Heartfelt (19 page)

Conrad climbed down the tree to a lower branch, then jumped to the ground close to Asia. “We have to go, right now. The results of TNG’s drugs trials are coming. Super strong men and warrior were-cats.”

“I know. I got a glimpse of them through the trees about forty yards away.”

They ran the length of the building before they spotted a basement window. It was a large, slider window, and to Conrad it looked big enough for them to slip through and drop inside.

He motioned to it and picked up a large rock. He concentrated on applying just enough pressure to break the glass without shattering it completely. Then he reached inside to unlock the window, slide it open and climb through, not knowing what he would find.

The room was completely dark, but he could make out the purpose of the room. Weapons storage. He shook his head.
Humans.

Asia was already climbing through the window. He grabbed her around the waist and set her feet to the floor. She frowned at the variety of weapons. “Let’s not wait for them to discover us,” she said.

Conrad sucked in a deep breath, processing the gravity of the situation. It would overwhelm him if he let it, and what good what that do?

Asia twisted the doorknob, but, as expected, it was locked. She made quick work of breaking off the doorknob and tearing apart the locking mechanism. They both peered into the dark hall.

The scent coming at him made Conrad wrinkle his nose. “Humans. Very smelly humans.”

“That’s odd. In the basement? Why, I wonder.” Asia followed the scent, Conrad with her, walking through the hall. The pungent scents and low voices drew them to a locked room.

Asia put her hands to her head, willing the thoughts to disappear.

“Are you hearing things?” Conrad asked, placing a hand to her shoulder.

“Yes. The thoughts are saying
I am not going to use that bathroom again. It’s disgusting. What’s going to happen to me? If I get my hands on one of the guards I’m taking him down, to be sure.
”

“What can I do?” It pained him to see her get attacked like that. He watched her breathe in and out and her face relax as she allowed the thoughts to drift away.

“I’m okay now. Thanks.”

He tried to hide his eyes, before Asia saw the pride and tenderness he felt for her. Things were now uncertain between them and he felt uncomfortable laying himself open when she may reject him.

Conrad wrenched the door open, the smell rolling out like a thundercloud. The group of people inside shrunk to the back wall. Fear saturated the room.

“Who are you?” Asia asked. “What are doing here in this locked room?”

“We mean you no harm.” Conrad spread his hands open and moved slowly toward them. “How long have you been in here?”

Conrad scanned the room. A few chairs sat along the walls. At the back of the room a door read Restroom. From the smell, he deduced it hadn’t been cleaned in a while.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” A tall man leaning against one of the walls posed the questions.

“I’m Asia, this is Conrad. I found my mother held captive here. And a friend was taken from us by people here. We’ve rescued them both and now we need to find a way out before we’re captured.”

Conrad walked through the group of about twenty people, all wearing hospital scrubs, and stepped up to the man leaning on the wall. “Now it’s your turn. Who are you and what are doing here?”

The man chewed on his lower lip and stared at Conrad. Finally, he started talking. “I’m Glen. We’ve all been brought here by force and put under heavy sedation. Then some of us are taken off the drug and brought here. We don’t know why.”

“That’s right,” spoke up a middle-aged woman. “We’re all from different cities, but we were all living on the street.”

Conrad’s mind began connecting dots. If he was right, everyone in the room would soon be killed.

“How long have you been here?” Asia repeated.

“I’ve been here on this property for two months. In this room for about a week.” Glen pulled at the whiskers on his chin and stared at the door. “Others have been here longer, some less time. Every day, men come and take a few of us away and new people are brought.”

Asia knitted her brow. “Where are the people taken? Do they come back?”

“We don’t know where they’re taken.” He dropped his gaze to the floor. “No one comes back.”

“We’ve got to get you out of here.”

Conrad suspected these people would become dinner for the animals in the preserve. His heart clenched at the notion that TNG was farming humans for animal consumption and Glen and the others didn’t know. “Will you come with us?”

“You know the way out?” Glen asked.

“Sort of. We have to get out of the building and into the trees. From there we can get through the fence and off the grounds.”

Conrad waited for a response, knowing time for escape was shrinking.

“Yeah, we’ll follow you.” Glen spoke to the others, assuring them escape was essential and right now. They turned to Conrad and Asia. “Let’s go.”

• • •

Conrad posted outside the window and Asia, inside the weapons room, assisted everyone out. Some of them grabbed a gun—9 mms, revolvers—for themselves. She didn’t blame them. But her patience burned low, as realization of their dangerous circumstances knotted her stomach. It seemed too good to be true that the menace that was following them had walked right by the broken window without noticing.

The last one out the window, Asia breathed in fresh air, then checked for scents and sounds. Her heart plummeted. Sounds in the distance made her cringe. Fear for her friends jittered in her brain. “Let’s get moving.”

With Conrad at the lead and Asia bringing up the rear, the group as a whole managed a slow jog around the side of the building back the way they’d come from. The undergrowth in the forest slowed them down, but Asia pushed the people forward. Their lives depended on making it off the grounds. How they would manage then remained a question, but she expected the colony cats would figure it out.

Noise from the preserve grounds grew louder and louder. At first it was a mixture of growls and shouting, but now it turned more distinct. Individual commands rang out from unfamiliar voices. And every now and then she detected a voice or growl from one of the colony cats.

Conrad walked to her. “It doesn’t sound good. I’m afraid our people and were-cats didn’t make it to the fence. I’m going to follow the noise and if what I fear has happened, I’m going to help out.”

His face stern, Asia couldn’t decipher his emotions. How long would she be in limbo? It had only been a day since they’d made love, but the not knowing if they could try to overcome the obstacles in their relationship was burning a hole in her stomach. Throughout the duration of their friendship the same problems—her mother, his parents, their different belief systems, and the devotion to remaining friends—now might turn out to be the things that keep them apart. “You can’t leave us.” She put her hand on his arm, seeking assurances. She didn’t need him to help her, but the spot he’d quickly filled in her was keeping her going through all the mess.

“I have to. You’ve got this.” He squared her and cupped her face. “I’ll see you later.” His lips touched hers, gently.

Then he sprinted away from her, toward the danger.

“Okay, people, let’s keep moving.” Her heart in turmoil, her focus dissected, Asia’s head started to fill with thoughts again that were not her own.

You scumbag! Get off me.

There are so many of them.

I’m taking the shot.

She had to make it stop. These were terrible, haunting thoughts. She consciously grounded herself. It was hard. Distractions all around played with her impatience. Again, she tightened her focus on filtering out the thoughts. Her tension relaxed and she let the disturbing thoughts drift away.

“Are you coming?” It was Glen. He had laugh lines around his eyes. But his irises were dull globes of blue. Dull, she suspected, because of what he’d been through.

She nodded. “Yes, let’s head on.” They trudged through the trees, the sounds of the chaos on the preserve kept the people moving.

Finally, Asia spotted the fence. It was still yards away, but they would be there soon. She’d get these people outside the fence. She’d take them to safety in Lacey’s minivan. It would be tight but she’d make it work.

Gunshots sounded. The group stopped, frozen in fear. Asia’s heart pounded loud in her ears. She wouldn’t let her imagination conjure up possible scenarios. “Let’s go, people. We’re wasting time.”

They reached the fence, nearing safety. She held up the flap and guided them to the other side. One by one, they crawled through the hole until all twenty were on the other side.

But they still were not safe. She had to get them to the vehicle. She already knew she wasn’t going anywhere. She would get the people to the vehicle and send them to the place they knew, the community shelter in Laurelwood.

She didn’t have it in her to leave Conrad behind. She was going to find him.

More gunshots rang out. Asia hurried the people to the Rover parked in the grove of trees, but when they arrived, the only car missing was Lara’s Crosstrex.

Her imagination went to work again. Had they all been captured, all but Lara, who drove Casey home?

Standing near Glen, Asia did what she could for the people. “I need to go help Conrad. The keys to the Rover are in the ignition. Take it and drive to the shelter. You’ll get help there. I’ll find you later.”

“You’re worried about Conrad, aren’t you?” Glen stood beside her.

“I am. I’m sorry to leave you to fend for yourselves, but I need to go find him. And my other friends. I think they might be in trouble.”

He slanted his head and caught her gaze. “You know, the group of us, we aren’t all mental patients or drug abusers. I got downsized. I was a successful salesman for a radio station. I had a wife and two children.” He looked away. “I lost my wife and kids when I lost my income and couldn’t find another job.”

“I’m so sorry. You’ve been through some tough times.” Asia didn’t mind hearing his story. He’d been close to being murdered. He deserved acknowledgement. But time was wearing hard on her back.

“I’m just saying, we can help.”

Asia stopped short. That got her attention. Confusion fluttered her pulse. “No, you don’t need to. I want you all to get to safety.”

“Do you think we’d leave you in danger when we could help? I’m not like that. My life has very little purpose anymore. But this, helping you fight the terrible people at Phoenix Biosciences, is something I can do that has meaning.”

“You’re very kind. But you’ve already been through too much.”

He turned to the rest of group. “Anyone who doesn’t want to help, take the car and go. No hard feelings.” No one moved to leave. Glen stood tall and turned to Asia. He pulled out a gun he’d taken from the storage room. “Time is wasting.” He dropped boxes of ammunition he’d been carrying and offered it to anyone else who’d taken a gun from Phoenix.

Minutes later they all slipped single file back through the hole in the fence and followed the service road toward the main grounds. The closer they got, the louder and more distinctive the sounds and scents became.

Asia heard and smelled familiar people. Relief swept through her when she saw Sterling and Ben creeping through the trees about fifty yards away. She waved to get their attention and sprinted to their location. “Hey, guys.”

“Asia, you need to get out of here. Fighting has cut us off from the others,” Sterling said. She had a gun stuffed in her belt.

“I’m going to call in some of my guys at LPD. We could use reinforcements.”

“We can’t involve the police. It would be dangerous for all the were-lynxes. We have to handle this ourselves, just as we always do.”

“You’re right.” He rubbed his chin and looked away.

“You two can go. You don’t need to be here.” Asia motioned to the others. “These people have offered to help us.”

“I have no intention of leaving.” Sterling nodded in the direction of the ruckus. “My sister and her husband are back there fighting for their lives. My friends in the colony are doing the same. We’re not leaving.”

“So the simple rescue—get in, get out—blew up in our faces.”

“Yes. You wouldn’t believe it. It’s Warrior Lynx version 3.5. And the men are nearly as strong as were-cats. They are filled with rage, ready to tear us apart.”

The thought sent shivers cascading down Asia’s spine. She had to remind herself why she and the others were fighting TNG. Oh, yeah, she thought. Saving the world from the evil group’s diabolical plans to rule everything. Too many people had been taken in by the group’s offer of wealth and power. No one could be trusted. She knew that. She shook her head and gave herself a mini-pep talk. Who better than Casey’s colony and friends to save the world? Go team Casey, go.

The pep talk lasted until she and the others reached the crest of a hill where the path opened up. Asia’s heart stopped.

Everywhere she looked she saw fighting. Her fellow colony members had shifted. Large, muscular men fought beside warrior were-lynxes. She turned to her small group and saw them stand strong.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to fight. But this is where I join my friends.” Asia and Sterling started walking cautiously closer. Asia attempted a connection with a warrior lynx set apart from the rest of the fighting. He saw her watching him and glowered. She focused her intention harder on the warrior and connected with his mind. Her breath caught. He wasn’t actually thinking anything. His mind was a foggy mess of compartments and chaos. It hurt her head, and she broke the connection, gasping. She checked for the warrior lynx and saw him charge back into the fight.

“Are you all right, Asia?” Sterling touched her shoulder, her expression worried.

“Yes. I tried to get input from a warrior over there. It was fruitless. I think the drugs have wired him up too much. He has no thoughts. He’s just running on rage. Let’s keep going.”

It wasn’t until they were almost absorbed into the melee that she noticed the small group of people was still following her.