"I-I'm sorry," she managed to mumble out. She glanced over her should at the empty alley. She wondered if it'd all been a horrible day dream. "J-just thought I saw something."
"You look kinda pale, you need to lay down?" he kindly suggested.
"What? Oh, no, I'll be fine," Stephanie promised. She nodded at the grand building beside which they stood. "My hotel's right here, so I'll just go up to my room."
She gave him a steady smile and moved over to the entrance. She was very glad for the doorman now as he opened the door. He noticed her shaky appearance, and missing shoes.
"You need some help there, miss?" he asked.
"No, I'm fine," she unconvincingly tried to assure him. She was so wobbly on her legs from her fright that she nearly toppled over when she tripped over the rug in the lobby.
"I don't think you are, miss," he politely disagreed. He signaled to one of the bellhops in the lobby, anyway, and the young gentleman came over. "Can you help her to her room?" he asked his coworker.
"Sure thing," the young man readily agreed. "Ma'am?" he asked as he offered her his hand. She wryly smiled at them both.
"Well, I may as well take it while it's here," she agreed.
Stephanie was grateful for the help as he assisted her to one of the elevators. They rode up together, and he made sure to deposit her into her room. Thankfully she hadn't lost her key card in the alley, and she left the kind young man at the door with a hefty tip.
The young woman stumbled over to her bed and gladly collapsed onto the plush covers. Now she had the time to assess what had just happened there in that alley, and probably try to tell herself that it'd all been a terrible dream. She lifted her head from the blankets and glanced out the window.
Scary shadows, check. Monstrous beasts, double check on that. Scared little her running for her life while being chased, triple check on that scenario. That all had happened...hadn't it?
WOLF RISING (IN THE LOUP: BOOK #2)
Stephanie rolled over on the bed and groaned. She felt a headache coming on from all this thinking and that scare. She flinched and frowned when her arm brushed against the covers.
Stephanie sat up and glanced down at her arm. Her heart stopped and her eyes opened wide when she glimpsed two shallow scratches. Her hand was shaking when she reached up and touched the marks. They were real enough.
Suddenly Stephanie's head swiveled toward the door. She heard someone fumble at the entrance and the portal swung wildly open. Chuck stood there with wide, frightened eyes and disheveled clothes. Mud stains and tears revealed his pale skin beneath the dirty fabric. His hair was tossed this way and that, and his face was smeared with mud. In fact, he looked worse than she did.
"There you are!" Chuck yelled. He slammed the door behind him and rushed to her. "I've been looking all over for you! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Here for a while," she managed to explain. She was taken aback when he grabbed her shoulders and frantically looked her over. "I got as much fresh air as I wanted." Probably for a lifetime. She looked him up and down. "Where have you been?"
"Looking for you!" he exclaimed. It looked like he didn't want to glance down at himself. "I went out there looking for you and when I couldn't find you I, um, I kinda panicked."
"And fell into the nearest puddle?" Stephanie asked as she pointed at his ruined pants.
"Oh, um, I kinda got roughed up out there," he sheepishly admitted. He looked her up and down, and noticed her bare feet. He nodded at her dirty toes. "Lose something?"
"Y-yeah, yeah I did," she stuttered out.
Stephanie tried to hide the marks on her arm, but he noticed her clumsy attempts. She yelped when his arm suddenly shot out and he roughly grabbed her by the elbow. He pulled her arm out straight and examined the small scratches.
"They're just some scratches I got from...from an animal," she tried to reassure him. She tried to pull her arm away from his grip, but he held her firm. His eyes were sweeping over the wounds like he was looking for something specific. "Chuck, you're starting to hurt me."
"What? Oh, sorry," he apologized. He quickly released her and straightened himself. "I just wanted to make sure the wound was clean."
"And?" she wondered.
"And I think you should go to a hospital and get that thing looked at," he encouraged. "It could get infected, or the animal could've had rabis."
"I don't think it's that bad," Stephanie brushed aside. She glanced down at those small scuffs like they were rug burns. "I'm sure I just need to give them a good cleaning and they'll disappear in a few days."
"I'm not so sure," Chuck persisted. His face showed her how serious he was being, but she still didn't think it was that serious. He could see she wasn't listening. "Come on, Boss, this could get bad."
"Well, however bad it gets, it's my arm so I'll do what I want with it," she stubbornly countered. She stood up from the bed and brushed down her wrinkled dress. The mud and water made it a little comical to be trying to straighten all the creases. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change into something more comfortable."
Chuck didn't say anything for the longest moment. He just stared at her with an expression of worry mixed with something she couldn't quite read. Was it fear in those depths?
"All right, Boss, but don't say I didn't warn you," he added.
"I won't," Stephanie promised as she folded her arms across her chest. "Now are you going to go or do I have to start undressing with you standing there?"
"Weellll..." he intimated with a hint of his playfulness returning to his eyes. She liked that look better than the other one, but this wasn't going to work.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and turned him around to face the door. Then she placed her palms on his back and bluntly shoved him toward the exit. He didn't struggle, and he had a large, innocent grin on his face when they reached the door.
"Now out," she ordered as she stepped up in front of him and opened the portal.
"All right, all right, I can take a hint," he joked with a false air of hurt. He paused for a moment in the doorway and turned to her by his side. His voice was low and full of warning. "You just keep out of alleys from now on, okay?" he pleaded. His eyes shifted down to her arm, and she unconsciously grabbed it. "And watch that thing. I don't like the way it looks."
"All right, mom," Stephanie lightly teased, but there was an air of true promise in her tone.
"Goodnight, Boss."
"Goodnight, Chuck."
With their farewells given Chuck departed and Stephanie watched the door latch behind him with some trepidation. His warning echoed in her head and she raised her arm to look at the small, insignificant scratches. Surely that wild animal didn't have anything infectious and the wounds would just heal themselves over.
"Why the hell didn't I tell him what happened out there?" Stephanie wondered aloud to herself.
The young woman put her back against the door and cradled her head in one hand. She just couldn't understand what had happened in that alley. Maybe that's why she hadn't wanted to tell him. The whole thing was just so outrageous even she doubted her own memories. All she could guess was that she'd been more tired and irritated than she figured and had hallucinated the entire episode, but even she couldn't swallow that lie.
There was just something about the whole thing that screamed psycho ward, and that was the last place to where Stephanie wanted to go. She sighed and raised her head. All this thinking and running in circles was just giving her a bigger headache. The soreness in her arm wasn't helping, either.
"All right, Steph, you just sleep on things and decide tomorrow," she decided.
She knew she was putting things off, but it was late already, and Chuck had probably gone to his room for some sleep himself. There'd be time enough to tell him on the car ride back home.
With her decision made, Stephanie herself got ready for bed and slipped beneath the woolen covers of her hotel bed. She closed her eyes, and dreamed of long shadows and eerie howlin
g.
Then the pounding woke her up the next morning. She groggily rolled over and glanced at the clock. Nine o'clock in the morning. They were supposed to leave at nine-thirty to pick up their rental car. She jerked her head up toward the door when there was more banging.
"Boss, you alive in there?" Chuck worriedly called from the other side. "Boss, answer me!"
"I'm here!" she yelled back in an exhausted voice. She practically slid out of the bed and onto the floor.
"You okay?" her partner asked.
"Yeah, just need to wake up," she called back. She used the bed and managed to pull herself to a shaky standing position. "Guess I didn't sleep well," she added. She really wishes she could believe what she was saying herself.
"You sure you're okay?" he persisted. He sounded like he wasn't convinced she didn't need to be rushed to a hospital. Maybe it was the fact she was such a superior morning person, and here she was struggling to get on a pair of pants. "You need any help packing or anything?"
"Shit..." Stephanie muttered. In the excitement last night, she'd completely forgotten about doing that chore.
"What was that?" Chuck asked.
"Nothing, I'll be out in a few minutes," she informed him.
"All right..." her partner hesitantly agreed.
Stephanie ran frantically between the bathroom and her luggage bag she tossed onto the bed. In twenty minutes she'd managed to wash her hair, pack the small trunk and make herself look presentable to the world. She stepped out of her hotel room to find Chuck impatiently waiting for her in the hall. He looked her up and down, and she wondered if he'd suddenly grown the ability to have x-ray vision. His eyes poured over her with as close attention as he could politely manage.
"What?" she wondered. She looked down at herself to see if she'd forgotten to zip up her blue jeans, but they were okay. They had a long car ride back home, so she was going to be comfortable on the trip.
"I don't know, just something different," he vaguely explained. Maybe even he didn't know what he was seeing in her now that he hadn't before noticed. He shook himself from his gazing. "But we'd better get checked out and see if our cab is here."
The two partners stepped over to the elevators with bags in hand, and pressed the button for a lift down. They didn't have a long wait as a few moments later the doors opened. Mr. Gregory stood inside. Stephanie noticed the tips of Chuck's lips turn down in a grimace, but he covered the expression with an indifferent face.
"Good morning," Gregory politely greeted. He graciously stepped to the side to allow them plenty of room for their bags. He glanced at the luggage in their hands. "Leaving so soon after the conference?"
"It's a pretty long trip back home," Stephanie explained. They also didn't want to pay for another night at the pricey hotel. She noticed he was dressed for business as usual. "Off to see some clients?" she asked. She hoped not, because that meant they'd lost out on some business to their competitors.
"No, just to breakfast with Miss Seville," he explained. He had a humored grin on his face. "She's pretty insistent on men wearing suits everywhere they go in public." His eyes looked over to the simple jeans and buttoned shirt Chuck wore. "And especially in front of prospective business partners." Both Chuck and Stephanie caught his meaning.
"I'm sure our clients would understand if we didn't wear Armani constantly," Chuck pointed out.
"I suppose not," Gregory mused with a slick grin on his face.
Stephanie nervously smiled as she felt the tension in the small space increase. Her eyes glanced at the numbers on the pad. Almost at the lobby. She breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
"Well, it was nice talking with you again," Stephanie gave her farewell to their brief acquaintance. Chuck ignored the man completely as he stepped out and made his way directly to the desk.
"I hope to see more of you," Gregory countered as he got off with them. He gallantly took her hand in his own and gently kissed her skin. His eyes darted up to her blushing face. "Until then, my dear Stephanie."
"Um, yeah, until then," she stuttered out.
Stephanie pulled her hand away and nearly tripped as she went over to join Chuck at the front desk. He was staring straight head, but she knew he'd seen everything. There was just no way he wouldn't have been watching them.
They turned in their key cards and moved outside to wait for their ride among the thronging crowds coming and going. It was still a few minutes until their taxi was supposed to arrive, and Stephanie was glad for a break. She wasn't glad for the silence between them, though. She was a little uneasy when Chuck didn't say anything to her about the sudden show of infatuation by Gregory.
"So, um, you drive first or me?" she asked to break the ice.
"I was thinking about driving all the way," he gruffly informed her.
"You don't have to do that," she argued. She actually wanted him to do it, but probably not for the reason she suspected he had for doing all the driving. "I'm feeling just fine."
"If you're feeling fine, then what was all that rush this morning?" Chuck pointed out. "I was up before you, Boss."
"It was a rough night," she defended herself. She shrugged and sighed. "Maybe I just needed a lot of sleep."
Chuck looked at her for a moment and his mouth straightened into a firm, unconvinced line. He shook his head and looked off down the street.
"Looks like our rides here," he commented.
He was right. Their taxi stopped in front of them and they piled their luggage and themselves inside. Then they were on their way to the car rental place, and again there was that unnerving quiet between them. Stephanie sighed. In this situation she needed to be the adult for once.
"What's wrong?" she finally asked her partner. He raised an eyebrow as he turned to her with a questioning glance. "Don't give me that Spock look," she scolded. "You're mad at me about something."
"It's not really you," he grudgingly admitted.
"Then it's Gregory?" she guessed, and he flinched. She'd hit it on the nail. "He's just another client, right?"
"You really think so?" Chuck wondered. He gave her a pointed, if disbelieving, stare. "He didn't seem to think so."
"He was just...just trying to be friendly," Stephanie excused the behavior. She squirmed beneath his gaze. "I'm sure you've gotten that a lot from the women clients," she countered. A slow, mischievous grin slid across her lips. "You'd be a pretty nice catch for any lady."
"You think so?" he surprisingly wondered.
"Of course," she frowned. She couldn't believe he was this insecure with how he looked. He'd never shown any signs of that before. "You just need to get off those nerdy glasses and maybe do your hair up so it looks a little wilder or something." He didn't seem to take her suggestions seriously, though, and she leaned back in the seat in a huff. "Fine, don't listen to me."
"There, that's what I was going for," he suddenly commented.
"Wait, what?" Stephanie asked. His statement had completely derailed her from the conversation.
"Your attitude," Chuck pointed out. "That's what was bothering me. You weren't acting like yourself. I figured if I prodded you long enough you'd start acting like yourself again."
"You mean you tricked me into believing you were jealous of Gregory?" Stephanie dryly commented. She didn't believe him for one second. He wasn't that good of an actor.
"Yep," he proudly boasted. He had a big, stupid grin on his face. "I always wanted to know how you saw the world."
"Maybe I wouldn't have acted that way if you had acted more like yourself," she angrily countered. She folded her arms across her chest. "Here I was trying to be the adult between us and you sitting there acting like a moody kid, and the only thing you can say is gotcha?"
"Well, it got you out of your drowsiness, didn't it?" he pointed out.
She glared at him and would have given him more talking to about the trap he'd laid for her when the taxi driver coughed.
"We're almost there, fol
ks," the driver interrupted. "You want me to wait while you see if your car's ready?"
"No, I called earlier and they said the vehicle was waiting for us," Chuck reassured him.
Sure enough they got to the car rental business and their small, four-door vehicle was waiting for them outside. They picked up the keys at the desk with instructions to have the car returned within twenty-four hours at any of the company's locations. Fortunately for those two, one was in their hometown. Unfortunately, that was an ten-hour drive.
"Tell me again why we can't just take a plane?" Stephanie asked as she shoved her luggage into the trunk.
"It's more expensive, especially since we'd have to land at the Newcastle Airport," Chuck explained. Newcastle was the largest city near their own town, Newport. "Then we'd have to make that hour drive back home, so we'd be driving, anyways."
"Well, let me get my part over with," she huffed. She snatched the keys from his hand before he could argue.
"I still don't think that's a good idea," he argued anyway.
"What's the worst that could happen?" she countered.
"Well, you could fall asleep at the wheel," Chuck pointed out. "Or have some sort of attack or something."
"Just get in the car," Stephanie ordered.
She rolled her eyes at his suggestions as she slid into the driver's seat. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her.
There was absolutely something wrong with her.
It snuck up on her about three hours into her part of the drive. They'd stopped a few times for lunch and stretch breaks, so it was mid afternoon. It started out as an itching sensation along the marks on her arm, and crept up from there. She wasn't even aware she was scratching her skin until Chuck grabbed her hand.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. The car swerved a little as she yanked her hand out of his grip.
"Look at your arm," he gently commanded.
Stephanie, half distracted by the road, gave a quick glance down at her arm and then did a double take. Her arm was covered in marks from her fingernails. The skin was red and the scabs that had partially formed over the thin wounds had broken off.
"What the hell have I been doing?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Chuck added.
He glanced around the road they were on. They were driving along one of the more mountainous passes in the area, and all around them there were tall trees and thick brush. In a few more hours it would be dark, too. He looked at his partner. She didn't look like she was up for another few hours in that small car. Her face was pale, though more out of a growing fear than illness. Her hands trembled a little on the steering wheel and she looked exhausted.