Easing partially between me and the counter, he pinched my chin and turned my face to his. He stood so close, I felt him exhale. His pupils dilated as he studied me. "It's the eyes, I think. Those beautiful eyes. So innocent and trusting..." He shook himself. "For your part in helping me, you would be a hero."
Wow! No one had ever pictured me as a hero before. I leaned into him and inhaled, filling my lungs with his warm, musky scent. My heart beat just a smidge faster and ice seemed to melt under my hands. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Why?" His fingers stroked my jaw while his thumb traced my bottom lip. "Because I like you, Mary Jane."
My name blew away the sensual haze like a cold wind. I shuffled away from him and stared into the cooler. What had I been thinking? That was the problem, I hadn't been thinking, only feeling with my hormones. I cleared my throat. "It's Rae."
My voice was huskier than normal. Get a grip.
Victor returned to his spot against the kitchen island. He stared at the sandwich still in his hand before plucking out a tomato and tossing it into the sink. "Rae. Like a ray of sunshine. A little piece of heaven all my own."
My body hummed. Those darn Spam dots needed a tune-up or alignment or whatever mechanics did make things run straight. Unfortunately, Victor had my Smartphone. I snapped the lid in place on the cooler. This man killed Pascel, Vivian and God only knew what he'd done to Tobias. "Who knew murderers could be so poetic."
"I don't murder, obecht." Victor dumped the crusts of his sandwich into the sink and wiped his hands on a towel. "I kill like all soldiers must."
Soldiers killed other soldiers, not civilians. Not innocents. I jerked the cooler off the counter and held it between me and him. "And Vivian? She didn't know anything about your little war. Did she have to die?"
"Was that her name?" Victor shrugged and pushed away from the counter. He sauntered around the island heading for the dining room table. "It was very naughty of you to lead me to the wrong place. If you had only been there..."
He plucked at his pants.
My brain replayed the flashes of bright red on the knife. Blood. Vivian's blood. My stomach cramped and bile soured my mouth. "What did you do to her?"
Victor scooped up the grocery bags holding the chips and fruit. "Just asked her a simple question—where did you live?"
My arms trembled so much the ice rattled against the cooler. I bit my lip. Ask, Rae. Surely knowing couldn't be worse than imagining?
But what if it was?
I took a deep breath. White dotted my knuckles as I strode toward him "Is she... Is she alive?"
Victor transferred the bags to one hand and joined me by the kitchen island. "She was alive when I left her. The cuts were shallow, more for effect than damage. Of course, Werner will have to do a little triage before calling the authorities."
Authorities. Cops. Help was on the way. I just had to hold on a little longer. Relief coursed through me and I leaned against the counter for support. "Tobias is all right."
Victor narrowed his eyes. "Until the authorities arrive. Then I'm sure he'll be arrested. Now, there's just one little detail to attend before we leave."
"Arrested?" I blinked. Had I missed something? "Why would they arrest Tobias?"
Victor smiled but the amusement didn't reach his eyes. "That's what they do with violent offenders, isn't it? Werner has a criminal record—assault, rape, murder. They really shouldn't let people like that out of incarceration."
Tobias didn't... He can't... But what do you really know about him, Rae? I shook off my doubts. "That's a pack of lies."
"Of course. Your law enforcement systems are quite easy to access." Victor reached into his pocket. When his hand emerged, a silver triangle dangled from a small chain.
Tobias's key fob. It had weapons. My palms itched with the need to grab it. I tightened my grip until an ache spread up my arms. I hefted the ice chest onto the counter.
Victor spun the key chain around his index finger as he approached me. "By the time Werner's superiors are informed that he isn't reporting in, our mission should be completed."
I shivered. Victor couldn't possibly know when Tobias's bosses would learn of his arrest. Unless... Unless he had a double spy on the inside. Note to self: stop reading thrillers. I'm in enough trouble without imagining more. "What is our mission?"
"All in good time." Victor winked. "First I need to make sure you don't get lost."
I would like to get lost or disappear. Too bad I doubted I'd get my wish and live to enjoy it. "What are you going to do?"
He caught the key fob and brushed his thumb against the opal in the center. "I just need a few of your CeeBees."
Oh no. Not that. "I'm not going to kiss you."
I clamped my lips together, covered them with my hands and backed up, right into the kitchen island. Crap on a cracker! I needed to learn to plan better.
He arched an eyebrow. Despite the bland expression on his face, a muscle ticked in his jaw. "Werner kissed you?"
I glared at him.
Victor jabbed the back of my hand with the tip of his key fob.
Pain rocketed up my arm. Dropping my hands from my mouth, I shook away the sting. A red circle marred my skin. The welt seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat. "What the fudge was that about?"
Victor's opal glowed red before returning to its normal milky white color. "Werner didn't need to kiss you to get your CeeBees. He also failed to summon medical help for your friend. Still think he's one of the good guys?"
I was beginning to think good was a relative term.
Victor narrowed his eyes. "Pick up the cooler. It's time to leave."
I slid the ice chest off the counter and braced it against my hip.
Victor appeared on the other side of me. "Don't be so sad, obecht. I've called for an ambulance for your friend."
"How noble!" I stomped toward the door. Like I hadn't figured out that Victor had only called to trap Tobias.
"Not noble. Practical." Victor's hand cupped my elbow. The cold metal key fob chilled my skin. "Just like adding a few useful tools to the UED's standard issue equipment."
I twisted open the deadbolt and wrenched open the door. Sultry air hit me square in the face and my lungs sawed for oxygen.
"Do you know the UED doesn't have a lethal option in their key chains?" Victor pinched my arm. "Whereas mine has a scrambler, among other things."
"A scrambler? Was that supposed to mean something to me?" Did he want me to oohh and aahh for him? Raising my chin, I stepped onto the welcome mat. Water oozed as the saturated fabric squished and slurped under my feet.
Victor steered me forward. "A scrambler shoots a pellet of energy into the target's body. It bounces off their bones and skin, cutting through all their organs, reducing the victim's insides to a potted meat."
Oh, God, what a nasty description. My stomach heaved and I swallowed to keep the contents down.
"If you try to run from me or summon help, I will fire." Victor's shoulder brushed mine as he steered me toward Vivian's condo.
"I'm not going to run." Nor lie. I wouldn't risk any more of my friends. I peered into the darkness. Why were the outside lights off? The electric had worked fine in my house. Victor must have done it to break into Vivian's.
"The pellet will find you anywhere on Earth. It is quite a painful way to die but at least your parents can have an open casket at your funeral."
My jaw dropped open. I'd already agreed to cooperate, sort of. Did he think I'd be grateful to have a good-looking corpse? I glanced up at him. How could I ever have thought he was handsome?
"I don't want to kill you, Rae, but I will. There's too much at stake for me to fail."
I kept my attention on where we were going instead of glancing at Mrs. Roberts's condo. The old woman couldn't help me now. The only man that had a chance was inside Vivian's apartment. Out of reach. To reinforce my conclusion, sirens wailed in the distance.
"Now don't be like that." Victor guided me int
o a puddle filling one of the dips in the sidewalk. "See, Werner's okay. He's there pounding on the window. Why don't you wave to him?"
I turned my head so fast pain flared up my neck. There he was—my guardian.
Tobias raised both fists and wailed on the glass pane. His mouth opened and closed and red dotted his cheeks.
"I can't hear him." But I got the jist of what he screamed and it wasn't pleasant. Son of a monkey's butt! What if Tobias thought I was willingly accompanying Victor? I stumbled on the uneven walk.
Victor caught me and kept me from falling. "Aside from sealing all the exits, the field is soundproof."
I jerked free of his hold. "If the exits are shut, how will the EMTs get in to help Vivian?"
"They'll be able to get in and once they do, they'll break the barrier and it will go away as if it never had been." Victor grabbed me and yanked me backward. "That branch wasn't here before."
I stared at the eucalyptus limb sprawled across the walkway near the pedestrian access gate. The hibiscus bushes lay still next to it but the pink blossoms littering the ground attested to the tempest that had just past. "It's just a branch. They always come down during storms."
Victor grunted.
The sirens sounded closer.
I didn't want to be here when Tobias got free. "Oh, for pity's sake!"
I stomped off the sidewalk. Gravel crunched underfoot and headed for the gate. The darkness felt different here. The hair on my arms rose.
"It's just a branch." I spoke more to myself than him. At least the night wasn't so darn still with me thinking out loud. "It's not like anything's going to jump up and bite you on the ass."
Victor rushed to my side and threaded his hand through the crook of my arm. "Isn't ass a swear word?"
I snorted. Like I gave a monkey's butt about the swear jar. "Keeping my insides unscrambled has topped my list of priorities."
Before he could respond, a shadow separated from the others.
Turning, Victor raised his arm. The plastic bags rustled just as a breeze whizzed past my ear. A thud filled the air when something hit him square in the face. He jerked back and crumpled onto the sidewalk, taking me down with him.
The cooler tumbled from my arms, hitting the pavement just as I splash-landed in a puddle.
Beyond the fence, street lamps shed enough light to silhouette the bullet-shaped figure shuffling toward me. I ignored it to focus on the shovel it wielded.
Chapter Ten
I stared at the hulking figure above me and the shovel in its hands. OhmyGod, ohmyGod! Whether I lived or died would be decided by that? With no neck the purple creature resembled more of a bullet with legs than a human being. It's an alien, Rae. An alien.
Maybe one of yours.
Maybe not.
I would have remembered seeing something like that before. Splashing through the puddle, I scooted backward along the sidewalk as it shuffled closer to me.
The streetlamps backlit the fins that flared from its thick neck and fanned up its head. Sharp spines supported the purplish webbing in between. "Thought I didn't recognize your ugly rat-face, eh, flugglesnart?"
I blinked. Holy Toledo! I recognized that voice. "Mrs. Roberts?"
It swung its attention to me. The fin thingies perked up then folded down accordion-style against her pointy head. "Yes dear. It's me."
"But you're… You're an alien." How many fricking extraterrestrials were on Earth, anyhow? No wonder Tobias knew she wouldn't interfere.
"Of course." Her fins unfurled again as sirens blared in the distance.
The cops! I jumped to my feet. They would be here soon and Tobias was still trapped. Water ran in rivulets down my legs from my saturated shorts and underwear. I slapped at the tickling sensation while I jogged toward the corner of Vivian's condo.
"Rae!" Mrs. Roberts shouted as light flooded the area. "Don't forget your datapad."
Son of a monkeys butt! I had forgotten the stupid Smartphone. I skidded to a stop, turned about and blinked at the bright light. What the heck? When had the power come back on? Loping back, I eyed Victor's prostrate body. The shovel lay next to him but where was Mrs. Roberts?
A loud clang sounded in the darkness.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest. I couldn't take any more surprises. "Mrs. Roberts?"
"Up here." A dark shadow clung to the lamppost. Glass scraped metal as her thick arm reached under the globe. The light flickered on. "Do you have any idea how much these fancy bulbs cost? As President of the Home Owner's Association, it would have been irresponsible for me to break them. Even to get a whack at that flugglesnart."
Flugglesnart? Whatever that meant couldn't be complimentary. I crunched to a stop on the gravel and looked down at Victor's body. His nose was bent at an odd angle and blood covered most of his face. Was he dead? I resisted the urge to prod him with my foot. At this point in scary movies the bad guy always reached out and grabbed the victim's ankle.
Mrs. Roberts dropped down from the lamp pole with a thud. "What are you waiting for, Rae? He won't be out forever."
Right. Out, not dead. I knelt in the gravel. My hands signed their distress above his body. Where had he put my Smartphone? His shirt had no pockets. I sucked in air through my teeth. I'd have to search his pants. I reached out and patted one hip.
A siren burped and red lights strobed into the space between the buildings.
I jumped from the noise. Crap on a cracker! "Mrs. Roberts can you delay the ambulance for a bit?"
And may Vivian forgive me.
"No need, dear. Those dunderheads always forget the code to the gate." Mrs. Roberts's bulk mounded on top of the gravel as she sank to the ground. She picked up her shovel and stood it on end next to her. Two rows of small, sharp teeth glistened between the slash mark that made up her mouth. "Take your time. They won't get in until I go let them in."
I nodded and finished patting down one side of Victor's body. No phone. Great, now I'd have to lean over him to search the other side. I didn't even want to think about rolling him over. Bracing one hand between his parted thighs, I patted his other front pocket. "Maybe you should go let Tobias out of Vivian's apartment."
"No." Mrs. Roberts oozed silently across the gravel. The six flaps, that occupied the space where a human's nose would be, levered open and then closed. "I'll stay right here and give the fugglesnart another whack, if he stirs. He's from the Astral Presidium. I know you're new to your job, Rae. But they are not deserving of any mercy. They certainly don't show it to anyone else."
I eyed Victor's face. His lashes didn't even flutter. No chance of stirring there. My fingers stilled when they encountered a hard rectangle in his pants. My phone! Scooting closer, I gritted my teeth and eased my hand inside his pocket. "You know about the Astral Presidium?"
Duh, Rae. Of course she did. She was an alien. For all I knew the entire complex was crawling with extraterrestrial refuges. My fingers skimmed the warm, smooth edge of my phone.
"The APres Guarda stole my home world and exterminated my entire species." Mrs. Roberts poked Victor in the ribs with the handle of her shovel. "And we invited them in. Gruxians aren't exactly the most intelligent life form in the galaxy."
I pinched the Smartphone between my index finger and thumb and eased it out. "Got it."
Mrs. Roberts wiggled to a stand. "You might want to take that key chain on his finger while you're robbing him."
I slapped my conscience into silence. This wasn't robbing, I was insuring my survival. Inside that fob contained pieces of me. I slid the silver ring off his finger and ran my thumb over the opal. It glowed yellow and a tingle of electricity raced up my arm. Now I was armed and dangerous.
A phone rang in the distance. Mrs. Roberts dug the handle of the shovel into the gravel. "That's my cue. You release the Colonel and I'll let the firemen inside."
"Right." I pushed to my feet and stared down at Victor. He might need medical attention after getting hit with the shovel but Vivian should get first p
riority. Of course, the EMTs might not see it that way if they stumbled across him first. "What do we do about him?"
Mrs. Roberts grasped Victor's ankle and dragged him into the gravel. The grocery sacks slid off his wrist. "I'll dispose of him."
Dispose as in kill? I bit my lip. Should I say something? Could I live with myself if I didn't? "You won't…" I searched for the correct word, "hurt him, will you?"
"You read about what the APres Guarda did to my beloved Grux before you judge me." Mrs. Roberts rested the shovel on her shoulder. "Oh. And I really must request a new human suit. This one is horribly wrinkled."
Right. I definitely was behind on the learning curve on this. Glancing down at my phone, I noticed a new icon: Recipes. God only knew what I'd find when I opened it.
"I'll look into that new suit for you." Surreal. The whole day had been surreal and I had over two hours before midnight. I watched her trudge on for another couple of steps before racing to Vivian's door.
Tobias stood at the window his arms crossed and his jaw set.
Something told me his first reaction to being rescued wouldn't be gratitude. I reached for the doorknob and paused. Could it be booby-trapped? Victor had said people could get in, just not out. I snorted. And murderers had scruples about lying. Then again, I really had no choice. Biting my lip, I grasped the knob. Tingles raced up my arms as I twisted the handle. The door opened on silent hinges.
Tobias hooked my arm as he rushed by. "We have to hurry."
I spun about and stumbled as he caught my hand and dragged me along. This treating me like a kite business had to end soon. I tugged on my hand, but he held firm. "What about Vivian?"
"She'll make a full recovery." Instead of heading away from the emergency vehicles, Tobias steered me right back the way I came.
Oh God, what if he planned to kill Victor on the way out?
The extra wet fabric of my shorts slapped my legs at the quick pace. "Shouldn't we stay with her? She's hurt and…"
Tobias stopped abruptly. His green eyes glittered and white ringed his mouth. "You just don't get it, do you? What happened to your friend is just the beginning if the Astral Presidium gets its way. Vivian's experiences would pale in comparison to what will happen to the rest of your friends and family."
Blue Maneuver-Urban SciFi/Fantasy (Extraterrestrial security program) Page 12