Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (32 page)

SEVEN

Tony kissed Jane on the forehead and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. Light from the burgeoning sun glowed on her healthy face. Before, she looked pale and shrunken. He felt much better about her outlook. God, how he loved this woman. He’d denied it for years, but that’s always what he’d felt. Love and admiration. It’s why even when he didn’t know she was his mate, he was ready to break the rules and chase a relationship with Jane.

WARNING
flashed through his mind. His tiger was tuned into their surroundings. Good thing; he surely wasn’t. On his way to get his gun on the chair, he absently stuck his sticky fingers into his mouth and his taste buds came to life. Oh fuck, that was so damn good. He wished she hadn’t fallen asleep so fast. He’d been hoping to shove his face between her legs and get a taste of her again.

The memory of their night together filled his mind. Her taste had been addictive and he’d loved every second of having his mouth on her flesh. As soon as he could, he’d taste his mate. A noise came from the kitchen. His mating instinct kicked off and protection mode blasted full strength.

So the bad guy decided to return after all. Stupid fucking humans. They were so arrogant. His tiger reminded him he was half human. Yeah, Tony agreed. But he didn’t have to play that game anymore. His mate would deny him no longer.

Back against the wall, Tony borrowed stealth from his tiger and inched down the hall. Closer, closer. He’d take this menace to the floor, then let his tiger eat the man’s guts while he begged for mercy. Nothing was too much for anyone who hurt his Jane.

Two more steps and he’d be at the pass-through into the kitchen. He sucked in a deep breath, ready to—

“Ramirez, chill the fuck out. I’m making coffee. Get your ass in here.” Brock’s deep voice calmed his gushing adrenaline. “She’s got to have coffee somewhere. Ramirez? You coming or what?”

Tony lowered his weapon and walked in. For a second, he’d forgotten he and Jane weren’t alone at the cabin. “Jesus, Brock. You scared the hell out of me. Why don’t you clue me in the next time you decide to sneak around?”

He grunted but his lips twitched in a grin. “I wasn’t sneaking.”

Tony begged to differ, but wasn’t going to argue. “Jane became conscious for a few minutes.”

“Yeah,” Brock snorted. “We heard.”

Tony’s face heated to the point of blisters and sweat broke out at his temples. Brock busted out laughing. “What the fuck? Really, Ramirez? I’ve never seen you embarrassed in the ten years I’ve known you.” His laughing resumed. Cyn walked into the room, opened a cabinet door, and pulled down a coffee container.

“Go easy on him, Brock. It got you in the mood.” Brock’s face instantly mimicked Tony’s.

Tony made a gagging sound and covered his ears. “Ugh! TMI, boss. You’re the same as me thinking about my parents having sex.” He shook his head. “Nasty. You’re cool and all, but come on. I’ve come to see you both like…not people who have sex.”

“Cyn, do you believe this? On the job parents?” Brock barked a laugh.

Cyn nodded. “I see that. We do tend to babysit these guys a lot and they are usually acting like kids, so yeah.” She winked at Brock and grabbed his ass. “Want to go play Mom and Dad?”

Tony made gagging noises again.

A knock on the door came from the front room.

“Can it, Ramirez. Get the door before I fire you. It should be Buchanan and Villa. They just called.”

A half hour later, Tony sat back from his empty plate of eggs and bacon at the dining room table. He ran a hand over the blond natural wood where a knot had been sliced away.

Erica had been regaling them with events from their honeymoon in the Bahamas. That got him thinking.

“Erica, what are your plans now? Are you quitting the department to stay home and have kids?”

Erica looked at Trent staring at a large old-looking illustrated map framed and hanging on the wall. Erica smiled softly. “We haven’t talked about it much, but we do plan to have children. I may cut back hours for a bit, but I’m definitely not quitting.”

“That’s good to hear. I’d hate to lose you,” Brock grumbled.

“Brock, you know better than that. I was made for this team. You’d never lose me.” She gave Brock a look. For years Trent had been jealous of Brock and Erica’s friendship but eventually they all realized they were like brother and sister. Brock had been the family Erica never had.

Erica turned back to Trent still staring at the old map. “Honey, why are you so engrossed in the map.”

Trent shrugged but smiled at his new wife. “It’s interesting to see how people viewed the world before satellite imaging and aerial photography. Look at the base of the mountain on the far left, you’ll see a big patch of flat land. The only flat land in the area.”

“That’s what we call the Wasteland around here,” Tony said. He knew the area quite well having grown up near there. “Nothing will grow there. No trees or crops. It’s just a huge rocky place that sticks out. There used to be a few businesses out there that didn’t need the expensive downtown storefronts. Not sure if they’re still there. One was a storage facility or warehouse of some kind. The others were offices to rent out to businesses or individuals. It does look out of place among all the hills, doesn’t it?”

“Very interesting,” Erica said, not even looking at the framed artwork, her gaze swiftly returning to Brock. “Brock, now that breakfast is done, tell us what’s going on. You mentioned a dead body.”

Like every other workday, everyone gathered around the boss as he briefed them on the day’s caseload. Except this time, the work was for one of their own.

After digesting the little info Tony had on the situation, they moved into the kitchen where the body had been lying. Erica knelt and lowered her hands. “Here we go.”

* * *

Fladoq removed the key to the cabin kitchen door and slid it into his pocket. He turned the knob and eased inside to wait for Jane. The cabin smelled a bit musty, but not moldy. The place had been kept up nicely. He didn’t know what to expect when sent on his mission. The only thing they said was don’t come back without her.

He walked farther into the space. Everything was tidy and neat. Equipment of some kind lined the countertops and the table was set with pretty Earth things.

The hairs on his arms stood; he froze. Danger was close. He whipped his head around the same moment a body plowed into him from the open door. They slammed against the table, knocking a chair to the floor. Fladoq threw an elbow, nailing his assailant in the ribs. He twisted away and scooted to his feet. “Liand? What are you doing here?”

Liand picked himself up from the floor. “Same reason you are.”

Fladoq’s eyes narrowed. “So, it’s true then. You have turned traitor against our ruler.”

A grin spread across the traitor’s face. “
Our ruler
, as you say, will be the end of our planet. If he continues to refuse to arm against the incoming invaders, we will never stand a chance of surviving.”

“Liand,” Fladoq sighed and shook his head. “You never were the brains of a mission. Ever wonder why?” Liand’s face flushed. “You don’t have any brains.”

The man charged. Fladoq grabbed a square metal box with two slits in the top and threw it at him. Liand batted it away, but not without cutting open his skin. He wrapped his hand around the slice for a few seconds and backed away.

“I can’t stand how you ‘brains’ sit around and jabber. Never
doing
anything, you just sit and talk about what you could do. I’m a doer, Flad, always have been. And I’m
doing
something to save our planet.”

Fladoq curled his hands into fists. He hated that Liand really had no fucking clue what he was up against. Peace for their planet had been achieved through some serious hard work and this idiot wasn’t going destroy it. “No, Liand. You’re not. Only if talks fail do we resort to killing. How long has our civilization followed that creed? Hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Ever since we sent out our people to discover life elsewhere. We want others to come.”

“That was a failed venture. Must have been the ‘brains’ at the helm for that. If our people made contact with them, why take a thousand years to finally visit? No, Flad. They want to take over and steal our planet’s resources.”

Fladoq growled. This idiotic belief worried him; how many others felt the same? “All right, enough. Our people died in search of suitable places to live. We owe our existence to them.”

“And now we’re going to become extinct because the brains are dealing with a species less
enlightened
.”

Fladoq stepped closer, his hands lifted in placation. “You have a point, Liand. Let’s take this conversation back to our planet—”

Liand grabbed a gadget from the counter and launched it at his enemy, his body leaping at the same target. “She will get us what we want.”

Fladoq threw a punch as Liand slammed against him, taking them both to the floor again. “I will protect her, Liand. I’m taking the girl back to her family.” The crunch of rock reached them from the driveway.

“Ah, which ‘her’ are you here for?” He pushed to his feet, pulling out a small caliber gun. “We’re out of time, my friend.”

“Seriously, Liand? You were the best of the premier guard. Now you use a human weapon?”

“It may be human, but it’s effective. The premier guard is down another man. Goodbye, Flad.” He pulled the trigger, aiming for Fladoq’s mid-section. The front door opened and a voice floated to him. He lunged out the door, pulling it shut. He looked to the ground at the tied-up child with pink hair. He reached out to make sure the blindfold was tightly bound around her head, then the visitor entered the kitchen. She was talking to someone.

He turned the knob slowly, took a deep breath, and came through the door behind the woman. He heard rustling outside and the child ran into the kitchen screaming. Liand hit the woman on the head and she went down.

Fladoq released his last breath, knowing he failed.
 

EIGHT

The group of five sat around the dining table again, each in their own thoughts about what Erica relayed to them. Brock brushed his hand over the smooth wood. “Well, that brings up more questions than answers.”

Tony jumped to his feet and took off for the other room. “Jane’s awake.” The others followed in his footsteps.

He knelt next to the sofa and his mate. He put his palm against her cheek. “Jane, how do you feel,
mi amor
?” She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. Jane tried to sit up, but Tony pressed her shoulders down.

“Just relax, beautiful. Don’t move. You’re safe, baby.” The two stared at each other while the others filed into the room, his fingers continuing to brush her face. It might have been overkill but he loved touching her. It did something to calm his tiger and gave Tony the connection he needed with his mate.

In a scratchy voice, she asked for a glass of water. Tony gave her a brief kiss before leaving her side. He caught a wide-eyed look between Trent and Erica. Tony smiled. “It’s okay. Jane’s my mate.” He headed toward the kitchen.

Jane tried but failed miserably at holding back the wince that came at Trent’s shock. Trent shook his head. “I’m sure I didn’t hear that correctly. Did he say mate?”

Jane let out a sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“Hey, we got all day. Took Erica forever to realize she was meant to be mine, so I’d love to hear how he finally got you to admit it. Out with it.” Trent plopped into a chair, pulling Erica to his lap. Cynthia sent him a grimace, then crouched next to Jane.

“How are you doing? Anything hurt in particular?” Cyn helped Jane scoot up on the pillow, grabbing the blanket.

“Nothing more than anything else. Ribs are sore, but not as bad as earlier. Would you please get me a T-shirt from my suitcase?”

“Sure.” She left the room as Tony returned.

“Here.” He tipped the cup to her lips. She wrapped her hand around the cool plastic, fingers overlapping his. Their eyes met, a challenging look from Tony daring her to take her touch away. When she pulled back from the drink, Cynthia came in with a long nightshirt in her hands. Cyn twirled her finger and the guys turned, except Tony. Cynthia cleared her throat, casting a raised brow at him.

Even though his face blushed red, he stuttered, “What? She’s my mate. I get to peek.” Brock snapped out a hand and spun him around.

“Not yet, tiger.”

Tony grumbled, yanking his arm from Brock’s steel hold. A few seconds later, Cyn tagged him on the back of the head like he was a mischievous kid. “All right, you can look again.”

Tony hurried to the other edge of the sofa, sat, and lifted Jane’s feet into his lap. She frowned, but didn’t say anything. Brock pulled Cyn with him to one of the upholstered chairs. “Villa, tell us what you know. Then we’ll get into what we need to know.”

Jane rubbed her head and went into what she remembered. Erica shared her vision then said, “Okay, what have we got?” She ticked off her fingers. “A little girl from another planet held for ransom. Jane interrupted their fight, so the bad guy, Liand, had to take her so no witnesses were left. You woke in a bunker with high security and enough guns to supply an army.”

Cynthia tossed a worried glance at Brock. “Then a warehouse with empty crates and a big-ass hole in the side. Armed guards with dogs surrounding the property. All located by a river.” Cyn turned to Tony. “Did I forget anything?”

Tony, who cradled Jane’s lower legs in his lap, noticed everyone looking at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

Brock rolled his eyes, and Cyn and Erica laughed. “Never mind, lover boy. Just take care of Jane and you’ll be fine.” Tony glanced at Jane’s pursed lips and lowered brows and smiled.

“You got it, boss.”

Erica wiped the huge grin from her face to keep from laughing. “Jane, any idea where you went into the river?”

“No. I don’t remember anything besides the gravel parking lot leading into the forest.” A few sighs whispered through the room.

“Wait,” Trent said as if a light bulb clicked on in his head, “do you know how long you were in the water?” Jane shook her head. “You mentioned it looked like some people were going home. Let’s say that’s five o’clock.” He looked at Tony rubbing his mate’s blanket-covered thighs on his lap. “When did you find her in the river?”

Tony turned to Brock and Cyn in their chair. “Just before you got here. When was that?”

“Close to six.”

While Trent tapped on his phone, he asked Erica to get the framed old map in the dining room. She returned and laid the picture on the coffee table before Trent looked away from his phone.

“Okay, peeps. Keep up if you can. So, according to where the road is on this map, Tony found Jane around here.” He pressed his finger in the lower left hand corner. His fingers went back to his phone. “If I take the average of the speed of the river, multiplied by time, we should have her distance.”

Erica grabbed his phone. “Did all the sex on our honeymoon really make you extra smart? How do you know what the flow rate for this river is?” Her eyes skimmed a website listing locations and flow rates. She flung his phone to him. “All right, it wasn’t the sex. Go on.”

Using a finger, Trent measured the scale then inched it up the river. He stopped along the Wasteland Tony spoke about earlier. All eyes turned to Tony. Jane sat firmly on his lap, her arms crossed over her chest, frowning at Tony.

Tony looked at everyone looking at him. “What? You said take care of her. I can’t do that from the other side of the couch.”

Brock grunted and tried to hide a grin. “Tell us what else you know about this Wasteland.”

“I don’t know much more. It’s a big area where we used to shoot off fireworks when the trees were too dry. There’s a warehouse—” His eyes got wide. “Holy shit. Could this be the same one you were in?”

Brock and Cynthia stood. “We’re going to find out. If there’s a big hole in the wall, we’ll know.” Brock opened maps on his phone’s screen. “This place can’t be too far away. There aren’t that many roads in the mountains.”

“Do you want us to go, too?” Erica asked, ready to stand.

Cynthia turned toward her. “Actually, it looks like we’ll stay here again tonight. We need more meat from the grocery in town before the men decide to hunt their own. I’m not cutting up and frying Bambi.” She gave Brock a look. “I don’t care how much it’s a show of love, I won’t do it.”

Brock shook his head and glanced at Trent. “Women.”

Tony and Jane quietly watched as everyone headed for the door. Brock tossed over his shoulder, “Ramirez, keep your phone close.”

Trent had to get in the last word. “Yeah, no matter what
position
you’re in, answer it. No panting.” Erica swatted his arm on the way out the door.