Brawn

by Dohner, Laurann

  The number she’d scribbled down lay next to the phone. Her hands trembled a little as she reached for both. I need to make this call. She bit her lip. Another flutter in her belly made her gasp. She dropped the paper and rested her hand over the curved mound of her belly. Hot tears surfaced, caused by worry and confusion. She could feel the baby move. How is that possible?

  She stood there debating what to do. The smart thing would be to rush to Doctor Trisha and let the woman take care of her and the baby. Of course reality prevented that. Her dad would kill Brawn. He’d end up going to prison instead of leading the task team and she’d have to explain to her child why he didn’t have any family besides her. She couldn’t do that, no matter how terrified she was. Tim Oberto was a lot of things but rational and controlled weren’t two of them when it came to his daughter. He’d never believe Brawn hadn’t forced her and he’d see blood. Brawn’s.

  Thinking about the big New Species made her feel guilty. He had a right to know he was going to be a father. She knew right from wrong but that was one hurdle she wasn’t ready to take on yet. After the baby was born, she’d face that issue. First she needed to have it, keep it safe and figure out a way to deal with her dad. Hopefully meeting his grandchild would go a long way toward muffling his murderous rage.

  Guilt turned to anger in the next moment. She chalked it up to her hormones but if Brawn had called her he might know he was going to be a father. It took both of them to get her in the mess but it was up to her to try to contain the fallout. She’d been tempted plenty of times to try to reach him but had no idea how without having to go through the NSO switchboard. They’d ask why she wanted to talk to him, might investigate her to make sure she wasn’t a threat and that meant having her father and his team come after her. It was just too risky. Calling a human was one thing, they might figure she was a friend of Doctor Trisha’s, but a human woman calling a Species male would be odd.

  The flutter happened again, more of a tiny kick and she closed her eyes, amazed at the feeling and frightened. Brawn was a big guy and she’d hoped she was gaining weight so fast because the baby might be as large as the father but she couldn’t forget he wasn’t totally human. She might not know much about pregnancy since she’d never experienced it before but she had friends who had children. She shouldn’t feel the baby stir for months. The baby might be growing faster than a purely human one, thanks to Brawn’s altered genes, and like it or not, she was in over her head. She needed to have a conversation with the New Species doctor to figure it out.

  She opened her eyes and reached for the paper again. Her hands shook as she dialed the number. Her heart pounded as the phone rang. A woman’s voice answered on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Doctor Trisha?” Becca remembered to use the same Texas accent. “It’s me again. The pregnant lady.”

  “You promised to call me and it’s been three weeks,” the doctor accused, sounding out of breath and maybe excited. “How are you?”

  “Scared and alarmed. I’m feeling the baby move. How can that be? It’s way too early.”

  “How far along are you?”

  “We’ve been over this. I am not telling you that. Is it possible that the baby could be developing faster than normal? I mean, is that nuts to even consider? New Species are part animal and I’ve been researching on the internet. The gestation period is shorter in animals than in humans. I’m gaining weight too fast and now I’ve got movement. It’s not gas either.” She shorted a laugh at that one, glad for some humor. “It’s definitely the baby.”

  “You need to come to Homeland. What is your name?”

  “Pregnant lady.”

  “Are you really living in a cabin by yourself?”

  “Yes.” Becca figured that was safe information to give out.

  “Do you have a friend or someone who checks on you at least?”

  She hesitated. “What is the point of asking me this?”

  “You’re alone, you told me you don’t trust anyone and you need help if you really are pregnant. What are you afraid of? No one is going to hurt you. You can walk right up to the gates, tell them you’re there to see me and I swear I’ll rush right out. If you don’t want anyone to see you, I can meet you anywhere you want. I’ll bring my bag and some equipment that is mobile. I can even come to your cabin.”

  “That’s not going to happen. I got lost for a reason. I don’t want anyone to find me.”

  “I can tell you if your baby is all right. Don’t you want to make sure? I have a son and I know I was worried sick about his health when I was pregnant. I swear I gave myself an ultrasound almost daily just to check on him. I could do that for you if you came here. I’ll come to you if you don’t want to be seen. I know there are protesters out there. We have a helicopter and could fly you in to prevent anyone from seeing you.”

  “I appreciate that but as I said, I don’t trust anyone.”

  Trisha hesitated. “Are you afraid of the father? Is that it? Do you think if you let him know that he’ll react badly?”

  “I try not to think about him.” Becca leaned forward and sighed. “I know he has a right to know and I plan to tell him one day but not until it’s safe. You don’t know what is at stake.”

  “Then tell me. Just tell me something.”

  Becca hesitated. “My family would go insane if they found out and they would hurt the father. That’s all I can tell you.”

  “So you are protecting the father of your baby? That’s why you won’t come in? Your family doesn’t have to know. Your family can’t get to him or you if you come here. I swear you will be safe. All of you will be.”

  That might be the case for the average person but not for Becca. Her father had to know everything that happened at Homeland and Reservation. Having a pregnant woman show up would be a security risk. He’d be notified and she still winced over the memories of him asking her a hundred times if anyone had touched her when she’d been held prisoner. The rage that threatened in his eyes assured her he’d stop at nothing until Brawn was dead. It’s why she’d never told him about her marriage. He’d have murdered Bradley in a heartbeat. Her dad was a dick at times but he became downright insane when someone hurt her.

  “Are you still there?”

  Becca realized she’d drifted in her thoughts. “Yes. Do you think the baby is growing faster than normal? Is it possible? Just answer me that because that’s all I can figure and I’m worried.”

  “Are you more than four months along?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Trisha hesitated. “Don’t you want to know the sex of the baby? If you let me see you I could bring a portable ultrasound machine and tell you the sex.”

  “That’s just mean. You know I’d love to know that but I can’t risk it. If you aren’t going to answer me, I need to go.”

  “Wait! How are you feeling? Are you healthy? Any unusual symptoms or anything? I’m assuming you haven’t seen a doctor?”

  “You know I can’t risk that. I’m tired a lot but I read that’s normal. My appetite is great. I haven’t thrown up in weeks and am past the morning sickness stage. I have to go. Thanks for talking to me.”

  “You have to call me more often. At least once every few days. You’re alone. Something could go wrong. Please?” The doctor sounded panicked.

  “I’ll call you once a week.”

  “Do you promise? I am worried about you. You don’t know everything and I can’t tell you over a phone.”

  “Tell me what?” Becca’s heart pounded with fear. What did the doctor know that she wasn’t saying?

  “Just call me and we’ll keep talking.”

  “I have to go.” Becca hung up.

  * * * * *

  Trisha hung up and put her house phone to her ear. She’d called Justice when she’d picked up her cell with the woman and let him overhear the conversation on speaker phone.

  “Did you recognize her voice? You deal with most of the humans we come in conta
ct with.”

  Justice sighed. “No. I didn’t recognize it but the accent is fake. She slipped a few times. Maybe she’s lying about the pregnancy.”

  “No. She knows too much. She said she felt the baby move for the first time. She’s between eight and ten weeks along. That’s when we feel movement. That’s good. Thank God. I was terrified we wouldn’t have any time to find her before the baby was due. She is about halfway through her pregnancy, Justice. I delivered my son at twenty weeks. She doesn’t know New Species babies grow and develop faster. We have to find her fast. My husband is canine. Feline pregnancies could go faster and I’m assuming he was feline, considering she didn’t mention the penis swelling during sex that is common with canines. Hot sperm is more noticeable with felines. We won’t know until the first feline mixed baby is born how long their pregnancies last.”

  “Let me… Hang on. Tiger just walked in.”

  Tiger chuckled. “We got a trace. We know about where the call came from. I have good news and bad news.”

  “What’s to report?” Justice hit speaker phone. “Can you hear us, Trisha?”

  “I can,” she stated. “What’s the bad news first?”

  “It looks like this woman is probably the real deal. The call was traced to an area near Reservation. She must live out there, which means she probably did come in contact with our people.”

  “That’s good news,” Trisha agreed.

  “Not when we have a human pregnant by one of us and we didn’t know about it. It’s bad until we have her here and secure.” Tiger took a breath. “The good news is that it’s a remote area. We’ll send teams out and look for her. There aren’t that many cabins out there if she’s really living in one. It might take a few days to go to all of them but it shouldn’t take more than three days. We’ll find her soon.”

  Justice sounded relieved. “That’s great.”

  “Yes. Will she be showing, Trisha?” Tiger moved closer to the phone.

  “She says she is and she felt the baby move which should put her between eight and ten weeks. You’ll definitely see a rounded stomach from the baby. She will smell faintly like Species too, up close. I did. The further along she gets the more she will carry that scent and the stronger it will get.”

  “Justice, if you don’t mind, I’d like to head this one. May I take the helicopter and fly up there?” Tiger paused. “I’d like to keep the team tight, only take handpicked Species who are good with humans and we’ll have to bring in a few of the task force for this. They’ll go in first to avoid raising suspicion.”

  “Yes,” Justice agreed.

  “Me too,” Trisha said. “I’m going. I’ll call Slade and tell him we’re all leaving. I’ll pack our bags and get Forest ready to travel. I want to be there when you find her, Tiger. She’s going to be scared as hell. Did you hear what she said about her family, Justice? Do you think they are part of those protestors who picket the NSO? Maybe that’s how she met one of ours. He might be an officer at Reservation’s gates. It makes sense if that’s the case. Her family hangs there, she’d be with them and she’d have spent time with our guys.”

  “Makes sense.” Justice hesitated. “Yeah. That’s fine. Find this female, Tiger.”

  “I’m on it,” Tiger growled softly. “I’m more worried about someone else finding her before we do or this family of hers discovering her secret if they are fanatics. It wouldn’t end well.”

  “I know.” Anger tinged Justice’s voice. “Just find her and get her and her baby home to us so they can be safe. Thank you for allowing us to trace your calls, Trisha.”

  “I didn’t really have a choice,” she muttered. “I’m still not happy about lying to her. I gave my word I wouldn’t do that.”

  “You didn’t trace her. I did.” Justice cleared his throat. “I asked my males if any of them had shared sex with a human and that didn’t go well. It caused anger and they felt I was trying to invade their privacy. Finding the female and getting her behind our gates is priority. I can’t image what would happen if she goes into labor and ends up at a hospital. Our secret would be out. It would be on every news station and anyone who hates us would know her location to target the infant. Worse, she could go into labor alone and die if there are complications.”

  “I know.” Trisha pushed her fingers through her hair and gripped the phone tighter against her ear. “I’ve had nightmares about that. That’s why I tried to keep her on the phone as long as possible to give you a shot at finding her. If this doesn’t work though, you’ve got to let me tell her the truth, Justice. She’s having an accelerated pregnancy and she’s going to be blindsided when she goes into early labor. She’ll think she’s losing the baby.” Emotion choked her voice. “Don’t make me go there. It was my worst fear when I was pregnant with Forest. I can’t do that to her and maybe if we tell her, it will make her come in on her own.”

  “We can’t risk it. Until we know for sure that she’s not some reporter fishing and that it’s a verified Species baby she’s carrying, you aren’t to tell her anything. That’s an order. I’m sorry but too much is at risk. Your son would be in danger.”

  “I know.” She blinked back tears. “I just keep putting myself in her shoes. She sounds genuinely scared about something. Whoever her father is, he must be one scary asswipe to instill that kind of fear.”

  “I’m angry at the male who shared sex with her.” Justice growled. “He should have taken precautions or followed up with her. They obviously weren’t close enough that she could feel she could go to him to protect her. When we find out who he is, he and I are going to spend some time in a training room. He put us all in this situation.”

  “I get a piece of him after you do,” Tiger snorted. “I tell the officers to use condoms if they share sex with humans but this sounds as if it’s one of Brass’ males so he will probably get the pleasure of pounding in the ground rules.”

  “Yeah, beat him up.” Trisha was disgusted. “That will teach him. I’m glad Slade isn’t running Reservation right now and we’re home. I hate it when I have to patch him up.”

  Justice chuckled. “It’s a male thing.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Flame studied the cabin that appeared empty of life and waved the human team forward. They carefully surrounded the cabin, three of them keeping out of sight in the trees. One of the humans, Bobby, knocked on the front door. He wore jeans and had grease smeared on his hands. They all were dressed in casual wear so they didn’t appear suspicious and frighten the off the woman if they found her. They had a cover story if someone answered the door. Bobby would ask to use her phone to call a tow truck for his supposedly broken-down car.

  No one answered. Bobby peered in the window and waved everyone forward as he dropped to his knees. He picked the lock and had it open by the time Flame reached his side. They glanced around the small living room and Bobby turned to Flame.

  “Someone is definitely living here.”

  Flame walked farther inside the home and inhaled. “It’s a female who lives alone. I only pick up her scent.”

  His heart rate increased with excitement that this might be the right place when he spotted a crib in one of the two bedrooms. Everything for the infant smelled new and unused. The second bedroom was the woman’s and he pulled back the covers, leaned in and pressed his nose against the sheets. One good whiff and he knew they’d finally located the right female. He could smell her, the faint scent of pregnancy, and Species.

  Flame pulled his cell phone as he turned to face the human team. “This is the right place. She must be coming back soon, her things are here, so implement the plan.”

  Bobby grabbed his radio. “Call off the search. We found her. Return to base and stay out of sight.”

  Flame dialed Reservation. “We found her but she’s not here. I believe she should come back soon. I scented what we expected to find. I’m going to wait in hiding for her to return. Have the helicopter standing by and fueled. I want it sent the second I have he
r.”

  He hung up and glanced at the men around him. “I can handle her. I think it’s best if I make contact alone. Go ahead and return to base.”

  Bobby, the team leader of the task force assigned to Flame, hesitated. “Are you sure? I’ll stay behind as backup.”

  “No. This isn’t a dangerous situation. We’re doing a favor for Trisha. Her cousin ran away from an abusive husband and she was worried. She won’t fight or cause harm. I’m just going to give her a message.”

  “Oh.” Anger tensed Bobby’s features. “We’ve been busting our asses for that?” He spun, stomping away.

  Flame let him go and hated making him angry. He liked the team but they hadn’t shared why they were looking for the female, didn’t want to tell them why she was really so important and didn’t plan to. The less they knew the better but they’d needed them to make contact, knock on doors. Anyone opening a door to a Species would have been alarmed and word might have spread. It wasn’t something they wouldn’t gossip about or worse, call the police over. That meant the reporters would get a whiff of a story. The female might have heard they were in the area and fled.

  Flame watched the men leave. The NSO was terrified that if it got out they could have children with humans, it would cause a lot of problems. They trusted the task force but the tabloids offered too much money for some to resist. Keeping that information known to Species and their mates only was essential. Everyone who knew the truth was personally invested to protect that secret. He closed and locked the front door, found a good location to wait and leaned against the interior wall. He had patience.

  * * * * *

  Becca smiled and rubbed her stomach as the baby kicked softly. She was sure that was the fluttering feeling she kept getting. It made her happy every time, assuring her all was well inside her belly.

  “I know.” She lifted her hand to grip the wheel with both of them. “This dirt road is kind of rough and sucks. You feel that, don’t you?” She slowed the car a little on her way to the cabin. Talking to the baby had become a favorite pastime. “We’re almost home.”