At first glance, she was a total babe. But that didn't make him like her any more. Well, parts of him did, maybe. But the rest of him still couldn't stand the sight of her.
"What the hell do you want?" he growled.
"We want the Eye," she replied.
Quinn's entire body tensed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He tried not to let anything show on his face, but panic twisted his gut. How did she know? Who told her?
The waitress approached. "What can I get you two?"
Janie didn't take her eyes off Quinn. "Nothing."
"Y'all can't just take up space here. You have to order something. It's the rules."
Lenny, who seemed to Quinn about the size of a cube van sitting next to him in the small booth, reached over and flipped through the menu. "I am a little hungry."
Janie sighed. "Fine. I'll have a coffee."
"Anything else?"
"No."
The waitress rolled her eyes, then looked at Lenny.
Lenny glanced at Barkley. "How was the burger?"
Barkley blinked. "Greasy but worth it."
"I'll have the same as him."
The waitress retreated.
Quinn cocked his head to one side and forced a smile to his lips. "You didn't ask for separate bills."
"You're not going to be a gentleman and pick up the tab for an old friend?"
He snorted and leaned back in his seat, trying to look relaxed when he felt anything but. "We were never friends, Janie."
"No, that's right. You were friends with my brother. The one you watched die."
Janie's brother Peter was a vampire hunter who enjoyed his work a little too much. Instead of feeling it was his job, it became fun to him. One night he got on the wrong side of a gun held by a vamp, and he'd lost. Quinn wanted to feel bad about it, but he didn't. Peter had changed. He wasn't the same guy Quinn had sparred with as a teenager while their fathers discussed hunter politics.
Barkley shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. "Quinn, are you going to introduce me?"
Quinn was busy staring at Janie, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this. He knew she was a trainedMerc —a mercenary—who sold her skills to anyone with the biggest dollar.
"Who are you working for?"
She ignored him and instead turned to Barkley, giving him a sly smile. "I'm Janie. Janie Parker."
He raised an eyebrow in an obvious sign of approval of the pretty blonde seated next to him. "Matthew
Barkley."
"I assume you're the werewolf."
He frowned. "Uh."
"Don't tell her anything," Quinn advised. "Janie, why don't the two of you leave. You're not wanted here."
"Quinn, I don't think you're taking very good care of yourself. You look kind of pale. Being a vamp getting to you? Not getting your three squares of hemoglobin a day?"
He narrowed his eyes. "So kind of you to be concerned, considering the last time I saw youyou shot me in the chest."
"With atranq dart. Big deal. And you totally deserved it."
The waitress returned with Janie's coffee. She grabbed for the creamer and sugar and put in an ample amount of both. "Now, let's get back on topic. The Eye. Give it to me right now and we'll leave."
"Like I said before, I don't know what you're talking about."
She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Lenny simply sat, quiet as a large boulder, watching the proceedings. Then she looked at a confused Barkley.
He raised his eyebrows. "I don't know what you're talking about, either."
Her left cheek twitched. She was acting very cool, calm, and collected, but could she be nervous?
Quinn frowned at her. "Don't you believe us?"
"Oh, I believe wolf-boy here. You? Not so much."
"Then I don't know what to say."
"How about this—" The unmistakable sound of a gun safety clicked off. "I have a gun loaded with silver bullets pointed at your travel buddy. You hand over the Eye and I won't send him to doggy heaven."
Barkley looked down. "She's got a gun, Quinn. What the hell is going on here?"
She glanced at Quinn. "Your move, handsome."
Not good. Not good at all.
She hadn't wanted to resort to Rambo measures quite so soon. She didn't want anybody to get hurt, but maybe she was more desperate than she'd thought. It seemed so easy just marching into the diner and acting tough, but when she saw Quinn face to face, it definitely knocked her confidence off balance. And when she was off balance, she tended toward extreme measures.
Was she going to shoot the werewolf? No. He'd never done anything to her, and it would be a frosty day in hell before she killed for no good reason. It was obvious that he didn't know where the Eye was,
let alone what it was. But she hoped that Quinn would think she was capable of such a cold hearted act.