Chapter One
Billie York grumbled under her breath as she made her way up to the Wulf's Den front entrance. It was almost three in the morning. She had been in a deep sleep when her sister-in-law, Janice, had called asking Billie to find her husband, Billie's brother, and haul his ass home. Knowing she was the only one who could do it, Billie assured Janice she would have Hayes home soon.
Now here she was standing out in front of a night club just before closing time, cursing her brother's existence. Every time he had a fight with his wife, Hayes went to some bar and got stinking drunk. And it was always Billie who had to get his drunken ass home since she was the only one who could find him. Hayes tried to hide from her by going to bars and nightclubs he didn't usually frequent, but it never mattered. Billie had a gift, one that only her family knew about - she could find anyone she knew, no matter how brief their acquaintance. She didn't even need to know their name, just what they looked like. She could bring the image of the person's face up in her mind and be able to see exactly where that person was at that exact moment. She'd been able to do it with ease since she was very young. At first she had thought everyone could do it. She soon learned differently once she started going to school and her friends had laughed at her when she had told them what she could do. Now, it was something the family kept to themselves.
Since it was almost closing time, there wasn't a line-up of people waiting to get into Wulf's Den. Billie nodded her head at the large baldheaded bouncer at the door before she stepped inside. He waved her through as he eyed the sweat pants and sweat top she wore. Billie knew she wasn't dressed for a nightclub, but at the moment she pretty much didn't give a damn. She would only be there long enough to collect Hayes and then she was going to go back to bed.
It took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dimness inside the club. Once she could see, Billie quickly scanned the room for her brother. He wasn't hard to find. The club wasn't filled to capacity at this time of night. With her eyes focused on where Hayes sat at the bar talking to one of the waitresses, Billie stomped over to him.
Hayes didn't notice her at first as he continued to tell the waitress in a drunken slur how much he loved his wife even though she didn't understand him. Billie rolled her eyes in disgust. The waitress, who happened to look as if she'd stepped off one of the pages of a fashion magazine, gave Billie a small smile before leaving her alone with her brother.
It was then Hayes realized she was standing beside him. He scowled at her. "Shit, Billie, can't I ever get away from you?"
Billie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Hayes. "No. Do you think I enjoy being dragged out of my bed to hunt you down? Believe me, I don't. I have other things I would much rather be doing than be my brother's keeper. Such as getting a full night's sleep for starters."
"Then why do it? It's not as if I asked you to find me." Hayes reached for his drink. Finding the glass empty, he scowled at it. "Empty. Where's that bartender?" Hayes looked down the length of the bar.
"I think you've had more than enough. Time for you to go home to your wife."
"One more drink for the road, then I promise to go home. I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way you know."
Billie snorted as Hayes just about fell off the barstool while he continued to look for the bartender. "I don't think so. Now give me your car keys so we can get the hell out of here."
"Just go home, Billie. I can manage on my own. How come you only bug me like this and not the others?" The others Hayes referred to were their three older brothers.
"The others don't get stupid drunk every time they take offense to something their wife says to them. Are you going to give me your keys, or do I have to take them from you?"
"Go away, Billie. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is