Love in the Shadows (6 page)

The hours flew by, and Katherine
hurried back through Shadow to her hotel room. Joe arrived right on
time and gave her an appraising look when she opened the
door.

“Going fishing,” she said with a
smile.

“Let’s hope all you catch is
information,” Joe said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure Derek would
like you wearing that outfit in public.”

“What’s wrong with my
outfit?”

“Every man in that joint is going to
want to gobble you up. We’ll be lucky if a fight doesn’t break
out.”

“Oh, come on, Joe. They’re lab nerds.
There won’t be any fights.”

The cantina was crowded. Joe stood near
the men at the bar. Katherine entered separately and was sure she
noticed a couple of the guys from the lab. She sauntered up to the
bar, and one of the men immediately offered her his
seat.

“Hey, honey. Can I buy you a drink?”
the nerd asked.

“Of course. I’ll have whatever you’re
having,” she said, leaning toward him.

It wasn’t long before Katherine steered
the conversation to the lab. Before she finished her drink, she
found out that there were fire alarm buttons that would swing all
the doors open. One was in the guard shack and one inside the main
building.

Katherine let the lab tech go on and on
about how important his work was. Then, she steered the
conversation toward the cleaning crew.

“Of course, all the experiments need to
be done in pristine conditions. Even the slightest contaminate
could change the results,” he explained to her.

“Do you have to keep the place in
pristine condition?” she asked, smiling her brightest smile and
batting her lashes at the man.

“It is everyone’s job to keep the lab
in working order.”

“Oh, you poor dear. You work so hard,
and they make you clean, too?” Katherine asked. She could see the
lab tech thinking. If he boasted that he kept everything clean, he
would be lowering himself to the level of a servant.

“Of course, we have a cleaning crew to
take out the garbage and scrub the floors,” he confided.

“Well, of course,” Katherine said,
encouraging him to continue. “Your work is much too important. Can
you excuse me a minute? I’ve got to go to the restroom.” Katherine
signaled Joe and headed down the dimly lit hallway toward the
restroom. She didn’t want to take a chance that the tech would
follow her. She found the nearest shadow and shadow-walked back to
her motel room.

There was a quiet knock on the hotel
room door a few minutes later. Katherine opened the door to let Joe
in.

“That was quite a performance tonight,”
Joe said. “You’ll have to be careful if you see that guy
again.”

“Did you hear all of it?” Katherine sat
on a chair and reached for the band holding her hair.

“I think so. I’ll have Hugh look for
the fire-alarm button in the main building while he’s there
tonight. We’ll ask around town tomorrow and see if the cleaning
crew is from here or Manaus.”

“Okay. Anything else I can do?”
Katherine asked, suddenly weary.

Derek flooded into her
mind.
You did great,
Katie
.
You had
that man eating out of your hand.

Noticed that did
you?
Katherine’s chest filled with
pride.

“Get a good night’s sleep,” Joe said.
“I’ll expect everyone at my room at nine a.m.”

Katherine got up and opened the door.
“See you in the morning, Joe.”

He walked out without a
word.

Derek’s pain from healing faded as each
knife cut closed and the bones in his hand re-knit. He could feel
through his telepathic link with Katherine that she slept. Derek
let his consciousness resurface from the center of the
Earth.

The bright lights in the lab room hurt
his eyes. He squinted up at the lights as they seemed to waver and
become the sun. Heat rose around him, and Derek stood in the desert
surrounded by sand and cactus. As he looked around, his ancestors
appeared near him.

Derek fought a moment of panic. Was he
dying? Had his ancestors come to escort him home? He looked around
at the familiar faces. His mother gave him a stern look, then shook
her head. His father stood stoically next to her.

“You have angered the
tribal elders, my son,”
his mother’s voice
floated into his head
. “Since you have
used the healing potion inappropriately, they require a sacrifice.
Your destiny has changed. You will no longer be a warrior for our
people. You must become the healer. Study well with Quiet Thunder.
His time is fading. If you do not accept this responsibility, your
life will be cut short and the potions that used to heal will
instead poison you.”

“What must I do,
iná
?”

Derek woke as someone stabbed a needle
in his arm. He looked up to see Colette taking a blood sample.
Wait. Where had his ancestors gone? Where was his
mother?

“You are doing
well,
cheri.
Almost completely healed. Tomorrow we will try some other
injuries and see how quickly you can recover.” She smiled at
him.

How could he have thought this woman
was pretty? She was a complete nutcase. What was she going to do
when Quiet Thunder’s potions wore off, and he couldn’t heal
himself?

“I’ll be happy to tell you what you
want to know,” Derek said “Just let me off the table.” If he could
get to one little shadow, he could escape.

“Sorry,
cheri
. Science demands
proof, so I would still have to carry on the experiments. You do
understand.” She withdrew the needle from his arm.

“Colette, I need to eat and move,”
Derek pointed out. “Those few steps to the bathroom are barely
enough to keep me from cramping up. Your experiments will be
useless if I grow too weak to heal myself.”

“Hmmm, what you say may be
true. I will think on what you have said. Until then, heal,
cheri
.” Colette picked
up the vials and trash and walked out the door.

Derek heard the locks snap into place.
He needed to get out of here today. He certainly didn’t want to
find out what Colette planned next for him. For a moment, Derek
couldn’t breathe. Being tied to a table and experimented on was a
nightmare.

§

Katherine felt Derek’s
fear and reached out to him. “
What is
it?
” she asked, not feeling anyone near
him.

“Tell Joe he needs to move
quickly. They start more experiments tomorrow,
” Derek sent to her.

“Oh, baby, hang on. I’m on
my way to Joe’s room now,”
Katherine sent
back.

Katherine knocked on Joe’s door and
heard him call to come in. She opened the door and walked
in.

“You’re early,” Joe greeted
her.

“They start more experiments on Derek
tomorrow. We need to get him out tonight.”

“Shit! We need to hear what Hugh and
Charlie found out. Raven is supposed to be getting back to me about
the cleaning crew. I know it’s hard to let them hurt Derek.
Remember that he’s valuable to them alive. They won’t risk
accidentally killing him.”

“Would you leave your mate tied to a
table, while they tortured her?” Katherine asked through gritted
teeth.

“We’re not going in with guns blazing,”
Joe growled out. “We need a foolproof plan in place before we act.
I know you’re upset by all this, and that is the only reason I’m
not booting your ass back to New Mexico. Do you understand?” Joe
growled out.

Katherine nodded. Joe was right. He
always protected Raven and Derek. This was his job. “I’m sorry,
Joe. I was out of line.”

“Yes, you were,” Joe answered. “I know
this is hard for you.”

Katherine realized that all was
forgiven. But they still needed to find a way to get Derek
out.

“Hugh and Charlie should be here in a
few. We’ll share reports and see what we can come up with,” Joe
assured her. “Might as well stop pacing and sit down.”

Katherine hadn’t even realized she had
been pacing. She really was rattled. “Sorry,” she
murmured.

Joe shook his head and sat down as
well. He pulled out the drawing they had made earlier and studied
it. When Hugh and Charlie showed up, they tromped in and sat down
at the table.

Joe started the meeting by telling Hugh
and Charlie that Derek expected more experiments to take place
tomorrow. Then, Joe described the fire-alarm button in the guard
shack and said there was a cleaning crew. Hugh and Charlie both
looked at Katherine, and she could see pity in their eyes. None of
them knew if Derek would be able to continue to shield her from the
pain of torture. She didn’t want their pity. She wanted them to
come up with a plan. Now.

Hugh took over the meeting. “Buses drop
workers off at the lab at six a.m. and pick them up for their
return home at six p.m. At seven p.m. most of the lights go off,
except for those in the main hall and a few in the lab rooms.
Derek’s room is always lit. Outside lights come on at dusk and go
off at dawn. We found the fire-alarm switch in the main hall. We
did not see a cleaning crew.”

“What about guards?” Joe
asked

“There are three night guards,” Charlie
said. “They come in on a bus from Manaus. One stays in the guard
shack by the gate. One is stationed inside the main door. The other
one patrols outside the building. A patrol is done every thirty
minutes. When they finish a patrol, they go into the lab. There is
a break room inside the main door. All three guards carry radios
and check in every thirty minutes. They seem kind of relaxed, which
will work to our benefit. Seems the only problems they have are an
occasional monkey setting off an alarm or triggering the door
sensor.”

Just then they all felt
Raven’s mind-touch. As chief of the tribe, he could communicate
with anyone at any time. “
Good, you are at
morning brief. The cleaning crew is out of Manaus and is scheduled
during the day on Tuesday and Thursday,”
Raven sent.

“Roger that. We need to
get Derek out tonight if possible. The cleaning crew won’t be
there. I’ll report when the plan is in place,”
sent Joe.

“Well, that answers one of our
questions,” Joe said. “Now, this is how I see it. We go in at night
after seven when the lights are out. Hugh takes out the generators,
then Charlie sets a fire in the break room and hits the fire alarm.
Once the doors are open, Hugh kills the power, Katherine gets Derek
out of the building, and I destroy the evidence they’ve collected.
How does that sound?”

Everyone looked at each
other.

“I know it’s risky, and there could be
complications. Everyone should arm up and be on alert. I don’t want
anyone hurt, but the building can be burned to the ground. Any
questions?” Joe asked. “No? Then, Charlie, you get the accelerant
and, Hugh, you go find out how best to sabotage the generators and
power.

§

Katherine followed the men reluctantly
across the street and ordered breakfast. She picked at her food
until Joe looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. She knew what he
thought. She must eat to keep up her strength. She would need to be
in top form tonight.

Katherine stopped picking and ate
everything. She might not know what it tasted like, but she ate it.
Joe got up to pay the bill, and everyone else got up and headed
back to the hotel. Katherine was about to enter her room when Joe
stopped her.

“No heroics tonight,” Joe said. “It’ll
be tempting to spring him right away if you find a way into that
wing. There’s more at stake here than saving Derek. To help all the
Shadow Walkers, we’ve got to destroy the data they’ve collected. We
stick to the plan. Is that clear?”

“Katherine nodded. She would go
stir-crazy waiting for nightfall.

§

Derek needed the peace of the Earth and
once more sank his consciousness down into its depths. The vision
of his ancestors had rattled him. Would Quiet Thunder agree to
teach him to be the tribal healer?

He closed his eyes and rested in the
quiet solitude of Earth. His breathing slowed, and then he heard
it. A thumping as if a deep bass drum played. He listened with all
his might and heard it again. The vibrations wavered through him.
Still, he listened, letting the sound comfort him as it would if he
were resting in the womb under his mother’s heart. He would be
ready for whatever came.

§

The time had finally come, and
Katherine followed Joe and the others into Shadow. Joe insisted
that she carry an assortment of obsidian-bladed knives and a
handheld crossbow with bolts tipped with obsidian blades. Shadow
destroyed anything synthetic, and most metals shattered from the
cold. Only gold, silver, copper and platinum could be carried
successfully through Shadow.