Argeneau Family 12. The Renegade Hunter(9)

"You'll be our guest tonight, of course," Mortimer announced quietly, and then smiled slightly as he added, "We won't take no for an answer."

"Ha ha," Nicholas muttered bitterly.

Mortimer gave up any attempt at humor, his expression becoming solemn as he added, "I'll call Lucian once we have you locked up."

"You have somewhere to lock up rogues here?" Nicholas asked with interest.

Mortimer gestured toward the building at the back of the property. It was a large structure sided with corrugated metal, Nicholas noted as Mortimer said, "It used to be an airplane hangar. It holds our SUVs now, and we built an office and three cells as well. You should be comfortable enough."

"Great," Nicholas muttered, moving forward when Mortimer gestured with his gun for him to do so.

"We put up the brick wall and fencing too," Bricker announced as they urged him along the side of the house. "And furnished the place. It's been a busy summer."

Nicholas merely grunted. He knew this wasn't the first house the enforcers had inhabited. They'd been in the other one only a couple of weeks when trouble with Ernie's father, Leonius, had made them pack up and move to a new location. It made him wonder if they'd decide to move again now that one of Leonius's sons knew the new location. He doubted it though. They couldn't keep the location a secret for long, and couldn't move every time their whereabouts were discovered. He supposed that was why they'd gone so hard on security… and if they listened to the advice he'd given them moments ago, they should be safe enough here. Not that it should matter to him, he supposed. Once Lucian was called in, he was a dead man.





Jo closed the door behind her and crossed the room, headed for the bed. She was very tired and eager to climb under the covers and sleep. That was the thought circling through her mind as she passed the window and spotted the men on the lawn.

Pausing, she moved closer to the window and peered out, recognizing Mortimer and Bricker, but not the third man with them. They were quite a distance away, but the stranger appeared to be a good-looking man. She didn't recall meeting him at the party, however. Curious, she moved to the balcony door and slid it open to step outside.

The low rumble of the men's voices drifted to her on the night breeze, and Jo frowned at the cadence and rhythm of the stranger's voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she was sure they hadn't met. She watched them walk to the building at the back of the property, listening to them talk and trying to place where she'd heard the voice before. Even after they disappeared inside the building, the question of where she knew the man from continued to nag at her rather irritably. Jo had the feeling it was important, but couldn't seem to figure it out.

She was still fretting over the matter when the sound of a door closing drew her attention. Mortimer and Bricker had come back out of the building where her sister Sam said he housed his car collection, and were walking toward the house. Jo watched them for a moment, but then turned and slid back into the house before they could spot her. She really was very tired and eager to climb under the covers and sleep. Unfortunately, she now had a rather nasty headache. Frowning, she raised a hand to the back of her skull as she headed for the bed once more, but her footsteps slowed and then stopped as she felt the bump there.

What the heck? Wincing as her fingers slid over the swelling, Jo changed direction, heading for the bathroom instead. She stepped into the small room, flipped on the bright overhead light, and then moved to the mirror, turning her head to the side in an effort to see the goose egg she had. Of course, that didn't work. Grimacing, she started opening drawers and cupboard doors in search of a hand mirror or something she could use to see the back of her head, but there was very little in the cupboards and drawers, just towels, washcloths, and various soaps.

Jo closed the last door and straightened with a sigh. Not only had she not found a mirror, but there was no aspirin or pain relievers of any kind in this guest bathroom either. It seemed, tired and eager to climb into bed and sleep as she was, she would have to go downstairs and find some sort of pain reliever first. There was no way she was going to sleep with her head pounding as it was.

Maybe she could find out what had happened to her head while she was at it, she thought. Jo had no recollection of bumping it or anything and certainly should, considering the whack she must have taken to cause the swelling there now. In fact, she couldn't understand how she didn't recall what had happened to cause it, and began to worry that something might have been dropped into her drink tonight, one of those date rape drugs or something.

The thought raised enough worry in her that Jo suddenly wasn't so tired and eager to climb into bed and sleep anymore. In fact, she was wide awake and alarmed as she slid into the hall. Jo was halfway to the stairs when she heard the front door open below. Heavy footsteps entered the house, and then there was the tap of high heels rushing up the hall.