Phantom Warriors: Saber-Tooth (2 page)

since the animals were only distantly related to tigers and close cousins to the lion.

Lying under a branch of the farthest bush, panting in the warm Southern California

heat, the cat yawned, displaying his seven-inch serrated teeth. Despite the imminent

danger, she took a step closer to get a better look. The cat didn’t move. It seemed to be

studying her as closely as she studied it. Katy knew it was impossible, but she couldn’t

shake the feeling of intelligent awareness that the animal conveyed.

What was she thinking? The cat was smart, but it didn’t have awareness beyond the

primal. She was a meal to the animal and nothing more. Displacing her emotions and

putting them on the cat was something that had never occurred before. At least not since

she was a kid. Katy stared at the cat, taking care not to look it directly in the eyes. The

last thing she needed was for it to interpret her intentions as a challenge for dominance.

She took in the cat’s appearance as it lounged on its side, watching her. Tufts of

white hair surrounded his massive twelve-inch head and accented his muscular legs and

belly much like the tigers of modern day. Yet, the stripes on his body were different, less

pronounced. Almost as if they were a genetic afterthought. Shorter than a lion, but still

huge up close, the cat easily weighed in at a thousand pounds of solid muscle, doubling

the King of the Jungle’s body mass and then some. His fangs, which looked more like

tusks, hung down like a walrus over his mouth. The lethal weapons could easily gut the

largest land-based mammal on the planet.

He truly was the find of the century. At least she thought it was a he. Katy glanced at

the juncture between his sinewy legs and her eyes bulged. Yep, definitely a he. This big

cat was going to make some female tiger or lion, depending on his genetics, very happy

indeed. Katy radioed for assistance, then raised the dart gun and aimed at the animal’s

flank.

Don’t do it!

The command slammed into her mind loud enough that she actually reached for the

side of her head to clasp her ears, almost dropping her gun. Who’d said that? She

carefully glanced around, keeping one eye trained on the cat at all times. Tigers and

other big cats had a reputation for jumping their prey from behind. Logic told her that

the saber-tooth might react the same way. She didn’t want to give it any kind of opening,

since all the scientific research done on this animal to date was based on theory, not fact.

She gave one final glance over her shoulder. The path behind her was clear of

people. Weird. She could’ve sworn that someone shouted.

Katy raised the gun again.

Please don’t.
The voice said, but this time it came as a request, not a command.

She frowned, ignoring her quivering fingers. Didn’t they say that the first sign of

schizophrenia was hearing voices? Petey’s words came rushing back to her. He’d said

the cat spoke to him. Was that what was happening now?

“Are you talking to me?” she asked aloud, feeling more than a little ridiculous.

The cat simply stared at her in that bored kitty kind of way.

“Of course you’re not.” She shook her head at her own foolishness. Katy aimed the

dart gun and fired. A bellow rang out in her head before quickly tapering as the cat

drifted off to sleep.

Katy trembled all over as she loaded the saber-toothed cat, with the help of the

backup she had called earlier, into the cage. She shut the tailgate, threw the tarp over the

cage and hopped into the truck to head to the compound. The company Katy worked

for, Bio Tech, temporarily housed the animals she trapped. Bio Tech would notify the

owners after their on staff vets thoroughly checked the animal out and collected

whatever reward had been offered. If the animal went unclaimed by its owners, the

company would use the creature for genetic research. Katy went out of her way to make

sure all animals she brought in were claimed, even if it took her weeks to hunt down the

owners. Unfortunately, the discovery of a saber-tooth fell into a different category

completely. There was no way Bio Tech would hand over the cat to anyone without a

fight.

“I need you guys to draw some of the media attention away, while I take the cat to

the lab. Throw the tarp over the cage in the back of your truck, so they don’t know which

one of us has the animal.”

“We were told to stay by your side,” the one guard said. “And that’s what we intend

to do.”

Katy knew she shouldn’t be surprised that they’d been ordered to escort her, but she

was. Since when had she become so untrustworthy? She faced the men. “Do you really

want to bring reporters down on top of Roger Sylvan and Bio Tech?”

As expected, their eyes rounded at the mention of her boss, then they shook their

heads. The men were well aware of the value of her find and didn’t want to do anything

to endanger their positions at Bio Tech.

“I didn’t think so,” Katy said. “Now get going.”

The security team threw the tarp over the cage in their truck, then jumped into their

vehicle and sped away, fishtailing out of the parking lot. With any luck, the media

would follow them.

She started the engine and reversed out of the parking lot into the main

thoroughfare. Katy glanced into the back of the truck, catching glimpses of the sleeping

cat under the tarp as the wind lifted the material. He really was the find of the century.

Suddenly, taking him to the compound didn’t seem like such a good idea. If she did

that, there was a good chance Roger would take all the credit for the discovery. The

news choppers circled above, filming her departure, instead of following the decoys. It

wasn’t like the cat would remain a secret for long.

Katy wanted credit for this discovery. Receiving credit would be the only way she

could leave Bio Tech and land another job. Yet even with that knowledge, for some

reason she couldn’t bring herself to share him right away. The connection she felt with

the big cat burned in her mind. Logically, Katy knew it was crazy to think the cat had

been talking to her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t seem to get the

masculine voice out of her head. She needed to get her thoughts straight and there was

only one place to do it.

She threw the truck in gear and headed for her home. There she’d examine him

further to ensure he wasn’t a hoax. Katy didn’t really have a place for a large cat, but it

wasn’t like she’d take him out of the cage. That cage was the only thing keeping him

from ripping her arm off. Well, the cage and the dart in his muscled flank. The tension in

her neck eased a fraction. With the drugs in the animal’s system, he was no danger to

anyone—at least for a little while.

She drove, trying to ignore the choppers following her down the freeway. So much

for distracting them. The last thing Katy wanted was for people to camp out on her lawn

in hopes of catching a glimpse of the cat. She took as many side streets as she could. She’

d just about given up trying to shake the pesky reporters, when a broadcast concerning a

high-speed police chase on the 405 freeway interrupted the music. The choppers veered

off in search of the next hot story. Katy’s shoulders slumped and she let out a long

breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

She glanced into the back of the truck, unable to see the animal. “You and I finally

have a little privacy,” she murmured, then continued home.

Katy pulled into her driveway forty minutes later and straight into her garage. She

pressed a button on her visor and watched the door slowly lower, before killing the

engine. Katy leaned down, resting her head on the steering wheel for a few moments as

she considered the ramifications of this discovery and her departure from protocol.

She knew she could be fired over this incident and in all likelihood would be. It

didn’t matter that she was the best tracker this side of the Rockies or that she’d dated

Roger for a time. The latter would only hurt her chances of keeping her employment.

Katy had given Roger the excuse he needed to fire her. So why did she feel so

compelled to see this through? It made no sense. Yet, she couldn’t ignore the little voice

inside her head, driving her on, telling her that time was almost up.

She straightened. It was too late now. Katy thought about the animal in the cage.

People from all over would come to study this cat and take blood, along with sperm

samples. They’d want to know where he came from and if there were any more cats out

there.

The last question brought Katy up short. Where
had
he come from? It’s not like they’

d been living in the Hollywood Hills and no one had noticed them until now. Did

someone dump him off? That made no sense either. How would you transport a cat that

size without being seen? It wasn’t possible, was it? And if someone had, why hadn’t they

come forward with their discovery? These were all good questions, with no easy or

obvious answers. Nothing made sense. The find of the century hadn’t just dropped out

of the sky.

Everyone knew that saber-toothed cats had disappeared thousands of years ago… at

least all scientific data had pointed to that conclusion. Until today that is. This discovery

would put zoological study on its ear. The history books would need to be rewritten.

The big cat’s discovery also opened the possibility that other creatures the world

considered extinct were still around. Katy smiled. This was too good to be true. With

that thought, the nerves at the back of her neck prickled with unease. Katy looked

around her garage to ensure she was alone.

“You’re being ridiculous,” she chided, then plucked the keys out of the ignition and

gathered her tote, before sliding out of the cab of the truck. Walking to the door leading

to her kitchen, she slipped the lock and dropped her bag inside. She shouldn’t need it.

Katy had given the cat enough tranq to keep him out for at least five more hours. That

should be ample time to examine and photograph him in the cage, before turning him

over to Roger Sylvan and the Bio Tech facility.

Katy strode toward the back of the truck and opened the tailgate. The hatch groaned

in protest, before she dropped it with a loud bang. She cringed. It was a good thing the

cat was in a deep sleep. She peered into the truck bed, then carefully loosened the ropes

and removed the tarp. Her mind froze as her gaze swept the steel cage. Refusing to

believe her eyes, Katy pinched the bridge of her nose and looked again. Where in the

hell was her cat?

A naked man lay inside the cage, sleeping soundly, with a tranquilizer dart sticking

out of his juicy rump. His closed lids accented his deceptively long brown lashes.

Cheekbones chiseled from marble sculpted his face, leading to lips that were made

for… Katy didn’t want to think what those lips could do to a woman. For a second, she

forgot all about the saber-tooth.

Heart pounding, she drank him in, unable to tear her gaze away. A fine pelt of hair

swirled around the flat discs of his nipples before trailing down his chest to his… Her

eyes rounded and she gulped as the heat of awareness spread through her body. Parts

that hadn’t seen any action in months began to tingle and throb. She quickly glanced

back at his face, her cheeks flaming in embarrassment. He took steady breaths in and

out, his muscled chest rising and falling evenly. Lucky for Katy, he remained blissfully

unaware of her ogling. She’d be mortified otherwise. What was she thinking?

Katy shook her head, reining in her wayward thoughts. It didn’t matter if she had

Adonis himself in that cage and from the looks of him it could very well be the

legendary Greek god. Right now, her only concern was finding out what had happened

to her saber-tooth.

She’d watched the Bio Tech team load the cat into her truck. Heck, she’d even helped

them. Katy hadn’t imagined the weight beneath her palms or the snuffles the animal

made from its drug-induced sleep. It had only taken seconds to get into her truck and

pull out of the lot. There was no way anyone had time to remove the cat. Yet, that could

be the only explanation.

Had she somehow been drugged? Had they all been given a mass hallucinogen?

One that made them believe they’d captured an extinct cat, when in fact, it had been a

man the whole time. The thought horrified Katy, but how else could she explain the

loss? Why would someone go to so much trouble? Even as the question crossed her

mind, she realized Roger would never believe her. Had her boss wanted her gone so

badly that he actually planned this whole thing? Katy wouldn’t put it past Roger, but

she didn’t think he had the brains to pull it off. There was only one way to find out for

sure.

She hoisted herself into the back of her pickup and pulled the key to the cage out of

her pocket. Katy slipped the key into the lock, watching the man carefully, even though

she knew he’d be out for close to twenty-four hours with that tranquilizer dart sticking

in his flesh. Whoever was behind this elaborate hoax or theft had thought of everything.

Katy licked her lips as she admired the rounded fullness of his bare ass. Her fingers