Lazy Days (37 page)

Roth bent and entered the Lexus SUV. He
suppressed a grin. Everyday for the past month Rainey had glared daggers at him
when he'd settled in next to her. Today, she was in a particularly bitchy mood.

"I thought today was your day off?"

"Are you keeping track of my days off
because you’ll miss me?"

Rainey snorted. "That would be a cold day
in hell."

Roth closed the car door and motioned for
Johnson to drive. Settling back into the luxurious upholstery, he ignored her
barb. He had to admit though, she kept him entertained. For being such a
braniac, she almost had a dockworker’s mouth. Roth smiled.

"What’s so funny?"

"I was just thinking what a contrast your
brains are to your dockworker’s mouth."

Johnson choked.

Rainey's eyes grew round and her response was
certainly colorful.

Roth looked at her and smiled again. "Case-in-point."

* * *

Rainey decided her best line of defense with
Roth was to ignore him. Their verbal sparring during the drive to the lab had
angered her to the point she couldn’t think straight. She'd made so many errors
in calculations that her coworkers were asking if she was feeling okay.

She stepped away from the Chladni plate and
walked to the bank of windows overlooking Childress Enterprises.
I think I'm
the victim of too much work and too little play.
A dove flying past the
window captured her attention and brought images of the magnificent eagle to
mind. Almost nightly, she found herself watching for the large bird from either
her bedroom window or standing on her balcony. In the past month, she had seen
it maybe a dozen times. Whenever she saw the eagle, a strange excitement
overwhelmed her. Even now, thinking about the bird, sent a shiver through her.

"Are you cold?"

Rainey turned to see Roth standing near, his
presence unnerving.

"No. I…I… Forget it. I need to get back to
work." She rushed toward the lab.

The rest of the day turned into a worse disaster
and ended with her spilling coffee down her lab coat. She was angrier on the
drive home than she had been on the drive to work that morning. So angry, in
fact, that she refused to eat dinner with her father by complaining of a
headache—which was the truth.

Rainey stood at her window long past midnight
hoping to see the eagle. Making a spur-of-the-moment decision, she walked to
her nightstand and retrieved a key and flashlight from the drawer. Slipping
into a pair of Levis, a long-sleeved pull-over sweater, and tennis shoes, she
silently opened the French doors onto her balcony and did something she had not
done since her teenage years. Hoisting herself over the ornate railing and
finding a foothold on the ledge connecting her balcony to the balcony of the
empty bedroom next door, she grabbed the rope-like vines clinging to the house
and slowly edged across. The guard posted outside her bedroom prevented any
other way of escape.

Reaching the other balcony and climbing over the
railing, she congratulated herself.
Not bad. Looks like you've still got it
in you.
Pulling the master key for the bedrooms from her pocket, she
fumbled in her excitement. It took three tries to successfully unlock the
French doors. Sneaking inside the room, she went to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom
and exited into the next bedroom. From there, she avoided the door opening into
the same hallway where her guard was posted. Instead, she opened another door
into a hallway perpendicular to that one.

Within minutes she'd fled down the servants’
staircase and into the kitchen. On the far side of the kitchen, she opened the
cellar door. Beth McGovern, their superstitious cook, hated the cellar and
refused to enter it. She swore it was haunted. Rainey smiled, remembering how
she'd enhanced the cook's fears with stories of ghosts and apparitions.

The door creaked when she shut it. She held her
breath, listening to her heart pound in her ears. Holding the stair railing in
the dark, she slipped her other hand into her pocket and withdrew the
flashlight, flipping the switch and tiptoeing down the stairs like she had done
a hundred times as a teenager. She made her way to the window only she knew
about.

Because the window had been overgrown by vines on
the outside, the alarm installers had missed it. Rainey had had the foresight,
and maybe the audacity, to pull a freestanding shelf in front of the window on
the inside, hiding it. Her ploy had worked and the window had become her escape
to the outside. She hadn’t used it for years, but she felt certain it had never
been discovered.

Working stealthily, she cleared the shelves of
items in about five minutes. Grabbing the side of the shelf, she pulled it away
from the window with just enough space to squeeze in a step-ladder. The
scraping sound on the cement floor started her heart pounding again. Shining
her flashlight around the cellar, she spotted the ladder across the room. After
placing it under the window, she climbed to the top rung and twisted the old
metal lever, it didn't budge.
Crap
. Climbing back down she sorted
through the cellar trying to find a pair of pliers. She spotted an old tool box
and quietly rifled through it. Pliers…yes! Grinning, she returned to her task
and used the pliers to twist the lever on the window. It didn't move at first,
but persistence paid off. A slow scratching of metal on metal echoed into the
cellar and made her breath hitch. Finally, the latch moved freely. She pushed
the squeaking window upward and reached for the hook that would hold it in
place. Laboriously, because of extra weight gained during womanhood, she
struggled to pull herself through the opening.

Please God, don’t let me get stuck
. A vision of Roth
finding her with her bosom jammed outside the window, and her butt inside,
almost made her forget the whole escapade. With a final push, she made it
through. The vines covering the outside of the mansion made her invisible. She
almost gagged in the cloying darkness when the musty and moldy smell filled her
lungs. Staying next to the stone wall, she crawled on all fours towards the
corner of the building.
It’s only fifteen feet
. She knew the distance
because she had once measured it. The words
became her mantra:
only
fifteen feet…only fifteen feet.
Finally, she reached the end of the wall
and struggled to free her head from the vines. She peeked out.

Cool air caressed her flushed cheeks and she
breathed its freshness. The moon cast a dim illumination on the sweeping
manicured lawns. Beyond the lawns, a field of wild flowers stretched to the
edge of the forest, its ancient trees looming like giant monsters in the
distance. Excitement pounded through her veins. She wanted to run and dance and
skip in the field of flowers, and then gather her courage and peer into the darkness
of the woods.

As much as she desired her freedom, however, she
knew obtaining it would be difficult. The motion sensors would detect her if
she made the slightest mistake. She had once asked a technician how sensitive
they were. His reply had been, "Only a slug can get past them."

Slowly, she disentangled herself from the vines
before scooting on her belly like a slug into the path of the sensors. The
sensors could detect motion twenty feet out from the house. Even when she knew
she was beyond sensor range, she went a little further.

Finally…finally, she felt free. She felt like a
teenager again. In a burst of adrenaline, she stood and ran. The mowed grounds
of the estate were easy to traverse. But when she reached the uneven ground of
the field of wildflowers and didn’t pause, she almost fell, caught herself, and
took off again.

* * *

Soaring high over the forest, Roth looked toward
the Childress Estate. He wondered if Rainey was staring into the night.
Movement in the field next to the woods jerked his eagle eyes towards it.
Riding a wave of wind, he flew closer and circled the animal below. Recognition
made his heart pound. Was someone chasing Rainey? Swooping down, he landed
fifteen feet in front of her. She yelped and stopped running so abruptly she
fell to her knees. Raising her head, she shook a tangled mass of cascading
waves away from her face. Her eyes, reflecting brilliant in a sudden shaft of
moonlight, rounded in wonder when she saw the eagle. Her appearance fit the
description of an earthling goddess—half human, half feral. Her husky voice
rasped low, "Oh, my God…Oh, my God. It’s you."

For a moment, Roth thought she knew it was him.

"I’ve watched you from my bedroom. I’ve
never seen an eagle on our grounds before. Oh, God, I’m talking to an eagle. I
think you're a bald eagle."

Roth stretched and flapped his wings.

"Please, don’t leave. I know you can’t
understand me, but maybe you can feel my love for you…my love for your
freedom."

Roth pulled his wings close to his body.

Rainey sat on the ground.

They stared at each other.

Finally, Roth approached taking short hops.

She gasped.

He came within ten feet. He could hear her rapid
breathing.

"I sneaked out of the house. I’ve seen you
flying many times and it’s made me restless. I used to sneak from the house all
the time as a teenager. I’ve been thinking about running like this since the
first time I saw you."

Roth knew he should leave, but seeing
"this" Rainey, so different from the "heiress" Rainey, and
the "scientist" Rainey, kept him from flying away. She spoke freely,
as if he were her closest friend.

Roth listened to her for a long time. The hoot
of an owl made him realize how late it was. If he didn’t leave, he had the
feeling she would stay until he did. He extended his wings and heard her gasp.

"You’re so beautiful," she breathed.
"I’ve read that eagles mate for life. I wish I were your mate. We could
soar through the heavens together."

Roth watched a lone tear trickle down her cheek.
Flapping his wings, he captured the breeze and lifted skyward, not taking his
eyes off of her. Circling low, he heard her sniff. Finally, she stood and
retraced her steps toward the estate grounds. Zooming high in the darkness, he
watched her progress. She glanced upward many times, searching the sky. He stayed
high enough so she couldn’t see him.

When she reached a certain distance from the
house, she dropped to her belly and inched her way toward the mansion. Her
tenacity impressed him. She reached the corner of the wall and disappeared into
the covering of vines. Roth circled until he saw her open the French doors of
the bedroom adjacent to her own. Crossing the balcony, she hoisted herself over
the railing and onto the connecting ledge to her own room. While grabbing vines
for stability she edged across it. Like a clumsy cat burglar, she climbed over
her balcony railing and quickly entered her bedroom. He silently landed outside
her French doors and peered through a crack in the draperies. The soft glow of
a nightlight cast the room in shadow. She sat on her bed and put her head in
her hands. After a few minutes, she reached for the hem of her grass-stained
sweater and lifted. Roth expanded his wings and flew to his own balcony. Bowing
his head, he shifted into his human form.

Rainey stared out her window on the ride to the
lab the next day.

"Do you know anything about eagles?"
Mr. Beowolf.

Roth choked. "Excuse me?"

"Do you know anything about eagles?"

"Why?"

"No reason. I was just thinking that I’ve
spent years of my life pursuing higher education, and yet I know nothing about
eagles, or any other animal for that matter. You didn’t answer my question, ‘Do
you know anything about eagles’?"

"A little."

"How did you learn?"

"Observation."

"
Hmm
. Yes, you would be the kind of
person who learns by observation. Sadly, I’ve learned everything I know from
books."

"You’re introspective today."

"You mean not quite my ‘bitchy’ self?"

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t have to. But don’t worry, it's
only temporary."

Johnson pulled to the curb and started to open
his door.

"No need, Johnson, I’ve got it."
Rainey reached for her door handle. "Maybe you can share what you know
about eagles with me someday, Mr. Beowolf."

* * *

Rainey’s introspection didn’t last long. The
experiments scheduled for that day were disastrous. First one piece of
equipment broke, and then another. Roth pulled Fawn aside, trying to get an
understanding of the equipment problems.

"Fawn, are you being paid to talk or
work?" Rainey asked when she saw them together.

"I’m sorry, Rainey. What would you like me
to do?"

"Set the plate for the next array of
frequencies."

Roth walked to the bank of windows, and turned
to watch Rainey. She wore a white shapeless lab coat and beige loafers. Her
hair, pulled back in its usual clip at the nape of her neck, looked stark and
unbecoming. If he hadn't encountered her the previous night, even in his
wildest imaginings, he would never have associated this Rainey, with that
Rainey. Last night, he had observed a vulnerable, warm, and even compelling
woman. The woman he now saw was brash, rude, and homely. He shook his head.

"Listen up, everyone," Rainey called.
"We need to regroup. Meet me in my office in ten minutes." As an
afterthought, she added, "Mr. Beowolf, your presence is not
required."

"I’ll be there," he countered.

Ten minutes later, Steve, Jim, Fawn, and Roth
sat uncomfortably in the small office in chairs borrowed from the lab floor.
Rainey sat behind her desk, tapping a pencil on her blotter.

"It has become obvious over the past few
weeks that we’re at a stalemate. When we first started our experiments based on
the work of other researchers, our springboard was the ancient 'OM'. When
toned, it creates an 'O' shape. We then became proficient at using certain
frequencies in certain combinations to create letters, numbers, and geometric
forms. After that, we increased the number of frequencies and successfully
formed three-dimensional shapes. Then we moved on to creating rudimentary body
organs. A few months ago we accidently had an incredible breakthrough with the
formation of a whole human on the Chladni plate.

"What I’m saying, people, is that we’re
going nowhere fast! We have
got
to regroup and rethink. How the
hell
were we able to create a three-dimensional replica of me? Think everyone. Think
about it when you go home…think about it when you go to bed…think about it in
your dreams…think about
-"

Roth interrupted. "Maybe the problem is
you’re thinking too much."

Rainey’s jaw dropped. "What did you
say?"

"You heard me."

Rainey tried to stare him down, but his blue
gaze never waivered.

Jim suddenly stood and said, "I have to
check something. I’ll…I’ll be thinking about the problem all the time,
Rainey."

Roth refused to be bulldozed by her and would
not look away from the fireworks in her eyes. The office emptied.

Rainey stood and circled her desk. "Close
the door, Roth."

He reached behind his chair and gently pushed.
The door clicked.

"You seem to forget
Mr. Beowolf
that
I
am in charge of this lab. You are merely a hireling of my father. You
have no say in my work here. In fact, you are not even
qualified
to have
a say in what we're doing. I am going to speak with my father about having you
fired."

Roth stood and stepped around the chair blocking
him from Rainey. She tried to take a step backward, but her desk prevented her.
He stood tall above her, but bent until his electric-blue gaze hovered above
hers.

"You are a spoiled, selfish heiress. Your
threats do not scare me. Your posturing does not move me. You can run to Daddy
and demand that I be fired, but it will not happen. You are stuck with me, so
you’d better get used to it. My job is to protect you and, by God, I will.

"Now, about your office meeting: Demands to
your employees will not bring about a resolution. Your stinking attitude will
only bring about stinking ideas. What you need—and they need—is a vacation;
time away from this prison so you
can
solve the mystery of the
frequencies. Do you understand what
I’m
saying?"

Roth turned and left the room before she could
answer.

* * *

Rainey clutched her briefcase to her chest
during the ride home. She sat as far away from Roth as humanly possible in the
Hummer. No one had
ever
spoken to her the way he had. She was so mad she
wanted to pummel him.

"We’ve got a tail, Roth," said
Johnson.

"How long?"

"Five minutes…came in on Tenth
Street…waited until we hit the countryside…black SUV."

"What…what do you mean?" asked Rainey.

"Whatever you do, Rainey, don’t turn
around. Understand?" Roth reached to pull his handgun from his body
holster and lay it across his lap. He also reached into his vest pocket and
pulled out a mirror.

"What…what are you doing?"

Roth raised the mirror and held it so he could
look out the rear window. "I see the SUV."

Rainey started to turn around and Roth darted a
hand to her leg.

"Don’t turn around," he said calmly.

Johnson said, "Looks like one person."

"Yeah, I see that. We’re almost to Twelfth,
I want you to do a quick right when we get there, drop me out of the car, and
then speed off like the hounds of hell are after you."

"Understood. But what are you…"

"Trust me, Johnson."

"Yes, sir." Johnson punched a speed
dial number on the dash. Almost immediately he responded to a voice on the
other end of his headset. He relayed their situation. After he terminated the
call, he said, "The other Hummer is being dispatched as backup. Our ETA to
the jump point is about one minute. The tail is still on."

Rainey said, "What are you going to do,
Roth?"

"Remember what I said about a
vacation?"

"What…what does that
-"

"After this is over, we’re going away for
awhile—time for a break."

"Thirty seconds," said Johnson.

Roth jammed his gun back into its holster.

"Roth, please…"

Suddenly, the Hummer swerved and entered a cross
street. At the peak of the turn, Roth opened his door and rolled from the car.
Rainey shrieked, "Oh, my God!" and Johnson put the pedal to the
metal.

* * *

Roth rolled out of the car, took cover in
roadside foliage, and bowed his head.

The SUV reached the corner and whipped around
it. Roth stretched his wings and lifted upward behind the vehicle. He saw
Johnson swerve around another corner, disappearing from sight. He landed with a
thud on the roof of the SUV. The startled driver swerved. Roth prayed again and
jumped onto the hood with four paws. The driver took one look at the wolf and screeched
his brakes. Without cover, Roth prayed and shifted back into an eagle. The
terrified man now gaped at an eagle on the hood of his car. With a squawk, Roth
soared upward and watched the SUV back up, whip around, and squeal toward the
city. He followed.

* * *

After a harrowing ride, Johnson finally reached
the estate. He'd been in constant contact with headquarters and the tall iron
gates stood open. Four guards, two on either side of the imposing structure,
awaited their arrival with semiautomatics exposed. Johnson peeled past the
entrance and around to the back of the house. Other guards awaited and rushed
Rainey from the Hummer into the house.

 "Thank God, Rainey, I was so
worried!" Her father waited at the terrace doors to embrace her.

"Roth jumped from the car," she
choked.

Johnson waited to be acknowledged.

"Why did Roth jump from the car,
Johnson?" her father asked.

"I don’t know, sir. He told me to trust
him. A few minutes after he jumped, we no longer had a tail on us. He must have
shot out the tires or something."

For the next half hour, Rainey huddled in a
chair and listened to her father and Johnson discuss the situation.

Johnson’s cell phone rang. "Johnson
speaking— Yes, sir. I'll have someone pick you up?"

"Pick who up?" Rainey asked; her voice
hopeful.

"Sir, Roth is calling to be picked up. I'll
send someone for him."

Hank said, "Thank God." Then he
approached Rainey with a shot glass. "Rainey, you’ve had a bad scare. I
want you to drink this to calm your nerves."

"No…" Rainey saw the concern in her
father’s eyes. "Okay, Dad."

Johnson walked outside.

Rainey felt overwhelming relief. Roth was okay.
She swigged the whiskey her father had given her and then reached for the
decanter he'd set on the table beside her.

* * *

Roth carried Rainey to her bedroom. Her attempt
to climb the stairs had been laughable. While he and Johnson had spoken to Mr.
Childress, he’d watched her imbibe enough whiskey to get drunk as a skunk, or
so he thought the saying went.

She draped her arms around his neck and whispered
in his ear. "You know what I think, Roth Beowolf?"

"What, Rainey Childress?"

"I think you are an insufferable ass…and
you have a cute one, too." She giggled and snuggled her head under his
chin.

"Likewise, Ms. Childress."

He heard her sigh and then snore. At the door to
her room, Frank stood and raised an eyebrow, but he opened the door for Roth
without questioning Rainey’s altered state. He did have a question for Roth,
however. "Hey, Roth, I was in the dispatch Hummer. We couldn’t locate the
SUV. Sorry about that, man. Johnson said you must have shot the tires out. It’s
weird we couldn’t locate it though."

"Yeah, Frank, it’s been a weird day."

Roth entered Rainey’s room and pushed the door
shut with his foot. Walking to her bed, he bent with her still in his arms and
pulled the covers back. Laying her on the silken, pastel-pink sheets, he
grinned. So she liked silk and pink. When he thought about it, he wanted to
bust out laughing. He had pictured her more the flannel, army-green type.

He looked at her high-necked blouse and
hesitated only a second before unbuttoning it. She wore a nondescript white
camisole underneath, but he could see pink lace peeking over the top. He was
sorely tempted to pull the camisole over her head to reveal what lay beneath.
However, out of respect for her imbibed state, he restrained himself. He looked
at her ample bosom and sighed. Removing her shoes and then unbuttoning her
skirt, he slipped it off to reveal a plain white slip. He tossed her blouse and
skirt on a chair, and pulled the covers up to her chin. When he started to move
away, she barely opened her eyes and reached her arms around his neck, pulling
his mouth to hers. He let her. She moaned and mashed her lips against his. The
kiss had no finesse. Roth almost gave in to the temptation to teach her
something. Sighing, he withdrew his mouth and let her drift back into
dreamland. Puffing air, he left her room. He needed to discuss his plan with
Hank.