"I never thought a bath would feel so good. Whatever Tama used on my leg is a miracle product. I couldn't believe the difference in the swelling and I'm certain it helped heal the puncture wounds. They'd been draining all the time, but now it's stopped. I feel so much better."
"Good." His fingertips rubbed her head in a slow massage. "Fritz is back. He snuck in when I was heating the water. I saw him go under the bed."
"What about Franz?" She wanted to moan with ecstasy. His fingers massaging her head were magical. "I'm worried that we haven't seen him."
"He followed us through the forest. He was in the canopy. He'll come in when he's ready."
"You should have pointed him out to me. I have to be more alert." She smiled up at him through the shampoo. "See, if I were a leopard, I would have noticed."
"I expected him, and we travel together all the time. I know his patterns. Leopards will even cache food in the same place repeatedly, making it easy for poachers to destroy them. We have to fight to keep from setting patterns. We all have that tendency and in a business like ours, it can get a person killed. I try never to use the same path twice. I never use the same escape route twice. I don't come to the house the same way. I have to make certain I always think about it."
Rachael ducked under the water to rinse out her hair. She didn't feel feline right then, she loved water, the hotter the better. She wanted to stay in the bath for as long as possible. She was beginning to realize bathing was a luxury. When she came up, wiping her eyes, she heard the radio crackling.
"I thought that was broken. Didn't I shoot it?"
"Drake left his for me." He picked up the small handheld radio and listened to the warble of distorted voices. "They think they've found the right camp. They're going in soon, probably after midnight."
She read the anxiety in his voice. "You stayed behind because of me, didn't you? Rio, if you need to be with them, go. I'm perfectly fine by myself. I've got weapons here. You know I can use them."
"There's more to it than that, Rachael. You always take on responsibilities that aren't yours. I make my own choices, the same as you. I wanted to stay with you."
"Because you didn't altogether trust them."
He shrugged. "Maybe I don't right now, not where you're concerned. If the elders of your village contacted the elders in mine and asked them to aid in carrying out a death sentence, it's possible the elders here would agree. They don't know you and our laws are very strict. Some might think harsh."
"You really think I'm some sort of a shape-shifter, don't you? I can't change my form. I've thought about it and tried, just to see if you're right, but nothing happens. I'm still me."
"Just hear me out for a moment, Rachael. Suppose your mother took you and your brother away from her village. She didn't want to upset the balance in the village but she decided she was too young to live the rest of her life alone so she chose to give up her heritage and live entirely with her human side."
Rachael rested her head against the back of the small tub he had carried up from a locked shed nearby and painstakingly filled with water he had heated. Darkness was slowly falling in the forest. The night creatures were stirring to life. "I suppose she might have thought that way."
"She met your stepfather."
"Antonio."
"She met Antonio. He was handsome, wealthy and very nice. He courted her, she fell in love with him and married him. His estate was on the edge of the forest. Every night it called to her. Night after night. The Han Vol Dan, the way of the change, whispered and tempted. Finally she began to steal away and run free in the forest in the way our kind is meant to do. Antonio wakes up night after night and his woman is gone. He's alone in his bed. What do you suppose this good man thinks?" Rio helped her stand and wrapped a towel around her. Lifting her from the tub he leaned into her, catching a bead of water that was running down her neck, lapping with his tongue. "He would think what any man would think. His beautiful wife was stepping out on him. And he would follow her."
Rachael shivered at the tone of his voice. "Okay, you don't have to add any drama in. You're a very scary man when you want to be."
"I was just thinking how I'd feel if I thought you were sneaking out of our bed to go meet with another man."
"Well quit thinking about it. You obviously have a very vivid imagination, and in case you haven't noticed, your claws are bursting through your fingertips."
He looked down with some surprise to find she was right. His hands were curled and stiletto switchblades--thick, curved and dangerous--had emerged with his rising temper. His claws could be rapidly extended through muscles, ligaments and tendons when needed or retracted when not in use. His frown gave way to a wry grin. "I'm not too civilized, am I?"
"I guess we can't take the jungle out of the man."
"But you weren't afraid of me, sestrilla, that should tell you something right there. Any normal woman would be terrified to see claws on a man."
She sat on the edge of bed, laughter in her eyes. "Are you saying I'm not normal? I think you've managed to mention that a couple of times now. It's rather like the old saying, 'the pot calling the kettle black'. In comparison, I'm perfectly normal."
"I think being what I am is perfectly normal, Rachael, and I'm more and more convinced that you're like me. I think your stepfather saw your mother shift shape. He loved her and it didn't matter. He may have even thought it was extraordinary. But if the elders in her village found out that he knew, that a human knew, they might banish her or worse, sentence him to death."
"Kim and Tama know."
"They're tribesmen. They live in the forest and have a deep respect of nature and other species. Not all men do."
"So my stepfather moves us in the dead of night into the city and we immigrate to the United States."
She obviously didn't realize how much that single sentence told him. Her stepfather had been afraid for his family, moving them at
night to the States. "Where he has family and an estate in Florida on the edge of the Everglades. Where your mother can continue her nightly runs without fear of reprisals. I think he moved to protect your family." He watched her closely, with sharp, piercing intelligence shining in his eyes.
She averted her face, tossed off the towel and reached for a shirt. "Well he didn't do a very good job of protecting us. Or himself. His own family isn't so very hot. Not in the rain forest and not in the States. They're probably every bit as rigid or worse than your elders. You're on the wrong track, Rio."
"Maybe. It's possible. Didn't his family accept you and your brother?"
She shrugged casually--too casually. "At first they pretended they did."
"He came from money," Rio guessed.
"He had money. A lot of it. At least his family did."
"What family? Did he own the estate near the forest outright, or did it belong to his family?"
"His brother owned it with him." Her voice was without any inflection whatsoever, but he felt the distaste. Revulsion even. It was almost tangible in the room between them. "They shared all the homes, even the ones in the States."
Rio's radar went off immediately. "So they are very wealthy. They really can afford the million-dollar reward. Rachael, has it occurred to you that the reward is only to be paid if you're returned alive? The sniper wanted you dead. Could there be two factions at work here?"
She swung her head around to look at him, some emotion flickering in the depths of her eyes. "I didn't think of that."
"So it's possible."
Rachael nodded reluctantly. "Yes. And both sides have a great deal of money. My brother and I inherited my stepfather's share of the estates and his part of the businesses."
"How did your stepfather and your mother die?"
"They were executed. The official police report said they were murdered."
"Then there were autopsies performed."
She shook her head. "The bodies disappeared out of the morgue. They were stolen. It was a big scandal. I was still young and it was a terrifying time."
"So where did you and your brother go after your parents died?"