Hour of the Lion

Joe!”

“Shit! Who else is here?” The man grabbed her wrist.

She saw a gun holstered on his belt, and her breath clogged in her throat.

The bedroom door opened, and Grandpa Joe appeared, holding his chest. “Jamie? What-” He stopped. “Who the hell are you?”

“FBI. Stay put, and we’ll get to you.”

“In a pig’s eye.” Grandpa Joe came forward.

As the man turned to Joe, Jamie yanked free. Daddy needed to come now! Quiet as a mouse, like Alec had taught her, she snuck toward the phone in the corner.

“Give me your name. And your badge,” Joe snapped.

“You’re not Calum McGregor?” The man circled around Grandpa Joe like Daniel did when he was buying a cow. “Nah, you’re too old. Nice scars you got on your arms there, dude.”

As Joe’s face darkened, Jamie picked up the phone. No dial tone. Her hands shook. She hit the OFF button. Then, TALK. Nothing. She repeated, over and over. The phone was dead.

Grandpa Joe glanced at her, and she shook her head ‘No,’ before setting the phone down. He jerked his head at the door and stepped in front of the man. “Listen, asshole-”

Heart pounding, Jamie darted across the room. She had the door halfway open when the guy slammed it shut and yanked her back by the hair.

Tears burst from her eyes at the pain. She screamed, but a hand over her mouth muffled it. With an arm around her waist, he turned, dragging her with him.

The other man had jumped in front of Grandpa Joe, keeping him from Jamie. Growling, Joe hit him in the face and knocked him down.

As Jamie kicked harder, the one holding her gave a mean, horrible laugh. “Jesus, he’s at least sixty, Perez. Finish it already…”

Head down, the Perez man lunged, hitting Joe in the stomach like a football tackle. Joe grunted and turned white.

That man hurt Grandpa. No. No no no. She struggled frantically, tearing at her captor’s hands with her fingernails.

“Little wildcat, eh? I love ’em young.” He pushed his body closer, rubbing against her bottom, and her stomach cramped like she was going to throw up.

Instead of pulling away, she turned in his grip and kicked hard at his leg. Her foot slammed into his shin.

“Fucking bitch!” Letting go of her mouth, he yanked her back by her hair and slapped her. Pain seared her cheek, and she yelled.

Grandpa Joe jerked around, and through the tears blurring her eyes, she saw Perez punch him. In the chest. He groaned and grabbed where his wound was, and red covered his hands. The man kicked him in the stomach. Joe fell back and the sound of his head hitting the coffee table was horrible. Blood pouring from his head, he didn’t get up.

“Grandpa!” Jamie screamed.

He didn’t move.

“Nooo,” Jamie moaned, her legs crumpling beneath her. She held her hand against her burning cheek, choking on sobs. She tried to crawl to him, but the man grabbed her collar, shook her like an animal.

Like an animal.

She closed her eyes, and there it was, the door, glowing an angry mean red. Calling her. She yanked it open and stepped through…into wildness.

She was on her hands and feet-no, on her paws. The world looked different, and she screamed in terror, only it came out a snarl. Tipping her head up, she saw the men, backing away from her, and the scent of their fear made her want, need something. Her pants bound one leg and she bit at the cloth and ripped it free. Snarling, she stalked forward and slashed at the one who’d hurt Grandpa Joe. She caught only his jeans, tearing them, but he jumped away from her grandfather.

The tattooed one grabbed for his gun. Fear. She charged at him, trying to get the gun. He screamed, jumping back. His shirt was in shreds, and blood started to pour from horrible slices on his stomach and chest. His face and arm were all scratched. The men bumped into each other as they ran out the door.

I bit that man? Clawed him? She hadn’t even known she’d moved. She’d hurt him. I want to hurt him again. The fur on her back felt twitchy. Standing up. No, that was bad. Daddy. I need Daddy.

She padded over to Grandpa Joe and snuffled his face, but the smell of blood made her insides feel funny, and she backed away. She wasn’t supposed to enter a house. Not as a cat. She needed to turn back to human.

But what if they came back?

The door was still open, and the wind swirled into the room. She took a step forward. In the distance, the mountain called to her, cried her name as clearly as Daddy would. She sprang out the door.

* * *

Alec walked out of the school, pissed off as any man could be. No bomb-which was a good thing, really-but there’d been no damned bomb. He’d bent over desks, looked into dusty storage rooms, and checked bathrooms where little boys obviously had no aim. Herne help him.

As the wind-driven snow lashed his skin, Alec breathed in the clean air and headed for his car. The parents had picked up their children, but to his surprise, the principal and another teacher got out of an SUV.

Alec rubbed his face, glanced around. More snow had fallen while he’d been playing with fake bombs. “You still here?”

“Hell yes. You think I’d leave you in there alone?” Doug Banner humphed. In fact, Alec’d had to shove him out the door to keep him from helping. “What’d you find?”

“No bomb.”

The little gray-haired teacher woman patted his hand. Mrs. Henderson was a human, but one so unflappable that everyone in town considered her their adopted grandmother. Jamie adored her. “Are you all right, dear?”

“I’m fine, Mrs. Henderson. Just annoyed.” He turned to Banner. “If you have time, let’s go downtown and talk about who this bas-” he glanced guiltily at Mrs. Henderson and continued, “-who this prankster might be.”

“Good idea. I’ve tried to come up with ideas,” the principal agreed. “Thank you for waiting with me, Hilda. Get yourself on home now and warm up.”

Alec dug his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He’d never heard of a bomb being triggered by a cell phone, but the way his luck was running, he hadn’t wanted to serve as the first. The log showed two missed calls from the station, both within the last few minutes. He got the dispatcher. “I’m free, Bonnie, and I found no bomb. Did you need me?”

“God yes, Alec, ’bout time.” Bonnie’s voice was shrill, and Alec’s hand tightened on the phone. “There’s trouble over at Calum’s place. Joe Thorson’s hurt, and-are you alone?”

A Daonain problem then. He jerked his head at Banner to stay with Hilda and walked farther away, knowing the wind and snow would muffle everything. “Spit it out.”

“Albert Baty was driving by the tavern and saw two men run out of your backyard, one all bloody. They jumped in a van. And a panther ran out and down the street. Al said he didn’t recognize the cat, but the van followed it. He went upstairs to check things out and called here.”

“And?” Fear made Alec’s voice snap, “Is Jamie all right? Joe? They were both there.”

“Al only found Joe, and he’s unconscious and bleeding bad.” Bonnie paused. “Alec? The cat was little-not full grown.”

Chapter Eighteen