"Hey, boy." A hand landed on her rump, rubbing there and bringing her eyes open as two men moved up on either side of her between the vans.
"The reindeer couldn't have come this way, the dog would have stopped it," the second man said as the first man ran his hands over the white fur now cresting Jill's body. She'd shifted successfully and was now a husky.
"Yeah. He must be back further," the first man agreed, straightening and turning back the way they'd come. "Let's backtrack."
Jill released a breath as the two men disappeared around the van, as relieved that the one man wasn't touching her anymore as she was that they'd been fooled by her shape-shifting. The fellow may have thought it was a dog's furry back he'd been running his hand over, but it had felt to Jill like his hand was coursing over her naked skin.
A scratching sound drew her attention back up to the van window and she smiled at the husky as he rubbed his paws over the glass of the window as if to say she should let him out to play with her.
Another time, she thought and hurried toward the opposite end of the parked vehicles, searching for the red SUV where Nick was supposed to be waiting for her. She was relieved when she spotted it and even more so when she saw that Nick was there waiting for her as promised. Some of that relief faded however, when she saw that he wasn't alone. Bev was there, and judging by her stance and the high angry pitch to her voice, she was in the midst of giving him hell for something.
"I'm sorry, Bev," Nick said apologetically as Jill reached the back end of the SUV. "But it was an emergency and we were on the last leg of the parade. There were only a couple of stores left to pass before the parking lot when we had to leave."
"That's another thing," Bev said "First Jill's here, then she has to go and that Noelle woman took her place, then suddenly Jill was there on the float, and someone said she was stark naked under the red cape. What the heck is going on?" "I can't really explain just now, Bev. I wish I could, but…" Nick let the word trail away as he glanced worriedly across the parking lot, obviously searching for her, or anyone rushing his way, Jill supposed, since he had no idea what she was going to look like. His action and her own thoughts reminded her that while she may have escaped the concerned citizens hunting the runaway Rudolph, John was probably heading their way and might know it was her when he saw her with Nick.
"Hey Bev! Where do you want us to put the costumes?"
Bev turned toward the elf who had come around the SUV. "I'll finish with you later," she said over her shoulder to Nick as she started away. "And when you see Jill, you tell her I have a few choice words for her too."
Jill waited until the pair were gone, then hurried to Nick's side, leaning against his leg to get his attention.
"Oh, hello, fellow," he murmured, bending to give her a pat. "I don't suppose you've seen a beautiful redhead that may or may not be herself, have you?"
Jill smiled at the words "beautiful redhead," and then said, "It's me."
She frowned as her words came out very badly slurred. Her jaws were now long and narrow and her tongue felt huge and unwieldly. She supposed she was lucky to be able to speak at all. Dogs didn't.
"Jill?" Nick asked with amazement and knelt to catch her jaw in his hand. He looked her over with disbelief. "How?… Why?…"
"It's a long story," she said, trying very hard to speak clearly. "We have to get out of here. John—" She paused as Nick suddenly straightened and peered over the roof of the SUV. The curse that slipped from his lips told her all she needed to know. John had caught up.
Chapter 4
"Come on." Nick moved to the driver's door, opened it, and waved her in. Jill immediately bounded into the vehicle, scampering over the driver's seat to the passenger side where she peered anxiously out the window. She wasn't made any less anxious to see that John Heathcliffe was no more than twenty feet away and moving fast.
She glanced back to Nick as he settled in the driver's seat and slammed his door closed, watched him start the engine, then turned back to the window again. John was running now and had cut the distance in half.
"Are the doors locked?" she asked nervously.
A click sounded as he shifted into gear and the doors automatically locked, then the SUV jerked forward. Jill scrabbled to keep her balance on the passenger seat as Nick accelerated, watching anxiously as John burst forward, shouting as he slammed his fists into the side of the vehicle. It's all he managed though, before they were tearing out of the parking lot, leaving him behind.
"Do up your seat belt," Nick ordered as he steered them up the road.
Jill turned to him with disbelief to see his gaze shooting between the road ahead and the rearview mirror, which showed the parking lot behind them.
"How exactly do you suggest I do that?" she asked dryly.
Nick glanced at her and frowned. "Can't you change back to yourself?"
"Certainly. If you'd like to drive through town with a naked woman in the front seat."
The smile that slowly curved his lips suggested it wasn't something he'd mind. Sighing, Jill dropped to her haunches on the passenger seat and raised one paw to the door to help balance herself.
Nick was silent for a moment, but now that they were safely away from John, his gaze was moving between the road and where she sat.
Moving uncomfortably under his inspection, she peered into the side mirror on her side of the vehicle, noting that the road behind them was empty. John wasn't following. Yet.
"I don't see him," she murmured.
"No." Nick glanced in the rearview mirror again. "Hopefully by the time he gets his own vehicle and tries to give chase, we'll be far enough away he can't find us."
Jill kept her gaze fixed on the side mirror until they turned a corner without seeing John's black van appear. She relaxed a little bit then and tried to think what she should do now. After a moment's thought, she glanced to Nick. "I need to call my brother."
"Of course. My cell phone is in the glove compartment."
When Jill peered at the glove compartment, but made no move to try to open it, Nick gave a short laugh.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I'll get it for you," he murmured. Pulling to a stop at a red light, he leaned sideways, reaching past her to open the glove compartment and retrieve the phone in question. He started to hand it to her, then paused and shook his head. "I guess I better dial for you."
Jill smiled faintly, but forced herself to stop when she realized her tongue hung out of her mouth when she did. Probably not the image she wanted to convey.
"What's his number?" Nick asked as the light turned green.
Jill rattled off the number and watched as he eased the car forward through the lights, his concentration split between the phone and the road ahead. Once finished, he didn't hand the phone to her, but placed it to his own ear and listened to it ring.
"The answering machine has picked up," he said after a moment, a frown curving his lips. "What do I say?"
Jill heaved a sigh. "Just hang up. They must still be out."
Nick flipped the phone closed and set it on the seat beside her. Jill stared at the phone with frustration for a moment and then said, "They probably won't be out much longer. If you dropped me off there I could wait for him to get back and—"
"No way," Nick said firmly. "Your brother's house is probably the first place this John guy will look."
Jill grimaced but didn't argue. Now that he'd said it, she realized it was true and she'd rather avoid running into John Heathcliffe again.
"And your place would probably be his next stop," Nick added before she could suggest it as an alternative.