Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,127
were facedown, each gripping a shot glass.
“Are they dead?”
Livy glanced over. “For the moment.”
“What?”
“Don’t get hysterical.”
“I’m not hysterical. Maybe we should call an ambulance or something.”
“See? That’s hysterical. And those are Max’s teammates. She plays ball with them.”
“Which means what . . . exactly?”
She shrugged. “Badgers.”
The four women began to move, each of them slowly sitting up. When they all seemed alert, they slammed their shot glasses down on the table.
“Woo!” one of them cheered. “That was awesome!”
Kyle pointed. “So they’re drinking . . . ?”
“Tequila laced with rattlesnake venom.”
“Of course they are. Because that’s completely normal behavior at an eighteen-year-old’s birthday party.”
* * *
Dag stared at Zé for an uncomfortable amount of time, then said, “You know you’re kind of small to be going after Siberian tigers, right?”
“Amur,” his sister said.
“What?”
“They’re actually called Amur tigers.”
After gazing at his sister for an uncomfortable amount of time, Dag refocused on Zé. “I mean, black bears don’t fuck with us. Because they’re smaller.”
“Okay,” Britta said, looking around the table. “Are we really not going to discuss this Freddy MacKilligan thing? I mean, is this some weird online thing? Is he going to end up on one of those news shows where they bust perverts? I just don’t understand why none of us are discussing it!”
“We’re not discussing it,” Berg reminded her, “because it sets Charlie off and no one wants to sit through another one of those Freddy-related rants.”
“They do go on,” Dag complained.
“Do you really think he’s actually having a thing with this girl?” Britta asked, her face twisted into an expression of utter disgust.
“Max thinks he’s just using her for her hacking skills,” Zé pointed out.
“That does make sense. Sadly. He’s not a man who understands basic boundaries.”
“I’ve only met the man once,” Zé admitted, “but I don’t like him.”
“No one does,” Berg said. “But do you think these Malones are related to Cella?”
Britta nodded. “Probably. I mean, how many Irish Siberian tigers could be running around Queens?”
Nelle sidled up to the table and took Zé’s hand. “Come with me,” she ordered.
Zé allowed Nelle to pull him away from the table, but he noticed how Britta’s gaze locked on poor Nelle.
“I think Britta believes you’re pulling me away for nefarious reasons.”
“Who?”
“The grizzly female?”
“Whatever.” She led him into one of the hallways and handed him a hotel room keycard.
“Whoa, Nelle. You’re really sweet but—”
“Please don’t make me give you the speech.”
“The speech? What speech?”
“You don’t want to know. Now, you take that, you go get my girl, and my driver will take you to the Kingston Arms hotel. I got you guys a suite with a hot tub. Feel free to get room service or drinks out of the minibar. It’s all on me.”
“You know I have my own money, right? I don’t actually need charity.”
“Of course I know that. But you don’t have access to it at this minute and watching you two constantly be thwarted by family and friends is getting painful.”
Zé smiled and kissed Nelle on the cheek. “Thanks, Nelle. I appreciate it. And—”
“I know. You’ll pay me back. Now go. My driver, Gavin, is outside, and you better head out before the karaoke starts.”
“Karaoke?”
“I really can’t think of a bigger boner killer than African wild dogs singing.”
Honestly? Neither could he.
* * *
Max wasn’t planning on dancing until Dutch showed up at the party. He grabbed her hand and spun her out into the middle of the dance floor. From there, they busted into the Hustle, with Streep and Tock on either side of them. The wild dogs loved it.
Her big sister, however, just looked horrified. She dropped her head and covered her face until Max noticed the female who sat down at the booth with her.
She grabbed Dutch’s hand and he spun her into his arms.
“Hey,” she said as they moved together, “isn’t that the She-lion from the street near our house?”
“Yeah.”
“She was at the thing.”
“What thing?” he asked, as they moved from the Hustle into the Bump.
“At the NYPD office. She was with the guys who were trying to blackmail me and my team.”
“From what I hear, those guys are still in the hospital. So she’s here on her own.”
“Spin me to Tock.”
He did.
“Did you or Nelle ever find out what team those guys belonged to? The ones at the NYPD office?”
“Nope. There’s nothing on them. And if Nelle can’t find out—”
“Got it.”
She Hustled her way back over to Dutch. “Dance me to Charlie.”