by C. E. Glines
“The next time you decide to rope me into your secret agent stuff, could you please include an informational brochure, or fact list, or maybe even a needed supplies list.”
He pulled back and stared at me with a blank look on his face.
“What?” I asked testily.
It seemed a number of responses danced in his eyes, but then he very evenly said, “Let’s get you out.”
“Please do,” I said angrily. With Catman lifting from behind and Juarez and Pike pulling from above, I made it out of the tunnel.
After being in the dark for so long, I was momentarily blinded by the appearance of light. I held onto Agent Pike’s arm as I rapidly blinked tears away. My vision wasn’t the only thing affected by my exit from the tunnel. I wasn’t very steady on my feet either.
When I could see again, I looked down at my knees and sighed. This looked familiar. As one might expect when crawling over glass, the pants were shredded from the knees down. That made it sharp objects two, pants zero.
Shredding aside, there was a startling amount of blood. It appeared that even I had underestimated the extent of my injuries.
Pike kept ahold of my elbow while Juarez gave Agent Michaels a hand up. Since he’d saved me in the lab and probably again in the tunnel shaft, I’d promoted him to Agent Michaels. He’d always be my Catman, but he certainly pulled off the agent thing. Besides, I couldn’t call him Catman to his face, and it looked like there would be a lot more face time now.
After Michaels cleared the shaft, he trained his eyes on me. I held my breath, knowing he wasn’t going to be happy with what he saw. I watched his eyes narrow as they traveled upwards. When they met mine, I offered him a weak smile. The tightness that had been there softened a little, and he deliberately turned his attention back to Agent Juarez.
I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know if I passed inspection, but at least it was over.
“Transport waiting?” I heard Michaels ask Juarez.
Pike’s grip tightened on my arm, and I opened my eyes in response.
“It will be when we get there,” Juarez answered. When Michaels continued to stare at him, Juarez rapidly gave an explanation. “This is not exactly the scenario we planned for, but we are making the necessary adjustments to make it work.”
After a moment, Michaels nodded his acknowledgement, and Juarez looked away first. Pike who’d been watching the exchange seemed to relax, and his grip loosened. Obviously, I was missing something, but I just added it to the growing list of things I didn’t know. I wasn’t happy with how long the list was becoming.
Looking around, I was startled to see the empty space where the mansion had stood. Actually, it wasn’t entirely empty. The remains were freely burning and looked like they had sunk into the ground, which I supposed they had.
I also noted the conspicuous absence of emergency vehicles. When you were a top secret facility devoted to illegal activities, apparently, you were on your own.
“I didn’t realize the explosion was that big,” I commented, and all of their heads swiveled to view the burning remains.
“It was quite devastating to the facility,” Juarez said in a subdued voice.
“It wasn’t devastating to the personnel?” I asked hopefully. Michaels had said that no one I knew was dead, but a lot of other people I didn’t know were in there, too.
“No. Except for a select few, Hollins made sure most everyone was out,” Juarez said with contempt.
How could Hollins get everyone out before the explosion that he didn’t know was going to take place? Unless, of course, he knew about the explosion which would make him responsible for Director Garrison’s death. I knew Hollins was angry when he left Garrison’s office, but mad enough to kill him? Over me? And did that make him part of this Consortium that Michaels had mentioned?
I didn’t know what to think as I stood there. There were way too many gaps in the information I had to figure out the one thing I needed to know the most. Who were the good guys?
I was also acutely aware of the fact that I was injured and surrounded by three potentially dangerous men, two of which I hardly knew and didn’t trust at all. Likewise, I had yet to determine if they were allies or enemies. Keeping me alive, although a plus in their favor, didn’t label them as one or the other. There could be lots of reasons for keeping me alive.
Michaels’ gaze fell on Pike and then travelled to where he gripped my arm. In response, Pike’s hand dropped, and he moved away from me. He seemed to shrink somehow, not visibly, but something in his demeanor shifted. He didn’t return Michaels’ stare either, but looked down and away.
As I watched the encounter, I felt like I was party to some sort of alpha male thing with me as the prize. I would have taken offense, but it seemed real, not some macho BS. I was guessing it had something to do with the hybrid DNA. But whatever the case, I wasn’t going to make any sudden movements.
Michaels rolled his shoulders and then decidedly marched over to me. He scooped me up, and I hooked my right arm around his shoulders and wondered why the heck I was being carried. Seemed a bit possessive to me. I opened my mouth to say so when I got a good look at the blood trail behind his left ear.
Instead of voicing my protest, I asked, “Why do you have blood behind your ear?”
“Close encounter with a Furry,” he answered, heading straight for the woods.
I noted that Pike had passed us and taken point while Juarez remained at the rear, covering our flank. Look at me, I could talk military, too.
“What’s a Furry?” I asked.
“One of the Consortium’s assassins,” he said in the clipped tones he seemed so fond of.
We were just about to enter the woods. Pike had already disappeared. I didn’t see a path, but I did see the large stump directly in front of us. I ground my teeth together as Michaels none too gently hoisted me higher as he jumped over the stump. The landing wasn’t much fun either.
When I was sure I could speak without my voice conveying any pain, I asked, “Is that what was in the lab with me?”
“One and the same,” he gritted out.
The look on his face was so intense. I couldn’t decide whether to bust out laughing or be afraid. But, since he’d stepped in and saved me from death or mangling, I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I listed him as a good guy. A good guy who was really tense at the moment. His grip was a tad painful.
I squirmed a little, forcing him to adjust his hold. It wasn’t any less tight, but it didn’t put as much pressure on my knees which afforded me some relief. Hopefully he’d let up soon, or I’d have to say something that was sure to be construed as whiney.
I knew he didn’t want to talk, but I just had one more question. “I don’t understand why the Consortium would take out a whole government facility for just one man. Couldn’t they just have killed him and left the facility alone?”
He continued his determined trek but tossed me a disapproving look.
“I know you said that Director Garrison put himself at odds with them, but are you sure this wasn’t part of a bigger plan?”
“The Consortium always has plans,” he said angrily.
Before I could respond, he suddenly swung me to the left, and I couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped when he banged my leg into a tree trunk. As a consequence, I was now on the receiving end of his glare.
I removed the hand I had instinctively brought up to cover my mouth and said, “Sorry.” Almost immediately, I regretted my reaction. Why the heck was I apologizing?
He sighed heavily and loosened his hold on me to a more comfortable level. “You have nothing to apologize for. I am the one who should apologize. I did not mean to hurt you physically or otherwise.”
I knew the words were not easy for him. He was honestly contrite over his behavior. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.
“I know,” I told him. I wasn’t excusing his behavior, but I could understand why he was so tense. All h
is plans seemed to have gone up in smoke, no pun intended.
Additionally, maybe he was tired of having to rescue me. I knew I was tired of needing to be rescued. Why he was bothering to rescue me at all was another mystery.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, I changed the subject. “So, I’m officially on the Consortium’s hit list. Good to know. Since you’ve brought me here, I’m just winning all kinds of awards.”
His grip eased a little more, and a smile played on his lips, probably recalling my first award. Whatever the reason, I was glad to see his smile return.
Though the words seemed to stick in my throat, it was only right to offer my thanks for the help he’d provided me. Manners were optional at the dinner table, but when someone did you a solid, I was taught to say thank you.
“Thank you for rescuing me. Again. The second time, I mean. Well, and the first time in the lab, too.” Oh, that was smooth.
His smile widened at my mangled offer of thanks. “You’re welcome. It was the least I could do, considering I put you in danger to begin with.”
You got that right, I thought. But when I recalled my recent brushes with danger, I concluded that may not be a totally accurate portrayal of events. The shooter in the woods could have also been one of the Consortium’s people. And if that were true, it meant that the Consortium had me under surveillance prior to my involvement with the Organization.
He tucked my head in and shielded me as we made our way through a patch of low lying branches.
As we cleared them, I said, “I think I was in danger before I became involved with you. A few weeks ago, I was shot at while gathering some data. The shooter was more than a crazy protestor. This guy knew what he was doing.”
His smile retreated as he considered what I’d just told him. “This would be the time you spent three consecutive nights in the woods?”
My eyes widened at his question. How’d he know that? He’d only know that if he’d been watching me, too.
“You had me under surveillance!” I said sharply.
He glanced briefly at my surprised face. “The Organization had you under surveillance,” he corrected, “and we were about to intervene when Kenny did our job for us.”
“You watched me the entire time!” I had gone to the bathroom for goodness sakes. Repeatedly.
“Not me,” he said, shaking his head no. “Olivia and a couple other female operatives you haven’t met. We are not barbarians, Dr. Greer. Besides,” he continued with a smirk on his face, “I understand it was not as if you bathed during that time.”
I was now subjected to feeling his chest heaving in silent laughter. This was even more embarrassing than the NOLA incident.
“In fact, I have it on good authority that you were rather rank.”
I pressed my lips together and thought, Miranda, that traitor. He must have talked to her. She was the only one besides me that could have vouched for my rankness. Why hadn’t she told me they’d talked?
Regarding his amused face, I could think of nothing else worth arguing. It was a fait accompli. Any further show of embarrassment now would just be silly. Expressing my anger wouldn’t accomplish anything either except to maybe widen his smile some more.
“You have an unnatural interest in my bathing habits,” I said flatly.
He was still smiling when he admitted it. “Perhaps,” he said with a tilt of his head.
I looked off into the woods, working really hard to ignore the smug look on his face. It was a task made more difficult by the fact that his face was only inches from mine.
My superfluous examination of the woods found that we were about to join a well-trodden path. As a result, Michaels picked up the pace quite a bit. The increase in speed, thankfully, did not equate with a great deal of jostling for me. In fact, the rhythmic swaying in his arms was starting to lull me to sleep.
I lifted my head from his shoulder where I didn’t realize it had gone. “Not that I’m complaining,” I said sleepily, “but why are you carrying me?”
“The hike before we rendezvous with transport is approximately two miles. You’re in no condition to make that trek. At least not as quickly as we need,” he answered, his face once again wearing a stern expression as he focused on something off in the distance.
Well, if you had to hike through the woods, being wrapped in two strong arms attached to tall, dark and delicious was not a bad way to go.
Thinking of Miranda brought a sudden pang of worry to my heart. Was her Goon part of Michaels’ Organization or the Consortium?
“The Goon that took Miranda home, is he with you?”
“Goon?” he questioned, sparing me a brief glance. “I believe you are referring to Cedars. And yes, he is part of the Organization.”
That was good news. “Will they be safe when the Consortium realizes I’m gone?”
His frown deepened as he continued to focus on something up ahead. I looked too, but all I could see was the surrounding woods.
“Not sure,” he said, slowing down. “Juarez, has Cedars checked in?”
I turned my head, searching for Juarez, as he answered from behind us.
“He did check in this morning, but we haven’t updated him on the current situation.”
I wondered if Cedars had updated them on his current situation with Miranda. Hey, I thought happily, I might finally know something that they didn’t. Although, I couldn’t really classify it as important.
Michaels stopped walking, and I twisted back to the front to find out why. Pike was a few feet ahead of us, kneeling on the ground and holding his hand up to indicate a halt. He sprinted a short distance ahead, and then stopped again. Scanning the woods up ahead, he held up a closed fist and then flashed two. Juarez passed us to join him, and Pike indicated once left and once right.
“Michaels?” Pike asked.
Michaels sniffed the air. “Furries,” he said.
If Pike couldn’t smell them, I wondered how he knew something was there.
Juarez’s eyes were a glowing amber color as he turned and looked at Michaels. “They’re trying to cut us off.”
“Agreed,” said Michaels. “We are still half a mile out. We will have to dispatch them.”
Juarez looked down at some digital gadget he’d pulled from his pocket. “We have to do it quickly,” he advised. “They’ve called for reinforcements.”
Nodding, Agent Michaels stood me on my feet, but kept a hand on my shoulder. Staring straight into my eyes, he pointed off to the East. “Do you see where the trees veer apart?”
I looked in the direction that he indicated. There was only one spot he could be talking about, so I nodded once for yes.
“I need you to head in that direction.”
Alone? He meant alone. My eyes widened involuntarily, and I swallowed. I was bait. Injured, weak, stinking bait.
Sensing that I grasped the situation, he said, “That’s right, you will draw them out of cover, but they will never reach you.”
The look of disbelief on my face must have prompted his next comment.
“You have my word, Dr. Greer. They will not touch you. You have to trust me.”
Wasn’t I doing that already?
I squeezed my eyes shut. Trust. Such an easy thing on paper. Not so easy in the woods, in the company of three men you hardly knew, and being stalked by Furries—whatever those were. How did my life come down to trusting the word of a man I hardly knew?
“Dr. Greer?”
“It’s Macy,” I said, opening my eyes. “Just Macy.”
It was his turn to nod.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m ready.”
He squeezed my shoulder and aimed me in the right direction. “We’ll be right behind you,” he assured me.
Where had I heard that before?
CHAPTER 10
I ALLOWED MYSELF ONE BREATH TO gather my courage, and then I started for the split in the trees. I didn’t realize it while I was being carried, but my knees had stiffened considerably. Each
step I took sent spikes of pain radiating through my legs. Being the trooper that I was, I gritted my teeth and kept walking. At least it overshadowed the throbbing pain in my hands and forearms.
He said half a mile. I could do that. No problem. Except for the unmistakable growling off to my left.
It was a high pitched growling and didn’t sound at all like what I’d heard from Michaels on several occasions. I was assuming that it belonged to one of the mysterious Furries. I wanted to look and not look at the same time. Surely it was covered with fur. Why else would they have dubbed it a Furry?
The growling was getting louder, which I interpreted to mean it was getting closer. The adrenaline kicked in, and my steps quickened accordingly, but the growling kept pace with me. Why didn’t somebody just shoot it already?
My increased speed erased the benefits of the reprieve my knees had experienced while I was carried. Blood began flowing again from the many cuts I had previously sustained. I could feel the rivulets flowing down my shins inside my boots. It didn’t take long for every step I made to emit a squelching sound, upping the gross factor considerably.
A snarl pierced the air in the opposite direction of the growling and startled me into missing my next step. I landed on one knee, generating a snarl of my own. A loud yelp quickly followed the initial snarl. Score one for the team?
Using the nearest branch for support, I hauled myself up and resumed my trek, albeit, not as fast as before. I risked a look off in the direction of the growling. Not surprisingly, I didn’t see anything but woods.
I turned back around just in time to watch myself plant the heel of my boot in a jumble of tree roots. Un-freaking-believable.
Ignoring the pain, I began to pull furiously at my boot. I couldn’t believe I had pulled such a stupid, amateur worthy stunt. I wrapped my arms around a low lying branch and used my free foot to push against the root entrapping my boot. I’d just about worked my ankle free when I realized something was different.
With both hands still painfully gripping the tree, I froze. The difference was the silence. Everything was quiet.
Sliding my foot the rest of the way free, I leaned against the tree. I had no illusions about who was the prey, and that served to settle one thing for me. When and if I made it through this, I was going to invest in some training. Combat, weapons, whatever I could find. I would do my level best to see to it that I never again was unequal to a situation like this.
