Rescued (8 page)

Chapter 14

Rose turned to Marty to help shield her finger from any human eyes while he dabbed on some antibiotic cream and wrapped an adhesive bandage in place. She didn’t need to worry about infection. Her finger had stopped bleeding and begun to heal, but she couldn’t afford to let their secret out. She needed the cut covered to prevent any questions when her injury disappeared in minutes instead of days.

“There. Better?”

Rose glanced his direction and locked eyes with her mate. She read his passion. She had only a few seconds of will power left before she melted into those blue eyes and destroyed their cover story of being strangers. She jerked away from their shared gaze. “Thanks, Susan. It’s better already. Really.” Rose smiled at the bandage wrapped around her finger hiding their secret.

“You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you two go on in and enjoy the movie. See, the last of the dishes are loaded and we’re about to turn on the dishwasher.”

“I really am sorry. Rose, isn’t it? I’m Marty.” He smiled and offered his hand.

His apology fell on seemingly deaf ears. She had to keep her cover story intact. Rose shoved the paper towel stained with her blood into her pocket and pushed past him into the living room to find Wendy. Physical contact with her mate at this point would be a bad idea. It would take time to learn to control those urges.

Marty followed, leaving the two women in the doorway. They turned back to the kitchen and shared a glance. Susan nodded toward the floor in front of the sink. A single drop of Rose’s blood had congealed on the floor after the incident with the paring knife. Mabel took a piece of gauze from the first aid kit, cleaned the spot, and dropped it into a zippered plastic bag while Susan made a call.

She closed her phone and chatted with the other woman as they continued to fill bowls with snacks for the kids in the living room. The microwave beeped and signaled another bag of popcorn was ready for the crowd squealing along with the teen actors in the movie on television. Susan picked up the large bowls and was headed for the living room but a knock at the backdoor stopped her.

“You go ahead, I’ll take care of this.” Mabel picked up the bag containing the blood-stained gauze and opened the door.

A curly haired geek with thick glasses and an
I got
better things to do
attitude waited on the other side. Mabel stepped out and closed the door behind her. “Put a rush on it and call as soon as you have the results.”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s a rush. I’ll call you later,” he mumbled as he walked away.

In the living room, Rose used her best investigative skills. She scanned every nook and cranny within sight while she feigned interest in the movie. The desk was clear of any mail. No one wrote letters anymore. E-mail and text messaging were the new forms of written communications. Banking, for the most part, was now done online. A peek at the adult’s cell phones to check out their contacts would reveal information she needed but they all kept their phones tucked away in their pockets. Her chances of getting to them tonight were slim to none.

“Hey, Wendy, which way to the ladies’ room?” Rose needed to get a look at more of the house in case there was any information they could use. Wendy removed one hand from her eyes just long enough to point a finger toward the hallway before she squealed again at some monstrous, shadowy form in the movie.

Rose laughed as she made her way down the hall. It was ironic the kids were afraid of the boogieman in the movie and all the while they were living under the same roof with monsters of another kind.

She inhaled and processed the scents she had learned since she arrived tonight. She matched them to faces and filed others absent from the house for some time, possibly groups that had moved on to the training facility, away for later.

The room to the left, decorated in contemporary teenage boy, contained video games and sports equipment. Dirty clothes strewn all over the floor reminded her of her high school days and a similar room that belonged to the younger brother of her friend Kelli. A quick look inside provided no additional information.

The girl’s room turned up nothing different from the others. Two sets of bunk beds decorated with various animal prints in fluorescent colors, a few scattered personal belongings, but nothing that said where they came from or anything about their intended destination. The positive from this visit was the record of scents stored in her memory. She would be able to recognize them anywhere, anytime now.

After the movie ended, the guys were busy choosing the next thriller to watch. Rose decided it was time for her to leave. She had exhausted all possibilities of gathering additional information here tonight.

“Oh, don’t go. We’re having fun.” Wendy sounded disappointed at Rose’s decision to call it a night.

“It was so much fun but I have a paper due next week and I need to do some extra research tonight. It’s a major part of my grade this semester. I would like to get together again before you leave if you think you can swing it.”

“I understand and I’d love to visit with you again. Let me get your number and I’ll give you a call when I check with Susan and Mabel.” Rose gave Wendy her cell number, said her good nights, and headed for her car.

She was hopeful Logan had a line on some of the contacts made at the house. The drive gave her time for another brainstorming session with herself but she had no more answers when she arrived at the werejaguar’s place than she had when she left Wendy’s.

Marty accepted the invitation to stay for a second movie. He hated movies with screaming teens in the wrong place at the wrong time but he went along with the group’s choice. His mind wasn’t on the movie. It kept drifting to Rose. He inhaled and filled his lungs with her lingering scent. He was able to block out the others in the room and focus only on his Rose. That and keeping Roxie’s hand off his knee. He slid his hat onto his thigh in an effort to prevent some of her advances. Good try, but not at all the success he’d hoped.

Finally, the movie ended and he could say his good nights. “Well, I guess I’d better be heading out,” Marty said as he eased up off the couch and took a step for the door. “Thanks for having me over, Randy. Supper was great, ladies.” He nodded as he addressed Mabel and Susan standing in the kitchen door.

“I’ll walk you out.” Roxie smiled and opened the door.

“That’s not necessary, ma’am. Good night.” Marty nodded and stepped past his admirer onto the walkway. His plan was to leave Roxie at the door. He made a vain attempt to cover the distance to his truck unaccompanied, but the firm grip on his rear end every step of the way was a definite indicator of her presence.

“Why don’t we climb up in the truck and have a little fun?” Roxie reached for the buttons on Marty’s shirt as she pressed herself closer to him.

He stepped backward to escape her advances but his plan did him no good when he bumped into the truck door. He held both hands high, careful not to encourage her. “Roxie, you got this all wrong. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but I’ve got a girl.”

“Are you playing hard to get?” She forced herself against him and raised her knee to caress his thigh.

“No ma’am. No, no way,” he stuttered.

“Uh huh, so where is this girl of yours and why aren’t you with her on a Saturday night?” Roxie continued to rub her knee up and down his leg.

“Sh-she had to work tonight but she should be home by now. Really. I need to go.”

Her smile faded to a frown and quickly became a pout. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him to accentuate her disappointment. “Be that way then. Your loss,” she groused as she turned away. She stormed up the walk, into the house, and slammed the front door behind her.

Marty shook his head, climbed behind the wheel, and started the engine. He made a quick call to Rose to find out her location and headed to Logan’s to meet up with the group and exchange information.

Chapter 15

“There have been close to a hundred people in that house but we have no way of knowing how old it is or how long it’s been used as a layover for kids like these.” Rose paused to sip her coffee as the wheels in her head turned to process what she’d learned.

The doorbell rang and Logan excused himself. He and Marty stepped into the kitchen and to the counter to fill a fresh mug. “I told one of the house dads I volunteer as a group counselor with a local teen crisis center and admired the work they were doing with these kids. The same adults have been in the house for seven months. A new crop of kids filters through about every six to eight weeks. I counted at least eighty scents inside the house, I just can’t be sure if they are all related to this situation or not.” Marty took the seat next to Rose and brushed her temple with his lips. “How’s the finger?”

“Good as new.” She had discarded the bandage as soon as she got to the kitchen at Logan’s. The wound had healed completely. “That was close. I’m glad you’re the one who bumped into me. If anyone else had insisted on bandaging my finger, there would have been questions.”

“Oscar has done some research on the sounds of a number being punched into a cell inside the house. He ran them through his tracer program and narrowed it down to the area southwest of Atlanta. From those conversations, we found out this group should be leaving within the next week.” Logan slid copies of Oscar’s report across the table to Rose and Marty.

Rose finished her coffee and placed her mug in the sink. “That matches what I got from Wendy today. They are supposed to be going to Santa Fe. Have your guys heard anything more concrete to nail down the exact location? I’d hate to think we have to sit tight for a week and then follow them to New Mexico.”

“I’ve got a team headed out west now. They’ll start with the info Oscar already provided and coordinate with their contacts in the area. As soon as they have anything, I’ll pass it along.” Logan gathered his copies of the documents they had reviewed and slid them back into the folder.

“Sounds like we’re doing all we can do at this point. Anybody up for a run?” A run always cleared her mind and relaxed her when she was sorting out the details on a case.

They drove to the parking lot of the strip mall and split off into two directions upon their arrival at the edge of the park. Rose padded from behind the cover of a stand of young hemlock trees in her cougar form and met Marty. She took the lead on this run and headed for the house where they just had supper. It wouldn’t hurt to sniff around again tonight, no telling when or where a clue would turn up.

All was dark and quiet inside and out as they approached from the woods behind the house. Marty made his way to the gate and eased the latch open with his nose. They slipped inside and up to the backdoor to detect any inside movement.

All was quiet.

Oh well, it was worth a try.
Rose turned for the gate.

The sound of a
Sweet Home Alabama
ringtone signaled an incoming call on someone’s cell phone inside the house. The adult’s rooms were located next to the kitchen. Rose waited for voice confirmation to determine the phone’s owner was indeed Mabel.

“What do you have? What do you mean it’s strange? So she’s some kind of super girl? Huh, looks too little and frail, nothing special on the outside. But if it’s that unusual, it might be worth the risk. No, there was only one drop on the floor after a run in with a paring knife. Yeah, I’ll try.” Mabel’s voice quieted.

Rose bared her teeth in a silent growl, looked at Marty, then back toward the house. She had been careful after the incident with the knife earlier this evening. Whom was Mabel talking with, and how did they know anything about her blood? Maybe she misunderstood.

It was Stan’s voice they heard next. “What was that all about?”

“That kid, Rose, cut her finger in the kitchen after supper. Susan and I found some of her blood on the floor and decided to have it typed. We called Bart at the lab to pick it up. That was him calling with the results. He found something strange in her blood. It has more than twice the red blood cells as normal blood. Said it had poly, poly-cy something beat by a mile.

“It’s pronounced polycythemia and you’re right. She didn’t seem weak or in any unusual pain. Those are some of the symptoms. Nothing noticeable with her, though.”

“She’s got some kind of super blood. She should bring a pretty penny from the right buyer.”

“Good work, Mabe. Now, come on over here and collect your reward.” He laughed.

“Shut up, Stan.”

Marty nudged Rose toward the gate and led the way back to their starting point.

“Marty?” Rose called out to him after they shifted to human form and got dressed. Panic gripped her. She was frozen in place as he rounded the group of young trees.

“Rose? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She held her shoe out for him to see the single line of blood that had dried as it trailed down the side. No doubt about it. Her blood had dripped onto the floor and she simply hadn’t noticed at the time.

“I figured as much. I’m so sorry, honey. I didn’t have any idea we left even a trace of blood behind. I thought I was more than careful.” He opened his arms and she stepped into his protective cocoon. “Let’s get you back to the room. We’ll sort all this out after a good night’s sleep, I promise.”

Rose was silent as they made their way back to the truck, her mind racing with thoughts of the recent events in her life. Her insides twisted. She’d made mistakes since she agreed to take this job. Falling for that trick--getting drugged, and almost kidnapped in the bar back home. Not only was she jeopardizing the case, now she had put herself and all other Weres in danger of discovery. She kicked the ground.
Why can’t I be more careful?

Humans wouldn’t understand. They would be frightened of the unknown and strike out at those they may have once trusted and considered friends. Not everyone possessed the open minds of her human friends aware of her secret. It could turn into a war of sorts. Her kind, hunted to extinction. So many could die. Were and human alike.

Marty pressed her against the truck door and cradled her head to his chest, interrupting her train of thought. “Rose, we will get through this. I’m not going to let them get to you or hurt you. I promise you that much.” He caressed the top of her head with his cheek as he held her close.

She leaned into the embrace and welcomed the warmth and comfort Marty’s body offered. “What do you suppose they plan to do? Kidnap me and drain me dry to sell their prize one pint at a time? What if they lock me up? I won’t be able to deny the shift forever. They’ll find out soon enough what I am and conclude I’m not the only one out there. The hunt will be on. It’ll never stop once they realize how many species of Weres there are in the world.” Her heart raced as she spoke some of her thoughts aloud.

“They will never get their hands on you, so you don’t need to worry about any of that.” Marty gathered her closer. She clung to him, not worried about herself, but about putting others in danger.

Her cell vibrated in her pocket. She eased it out and read Logan’s name on the display. “Logan, do you have anything new?”

“Yeah, Oscar just called with some news. He intercepted a call at the house. It doesn’t sound good, for any of us. If you’re still at the park, we’re on our way.” Logan sounded serious.

“Yeah. I know the one. We were outside the window at the house when Mabel took the call. We need to talk. We’ll wait in the parking lot for you.” She slid the phone back into her pocket and cuddled back into Marty’s protective embrace.

“Logan and June are on their way. Maybe one of his guys can get into the lab and destroy the sample and any documentation that goes with it. Without proof, they don’t have anything. But I’m afraid that still won’t stop them from coming after me or trying to get more proof. I’ll be the first, the tip of the iceberg.” She stared out into the night as she searched for answers.

“They’ll never find you. They don’t know your last name or where you really live. Get in. You can put your shoes on while we wait for Logan and June.”

Rose curled up on the seat and rested her head on Marty’s thigh. He stroked her hair. It was soothing to her frazzled nerves but couldn’t erase the fact she was being targeted for her blood. Rose’s cell phone signaled an incoming text. She sat up and read the message.

Logan and June emerged from the woods and made their way to Marty’s truck.

“I just got a text from Mabel. She’s inviting me to a picnic at the park tomorrow.”

“Yeah, like I’m gonna allow you to be within ten feet of those people again.”

Rose straightened further in the seat. Her head pounded. She was in no mood to be smothered. “Marty, don’t start with me. I make my own decisions.” She held her ground. “I can’t let on that we have any idea about their newest plan. I may be able to pick up some information we don’t have.”

Marty was silent for the moment but continued to state his opinion with the slow, constant shake of his head.

“I could station my guys around the area to keep an eye on everyone,” Logan offered. “She’ll be safe, Marty.”

“I don’t know. I still don’t like her putting herself at risk. She’s in enough danger now as it is.” He stared out the window into the night.

“
She
is sitting right here and
she
can speak for herself and
she
can make her own damned decisions.” Her voice increased several octaves as her statement continued. Frustrated and tired, she shook her head and finalized the plan. “Logan, I’ll coordinate with you on the time and location inside the park as soon as I know something in the morning. I appreciate your support. Good night, y’all.”

Marty mumbled his goodnights and started the truck.

The first ten minutes of the drive back to the motel was silent. Rose tried to piece together the facts—what they’d learned—and separate them from her deepest fears. Marty was only following his instincts to protect his mate but there were so many more lives at stake now. She hated the silence and didn’t want to argue when Marty tried to convince her to back down on the investigation but it was inevitable.

“Rose,” he began.