A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

Three cars were ahead of his sedan. Rick tried to control his breathing as he leisurely screwed the cap back onto his bottled water. His eagle sights surveyed the scene before him, behind dark shades. He mentally approved. Everything was precisely the way he had pictured it would be. He moved his car forward and noticed that the soldiers’ procedures for searching vehicles had not changed. He smirked.

Once they had left the service station, Rick had driven to his fellow team member’s safe house, only an hour away. He was relieved to find no one at home. He instructed the Oceanans to wait in the living room, while he went into the dining room that
Trigger had converted into an office. Rick took a few minutes to insert the disk he had obtained at the lab to scan the data.

His insides grew cold at what he found. He looked at Leonora who sat on the sofa. She was feeling her forehead for a fever. He was out of his element. He needed help. Rick reached for the phone beside the computer and dialed. Ten minutes later, he returned the handset to its base with a sigh of relief. Rick placed the disk in his backpack. He then slipped his arm through the strap, hanging the bag on his shoulder.

He went to the living room to get the others. “Okay, guys, let’s go.” He led them to the attached garage.

There he left his car parked in place of a four-door red sedan. He was positive John Rainfield, also known as Trigger, would surmise the Predator had taken his car. Lance would hear about it and know his suspicions were correct. It was another choice Rick would have to live with.

He had done his part; now it was up to the cats to do theirs. It was fairly easy, he decided. All they had to do was stay still and make no noise. As he placed his water bottle down, Rick heard a thud accompanied by a groan from beneath the car.

He gritted his teeth and cursed them both.
How difficult can it be for two grown adults to lie still?

Tigif and Leonora had folded themselves into a fetal position, so they could fit in the secret compartment underneath the trunk. It was difficult for Rick to leave Leonora in Tigif’s embrace. Tigif’s satisfied smile had sent cold hatred streaking through Rick’s core. Leonora’s fearful gaze had sent a different message, making Rick question the logic behind his plan.

What other choice did he have? He could think of no other way to get past the human blockade. At closing the trunk, it had taken Herculean strength not to put a bullet through the cat’s head. His hand still itched with the need.

There was another bump and a louder groan. A sinking feeling developed in Rick’s stomach. The soldiers will discover
them if they did not stay still. Rick wondered what was going on. Images of what could follow that intimate embrace took shape. Rick thought of what he would do if he were in place of the tiger.

He reached for the dashboard and pressed two buttons at the radio controls. One changed the station. The other sent a signal to the cramp compartment below. He hoped it would stop whatever was going on. He sat back in his seat and scratched his right palm.

Leonora had remained silent when Rick positioned the three-inch bottom into place. She had inquired if there was any other way. Regretfully, he had said no. The moment Tigif had placed his arms around her, pulling her to his body, she knew there was going to be trouble. And she was right.

She had done everything from swatting his hands away to making death threats, but nothing helped. To her horror, Tigif’s hands were becoming all too daring, too familiar with her body. She knew it would be dangerous to make a sound, so she swallowed her cry for help and fought his hands in silence.

Tigif’s hand pushed underneath her blouse to encase her left breast. Leonora jerked. Her head met his chin, in turn, his head banged against the side. Instead of stopping, Tigif retaliated by grabbing her between her legs and yanking her against his arousal.

Biting her tongue, Leonora placed all her strength into jabbing him in the ribs and stomping on his foot as hard as possible. Tigif growled and reached for her chin. A small red light turned on, and he hesitated. The signal alerted them to the army’s presence. Leonora waited for his next move.

In the driver’s seat, Rick took shallow breaths. Outward, he was as cool as can be. Inside, he was nitro, waiting to explode. The groans that came from underneath were impossible to ignore. The wheels to his overactive imagination ran wild. In the end, Rick envisioned himself sitting before a fireplace, skinning a striped tiger with the intentions of selling his hide for a profit. Rick vigorously scratched his hand before moving his car forward.

“Good morning,” he greeted the officers with a smile.

“Step out of the car, please,” replied the young man who took hold of the door handle. “Your license and registration, please.”

“Of course.” Rick handed the soldier the documents he requested. He even took off his glasses and smiled when the officer examined his driver’s license. “What exactly is going on here?”

“Step aside, sir.” The officer looked inside the car. “Please, open the trunk of your car.”

Rick reached down the side of the driver’s seat and flipped a switch. “Something serious must’ve happened for the army to search cars like this. May I know what you’re searching my car for?”

A second officer, holding the leash to a German Shepherd, searched the trunk. The dog sniffed the trunk and all around the car. Rick held his breath. His only fear was the aliens’ inability to remain quiet, not the soldier discovering the compartment, even if he did thump away. Trigger had the car specifically made for manual and canine searches, and it had never failed a test. Today was no different.

“He’s clean,” stated the soldier, pulling his dog out of the trunk. He closed the trunk.

The first officer returned Rick’s papers. “Nothing for you to be concerned about, Mr. Sinclair. Good day.” Moving away from the car, he waved Rick onward.

Rick innocently returned behind the driver’s seat and slowly passed the military barricade. After a half hour, and certain no one was following, he turned onto a country road. Ten minutes later, he drove off the side of the dirt road.

Rick flipped the switch that opened the trunk. He exited the car and walked to the back. He opened the hatch and reached inside to remove the cover of the compartment. Leonora’s bolting out of the compartment caused him to stumble back a few feet.

Leonora stood before the bumper and waited for Tigif to stand on his knees. She punched him in the face, sending him banging into the hood of the trunk with a loud clank. Without saying a word, she stomped to the side of the car. She yanked open the door and took her place in the passenger seat with a slam of the door.

Rick was left speechless and holding the cover. Though overjoyed by the exchange, he gripped the lid tightly, out of fear he would reach for his gun and satisfy the annoying itch in his right palm. Only one thing could have caused her to respond like that. And that made Rick’s fantasy of skinning the cat alive more vivid.

Rick traveled in silence for three hours until he felt an unexpected stirring in the pit of his stomach. He wondered what it could be. A sudden urgent need to glance behind him whelmed him. Through the rearview mirror, the reason for his uneasiness became clear. Leonora’s forehead shone with perspiration. Her features were flushed. Her hair was plastered around her beautiful face. He swore, for he knew her fever was back full force.

The decayed remains of the aliens he was unable to help entered his mind. He guessed about the excruciating pain and unfathomable tortures they must have endured before they died. Rick also thought of Leonora. She had watched her friends die a slow and painful death. He knew the pain of watching a dear one take a last breath. It was gut wrenching. A part of the person watching died too. No one could ever be the same after being that close to death. He was not the same, and he was sure she was not also.

Rick’s temper rose each time he considered what she went through. He honestly wished he could have been there to keep her from experiencing such ungodly behavior. His face twisted in disgust. Somewhere along the path after meeting her, he had become protective of the pale-eyed witch.

The male beside him coughed. Rick glanced at Tigif and sneered. “Great. Two oversized, sick cats. Like I need this.” He would never make it to his beach house dragging two sick cats with him. Plus, he had an important meeting in a few hours.

He weighed his options. He could either rent another room for the evening or drive to another team member’s safe house. He disregarded the first, figuring the army was close behind them, checking out all the hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts in the
vicinity. Their best chance would be the nearest safe house. Cobra, also known as Steve McLeod, had a two-bedroom log cabin situated in the mountains. Rick exited onto a different highway.

Cobra’s Safe House

Arizona Mountains

Arriving at his destination, Rick located the front door key Cobra kept in a hollow trunk just outside the cabin. Rick laid an unconscious tiger on one of the two small beds. Again, he wished he could place the cat on the floor and take the bed for himself.

Once Leonora was comfortable on the second bed, Rick went back outside to unload their things. Afterward, he drove his car to a manmade shelter, camouflaged to look like part of the jungle, not far from the house. That way no one could write down a description of the car or the license plate number and trace it back to Trigger.

Rick returned to check on his patients. He did his best to care for the Oceanans. It was not easy with them in opposite ends of the house. Plus, Rick could not keep an eye on them and another eye out for impending danger. Since Tigif slept peacefully while Leonora thrashed about, he reasoned it was best to attend to the sicker of the two first.

On entering her room, he overheard Leonora calling out his name. He rushed to her side. “Take it easy, honey, you’re safe. Everything is going to be all right.” He hoped.

Rick hated being there. He was used to being the hunter. Now he found himself being the hunted. Caught between a safe haven and an open prairie, where those who hunted them could pounce upon him at any minute.

{What?}

Rick heard her voice in his head. It did not startle him this time. “How do you feel?” He touched her flushed forehead. “My
god, you’re burning up!” She looked up at him with fever-glazed eyes. “Can you tell me if you’re in any pain?”

Her eyes closed. {Definitely. My body feels…like it has…been crushed by a space shuttle. I feel dizzy…and cold.} She crossed her arms over her chest.

Rick figured it was to keep the warmth from escaping. “Is that all? Are you sure?” Her voice did not enter his head. “Leonora?” Her eyes remained closed. Rick had a scary sensation she was slipping away. Can you still hear me?” He grasped her shoulders and gently shook her. “Leonora?”

{Yes.} She whimpered. A tear fell from her left eye.

Rick’s nerves were taut. Her whimpers gave strength to fears that threatened to overpower his need to stay focused on what had to be done.

{They wanted to know how Oceanans responded to your medicine. Human medicine is poison to us.}

Her wheezing alarmed him. What if she still died after all his efforts to save her? The idea of never again gazing into her pale eyes was not an option Rick chose to consider.

He scanned the room and spotted a small garbage pail. He removed the bag and hurried to the bathroom. He filled the pail with cool water, grabbed a small washcloth, and returned to Leonora’s side.

Rick placed the pail on the floor. He quickly wet the cloth and passed it over her face, neck, and any exposed parts of her body. Leonora’s parched skin sipped the cloth dry. His uneasiness grew. An hour later, her fever was still high.

I’ve already passed cold water over your face and arms. I gave you water to drink. What else can I do for you?
He scanned her form. It became clear to him that he was partly cooling her down. What he needed to do was to cool her entire body.

Placing the cloth back into the water, he lowered the sheets to her hips. “Forgive me, Nora. I’m going to have to take off your shirt, so I can pass the towel over your back and chest.”