Hard Days Night (The Firsts Book 8) Read online

  But he was here, across the globe, away from his people and land, away from his child and the one who would arrive soon, looking at the moon from the other side of the world. He was happy, yes, ecstatically so…but he needed this respite. Tonight was the first time he’d been alone for centuries, and, by the grace of the Mother, it felt good.

  He upturned the glass and let the sparkling wine pour down his throat. The soft buzz he’d been working on had calmed his tense body. Relaxed, he looked back up at the moon and saw two women passing by, obviously out for a moonlight stroll on the warm sand.

  Tipping his head in acknowledgement, he watched their appreciative smiles as they waved, their eyes locked on him. He glanced down. Ah, yes, he was naked, and it wasn’t a completely accepted cultural norm here in America. It was warm tonight and he had no reason to put clothes on, and didn’t want to, so he just smiled back and let them look. As a first blood, and the leader of the children of the moon, he knew his body was spectacular. Just for them, he dropped a hand and ran it gently along his cock, which was partially filled.

  The women’s smiles widened. So did Ahmose’s. Looking down, he smoothed his fingers over the tip. His body was fit and hard, and so was his cock right now.

  A lot of good that did him, since he had no one to share it with. Pouring a fourth glass of wine, he watched the women as they moved past the beach house, still looking back, and admonished himself for such thoughts.

  He was the luckiest man on Mother Earth and it was unacceptable that he should ask for more. It was just that Starla and Jacob’s love was flaming, like a meteor, and it was hard to watch.

  Because he was ready to be in love. He was ready for a mate. A lot of long centuries had passed, and as leader of the children of the moon and a child of the Mother Earth, he’d been dedicated and content with his journey, but he’d always felt the absence of someone beside him to share the journey with him.

  As he looked back up at the moon, he asked its forbearance. “Please allow this ungrateful son a moment of weakness. I have been lonely but not alone. Here, now, alone, finally, I can access my feelings and work through my troubles. My children are everything to me, and I have no right to ask for more. Forgive me while I let myself ruminate for just a little while. Then I will return home to welcome my new daughter.”

  With a bowed head, he released his guilt and let himself enjoy the beauty of this beach cottage outside of Los Angeles that had belonged to a lost sister of the moon, who was now gone forever. It had been prepared for a vampire, so there was a safe place for daylight, and a large refrigerator so he could fill it with good food and wine and just stay here on the beach for a week. He could breathe.

  A sudden chirp interrupted his calm night, and he glanced down to see that Jacob was calling. Ahmose picked up the phone and just stared at it for a few moments, then his thumb hovered over the button for another few moments before he hit it and held the phone to his ear.

  “Jacob,” he said, his voice graveled from speaking so little for the past 24 hours.

  “Ahmose, are you okay? Starla is worried. Koen told us you’ve lost Lamont’s trail, so we expected you to come home. But he told us not to expect you for a while. He said, and I find this hard to believe, that you are on vacation. You don’t take vacations, right?”

  “I never have. The word doesn’t even have a place in my world. But I find that at this time, I need some breathing room. I will be home shortly. Please assure my little Shoazan that I am well and she must not worry. Our daughter must feel safe and loved at all times.”

  “Well, she’s going to. Ahmose, what’s wrong? This isn’t like you.”

  Ahmose sighed and turned his back on his beautiful moonlit scene. He drew a long breath.

  “Jacob, I just wanted time to myself. For the first time, I just want to have nothing and no one depending on me, needing me, wanting something. I just need a break.”

  Now Jacob was silent. Then he said, “I get that. More than you know. Take all the time you need, my friend. We’re good here. Starla is tired, but she’s well, and our daughter is in good spirits. Everyone needs a mental day off. Yours has been a long time coming. Be well, and drink a lot of wine.”

  Ahmose smiled. “I will. Don’t let our little mother worry.”

  “I’ll keep her occupied. Be safe.”

  Jacob rang off and Ahmose dropped the phone onto a wicker chair. He wouldn’t answer it for anyone now. Officially, he was on vacation.

  “God, these nights are long!” Luka moaned. “I have always hated stake-outs.”

  Mal snorted as she laughed.

  “Like I don’t know that. They’re even longer with you complaining about it all night. Here, have another hot dog.”

  Luka groaned, but he took the hot dog that was anything but hot anymore. He shoved it into his mouth, took a huge bite, and let his eyes wander back to the dimly lit dock.

  “Nothing again. Let’s just get the fuck…”

  That was the first thing he remembered when Luka finally woke up sometime later. The damned hot dog. His eyes landed on the green-lit clock on the dashboard and he couldn’t seem to process it. He knew what it was, but it didn’t make any sense. Something had happened. What was it?

  It took a moment to realize he was slumped over in Mal’s car, something red oozed all around his leg. Shit, was he shot?

  Carefully scooping the stuff onto a finger, he realized the blood looked odd. He held it closer, then touched it to his tongue. He let out a coarse laugh.

  “Ketchup,” he whispered.

  But something had happened to him. He wasn’t right. He looked over to the driver’s seat, but it was empty, the driver’s side door wide open. A sound had been intruding since he woke up and he realized it was the alarm dinging that the key was still in the ignition.

  Where was Mal?

  Pushing against the dashboard, Luka shoved himself out of the car and nearly hit the pavement. Oh, God! Shooting up to his temples, his hands wrapped around his skull and pressed hard against the pain.

  His head hurt like a motherfucker. Someone had hit him, and that was why he hurt so badly and had lost consciousness. But where was Mal?

  Panic set in, which felt odd, because Luka prided himself on always remaining calm. He never panicked. But he couldn’t find Mal, and nothing terrified Luka more than the idea of something happening to her.

  “Mal,” he tried to call out, but his volume was strangled by the pain in his head.

  “Mal,” he tried to yell again, a little louder this time, scanning the area. She wasn’t anywhere around at all.

  Luka knew something had happened to her. She would never have left him alone without help, and if she were nearby, she’d have answered. He reached back into the car and grabbed his cell.

  “Officer down,” he called into it. “I’ve been attacked and my partner is missing. We’re at the South Port Docks in front of Gate 16.”

  “We’re en route. What happened Luka?”

  “I don’t know. Someone attacked me. They knocked me out, and I just woke up a moment ago. Mal’s gone.”

  “We’ll be there soon. Do you need an ambulance?”

  “Fuck. No. I’m gonna try her phone. Thanks, Geraldo.”

  Luka autodialed her number and heard her ringtone. God, her phone was still here. The sound came from the driver’s side, so he rounded the front of the car, and he found it easily, kicked on the ground underneath the car. No doubt at all. She’d been taken.

  They were wise enough to bind her before they took her from the site of the stake-out. If they hadn’t, as soon as she was certain they couldn’t hurt Luka, she’d have gone ballistic on them. She’d have taken them down so hard they would never have gotten up again.

  That was the only reason they got her. Mal had only agreed to come with them without trouble if they didn’t kill Luka. It was her only option when she’d gotten the drop on one of them and held her gun on him to look up and see a second man holding his gun to the temple
of an unconscious Luka.

  “Someone wants to see you. You come with us, he lives. You don’t, I take him out right now,” the man holding on Luka said.

  She’d dropped her weapon without delay.

  Her hands bound tightly behind her, and blindfolded, Mal knew that she was led into an elevator, based on the familiar pings and sounds, and the unexpected motion that made it clear they were going up.

  “So, who’s requested the audience?” she asked.

  “Shut up. You’ll find out soon.”

  Mal knew their voices already, and this was the one she wanted most, the asshole who drew down on Luka. He was going to be the first one she took out.

  “Uh, you’re the one escorting me.” She was being a smart-ass, and she didn’t care. Luka was out of danger and that was all that mattered now. “I think I’ve got a right to know.”

  “I just want to smash her mouth.”

  That was the other guy, the one who’d gotten the drop on her.

  “Shut the fuck up. He doesn’t want her hurt.”

  Hmmm, that was interesting. Whatever shit-face they were taking her to didn’t want her hurt? Why? Who the hell could it be?

  The floor bumped and stopped and she heard the doors swish open. Looks like she was going to find out soon.

  Mal felt a hand firmly on her back, pushing her forward until it disappeared to yank the blindfold from her eyes.

  On alert immediately, she scanned the one-eighty in front of her. A big room, large windows, but blacked out with paint so she couldn’t see out of them. An ancient desk made of metal so badly scarred she couldn’t tell what color it was.

  A hand pulled her backwards and she fell into a chair so hard that it nearly tipped over.

  “Nice. You practicing for nice-guy-of-the-year?” she snapped.

  The asshole came around to the front of the chair, squatted down, and got right in front of Mal’s face. It was Jinx. Oh, fuck!

  He grinned at her. “You better hope he doesn’t decide you’re too much trouble and ask me to get rid of you. Oh, I’d really enjoy that. I’d ride you before I put you down, cop.”

  Mal felt a shiver crawl up her neck, but she wouldn’t let him know that she believed every word and it scared the shit out of her.

  Her response was flippant and quick. “Fine. You think you can get it up for a cop?”

  “I got a hard-on for you already, doll. You’ve been a pain in my ass, but you are fucking hot.”

  “Ah, you say the nicest things.”

  She knew he wanted to hit her. Badly. She knew that whoever stopped him must have some power for him to be that worried about him. Mal heard the elevator door swish open again. Looks like she was about to meet the boss.

  His footsteps were heavy, with a slight lag on one step. It was apparent to Mal, he had a limp.

  Then he came into view. She did not know him, but he seemed to know her, since his smile widened and he actually looked delighted. Like a kid might when you hand him a big candy bar.

  “Hey, there’s my little darling,” the man said, his voice gravelly, as if he’d been a heavy smoker all of his life.

  Mal looked him over, a cop thing, taking details into memory. Tall, stocky, a full face with a scruffy beard, might have been handsome twenty years and fifty pounds ago. He wore a business suit that definitely cost some serious money, shoes she couldn’t have afforded with ten years of wages. Receding hairline, but it bothered him, since he’d tried to comb the rest forward.

  “How they treat you, Mahalo?”

  Shit! That wasn’t good. This wasn’t random, the guy knew her given name, and no one did. Her mom’s fascination with the Hawaiian greeting had culminated in Mal’s first name, but she’d never used it. Even as a little girl, Mal and her father had laughed about the weird name, and always defaulted to the shortened version. Mom still called her Mahalo until the day she died, but that was fifteen years ago. So this man had investigated her and this abduction had a purpose.

  “They did okay, but I didn’t quite feel like a treasured guest,” she answered, well aware she needed to play along until she could figure out what the fuck was really going on.

  “Well…” he said, his hands spread out, as he perched on the edge of the desk. “I guess that’s going to be up to you from now on, my pretty policewoman.”

  The entire time she was speaking with him, Mal was scanning the room, the position of the other men, every nuance of detail she could, before she looked right into the newly arrived man’s eyes.

  “Why am I here? What do you want with me? Obviously, you know me, but I don’t know you, so, clue me in, all right?”

  “In good time. Right now, let me see about removing those handcuffs,” he said. And then he started laughing, so much, that he slipped off the desk, wiping his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, between gulps of air as he finished his laughs.

  Mal just sat there, shocked, an expression of complete confusion on her face.

  Moments later, the man wiped his eyes and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to blow his nose. “I’m sorry, but that was just… Well, there isn’t a chance in hell I’d let your hands free. You’re too good, you’d beat the shit out of all three of us and grind us into the floor before you left. I just couldn’t resist yanking at you.” He sat back down on the desk and his expression changed.

  “You’re digging in my sandbox, detective. No, you don’t know me, and believe me, it would be a mistake if you did. I don’t want to kill you, but you mess with my business, I don’t give a fuck how cute you are, it doesn’t matter to me that you’re a cop. You understand?”

  She did. This man was one of the two men connected to Berenstein. The dock shipments she had been aggressively investigating and watching, she’d already guessed, they must be his.

  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember the names of those two men. Could be that since she was in serious danger of dying in a few minutes, her memory might be a little scrambled. All Mal thought was that, if this asshole thought he was going to force her to do what he wanted her to do, he might as well kill her now. She would never be in anybody’s back pocket.

  “I believe every word you’ve said,” Mal answered carefully. It wasn’t like she wanted to be brutally murdered, and with a guy like this, you had to be very, very cautious and very, very lucky if you wanted to keep breathing.

  “I believe you’re as smart as you look. Here’s the Cliff notes. I know everything about you. I know your background, that you’re from Hawaii, that your mother died when you were fifteen, your dad’s a retired detective squeaking through on a detective’s meager retirement pay on the Big Island. I know you’re crazy about your partner, Luka.” He paused and stared at the floor for a moment, then back into her eyes. She returned his gaze unflinchingly.

  “Here’s what you need to know. I’ll take it all away. Pop won’t get to boogie board and fish until his final days. Luka won’t have the special opportunity of fucking random girls until he dies too early of liver disease. And then there’s you.” He paused again and slid off the desk. “I will take you again, chain you up somewhere no one will ever find you, and I’ll let these guys fuck you raw anytime they want to. That clear things up?”

  Mal’s eyes, hard on his, expressionless, stayed right on his face as he walked closer and squatted down, then ran a finger from her throat to her neckline.

  “Crystal,” She finally said.

  He stood and backed up.

  “Good. These negotiations should be straightforward. We both get what we want. One last thing. Right now you’re wondering how you’re gonna get me. You can’t. I have tentacles where you can’t imagine. You’ll never see me coming. One day, your partner will just be dead. I don’t believe we need to have any further conversation.” He looked behind her.

  “Jinx, get her out of here. Safely. Don’t fuck with her. She and I, we have an understanding now.” He dropped his gaze back to hers. “We’re friends now, right, M
ahalo?”

  After only a brief hesitation, Mal smiled. “Sure, bosom buddies.”

  “Yeah. Like I said, you’re a smart girl. Let’s hope we don’t see each other again too soon.”

  He walked past her, out of her sight, and when she heard the elevator door close, she knew he was gone.

  Jinx came from behind her.

  “Don’t think about talking to nobody about this conversation. The only way you and your friends get through this, is you forget we exist, you forget this happened. You get that, right?”

  “Like the man said, I ain’t stupid.”

  “Yeah, I know that. But you’re a dog with a bone, every time. I’ve seen it. You don’t mess with this, okay? There’s already one casualty in this, don’t need to be more.”’

  Mal sat up and wiggled her bound hands. “What? Who?”

  The other man behind Mal yanked her out of the chair and began to pull her towards the elevator.

  “Who?” She yelled back.

  He shoved a needle into her arm and pushed her onto the floor. Her vision fuzzed out and moments later, she was unconscious.

  Chapter 4

  She woke up easily, yawned, and rolled over. Her face was warm, and she opened her eyes to slam them shut. The sun pierced her lids, even with them closed.

  Rolling up, she stood, and slowly looked around. Mal startled, scanning the landscape quickly now, as memory returned.

  It was morning, and they’d dumped her on the beach. A gentle tide swished nearby as she paused to appreciate the fact that at least she was still alive.

  But that didn’t solve the massive problem. With a terrible threat hanging over her head, and the fear that he’d already killed someone she cared about, the future looked bleak.

  The man was right, Mal was smart, so she trusted her instincts that this man would absolutely act on the threat. If she and Luka didn’t back down, her father and Luka wouldn’t live very long.

  First, she had to get home, back to the station, and make sure that Luka was okay. Call her father. Check herself over. She let her hand slide below her belly. Everything felt all right, but she’d been unconscious for some period of time and at the mercy of merciless men. God knows what they might have done to her. None of that was her main concern right now, but making sure everyone else was okay, was.