“She was only three months older, I believe. The Warrior, as Tiburon’s father is known, would attempt to sire children whenever possible. However, Mother Nature normally balked at the creation of such half-breeds. When I arrived at the village, there were no women remaining. They had all died in failed childbirths. The only children were Tiburon and his sister. Both appeared to be young teenagers.”
“When exactly was this trip, Dr. Taylor?”
“I think you know that. Your researcher was very thorough.”
“All the same, amuse me.”
“It was in 1887, over a hundred years ago. I was twenty-seven years old.”
“You have aged very well.”
Dr. Taylor shook his head. “Yes, I have. But there’s always a price to pay, isn’t there?”
“Of course, there is another possibility: you are not the original Dr. Taylor, but a younger impostor who confiscated his identity many years ago.”
“Damn it, we don’t have time for this! Gather and evaluate your facts! You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what was going on. You must discover it for yourself. I know that. As a doctor and scientist of twenty-seven years, I was the very same. The deeper I penetrated the jungle, the more stories I heard about the Flesh-eaters. I discounted them all as hysteria. However, the stories of immortality and men who became animals during the hunt intrigued me. So, I sought to locate the tribe and determine the truth.”
“You evidently succeeded, for here you stand at a hundred and thirty-eight.”
“All I found was a bloodthirsty warrior, a tribe of cannibals with filed teeth and two of the most beautiful half-grown children I’d ever seen. I would have died the first day I arrived had not the Warrior been curious about my country and land. He would quiz me for hours, and then make me solve complex puzzles before I received water or food. I was his amusement, like some pet chimp. I did not outwardly object to the role, since I knew when he grew tired of his chimp, I would quickly become a meal for the bloodthirsty tribe.”
“So how did you escape?”
“Tiburon and Morta helped me escape. They cut my bonds and led me through the jungle back to civilization.”
“So, in return, you cast the boy aside and took his sister across the ocean to be your mistress.”
Dr. Taylor shook his head. “It may look that way, but reality was very different. I realize now, I was a puppet in their hands. That girl was unbelievably seductive. I couldn’t reason when she was anywhere near me. I now know it’s the mating pheromone she exudes, but at the time, I thought myself in love. I wanted to remain with her forever in Africa, but she insisted I take her to America.”
“And the boy?”
“My feelings for him were just as strong and just as irrational. At the time, I believed he had saved my life. I tried to convince him to come with us, but he refused. He wanted to remain in Africa. Well, I couldn’t just abandon him, so I pulled some strings and had him apprenticed to a doctor in Nairobi. When he was ready, I promised to pay for his medical schooling, which in short time I did.”
“You no longer believed Tiburon saved your life?”
Dr. Taylor barked out a bitter laugh. “Do you? With the unsolicited help of the Warrior’s two children, I escaped a tribe of renowned hunters. It took us two months to get to civilization, and in all that time, the Warrior couldn’t locate us? It’s absurd, and I might have realized that if the girl had not been affecting me so intensely. No. It’s quite obvious that the Warrior sent his children out into the world to breed and make more of their kind. I was just their conduit into civilization.”
“So where is she now?”
“Who?”
“The girl, Morta.”
Dr. Taylor looked at his watch. “I have a meeting I must attend. Perhaps we will talk later this week. In the meantime, I expect you to get my panther back. Until you successfully achieve that, I want continual surveillance of that refuge. Under no conditions must Tiburon be allowed to take the panther off the premises.”
“I’ll do everything I legally can, Dr. Taylor, but the courts did award Mrs. Nelson custody of that cat.”
Dr. Taylor stopped. “In the legal documents, does it describe the cat in any way? Size or weight? Because my panther is abnormally large, almost twice the size of a regular cat.”
“I’ll check it out immediately,” Jason assured him.
“You must not let that panther leave the premises. By this time tomorrow, I will have all the documentation you need to legally remove it. The panther is mine and it is imperative that I get it back.”
Chapter 18
Jason pulled his car to the side of the road about a quarter of a mile before reaching the Cat Refuge. He had no legitimate reason to be here. Dr. Taylor was convinced only one panther resided on the grounds, so he had no reason to search for a second panther. Yet, he had come anyway. She was like a siren to him. He couldn’t get the blonde beauty out of his mind. He stopped by one of the perimeter observation points and checked with his men. Nothing to report. Tiburon spent most of his time with the panther. Catina Nelson and Milo were inside the house.
He walked to the front door and knocked. When no one answered, he walked around to the side door and entered the house. He cautiously walked through the kitchen into the hallway. He could hear moans of pleasure coming from upstairs. Interesting, since Tiburon was outside…
Softly he climbed the stairs and eased his way down the hall. The moans came from Milo’s room. The door was closed. He opened the door as he said “FBI…are you all right, sir?”
Milo sat in a chair, with Catina on the floor beside him. The TV chattered at them. Catina’s smile double-jolted his heart. God, she was beautiful!
“Jason…Mr. Connors,” she corrected herself, rising and coming to him. “Milo and I were watching TV,” she whispered as she pulled him from the room. “But the show was a bit dull and Milo has fallen off to sleep. Let us go elsewhere to talk.”
Milo looked more unconscious than sleeping, but Jason couldn’t seem to pull himself away from her to check. Instead, he docilely allowed her to lead him down the hallway to her bedroom. “I just wanted to see how you were doing and to apologize for this morning,” he stammered as she drew him into the room and sat him on the bed.
He tried to rise, but she straddled his legs and pushed him back down. He had not realized how strong a six-foot tall woman could be.
“There is no need to apologize. Nothing happened that I did not welcome.” She took his hand and placed it under her dress between her legs, moaning as his fingers moved over her skin.
“Catina, we can’t do this,” he said as she pulled off her dress. His protest sounded false even to his own ears. He did not stop her, even when she unzipped his pants.
***
From the panther’s cage Tiburon raised his head and snarled. A hand, black as his own reached up and stroked his bare chest. “Do not think of her. She is but a host for your child.”
Tiburon looked down at the naked beauty beneath him and caressed her body. “You are more beautiful than I recalled,” he whispered. “My dreams have never done you justice.”
Morta smiled and arched her body towards him. Her black strands of silk flowed over her ripe and ample breasts. She pressed his hands to her stomach. “Is there a cub yet?”
Tiburon was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. “Not yet. But that only gives us reason to keep trying.”
“Why can’t we do this in my natural form?” she asked in annoyance as she rolled over and lifted onto her hands and knees.
“Because you bite and claw too much.” He wrapped an arm about her waist while stroking her head. “You are far more docile in human form.”
She glared at the bedroom window of the house where cries of passion echoed. “You have me now. Why keep her at all?”
He caressed her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. “She carries my cub: a strong female who will help grow our race.”
“But it’s only a quarte
r of our blood.”
“True. But when I mate with it, the offspring will be stronger.”
“My cub will be stronger than all!” she replied.
“Yes, love. Yours will be the best, but we cannot rely on you alone. Father knew this. It’s why we were sent out among the humans.”
She sighed and sat down on her haunches. “And where has that gotten us? By now, you and I could have bred a hundred cubs. Instead, we have nothing to show for our time here, except my near death.”
Tiburon sighed and stroked her hair. He knew why his father had sent them out. Two adult males could not bear each other’s company, and the old Warrior considered his daughter a mistake. She was too prone to let her emotions override her logic. She was too prone to regress into the beast who was her mother. Yet, Tiburon could not help but love her. She was so beautiful and strong.
“If we cannot kill the female, what about the male?” She stared again at the bedroom window.
“I need his help to get you out of the country.”
“I don’t see why I need to leave. I rather like it here. It’s so easy to catch prey.”
“You haven’t hunted prey for over twenty years. A lot has changed in that time. Wild cats don’t roam the country anymore. You would be hunted down as a serial killer now. We have to return to Africa where you will blend into the jungle.”
She shivered and whined. “He’ll never let me go. He needs my blood to stay alive. So many of them feed off me now. You have no idea what the last years have been like.” She pushed her head against Tiburon. “Can’t you kill him? He deserves to die. He lied to me. He said he would help me conceive, but he never did. He only drained me of my blood month after month and gave me nothing but chickens and lambs in return.”
“He has many contacts. It will be better for all if Agent Connors kills him for us.”
“Why should this man help us? Doesn’t he work for Taylor?”
Tiburon listened to the cries of ecstasy from the window and hardened his heart. “Love is a potent motivator. It is amazing what it can make humans do.”
“But it’s not reliable. Taylor loved me once. He even sacrificed his wife to save me, but now he wants me only for my blood.”
“Yes…I want you to think back and tell me when that change began?”
“Not now. I’m tired and want to return to my natural body. I’ve been a human long enough.”
Tiburon nuzzled his sister. “Change back then. We will discuss this later.”
***
Jason pushed himself from the bed and gathered his clothes. “Jesus, what are we doing?” he whispered as he frantically dressed.
“No, don’t go yet,” she pleaded.
Her touch could still arouse him, even after hours of lovemaking. He stepped back out of her reach. “Catina. This is wrong.”
“It doesn’t feel wrong.”
“Tiburon says you’re pregnant with his child.”
Catina smiled and caressed her stomach. “He says it’s a female.”
Jason frowned. “He says…haven’t you seen a doctor?”
“No.” She edged closer to him, like a cat stalking its prey.
He stood further from the bed and put his pants on. “Well, you should.”
“Why?”
“To make sure everything is all right. To make sure there really is a child and this isn’t just some ploy to keep you married to a man you obviously don’t love.”
She tilted her head and looked confused. “But I do love him. Why would you think I don’t love him?”
Jason laughed at the absurdity of the question. “I don’t know. Why would I think that, when we just spent the last few hours screwing our brains out?”
She shook her head. “What we share has nothing to do with Tiburon.”
“Really?”
“I love Tiburon. He fills me with such purpose and unity. But there’s something about you. I can feel your integrity and honesty. You’re so…human.”
Jason’s laugh was bitter. “Oh yeah, I’ve great integrity and honor, screwing another man’s pregnant wife while he’s in the yard.”
She moved off the bed and came to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Don’t condemn yourself for what has happened here. You couldn’t stop it any more than I. There’s something very strong between us; something stronger than reason or will power.”
“I know,” he whispered, unable to hold onto his anger and contempt when she was so near. “I’ve never wanted anyone so much in my life.”
“Then come back to bed,” she pleaded.
“I can’t….Tiburon….” he struggled to explain as she ran kisses across his neck and chest.
“He’s watching us through the window. He understands, even if we don’t. He knows I can’t fight these feelings. Please, come back to bed.”
Jason allowed her to undress him and pull him back to bed. He knew something was wrong, but he was unable to control his body’s desires.
Chapter 19
Kyle knew his doe-eyed beauty should be sporting a killer hangover, but if she did, she showed no outward signs. They had been all over Nairobi today—at the University, at several hospitals, and gone to an old folks home to visit the son of the doctor who had sponsored Tiburon’s training. Kyle could not help but be impressed with her thoroughness. Her list of talents just kept growing. It was amazing such a small package could hold so much.
Her pursuit of the truth was relentless. As night fell, she showed no sign of stopping. “There are a few people I would like to visit at their homes. If you don’t want to come, I’ll understand. Badruk can make certain I’m all right.”
Kyle arched his eyebrow at being judged the equivalent of a taxi driver, but after the fiasco last night, he could hardly blame her. “I’ll accompany you. To be honest, I enjoy watching you work. You have a real talent for getting people to open up and talk.”
Carmella grimaced. His presence was impeding her ability to do just that. At least she suspected that was the cause of everyone’s general reluctance to talk. Although she had noticed just the name of Tiburon seemed to put everyone on alert, especially the parents and siblings of the dead mistresses.
Her inquires at the hospital earlier that day had revealed all the women had died during miscarriages. In each case, the fetus was described as severely deformed. She finally located the address of a retired doctor who had handled one of the cases. She asked Kyle to remain in the cab with Badruk. She needed to know more than the doctor would probably reveal if Kyle were present.
She knocked on the door and waited, smiling when she saw a man peek out from the curtain. With reluctance, the door opened. “Yes?” the frail old man asked.
“Dr. Branston?”
“Yes, what do you want?” he asked nervously, looking at the cab that waited for her on the street.
“I need to speak with you. Would you mind if I come in?”
“It’s late.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been at the hospital all day, but no one could help me. Dr. Jacobs suggested you might recall the situation better than the records show.”
“Jacobs….” He opened the door. “How is that old goat?”
Carmella smiled and walked in. “Very good. He spoke of you with great admiration. Said you had the best memory of anyone he knew.”
“And what do you want me to remember?” Dr. Branston asked, as he indicated a chair for her to sit in.
“The miscarriage of Wyla Thomas. Do you remember it?”
The old man frowned and sat down across from her. “Not likely to forget that. Still get nightmares from it.”
“The records say the fetus was severely deformed, but it doesn’t elaborate. I was hoping you could be a bit more specific.”
“No. No, I can’t.”
Her voice softened. “If you are reluctant to tell me because you think I will doubt your sanity, you needn’t be. I am investigating the deaths of several women, all of whom died during pregnancy, all having fetuses
which were classified as abnormal.”
The doctor looked horrified. “There were others?”
“Over a span of fifty years, I have located twelve such women.”
“Was he involved?”
“Who?”
“That devil, Tiburon?”
“Yes, sir. In each case he was alleged to be the father.” Carmella realized the doctor needed to know he was not alone with the memories he carried.
“My God. How could that be? Why didn’t someone notice before this?”
“It was over a span of fifty years and five hospitals, three of them quite remote. Will you tell me what happened that night?” She reached over and touched his hand. “It’s important. He has recently married. The woman may be in danger.”
The doctor sighed and looked up at her. “You’ll think I’ve lost my mind,” he warned. “But I’ll tell you what I’ve never told another human being, not even my wife.” He rose and went to his desk. From the drawer, he obtained a key in which he unlocked the glass door on a bookcase and withdrew a journal. Opening the journal, he caressed the page. “You may discount everything I say now as the ramblings of an old senile fool, but this is my journal. I was forty-years younger, and fully cognizant of what I wrote. Wyla Thomas came to my office on December 12, 1955. She appeared to be in her final trimester. Up until this time, she had not seen any doctor except for Tiburon, whom she said was the father of the child. She made it very clear that I could not let Tiburon know she had come for a consultation.”
“Why?”
“He had evidently forbidden her to do so, and she seemed terrified of what he would do if he were to discover she had come.”
“Was she ill?”
“No. She seemed in extraordinary health. I believe I referred to her having a radiant glow.” He smiled. “I’m sure I didn’t write in down, but I believe I fell head over heels in love with her on sight. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met.”
“Why had she come?”
“She wanted to abort the pregnancy. I explained it was too late, that the procedure would be too dangerous so late in her term, but she didn’t care. She desperately wanted the baby removed.”
Cat Refuge Page 11
