To Save His Mate(40)

“I’m so happy for you!” Angel’s facial expression didn’t exactly convey happiness, but before Lacy could do anything, Angel had launched herself at her and was hugging her.

What was with all the hugging today?

That’s when Lacy realized she’d made a grave mistake. Angel pulled Lacy’s gun from the holster and backed up so quickly that all Lacy could do was grit her teeth in frustration and raise her hands.

“So nice of you to provide a weapon,” Angel purred, a smug look on her pretty little face. “It seems that none of my other victims have had the decency to die like they were supposed to, so having a gun really takes the guesswork out of things for me.”

“What guesswork?”

“What guesswork? Do you think it’s easy to gauge how much electricity it takes to fry a guy? How about how much anti-freeze to add to a drink? No, you don’t know. And the damn bees were a bust anyway.”

“You’ve tried to kill three people now, Angel, but why did you switch from the guys to the girls?” It would be handy information to have once it came time to process her ass because Lacy had no intention of dying here today.

“The men grew tiresome. Bruce was stupid enough to leave his police badge in the pocket of his pants. Dumb move, because when I got up in the middle of the night to pee, I stepped on his jeans and found it. Lucky for me, he was a very kinky boy. I suppose I should have suspected something when he brought out the handcuffs, but hey, I was in the moment, and it was fun.” She shrugged. “Bruce is such a sound sleeper that it was no problem sneaking down to the hotel parking lot and lifting a battery from one of the SUV’s. I pushed it under the bed, and then climbed back in. Round two was his turn in the cuffs, and, oops, I dropped the key behind the headboard. It wasn’t hard to attach the jumper cables since I’d managed to talk him into the blindfold. I had to take them off though when I smelled burnt flesh.” Angel looked up at Lacy with soulless eyes and asked, “Have you ever smelled burnt flesh? It’s really horrible.”

Yup, this chick was certifiable. Seriously, who came up with ideas like that?

Lacy cringed. Poor Bruce!

“Of course, he didn’t die!” Angel barked, waving Lacy’s gun in a wild gesture that had Lacy wanting to dive for cover. “Then I let the bees out in the dressing tent. It wasn’t really thought out. I found the hive, bagged it and tossed it in,” Angel confessed. “Got a few stings for my trouble, but I knew one of the guys was allergic.”

“Then why go after Madison?” Lacy was trying to understand what motivated Angel, but there didn’t seem to be any underlying reason for the attacks.

“Madison is a bitch. Oh, sure, she was sweet to your face, but she’s slept with so many photographers it’s disgusting. At least, I sleep with models, and not to try and better my career,” she sneered.

“No, you just electrocute them.” Okay, this chick was scary. Did she not have a conscience?

“He was a cop! Like I needed a cop snooping around?”

Lacy saw movement from behind Angel and spotted Stephanie coming up with her gun drawn, eyes on Angel, so she knew she needed to keep Angel’s attention.

“Do you think he didn’t have backup?” At her question, Lacy pointed to the gun in Angel’s hand. “That’s my government-issued firearm, Angel.”

Angel froze, her face showing utter disbelief. “You fucking whore! You’re a cop?” Wide eyes swept Lacy from head to toe.

“I get that reaction a lot, though not usually so dramatic.”

Anger rolled off Angel now, her body almost vibrating with it. A bead of sweat trickled down Lacy’s temple, but she felt her unease and fear give way to overwhelming rage though, right before a howl went up from the surrounding forest.

Seconds later, a large beige wolf charged from the trees, leaving Lacy only had a moment to react as Angel swung the gun toward the oncoming beast.

With no other thought but to protect Ethan, Lacy grabbed hold of Angel’s arm, halting the swing, just as two shots fired almost simultaneously.

Both women hit the ground. Fiery pain radiated through Lacy’s shoulder, telling her she’d been hit, but she pushed it aside the best she could to make sure Angel was no longer a threat. As she turned, she saw Stephanie racing forward, her gun still in her hand. There, on the ground beside her, was Angel.

Blood oozed from holes on each side of her neck just beneath her ears, and as Lacy stumbled to her feet, she turned her wide eyes back to Stephanie. The woman had shot Angel in the neck. Straight through the neck from thirty yards out!

“Are you sure you’re a physician’s assistant?” Lacy asked because the woman was a damn good shot. Then she remembered… “Ethan!”