"How exactly do you suggest I do that?" she asked dryly.
Nick glanced at her and frowned. "Can't you change back to yourself?"
"Certainly. If you'd like to drive through town with a naked woman in the front seat."
The smile that slowly curved his lips suggested it wasn't something he'd mind. Sighing, Jill dropped to her haunches on the passenger seat and raised one paw to the door to help balance herself.
Nick was silent for a moment, but now that they were safely away from John, his gaze was moving between the road and where she sat.
Moving uncomfortably under his inspection, she peered into the side mirror on her side of the vehicle, noting that the road behind them was empty. John wasn't following. Yet.
"I don't see him," she murmured.
"No." Nick glanced in the rearview mirror again. "Hopefully by the time he gets his own vehicle and tries to give chase, we'll be far enough away he can't find us."
Jill kept her gaze fixed on the side mirror until they turned a corner without seeing John's black van appear. She relaxed a little bit then and tried to think what she should do now. After a moment's thought, she glanced to Nick. "I need to call my brother."
"Of course. My cell phone is in the glove compartment."
When Jill peered at the glove compartment, but made no move to try to open it, Nick gave a short laugh.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I'll get it for you," he murmured. Pulling to a stop at a red light, he leaned sideways, reaching past her to open the glove compartment and retrieve the phone in question. He started to hand it to her, then paused and shook his head. "I guess I better dial for you."
Jill smiled faintly, but forced herself to stop when she realized her tongue hung out of her mouth when she did. Probably not the image she wanted to convey.
"What's his number?" Nick asked as the light turned green.
Jill rattled off the number and watched as he eased the car forward through the lights, his concentration split between the phone and the road ahead. Once finished, he didn't hand the phone to her, but placed it to his own ear and listened to it ring.
"The answering machine has picked up," he said after a moment, a frown curving his lips. "What do I say?"
Jill heaved a sigh. "Just hang up. They must still be out."
Nick flipped the phone closed and set it on the seat beside her. Jill stared at the phone with frustration for a moment and then said, "They probably won't be out much longer. If you dropped me off there I could wait for him to get back and—"
"No way," Nick said firmly. "Your brother's house is probably the first place this John guy will look."
Jill grimaced but didn't argue. Now that he'd said it, she realized it was true and she'd rather avoid running into John Heathcliffe again.
"And your place would probably be his next stop," Nick added before she could suggest it as an alternative.
Jill frowned and peered out the window, startled when she saw the husky's face reflected. Turning away from the image, she said, "Well, I have to wait somewhere. You can't just drive me around until my brother and his wife return home. If Claire and Beth have gone too, they could be doing last-minute Christmas shopping. They could stop for lunch or even a matinee movie and be gone for hours."
"Then we'll have to wait hours," he said firmly. "I'm not leaving you alone to be caught by that John guy."
"But you're supposed to be meeting the rest of the parade crew at your sister's place," she reminded him.
"Yes," he said and smiled suddenly. "So that's where we'll go. We'll go to my sister's party. You can keep calling from there."
"I'm not exactly dressed for a party," Jill pointed out dryly.
Nick glanced at her, his smile deepening before he said conversationally, "You know, I would have killed to have a talking dog as a kid."
Jill grunted, not amused.
"Although I probably would have picked a terrier. I always liked terriers best."
"Terriers are small," she pointed out.
When he glanced at her with confusion, she pointed out, "I can shift my shape, but I don't think I can shrink it down to the size of a terrier."
"Oh." He peered at her curiously, and then said, "So I suppose shifting into a mouse so I can slip you into my pocket to enter my sister's house is out, huh?"
"Ha ha," she said dryly and then heaved a sigh and slumped on the passenger seat, resting her head on her front paws with dejection. "I guess I'll have to go as a dog."
It wasn't how she'd imagined a first meeting with his family would be.
Nick glanced at her dejected state and frowned before turning his attention back to the road. When he turned right several moments later, and the SUV bounced slightly as it went over the lip of a driveway, Jill sat up and peered around curiously, expecting to see that they'd arrived at his sister's house. Instead, she found herself staring out at the large parking lot of a mall.
"What are we doing here?" she asked with bewilderment as he steered the car down the ramp into underground parking.
There's something I need to pick up before we go to my sister's, Nick answered as he pulled into an empty parking spot in the back corner of the complex. Turning off the engine, he glanced at her with concern. "Will you be all right here by yourself for a few minutes?"
"Yes, of course," she murmured, her gaze sliding over the other cars. It was winter and cold out, but there weren't many people around either coming or going from vehicles. Jill supposed when it got cold or inclement, workers of the shops in the mall who started first thing in the morning took up the majority of spaces in the underground parking. Nick had probably been lucky to find an open spot.
"I'll be as quick as I can," he assured her and then slipped out of the truck.
Jill watched him walk across the parking lot to the elevators that would carry him up into the mall itself, then relaxed back on the seat, a little sigh slipping out. Her mind was filled with thoughts. Worrying mostly, about where John was. Was he back at her store, searching it? Checking her house to see if she'd gone there? Or he might be headed to Kyle's house expecting her to head there for help.
That last thought made her sit up anxiously. She wished she'd been able to reach her brother. Something bumped against her paw as she shifted and she found herself peering down at the cell phone Nick had left on the seat with her and stilled. She should try the house again. If John were headed that way, who knew what he'd do to her brother and his family. Jill pawed at the phone and even managed to flip it open using her paws and nose, but punching in the numbers was impossible. The keypads were just too tiny.
Growling in frustration, she peered around the parking garage again, but now that she worried that John was heading to Kyle and Claire's, she was overwhelmed with the desperate need to call there. She peered around the SUV's interior, searching for a pencil or something she could hold in her mouth and use to punch in the numbers, but there didn't appear to be anything like that.
Her gaze slid to the elevator in time to see the doors open as it disgorged a couple of people. Neither of them were Nick. Jill's gaze slid back to the phone. She had to call her brother. If she changed back to herself, she could. She'd also be naked.
Jill shifted on her paws, trying to decide what to do. She couldn't show up at Nick's sister's house naked… She needed to warn her brother…
Naked. Brother. The two words began to alternate in her mind.
Growling with frustration, she turned on the seat and peered into the back of the SUV, hoping to find something to help her out of this situation. She sighed with relief on spotting the red plaid throw folded neatly on the back seat.
Perfect! She thought happily. She could change back into herself, wrap herself in the blanket and call her brother. Then she could wear the blanket to Kyle's sister's, where he could slip in and maybe borrow her something to wear. That way she could try calling Kyle right away and hopefully warn him before John got there.