by Dale Mayer
He heard the other cops as they searched the area. Keeping his back to the tiger and a wary eye on the men, he called his brother on his cell phone.
"I'm pulling up outside," Ronin said. "Did you find her?"
"I think so. But there's a problem..."
Chapter 27
Tuesday late morning
Tabitha watched the events unfold around her. She hadn't been able to help too, by slipping a fine strand of energy out of the cage and down to Fez. He lay still, but there wasn't a massive pool of blood.
She'd never worked on a human. Hadn't planned on doing so either, but when the need was upon her, she’d found herself wondering what a guy like Fez would do with a second chance. Besides, he'd be a perfect informant against the cop that shot him.
Unable to help herself, she slipped another stroke of energy over his body. He wasn't dead and heat pumped off his chest. She slipped her energy into the injury and down into the pool of sluggish blood pumping from the torn veins and damaged muscle. The bullet had gone in high and had gotten lodged in the shoulder blade. Therapy was going to be a bitch.
Still, if she could, she'd see to it that he stayed alive long enough to make it there. He'd do jail time unless he could cut a deal. She lifted her gaze. And stopped.
Roman.
Yes. She was saved.
He stared at her. There was no recognition in his gaze. He narrowed his gaze as if trying to see inside Trinity.
Roman? Can you see me?
No answer. No sign he was aware of her in any way. Though Fez could see her, obviously Roman couldn't.
Roman walked up behind the cage and pulled out his phone.
Please let him be calling Ronin.
***
Ronin walked silently into the vast warehouse, his gaze quickly scanning the room. He headed for the cage at the far end and tried to avoid jostling Tabitha.
"Jesus, is she dead?" Carmichael said, standing in front of him, a complete look of shock on his face at the sight of him carrying the unconscious Tabitha. "What the hell happened, Ronin? What's wrong with her? And why is she here and not at the hospital?"
"You wouldn't believe it even if I could explain." Ronin said as he laid Tabitha down on the dirty floor parallel to the cage. He straightened and turned to stare into it. A lean, mean wild looking gray – or was that blue? – furred tiger stared at him, with haunting light-green eyes. Tabitha's eyes. "Jesus. Tabitha? Are you in there?"
"Hey, Ronin. Talk to me. What is going on?" Carmichael stood over Tabitha, a worried look on his face. "And what does this have to do with Tabitha Stoddard? She's hurt bad, man. Like, really bad."
No, she wasn't, but he wasn't going to be able to explain the problem to Carmichael. Not to mention it would put everyone at risk.
"Ronin?" Roman walked over, his worried gaze on Tabitha. "How's she doing, brother?"
"The same."
"The same as what?" demanded Carmichael.
"She's somehow connected to the tiger," Ronin said shortly. What was he supposed to say?
"Connected?" Suspicion threaded through Carmichael's voice. "How?"
"Yeah, it's a little hard to explain. But she sees what it sees. Hears what it hears and is in fact," he took a deep breath, knowing how bizarre this was going to sound, "inside its body. I don't get it myself."
"What? That's crazy." Carmichael's face was a study of shock, disbelief and mockery. Slowly, uneasy suspicion filtered across his face.
"And yet it's the truth." Ronin he didn't know what to do with her now. "Any time, Tabitha. If there is something else you need from me, now would be a good time to let me know."
"Did Stefan tell you what to do when you got her here?" Roman asked, standing beside his brother. "These are hardly sterile conditions."
"No." Ronin glanced up. "As always, his orders come with no explanation and of course he's not here now."
Yes, I am. And I'm monitoring the situation.
"Monitoring?"
Roman looked at him, one eyebrow raised. Ronin rolled his eyes and mouthed Stefan.
His brother gave him a hard half laugh. He knew that weird sensation of speaking out loud in answer to a conversation in his head.
"So now what?" Ronin said quietly.
The energy is...off. As if she's waiting for someone to do something.
"Hey, Ronin, you're really starting to scare me," Carmichael said. "You're talking about crazy stuff here. It's like you're in your own world and talking to no one."
"We found this guy skulking around outside." A cop pushed another man in front of them. Ronin gave him a quick perusal and recognized him as the man who'd exchanged a phone number for his cup of coffee. So he'd been involved in this mess, too.
The cop nudged the informant another few steps forward, saying. "Says his name is Keeper. And he doesn't know anything. Of course."
Typical.
Ronin turned his attention back to Carmichael.
"Actually, I am talking to someone you just can't hear." Ronin understood. He walked over to the tiger's cage and studied the big padlock. He could pick the lock if needed.
Tabitha says the key is in Fez's pocket, Stefan murmured.
Ronin walked over to the downed man and checked for a pulse. "Roman, make sure the paramedics are coming for this guy. He's still alive."
"Alive?" Carmichael spoke up. "No way. I checked."
"Well, he is." Ronin rummaged for the key and found it in Fez's right pocket. He straightened and held the key up. "Glad to see this."
But Carmichael was staring from Fez to Ronin, a calculating look on his face. Then he said, "You know Fez?"
Ronin spun on Carmichael. "Do you?"
Red washed over Carmichael's face. He blustered, "Not really."
Ronin glared at his long-time friend and co-worker while he asked his brother,. "Roman, did you make the call?"
Silence.
Ronin turned to see a stranger had somehow entered from the warehouse behind the tiger's cage, and was now holding a gun on his brother. Anger lined Roman's face as he said, "Sorry, Ronin."
Shit.
Ronin took a deep breath and said, "Who the hell are you?"
"The owner of the tiger."
Ronin felt Carmichael start, as if that was news to him.
"Really? And you of course have papers saying so."
"I can produce any and all paper anyone wants," the stranger said smoothly. "Of course."
"And who did you buy the tiger from?"
The man laughed. "From the asshole holding a gun on you, of course."
Ronin turned slowly to see Carmichael standing behind him, with his police-issue revolver pointed at Ronin's chest. He wondered where Geoff and the other cop were. They should be holding Keeper in place behind him somewhere, but...
He stared into the eyes of the betrayer. "Black market animals? Where's the money in that?"
Carmichael shrugged. "I 'procure' things for people. This was the first time for a tiger." He smiled at Ronin. "And I wouldn't worry about the other two helping you out. Isn't that right, Geoff."
Geoff laughed. "True enough."
Ronin slid a gaze to his younger friend, to find him holding a gun on Keeper and the poor cop. "Both of you? You're both in on it?"
"I tried to warn you," Geoff said. "With the damn pictures."
"How is that warning me? The pictures were of Jacob not Carmichael?" Ronin couldn't believe what he was seeing. His mind raced for ideas.
And fast, please, whispered Stefan.
"Yeah, they used to be partners, remember."
Then Ronin got it. "You were hoping to have Jacob blamed if something went wrong."
"Something always goes wrong." Geoff called back, a humorous note in his voice. "Figured I'd start laying the groundwork."
"Kid's got balls," said Carmichael. "We had a good thing going for a few years. Then we heard about Jacob and some hush-hush undercover stuff. Figured we'd need to spread the suspicion a little." He chuckled. "He was
a perfect patsy. Besides, he has been in trouble with Internal Affairs a couple of times. Figured they'd look real hard this time."
Carmichael glared at the stranger. "And it's not your tiger, it's mine. That deal is off. I gave you your money back."
The stranger laughed. "Like hell she's yours. You are nobody. Just one more bad cop. Big deal. There are dozens just like you. But this tiger..." He waved the gun in Trinity's direction. "I shot her." He laughed. "But look at her now. She's not only alive and well, she's stronger than ever."
The stranger’s too shiny smile made Ronin stiffen. He'd seen many similar men. Guys without a conscience. Ones that would do whatever they wanted with no concern for others.
Then the stranger added, "And that makes her worth a bloody fortune. Add in the cub..."
Not good.
"Who are you?" Ronin took a few cautious steps toward Tabitha, who lay as still as ever on the floor.
The man chuckled and then laughed. "Oh, that's rich. Winston Colby, at your service. You're trying to protect someone I'm trying to destroy. An excellent parting shot to someone else who died a week ago. But now...now everything's perfect."
Roman frowned at Ronin, a warning look his eyes.
Colby? This was the black market dealer cops had been trying to bring down for years? Ronin was confused. "I'm sorry, what? I'm trying to protect the tiger and Tabitha here. Who are you trying to destroy – Carmichael?"
"Not him," he corrected. "Her."
Ronin struggled to understand. "Tabitha? What has she done to you?"
"Everything. Absolutely everything." His face twisted in hate, which made Ronin take several more quick steps to stand over her protectively.
The stranger laughed. "That won't help her. I'll tell you why – she's taken everything that should have been mine. My animals, my reserve, my house...my fucking place!" He glared at Tabitha, fury shining in his gaze. "My grandfather started that place with her grandfather. They were brothers, partners. Until her grandfather cheated mine out of his half."
***
Tabitha wanted to hide. There was no where to go. Her grandfather and his brother started Exotic? She had a cousin? This man?
She paced the cage, the pain of betrayal firing up a horrible inner knowing that there had to be something wrong with her for all the men in her life to treat her so badly.
Trinity roared.
Shit. She shuddered, desperate to shut down the emotional pain shattering her world...before it affected Trinity and made everything worse.
Her cousin continued to speak. "My grandfather left me a letter telling me all about his cheating bastard of a brother and how he'd tricked him out of his portion of the property. My dad told me to forget about it, that there was nothing we could do." Winston laughed. "But he was wrong." He motioned the gun toward Tabitha. "I kept tabs on the family, especially Tabitha. Watched her grow up with animals that should have been mine. I sent her grandfather letters every year once I was established. Telling him about the animals I dealt in. The money I was making. And that one day...one day I'd get what was coming to me."
He shook his head. "Then the bastard up and died. I already had this tiger on order once I heard about its existence. I was going to show the old bastard what I had."
He smiled. "But this... This is even better."
Tabitha listened in horror.
***
"Why the hell is she crying?" Winston snapped motioning to Tabitha's still form.
Ronin looked down. Sure enough, there were tears streaming down Tabitha's face. No change in her expression but for the eerie tears sliding slowly and steadily down her pale skin.
"She's crying because she didn't know. About her grandfather's actions. About her uncle or you. About the hate, distrust and fear that has tainted her family." Ronin lifted his head to stare at Winston.
Winston stared at him, his gaze narrow with suspicion, emotions flickering rapidly across his face. "How do you know that?"
Ronin kept his gaze and voice steady as he answered. "Because I know her."
That made Winston laugh. "Too damn bad. See, I heard you earlier. I figure I can have the tiger and I can have her captive inside. And isn't that some freaky shit? Is she psychic? Because that's just going to piss me off more."
"Well, if she is, then maybe you are, too," Ronin suggested. Stefan had said the same thing to him about Roman.
"Then having her as my pet tiger while I figure it out is even better." Winston peered into the cage where the tiger paced back and forth, its big head moving from side to side. "She's really in there, huh?"
He laughed, turned and shot Tabitha in the back leg.
Trinity roared, her back leg going out from under her. She twisted and snarled.
Carmichael gasped. "Holy shit. Is that for real?" He took a step closer to Tabitha staring in shock at the new wound on Tabitha's leg.
At the same time Tabitha began to bleed, blood also slipped down Trinity's fur and an eerie sound came from the back of her throat. She locked her gaze on Winston as if waiting for her chance.
Ronin dropped to Tabitha's side and clamped his hand over her wound. "You'd shoot your cousin while she's helpless? What kind of man are you?"
And immediately realized his mistake.
Winston went berserk. "I'm the man in control. And I'll fucking shoot her as many times as I want to." He fired again and the shot ricocheted off the cage. Tabitha's body jerked as the bullet grazed her arm this time. Trinity's front leg buckled. And she howled, the sounds sending ice down Ronin's back.
A gun went off, but it whistled past Ronin from behind and hit Tabitha's cousin in the shoulder. Winston screamed.
Everyone scattered for cover.
Shit. The game shifted – again. Who had fired that shot?
"Roman." He threw the key to his brother while shots fired behind them. Ronin grabbed Tabitha's arms and dragged her back around the edge of the cage to safety.
He searched the warehouse, but there was no sign of anyone else. Ronin watched as his brother raced to the cage and undid the padlock. He pulled open the bars and backed away.
Trinity jumped awkwardly. She was in obvious pain but did her best to hobble over to Tabitha.
He tried to keep Tabitha covered with his body, his own gun out in case. This was critical timing. He'd seen Winston slip around the corner of another cage. Who knew where the others had disappeared to? The poor unsuspecting cop that had been caught up in this trouble would have called for backup if he could.
But who'd shot Winston? And why did he have such poor aim?
Winston screamed from the far side, hidden in the darkness. "Stop or I'll shoot her. I'll kill my fucking cousin and the damn tiger. See if I care if they both die."
"Damn it, Roman," Ronin whispered. "Who shot Winston?"
"I didn't see." Roman stared down at Tabitha. "She's really connected to the tiger, isn't she?"
"Yes. And I don't know how to separate them. At this rate, she could die no matter what we do."
"What the hell?" Roman backed up slightly.
Trinity was glowing. Blue lights surrounded her large body giving her an eerie shimmering look.
"Holy crap." Geoff approached Tabitha slowly. "This is too damn bizarre."
Hearing something, Geoff spun and crouched, his gun pointed out in front of him. A gun fired. Geoff dropped in place, screaming and holding his knee to his chest.
Winston shouted, "Shut the hell up or I'll put one through your heart."
Instantly, Geoff's voice dropped to agonized sobs.
The sound of yet a different gun cocking resounded in the huge warehouse. And a strange voice said, hard, determined and very cold, "You won't be shooting anyone again. Now get those hands up."
Ronin peered out from behind the cage. "Holy shit."
Keeper, the informant he'd met, was pushing Winston toward Ronin. Keeper called out, "Ronin, you there?"
And then Ronin understood. "Hey, Jacob. Nice disguise."
; Carmichael stepped out from behind the tiger's cage and walked forward, a gun in his hand. "Keeper?"
New cops poured into the place, all with guns trained on Carmichael and Winston. Geoff continued to sob from the floor in the middle.
"Drop the gun Carmichael," Keeper said. "This is over."