by Lauren Dawes
“How are you doing there, Avah May?” Phil asked with a gentle smile.
“Hey, Phil,” she replied, actually switching on her computer and getting her day started.
“How was the trip? When did you get back?”
“Last night.”
“How was it?”
She shrugged then smiled. “Exhilarating.”
Jerking his head in the direction of Andy’s office, he asked, “Has he caught wind of it?”
“Yeah. They were calling for references.”
“Ah.”
She wiggled her mouse, navigating to her personal files on her desktop and backing them up to a thumb drive. “Yeah, Andy took it really well.”
“Uh-oh.”
She looked at him, seeing that shared compassion. “He fired me. Effective immediately.”
Phil’s brows popped. “Damn. Can he do that?”
When she shrugged her shoulders, they felt so freaking heavy. “Honestly, I don’t care anymore.”
When all the files were in the digital folder, she pulled the drive and started going through the paper files on her desk. She didn’t have to worry about personal photos or knick-knacks. She didn’t have any pets either, so those fur-baby shots were out. All she had was some notes she’d been compiling about those missing girls, and they were going home with her, fuck Andy very much. She knew there was a story there, and she was going to crack it.
“Have lunch with me?” Phil asked, suddenly looking like a kicked puppy.
“I’m sorry. I can’t,” she lied. Yeah, like she had so much stuff to do—return home and sit around, finding the bottom of a carton of Breyer’s finest. She was sure she had a fresh stash of cookies and cream in her freezer. Shoving the files into her bag, she stood up and shouldered the thing. She gave Phil a quick hug, not wanting to prolong it. She could feel the tears sitting at the back of her eyes already.
“I’ll call you,” she said, patting him on the shoulder and walking toward the exit. She didn’t bother to say goodbye to anyone else in the office as she left. She wouldn’t miss these people, and they probably weren’t going to miss her.
She did wave to Terri on her way to the elevators, though.
“Not feeling well?” the receptionist asked with a sympathetic smile.
“Not feeling employed,” she replied. “I was fired. I’ll see you around, Terri.”
She was saved from any more chit-chat when the elevator arrived.
It was a smooth ride down, then she was out of the building and onto the street.
A block away, she caught the Light Rail home, getting off at her stop and walking home. Unlocking the door, she dumped her bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen.
Freezer.
Ice cream.
No bowl—just the spoon. Wallowing required only one utensil and as little washing up as possible. Returning to the living room, she curled up on the couch and started scooping out all that delicious cookies and cream goodness.
She was about a quarter way through the carton when there was a knock on the door. With a frown, she kept her sugar-hit-in-a-bucket in her hand and opened things up.
Phil glanced to the ice cream carton then back to her face. “Did I interrupt something?”
She turned, leaving the door open and walking back to the couch. Phil shut the door behind him and sat beside her, gesturing for her to pass over the goods.
“What are you going to do, Avah May?”
She shrugged. “Find another job? Take some time off? I don’t know.”
He grunted and handed back the carton. “Not going to lie to you here. I’d miss the hell out of you if you upped and went to Montana.”
She had no idea what to say to that. She looked down at the ice cream, hoping for clarity. She found none, but when she looked up, she found Phil leaning in closer to her.
“What are you doing?” she breathed.
He looked at her mouth. “I don’t know,” he replied just as softly, before leaning forward and fusing their mouths together. His lips were tentative, and when she didn’t resist after the first kiss, he tried it again, lingering longer this time. His tongue swept out, teasing the seam of her lips. For a long moment, she did nothing. She was too shocked to even move. He was a good kisser. He was actually a phenomenal kisser, but there wasn’t a spark at all.
When her phone started to ring, she leapt up and ran to retrieve it like it was a grenade with the pin pulled out.
“Hello?” she asked breathlessly, turning to find Phil looking at her with heated eyes. “Hello? Yes?” Man, she couldn’t seem to concentrate with him looking at her like that.
“Miss Carter?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Miss Carter, this is Erin Cottle from the Great Falls Tribune. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”
“No, not at all.” It was perhaps perfect timing.
“Well, I’m calling to let you know that although you were a dream to interview, unfortunately, we’ve found someone better suited to the position.”
She felt like all the air had just been let out of her body. “Oh. Okay.”
“But we’d like to offer you another position, if you’re interested?”
“Yes!” she said a little too excitedly. Clearing her throat, she added, “Yes, that would be amazing.”
Erin laughed. “Don’t you want to know what the position is?”
“Yes, sorry. I’ve just had a rough morning, but this news is amazing.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but you’ll be happy to hear the position I want to offer you is as the opinion editor.”
Avah blinked a few times, but it wasn’t as if blinking her eyes could improve her hearing.
Erin continued, “I looked up some of the opinion pieces you wrote when you were in college, and I have to say, I’m very impressed with what I read. You have an interesting approach to stories. You don’t dance around the issue. Instead, you go straight for the jugular, and I could use someone like that on my team. So what do you say?”
She swallowed, glancing at Phil. He was her best friend, and leaving him would cause her more pain than she could imagine, but this was her career and her livelihood. This was a position she could never get another shot at. This was the out she was looking for.
“I say, when do I start?”
Erin laughed, and it was a deep, throaty sound. “How about you come in on Monday, and we can get the ball rolling with all the paperwork?”
Three days. She had three days to pack up her life and go to Montana. “I’ll be there.”
“Fantastic. I’m so glad to have you on my team, Avah. I’ll see you next week.”
“Goodbye and thank you.” She hung up and looked at Phil.
“I take it by listening to one side of the conversation that that was good news.”
Walking back to the couch, she handed over the carton because it looked like he needed the hit. “Yeah. Very good news. That was…my new boss. I didn’t get the position I’d interviewed for, but she offered me an opinion editor position.”
He whistled through his teeth. “Damn, girl, that’s amazing. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. At least she knew what she had to do now, but it didn’t mean it was going to hurt any less. “I’m really sorry, old man.”
He put the sweating ice cream carton down onto her coffee table and put his arm over her shoulders. Despite the voice screaming in her head, she let herself take some comfort from him. “I’m proud of you, you know.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. You were never meant to stay at the Trib for too long. You’re like a caged bird there. You’re too beautiful and too free-spirited to be hidden behind bars. You should go out and explore the world.”
They were quiet for a moment. “This kind of sounds like a goodbye, Phil.”
When he didn’t answer right away, she looked up into his face. His expression was carefully neutral, not giving away a thing.
He cleared his throat. “If I try to keep you here for me, then I’m just as bad as Andy. You need to do this, Avah May, and you need to kick so much ass that Andy will be cursing the day he let you walk away.”
Shuffling to the edge of the sofa, he stood up, forcing her to go with him. They were standing toe-to-toe, and she realized that this really was a goodbye. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. She didn’t want to lose him, but…
“Hey,” he said softly, touching her cheek with reverence. “Don’t cry. This is just goodbye for now, not goodbye forever. I’ll come and bother you in Montana a few times a year. I hear the skiing is good.”
She laughed, sniffling. He pulled her closer and planted a chaste kiss on her mouth.
Because he needed it.
Because she needed it.
And because…she would never see him again.
36
Compared to the previous location, Katie’s living standards had gone up exponentially. The cell she was in was at least one and a half times larger than the last, with a few metal platforms set up as beds. There was also a stainless steel toilet against one wall with a small, in-built sink on the top. Having a proper flushing toilet was something she’d never take for granted ever again.
Luce was still with her, the small female unwilling to let go of her hand, even though they’d been left alone in this new location for a while now.
In the cell beside her, Elsie had been placed with another female who had chocolate-brown skin and pale green eyes. She looked so out of place here with her movie-star looks, high cheekbones, long lashes, and full lips.
“What’s your name?” the other female called out, and it took Katie a moment to realize she was talking to her.
“Katie. You?”
“Leesa.”
Katie glanced around at the other cells. Unlike in the last place, a light was on all the time. There were only about five feet between hers and the cell on the opposite wall. The other women and females were either asleep or staring dully into the middle distance. They’d checked out already, but Katie wasn’t ready to give up just yet. If they moved them once, they would do it again, and that would give them an opportunity to escape.
After all, when you had nothing left, hope was what you worked with.
“Where are you from, Leesa?”
“Nashville.”
Tennessee? She almost choked. Was that where they were now? The weather seemed drier here, but she didn’t think they’d gone that far into the south.
“What about you?”
“Wyoming,” she replied.
Leesa gave her a tight smile. “You’re a long way from home.”
“I think so, yeah. Do you know where we are?”
The other jaguar shrugged her slender shoulders. “I don’t know. We were moved about twenty-four hours ago.”
“We?”
Leesa’s mouth thinned. “Me and the two other girls who’d survived. One human, one cat. The human died on the way over.”
“And the cat?”
“Kohbi. She’s over there.”
Katie followed where Leesa gestured, finding a young female with blonde hair sitting against the wall of the cell opposite them. She was in with Elsie, both females looking lost in their own thoughts—or nightmares, as it were.
“She’s not in a good place,” Leesa murmured. “One of our captors took a liking to her, and it got…physical.”
Katie nodded. “The other female in there with her, Elsie, she suffered the same. I didn’t see it happen, but one of our guys took her, too.”
Leesa darted her pale-eyed gaze to Luce. “Let’s pray they don’t go after anyone else.”
Katie couldn’t deny the thoughts had gone through her head on more than one occasion, but she was going to protect that female to the best of her ability.
“Do you know what they want?”
Katie still couldn’t figure that out. It made no sense to have so many females in one spot. It was a disaster waiting to happen actually, because all it would take was one shift, and there would be a jaguar caged in and pissed off. If viability was actually the aim of all this, maybe they wouldn’t meet the same fate as the other female who’d shifted in their original location.
Which was why she supposed they kept them so underfed.
Weakness was their only advantage.
“Katie?” Luce whispered.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” she replied, breaking free of her thoughts and stroking the girl’s dark hair.
“Are we going to,” hiccup, “get out of here?”
“Of course,” she replied without hesitation. Framing Luce’s face in her hands, she said, “We’ll get out of this, and I’ll return you to your brother.”
“Do you swear it?”
Katie felt as if she’d been cut off at the knees. There was such fragility in that voice, but the question was one that had required strength to ask. Being able to rely on anyone else in this kind of situation was tough. Shifter nature, like human nature, was to survive, and the will to live was burning bright in Luce’s eyes.
“I swear it, Luce. I swear I’ll take you back to him.”
Luce’s chin wobbled with the declaration as she tried to hold back the tears that were sitting just below the surface. Katie drew the girl in closer, resting her chin on the top of her head, vowing silently that she would protect this gentle soul with her last breath if she had to.
There was an electronic beep then, and the mood in the room shifted from wariness to all out fear. The scent of it—like burning hair and gasoline—filled the room. Opposite her cage, there was a small hallway that led into darkness. There were no lights down that far, and she thought it had been done on purpose. Psychological warfare was best waged with darkness.
Luce pressed herself more closely to Katie’s side, burying her head against her knees. Absently, she stroked the young female’s hair again as the sound of heavy footsteps drawing nearer made her heart rate accelerate. The vague outline of a man appeared, and as he stepped into the light, she recognized him as one of their original captors—Tom.
He stood just inside the room, swaying a little as his feral gaze swept over them, the scent of his lust and the stringent sting of alcohol sharp in Katie’s nostrils. She knew what he was down here for, and it wasn’t just for a chat. He prowled in farther. She took in the large knife he had on his belt. She hadn’t seen him with any other weapon other than the gun he’d wielded when they’d moved them.
He stopped on Katie, a cruel smile forming on his lips. If she thought her heart was galloping before, it was strapped to a rocket now. He got closer, flicking a glance to Luce, who was still taking cover.
“That’s who I want,” he drawled, pointing his finger at Luce. Moving to a small electronic pad attached to their cell, he pressed his index finger against it, causing another beep. The door slid open on soundless tracks, and Tom stepped inside. She watched that wide-open space behind him, wondering how long it would—
The door started to slide shut once more. Five seconds. That’s how long it stayed open. Tom moved closer, his heated eyes fixed on Luce, and Katie shuffled her legs around until she was covering the girl’s body. When he reached for them, she bared her teeth and hissed, the sound coming out of her throat not at all human.
Tom stopped then, sensing that he wasn’t dealing just with a female, but with a pissed off jaguar. Slowly, he reached for the sheath on his belt and popped off the clip.
“You don’t want to get between us, bitch,” he said, pulling the knife free of the leather and holding it in front of him. It was a big blade—at least a foot long—with serrated teeth near the handle. It smelled of oil and old blood. A feline growl bubbled up from her throat.
“Think about it. You’re unarmed. You’re too weak to shift, and I’d have this buried in your neck before you could finish getting furry.” He said the last word like it was abhorrent to him. He twisted the knife around, letting it catch the light,
but Katie wasn’t budging.
Tom struck her across the cheek with the back of his free hand, the force of it combined with her own growing weakness throwing her backward. Her teeth snapped together when her back hit the wall of the cell, the base of her skull throbbing in time with her racing pulse. She blinked the black spots from her eyes, her vision clearing in time to see Tom reaching for Luce, dragging the girl up and onto her feet. Luce tried to resist, pulling away, trying to twist free of his grip, but he only held on tighter, his nails dimpling her skin and his knuckles turning white. With a hard yank, he pulled her into the line of his body then slung her over his shoulder.
“No!” Katie screamed, crawling over to his retreating form. “Take me.”
He was about to put his index finger to the reader on the inside of their cage when he stopped and peered at her over his shoulder. “What did you say?” His words were a slow crawl, cold and calculating like this was exactly what he was hoping would happen.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I said take me. Leave her. She’s too innocent.”
Tom seemed to be weighing her words then shook his head. “Nah, I like virgins, and this one,” he slapped her on the ass and squeezed, making Luce whimper, “is ripe for the picking.”
Katie closed her eyes, finding a reserve of strength inside her she didn’t know existed. She couldn’t let this happen. She wouldn’t let this happen. “Take me. I’m a virgin, too.”
Well, that certainly got his attention. He considered her for a moment. “Nah, you’ll fight me. The kid won’t.”
Katie stood up, despite her spine and ribs screaming. Despite the way her whole body shook, whether it was rage or fear, she didn’t know. “I promise not to fight back. I’ll do whatever you want, just give me your word that you’ll leave her alone.”
She’d heard the expression before—make a deal with the devil—and now she knew what it meant. She was condemning herself here, but it was a bargain she made readily and gladly if Luce didn’t have to live for the rest of her life with the trauma of being raped.
