Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10)

by Mikayla Lane

  “That’s how you got the first? How did you get the second one?” Kyle asked.

  BJ chuckled and patted her stomach.

  “Well that one was just stupid; we caught him trying to break out the other one. Lucky we done knew the Taser would work and got him too. It was the third one with the ray gun thingie that caught us by surprise,” BJ explained just as her mother came into the station followed by a frazzled looking Greg.

  “There were three?” Kyle asked. This was the first he’d heard of three.

  “Of course there were three. How else you think they got the drop on us?” BJ asked innocently as she ignored the snickers of the soldiers still in the room.

  Bess stepped away from Greg and sent him a scathing look that caused him to flinch before she turned to Kyle.

  “You wished to see me,” Bess said.

  Kyle’s gaze swept over her flawless black skin, high cheekbones, and her thin, perfectly-postured frame, and he again wondered how such a woman could be in Baker’s Creek. She looked like she’d be more at home in a mansion drinking mimosas, not stuck in some dead end corner of Missouri. It stirred his already simmering suspicions.

  “Yes,” Kyle said as he continued to study Bess. “Your daughter said that the prisoners escaped not long after you brought them food. Why would you be doing that?”

  “I do believe we’re still required to feed prisoners in this country,” Bess said with an elegantly raised brow.

  “Of course,” Kyle immediately said, feeling guilty for asking. He shook it off. “But why would you do so at such a strange hour of the morning?"

  Bess gave him a look that made Kyle feel like he’d just asked something stupid, and he felt the urge to apologize, but he quickly quelled it.

  “Young man, my daughter has been staying out by Jepson’s place all night for the last few nights in a row. I was making her something to eat for when she came back to the station when she called her brother to ask him to come in,” Bess explained matter-of-factly. “I merely went ahead and made a little more food for the prisoners thinking I wouldn’t have to come back in a few hours to feed them as well.”

  Kyle knew it sounded reasonable. Everything about the woman was calm and reasonable. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about Bess Markson and her strange children. He decided to switch tactics.

  “Can you describe the prisoners to me?” Kyle asked as Greg pulled out a recorder.

  “There was one who was taller than the other. I’d guess around six foot six. Really tall,” Bess began. “He had very dark eyes and hair. The shorter one was maybe six foot three or four. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Both were well muscled.”

  Kyle wasn’t the least bit surprised that the sharp woman had picked up so much on the prisoners. She was definitely the entire working brain of this whole community.

  “Did you hear them talk to one another?” he couldn’t help but ask.

  Bess nodded her head slowly.

  “I did. But it really didn’t make any sense to me. The smaller one spoke of being in the wrong place while the taller one mentioned something about bad intel,” Bess lied easily.

  Kyle tried not to react to Bess’s words, but he didn’t believe her and he couldn’t explain why. When she’d been describing the prisoners, he could feel the truth in her words, but the moment she started talking about the alien’s conversation, it resonated badly with him.

  “So, you think they were referring to how they ended up here?” Kyle asked bluntly, his tone filled with disbelief.

  Bess narrowed her eyes at the major as if chastising him for not trusting her.

  “Let me tell you something, young man. The last thing I care to do is waste my time repeating myself or putting up with this distraction,” Bess said, her voice carrying a hint of anger. “You may not believe this, but this town has better things to do than host you and your men. There are people who need food, crops planted, and medical care, and that’s not happening with everyone ogling the strangers. So finish your questions so I can get back to work.”

  Kyle blushed, feeling like he’d just been spanked over her knee in front of his men. Stealing a glance at the others, he was stunned to see that all of his men appeared embarrassed and were looking anywhere but at Bess’s penetrating gaze. It didn’t make him feel much better.

  “Ma’am, I assure you that we’re trying as best as we can to get the information we need so we can leave you in peace,” Kyle replied, trying to appease the woman and still get what he needed.

  Bess smiled gently and pulled up a chair next to BJ. She gracefully gathered her skirt and sat primly in the chair before looking up at Kyle with her strange eyes.

  “I am still willing to share anything I know with you. Maybe my presence will help my daughter to remember as well,” Bess said as she smiled affectionately at BJ and patted her hand.

  BJ got the clue and put a goofy smile on her face as she put her head on her momma’s shoulder.

  “Aw, I love you, Momma,” BJ whispered in a childlike voice before she grinned up at Kyle. “I want to help too.”

  Kyle closed his eyes and counted to 10 before he opened them. The moment he saw that goofy look on BJ’s face, he closed his eyes and tried counting again.

  “Do you know what happened to the weapons?”

  Kyle’s eyes flew open, and he gave a nod of thanks to Greg for posing the question and putting the brakes on the crazy train.

  “Not really,” Bess answered. “There was a huge flash of light that came from the door. It was blinding. I could hear the two in here shouting at someone else that I couldn’t see. Someone ran in here, and I heard metal clanging and something hit the floor. By the time I could see again, the place was empty, the box was on the floor, and the weapons BJ had put in the box were gone.”

  “Yeah! That flash was that ray gun thingie I was telling you about!” BJ added with a grin.

  “What box were they in?” Kyle asked as he looked around the now-wrecked office.

  BJ stood and walked over to where the box was flipped over and she picked it up, walked back to Kyle, and tried to hand it to him.

  Kyle backed away from it and nodded to Greg.

  “Get that to the lab,” he ordered.

  BJ tried not to smile as Greg grimaced and looked for a way to take the box from her without really touching it.

  “Just take it outside!” Kyle boomed out in irritation.

  Greg jumped, grabbed the box between two fingers, and ran out of the door with it.

  “Wassa matter with him?” BJ asked with a straight face.

  “Nothing! What weapons do you remember taking from them?” Kyle asked.

  *****

  Niklosi ran a hand through his short hair in irritation at the scene below them. The damn major had been grilling Bess and BJ for more than seven hours now, and Nik was ready to jump down there and just kill them all to get it over with.

  “Patience, Nik,” Grai warned his agitated friend. “They’re doing an amazing job. I have no idea why the idiot is still hanging around.”

  Yeah, that’s the problem, Nik thought.

  They couldn’t figure out what it was that was keeping the major in Baker’s Creek. Bess and BJ had answered every question, most of them multiple times, and there was no evidence to keep the major and the military in the town, yet they hadn’t left.

  “I don’t think they’re pretending,” Traze added, referring to the inbred hillbilly act.

  “If you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to do more than smack you in the head,” Nik growled at Traze.

  “Dude . . .” Traze began before Grai sent him a warning glare.

  “Shut up, Traze!” Nik yelled out as he tried to listen to what Bess had just said. “They’re finally letting them go for the night.”

  “What did they say?” Grai asked, having not heard because of Traze either.

  “The dickhead wants BJ, Mojo, Bess, and the district attorney back at the station first t
hing in the morning,” Nik said as he began pacing in frustration.

  He watched as Bess led BJ out of the station and down the street before they disappeared behind the small house that called itself the mercantile.

  “Where did they go? Follow them!” Nik demanded as he headed into the cockpit and began scanning the area for where BJ had gone.

  “Hang on,” Disc muttered as he sent the craft following where the women had disappeared.

  “Don’t fret, child. You’ll be able to find us just fine,” Nik heard Bess say in his mind.

  It definitely made him a little uneasy, but he wasn’t about to say anything in front of Traze and give the idiot more fuel for his ignorance.

  The craft was heading in the direction where he’d last seen BJ when Nik caught a flash of color in the trees beneath them.

  “There!” he called out and was a little surprised to find more flashes of light beneath them.

  “What is that?” Disc asked as he peered down to identify what was causing the lights.

  “Looks like . . . blinking Christmas lights or something,” Traze said as he looked beneath them as well.

  “Could be one of those bike lights, or maybe a couple of flashlights,” Grai suggested, although he doubted it was anything that simple.

  Nothing about these people strike me as simple in any way, Grai thought to himself.

  “I see a house. I think it’s a house,” Disc said as he pointed in the distance.

  They waited until the sparkling lights beneath them led them to the home partially hidden among the heavy forest growth beneath them before they realized they must be at BJ’s home. It was confirmed seconds later when the lights blinked out below.

  “I could probably set down right there in that field,” Disc suggested as he pointed to the small clearing not far from the home.

  “No, they can drop,” Grai said, not thrilled with the idea of being on the ground.

  “I’m not going,” Traze said, still fuming that his own brother was trying to turn him over to the crazy witch.

  Grai glared at Traze for a moment, then chose to ignore his brother and watched as Nik flipped Traze off and jumped out of the transport. He leaned over near the open door that Nik had just disappeared out of and gasped in shock.

  “Oh Gods! Nik!” Grai called out in a panic.

  Traze ran over to the door and leaned out to see what might have happened to Nik. He felt the strong push and his eyes connected with Grai’s as he fell out of the open door and spun through the air before he hit the ground with a loud thud.

  “Now, go play nice and keep your mouth shut,” Grai whispered through his mind as Traze sat up in the tall grass and looked around in fear.

  Traze was still trying to comprehend that his own brother had thrown him out of the ship when he heard a chuckle. His head spun around, and he saw swirling hazel eyes.

  “Come, child. No food will be served that you haven’t ever had before. Now act like you were raised with some manners and a backbone,” Bess said with a grin before she turned and headed to the house.

  Traze stood and huffed as he brushed off the twigs and grass that covered him. His head spun towards some rustling coming from his left, and he saw several flashes of light. Not knowing or caring what it might be, he tore off after the disappearing Niklosi and Bess.

  “Is BJ doing OK?” Nik asked as Bess strolled up beside him along the small path.

  Bess held her hands casually behind her back as she nodded and smiled at Nik.

  “She’s doing very well. She’s a strong woman,” Bess assured him.

  “Yeah, I got that impression,” Nik admitted with a grin.

  “What the hell?” Traze whispered as he caught up to them.

  He couldn’t stop staring at the strange netting of vines and foliage creating a bizarre but completely natural overhang above them along the path. Bess just chuckled at him.

  “It is amazing what can be done when different energies combine for a united cause,” she said cryptically.

  Moments later a doorway appeared in front of them and while Nik and Traze paused for a moment and looked around at the vine covered overhang, Bess walked right inside and left the door open for them.

  Traze looked fearfully at the doorway and shook his head emphatically. Nik sighed and walked into the door, surprised when his stomach growled at the unique aroma permeating the entryway.

  Nik was getting ready to shut the door on Traze when the man-child ran into him and slammed the door shut.

  “Don’t ask,” Traze whispered.

  Nik just shook his head and followed the sound of laughter and talking until he entered a well-lit, spacious kitchen. Mojo was standing in front of a large, old-fashioned wood-burning cook stove, while BJ was chopping vegetables on the counter.

  “Hey guys, dinner will be ready soon,” Mojo offered as he threw a little more parsley into the stew and stirred it.

  Nik was pleased to note that BJ had cleaned herself up at some point between the walk to the house and when he arrived. Her shoulder length hair was hanging loose, her soft waves bouncing as she chopped some carrots.

  Gone was the wax that made her appear to have missing teeth, and she’d taken off her uniform shirt and was wearing nothing but a black tank top and her khaki pants. She looked beautiful to him.

  “What’s in the pot?” Traze asked suspiciously.

  BJ and Mojo just laughed.

  “Damn sure isn’t the possum Gus and the others are going to try and pawn off on those idiots in town,” Mojo said with a laugh as he stirred what was in the pot.

  BJ saw the look of horror on Traze’s face and felt sorry for the kid.

  “It’s a vegetable stew made with regular old vegetables and herbs,” BJ explained.

  The look of relief that crossed Traze’s face had everyone chuckling at him.

  “Don’t you worry, child. We won’t harm you,” Bess said reassuringly.

  Traze wasn’t reassured at all as he looked around the weird house. It appeared to be made solely out of vines and trees.

  “What the hell is this place?” he had to ask.

  Nik finally stopped staring at BJ, looked around the cozy kitchen, and nodded his head.

  “Yeah, I have to admit I’m real curious about how you managed this. This is incredible,” he whispered in awe.

  Traze pulled out his comm to take a few pictures before Bess put her hand up in front of him, blocking his shot.

  “What the hell?” he asked the annoying woman.

  “You may think we’re backward, but even we don’t go into someone’s home and think to violate their privacy without asking permission first,” Bess chastised, causing Traze to blush furiously.

  “I apologize for him,” Nik said, itching to smack the kid. “We won’t take any pictures.”

  Traze looked over at Nik’s glaring face and put the comm away.

  “Sorry,” Traze muttered petulantly.

  Bess just laughed at him.

  “I didn’t say you couldn’t. I said we ask first because it’s the polite thing to do,” Bess said with a wink at Traze. “Dinner is almost ready, but after dinner there are some places you will definitely want some pictures of.”

  “Yeah, like I want to eat your toad poison,” Traze mumbled under his breath.

  “You’re welcome to starve instead,” Bess offered, startling Traze.

  BJ snorted her laughter and looked away when Nik grinned at her.

  “How did you manage to do this?” Nik asked as he walked over to a shelf on the wall near BJ.

  He ran a finger over the wooden shelf and shook his head as he tried to figure out how they built it into the wall like that.

  “We asked it,” BJ replied.

  Nik chuckled and ran his finger around the edges trying to see how the intertwined vines were attached to the wall but couldn’t find anything.

  “Seriously, how did you do it?” Nik asked as he turned to BJ.

  BJ smiled softly to herself an
d handed the colander of vegetables to Mojo.

  “I just told you how,” she told Nik as she brushed by him to get a loaf of fresh baked bread and moved back to the cutting board.

  “You asked the trees and vines to make you a shelf on the wall, and they just did?” Traze asked incredulously, looking to Nik to see if he finally believed how crazy these people were.

  Nik’s eyes widened in shock when he saw a small vine shoot through the window above the sink directly behind Traze and snap him in the back of the head.

  “Ow, fuck!” Traze roared in anger as he whipped around to face who had hit him this time.

  His eyes widened in fear as he stared at the thin, green vine hanging suspended in the air. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly as the frilly end of the vine arced upward and shook itself from side to side before retreating back out of the window.

  “There is much more to this world than your closed eyes can see, child. Try opening more than lids next time,” Bess said with a laugh.

  “How did you do that? Is your ability tied to flora? We have some amazing hybrids who are incredible with plants, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Nik said in complete awe. “The shelves and cabinets . . . you really did ask them to do it?”

  Nik looked around the kitchen at all the shelves and cabinets that were clearly made out of natural vines. Looking around at the walls and floors he couldn’t help but wonder just how much of the house had been made with the assistance of the natural elements and their abilities.

  Bess just snorted and shook her head at Nik before she pointed a wooden spoon at him.

  “You’re as blind as the young one. You’d do well to learn quickly while you are here,” she warned.

  “Good thing we won’t be here long,” Traze said hopefully, looking to Nik to back him up.

  Nik was studying the walls and cabinets and completely ignoring Traze.

  “How much of the house was made like this?” Nik asked as he knelt near the table BJ was working on.

  BJ leaned down until their heads were close.

  “Most of it, actually. Including the paths here,” she whispered and winked.

  Nik was so mesmerized by her that he jerked his head up too quickly and smacked the back of it on the bottom edge of the table. He grabbed his bruised head and hissed with the sharp pain.