Red walked up to me and slapped me on the back. “It looks like they left Brandon all alone.” His toothy smile told me he meant business.
“You recognize his Vespa?” I raised an eyebrow.
He nodded. “Brandon always drives a white Vespa.” He waved to the pack to follow. “Come on.”
We walked inside and we were immediately assailed with the smell of freshly ground coffee. It smelled wonderful. The place was trendy with a chrome and mahogany bar, tables with places to plug in laptops, and a coffee table with blue cushy chairs and a couch around it. I suddenly wanted a caramel latte, but refrained. We were looking for the missing women.
Other than ourselves and the barista, the only person in the shop was a geeky looking guy with glasses and a man bun tapping on a tablet. He took one look at us, grabbed his tablet, and leapt from the table where he sat. Red, Jessica, and about a half dozen of the Commerce City Wolfpack met him at the side door. Red caught him by the collar and held him struggling about six inches off the ground.
“Hey! Leave me alone! I didn’t do anything!” he shouted.
“Now, Brandon, you know that’s not true.” Red let him dangle as the other weres circled around him like hungry sharks.
“Hey, if you’re going to rough him up, take it outside,” the barista shouted.
Red nodded and held the hapless Brandon by the collar as he pushed through the door. Brandon dropped the tablet as he struggled to get free.
“Hey! Don’t damage the tablet! That cost me a fortune!” Brandon whined.
I scooped up the tablet and took a peek. He was texting a dude name Anthony about the female weres. At this point, my cop instincts were kicking in. If I had jurisdiction, Red and his crew would be under arrest for second degree assault and possible kidnapping with Brandon. But at the same time, this guy was a kidnapper, or in league with kidnappers. Allegedly. I read the exchange between Brandon and Anthony.
Anthony: Man bitches R tuff. If we didnt hav Michael, we’d be screwd.
Brandon: I thought U sd he hd magic to make them fall in luv.
Anthony: cant get near em. Tore up Ry’s arm
Brandon: got shots? Lol
Anthony: bitches
Brandon: Now wut?
Anthony: Ripped Michael
Brandon: Hurt bad?
Anthony: Bit his balls
Brandon: Shit what U go…
Anthony: Brand?
Anthony: U there?
Anthony: Brand?
I stared at the tablet and typed. Yea, Im here. It showed:
Brandon: Yea, Im here.
Anthony responded and we began to text back and forth.
Anthony: wut happn?
Brandon: Sum bikr duds. Sok.
Anthony: Pack up& help
Brandon: Were U at agin?
Anthony: Moron. The warehse.
Brandon: BRT
I ran out of the coffee shop to see Brandon half changed into a wolf. Red was already in wolf form and snarling. He was a huge black wolf with canines that looked two inches or longer protruding from his jaws. I pointed to the tablet. “Hey guys, I know where the women are.”
Jessica turned to me. “Where?”
“I’ve been talking to Anthony on the tablet. He thinks I’m Brandon.”
“Give me my tablet!” Brandon snarled. He lunged toward me and Red bowled him over. Red sank his teeth into Brandon’s partially furred throat. The next sounds that came from Brandon were gurgles.
“They’re at a warehouse,” I said quickly. “Brandon would know where.”
For a moment, I thought Red would kill the Boulder werewolf, but instead let up a little. I thought I heard Red say “Where is it?” But I couldn’t, because werewolves can’t speak in their full wolf form.
“Ware…house ne…next to-to gr-gran-ary.” Brandon’s voice sounded rough from the partial change and the fact Red was holding his trachea in his mouth.
“The one on Niwot Road?” One of Red’s weres asked.
“Ye-yeah.”
Suddenly, Red shifted back into a human. A naked human, but no less formidable than his wolf form. His body was mostly covered in tattoos that seemed to have a magical quality. Perhaps it made his skin tougher. I don’t know. He had scars across his back, arms, and thighs. Instead of having Brandon’s neck in his mouth, he gripped the guy’s throat with his hand. Brandon’s eyes were bugged out and he was gasping for air. I wondered if I would see Red kill the were.
Red glanced at the other werewolves. “Hold this piece of shit for me while I get dressed.” Four of his werewolves stepped up as he stood up and left Brandon whimpering next to the wall. Red nodded at me as he picked up his clothes. “I know the granary he’s talking about. The warehouse is adjacent to it. Nobody has used the place in years. The land’s for sale, but the deals keep falling through. I hear the place is cursed.”
“Lovely,” I said. “What will you do to him?”
“Brandon?” Red pulled on his jeans and glanced at the Boulder werewolf. “Dump him off with his buddies and give them a good beating. Why? Getting cold feet?”
“Not my jurisdiction, but I’d have to step in if it were murder.”
Red chuckled and shook his head. “Pack politics don’t run that way usually. We bump someone off and a newer, badder wolf shows up on our doorstep. We like having a buffer between us and other packs, even if it’s a sissy pack with vegetable lovers. Most packs do more posturing and less killing. That’s why hearing that Alaric is in the hospital is bad news. He’s the toughest were around, which means the Boulder Five used magic to take him out. And if they convinced him it was us, it’s up to us to show the Denver Wolfpack we’d rather be allies than enemies. What we’ll do is teach them a lesson they won’t forget and bring the girls back home to Denver. Sheesh, like they were slaves or something.” He shook his head again at the thought.
Red finished getting dressed. “Come on. We’re taking Tablet-Boy with us. Let’s whup some pansy werewolf ass.”
Chapter Four
Despite my objection, the werewolves took their Harleys to the warehouse. Although my butt was
