Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance

Home > Other > Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance > Page 31
Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance Page 31

by Milly Taiden


  “Wait, dear. I actually need to talk with you about something you’ll appreciate.”

  She doubted that. If her mother mentioned babies one more time, she’d lose her shit. “What is it?”

  “Do you remember the Smulit family?”

  She snorted. “The richest people on the planet who live down the block? Yeah, why?”

  “One of their younger girls, the one with pink hair and dusty rose eyes, is missing. I’ve forgotten her name again. I can never remember what they call their young ones. There are so many—”

  Jane sighed with exasperation. Trust her mom to bring it right back to the kid thing. “Mom—”

  There was a shuffling noise and then her mother came back on the line. “Sorry, dear. Your father said there are indications she was taken to Earth.”

  “Earth?” her heart sped up. “Why here?”

  “I don’t know, darling. You’ll have to ask your father. It’s something about a ransom in American dollars. One of the premier guards, Fladoq, should be at the cabin soon, if not there already. He’ll brief you and when you go back to work, perhaps you can help him.”

  Jane’s heart thrust into her throat then fell into her stomach. This was why she came to Earth—to find and save as many people as she could. Especially children who were often powerless. Her nature to see, feel, and hurt like them made it hard to ignore her calling. Her car slowed to turn onto the rock driveway to the cabin. “I’ll take a look into it, Mom. But really, I have to go. I’ll call you later this week.”

  “Make sure your brother calls when he gets there. He always forgets and we worry about him.”

  “Okay, Mom. Tell Dad I love him. Bye.” She pressed the disconnect button as quickly as possible. After pulling up to the front door, she turned off the engine and leaned back against the headrest. It always amazed her how quickly her mother could give her a headache. Fortunately, it was only in half her skull.

  All that baby talk did something she hadn’t expected, she thought about what her life would be like at this time with Tony as her mate. Lots of fucking amazing sex. Well, yeah. That was a given. She almost hated herself daily for going without after having had it. Tony would definitely give her countless orgasms for sure. But he’d also give her children and that was the part she had the trouble with. Children equaled loss of her career. Loss of her job. Possible loss of her ability to stay sane.

  With a heavy sigh, she lugged her suitcase out of the SUV’s cargo hold, pushing aside the camo clothes, vests, extra boots, and the other items she hauled around with her everywhere. An electronic ring-a-ding-ding came from her purse. Her cell phone flashed Cyn Vega, her boss. “Hey, Cyn. What’s up?”

  “Brock and I are checking-in to make sure you made it there okay.”

  Jane pulled keys from her pocket and unlocked the front door. “I’m stepping inside as we speak. And Cynthia, I want to thank you for letting me off. You being brand new to the department and all--”

  “No worries. Brock has it all smoothed out for me. We’ll be fine.”

  Jane headed for the kitchen in the back of the cabin. Coming into the room, something didn’t look right. She frowned and listened to her instincts to be careful. One of the chairs was tipped over on the floor. Several of the countertop appliances were on the floor in pieces. Jane froze.

  “Jane, you still there?”

  “Holy shit, Cyn. There’s a dead man on my linoleum.” A piercing shriek snapped her head around. A little girl with pink hair stood screaming. A sharp pain exploded in her head and the world went dark.

  TWO

  Tony had a bone to pick, and after ten years, he was finally going to pick it. That didn’t sound very good, but that’s what he was going to do. Heading up the interstate toward the address he pilfered, with permission, from Jane’s “file,” he buried the fear and anxiety that woke him that morning.

  He didn’t understand why these emotions battered them, but he trusted his tiger’s preternatural ability to sense danger. He didn’t realize the emotions were for Jane until he got to the FPU office and found she was on vacation for the week.

  The overwhelming need to protect her wouldn’t let him focus on anything else. Fucking hell. He already had a hard enough time not constantly thinking of having Jane in his bed, on her back, giving him a dazed and aroused look with her gorgeous red hair all over his pillows. Why did the image seem so real?

  He didn’t get why he had such a strong attraction to her. It wasn’t like she was his mate. That strange phrase ran through his head, the same one he heard every time he pictured Jane as his: Oh, and you’re certain Jane isn’t your mate.

  It was as if someone told him that line instead of the thought being organic to him. His tiger didn’t understand it either. But the oddest part was he always flashed to the same visual: a second slice of pizza on the other bedside table in his bedroom. He never did figure out why it was there. He didn’t even remember ordering pizza. He must’ve had some weird reaction to the liquor that night before he left the bar. Shifters didn’t get drunk, but somehow drinking enough for a buzz was the least of the things he’d done to cope over the years.

  For an entire decade, Jane had refused to go out with him, or do anything with him. Christ that was so damn aggravating. He wanted to be with her. To sit with her. He was like a fucking teenager wanting to sit and stare at her beautiful face. Group casework didn’t count as together time, as far as he was concerned. Her continued rejection of him, and Buchanan, became a running joke in the office. He used that as his cover for everything with her. And that’s what he planned to do again.

  His excuse for driving hours was to get Jane to go on a date with him. No doubt she’d shoot him down, but by then, he’d be with her and could keep her safe. That would do him fine. Do her is what he really wanted, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Damn, all this thinking about doing made him hard. Again. Thanks to Jane, he was pretty sure he was a top contender for Blue Balls, the series. He repositioned to be more comfortable. Not happening.

  He let out a frustrated sigh. How had he managed all these years to keep his hands to himself with her always around, and not take her on the floor, or the desk, or the wall, the conference room…dammit, he was getting hard again. It was her fault for having such attention-grabbing green eyes and pouty lips that made him think of them wrapped around his dick. Another flash of her doing just that darted through his mind. It was surreal how much it felt like a memory instead of a daydream. She was so beautiful and smelled so good, when she let him get close enough to have a whiff. Which wasn’t often.

  Not that he scented anything about her that indicated she wanted him with the burning need he wanted her. It was crazy to feel this way for a woman and not have the feelings returned. He wanted her near him always, wanted her to have a brood of children; but what happened if he met is true mate?

  Buchanan and Erica were true mates. They were still on their honeymoon. He noticed how Brock looked at Cyn: pure lust, love, and possession. A sure sign of true mates. Plus, they went out of town together over the weekend. Brock didn’t go anywhere on the weekends. He didn’t even answer his phone. That said it all.

  So where did that leave him? He wanted a family, children. A pack of cute little tigers to call his own. He wanted Jane but damn it all to hell, what if Jane wasn’t the one for him? Oh, and you’re certain Jane isn’t your mate.

  The first morning in the FPU office when he was introduced to everyone, as soon as he laid eyes on her, he knew there was something between them. But he couldn’t put his finger on it. His tiger wasn’t much help either. Her avid avoidance of him made him think she was naturally a cold fish. But his manly-man woman skills would have her on his rod in no time. Well, shit. Did it again. For his ball’s sake, he really needed to stop with the sex innuendos.

  But in the last year, those innuendos had kept him from busting out a fang in public when they worked together. Before Buchanan and Erica mated, he and Buchanan had a friendl
y competition to see who could be the manliest man. They talked of all the women they’d taken home, all the bedroom acrobatics they’d done, all the panties left under the bed. Erica and Jane, even Brock sometimes, would roll their eyes, or laugh, then whatever tension had built up would subside for a little while.

  Tony didn’t know about Buchanan, but after he moved to start work with FPU, he nor his tiger hadn’t been interested in sleeping with any woman except Jane. If he did take a woman out, she always ended up at her own home by eleven o’clock, untouched. Not even a goodnight kiss. That was probably the reason he had few second dates, even if he wanted a second date, which he never did. He was tired of keeping up the image of a player he tried hard to maintain.

  He signaled and pulled off the interstate to the back highways leading to his home town. When he googled the location of Jane’s getaway spot, he couldn’t believe how close it was to the place he’d grown up. What were the chances of that happening? Two people from the same Podunk area working for the same FBI unit. He wondered if she was a shifter also. She didn’t smell like any shifter he’d met.

  His town seemed to have a large population of older paranormals. Actually, the whole region of the Blue Ridge Mountains had an overabundance. As the younger generations grew up and moved away, the towns seemed to be more run down, nature slowly reclaiming its home.

  As he signaled and exited the interstate leading to the rural highways, a bolt of fear electrified his body. Then a debilitating pain shot through his head and he swerved across lanes, trying to focus his vision. The car came to a screeching stop at the base of the exit ramp. Sweat covered his face and rolled down his back. What the fuck was that about?

  He rested a bit and thought about stopping to get a soft drink or coffee.

  His phone rang through the SUV’s speakers, startling the shit of him. “Ramirez here.”

  “Tony, this is Cyn. Brock is with me.”

  “Hey, bosses.” His brows drew down. “You sound worried. What’s wrong?”

  “How far out are you from Jane’s?” He heard the fear clear as day in Cyn’s voice.

  “At least an hour with the curvy rural roads. Why?” He heard a sigh come across.

  “I was talking to Jane on the phone a minute ago. She had just gotten to the cabin. She said something about a dead body on her kitchen floor. I heard a scream and her phone cut off. It goes straight to voicemail now. We can be there in two hours, soonest. We tried to get a chopper but it would take longer than driving.”

  Dread-filled adrenaline raced through his body; his foot pushed the gas pedal. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

  Twenty-five minutes later, with half the tire tread he began with, Tony tucked his gun into his holster after clearing the cabin. The kitchen looked like a battle zone, but there were no bodies. His heart froze and his stomach took a nosedive when he realized something else - there was no Jane.

  THREE

  Jane’s head was going to split, and not in dual mode, but stabbing pain. Her hand found a bump on the back of her head and she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. That was the point of contact, all right. Motherfucker! Some asshole had really taken out his frustration on her head.

  Realizing she was lying down, she slowly sat up and looked around. Very dark, pitch black actually, and smelled like a musty cave or cellar. Cool air tickled her arms. The ground felt like damp concrete that hadn’t ever been swept. She brushed her hands together to get debris off her palms.

  Maybe there was a light switch somewhere. Getting to her feet, Jane skimmed one hand along the rough wall while the other stretched in front of her. Slowly shuffling, she came to a metal door. She tried the handle, just in case, then patted the wall on the opposite side. Switches were usually on the wall adjacent to the knob. Her fingers touched a switch and she flipped it up. Bingo!

  A dangling forty-watt light bulb did little to increase visibility. The walls were cinder blocks and the ground concrete, as she thought. Turning in a slow circle, she took in the sparse room. In fact, there was nothing until she got all the way around. Curled up in the corner sat a little girl with pink hair. Oh, god.

  Knees tucked under her chin, arms around her legs, this little one had to be the same child her mother mentioned was kidnapped.

  She bit her lip and took a tentative step forward. “Hey there, kiddo.”

  The girl’s eyes widened and she shrank farther into the corner.

  Using the softest tone, she tried to reassure her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. I’m stuck in here just like you.”

  The girl began to shake. Screw slow. This child needed someone now. Jane rushed to her, arms outstretched. With a squeak, the child buried her head against the nook, little hands covering the back of her head. Her small body heaved from panicked breaths.

  Instinctively, Jane put her hands on the pink curls. In a flash, her mind was in a room with expensive furniture and artwork. Men in black clothing, covered faces, were viciously tearing into a man and woman on the floor. The woman’s throat was ripped out. A red stain inched along the white carpet, growing bigger. The man’s torso was split open as if with a knife, his insides hanging out. One of the killers looked her straight in the eye.

  Another flash and she was staring into the faces of growling, teeth-baring dogs. Their breath blew on her face. One snapped his jaw inches from her nose. Deep laughter came from beyond. Good god.

  Another flash. Immense pain racked her body, making her cry out. Men she’d never seen beat on her with fists, then kicked when she fell to the floor. Over and over, despite her cries, until Jane forced her hands away from the pink hair. She leaned against the wall, shocked into a stupor. The horror this child lived through recently explained her cowering for her life. Jane couldn’t let the little girl suffer any longer.

  She scooted closer and pulled the small body into her lap, fighting the weak resistance she offered.

  “Shhhh, everything’s going to be all right.” She pressed the girl’s head to her chest, again resting her splayed hand on the girl’s skull. Her heart hurt for the child and maternal instincts she’d never felt before crashed into her. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. All the memories of your parents’ killing, you’re going to put into a box in your mind. Can you do that for me? Make a strong box made from steel that can hold even an ula beast. You’ve seen a picture of one of those, haven’t you?”

  The girl gave a slight nod and Jane’s eyes filled with tears for her.

  “The only thing you’re going to remember about your parents’ death is that they were killed by the men who took you. None of the scary stuff will ever get out of the box, not even in dreams.” Jane’s mind traveled the girl’s brain wiring, searching for the specific neurons to turn off. The tiny body in her lap stopped shaking, but remained tensed.

  “Now, we’re going to do the same with the scary memories of the dogs. There’s no need for any of those thoughts. Shove them all in the box. And when those men hurt you, put those in the box, but you will remember their faces as bad men. You will feel only a little fear when you think of them. You’ll know to run away if they come after you.”

  After guiding the child to hide those boxes in a closet deep in her mind, Jane deactivated the last thought. The girl slumped into her arms. Terror no longer etched into her face. Jane heaved a sigh of relief and rocked side to side to comfort them both. Her mind rushed back to thoughts of Ramirez. Now was not the time. But her brain yelled at her that if he were there with her, he would help her in this situation. Maybe she should stop pushing him away.

  When her adrenaline and fear settled, she asked the girl, “What’s your name, little one?” The child didn’t answer. Jane looked down at her face tucked against her. “Don’t you want to tell me or are you not talking at all?” She remembered a case several years ago where a child was traumatized to the point he didn’t speak for days.

  “Okay then, how about I call you Sariana. That’s a pretty name, isn’t it?” She
felt a slight head bob from the child. “Do you know where you are?” No movement. Being so young, the child had probably never been outside the district on the home planet. “What a great surprise for you! We’re in the Earth district. It looks really different, but not far from home. We’ll have you back in no time, okay?” A tug on her shirt indicated the girl understood. She hoped.

  Jane had to push down the urge to kill someone for not only traumatizing the little girl, but for hurting her. Anyone who put their hands on a child in such a manner deserved to be torn into pieces. Jane lifted the girl from her lap and set her on the floor. “Now, let’s see about getting out of here.” She stood, dusting off her hands on her jeans. Male voices floated through the wall, getting louder. Jane turned to the girl. “Keep quiet, okay?” Then she hurried toward the door, switched the light off, and stood with her back against the wall behind the door.

  Metal on metal screeched like nails down a chalkboard, then the door slowly opened and a light came on. She took a breath to calm her nerves. The first thing Jane saw was a hand holding a gun sliding from the other side of the door.

  With one kick, the gun was out of his hand, then she delivered a one-two punch to his face, sending him careening into the wall. One down. She turned to the other man holding bottled waters and a few snack type foods. Her foot quickly found his crotch. He doubled over, dropping everything in his hold. The first man growled and came after her. A simple side kick to his middle sent him back into the wall.

  Her attention whipped back to the second guy. Surprisingly, he threw a well-planned punch, but she still dodged it. She’d learned from the best in the galaxy. Did he really think he could surprise her with a jab to the face? Hand-to-hand combat ensued. Slaps, hits, grunts. She was glad she’d had so much training. Not just on her planet, but with the others from the FPU, although the training on Earth was nowhere near as tough as the one on her planet. From the corner of her eye, she saw the other guy reach for his gun. With only her against two, the battle would be short lived.

 

‹ Prev