A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) (5 page)

“Who are you?” the man asked, moving away from the bars. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” replied Rick. “I’m getting you out of this place.” The lock was a cinch to pick. Rick opened the door. “Unless, that is, you have a preference for cages and dying.”

“No, actually, I do not,” the cat replied, but made no move to exit the cell.

Rick’s head cocked to one side. He resisted the urge to make a sarcastic reply. “So let’s go.”

Rick saw doubt in the man’s eyes. He did not blame him, but they had no time to waste. When the cat’s gaze stopped at a location behind Rick’s shoulder and widened, Rick whirled about, readied for an attack. He saw no one but the mysterious cat-woman with a large pouch in her hands. She swayed on her feet. Before
Rick made a move, the indecisive tiger shoved him to the side and rushed to her aid.

“Leonora!” exclaimed the tiger.

Rick quickly regained his balance and got to the woman a second behind the tiger. He reached for her shoulders, but was too late. The tiger had snatched her from the floor and hunched his body protectively over hers.

“Get your hands off her, human. I will not let you hurt her.” He growled.

“Don’t be stupid. If I wanted to hurt her, I would’ve killed her when she was on the table.”

The possessive manner in which the man held the cat-woman caused Rick’s stomach to churn. To keep from commenting, he grinded his teeth. It was best the alien carried her, he reasoned. After all, it would be up to him to get them out of there alive. He certainly could not do it if he had to carry an unconscious woman in his arms.

Rick glanced at his watch and his lips pulled over his teeth. “Bloody hell. It’s five thirty. We have only thirty minutes before sunlight to get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

Rick’s right brow tilted, but because of the mask, no one saw it. On the other hand, the distrust behind the cat’s lowered lids was crystal clear. “Why? Is there somewhere you need to be?” he asked.

The cat stonily returned his stare.

Telling himself to allow this man to carry the woman was a complete different story to actually seeing him lift her into his arms. It looked too much like an intimate embrace that Rick itched to punch the man across the room and lock him up in his cage again.

Rick suppressed the annoying need, for that part of life was forbidden to his breed—a lesson that had cost him too much to learn. “Don’t hold her so tight; you’re smothering her.” He bumped shoulders with the cat as he headed for the door.

The feline growled at the clear challenge. “Pick up the sack. We need—”

“Forget it!”

“What is inside that sack is critical to our survival.” The man’s voice slowed. “If you care about this woman, then you will do as I say.”

The sudden jolt in Rick’s midsection stopped him in his tracks. The last man who had spoken those words to him materialized before him. He had a gun pointed at Mary’s head. In his arrogance, Rick had thought he could take him. He was wrong. He could not afford to make another judgment error.

Grumbling, he returned for the bag. “I don’t know what’s so bloody important in this bag. But if it’s essential to her survival, then I’ll get it.” He slipped the long drawstring over his head and left shoulder and positioned the large bag behind his back. “I have it. Now let’s go.” Rick paused in front of the main door. He first pointed with his digit finger to the man then to himself. “Remember, from now on
you
will do as
I
say.”

Rick could hear the feline growling as they traveled along the corridors. It made him move faster. With two-thirds of the building behind them, victory was too close at hand to care. When he paused at an intersection, the feline intentionally bumped into his back. Rick’s lips pulled over his teeth.

“The exit is this way.” The male’s striped head pointed in the opposite direction they headed.

“No, it’s this way,” Rick corrected, pointing with his gloved finger. “Follow me.”

“No, it is this way. I remember it from when they brought us to this nightmarish place.”

Rick spared a glance at his watch. His tight hold on his patience was slipping fast. “We have no time to argue, okay. So let’s go!” He continued onward with no signs of stopping, unaware that the tiger had stopped following.

He was about to explain how they had to be extremely cautious in this portion of the building because of the infrared beams and the motion detectors hidden throughout, when the alarms began to blare.

What the…
? Rick searched for what had triggered the alarms. He spotted the tiger down the hall, frozen in place. His head whipping from side to side looking for unseen attackers.

“You bloody idiot! You broke the stream!” Rick rudely grabbed the cat by his ripped collar. “You stupid cat! Now look what you’ve done.”

Wild-eyed and frightened, the cat tried to apologize.

“Keep your bloody apologies to yourself!” Rick yelled above the alarm, pointing to the stirring lioness. “It won’t be me you will need to apologize to, but to her if we get caught, you stupid idiot!” Rick released the cat, pulled out his Glock 18, and rushed off in the direction he had intended to go from the beginning.

Utilizing his combat skills and weaponry, Rick lived up to his codename Predator by quickly taking out his prey. He tried desperately not to kill anyone, only crippled the soldiers long enough for them to escape. It was not easy. The entire squad stationed at the facility was after them.

Christ, you would think the world would come to an end with the disappearance of these aliens
, Rick grumbled silently, as he led the way through the wilderness.

He was grateful the alien at least lived up to his lineage, surefooted and fast. They made it to his car in record time. Rick opened the passenger door and slammed it shut once the two felines were inside. He jumped across the hood, slid off the opposite side, and hurried to his seat behind the wheel. Before the soldiers reached the road, they had screeched out of sight.

The blue sedan raced along the highway. There were a few cars and trucks on the road. Tigif watched the human remove his mask and rub his face. The tiger’s vision blurred as he regarded each sharp angle of the human’s profile. The male’s long yellow hair, tied in a ponytail, repulsed him.

He passed the cup of his hand over his mouth. “So…are you
Predator
?” He made certain the human could read his disgust on his face and hear it in his voice.

Rick nodded once. “My actual name is Rick McCall. You’ve heard of me?”

“I have.” Tigif blinked several times to help focus on the lovely feline in his arms. “Leonora spoke of a
human
who fought to protect her. She called him Predator.” He bared his teeth and said, “That is as far as my gratitude will go.”

It pleased Tigif to see Rick clench his jaw. He wanted the human to make no mistake. They were enemies to the end. He overheard Rick softly repeating Leonora’s name. His gaze narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“You called her Leonora.”

His face was unreadable, but Tigif was not fooled. “That is correct. I am called Tigif.”

“Tigif,” repeated Rick.

“Are you named after the—”

“No!”

“
Sorry
. I was only trying to pass the time with small talk. I’ve never met an alien before, especially one that looked like a tiger or a lioness. I apologize if I’ve insulted you.”

“Apologize?” Tigif snickered. “Your kind does not know the meaning.” His lip curled. “Your disgraceful race only knows about destruction and misuse.”

“If you hate humans so much, then why, may I ask, are you here?”

“We do not hate humans,” answered Leonora in a small voice.

Tigif looked at her. He did not want her speaking to this human. The last thing he wanted was for the male to get any ideas about her. Leonora was his. She was destined to become his life-mate, whether she liked it or not.

“Please forgive Tigif, McCall. He is bitter that our friends did not survive. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Why are you defending him?” snapped Tigif. “And what do you mean it has nothing to do with him? It most certainly does have everything to do with him.”

Rick remained silent, but his jaw worked overtime.

“It has nothing to do with McCall but everything to do with those males back at the research lab,” Leonora corrected. “If it were not for Rick, we, too, would have been killed.”

Tigif’s eyes doubled in size. She had shortened another male’s birth name without the male’s consent, which was a sure sign that she was attracted to him. The gleam in Tigif’s eyes hardened.

“Thank you for saving us, Rick. We truly do appreciate it.” Leonora sounded sweet and grateful. How she ogled the human was another indication that she was interested. During the three seasons Tigif had known her, she had never looked upon a male with favoritism, not even him.

“Leonora,” he warned.

“Rick is our friend, Tigif. He has proven himself by saving our lives.” Her head rested against Tigif’s chest, yet her attention remained upon Rick until she dozed off.

Tigif’s focus zoomed in on his new obstacle.
He is not our friend. I will make certain of that
.

Lance went in to work earlier than usual. Everything that had occurred during the last two months irritated him to extremes. He had no control over the situation concerning the aliens, something he was uncomfortable with.

He sat behind his desk, taking care of some paperwork. The only light that illuminated the windowless room came from a little desk lamp at his right hand side. This was a normal pastime whenever there was something on his mind and sleep eluded him.

The ringing of the phone stopped his pen in midmotion. His attention riveted to the receiver. Somehow, Lance knew in his gut exactly who would be on the other end and what the topic of conversation would be.

On the fourth ring, he answered. “Hello.”

“Hello, Blaisdale?
”

“This is Blaisdale,” he responded in a monotone voice.

“This is Anderson. I
’
m at the research lab. We have a situation here
.”

“I’m listening.”

“Someone has broken through our security setup
.”

“Was anyone hurt?” Lance asked.

“Several of our boys will be of no use to us for a while. But that
’
s not the half of it
.”

“Go on,” Lance patiently prodded.

“Whoever did it freed the remaining two aliens and got away
.”

Lance closed his eyes and inwardly groaned.
Last two
. He dropped his pen and pinched the arch of his nose. “Do you have any idea who it was?” His voice was void of all the emotions that swam inside him.

“No, but we will. The amateur left some evidence behind
.”

Lance reopened his eyes.
Shit!
“What sort of evidence?” he calmly asked.

“The idiot couldn
’
t keep his food down. In a few days, we
’
ll know if a connection is made
.”

Lance frowned. “I see.” He picked up his pen and began to twirl it between his fingers.

“I was told you were at the lab the night before. You were with someone
.”

Here it comes
. “That’s right. A member of my team.”

“What were you doing at the lab, Blaisdale? You weren’t due back for another week.”

“I left some important documents at one of the lower level offices. I needed to work on them right away, which is why you find me here. I’m working on them as we speak.”

“And your man?”

“He arrived that evening from an overseas assignment I had sent him on. I asked him to meet with me, so we could go over his next mission.”

“Why was he at the lab, Blaisdale? We specifically told you no one is to know about the aliens.”

“I haven’t spoken to anyone about our dealings with these aliens.”

“But he knows about them, doesn’t he?”

“Only because
your
men bungled up and the woman escaped, running into
my
man.”

“I was told he defended the cat.”