Cravings (Fierce Hearts) (8 page)

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Michelle handed Asher a mug of hot coffee. “Thanks, Michelle. You don’t need to wait on me.” He jumped up to follow her into the kitchen. “You grab your own coffee, and I’ll pass these other two mugs to Casey and Kennedy.”

Coffee all around, Asher settled on the couch again with Kennedy. Despite the touchy subjects they’d been discussing, the mood in the room swathed around the space, filling it with a sense of well-being. He’d learned so much last night about Kennedy’s life, hard stuff that could tear apart a person’s sanity, yet more questions niggled at him. What was her role in The Nexus Group’s next plans? Did she truly trust him, or was she faking?

He slanted his head in Kennedy’s direction. “Have you ever worked? You know, had a job?”

She laughed, a beautiful, bubbly laugh that made him smile. “Yes. I had to take online college courses.” She dipped her head. “My parents didn’t want me out on my own to attend classes on a university campus. My degree is in computer engineering. I mainly performed system analysis of my parents’ companies. My mother is a self-employed psychiatrist and my father is a Laurelwood County prosecutor. He also owns Solutions International, which is a company that assists leading businesses to enter international markets in the infrastructure, renewable energy, and technology sectors.”

Asher knitted his brow. Her description of her parents came out in a flat, almost-rehearsed manner. It made his skin crawl.

Casey lifted his mug to sip a steamy, dark roast, then swallowed thoughtfully. “We’re running research for more details about the Novaks, Kennedy. Meanwhile, how would you feel about meeting your biological parents?”

When she remained silent, Asher couldn’t help but fill the space. “These are the people who raised Casey, you know. I think he makes a good example of the kind of people they are.”

“I don’t disagree.” She bobbed her head from side to side, her eyes contemplative. “But they did give me away.”

Asher’s heart sunk as he watched Casey’s face sadden. All the air went out of the room.

“Is that what you think?” Casey rubbed his hand across his face.

“I was told my birth parents had died in an accident. Then later my mother told me the truth was they put me up for adoption when they discovered I was a were-lynx.”

“That had to hurt you very much,” Casey said. “But it’s not the truth. Neither one of those explanations. You were stolen by The Nexus Group the day you were born. Our parents were told their baby had died. They never even got to see you.” A low growl rumbled deep in his chest. “That’s the kind of thing that group does. Steals babies and then raises them to be who knows what? I don’t know. But the little of what you’ve described as your life sure hasn’t painted a pretty picture for you.”

Casey slammed his fist on the chair and eyed Asher. He got the message. Casey needed help. He focused his attention on the liquid energy in his center and tucked in suggestions.
You want to remain calm, but firm. Kennedy has no sour intentions.
Then he directed the energy on to Casey.

Casey breathed in a deep breath and let it out again. “I apologize for that. There was no excuse for getting so riled, Kennedy. I respect your relationship with Jonathan and Kathryn Novak. But I hope you’ll give our parents the benefit of the doubt, considering your parents have proven to be less than kind and truthful with you.”

She sat silent again, her face pensive, and Asher wondered what thoughts filled her mind right now. Uneasiness spread like fingers, reaching through his body and twisting around his throat. Kennedy presented puzzling reactions. He needed to spend more time looking for connections between Phoenix Biosciences and The Nexus Group. He’d like to know the members of the group all by name and occupation rather than as a secretive organization of no-names. First off, he’d like to know who was running the group now that William Carter was dead.

He rolled his shoulders and faced Kennedy. Her legs crossed, she swung one foot up and down, impatience sparking off her like static. “So maybe with your computer skills you could get our database up to date. I assume you either know how to do that or could ace it pretty quickly, with your procedural, photographic memory.”

Her face brightened. “I could do that. Is this database on your network? You do have a network, right? One that is only accessible to the colony?”

Asher slanted a smile. “Per se.”

“What does that mean?”

“We have a website that is private. We can communicate there, and we have files there. The database of all known were-cat colonies in the world and the genealogy of the lines of pures dating back centuries is in hard copy, I mean old, leather-bound books of actual paper. That moves around, but presently it’s being kept at my house—” He abandoned his sentence at a look of censor Casey sent him. “Well, we can talk more about it later.”

Kennedy’s eyes narrowed. “Sure. Whenever you’re ready.”

Asher didn’t miss the slight slump to her shoulders. Stuck between wanting to address her discomfort at waiting in limbo for her new life to take off and appreciating the need for caution, tension pulled his muscles taut.

Casey stretched his arms above his head. “Anyone want to get back under the covers or shall we tackle the day?”

Michelle laughed. “Tackle the day? That sounds ominous. What do you have in mind?” She glanced at the clock. “It’s only six o’clock, still early. But I want to stop by the Cats Alive new construction site, and then I’ll have to get to work.”

Asher scrubbed his hair, centering down on his plans for the day. He had plans to get work done for the newspaper, and then he had
plans
. Plans that had nothing to do with work but were more important to him right now. To find out more about TNG’s activities. “I have a game to cover this afternoon. I’ll have to write and file the piece, too. I should just go home and get ready for work.”

A quick glance at Kennedy told him her anxiety had been triggered. Her eyes were wide, and she was twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. He leaned in close and spoke softly. “Would you like me to take you to Lara’s apartment? I’m sure she’ll still be home.”

“Actually, I hoped you would stay with me today.”

Michelle smiled at Kennedy. “I’ll give you a quick tour of the new site for Cats Alive, and then we can spend the day at my job at Aegar Investigations. How does that sound?”

Kennedy nodded, her eyes shining. “I would love to learn about your cat rescue and help out at your office.” She thanked Asher for his offer, then stood. “Okay if I grab a quick shower?”

Michelle, already heading down the hall to the room she shared with Casey, tossed over her shoulder, “Yes, there’s plenty of time.”

Asher’s adrenaline picked up momentum, and he grew impatient to get to work and learn more specifics about Phoenix Biosciences. “Guess I’ll take off and get out of your way.” He nodded in Casey’s direction, but the look on his face kept Asher in his seat. “What is it? You look like you have something on your mind.”

Casey leaned forward in his chair. “I’m going to call a colony meeting. We can’t give Kennedy access to our database unless we have a consensus that it’s the right thing to do.” His voice was low, serious.

Asher’s gaze picked up the signs of the world waking up. Birds and squirrels outside the window created a flurry of activity as they went from feeder to feeder to partake of the different varieties of birdseed. Sunlight sparkled on the light coating of snow on the ground and tree branches. The scene should have calmed his nerves, but his insides continued to churn.

“You’re right,” he said, turning his attention back to Casey. “When?”

“I’ll let you know. Probably as soon as everyone is free. There’s been too much waiting and pondering. It’s been necessary, but I suspect The Nexus Group won’t let it go on much longer. They’re probably ramping up for something right now.”

Asher rose to his feet. “I’ll do some more investigation on the genomics research company, so for the next time we talk, I hope to have decent intel.”

Casey’s rumbling chuckle escaped his throat. “Intel. It sounds like our colony is a ring of spies.”

“Mission Kennedy.” Asher chuckled with Casey. But the mission was too serious to laugh for long.

Back in his truck after a brief stop at his apartment, Asher made quick work of getting to the newspaper building and settling down with coffee in front of his desktop.

He knew he wouldn’t find anything incriminating on the Phoenix Biosciences website, but it was a start. He clicked on News Room. Perusing the list of news releases gave him a sense of the company’s public face. The company investigated DNA sequencing and performed analysis to gain a greater understanding of human disease.

Asher dashed a look around the room. The idea of such a company with possible ties to William Carter Enterprises, i.e. The Nexus Group, made it hard to swallow. His gaze stopped on a release regarding use of implants featuring nanotechnology. He clicked on the release, his fingers tapping out a staccato beat on his desk.

The company clearly was using nanotechnology, the study of tiny, tiny things, to solve problems in everything from medicine and chemical engineering to space science. While that made Asher’s head spin, he gathered that it wasn’t the big news. The facility boasted a deep pipeline of products with potential for changing everything—governments, control over the environment, distribution of resources, the kinds of animals and humans on the planet—if not introduced with caution.

He scratched his head, his focus on thoughts jumping up in his mind for attention. What, he wondered, was the connection between Phoenix and the politician Daren Sage?

He entered Sage in a search. Handsome in an Ivy League way, Sage was forty-six years old, the son of a local pharmacist. Lots of social media praising his platform. A state senator for four years, he’d established a record of support for new technology and jobs to go with it. Lots of news articles, quotes from interviews. He read like a typical politician—plenty of words, little substance. But one thing grabbed Asher’s heart and squeezed.

According to the police blotter, Sage’s father was being investigated for selling prescription stimulants to abusers. That could mean the father already had connections in the crime world. Asher wondered how deep the illegal activity ran. He didn’t have to stretch his mind too far to imagine a direct connection to a member of The Nexus Group, especially since his son was getting financial support from Phoenix.

He twisted a lock of his hair, realizing he had nothing on Phoenix to connect it to The Nexus Group. Nothing solid. Only speculation.

“Hey, Asher, what’s up?” It was Asia. “You look deep in thought. Anything to share? I’m taking a break from my stories.” She pulled a chair from another desk and sat beside him.

“I’m looking for connections to The Nexus Group. Actually, I’m just trying to find out more information about it.”

She leaned back and rubbed her hand through her shoulder-length, dark hair. “You should talk to Casey, and maybe Sterling and Lacey Aegar. Remember they gathered the intel on William Carter Enterprises?”

Asher pulled up memories of private investigators Sterling Aegar and her sister, Lacey. They’d helped Michelle out when William Carter had tried to steal her property. They’d also helped in the rescue of the stolen cats Carter had been performing research on. Casey, of course, was a talented private investigator, too. It was handy to have such experts to tap into as an alternative to reporting to the police and drawing attention to themselves.

“That’s a good idea.” He turned back to the screen for another look.

“Hey, you’re looking into Phoenix Biosciences? I did a story recently on it. The company was being sued for negligence in a research study that had progressed to Phase Two human trials.”

“What happened?”

“A settlement was reached between the company and the victim.” She shook her head. “That was a mess. The company had implanted a nanotech device that the patient was told would help cure her bipolar disorder. Instead of curing, it made her skin and nails thicken and incited her hostility. It sent her temper through the roof.”

“Through the roof how?” Asher’s suspicions were growing.

“Well, the victim was a middle-aged woman. She had a daughter, teenager I think. The two got in an argument over the clothes the girl was wearing. The mom put her in the hospital with broken bones and bruises.”

Asher shook his head. “You know what this sounds like? The Nexus Group’s experiments on cats. They’ve associated with this new company and are trying new ways to accomplish the same goal—were-lynx warriors.”

“It does sound like it.” Asia pursed her lips and scanned the room, pensive. “But what does it have to do with Daren Sage?”

“I’m going to talk to Casey,” he said, rising to leave. “I’ve got time this morning. This afternoon I’ll be at the game.”

As Michelle drove her Jeep out of town, Kennedy’s body tingled, just enough to let her know her were-lynx form wanted out. Her nostrils flared so she could breathe in more air, something that happened naturally in lynx form. Something that allowed her to run distances and not tire.

She cleared her throat, damping down her longing for freedom, or at least a good run. “Your rescue is out in a rural area?”

Michelle kept her eyes on the road. “My rescue since its inception has been a network of people who foster in their homes the cats we take in. There is no facility, so to speak. But yes, now there is one under construction. It’s going to be beautiful.”

Her eyes shone, and Kennedy saw so much life and passion in Michelle’s eyes that she longed to have that kind of freedom, too. Freedom from stops and withdrawal and numbness—defensive patterns she used to prevent anything that would summon the beast. The terrifying, deep-seated sickness and blindness that rose within her to keep her from living and haunted her dreams.

“Kennedy? We’re here.” Michelle eyed her.

“Oh, sorry. Lost in thought.” She shook her head, warmth creeping up her neck.

“Anything you want to share?” Michelle put her hand to Kennedy’s arm and she didn’t shrink inside.
Curious. Am I getting used to this kindness?