Uncomfortable under such scrutiny, she turned about.
“Has anyone checked upstairs?” Saldano challenged. “She shouldn’t go up alone. What if she climbs out of a window?” As he spoke he started towards the stairs.
Craig grabbed his arm.
“I’ll go,” he announced roughly. “You need to deal with the locals. After all, I’m just a rookie.”
Their stares clashed until Beckett interrupted. “Jim, get out there. I have a call to make. Buchanan will check upstairs if he hasn’t already.”
Raja heard his tread trail after her. Once she reached Aimee’s old room, she turned around, her arms crossed, her finger absently caressing the patch of flesh that was now completely healed.
Craig took a glimpse over her shoulder to assess the room. “Are you okay?”
“What’s going to happen to us?” She started right in. “Are we being held as prisoners?”
“No.” Discouraged, his hand curled helplessly into a fist. “They want to question you, that is true. But in the eyes of the law, the first priority has to be Diego.”
“Then they will question us—” she nodded, “—and what will they conclude, that I have head trauma as you must believe?”
“Raja, no. I don’t think that.” Concern cast shadows beneath his eyes. There was so much fatigue there that it was hard to keep from touching him—from offering comfort.
“I’m a little overwhelmed with what has transpired in the past few hours. You must realize that,” he pleaded. “I am an official of the law, and that has to supersede what my gut says. Do you understand?”
She understood his conviction. He had a job to do. It was similar to her methods of dealing with the illness aboard the Horus. There was no room for emotion or personal judgment.
Downstairs, voices boomed as the screen door slammed open and footsteps plodded across the wooden floor. The squeak of wheels could be heard. A gurney.
“So do we wait here until they have time to investigate us?”
Craig reached out, his fingers casting a phantom caress so close to her arm. She could see him gauging it—the slight dilation of his pupils still registering shock at the unblemished flesh. That flailing hand landed on his own chest, absently probing.
“Aww hell,” he cursed. The intensity with which he looked at her made all her vulnerabilities surface. In this man she saw strength and intelligence, traits that were like aphrodisiacs.
“I never really liked this job anyway,” he declared roughly, sealing it with a wink.
Energy charged through her when he reached for her shoulders, holding her gently as he uttered, “I don’t know who you are, Raja. There are too many questions—” grim lines strained the corners of his mouth, “—but they are questions I don’t want to leave to others. I want to know, Raja. I want to know where you come from. I want to know your favorite meal. I want to know what you think about when you look up at the sky.”
Before she could respond, he added, “I want to know because I want to be with you. I want to spend time with you—without all this—” His head tilted towards the doorway. “Can you trust me?”
It was as if she was on sensory overload. The urgent grip of his fingers cupping her arms—the hypnotic eyes that delved into hers. And the rough passion in his words. It was a lot to take in, plus the invasion of all the sounds below.
“Do you like me?” she dared to whisper.
It was a terrifying notion. For so long she had watched other couples. Could a man possibly have feelings for her? It seemed so absurd.
Craig’s hands dropped so that his fingers skimmed hers. A smile so raw and filled with promise took some of the harshness away from his face.
“Yes,” his voice was husky, “I like you.”
Enchanted by that deep conviction, she felt his grip on her hand gently haul her closer...close enough that he could dip his head and touch his lips to hers. It made chill bumps pop up all over her skin. She had to swallow down the instinctive hum of approval that was bubbling up in her throat.
“I’m going to find a way to make this work, Raja.” He drew back. “I am.”
With that, he took a step of retreat, her hand still tucked in his. She used that grip to stop him. “Are we leaving here?”
“Yes. I have to get the three of you out of here. Now.”
That conviction infused her with strength.
“Okay. Wait—”
Releasing him, she fled to the nightstand and snagged the white cardboard box, tentatively wrapping it under her arm.
“May I?”
Craig glanced at the carton and quirked an eyebrow. “We’re not going that far that you’ll need food supplies.” He sobered at her expression. “I don’t know what is about to happen. You may have to leave that.”
“I thought so,” she muttered. “It’s—it’s special. I know I’m being unreasonable.”
“No, you’re not. And for what it’s worth,” Craig added. “I love powdered sugar donuts too. And I promise that I will buy you a new box if we don’t make it back to this one.”
Chapter Eleven
The first thing Craig noticed as they reached the bottom of the stairs was that one of the wheels of the stretcher had snagged the corner of the dining room carpet. The weight of Alfonso’s body secured the fabric, but the rescue squad attendant was jimmying the gurney to draw the wheel loose. Each time he did so, a new section of the wooden floorboards was exposed. Another fraction of an inch, and a pool of drying blood would be revealed...and a barrage of unanswerable questions would assail them.
Beckett crooked his cell phone between his shoulder and ear, while waving impatiently at the rescue squad crew. Saldano stood on the front porch, reprimanding two patrolmen who were not part of the original rotation. Beneath their low-riding hats, they stood dispassionate under the assault.
Through this melee Craig marched, pausing only to toss Zak a meaningful nod. Zak picked up on it and came alert.
“I’m taking them to Charlotte,” Craig called out to Beckett. “That agency is letting us debrief in their offices.”
Beckett waved, still yelling into his phone.
Conscious of Raja directly behind him and Aimee and Zak falling in after her, Craig crossed the threshold of the front door. Saldano pounced the second his foot broke the plain.
“Where are you going?” he barked.
“I’m taking them into the city. They are going to be questioned there. It’s the safest option right now.”
Saldano eyed the trio behind Craig suspiciously, his glance narrowing on Zak.
“You shouldn’t take them in solo. Let me finish up here and I will go with you.”
“I want them out of here,” Craig asserted. “Whether they are hiding something, or whether they are innocent neighbors, they need to be in a secure location.”
“Then take one of these officers along.”
Craig motioned over his head. “Go ahead, get in the car,” he instructed the morose set of faces behind him.
Hearing the intake of Saldano’s breath on what undoubtedly would be another order or debate, he cut him off. “I don’t have time for this, James. After the unreliable performance of the local police, I want them to just focus on this house and that King farm. They don’t need any additional tasks.” He disregarded the contemptuous glance of the officer closest to him. “I think I can handle a quick trip into Charlotte, and then I’ll meet you at the hospital immediately afterwards. The Charlotte agents have already been debriefed. They are going through the Pattersons’ paperwork as we speak.”
Saldano was visibly conflicted, not wanting to answer to an order. But Craig had been careful to present it as a suggestion—a very viable suggestion. Cynical, Saldano finally nodded and withdrew to let them pass by.
“Make sure you call me when you reach the Charlotte office.”
And why would I do that? I don’t report to you. “Sure,” Craig shot out as he jogged down the stairs.
“My car.” He
instructed tersely, pointing at the Hyundai.
Doors clicked as Aimee and Zak poured into the vehicle. But when Craig rounded the back fender he saw Raja gripping the open car door, staring up into the sky with her jaw slack.
“Is there a problem?” he urged quietly.
Without taking her eyes from the sky she whispered, “What is that?”
Following her glance, Craig saw the sleek shadow of a jet on approach to the airport.
“I’ll explain in the car.”
Oh God, please don’t let this attract Saldano.
Sure enough, the man was starting down the porch stairs.
When Raja didn’t budge, Craig discreetly touched her hand until she lowered her eyes to meet his.
“I promise,” he emphasized softly. “I’ll explain inside the car. We have to go.”
Squaring her shoulders, she nodded and ducked into the car.
Craig stole a deep breath and climbed into the driver’s seat, his foot on the gas pedal before the door even closed. Starting down the driveway, he was careful not to glance in the rearview mirror. At any second that stretcher was going to expose the blood beneath the carpet. Gone would be his career. At best he could hope to not spend his life as a fugitive.
What in God’s name had he just done?
* * *
“What was that in the sky?”
In the rearview mirror he saw Raja’s cheek pressed against the window for a better view.
“It was an airplane,” Aimee offered sedately beside her.
“An airplane,” Raja repeated. “I understand. Like a giant terra duster. Sorry,” turning away from the window, she added, “It just took me off guard. And it’s so loud.”
“Your ears are sensitive,” Zak pointed out. “It was loud to me too.”
Craig’s grip on the steering wheel was merciless. His eyes jumped from the rearview mirror to his cell phone sitting in the cup dispenser, and up to the windshield as he noticed the sign for I-77. Purposefully, he passed it.
“Where are we going?” Aimee asked.
In the mirror her expression looked pensive. Auburn hair, a heart-shaped face, green eyes. She was pretty, but he found his gaze drifting to the woman beside her. There was a difference. It wasn’t as simple as blonde versus brunette, or the variance in eye color. It was a subtle disparity. Raja’s unique skin tone perhaps? Or the latent ocean depths of her gaze? In this light, her golden hair looked infused with diamonds. It wasn’t something he noticed inside, but here with the sun pouring through the car window, half of her hair seemed to sparkle. If he were to describe her to Wally, he might joke and say that her looks were out of this world.
Now the joke was on him.
And then there was Zak. Supposedly he was an alien as well, although he didn’t bear the flawless porcelain skin that Raja possessed. There were no synonymous traits between the two. He was tan, and his dark hair did not glimmer. About all that might be considered unique to him was the gilded hue of his eyes. It was disconcerting at first, but Aimee sure didn’t seem to mind.
“I don’t know,” Craig answered Aimee with a hoarse voice. “I need to think.”
Of course she didn’t allow him that opportunity. She delved right in. “We’re not going to the FBI like you stated, are we? You’re not turning us in for questioning?”
“No.”
“Won’t you get in trouble?”
“Yes.”
“Then why? You believe us?”
Craig rubbed his forehead. It throbbed with a stage-four nuclear headache.
“Aim,” Zak turned in his seat, “let the man think.”
With a brief nod of gratitude, Craig aimlessly took another turn until he realized that he had no clue where he was. Perfect. Clueless in mind and location. What had these Pattersons done to him? Were they brain-suckers? No. They were not responsible for the demise of his professionalism.
Craig pulled the Hyundai into a gravel parking lot flanked with picnic benches and charred grills poking out of the grass on crooked poles. A river was nearby, as well as a rusted, steel gauge bridge overrun with weeds and no longer in operation as evidenced by the mangled railroad tracks that crossed it. The grounds next to the lot were neatly groomed. A recreational park, he guessed. But it was the middle of the day, and the middle of the week—the parking lot was empty. One last look in his rear view confirmed that no one had followed him. Hell, the road he had turned onto was void of cars entirely.
When he cut the engine it took two seconds for the sun to bake the vehicle. With a twist of the wrist, he cranked the ignition enough to allow the air conditioning to run.
“There’s another one.” Raja squeaked from the back seat.
Craig glanced up through the windshield at the plane. Anchored to the steering wheel with both hands, he tipped his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. Outside a bird squawked—the harsh cry of a blackbird. As a child he had made it a habit of memorizing the names of every species of bird to rest in the giant apple tree outside his bedroom window. That tree had to have sprouted during the Revolutionary war. Rarely did he use the inside staircase to play outside. Opening the window and climbing down a staircase of branches was much easier.
Tentative fingers touched his shoulder, startling him. It was her touch, and right now he wanted to reach around and pull her across the seat and into his lap where he could just hold onto her and understand why she was making him so irrational.
“What Aimee’s trying to say,” Raja whispered close to his ear. “Is—thank you.”
Beside him, Zak made a slight snort while Aimee fumbled for a response. “Well—yes, of course, I’m saying that.” She glanced around. “Hey! I know where we are. You circled all the way around the woods. I always wanted to walk to this park, but I was afraid to pass through the forest.” She pointed through the back window. “If you marched right through those trees for about a mile and a half, you’d see the lake, and the King property.”
Wonderful. It summed up his progress in life. Drive. Drive. Drive—and only make it a mile and a half from where you started.
Craig heard a motor. A car passed by on the road. Black. An SUV. He held his breath, waiting for it to pull into this lot with an army of special agents ready to cuff him and haul him away, but it continued down the road and out of sight.
“Tell me again,” he spoke softly. “Tell me your story.”
There were no signs of impatience. No indignant sighs.
Aimee began with calm fortitude. “Two days after my high school graduation I walked into the woods behind my parents’ property. Those woods right there.” She pointed. “Something halted me. I literally could not move. I was paralyzed. There was light all around me, and then my hands, my arms—just started to dissolve right before my eyes. I know it sounds crazy—try imagining how delusional it was for the person it was happening to.”
He did not stop her. He sat with his fingers wrapped glued to that steering wheel, and he listened.
“When I woke up,” Aimee continued. “I heard voices. From the topic of conversation, I gathered that I had been kidnapped. I tried to escape, but—” she hesitated, and Zak turned fully in the front seat. “But I made it as far as the window. I ran up to that glass—and there was Earth. So big. So absolutely beautiful—and growing smaller as we drew away.” Her voice faded. She cleared her throat.
“I was told that I fainted, but when I woke, there was no denying that I was in space. Every damn window made that evident. And then, before I could even begin to form questions or comprehend what was happening to me—there were explosions.”
“Explosions?”
“The ship, the Horus, was under attack. And the man responsible for battling the invaders took the time out to make sure that I was safe.” Aimee’s fingers wove through Zaks’ on the top of the seat.
“The Horus,” Craig repeated, automatically digging for his missing notepad.
“Yes. A ship in space, and everyone on board was human. May
be they looked a little different, but no more dissimilar than our diverse races on Earth. They had a virus that nearly wiped their people out, so they were traveling the galaxies looking for samples of plant life that might cure it.”
“You don’t look like a plant,” he observed mildly.
“Aimee was picked up by accident,” Zak inserted with a frown. “None of this had to happen. None of this would have happened if we didn’t have a rogue in our ranks. Although,” he grinned, “I am bonded to this lovely lady, so I’m not going to complain too much.”
Craig felt a stab of envy at the tenderness in Zak’s tone. Wouldn’t it have been nice to experience a union like that with Raja? But how was that ever going to be possible? It wasn’t. This simply was not going to have a happy ending for him. If he had any ounce of control left, he would help these people.
Did he believe them? Too many aspects did not add up and could not possibly have rational answers. But, outer space?
“Well, as you see,” Aimee went on. “I fell in love with the warrior, Zak. And I became best friends with the fledgling scientist, Raja—well, she was fledgling at the time. Now she’s just the best.”
Indeed.
“When it was time for me to return—”
Aimee was still speaking, but Craig didn’t hear her. A black SUV passed by, traveling in the opposite direction. No, not a black SUV. The black SUV. The same one that had passed by a few moments ago.
“—the only way I could keep from going insane was to study and work real hard—”
It slowed down.
Craig sat up in his seat, feeling the pressure of his Glock dig into his back. Discreetly he reached for it.
“—and then five years passed—”
Zak caught the motion and drew out the bizarre soup ladle.
Tossing a quick glimpse his way, Craig murmured. “I was hoping you had that on you.”
The exchange halted Aimee. “What’s going on?”
“The car.” Raja’s voice sounded strained.
“I am going to get out,” Craig narrated. “I want you all to stay in here. Even if they found the blood, you’re not in danger if you stay submissive inside the car.”
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