Rescued (10 page)

Chapter 18

Rose copied the numbers from Mabel’s phone without letting on it had been found in her room. If any of these numbers matched up with Vinny, they’d have a better chance finding him and all his accomplices. The ring was working from at least four states, it would take some doing but Rose vowed to rid the world of these particular monsters.

New voices coming from the living room signaled the arrival of some of Memphis’ finest to take Mabel for a ride downtown. Rose and Marty stepped back into the living room to offer their assistance but Mabel was in good hands. An officer escorted her out the door to keep her date with the booking clerk.

“Rose, your statement will be ready for you to sign as soon as you can get to the station.” Logan relayed the information to her.

His network included a mutually beneficial relationship with the local law enforcement agencies and a crack legal team who cut through the red tape when needed. The kidnapping attempt was pretty cut and dry. Pictures had been taken of the bag and tape used to secure Rose’s hands and shield her vision before they were secured in plastic to preserve Stan and Mabel’s fingerprints.

The police would continue her interrogation in an effort to wrap up the operation in their city. Any cockamamie story she told about a girl with super blood or super strength would make her appear even more certifiable. Rose was sure Mabel was too smart to say something the rest of the human world would consider so unbelievably insane.

Logan assured her he would coordinate with the police to fill in any gaps and keep them updated. Rose was itching to get on the trail of the kids now caravanning out west to some holding facility.

“Thanks, Logan. We’ll swing by the station on our way out of town,” Marty responded as he turned to Rose. “Do you need some down time before we head out? Logan’s guys attached tracking devices to the SUV’s last night. They aren’t going to lose sight of the kids. We’ll know where they are every minute.”

Rose paused for a quick second and glanced around the room to process everything that happened before she answered, “No sir, let’s roll.”

She saw the pride beam across Marty’s face as they walked to the truck. Had he expected her to be shaken by the kidnapping attempt? If anything, her frightening experience made her more determined than ever to follow this through to the end.

Logan and June waited on the sidewalk. June hugged Marty and Rose, stepped back under the protection of Logan’s arm, and snuggled to his side. “Logan and I have enjoyed working with you two so much. We’d love for you to come back and spend some time with us when this is all over.”

“I’d love to,” Rose said.

“We sure would,” Marty added.

“We know you’re ready to get on the road, but we thought we’d share some good news with you first. June bug and I are going to be parents. We just found out we’re pregnant.” Logan beamed as he shared their wonderful news.

Marty extended his hand to Logan. “Congratulations. It’s about time for some good news around here.”

“That’s great June. When’s the big day?” Rose asked.

“In about five months. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for our baby jag.”

“You have a definite glow about you today for sure. You both must be thrilled.” A strange stir circulated inside her. Recently mated and now thinking about babies? What was happening to her?
Snap out of it, Rose!

“Or jags,” Logan teased. “We could have more than one, you know.”

“Then we’d better get started on the addition to the house.”

They all laughed.

Rose was quiet as they took the ramp onto the interstate. She had gone over the blood incident a thousand times in her mind to see if they missed any details. They had the file from the clinic with the unusual info about her high red cell count. The blood droplet on the kitchen floor was gone courtesy of Mabel and Susan. Mable could squawk to the police all she wanted about unusual blood but then she’d have to explain how and why she had access to someone else’s blood and why she had a need to send it to a lab for testing.

“You sure you’re okay, honey?” Marty reached over and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. The scuffle with Stan had rearranged her ponytail, but out of place hair was the least of her concerns now.

“Mmm. Just thinking.”

“About Logan and June’s baby news?”

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “What? No. I mean, what about it? They’re going to have a baby. What’s to think about?”

“Well, they
are
mates and now they’re adding to their family.” He extended his hand out, palm up as if to say it was obvious the two went hand-in-hand.

“Whoa, wait a minute. Wait just a dang minute. Do you think that’s where this whole mate thing ends up? With me barefoot and pregnant?” Her finger switched back and forth, pointing at each of them. Wide-eyed, she waited for his response.

“Don’t you? I mean- you
do
want a family. Someday. Right?”

She paused. She couldn’t deny it. It had crossed her mind. She wondered if she could be a good mother. If she could be the stay at home, cookie baking, little league mom type. She just hadn’t thought about it today. “Marty, I don’t know if I
want
to bring children into a world where monsters like Mabel and that crew exist. I worry they wouldn’t be safe.”

“Rose, I didn’t have the honor of meeting your parents but I do know you. You turned out well and I’m sure you’ll be a great mom. When you’re ready.”

The next sixty or so miles were covered in complete silence. Her mind clouded with questions. First and foremost, the kids she had come to know in Memphis. What was really in store for them when they arrived in Santa Fe?

Oscar, along with his partner, was a couple of hours ahead of them. He called to update them on the trip progress. They closely monitored the tracker attached to the SUV’s with the kids and relayed the information on regular calls. The group stopped for a break at a rest stop along I-40W just across the Oklahoma state line.

Marty had his phone on speaker so Rose got updated first hand. He hit the end button and turned to her. “How about you and I stop for some supper? It’ll give us a chance to stretch our legs. Oscar will call if anything changes.”

“Sounds good. I could use a break.” Walking around for a bit would be relaxing but what she could really use was a high-speed run, although she learned from an early age running in cat form was best done under the cover of night. There weren’t as many hunters to dodge or regular people who’d be scared out of their wits by the wild cougar.

A local diner was always preferred over the fast food places because their menu items were easier to special order. A big, juicy burger cooked extra rare would hit the spot right about now. They ordered two burgers with the fixings on the side, fries, and onion rings. Rose excused herself and washed her face and hands in the ladies room.

She had pulled a couple of paper towels and started to dry her hands when two of the waitresses came through the door. One was crying and being comforted by the other. “It’s like she just vanished off the face of the earth. No one’s seen her or heard from her in days,” the younger woman said through her tears.

“Try not to cry, Tiff, the police’ll find her.” The second woman did her best to comfort her friend.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare or eavesdrop, but did you say you have someone missing? I’m a private investigator working on a missing person’s case from the Alabama and Georgia areas. So, you have called the police?” Rose always wanted to help if she could. Her case extended into a fourth state now and it was possible this girl could be a victim of this trafficking ring as well.

“Yes, but they haven’t been much help. They say there are no indications of wrongdoing but Jess didn’t have the means to up and leave on her own. She had practically no money. Our step dad took everything she earned away from her. I told her she could come live with me and work here at the diner but she had it in her mind she could make it big if she could just get to Nashville.”

Boy, does this sound familiar
. “Would you mind giving me some information about your sister? I’ll keep her in mind as my investigation continues and call the local police if anything turns up.”

The women left the restroom and joined Marty at the table where they went over the story again. He put together a spreadsheet of info on all the missing kids since he started working with Rose. They added Jessica’s personal information to the list and assured the woman they would call if they ran across anything that would help locate her.

They had almost finished their burgers when Rose’s cell rang. Oscar let them know the kids’ convoy had stopped for the night. “Do you want to gain a couple of hours on them before we get a room or do you want to stay here about somewhere?”

“No need to over tire ourselves when we know the kids are being watched around the clock. Logan has a team on the ground in Santa Fe getting the lay of the land and waiting for them to arrive. Let’s get a room and see if we can find a place to run,” Marty suggested.

It was time their inner animals were unleashed.

Chapter 19

Rose didn’t bother to fold her clothes this time. Her body craved a shift and a run in the worst way. The events of the past few days weighed heavy on her mind and she needed to run to think and sort things out.

She dropped to the ground beside Marty, completed her transformation, and burst into a full run. Complete freedom filled her mind, body, and soul when she was in cat form. She stretched out at full speed on their nighttime run but stopped short at the edge of the woods and stared out into the moonlit night.

Marty skidded to a halt beside her as she focused on something in the distance.

She caught sight of a wild cougar across the meadow bedding down for the night with her kits. Three spotted balls of fur, squirming in close to their mother to nurse one last time for the day. Rose sat back and stared with intent eyes, watching the tender sight with wonder. A mother and her children. She was there to protect them from harm. She would nurture them and teach them the ways of the cougar. To hunt and to survive. It was nature’s way. The mother groomed each kit with gentle care as they fed. It was a perfect scene.

Marty eased himself down to the thick layer of leaves blanketing the ground beneath the trees. Together with his mate, he observed this family’s special time.

Rose lowered her body, joined him, and snuggled close. Her inner struggle with how to balance life as an independent woman with life as a mate was becoming easier to understand. Instincts. She would follow her instincts.

Marty groomed his mate as she purred her satisfaction and both slipped off to sleep.

The crack of rifle fire woke them with a start. Marty sprang up first to determine where the shots came from and if his mate was in danger. His heart pounded. He searched for the source of the threat. Movement from the direction of the cougar family they had observed earlier drew his attention. The two adults sprinted off in different directions away from the nest where their kits slept.

Marty nudged Rose in the direction of the truck as a second shot ripped through the quiet of the night. She turned to run, but paused and glanced back toward the nest with the kits. He growled and nudged harder to get her moving away from the peril. He couldn’t be sure whom or what they were after but he and Rose had to get a safe distance away and not be caught in the crossfire.

They reached the truck, shifted, and quickly yanked on their clothes. “Do you think they’re safe?” Rose searched in the darkness for an answer to her question as she stepped into her sneakers and tied them up.

“I don’t know, honey. I hope so. The adults ran in opposite directions to draw the danger away from the kits.” He adjusted his shirt collar and reached out to bring her in close to his chest and soothe her fears.

A vehicle pulled up behind them on the roadside. Marty recognized the game warden uniform when the officer dimmed the lights and stepped from his Jeep. “You folks having trouble?” The officer shined his flashlight in their direction. It was normal procedure, checking for weapons or any other sign of danger before he came closer.

Marty flipped open his wallet to reveal his driver’s license and PI license as identification. “No trouble. We just took a drive to unwind before bed and decided to stop and stretch our legs. We’re staying down the road at the Travelers Way Inn. Heard some rifle shots in the woods. Is night hunting allowed in these parts?”

“Absolutely not. We’ve been pursuing some cougar poachers for weeks but haven’t been able to get close. Could you tell the direction of the shots?”

“It came from the woods back here but with the echo it’s hard to determine how far away.” Marty couldn’t reveal the fact he and Rose were closer to the sounds.

“Doesn’t much matter how far it was. One man owns all this land and we’ve narrowed it down to some local boys doing the poaching. But we’ll get ‘em. Eventually.”

“Why go after cougars? Is their fur used for coats? Is it
that
valuable?” Rose was still concerned for the family in the meadow.

“Well, yes . . .” The officer glanced at Marty who gave a slight shake of his head asking that the info be limited.

“No, I want to know. Don’t hide anything from me. What do they do to them?” She insisted on answers, directing her question to both men.

The men shared another moment before Marty nodded his consent.

“Ma’am, I don’t want to go into any gory detail but poachers will sell the organs of their kills to self-proclaimed healers to be made into remedies for all sorts of ailments. The teeth and claws become jewelry. The feet are stuffed and made to form objects becoming some folk’s idea of
artwork
.” He looked out into the field before continuing. “If any kits are captured, they can be sold as pets to exotic animal collectors or breeders . . . whatever the black market demands, these poachers supply. That’s why we have to stop them. Before there are no more cougars, or wildlife of any kind to keep the balance of nature.” He paused. “It might be a good idea if you folks head back to your motel now. We don’t want any stray shots hitting anyone.”

“Yes sir, I agree, and I hope you’re able to wrap this up soon.” Marty shook hands with the officer.

“Me too. You folks be careful now,” he said before he turned and headed back to his vehicle.

“Thank you, sir.” Marty waited for the Jeep to pull back onto the road. “You sure you’re okay now?”

“I’m fine. I just worry about the cougar family. Everything was so . . . right with them. So natural.” Rose spoke softly as she stared into the darkness.

“I know honey, but their instinct is to survive and protect their own.” He snuggled his face into her hair as he inhaled her scent. “Just like it’s in my nature to protect you. Do you understand any better now? It’s inside me and I can’t just turn it completely off.”

She straightened and gazed into his eyes. “You only see it as the male running to draw the danger from his family?”

“No, I saw them work together as a team to protect their family and each other.”

Rose crossed her arms and glared up at him.

“What?”

“Did you hear yourself?”

“Uh, yes. I said they work together as a . . . team.” He smiled and shook his head, she had made her point. “Okay, you got me, partner. Let’s go.”