“I know you’ve gone through a lot today but it’s important that you work with us. Besides getting shot, you arrived with cold-exposure injuries to your toes and fingers. Your toes especially showed signs of first-degree frostbite.”
Elle tried to look at her toes but the blanket hid them. “I can’t…”
“You might not feel them, but I promise, they’re still there. You’re a very lucky lady. Any longer and you could have lost them. We treated the blisters and you should regain feeling in them when the painkillers wear off, but we don’t want them to wear off too quickly, do we?” He pulled a pre-filled morphine syringe and alcohol swab packet from his pocket.
“Don’t,” she protested. “I can’t be here. I have to go.”
“Right now, the only thing you have to do is rest. Your body has been through a lot. It needs time to heal.” He uncapped the syringe. “Do you think you’re up to talking to the police and telling them what happened?”
She shook her head and mumbled gibberish, closing her eyes.
“I’ll tell them they have to wait until this morphine wears off a little bit.” He injected medicine into her IV and she instantly felt heavy.
I need Ice.
Chapter Fifteen
Ice kept his head down as someone walked past him. The jacket was wet from the rain, but he didn’t care. His thoughts were elsewhere.
Elle. She’d been so weak, so pale, so covered in red. If he were to unzip the jacket, he’d see her blood staining his clothes.
Ice hoped she would be all right. He needed her to be all right. If she died that would be on him. Though, he might never know her fate.
Elle would not like him talking to strange men, but he had no choice. He needed guidance around the city, and news of the aspirin thieves had spread through the Denver street people. One had even made reference to a blue man being involved. Ice glanced at his off-colored hands. His skin had finally changed from blue to more of a brown-tan.
“Yeah, man, my cousin was there. Said he saw one of them. Said he was painted from head to toe with blue paint,” the man had said before billowing an interesting-smelling smoke from his lips. His brown pants were stained at the knees and his t-shirt had holes in it. “Very hippy, man. I bet they were like saving babies or something with it.”
The woman with the smoker had insisted the aspirin thief was just a stupid criminal, and that the cousin was a liar because there was no way the robber was blue. The news would have reported that. The two bickered a little over the details, but in the end, the woman had been a little more helpful in pointing him in the direction he needed to go to find the pharmacy in question.
He looked up at the sign, Junior’s Pharmacy, and knew he was in the right place. The building was where the woman described it—next to a blue dumpster with a bright orange happy face painted on the side.
Ice tried to look at the building from all angles before going toward the door. He detected none of the fighters who’d attacked them. He walked in and looked around. The small store had rows of bottles and boxes. The cracked floor tiles were clean but discolored in spots. Seeing a man in a white coat behind a glass shield, he approached him. The man was much shorter than Ice, and he could see the top of his gray head more than his downturned face. The word “pharmacist” was scrolled across the chest.
“Can I help you?” The pharmacist did not look up.
Ice placed his hand on the counter a little too hard to get the man’s full attention. “I am looking for the men who took your aspirin.”
At that, the pharmacist looked up at him. “Excuse me?”
“I need to find the men who took your baby aspirin.” Ice didn’t move his hand.
“Are you some kind of private investigator?” The pharmacist shook his head, turned back to what he’d been doing and finished jotting down a notation before moving toward a shelf.
Belatedly, Ice lied. “Yes.”
“I can’t help you. They took some cases of aspirin, that’s all. I reported it to the police because insurance doesn’t pay out unless there’s a report, but other than that, there isn’t much call to find a couple of whack-a-doodles when generic baby aspirin isn’t exactly the narcotic authorities care about.”
“I must find them. They are my brothers,” Ice said.
“So you’re not a private investigator?” The pharmacist put down a container and came back to the window.
“No. I am a man looking for his brothers. They need help.” Ice had no idea if honesty was the best route, but he didn’t have any experience lying to humans to get information.
“You do resemble them.” The man nodded. “Listen, I get it. My son has the same struggles with addiction. He’s a good kid, but those demons are hard to fight.” He leaned closer to the speaking holes in the glass and said, “Your brothers didn’t hurt anyone. It’s like I told that news reporter. They were the politest criminals I’d ever seen. One even apologized and said he needed it. I don’t know what they were planning on doing with that much baby aspirin, or if they were confused, but my insurance covered the theft.” He reached beneath the counter and held up an envelope. “Three days later, I found this shoved under my back door. It’s filled with cash. I have no idea what the writing on it means, but I can only guess it’s payment for the cases and the candy bars. Honestly, if that is the case, this is more than they were worth. I can’t think of anyone else who would want to give me money. I haven’t been sure what to do with it because I don’t know where it came from.”
Ice leaned closer to the glass. “May I see the writing?”
The pharmacist glanced at his hand and moved his fingers aside. “It’s just some symbol.”
It was them. A tight knot released the hold it had on his stomach and he breathed easier than he had in a long time. He’d found them. The writing was as familiar to him as his own hand. It was the Sintazian words for “please forgive.”
“It says they are sorry,” Ice said. “My brothers are not thieves. They would not have wanted you to suffer a loss at their hands.”
The pharmacist took a deep breath, glanced around, and then slid the envelope under a small rectangular opening cut in the glass. “I can see you’re worried. Insurance paid for the loss. I’m not sure where they got this much cash, but I can imagine whoever they took it from would be looking for it. I’ve never taken a strange envelope of cash in return for medicine and, after seeing what my son went through, I don’t plan on starting now. I’m going to pretend that I never saw it.”
Ice nodded. “Thank you.” He looked around, wishing for a sign as to where to go next. He felt so close, and yet so far from finding Snow and Frost.
“I don’t know if this is anything, but there are some abandoned buildings about three blocks north.” He pointed toward the far end of the store. “You can’t miss them. They’re the tall red-brick ones. I know several squatters live up in that area. If they’re staying around here, that’d be where I looked first.”
“Thank you.” Ice placed his hand on the glass and nodded before hurrying out of the store.
“Good luck,” the man called, the words almost lost as the door shut behind him.
Ice ran toward the abandoned buildings. He didn’t pause as he crossed the streets and alleyways. A couple of times, cars screeched to a halt as he cut in front of them, but he didn’t care. Every passing second felt like an eternity. The fear he’d felt since watching his brothers run off into the trees culminated in this moment. If he didn’t find them now, he might never get the chance.
Or, worse, if he could track them, then the humans who’d imprisoned him might be able to as well. They had already shown up in Denver.
A flash of the last moment he’d seen Elle filtered through his mind. Her eyes had been open, but she didn’t see. Her limbs had remained lifeless as she lay on the small metal table. The stunned veterinary physician’s mouth had opened, and he stuttered something Ice didn’t understand.
“Please fix her,” Ice whispered to
himself, as he had to that man. “Please fix her. Please fix her.”
The buildings were right where the pharmacist had said they’d be. Fires glowed from trashcans as he passed several gatherings of people. Laughter rang out as did shouts of anger and warning. Ice hugged his clothing tighter to him, trying not to be noticed. No one stopped him or even seemed to care who he was or what he was doing.
He studied each face he passed, eyed the builds of the men hidden in the shadows. Desperation filled him each time a group proved to be only humans. He walked faster, intent on moving through each and every building if he had to. If his brothers were here, he’d find them.
“I said I’d pay,” a man yelled. The loud crash that followed sent several members of the gathering scurrying away from the noise.
Figures fought in the distance, and Ice angled his fast walk away from them. Well, actually, only one figure seemed to be fighting. The other one flailed in the air as he was held over the man’s head.
Just as he was about to rush past, he watched the larger man bend at the knees before throwing his opponent onto an old mattress on the concrete. The man bounced, groaning on impact.
Ice stopped. He ignored the man on the ground as he stared at the winner of the battle.
“Snow?” Ice said, the word not forceful. He knew that fighting stance. He’d taught his brothers that fighting stance.
At the sound, his brother turned. The man on the mattress took the opportunity to run. Snow let him go. “Ice?”
The word propelled him into action. He rushed to his brother, lifting his hands to press his fingers to Snow’s. They gripped each other’s hands tight, leaning their foreheads together in a long greeting.
Words, neither Earthling, nor Venimice, nor Sintazian, couldn’t explain the relief he felt in finding his brother alive on a strange, dangerous planet.
Snow pulled away first. “How did you escape? Did they let you go? Did the Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides crewmen find you?”
Ice answered the question with his own questions. “Is Frost with you? Is he safe? Have you heard from those alien bastards who left us here? Does that man you were fighting have something to do with our being here?”
“That man is a job. I must get money from him to give to the person he owes. It is an easy way to survive. I am not sure why more humans do not do it.” Snow took Ice by the arm and led him toward a building. “Frost is here. He does not come out of our home because his body has not been processing the aspirin skin changer. It made him sick and turned him green. We found it easier to hide him from view as we waited for word of your whereabouts.”
“Word from who? I was held prisoner in Utah. Scientist wanted to examine me and test me. I have seen them in this city. They are looking for you. We cannot stay here. Humans cannot be trusted.” Ice thought of Elle. “Most humans cannot be trusted.”
“Galaxy Brides has been looking for you since your capture. They contacted us with that device they stuck in that travel pack they gave Snow to carry, but we refused to get on their ship without you. We would not risk them flying us away from here. Frost convinced them that we had connections and if they didn’t undo their mistake, we’d have the entire Federation Alliance coming after them.”
“And they believed him?” Ice asked in surprise. Sintazians had nothing to do with the Federation.
“He was very convincing.” Snow led the way into one of the abandoned buildings and down a narrow set of concrete stairs. The passageway was dark, and Ice kept his eyes on his brother’s back. “Help me with this.”
Snow leaned over and pushed at a large rock. Ice helped him slide it away from a small door. Once it was clear, Snow opened the door and went inside. Large pipes ran along the ceiling and walls of the stone room. Old material hung from various pipes, somewhat creating a room. Blankets lined the floor, mussed up from having been laid on. It was not their Sintazian home, but the enclosure felt safe.
“Frost! I found him. Ice is here,” Snow called.
The sound of movement came from behind a blanket. Frost appeared, his eyes searching until they landed on Ice. He didn’t speak as he rushed forward to take his brother’s hands. They pressed their heads together and Ice took a deep breath.
“I have found you,” Ice whispered.
“I am sorry I insisted we come to this place. The women are not what they promised us, and Earth is not friendly to aliens. I feared my decision had lost you to us forever.” Frost leaned his head back. “Did those men harm you?”
Ice wanted to tell them of Elle, and how she’d saved him, but a scraping noise interrupted them.
“Tell us when we are on the ship,” Snow said. He went toward the material curtain and tugged it off the pipe.
His brothers had an alien tied to a chair. The stocky creature wore a skin suit over his alien form, but his large head would make it impossible to blend with the humans effectively. His black hair was the same length all around as it hung over his forehead and the tops of his silicone human ears. His hands were pulled out to his sides, tied with rope to pipes to keep them apart. The skin suit hung from his wrists in tatters, showing yellow alien flesh. It was possible the alien had tried to escape and shed part of his disguise in the process.
But it was the silver uniform with the Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides’ logo that gave away who he was.
“This is how you convinced them to help us,” Ice concluded with a nod of approval.
“It seemed only fair. One of their brothers in exchange for mine,” Frost answered. “The Federation watches bridal procurement very closely and a missing worker would be noted.”
“It’s time, Gary,” Snow stated. “Call the ship and take us home.”
Chapter Sixteen
Elle heard movement before she managed to open her eyes. Someone walked around her hospital room. She tried to lift her hand, but a restraint limited her mobility. The sound of a metal cuff clanked.
She was under arrest.
Elle inhaled sharply, fighting to clear her head.
“Give us a moment with her,” someone said.
She knew that voice. Dr. Hanklen.
Her blurry eyes took in the situation. Larson stood in a police uniform. The material stretched on his larger frame. Next to him, Dr. Hanklen wore a suit.
“Fine, but she’s still recovering. Don’t do anything to rile her up. She’s still my patient until I discharge her, Detective.” The doctor spoke to Hanklen.
Detective?
“Don’t leave,” Elle tried to say, but Larson coughed to cover her voice and Hanklen ushered the doctor out and shut the door.
Elle pushed up on the bed and tugged at her handcuffed wrist. There was no freeing herself. She looked for the call button for help, but Larson swooped forward and pulled the wire. The clip on the button holding it to the blanket snapped as it was jerked out of her reach. He threw it aside.
“Where is he, Elle?” Hanklen demanded.
Elle pressed her hand against the bandage on her side to give the wound support and refused to speak as she inched up on the bed. She knew Ice would go looking for his brothers, but she would never tell them that.
“I know the ship is coming back for them,” Hanklen said. “There is no use denying it. Where are they meeting it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned her eyes accusingly to Larson. “Someone shot me. I’ve been in the hospital.”
“Casualty of war,” Larson stated, not remorseful in the least. If he wasn’t the one who’d shot her, he wasn’t about to censure the person who did.
“This isn’t a war,” Elle stated, just to be defiant. She wanted to buy some time so the doctor would come back. She tried to scream, but Hanklen was close enough to grab her mouth to shut her up.
Elle hoped they’d reveal what they had discovered about Ice’s whereabouts. If it was true that a ship was coming back for him, then she wanted to make sure he got on it.
“Of course it’s a war,” Larson counter
ed. “Aliens can’t just land on our planet without our permission.”
Elle chose to ignore him as she turned her attention to Hanklen. Larson might be two hundred pounds of pure muscle, but Hanklen was the real danger in the room. The scientist was cunning and smart and had shown a blatant disregard for anyone who was not in line with his personal goals.
Hanklen grabbed her chart from the end of the bed and began flipping through it. He stopped on a page, frowning. “Your bloodwork seems a little…” He studied her for a long moment. “What happened? Mind control? Skin toxins? Why did you help him escape? Nothing in your psychological profile indicated you weren’t a team player.”
Love. Compassion.
Elle didn’t answer.
“Larson, call Dr. Petals. I think her patient needs x-rays.” Hanklen’s gaze stayed on hers. Larson lifted his phone to obey. Elle knew she wasn’t going for any kind of scans.
Elle thought to see someone pass by the door and let loose a loud scream for help.
Larson dropped his phone down and lunged for her. He bumped her wound, causing her to cry out as his hand clasped over her mouth. She weakly fought him.
Hanklen pulled a syringe from his jacket and twisted the cap off the needle with his teeth. She reached for the IV tubing, trying to grab it before the doctor had a chance to inject her. But Larson was too strong, and no amount of willpower could counteract the morphine flooding her system.
Chapter Seventeen
“If we are welcome to come to Earth to look for brides, someone forgot to tell the Earthlings about it,” Frost said as he led Gary, the captive Galaxy Brides’ crewman he’d kidnapped for leverage. Ice doubted Gary was the alien’s real name, but then, Ice wasn’t really his.
The mountainous countryside echoed with the sound of night animals. Gary insisted the ship would come for them if he ordered it to. Frost had a handheld device in his hand, so the stout alien could do just that once they reached the pickup location.
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