by Smith, S. E.
She slowly scanned the scenic tropical foliage. The street was lined with cars. Occasionally, a car passed, slowing down to stare at the tigers before continuing on its way. Palm trees, palmettos, and pine trees dotted the landscape behind the rows of houses.
Trescina felt another wave of uneasiness wash through her. She wasn’t sure if the unease originated from her or her cat this time. Her cat had been feeling edgy off and on for a while, but now it was spreading to the tigers. Trescina kept her head turned away from Willie as she reached deep inside. She had learned a long time ago to listen to her other half.
What is it? Is there a threat? she silently asked.
Yes, sense… danger, her cat fretted.
Is it anyone we’ve met here? Trescina asked.
Her eyes moved to two men walking toward the small general store. They were quietly talking. She knew one of the men. He was Willie’s son-in-law, Thomas. The other man was Ron Belcher. He had been introduced as Thomas’ best friend from college. Both men were in their late twenties, if she had to guess, and neither man had caused her to feel threatened when she met them a couple of days earlier.
No… something comes, her cat grunted, pacing back and forth inside her.
You’ve been saying the same thing for weeks now. Keep alert, she soothed.
Trescina jerked when her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket. She reached for it, planning to turn it off when she noticed the name. She shot Willie an apologetic look.
“I need to take this,” she said.
Willie smiled. “I need to speak with Thomas anyway,” he said, slowly rising to his feet.
Willie waved to Thomas, and Trescina slid her finger across the screen of her cell phone and lifted it to her ear. She stood and walked down to Cinnamon and Spice where they were relaxing in the sun.
“This is Trescina,” she greeted.
“Trescina, this is Heather at the Wyoming Wildlife Rescue Center,” Heather Arnold replied.
“Hi, Heather, how are you doing?” Trescina politely responded.
“Good, thank you. Listen, I was wondering if you were near here. We have a big cat that was brought in this morning by one of our volunteers after it was injured in a car accident, and we could really use your help,” Heather explained.
Trescina’s gut twisted. She touched her stomach and rubbed her abdomen. Her cat was clawing at her.
“I’m not home at the moment. I’m down in the Everglades. It would take me four, maybe five days to drive out there,” she said, calculating the distance from South Florida to Wyoming.
She listened as Heather spoke to someone in the background in a worried voice faintly laced with desperation. The tension inside Trescina grew until she felt like it was an over-inflated balloon that would pop with the next breath. She refocused when Heather gave an uneasy sigh laced with worry and spoke again.
“Listen, we have permission to charter a plane for you. Can you get to the Dade-Collier Airport by… eight o’clock this evening?” Heather asked.
Trescina frowned. “I have my truck and fifth-wheel here,” she started to protest when a new voice came into the conversation.
“Miss Bukov, this is Chad Morrison. I am representing the primary benefactor of the Wildlife Rescue Center,” Chad introduced himself.
Trescina blinked in surprise. She knew who the primary benefactor was—Paul Grove. She had never met the man, but she had heard a lot about him and his daughter, Trisha, from the locals in the Wyoming town nearby. Many of the residents thought Paul had gone off the deep end and become a recluse when his daughter disappeared.
From the little she had pieced together from conversations and Internet searches, there was some suspicion that Trisha Grove and several other women she had been traveling with had met a grisly death at the hands of a serial killer who was never located. Some residents speculated that Paul Grove might have met the same fate after he disappeared a few years ago, while others believed the recluse theory. Personally, Trescina didn’t know and didn’t have the time to care. She had learned to stay out of other people’s business.
“Miss Bukov, are you still there?” Chad asked, drawing her attention back to the present.
“Yes… yes, I know that Paul Grove supports the rescue center. I’ve had the pleasure of recommending big cats to them over the last four years and was pleased when they built their new facility near his ranch this past year. It is one of the reasons that I moved to Wyoming six months ago,” Trescina admitted.
“Ah, yes. You are renting my sister’s old house,” Chad commented.
“Yes,” Trescina answered.
It was a small, yellow house that suited Trescina well. It was remote and bordered both the Grove Ranch and the National Forest. She and the tigers could run without fear of being caught.
Trescina and Chad had never met in person. The rental had been set up by a realtor. She remembered the realtor mentioning that Sandy—at least she thought Chad’s sister was named Sandy—had met a man and moved away.
“Then you understand the importance of the work the rescue center does. This injured animal is no ordinary cat. We need your skills to calm him so that we can assess how badly he is hurt. At the moment, no one can get near him,” Chad explained.
Trescina pushed the hood of her jacket off of her head to rub her faintly throbbing temple.
“Why hasn’t he been sedated? Surely the vet can sedate him so that he can be assessed,” she suggested.
“The darts bounce off his coat,” Heather said, speaking on a second line.
Trescina froze in mid-motion. “’Bounce off his coat’,” she repeated.
“Trescina, I’ve never seen a cat like this. He’s big—huge! I’d send you a photo, but… well, Chad said that for security purposes, it was best if we kept this quiet. I told him and Doc that you are the only one I know who would even have a clue about the species of this cat. You’re the only hope we have to calm him down enough to help him. He’s losing a lot of blood from a wound in his side. He could collapse at any moment, and I’m afraid it will be too late to save him,” Heather urgently explained.
“I’ll have a pilot and a private plane waiting for you,” Chad said.
“I’ll come… I… have two tigers with me…,” she started to warn.
“I’ll let the pilot know. Trust me, Mason won’t be in the least bit surprised,” Chad promised.
“I’ll be there. You said eight o’clock, correct?” Trescina murmured.
“Yes,” Chad replied.
“I’ll be there,” Trescina repeated.
“Thank you, Trescina. You… you aren’t going to believe this big guy when you see him,” Heather swore.
“I believe you,” Trescina replied with a strained laugh. “I need to make a few arrangements for my truck and fifth wheel. I’ll see you soon.”
Trescina hung up the phone and clutched it in her hand. This was it. Somehow, she knew it. This was what her cat had told her was coming. For a moment, the fear rising inside of her felt like it would choke her.
The strange feelings had all started when she’d pulled her mother’s necklace out again. For years, she had kept the pendant hidden, but six months ago, when she moved, she had removed the delicate gem from the protective box that her father had given her and polished it until it glowed. She had worn the necklace for a week—the time it took for her to move to her new home in Wyoming.
After a week, the glow of the necklace had become so bright and persistent that she feared it would attract attention. What was even stranger was she would swear it also had a faint hum to it, almost like the low pitch of a tuning fork. Unsure of what to do, she had placed it back in the metal box. Her father had made her swear to always keep the gem safe.
“Your mother said it was very special to your kind and must always be protected. You are old enough now, Trescina. I can’t keep it safe the way you can. Keep it in the box. I love you, Trescina. You remind me so much of your mother.”
Trescina could a
lmost feel the soft touch of his hand as he had caressed her cheek. Her eyes burned as she remembered her father’s stern warning. She didn’t know if the glow and the resulting strange hum of the necklace were linked to her and her cat’s feelings or not. She didn’t remember the necklace glowing when her mother had worn it.
Afraid, she had hidden the box behind a loose panel in the back of her bedroom closet. Perhaps it was time for her to look at the necklace again.
Trescina drew in a deep breath and released it before she slid her phone into her pocket. The sound of footsteps behind her was a reminder that she was not alone. Turning on her heel, she forced an apologetic smile to her lips and looked over at Willie.
“I have to go. I’ve had an emergency call come in. Do you think you or Thomas could give me and the tigers a lift to the Dade-Collier Airport? I’ll need to leave my truck and camper with you as well, if that is alright with you and Nora,” she added.
“Can we use it while you’re gone?” Willie asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Trescina wrapped her arm in his and grinned. “As long as you two don’t do any kinky stuff in my bed, you can,” she teased.
“Nothing kinky…?! This coming from a woman who sleeps with two tigers,” Willie muttered with a shake of his head.
“You need to bleach your mind, old man,” Trescina grimaced.
Willie chuckled. “Nora likes my unbleached mind,” he retorted.
“Come on before I change my mind. Nora! I’m kidnapping your husband,” she called out through the screen door.
“Just bring him back when you’re finished. He promised to take me star-gazing this weekend,” Nora replied from behind the counter.
“Wait until she finds out it will be in style,” Trescina teased Willie.
Willie winked at her. “We like to do the kinky stuff out under the stars. The only time you can do it here in Florida is in the winter. There are too many mosquitoes otherwise. They bite my ass, and it itches for weeks,” he replied with a shudder.
“That is way more information than I needed to know, Willie,” she muttered with an amused chuckle.
Trescina turned to Cinnamon and Spice, but the tigers were already following her. She walked over to her truck and opened the back door. The two tigers jumped onto the back seat, each taking a side, so they could stick their heads out of the windows. She opened the driver’s door, slid in, and pulled the visor down until the key dropped into her hand.
“You know that is the first place someone will look for the keys if they want to steal your truck,” Willie grunted as he climbed into the passenger seat.
Trescina inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. She tossed her long curly hair back over her shoulder before she shifted the truck into drive. Then with an evil smile, she winked at Willie.
“The cats would eat them before they had a chance to put the truck into gear,” she retorted with another wink.
She ignored Willie’s wary gaze when he looked at the two cats lying behind him and focused on pulling out of the parking space. She would stop by her camper to grab the pack she always had ready for an emergency departure. She had learned a long time ago that sometimes she didn’t have much time to plan her next move.
Her trip to the United States was supposed to let her start fresh. She had moved through most of Europe, but she had always been forced to look over her shoulder. Trescina had come here hoping to disappear into the vast forests that still dotted the country.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. A smile tugged at her lips. She had discovered the two Siberian tigers two days after her arrival in Miami. The cubs had been a mere three weeks old when she first saw them. She had gone to the local mall to shop when she saw the sign advertising that people could get their photo taken with rare white tiger cubs. Fury had swept through her when she discovered their handler had cared for them so little that they were near death.
That night, she had followed the man back to the motel where he was staying. He had left the cubs locked in a pet crate in his car. She had broken into the car and taken the cubs.
Trescina had also discovered a folder containing photos of a coat made from the pelt of the cub’s mother and the listed price while she was going through the car. Sickened, she had spent months nursing the cubs and following the gruesome trail their handler had left behind. That trail had finally led her to an exclusive Miami boutique storing the horrifying coat that had been made from the pelt of the cubs’ mother. She had stolen the coat that night and driven to what she thought was a remote area. That area turned out to be a spot where Willie and Nora liked to go.
In her grief, she had created a funeral pyre for the mother’s remains. She had stayed in her two-legged form so she could hold and comfort the cubs as she gave their mother back to the earth. It wasn’t until her cat hissed a warning that she realized that she wasn’t alone. A couple out for an evening alone had come across her. Willie was a tribal police officer for the Seminoles who lived on the reservation.
She was thankful that she hadn’t shape-shifted after she realized they were there. She wasn’t sure she could kill a defenseless couple—not even to protect her identity. Consumed by her grief for the dead tigress and the haunting memories of her own mother’s death, she had brokenly confided in Willie and Nora what she had done and why she was there. Nora had wrapped her arms around her as she sobbed out her grief while Willie had comforted the cubs. That night a deep friendship had blossomed in the face of tragedy and sorrow.
She blinked and looked over at Willie when he sighed. He was staring at her with a strange expression. She gave him an amused look before returning her attention to the road.
“What?” she finally asked when he continued his silent scrutiny of her.
“Nora and I are going to miss you. We’ll take good care of your truck and camper for you, though,” he finally responded with twinkling eyes and a wry grin.
Trescina shook her head in confusion. “Sometimes you drive me crazy. Star-gazing, my ass! I’m telling you again, no kinky stuff in my bed while I’m gone,” she retorted with a teasing snort.
7
Grove Ranch, Wyoming
Early the next morning, Trescina peered out the window of the corporate jet as it landed on a wide runway. It was still dark, but thankfully the sky was clear. She could see where the runway had been cleared of the snow that had fallen overnight.
She yawned and stretched. Lifting her hands, she ran her fingers through her long, dark curls. The good thing about having such curly hair was that it always looked messy.
“Welcome to Wyoming, Ms. Bukov,” Mason Andrews said.
“Thank you. I can’t believe I slept most of the way,” she replied with a smile.
Mason chuckled. “Luckily it was a smooth ride. Chad and my wife, Ann Marie, will be here shortly. Chad explained that you had to leave your vehicle in Florida. Ann Marie is bringing one of the ranch SUVs for you to use. We figured it would work better with the tigers and this weather,” he explained.
Trescina breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded in gratitude. She had forgotten that she would be without transportation while she was here. It wasn’t like there were a lot of towns with rental car companies nearby. Even if there had been, they generally didn’t look kindly on having tigers in the back seat.
She motioned for the two tigers lounging between the seats to follow her. A murmur of exasperation escaped her when Spice pushed past her to stand between her and Mason who was opening the door. The tigers must have felt her cat’s growing anxiety because they were doing some serious posturing at the moment.
When Spice turned to look at her, Trescina knelt down and ran her hands over his large head, then scratched him behind his ears. He rewarded her with a rumbling purr and a sandpaper lick along her wrist.
“You know I’m probably more dangerous than you and Cinnamon put together,” she reminded the large cat.
She giggled softly when Cinnamon pushed her head under Trescina’s arm.
She pressed a kiss to the top of the female tiger’s nose before doing the same to Spice. She looked up when she realized that Mason had stopped what he was doing to watch her with a bemused expression.
“I guess this must look pretty strange to you, huh?” she casually asked as she rose back to her feet.
Mason shook his head. “Maybe a few years ago, but you can trust me when I say I’ve seen stranger things than this,” he reassured her with a mysterious smile.
She gave him a puzzled look but he just turned away to finish opening the door to the jet, and she shrugged. A shiver ran through her when a blast of frigid air swept into the warm cabin. Mason exited the jet followed by Spice.
Trescina paused in the doorway. Her gaze swept over a tall man who was talking to Mason. She recognized him as Chad Morrison. She had done a little research after she had talked to him to give herself something to do with her nervous energy.
Nothing that she had learned caused her to feel threatened. If anything, he was a model citizen. Still, the quick and intense look he gave her made her wonder if perhaps there was something missing in all the accolades that had been written about the man. Her fingers dropped to Cinnamon’s head and she caressed the tiger.
“Stay alert,” she cautioned before stepping out of the jet and down the stairs.
“Ms. Bukov,” Chad greeted, stepping closer to grab her hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Morrison. I look forward to assessing the injured animal,” she said.
Chad nodded and tensely glanced at Mason. “Please call me Chad. Ann Marie is in the truck. I’ll be there in a moment,” he said, exchanging a meaningful expression with Mason. Mason nodded and shoved his hands into his coat pockets as he ducked his head and hurried over to the truck that was idling nearby.
“You have full use of the Suburban while you’re here. If there is anything that you need—and I mean anything at all—here is my number. Don’t hesitate to call at any time of the day or night. My sister’s old place is isolated, as you know, so if you would feel more comfortable staying closer to the ranch house, there is an apartment above the barn that you can use,” he offered.