“I could give you twenty good reasons to pick dead,” Tyler muttered behind me.
“I bet you could give me a hundred in under a minute, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve made up my mind.” I stepped into the hallway. “Turn out the lights, will you?”
“Your electric bill is the least of your worries.”
“I’m all about the environment.”
“You rented a Humvee?” The vehicle parked at the end of my lot was not only a monstrosity, it was a canary-yellow monstrosity.
“What’s wrong with it?” Tyler grumbled.
“I don’t know. I could start with the color, but why go with the obvious? How about its sheer girth and notice-ability? Was the Batmobile taken?” I retorted. “Bruce Wayne’s car is the only other car in the history of the universe more noticeable than this beast of a thing.”
Danny came up behind Tyler and slapped him on the back. “See. I told you yellow was too flashy for the ladies. They tend to enjoy the blacks and beiges.”
Tyler calmly placed his hand on the hood. “For your information, I didn’t rent it. I bought it. I found this guy two hours away who details old army vehicles. This one was available and I wasn’t in a position to be picky. It’s reinforced and ready to roll, so I paid the man and drove away.” He arched an eyebrow at me, which I could see clearly despite the deepening darkness. “I wasn’t under the impression we were going for stealth. I was under the impression we needed space and strength to achieve our goal.”
“A pairing of the two would’ve been nice,” I said. “An inconspicuous Jeep Cherokee would’ve sufficed. Riding around in this is like painting a gigantic yellow X on our foreheads. And in light of the recent news, the entire supernatural community is going to be interested in my whereabouts very quickly. We just gave them a huge beacon to follow.” I felt like kicking one of the enormous tires in frustration. My emotions began to roil and a soft coating of fur erupted on my arms.
“Jess, you need to calm down,” my brother said in a quiet tone. “I had no idea news about you was going to break. We’ve been home for less than two days. In the future I will be sure to couple stealth into all of our plans. Until then, no one is here to see us leave, nobody is watching. We will be fine.”
“I realize I’m being irrational.” I took a step away from the vehicle. “But, honestly, a yellow monster truck was the plan you felt most confident going with?”
“This yellow monster is armored, has sixteen-inch chassy clearance, two gas tanks, a backup battery, an exhaust snorkel, foam-filled tires, bullet-proof glass, and it’s geared to go a hundred miles per hour.”
I crossed my arms in front of me, grudging respect creeping in. My brother had planned for a missile attack and I wanted a Jeep Cherokee. He was right. “Fine.” I sighed. “You win. It was the right choice, but we have to leave immediately. No more lingering by Big Bird.”
My brother cracked a grin and gave me a bow. It wasn’t very often I conceded the argument. “We are ready to roll, just waiting on the vamps now.”
“And can I just ask, why is the whole world after you now?” Danny added. “Well, other than you’re the only female of our kind, of course.”
“I’ll explain later. We’ll have plenty of time for discussions on the road.” Going into this now with Danny was not on the agenda. I walked around to the back of the beast. “Where’s Ray?”
Danny pointed inside the Humvee. “He’s all ready to go, just one giant teddy bear, that one.”
“Except when he wakes up and bites off a finger.” If Ray somehow managed to get away, we could find him, but it would be a complication we didn’t need, and it certainly wouldn’t help his cause with my father. “Also, please tell me there are plans in place to investigate Jeff the Super while we’re gone?” My building super, Jeff Arnold, a wereweasel shifter, had been caught trying to break into my apartment for some unknown reason. We had to find out whom he was working for and why he’d been there in the first place.
“Yes. I gave a full report to your father this morning. He’s assigned a few wolves to investigate. We should have more answers when we return.”
“Excellent.” Footsteps echoed on the pavement at the other end of the parking lot. I turned to see Nick and James approaching as I lifted my duffel on top of a bed of coolers, tents, sleeping bags, and supplies. My brother was indeed prepared.
While I arranged it, I glanced into the interior at Ray’s silhouette. He sat slumped to the side in the backseat. The ends of his gag were visible and I heard breathing, but he was out cold. He must have given Danny some trouble.