Free Bound by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon Page A

of bums. If they gave him any shit, he’d run ’em in. Right now he
had
to pee.
    Practically dancing with urgency, he ducked behind the Dumpster to relieve himself. He was fumbling to undo his belt when he heard low growls that vibrated with menace.
    Dozens of them.
    He whirled around to see faint shapes slinking through the mist, their movements unnaturally fluid and quick. Eyes glowed, way too high to belong to a dog. Drawing nearer, huddled packlike, sinister in their caution, predatory in their patience.
    He turned to find the other end of the alley blockedby more of the unearthly beasts. His breathing caught, than panted out raggedly. He knew what they were, and what they’d come to do.
    Kill him.
    His bladder let go as he grabbed for his gun, his sweaty hand almost dropping it in his hurry. The pistol was snatched away. One of them was at his back, close enough for him to feel its hot breath on the back of his neck.
    He lurched forward, stumbling into the center of the alley, trying to tear through the effects of liquor and fear to think of how to save himself. Terrifying figures cast shadows that were half man, half . . . something else.
    Unarmed, he squared up to face whatever was coming. Bad enough to go out with a stained crotch; he wasn’t about to bite it on his knees.
    “Come on,” he shouted at the beasts that encircled him but came no closer. “What are you waiting for?”
    It wasn’t what. It was who.
    The ring of feral creatures parted, not to give him an escape, but to provide a purposefully dramatic entry.
    The swirl of his long black raincoat swept away the ribbons of fog. He approached with an unhurried stride, the rhythmic swagger filled with arrogance and lethal control. Hammond knew who it was even before he could see the hard angles of his face, even before the dim light glinted ruby red off his unblinking eyes.
    Savoie.
    Not sure if he should laugh in relief or start begging, Hammond waited, trembling as the animals closed ranks behind their leader. Savoie came to a stopand regarded the quaking detective with barely disguised contempt. When he didn’t come closer, Hammond grew more bold in self-defense.
    “You can’t get away with killing a cop.”
    Silence, then a low drawl. “I can get away with pretty much anything I choose. But I’m not going to kill you, Detective. I promised Charlotte I’d give her a chance to talk sense into you. She believes you can be reasoned with—but you and I know that’s not going to happen. Let me lay this out simply so that you’ll understand your options. You can agree to keep what you saw to yourself, and you can go home and clean yourself up. Or you can spit in my face, and I walk away.”
    “Then what happens?”
    A flash of sharp teeth. “There won’t be enough left of you to flavor a bowl of gumbo.”
    Soft, hungry snarls sounded from all around him. The movements grew restless, pacing, aggressive. Only Savoie was still. Savoie, who scared him more than any of the others because they moved at his command.
    “I think I’d like to go home and clean up.”
    Savoie continued to look at him with that flat, penetrating stare. “Should you have a change of heart— say, when you’ve showered away the stink of your fear and get your manly courage back—you might think about speaking to a certain reporter just out of spite. Think carefully. Because there will always be someone not of your kind close enough to hear whatever comes out of your mouth. Always. And they won’t have to check with me before they make sure those words are your last. Understood?”
    A jerky nod.
    “Oh, and I would prefer you not mention this little discussion to Charlotte. Let her think it was your idea to be sensible. And don’t call her a hard-assed bitch again. It makes me disagreeable.”
    He moved in so quickly that they were nose-to-nose before the detective could blink. Savoie’s eyes blazed hot with their unnatural light, and his tone ripped as sharply as his