Ghost Dance (Tulsa Thunderbirds Book 3) by Catherine Gayle Page B

done picking at him. Not yet. Grinning, I reached up with my other hand and delved into the tangled, wiry strands hanging from his chin. Only they weren’t as wiry as I’d expected them to be. They were almost soft. I kind of liked the feel of his beard against the soft skin of my palm. “You know, we’ll probably be holed up here for days, just the two of us. That’s a long time to try to keep a secret from me.”
    He glared at me for a moment, kicking the car door closed. Then he stomped into the house and deposited me on the couch before returning to the garage for my wheelchair, not giving me an answer.
    Yeah, this was going to make for a very interesting Christmas.

    AFTER WE ARRIVED at Nazarenko’s house, I called the police again and officially filed a report.
    They made sure to inform me, multiple times, that while they were taking my stolen car seriously and would investigate as soon as possible, the current weather situation in the state would be occupying all available resources for the time being.
    Not really a surprise. It didn’t matter, in the short term, because whether I had my car or not, I wasn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future. In the short span of time from when I’d left my place, gotten to the gas station, left there with the cranky Russian, and arrived at his house, the weather had deteriorated at a rapid pace. I was perfectly aware just how much of a mess everything was right now, thank you very much.
    Once I was done with the police, I put in a claim with my insurance company. Whether they ever recovered my car or not, chances were high it would at least need some repairs. I only hoped the thief didn’t screw with my hand controls, if they did leave my car somewhere. Neither the police nor the insurance adjustor seemed to think it likely I’d ever see that car again, though, and if I did, it wouldn’t be in usable condition.
    Then I called my landlord, Dan, to inform him my keys had been stolen and I needed the locks to be changed. He said he’d get it done, and once I came home after the holidays, I should stop in at his house next door for the new key.
    Finally, I called Gray to fill him in. He didn’t take the news so well.
    “I’m coming to get you,” he said, once I’d finished explaining the situation.
    “No, you’re not. You said it yourself this morning. Going out in this weather is a suicide mission in this part of the country.”
    “So you’re just going to stay with a stranger for however long it takes for the city to thaw out, huh?”
    “He’s not a stranger.” Strange, yes. But not a stranger. I’d had coffee and dinner with him before. That was more than enough to realize Dmitri Nazarenko wasn’t a threat to me. He might not be the most pleasant person to be around, but he wouldn’t do anything to harm me. “It’s not ideal, but it’ll be fine.” And if I kept repeating those words enough to convince my brother, maybe I’d eventually start to believe them, too.
    “I don’t like this, London.”
    “She’ll be fine,” I heard Dad say in the background, and I stifled a grin even though neither of them could see me. “She’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. I think we should all know that by now.”
    “Exactly what Dad said,” I agreed. And if anyone should have that drilled into his head by now, it was my father. “Look, we have electricity. We’ve got heat. He has a fireplace, too, so even if the power lines go down, we should be able to stay warm.” If he had firewood…something I hadn’t bothered to ask yet. “And I’m sure there’s food in the kitchen.” At least, I hoped there was. And that he knew how to prepare it, since his kitchen wasn’t designed to be wheelchair-friendly. I doubted I’d be much help. “It’s not like it’ll be forever, and there are a lot worse places I could be stuck.”
    I shuddered, thinking about what might have happened if I’d let Nazarenko take me to the police station, like