10 Things Aliens Hate About You (Alienn, Arkansas Book 4)

by Fiona Roarke

  “If it involves Wyatt then it involves me.”

  Nova looked stricken with indecision. “I was afraid you’d say that.” She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again, closed her eyes and shut her mouth a second time.

  Valene was getting close to panicked. “What in the world did you see in that woman’s addled brain?”

  “Wyatt apparently told her that there are space aliens living in plain sight in Alienn, Arkansas at the Big Bang Truck Stop.”

  No!

  Chapter Nine

  <^> <^> <^>

  Wyatt led the group through the thickly wooded terrain for nearly seven miles. The scent of skunk wafted nearby when the wind blew. He took care to watch and avoid any possible encounters.

  Diesel was right behind him, holding a specially constructed tablet that showed the map of the area and the wispy aura of the escaped prisoner they sought in real time. The signal had been fading since soon after they left the van.

  “Start veering to the left in about ten yards,” Diesel said in a low tone. “We’re about a hundred yards away and the signal is practically nonexistent, just flashes every few seconds now. But he’s stopped moving.”

  “Okay.” Wyatt moved carefully for several yards before coming to the edge of a large clearing. He signaled for the group to stop and set his back against the trunk of a nearby oak tree just inside the perimeter. He brought his rifle up to look through the scope and search the open area beneath the nearest tree branch, dropping into his sight. On the other side of the clearing, which he realized had an eight-foot-wide stream running through the center, Wyatt spotted his quarry seated on a large rock on the opposite bank.

  “Got him,” Wyatt said. The alien had obviously crossed the water and had quite possibly stopped for a nice swim, as his head, furry chest and hairy arms were as sodden as the gray prison pants he wore.

  Diesel, binoculars in hand, moved next to Wyatt. He let out a grunt of satisfaction when he saw the escapee.

  “Can you make that shot from here?”

  Does a bear poop in the woods? The phrase was on the tip of Wyatt’s tongue. He managed not to say it out loud, but only barely.

  Instead, he said, “Easy.”

  “Do it.”

  Wyatt dropped his head, looked through the scope, took aim, squeezed the trigger and hit the hairy alien beast in the chest, dead center. The alien fell backward against the rock, flattening out with arms and legs stretched wide.

  By the time they all made their way across the clearing and through the water, the alien was sitting up, glassy stare in place, waiting for them to command him.

  “Are you alone?” Diesel asked Mr. Hairy and Wet.

  The alien nodded.

  “Did you see any other escaped prisoners out here in the trees?”

  The alien shook his head.

  Diesel looked over at Cam. “Take a group and look around the area just to be sure.”

  Cam took off with a group of five others, but came back several minutes later shaking his head. “There aren’t any tracks or broken branches or any signs anyone else was with him,” Cam said.

  They put restraints on the alien prisoner and led him back through the woods to the van. The pungent scent of the alien, who’d obviously tangled with a skunk or two during his escape, made Wyatt’s eyes water. He wished they could strap him on the roof under a tarp instead of putting him in the van with the rest of them for the return to the truck stop.

  Breathing through his mouth, Wyatt contemplated how long it would take him to walk back to Alienn if he didn’t ride in the van with the overpowering stench.

  Before the alien was stuffed in the far back row of the van, Cam pulled a small aerosol can out of the glove compartment and sprayed the contents all over the calm, shackled alien, head to toe, back, front and sides, immediately neutralizing the gag-worthy stench.

  “What is that amazing stuff and how can I get a fifty-five-gallon drum of it?” Wyatt asked.

  Cam gave him a tight smile. “This is alien technology. Unfortunately, it is unavailable for distribution to humans.”

  “Right.” Wyatt nodded. “That’s too bad. You could make a zillion dollars selling that stuff, maybe more.”

  One of his father’s large dogs got sprayed by a skunk the winter before. They had tried everything to get the smell out of Mojo’s thick fur including a tub of tomato juice, a tub of vinegar and some concoction of peroxide and lavender, none of which had taken all of the skunk scent completely out. It might have been a factor that Mojo really hated baths and was highly resistant to taking them, especially by the third time they tried to de-skunk scent him by dunking the big goofy dog into yet another tub of smelly liquid.

  The radio at Diesel’s hip crackled to life with a pre-established code as one short and one long press on the push to talk button signaled someone wanted to communicate.

  Diesel answered. “Base Station, this is the NW team. What’s up? Over.”

  “Where are you?” It was Gage’s voice not Valene’s.

  “Good news, Base Station. We are about to transport one package back home in the van.”

  “Copy that, one package. The NE team just returned with three packages.”

  Around Wyatt and Diesel, the volunteers perked up. Even Cam’s eyebrows raised with the question on everyone’s mind: Was Indigo Smith one of the three?

  “Let me guess—none of them are the celebrity package we wanted to ensure was found.”

  “Copy that. The celebrity package is still at large. I also have additional and rather interesting information regarding that special package. What is your ETA?”

  “Estimated time of arrival is less than thirty minutes. What’s interesting about the additional information?”

  “The package has been out for delivery much longer than originally believed.”

  “Oh?” Diesel’s head dropped, face pointing to the ground when he asked grimly, “How long?”

  “Twenty-eight hours longer than the package you have in your possession now.”

  “That’s bad.” Wyatt uttered those words in a quiet tone, and Diesel nodded.

  “Copy that. It is the consensus here, as well.”

  Wyatt said, “That truly sucks because with a twenty-eight-hour head start, he could be anywhere by now. Out of Arkansas, certainly, but maybe even out of the country.” The entire group had gone from perky to pessimistic in seconds and looked shaken.

  Diesel said, “I hate to ask, but is there anything else I need to know?”

  Gage came back on the line. “Well, sort of.”

  Diesel’s head tilted toward the sky. His eyes rolled when he asked, “What else is there?”

  “Um…you have a…a visitor waiting to speak to you upon your return.”

  “Tell whoever it is that I’m unavailable.”

  “I’ll try. But I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “I do. I don’t have time for a confab with anyone. This new complication with our celebrity package rules all. We’ll see you in thirty minutes or less. NW team out.”

  “Copy that. Base Station out.”

  Wyatt missed hearing Valene’s voice and wondered why she hadn’t made the call. Was she dealing with the person waiting to see Diesel, who was now unavailable?

  He didn’t quite understand why the Indigo Smith prisoner had been gone longer than the recently de-skunked alien.

  Not that he wanted any dangerous alien criminals roaming the area, but he also hoped that with still one prisoner left to find, he’d be allowed to keep his memories for the time being. Then again, maybe only one escapee left to catch meant his time with Valene would shortly come to an end. They already had another sharpshooter on the other team, the pale alien named Luther. Maybe Wyatt’s services would no longer be required. That thought deflated him until a worse one occurred.

  Would they warn him or just blast him and let him wander back into his life with a year of memories gone? Which would be worse? He wasn’t sure.


  Wyatt kept an eye out for Cam or anyone else putting a hand on the Defender thing strapped to all of their belts. Maybe he’d be allowed one last-ditch effort to promise to love, honor and cherish their only sister. Or perhaps not. She mentioned not wanting to leave her family. Her brothers likely felt the same. Either way, he planned to keep his guard up for the trip back to Alienn and any possible Defender blasts to his person.

  After secretly spending last night with Valene, he wasn’t certain what his future held. Would Valene share that? She’d been rather adamant that their night together should remain a confidential matter between just the two of them. They’d discussed it this morning.

  Then again, they all worried he might give away their big space aliens living in plain sight secret, so he understood the need for a memory wipe in his future, whether they warned him about it in advance or not. But he hoped for at least a chance to speak to Valene one last time, if that was the way it had to be.

  Wyatt loved Valene. It was as simple as that. So when the time came, if they did warn him about the needed memory wipe, he planned to tell them he would marry Valene. He would go to their planet two galaxies away and live there with her for the rest of his life, even if it meant his family would never know what happened to him. It would be difficult, but he was determined.

  He’d barely made his way through two weeks without her when they’d broken up.

  Wyatt’s life without Valene was no way to live.

  <^> <^> <^>

  “What?!” Valene’s stomach felt like it dropped to the floor. She shook her head. She refused to believe it. Wyatt would never tell their alien secret. Never. She wanted to crush and destroy anyone who could dare repeat such a despicable story.

  Nova opened her mouth to repeat the worst imaginable situation in an Alpha’s world. A human, and especially Daphne Charlene, discovering their secret. Valene put her forefinger up to Nova’s lips to keep her from repeating such a wicked, vile falsehood.

  “No. Don’t ever say that again. It is a lie. She’s lying.”

  Nova pulled Valene’s finger away. “It was in Daphne Charlene’s mind, Valene. She doesn’t know I heard her thoughts. At least you are forewarned. I’ll admit I was pretty surprised because I always thought of Wyatt as a standup, honorable guy.” They continued up the stairs until they reached the hallway near the upstairs back offices.

  Valene stopped in the middle of the hallway that led to the convenience store. “He is a standup honorable guy.” Besides, when could he have told that woman anything?

  Nova put her hands up. “I’ve never doubted that before, but you should also know that I saw more and it’s worse.”

  “More? Worse? I don’t believe it! I am already well over my capacity for horrific news.”

  “Well, I believe you’ll think it’s worse.”

  “Are we going to do good news, bad news again? Because I’m sick to death of that game.”

  Nova slumped. “Her knowing that information is a big problem for all of us, Valene. I like Earth, too, just like all of us living here do. But this is dang near cataclysmic in the realm of bad news.”

  Valene straightened, took a breath and tried to still her wildly stricken nerves. “Okay. I know. You’re right. What is the worse news?”

  “Inside her mind I also saw a half-dressed version of Wyatt wearing sleep pants so low that I could see his appendix scar. I’m not certain if that means the obvious, but it’s probably best for you to know before meeting up with Daphne Charlene.”

  Valene’s mouth dropped open yet again. She hadn’t expected any worse news about Wyatt. “No, that can’t be true.”

  “I’m so sorry, Valene. I didn’t mean to see it. Well, I did of course because I willfully read her mind, but I didn’t mean to see such bad news for you. I wouldn’t have believed it if she’d just told me, but in her mind, she’s definitely seen Wyatt half-dressed.”

  She stared at Nova, eyes widening in vivid horror. Her head moved back and forth, the scream she wanted to release caught in her throat.

  Valene had seen that scar herself for the very first time last night. She had run her fingertip over the surface, asking how old he’d been when he got it. How could Daphne Charlene possibly know about it, unless she’d also been with Wyatt? No. No. Please don’t let that be true.

  Nova had the good sense to grab Valene and ease her gently into a row of visitor seats. Her legs gave out just as she plopped onto her butt in the molded plastic chair in the hallway leading to the Fearless Leader’s office.

  She rocked back and forth, her arms wrapped around her middle, feeling betrayed like never before. The tears that had threatened to spill let loose, streaming down her face as she let go the agonized sobs that would not be stopped.

  Nova sat down next to her, put a comforting arm around Valene’s shoulders and squeezed her as the misery leaked out.

  When she finally settled, Nova said, “Listen, I was shocked at first, too. So I thought about it on my way down to the basement. It occurs to me that there are lots of ways that woman could know about Wyatt’s scar.”

  “Like how?”

  “Maybe she knows someone who was a nurse during his procedure. Maybe a friend of Wyatt’s mother told someone and Daphne Charlene got the information by accident.”

  Valene sniffed. She wanted so much to believe that Wyatt would never betray her and especially not with the likes of Daphne Charlene.

  Every time he’d spoken of that woman it was with a certain contempt in his tone. He truly didn’t seem to like her. Something occurred to Valene.

  “Tell me, Nova. What did Wyatt’s scar look like?”

  Nova’s eyes widened. “Well, I only got a quick look, you understand.”

  “I know, but tell me what you remember.”

  “Wyatt obviously works out. He has very nice abs.”

  “Yes. He does. What else? Tell me about the appendix scar.” Valene was more interested in the description. Wyatt’s scar was unique. Not the clean-lined, flat scar it might have been, but jagged with raised, angry dark pink tissue due to the unusual nature of its removal.

  Wyatt told her he’d gotten his rather ugly scar because an EMT had done emergency surgery on him when he was nine years old and in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. The only doctor on staff had been knocked unconscious by a quarrelsome, loudmouthed ER patient, and the standby doctor was too far away to get to Wyatt’s surgery in a timely manner.

  Afraid Wyatt might die if the appendix ruptured en route, the standby doctor talked the EMT through the procedure as the ambulance raced across town to the hospital. His appendix had partially burst as it was being removed during the rough ride, but he and his parents had been told he only survived because it was taken out so quickly. He very likely would not have made it to the hospital in time had they waited.

  “The scar is sort of lightning shaped.”

  What? “Do you mean it’s jagged?”

  “Yes. Right. Jagged. And it has pink, raised tissue.” Nova made a face. “It kind of looks like they used a butter knife to do the surgery as I think about it.”

  Valene’s mouth trembled. So, it was true. Daphne Charlene must have seen the scar. Tears splashed onto her cheeks as the disturbing truth peeked through.

  Nova took her by the shoulders and shook her gently. “Listen to me, Valene. Don’t let her get into your head. If Daphne Charlene knows or says something, that doesn’t mean the obvious.”

  “What do you mean? If she has that vision in her head, then she’s seen him in his pajamas. Trust me, I know that firsthand.”

  Nova looked up as if searching her memory for a plausible explanation. “I know—what if she looked in his window?”

  Valene grunted. “Doubtful.”

  “Why?”

  “Wyatt keeps all his windows shut, locked and the bedrooms have blackout curtains.”

  “Oh, so he doesn’t ever walk around the rest of his house in pajama pants? I don’t buy it. And I also don’t believe Wyat
t cares one whit about her. He loves you. I heard he said it out loud this morning in front of your brothers.”

  Valene huffed. “Word sure does travel fast.”

  “There are not many secrets in a small town, Valene, as you well know. Besides,” Nova said, lifting her hand, “the ring on your finger says something about Wyatt and his intentions, don’t you think?”

  Valene gazed at the beautiful ring, allowing Nova’s words to seep inside. “Wait a minute. Weren’t you the one questioning his honor when we started this conversation?”

  Nova sighed. “Well, I’ve changed my mind. I’m allowed to do that because I’m a woman of a certain age. An age, mind you, that the details of which will never be revealed. Given the choice between Wyatt or Daphne Charlene, I’m putting my money on Wyatt.”

  Valene decided to put her money on Wyatt, too. She stood up and Nova stood with her. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go talk to Daphne Charlene.”

  Nova looked suddenly wary. “What will you say to her, or rather, do to her?”

  “Nothing permanent.”

  Nova grabbed her arm. “What does that mean?”

  “I’m kidding. I’ll just go see what she wants to talk to Diesel about. If it’s what you read in her mind then I’ll lure her back here and shoot her with a Defender.”

  “What if she doesn’t tell you?”

  Valene shrugged. “Same thing.”

  Nova reached out to grab her again, but Valene was faster, staying out of reach. “Don’t worry, Nova. I won’t do anything rash.” Probably.

  Valene walked slowly into the convenience store. She passed an attractive man who was looking at all of the Maxwell the Martian merchandise and seemed a bit frantic.

  “Excuse me,” he said before she got too far away.

  She turned back and stared at the stranger. He was fairly tall with straight, icy-blond hair and a really engaging smile. She moved toward him without thinking.

  “Yes?”

  “You work here, right?”

  She looked down to see if she was wearing her name badge, but she wasn’t. “How do you know that?”

  His eyes narrowed. He turned and pointed to the door she’d just passed through. “You just walked out of the employees only door. I took a chance.”