Moreno made a face at him. As Antone sat again, I thought of what he'd said earlier, about losing my twin brother and me. Hunting for us. Finding me. Being strung along by promises from the St. Clouds.
Did I understand how he felt? I guess so. But I was only his child in blood. I'd been raised by others, and to think he could just take me away from them--then or now--was all kinds of wrong.
It didn't matter if he'd been given a raw deal. It didn't matter that as I watched him I saw hints of someone I might have liked. He was trying to take me captive and separate me from my family while endangering my friends along the way. He was the enemy. He had to be.
When Moreno went for a second beer, Antone said, "Enough. I don't mind you guys having one drink, but there's a reason I'm drinking water. We need to be alert here."
"Against what?" Moreno said. "Killer bunnies?"
"Don't dignify that with a response, Cal," the woman said.
A cough sounded from one of the tents, and they all glanced over.
"Penny, go see if she wants another sausage," Antone said. "I'd like to see her eating more."
"I have a Snickers bar in my bag," the woman--Penny--said. "I'll take her that. Kids always like candy."
"Not sure that applies to teenage girls, but you can give it a shot."
Teenage girls? Hayley? I inhaled. This close to the fire, though, all I could smell was smoke. I strained to see inside the tent as Penny pulled back the flap, but she didn't open it far enough.
I slid backward until it seemed safe to turn around. Then I circled the camp. I eyed a massive tree with branches stretching close to the tents. My claws extended and retracted, as if urging me to climb it. Tempting... The tents were in the middle of a large clearing, meaning there was no way I could get close from ground level. I saw a flap tied open on the tent roof. A vent that I could probably see down through.
Up it was then.
I'll say this much for cat form. It made shimmying up a long evergreen trunk so much easier. I'd seen Marv--our local cougar--do it by taking a run at the tree and landing ten feet up it, but I wasn't quite ready for such athletics yet. So I started at the bottom, reached up, and unsheathed my claws. Four massive paws equipped with climbing spikes.
I was up the tree in no time. Getting out on the branch was a little tougher. I had to creep along while using my tail for balance. It was the tail part that threw me. I was sure I'd get the hang of it, but for now, I was just glad I had sixteen claws digging into the tree to keep me from sliding off every time I wobbled.
Halfway along the branch I smelled who was in that tent. And when I did, a tiny growl rumbled up.
Nicole.
Penny emerged. "No to the sausage and no to the candy bar. I'd say she's understandably upset, but it seems more like a hissy fit. She didn't want to come back out here. She was quite comfy in Vancouver, with her soft bed, hot baths, and room service."
"All the more incentive for her to lure her friends out so she can get back there," Antone said. "Hayley obviously wasn't going to do it."
They talked for another minute, enough for me to confirm what had happened. Kenjii had escaped and Hayley hadn't done her job, so they'd swapped her out for Nicole.
As I thought of Nicole, my ears flattened and my chest vibrated with another growl. I swallowed it. Was Nicole really responsible for Serena's death? What if Sam was mistaken? Wasn't that exactly the sort of thinking I'd berated myself for earlier--jumping to conclusions?
I continued creeping along the branch until I could look down through the mesh skylight and see her, sitting on a sleeping bag. She wasn't bound--there was no way out except past her captors. A lantern provided illumination and a pile of magazines provided entertainment. She was reading one, leafing through the glossy pages.
I told myself that was her way of dealing with stress, but still...? Reading fashion tips? If it was me, I'd be plotting my escape, no matter how unlikely it seemed, just to feel that I was taking control of my fate.
I shimmied a little closer and the branch creaked. Nicole looked up. She saw me, and her mouth opened to let out a shriek. I froze. I was stuck out on a branch, with no easy way to back up and escape. She didn't scream, though. For a minute, we just stared at each other. Then she lifted the lantern and squinted, her gaze sliding along my side.
"Maya," she whispered.
I followed her gaze to my flank. There was my birthmark, black fur forming a paw print.
"It is you, isn't it?" She stood. "They told me what you are."
She smiled up at me and I saw the same old Nicole, sweet and shy, yet all I could think was, You killed Serena. I looked into her eyes and it wiped away that last piece of doubt.
"You came to rescue me," she said, keeping her voice so low I could barely hear it.
When I just stared at her, she said it again.