Stoned (Unlikely Heroes Book 4) (10 page)

“I brought you a new toothbrush.” He motioned to an unopened toothbrush sitting on the bathroom counter. He turned away. “Don’t be long. I’ll wait outside.”

Fifteen minutes later, they left the compound. Even though Karen had made a promise to Viper that she wouldn’t attempt to escape if he set Runt free, she had no intention of keeping that promise.

If she found a chance to escape today, she would take it.

Then she’d send the cops in to free Runt and all the other innocent creatures.

Viper wouldn’t get away with what he’d done.

Karen would make sure of it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Karen had foolishly believed Viper would let her and Stoner go alone to her house. Instead, he sent three other bikers with them. Did Viper not trust Stoner for some reason? Had Stoner done something untrustworthy? Karen’s curiosity about the mysterious, complicated man who’d been assigned to babysit her was growing by the moment. Who
was
Stoner? He’d shown her a few small glimpses into the man he was beneath the tough guy exterior, but she wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything about him. Why had he joined the Cobras? How long had he been a Cobra? He’d said he’d been a pot grower before, but she wasn’t sure if he’d meant it or if he’d just been trying to shock her. Did he own a drug empire? Had he teamed up with Viper to expand on it?  

Stoner shoved a travel mug full of coffee and a strawberry pastry at Karen and ushered her out the door. The guards out front opened the gate for them, then closed the gate behind them as the truck headed down the gravel road.

Stoner didn’t blindfold her this time.

Why? Did they plan to kill her soon?

The thought chilled her. She took a gulp of hot coffee, scalding her throat.

Karen wouldn’t give them a reason to kill her today. They needed her until Stoner knew the correct process of micropropagation. So she wouldn’t show him the “real” way. She’d just pretend to.

He’d be none the wiser.  

On the ride over to her house, she sat in the front seat of the truck between Stoner and a mean-looking guy with a purple Mohawk named Rage. The young man Rebel who she’d met yesterday and another guy named Scorpion who had blond dreadlocks rode in the back seat, chewing on beef jerky. On the floor between Rebel and Scorpion sat a large potted marijuana plant, the stock plant they expected her to take cuttings from.

Karen nibbled on the pastry and sipped coffee, trying to ignore Rage, who sat to her right next to the passenger’s side window. Rage gave her the willies. An evil, creepy vibe radiated around the man like fog on a cold November night. One glance into his soulless eyes convinced her to stay as far away from him as possible. More than once he reached his vile hand toward her thigh, trying—she was sure—to cop a feel. The way he kept leering at her churned her stomach.

Karen scooted closer to Stoner, who was driving. She slapped Rage’s hand aside for the third—or was it the fourth?—time and caught Stoner’s gaze flickering askance at Rage. Stoner kept his emotions hidden, his expression unreadable, but she sensed the tension in his body and the animosity rising off of him.

By the time they arrived fifteen minutes later, she’d grown weary of fighting off Rage’s attempts to grope her. She couldn’t wait to get away from him.

Stoner parked the truck in Karen’s gravel driveway. He turned off the engine. “This is your house?”

“Yes.” Her little cottage nestled in the trees wasn’t much. But it suited her just fine. She couldn’t afford a house payment on her part-time income, so she’d had to find a property she could purchase in full from the sale of her house in Montana. A woman living on her own couldn’t be too picky.

“Where’s the lab?” Stoner asked.

“In the greenhouse out back. I have a section partitioned off for micropropagation.”

Stoner slid out of the vehicle. Karen followed him, not wanting to go anywhere near Rage. She scooted across the seat, slipping her legs beneath the steering wheel, then climbed out after Stoner. She stood on her front lawn, breathing in the fresh scent of pine, relieved to be away from the Cobra compound for awhile.

Today she was going to escape.

Rage, Rebel and Scorpion all exited the vehicle and glanced around.

“Cute place.” Rebel smiled at Karen. She smiled back. She hadn’t changed her earlier opinion of him and still liked Rebel. Whatever issues he had, whatever life he’d run from, there was still good in him. Rebel was funny, charming, handsome and likeable. How could anyone
not
like Rebel?  

“Thanks. Why don’t you guys haul the plant out to the greenhouse while I feed my cat?”

Stoner tensed. “You have a cat?”

“Yes, and she’s probably starving. She’s overweight and the vet has her on a strict diet, so she only gets to eat small portions twice a day. Since you guys kidnapped me last night, she didn’t get to eat her dinner.”

Stoner snorted. “If she’s obese, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt her to starve for a few days.”

Karen glared up at him. “Would you want someone to starve you for a few days?”

Rebel and Scorpion sniggered behind her.

Rage leered, his creepy eyes zooming in on her chest. If the vile man knew there was nothing beneath her bra but padding, he’d probably stop gawking.

Karen turned her back to Rage and headed for the front door. Stoner’s hand snaked out, wrapping around her arm, bringing her to a halt.

“Anyone live here with you?”

He was worried about being ambushed inside her house.
As if.
Nick and April were in Arizona visiting Nick’s parents. Karen didn’t expect them back for two weeks.

“Just me and my cat.”

Stoner’s gaze probed hers, as if trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth. Finally he released her. 

“Go ahead and bring the plant out to the greenhouse.” He motioned for the other three to head out back. “We’ll be along in a sec.”

Rage stepped in Stoner’s path, stopping him. “I’m coming with you. Viper’s orders.”

Stoner and Rage locked stares. Tension arced between them.

Karen took a step toward her porch, back out of the way. Just in case they attacked. 

Finally Stoner shrugged and followed Karen toward the front of the house. When he paused at the bottom of the porch, she witnessed the anger swirling in his eyes. Those two would have it out at some point. She only hoped that when they did Stoner came out the victor.

Rebel and Scorpion headed out back to the greenhouse with the marijuana plant.

As soon as Karen pushed her front door open, Tiara rubbed against her legs, meowing loudly.

“I know. I’m sorry, Tiara. Not my fault.”

Stoner cocked a brow. “Tiara? Seriously?”

Karen ignored him. She went to the kitchen pantry to fetch Tiara’s food. Stoner and Rage followed behind her. Both men glanced around warily, as if they expected someone to jump out at them.

Removing the expensive weight-control cat food, she poured some into the cat’s bowl. Tiara sniffed at it, then turned up her nose.

“
Meow!”

Stoner chuckled. “She doesn’t look hungry to me. Why isn’t she eating?”

“Give her a second and she’ll eat. She always waits to see if I’ll feed her something better first.”

Stoner’s lips twitched. “Can’t blame her. That stuff looks like shit and probably tastes like shit too.”

Rage let out a snort. He leaned back against the wall to watch them with those soulless eyes.

“If you guys don’t mind, I want to change into my own clothes now. I’ll just be a minute.”

She stepped toward the small hallway leading to her room. Stoner grabbed her arm. “Not alone you’re not. You have a phone in here?”

She shook her head. “My cellphone’s in my backpack, which Viper still has. I don’t have a landline.”

“Good.” Stoner urged her toward her bedroom. “Dress quickly. I’m coming with you.”

Rage followed them down the hallway. Stoner tried to close the door in his face. Rage shoved it back open.

“Viper’s orders.” His gaze bored into Stoner’s.

Karen refused to take off any clothes with Rage nearby, so she grabbed a few shirts from her closet, some clean socks and underwear from her dresser drawer, and a couple of pairs of jeans and some lounge pants. She stuffed the clothes into her duffel bag, then added some makeup, shampoo and other toiletries from the bathroom. She zipped the bag closed. If she didn’t manage to escape today, at least she’d have some clean clothes to change into. 

“I’ll change back at the compound.” She handed her bag to Stoner. Disappointment flickered across Rage’s face.

Pervert. I’m not stripping for you. Ever.

Stoner carried her bag from the room and dropped it near the front door. “Can we get started now?”

Karen led the way toward the back door. “Let’s go micropropagate.”

Stoner chuckled as he followed after her. The gleam in his eyes indicated he was thinking about a different kind of propagating.

“Yes. Let’s go propagate.”

* * *

“Wow.” Rebel glanced around at the rows and rows of tables filled with flats of various plant species in Karen’s greenhouse. “You’ve got a lot plants here. What do you do with them all?”

“I sell them.” Karen turned, admiring all the beautiful plants she’d produced on her own. Pride swept through her. The greenhouse was her sanctuary. When she wasn’t in the forest, she was in her greenhouse tending to her plants.

With a last glance around, she headed for the lab at the back of the greenhouse.

Stoner and Rage followed, each glancing around as they went. Rebel wandered after them, his gaze taking everything in. Scorpion took up the rear, gnawing on a piece of beef jerky and looking bored out of his mind. They stopped in front of the glass-paneled cabinet that held her lab supplies. Rebel grinned. “Ooh, this reminds me of chemistry class.” He bent to peer into the cabinet. “Are those test tubes and flasks? Cool.”

“Don’t touch anything. The stuff in the cabinet has already been sterilized. Everything that enters the lab must be completely sterile. I don’t want any of you contaminating the cuttings with your filth.” She directed the last at Rage, but he was too stupid to realize she was referring to him.

Amusement danced in Stoner’s eyes. Karen fought the urge to smile. She cleared her throat.

“There’s not enough room in the lab for any more than two people. Since Viper ordered Stoner to be the one I teach, he’s the one who will be going in with me. You three stay out here. While you’re here, you might as well make yourselves useful by watering my plants.” She motioned to the hose hanging on an old wheel attached to a post in the center of the greenhouse between the rows of tables filled with plants. 

Rage shook his head. “No. I go in too.”

“No you don’t.” She glared up at him. “There’s not enough room. It’s going to be hard enough as it is trying to fit Stoner’s wide berth in there with me.”

When Karen had built the lab, she’d imagined she’d be the only one using it, so she’d made it small. It was also cheaper to heat a small room versus a larger section of the greenhouse. It would be a tight squeeze with Stoner in there with her, but she didn’t have any choice.

“You really have buyers for all these plants?” Rebel asked.

“I do. I sell mostly to commercial nurseries online. Everything you see here has been tissue cultured by me.” She motioned around to the flats full of plants. “These were all created by special order. A nursery contacts me with what they want each growing season, pays me a down payment so I can start, and when the plants are ready to ship, they send the balance owed and I ship them the plants. I also provide the Forest Service with small trees to fill in the dead areas of the forest.”

Stoner’s eyes flickered with interest. “Tissue culture? Is that the same as micropropagation?”

“Yes. Most the plants you see nowadays in home garden centers have been produced from tissue culture.”

“Which starts in test tubes, right?” Rebel finished. “That’s pretty cool. It really is cloning. Can I watch?”

“Through the glass, yeah, but you can’t go in the lab with us.”

“So all these plants in here are orders you’re getting ready to ship?” Rebel asked.

Karen nodded. “I’m hardening them off first before shipment. When they come out of the lab, they need an acclimatization period to adjust to the new environment. Once they’ve been acclimated and reach the purchaser’s specified size, then they’re ready to ship.”

“That’s some cool shit, huh Stoner.” Rebel smacked Stoner on the arm.

Stoner quirked a brow, but he didn’t say anything.

Karen entered the small washroom and scrubbed her hands.

The Cobras might be holding her captive and forcing her to teach them how to clone plants. But they couldn’t know if she didn’t teach them the correct process. All she had to do was change the order of micropropagation, use the wrong medium, switch things up, and the cuttings wouldn’t take. The Cobras would be none the wiser. They wouldn’t realize she’d fooled them, even when it didn’t work. She could blame it on an unknown contamination, which wasn’t uncommon.

Karen had no intention of cloning marijuana for these assholes. But she would play along and pretend…until she managed to escape.

Today she would not die. Not if she could help it.

She stepped back and motioned Stoner into the washroom. “Okay, wash your hands in that sink. Use that bacterial soap, the one in the blue bottle, and scrub good.”

While Stoner went to the sink, Karen turned to the others. She motioned to Rebel and Scorpion. “Bring in the marijuana plant. I’ll need some cuttings to get started.”