by Dale Mayer
"It saves energy. Tabitha is awake. She's afraid you'll have an argument with her cat, Tango. Apparently she left him in his cage, but she says he's wily and can get out if he has a mind to."
"Great." Horrible actually. He could already feel his heart slam against his chest. "I'm actually outside walking around the property, trying to understand the setup here." It was confusing. That there were large enclosures in the back of the house was obvious. As were the howls coming from the deep expanse.
Cats.
Why cats? He could do dogs blindfolded. This whole cat thing...not so much. At least they were all caged.
"Is she okay? Can she come home?"
"She's going to, whether anyone says so or not. The thing is she is weak, susceptible to another attack. You need to help her."
Ronin's stomach clenched. "Why me? I don't do this psychic stuff. That's your specialty. Why can't you help her? Besides, if she's that bad, she should stay in hospital for another couple of days."
"She needs both of us. And according to mainstream medicine, she's not injured. She's run down and needs to rest. That means recovering from this episode at home."
"You know she won't do it," Ronin snapped. She needed to stay safe by whatever means necessary. He understood she felt responsible for Exotic Landscape, but she had staff...good staff...and it was time for her to step back and let them carry the load.
He didn't fully understand the enormity of these attacks, but he was starting too. And that scared him. Tabitha needed protection. But how could he protect her from something he couldn't see?
He started toward the front of the house.
"No, she won't. She cares about her animals too much. And work has always been her way of escaping the rest of the world. So she's going to go home and bury herself in work – most likely paperwork at her own house."
At her house. Ronin glared at the huge monstrosity. "But she was attacked here. So how does that work?"
"Not well. I'm setting up an energetic barrier. A second security system. I'm hoping it will be enough to keep her safe. Or at least good enough to be an early warning system."
"What good will that do?"
"If she has enough warning, she'll be able to guard herself from another attack. She does have some serious skills, but last time she had no idea what was happening until it was almost too late."
"How much warning does she need?" His mind spun with the possibilities. Between Roman's security system and Stefan's psychic security system...maybe she'd be okay.
"It's only the barest of what is needed." Stefan cleared his throat, and for the first time Roman heard the fatigue running through his voice. Stefan was running on empty himself. Damn.
Abruptly, he said, "What can I do to help?"
In a hard voice, Stefan said, "Find him. Do whatever you can do to track down this asshole."
That's what he did for a living, track down perps… But how did he track down a nameless, faceless, disembodied entity?
"Search Tabitha's history. Search for any and all people connected to her who might have psychic abilities."
"Can't you see an energy signature, or whatever it's called, around her?" Isn't that what Stefan did? "Can't you identify him?"
"Sometimes I can. Not this time. There was nothing normal about this attack. She hadn't cleared away the day's energies. She was surrounded by grief and animal energies. Both completely overwhelmed her ability to notice this entity. And I can't rule out that her attacker was using animal energy to get close to her." Stefan's voice strengthened. "In fact, that's a good possibility. In which case, this person is working with animals."
"Fine, then that's where I'll—" There was a sharp click and his phone went dead. Stefan had hung up on him.
"Damn." Ronin stared at the house. He had work to do.
***
"Be careful with that thing. If we lose her, we've lost the biggest payday ever," Fez snarled at the forklift driver. The front lift jerked down several more feet. "Shit," Fez muttered. "We're going to kill her yet."
"Better not. I won't be happy if that happens."
The cold voice behind him sent icy shards of fear down Fez's spine. He hadn't expected his boss to show up at this moment. Then, given all the things that had gone wrong, maybe his arrival wasn't so surprising after all.
"Did Roberts come back with you?" Fez asked looking around. Roberts needed to check the delivery over. Make sure everything had survived the journey.
"No."
Fez froze at the icy dead tone.
But the boss's next words were the ones that really made his heart stop. "You know what happens to people who make me unhappy. My neck is on the line with this deal. You screw up, then I screw up. In which case you won't be looking to salvage your job because you won't care. You'll be floating down the damn river as fish food instead."
Fez nodded but kept his face turned away. Fingers of cold reached down deep inside his stomach. His boss never threatened. He promised.
Thankfully, the forklift operator unloaded the cage without any more mishaps and backed away to get the next load. They were late and time was running out. The cages had to be transferred to the new truck, which would be followed by a couple of hours of driving. Fez was taking the truck with this cargo. He sent a silent prayer to the heavens above.
Please let this job go smoothly.
Not that he expected anyone to listen to his request. They hadn't so far.
Chapter 5
Saturday, early evening
Tabitha paid the taxi before stumbling up the front steps of her house. The sun beamed beautiful farewell rays across the summer sky. Delighted to be home, she sent out a tired but happy wave of energy in greeting to both Tango and Tripod. The returning waves of deep blue and purple exuberance delighted and reassured her that all was well...or mostly well.
The front door was unlocked.
Startled, she stood in the open doorway and studied her house. She took a deep breath and mentally whistled for Tripod. Where the hell was he?
Nails skittered on the tile floors. He tore around the corner of the kitchen and raced toward her. She smiled and murmured in her head, Gentle. I'm tired and if you knock me over I might not make it back up.
He slowed to a skid on the tile, a deep whine coming up from inside his chest.
I'm fine, sweetie. Just seriously tired. I need to go to bed and sleep for a couple of days. "Fat chance," she muttered out loud.
"Fat chance of what?" The deep voice was an electric shock to her tired body. She stiffened as her tired gaze caught site of Ronin then she relaxed again. Strong. Capable. With his take-charge attitude. In her home.
Damn, he looked good there.
Like he belonged. Why had she been worried about having him here…?
Oh yeah, a little thing called felines...like Tango.
Her eyes filled with tears. Damn. She had to be tired to start this. She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve. He opened his arms.
And she ran forward.
His long arms wrapped around her and tucked her up close. Hidden in his embrace, she felt so protected, safe.
And dare she say it – loved?
Something she hadn't felt in a long time. She soaked up his comfort and caring until Tripod nudged her in the ribs.
She gave a small laugh and stepped back. "Hey, big guy. Let's get you some food."
With a teary smile at Ronin, she led the way back to the kitchen. She heard the front door close behind her, followed by Ronin's footsteps. In the kitchen, she stopped. There were pots simmering on the stove.
She spun around, a delighted smile on her face. "You made dinner?"
He shrugged sheepishly. "Spaghetti."
With a hand on the small of her back, he nudged her into the kitchen. A large pot in front burped. He stepped over to it and stirred the contents.
"I can't remember the last time someone cooked me a meal." Delight curled her insides. "And you've made one of my favorites."
&nbs
p; The smile fell off his face as he studied her. Cautiously, he asked, "Really? Not your grandfather? Father? Fiancé?"
"My grandfather hated cooking. As soon as I was old enough, I took over the chore. Dennis, my father, never lived here with me."
Waving a ladle at her, he asked quietly, "And the fiancé?"
She wrinkled her nose and walked slowly toward him. "He'd never be caught in a kitchen."
"Well, I have no such issue." He shrugged those wide shoulders. "I love to cook."
Damn. She could get used to that. Her good mood restored, she said, "Perfect. 'Cause I'm starved."
"Good. 'Cause it's ready." He smiled and motioned to the table. "I wasn't sure if it was safe to leave Tripod here – nice name by the way – around the food."
"He's got great manners." She let Ronin lead her to the table and hold out her chair. "But I wouldn't trust him too far."
"That's what I thought." He quickly served up dinner under Tripod's eagle eye and carried the plates to the table. "What I don't have is a bottle of wine to go with this."
She laughed. "As much as I'd love a glass, I don't think there is a bottle in the house."
"I'll take care of that when I head out tomorrow."
Her hand dropped, her fork clattering to the plate. "Tomorrow?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "Yes. I have a few things to check on. I'll grab a bottle or two on my way home."
She flushed, and in a strangled voice, said, "Home?"
"Yep." He casually scooped up a forkful of spaghetti. "I'm not leaving you alone until this is over." And he popped the food in his mouth.
Over? She very carefully put her fork down and stared at him in shock. "Why?"
It was his turn to stare at her. "Because you were attacked?"
Cautiously, she asked, "You understand in what way I was attacked, right?"
He nodded and twisted up another fork of pasta. "Yep. Somewhat. At least what I got from what Stefan, Shay and my brother told me."
"And you think...you can help if I'm attacked again?" She didn't want to insult him, but just what was he thinking?
At the disbelief in her voice, he very carefully replaced his fork. "I know that I'm not like you and I probably can't do much to ward off a psychic attacker, but I can get help."
She stared down at her plate. "I know you believe that, but you might not even know that an attack is happening. It's not as if I'm screaming out loud."
He frowned. "Then maybe I'm going to have to sleep in the same room as you. Surely, I'd know then?"
She snorted. "Wait until you're invited."
"And how long will that take?" He grinned at her narrow-eyed look. "Hey, it was worth asking. And I've been patient."
She rolled her eyes at him. Inside, she felt the warmth uncurl in her belly. Like they'd gotten that far yet. Her grandfather's death had pushed that step back slightly. "I like sleeping alone."
Both eyebrows flew up. "And here I thought for sure you slept with Tripod." Tripod, hearing his name, gave a small yelp.
She reached out a hand. Tripod shuffled right up to her plate and sniffed. Tabitha tapped his nose to make him back up. "If you can call that sharing. Tripod is a bed hog. Besides, lots of nights I sleep with another male."
The smile slid off Ronin's face.
Good.
Then Tango roared.
***
"Jesus. What the hell is that?" Ronin half jumped out of his chair and leaned forward to look out the window.
"Ha. It's my cat. That's Tango."
He shot her a disbelieving look, catching the amused glitter in her light-green eyes. "There is no way a cat makes that kind of sound."
Tango roared again. This time though there was something off. Tabitha went to the living room and pushed some kind of button. Ronin followed more slowly and watched as the whole wall retracted.
What the hell kind of wall was that? And damn if she didn't have some kind of fine mesh cage behind that wall. Thank God. He was half afraid she was one of those crazy people who got so super cozy with their wild pets that they ignored common sense.
Then she pulled the wire mesh completely back.
Oh shit.
And didn't the biggest damn white tiger, with a head the size of Mount Rushmore, saunter toward her.
"Watch out," he cried as the tiger jumped. Instantly his throat clogged and his chest tightened. Christ, he could hardly breathe. He swallowed. And then swallowed again. He couldn't help the instinctive clenching of his fists. Inside, insidious emotions shifted through him. Panic. Pain. Sadness. So much worse than the last time he'd been in the house.
He took a shaky breath. This was not happening.
He was halfway to her when he realized the tiger had stopped with complete control and was on his back legs, Tabitha crushed in his embrace.
Jesus.
Ronin prided himself on being a brave soul, but he was not going that close. And he didn't care how tame the damn thing was. A wild animal was a wild animal.
Unless it's not a wild animal.
Stefan. And did one ever get used to this guy in his head?
Ronin snapped out mentally, If you're trying to convince me that this thing is safe to be around, forget it. I have too much respect for human life to believe you.
And in many cases you could be right. In this case however, you'd be wrong.
And why is that? Has she got some kind of special powers or something? Right about now he wished she did. He'd believe that as much as anything.
No, but they do have a special connection.
See, that's where you are wrong. All pet lovers say that about their little pooches. And he couldn't help the disgust from rolling through his voice. He was a cop, damn it. And he'd seen more than his fair share of animals both domesticated and wild. Sometimes the domestic ones were the more dangerous.
Stefan laughed. You'll have to see for yourself. And take a deep breath. You will survive this.
"Promise?" Ronin muttered.
With a last laugh, Ronin's mind emptied. Damn, that was weird.
"Ronin, come and meet Tango."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Damn it, he wasn't a wuss. He took a couple of steps forward and stopped. And struggled to breathe. He so didn't want to pass out. Not here. Not with her. Not with that carnivore looking on. "I'll stick to dogs."
"Tripod is here, too."
He groaned silently and took another step into the living room.
Tango dropped to the floor and stared at Ronin, a howl starting deep in the back of his throat. The hairs raised on the back of his neck.
The look in those damn eyes...
Ronin took a deep breath and tried to stop the shakiness that was starting to vibrate his insides, making his stomach acids turn to cheese.
"Why is he howling?"
"I'm not sure. He doesn't normally do that." She reached down to place a hand on Tango's head. The howl changed. It wasn't the same tenor as the first time, but it was hardly welcoming.
Then all of a sudden, the howl cut off.
Thank you. Ronin much preferred the silence. Except now a dull roaring sound was in his head. Almost a buzz. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
Tabitha sighed heavily. "Come over here and meet Tango. He'll calm down once he meets you. And maybe you will too." She tilted her head and studied him. "And make sure that gun is safely away. Tripod hates them."
"I've already made peace with the dog." He didn't move.
"And you'll make peace with Tango, too. It's much better to meet him on equal ground. If you take one step backwards, he's got you."
"Damn." Ronin stepped forward. He could feel the heat, the intensity of that deep blue feline gaze following his every movement. Like a cat watching a mouse.
Ronin had always felt sympathy for the mouse.
For a cat, the animal was damn beautiful. The markings on its head, the eyes, the shocking white fur were something he'd never expected to see up close. And never inside a house. Not s
ure he wanted to hear the answer, he asked, "Do you let him out of that cage much?"
"All the time. The house is his, too."
Double damn.
