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They followed the large cats through the main tunnel for about a quarter mile before entering a small, barely visible, side passageway. This tunnel was narrow with much cooler pungent air and ascended a fairly steep slope.
Lucian walked close behind Cassandra. Both he and Kat had holstered their weapons. He shone the light ahead of them.
“These tunnels are all over the city?” Lucian asked, looking back.
Sheba nodded.
“Where does this one lead?”
“I’m not certain. I’ve not been in this one, but it seems like it’s heading toward the center of the city.”
Noise rumbled overhead. The sides of the tunnel vibrated.
“A car or truck?” Kat asked, looking at the ceiling.
“There’s probably a street above us,” Lucian said.
“At least there aren’t any rats down here,” Cassandra said, following the steep narrowing path.
“Not with cats for guides,” Lucian said.
The steep tunnel leveled. The lead cat slinked through a small hulled out opening in a brick wall. The other cats entered as well.
Cassandra stared at Lucian. Her eyes widened with doubt and apprehension.
“I think we’re here,” he said.
She put her head through the opening and squeezed her body through the narrow crevice.
Lucian hurried after her. He didn’t want to leave her unprotected, but he believed the cats meant them no harm. He didn’t fear them, but he did worry about what else they might encounter on the other side of the wall.
The cats sat and waited for all of the humans to get into the small room. Their tails swished back and forth.
They stood inside an old abandoned building. Most of the windows were covered with boards or painted over. The green painted walls were peeling. Ceiling tiles sagged.
“Where are we?” Lucian asked.
“An old business office, I think,” Sheba said.
Cassandra shook her head. “Why would they have my daughter here?”
“I guess we’ll find out soon,” Kat said.
The large cat scampered down the hallway and rounded the next corner. When they caught up with the feline, they saw a fourth cat standing outside a room. Its ears backed upon noticing them and it hissed. The lead cat growled at the guard and placed its paw upon its nose. The guard cat lowered its head in submission before turning and entering the room. The other three cats followed.
Lucian took Cassandra’s hand. “Come on.”
Cassandra peered into the room. Seated on the old couch were Seth and Alicia. They were playing checkers.
“Alicia?” Cassandra said softly.
Alicia’s eyes widened. “Momma?”
She smiled broadly and leapt up off the couch and ran to her mother. They hugged one another tightly. Cassandra kept whispering over and over how much she loved Alicia.
Through her teary eyes, Cassandra noticed the man standing in the room.
“Why do you have my daughter?” she asked, releasing Alicia and pulling her around behind her.
“Hey, I’m on your side. I only took her to protect her.”
“If that is true,” Lucian said, “why didn’t you tell Cassandra what was happening.”
“I couldn’t.”
Kat studied the man with narrowed eyes. “Why not?”
“Because everyone in the city believes I’m dead.”
“Dead?” Lucian asked.
“Yes. That’s why I sent the cats to help Alicia and Seth escape. I was going to send them for Cassandra and Deidre, too. If anyone discovered I was alive, I’d never get close enough to stop Alpha.”
Sheba stared at him while he spoke. In an instant she smiled with curiosity. “Tom?”
“Sheba!” Tom grinned and hurried to her.
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I thought you were dead.”
“That’s what they led everyone to believe.”
Lucian looked at Kat. “I’m confused.”
She nodded.
Sheba told them a condensed version about Gloria and the cemetery prank.
She glanced at Tom. “Alpha has Gloria.”
“So she’s still alive?”
“Yes.”
“But Jill is dead,” Sheba said.
Sadness hollowed Tom’s eyes. “Dead?”
“She killed herself.”
“Damn. What about Beverly?”
Sheba sighed. “Alpha has her locked in the asylum. She’s drugged most of the time so she never speaks or even acknowledges me when I visit.”
“He lets you see her?”
“He doesn’t know that I do. I use these tunnels and sneak in sometimes to see her.”
“But Gloria is still alive,” Tom said. “Do you know where he keeps her?”
“No. I’ve only seen her once. Alpha uses Gloria to blackmail me.”
Tom shook his head. “We tried to get Gloria before we escaped, but a couple of guards had moved her to an isolation cell. We should have rushed them, but they had guns. I couldn’t risk any of us dying.”
“So the others are alive, too?”
Tom nodded.
“Where are they?”
“I’m not certain. They went their own direction.”
Sheba frowned. “Why?”
“I don’t fit in with them. They are like you,” Tom said.
“Part wolf?”
“Yes.”
“How?” Sheba asked.
“Alpha did weird experiments on them. Injections and surgeries. None of the stuff worked on me. After we escaped, they resented me because I wasn’t like them, and they left me behind.”
“How did you know about me being part wolf?” Sheba asked.
“The night of the prank. We watched you enter the manor with Gloria and the others, but something bad happened. There were a lot of screams. The next thing I knew Jill and Beverly ran out of the manor cellar. You chased after them. You had changed into whatever it is you are. They ran fast to get away from you, and then you reverted into a young woman. Seeing that scared the hell out of us, so we headed out another direction. Some men stopped us and forced us into their van at gunpoint. That night was the first time I knew anything about Alpha. He took us to the asylum and locked us up. He showed us newspapers where the police reports showed us dead. Experiments started happening not too long after that.”
Sheba said, “I never knew you were there.”
“Almost three years.”
Lucian cleared his throat. “How long ago did you escape Alpha?”
Tom shrugged. “About five years ago.”
“And you never went to the authorities?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Kat asked.
“Alpha would kill them,” Sheba said.
“That and he controls some of the policemen,” Tom said.
Cassandra nodded. “That is true.”
Kat turned and faced her. “How do you know that?”
Cassandra kept one arm around Alicia’s shoulder and looked at Kat. “After I reported Alicia missing, Officer Parker came to my house, questioned me, and hardly fifteen minutes after he left, two men showed up with guns and tried to kill me. Later, Parker killed his partner and told the news reporters that I had shot and killed him.”
“So we can’t go to the police,” Mitch said. “They weren’t too happy about my poking around here either.”
“I believe they were responsible for Deidre’s death, too,” Cassandra said.
Tom nodded. “They were directly responsible.”
“Why didn’t you do something to save her?” Cassandra asked. “It seems as if you knew.”
“I tried, but from my understanding, they weren’t supposed to make their move that night.” Tom said. “For some odd reason, someone had read my thoughts and moved in earlier than I expected.”
“Alpha probably did,” Sheba said.
Tom shrugged. “I don’t think he did. I never felt his approach. Not even a subtle touch. That’s why I don’t understand it. My guess is that he doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Why did the cats take Alicia without taking me?” Cassandra asked.
“The cats knew you feared them. They didn’t have any time to waste trying to earn your trust. They had to move fast and that’s what they did.”
“And had I died?” Cassandra asked. “What then? Seth is without his mother, and Alicia almost lost me. Did you plan to take care of them until they were old enough to be on their own?”
“If it became necessary, yes.”
Cassandra frowned. Her lips narrowed as she spoke, trying to rein in her anger. “Your cats killed the two men that were trying to kill me. Why didn’t they kill Parker?”
“We still needed Parker alive,” Tom replied.
“Alive?” Cassandra said. “Why?”
“Because he was the only one I know who could lead us to Alpha.”
“Parker is dangerous.”
“After I beat the shit out of Parker last night,” Sheba said, “he’ll try to kill me on sight should we run into him.”
Tom shrugged. “Now that we have you, Sheba, Parker is expendable because you know where Alpha is. If we cross paths with Parker, we take him out.”
Sheba smiled. “With pleasure.”
“These cats,” Lucian said, looking at Tom. “Where did you get them?”
“They were a new project Alpha had started when we had escaped. He only had two. They were cubs, so I grabbed them and tucked them into a bag and carried them with us. These younger ones are their offspring.”
Sheba frowned. “I’ve never seen Alpha experiment with any feline projects.”
“Nope,” Tom said. “And you probably won’t. These are another reason Zack and the others abandoned me.”
“Why?” Kat asked.
“The same reason Sheba feels apprehensive around them. She has canine genes and the cats sense it. They are in direct opposition to one another. Enemies in the wild.”
Kat stepped closer to one of the younger cats and rubbed between its ears. “But they seem more perceptive than most animals.”
“They are.” Tom nodded. “I won’t say that I can read their minds or they, mine, but we do have a mental sense of communication. I guess that sounds odd. Perhaps a little crazy.”
“No,” Cassandra said. “Alicia has that connection with them, too.”
Tom glanced at Alicia. She nodded and smiled. “I knew about them for several months.”
“Perhaps that’s why they were determined to rescue you so eagerly. They really like you.”
Alicia grinned. “I love them.”
One of the cubs moved beside her and nuzzled her hand.
Cassandra smiled. “They are the first animals she has been able to pet.”
“She is gifted,” Tom said.
“I know,” Cassandra replied. “Why do you have her and Seth hidden in this abandoned building?”
Tom pointed at the walls and ceiling. “This is an old steel vault. The building might have been a bank long ago, but the reinforced steel walls and ceiling are thick enough to keep Alpha from seeking these children with his mind power. This is the safest place I could think to keep them.”
Lucian said, “Then Cassandra you need to stay here with Alicia and Seth while the rest of us go after Alpha.”
“No argument here,” she said.
“I’ll have two of the cats stay here,” Tom said. “The rest will help us through the tunnels. They can detect Parker or any others that Alpha might send after us.”
“Are you sure we’ll be safe here?” Cassandra asked.
Kat nodded. “You’re a lot safer here than out in the tunnels or the streets. Excuse me, but I need to call Carpenter. I never got the chance earlier.”
“Why call Carpenter? We can handle this situation ourselves,” Lucian said.
“He’s already on his way here. I promised him if I heard anything about Alpha I’d call.”
Lucian frowned. “Why would he come for this?”
Kat nodded toward Sheba. “Because of her and if we stop Alpha, he wants him taken into custody.”
Lucian shrugged. “He may arrive too late.”
“I know, but I told him that I’d call.”
***
“Kat?” Carpenter said. “I’m aboard a Learjet. Should be there in an hour.”
“An hour?”
“Yes. Testing out our newest sonic jet.”
“I wanted to inform you that Alpha is here,” she said.
“Good. On my way. I called the local police in Salem and informed them of the situation and that I’m in transit now.”
“You did what?”
“The local authorities there have been contacted and will help.”
“Damn.”
“What’s wrong, Kat?”
“Some of these officers are working for Alpha.”
“Shit, sorry, Kat. Never considered anything like that.”
“Neither did we,” she replied. “The shifter woman is at odds with the police and Alpha. I believe they’ll shoot any of us on sight.”
“Keep low until I get there. I’ll contact more authorities outside of Salem to help.”
“Thanks.” She disconnected the call and sighed. “I guess.”
***
Kat walked over to where Tom and Sheba stood with Lucian and shook her head.
“What’s wrong?” Lucian asked.
“Carpenter’s on his way, but we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Seems he contacted local police and informed them that he was coming here.”
“Damn,” Lucian whispered. “That means Alpha will be ready for us when we move.”
“In a way that might be beneficial,” Sheba said.
“How?” Kat asked.
“Alpha will post more security around himself, which means that we could get Beverly out of the mental hospital without ever being noticed.”
Tom nodded. “That would be the best way to get her.”
Lucian shook his head. “We can always extract her after we get Alpha.”
“I know, but the longer Alpha’s security waits for us to attack, the more impatient they’ll become. They are more likely to make mistakes once their anxiety rises.”
“You have a point there,” Lucian said. He looked at Kat. “What do you think?”
“We rescue Beverly and evaluate what we do after that.”
Sheba smiled. “Follow me. I know which tunnels will get us there the fastest.”