Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (6 page)

As odd as the Earthlings looked to him, he
was well aware that he would look twice as odd to them. Luckily, he was hidden
from sight by his shuttle’s light refracting tech. Like most Kindred shuttles,
it transformed to a land vehicle when it needed to. Unlike the others, it had
the ability to blend seamlessly into whatever environment it was in. By using a
special metal polymer skin that refracted light, it became for all intents and
purposes invisible. And Six was invisible too—as long as he stayed inside it.

He watched as Mei-Li walked past him and
got into her own small blue vehicle which was parked only two slots down from
his. She looked right at him as she started her engine but her eyes slid past
his camouflaged vehicle, no doubt perceiving the place it was parked as an
empty spot.

Six frowned. So far he had seen her go
back and forth to various domiciles as well as the building for young ones and
another building that seemed to be some kind of business complex. He had
watched as she hauled bag after bag out of one house—bags of what? The question
had intrigued him and he had employed his trans-scope to see into the house. He
had seen Mei-Li picking things up off the ground of the domicile but he still
couldn’t fathom what the things were or why she and the other Earth female were
so busily engaged in the task.

As she left the small, shabby domicile,
Six had observed the other female throw her arms around Mei-Li’s neck. He had
almost started from his vehicle—certain this was an attack! But then he saw the
moisture in the Earth female’s eyes and saw the corners of Mei-Li’s soft, full
lips turn up. For some reason one of them was upset while the other
was…what…happy? Both emotions were foreign to him but it didn’t seem to make
sense that they were happening at the same time. Then again, nothing about
Feelers made sense, he reminded himself. They allowed their emotions to rule
them and consequently they acted illogically.

Six shook his head in confusion. Just now
he had seen Mei-Li give her provisions to a young one when she was clearly
hungry herself. Or at least, he assumed she was hungry. She hadn’t consumed
anything since he had been observing her and it had been several hours. Now she
was driving away again—should he follow her?

He had to admit that as frail as she
looked, she didn’t appear to be in any danger. In which case, he really had no
reason to keep on tracking her since his stated purpose was to defend her and
there didn’t appear to be anything to defend her against. He really ought to go
now—ought to report to One the strange behavior of the Kindred High Chancellor
and explain that he had decided not to claim Mei-Li on those grounds.

And yet…he lingered. For some reason he
didn’t like the idea of leaving without her. But if he wasn’t feeling
protective, then what was the sensation that made him want to Claim her, though
his gut told him he should not?

Again, Six had no answer but though he
knew it was illogical, he found himself unwilling to leave Mei-Li just yet.
Perhaps
I should keep observing her for a just a little longer,
he told himself.
After
all, the inhabitants of this planet seem innocuous enough but who knows how
they behave when their sun goes down?

Yes, it would probably be prudent to watch
just a little while longer—perhaps just a solar hour or two until it began to
grow dark. Then, once he assured himself completely of her safety, he would
leave and go back to Z4 where he belonged.

Chapter
Six

Mei-Li was nearly dropping with exhaustion
by the time she finished the last piece of paperwork and pushed back from her
desk. The shelter hearing had run longer than she’d thought and had taken most
of her afternoon, meaning she hadn’t gotten back to the DCF until late.

In court, she’d had to defend her decision
to remove a two year old from a home where the parents had gotten high on meth
and allowed their child to get out of the house and run into a busy road. If
not for the quick actions of a concerned neighbor, the little boy would likely
have been killed. Mei-Li had been called and had made a quick decision to
remove the child to a safer environment.

She’d had to describe the state of the
apartment, (it was a mess with drug paraphernalia everywhere) and the actions
of the parents, (high out of their minds and completely unaware that their
child had gotten into the road) to the judge and the members of the court.
Unfortunately, the meth-head parents had somehow scratched up the money for a
pretty good attorney and he had attacked Mei-Li in every way he could, trying
to find some reason why she was at fault for taking the child.

Defending herself and her decisions was a
lengthy and exhausting process which left Mei-Li feeling drained and shaky. She
could hold her own in court, even against the best attorney, but it always took
a toll on her. In the end, the judge upheld the shelter and the parents were
ordered to get drug counseling and treatment before they could get their child
back. They glared daggers at Mei-Li as she left the courtroom, as though she
was solely responsible for the loss of their child and their drug habit had
nothing to do with it.

For her part, Mei-Li refused to return
their looks or acknowledge them at all. She didn’t like to take kids from
families but in this case it was clearly in the child’s best interest. And at
the end of the day, that was her main objective—to protect the children under
her care. If that meant taking them away from a potentially harmful or deadly
situation, she was fully prepared to do so, even if it earned her the enmity
and undying hatred of the parents she took them from.

When she had at last reached the office
again, it was four forty-five and almost time to clock out—a thought that would
have made her laugh if she’d had the energy left to do so. There was no leaving
the office until she got through her neglected mound of paperwork and
documented everything she had done today from her interaction with Drunk Mom
and her kids, all the way up to her meeting with Kristin’s teacher.

Kristin…

With her paperwork finally done, Mei-Li
looked at her watch and saw it was half past eight. A glance out the window
showed it was full dark outside. Even in sunny Florida the sun had to set sometime. She was
the only one left in the office.

Mei-Li thought longingly of her bed back
in her little bungalow in Seminole Heights.
It had a memory foam mattress—a gift from her father—one of the few she had
been willing to accept. If Senator Hastings had his way, she would have been
living in a plush condo in Hyde Park instead of a tiny bungalow on the
unfashionable end of Seminole Heights.
Then again, if her adopted father had had his way, she also would have gone
through law school and would be working on making partner at this point. But
Mei-Li hadn’t wanted law school or med school either though her GPA and SAT
scores could have put her on the path to either one. She’d wanted to make a
difference in the lives of children.

Part of her determination had to do with
the way she’d been raised herself. Oh, she hadn’t been abused or neglected—not
in the way some of her clients were, anyway. But her mother had been a high
society butterfly who had adopted her because it was the fashionable thing to
do—rescuing a disadvantaged baby was like having the latest Coach bag in some
circles. Her father, though doting, was often distant and consumed with his
work.

Mei-Li had been raised by a series of
nannies and private tutors and had been sent away to boarding school at the
tender age of twelve. As a consequence, she felt keenly for the children she
watched over. She saw the same pattern over and over—how desperately the
children loved their parents and how little affection and care they were often
shown in return. That was why when she sensed genuine love and concern in a
family, she tried so hard to keep it together.

And that was why, despite being dead on
her feet, she was going to swing by Kristin’s house instead of heading straight
home to bed.

The lights were on in the small, rundown
house in Tampa
Heights
when Mei-Li got there. There was a plaster angel with a chipped face in the
weedy, overgrown front lawn. It looked eerie in the glow of the orange sodium
arc lights which dotted the shabby street. A dirty rattan couch sat on the
sagging front porch and discarded toys were strewn on the steps leading up to
it.

Tampa
Heights wasn’t
far from Seminole
Heights—her
own area of town which was perfectly safe. But despite or maybe because of its
proximity to a nicer neighborhood, TH was one of the worst areas of Tampa and Mei-Li was aware
that it wasn’t the best place for her to be out on her own. She parked across
the narrow street and gripped a small canister of pepper spray in one hand as
she watched the shadows moving across the shaded front windows.

She’d been thinking she would have to go
knock on the front door and demand entry to see if Randy Dungston was there but
when she pulled up, she saw that wouldn’t be necessary. There were two cars
parked in the dirt driveway of the grungy little house. One was an old gray
Chevy sedan that looked like it had seen better days. The other was a jacked up
truck with huge tires and purple flames running across its sides. It was
instantly recognizable and Mei-Li knew exactly who the owner was—Randy.

Even if she hadn’t seen the truck—which he
hadn’t even taken the trouble to try and hide—she would have known he was
there. That was because the door to the little house was open, doubtless to let
in the fresh air on a hot Florida
night. However, it also let
out
the raised voices of two people involved
in a screaming match.

“You fucking bastard! Why are you lying to
me? I know you were with her—I
know
you were! Janelle saw you—she told
me.”

Mei-Li sighed. That was the voice of Angry
Mom—so named by herself and Claudia because the woman literally
never
stopped yelling. Mei-Li had never heard her speak in a normal tone of voice,
not even to her children. She shouted and screamed at everyone and everything,
her hatred welling up from an inexhaustible fountain of rage buried deep inside
and spewing over everyone she met.

“God damn it, woman! So what if I
was
with her? I wouldn’t have to be if you’d put out once in awhile! But
no—
you
act like your legs are fucking glued shut! Why the hell shouldn’t I get some
somewhere else if you’re not gonna give it to me?”

Annnnd
that was the voice of Randy. He was definitely there and
he sounded good and drunk. Mei-Li massaged her temples where a really good
tension headache was trying to take hold. So he and Angry Mom were reenacting
their old, toxic dance all over again. Under the shouting, Mei-Li thought she
could hear crying. Probably Kristin or her little sister, Megan, upset by the
fight.

This had to stop before it went any
further but Mei-Li knew perfectly well she couldn’t break it up all by
herself—it wasn’t safe. She pulled out her cell phone and punched in Claudia’s
number.

“Hey, boss lady—remember how you said
you’d back me up if I needed it?”

Claudia gave a long suffering sigh.
“Seriously Mei-mei? It’s almost nine at night and I was just settling down to
catch up on
Gray’s Scandal
. I have two juicy episodes all saved up and I
was about to pour myself a big glass of red wine.”

“Well, there’s plenty of juicy scandal
going on down here at Kristin Hill’s house if it makes you feel any better,” Mei-Li
said dryly. “Randy Dungston is back with a vengeance and he and Angry Mom are
airing their dirty laundry loud enough for everyone in Tampa Heights
to hear it.”

Claudia was immediately all business.

“Okay, I’m on my way and I’ll call a squad
car too. He’s breaking the court order to keep him away from the girls so we
can have him hauled away at least for the night.”

“They might take awhile to get there—this
is Friday night, not exactly one of their down times,” Mei-Li pointed out.

“They’ll get there, I’ll make sure of it,”
Claudia said grimly. “In the meantime, you just stay in the car with the
windows rolled up and the doors locked. Do
not
go into that house alone.
Okay?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Mei-Li
said dryly. “I’ll sit tight and wait for you.”

“Good. Be there in twenty. Fifteen if
traffic cooperates.”

“Got it.”

Mei-Li hung up and turned her attention
back to the scene going on in the little house across the street. The angry
voices had risen from shouts to screams and then she heard the sound of glass
breaking.

“Stupid
cunt,”
Randy was shouting.
“Don’t be yelling at me! Like you ain’t never fucked around. I know what you
were doing when I was in County. I
know
you were fucking
around—spreading your legs for anything with a dick!”

“No, I swear, Randy…” Angry Mom’s voice
was somewhere between a shriek and a wail. “I never…I
never…”

“Lying
bitch!”

More breaking glass and more shrieking had
Mei-Li on the edge of her seat. She knew it wasn’t safe to go inside and
confront the angry drunk by herself but she also didn’t want to just sit here
and listen to Randy beat the crap out of Angry Mom while Kristin and her sister
witnessed the whole messy scene.

Then she heard something worse.

“Not my mommy! You leave my mommy alone!”
The piercing, high pitched voice was unmistakably Kristin’s. Mei-Li could see
her small shadow in the lit front windows rushing at a much bigger form which
had to be Randy.

“Get back you little
bitch!”
Randy
grunted as the big shadow grabbed the smaller one. “Or, I swear to God I’ll
slice you up while your fucking
‘mommy’
watches.”

That was it—Mei-Li knew it was dangerous
but she couldn’t wait any longer. She couldn’t sit in her safe, locked car and
wait for the police while an innocent little girl was maimed and possibly killed.
No matter what happened, she had to go in.

She was out of her car and across the
street almost before the thoughts finished flashing through her mind. The door
was open and she ran into the house without knocking or calling, holding the
pepper spray straight out in front of her like a gun.

What she saw when she got to the cramped
and cluttered living room made her cold all over.

Randy Dungston had Kristin’s in a choke
hold, one beefy arm around the little girl’s thin throat. In the other hand he
had a broken bottle, its jagged green shards of glass poking out of his meaty
fist. Kristin was gasping and turning blue, her eyes bulging with the effort to
breathe as Dungston brought the glittering, razor sharp glass closer and closer
to her face.

Angry Mom was standing helplessly to one
side, shouting something that Mei-Li didn’t even hear and Kristin’s little
sister, Megan, who was only four, was wailing inconsolably as she watched her
sister about to be maimed.

Mei-Li was so angry she felt like she
could have exploded with rage but she knew if she made the wrong move she might
cost Kristin an eye.

“Randy Dungston,” she said in a low voice
that quivered with fury. “Put Kristin down and drop that bottle
now.”

Randy looked down at her, sneering. He was
a big bully of a man with red cheeks and a nose that reminded Mei-Li of a
snout. He stank of sweat and scotch and cigarette smoke and his piggy little
eyes were bloodshot.

“Well, if it ain’t the little chink social
worker,” he grunted, making no move to either release Kristin or drop the
jagged, broken bottle. “The same little chink bitch that got me kicked out of
my own home and sent to jail.”

“This is not your home. You lost the right
to call it that when you hurt and tortured two helpless little girls—just like
you’re doing now. You let her go right now or I
will
spray you!” She
held out the pepper spray, her arm trembling, wishing she had something more
lethal like a tazer or a gun.

To her consternation, Dungston just
laughed.

“I been to jail, bitch—you oughta know
since you’re the one who sent me there. You think I’m afraid of a little pepper
spray? Besides, you spray me, you’re gonna get her too.” He nodded at Kristin
who had almost stopped struggling now. Her face had gone from blue to almost
gray. It was an alarming color and Mei-Li felt panic begin to gnaw at her
throat. What if he killed the little girl while she stood here helplessly and
watched?

To one side, Megan was still wailing and
Angry Mom was wringing her hands ineffectually and crying but neither reaction
was having any effect on Dungston. An evil grin had spread across his porcine
face as he watched to see what Mei-Li would do.