“No problem. You want help cleaning up?”
“Naw. I’m working a double shift. Just need to grab another cup of coffee and I’ll take care of it.” Josh lifted his oversized, insulated mug to his lip. A cup of coffee to him would be three or four for me. I didn’t know how he wasn’t stuttering from caffeine overload.
“Okay.” Nice kid. I was only a few years older, but right now, those few years felt like decades. I could do the polite thing and introduce him to my mate, but what was the point? As soon as I had my hands on those pictures, I’d never see the guy again. Never see Earth again? I wrestled with whether that was a good or bad thing.
Not wanting to linger, especially with an SUV full of beasts, as well as Carmichael’s vehicle, parked out front, I entered the operating room where the post-op recovery kennels were lined up against one wall.
Kai followed. Of course he did. Josh didn’t say a word or try to stop him. Nothing like facing off with another man who was over a foot taller and probably outweighed Josh by a hundred pounds. I had to admit, after the night I had, Kai’s presence made me feel safe. I had no idea how the Hive found my apartment to attack Lavender, or how they had tracked me to the restaurant. Did they have access to my cell phone? Did they have some advanced technology I didn’t know about? Because Kai and his friends found me, too. How? My sister dropped me off at work, I took a taxi to the night club and walked from there to get breakfast. Somehow, they all—aliens and humans alike—knew exactly where I was.
Now, everywhere I went, we had a full-blown party going on.
The stainless-steel operating table had been cleared, but tufts of fur and some dried fluids, probably I.V. meds, marred the normally pristine surface. Cat hair, by the looks of it. The trash container next to the table was stuffed full of bloodied gauze, used gloves and other surgical supplies. Maybe the poor thing had been hit by a car last night.
Heart aching for the creature, I hurried over to where we kept the designated cat kennel to see if our patient was awake. Groggy and drugged would be best for me. I didn’t want to be clawed by an angry cat while I tried to peel tape off the inside of the cage.
“Josh!” I called out, hoping he would hear me, as I looked around, spun in circles, checked a couple of exam rooms. “Josh?”
He peaked his head around the door connected to the reception area. “What’s up?”
“Where is the cat kennel?”
“What?”
“The cat kennel we keep back here for post-op patients. It’s gone.”
Josh sauntered into the surgical area, sipping his coffee like nothing important was going on. “Oh, yeah. Cat got chomped by an alligator. Poor old guy was frantic when he came in last night.”
“An alligator?” Hell. That was a new one.
“Yeah. He carried the cat in wrapped in a jacket. Kept telling us it wasn’t Howard, whatever that meant.” Josh took another sip of coffee and shrugged. “We let him take the kennel home. Cat wasn’t even his, so he didn’t have anything at home to help him take care of it. We gave him some food and stuff. He said he’d bring the kennel back in a couple days when he brings the cat in to get his stitches out.”
A couple days?
“We cannot wait. We must obtain the files.” Kai’s deep voice made me jump. I’d almost forgotten he was here. No. Who was I kidding? I seemed to know exactly where he was even if I wasn’t looking. I’d become hyper-aware of everything he did, I couldn’t not focus on him. Like I was obsessed. Which was ridiculous, since I’d only known him for a few hours.
“What files?” Josh asked.
I ran my fingers through my hair. “You know how I take paparazzi pictures? Like last night? You came in to cover for me so I could bust that Hollywood cheater?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I download all the pictures to a flash drive and I hide it in that cat kennel. I figured it was safer here than in my shitty apartment.”
“I get that. So many burglaries going on these days.” Josh nodded and held up his hand. “Just a sec. I have all their info. You can go to his house and ask. Super nice old man. I doubt he would mind.”
Josh left us alone. Kai pulled me into his arms and I went willingly, settled my ear over his beating heart and let the steady thump-thump soothe me. A couple minutes later Josh returned with a piece of paper. He’d written a name and address in sloppy handwriting.
I squinted. “Mr. Karr?”
“K-A-U-R. Kaur. Sorry. My handwriting is shit. Little old guy. Has a thick Indian accent. He said he only lives about ten minutes away. That’s why he brought the cat here.” Josh seemed pleased with himself as he took a large gulp of coffee. “Don’t see why he wouldn’t let you get your drive.”
“Thanks.”
Kai led the way back out to the SUV and our entourage headed for Mr. Kaur’s residence. True to Josh’s word, ten minutes later we were parked outside a house in a quiet, residential neighborhood. This stretch of homes had fenceless yards; the properties backed to swampy, open waterways interspersed with patches of barely-there land.
No wonder the guy’s cat got chomped by an alligator. This whole neighborhood was a small, edible pet’s worst nightmare just waiting to happen. Bet they didn’t have a rabbit problem.
After telling everyone, yet again, to wait in the vehicle, Kai escorted me to the front door and stood guard like he expected an attack at any moment.
