Zero at the Bone (31 page)

Vic spat out one word: “Bastards.”

Then he stood and played his light slowly around the enclosure. Sacks of feed and wood chips were stacked against the far wall; a wheelbarrow, an empty cage, and several crates took up the middle. In the corner near the door was a large metal stall. Inside it, watching them with gentle dark eyes, stood a quivering mahogany-colored antelope. Twelve white stripes ran down its side.

“Eureka!” Vic whispered. “Let’s do this fast.”

In a rage of excitement Katherine wriggled through the window and dropped into the barn.

Pfut!
The sound of the dart pistol broke the stillness. The bongo fell to its knees. It lay with its head drooping for a few seconds and then fell over heavily on its side.

“That stuff really works,” Katherine said, rushing to help.

“Help me roll him over,” Vic said. He propped the flashlight against his pack and they both shoved until they had positioned the bongo on its back with its legs sticking up in the air. Vic took his camera from his bag and straddled the animal. Katherine held it in place by the rear legs.

There in the groin where the rear leg met the belly, on that hairless blue skin, was the black tattoo—its ISIS number—11-3881. Katherine knew it by heart. It was one of the bongos Max Friedlander had shipped.

The flash was an explosion that blinded her in the darkness. Vic took five more pictures from different angles. Then he pulled a hypodermic from his bag and injected it into the bongo’s haunch. By the time they were out of the stall, the animal was already struggling to its feet.

Vic stopped at the window. He aimed the camera at the old lion and took five more snaps.

As Katherine was struggling through the window, she heard him whisper, “I’m sorry, boy, so sorry.” She stopped and looked back, not sure she’d heard him right. Vic gave her a shove through and tossed his pack to her.

“Vic, you know that lion,” she said.

He dropped to the ground next to her. “Damn right. Let’s go.”

Katherine leading, they ran toward the car.

They’d done it. Home free. She saw the fence in the distance.

Then she heard the voices off to the side. And behind them. Lights flickered through the trees.

“Goddammit,” Vic whispered. “They’re right here.”

They sprinted now, crashing through bushes. Only fifty yards to the fence.

A voice behind them shouted. “Halt! I’ll shoot.”

They ran faster than Katherine knew she could.

When she heard the first shot, she accelerated. Her lungs burned with the effort.

As they neared the fence, she cried out in disappointment. No tree. No car. Just a long expanse of sturdy chain link. Fourteen feet straight up.

They’d misjudged the car’s location.

A spray from a shotgun pattered into some mesquite trees just behind them.

Vic grabbed her hand. “Come on. It’s this way.” He made a sharp right turn. They ran along the fence for what seemed like an eternity.

Another shot hit the ground between them.

They ran bent over. Katherine’s lungs felt wrung out.

She looked up. Thank God. The tree. Its branches seemed to reach toward them.

Vic grabbed the trunk and stood aside. He pushed her up into the lower branches and followed close behind. She climbed as if there were a fire licking at her feet.

Two shots thudded into the tree trunk. The rough bark scraped her hands and arms. She reached the top branch as the men broke through the bushes into the clearing. She dropped down onto the roof of the car.

She slid down the side of the Jeep to the ground and crouched behind the car. Vic dropped down next to her, panting and dripping sweat onto her as shots pinged into the other side of the Jeep.

Two men were climbing the tree. Two more approached the fence.

Katherine opened the door and grabbed the keys from under the mat. Vic was right behind her. She scrambled into the driver’s seat and hunched over the wheel. She fumbled with the keys, trying to find the right one.

The car rocked as a man dropped on top of it.

She found the key. It took three tries to get it in the ignition.

Vic was struggling now to close the door. An arm from above held it open.

Katherine started the engine and revved it. Another heavy thump on the car. Two up there!

“Go! Go!” Vic yelled.

She stepped on the accelerator, jerking the car forward. Then she hit the brake abruptly, throwing a body off the side. The other rolled onto the hood, blocking her vision. Vic slammed his door. “Again!” he shouted.

She stepped on the accelerator again and spurted forward. Again, she slammed on the brake. The man on the hood flew off and hit the ground in front of the Jeep. She swerved to avoid him.

“Fast,” Vic shouted.

She drove as fast as the terrain permitted, punishing the car by bouncing over ditches, low bushes, and cacti. When they got to the road she increased her speed to ninety and maintained it all the way to the highway.

The only sound in the car was their labored breathing as they tried to suck in enough air.

Then Vic began making a low rumbling noise which turned into laughter as they raced along the highway. He tried to speak, but couldn’t get the words out. Finally he slid closer to her and conquered his laughter enough to say, “That was incredible. We actually did it. At the end there, I didn’t think we would.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. My adrenaline is pumping so hard, I’m not sure. How do you feel?”

He took her right hand off the wheel and pressed it between his legs. “Carnal in the extreme.”

She felt the hardness stir under her touch.

“Mmmm,” he said. “How fast can you drive this car?”

19

KATHERINE took a long time washing the dust and sweat out of her hair. Then she let the hot jets sting her skin alert. It was 2:30
A.M
., but she had never been more awake.

It wasn’t just the delicious buzz of excitement and relief that had charged the air in the car all the way back from Kerrville. It wasn’t even the tingling anticipation of knowing Vic must be waiting for her now in his bedroom. It was the sense she had of being on a quest.

It reminded her of fairy tales where the youngest child was given a task to perform, a difficult task that only she could accomplish. Her father had given her this mission and she was close to the end; she could feel it. She had followed the clues he left for her, discovered what he had intended she should. What remained was for her to make the correct use of the discoveries. Today she would do that; she would finally meet her grandmother, confront her with what she had discovered, show her the proof. Surely this must be what her father had wanted her to do.

She stepped out dripping onto the bathroom floor. As she toweled her hair, she remembered she had nothing clean to put on except her zoo uniform. She wrapped the towel around her waist and looked into the bedroom, half expecting Vic to be waiting there. The room was empty, so she threw off the towel and walked to the closet naked. Inside hung a few old shirts and jackets. One was a long white T-shirt. She pulled it on over her head and inspected herself in the mirror on the door. The shirt hung to the top of her knees and clung to every curve of her still-damp body. Perfect. She smiled at herself, tucked her wet hair behind her ears, and let a tiny shiver ripple down her body.

She stepped into the hall to listen for sounds of life. A refrigerator door closing at the other end of the house brought her stomach to life; she followed the sound, trying to remember the last meal she’d had. It was probably the rubbery turkey sandwich on the flight from La Guardia yesterday.

The kitchen was dim, only the small light over the sink turned on. Vic stood at the counter spreading peanut butter on a piece of toast. Ra sat at attention at his feet, gazing up hopefully.

“Beggar,” she said.

They both turned her way. Vic wore a short blue terry-cloth robe and his hair was dripping wet. He studied Katherine for a moment in silence, his face in shadow. Then he held the piece of toast out to her. The aroma of hot toast and melting peanut butter filled her mouth with liquid and made her stomach contract. She took a few steps forward, but just as she reached out to take it, Vic put it behind his back. She smiled, really wanting it, and reached around him with one hand. Looking down at her, he brought his left arm around behind her back and slowly drew her in close until her breasts just touched the rough terry cloth covering his chest. Now the clean fragrance emanating from his skin and hair merged with the rich peanut butter to create a scent that instantly filled every cavity of her body with wet desires. She looked up at him and said, “Peanut-butter toast must be the human pheromone.”

He brought the toast forward and waved it gently under her nose; then he held it to her lips. She took a bite, scattering crumbs between them. The toast was thin and crisp and the peanut butter was chunky, whole peanuts crunching between her teeth as she chewed. He raised the toast to his mouth, took a big bite, and offered her the rest. She took it in her teeth. Never had she eaten anything so profoundly delicious.

“How soon can you get the pictures developed?” she asked.

He used the back of her shirt to brush the crumbs off his hand and encircled her now with both arms, gradually tightening them so she could feel the contours of his body against hers. “The one-hour place opens at ten,” he said in a hoarse voice, “so I should have them back by noon.”

She felt the solid musculature of his chest, the hollow of his flat stomach, and the hardening pressure of his groin asserting itself. “I want to show them to my grandmother as soon as possible,” she said, her breath becoming ragged. “Can you bring them to me as soon as you get them?” God, they hadn’t even started yet and already she couldn’t breathe.

Remembering yesterday’s fantasy of exploring his bare back, she pulled away a little so she could slide her hands inside his robe and move them around under his arms to his back. As she did it, the robe fell open. Now nothing but her flimsy, damp shirt separated them.

“Yes,” he said. “Oh, yes.”

Starting in the small of the back, she inched her hands upward, savoring the smooth skin stretched taut over the hard muscles underneath. “I’m working on a plan to get in to see her,” Katherine said, glancing up at his face. His eyes were closed and his lips open. “Do you have any ideas?”

He pulled her tighter against him. “I have lots of ideas.”

She moved both hands up to his neck, the place where his hair curled under his ears, and traced it with her fingertips. The hair was wet and cool, just beginning to curl, the skin warm and smooth.

He leaned over and found the same place on her neck with his mouth and kissed it, lingering over it, tasting the skin. Then he lifted his head and found her lips. First he just touched them with his, licking off the crumbs and traces of peanut butter. Then he took full possession of her mouth, occupied it, explored it, made it the center of his attention. She held on to him now for support because her entire body was liquefying like peanut butter on hot toast.

When he spoke he was breathless, as if he’d just raced up twenty flights of stairs. “Let’s go to my room. Okay?”

She nodded into his chest.

*   *   *

At six when the alarm went off, she was already awake, watching his bare back and doing the most recent version of her countdown: three days left until the auction, until she had to deliver Ra up to the highest bidder. It was her first thought every morning, even this morning when her head was brimming with other issues.

Vic reached up an arm to shut the buzzing off and turned to face her. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“That I was never much interested in sex before,” she answered.

He laughed with pleasure and put his index finger on her forehead, drawing it slowly down the center of her body. “Neither was Teddy,” he said. “It just takes the right combination.”

She glanced at the clock and sat up.

He reached for her bare shoulder and said, “What’s the hurry?”

“I’ve got to be there on time today. I swore Danny an oath I’d work for him today since he filled in for me yesterday.”

He pulled her down. “Katherine, I can make an excuse for you. You don’t have to go.”

She sat up again. “Yes. I do. Today especially. There’s that famous herpetologist coming this morning. They’ve all been looking forward to it; I’m the only one who’s willing to hold down the fort. You won’t have the photos ready until noon anyway. Then I’ll take a long lunch hour to visit my grandmother. Today’s the day.”

She swung her legs out of bed and felt suddenly shy at her nakedness. Noticing her discomfort, he found the shirt she had borrowed at the foot of the bed and tossed it to her. She flushed when she caught it and slipped it over her head, remembering how a few hours before he had lifted it up one inch at a time, taking an excruciatingly long time to remove it.

He jumped out of bed naked and disappeared into his bathroom.

*   *   *

She showered quickly and dressed for work.

In the kitchen, Vic had already fed Ra an old hamburger and let him out. “We need to get dog food today,” he said, not looking up from the orange juice he was pouring.

She watched the top of his dark head and felt an undulating contraction move down her abdomen. This was going too far too fast. “I’ll need to start the cleanup on my father’s house after work and get the door fixed,” she said.

He handed her a glass of juice and looked directly into her eyes. On his chin was a small bloody cut where he’d nicked himself shaving. “Katherine, please don’t go back there alone. Stay here for a while, at least until this is over. I like having you here.”

The concurrent rushes of pleasure and apprehension made her scalp tingle. She liked being here, too, but she needed to get some distance from him. He had been invaluable last night in Kerrville. Too valuable. There was no way she could have done it without him. She was already becoming dependent on him. “Thanks. Let’s think about it today,” she said.