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 priority. 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.”
“Got it.” I think. The scope seemed too big, the consequences beyond comprehension. While I’d joined protests to save the whales, the rain forests and the orangutans, I’d always thought humans should solve their own problems. Now, every one on Earth depended on me to save them from a threat they didn’t know existed. My shoulders bowed from the weight.
It was too much.
I couldn’t do it.
I was an accountant for crying out loud, not some caped superwoman.
Tobias released my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I will help you, Rae. Together we can do this. You can do this.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “As far as pep talks go, yours needs a little work.”
But not too much. The burden pressing against me lightened, just a bit, just enough. Tobias obviously had lots of training. Maybe I could do this. Except, I wasn’t exactly sure of what this was.
Mrs. Roberts’s voice mingled with the low baritone of males.
The paramedics were coming.
“Ready?” Tobias squeezed my upper arm.
“Yes.” I nodded and started walking.
We rounded the corner of the building just as Mrs. Roberts charged up the pathway. “Out of the way. Coming through.”
I stepped onto the gravel.
Tobias held me close to his side and stopped. “Mrs. Roberts is anything the matter?”
I blinked. Holy Toledo! The man could act. If I didn’t know better, I would believe he didn’t know anything about Vivian’s attack.
“Nothing for you to worry about.” She shooed us with her purple and brown webbed fingers and hustled past. “Go about your business and let these fine gentlemen do their work.”
Fine gentlemen indeed! I bit my lip at the absurdity. Mrs. Roberts got the Oscar for acting like such a concerned human. Human. I sobered at the term.
Close on her heels, two muscular EMTs lugged large medical kits toward Vivian’s apartment. They nodded and walked by.
After a heartbeat, we resumed walking. I scanned the ground and didn’t see the grocery sacks but the ice chest lay on its side by the building’s foundation, the ice glistening like diamonds in the light.
“I wonder why Mrs. Roberts didn’t pick up the cooler.” Walking out from under Tobias’s arm, I skipped ahead and righted it by the handle. The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I peered inside.
“What’s the matter?” Tobias fidgeted by my side.
I sensed more than saw his eyes moving back and forth, looking for a threat and assessing the risk. What did he see? What did I miss? Quickly snapping the lid closed, I stood up. “The sandwiches a
re gone.”
“Maybe Konstantin wasn’t as out of commission as you thought?”
“Guess not.” How long had he been really out? Had he felt me go through his pockets? Was he looking for revenge? Hugging the cooler to my chest, I hustled along.
Tobias reeled me back as we entered into the common area and positioned himself a little ahead of me.
I could almost feel my nerves reaching and expanding trying to take in everything. The eucalyptus trees along the wrought iron fence swayed. The loose branches clacked together like bones. Water slurped along in the gutter ferrying twigs, their skeletal fingers reaching for the starless night. In the distance, a can rattled along.
I scurried along, brushing against him as he aimed for the gate. “Is he out here? Watching us?”
Taking aim at us?
Strolling through the gate, Tobias turned left along the sidewalk, his silver key fob in hand. Two white trucks were in the line-up of cars parked at the curb. None had the Phoenix Firebird on its door.
“Does he need to?” His tone was clipped as if he bit off the ends of the words.
I stiffened. I knew that tone and I didn’t like its implications. “I’m not working with Victor. I had no choice but to go with him. He threatened to kill me!”
That seemed to happen to me a lot lately. Beginning with the douche bag at my side.
“Poor, obecht.” Tobias stopped by a white, extended-cab truck. “You’ve had a bad day.”
I ignored his sarcasm. “Yes, I did. And I’d slept through most of it.”
I’d probably be dead if I hadn’t.
His thumb stroked the opal in the center of his triangular key fob until it glowed green. A moment later, he depressed the jewel and a cone of lime light sprayed the truck.
“You’re not going to steal the car, are you?” I adjusted the cooler in my arms and tugged at the wet knit fabric climbing up my thighs. Maybe I should have asked to change clothes. Victor could be waiting for me in my apartment. I shivered despite the warm temperatures. I’d only go back to my apartment with an armed escort.
Tobias shook his head and walked from the hood to the tailgate scanning it all the while. “This is my truck. Or, more precisely, the UEDs.”
Leaning back, I glanced into the empty bed. The last time I’d seen him there’d been branches and plastic garbage bags in the back. “How many trucks do you have?”
I wrung out the extra fabric of my shorts with one hand. Water dribbled down my legs and saturated my socks. Great. If I didn’t change soon I’d have pruny toes.
“Just the one.” He removed his thumb from the fob and the cone of light vanished. “I disposed of the garbage along with Pascel’s body before you and Konstantin worked your way home.”
There it was again—that ‘you’re a traitor’ tone. I shook the water off my hand. “For the last time, I am not working with Victor. I’m not secretly sending him telepathic signals about your truck and our destination. I don’t even know where we’re going.”
I resisted the urge to stamp my foot. Barely. I was wet from the waist down, aches from my fall and tackle by Victor were beginning to let themselves be known, and I still hadn’t gotten the memo about what my job was exactly. I didn’t need his suspicion as a cherry on top of my horrible day.
Irritation pulled on Tobias’s mouth as he stalked closer to me. “I simply meant that since he didn’t kill you outright, gathering a sample of your CeeBees would have been his first order of business.”
I blinked. And apparently I was a little bit too sensitive on the subject of Victor. “Oh. Well, if that’s all you’re worried about.” I shuffled the Smartphone under the key fob I taken and flashed it at Tobias. “The samples of me are in this.” I smiled. Despite knowing he wasn’t going to heap praise on my head, I was proud of my actions. I’d done good. “He used my CeeBees to put my name on some kind of blender bullet.”
“Blender bullet?” Furrows appeared in Tobias’s forehead as he opened the door and lifted the cooler from my hand.
Spinning the key fob on my index finger, I ignored the flame of embarrassment licking my cheeks. Technical words weren’t my specialty; numbers were. “He shoots, the bullet enters my body, zings around a bit and frappes my insides.”
Tobias’s jaw opened for a moment before he clicked it shut. “He has a scrambler? And your essence is written on it?”
“Blend. Scramble.” I shrugged. “Same Rae smoothie at the end.”
“Son of a rabid flugglesnart!” He caught my key fob midair and pulled the ring off my finger.
“Hey, flugglesnart, that’s mine.” I rolled the alien word around on my tongue, while trying to retrieve my stolen property. Although it had quite a few syllables, it might work as a substitute curse word.
“You stole it off Konstantin.” Tobias dropped it on the ground and crushed the opal under his heel. “It can be used as a homing beacon or worse, it could be used to kill you if you try to use it.”
Oh. I didn’t even think of that. I wonder if my local Barnes and Noble carried a spying for dummies book.
“You also owe your coin jar another dollar.” He thumbed the opal on his key chain until the gem glowed blue then aimed at the bent triangle on the ground. A bubble of cerulean encircled Victor’s weapon before streaks of electricity jumped from tip to tip to tip. “Flugglesnart is a curse word in most of the civilized corners of the galaxy. In some places, being caught speaking it out loud will get you a stay in the local house of correction.”
Got it. Flugglesnart had officially joined the list of words that will not be spoken. I jumped as the bubble popped and a column of acrid smoke rose from the destroyed key chain. “What did you just do?”
Tobias set the cooler down on the passenger side floor, cupped my elbow and steered me closer to the truck’s interior. “I eliminated any trace of your essence from the weapon.”
Excellent! No more blender bullet with my name on it.
“Thank you.” Maybe if I said it often enough, he’d learn it was the accepted response when someone helped you out. I grabbed the ‘aw snap’ handle above the door and climbed inside the cab. I braced my feet on the floor mats and my back against the seat back.
“Is something the matter?”
“I’m wet and I’ll never dry in this humidity.” I plucked at my damp shorts. “We need to stop so I can change.”
I clamped my lips together before I mentioned the bathroom at the park.
Tobias rolled his eyes. “Sit. The UED isn’t going to charge you if the upholstery gets stained.”
Could the man get any denser? Then again, maybe the guy was raised in a space barn. “I mind. Me. I don’t like being wet.”
“Then you’ll have to change in the back. We’re not stopping until I get you someplace secure.” Tobias slammed the car door.
What a douche! I glared at him as he walked around the front of the truck to the driver’s side.
He ignored me, opened the door and slid in behind the wheel.
“That’s it? End of discussion? You say jump, and I’m supposed to ask how high?” Balancing on one foot, I used the rubber mat to scrape off one shoe.
His lips twitched as he started the engine. A blast of hot, humid air shot out of the vents. “I doubt you’ll ever be that cooperative.”
I worked off my other shoe. “You can bank on that.”
But I would change in the back seat. Growing up, I had changed in worse places. Heck, my parents and I had even lived in our station wagon until my dad found work. And if he thought I was a good little soldier so be it. All I cared about was drying off. After stowing my Smartphone in the glove box, I slapped the middle section of the bench seat down and scrambled over the console into the back.
“Fortunately for you, your clothes are in the backseat.”
I definitely needed to work on my planning abilities. I’d almost stripped down without having something to change into. When the truck pulled away from the curb, I jammed my foot onto his duffl
e to keep my balance and forced my lips not to smile. That’s was going to leave a mark—hopefully a big footprint on his tidy whities.
I rolled my socks into soggy doughnuts before pinching them between my fingers. I caught his eye in the rearview mirror. “I don’t suppose you have a grocery sack for my wet clothes?”
His gaze shifted back to the road. “Check the seat back. I think I had a few garbage bags left after I finished wrapping up Pascel’s body.”
Pascel’s body. My shiver had nothing to do with the cold air creeping under the seat. Someplace secure could have an altogether different meaning. After all, he’d already disposed of one body today. “Are you going to kill me?”
He braked at the stop sign onto the freeway access road and stared back at me. “Why would I kill you?”
“Because Victor caught me.” Water dripped from the socks dangling from my fingers. Soggy laundry was hardly a good defense. Heck, a bucket full of M-16s and AK-47s wouldn’t help me. The man was a colonel, a trained killer, who dealt with dead bodies like taking out the garbage. Literally.
Tobias shook his head and turned onto the deserted road. “That was my mistake, not yours.”
Platitudes died stillborn in my mouth. He wouldn’t forgive himself anymore than I forgave myself for making such a stupid mistake. If I was to survive the first week on the job, I’d have to do a better job at not being kidnapped and tagged like a wildebeest. I delved into the seat pocket with my free hands. My fingers brushed the warm plastic. I quickly freed one from the roll and tucked my socks inside.
Right. Next for the shorts and undies. After removing a change of dry clothes, I set them on the bench seat and glanced up.
Lines radiated from his green eyes as he stared at me. “Want me to promise not to look?”
Squeezing between the two seats, I unknotted the drawstring at my waist. “Only if you can keep the promise.”
“Can’t see much from this angle anyway.” He winked and turned his attention straight ahead as the light turned green.
“Douche!” Wiggling my fanny, I shimmied off my wet clothes and tossed them against the plastic bag. Can’t see much. Like he would look if he had an ice cube’s chance in Hades of seeing some skin. I quickly scooped up my underwear and shorts and pulled them on.
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