New Species 04 Justice (17 page)

afraid.” He cleared his throat. “You know.” He jerked his head. “See the camera? They

installed it to watch her.”

“They are worried one of you will molest her?” Jessie turned, saw the camera and

gave a wave. She turned her back on it. “Can you blame them? I’m sure you’re trusted

but these women have been through the worst abuse.”

Paul nodded. “They said that most of it was dirt.”

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“She’s in good health besides the extremely poor diet and some abuse she

suffered.” Doctor Treadmont sighed. “They allowed me to examine her with four of

their women present.” He met Jessie’s eyes. “She’s been badly abused for years. She’s

also been starved.”

She understood what he wasn’t saying aloud. “I haven’t found one yet who hasn’t

been abused or starved.” She moved closer to the bed and lifted Beauty’s hand to hold

it. It felt delicate and small inside her gentle grip. “Do you know what my job is

exactly?” She glanced at the doctor.

He shrugged. “What job? I was told you were here to talk with her when she

wakes.” The man glanced at his watch. “Which should be soon.” He stood. “I’ll be in

my office. One of us is supposed to stay with her at all times.”

Paul met Jessie’s gaze. “Just give a yell if you need help.” He pulled the vacant chair

to the bed so Jessie could sit and still hold Beauty’s hand. “I was told it’s better if men aren’t around when you talk to her. Good luck.”

“Wait. Do you know what my job is?”

He hesitated. “Just to be here for her. When you’ve talked to her and get her settled,

I know they wanted you to introduce her to a few of the females. They just need to get

her not to be afraid of them first. When she’s more stable medically she’ll be moved into the women’s dorm.”

Great.
“So you’ll call someone to let them know when she’s ready to be introduced to some of the women?”

He pointed to the camera. “It’s got sound and they are monitoring. Talk to the

camera and let them know what you need.” He fled.

Jessie studied Beauty closely. She looked young but they were usually older than

they appeared. She’d guess the woman was probably in her late twenties. Usually she

had time to study the male kidnappers involved to profile what kind of monster had

victimized the women but not this time. She wondered what kind of monster had

locked Beauty up. She was going into this blind. What mattered the most was getting

Beauty through the shock of her drastic life change.

Beauty stirred and Jessie stood, gripping the woman’s hand a little tighter. Brown

eyes flicked open and Jessie smiled.

“Hi, Beauty. It’s Jessie. Do you remember me? I’m fine. How are you doing?”

Fear was instant. The woman tensed and gripped Jessie’s hand hard. She stared up

at Jessie with wide, alarmed eyes, before she appeared to calm. “I thought you died.”

“No. I just had a head wound. I’m fine. How are you feeling?”

The woman hesitated. “I’m scared.”

Jessie kept talking to her, soothing her, until the woman’s fear eased. She learned

that Beauty had been with her captor for a long time. She couldn’t remember the testing

facility and she had no clue what she was.

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Jessie was going to have to explain it to her but didn’t know where to start. She

didn’t want to tell her all the horrors about Mercile Industries and what they’d done.

That was a story for another time when the woman was stronger. Instead she gently

explained that there were some physical differences between them and then started to

tell her that people like Beauty wanted to meet her.

“Remember what I said last night? That I was going to get you home to your family

and you’d be safe? Well, you’re here.” Jessie shot a look at the camera. “I want you to

meet some of them. Some really nice women like you. They are going to come soon and

meet you.” She gave her full attention back to the woman on the bed.

Beauty looked afraid again and Jessie tried to soothe her. “They aren’t going to hurt

you. You were afraid of me when we met but you’re not anymore, are you?”

“No. You are nice.”

Jessie smiled. “So are they. They’ve been looking for you.” Jessie heard a soft sound

and turned her head toward the door. She smiled at Halfpint, realized they’d probably

been waiting in the hallway.

Jessie waved her in and studied Beauty. “This is Halfpint. She was just like you,

Beauty. She was locked up and hurt.” Jessie’s voice softened. “She’s really nice and she

knows how you’re feeling right now. She’s been where you are.”

Beauty looked at the short woman who timidly stepped into the hospital room and

gasped. Halfpint lifted a foot to step back but Jessie gestured for her to stay. Beauty

released Jessie’s hand and both of her hands lifted to her own face. Jessie understood.

“Isn’t Halfpint beautiful? Just like you are,” Jessie said softly. “I told you that you

have family here.”

Beauty stared at Jessie with dawning understanding. “I resemble her and not you?”

“Yes. You’re far prettier than I could ever be. I envy you. I’d love to have your

cheekbones and your beautiful eyes.”

Beauty smiled. “Really?”

“Yes. Why do you think I named you Beauty? You’re beautiful.”

Beauty glanced shyly at Halfpint. “You’re like me? You were locked up too by

mean people?”

Halfpint blinked back tears. “Yes, I was. Jessie found me too and brought me home.

I’ve been free for a while and I’m so happy here. Can I touch you? I would like to hold

you.”

Beauty’s gaze flew to Jessie. Jessie nodded as she eased back and switched places

with Halfpint. In minutes the women were hugging and talking. Jessie eventually eased

out of the room and spotted Tiny lurking in the hallway.

“Jessie!”

Jessie hugged her hard. Tiny was another woman she’d saved who looked a

hundred percent healthy and happy these days.

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* * * * *

Justice turned his focus away from the camera and found Tiger standing behind

him grinning. “I like the human. She’s really good with our kind.”

“Yes,” Justice agreed softly. “Jessie is.”

Tiger’s grin faded. “Are you sure you want her living in our area? We’ve never had

a human stay there.”

“I swore to her father that I’d keep an eye on her and that she’d be safe. She can’t be

more protected than by living where she is.”

Tiger didn’t look thrilled. “I’m glad I live a few houses down from her. I hope she

doesn’t have any weird habits.”

Justice studied his friend. “What kind of habits?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she cooks bad-smelling food or worse, she could listen to

loud music that I hate.”

Justice glanced back at the security screen. Jessie remained out of camera range now

that she’d left the room Beauty was being kept in but he really wished she’d return. He

longed to look at her, hear her voice, and wanted to see her in person.

“Send someone to pick her up and take her home. She’s had a long day. Tell her to

go back to the Medical Center in the morning. Tomorrow she can move Beauty into the

dorm if Ted clears it. Have whoever picks her up take her dinner. She shouldn’t cook

tonight after the past twelve hours she’s endured. She likes prime rib.”

Tiger’s eyebrows lifted. “How do you know that?”

Justice inwardly winced over revealing too much. “I just do. Make sure she’s taken

care of and fed well. I have to go make some calls. The governor is demanding we go to

a charity event next month and I’m going to accept. It’s for animal rights and it would

be bad publicity if we refused, so get ready to be annoyed.”

“Shit,” Tiger groaned. “Take Brass.”

“He’s going too but I want you there.” Humor curved Justice’s lips. “If I have to

suffer, you should too. The governor’s wife found you especially charming.”

“She patted my ass!”

“See? She’s Species friendly.”

Justice laughed, exited the security building quickly and hoped to clear his busy

schedule as quickly as possible. Jessie was at Homeland and he wanted to talk to her.

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Jessie closed the door and held the large bag of takeout food from the NSO

cafeteria. She hadn’t eaten all day and the smell of dinner made her stomach rumble.

She turned on lights to study the living room, debating whether to eat or explore. Her

stomach rumbled again, settling the debate.

The couch was plush and comfy as she sat, settled the bag on the table before her

and opened it. The scent of prime rib made her groan. Justice had to have ordered it for

her since they hadn’t asked her what she wanted. At least she hoped he’d done

something that thoughtful. For all she knew, prime rib could have been the day’s

special.

She’d gotten to spend time with Tiny and Halfpint again. That had been great.

She’d always believed her job rewarding since joining the task force but nothing

reaffirmed that more than seeing the changes in the two. They’d been frightened,

injured, abused women who were shells when they’d been rescued. Now they were

secure, thriving individuals who had found happiness.

The cafeteria had sent everything from silverware to napkins and two types of

sodas. She ate—almost inhaled the food—and enjoyed every bite. She ignored the

television across the room, a large plasma screen that hung over a fireplace, and

gawked a little at how nice her quarters were. It was a big house, fully furnished and

new.

Her attention finally settled on the bag she’d brought and knew she’d have to

unpack. She wanted her clothes from home but had to settle for the ones her father had

bought at a large retail store. He’d tried to find high-end stores but Jessie had refused.

Her father could be worse than her female friends when it came to picking out clothes.

He couldn’t just sit back quietly while she shopped but instead had to make comments,

especially when he didn’t agree with her choices.

She gripped the handle of the bag, stood and walked down the hallway. The first

bedroom was generic, nice. She moved on to the second one. It was a big room, the

master, and she grinned.

“I can get used to this,” she muttered. The height of the king-size bed lifted her

eyebrows. “I’ll probably need a stepstool to climb on to that.” The room had a massive

nine-drawer dresser and a flat-screen TV was sitting on it. It was probably a forty-inch

TV.
Cool.
She grinned. Two nightstands finished off the furniture. She spun away, saw an open walk-in closet and a dark doorway.

The bathroom was huge. She gawked at the Jacuzzi tub taking up an entire corner

and dropped her bag. She didn’t resist the urge to climb inside, sit and chuckle. Four

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people could fit in the thing. It had jets and she decided she’d take a bath instead of a shower.

“I need to get undressed first.” She didn’t want to move. It had been a really long

day and her headache threatened to return when she felt a slight throbbing at her

temples.

She lifted up a hand to gently touch the back of her head, found the bandage there

and sighed loudly. Her life had changed because she’d been shot. Her job with the task

force was history. She had a new home yet absolutely no idea what to expect. What she

needed, she realized, was to at least get acquainted with her surroundings, starting with the rest of the house.

Jessie forced her body upright, decided it was time to explore her cottage and

climbed out of the tub. There was a nice kitchen and open dining room near the living

room. She eased open cupboards and drawers, learning everything from silverware to

dishes had been supplied. A gasp passed her parted lips when she opened the fridge to

discover it had been stocked with enough food to feed a family of eight for a week, at

least. The freezer was packed too with everything from ice cream to frozen meat.

* * * * *

Jessie cleaned up her dinner mess quickly and took one of the pain pills her doctor

had prescribed. That bathtub was calling to her. She unpacked and grabbed a pair of

boxers and a half shirt before returning to the bathroom. It didn’t take long at all to fill the big tub, strip and sink slowly into the warm wonderfulness of the bubbling Jacuzzi.

The jets against her back were heavenly and she raised her feet, shoving them over two

more jets opposite where she sat. The headache slowly faded as she tilted her head

gently on the rim, her body relaxed and she released all her pent up stress.

“Oh, I’m never leaving,” she whispered aloud, her eyes closing. “This is the life.”

* * * * *

Justice glanced at his watch, impatient to leave the office but he’d been informed

that a situation needed to be dealt with. He rubbed the back of his neck and thought of

Jessie. She’d been dropped off at her home and by now she’d had time to get settled. He

wanted to see her more than anything, including addressing whatever trouble had

arisen.

A knock sounded at his door, it immediately opened and Fury and Tiger sauntered

in. Both males appeared stressed and irritated as the door slammed—further proof of

their bad moods. They collapsed into the chairs across from him.

“What’s going on?” He glanced at them.