Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12)(59)
Author: Charlaine Harris

Bill hurried to pull the unconscious man out of the way while I darted into the bathroom to untie Colton. It was like we’d done this a dozen times! I confess I felt pretty proud at the way it was going.

I looked Colton over while I began working on the duct tape across his mouth. He was not in great shape. Colton had worked for Felipe in Reno and then followed Victor to Louisiana, where he’d been employed at Vampire’s Kiss. His apparent devotion hadn’t stemmed from affection but from a thirst for vengeance; Colton’s mother had died as a result of Victor’s teaching a lesson to Colton’s half brother. Carelessly, Victor had never dug deep enough to get the connection, and as a result, Colton had been a great help to the Shreveport plan to eradicate Victor. His lover Audrina had taken part in the fight and paid for her devotion with her life. I hadn’t seen Colton since that night, but I’d known he’d stayed in the area and even kept his job at Vampire’s Kiss.

Colton’s gray eyes were full of tears after I yanked the duct tape off. His first words were a stream of profanity.

"Bill, we need a handcuff key," I said, and as Bill began rummaging in the guards’ pockets to track it down, I cut the tape around Colton’s ankles. Bill threw the key to me, and I unlocked the cuffs. Once I tossed them aside, Colton didn’t know what he wanted to do first: rub his wrists or massage his stinging face. Instead, he flung his arms around me and said, "God bless you."

I was startled and touched. I said, "This was Bill’s plan, and now we’ve got to skedaddle before anyone comes looking. Those guys will come to eventually." Bill had reused the handcuffs on the hulk and was using Second Guard’s own belt to secure his arms. The roll of duct tape they’d used on Colton was also heavily deployed.

"See how you like that, motherfuckers," Colton said, with some satisfaction. He stood up and we went to the door. "Thanks, Mr. Comp-ton."

"My pleasure," Bill said drily.

Colton seemed to take in my scanty outfit for the first time, and his gray eyes widened. "Wow," he said, one hand on the doorknob. "When Palomino brought in the food last night, I caught a glimpse of her. I hoped she recognized me and would do something for me, but I never expected this." He looked at me again before forcing his eyes away. "Wow," he said, and swallowed.

"If you’ve finished ogling Eric’s woman, it’s time to get out of here," Bill said. If his voice had been dry before, it was toast now.

"Just don’t let anyone see me," Colton said. "And after I get out of this town, I never want to talk to another vampire in my life."

"Though we’ve risked our lives to rescue you," Bill said.

"Time to work out the philosophy later," I said, and they both nodded. In a second, we were on the move. I had a napkin in my hand, and I used it when I shut the door of 507 behind us. We went down the hall in single file and reached the staff elevator, passing only one couple on our journey. They were completely wrapped up in each other and didn’t do more than stop groping for a moment in reaction to our presence. The staff elevator came quickly, and we stepped on to join a middle-aged woman who was carrying some dry cleaning in a plastic bag. She nodded to us and kept her eyes on the floor indicator. We had to go up with her before we could go down, and my palms started sweating with anxiety. She was ignoring Colton’s disheveled condition with a deliberate air. She didn’t want to know, which was great. It was a relief when she stepped off.

When we began our descent, I was terrified someone would be waiting for us on the fifth floor; the door would open, and we’d be confronted with the two men we’d left bound. But that didn’t happen. We got down to the second floor, and the doors whooshed open. There were several other workers there: another room service server with a rolling cart, a bellman, and a woman in a black suit. She was very well groomed and wearing high heels, too, so she was definitely higher up on the food chain.

She was the only one who paid us any attention when they all crowded on. "Server," she said sharply. "Where’s your name tag?" Palo-mino had worn one on the upper slope of her right breast, so I clapped my hand to the place mine should have been. "Sorry, it must have fallen off," I said apologetically.

"Get another one right away," she said, and I looked at her tag. "M. Norman," it said. I was sure I wouldn’t get a surname. Mine would say "Candi" or "Brandi" or "Sandi."

"Yes, ma’am," I said, since now was not a time to start a class war.

M. Norman’s gaze went to Colton’s handsome face, admittedly marred by the removal of the duct tape and admittedly a little bruised. I could see a little crease between her brows as she tried to figure out what could have happened to him and if she should ask any questions. But her tailored shoulders lifted in a tiny shrug. She’d exerted her authority sufficiently for one night.

When the elevator stopped at the ground level, we got out of it like we owned the hotel. We rounded a corner, and there was the back door, Palomino walking toward it ahead of us. She glanced over her shoulder and looked faintly gratified to see us coming. She tapped the code into the keypad by the door, and then she opened it. We strode by her into the parking lot. Palomino, on the way to her red car, looked curiously at the street beyond the fenced lot for a moment, as if she sensed something strange. I didn’t have time to check it out as we walked briskly between the parked employee cars and out the gap in the fence.

We were almost to Bill’s car when the Weres caught up with us. There were four of them. I only recognized one; I’d seen him at Alcide’s house. He was a gaunt-faced, long-haired, bearded guy named Van.

Vamps and Weres just don’t mix, generally speaking, so I stepped ahead of Bill and did my best to manage to smile. "Van, good to see you tonight," I said, struggling to sound sincere when every nerve in my body was screaming at me to get the hell out of the vicinity. "You gonna let us get on our way?"

Van, who was several inches taller than me, looked down at my face. He wasn’t thinking about my body, which was a nice change, but he was thinking about … making some kind of choice. It’s very hard to read Were thoughts, but that much I could discern.

"Miss Stackhouse," he said, and nodded. His dark hair swung forward and back with the motion. "We been looking for you."

"How come?" I might as well get this settled. If we were going to fight, I needed to know why I was going to get beat up. I sure didn’t want that.

"Alcide’s found Warren."

"Oh, good!" I was really pleased. I smiled up at Van. Now Mustapha could come in from the cold, tell us what he’d seen, and all would be well.