Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (47 page)

The alarm in her bedroom went off at six. Normally she would hit the snooze and not climb out of bed until six-thirty.

That gave her fifteen minutes to take a quick shower and another twenty minutes to get dressed and put on makeup. It was a twelve-minute drive to the university—eighteen if she hit all the lights wrong. Twenty-five if she wanted to stop on the way for breakfast on a bun. But it still left her with plenty of time to get her thoughts and her notes together and be at the planetarium before the beginning of her eight o'clock class.

In the next thought Sarah realized she was alone.

She opened her eyes to see she was lying on her living room carpet, covered with the afghan from the couch. Again.

She sat up and glanced back at the kitchen. There were no sounds of washing dishes. In fact, there was no sense at all that Simon was still there.

"Simon?"

The sound of her voice rang empty in the apartment.

Getting to her feet, she did a quick search but found no note telling her goodbye. All of his clothing was gone, but her robe was lying on the floor, protecting her from carpet burns.

She hadn't imagined him being there last night. She hadn't dreamt of him coming back to her and making love to her in the middle of the living room. Her body confirmed their frenzied passion by the traces left behind.

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So where was he?

Maybe he had to be at the site early.

Okay. That explanation she could accept. He wouldn't want to wake her before he left, knowing how tired she was. He probably left while it was still dark. In her mind's eye she could envision him hurrying over to his place to shower and change before reporting to work.

Work. Her eight a.m. Instruction in Planetary, Galactic, and Stellar Phenomena Occurring in Outer Space class.

Grumbling, she got to her feet and headed for the bathroom. Maybe he would call her when he took his break, which was right after her first class.

The morning progressed as usual. She was taking the week to discuss quasars, and the eighteen students enrolled seemed genuinely interested in her discussions. The morning was overcast when she walked out of the building a little after nine, and she wondered if there was a chance for rain in the day's forecast.

Simon didn't call during his break. Still, she didn't feel any alarm. He had come to her last night. He had come back to her when she'd needed him the most. And because he had, this disappearance didn't bother her.

By lunchtime, however, the lack of any kind of communication was starting to worry her. It was enough to keep her distracted from working on her treatise. Finally giving in, she dialed his cell phone. It went straight to voice mail.

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"Okay. Either you've shut it off, or your phone is dead,"

she muttered. Unfortunately, neither answer would be of any help.

A little after two she made her way over to the construction site and flagged down one of the workmen. He directed her to the foreman up on the second floor. The man met her at the fenced enclosure that kept the public from entering the area.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I need to speak with Simon Morr, please." She used her authoritative voice, hoping the man wouldn't see her as one of those giddy females trying to hook up.

"He's not here," the man replied gruffly.

"Oh?" Her surprise came over her before she had the chance to squelch it. Quickly, she tried to cover up her response. "I tried to call him on his cell, but it goes straight to voice mail."

The foreman shrugged. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

"You mean he left early? Or he didn't show up for work at all?"

The man gave her a good once-over. Something in her prim, no-nonsense, professorial dress and demeanor must have made an impression on him. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"Sarah Drumman. Professor Drumman. I work in the astrology department."

The moment she gave him her name, the man's whole body language shifted. A smile actually appeared on his sun-weathered face. "Oh, so you're Sarah."

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Her eyes widened at the remark. The foreman chuckled.

"To be honest, Professor, when he spoke to me about you, you could've knocked me between the eyes with a baseball bat. Simon's been working for me for nearly five years, and in all that time he's never shown any interest in any woman. I mean he didn't talk about having someone or brag about his dates like some of the guys do. He's very quiet. He's always on time for work. Always willing to put in extra hours. Never one to complain or give me any grief. A damn fine worker, but super private about his home life. I just figured he had someone on the side that he was reluctant to talk about. And then two days ago he approached me out of the blue and let me know he was planning on getting married. Told me she was a professor here at the university." The man pointed a finger at her. "You, Miss Drumman. Congratulations."

"Thank you." It sounded lame, but it was all she could muster at his announcement. Simon hadn't asked her to marry him. Yes, he had insinuated it. But the subject had never actually been discussed.

"To answer your question, Simon phoned me this morning to say he had a family emergency. Something about his brother, which was another shock. I never knew he had family in town."

"He doesn't," she quickly corrected him. "I mean, not in Templeton. His brother and adopted sister live in Tumbril Harbor."

The man nodded. "I've heard of the place, but I've never been there. Thought of taking the wife and kids there some summer for vacation. That's a beautiful part of the coast, 649

right next to a game preserve and at the tail end of a national forest."

"Do you have any idea when he left?"

"He didn't say. He was on his way when he called. It's a good nine-hour drive. That much I do know."

Sarah thanked him and turned to leave when the foreman off-handedly commented, "You know, you must be a pretty special woman to capture that man's heart."

She glanced back at him.

"As long as I've known him, beautiful women have been setting their traps for him. Trying to find out all they could about him. Bugging my men and me for his name, his address, or his phone number. Simon could have had any woman who threw herself at him, but he never took any interest in them, much less took advantage of the bounty he gained from his looks. That's the true mark of a man, Professor. Would you ... would you mind if I asked how you managed to accomplish what no other woman could?"

Sarah pasted an honest smile on her face and gave a little shrug. "Frankly I have no idea. He said that for him it was love at first sight."

"Just like it was for you, eh?" The man's question was sincere, not probing.

"Actually, no. Oh, I'll admit he is drop-dead gorgeous, but that's not what drew me to him." She paused for a second, instantly knowing the answer. "He gave me a sense of safety.

But more than that, he makes me feel like I'm the most important thing in the world to him."

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The foreman chewed on her reply as he nodded. "Well, good luck, Professor. Simon said he wouldn't be back until Monday, and he's always been a man of his word." He tipped his brim at her. Sarah thanked him again, then nodded and walked away.

She went back upstairs to her office and dropped into her chair. The chapter she had been working on was still on the computer monitor. Her eyes glanced over at the phone next to it. On an impulse she tried calling his cell again and got the voice mail. A second call to retrieve her own voice messages, on the chance he may have called back, yielded nothing. Next she checked her cell phone to see if he might have phoned while she was away. No luck there, either.

Damn.

It's a good nine hour drive.

The foreman's comment made her do a quick mental calculation in her head. If he left around midnight, and knowing that traffic was light that time of night, he would easily be there by nine in the morning. He had left because of a family emergency, which could mean anything.

The clock on her monitor read twelve minutes before three.

She pulled up a map search on the internet, including driving directions to Tumbril Harbor. While they printed out, she phoned the office of the Dean of Sciences and got his secretary.

"Deanna? This is Sarah Drumman."

"Good afternoon, Professor Drumman! Dr. Rodriguez is out for the rest of the day. Can I take a message?"

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"Yes, please. Let him know I have a sudden emergency, and I need to take off until Monday. Can you have someone post a notice that my classes will have a walk until then?"

"I certainly can. Is there anything I can do to help?" Again Sarah heard honest sincerity in the woman's voice. Simon wasn't the only person who kept his private life quiet or who had been adamant about being punctual and reliable on the job. She knew her request was unusual, but she was not known for taking advantage of her position. Rodriguez would have no qualms about granting her emergency leave.

"Thank you, no. But if something comes up, I'll call to let him know."

"All right. How can we reach you in case there's a problem?"

"On my cell," Sarah told her. "I'll be out of town."

"All right. I'll tell him, and I'll send an associate over to post a notice on the planetarium doors. Have a safe trip, Professor Drumman."

Sarah thanked her and hung up. Grabbing her purse and the directions, she hurried out of the office and went straight to her apartment to throw some clothes into a suitcase.

By the time she hit the highway it was nearly three-forty-five. In nine hours, give or take a quarter to half an hour if she got lost or took the wrong road, she would be in Tumbril Harbor around one in the morning. Hopefully by then she would have reached him on his cell phone.

He had mentioned wanting her to meet his brother and adopted sister. Well, no time like the present, Sarah told herself. Plus the drive would give her the chance to think and 652

sort things out. With any luck she would be able to come up with a solution to her problem with the treatise, or at least find a reasonable compromise they could both live with.

Because one thing was fast becoming damn certain. Simon had become more important to her than her long-sought-after tenure. And once she realized that, the thought of totally dropping the research like he had asked her to do no longer bothered her.

Sarah blinked, amazed by how suddenly the world shifted, and a sense of absolute freedom came over her.

"Okay, Simon. You win. Everything. My heart, my mind, and my job. I'm willing to sacrifice it all for you. But now you have to show me what you're willing to sacrifice for me. Got that?"

It was going to be a tedious drive crossing state lines.

Sarah settled in for the long haul.

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Hannah walked over to the kitchen table and poured Simon another cup of coffee. He glanced up in surprise and thanked her. "More eggs?" she asked.

"No. I'm fine." He raked his gaze over her, noting the slump of her shoulders and the redness around her puffy eyes. "He's going to be all right, Hannah."

She placed the urn back on the coffee maker, sighed, and glanced out of the kitchen window at the rapidly descending sunset. "I know, Simon. It's..." She raised a hand to her face, and Simon could see how she was trying to hold back fresh tears. Her whole body was wracked with trembling.

Getting to his feet, he walked over and pulled her into his embrace. She readily wrapped her arms around his bare waist and allowed him to console her. Simon dropped his nose into her daffodil-colored hair and took a sniff. It was instinctive, the need to smell her. Her worry filled the cabin she and Jebaral had built together in this remote area at the edge of the forest with a pungent apple smell. Other than Jebaral's scent, which marked her as his life mate, she had no personal aroma to him. That didn't surprise him. Only his true life mate would bear a distinctive scent that only he would detect. Still, Hannah needed comforting, and other than Jeb, the only other people she would accept it from were him and Thomas.

The door to the bedroom opened. Simon looked up to see Dr. Fitzhugh walking down the hallway and into the living 654

room. He gave Hannah a little nudge and turned her around.

She wiped her tears from her cheeks and hurried over to where the physician stood waiting for her.

Less than a handful of people in Tumbril Harbor knew about the creatures from another galaxy who now called the tiny town home. By necessity they had been brought into confidence, invited there because Jeb and Roni could sense the honesty and trust within each candidate.

Dr. Fitzhugh's family were long-established Tumbrilites.

Once he became a general practitioner, Byron Fitzhugh returned to the town to become its only local doctor. Other than the clinic, the nearest fully staffed hospital was over an hour away in Big Oak. To say that he had been floored when Sheriff Klotsky had approached him would be an understatement.

The man gave Hannah a warm smile. "As far as I can tell the bullet did very little damage. It didn't hit any blood vessels or internal organs. He was very lucky." Dr. Fitzhugh looked up at Simon. "It's a good thing you came down. If he had lain out there in the woods any longer, regardless of his strength, the wolves would have found him. He wouldn't have been able to fight off a pack of them."

Simon nodded as Hannah asked, "Can I see him?"

"Yeah. He's asking for you."

They watched Hannah hurry into the bedroom. The physician turned around to stare at Simon. Simon waited for the man to finish giving him that steady look. It was expected, once humans accepted the fact that Ruinos were shape-shifters. They had to see both faces, the alien and the 655

human, in order to obtain a comfortable working relationship.

The doctor motioned toward Simon's bare arms.

"Want me to look at those scratches?"

Simon glanced down at the bloody marks on his heavily muscled arms. His Ruinos arms. The doctor had seen him only briefly in his human guise. "No. I'll be fine. We heal quickly."

"That's good. Look, I'm not going to prescribe any sort of medication, because frankly I have no idea what your bodies can tolerate."

"It's all right," Simon assured him.

"If he starts to do anything that alarms you, call me. I left bandages and wrapping for you to change out that wound twice a day until it closes." He gave the man a small smile and a bewildered shake of his head. "They never covered instances like this in med school, so forgive me if I appear hesitant."

Simon snorted softly. "Don't worry about it. Thank you for coming."

The front door opened, interrupting them. Thom DeGrassi strode in. The presence of the tall, powerfully built man demanded respect. Once a metropolitan police detective, DeGrassi had chosen to return to his home town of Tumbril Harbor, bringing his new wife with him. His wife, Tiron, who was a Ruinos female.

"How is he?" Thom inquired, scratching at his dark stubble.

"A bit worse for wear. He'll be okay after a few days, maybe less," the doctor replied. He held up the bullet 656

fragment now encased in a plastic sandwich bag. "Here's your evidence."

The deputy sheriff nodded and took the bag. "Thanks, Doc.

If there's something good that can be said about this mess, it's that once we trace this bullet to the gun that fired it, we can use that attempted murder charge against Pycee. Odds are good the man who shot Jeb works for him." He stuffed the bag into his left breast pocket and stepped back outside where Tiron was waiting for word. Dr. Fitzhugh followed the man outside to the porch with Simon right behind him.

It was growing dark. Pale pinks, rose, and blue-purple tints slashed the western side of the sky. To the east the stars were already prevalent.

Simon glanced over to where Tiron was nestled in her life mate's embrace. Like him, she was still in her Ruinos form since they were locked in their alien shapes during the day.

They had risked possible exposure by remaining unchanged during the day in their hunt for their missing brother. As Ruinos they could track better than they could wearing their glove-like outer skins.

The doctor quickly examined Tiron's wounds, which weren't as deep as Simon's. After she turned down his offer to bandage them, the physician wished them all a good night and descended the short flight of steps from the porch to the walkway leading to the gravel-lined driveway. They watched in silence as the man drove off.

"I'm taking Roni home," DeGrassi finally said. Simon glanced over to see the big man tenderly holding the woman 657

against him. In the fading light the deputy sheriff's light-blue eyes almost appeared white.

"Be sure to cleanse those cuts good," he said to the couple.

Tiron glanced again at the bloody scrapes on her bare arms and legs. "Are you going back to the mill?" she asked.

"I have to. You know they're not finished. They won't stop until Pycee owns the company." Simon frowned and turned to face the roadway.

"What is it?"

"What's the matter?"

Simon understood their concern. He knew he had the same look of worry on his face: worry and anxiety.

"Sarah," was all he replied. There was no need to elaborate. Jebaral had told the couple about Simon finding his life mate. He had also explained about Simon not yet showing her his true self and that he hadn't taken her as Ruinos. But their connection had formed nevertheless. Weak and often indistinct though it was, it had surprised everyone that the bond had appeared.

"What do you sense?" Tiron whispered.

Simon answered with a shake of his head. It was too fuzzy to make out, but he could sense she was up to something. He could only hope it wasn't anything dangerous. Turning back to them, he smiled. "Go home and rest."

"No." She pulled away from her husband, showing her stubborn side.

"Roni..."

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She glanced up at her husband. The silver flecks in her gray eyes sparkled with pent-up anger over what had happened. "With Jebaral injured, we have less of a chance of stopping those men from causing more damage. If Simolif is going back, so am I."

"Going back? To the mill?" Hannah stepped onto the porch to confront them. She turned a frowning face to Simon, then to Tiron. "Tonight? Are you nuts?"

"I don't doubt they'll strike again," Thomas commented.

"They could very well try tonight. It would make perfect sense after what happened yesterday."

They were interrupted by the sight of headlights approaching the cabin. Instinctively Simon and Tiron shifted into their human forms until they knew for certain who was coming. Jebaral had built the cabin in a remote part of the woods abutting the game preserve. The unpaved lane that branched off from the county road lead to nowhere but here.

So either the car was someone they knew or a lost tourist. A second later Simon recognized the sheriff's sedan.

"How's he doing?" Sheriff Klotsky asked before he'd finished climbing out of the vehicle.

"He's weak, but he'll mend good as new," Hannah answered. "He was very lucky the bullet didn't cause any massive damage." She looked over at Simon while Klotsky and DeGrassi exchanged information. "He wants to see you."

Nodding, Simon gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder and went back inside the cabin.

His brother was sitting up in bed. Although usually only sunlight locked them into their forms for the day, a serious 659

injury would also keep them from shape-shifting into their disguises. Standing at the doorway, Simon studied the pain on Jebaral's face, noticing the grayish pallor to his otherwise mottled green skin. Jeb's eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. The gauze covering the hole below his ribcage was already spotted with blood. Yet Simon could tell his brother was on the mend.

"How is the pain?" he asked softly.

Jebaral tried to take a deeper breath, only to give out a low moan. "It's like an adjac was shoved into my side and a piece of the tip broke off." He opened his eyes and made a tiny "come here" motion with his hand. Simon parked himself in the chair sitting next to the bed. "We haven't spoken of Sarah," Jebaral said. "How ... are you?"

"I'm terrified her treatise will be seen by the wrong people and our existence will be jeopardized because of it." He shifted into his true form, relishing in the fact that here among his family he didn't have to hide. It felt wonderful to be able to go about feeling the wind on his real skin without worrying about strangers seeing him.

"How soon before she presents it?"

"A few weeks," Simon answered. "She won't accept any sort of compromise." He grinned, adding, "She's as strong-willed and hard-headed as any Ruinos woman."

Jebaral managed a small smile in response. "Although you have yet to consummate your union in your true form, you already bear her scent," he informed his brother. At Simon's surprised expression, he nodded. "It appears we are learning more and more about what is and isn't feasible when it comes 660

to finding our life mates here on this world. Your courtship of Sarah has gone an entirely different route than mine and Tiron's."

"I know that. But the right time hasn't presented itself for me to give her the truth."

Hannah appeared in the doorway. Without apologizing for interrupting, she walked over to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her husband, cuddling up against his undamaged side. Simon watched as his brother placed a tender kiss on the woman's forehead.

"I told her about the siphoning," Jebaral said before Simon could ask.

"If he needs to draw my strength to help heal more quickly, I say go for it," Hannah said. She gave Simon a questioning stare. "Have you told him about going back tonight?"

"Tonight?" Jebaral looked back at his brother.

"Thom and Roni are going back to their place for a short nap, but they told me to tell you to meet them at the gas tanks around midnight. The Sheriff left to run the bullet over to Big Oak."

"Big Oak?" Simon echoed.

"Thom says the police department there has a lab and a ballistics chamber. They'll be able to examine the bullet and match it to the gun that fired it once you confiscate the guns from Pycee's men," she answered. Raising her face up to her life mate, she beamed. "I can already sense you're healing."

For the second time a flash of urgency swept over him.

Simon shook his head to clear it. A glance over at the bed 661

showed the couple closely watching him. "Something's going on with Sarah, but I can't tell what."

"If you need to return," Jebaral began.

Simon cut him off. "I'm staying until you are well enough.

She's not in any danger. I think it's because I haven't tried to contact her today." He rubbed his forehead and sighed. Their partial connection wasn't strong enough to reveal what he needed to know. And that uncertainty was beginning to irk him. He couldn't continue to make love to her as Simon.

Sooner or later he would be forced to show his true self as Simolif. He just prayed that when that time came, she would be ready for it.

"Why don't you call her now?"

"My cell is dead, and I didn't bring the charger."

"Use my phone," Jebaral offered, pointing to the dresser across the room.

Getting to his feet, Simon walked over and grabbed the cell phone off the dresser, then went back outside on the porch. Unfortunately he got the message that the customer he was trying to reach was not available. Going back inside, he told them what happened.

Hannah nodded. "That's not unusual. Maybe she's in a dead area. There are quite a few of them around here. We know where they are, so we avoid them when we try to make a call."

"Yes, but Templeton is not in a dead area," Simon observed.

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The truth suddenly smacked him in the face. At the same time, his brother commented, "Maybe she's no longer in Templeton."

By the stars!

It would explain the sharp sense of urgency he kept feeling. That, plus the need to be with him, the desire to be together, to be reunited.

It all made sense now. Sarah was on her way to Tumbril Harbor, only she didn't know how to find him once she got here or even how to reach him. His phone was dead, and she didn't have Jeb's cell phone number.

"She's coming here, isn't she?" Jebaral asked softly.

"Yeah," Simon nodded. "Yeah. That has to be what I'm feeling." He looked down at the couple on the bed. "What am I going to do? I can't reach her. She doesn't know where to find me."

"Wait a minute." Hannah crawled off the bed and plucked the phone from his hand. She punched in a number and waited, glancing at her wristwatch to check the time. "Hello, Wendy? Hi! This is Hannah. Fine, thank you. Look, I have a favor to ask. Do you remember me telling you about Simon finding his life mate? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Sarah. Well, we believe she's on her way here to the harbor, but we can't reach her by phone. Yeah, that's what we think, too. Damn dead spots. Well, I remembered that she'll have to drive right by the motel before she hits town. If you spot her, could you give us a yell, please? Huh? Oh, hold on, I'll ask him. Simon, what kind of car does she drive?"