Of Dawn and Embers, page 18
part #3 of Of Cinder and Bone Series
He snorted. “When have we ever been lucky?”
“Point taken.”
Just as Jack swiped his card and reached for the doorknob, they both heard a resounding thud as well as the clatter of something being knocked onto the tile. He sighed. “We really need to switch careers. Mind if I go in first?”
She smirked at him, her brown eyes sparkling. “Be my guest, Sir Gawain.”
He scowled. “Hardy-har, baby mama.”
She pinched his backside as he slipped inside the door and he yelped. Rubbing his butt and grumbling, Jack took brief stock of the state of the lab. There were two scientists in lab coats standing on either side of a large exam table, both trying desperately to pin down the wriggling, snarling Highlander dragon. Larry stood a few feet away, a bit pale, a tranquilizer gun in his hand. The Highlander dragon’s tail had been heavily wrapped in cloth, but it thrashed violently as it tried to get free from the net still tangled around it. It had managed to swat nearby chairs over and by the exhausted, pained look on one of the scientist’s face, it had landed a blow or two on them as well.
“So this is going well,” Jack said over the dragon’s furious growling. “Need some help?”
Larry cleared his throat and edged towards the exam table. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Yes, it is,” one of the scientists said.
Jack nodded to Kamala and she stepped inside all the way as well, letting the door slide shut behind her. Jack shrugged off his lab coat and folded the sleeves inward after he took the remaining items out of the pockets and handed them to Kamala. “Do you mind?”
Larry shrugged. “Have at it.”
Jack walked towards the front of the exam table and wrapped the lab coat around the dragon’s head completely, until only its snout poked out. He gestured to Kamala, who found a roll of electric tape in one of the cabinets, and then he taped the coat in place. Within a minute or so, the dragon quit flailing and went still with an annoyed, but subdued hiss.
The scientists cautiously let go of the creature. Its breathing gradually slowed and it twitched its tail a bit, but made no other violent movements.
“God rest your soul, Steve Irwin,” Jack said. “You’re still helping us from beyond the grave.”
Larry leveled a confused look at him. “How’d you—”
“Highlander dragons have a common ancestor with alligators and crocodiles,” he said. “Blinding them is sort of like hitting a reset button. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“Wish you’d been here ten minutes ago,” the male scientist said ruefully as he rubbed one side of his ribs. “This fella woke up while we were trying to administer another dose of sedative and basically went berserk.”
“How long will you need him out for the initial analysis?” Kamala asked.
“Couple hours or so.”
“Were you able to complete any initial tests regarding his metabolic rate?”
“What little we have is here,” the female scientist said, handing her a file folder. Kamala flipped through it and nodded. “Until we have something more in depth, I’d go with the dosage that Calloway used when the dragon was captured. Has it been fed yet?”
“No,” Larry said.
“I’d do that beforehand so it has something in its system and isn’t running on fumes. It also might have been acting out because it’s simply hungry.”
The female scientist nodded. “Diet?”
“I’d start with venison if possible. If you can’t get that, fish should do the trick.” The two scientists nodded and headed out of the lab.
“What else can you tell us about him?” Jack asked.
“He’s definitely been used in the fights more than once,” Larry said, grabbing a pointer from the chalkboard behind them and indicating different spots on the dragon’s body. “He’s got missing scales and scarring all over.”
“Any sign of a tracker implant?”
“We won’t know until the X-rays come back, but if he’s anything like the others, yes, he’ll have one.”
“Is there any way to reverse engineer them?” Kamala asked.
Larry snorted. “This isn’t like the movies, miss. That sort of thing doesn’t work in real life.”
“Doctor,” Kamala said. “Not miss.”
Larry cleared his throat. “Right. Sorry. The trackers we’ve collected are high grade, but they come from a third party tech company overseas. They’ve located the manufacturer, but so far there’s no lead on who ordered them.”
“Aren’t you guys worried about the bad guys knowing where your site is with these trackers?” Jack asked.
“We always pass an EMP over the dragons before they’re brought to the facility to deactivate them offsite. The ones we collect are always torn apart to make sure they’re not active. We take security very seriously here.”
He put the pointer aside. “To that end, have you heard back from Ms. Worthington about the status of the dragon tracker?”
“Not yet,” Jack said, checking his watch. “She should be up by now. I’ll give her a call and see if she’s made progress.”
“Tell her she owes me baby names, by the way,” Kamala added, to which Jack grinned.
“Will do, angel.”
He went out into the hallway and dialed Faye’s number as he paced. It rang for a bit, and then she answered, sounding a bit sleepy. “Hello?”
“Alas,” Jack said wistfully. “The dulcet tones of my beloved. I’ve been without for too long, my lady.”
Faye snorted. “How much coffee have you had this morning?”
“A fairly large amount. How’s that tan coming along?”
“Beautifully. I’m like a bronze goddess.”
Jack laughed. “Pics or it didn’t happen.”
She returned the laugh, albeit with more seduction in it. “Since when are you a fan of sexting? You told me you almost crashed the Mazda the only time I ever sent you one.”
Jack blushed profusely. “Point taken. Glad you’re having fun, though. You needed a break.”
“That I did. So what’s up, Stilts?”
“The good ole government is leaning on me to ask where you are with fixing the tracker, despite the fact that I told them you’re on vacation.”
“Actually, that’s the good news. I need to run a couple more diagnostics just to be sure, but I think it’s back in tip-top shape. I can FedEx it over to your hotel room sometime this afternoon.”
“Thanks, Faye. Seriously. It’s going to be a huge help. It’ll take some of the strain off of relying on Pete to track.”
“How’s that going?”
“A lot better than I expected, knock on wood. We’re about to run some tests on the dragon we captured yesterday. Assuming your girlfriend doesn’t tear Lackey Larry in half.”
“She does have super strength now,” Faye agreed. “It’s kind of terrifying.”
There was a pause and Jack heard a muffled voice, as if Faye had put her hand over the phone for a moment. “Babe, mind if I call you back later?”
He felt a tug of old insecurity in his gut, but forced himself to keep his voice the same. “Yeah, sure. Text me when you get the tracker in the mail, and don't forget that you owe Kam some baby names. Thanks again, gorgeous.”
“Always, handsome. Give Kam and the baby a kiss from me. Bye.” She hung up.
Jack frowned down at the phone for a moment. Something was off. He knew it in his gut. Her tone had switched from amiable to cautionary right before she’d hung up.
He glanced at the door to the lab and chewed his lower lip, debating if he should tell Kamala. He didn’t want her to worry, but she had the uncanny ability to get through to Faye when he couldn’t. Jack pocketed the phone and swiped his card to get back in.
“Hey,” he said. “Faye’s got the tracker working. She just needs to do a few initial double checks and she’ll send it back sometime today.”
“Good,” Larry said. “Dr. Anjali and I were about to start the physical.”
Kamala eyed her boyfriend as his mouth flew open. “If you sing one lyric of ‘Let’s Get Physical,’ you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Jack shut his mouth and then muttered. “Spoilsport.”
He then nodded to one side and she followed him until they were out of Larry’s earshot. “Do me a favor later and please call Faye around lunchtime. She sounded a little…I don’t know. Tense.”
Kamala frowned. “Like she’s in trouble?”
“Don’t think so. She’d tell us if she were. Just see if you can get her to talk about whatever’s bothering her. I’m a little worried, that’s all.”
Kamala squeezed his hand. “Try not to. She’s tougher than both of us. She’ll be alright.”
“You’re sure this bribe is going to work?” Faye asked as she trailed Winston back down the hallway towards their hotel room.
“Usually does,” he said. “And you were very convincing.”
“Still, though, should we be doing this now? Aren’t you worried we’ll miss something while we’re here packing up?”
“Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and we’re close by. Trust me, you don’t want Stella to find us first. We’d better switch hotels just to be safe.”
“Since when are hitmen ever safe?”
“Heh. Point taken, Blondie.”
She nearly jumped as her phone buzzed and belted out the bubblegum pop song “Let’s Be Friends (So We Can Make Out).” Winston arched an eyebrow at her wordlessly.
“It’s Jack,” she said. “I haven’t spoken to him since before I left. He might get suspicious if I don’t answer.”
Winston eyed her, but nodded before continuing down the hallway. “Go ahead.”
She answered the call, doing her best to sound drowsy, since it was only a little after eight o’clock in the morning. “Hello?”
“Alas,” Jack said wistfully. “The dulcet tones of my beloved. I’ve been without for too long, my lady.”
Faye snorted. “How much coffee have you had this morning?”
“A fairly large amount. How’s that tan coming along?”
“Beautifully. I’m like a bronze goddess.”
Jack laughed. “Pics or it didn’t happen.”
She returned the laugh. It was surprisingly easy to slip into their usual banter despite the circumstances. “Since when are you a fan of sexting? You told me you almost crashed the Mazda the only time I ever sent you one.”
She could practically hear the embarrassment in his voice. “Point taken. Glad you’re having fun, though. You needed a break.”
“That I did. So what’s up, Stilts?”
“The good ole government is leaning on me to ask where you are with fixing the tracker, despite the fact that I told them you’re on vacation.”
“Actually, that’s the good news. I need to run a couple more diagnostics just to be sure, but I think it’s back in tip-top shape. I can FedEx it over to your hotel room sometime this afternoon.”
“Thanks, Faye. Seriously. It’s going to be a huge help. It’ll take some of the strain off of relying on Pete to track.”
“How’s that going?”
“A lot better than I expected, knock on wood. We’re about to run some tests on the dragon we captured yesterday. Assuming your girlfriend doesn’t tear Lackey Larry in half.”
“She does have super strength now,” Faye agreed. “It’s kind of terrifying.”
The two reached their hotel room and Winston opened the door. He took about three steps into the room and stopped dead. Faye bumped into his broad back, confused. She put her hand over the mic and said. “What gives?”
Then she peeked around his shoulder.
There was a black woman sitting on the second Queen-sized bed closer to the far wall. She was voluptuous, but with evidence of firm muscles beneath the copious curves. Her hair was black except for the swoop over her eye, which had been colored with white, pink, and light blue streaks. Pinkish-silver eyeshadow glinted over each eyelid. She wore a burgundy leather jacket that was cinched and had her knee-high boot-clad legs crossed. Light from the mostly closed window glinted off her white-gold hoops in her ears.
And off the .44 Magnum in her right hand.
The woman smiled and dragged her gaze over Winston slowly before her lips parted and a resonant purring voice slithered out.
“Hello, Pooh Bear.”
Winston spoke, but didn’t move a muscle.
“Hello, Stella.”
CHAPTER NINE
STRANGE LOVE
There was enough tension in the air to choke a blue whale.
Winston didn’t say another word, but he reached back and simply gripped Faye’s wrist. She remembered to breathe and lifted the phone back to her bone-dry mouth. She did her best to keep her voice level as she spoke. “Babe, mind if I call you back later?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jack replied. “Text me when you get the tracker in the mail, and don't forget that you owe Kam some baby names. Thanks again, gorgeous.”
“Always, handsome. Give Kam and the baby a kiss from me. Bye.” Faye hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket. The door had already closed behind them on its own. Cold sweat gathered along her spine and in her armpits as she calculated how many seconds it would take her to open it and run down the hallway towards the car. Winston had angled his body so that she was almost entirely behind him, perhaps for that very reason, but touching her had been a cue for her not to run. As much as she didn’t want to do it, he’d silently told her to trust him.
Stella cocked her head to one side. “You look good. I like the extra bulk.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Wish your hair was longer, though. Not a bad color this time.”
“You should talk,” Winston said, matching her conversational tone. “Thought you were done with the sew-in weaves.”
“I thought so too,” she said, brushing her swoop from her brow. “But then I found this really gorgeous hair that I like so I decided to go back.”
“Brazilian?”
Stella’s brown eyes sparkled. “You remembered my preference. I’m surprised.”
Winston shrugged. “I try.”
Stella gestured with the Magnum. “Take the mag out of your gun and put it on the bed. Nice and slow.”
Winston let go of Faye, removed the gun from inside the shoulder holster under his coveralls, and popped the ammo out, tossing them onto the bed. He removed the bullet from the chamber and set it next to the gun as well.
“Now the cutlery.”
Winston knelt and pulled up one pants leg, revealing the eight-inch knife strapped to his calf, and dropped it to the bed as well.
She gestured again. “There. Now we can have a civilized conversation.”
Almost immediately, Winston’s posture relaxed. Faye nearly did a double take. It was as if Stella had spoken a code word of some kind. He strode over to the desk to his right and leaned his backside against it, his hands on the tabletop. Faye swallowed hard and eased to her left until her back was against the wall closest to the door. Four and a half steps to the door. Then another two steps to get out of Stella’s line of sight.
After Faye had settled into her new spot, Stella’s eyes tracked lazily over her. She smirked. “So who’s the tart?”
“Needed some cover,” Winston said. “I usually travel alone, if you remember.”
Stella snorted. “You’re still a shit-ass liar, Pooh Bear. I know covers when I see them.”
She squinted at Faye. “Most covers you can mold in your hand like Play-Doh. She’s a diamond. Have you taken on an apprentice?”
“Not hardly,” Winston grunted. “Too much goddamn work.”
“Got that right.” Stella suddenly grinned. “Don’t tell me she’s your sugar baby.”
Winston rolled his eyes. “Gimme a break, Stella.”
“Just how long do the two of you plan to continue talking about me like I’m a slab of meat?” Faye demanded finally.
Stella sent her a bored look. “Look, sweetie, the adults are talking. You’ll get your turn soon enough.”
“Adults, huh?” Faye said, crossing her arms. “Is that why you took this assignment so you can get back at him like a high school prom date that got stood up?”
Stella blinked. Just once. Slowly. She cut her eyes over at Winston. “Is this basic bitch for real?”
Winston smiled. “Why don’t you ask her?”
“Fine.” Stella tossed her hair a bit. “So why don’t you tell me why you’re here in your own words?”
“I’d love to. None of your fucking business.”
“Ooh, she’s feisty,” Stella chuckled. “Must be giving you trouble.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Winston said. Faye glared at him and he just shrugged.
“You don’t have to tell me, baby girl,” Stella said. “I see you anyway.”
“Really? Is that why you asked for his weapons and not mine?”
Stella offered her a catty grin then. “You can’t pull fast enough to shoot me, sweetie. Might as well keep the gun on you. Might make you feel safer.”
“I’m traveling with a hitman,” Faye said. “Safe isn’t what I’m about.”
“Guess not. But let me see if I can paint the picture.” She scrutinized Faye for a long moment. “You’re gorgeous, and you carry yourself like you’ve been this way for a long time. You got that pretty in early middle school, probably in seventh or eighth grade when the PMS fairy landed early. Probably got it from your mother. Mom and Dad were, what? High school sweeties? The prom queen and the all-star quarterback, right? And not the kind they write about in Hallmark and Lifetime movies; the kind where the girl figured out too late that she hitched her wagon to a loser, but he got her pregnant too soon to break it off so she stayed to raise the kid. I’d take a guess to say they separated after you graduated high school. By then, you were tired of being a beauty queen. Got tired of people thinking you were a blonde bimbo, so you graduated salutatorian and went into some kind of complicated subject, maybe engineering or programming, to subvert everyone’s expectations. You’re great at it, but deep down, you know it’s just for show. It’s not what you really wanted to do, but it was the only way to get the world to take you seriously. Anna Nicole Smith the Brain Surgeon.”
