Page 32 of Fighting Furry

Axel frowned and I could see it was finally sinking in just how trapped we were. “Maybe we should fake your death. That way we could be sure they'd never find you.”

I widened my eyes and tilted my head to the side. “You're so cute. It's like you were raised by conspiracy theorists or screenwriters.”

He grinned. “You think I'm cute?”

His crazy must have been contagious, because I almost smiled. “I think we need an actual plan, and you are useless.”

I grabbed my phone from the couch and dodged his gropey hands, biting my lip not to smile at his antics. Leave it to him to make me smile when we were in shit up to our necks. I dialed Shelly. “You seen the gossip news?” I asked as soon as she answered.

“Nope,” she said. “I'm sort of working.”

Just one more reason I loved Shelly. She could be in the middle of giving a massage and she'd answer when I called. Bad for her business, probably, but great for me. “We're surrounded by paparazzi and I need a way out that they can't follow. I'm moving to Mule Creek with Axel.”

She was dead silent for several long minutes. “Will I be able to visit you there?”

I looked over at Axel and he nodded. Had he heard that all the way over there? “Just her,” he said. “Not the wife.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Of course.” I'd negotiate the wife.

“Okay. The paparazzi know I'm your best friend, so if I show up it will draw suspicion…Let me make a few phone calls. You get ready to go.”

“I'll be ready.” I'd be ready, but I'd have to leave behind pretty much everything I owned. There was no way we'd get moving boxes past the paparazzi.

I hung up and started pacing. “Did she have an idea?” Axel asked.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Then you should probably finish packing.”

I stopped and looked at him. “I'm packed.” I pointed out the suitcase that was already next to the door. It had my laptop, warm clothes, and toiletries in it. It was all I could reasonably take.

Axel eyed the bag and sobered. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know this must be hard for you.”

I ignored him and his unreasonable empathy and went back to pacing. I was halfway through my fifteenth lap when Axel grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. He wrapped his arms tight around me and it felt so good that I didn't have the energy to fight him.

***

Shelly called me half an hour later. “A man in a dark cap will knock on your door in two minutes. You can trust him. Go with him and do whatever he says.”

I smiled at her serious tone. “Ten-four. The eagle has landed.”

“What?”

“We'll go with him. Thanks, Shelly. I love you.”

“Love you, too, babe. I'll miss your stubborn ass.”

I hung up and spun on Axel's lap to tell him what she said. “I heard,” he said. “Werewolf hearing. Yours will get stronger every time you shift.”

A knock sounded at the door. Axel stood with me in his arms and set me on my feet. I opened the door to a teenager in a dark cap and a t-shirt with the logo of the local flower shop. “Are you old enough to drive?”

He smirked with way too much attitude, even for a punk kid. “I'm saving your ass, aren't I?”

Behind me, Axel chuckled.

“Let's go,” I said, fighting a smile. I grabbed my suitcase and followed the kid. I didn't even fight too much when Axel entwined his fingers with mine and held on tight.

The kid led us to a freight elevator. “This is the way I come up when I make flower deliveries,” he said.

---