by Angela Foxxe
“No. She’s undercover and this man has taken her before we could extract her. She playing her role how she was trained to, but she doesn’t realize the danger she is in. Once she’s over the border, we can’t help her anymore.”
“So, why not line up at the border and try to stop them there?”
“There’s only one highway going from here to The Zone, right?”
“Right,” the agent said carefully.
“Did you block it?”
“We blocked it with twenty police cruisers, two choppers for support and dozens of men.”
“And how did that work out for you?”
The man lowered his head.
“Not good.”
“Lining up on the border will do nothing. Paul Vincent will see it coming a mile away and they will find another way. Sabrina is on a mission and she won’t give up on the mission.”
“I thought she was supposed to kill him in the hotel.” He paused like he decided to ask something, then changed his mind. But his mind wouldn’t let go or whatever was bothering him, and much to Decker’s dismay, the agent didn’t drop it. “I don’t understand what happened in the hotel.”
“Things didn’t go as planned,” Decker said dismissively.
“Was there always a plan B, then? I was under the impression that she was just as shocked by the barrage of bullets as the mark. I don’t really understand why-”
“It’s not for you to understand,” Decker snapped. “You’re to follow orders, and it looks like you’re not very good at that. I may have to bring in Hamilton and let him close this out for me.”
The agent sucked in a breath.
“That won’t be necessary, Sir. We’ll handle it.”
“Like you’ve been handling it? That doesn’t make me feel very confident.”
“We will handle it,” the agent said through gritted teeth. “There’s no need to bring the closer in. We don’t need to lose lives on both sides.”
“You mean like my daughter?” Decker snapped. “If I had brought Hamilton in earlier, maybe my Annie would still be with us, and I wouldn’t be relieving the nightmare of losing her again right now.”
The agent stood there, mouth closed, face heavy. Annie had been dear to everyone in the HLF, and the country had been gripped with fear while the media outlets shared every detail of the kidnapping all the way through the memorial service that Tom Decker had for his beloved daughter. Sara Decker had passed away a few months before Annie’s disappearance, and Tom Decker had been left alone.
“I’m not interested in discussing this. I have a press conference in thirty minutes. I’m going to take care of this the best way I know how, and we’re going to find them.”
“Understood, Sir,” the agent said, leaving before he was even dismissed.
Tom sighed and sat down to prepare himself for the press conference. At least the agent knew when he wasn’t needed. If he could manage to do the rest of his job so perfectly, then they wouldn’t be in this mess.
Tom looked at the map on the wall, studying the area where the roadblock had been and mentally ticking off the miles between where they had managed to elude his men and the old Montana border. He wanted to believe that they had perished in the fall from the cliff into the river, but he knew better. Paul Vincent was no fool, and he didn’t think that Sabrina was either. They would hide as best as they could, which would make them almost impossible to find.
But there was one thing that they hadn’t counted on. While the Oregon Washington, Idaho and Montana were firmly in The Zone, Wyoming was dissected by the line, causing a great deal of unrest in the state. The border between humans and shifters was disputed almost weekly, and the state boasted equal numbers of human and shifter populations because of it. It was the only state out of the five that now made up The Zone that had both species, and that had caused some interesting businesses and towns to crop up in the disputed areas. Since his agents couldn’t seem to get their act together and find two people on foot, Tom Decker was going to use the unrest in the area to his advantage.
There was a quiet knock on the door and his assistant walked in. Cheri Todd was five feet, eight inches of gorgeous, blonde and lanky. She strutted across the room as if she were on the catwalk, pretty brown eyes trained on Decker. She smiled and bit her lip when she saw his ice blue eyes flash in response to her presence, his attraction unmistakable.
“The press is here,” she said, sitting on his lap and moaning when his hand went into her unbuttoned shirt and squeezed one large breast. “Do you want me to tell them that you will be delayed?”
“No,” he said, pulling his hand away and all but shoving her off his lap. “Get yourself straightened up and let’s get this over with.”
She nodded, too used to his fickle attention to let the sudden change rattle her. He would share his bed with her tonight and kick her out before dawn as he had always done. She knew how things worked and she never complained.
She buttoned her shirt, straightening her clothes and checking her reflection in the mirror. He followed her out, down a long hall and into a well-lit room where the press already waited. They called out to him, but he held his hand up to hush them, ignoring their questions.
“I want to make this brief, and I want it run on all the networks,” he said, pausing to allow them a moment to ready themselves for his statement. When all eyes and cameras were on him, he continued. “My fellow men and women. I come to you today with a desperate plea. It’s been more than a year since I lost my sweet Annie, and now another woman is in danger of suffering the same fate.”
He held up a picture of Sabrina, her long, raven hair framing her sweet face, her bright green eyes staring from the picture. “This is Sabrina Coates, a champion for the HLF movement and one of my closest friends. Before her parents died, I promised them that I would take care of her, and I have failed. She is in danger, and the man she is with has cast a spell over her. She will not be free of his control until he is dead, and she doesn’t know what she’s doing or why she’s doing it.”
Decker paused, looking around the room and giving the information time to settle in. He looked at the eight by ten glossy picture in his hand, then back into the camera. He could see himself on one of the monitors, eyes so light that they were always described as icy, hair white-blond like his ancestors. Annie had the same hair and eyes, and her good looks coupled with her gentle nature had made her very loveable. Despite that, Decker had not been able to protect her, and it killed him.
“Started today and for the next three days, I’m opening all big game licenses and removing the penalty for killing any WereLion found outside The Zone without a license. Licensed for WereLions or not, there are no penalties for the next seventy-two hours.” There was a rumble of voices, all clamoring to have their questions heard, but Decker held up his hand for silence. “In addition, I’m offering a ten-million-dollar reward for finding and returning Sabrina Coates to me. I love my Annie, I’m not going to let Sabrina down, too.”
He turned then, heading off the small stage and toward the side door. He could hear the voices yelling behind him, but he didn’t answer any questions.
He went immediately to his office, closing the door and locking it. Sitting down at his desk and turning on the television, he smiled when he saw Breaking News scroll across the screen and the announcer come on to prepare the public for the video that they were about to watch.
“Good evening,” a man in a cheap sport coat and a gaudy tie with trout all over it said. “We’re interrupting your regularly scheduled program to bring you an important message from Senator Tom Decker, leader of the Human Liberation Front and father of Annie Decker.” The obligatory picture of Annie flashed across the screen, though Decker seriously doubted that the American people didn’t know who she was. “Early this morning, a woman was kidnapped by notorious WereLion and leader of the anti-human LEO, Paul Vincent. Senator Decker has held a press conference regarding this manner, and the public is urged to b
e on the lookout for this woman and the man she is traveling with. They both should be considered armed and dangerous. Stay tuned for a message from Senator Decker.”
Decker watched himself on the television, marveling at how brilliant his performance was. As always, his eyes were sincere, staring into the camera and daring people not to feel compassion for his pain. The loss of Annie was so recent; he knew that the country would rally behind him. He was counting on it. Not to mention the big game hunters that were just itching to take out a shifter or two. He had made it clear; all shifters were fair game at this point, but the right shifter and the woman running with him would bring in millions.
There was a soft knock on the door, but Decker ignored it. He wasn’t in the mood for Cheri’s attentions. She had once been his greatest conquest, but their encounters had made her clingy and needy. She was no longer a challenge, and Decker liked a little bit of a chase before he got what he wanted. He was keeping Cheri around solely for quickies when he didn’t feel like chasing after a new conquest, and for no other reason. He rather liked living alone, and he was glad that no one expected him to settle down with a woman after the devastating losses that he had suffered over the past few years.
He tore at the heartstrings of the nation, and he enjoyed the edge that gave him.
He opened his email, pulling up the email address of the Purist Republic Party and began typing his email. The PRP had formed in response to the rapid increase in shifters living and voting alongside humans. The humans were taking their country back, and the PRP was looking for a good candidate for the next election.
He smiled as he wrote, anticipating their reaction when they realized Senator Tom Decker, the charismatic and beloved leader of the HLF, was looking to run for President of the nation. With Annie’s high-profile abduction, and this new, inevitable loss of Sabrina Coates, there was no way that Tom Decker could lose. He was would win by a landslide, making the PRP relevant and powerful, and ushering in a new order. Under his rule, the WereLions would be eradicated, and the country could go back to being run by and for human beings. It was the only way Tom Decker could conceive of his country being run.
He clicked send, closing his laptop and putting it in his bag. He was leaving early, heading to his home so that he could prepare himself to receive the news he was bound to hear. Sabrina would likely fight anyone who came after her and the WereLion to the death, killing two obnoxious birds with one stone. And then the real work would begin, and the country would stand behind him in his quest to cleanse the world of evil shifters. He couldn’t lose.
He picked up the picture of Sabrina, looking into her green eyes and smiling.
“You were always my favorite,” he said quietly to the picture. “It’s a shame that you have to die for the greater good.”
He kissed her two-dimensional lips, the paper flat and unyielding. Closing his eyes, he remembered the moments he had heard her seeking her release with the shifter in the hotel. Sabrina Coates had played the game hard and always came out on top. He would have liked to enjoy her before her death, but it was too late now. It didn’t matter, he had his memories, and he would have the picture of Sabrina to remember her by.
Sweet, stubborn Sabrina; the woman whose death would win him the Presidency and the heart of the people.
CHAPTER SIX
The sun was starting to move toward the horizon when Paul finally stopped, looking around them and setting his backpack down.
“Are you feeling alright?” he asked, looking her over with concern.
She was breathing hard, but otherwise felt fine despite the miles that they had covered in the past few hours.
“I’m okay. I’m tired though. Why didn’t you just shift back to WereLion?” she asked. “Wouldn’t shifting have been faster than stopping to get dressed and going on foot?”
“It would have, but a lion is more easily spotted from the sky in this terrain, and I’m larger than a regular lion. If a small elephant can’t pass through, then neither can I. We went through several tight spaces that I wouldn’t have been able to go through on four paws, and stripping, shifting, then shifting back to human, putting on at least my boots and going through the entire process again is more exhausting than just being on foot.” His eyes sparkled and he winked at her. “Besides, I didn’t know how much of me naked you could handle before you gave into your urges.”
She gave him a withering look.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m rested now, let’s get going.”
She pulled at the water hose on her backpack when she stood, taking a drink from the water bladder in the backpack.
“We’re stopping here for a few minutes. We need to talk.”
Sabrina took a deep breath, not liking where this was going.
“I think action is better than talk. I don’t want to sit here and wait for them to find us.”
Paul shook his head.
“They lost our trail miles ago. They aren’t going to find us, and we’re only a few miles from safety. Once we’re there, they can’t touch us.”
“So, let’s go there.”
“I can’t take you there right now. There are things that we need to talk about here, and things that I need to know about you before I bring you to our safe haven. My pride depends on me to use caution, even if my heart says otherwise.”
“What does your heart have to do with this?” she snapped, looking away when she did.
“What indeed,” he muttered.
“So, how long is this going to take? Is there anything I can do to make this go faster?”
Paul chuckled.
“No, Sabrina. It’s not really about you.”
“And what about my questions? Are you going to answer them?”
“Not right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re here.”
Sabrina looked back at him, then looked around, scared that the men from the blockade had somehow found them. But one look at Paul told her that the “they” he was referring to were not the men that they had been eluding for the past few hours. Whoever was there, Paul was expecting them, and even looked pleased to see them.
Sabrina scanned the tree line, but she still didn’t see anyone there. She was starting to think that Paul was toying with her when there was a rustle in the trees, and a man stepped out of the woods. His golden hair and hazel eyes were strikingly familiar, but that was where the similarities ended. This new man was tall and broad, but compared to Paul, he was almost small. His face was handsome, but he lacked the chiseled features that had drawn Sabrina to Paul.
There was movement behind him, and a woman stepped out of the dense foliage. Sabrina met the woman’s eyes and gasped, her hand going up to her mouth in shock.
“Impossible,” she said in almost a whisper, staring at the sight in front of her and wondering if she was dreaming again. “This can’t be real.”
“It’s real,” the woman said, walking over to Sabrina and putting out her hand. “Hi, I’m-”
“I know who you are. I would recognize those eyes and that hair anywhere. You’re Annie Decker. I thought you were dead.”
“News of my death have been grossly exaggerated.”
“Where have you been all this time, your father was so worried and look for you for-”
“My father is a tyrant and a murderer,” Annie said without malice. “He twisted my words and my reasons and used my disappearance to win the heart of the people. He used me, just like he has used everyone that he has ever come into contact with.”
“He cried in front of the nation with the pain of your loss,” Sabrina said emphatically. “There’s no way that wasn’t genuine.”
Annie laughed, the sound lacking in joy.
“My father is a fantastic actor. He’s fooled you just like he’s fooled everyone that he’s ever known. And now, he’s using you, too.”
Annie pulled a phone out of her pocket and pulling up a video she had downloaded to her phone.
“This was live about two hours ago,” Annie said, handing the phone to Sabrina to watch. “My father just put your life in danger to further the cause. His cause. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”
Sabrina watched the video, her stomach tying itself in knots with each sentence. When he spoke of promising Sabrina’s father to watch over her, she scowled.
“He never knew my father. My parents died when I was twelve and I didn’t meet him until a decade later.”
“I’m telling you, Sabrina. He’s using you and twisting your story to fit his needs. My father knows where I am and why I left. He knew before I left and yet he still made up some stupid cover story, making it look like I had been taken against my will when I followed Richard willingly. I protested The Zone and its creation long before it was even built, and my father knew. He swept it all under the rug and kept it from his supporters.”
“Why do that?” Sabrina asked, still watching the video and trying to wrap her brain around it. “Why pretend that you were abducted and died? Doesn’t he miss you?”
“I doubt it. We never bonded. Tom Decker only bonds with himself. And besides, my ‘abduction and death’ were perfect. Many people didn’t want to believe what he was saying about WereLions being dangerous and lusty. He was trying to convince the masses that shifters were a danger to humans, especially women.”
“I remember his platform,” Sabrina admitted. “He often said that letting the shifters legally walk among humans was opening doors to other things that we couldn’t imagine. And when his opposition pointed out that shifters were already walking among us in secret, he railed against them. He called them fools and bleeding hearts. He was ruthless, and a lot of people were disenchanted with him.”
“And then, I disappeared and his world got a little brighter,” Annie said. “It’s funny, because I didn’t do any of this for him, but he sure did manage to work it in his favor. I watched my own memorial service live-streamed online.”
“We all watched it,” Sabrina said wryly. “But if you were in The Zone, how did you watch it? I thought that all connection with the outside world was cut off to The Zone?”
