“I keep jour secret, Chica. You know me, I weel always have jour back. We”—she motioned between the two of us with her cherry red nails—“we have to stay together when the tough get going.”
“That’s great, Juanita. Thanks.” I felt like a chump asking her for a favor when I had so obviously shunned this nice woman’s attempts at friendship over the last few years. “Um, I have a favor to ask you, Juanita, if you don’t mind.”
“No problem.” She smiled at me with no misgivings. “I do it for you, whatever it es.”
“As you can see, I had a little problem with my door last night.” James grunted under his breath at my choice of the word ‘little.’ “I’m going to call the super, but I was hoping you could maybe keep an ear out if anyone who happens to come by when you’re around?”
“Sí, thees es my day off, so I weel keep up guard for you no problems!”
I eyed her outfit again, wondering what motivation got you out of bed and into full dress and makeup on your day off. But who was I to judge? This woman was turning out to be a great ally, and I was kind of running short on those at the moment.
“Listen, Juanita.” I leaned in closer and she immediately followed, her forehead almost touching mine. “It’s very important you don’t open your door if you hear anyone out here, no matter who it is.” As I said it, I looked straight into her eyes, trying to force some Vulcan mind-meld mojo at her—a gift that I might or might not have, but it was worth a try. I was interested in Juanita’s help, but I had no intention of forfeiting her life for it. Whoever hired rogues meant business. They would not hesitate to take her out. “I mean it, Juanita. No door opening under any circumstances. Use your peephole and call me if anything seems … um, I guess … strange.” Well, stranger than what you heard last night. “Or overly unusual.”
“Okay, Chica. I weel not open the door to no one, even if they say to me es okay, sí?” She was obviously completely unpersuaded by my nonexistent mind-meld skills. A pang of disappointment ran through me. Not having an arsenal of super new gifts was going to make it hard to navigate in the supernatural world, where power was a must. I was really hoping for persuasion; it would’ve been a great asset.
James had finished propping the door into the opening and it looked fairly good at first glance, however, one push of a fingertip would likely topple it back into my apartment, but it would do for now. I’d put a call into Jeff, the super, as soon as I could. I had nothing to steal, as my apartment was bare, but allowing access to anyone who stopped by was tricky. If Juanita alerted me to anything suspicious, I might have an advantage.
We were late.
I quickly jotted my number on the piece of paper I’d brought out and handed it to her. “Remember, Juanita. It’s extremely important that you do not open your door for any reason. Are we clear?”
“I weel no open, Chica. I weel keep watch with all my strength for you.” She leaned in to me one last time with a sly look. “But for my repayment, you weel need to come to my house to have a drink, sí? Juanita weel keep jour secrets for you, but in return you have to tell Juanita what es happening here in thees crazy place.” She shook her head at me. “Es too much. I worry for you.”
Juanita was sharp as a tack and I admired her spunk. “Okay, Juanita, you have a deal.”
I pulled into my office parking lot a few car lengths ahead of James. There were a ton of cars already in the lot. No one was waiting to jump me outside, so I figured my father had them under control. I parked and headed into my building. There was no need to wait for James with plenty of able-bodied wolves inside. A supe bent on attack, even if it was another rogue, would be foolish to come here. The smell outside was a swirling tide of male aggression.
I pushed the doors to Hannon & Michaels open and Marcy strode toward me anxiously. “You’re late.” Her eyes gleamed with the sparkle of adventure, not a typical sight. Her signature scent of fresh lavender wafted up my nose, making me smile in spite of the situation.
I glanced at the clock behind her desk. “You can barely call this late. I’m a little tardy.”