickly emptying parking lot. The men Lucian had called in, men who were supposed to be looking for Stephanie, had been searching the mall for the last hour. They"d spread out like a swarm to find her, and apparently come up with nothing. It was now nearly ten o"clock, the stores would all be closed soon, and then the lot would be completely empty.
"Is there anywhere she"s mentioned that you think she might have run to?" Mortimer asked.
"She didn"t run," he growled. "She has no reason to run from me."
"Sorry," Mortimer said, and then shrugged and added, "It"s just that she didn"t seem too happy with you this morning and I thought perhaps she had-"
"Things have changed," Lucian interrupted calmly. "Decker and Dani have sorted out their differences and mated."
"Get out of my head." Decker scowled at his uncle.
Lucian merely smiled at him and then turned to Mortimer to say, "Have men watch her family"s home and her clinical practice just in case, but I suspect Decker"s right and she hasn"t run."
"What are you thinking?" Mortimer asked.
"I"m thinking that her disappearance is connected to her sister somehow," he said. The words were the very last thing Decker wanted to hear, and immediately brought an image into his head of the bodies in the ravine.
"You"re not thinking the rogue and Stephanie somehow turned up here and she gave chase, are you?" Justin asked with disbelief.
"It"s not impossible," Lucian murmured thoughtfully. He considered it briefly and then shook his head. "But it"s just as possible that the rogue that got away in the clearing may have followed you to Toronto and taken her in the hopes of trading her for the others."
"But he didn"t have a vehicle to follow us in," Decker said quickly.
"The woods were at the end of a road," Lucian pointed out. "Presumably there was something on that road to cause it to be there. There may have been cottages, or a business with a vehicle for him to steal."
"There were cottages," Justin said quietly.
Decker grunted. He hadn"t noticed, but he"d been preoccupied with navigating the dark, b.u.mpy lane without headlights. The rogue who had disappeared from the clearing might very well have stolen a vehicle and followed them. He"d certainly had the time to do it. It had taken a while for them to clean up things at the clearing and then they"d waited on the road to find out where they should be headed. Decker felt his heart sink as he accepted this, but then rallied. If the rogue hoped to trade Dani for the other rogues, it meant there was still hope for her, and that they would receive a call soon.
"There"s no use staying here. The men have searched and Dani isn"t in the mall," he said, moving to Sam"s car. She"d left it for him so that Dani could find it if she was just lost. Sam herself had caught a ride home at least half an hour ago with one of the men. The appliances and clothes had gone with her. The groceries had never gotten purchased.
"Decker is right. Leave two men to wait here in an SUV until the mall closes just in case Dani is lost in there and we missed her," Lucian ordered as Decker unlocked the car and got in. "Have the rest return to looking for the rogue and Stephanie."
Decker pulled his door closed and stuck the key in the ignition. He was starting the engine when the pa.s.senger door opened and Lucian slid in to settle beside him.
When Decker raised an eyebrow, he said, "I am riding with you. Justin drives like a horse"s a.r.s.e."
Decker"s mouth twitched at the acerbic comment, mostly because it wasn"t true. Justin didn"t hesitate to use speed when necessary, but was really a very good driver. However, that wasn"t the real reason his uncle had chosen to ride with him.