Cosmic Sex (16 page)

Her idea of the perfect world had begun to crumble. Returning to Nerak would be hard knowing what she’d learned on Earth.

And she would miss Nick.

She squared her shoulders; she was a warrior. She’d known the time would come. There was much to love about her planet. Nerak was perfect. It was. And her family was there. Lara waited for her return.

And when Kia did go home, she would warn everyone that Earth was a terrible place. She would tell about wars and horrible cruelties, starvation, and pestilence. For the first time in her life, she would tell an outright lie, but she had a good reason.

If she lied well enough, then maybe none of her family would want to explore Earth, they wouldn’t want to leave their own planet, and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t have to feel the pull between two worlds. They wouldn’t feel their heart breaking into a thousand little pieces at the thought of leaving someone, at the thought of what their perfect planet was missing.

Becca came out of the bathroom. “Okay, Nick, come on if you’re going to walk me to my car. I have a credit card with my name on it and I know how to use it.” There was a wicked twinkle in her eyes. “Bye, Sam, bye, Kia.”

They both said good-bye at the same time.

Nick opened the door, bowed gallantly, and waved his sister through. As soon as he closed the door, Becca turned to him.

“I like her.”

Uh-oh, he could see the matchmaking wheels turning in her head. His sister had been trying to marry him off ever since she fell in love with Jack. She thought the whole world should be as happy as they were.

“She belches like a sailor,” he told her.

She lightly slapped his arm as they stopped in front of the elevator. “Oh, she does not. I’m going to tell her you said that.”

The doors opened. He waited for her to go inside and stepped in behind her, punching the lower level.

“Kia won’t be around long enough for you to tell her anything, sis.”

“Why do you always do this?” She sighed very loudly and very dramatically.

He didn’t say anything, hoping his lack of response would make her realize he didn’t want to rehash ancient history. As soon as she opened her mouth he knew his tactic hadn’t worked.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me, because I know you did. You never stay with a woman longer than a couple of weeks.”

He could’ve told her his relationships only lasted about a week, but that would only be adding fuel to her fire.

“Everyone doesn’t have to be in love just because you are.”

“I don’t think that and you know it.”

The elevator opened and they exited. He held the door to the parking garage open for her and there was blessed silence all the way to her car.

“I know how much you were affected when Dad left. Mom was a lot better off for it. Their marriage didn’t work out. It happens sometimes. That’s the chance you have to take.”

His insides twisted. Yeah, he remembered that day all too well. He’d come in from football practice and his father was gone. He didn’t hear a word from him for six months.

He and his dad had barely spoken since then. It wasn’t because his dad hadn’t made the effort. Nick just hadn’t had anything to say to him. Too little too late.

He pushed the painful memories away and held Becca’s car door open so she could slide in.

“Dad’s leaving has nothing to do with my relationships with women.”

She got in and looked up at him. “Doesn’t it?”

He didn’t say anything.

She gave him one of her long-suffering sighs again. “You need to talk to Mom. She’s a lot happier without Dad.”

He didn’t want to talk about it at all. “Don’t run the credit card up too high.”

Her mouth turned down, showing his sister knew exactly what he was doing. “Yeah, yeah. Clean your apartment. There is such a thing as a closet somewhere—that is, if you can find it.”

He grinned and closed her door, waving her off. He loved his sister but he wasn’t going to get married just to make everyone happy. He and marriage just didn’t go together.

Darla stayed a car length behind the pregnant woman. Was she in on the illegal goings-on? Or innocent?

Darla had been hiding in her car when Nick Scericino walked the pregnant lady to her vehicle. The same vehicle he and Sam Jones had taken packages out of and carried up in the elevator.

Oh yes, she knew all about Sam and Nick. They were partners. Cops—probably on the take. She had a friend on the inside who told her everything she needed to know. Like the fact Internal Affairs was investigating Nick.

There wasn’t anything she disliked more than a dirty cop. A cop had inside information a crook didn’t have access to. That wasn’t at all right.

But she planned to get her fair share.

And now the plot had thickened. Was the woman only pretending to be carrying a kid? Maybe she had loot under her clothes. The perfect carrier. No one would suspect a pregnant lady.

She’d follow the woman, to see where she was going, just like she had Ms. Big. Now that was one crafty person. She even had a home in the suburbs and pretended to be married to the man who’d picked her up.

Darla was good, though. She’d crept close to the house and watched through a window. The woman had been furiously waving her arms, and although Darla couldn’t hear the words, her tone was unmistakable. The man had slunk further inside himself, never once raising his voice.

Darla narrowed her eyes. Yes, the woman was the one in charge. That was obvious.

But then someone had come to the door. The buyer? Possibly. Ms. Big had changed and began smiling but Darla knew her game.

Ms. Big had talked with the other woman, then given her a plastic bag. The handoff! She’d known it. How damn big was this operation? She could almost smell the cash flow.

She knew where she could find Ms. Big, so she’d followed the other woman. Just a couple of blocks away, she’d pulled into a driveway. Everything looked perfect about the place. Typical middle-class neighborhood.

Darla knew better.

She parked down the street and crept back to the house, peeking into the window. The woman was smiling as she held up a vase. It looked oriental.

Ming?

Damn, she knew this was the big time. Hell, the way everything was coming together, she’d be set for life and then some because she damn sure wasn’t going to walk away empty-handed.

When the pregnant woman pulled into traffic, Darla was right behind her. She followed her all the way to the baby store and pulled in close beside her. Darla watched as the woman heaved her body out of the car.

“Need some help?” Darla asked as she hurried over.

The woman laughed. “Unfortunately, I think I’m getting used to the extra weight.”

“When is the baby due?”

“Any day.”

“Congratulations.” Darla smiled and walked away.

Wild goose chase. The woman was definitely pregnant. But the others—she had them dead to rights.

Chapter 18

“This is bigger than the two of us can handle,” Darla told Slava.

Damn, she hated to do what she was about to do, but losing part of her gold mine was a hell of a lot better than losing it all. And if it was as big as she thought, she and Slava didn’t have the resources to handle the entire operation.

But she knew someone who could. Slava’s Uncle Yuri.

A cold chill of foreboding ran down her spine, but she resolutely pushed it away. She had no other choice. Uncle Yuri had everything they would need. But she would insist her cut be at least fifty percent. If he didn’t agree, she wouldn’t give him the information.

Slava closed his cell phone. “He’ll meet us.”

A deep frown furrowed his forehead. She didn’t like the way he looked.

“You’re right about this being a big smuggling operation, aren’t you? I thought I had something good the last time when I told him about those drug dealers.” His frown deepened. “But they turned out to be grade-school kids trading lunches. He got really mad at me.”

“That’s because you’re an imbecile,” she muttered under her breath, then in a louder voice said, “These aren’t grade-school kids. Not even close. I found out who two of them are: Nick Scericino and Sam Jones—cops.”

Slava sat down hard on the sofa, bouncing the other end off the floor. “I don’t like messing with no cops.”

“These aren’t just any cops. They’re on the take.” She laughed. “You think Scericino is a good old American name?” She shook her head. “No, that’s Italian. Want to bet he’s got a few relatives in the mafia? Yeah, I think your uncle would like to know more about these two and what’s going on.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I understand you now. Uncle Yuri might even let me have a gun this time.”

Please, someone give him a gun, Darla silently prayed. Maybe it would accidentally go off while he was holding it next to his head. She mentally shook off the image. The idiot would probably miss and shoot her instead.

Sam had left an hour ago, and they were no closer to finding the real Hank than when they’d started. At least, it seemed that way to Nick. Half the people they called weren’t at home.

Nick was tired and getting irritated because he knew the more they narrowed it down, the closer Kia was to leaving and he’d never see her again. The logical part of his brain said it was inevitable and for the best. But there was another part of him that said his life would be forever changed because of her.

Hell, she was a lot of fun to be around. And Becca was so wrong about his not wanting to commit. He just wasn’t ready, and that’s all there was to it.

Suddenly, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him. He might as well make the most of the time they had left. “Hey, you want to see another side of Dallas?”

She glanced up from the papers that were laid out on the kitchen table. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe we could take in a show or something. It’s still early.”

“A show?”

Of course, she wouldn’t know what a show was. “You’ll like it, trust me.”

The look in her eyes warmed his entire body, and he knew without a doubt that she did trust him. It was a heady feeling and did a hell of a lot for his ego.

“Let me change first.” He wanted to take her somewhere nice—somewhere that would give her a special memory for the rest of her life. Or maybe he was the one who wanted that memory. Whatever the reason, he didn’t want to take her anywhere wearing scruffy jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days.

“Should I change clothes, too?”

“You look beautiful just the way you are.”

She frowned. “I think I’ll wear something else anyway.”

Laughter erupted from him. She was already adapting to Earth, even if she didn’t realize it.

Half an hour later, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Yeah, she’d adapted all right. How long did it take her to change?

The door to the bathroom opened, and she stepped out wearing a slinky deep blue one-piece suit.

“Is this all right?”

“Yeah.” His gaze moved slowly over her. The silky material clung to every curve, every hollow. She showed just enough cleavage to be tempting, to keep a man’s gaze on her and only her.

Not that he planned to look at another female tonight.

He drew in a deep breath. “Better than all right. You look sexy, tempting.”

“Thank you.”

He helped her on with her coat and grabbed his.

A show—maybe a romance—some dinner at a nice restaurant, a little wine, then home and... and if he didn’t stop thinking about what would happen at the end of the evening, he’d never make it out the door, and he really did want to show her some of Dallas.

They stepped inside the elevator and descended to the garage level. As they walked to the car, Nick had the strangest feeling they were being watched. He glanced around but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

He was losing his touch if he was starting to think there were criminals around every corner. He shrugged off the feeling and opened the door on the passenger side.

Still, as he pulled out of the parking garage, he reached up and adjusted the rearview mirror. His eyes narrowed. A blue car tailed them.

Man, he was really losing it. The IA investigation was making him punchy. But just in case, he pulled into traffic and took the first left. The car was still behind him. He took another left. Still there.

Rule of thumb: three lefts, and if a strange car was still behind you then you’d better start getting a little suspicious.

He made another left. The car went straight. Okay, maybe he was just being paranoid.

Leaning over, he bumped the radio button. Maybe some music would relax him.

Kia smiled. “Nice,” she said when he glanced her way.

“You don’t have music?”

“Not like this.”

It didn’t seem as if she had much of anything on her perfect planet. Not good. He was starting to feel sorry for her.

“What’s that?” Kia asked after they’d been driving for a while.

He glanced in the direction she pointed. “The mall.”

“Mall?”

“Stores and stuff.”

“I’d like to go there, please, thank you.”

Did women from every race or species have a homing device when it came to malls? But the way Kia looked, he’d give her the world on a silver platter if she asked for it.

He found a parking place and they went inside. “Oh, this is wonderful.” She walked around in a circle looking at the Christmas decorations and the twinkling lights.

“It’s beautiful.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, laughing with joy. “Who is this Santa Claus? He must be a very important person if he is so honored.”

“He’s a tradition. December twenty-fifth is Christmas, and people exchange lots of gifts.” He didn’t want to confuse her with the different religions.

“And when is this December twenty-fifth?”

“Not long.”

She smiled. “I think I like your traditions. We don’t have this on Nerak.”

As if she’d just realized that she’d admitted Earth might have some advantages that Nerak didn’t, she straightened.

“As a warrior, traditions aren’t necessary,” she stated. “The giving of many gifts would create a lot of clutter in one’s life. All Nerakians are in harmony with who they are. We have few possessions that accumulate in our lifetime. It’s better this way.”

He glanced up and read the name of the store, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. “But then, you’ve never been in a toy store, either.”

“I don’t know this toy you speak of.”

“Nope, didn’t think you did.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

“Oh... ” Her eyes filled with wonder. When she saw he was watching, she masked her face of all emotion. “I’ll look at the things in this store, but only for research purposes.”

He knew better, but he’d go along with the game she played. Just maybe, she was starting to realize Nerak wasn’t so perfect after all.

She bent down to look at a train as it rolled around the track, then moved to the dolls and became transfixed with the babies.

“This is what’s inside Becca,” she whispered, her façade slipping again.

“Surely you have babies on Nerak. You don’t come fully grown.”

“No, but we’re in instruction until it’s time to go to our family.”

A woman and a little girl of about six or seven came into the store.

“We leave instruction when we are her age.” She watched the interaction between mother and daughter.

Nick knew she saw the exchange of love between the two. The way the woman lightly touched her daughter’s hair, smoothing it back, caressing the golden strands. The smile on the little girl’s face when she looked at her mother. Her laughter and her excitement.

As he observed Kia, he saw the sadness in her eyes. She’d never have children. Was she regretting living in a world without men?

Damn, he’d wanted to make her happy, show her some of his town, but he’d only managed to make her sad.

“Come on, there’s lots more to see.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the store.

She read the different signs. “What’s a pet store?”

He shrugged. “Animals.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Animals? I have never seen an animal.”

The sadness surrounding her was gone. If it would make her happy, then they’d go in and she could see an animal.

As soon as they walked inside, Nick realized his mistake. He’d forgotten about the puppies.

Kia hesitantly walked to the cage that was more like a playpen. Great marketing. It was close to the door. If anyone so much as put one foot inside the store, they would see the Shi-Tzu puppies. There were four of them... and they were at the playful stage.

“Now, Kia, it’s okay to look, but we can’t... ”

She tentatively stuck out her hand to touch one of the furry black-and-white pups. It did the unthinkable. What Nick had dreaded.

One of them licked her finger and the other three bounced over to see what was happening. They couldn’t just walk over, or cower in the corner. No, they had to bounce over.

Kia laughed and scooped one of them up in her arms. It immediately began to lick her face.

“Nick, what is it?” She cuddled the puppy close to her face. Pastel lights began to glow above them.

Not good. Damn, he needed to get her out of the store fast, before other people noticed the lights.

“It’s a dog—a puppy. A Shi-Tzu.”

“It’s so soft and it smells wonderful.”

“That’s puppy smell. It can knock someone to the ground and make them act silly with just one whiff.”

“I think you’re making a joke. I like the puppy smell.”

One of the puppies growled and barked. A tiny little ruff. A sound meant to do as much damage as the puppy smell.

It worked.

Kia put the one she held back in the pen and scooped up the one that had barked.

This wasn’t good. Nick didn’t need a crystal ball to tell him he was in trouble.

“Kia, why don’t we go to the show now? I hear there’s a Johnny Depp movie playing. You know, with swashbuckling pirates. Enough to make any normal woman swoon and feel all gooey inside and... ”

Had she even heard him? This wasn’t the way he’d imagined spending the evening.

“I’m sorry,” a man said as he hurried from the back, hitching up pants that hung on his wiry frame. As soon as he saw Kia cuddling the merchandise, he came to an abrupt stop. “We don’t allow people to pick up the puppies, ma’am.” He pointed to a sign on the cage that read, “Due to health hazards, please do not pick up the puppies.”

But when Kia turned and looked at him, he practically melted into a puddle at her feet. What power did she seem to have over men? As if Nick didn’t know the answer to that. There was something about her that captivated the male of the species. She was sexy as hell, but there was more to it than that. Something in her eyes that drew the unsuspecting person in and then refused to let go. Apparently, the clerk was no different.

“I guess you can hold it for a minute.” He blushed all the way up to his hairline. “You don’t look like you would give them any kind of disease or anything.”

“What do you do with the puppies?” she asked.

“She’s not from America,” Nick quickly explained. Then he turned to Kia. “They sell puppies and other animals.”

As soon as her eyebrows shot upward, Nick knew he’d screwed up again.

She reached into her coat pocket and brought out a wad of bills. “Will this be enough?” She shoved the money into his hands.

“Kia, we can’t... what will we do... my apartment has rules and puppies aren’t included in my contract... ”

Why did she have to look at him like that?

“But you have the book: Where The Red Fern Grows. You said it was about dogs. You do like dogs, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah... ”

The clerk grinned from ear to ear as he finished counting the money. “That’s enough to buy all four of them.”