Rare Find (13 page)

Keeping his energy close and tight, he checked out the bathroom where she'd been attacked the first time. The same energies hovered, but there was an extra one.

Dark and faint and at ceiling level only.

What was happening here? Another truth filtered forward.

That ceiling-level energy belonged to an animal.

***

Ronin stood at Tabitha's bedside at the hospital and cursed under his breath. Talk about a panicked trip – again – to arrive back at the same damn room she'd just left. He couldn't help but think she needed to stay here awhile this time.

He already hated this woo woo stuff. That was fine and dandy when it was other people and he could do his cop stuff to help out, but this time it was more personal. Way more personal. And they belonged together, damn it.

He felt so helpless. And so lost.

He loved her and yet he hadn't been able to protect her.

Surely, there had to be something he could do. He'd been working on breaking the vandalism side of the case but when no one saw anything, no one heard anything and no one was admitting to knowing anything...he could only hope his brother's new security system would turn the tide. Ronin felt the break-ins and damage had to be an inside job, but after running through all the new hires, he'd come up with zilch.

Tired, he ran a hand down his face. He'd been here all night. And now he had to go to work.

"Tabitha, where the hell are you?" He stood up and whispered, "Please come home soon."

Ignoring the curious look from the nurse who was walking past the open doorway, he strode out to start his day.

And stopped at the hospital room door.
What was that

He thought he heard a sound of some kind.

He spun around and stared narrow-eyed at Tabitha. There was no change showing on her face. He walked closer to make sure. No. She looked the same.

Then what had he heard?

Feeling like an idiot, he leaned in until his ear was almost touching her pale lips.

Then he heard it again.

He straightened. No way. It couldn't be.

But...unable to help himself, he leaned over again. And there it was.

He shook his head in disbelief as he collapsed at her bedside. Numb, he leaned over for a third time. And heard nothing. He sat back up and stared at her slack features.

Damn. He could have sworn he'd heard what sounded like a terrified roar.

***

Fez listened to the telephone conversation going on in front of him. He desperately needed sleep. And that wasn't going to happen any time soon. In fact, not until the sale went through.

His boss sat at his desk, his hand clenching and unclenching. He'd already snapped the pencil in his hand. From the shouting going on the other end of the phone, the buyer was even more pissed.

He'd sent a representative to come and see the product.

The buyer's voice screamed through the phone. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to? I ain't giving you shit if I don't like the product. Do I look stupid? I ordered a healthy, whole female for breeding, not an old sick one."

The yelling had Fez sinking deeper into his seat. Oh shit. He wished he'd just called in an update instead of showing up in person. And he really wanted to find out about Roberts. He'd seen something in the river behind the warehouse this morning. Looked like a floater – someone he couldn't identify but his gut said he didn't need to…because he already knew.

He wanted to ask the boss, but hadn't found the courage.

He was pretty damn sure it was a man caught up in the log. When he'd made his way closer it had come unstuck and floated further down.

But he was damn sure it was his old partner.

Had that been the boss's handiwork? Fez hadn't been part of it and he didn't know if the boss would do his own dirty work. There was a new guy at the warehouse. An older scrawny guy named Keeper. Why the boss had hired him, Fez didn't know. Hell he wasn't big enough to do any work.

The boss shifted in his old wooden office chair, glaring at the phone. He shook his head, ready to blast back when the angry voice snapped again, "And I want her now. Don't you dare try to pull a fast one on me. I'll fucking take you out if you try to stiff me. I paid a hefty deposit. Give me the healthy female I ordered or give me my fucking money back, with interest."

"Do you know what we had to go through to get her in the first place?" the boss said in a hard voice.

Fez really didn't want to be here.

"I don't give a damn. My order was very clear," the disembodied voice snorted. "From what my man saw, this damn thing is almost dead, for crying out loud. Deliver what I paid for or else—"

"She's just stressed. She needs to settle into her new home and adapt to her surroundings. She'll pick up in no time. We've seen it before."

"Then you can hang onto her until she's healthy again. If she doesn't pick up, then sell her somewhere else. Or sell her in pieces for all I care. The Chinese are always happy to buy them in that form."

"We can't keep her. You know that." The boss clenched his fist around the stapler, his knuckles growing white. "We bring them in specifically for the client. You don't want it, that's your problem. No refunds. Read the fine print in the contract."

"Like hell. I want my money back if she's not delivered in good health and on time." There was a sharp click as the buyer hung up.

The boss glared at Fez. "You heard him. I'm in the supply and demand business. If I don't come up with the goods, then I'm screwed. And if I'm screwed then you're screwed. So make sure she looks good and is delivered on time."

He smiled in a dark cold twist of his lips and added, "Do you understand?"

Then he made a dark slashing movement across his throat to cement his message. Chills rippled down Fez's throat and he swallowed. He turned and walked out of the boss's office silently and for the first time he understood the phrase 'quaking in your boots.'

And now he knew. There was no question in his mind. Roberts was dead.

Fez was going to be next. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But if the boss had taken Roberts out because he'd found out Roberts was planning on skipping town...then Fez had better watch his every step.

He had a measly hundred bucks in his pocket and knew he'd never see another dime from the boss until this job was done. The hundred might get him a bus ticket, but only to the next damn state. Not far enough to avoid the long reach of the boss if he came after Fez.

He considered his options as he walked to the truck. His boss's truck. If he stole that, the boss would never stop looking for him. After a few moments, he realized there were no good answers. But the easiest way to get away alive was to get his full pay by completing this job.

And that meant making sure this deal went down. His stomach acids gurgled, making him slap his pockets for the open packet of stomach aids. Damn. Where had he put them? He slapped his back pocket. There.

He yanked the roll out and opened it, popping two into his mouth.

At least one part of him would feel better soon.

To make the rest of him feel better, he needed money. And for that to happen, they had to get the female to eat and drink. And maybe find a nutritional booster of some kind. Anything to have her looking strong and healthy long enough to complete the deal.

He needed that damn payday.

So he could escape while he still had the chance.

Sunday morning

T
abitha choked, twisting frantically as she tried to control the noise, but the roaring continued...out of her mouth...or rather her soul and whatever mouth she was physically attached to. So loud it would have hurt her ears – if they'd been her own.

Then the sound cut off. And her shoulder started to throb. She swayed in place, struggling to stay upright, then stumbled and collapsed on her side. What was that? Had she been shot? There wasn't much pain. But she didn't feel well.

Or right.

Something was off. A half laugh choked free. She was captive in another's body. What was normal about that? No, her host felt off. Drugged. And given the sluggish sensation that felt like it was rippling through her veins – the host was unconscious.

It would help so much if she could see. Why the hell couldn't she?

Then as if just by asking the question, clarification came. She had to accept the body of whatever person she was in and see through
their
eyes.

So far she'd been fighting her host. Fighting against understanding it.

She should have been doing the reverse of that. In the beginning, her panic was understandable, but her awareness was here now. And she was late in figuring out what was happening.

The simple rule of energy. Become one with the energy. Be that energy. Be one.

Instead of fighting, she had to become one with it. Then she could use the host to show her what was going on. She'd done similar things before. Essentially reading the energy of any animal was a similar process. She had to change her energy to blend with theirs, become one with theirs, and then they were essentially one with her it would make sense she could then see their energy.

She would
be
their energy. She wasn't a separate observer, although she knew people whose abilities ran in that direction. In her case, she had to join with them in order to get the clearest vision of what was going on.

Closing her inner eye, she sank deeper into the unique and frightening experience. That overriding fear made this horrific experience difficult to accept. She took a deep breath and searched for a ground. She was alive spiritually, so therefore she was attached to something.

Tango? Tripod? Her body? Although the latter was in doubt. But she had to believe it was there for her. That her friends were protecting her.

Mentally she reached for Tango. And hit a blockage. Someone else kept crossing her path, interfering, calling to her.

She called to Tripod.

And found the same thing.

Therefore, she had to ascertain what interfered first. Connect with it, then move it to one side.

Stilling, she quieted her mind and waited.

There.

Another energy whistled through her mind, requesting a response. A connection. She'd never had such a thing happen before. Never knew it could invite her like that. Who was this entity? And why was it connecting to her?

A whisper of a sound. A cat's cry, muted, but crying out in pain...and fear.

Tango?

No. Not Tango. A different energy. A feline energy though. Another cat.

A big cat. But not Tango.

Then she understood. Although she had no idea how this came about, she thought she understood where she was.

Inside a large cat. Potentially a tiger. Potentially one that might be connected to Tango and through him – to her. If such a thing was possible.

And its spirit was calling to her.

She'd always understood her animals were equal to humans in many ways. She'd seen their interactions, their caring, their intelligence. She hadn't given them credit for being capable of energy work though. Or that they could have energy abilities like this.

And perhaps she was giving this one too much credit.

Maybe this animal hadn't consciously cried out to her. It was just crying out emotionally. In need. To whoever would listen.

That meant to her. Relief washed through her as she understood.

Thank God.

Then she sensed something else. A lighter energy, softer. Younger. Somewhere close by? Were there other felines in this room? She could hear slight movements, rustling around, but nothing like the screaming and pain she'd heard from her host.

Tabitha hated the pain that rippled through her system. It was cloudy, confusing. There was no cub here. But she could see in her memories – the tiger's memories – cubs. In days gone by.

The tiger was old. Sick. And maybe dying. But there was something else... She couldn't quite grasp it.

Something had triggered her need to communicate. Something had sent her crying out.

Tabitha thought of all the problems inherent in moving a large cat like this one, especially if she'd been caught in the wild. She'd have been tranq'd right from the beginning. Somewhere along the line she'd have woken up and found herself captive in a foreign world. With foreign smells, sounds.

When she'd woken up, the tiger would have screamed with rage...and panic.

And had somehow snagged on Tabitha's energy and dragged her here. Into the cage with her. Why? How? She didn't know. But the female cat had. And now Tabitha was caught inside. With it.