Rare Find (7 page)

With a teary smile at Ronin, she led the way back to the kitchen. She heard the front door close behind her, followed by Ronin's footsteps. In the kitchen, she stopped. There were pots simmering on the stove.

She spun around, a delighted smile on her face. "You made dinner?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Spaghetti."

With a hand on the small of her back, he nudged her into the kitchen. A large pot in front burped. He stepped over to it and stirred the contents.

"I can't remember the last time someone cooked me a meal." Delight curled her insides. "And you've made one of my favorites."

The smile fell off his face as he studied her. Cautiously, he asked, "Really? Not your grandfather? Father? Fiancé?"

"My grandfather hated cooking. As soon as I was old enough, I took over the chore. Dennis, my father, never lived here with me."

Waving a ladle at her, he asked quietly, "And the fiancé?"

She wrinkled her nose and walked slowly toward him. "He'd never be caught in a kitchen."

"Well, I have no such issue." He shrugged those wide shoulders. "I love to cook."

Damn. She could get used to that. Her good mood restored, she said, "Perfect. 'Cause I'm starved."

"Good. 'Cause it's ready." He smiled and motioned to the table. "I wasn't sure if it was safe to leave Tripod here – nice name by the way – around the food."

"He's got great manners." She let Ronin lead her to the table and hold out her chair. "But I wouldn't trust him too far."

"That's what I thought." He quickly served up dinner under Tripod's eagle eye and carried the plates to the table. "What I don't have is a bottle of wine to go with this."

She laughed. "As much as I'd love a glass, I don't think there is a bottle in the house."

"I'll take care of that when I head out tomorrow."

Her hand dropped, her fork clattering to the plate. "Tomorrow?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Yes. I have a few things to check on. I'll grab a bottle or two on my way home."

She flushed, and in a strangled voice, said, "Home?"

"Yep." He casually scooped up a forkful of spaghetti. "I'm not leaving you alone until this is over." And he popped the food in his mouth.

Over?
She very carefully put her fork down and stared at him in shock. "Why?"

It was his turn to stare at her. "Because you were attacked?"

Cautiously, she asked, "You understand in what way I was attacked, right?"

He nodded and twisted up another fork of pasta. "Yep. Somewhat. At least what I got from what Stefan, Shay and my brother told me."

"And you think...you can help if I'm attacked again?" She didn't want to insult him, but just what was he thinking?

At the disbelief in her voice, he very carefully replaced his fork. "I know that I'm not like you and I probably can't do much to ward off a psychic attacker, but I can get help."

She stared down at her plate. "I know you believe that, but you might not even know that an attack is happening. It's not as if I'm screaming out loud."

He frowned. "Then maybe I'm going to have to sleep in the same room as you. Surely, I'd know then?"

She snorted. "Wait until you're invited."

"And how long will that take?" He grinned at her narrow-eyed look. "Hey, it was worth asking. And I've been patient."

She rolled her eyes at him. Inside, she felt the warmth uncurl in her belly. Like they'd gotten that far yet. Her grandfather's death had pushed that step back slightly. "I like sleeping alone."

Both eyebrows flew up. "And here I thought for sure you slept with Tripod." Tripod, hearing his name, gave a small yelp.

She reached out a hand. Tripod shuffled right up to her plate and sniffed. Tabitha tapped his nose to make him back up. "If you can call that sharing. Tripod is a bed hog. Besides, lots of nights I sleep with another male."

The smile slid off Ronin's face.

Good.

Then Tango roared.

***

"Jesus. What the hell is that?" Ronin half jumped out of his chair and leaned forward to look out the window.

"Ha. It's my cat. That's Tango."

He shot her a disbelieving look, catching the amused glitter in her light-green eyes. "There is no way a cat makes that kind of sound."

Tango roared again. This time though there was something off. Tabitha went to the living room and pushed some kind of button. Ronin followed more slowly and watched as the whole wall retracted.

What the hell kind of wall was that? And damn if she didn't have some kind of fine mesh cage behind that wall. Thank God. He was half afraid she was one of those crazy people who got so super cozy with their wild pets that they ignored common sense.

Then she pulled the wire mesh completely back.

Oh shit.

And didn't the biggest damn white tiger, with a head the size of Mount Rushmore, saunter toward her.

"Watch out," he cried as the tiger jumped. Instantly his throat clogged and his chest tightened. Christ, he could hardly breathe. He swallowed. And then swallowed again. He couldn't help the instinctive clenching of his fists. Inside, insidious emotions shifted through him. Panic. Pain. Sadness. So much worse than the last time he'd been in the house.

He took a shaky breath. This was not happening.

He was halfway to her when he realized the tiger had stopped with complete control and was on his back legs, Tabitha crushed in his embrace.

Jesus.

Ronin prided himself on being a brave soul, but he was not going that close. And he didn't care how tame the damn thing was. A wild animal was a wild animal.

Unless it's not a wild animal.

Stefan.
And did one ever get used to this guy in his head?

Ronin snapped out mentally,
If you're trying to convince me that this thing is safe to be around, forget it. I have too much respect for human life to believe you.

And in many cases you could be right. In this case however, you'd be wrong.

And why is that? Has she got some kind of special powers or something?
Right about now he wished she did. He'd believe that as much as anything.

No, but they do have a special connection.

See, that's where you are wrong. All pet lovers say that about their little pooches.
And he couldn't help the disgust from rolling through his voice. He was a cop, damn it. And he'd seen more than his fair share of animals both domesticated and wild. Sometimes the domestic ones were the more dangerous.

Stefan laughed.
You'll have to see for yourself. And take a deep breath. You will survive this.

"Promise?" Ronin muttered.

With a last laugh, Ronin's mind emptied. Damn, that was weird.

"Ronin, come and meet Tango."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Damn it, he wasn't a wuss. He took a couple of steps forward and stopped. And struggled to breathe. He so didn't want to pass out. Not here. Not with her. Not with that carnivore looking on. "I'll stick to dogs."

"Tripod is here, too."

He groaned silently and took another step into the living room.

Tango dropped to the floor and stared at Ronin, a howl starting deep in the back of his throat. The hairs raised on the back of his neck.

The look in those damn eyes...

Ronin took a deep breath and tried to stop the shakiness that was starting to vibrate his insides, making his stomach acids turn to cheese.

"Why is he howling?"

"I'm not sure. He doesn't normally do that." She reached down to place a hand on Tango's head. The howl changed. It wasn't the same tenor as the first time, but it was hardly welcoming.

Then all of a sudden, the howl cut off.

Thank you.
Ronin much preferred the silence. Except now a dull roaring sound was in his head. Almost a buzz. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

Tabitha sighed heavily. "Come over here and meet Tango. He'll calm down once he meets you. And maybe you will too." She tilted her head and studied him. "And make sure that gun is safely away. Tripod hates them."

"I've already made peace with the dog." He didn't move.

"And you'll make peace with Tango, too. It's much better to meet him on equal ground. If you take one step backwards, he's got you."

"Damn." Ronin stepped forward. He could feel the heat, the intensity of that deep blue feline gaze following his every movement. Like a cat watching a mouse.

Ronin had always felt sympathy for the mouse.

For a cat, the animal was damn beautiful. The markings on its head, the eyes, the shocking white fur were something he'd never expected to see up close. And never inside a house. Not sure he wanted to hear the answer, he asked, "Do you let him out of that cage much?"

"All the time. The house is his, too."

Double damn.

When he was a couple of feet away, Ronin stopped, his gaze on the cat.

"Now what?"

She grinned. "Say hi."

He shot her a fulminating look. "Just like that."

"Well,
to
him of course."

His gaze zipped back to the waiting tiger. Did she mean it the way Stefan had said to talk to Tango? 'Cause there was no way in hell he'd be dropping to his knees and closing his eyes in front of a tiger. Talk about being a sacrificial offering. Then as if to accentuate the fact that the tiger was waiting for the appropriate response, it sat down and waited.

Taking a deep breath and feeling like an idiot, Ronin said, "Hi, Tango. Nice to meet you."

No response. Then again, what had he expected? He shook his head then winced at the heavy buzz in his ear. Under his breath, he swore again.

"That ringing inside your head... It's because he's talking to you and you're not listening."

He stared at her in disbelief. "How did you know my head is ringing?"

She snorted. "Because I can sense it. Normally I only listen to my animals but now... some things have changed and I can sense more with people too. And behind your lovely front of 'I don't like cats'...I see fear."

Heat washed up his cheeks. Damn. So what if there was fear? Hell, there was a tiger in the room. Anyone with an ounce of working brain matter would understand. Besides, it's not as if he was afraid
of
cats... He knew there was fear there, he just didn't understand what exactly frightened him.

And the last thing he wanted was her laughing at him.

With a final glance at the still gaze of the tiger locked on him, Ronin decided enough was enough for this time. He'd done well but he didn't want to push it. He turned and headed back to the kitchen, putting a little distance between him and Tango. "While you're having your fun, I'll go finish eating. Unless you're planning on feeding dinner to the two of them."

Turning his back on that damn feline was the hardest thing he'd done in a long time. And he was proud that he'd managed to do it in a calm, nonchalant manner.

Then he found the two empty plates on the table and the guilty party still licking the tomato sauce off his face.

Tripod.

***

On the road at last. Only a couple of hours late. Not too bad. His boss had driven on ahead and Fez was hauling the cargo in the big rig. Roberts hadn't shown up yet. That was a pisser. Fez had called him a couple of times but Roberts hadn't answered as yet.

The highway was almost empty. In fact, the truck was almost empty too. Good. It should make the trip easier. Faster.

Most of the cages were small. Then there was the big one. What the hell was with her?

He'd always loved his job before. Enjoyed the challenge and the payoffs. It had been easy money with plenty to keep him busy.

Only something was shifting. Maybe because Roberts hadn't shown up, Fez was afraid his buddy had 'booked it' after all. That was bad news if he hadn't planned his disappearance the right way. When the boss found out he wasn't coming back to work...

He sighed. This was a good gig. It wasn't hard. Gave them lots of free time. What was there to complain about? So what if they were moving females in cages. This type of job for many people was nothing. Besides they were paid enough to squelch any kind of misgivings.

He shifted gears and took the truck into the turn.

Please keep the females asleep
. They were much easier to deal with when they were quiet. Of course they'd really start screaming when they saw where they were going. There'd be no appreciation there. But at least they'd have food and water and shelter.