Mary Wine (21 page)

* * * * *

“You fools.”

Icy cold, Thyssen almost whispered his judgment. He was the best! That was why his clients came to him. Failure was not acceptable.

“Find her. Without that baby, our client doesn’t pay.”

His men moved away at top speed. They weren’t eager to find Roshelle, just impatient to escape his anger. Picking up Dr. Moosavi’s most recent report, he inspected the image of the devolving fetus.

It was perfect. A male child, bred with its father’s psychic ability and hopefully its mother’s intelligence. Thyssen actually smiled. Dr. Everitt was a worthy opponent. Although she looked pathetically normal, the female was very cunning.

While she was no great beauty, he felt a rise of desire in response to her ability to outmaneuver her opponents. She would hate him for selling her baby but hate could be so very…stimulating.

* * * * *

Desperation kept her feet moving. Exhaustion kept her brain from wandering in circles. Too desperate to stop, Roshelle continued on her course. Maybe stopping would relieve some of her aches but it would also allow the cold to seep further into her skin.

She mustn’t be caught. She had to keep moving. Those words turned themselves over in her head ‘til nothing else was able to penetrate the wall they formed.

The numbing chill couldn’t break into her thoughts. Neither could her hunger. But suddenly she stood in her tracks as her mind screamed with one horrible fact. Thyssen was here. Right here. She could practically touch the man with her fingertips, he was so close. His stench slapped her across her face as Roshelle looked at the wilderness she had been wandering in for what seemed endless hours.

Fool!

She had to think! Every direction seemed to be closing in on her. Her tired brain couldn’t sort out which way to go. She suddenly collapsed into a purely emotional response.

Greed seemed to drift on the night air as Roshelle felt Thyssen edging closer to her. Protectiveness burst inside her brain ‘til nothing mattered but bringing a final end to the thing that was stalking her baby.

It was a burning need that seemed to radiate from the very structures of her cells. That creature wasn’t going to inhabit the same planet with her child!

She didn’t even try to ignore her instinct to find the man. It seemed to be embedded far too deeply for that. There was nothing but reaction for her and Roshelle intended to make sure it was the final round to this game.

This time he would be the prey and Roshelle intended to come home with her kill. There was simply no other choice. Once her son was born, it would be far too simple to capture him. It would be far too many years before Jared could train him to protect himself. So the duty fell to her. Roshelle just couldn’t bring her child into such a perilous life.

She would protect her offspring even if it meant taking a life.

She could smell the evil of her enemy. Roshelle opened her mind and let his perversions wash away the last remaining bits of conscience she clung to.

The chance to end her nightmare sat within her grasp. Roshelle drove herself forward to capture her goal.

“There was no sign of her in the station.”

“Then go back to town and find out where she went. How hard could it be to find one pregnant, travel-stained woman?”

Roshelle dropped to her knees a split second before she caught Thyssen’s attention. She slapped her palm over her mouth to stifle the sound of her breathing. She was so very foolish!

She’d forgotten the very important fact that she lacked practice in this art. Jared’s edges were honed into razor-sharp effectiveness. She was just a novice.

She’d found the target…and practically walked right into the man. Her body was hunched over less than six feet from him.

“Miller took off.”

Thyssen clenched his fingers into a fist. “Coward.”

“What a pity.” Muttered under his breath, Thyssen’s words held an odd amount of warmth. It was almost like he enjoyed being outsmarted.

“The operation is a stalemate. We will withdraw.”

“I thought you said we don’t get the money without that kid.”

“Correct. Without Miller, we are sitting ducks. Jared will track her down.” Thyssen turned and came up short as several of the men blocked his path. Their faces were twisted into ugly greed. “You fools! Do you intend to make a frontal assault on their compound? Failing to buy that land resulted in this! My plan was perfect in its simplicity! Everything that I know about Jared Campbell indicated that he would take the bait I offered. He was never to know about the baby. It is a complication that cannot be overcome. We will have to dispose of him before returning for the baby. If we are fortunate, he just might plant another one in his partner’s womb.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is simple enough. Set up the right trap and we eliminate both mother and son. When they can no longer track their own blood, we can return for the child. But they will be on guard for some time now. We will wait. Besides, he is currently nesting with that female. You may like to believe you are so very much more evolved but humans are quite similar to most mammals. Jared Campbell has a new mate. He’ll spend some time ensuring that his genetic code is being passed on. In a few years there should be a full nest for us to harvest.”

Thyssen considered his men as they nodded their heads with satisfaction. What limited idiots they were. They were blinded with the hypnotic pull of money. There was so much more to an assignment like this one. Outfoxing a man like Jared Campbell held its reward in sheer genius. First you find the perfect piece of land next to his lair. Next a compatible female dangled just in front of his nose. What man wouldn’t take a taste of such a tempting treat? The true beauty of his plan was that Jared Campbell most likely would have been happy when his newest plaything packed her bags and left. His genetic code would have traveled inside her body without his knowledge.

But that was before Roshelle Everitt returned to Benton County. Well, that wasn’t something he’d lament. He was going to enjoy her. Just as soon as he disposed of her current protector. It wasn’t always the strongest fighter that got to mate. Many times, it was the most cunning male that managed to cut the female from the herd.

The hot curl of lust hit her like a physical blow. Roshelle recoiled from it. Linked into Thyssen’s emotions, her flesh shrank away from his interest. With her body so swollen with her son, her balance failed. She fell, landing in the dirt. The dry leaves that littered the forest floor crunched under her weight. The sound was horrifyingly loud.

“
Shit!
”
The eerie sight of moonlight washing over gun barrels greeted her eyes just a second before Roshelle was yanked from her hiding place. The soldier sent her body forward with a vicious kick. She clutched at her belly as gravity slammed her into the ground. A piercing beam of light hit her face. Her eyes closed in pain but the damage was done. Opening her eyes again she searched frantically about but her night vision had been destroyed by the light.

“Lookie here, it must be our lucky day!” Maybe she couldn’t see them, but the joy of her capture was strong enough to feel.

“There is no such thing as luck.” Thyssen lowered his eyes to rake over Roshelle. Curling his fingers around her arm, he pulled her in front of his body.

“How did he figure out our plan?”

Roshelle wasn’t too certain what Thyssen meant but the arctic tone of his voice stirred her temper. “I found you.”

“Ah… But of course.” Thyssen dropped his voice to a low whisper. His grip tightened as he pulled her body closer to his. Being forced into bodily contact twisted her stomach with nausea.

“It is all so very simple. Jared Campbell found a mate of his own blood. How very wise of you to keep that to yourself.” A sadistic smile lit his face as he laid a hand over the mound of her belly. “With both parents being psychic, I can double the price of this infant.”

To hell with being a lady! Roshelle rammed her knee into the man’s genitals with every ounce of strength she had. Thyssen grunted as he stumbled back from her body. The oddest popping sounds hit her ears. The waistband of her pants was caught and yanked backwards.

Off balance she stumbled before a tree broke her fall. The impact shook her entire body as pain raced through her pelvis and spine. A solid connection of human flesh on flesh filled the air. Jerking her face up, she stared at the fallen men that littered the ground. Their bodies were boneless heaps and deathly still. Some lay hunched over their guns with their fingers still curled around the triggers.

Another blow landed and she stared at the only two men left standing. Even in the dark, she knew her dream specter. Jared drove Thyssen across the forest with brutal force. He attacked with vicious intent. Roshelle clutched at the tree behind her but glued her eyes to the deadly scene in front of her.

She had to know. Needed to see with her own eyes the end of this monster. Thyssen fell to his knees and raised his cold eyes to look at her. That sadistic smile floated across his face a second before Jared’s foot connected with his jaw. The sound of shattering bone hit her ears as his body twisted up and away from Jared.

The body fell to the earth and lay sprawled like a broken marionette. Roshelle moved her eyes over the man’s chest seeking any movement. Death sat on Thyssen in stillness. Her breath escaped her lungs in a rush. Roshelle pulled a deep breath in as Jared turned his eyes onto her.

His boots didn’t make a sound as he moved towards her. His hand slid over her face, and into her hair, before curling firmly around the back of her head. “It’s over.”

“I know.” Her voice was nothing but a shaking croak. Reaching out, she placed her hand over his neck searching for reassurance of his life. His arms pulled her into an embrace that was almost painful. Roshelle squirmed closer, desperate to be held.

Jared held her body and shook in relief. He’d never been afraid of anything before. Watching Thyssen lay that hand over their child chilled him to the core. Her body shook and he smoothed his hand down her slim back.

“You’ll be lucky if I don’t tether you to the bedroom wall.” Jared growled the words out and Roshelle grinned.
His
voice was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard.

“Use a chain or she’ll chew through it and make sure you set the bolt into the foundation.”

Shane Jacobs’ voice startled her. Roshelle pulled her head up and looked for the giant. She caught the slight shine of moonlight being reflected off the man’s eyes. A sharp whistle hit the night before he reached up to his neck and peeled something off his head. The shadows surrounding them came to life as his Rangers in turn peeled away their own masks. Her eyes flew back to the slumped forms of Thyssen’s men. Sudden understanding dawned on her. What her civilian ears registered as popping was in fact the deadly fire from these men’s rifles.

The men seemed to flow together in some common rhythm. Jared merged right into step with them. It was hauntingly familiar yet foreign. Uncertainty consumed her as fatigue seemed to wrap around her like a blanket.

Shock and exhaustion lifted choice from her hands as Roshelle felt her body slip towards the forest floor. Strong arms bound her to the length of a man that her body recognized too well.

Chapter Fourteen

Roshelle opened her eyes to pitch blackness. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes but there still wasn’t single ray of light. Turning her head, she stared at a ruby glow. Bedding was piled and tucked around her. The bed was wonderfully soft but her son was squirming directly on top of her bladder making it rather necessary to leave the comfort in order to find another form of relief.

Her memory was clear. Roshelle left the bathroom light on as she stepped back into the bedroom. There wasn’t a single identifying mark anywhere. It looked like a hotel room but lacked the emergency exit information posted on the wall next to the front door.

Walking across the bedroom, she reached for the edge of the curtain. Someone had overlapped the edges so that not even a thin gap was left to admit light into the room. Sunlight hit her face the second she moved the heavy fabric. Roshelle blinked and looked out of the window.

Someone stared right back at her. Roshelle gasped as she watched the soldier consider her with his sharp eyes before giving her a nod and turning around to watch the area in front of her window. His broad shoulders were covered with green and brown army fatigue fabric. The muzzle of his high-powered rifle showed over one of those shoulders.

She let the curtain fall back closed as she frowned. Back under guard. She was becoming far too used to being kept under lock and key. She rubbed the mound of her belly before shaking her head. There wasn’t any better solution. Thyssen was dead but whoever wanted to buy her baby wasn’t.

Too many uncertainties pounded through her brain making sleep a distant memory. Muttering under her breath, Roshelle headed back to the bathroom for a shower.

She stopped as the bathroom counter caught her attention. A small envelope sat there with her name on its blue surface. She knew her best friend’s handwriting anywhere! Roshelle tore the letter open as she scanned the letter and the very dear fact that her friend was indeed still alive.

* * * * *

Jared flexed his shoulders and grunted. He hated concrete buildings. The walls seemed to reduce his senses to mush. It was like becoming a canned vegetable. He lengthened his stride as he tried to work a few knots out of his legs.

Turning his wrist up, he looked at the time. Roshelle had been sleeping for fourteen hours. His unit was prowling the area outside their temporary quarters. The base was small but it had been the closest one and there was no way in hell Jared would let her sleep any place that wasn’t secured.

He suddenly halted in mid-stride. Roshelle’s mind brushed his as she surfaced from her slumber. A small grin lifted the side of his mouth as he considered her waking up the second he left.

Turning around, he headed for their room. Impatience drove him as he tried to sink into her feelings. She shied away from the contact, making him angry. The need to touch her rode him with its pulsing intensity. She had to accept him back into her mind and her body.

The alternative was too harsh to consider.