Santa' Wayward Elf Read online

  “Then you need to make time, bitch, because one way or the other, we’re going to get what we came for.”

  A tremor of fear rippled through Sosie. This had suddenly gone from being the best night of her life to her worst nightmare all because she’d been foolish enough to let some guy talk her into coming back here. These three men intended to have their way with her, and she wasn’t sure there was anything she could do to stop them.

  Chapter Two

  Derek knew the blonde was in trouble the second he saw the two guys lead her off the dance floor. His fears were only confirmed when two other men attach themselves to the entourage and head toward the back of the club. The only thing back there were the bathrooms. That and a whole lot of privacy for what those bastards probably had planned for her.

  She didn’t seem drunk or high, and yet she seemed to be going with them willingly. Didn’t the girl have a suspicious bone in her body? It was as if she had no idea what could happen to her if she went off with those assholes.

  But as a cop, Derek knew all too well. And his gut told him they had something nasty in mind for her.

  He’d been hired by the club’s owner to act as extra security. There had been some punks hanging around causing trouble and management wanted them scared off. Problem was that the big, beefy guys the club had around for security usually only figured out there was a problem after everything had already gone down. The owner thought a real cop would have better instincts and know when something bad was about to happen. Not only had Derek done a good deal of moonlighting work for the various clubs in New York City, but he had a reputation for taking care of things with the minimum amount of noise and complications. That was the big thing here. Management wanted these shitheads gone, but they didn’t want it splashed on the morning news. That was bad for business.

  Derek was fine with that. Handling a situation like this low-key was actually in his best interest. The brass downtown was aware a lot of cops worked extra jobs on the side. They knew more than anyone how hard it was to try to make it in New York on a cop’s pay, and moonlighting paid damn good. But the unspoken rule was simple—take care of business quietly and don’t embarrass the uniform.

  Of course, the other issue with moonlighting was the lack of backup. It wasn’t as if Derek was going to ask the bouncers for help, so if anything went down, he was on his own. Which was exactly how he liked it.

  He left his post by the bar and headed toward the bathrooms. Time to earn his extra paycheck.

  The way that crew of guys had moved in on a single girl, then quickly and efficiently gotten her segregated from the rest of the club’s patrons without any fuss on her part probably meant they’d done this before. The question now was whether they only meant to rob her or were after something more. Derek was inclined to believe the latter.

  As he approached the bathrooms, a guy dressed in leather pants and a silk shirt stepped in front of him and held up his hands.

  “Sorry, dude,” he said to Derek. “The bathrooms are out of order. You need to go somewhere else.”

  Derek didn’t bother to slow down. Pulling out his badge, he shoved it in the guy’s face, forcing him backward until he was pressed up against the wall.

  “Right now, I’m going to assume you aren’t with the assholes who dragged that girl in the men’s room a few minutes ago. Because, if you are, I’ll have to bust you like I’m going to do to them.” He lifted a brow. “Am I right or wrong?”

  The guy turned white as a sheet at the threat. His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Finally, he took off running down the hallway. Derek watched him go. The bastard was so scared shitless, he probably wouldn’t come within five blocks of the club again. Good.

  Derek strode over to the door and shoved it open. The blonde was cowering against the far wall beside the urinals, a terrified expression on her pretty face while the three goons stood spread around her in a semicircle, cutting off her access to the door. They turned at Derek’s entrance and he saw that one of the men already had his pants half unzipped.

  “Party’s over, shitheads,” Derek announced, holding up his badge so they could get a good look at it. “Get the hell out of here.”

  The guy in the center—the one with his pants unzipped—studied it for a moment, then sneered. “That ain’t no real badge and you ain’t a real cop. Why don’t you get the hell out of here, shithead, before we beat the shit out of you?”

  The show of bravado seemed to give the other two scumbags courage and they advanced on Derek as if they intended to make good on their friend’s words. Derek would have liked nothing better than to haul all three of their asses down to the precinct and put them in lock-up for the night. But if he did that, there’d be paperwork, and he hated paperwork. Especially on Christmas Eve.

  The guy in the center—the one with the big mouth—was the key to diffusing the situation. He was clearly the leader of the group and the other two were feeding off him. If Derek wanted them to back off, he needed to take Big Mouth down a peg or two.

  Before Derek could act, Big Mouth reached into his pocket and came out with a switchblade. That gave the two guys with him pause and their eyes locked on the weapon in surprise. Maybe this was going further than they’d expected.

  Derek didn’t waste any time. Lunging forward, he grabbed Big Mouth’s wrist before he could open the switchblade, then brought his knee up and rammed the would-be rapist in the balls.

  The asshole dropped the knife and fell to his knees, grabbing at his package and whimpering. Knowing the man would be out of commission for a while, Derek kicked the knife across the floor and turned his attention to the other two guys, silently challenging them to come at him. They took one look at their buddy writhing on the floor, then ran for the door, almost falling over each other in their haste to exit the bathroom.

  Derek wanted to check on the girl, but there was one more piece of business he needed to take care of first. Grabbing Big Mouth by the shirt, he rolled him onto his stomach. Holding him there with one hand, he dug in the guy’s back pocket for his wallet with the other. He flipped through it until he found the jerk’s driver’s license, then pulled it out. Rolling the guy over onto his back again, he tossed the wallet on his chest.

  “Your license will be waiting for you at the door of the club tomorrow night,” Derek told him. “Of course, by then every bouncer in this part of the city will have a copy of it on his stay-the-fuck-out list, so if I were you. I’d think twice about trying to get in any of the clubs around here.”

  Big Mouth tried to say something, but all that came out was a groan as he curled back up into a fetal position. He’d think twice about trying to rape an innocent girl in the bathroom again, too. If his dick worked after this.

  At the reminder of the girl, Derek lifted his gaze to find the blonde gazing at him with the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Damn, those were some seriously blue peepers. A guy could lose himself in there if he weren’t careful.

  Realizing he was on the verge of doing that right there in the middle of the men’s bathroom, Derek cleared his throat and held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

  She hesitated, as if unsure whether to take his hand or not, but then reached out to grasp it. Her hand was small in his, almost delicate. Giving her would-be attacker a wide berth, she quickly stepped around him and let Derek lead her to the door.

  Outside the bathroom, he didn’t linger in the hallway, but took her directly back to the main part of the club. Derek didn’t want her having to look at Big Mouth’s ugly mug when the bastard finally peeled himself off the tile and wandered out.

  Once back in the crowd of people, Derek turned to look at her. He’d been too busy with Big Mouth to notice it before, but now he realized how petite she was. Shorter than he was by more than a foot, she barely came up to his chest even with the little heels on the black boots that went with her costume. He could see why the people who did the hiring down at whatever department store
she worked picked her. With her small, slightly upturned nose and creamy skin, she looked exactly as he imagined an elf would look.

  Although he had to admit, he didn’t picture an elf having quite so many sexy curves. While she was slender, she was rounded in all the right places. As if that weren’t enough to get him going, she had long, silky hair that hung down to her waist. Damn, he’d always been a sucker for a woman with long hair. Man, if he weren’t at the club in a professional capacity, he’d definitely be hitting on her.

  Abruptly aware he was standing there looking down at her like an idiot, he cleared his throat again. “Are you okay? Those guys didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I fear they would have if you hadn’t come to my rescue when you did. Standing up to them was very heroic.”

  Derek felt himself flush at her words. Everyone called cops heroes, but hearing this beautiful woman say it sort of got to him. He gave her an embarrassed smile. “Just doing my job.”

  She looked confused by that, but then her lips curved. “Well, you have a very heroic job. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He glanced at the people on the dance floor, then back at her. “It’s dangerous for a woman to be on her own in a club. There are a lot of jerks like those guys in the bathroom back there who hang out here, but they’re less likely to prey on you if you stay with a group. You should stick with your friends.”

  She regarded him with that same confused expression, as if she had no idea what he was talking about, then her eyes went wide. Muttering something under her breath that sounded like, “Figgy,” she turned and ran for the exit.

  Derek watched her go, a frown creasing his brow. What the hell? He told himself it was none of his business why she’d run off or where she’d run to, that he’d done his duty when he got her away from those bastards in the men’s room. But the white knight in him came out and he found himself pushing his way through the crowd of people to follow after her.

  She was quicker than he thought, and by the time he caught up with her, she was already outside. She was standing on the sidewalk, gazing up at the roof of the building across the street, a look of what could only be called disbelief on her pretty face. He followed the direction of her gaze, scanning the rooftop in an effort to figure out what she was staring at, but he didn’t see anything.

  Derek turned his attention back to the girl. She was still looking up at the roof.

  He gently put a hand on her arm. “Hey, you okay?”

  She tore her gaze away from the building across the street to blink up at him with those impossibly blue eyes. “Wh-what?”

  “You look upset,” he said. “Is everything all right?”

  The wind swirled her long hair around her face and she reached up to push it back. “Um… Yes… No… The people I came here with left.”

  “Oh.” Her friends must have seen her go off with those guys and figured she was going to hook up for the night. “I’m sure if you call them, they’ll come back for you.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t have a phone and neither do they.”

  None of them had a cell phone? That’s hard to believe. “Well, maybe they went to another club or something. I’m sure they’ll come back to get you soon.”

  She nibbled on her lower lip as she considered that. Although she still looked unsure, she nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right. Once they realize I’m not with them, they’ll come back to look for me.”

  Once they realize she isn’t with them? What is she, a pet Chihuahua? She was short, yes, but damn hard to miss. Whatever. “Listen, it’s kind of cold out here. Maybe you should wait for your friends inside where it’s warmer.”

  She hesitated, then shook her head. “I’d better not. I don’t want to miss them when they come back.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure.”

  Derek hated to desert her, but he didn’t have a choice. He was on the clock for another two hours and she seemed adamant about waiting outside for her friends. “Okay. Well, if you change your mind or you get cold, tell the bouncers I said to let you back in.”

  “Bouncers?”

  “The two big guys standing at the door. Tell them Derek Clayton said to let you in.”

  “Oh.” She smiled and Derek couldn’t help but notice how it seemed to light up the winter night. “I will. And thank you. Again.”

  “You’re welcome.” His mouth curved. “Have a Merry Christmas.”

  Her grin broadened. “Merry Christmas to you.”

  Giving her a nod, Derek turned and reluctantly headed for the club. Before going back inside, he stopped to ask the bouncers to keep an eye on the girl. He didn’t want her getting harassed by any more assholes.

  Derek glanced back at her. She was still standing on the sidewalk staring up at the building across the street, her beautiful smile replaced by a worried look that etched a line between her perfectly arched brows. She was so small and forlorn he had to fight the urge to say to hell with his job at the club and go back over to her.

  * * * *

  Sosie couldn’t believe the transport sled had left without her. Hadn’t they noticed she was missing? It wasn’t exactly as if she was an easy elf to forget. Even if the other passengers had somehow failed to realize she wasn’t on board, the sled crew should have figured it out.

  Apparently not.

  As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn’t put all the blame on them. If she hadn’t given in to her curiosity and come down here to dance, she would be safely on her way to the South Pole right now instead of being stranded in a far-off city.

  She hugged herself and looked up at the roof across the street, wondering if she should go up there and wait. At some point, one of her fellow elves was bound to notice she wasn’t with them and they’d come back for her like the handsome man from the club had said. But the longer she stood there, the less likely she began to think that was going to happen. For all she knew, they’d realized she’d gone off somewhere and purposely left her. Not because they didn’t care, but because it was too dangerous to venture into the city to look for her. They had probably already reported the whole thing to Elf Central. The Special Forces elves were most likely getting ready to mount a rescue mission even now.

  That should have made her feel better, but instead it only made her more nervous. She’d never heard of an elf getting lost. Just because they set out to rescue her didn’t mean they’d find her right away. She would have to fend for herself until they did. That was easier said than done. Going into a dance hall for a few minutes was one thing. Living in a BP city for an extended length of time was definitely another.

  She glanced over at the line of people waiting to get into the club. She wasn’t a Special Forces elf. She had no training on how to survive on her own for long periods of time outside the North Pole. It was true she’d learned about how the BPs lived, worked and played when she’d been in school. In addition to that, there was all the research she’d done as part of her job as a toy designer. And of course, she’d seen plenty of stuff on The Polar Evening News. But all that was a far cry from actually knowing how to live among them while keeping her identity secret.

  While she waited for Elf Central to find her—if they could—she was stuck with no food, no water and no place to stay. She was up a Christmas tree without a ladder and she wasn’t so naïve to think she could depend on everyone being as kind as the handsome man who’d rescued her from those barbarians in the club. In fact, she thought as she watched a man and woman arguing across the street, some of them were grouchy grinches.

  Tears stung her eyes suddenly and she blinked them back. Figgy, what was she going to do?

  “Your friends never showed?”

  Sosie was so caught up in worrying about the mess she was in she didn’t realize anyone was talking to her until she felt a gentle hand on her arm. She turned to see the handsome man from the club standing beside her, a concerned look i
n his kind, dark eyes. She was so happy to see a friendly face she almost hugged him. Of all the things that had happened to her tonight, meeting Derek Clayton was by far the best.

  She resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and shook her head. “No. We got kind of separated when we got here and I don’t think they realized I went into the club.”

  She hated lying to him, especially after everything he’d done for her, but it wasn’t as if she could admit her elfin transport sled had flown away and left her. On the other hand, she hadn’t really told him a lie. Her fellow elves didn’t know she’d gone to the club.

  “Oh.” He regarded her in silence. “Couldn’t you take a cab home?”

  If she weren’t about to cry, she would have laughed. He had no idea how hard it was going to be for her to get home. She caught her trembling lower lip between her teeth and shook her head again.

  Derek must have realized she was close to tears because he reached out and gently brushed her hair back from her face. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll pay for a cab for you.”

  Sosie had learned on the news that a cab was a street sled people hired on a short-term basis to drive them wherever they wanted to go. The only problem was that there wasn’t any street sled that could drive her to the North Pole. She couldn’t tell him that, though.

  “It’s kind of you to offer, but I live a long way up north. I don’t think a cab could take me there.”

  He looked surprised at that. “You’re not from New York?”

  She shook her head. “I’m just visiting.”

  “And your friends up and left you? Well, that sucks.” He thought a moment. “Do you have their address in the city? You know, where you were going to stay while you were in town?”

  “No.” She gave him a shrug. “I thought I would stay with my ride and that would get me where I was going.”

  Again, not really a lie.