by Dale Mayer
Was Stefan right?
Was she dead?
God, she hoped not.
If she'd had a body, she'd be shivering uncontrollably. As it was, she felt shivers sliding up and down her nonexistent spine. How did that work? Surely that meant she was still connected to her body. Surely…
She desperately wanted to see her body. Could she? When she'd been alive and doing out-of-body experiences, she could. But then she'd been attached by her cord. What was she now?
Even if her cord was hidden or spread thin, it should still function the same.
She closed her eyes and thought herself to her body.
When she opened her eyes, it was to see her slim frame lying under the hospital sheets, machines moving noisily at her side. She looked like she was comatose but according to Stefan, the machines were there to keep her alive, to keep her breathing in case that all stopped. She shuddered. She so didn't want to die.
If they unplugged that machine, she would. She knew it.
And that so couldn't happen.
A weird clacking sound caught her attention.
Ronin. Typing furiously away on the laptop on his knees, his phone open in his hand. Sitting vigilant at her bedside.
God, she missed him.
Tears came to her eyes. Or it felt like they did. Suspiciously, she reached up to her astral cheeks but there was no wetness there. Duh. She leaned over her body and damn if there wasn't a sheen of moisture in the corner of her eyes.
She was still connected! Hadn't she just proven that?
Somehow.
If that was true, she had to trust the process and that she'd find a way back into herself soon. As soon as she could help the tiger.
There was such a sense of connection to Ronin. Watching him there by her side, she fell in love a little more. Knowing he was sitting and watching over her gave her an insight into his feelings she hadn't seen before. How could she resist that?
She slipped behind him, and unbeknownst to him, she kissed his cheek.
Ronin straightened, almost dropping both the laptop and phone in the process.
Whoa.
Had he felt her?
Ronin searched the room, his gaze dark and narrow. Then he put a hand to his cheek.
She gasped.
He spun around.
She stared into his dark eyes.
And Ronin stared back.
She swallowed. Then whispered, Ronin, can you see me?
He cocked his head to one side, as if listening intently, and his eyes lost their focus.
Such a reaction could only mean he was hearing something, maybe even seeing something but didn't know what or how. And being analytical, he might be struggling to understand instead of going with his heart.
Ronin?
His gaze narrowed, then suddenly he spun around and stared at her body prone in the bed. He carefully placed his laptop on the floor and pocketed his cell phone then walked to her bedside. He stared down in confusion, then his gaze caught on her face. He reached down to touch a tear.
"Tabitha, is that you?"
Yes!
But he couldn't hear her.
"Stefan? Is that you?" Ronin asked.
No, Stefan said, it's Tabitha trying to talk to you.
Tabitha could hear Stefan speaking in a three-way communication system that she imagined could only work with psychics. But she could hear Ronin, could see him lift his head and speak out loud to the empty room accusingly, "Damn it. I thought I heard something. Why can't I hear her clearly?"
He pointed to Tabitha's body. "And why is she crying?"
Tabitha was mortified. It was one thing to react honestly with true emotion while believing herself alone; it was quite another to have someone else explaining it to a third party. Then her sense of humor popped up. At least there was a translator. She should be grateful for small mercies.
I am a lot of things, but not a small anything, Stefan said with a light smile.
"Huh?" Ronin asked, turning around. "You people are making me crazy."
Then tune in, damn it, and save all of us this trouble, Tabitha muttered. And fast.
He can only learn and believe and grow at his pace. Not yours or mine.
His twin is psychic. That Ronin can even sense me means he has the basis for so much more – so why isn't he learning?
He can. Stefan answered imperturbably, but consider that Roman had no idea what he was doing until it was brought to his attention and didn't believe it until he was forced to use his skills to help you.
So why is Ronin so blockheaded? she grumbled. Hit him over the head or something.
Is that a serious suggestion? His grin slipped through in his voice. Even if I wanted to do it, I'm not exactly close enough physically to carry out that request.
"Carry what out? What the hell is going on?" Ronin snapped. "I feel as if I'm only get half a conversation."
You are. Tabitha is the other half. She was talking to you and she wants you to wake up your psychic senses so she can contact you directly. I believe she mentioned how a solid blow to the head might help.
Ronin spun around. "What?"
Tabitha laughed, but it was a hollow sound in her heart. Of all the things she missed, not being able to talk, touch, and love Ronin topped the list. She could talk to Tango and Tripod, and Stefan was always there for her whether she was dead or alive.
Thanks.
It is comforting, she insisted. No matter what happens, I know that you are there.
Yes, but if you die, the best thing for you is to go onward, not stay here because you can communicate with me. He sighed and added, and I suggest you try to contact Ronin as soon as possible.
I did. You saw the results.
No. I heard the aftermath. He heard you. He just doesn't know what he heard.
Damn it. He's so frustrating.
Stefan laughed out loud. That's only true because you care.
Oh, I care. Then there's the fact that he doesn't like cats. That does slow the development of a relationship with me, for sure.
Stefan stilled then he started to laugh. And laugh some more.
It's not that funny, she muttered.
Yes, it i-is. Stefan came to a stuttering stop. How can you let something like that stop you?
It's hardly a small issue, she gasped. Look at where I am at the moment.
He smiled, and humor still threaded his voice. True. But does he have a reason for not liking cats?
We spoke about it briefly. He actually gets a physical reaction. Shortness of breath, his face flushes. She tried to remember what else he'd said.
Could be several explanations. Allergies. A trauma he was in associated with a cat. Even a reaction to an event so long ago he doesn't remember.
That's what I thought. But there's been no time to get deeper into the issue.
Well, maybe you should make time. And with that, Stefan slipped away.
Time. She had nothing on her hands but time. It would be a good time to focus on Ronin's story. But she had no way to communicate with Ronin. She'd only ever been able to communicate with Stefan and her animals on an energy level.
***
Ronin had already started researching the people close to Tabitha after the first attack, and that research hadn't borne any fruit yet. Nothing that connected to what was happening at Exotic or to Tabitha herself personally. He'd left a couple of messages with his buddy Jacob, but hadn't heard back from him yet. Jacob had a long history in undercover work and was often involved in setting up sting operations. Some of them had gotten him into trouble with Internal Affairs. He was involved in something heavy right now. The office rumor mill had supplied that information. Something very hush hush.
Still, that wasn't helping solve the incidents at the reserve. The break-ins. The vandalism. The thefts in the medical side of the building. An inside job perhaps. That said someone close to the reserve. Close to her.
Her grandfather's only relative besides Tabitha and her fath
er was a brother who'd died when Tabitha was a child. Ronin had started searches on her close friends, and most of them were psychics, lending weight to their involvement if he were to connect the two problems involving Tabitha – only there was no proof they were connected.
He'd also reviewed the information from Stefan. That the attack came from a tiger was beyond anything he'd ever heard. It blew him away. How could he reconcile what he knew to what he was learning?
In a way, he couldn't. He had to take it on faith…something he'd done a lot of since he'd met Stefan and his group of friends.
But considering that a tiger would attack anything vulnerable if it had the opportunity, maybe it wasn't all that impossible. He hadn't understood that such an attack could cross such great distances. Surely it would be more reasonable to look closer to home first.
This stuff and his inability to understand all of it – so he could resolve the case – was making him crazy.
Once again, he couldn't bring any of his cohorts in on the problem with a full explanation. But he could ask a few questions and get some idea of whether smuggling endangered species into the country was also a local problem.
If he made the assumption that the tiger could connect with Tabitha because it was close, he needed to narrow his search down to smuggling rings in the U.S. Apparently psychics connected better to events that were closer, geographically, so Tabitha connecting to the tiger made sense that way as well. There were no guarantees, but he had to find a way to narrow this problem somehow.
And if he was narrowing it down even more within those same parameters, he'd start with the West Coast. It was the closest destination for many shady import and export companies looking to tap the U.S. market, particularly those from India and China.
He suddenly remembered those pictures Geoff had handed him. The two detectives he worked closely with, Geoff and Carmichael, both with some experience in animal smuggling, had offered to go through animal smuggling cases. He picked up the phone and called Geoff.
"Geoff, have you got any leads on the animal smuggling?" If only he knew what kind of tiger Tabitha had connected with, he could narrow the field slightly.
"Not much, except it is big business. The animals are flown in, shipped over in containers, driven to their destinations. You name it and people are trying it. Of course much depends on the species. Just last month there was a case of a guy's suitcase completely stuffed with snakes from South America. Like who does that?"
"Crazy," Ronin said. "What about bigger animals? Tigers, lions, that kind of thing?"
"There's always a black market for those. You can buy them locally to some extent, but people always want something not easily obtainable. Transporting them is another problem. Just think of the logistics involved in bringing over big cats. Can you imagine the howling going on in there? You'd have to keep them drugged up the whole time. And cats are fussy. They don't do well in transport. Just ask my wife. Every time she takes Fluffy into the vet, it takes days to regain her trust." Geoff laughed. "Like you'd know. You hate those damn things, don't you? Why are you asking?"
Ronin smiled. "I guess a lot of you guys know about my cat thing, huh?"
"Hell, yeah. So what gives?" Geoff wheezed on the other end of the phone.
"Just a line I'm tugging on a different case. Searching for a smuggled tiger. Wondering what the black market in trading live big cats looks like."
"Like always – it looks like money. Good money. Just don't get caught." He laughed. "Like you know, anything illegal will pay off big if you have someone willing to pay – if the stakes are high enough."
Ronin thanked him and hung up. Now, if only he could connect with Jacob. That detective knew everyone and anyone. He'd worked the docks for years. Several years ago, he'd been part of a huge sting that stopped a large human-trafficking ring. Since then, Jacob had kept a pretty close eye on everything going on. He could be a big help. And those pictures Geoff had dropped off were just as likely to be from that big sting. Why someone would try and get Jacob in trouble could also be due to any number of undercover jobs. If anyone recognized Jacob in these pictures, they could easily assume he was a dirty cop.
With this reasonable explanation, the tension in his shoulders relaxed. Someone was seeing exactly what they were supposed to see if Jacob was undercover. He was supposed to look like he was involved in shady deals. When Ronin got a moment, he'd explain go over that with Geoff.
First, he called Jacob again, and this time he actually got through. He explained his problem.
A long whistle sounded through the phone. "Animal trafficking is big. But a tiger is usually by special order. They are available domestically so the order would be for something unique. Think about it; it's not exactly something you could keep in the basement until the market improves. There are some companies that do special orders of that thing, but they've been skirting the law for so long we've had a hell of a time trying to pin anything on them."
"Names, please."
"I might be able to come up with a couple." He listed off several that Ronin didn't recognize. "Keep in mind, this is a supply-demand chain thing. They don't bring in a product on spec and even if you could catch the supplier, you'd have a hard time connecting it to the buyer."
"What's the chance of seizing the animal?"
"If you're lucky, it’s possible. It would be easier with a tiger than, say, a monkey or something even smaller – like snakes. Huge market trafficking snakes."
"Why?" Ronin shook his head. "I just can't see that many people wanting dangerous snakes."
"People will always want what they can't have. And will go to great lengths to get it." He coughed and cleared his throat. "I presume you have a reason for asking about this tiger thing?"
"Yeah, a big one. And time is an issue. Keep an eye out, will you? Let me know if you hear any whispers anywhere along the road."
A second long whistle slipped through the phone. "Will do. Just think a fully grown tiger can jump...what...thirteen to sixteen feet with prey in its mouth."
"I'm expecting it to have been drugged and kept in a cage the whole time." Taking a chance, he added, "And I'm looking for a more or less old warehouse in a deserted part of town."
"It would have to be. Transport and delivery would have to happen fast to avoid detection, so an empty warehouse makes sense. I'll think about those, and write up a few possible leads I can think up to off hand." Ronin could hear him scratching down some notes. "I can check on a few around here." Silence again. "Another angle to pull on is the documentation required to pass it off to the authorities, too."
Ronin responded drily, "In this day and age, anyone can get the required documents for anything." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Send me an email with names of people who do that kind of forged paperwork too if you have them. I'll add them to my list and follow up."
"I'll let you know if I find anything." Jacob hung up.
Ronin's brain circled and ran with possibilities. Leaning back, he stared at the now-unresponsive woman who had become so important in his world. "Damn it, Tabitha, I wish you could at least figure out where you are physically located at least."
***
Stefan had run out of ideas on how to find the tiger with such a dominant energy that it could suck Tabitha into its own space.
He'd dumped it on Ronin and hoped the detective could do his thing.
Animals were not up his alley.
They were Tabitha's thing.
Or at least, until now, they hadn't been his thing. He wasn't sure he had the luxury of excluding them any longer. He'd never had pets. He did know that because of his different energy, most animals reacted to him, one way or another.
Sometimes positively and sometimes negatively.
He was sure that Tango and Tripod accepted him because Tabitha was so well blended with his energy. The animals would sense that. But that didn't mean this strange tiger would be as accepting.
Should he try to connect? He sensed a
blockage down that path, but that didn't mean connecting was impossible…
Or would he end up in the same condition as Tabitha? If so, how would that help anyone? Could he walk the ethers, a theoretical halfway point, and call Tabitha? Would she hear him? Would she be able to use him as a guide to bring her home?
Still, if she had anything to add that would help them locate the tiger, then maybe...
