Zara (12 page)

“
Which orphanage?”

The ex-guard hesitated.

“Which one?” Trig demanded again, bending down in the man’s face.

“
Children United Orphanage.”

“
Was it the last time you saw the young child that you took?”

“
Yes.”

“
Very good.  Thank you, Mr. Stein.”

“
I can go now?” The ex-guard looked hopeful.

“
Nope.  You will remain here for further questioning.  Then await your judgment.” Trig stood to leave. 

“
You can’t leave me here!” the ex-guard yelled at them.

Zara turned around, “
I have dreamed of ripping your head off your shoulders on so many nights, give me a reason to do it.”

The male sat back down defeated
.  A puddle dripped down from the man’s chair to the floor followed by a strong odor.  Evidently, he did more than just wet himself. 

Zara turned away in disgust.

Zara followed Trig out of the room
.  It was hard to keep her emotions in check to allow Trig time to ask his questions.  All she wanted to do was beat the shit of the male.

“
Wait, Zara.” Trig motioned for her to stop.

“
Wait?  Come on.  Let’s get to the orphanage.”

“
I have to report this and then request a few IDJ agents to go with us.”

She folded her arms across her chest d
rawing his eyes to her breasts unintentionally.  She raised an eyebrow when he just stared at her chest with longing.  “Today, Trig.”

“
Right.  Be right back.” Trig disappeared down the hall. 

Zara watched him walk away
.  He had the finest ass she had ever seen on a male.  She licked her lips remembering how she had gripped that ass as he drilled into her over and over.  She wanted him again.  She always wanted him.  She feared she would never get enough of him. 

Out of the
corner of her eye, she caught sight of a few of the IDJ officers watching her.  She ignored them the best she could.  It was the price of fame.  Being a GCFA fighter brought attention to you whether you like it or not.  But it had allowed her to travel and search for Angel all these years. 

She had been created in a lab
.  Born and trained to be a fighter.  The scientists originally wanted her to be sold to the military.  However, the original corporations that had paid for her to be created had been busted by the IDJ.  She had been thrown into an orphanage, then a few years later they sent her to a breeding facility.

She didn
’t hate the IDJ.  They didn't know they were sending her and the other created halfsies to a worst situation.  But she did feel resentment that it took them years before they realized their mistake and the children they had once freed were once again prisoners.

“
Ready?” Trig had returned.  He had two IDJ officers with him.  He looked at her with concern.  “Zara?”

“
Let’s go.”

*****

It took them only five minutes to get to the Children United Orphanage.  There were children playing out in the playground laughing and smiling.  All of them were pure human children.  Whenever she had visited the different orphanages over the years, she had hoped Angel had ended up in a good one and that maybe a kind and loving family had adopted her.  She now knew that had not happened.  How was she to face her daughter after having failed to protect her?

The shuttle stopped in front of
the building.  Trig helped her out.  She was instantly comforted at the touch of their hands.  She hated letting him go, but she did and pulled her shoulders back. 

They walked side by side up to the front door of the place
, Trig reach out and rang the bell.  A pretty little blond female answered the door.  She looked nervous until she caught Trig’s eye.  As soon as the woman saw Trig smile at her, her whole demeanor relaxed. 
What the hell kind of pheromone was Trig putting off? 
He could make a female’s panties drop with a wink of his eye.

“
May I help you?” she asked Trig.

He smiled at her
.  “Yes, ma’am.  I am Special Agent Trig Roberts with the Intergalactic Department of Justice.  We are here to look for records of a halfsie child brought here about eight years ago.”

The woman moved out of the way so they could all enter
.  She looked at Zara briefly, but she didn’t show any signs of recognizing her.  She must not be into the GCFA events.

“
My name is Miss Caroline Berkley.  I am the Assistant Director for the Children United Orphanage.” She motioned for them to follow her down the hallway.

“
Mrs. Berkley…”

“
Miss…I am not married.  But you can call me Caroline.” She smiled at Trig and blushed. 

Zara held back her growl
.  The female was flirting with him.  To his credit, Trig seemed to be ignoring it all.

“
Miss Berkley, how long have you worked here?”

“
About three years.” She showed them into a small sized office.  The two IDJ officers had to stand outside in the hallway.  There was only room enough for Zara, Trig, and the flirty female.

“
The information we are looking for would be eight years ago.  A little brunette halfsie was brought in.”

The female frowned
.  “We don't have any halfsies here currently.  Let me check my computer.” She began to type on her computer.  Her fingers flew across the keyboard.  “This is unusual.”

“
What is?” Trig asked, standing and coming around to the female’s side of the desk. 

The
female pointed to her screen.  “There is not an official record of children being admitted, but there is an invoice for receipt of ten ‘special’ arrivals.  It was done at an odd time frame, middle of the night,” she continued to type and pulled up something that had Trig frowning.

“
Two days later there are ten new halfsie children registered.  How long were they here?” Trig asked.

The female typed some more
.  “It looks like all ten of them were fostered out two years after their arrival.  Another two years later two more children were fostered out to the same foster parents.  This is highly unusual.  The last two girls were here almost five years, but fostered out a little more than three years ago, right before I started here to the same exact foster parents.”

“
I see there were a few early pictures.  Do you have the most recent pictures…three and a half years ago?”

“
Yes, I have them.”

“
Could you print them for me?”

“
Of course.” The female hit the print button and the printer in the corner started to print out stuff.

Trig walked over to the printer and pulled the two pages off
.  On each page there was five pictures printed in color.  One in particular caught his attention.  He brought it over to Zara and handed it to her.

Zara held the pieces of paper in her
shaking hands.  She was staring at a color picture of her daughter taken three and a half years ago.  The first image she had ever seen besides the black and white sketch Taurus had done.

“
Angel,” she whispered, touching the child’s face with a loving touch.

Trig watched as emotions played crossed Zara
’s beautiful face.  Usually she kept her emotions closed off from others seeing it, but not this time.  “Do you have the records of who the foster parents were?” he asked the woman.

“
Yes, I’ll print that out for you.”

“
Thank you.”

*****

A few more minutes later, they left the orphanage.  Zara felt extremely anxious.  She wanted to rush to get to her daughter but the address of the foster parents was listed as the northeastern part of this region.  It would be at least an hour before they reached the location.  There was no guarantee it would be a valid address either.

Trig
’s phone went off.  “Roberts here.” He looked at Zara quickly before turning away.  “He’s there now?  Yes…we’ll meet with him.” Trig hung up the phone, but it was clear from his expression he was not happy.

“
What’s going on?” Zara asked with concern.

“
We have to head back to the IDJ headquarters.”

“
Why?”

“
We have an unannounced visitor that is requesting to see us.”

“
Who?”

“
The officer said the name given to him was…Tiger.”

Zara felt all the blood rush from her body
.  Tiger was here.  He was looking for her.  What was she going to do?  What was she going to say to him?  At least she would finally be able to get the secret out that had been weighing on her for years.

Trig watched her reactions play across her face
.  The last reaction—eagerness—worried him.  What if Tiger wanted her back?  What if she wanted to rekindle things with Tiger?  What was he going to do?  How was he ever going to let her go?

A few minutes later they were climbing out of the shuttle
.  Both lost with their own worried thoughts.  Zara was shaking.  She had to cross her arms around her body to hold herself steady.

They walked in and an officer was there w
aiting to show them to the conference room.  Zara followed behind Trig.  She was scared.  Not a lot scared her now a days, but seeing Tiger again made her experience the unwanted feeling.  What if he hated her for not finding him sooner and telling him about Angel.

The door opened and Trig entered
.  Zara stopped at the entrance.  At first glance, the tall male with the beautiful brown hair looked so much like Tiger.  Then as she stepped forward slowly she noticed his face was different and his eyes, they were blue not brown.

“
You’re not Tiger.”

“
No…I’m his brother, Torch.”

Zara looked around the room but no one else was there
.  “Where’s Tiger?”

“
He’s dead.”

Zara reached out to steady herself
.  She had always imagined Tiger alive and well somewhere.  That he had forgotten about her and their time together at the facility.  Never had she imagined he would be dead.

Trig gripped Zara
’s arm and helped her to sit down.  “Do you need anything, baby?”

She shook her head
.  She didn’t even hear him use the endearment.

“
When? How?” Zara asked as she sat down in the seat Trig pulled out of her.  She was in shock.

The male sat down close to her
.  “The scientists had deemed me unviable and had scheduled me for termination.  My older brother, Tiger, helped me to escape.  He sacrificed himself to make sure that I got out.  As soon as I did, I went for the IDJ’s assistance.  They had been investigating but had no grounds to raid the building yet.  That was until me.  I gave them the proof they needed.”

“
The night of the raid, the guards had taken Tiger to the room with the red door.”

“
Oh God, no!” Zara reached out and clasped Torch’s hand.

Trig sat on the other side of Zara
.  It hurt when she reached out and touched the other man instead of him.  He didn’t trust Torch at all.  How did he know where to find them?  Why wait until now to show up?

“
I came with the IDJ to show them where the prisoners were located.  Tiger wasn’t in his room.  When I found him, he had been injected with some agent that started to shut down his system.  The healers that came with the IDJ were able to stabilize his condition but…permanent damage had been done.  They didn’t know how much damage until much later.”

The man gulped
.  “It took a while for him to be able to communicate with me.  He had gotten better for maybe less than a year.  Then he slowly deteriorated over the following years.  He had written down everything that he could remember from his time at the breeding facility.  Most of it was about you.” Torch looked Zara up and down, desire showing in his eyes.  “His descriptions of you did not do you justice.”

“
When did Tiger die?” Trig asked with a bite to his voice.

Torch glared at Trig
.  “He died about two years ago.  I was away on business when I got the call that he had passed.  I got home as soon as possible but there was nothing I could do.”

“
Why wait two years before searching for Zara?”

“
I was devastated at losing my brother.  I mourned for about a year.  Then last year I was asked to clean out a storage unit my brother had used to keep the excess of his things.  That’s when I found his journal with his experiences in it.  That’s when I found out about you…Zara.”

“
You’re brothers?  But you are not a full Beastial?” Zara asked, ignoring the way the male’s voice deepened when speaking to her.

“
No, the labs mixed me with Voltan, Beastial, and human DNA to make me a halfsie.  Tiger and I had shared the same Beastial DNA, but he was full Beastial.  None of that mattered.  We could smell our DNA connection and felt a brotherly bond for one another.”

“
He told me once that he had a younger brother,” Zara said, getting lost in a memory of Tiger for a moment.

“
He told me that he regretted how the two of you had been thrown together, but his biggest regret had been in not finding you afterwards,” Torch said to her.

“
Why didn’t he?” Trig asked, not really believing everything the stranger was saying.  He glared at the way the other man held on to Zara’s hand.

“
He wasn’t quite right in the head after what they did to him.  I had to work several jobs to pay for the special care he needed.  He was in and out of reality.  There were times…near the end that…he was barely conscious.  He just sat there and stared off into space. It was almost a relief when he finally passed on.”

Trig looked away
.  He might not like the fact this man had a connection to Zara, but the pain over what his brother suffered and then losing him was not a lie.  No one could fake that kind of misery.

“
I may not have found you at all if it had not been for the IDJ officers coming to inquire whether Tiger stilled lived at that residence.  They informed me of a Special Agent Roberts that was looking for Tiger.  I told them I wanted to meet with you.  I didn’t know until just now, when Zara walked through the door, I would be seeing the female my brother had fallen in love with all those years ago.  And I especially had no idea that Zara the Amazon was that female.”

“
How do we know you are telling the truth?  How do we know you are really Tiger’s brother?”

Zara leaned forward almost putting her nose against Torch
’s neck.  She took a deep whiff of his scent.  Then she pulled back. 

Trig almost growled at seeing how close Zara got to the other man
.  He was not going to share his woman with anyone.  He didn’t care who the guy was.  No one was taking the woman he loved away from him. 
Loved?  Shit, I am screwed. 
“What the hell was that?” Trig demanded.

Zara looked at him in surprise
.  Trig had never raised his voice like that before.  He sounded—possessive.  “I scented him.  I can detect his Beastial scent, which matched what I remember of Tiger’s.  He is definitely Tiger’s brother.”

“
Is that one hundred percent accurate?” Trig asked with heat in his voice.

Torch g
lared back at him.  “For us,
human
…it is.”

Trig really was starting
to hate this guy.  “Well, if you all are done sniffing each other, how about we concentrate on finding your daughter.”

Torch looked at Zara in surprise
.  “Your daughter?”

Zara nodded
.  “Mine and Tiger’s.  She was taken from me when she was two and shortly after, the IDJ raided the building and one of the guards had snuck her out.  We just found a possible location for her.”

“
Tiger’s daughter?  I will go with you.”

“
Oh no.  We have enough people going.  We don’t need you too.” Trig shook his head.

“
This is my brother’s child, my niece.  She is the only living link I have to my brother.  There isn’t anyone on this world or any other that can keep me from her.”

Zara looked between the two ma
les.  They looked ready to tear each other apart.  “Trig, let’s not waste time arguing.  We need to find Angel.”

Trig nodded at her and stood to go out of the room
.  He requested a shuttle to take them to the nearest ship.  The ship would then take them to the northeastern part of the region.  When he returned he paused outside the room to listen to Zara and Torch talk.

“
Her name is Angel.  This is the first real picture I have had of her.” She handed him the color picture of her daughter they had gotten from the orphanage.

“
She is beautiful.  She looks just like you.”

“
Really?  I always thought she looked like Tiger.  She has his warm brown eyes.”

Torch smiled
.  “You are right.  Those are definitely Tiger’s eyes.”

“
A shuttle will be here in twenty minutes to take us to the nearest ship docking pad,” Trig told them leaning against the doorframe.

Torch stood
.  “Let me make a few phone calls before we leave.”

Zara watched him walk away
.  He reminded her so much of Tiger.  The proud way he carried himself, his kind eyes and sexy smile.  If she wasn’t falling hard for Trig, she could see herself falling easily for Torch.  She shook her head.  She couldn’t think about falling for anyone right now.  She had to find her daughter first.

*****

“This can’t be right,” Torch said as he helped Zara out of the shuttle.  He smirked at the human male who glared daggers at him the whole way.  It had been a very long, one hour flight. 

Zara had sat between them
.  Torch knew the two were involved, he could smell them on one another.  But the two were trying to act as if they weren’t a couple.  Torch wasn’t sure if that was a human thing.  Personally, he felt Zara could do better.  She deserved a male that understood what hell she had to endure.  She needed someone who could protect her, not a weak human.  She should be with someone more like…him.

“
This is the address listed for the foster parents,” Trig answered.  They all looked at the dilapidated building that sat in ruins.

Zara felt like s
omeone threw a bucket of cold water on her.  All her hopes nearly crashed to the ground.  She feared she was never going to find her daughter.

“
Wait, do you smell that?” Torch asked Zara.  He began to walk closer to the run down building. 

“
Smell what?  The urine in the streets or the backed up sewage?” Trig snorted. 

Zara followed Torch as he approached the building
.  Then the scent hit her.  It was light, very light.  But it was Angel.  A combination of Zara and Tiger mixed together that created the unique scent. 

“
I smell her.”

Torch nodded his head
.  Excitement gleamed in his eyes. 

“
Smell what?” Trig asked with frustration.  He hated that he had limited senses.

“
Angel.  I scent Angel.  But it's very faint here,” Zara said.

“
It’s getting stronger.” Torch turned to the right instead of going straight into the building.  He tracked the scent around the building to the back.  It took him straight to a smaller building in the back that had no windows but about dozen cameras on the outside of it.  Torch stopped and made everyone else halt before they were in range of the cameras.

“
Can your people tap into those camera feeds?” Torch asked Trig.

Trig nodded
.  “Give us a few minutes.” He then turned back to the two officers.  “Get our hacker expert on the phone.  We need to get those cameras shut off and possibly have the power shut off for the entire building.”

“
Yes, sir.”

Ten minutes later they were given the go
-ahead.  The entire building’s power was shut off, including what fed into the cameras.  About ten more IDJ officers arrived as well to help sweep the area.  They would use thermo scanning this time to make sure nothing was missed.

“
We have heat signatures.  Two on the bottom level, two on the second level and the top level has a grouping of five heat signatures.”

Torched turned to Zara
.  “This may be too dangerous.  You should wait here and I will go in and bring Angel out to you.”

Zara growled
.  Her Beastial side made her much stronger.  She gripped Torch by the throat and lifted him straight up in the air, which was quite something to see since he was almost a foot taller than her.  “I am not weak!  I will go in for my daughter.” She released him and pushed around him.

Trig snorted
.  “Guess she told you, huh,
Firewood.
”

“
It’s Torch!”

“
Whatever,
Matchstick
.” Trig knew he shouldn’t take so much pleasure out of seeing the halfsie put in his place, but he did.  He was also turned on by Zara’s demonstration.  She was definitely his kind of woman.

The IDJ officers entered first taking down the two com
pletely confused human guards.  They made their way up the stairs unable to use the elevator since the power was out.

On the second level
, the IDJ officers ran into some gunfire.  Zara, Torch, and Trig continued up the stairs allowing the IDJ agents to handle the situation.  They reached the top level and found the door locked.

Torch tried to ram the door but it wouldn
’t budge.  “Move out of the way,
Torture
.  This door is made out of at least five layers of solid steel.” Trig then bent down to his knees and inserted something that resembled a paperclip into the door lock. He twirled it around a few times until a clicking sound followed the last twirl.  He then turned the handle and pushed the door open. 

Torch didn
’t look at him as he walked past a smug Trig.  Zara gave Trig a rare smile that had his manhood paying attention big time.

“
I hear voices down that way.” Zara pointed to the right of the hallway.  As they got closer, they saw that gates blocked the hallway.  There were about five children standing on the other side with fear in their eyes.

Trig approached with his hands raised in the air
.  “Easy, guys.  We are here to help you all.  I’m Special Agent Trig Roberts with the IDJ and these are my friends Zara and Torch.”

“
You’re human,” one little girl said with doubt in her eyes.