“They’ll be able to get in and once they do, they’ll break the barrier and it will go away as if it never had been.” Victor grabbed me and yanked me backward. “That branch wasn’t here before.”
I stared at the eucalyptus limb sprawled across the walkway near the pedestrian access gate. The hibiscus bushes lay still next to it but the pink blossoms littering the ground attested to the tempest that had just past. “It’s just a branch. They always come down during storms.”
Victor grunted.
The sirens sounded closer.
I didn’t want to be here when Tobias got free. “Oh, for pity’s sake!”
I stomped off the sidewalk. Gravel crunched underfoot and headed for the gate. The darkness felt different here. The hair on my arms rose.
“It’s just a branch.” I spoke more to myself than him. At least the night wasn’t so darn still with me thinking out loud. “It’s not like anything’s going to jump up and bite you on the ass.”
Victor rushed to my side and threaded his hand through the crook of my arm. “Isn’t ass a swear word?”
I snorted. Like I gave a monkey’s butt about the swear jar. “Keeping my insides unscrambled has topped my list of priorities.”
Before he could respond, a shadow separated from the others.
Turning, Victor raised his arm. The plastic bags rustled just as a breeze whizzed past my ear. A thud filled the air when something hit him square in the face. He jerked back and crumpled onto the sidewalk, taking me down with him.
The cooler tumbled from my arms, hitting the pavement just as I splash-landed in a puddle.
Beyond the fence, street lamps shed enough light to silhouette the bullet-shaped figure shuffling toward me. I ignored it to focus on the shovel it wielded.
I stared at the hulking figure above me and the shovel in its hands. OhmyGod, ohmyGod! Whether I lived or died would be decided by that? With no neck the purple creature resembled more of a bullet with legs than a human being.
It’s an alien, Rae
. An alien.
Maybe one of yours.
Maybe not.
I would have remembered seeing something like that before. Splashing through the puddle, I scooted backward along the sidewalk as it shuffled closer to me.
The streetlamps backlit the fins that flared from its thick neck and fanned up its head. Sharp spines supported the purplish webbing in between. “Thought I didn’t recognize your ugly rat-face, eh, flugglesnart?”
I blinked. Holy Toledo! I recognized that voice. “Mrs. Roberts?”
It swung its attention to me. The fin thingies perked up then folded down accordion-style against her pointy head. “Yes dear. It’s me.”
“But you’re… You’re an alien.” How many fricking extraterrestrials were on Earth, anyhow? No wonder Tobias knew she wouldn’t interfere.
“Of course.” Her fins unfurled again as sirens blared in the distance.
The cops! I jumped to my feet. They would be here soon and Tobias was still trapped. Water ran in rivulets down my legs from my saturated shorts and underwear. I slapped at the tickling sensation while I jogged toward the corner of Vivian’s condo.
“Rae!” Mrs. Roberts shouted as light flooded the area. “Don’t forget your datapad.”
Son of a monkeys butt! I had forgotten the stupid Smartphone. I skidded to a stop, turned about and blinked at the bright light. What the heck? When had the power come back on? Loping back, I eyed Victor’s prostrate body. The shovel lay next to him but where was Mrs. Roberts?
A loud clang sounded in the darkness.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest. I couldn’t take any more surprises. “Mrs. Roberts?”
“Up here.” A dark shadow clung to the lamppost. Glass scraped metal as her thick arm reached under the globe. The light flickered on. “Do you have any idea how much these fancy bulbs cost? As President of the Home Owner’s Association, it would have been irresponsible for me to break them. Even to get a whack at that flugglesnart.”
Flugglesnart? Whatever that meant couldn’t be complimentary. I crunched to a stop on the gravel and looked down at Victor’s body. His nose was bent at an odd angle and blood covered most of his face. Was he dead? I resisted the urge to prod him with my foot. At this point in scary movies the bad guy always reached out and grabbed the victim’s ankle.
Mrs. Roberts dropped down from the lamp pole with a thud. “What are you waiting for, Rae? He won’t be out forever.”
Right. Out, not dead. I knelt in the gravel. My hands signed their distress above his body. Where had he put my Smartphone? His shirt had no pockets. I sucked in air through my teeth. I’d have to search his pants. I reached out and patted one hip.
A siren burped and red lights strobed into the space between the buildings.
I jumped from the noise. Crap on a cracker! “Mrs. Roberts can you delay the ambulance for a bit?”
And may Vivian forgive me.
“No need, dear. Those dunderheads always forget the code to the gate.” Mrs. Roberts’s bulk mounded on top of the gravel as she sank to the ground. She picked up her shovel and stood it on end next to her. Two rows of small, sharp teeth glistened between the slash mark that made up her mouth. “Take your time. They won’t get in until I go let them in.”
I nodded and finished patting down one side of Victor’s body. No phone. Great, now I’d have to lean over him to search the other side. I didn’t even want to think about rolling him over. Bracing one hand between his parted thighs, I patted his other front pocket. “Maybe you should go let Tobias out of Vivian’s apartment.”
“No.” Mrs. Roberts oozed silently across the gravel. The six flaps, that occupied the space where a human’s nose would be, levered open and then closed. “I’ll stay right here and give the fugglesnart another whack, if he stirs. He’s from the Astral Presidium. I know you’re new to your job, Rae. But they are not deserving of any mercy. They certainly don’t show it to anyone else.”
I eyed Victor’s face. His lashes didn’t even flutter. No chance of stirring there. My fingers stilled when they encountered a hard rectangle in his pants. My phone! Scooting closer, I gritted my teeth and eased my hand inside his pocket. “You know about the Astral Presidium?”
Duh, Rae. Of course she did. She was an alien. For all I knew the entire complex was crawling with extraterrestrial refuges. My fingers skimmed the warm, smooth edge of my phone.
“The APres Guarda stole my home world and exterminated my entire species.” Mrs. Roberts poked Victor in the ribs with the handle of her shovel. “And we invited them in. Gruxians aren’t exactly the most intelligent life form in the galaxy.”
I pinched the Smartphone between my index finger and thumb and eased it out. “Got it.”
Mrs. Roberts wiggled to a stand. “You might want to take that key chain on his finger while you’re robbing him.”
I slapped my conscience into silence. This wasn’t robbing, I was insuring my survival. Inside that fob contained pieces of me. I slid the silver ring off his finger and ran my thumb over the opal. It glowed yellow and a tingle of electricity raced up my arm. Now I was armed and dangerous.
A phone rang in the distance. Mrs. Roberts dug the handle of the shovel into the gravel. “That’s my cue. You release the Colonel and I’ll let the firemen inside.”
“Right.” I pushed to my feet and stared down at Victor. He might need medical attention after getting hit with the shovel but Vivian should get first priority. Of course, the EMTs might not see it that way if they stumbled across him first. “What do we do about him?”
Mrs. Roberts grasped Victor’s ankle and dragged him into the gravel. The grocery sacks slid off his wrist. “I’ll dispose of him.”
Dispose as in kill? I bit my lip. Should I say something? Could I live with myself if I didn’t? “You won’t…” I searched for the correct word, “hurt him, will you?”
“You read about what the APres Guarda did to my beloved Grux before you judge me.” Mrs. Roberts rested the shovel on her shoulder. “Oh. And I really must request a new human suit. This one is horribly wrinkled.”
Right. I definitely was behind on the learning curve on this. Glancing down at my phone, I noticed a new icon: Recipes. God only knew what I’d find when I opened it.
“I’ll look into that new suit for you.” Surreal. The whole day had been surreal and I had over two hours before midnight. I watched her trudge on for another couple of steps before racing to Vivian’s door.
Tobias stood at the window his arms crossed and his jaw set.
Something told me his first reaction to being rescued wouldn’t be gratitude. I reached for the doorknob and paused. Could it be booby-trapped? Victor had said people could get in, just not out. I snorted. And murderers had scruples about lying. Then again, I really had no choice. Biting my lip, I grasped the knob. Tingles raced up my arms as I twisted the handle. The door opened on silent hinges.
Tobias hooked my arm as he rushed by. “We have to hurry.”
I spun about and stumbled as he caught my hand and dragged me along. This treating me like a kite business had to end soon. I tugged on my hand, but he held firm. “What about Vivian?”
“She’ll make a full recovery.” Instead of heading away from the emergency vehicles, Tobias steered me right back the way I came.
Oh God, what if he planned to kill Victor on the way out?
The extra wet fabric of my shorts slapped my legs at the quick pace. “Shouldn’t we stay with her? She’s hurt and…”
Tobias stopped abruptly. His green eyes glittered and white ringed his mouth. “You just don’t get it, do you? What happened to your friend is just the beginning if the Astral Presidium gets its way. Vivian’s experiences would pale in comparison to what will happen to the rest of your friends and family.”
“Got it.” I think. The scope seemed too big, the consequences beyond comprehension. While I’d joined protests to save the whales, the rain forests and the orangutans, I’d always thought humans should solve their own problems. Now, every one on Earth depended on me to save them from a threat they didn’t know existed. My shoulders bowed from the weight.
It was too much.
I couldn’t do it.
I was an accountant for crying out loud, not some caped superwoman.
Tobias released my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I will help you, Rae. Together we can do this. You can do this.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “As far as pep talks go, yours needs a little work.”
But not too much. The burden pressing against me lightened, just a bit, just enough. Tobias obviously had lots of training. Maybe I could do this. Except, I wasn’t exactly sure of what
this
was.
Mrs. Roberts’s voice mingled with the low baritone of males.
The paramedics were coming.
“Ready?” Tobias squeezed my upper arm.
“Yes.” I nodded and started walking.
We rounded the corner of the building just as Mrs. Roberts charged up the pathway. “Out of the way. Coming through.”
I stepped onto the gravel.
Tobias held me close to his side and stopped. “Mrs. Roberts is anything the matter?”
I blinked. Holy Toledo! The man could act. If I didn’t know better, I would believe he didn’t know anything about Vivian’s attack.
“Nothing for you to worry about.” She shooed us with her purple and brown webbed fingers and hustled past. “Go about your business and let these fine gentlemen do their work.”
Fine gentlemen indeed! I bit my lip at the absurdity. Mrs. Roberts got the Oscar for acting like such a concerned human. Human. I sobered at the term.
Close on her heels, two muscular EMTs lugged large medical kits toward Vivian’s apartment. They nodded and walked by.
After a heartbeat, we resumed walking. I scanned the ground and didn’t see the grocery sacks but the ice chest lay on its side by the building’s foundation, the ice glistening like diamonds in the light.
“I wonder why Mrs. Roberts didn’t pick up the cooler.” Walking out from under Tobias’s arm, I skipped ahead and righted it by the handle. The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I peered inside.
“What’s the matter?” Tobias fidgeted by my side.
I sensed more than saw his eyes moving back and forth, looking for a threat and assessing the risk. What did he see? What did I miss? Quickly snapping the lid closed, I stood up. “The sandwiches are gone.”
“Maybe Konstantin wasn’t as out of commission as you thought?”
“Guess not.” How long had he been really out? Had he felt me go through his pockets? Was he looking for revenge? Hugging the cooler to my chest, I hustled along.
Tobias reeled me back as we entered into the common area and positioned himself a little ahead of me.
I could almost feel my nerves reaching and expanding trying to take in everything. The eucalyptus trees along the wrought iron fence swayed. The loose branches clacked together like bones. Water slurped along in the gutter ferrying twigs, their skeletal fingers reaching for the starless night. In the distance, a can rattled along.
I scurried along, brushing against him as he aimed for the gate. “Is he out here? Watching us?”
Taking aim at us?
Strolling through the gate, Tobias turned left along the sidewalk, his silver key fob in hand. Two white trucks were in the line-up of cars parked at the curb. None had the Phoenix Firebird on its door.
“Does he need to?” His tone was clipped as if he bit off the ends of the words.
I stiffened. I knew that tone and I didn’t like its implications. “I’m not working with Victor. I had no choice but to go with him. He threatened to kill me!”
That seemed to happen to me a lot lately. Beginning with the douche bag at my side.
“Poor,
obecht
.” Tobias stopped by a white, extended-cab truck. “You’ve had a bad day.”
I ignored his sarcasm. “Yes, I did. And I’d slept through most of it.”
I’d probably be dead if I hadn’t.
His thumb stroked the opal in the center of his triangular key fob until it glowed green. A moment later, he depressed the jewel and a cone of lime light sprayed the truck.
“You’re not going to steal the car, are you?” I adjusted the cooler in my arms and tugged at the wet knit fabric climbing up my thighs. Maybe I should have asked to change clothes. Victor could be waiting for me in my apartment. I shivered despite the warm temperatures. I’d only go back to my apartment with an armed escort.