Argeneau Family 12. The Renegade Hunter(31)

"Nicholas," Jo said worriedly. "I think we need a vet."





CHAPTER 7



Nicholas tore his gaze away from the road to glance to the German shepherd lying silent and still on the passenger seat. The dog's eyes were open, but he looked rather dazed. "What happened to him?"

"Bad-Breath Boy threw him a good ten or fifteen feet into a wall. At least I think he hit the wall, I'm not sure. All I know is he landed on a table with enough impact to smash it." Jo frowned and reached out to pat the dog reassuringly. "Charlie seemed unconscious when I first got to him, but then he opened his eyes. He couldn't stand up when he tried though."

"By Bad-Breath Boy I presume you mean Ernie?" Nicholas asked. "The blond who was shooting at us and whom Bricker and Anders were shooting at?"

"Is that his name?" she asked with disgust. "He has the name of a geek but is an utter jerk. I guess Shakespeare was right, a jerk by any name is still a jerk."

Nicholas smiled faintly at her mangling of Shakespeare, but then said, "Charlie could have a concussion."

Jo appeared surprised. "You think? I didn't know dogs could get concussions too?"

Nicholas shrugged. "They have brains, don't they?"

"Right," she muttered, and Nicholas glanced over again to see her peering worriedly at the dog. The German shepherd's eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleeping now. He wasn't surprised when she asked, "Should I let him sleep? It seems to me I remember hearing somewhere you aren't supposed to sleep with a head wound."

Nicholas hesitated, his eyes on the road ahead. He wasn't sure if that was true or not. Jo began to shift out of the cubbyhole in front of the seat, and Nicholas glanced over to see her scooping the dog into her arms and resettling herself in the passenger seat with him on her lap. He suspected she'd done it as an excuse to rouse the dog rather than for her own comfort. She was peering down at the beast like he was a baby who was deathly ill. She obviously loved the mutt.

Sighing, Nicholas cleared his throat and asked, "Where can we find a vet?"

Jo took a moment to glance at their surroundings. They weren't really far from her apartment, and relief filled her face as she took in that fact and said, "Charlie's vet is two blocks up and one block right."

Nicholas merely nodded. He'd take her and the dog to the vet, but this was a perfect example of why he couldn't claim her. Stops like this were dangerous, especially so close to the apartment. Ernie and the others would be looking for them now, cruising the neighborhood and watching for the van. He hoped there was somewhere to park that would make it less noticeable.

"Thank you," Jo murmured the minute he took the turn onto the street the clinic was on.

"For what?" he asked with surprise.

"Everything," she said dryly. "You got us out of there and now you're taking us to the vet's. Thank you."

Nicholas didn't say anything, but suspected Jo wouldn't have needed saving if it weren't for him. He should never have kissed her with a rogue lying nearby. He should have at least made sure the man was down for the count first… and admitting that he couldn't read her had been a stupid slip that Ernie had no doubt heard. It was probably the only reason the rogue was now after Jo.

Aside from that, Nicholas had been foolish enough to count on Bricker and Anders to keep her safe when he'd first seen Ernie leave his vehicle and creep up on the house. It wasn't until the rogue had climbed through the building's ground floor window and disappeared while the two enforcers had stayed in their SUV talking that he'd realized they hadn't noticed the man.

Nicholas had wanted to race his van right up to the front door and charge in after the rogue, but had feared it might bring the two enforcers running… after him. He'd worried that by the time he'd convinced them that Jo was in peril, it would be too late. So he'd wasted time driving around to the back of the building and climbing up onto the flat garage roof that doubled as a balcony to get inside. Then he'd had to be sure they saw him in case he wasn't enough to keep Jo out of Ernie's clutches and had run to the front of the garage balcony to be sure he was spotted. That was how he'd ended up going to the right apartment, he'd heard the banging coming from inside her apartment as he'd run across the garage roof.

"You shouldn't have come," Jo said suddenly, drawing his startled gaze.

"Why?"

"Because Bricker and Anders were sitting outside," she said quietly. "Lucian said you wouldn't be able to stay away and they were sent to watch for you."

"I figured," he admitted on a sigh. "But I was following Ernie and he followed you guys from the house."