Mystique Rogue (11 page)

             
Yasmeen’s eyes glowed to a liquid gold with hatred as she nodded, too furious to speak.

             
“Good, now, I’m going to take this with me.” She held up the iron in her hand. “Consider this my trophy and my reminder on how you consider your
free passage
from now on.”  Slowly, she lowered her foot and, turning, strode through her group and out towards the door, not looking back to see if anyone followed.

             
Once outside, Carmen took a big breath of air through her clenched teeth, the pain began to overtake the adrenaline. Swallowing a groan, she managed to walk a straight line to the nearest dark alley. Inside the welcoming darkness she went to a knee, gripping her wrist as agony ripped it’s way up her arm.  Biting her lip until it bled, she bowed her head and prayed for relief.

             
Almost instantly, her dad was there, kneeling next to her, speaking quickly into his cell phone.
 
“Rick, get rolling with the delivery van and tell the Hummer driver to make for the barn. We’re in the alley a block down from Sanctuary.” Her dad listened. “My daughter is hurt bad, Gus. But she may have gotten something we need to help build our case.”  There was another pause. “No, I don’t know what the damned thing was who attacked her. I haven’t the faintest, just get your ass down here and warm up the wings.”

             
Duncan dropped to his knees on the other side of Carmen and took her good hand in his own, offering what solace he could. When she looked him in the eyes, she saw the ice blue color start to glow. “You and I are going to talk.” She murmured so only he could hear. “Because after tonight, the masks will come off if I have to do it myself.”

             
Duncan lowered his eyes just as the delivery van showed up. The guys picked her up and put her inside on a soft seat. Everyone had just piled in and barely got the door shut before they were moving again. Immediately, a giant black man gently took her hand to examine the damage. With infinite care, he washed the damaged flesh in a saline solution before looking her in the eyes. “This is going to hurt like a bitch. You want something to kill the pain?”

             
Carmen smiled, breathing through the agony. “Anything but morphine. I need to have a clear head despite the pain.” She glanced around the van then sighed. “I’m still on the payroll for
The Rogue
.”

             
On cue, her phone rang. Without a word, Duncan brought it out, then attached the hands free earphone and mike before taking a seat next to her free hand. Gus hit a couple buttons, “You’re scrambled, Miss Marshall. The signal can’t be tracked.”
  

             
A small sting of a needle entering the damaged flesh brought a hiss of renewed pain to the area as Carmen answered the phone. “Talk to me.”

             
Logan’s toneless voice sent a thrill of dread down her spine. “We’ve got a situation.”  

              “Explain.”

             
“We’re at the hotel he is due to perform here in twenty four hours.  But he’s been acting strangely. How do I explain him growling when he speaks? Or the sudden addiction to raw steak. He sent down a rare cooked steak claiming it was burnt! Now he’s locked himself in the penthouse and won’t answer the door.”

             
She looked at Duncan, whose wide eyes let her know he’d heard everything. “Where’s his manager?”

             
“He’s been inside with him all this time.”

             
“Logan, where’s the rest of the crew?”

             
“Doing okay, but we’re all on high alert. Even the twins are armed to the teeth.”

             
“Hang on a sec.”  She looked at her hand as the brand was tugged free of her palm, leaving a blackened mess with a vague imprint of a cat’s face. Her gaze met her dad’s.“You got an airport around here? Somewhere small where no questions will be asked no matter what?”

             
He nodded, “Yeah. What’s going on?”

             
“Nothing yet. Give me the location.” When he did, she repeated it to Logan.

             
“Yeah, what do you want to do?” Tension laced Logan’s voice.

             
“BA still around?” Carmen watched the medic bandage her hand, then secure it with a soft leather glove.

             
Laughter rang through. “Yeah, he’s busy scaring the straight people with his facial tattoos and his attitude. What they don’t realize is, the most he’ll do is whip out his wallet and bore them to death with pictures of his family and his pets.”

             
His words brought a smile to Carmen’s face, then she sighed, “Thanks for the smile. Now tell the Black Angel he needs to grow wings and fly his butt up to the location I just gave him.” She chuckled. “And tell him no eating anyone on the way. You know how he is.”

             
He laughed. “You know him too well. I’ll get him rolling. Anything else?”

             
After a moment, she grinned. “Yeah, find me some catnip.”

             
“Catnip?”

             
“Yeah, Catnip. Not the pet store kind, the herbal stuff. You can probably find it in a health food store somewhere. I want at least a pound of it waiting when I get there.”

             
Duncan made a strange noise. When she looked at him, his face had taken on a way too serene look. His the twinkle in is eyes gave him away. It was a look which told Carmen he was seconds away from howling in laughter. The rest of the team concentrated on their assigned tasks.

             
Logan’s voice brought her back to the conversation at hand. “Oh, and Michelle says to tell you the building manager is also a friend of hers. She says she’ll explain when you get here. Until then, you have a safe flight.”

             
“With Black Angel flying the friendly skies?” She laughed. “I’ll be there in a few hours. Now stay out of trouble.” With those last words Carmen hung up the phone.

             
David Marshall moved over to sit at his daughter’s feet. “Do you need me to go with you?”

             
“No, Dad. You’ve got a job to do here. Like you said, I just gave you the evidence you need. With the recorded conversation you have, the video from the glasses, and the branding iron, you can start building your case.  Keep it going and you’ll probably get something happening. I have a job to do and something tells me it’s not going to get any easier.”  Carmen ran her good hand over the glove. 

             
He sighed and
nodded. “I know, but I can’t help but think I should be helping protect you, not let you get hurt. When they told me about the leopard attack, the team had to sit on me in the middle of a mission to keep me from heading home.”

             
The drugs and endorphins were finally doing their job, leaving Carmen aware and intact of her senses yet keeping the pain a distant memory. Smiling, she placed her good hand on top of her dad
’
s.  “Don’t worry. At least you and your team can keep an eye on her royal bitchiness while I’m out keeping my client out of trouble. This is my job, Dad, risks and all. Besides, I have you to blame for all this.”

             
“Me?!? “He spluttered, “How do you figure?”

             
She grinned. “You and your military trips to the gun range, the Kung Fu lessons with the resident Master of Tiger, oh, and let’s not forget the obstacle course in the middle of basic training. To teach these girlie men how to distinguish between civilian and combatant. I believe was your explanation.”

             
The whole team started to laugh. “She’s got you there, boss. I remember the speech. Then this little pipsqueak done knocked me on my ass.”  The medic’s in his soft, Cajun accent caused Carmen to smile. “Twice.”

             
“I know, Philipe. You don’t need to remind me.” He grinned, “But she is pretty effective, don’t you think?”

             
“Aye. Mon petite ami is quite an effective teaching aid, whether it is in the role of helpless civilian caught in a combat zone, or a combatant in disguise.”  He winked at Carmen.

             
Laughing, Carmen looked at everyone “How long until we reach the air strip?  I have to get my act together. And guys? When you see the airbrushed custom chopper buzzing the treetops, don’t shoot
.
him. Shoot at his baby and I’ll guarantee you someone’s going to get a set of teeth marks somewhere on his body.”

Chapter Seven

              Deafening silence met her ears as Carmen skidded to a halt in front of the penthouse doors at six am in the morning. Black Angel had actually hovered a couple feet from the top of the hotel where
The Rogue
was staying, allowing Duncan and her to jump safely. 
I just hope to hell he got out of there before someone saw his chopper. Gods. How did I hook up with an insane man who lives to taunt law enforcement at every opportunity? Having a glow in the dark demon angel holding up a sign  reading `fuck the cops’  flying around is a surefire way to get his tail shot out of the sky one of these days.
Her mental dialog lasted until Duncan had disappeared over the far side of the roof while she took the inside stairwell steps two at a time.

             
Logan and Louis were at the door with a couple of large boxes.  When they spotted her, they blinked in surprise. “But, the lobby didn’t...”  She held up a hand.

             
“They didn’t because BA dropped me off on the roof.”  She nodded at the door. “How’s it going?”

             
Louis sighed, “It’s been quiet for a half an hour now. You sure you want to do this?”

             
Carmen nodded. “Yeah. You got the catnip ready?”

             
Logan patted the box next to him. “Bought out the bulk load from the nearest store. Guaranteed chemical free.”

             
“Thanks guys. Now, I want everyone to steer clear of this place until I come out. Outside surveillance only.” She looked at the two of them. “I know everyone has questions, and I’ll answer them.
 
But until we get this contract straightened out and a score settled,” She held up her bandaged hand, Philipe had done a good job at wrapping it, so there would be no further damage. “We need to stay focused on the here and now, and no matter how bizarre the case may be.”

             
Louise handed her the door’s key card. “You be careful. It sounded like a major cat fight going on in there earlier.”  With those words, they all backed off down the hallway.

             
Sighing, Carmen slid the card in the slot. When it clicked, she twisted the handle and kicked the door open, dragging the first box in, then going back for the second one. After slamming and making sure all the locks on the door were in place, she noticed the deep scratches in the elegant scrollwork.  Quickly, she turned around to scan the room, taking in the shredded furniture, the broken coffee table, and the splash of blood across the far wall.

             
“
Rogue
?” Carmen took a tentative step further into the room. “Sean?”

             
“
In the bedroom
.” His voice seemed to come out of nowhere, yet it sounded clear as a bell inside her mind.

             
Throwing caution to the wind, Carmen leapt over tables and kicked chairs out of the way to get to the master bedroom. Rebounding off a wall, she managed to get to the doorway without killing herself in the process. The sight which greeted her was not what she had expected. In fact, it took several minutes before the scene actually became clear.  When it did, it took all her willpower not to run from the room in terror. Instead, she forced herself to move closer, reminding her hysterical half  this was the man she was hired to protect, no matter what...

             
And she had failed him.

             
There, on the bed, was someone who appeared to be absolutely naked, yet painted white with streaks of red and black to resemble tiger stripes. His body had been buckled into a peculiar restraint device which forced his body to remain on his hands and knees. A ball gag had been forced into a mouth which seemed strangely elongated and a set sharp teeth had begun to imbed themselves in the rubber ball.                As Carmen stood at the edge of the bed, the horror of it all finally made itself painfully clear. The red streaks were not painted on, it was blood, slowly flowing down his sides. Then she saw it, saw and gagged on the bile rising in her throat.

             
Someone had skinned all the flesh from Sean Cameron’s back, leaving a mangled mass of muscle, blood, and bone.

             
“
Duncan get in here!”

             
A white tiger leaped into the room even before the sound of her agonized yell died in the room’s confines.  Seeing the tragedy, he
let out an unearthly roar and padded quickly over to nudge his friend. Turning, Khan stared at her and Duncan’s voice floated in her mind. “
Who did this? How did they take him?”

             
Rubbing her forehead, Carmen sighed, “I’m either going totally insane or the impossible has come into my life.” She looked at the two of them. “Okay, I’m going to get this stuff unbuckled so we can lay him out flat. I have a damned good idea who and why.”  Slowly, she knelt beside Sean and began undoing the buckles holding the legs locked into their position. Moving her left fingers
sent agony up her left arm, but she gritted her teeth and bore the pain as she got the legs stretched out, trying to ignore the sounds of agony coming through the ball gag.

             
“Carmen, how did you know? I mean, how did you find out what was going on?”

             
Carmen grinned at Sean’s voice in her head. “You should know better than to ask, my friend.  Remember who you’re dealing with?  How many of my team were watching things until I could get back? Anything unusual happens, I get notified.  It just so happens
Her Royal Bitchiness
pissed me off enough before I left the Sanctuary Club with Duncan just in time to get the phone call without alerting her to what was happening.” She reached up to undo the gag in his mouth, and eased the ball out so he could work his jaw.

             
A harsh, barking laughter erupted the moment he could talk. “You actually called her that to her face?” Sean turned his head to look up at her. The tiger like features were slowly retracting back into the most beautiful face she had ever seen. The exception being the trio of claw scars going across the face, just under both eyes. “I’m amazed she let you out of there.”

             
Duncan/Khan padded over to nudge her left hand. “
She did more than just call her names. You should have seen her.”
He went on to tell him the entire story while she got the rest of the bondage gear off .

             
Sean looked at her with a shocked expression on his face. “Damn, woman. You do know how to take on the world, don’t you?”

             
Carmen arched an eyebrow. “I always say if you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the fucking porch.”

             
“I take offense, Carmen.  Say `big cats’ instead of dogs and I won’t bite you on the ass.”

             
She laughed out loud. “Try it, you fur ball, and you’ll get a mouthful of catnip. I warned you last time you showed your teeth at me.”

             
The tiger showed it’s teeth in what, to her, was a smile.

             
Sean coughed and began working to sit upright, hissing in pain. “You two are incorrigible.” He smiled. “But at least it’s keeping my mind off the pain.”

             
She placed a hand on his forearm. “Talk to me. Tell me what happened here?” When he opened his mouth, Carmen placed a finger over his lips. “Not how you and your best friend are able to do the impossible, though it does explain some of the illusions you do.  How you wound up in this disgusting harness and, well...”  She left the rest of it unsaid as she threw the bondage gear in a corner.  The horror of seeing his back like it was would be branded in her mind for the rest of her life.

             
Duncan nudged her left side, nibbling her burned fingertips throught he glove, forcing her to scratch the tiger behind the ears.  Sean nibbled her fingers on her right hand and the combination sent her body into overdrive. With effort, Carmen pulled her hands away. “Okay boys, flirting with me is not going to give me any answers, nor any plan of action.”  She looked at them both. “Sean, you have a show to do tomorrow. I’m assuming calling the medics is a bad idea. So tell me what’s going on?”

             
Sean drew her down to sit on the floor while Duncan laid his furry head in her lap. “Well, you now know the reason why I wear a mask.” He touched the scarring. “I envied you the ability to go without one. But in my profession, being a victim tends to have an adverse effect on the population at large. Besides...” He reached over to scratch Khan under the chin. “If it ever got out  my protector was the one involved with the attack on me, there would be a lot of people demanding he be put to sleep.”

             
“You’re avoiding her question, Sean.”
Duncan’s head butted him in the midsection.
“Because I want to know as well.”

             
Carmen grinned. “He beat me to the punch, Sean. You’re avoiding the issue and, as head of the Security team you hired from Tarrington Security, in charge of seeing you safe from any and all harm. We failed you once, my friend, I promise you there won’t be a second time.”

             
“Well, we got here and everything went smoothly. Your team set up shop and had a good rapport with the hotel security so everything ran on an even keel.”  He smiled and ran a hand through her hair. “No one suspected anything in the way of an internal problem. Not even me. We had everything covered except for anyone inside,
The Rogue’s
personal people.”

             
“I should have been here, Sean. I would have had a grand time shredding Sam’s body into itty bitty bits.”
Duncan/Khan snarled on the heels of  his mental words.

             
Sean grimaced. “Inhale, Duncan. There were two people in here during the whole thing. One who took pleasure in inflicting pain on the helpless. The other who enjoyed watching.”

             
“Who Sean?” Carmen looked at him, watching his eyes. “Did anyone mention any names?  I know Sam was involved. But who was the other person?” She frowned. “And another thing, how did a stranger get past my team? They have every part of this building on video and physical surveillance.”

             
“I have no idea how he got in, but Sam, in his haze of lust, let slip a name I’ve never heard before.” He looked at the two of them. “Prince Ahmed.  As to the second part of your question, yesterday Sam drugged me with some odd concoction designed to induce a shapeshifter to lose control of his form.  Some of us are stronger willed than others. I managed to stay partially human, which is why those two stripped the skin off my back. This Prince wanted a trophy.  He mentioned something about being in town to acquire more slaves for his stables.  Kept mentioning something about his sister and a cat goddess needing more sacrificial peons to do their bidding.”

             
At the sound of  the name she’d never wanted to hear again, Carmen began to shake uncontrollably.  A red haze began to mist over her eyes as a blind rage drove all sane thoughts from her head.  Memories of what he had planned to do to the twins and what she had to endure from bastard overrode common sense.  So blind to the outside world, she never noticed when she had stood up and started walking towards the door. Never saw the two of them follow her into the living room. In a coordinated move, Sean swept her legs out from under her while Duncan used his considerable feline bulk and body mass to pin her to the floor.

             
Enraged, she fought like a madwoman, adrenaline giving her strength enough to lift two hundred pounds of solid feline muscle up off her chest for a few seconds. Silently, she writhed, trying to get out from under the heavy weight.  Nothing mattered to her but getting out of the room and finding the son of a bitch.  Her imagination produced vivid scenes of what she would do to him when she found him, the cops and Feds be damned.

             
Carmen’s struggles ended in the form of a heavy paw making contact with the side of her head.  The red shot darkness enveloped her into its blessed silence, bringing her down into the abyss where nothing could touch her. The last thing she heard before the blackness wrapped herself in a warm blanket was Sean shouting for Logan. Then, there was nothing.

             
Around noon, Carmen finally opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut again. This prompted someone to close the curtains, allowing her to make a second attempt. One eye opened all the way while the other seemed to be glued partially shut. Slowly she took a look at her surroundings while feeling the left side of her face.

             
Duncan, in human form, stood near the curtains, smiling sheepishly.  Sean entered room, carrying an ice pack. “Well, you’re awake, finally.” He wore a pair of black jeans hung loose at the waist, and nothing else. “I’m sorry we had to do sit on you, but when you went berserk, you wouldn’t listen to reason, we had to be a bit dramatic. While you were sleeping, Louis and Carla showed up.  When they heard what happened, they let us both know about the last job you and your team accepted.”  He knelt in front of her to gently place the ice over her injured face.