by Susan Bliler
Monroe’s tone was even as he directed, “I want her found. I want her found yesterday, understand?”
“And Marko?” Jenny asked. “Do we tell him?”
Marko didn’t wait for Monroe to respond before he shoved the door open. He couldn’t believe his ears. Pregnant? Holy fucking hell. PREGNANT! Eyes zeroing in on Monroe, Marko snarled, “Were you planning on telling me or not?”
“You’ve got other things to worry about,” Monroe answered coolly.
Marko was in his face in a flash. “You actually think anything is more important to me than my child?”
“Potential child,” Monroe corrected. “We don’t know she’s pregnant, Marko. Don’t go borrowing trouble.”
“Thea’s been missing a month,” he snarled. “I can no longer shift, and now I find out you’ve been hiding from me that Thea may be carrying my child. I’m not borrowing trouble, I’ve got it in spades.”
Monroe tucked his hands into the pockets of his tailored pants. “Didn’t hide anything from you.” He shot Jenny a pointed look. “Only just found out about the potential pregnancy myself.” His eyes went back to Marko. “I’m sending a team to find her.”
“Now?” Marko snarled. “I’ve been requesting a team for the past month, ever since Tyce’s team lost her! Now she’s a priority?”
“Yes,” Monroe answered simply. “If she’s carrying a Walker child, she’s moved to the top of the list.” His eyes narrowed on Marko. “Be grateful, we’re spread extremely thin.”
“I’m going,” Marko declared. “Don’t even think about trying to stop me.”
Monroe rocked back on his heels with a forced grin. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Who better to find Thea than her baby daddy?” He looked at King. “That’s how the kids say it, right?”
King snorted an amused sound but directed his attention to Marko. “Seriously, Marko, you’re not well. Maybe you should stay and I’ll…”
“No,” Marko cut him off. “I’m going, and it’s not debatable.”
Ignoring the argument, Monroe asked Marko, “Have you contacted her parents?”
“Yes. They received a letter just after Tyce’s team lost her. She said she was fine and taking a vacation. She told them she’d be in touch.”
“And has she?” Monroe asked.
“No.”
King spoke from behind Monroe. “It’s been about a month, and the last withdrawal from her bank account wasn’t that significant.”
Monroe nodded. “She’s gonna need to come up for air soon.” He turned to King, “Get the boys online.” He turned to look at Marko. “If you’re going, be ready.” Heading for the door with King on his heels, Monroe tossed over his shoulder, “Jenny, make sure Marko’s okay for travel.” He turned and pinned Marko with a dark look. “And that is not debatable.”
Chapter 21
Thea tried to eye her surroundings inconspicuously. She was pacing up and down the aisle of the grocery store that was closest to the ATM. Outside, fat flakes drifted down from the gray sky, and the color matched her mood. Her cart was full of more supplies she’d need to last the next few weeks in her rental. Underneath the bag of cool ranch Doritos that sat atop her mound of necessities, she’d hidden two pregnancy tests. Because she’d been ill, it’d taken her a minute to realize she was late. Late, late! And as much as she wanted to believe her period was delayed by the drugs she’d been injected with, she also had to acknowledge that she and Marko had slept together at least a dozen times and not once had they used protection.
Palms sweaty and nerves shot, Thea cursed her fear as she made another pass up and down the aisle. Looking down at her cart, she decided she had everything she needed. She considered just paying for her loot with her credit card, but if she used the ATM and anyone were looking, they’d hopefully just assume she was passing through and not staying nearby.
Sucking in a determined breath, Thea pushed her cart quickly to the ATM and punched through the transaction as quickly as her trembling fingers would allow. She withdrew a significant enough sum that she wouldn’t have to do this again for a long while, and as the machine whirred with each twenty dispensed, Thea eyed the store again. One older woman stood at the deli arguing with the guy behind the counter about the size of the chicken thighs he’d placed into her paper bucket. A frazzled looking mother with a fussy baby stood near the end cap that held medicine, and the clerk—the one who’d checked her out last time—stood behind the one open checkout stand and was staring right at her.
Ghaa! Thea turned around and hid behind the veil of her hair as the machine finally stopped spitting out money. Without counting it, Thea shoved the wad of cash into her purse and maneuvered her cart to the checkout. She tried not to make eye contact but when the clerk asked, “Thea, right?”
Her head shot up, eyes going wide. She forced a laugh that sounded comical as she asked too airy, “W-what?”
The pale skinned, skinny guy with strands of too long greasy hair sticking out of his baseball hat was staring at her with clear interest. “You’re name’s Thea, right? I asked around. No one knew you, but old Sadie said the Mondragon’s have a renter in one of their cabins. A woman. Why aren’t you shopping in WolfCreek?” He was beeping her items across his register and shoving them into paper bags as he spoke. “You see something you like here in Cascade?”
He actually waggled his brows at her and Thea nearly barfed. He couldn’t be further from her type if he were a woman, and she shook her head as she wondered at where he’d come by his confidence.
“No.” She looked down and spent too long rifling through her purse so she could avoid eye contact. Pulling out her sunglasses, she shoved them onto her face. “My name is not Thea. It’s…” Christ, think! “Ms. Iglesias. I’m not renting a cabin. I live in Great Falls. I just come here because I like your stores,” she looked down intending to site the item in his hand as the reason she drove this far from town to shop, but he just happened to be holding one of the pregnancy tests. “I…” she stammered. “I really like your stores,” she glanced at the deli. “Chicken! I like your chicken. It’s…very…juicy.”
The guy snorted and looked down, his hands stilling as he realized he held a pregnancy test. “Oooooh,” he lifted his chin as he spoke like he finally understood.
Thea felt her cheeks flame. Oh, dear God!
Thankfully, the guy finished ringing her up and cashed her out. Handing her the change, he loaded her cart, grinning knowingly. “Next time you drive all the way here from Great Falls for our juicy chicken,” his grin spread into an all-out smile. “You might actually want to buy some.”
Thea lowered her chin to quirk a disapproving brow at him over the rim of her sunglasses as she shoved her cart toward the door. Nosey little shit!
Outside, she loaded her truck as fast as she could and high tailed it back to her rental in WolfCreek.
***
Marko fisted and unfisted his hands, wondering at the illness plaguing him. He’d scarcely slept or eaten since Thea had been gone and at first he chalked it up to nerves. But, even now as a full sandwich sat on the counter in his kitchen, he had zero appetite. Knowing he’d need his strength for any potential retrieval mission, he paced to the counter and lifted the sandwich. Taking a healthy bite, he chewed and chewed, but all the saliva in his mouth seemed to dry up. He tried to swallow the bite down, but it only managed to lodge in his throat, forcing him to rush to the sink and cough it out. Standing, he looked at the clean glass sitting on the counter but knew that wouldn’t work either. He’d been completely unable to eat, drink, or sleep for the past four days, and he sure as shit wasn’t telling Jenny. He knew his symptoms mimicked the affliction, but that’s not what it was. He wished like fuck it were, but he knew better than to get his hopes up. Sure, he’d slept with Thea. Yes, he wanted to find her like he wanted his next breath. Yes, his animals were shredding his insides doing more and more damage with each passing day. But, there’d been no affliction, no flash of light or shriek of rec
ognition from his halo. He wasn’t afflicted, and Thea wasn’t his, no matter how badly he wished it were so.
The phone rang, and Marko pushed off the sink to snatch his newly acquired cell phone up off the counter beside his plate. “Marko,” he answered.
King’s words hit him like a punch to the gut. “We’ve found her. Be at the helipad in ten.”
The line went dead, but Marko was already moving.
Chapter 22
Thea kept rubbing her belly as she drove back to that grocery store in Cascade. It had only been two hours since she’d taken both pregnancy tests and the realization that she was with child was still sinking in. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she actually believed the results, but if they were correct, she’d be needing prenatal vitamins and a few, more healthy, provisions. That was the reason she was heading back to the grocery store. It had nothing to do with the fact that she intended on buying four more pregnancy tests, just in case the first two were defective.
Halfway to Cascade, she swallowed hard trying to process the thought of being pregnant as her eyes soaked in the beautiful prairie all around her. This part of Montana was so flat you could see for miles. Hell even now, the only obstruction to the great expanse of prairie was the herd of antelope grazing out in the distance. One doe stood closer to the highway, and a smaller antelope trailed close nearby. It had Thea thinking on the toughness of Montana’s wildlife and the dedication of the mothers who struggled to get their offspring raised into adulthood. If she were, in fact, pregnant, she’d need to be like that. She’d need to be strong, take no shit, do what’s best for her baby. She thought about her panic attacks and gripping the steering wheel she vowed then and there to never let them overtake her again. She was done being anxious and worried all the time. She was done stressing about the past and looking back. Fuck that! She wasn’t heading that way. Nope, her eyes were literally and figuratively set on the road in front of her, and she was going to be like that antelope doe out there on the side of the road. She was going to be fierce and relentless in raising her child. No matter what! Come good or bad, she had a purpose now, and she wasn’t about to pollute her child with anxiety and stress. That shit couldn’t be good for a baby. She needed to be stronger, she had to be stronger. A small little life was relying on her now. That was if she was in fact pregnant.
***
Marko was seething. He thought that he’d be flying in one of StoneCrow’s helicopters with the rest of the team to Thea’s last location. Sitting in the cabin of the Raven all alone, his jaw was clenched so hard that he thought his teeth would shatter. The rest of the team had shifted and gone ahead without him, and right now the helicopter felt like a damn wheelchair. Shame stole through him so hotly that he could feel himself sweating beneath his gear. Worse, he couldn't even communicate telepathically with the rest of the team so he couldn’t even demand they wait for him before going after Thea. Motherfuckers! Knee ticking, jaw muscles bunching, fists clenched white-knuckle hard, Marko hated everything right now.
The pilot’s voice crackled to him through the comm link he wore. “Can’t land at the site, but I’ll get you as close as I can.”
Marko let his head fall back as he tried to calm himself. Ever since his captivity, he’d always had anger issues, but feeling helpless only intensified the emotion.
The chopper dove and a few short minutes later Tito was barking into the comm, “Red.” It was his signal to get up and be ready to exit.
“Yellow.”
Marko stood and removed his comm link before sliding the side door open and looking down into the snow that whipped up into his face. He didn’t wait for the ‘green’. Marko jumped from the chopper that still hovered high above the ground. Without the ability to partially shift, he hit the ground hard and rolled.
Fuck that hurt! He couldn’t remember the last time anything physically hurt him and worry tore through him that he was becoming fully human. It was a terrifying thought, but one that would have to wait. He saw his target location from where he’d been dropped in a barren wheat field. He also saw King and his team as they gathered at the back of the tiny grocery store. Idiots were all wearing black tactical gear, and in all the snow, they stuck out like a bunch of dark-clad dipshits.
Marko pulled on the white hood that was attached to his all-white tactical gear and made a bee-line for the store. He made it to the team just as King was finishing his instructions.
“I repeat,” King spoke quietly. “I’ll go in, do the asking. You’ll secure the perimeter.” He looked around. “She was at this location two hours ago. The odds of her still being here are not likely, so this is an Intel seeking mission only. Keep your eyes open though. If she’s shopping here, she could be staying in this town.”
“And she’ll already know we’re here,” Marko said, startling several of the Walkers around him who hadn’t noticed his approach.
King frowned.
“You all stick out like sore thumbs,” Marko griped. “Look at you.” He jerked his chin toward them. “And that fucking chopper hovering behind the store didn’t help.”
King smiled humorlessly as he asked, “And how would you like to have arrived here, Princess?”
Marko snarled, “Fuck off.” He ripped off his tac vest and then his jacket and tossed them to the ground. Beneath his tac vest and jacket, he wore a plain white t-shirt. With the white leather pants and white hiking boots, he looked like a guy that was just too stylishly dressed for this small town, not like some soldier. “I’m going in. You,” he jabbed his finger at King, “Wait here!”
King frowned hard. “This isn’t your show, Marko. You already let her slip through your fingers once. Perhaps you aren’t the best candidate.”
“She’s my responsibility! And Jenny says Thea’s averse to any other male’s touch. That makes me the only candidate.” He turned to glare at the rest of the team. “All of you will keep your fucking hands off her!” He didn’t wait for a response. Just turned and headed around the building.
Stopping at the side of the building, he took a moment to look down and adjust his clothing. He untucked his t-shit to look more casual and then took a step around the building before jerking back around the corner. Leaning forward, he peeked around the edge of the building and watched as Thea exited a newer blue, extended cab, Ford. She muttered to herself as she jammed the keys in her purse and made her way into the store.
Marko stepped out from around the building and made to follow, but halted. His eyes jerked to the truck and then back to the store as an idea hit.
***
Thea jerked the door of her truck open and climbed in before exhaling a loud breath and fishing the keys out of her purse. She hadn’t bothered locking the doors for two reasons. One, there were like six people living in the town of Cascade, and she knew from where she grew up that small towns were tight-knit and watched out for each other. The second reason she hadn’t bothered locking her truck was that it was a rental, which meant there wasn’t a single personal item of hers in the thing.
Keys slid into the ignition, the truck started. Thea eyed the backup camera on the rearview mirror as she maneuvered the truck out of the parking lot and steered toward the road that led back to her cabin.
A few miles in and she eyed the grocery sack in the passenger’s seat. She’d bought four more pregnancy tests. She’d wanted to buy a dozen, but those little suckers were pricey. She’d also found a bottle of women’s daily vitamins before she’d stopped at the produce section to snag some apples, oranges, and bananas. Driving back to Wolf Creek, she felt a little proud of herself for how well she was handling everything.
“See,” she murmured rubbing her belly. “I’m not a total screw up. We can get through this together, little one.”
“Thea?”
A voice behind her had her screaming at the top of her lungs. She jerked on the steering wheel as her head whipped around to look behind her.
“THE ROAD!”
She barely caught a glimpse
of Marko or registered his shout before her head shot forward again, and she fought to keep the truck on the road. One foot slammed on the brakes, and the truck slid on the icy road before it hit the grassy patch at the side of the road and rocked to a halt.
“Jesus!” she breathed, hands white-knuckle tight on the steering wheel.
Behind her, Marko hissed, “Ffffuck!”
Thea shoved her door opened and stumbled from the truck, her limbs shaky and legs wobbly from the near crash. She paced up the road a few yards and then bent over, elbows on her knees as she caught her breath.
“Thea?”
Her head shot up, and her eyes narrowed on Marko. “What in the fuck are you doing in my truck? You could have gotten us killed.” She paled then and looked down at her stomach before slowly standing. Turning she gave Marko her back and rubbed her belly. The realization of how close of a call that had just been finally sank in and now she was good and pissed. Her mind went back to the vow she’d made after watching that mama antelope doe. Turning, she glared at Marko. “Get away from my truck!”
“Thea, we need to talk.”
“We don’t need to do anything.” She stomped up to the still open driver’s side door. “Least not anything we haven’t already done,” she muttered. She made to climb in, but Marko caught her arm and instinctively, she gasped and jerked out of his hold, looking down at her arm. Surprisingly, it hadn’t hurt. Still, Marko took a step back.
“Thea? Did I hurt you?”
She wanted to tell him no. She wanted to tell him that his was the only touch she could stand. No, she more than merely tolerated his touch. She longed for it. But, he’d never know.
“You need to come back to StoneCrow,” he implored. “You shouldn’t have snuck off. Jenny needs to monitor you. She needs to run more tests.”
His words hurt like nothing else ever had. Part of her had naively hoped that he came looking for her because he wanted to. She’d hoped that the intimacy they’d shared had been more than just mere sex to him. It certainly had been to her. His words cemented it though. He wasn’t here for her. He was here for Jenny. Apparently, StoneCrow’s little lab rat had escaped, and he’d been sent on a retrieval mission. Nothing more.