Argeneau Family 12. The Renegade Hunter(2)

That was the only reason he could think that the fellow was here. At least that's what Nicholas had come up with when he'd realized he'd followed the man to the new enforcer house.

Nicholas sighed and swiveled back to peer at the gate and the driveway beyond again. The guard had already returned to his little shack and the van had disappeared from view. No doubt at that very minute the rogue was racing through the trees toward the house. He had to warn them, but the only way to do that without his phone was to walk up to the gate and flat-out tell the guard… and that would pretty much toast his cojones, Nicholas acknowledged. Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice. If he didn't—

Nicholas was distracted from his thoughts by the arrival of another vehicle. He turned his head to watch a van approach the gate, and felt a grim smile curve his lips as he noted the cleaning service name on the side of the vehicle stopped beside the pillar. It was blocking the camera and intercom from his view… and him from the camera's view, he realized.

Without pausing to think about how risky it was for him personally, Nicholas slid from the cover of the trees and raced across the short open expanse to the back of the van. Once there, he took hold of the handle on the back door and stepped onto the back bumper, careful not to cause unnecessary motion in the vehicle with his weight. He then held on for dear life and waited as the driver explained into the inter com that they were there to clean up after the party.

The guard repeated his invitation to "come on in," and after a short pause as the outer gate swung open, the van started forward with Nicholas clinging to the back like some bad imitation of Spider-Man. He was passing the camera on the pillar before he recalled its presence, but by then it was too late. Telling himself the guard wouldn't be inside the guardhouse to see him riding by, but had no doubt headed out to open the inner gate, Nicholas stayed on his perch until the back end of the van was even with the second open gate. He then leaped off and made a charge for the bushes by the guardhouse as he'd seen the rogue do. Nicholas prayed the whole way that the guard stuck to the routine he'd used the first time. If so, the van would block the guard's view of his mad dash for the trees. If not, he was likely to get a bullet in the back. Nicholas didn't release the breath he was holding until he reached the safety of the woods behind the guard shack without anyone shouting out or shooting at him. He then allowed himself to breathe out and suck in a fresh gust of air, but barely slowed his step as he followed the trail he suspected the rogue had taken, heading straight toward the house on the hill.





"Oh brother," Jo muttered.

"What?" Alex asked, lowering her glass and raising an eyebrow.

"More arrivals." Jo nodded toward the doorway where their sister, Sam, and her fiancй, Mortimer, were greeting a newcomer. It was yet another tall, well-built hunk in leather. Every male here appeared to be wearing leather of some description or other, either leather pants, a leather jacket, a leather vest, or some combination of the items. One or two were even wearing the whole deal. It was like a biker convention without the tats. That was the one thing Jo had noticed; while all the men looked mean and gruff, and several even had long hair, not a single one had a tattoo or piercing of any kind. They were the most clean-cut bikers she'd ever seen.

If they were bikers , she thought. Maybe they were all in rock bands like Mortimer and his friends Bricker and Decker. If that was the case, then it made them the most clean-cut rockers she'd ever seen.

"Come on, it isn't that bad," Alex said with amusement.

"Isn't it?" Jo asked dryly.

"No," Alex assured her. "I mean look around. We are presently in a room full of really good-looking men. I haven't seen this much eye candy in one place in a long, long time."

"Eye candy?" Jo asked.

"Yes, eye candy. Look around you, Jo, every single guy here is built. They all have muscly chests and narrow waists." She shook her head, her marveling eyes sliding over the men gathered in small groups that were dotted throughout the room. "There isn't a paunch, a set of crooked teeth, or a knobby knee to be seen."

"Yeah, and if they weren't treating us like lepers it might be nice," Jo said.

"They aren't treating us like lepers," Alex said with a laugh.

"Are you kidding me? Are we at the same party or are you just not paying attention?" Jo asked with amazement. "Alex, they come in, Sam and Mortimer greet and have a little huddle with them, and then they bring them over to us, and the men all—every last one—stare at us with this weird intense look for a minute, saying absolutely nothing. They then glance to Mortimer, shake their head, and move off. Some even just turn around and leave right away. The rest just stand around talking to each other and ignoring us," she pointed out, and then asked, "And you don't think this is strange?"