“How’s ‘bout I take that.” Kat took the drink from him, and then leaned up to kiss him, “And you two get going so you can get back in time for our massage.”
“Married three days and she’s already bossing you around.” Lauren giggled.
“He isn’t the only one I’m gonna boss around.” Kat pushed Lauren toward the bedroom. “I totally appreciate you running over here to tell me about the mission.”
“Oh, I can see that.” Lauren laughed as Kat stopped long enough to pick up Lauren’s bag and hand it to her.
“And since you were such a gem,” Kat continued guiding her. “You can get ready so Jason is back in time.” She gently shoved Lauren into the room.
“Check her out; she thinks that just because you made her a princess, she can just tell us common folk what to do.” Lauren laughed before closing the door.
“Do you think I’m bossy?” She asked Jason when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Of course not,” he laughed. “What were you two whispering about?”
“Just girl talk…”
“It wouldn’t happen to be about the roses I found outside our bedroom?”
“What roses?”
“The roses that are growing outside, I saw them when we were coming back from the beach. I went to look at them just before I grabbed the smoothies.”
“Would you two get a room?” Lauren tossed her bag onto the couch.
“We have a room, and you’re in it!” He teased Lauren, and then he placed a kiss on Kat’s cheek. “I’m gonna run ahead, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He headed toward the balcony doors.
“Jason,” Kat called. “Where are they?”
“Right around back. Check it out before you head down for the massage. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I love you,” Lauren teased.
“I love you, too.” Kat laughed when Lauren hugged her. “You got everything?”
“Yeah,” they both said as they stood just outside the patio doors.
“I’ll see you soon.” Jason said.
“‘Kay. I’ll call you tonight,” she told Lauren as she leaned against the door.
“Yeah, okay.” Lauren squeezed her hand for a second then shoved Jason out of her way. “Come on already, you take forever getting ready!”
“Whatever,” he shoved her after pulling open the door.
Kat giggled as she watched them, and then closed the door after they disappeared. She took a long shower and after donning a pretty sundress from the closet, slipped on a pair of wedge sandals, and made her way outside.
She walked around the building and found the roses that were climbing like moss along the wall of their bedroom. She studied the area, and although the side of the building was beautifully landscaped, the roses looked out of place. They started growing from a crack in the building and were winding their way up to their bedroom, which couldn’t have been a coincidence.
She smelled one, then plucked several from the thorny branches, and headed back to her room. Kat wondered why she smelled the roses or the ozone scent of rain just after a shower. She and Jason had come up with some neat theories, but they didn’t know for certain, and couldn’t ask anyone for guidance.
After setting the flowers on the table, she grabbed a magazine and headed toward the spa. Kat changed into a bathrobe, then followed a petite lady to her room. The woman helped her onto the massage table, then dimmed the lights, and turned up the volume on the radio before she left.
Kat relaxed and hummed along to the instrumental music. She couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips; it seemed like a permanent fixture since their wedding day. She loved being married. What she didn’t like was Jason being gone, so she let her thoughts consider his plan.
It seemed impossible, at best, but the more he talked to her about it, the more it intrigued her. Perhaps their situation wasn’t as hopeless as she once thought. Perhaps they could change their identities and live normal lives.
She startled when she felt hands on her back. She had been so lost in thought, she hadn’t heard the masseuse come in. She tensed when the hands went from her back to her wrist. She started to turn when another person moved past her and grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her head back painfully.
Kat managed to get out a small yelp before a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose. The telltale odor of chloroform was enough to send her heart rate over the top in under a second. She stopped breathing and struggled against the two men and had nearly pulled herself onto her knees when a third man slammed onto her back. He knocked the wind out of her, so she couldn’t help inhaling a huge breath of the vile drug.
She ripped her wrist free from the balding guy’s grip, and then elbowed the buff guy that was holding her down. The exertion caused her to breathe in more and more of the chloroform because the bearded guy that held it in place had a death grip on her. With every ounce of energy she could muster, the room spinning slightly, she ripped free from all of them and fell off of the table.
Kat got to her feet just as the buff dude tackled her. After slamming on to the ground, he gripped her wrists and held them over her head. He placed his knee onto her chest and put all of his weight onto it. She hefted her body violently, which clearly startled him, the shock evident on his face as he fell off of her. The bald guy moved in and shoved the cloth back onto her face.
An electrical surge ran through her body, and when she flexed her fingers, a sudden wind filled the room. It tossed her and the man against the opposite wall. She landed painfully, but quickly scrambled on to her hands and knees, then started crawling toward the door. She screamed out when one of the men grabbed her ankle and dragged her along the floor. She turned to look over her shoulder, which made the room spin, but she managed to pull her ankle free and kick the buff guy in his head just before the bearded one was on her again.
The radio crackled and the lights blew out as she fought him off of her. She fell against him when the bald one stabbed a needle into her neck from behind, the pain registering a second after it had been inserted. The already blurry and sickening feeling increased exponentially, and before she could retaliate, everything went black.
When she opened her eyes, she felt around her surrounding area, because the room was void of light. She moaned when a surge of energy flowed through her and lit up her hands. It was the strange glow that she had seen the past three days when she was with Jason, except now it was brighter. She turned and took in her surroundings. The familiar sway of the ship finally registered as she took in the small room.
She located the porthole, and then used her elbow to crack it open. The window shattered and the sun filtered in once the spray-painted glass was gone. She dropped to a knee and grabbed a glass shard to use as protection when the door was pushed open.
“Que diablo?” The tall, buff man said in Spanish.
“Quie neres tu ?” She replied in Spanish. Of all the languages she spoke, Spanish was, thankfully, the easiest, so she didn’t have to worry about struggling with the language while trying to stay alert.
“Drop it,” the fat, bald man said in Spanish while he aimed his pistol at her.
“Who are you?” She repeated.
“Drop the glass,” the bald man repeated after he released the safety on his weapon.
“If you cooperate we will not hurt you,” the buff dude said. He lifted a camcorder toward her. “We just want to hold you for ransom. If you cooperate and allow us to videotape you, then once your wealthy parents pay for your release, we will set you free.”
“Bullshit!” She looked around the room. “Do I look that stupid?” There was only one exit, and they were blocking it. Kat was smart enough to know that there was only one way she was getting off of that boat—in a body bag, so she needed to find her own way out.
“Enough,” the fat, bald one said just before he fired a shot that whizzed by her ear.
“Jesus!” the buff man yelled. “Are you cra
zy?”
“This is a bad idea, man. There’s something about her…” baldy shouted. He aimed his weapon at her again. “She’s a witch or something.”
A surge of energy flooded her body and forced her to thrust her hands toward the men. Wind ripped through the tiny space and pushed the fat man up the steps. With her attention focused on him, Kat didn’t see the buff guy come toward her. He pistol-whipped her, and the room blurred as she collapsed on to the ground. She lifted her arm just in time to hold off another blow to her head.
“What are you?” The bald guy asked having recovered. He pressed his gun painfully against her temple.
“Tie her up, man,” the buff guy rolled her over and pushed his knee onto the small of her back, then gripped her wrists together.
“This shit isn’t worth it,” the bearded guy said as he ran down the few steps and helped tie her up. “We need to just kill her, like he paid us to do, Pablo. It’s not worth trying to get the ransom on top of the money we’ve already made!”
Kat yelled out when one of them grabbed a handful of hair and turned her over, but the scream was short-lived. Someone shoved a handkerchief into her mouth, and then rolled her over again so they could tie it painfully behind her head. They rolled her on to her back again, and the buff dude held the camcorder over her as he filmed. When the fat, balding guy stepped closer, she kicked him. The energy surge helped push him hard enough that he slammed against the wall and fell limply onto the floor.
Attempting to roll away from the bearded one, he stopped her, then dropped his knee onto her chest. Everything went black when the butt of his weapon connected with her skull. When Kat opened her eyes, she was in the same position, but the door was shut. She sat up, looked around for a moment, and then scooted toward the shards of glass that littered the floor by the window. She lifted a piece with her one hand, and ignored the searing pain of it biting into her fingertips, as she worked it to cut through the rope.
Still groggy, Kat didn’t know how long she had been unconscious on either occasion, but she had to get off of the boat. It probably wasn’t much safer if she floated on her back in the water for hours, but it was a better alternative than staying where she was. She pulled her wrists, then mouth free, then pulled herself up to look out the small porthole. It wasn’t big enough to climb out of, but she was at least able to see her attackers through it.
When she got to the door, she pressed her ear against it. After several moments of silence, she pulled it open. She climbed the stairs slowly, peeked out, and then pulled her head back when she spotted one of the guys. She listened and swore under her breath when she heard them walking in her direction.
Kat hurried down the stairs and ran back to where they’d left her, lying down exactly as she had been, but with the rope beneath her hands, not around them. She pulled the handkerchief back into her mouth, then squeezed her eyes shut.
She listened as someone came into the room. Kat let her head loll to the side when someone shook her, which she hoped passed as being unconscious, so they would leave. There was an agonizing silence, then a hand ran over her breast. She instinctively opened her eyes and reached for the gun in the man’s waistband. Without the slightest hesitation, she fired two shots into his gut.
Shoving his squirming body off of her, she stood and fired a head shot. Kat hated killing humans, but there was something about killing that particular human that gave her the oddest feeling…almost like pride, or some kind of weird satisfaction. Footsteps sounded overhead as the men ran toward the room. She ran to the farthest corner from the door and braced herself for a gunfight.
Then the footsteps ceased overhead. There were several moments of silence, then she heard blood-curdling screams. More frightened by this newest development, Kat wondered what had stopped their progression and caused them to scream as they did.
She heard two gunshots, then silence, utter silence, which amplified her heartbeat in her ears. Then footsteps ran overhead again. She lifted her weapon when she heard them near the entrance, then dropped the gun when she heard the sweetest of all sounds—Jason calling her name. She ripped the handkerchief from her mouth and shouted to him. He came running down the steps and burst into the room. He spotted her in the corner and was crushing her in his arms within seconds.
Jason scooped her up and carried her up the stairs. The second they stepped on deck, the wind carried a burning stench that made her gag. He begged her not to look, but she couldn’t help it, the smell was so horrific and somehow familiar that she couldn’t stop herself.
“I’m not sorry.” He ran his fingers through her hair after she pressed her face against his chest because she couldn’t fully absorb what she had just seen. “I wish I knew how I did it because I would set their corpses on fire again if I could—they deserve so much worse for doing this to you.”
“Jason…” She looked over her shoulder again at the still smoldering corpses of the men. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know. When I got back to the hotel and I couldn’t find you I knew something was wrong. I mean…I always knew, but there was so much going on…” He closed his eyes and kissed her forehead. “I felt it and I should have come then, I’m so sorry, babe.”
Kat didn’t say anything; she just pressed her face against Jason’s chest and cried softly. He took a step away from her and she felt the familiar vibrations of being teleported. When she opened her eyes, he led her to the regenerator in their home. After being healed, she sat up and felt okay. Definitely better than she had been, but the exhaustion and trauma of the day was still having a major effect on her energy reserve.
Jason lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the teleporter room. When they returned to Cancun, Jason helped her into bed, and then disappeared to take care of the bodies and boat. Kat pulled the covers up to her chin and tried to calm down while he was gone, but nothing seemed to soothe her frayed nerves.
“Did you get to the video in time?” She asked when he came back into the room.
“Not in time. They emailed it to my parents, but I called and told them it was taken care of so no worries. Hopefully they let it go and don’t make a big deal about it.” He brushed her hair behind her ear. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She whispered, “Twice now because of this circus, I’ve been harassed, almost killed again today...”
“It’ll be the last time, Kat, because we’re leaving. I’m done with this life, and I’m done with everything that has to do with Or-Pisc in.”
“Jason, every Nemeanian is counting on us to find them—”
“I don’t care! We’ve never set foot on Or-Pisc in, and we’re part human, so this is our planet. This isn’t our fight, not anymore, not when it means losing each other.”
She didn’t say anything; she just pulled him closer to her. She looked at her cell phone when it started to ring.
“Don’t answer that,” he said when she reached for it. “Please don’t.”
“But it could be my mom, what if she got the video.”
“There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Okay,” she looked at the phone that had started to ring again. “What’s wrong?”
A second after the phone stopped ringing, her mother pounded on the patio sliding glass door, which startled them. Julianne pulled the door open and came toward the bed. “I came as soon as I heard, baby.” Her mother hugged her. “Are you okay?”
Kat welcomed her embrace and nodded to let her know she was fine. Her mother settled onto the bed while Jason disappeared for a moment. He returned with a glass of water and pills. Kat looked at him curiously, but took them when her mother nodded her insistence.
“What did you want to tell me?” Kat asked after Jason sat beside her.
“Nothing, sweetheart,” her mother replied as she squeezed her hand. “You’ve had such a horrible day, so we both want you to get some rest.”
“Yeah,” Jason brushed the hair from her face and ran his fingers throug
h it. “Get some rest.”
Kat got an odd sensation in her stomach when she studied his face. Something was wrong. She looked at her mother. Julianne smiled at her. The sensation became stronger. Kat didn’t know what was wrong, but could only guess that their obvious concern for her was the cause. She yawned. Her eyelids grew heavy so she let herself drift off as Jason played with her hair, and her mother rubbed her arm soothingly. She only hoped that by the time she woke up, the weird sensation in her stomach would be gone, and life could resume to normal.
Chapter Fifteen Changes
“I’ve never seen Jason so stressed before,” Kat sighed. “He’s not used to people disliking him, but he said the other interns can be pretty hostile, which has him totally thrown for a loop.”
A cold February wind swept past and made Kat shiver. She buttoned her top jacket button and adjusted her scarf. She pulled open the petals on the roses that she had brought along, then pulled a small knife from her purse, and cut off the thorns. She cut the stems at an angle.
“And he’s so upset that on top of school; he now has to spend so much time at the library, and at Brian’s firm, and at court. Not to mention going out on missions all the time. Though that part he doesn’t mind so much.” She opened the petals on another rose, then smelled it. “Not that he says he enjoys it because he’s too sweet for that. He just shrugs when I ask him how his mission went and doesn’t talk about it.”
She walked to the vase and arranged the roses. It was something that she was becoming an expert at because all the roses growing at their house left her little option but to learn how to properly care for them. Their house was turning into a staging area for all the beautiful bouquets she designed. Not that she minded, because the house smelled lovely, and it didn’t hurt that it was a constant reminder of Jason, which was something she definitely never minded.
“I miss you.” Kat wiped the small picture clear of moisture and studied it. She had insisted that it be part of the tombstone because she wanted to see Lauren’s smiling face each time she visited the cemetery. The cap and gown pose warmed Kat’s heart. “And yes, I realize that it’s stupid coming to your grave when I know you aren’t down there.” She laughed knowing Lauren would have snorted at that.
Sleeper Cells Page 22
