“Hey, Cam,” Diesel said, hoping Juliana would also look away from the motionless visitor from Moogally who decorated the ground by the open basement doors.
“Juliana, this is my brother, Cam,” Diesel dutifully introduced them.
She turned away from the fainting alien problem and looked straight at his brother. Cam glanced in her direction, gave Diesel a stern, disapproving frown, lifted his arm from his side and aimed a Defender at Juliana.
“Don’t shoot her!” Diesel said, then, “You shot her.” He couldn’t believe it. How could Cam be so callous?
Juliana slumped against Diesel, unconscious. He caught her before she hit the ground. Sliding one arm behind her back and another beneath her legs, he lifted her limp body against his and prepared to have a big fat fight with Cam. “What did you do that for?”
“Security.”
Diesel glanced at the Defender. “I hate it when you use that thing.” A weapon that rendered humans unconscious and affected their memories, it was only supposed to be used in very limited and extreme cases.
“And I hate it that you don’t use it enough.”
“I’m not ablast first, ask questions laterkind of guy, since we definitely can’t get any answers now.” Diesel hugged Juliana closer, trying not to despair.
“I know, but that’s what you pay me to do. She was here to ask about whether aliens lived among us, spouted information about the Boogieman Affair and we certainly didn’t need to let her leave with positive proof from Mr. Drunken Moogallian over there.”
“How do you know why Juliana was here?”
“It’s my job to know.”
Diesel resisted the desire to grunt in frustration. Cam was right, but he didn’t have to like it. He looked down at Juliana’s limp form. Eyes closed, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. A more alarming thought occurred to him. What memories had been lost with that irreversible blast from the Defender? The last five minutes? More?
“What was the Defender set on, Cam?” he asked, uncertain he wanted to know the answer. “Tell me it was only five minutes.”
His brother looked at the top of the device to check, brows lifting in what looked like surprise. “It’s set on the maximum,” he said in a self-satisfied tone.
Diesel’s jaw muscles clenched until he feared he’d crack a tooth. He moved his jaw from side to side before speaking. “It was unnecessary to use the maximum setting, Cam. I could have handled the situation without use of the Defender.”
“Except that I’m the one charged with ensuring humans don’t discover our existence here. I’m the one who decides when and how much force is needed to suppress humans from finding out the truth.”
“All I’m saying is that you didn’t have to erase her memory for thirty minutes. She hasn’t even been here at the truck stop that long.” If he’d set the Defender for only five minutes, Diesel could have taken her back inside the convenience store, parked her in the reception area and that would have kept her from remembering the non-humanoid alien she’d seen.
Cam shot a quick look at his wristwatch and shrugged. “She’s been here for twenty-six minutes. Close enough.”
Diesel glared at Cam. “So rounding up, it’s thirty?”
“Yes. Itisclose enough. What is the problem? Put the human in her car and she can try again. This time don’t take her out the employee door. That was foolish, Diesel.”
Diesel ignored the dig and said, “I don’t know which car is hers.”
“I do.”
“How do you know? Were you watching her?”
“Of course I was watching her. I saw her arrive. Have I ever mentioned that I take my job in security very seriously? Speaking of which, have you changed your passwords lately?”
Diesel lifted the beautiful Juliana a little higher in his arms and tightened his hold as he frowned at his brother. He was in no mood to discuss password safety and his brother’s endless and overbearing precautions. He negotiated the tall wooden gate next to the store with Cam’s help and crossed into the public parking area. “Which car is hers?”
Cam pointed to a small silver-gray sedan. “That one.”
They looked around to see who might be watching them. It was a quiet evening, shockingly enough. She’d parked out of direct sight of the gas pumps and hopefully no one could see Diesel holding the unconscious Juliana.
Diesel carried her to the car and pulled the driver’s door handle. Locked. He again looked around to ensure he was alone and shuffled her in his arms until her head rested on his shoulder and the rest of her limp body was secured only by one arm around her waist.
Cam joined him. “Hurry and get her in there. Someone’s bound to come by or she’s going to wake up.”
