Virgin In Disguise

Chapter 2

Angel tossed the bull’s-eye-spotted bags in the trunk of her car, glad to have that portion of her list out of the way. The credit gods had been merciful—most of the items she needed were on sale. Better still, these particular charges wouldn’t come due until well after she’d received payment for this job.

The car rattled as she slammed the trunk shut, and she gave the dented fender an affectionate pat as she rounded to the driver’s door. Old Rusty’s body had seen better days, but it served its purpose. Few would guess the dilapidated red shell hid a chassis-and-engine combo that could outrun just about anything on the road. The engine purred to life, and she pulled out of the parking lot.

It didn’t take long to reach her last stop, even with a detour through the drive-up ATM. The modest rambler, shaded by several old oak trees, sat back from the quiet street. Traffic cruising past Cedar Lake seldom came down these twisting streets, providing the illusion of seclusion in the middle of Minneapolis.

“Grampa Fred,” head of the Neighborhood Watch and honorary grandfather to every kid in a four-block radius, waved as she drove by his corner house. He provided the illusion of continuity and security.

The garage door opened with the touch of a button, and she backed into her space with practiced ease. She slipped through the connecting door into the kitchen and down the stairs to her basement office.

Shedding the wig and contact lenses, she transformed to her “normal” blue-eyed, sorta blond self before heading back to the kitchen. She crunched on baby carrots from the refrigerator as she sifted through the mail. Bills, junk mail, a couple of bank statements.

Not for the first time, she considered consolidating the money into one bank. But the mostly inactive savings account, inherited from her father, provided some emotional touchstone for her mother. That alone made the few extra pieces of paper a minor inconvenience.

“I thought I heard you come in.” Corie Anderson, her mother’s companion and caretaker, came around the corner from the dining room.

Angel turned and smiled. “Hi, Corie. How is she today?”

“Today was mostly a good day.”

“Mostly?”

“She spent much of her time reading a book.” Corie crossed to the refrigerator and pulled out a diet pop. “We watched a movie. Then Mr. Dexter stopped by. He left an envelope for you—it’s on the front hall table.”

“Did he visit with Mom?”

Corie nodded, but a frown shadowed her face.

“What?” Angel prompted.

“She’s just been very moody lately. Mostly sad.”

Angel looked out the window over the sink. The grass needed mowing again. Already. Had it been a week? Probably longer. She shook her head and pulled back from the momentary escape. “I have to go out of town for a few days. As soon as I finish packing, I’ll come in and see if I can get her to talk some.”

“I wonder if it’s her medication.”

“You think she’s having a bad reaction?”

“It’s not that so much as I don’t think this new stuff is as effective as the original prescription.”

“Dr. Brenna said it would take some time to transition, and for the new meds to reach optimum levels.” She pulled a bottle of spring water from the refrigerator. “Until then, we’re bound to see some symptoms of the depression and paranoia.”

Corie nodded. “I guess that makes sense. But I keep wondering if maybe you should get a second opinion? I know of another doctor….”

Angel sighed. “I don’t know. Between Dr. Sanders all of a sudden disappearing without a word, Mom’s files getting lost, finding a new doctor and now this new prescription…it’s been a lot of change. At least she seems to like Dr. Brenna.”

She exchanged a look with Corie. Her mother’s moods had taken a marked downturn nearly two months ago. The change had been difficult for all of them.

Angel held the cool water bottle to her chest, wishing it would soothe the ache building there. She wanted her father, wanted their little family whole. Except some bail jumper— She shook off that line of thought.

“Tell her I’ll be in in just a few minutes. It won’t take me long to pack.”

“Sure.”

Angel turned back to the window. “The lawn needs mowing. You better call a service and get it done. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.”

“I’ll take care of it. You pay me enough to do more than sit around all day.”

Angel smiled. Since joining their little household two years ago, Corie had become indispensable. “Don’t sell yourself short. Having you is a godsend. I don’t know how we managed without you.”

“Then we saved each other.” Corie gave her a quick hug. “If you hadn’t exposed my ex for the rat he was, I’d probably be dead now. The best thing I got out of that disastrous marriage was this job.”

“Thank Dex for that. He came up with the idea. All I did was make the offer.”

“As far as I’m concerned, the offer is all that counts. I’ll tell Maryam you’re home.”

Angel watched the seconds tick off as she drained her bottle of water. Precious time—time spent away from Mom—chasing shadows and ghosts that might not even exist anymore.

The chase was essential, and lately it seemed like she was actually making some headway. She was closer now than she’d ever been to tracking down the arsonist who’d killed her father. If she could keep at it a little longer, she’d succeed. She knew it in her bones.

Then, maybe, she’d capture the person she most needed to find—her mother.

Dropping the empty bottle into the recycling bin, she headed back to the basement. Ten minutes and a change of clothes later, she stowed a small suitcase filled with a range of wardrobe options in Rusty’s trunk, along with a gym bag now filled with the clothes and supplies she’d picked up for Cabrini. Another five minutes, and she had her overnight bag packed and sitting by the back door, ready for her departure.

She pulled a pint of Godiva chocolate ice cream from the freezer, grabbed a couple of spoons and headed for the living room.

The afternoon sun wrapped the butter-yellow room in a golden glow. At the center, her mother, dressed in tan slacks and a pale green cotton sweater, sat next to a side table piled with books.

“Hi, Mom.” Angel flopped down next to her on the chocolate leather couch and handed her a spoon. “Time for dessert.”

“We haven’t eaten dinner yet.” Her mother’s voice held a curious mix of amusement and sadness.

“There’s always time for chocolate. You two can do the healthy dinner thing later.”

“What about you?” Her mother looked at her with sad, gray eyes.

There had been a time, when Angel was very small, that her mother had laughed all the time. The memories acted as a beacon, reminding Angel of what life could be, would be, someday. If she found her father’s killer, her mother could heal and maybe even be happy again.

Angel dug her spoon into the ice cream. “I have to go out of town for a few days. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ve got my cell phone so you can call me anytime.”

“Where are you going?”

“It’s nothing to worry about, Mom. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“When you get back, we should talk.”

Angel shot a quick glance at Corie. Corie shrugged and shook her head. “Talk about what?”

Maryam shook her head.

“Do you like your new doctor? Is that what you want to discuss?” Angel tried another tack.

Again, Maryam shook her head, this time casting a furtive glance at her companion.

“Would you prefer to go back to the old medication?”

“No.” She picked at the crease of her twill pant leg. “That stuff made me feel…fuzzy, like I’m looking at the world through a big wad of cotton gauze.”

“So, the new stuff is better?”

“Better? Yes, but it’s still not right. Nothing is right. Nothing’s been right since…” She stabbed her spoon into the ice cream.

“I know it was hard to lose Dr. Sanders after all these years. If you don’t like Dr. Brenna, we can see about someone else.”

“I never trusted that man.” Maryam half muttered.

“Who? Dr. Sanders?”

Maryam looked her in the eyes. “It’ll be better soon.” She smoothed Angel’s spiky blond hair away from her face, her hand lingering on her cheek. “You have such beautiful blue eyes. I see your father looking at me every time I look in your eyes.”

Tears, hot and unexpected, burned the back of Angel’s throat. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to curl into her mother’s arms like she was a little girl again. Their roles had reversed too many years ago to go back. Now she needed to be the strong one. The sane one.

Her mother tugged at the short blond hair again. “I wish you’d stop bleaching your hair. And this cut—it’s so short and punk. You’d look nice with something more feminine, something like a chin-length bob.”

“You know I’m too lazy to spend that much time on my hair.” Besides which, short hair fit beneath a wig much better than long hair. Changing identities was easier when she didn’t have to worry about her own hair peeking out.

“Where are you going this time?” Her mother switched topics with her usual randomness. Years of practice made it easy for Angel to follow.

“Just up north. I have to take a…friend to a cabin for a little vacation.”

“Is that why Marvin came?” Maryam jabbed her spoon into the ice cream again.

“Yes. He asked me to check on his place, since I’m going to be so close.”

“I don’t think I trust him very much, either.”

“Mom, how can you say that? Dex has been a rock for us. Not many men would take on their partner’s family as their own.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Maryam picked up one of the paperbacks in the pile next to her. “I thought this one would be funny. The cover looked funny. But the story was sad.”

Angel’s head fell back to rest on the couch cushion behind her. Every time they came close to a serious discussion that lasted longer than a few sentences, Maryam drifted off onto another topic.

The antique mantel clock struck the hour and Angel jerked upright. “I need to get going. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Be careful, sweetie. I need you to come back.”

“I know, Mom. I will.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mother’s soft cheek. “I love you.”

Her mother kissed her in turn. “You take such good care of me.”

They hugged and Angel stood to leave. Her mother clung to her hand. “You need to stop the bad men.” Her voice sounded so fragile and lost.

Angel nodded. “That’s what I do, Mom. Stop the bad men.” But she hadn’t found the one bad man who counted—her father’s murderer. She spun on her heel and fled the room before the tears returned. On the way out, she grabbed the key and envelope Dex had left for her.

“Mister, wake up.”

Frank groaned. Not again. Didn’t he just go through this?

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. We don’t have much time, we gotta get outta here. Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

A slap stung his cheek, followed by a shaking of his shoulders. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. Definitely different this time. He’d have to be completely unconscious to miss the urgency in this woman’s voice.

One of the hands shaking him let go of his shoulder. He covered his head and rolled in anticipation of another slap. The fact that he could move his arm without hindrance registered. The handcuff dangled from his wrist, swinging back and forth when he rolled into a sitting position.

“Can you stand? C’mon, we gotta move. Now.”

“Wait a second. What’s the rush?” He waved one hand in the air, the other still holding his head against the possibility of falling off—which probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, considering how it pounded with each beat of his pulse.

“What d’ya think? We can’t stay here.”

He pried his eyes open and looked over his shoulder. On the other side of the bed knelt an elf, glaring at him with eyes so blue they couldn’t be real. She also had bleached blond hair with an inch of black roots showing and a nose ring.

“Where do you think you’re going to take me?”

“Away from here. We’ll figure out the details once you’re in the car and we’re on the road. Now c’mon.”

The elf stood. She was very tall for an elf. He shook his head.

Holy hallucinations, he needed his brain back. Until he could think straight, he’d buy a little time and follow his rescuer’s urgings. At least he was out of the handcuffs.

He stood, swayed and caught himself on the headboard.

Elf rounded the bed and slipped her arm around his waist, grabbing his belt to support some of his weight. “C’mon.”

He draped an arm over her shoulders as she practically dragged him across the room to the door. She paused to peek outside, then pulled him down the hall to the head of the stairs.

“Do you think you can make it down without falling and killing yourself?”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath, clearing his head a little more. A faint scent teased his nose, but he couldn’t make a connection that made any sense. Time enough for that later. First things first, and that meant getting out of wherever it was he’d been held.

Leaning against the railing and Elf equally, he managed to get to the bottom of the steps without incident. “See? No problem.” He didn’t try to repress the foolish grin he shot her way.

She surprised him with a grin of her own, which revealed a dimple in her cheek.

“Told you.” He met her gaze and his smiled faded. “You have beautiful eyes. Are they real?”

She chuckled, a husky murmur that sent a shiver of interest streaking down his chest.

“They’re real. Rusty’s over here.”

He stumbled to a halt. “Who’s Rusty?” Maybe it would be better if he just parted company with her now, sexy laugh or not. No sense getting tangled up with yet another stranger.

Elf glanced up at him. “Rusty is a what, not a who.” She tugged on his belt and got him moving again. They rounded the corner of the building and he spotted a seventies-era Mustang with rusted out spots, a coat hanger for an antenna and a pair of fuzzy, red dice dangling from the rearview mirror.

He looked down at Elf and raised an eyebrow. “Rusty.”

“Yepper.” She opened the passenger door and pointed. “Hop in.”

He eased into the seat. It was a tight fit, but he wasn’t about to complain. As long as the bucket of bolts held together, and he got as far away from his kidnapper as he could.

She slammed the door shut. He got his first focused look at her as she trotted around the car to the driver’s door. Her cherry-red cropped T-shirt teased the low-riding waist of her rumpled tan cargo pants. Thick-soled sneakers finished the outfit. She looked… “How old are you?”

“Legal and then some in every state.” She leaned across him, snagged the passenger seat belt and pulled it across his lap. While she fumbled with the latch, he slumped into the seat, enjoying her closeness and the warm scent of vanilla that clung to her skin.

Memory surfaced just as she settled back into her seat and latched her own seat belt. “Aw, hell.” He tried to raise his left arm. The handcuff had him manacled to the frame of the car seat, next to the seat belt buckle. “It’s you.”

Elf turned the key in the ignition and the engine purred to life. “Perfect timing.” She pulled away from the curb.

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

She shrugged as she turned onto a busy one-way street. “I needed to get you out of there with a minimum of fuss. Your hungover cotton-brain zoned in on the clues it had to work with and produced the desired results. You’re here and we’re on our way.”

“This is kidnapping, you know.”

She pulled a pair of sunglasses off the dashboard and slipped them on, hiding behind them.

“False imprisonment.” He took another poke at her, testing her level of discomfort.

She turned left onto another busy street. Lyndale, he realized, as they drove past the coffee shop and tattoo parlor. They were headed towards downtown. Maybe she was going to take him to the county jail after all.

“I’m a bail bond enforcer.” She enunciated each word. “I’ve taken you into custody, not kidnapped you.” That she didn’t like the situation came through loud and clear.

She eased up on the gas as they neared an intersection with a red light. The signal changed to green and she sped up again.

“Except, I’ve never jumped bail, and you said your client was a private party. That doesn’t work so well, does it?”

Traffic slowed in front of them. He spotted a police car parked on the cross street and, for a split second, considered trying to signal for help or trying to overpower her. But he wanted to find out who her client was more than he wanted to escape. At the moment, anyway.

She changed lanes to bypass the backup of cars turning into and out of the Wedge Co-op parking lot, then shifted back into the right lane in time to squeak through a yellow light. They hit the on-ramp to Highway 94, heading east.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I told you earlier, before we left.”

“Yeah, well, the last few hours are pretty hazy, thanks to the drug-induced stupor I seem to be in. Why don’t you refresh my memory?”

A gap in traffic opened and she changed to the exit lane for Highway 35W north. “My employer didn’t expect me to catch up with you quite so quick.”

“Gee, I’m sorry I was such an easy mark. If I’d known I was being hunted, maybe I could have made it more of a challenge for you.”

She ignored his sarcasm. “He’s not ready to meet with you and asked me to take you out of town for a few days, until he has some other details in order.”

“If all he wanted was a meeting, why the kidnapping?”

She clenched her jaw. “This isn’t a kidnapping.”

“You couldn’t tell by me.” He rattled the handcuff. “From where I’m sitting, it sure feels like one.”

She glanced at him but didn’t respond.

“Come on, Elf. Give me a good reason, just one, why I don’t turn you in for what has got to be a major ethical breach.”

This time she glared at him. “Elf?”

That got a rise out of her. He smiled. “It seemed to fit when you were crouched next to the bed. I’ll admit, you’re a bit tall for an elf, but you’re still plenty shorter than I am.”

“There is nothing elfish about me.”

“I don’t know. You’ve got the pixie haircut, a pointy chin, big eyes. The bleach job and nose ring aren’t quite in keeping with the concept, but I’m a tolerant guy and can allow a little creative license in the interpretation.”

She snorted—a decidedly unelfish expression.

“Maybe,” Frank continued, “if I knew your name, I wouldn’t have to make one up for you.”

“Angel.” The road split, and she shifted lanes again, staying with the northbound traffic.

“Angel. No, I don’t think so.” Frank looked her over. “What happened to your long, brown hair? And your gray eyes?”

“They served their purpose. As did the auburn curls, the black pageboy, the brown eyes, the green eyes.”

A soft whistle escaped his lips. He leaned toward her and studied her features in profile. Satisfied, he nodded and settled back against the seat. “You’ve been following me for a few days, haven’t you?”

“Almost a full week, actually.” She flicked a glance in his direction. “You lead a particularly uneventful and rather predictable existence.”

“Like I said, if I’d known I was being hunted, I could have made it a little more interesting.” A week. And he hadn’t spotted her. Even if he wasn’t expecting a tail, he should have spotted someone following him for that long.

He ran through a quick mental log of his activities over the past seven days. Her mastery of disguises was very impressive, and he needed to find out if she might have stumbled onto anything that would jeopardize his investigation. He didn’t think so, but he’d have to be sure.

The city landscape dwindled and changed. Elf/Angel settled a little deeper into her seat and accelerated. The speedometer crept higher, leaving sixty behind and pushing seventy. He waited for the car to protest the speed with various vibrations and rattles. Instead, the engine purred like a very contented cat.

“You still haven’t told me where you’re taking me.”

“It’s Friday afternoon. We’re going where all the good Minnesotans go on a summer weekend.”

“I’m not from around here. Enlighten me.”

“On the weekend, everyone goes up north to the cabin on the lake. We’re going up north.”

“That I can see. Where up north?”

“To the lake.”

“The lake. According to your license plate, there’s more than one.”

“True. But the only one that counts is the one we’re going to.”

“And that would be…?”

“The one where the cabin is.” She smiled and her dimple winked at him. “You’re kind of slow, aren’t you?”

“You’re killing me, Elf.”

She chuckled, and the husky sound sent images of late-night intimacies flashing through his mind. He shifted, trying to get more comfortable. Between tight legroom and tightening pants, it wasn’t easy.

“Any chance you’ll be stopping for gas? Soon?”

“Just filled the tank before I picked you up, so no, I’m not planning on it. I’d like to get mostly there before full dark.”

He muttered a soft curse and shifted again, still finding no comfort.

Elf gave him a quick once-over, a frown creasing her forehead. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing access to a rest room wouldn’t solve.”

“Ah.” The frown deepened. “Hmm.”

“I take it you hadn’t considered the need for rest stops before you hustled me out of that room?”

“No.”

“Understandable. You can’t be expected to think of everything.”

Red crept up her neck and stained her cheeks. Interesting. Was she embarrassed by the situation or mad at not having thought of the eventuality?

“Of course, it wouldn’t be so bad if you hadn’t forced that glass of doctored water down my throat.” He twisted the guilt knot a little tighter.

The flush deepened. “Sedatives are a workable, short-term convenience.”

Short-term. She hadn’t planned on keeping him in custody for very long. Another interesting detail. “Your planning skills could use a little work.” He waved his free hand. “Never mind, I’ll manage.”

They were approaching an exit ramp. Elf flipped on her turn signal. The ramp led to a rest stop where a steady procession of cars and trucks pulling campers and boats performed the weekend drivers’ ballet.

If he could get away from her, it would be easy enough to catch a ride out of there.

She maneuvered into an empty parking spot some distance from the main building. The car keys jingled in the silence when she pulled them out of the ignition and dropped them into a lower pant-leg pocket. “You’re left-handed, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”