Shifter For Hire: For Hire Series - Book 2 Read online

  Shifter For Hire

  For Hire Series - Book 2

  Tressie Lockwood

  Shifter For Hire

  For Hire Series - Book 2

  Copyright © May 2020, Tressie Lockwood

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  Cover art photos:

  123rf.com/profile_neonshot

  123rf.com/profile_Kurhan

  123rf.com/profile_peshkova

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  No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

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  This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story line are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.

  Contents

  Also by Tressie Lockwood

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  About the Author

  Also by Tressie Lockwood

  Also by Tressie Lockwood

  For Hire Series

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  Liar For Hire

  Shifter For Hire

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  Shona and Neena

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  Planning His Wedding

  The Bribe and the Baby

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  The Sartoris

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  Accepting His Name

  Raising His Baby

  Reaching His Heart

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  Single Title CLEAN Works

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  No Way Forward

  Involuntary Daddy

  Matching Tony

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  tressielockwood.blogspot.com

  Chapter 1

  Lachelle leaned back in her seat and tapped a finger on the steering wheel. She snorted in amusement. Here it was the middle of the night, and she had driven over to her boyfriend’s house because she was in the mood.

  “God, I must be crazy. I should have at least called him.”

  She pulled her phone out her purse and brought up the screen to dial but then hesitated. No, he wouldn’t be mad. She was offering her body. What self-respecting man would refuse?

  Twitching her trench coat together, she climbed out of the car then frowned. This stupid coat was hot. Wearing a matching panty and bra set under it and nothing else seemed like a good idea at the time, but not at seventy degrees this time of night.

  “It won’t be long. Just get a move on, Lachelle.”

  She jogged along the walk to Skip’s building entrance, her flip-flops clopping on the cement. All around her, the apartment complex lay in silence. Not a person stirred anywhere. She glanced up at the balcony she knew belonged to Skip. No movement or light there.

  What if he was asleep? She grinned. If he was he wouldn’t be for long. Not when she got her hands on him. As she approached the building, she laid a hand over her belly and sighed. Not for want of trying, she still wasn’t pregnant. Part of that had to do with Skip saying he didn’t want to have kids until they were married.

  Her heart fluttered as she recalled his words and how he had expressed how much he cared. A few months ago, she wondered if she would ever open her heart again, or even if she did, if anyone would fill the hole left after she lost her former fiancé.

  With a pop, one of her flip-flops came apart. She stumbled and went down to one knee. Her belt came undone, and the trench coat flapped open with the sudden breeze. She grasped the two sides of the coat. A door opened, tempting her to shoulder roll, but she figured she would break her dang neck and scooted out of sight behind a car.

  While she did everything she could to stay fit, that didn’t mean she wanted to flash some random stranger out on the street. Her friends down at precinct twenty-three would laugh their heads off if they heard she was arrested for indecent exposure.

  Peeking over the car to see if the coast was clear, she squinted at the man just heading out of the apartment building. She could swear that build and gait looked like Skip’s.

  He said he couldn’t come over that night because he had work to finish up, and he thought he wouldn’t complete it before she was in bed. So where the heck was he going at two a.m.?

  Maybe he’s coming to surprise me.

  She started to call out to him and changed her mind. Wouldn’t it be fun to jump out at him in front of her place and scare the living daylights out of him? She followed.

  At the turn off where he should have headed to her place, he went the opposite direction. She increased the distance between their cars. Of course if he glanced in his rearview mirror, he would notice her following, even if he couldn’t see what kind of car it was. There were few cars on the street at that time of night.

  Skip led her all the way across town. She searched her purse for her phone. “Maybe I should text him to ask. I mean I know he’s awake.”

  Instinct made her hesitate. He might have an urge for a midnight snack. At least one restaurant in town opened that late. A few minutes later, when he drew up outside the place, she laughed at her silliness.

  “See, Lachelle, you were worried about nothing. I should tell him to grab me a reuben. God, that would be delicious tonight. I can eat lighter tomorrow to balance it out.”

  Once again, she raised her phone to text Skip. He hopped out of his car and jogged across the street toward the restaurant. Instead of going inside, he stopped, checked his phone, and glanced furtively up and down the street. When he darted into the alley beside the restaurant, Lachelle’s phone slipped from her fingers and fell on the floor.

  She dove out of her own car in hot pursuit. No doubt about it, Skip was up to something. She couldn’t imagine what it could be, but whatever it was, she wouldn’t wait around for him to explain himself after the fact.

  Squeezing the broken flip-flop between her toes, she hobbled at top speed across the street. The dark alley loomed with light from the restaurant only stretching so far. Fear never once stopped her, so headed in. Her boyfriend disappeared, but a shadow shifted above her head.

  She looked up and slammed straight into a wall. No, not a wall—a man.

  Maybe it was because he was dropping down from the sky that made him unsteady. She wasn’t sure. Her small body hit his gigantic one hard enough to knock him off his feet. They both went down hard to the ground. She landed on top of him, breath forced from her lungs, nose bumped against a rock hard chest. She bit her lip and cried out in pain.

  “What in the heck!” She glared into the most beautiful male face she’d ever seen. “What is your deal? Are you crazy, dropping to the ground? Don’t you think people would be walking around down here? If you want to play monkey bars in alleys and risk breaking your ankle, you can do it somewhere where I’m not!”

  The man didn’t say a word. Nor did he move. His gaze lowered to her chest, and she followed his line of sight. Another shriek escaped her. During all the chaos, she’d forgotten she was dressed in her underwear and a trench coat and that the coat had come open.

  She scrambled
to her feet and snatched the coat closed then turned to run after Skip. The lunatic caught her arm. She rounded on him, throwing a punch. He caught that hand.

  “Get off me. If you think you’re going take advantage of me because of the way I’m dressed, claiming I was asking for it, you’re going to have my knee wedged where you don’t want it to go. I’m nobody’s easy target!”

  “You can’t run down there.”

  “Says who?” She jerked her hands free of his hold, although to be fair, he already started to release them. Big as he was, she doubted she’d get away from him without ripping her own arms off.

  The big guy nodded toward her feet. “It’s not safe.”

  She looked down and then out to the curb. Sure enough, during her mad dash, she had lost the broken flip-flop. But how did the stranger take all that in during the head-on collision?

  “The city keeps this area very clean. Even our alleys look good. Not that what I do is any of your business.” She turned to go again, and for the second time, he stopped her. She smacked his hand from her arm. “Don’t push me. I have friends on the police force.”

  “There’s glass.”

  “Where, huh?” She gestured to the dark alley. “It’s black as soot down there. And I can use my phone to light it up.”

  His all-seeing eyes scanned her body. She tightened her belt, even though it was pretty snug now. No part of her body was visible other than her shins and feet. Let him lust over those if he wanted.

  “You don’t have your phone,” he said.

  “Oh now you have x-ray vision, not just see-in-the-dark ability. What I want to know is why you got in my way?” She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped closer, tilting her head back because dude was super tall. “Were you about to have a secret meeting with him?”

  “With who?”

  “You know.”

  As the guy considered his answer, she studied him. Only now did it hit her just how much this man had going for him. He had to be six foot five, maybe more. After falling on him, even in dim light she saw that he was handsome—a combo of pretty boy and rugged good looks.

  Dark hair and pale eyes. She couldn’t quite see the color and lamented the fact. He wore jeans that hugged sweetly narrowed hips and a T-shirt that molded over his big chest a bit too much. As a matter of fact, his clothes looked like he just picked them up from the cheapest secondhand store, but they didn’t have his size.

  Traveling her gaze down his solid form, she came to his feet and gasped. “Hold up, you’re complaining about me not cutting my feet, and you’re barefoot.”

  Suspicion and worry about this man’s sanity started to rise. As fearless and tough as she thought she was, she wasn’t without vulnerability. Common sense said she’d better get out of that alley before his brand of crazy jumped on her.

  “Um…” She licked her lips and tasted blood from the earlier bite. “Thanks for the warning. I better get going.”

  She sidestepped the guy and ran back across the street to her car. After slamming and locking the door, she looked toward the alley. The big guy was gone. Her heart did somersaults as she scanned the tops of the buildings and even the sky.

  “Okay, now you’re being silly, Lachelle. It’s not like you’re going to see him flying away.” She snorted in amusement and found her phone still lying on the floor.

  “Hey, sweet cheeks. I know it’s late, maybe I can come over.”

  Several minutes passed while she waited for an answer. At last, Skip responded.

  “Dorry, szleep, morrw?”

  “Liar. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Skip, and you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

  Chapter 2

  “Hey, sis, how’s it going?” Lachelle gushed. “I want to see my nephew. I’ll drop by your place later about four. I have a present for him.”

  “Today? No, uh…” Janessa fumbled for an excuse, something she had been doing for months. “I have a couple appointments. How about we meet tomorrow for coffee at that shop we like?”

  “What’s going on with you? I’m starting to think you don’t like me anymore. Or the family.”

  “Lachelle, you know that’s not true. I love you. You’re my favorite sister.”

  “I’m you only sister. Remember that.”

  “I remember. You wouldn’t let me forget even if I wanted to.” Her older sister chuckled. “I have a lot going on. In case you forgot, you’re the one who doesn’t keep to a schedule. You like to be a free spirit and all that mess. I’m the one who needs my world in order.”

  “Hmm.”

  “You know it’s true.”

  “Alright, fine. I’ll give you that much.”

  “Good. And,” Janessa pointed out, “I always make time to see you every time you ask. Plus, I wasn’t the one living over seas for a while.”

  “I wasn’t living in Ireland. We were back and forth. God, girl, can you even imagine that Skip has family in Ireland? I’m not a huge fan of the shade of his hair, but my babies will be cute.”

  “Preggo yet?”

  “Not yet. That’s something I wanted to talk to you about, plus…” Lachelle touched the tip of her tongue to the wound inside her mouth. It was almost healed.

  “Plus what?”

  “Something else. I’ll talk to you about it when I see you. I might be crazy. After all, Skip is a journalist. He’s bound to be working on stuff he doesn’t want me involved in.”

  “Uh-oh, you don’t think he’s cheating, do you? Sweetie, I’m sorry.”

  “No, I don’t think so, but maybe.” She shook her head. “He’d be nuts to cheat. Like I don’t take care of him. Hello? Cheating doesn’t compute.”

  Janessa burst out laughing. “You are the most confident woman on the planet—or the most delusional.”

  “Shush!”

  Her sister continued to tease her and then sobered. “I think we should talk. I’ve been dancing around something too, and it’s time we have a conversation.”

  “About?”

  “No, let’s wait until we meet and talk in person. Coffee tomorrow afternoon?”

  “Sure. Let’s make it at two. Cool?”

  “Cool.”

  Lachelle ended the call. She sat in her seat, using her tongue to play with the cut in her mouth. The wound reminded her of running into that big guy the other night. While he hadn’t said much, he had an impact. She wondered who he was and where he went. Did he know Skip, or was it a coincidence that they were in the same place at the same time?

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to catch up with Skip in a few days. One short call on the phone led to him making excuses about being busy on a story. He flew to California to follow up with some scientist or whoever. That kind of thing wasn’t unusual the whole time they had been together. She suspected the timing of this trip. For now, she let him go, waiting to confront him when she could look in his face and know whether he was lying.

  “Lachelle!”

  She jumped and spun around in her chair, frowning at her coworker who occupied the cubicle next to Lachelle’s. Never mind that the wall between them was low enough for Quantita to talk over, the woman had to leave her cubicle to come over to Lachelle’s on a daily basis.

  “I was just about to get back on the phone. What are you complaining about now?”

  Quantita waved spiky silver-painted nails. “Forget that. Did you see the news about that murder the other night?”

  “What murder? Don’t tell me it was someone you knew?”

  “God, no.” Quantita rolled her eyes. “But it was some freaky mess.”

  “Freaky?”

  Quantita took it upon herself to sit down on Lachelle’s filing cabinet. Lachelle noticed the light blinking on her computer screen, which signaled they better wrap up this conversation quick. Otherwise, her supervisor would come strolling along at any second.

  “So check this out,” Quantita continued. “This guy was murdered over there by that restaurant on Commonwealth Avenue. You
know that one that’s open late.”

  Lachelle’s blood ran cold. “What night was this?”

  “Tuesday.”

  “A-and why did you call it freaky? I mean every murder is, since it’s ugly violence, but…” Her mouth dried. She felt dizzy and wanted to run to the bathroom, but she had to hear everything. Then again, she wanted to tell Quantita to get out of her cubicle so she could look up what happened for herself.

  There weren’t two restaurants that opened late on the street Quantita mentioned. Also, the night of the murder was the same night Lachelle followed Skip over that way and ran into the big guy.

  Okay, calm down. First of all, you’ve talked to Skip since then, so he’s at least alive.

  Her mind started to dredge up the idea that it wasn’t Skip who texted her and that someone had stolen his phone after they killed him. Then common sense followed to remind her that she spoke to him on the phone. The panic eased a bit.

  “It’s freaky because the guy was naked, and they found this piece of a wing beside his body.”

  “A wing? So what? A bird died? Maybe a rat or some animal ate the rest and left part of the wing. What kind of weird ridiculous mess are they putting on the news right now?”

  Quantita smirked. “The structure of the piece they found could be from a creature as big as a man.”