“It was the crying, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it was the crying. There’s some things I simply can’t tolerate. Wild dog howling, zebra, Teacup”—Ric threw his hands up at that—“and seeing my momma cry.”
“Since my mother also would be destroyed by her youngest taking up smoking again, we’ll make a deal.” Ric crumpled the cigarette in his hands until it was nothing but bits of paper and tobacco. “If we think about starting up again, we’ll call each other.”
“And chat about it like girlfriends?”
“Only after we talk about what Prada is coming out with in their latest fall shoe line.” When she only stared at him, Ric quickly added, “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I don’t wear Prada. They make my ankles look fat.”
She turned away from him, walking to the door.
“I saw that smile, Dee-Ann. You can’t hide it from me.”
CHAPTER 16
They’d handpicked their teams. Three from each group, the people they most trusted when it came to skill set and the ability to keep their mouths shut. Plus, the order was they were to call no one. Not their mate, their best friend, their mom. No one.
Only the three supervisors who’d put the team together knew anything and they weren’t telling even their own bosses.
Using a tip from Desiree’s ASPCA contact, they’d come to this warehouse out in an industrial area on Long Island, not far from Malone’s home off the Meadowbrook State Parkway. Something that annoyed the She-tiger immensely.
It was nearly ten by the time they parked their vehicles and made their way down the street, keeping to the shadows. The felines took to the roofs; the grizzly, wolf, and coyote that Dee brought stayed close to her; and the three cops—two wolves and a fox because she was such a dog person—Desiree had rounded up circled behind the warehouse to come in the back way.
Dee, Malone, and Desiree went toward the front. Dee would admit she’d been a little worried about bringing Desiree along. She was the only full-human among them, but once she had her bulletproof vest on and more weapons than seemed authorized by the NYPD, Dee stopped worrying. The girl was a Marine down to her toes and that’s all Dee needed to know.
Using hand signals, Dee motioned for Desiree to head left, Malone right. She went straight for the front door, still using the shadows. She could hear the cheers and yelling coming from the other side, but it didn’t block out the howls, roars, and whimpers. She was a few feet from the building when the door opened.
Dee dashed off to the side as a man walked out, already reaching for his zipper so he could unleash and piss in the first bush or open car window he could find. Dee waited until he’d passed her before she grabbed him from behind, twisting his head and snapping his neck. She pulled the body back and dropped him off to the side. She went back into the shadows and inched up to one of the windows, working hard to peer through all the dirt. She saw about fifty full-humans making up the bloodthirsty viewing crowd and another fifteen armed men, keeping everyone in control. They all surrounded a makeshift pit where a fight raged between what appeared to be a feline hybrid and a canine mix.
Standing by a set of stairs that led to the roof were two more men. One was counting the entry money and another was watching him, smoking a cigar. And she knew that was the one she wanted.
Deciding she’d seen enough, Dee crouched low and indicated with hand signals what they were about to face. Both females nodded, and Dee moved in front of the door. It opened again, an armed male coming out this time. She caught him by the face, shoving him back into the building. She raised her automatic weapon and shot through him. Most of the audience bolted for the back door—where Desiree’s team waited. So Dee wished them good luck on that.
Using the man in her arms as a shield for the bullets coming at her, Dee pulled back a few feet until she could drop the corpse and dive behind a bench. She cleared out the empty clip and slammed in a fresh one. She heard more gunfire and knew Malone and Desiree had made it into the room. Taking a breath, she came up, firing the entire way.
The money man and cigar guy grabbed the cash and ran up the stairs.
“Malone!” Dee yelled, catching a fist that was swinging at her face and twisting until the arm attached to it broke in several places, the full-human going down screaming. “Stairs! Go!”
Malone moved and Dee slammed her booted foot into the face of the male at her feet just to stop all that damn screaming. The fact that she’d probably killed him in the process didn’t worry her much. Not after seeing all the hybrid bodies piled in a corner.
“Dee!” Desiree called out. “Back up Malone! Go!”
Dee ran for the stairs, ducking as shots flashed past her. She hit the bottom step and charged up. When she got to the second floor, there were more men coming toward her. She fired and kept running, jumping over their bodies and hitting the next set of stairs. It was quieter on this floor, but she scented the presence of full-humans as she headed to the next flight of stairs. She had her foot on the bottom step when a hand caught her from behind. She turned and slashed down and across with her knife, cutting through skull, an eye, nose, lips, straight through a jaw. Then she was away and up the stairs. She saw a door that led out to the roof and Dee yanked it open and went through.
The felines were holding their own against another group of men, one of them going fist to fist with Malone. Honestly ... Malone and the brawling.
Dee stepped out onto the roof, raising her weapon to start shooting anyone who didn’t naturally have fangs when she realized someone was behind her. She spun and a brawny hand caught her weapon, lifting it up. The other hand punched her in the face a few times, forcing her up against the wall. Her automatic weapon was snatched from her hands and her face was hit again. She blinked, shaking her head, ignoring her broken nose and possibly readjusted cheekbones.
The full-human male, clearly a steroid user, tossed aside her weapon and came back to batter her face a little more. Dee blocked his fists with her arms and kicked at his leg. But she missed his knee, hitting his overdeveloped thigh. It hurt him, but only enough to piss him off. He backhanded her across the face, sending her flipping across the roof. When she managed to get to her hands and feet, he was there, kicking her in the gut. Dee rolled with it, but realized too late she was near the edge of the roof. She landed on the ledge, half of her dangling into nothing.
The man reached for her, grabbing hold of her vest and lifting her up. Dee unleashed her claws and ripped them into the man’s head. He screamed and she dug in deeper, then outward, trying to tear his face off.
He fought her, swinging at her, and finally flinging her away and over the side, but Dee still clung to him. He screamed, trying to pull her claws from his face while she dangled several floors off the ground.
Dee held on but the blood was making it easier for him to pull her away from his irreparably damaged flesh, his hands gripping her wrists. He was almost free, her claws nearly out, when Malone landed on the man’s back, her own military issue knife ramming into the base of his neck, again and again.
Whatever steroid this asshole was taking, he wasn’t going down easy. Even spouting blood from a major artery, he still fought two She-predators like a demon, holding on to one of Dee’s wrists with one hand and reaching back for Malone with the other. He flipped Malone over and out. But after releasing her own blade, Malone grabbed a healthy amount of the bastard’s hair and held on.
Dee now had at least one arm free and she grabbed hold of her bowie, sticking it into the man’s neck and yanking it from ear to ear. His eyes glazed over and he lurched forward.