Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis (24 page)

Hank frowned and turned to look at the
man. “Ms. McKinley is upset and I don’t think we’re going to be
able to sit down together and resolve this issue. Mr. Calhoun, I’m
going to ask you to go home now. I’ll be stopping by as soon as
I’ve finished filling out a report here.”

Alaina turned to the sheriff in
disbelief. “You’re not going to arrest him?”

Hank frowned, his lips thinning with
irritation. “I’ve arrested the men that were shooting. They’re
sitting in the back of my patrol car. Mr. Calhoun didn’t even have
a gun.”

Alaina’s lips tightened with anger. “I
heard you coming a mile off! He could have tossed it into the woods
when he heard you coming.”

She could tell from the look on Hank’s
face that he’d already thought of that, but he wasn’t particularly
pleased that she’d pointed it out. “Mr. Calhoun,” the sheriff said
nodding dismissal and then turned to her. “Are you
hurt?”

“
Thank you so much for
asking!” Alaina said with false sweetness. “No! I’m not hurt, but
that’s no thanks to them.”

The sheriff glanced down at her and
for the first time since she’d come out of the shed it dawned on
Alaina that she was standing around in nothing but a t-shirt and
panties. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“
If you’ll just go on
inside, I’ll be in to speak with you and get a report shortly.” The
sheriff turned and walked Calhoun back toward the front of her
house as another sheriff’s patrol car pulled up.

Alaina watched them until they’d
rounded the corner of the house.

The panther was hurt. It didn’t take
much imagination to figure out how he’d gotten hurt. He needed a
vet, but she wasn’t going to be able to do anything for him until
she could get rid of the cops, and her damned neighbors.

She did not want to call Bobby! The
son-of-a-bitch hadn’t been around since the last time they’d fought
and she didn’t want him coming around now. He was bound to take a
call from her as an invitation to take up where they’d left
off.

It sucked that he was the only vet she
knew.

Maybe the cat wasn’t hurt that
badly?

He’d looked like he was in pain,
though, and obviously he’d been weakened. He hadn’t even been able
to get up when he’d felt threatened by the men’s voices. It seemed
indisputable that, drunk or not, one of the hunters had managed to
put a bullet in him and she certainly couldn’t get a bullet out by
herself. If it had only been something that required bandaging,
maybe, but he would need antibiotics and she needed somebody to
tell her what to do for him.

The panther had to be tame. He was
hurt and he still hadn’t made any sort of threatening move toward
her. There was no way a wild animal would’ve behaved as he had. If
he’d been wild he would’ve attacked her the minute she went into
the shed. Even if he hadn’t been able to attack, he would have
growled or hissed.

Besides, he wasn’t indigenous. Someone
had imported him into the country, and not for a zoo animal. He
wouldn’t have been so tame.

He had to be a pet. Those stupid
bastards had been shooting at somebody’s pet, tamed to believe that
human’s were no threat, a cat that probably had never even been in
the wild and had no idea how to take care of himself. Some damned
sportsmanship!

Reluctant to leave the poor thing
without looking to see how he was doing, she nevertheless headed
back toward the house.

She knew he had to be tame, but the
sheriff would probably call animal control at the very least. At
the worst, he and his deputy might decide to ‘put him out of his
misery’.

Flipping on the kitchen light as she
went in through the back door, Alaina headed for the living room
and turned on the overhead light. Her jeans were lying beside the
couch. Shimmying into them, she zipped and fastened them as she
shoved her feet into her flip-flops.

Sheriff Wilson commenced to knocking
on her door almost before she’d slipped her shoes on.

Anger surged through her all over
again. She was so damned sick of the ‘good old boys club’! The
damned realtor that had sold her parents the place had said there
was a hunting club on the adjoining property, but she wasn’t all
that familiar with hunters. She’d assumed they would stay on the
hunting preserve, not constantly be chasing animals onto her
property and shooting up her place. There had to be laws that had
been broken! Why the hell had he let that bastard go?

Unlocking the door, she pulled it open
and glared at the sheriff. “You aren’t going to charge him with
anything?” she demanded when he moved past her and into the living
room.

“
You want to show me the
bullet holes?”

Pointing to the couch, she backed up
and straddled the arm of the easy chair across from it, folding her
arms over her chest and watching him sullenly while he studied the
couch and dug into the hole in search of the bullet.

* * * *

Not surprisingly, Bobby was asleep
when she called.

A woman answered.

It unsettled Alaina for a moment. “I
need to speak to the vet,” she said finally.

She heard the rustle of bed clothes
and snuffling and yawning. “Yes?” Bobby asked in a voice hoarse
with sleep.

“
It’s Alaina. Alaina
McKinley. I’ve got a cat in my shed that’s hurt really badly. I
hate to bother you so late, but I don’t know if he’ll still be
alive in the morning. I think he’s been shot.”

There was silence for several moments.
“Bring him over and I’ll have a look at him,” he growled
finally.

“
I can’t. I need you to come
out here and look at him.”

“
Why can’t you?”

Alaina chewed the inside of her mouth.
“It’s a really big cat and I don’t think I can move him without
hurting him worse. Please? You know I wouldn’t bother you if I had
options.”

He uttered an irritated sound. “Fine.
I’ll be over in about fifteen or twenty minutes.”

It was more like thirty. Alaina paced
the floor and watched the clock for fifteen minutes before it
finally occurred to her that she could probably at least make the
cat more comfortable while she was waiting. Going to her linen
closet, she found an old throw and tossed it over her arm and then
went into the kitchen to find something he could drink out of.
They’d been chasing him. He was probably dying of thirst on top of
everything else.

She had reached the shed again when it
dawned on her to wonder if getting out alive the first time had
just been a fluke. Maybe the poor thing had just been in shock from
the wound and weak and hadn’t been able to threaten her?

Easing the shed door open, she peered
inside. The two glowing eyes winked at her, but he didn’t move, and
he didn’t growl. Opening the door wider, she flipped the light on
and inched inside slowly, trying not to make any sudden moves he
might consider threatening.

He lifted his head and stared straight
at the bowl, sniffing.

Alaina swallowed against the pity that
welled in her. Setting the bowl down, she slid it within his reach
watching as he gulped the water down thirstily until the bowl was
bone dry. “More?”

He looked up at her when she spoke and
she could see the pain in his eyes. Taking the bowl she refilled it
at her laundry sink and set it down for him again. Apparently, he’d
had all he needed at the moment, though, because he only drank a
little before he settled again, his head drooping on his
forelegs.

Sliding the bowl out of the way for
the moment, she took the throw and spread it over him. A rumbling,
sporadic purr issued from his chest. Feeling a mixture of relief
and pity, and encouraged by that sign to think he appreciated her
efforts to comfort him, she moved closer, stroking his head
soothingly. He butted his head against her hand, arching his neck
so that she could stroke that, too.

She didn’t know why she was so
surprised to see him behaving like an ordinary house cat, because
he was a cat, but she was. She was also intrigued, and drawn to
him. Settling with her back against the wall, she stretched her
legs out in front of her and lifted his huge head onto her lap,
stroking her hand over his beautiful, silky coat.

He tensed slightly, but allowed it,
resting his head in her lap, issuing a rumbling, broken purr from
his chest from time to time.

He seemed to enjoy her touch. After a
few moments, he turned his head. She thought at first that it was
because he wanted her to rub a different spot. Maybe that was why
he turned his head, but he nuzzled his nose against her crotch in
the process. Gently, she shifted his nose away from her crotch and
continued to pet him, but she discovered fairly quickly that he’d
gotten the idea in his head to love her back. He nuzzled his nose
against her crotch again and began trying to burrow
deeper.

Not trying, doing. He pushed her
thighs apart, running his nose right down her crotch. Goose bumps
erupted all over her as his heated breath permeated the thick
fabric of her jeans. Embarrassed and unnerved, she grabbed his
head, trying to dislodge him. “What in the world do you think
you’re doing?” she demanded with a shaky laugh mixed with
consternation.

He ignored her insistent pull for
several moments, exploring her scent she supposed. God! Animals
weren’t the least bit inhibited about such things, she thought
wryly.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing for
him to learn her scent, though, she thought when he, thankfully,
removed his nose and dropped his head to her lap again. She didn’t
know what she was going to do with him, but it seemed likely she
was going to have him a while until she figured it out.

The sound of a trunk door slamming
brought her head up.

It brought the panther’s head up, too.
He stiffened.

She caught his face between her palms.
“It’s all right. It’s just Bobby. He’s a real asshole, but he’s a
good vet and you need somebody to take care of that wound. I’m not
going to let him hurt you.”

The hinges on the door creaked as
Bobby jerked it open briskly, placed one foot inside the shed and
froze.

The panther uttered a low, deep
chested growl, tensing.

Alaina felt her jaw sag in surprise
and uneasiness at his sudden aggressive behavior. Her fingers
tightened on him. “It’s all right. It’s just the vet.”

“
Jesus fucking Christ!”
Bobby muttered in a hoarse whisper, dropping his medical bag from
suddenly nerveless fingers. “You said it was cat.”

Alaina looked at him. “He is a cat.
He’s tame.”

Bobby looked the animal over
doubtfully, but she could see he was only standing in the doorway
because he was afraid a sudden movement in any direction would
precipitate an attack. “Why’s he growling and looking at me like he
wants to take my head off if he’s so fucking tame?”

Alaina frowned. “Hunters were chasing
him. It’s probably because he thinks you might be another one.”
Catching hold of the throw she’d covered him with, she pulled it up
until Bobby could see the panther’s hip. “Somebody shot him, I
think. That’s why I called you. He’s so weak. He must have lost a
lot of blood.”

“
I’m not coming near that
damned thing,” Bobby snarled.

The panther snarled back at
him.

Alaina leaned down, looping her arms
around the big cat and rubbing her hands over him soothingly,
though she seriously doubted, even as weak as he was, if she could
hold him down if he decided to get up. “Shhhh. It’s all right boy.
He’s going to make you all better. Come on, Bobby. You’re here now.
Look at him, at least. Tell me what to do for him. I don’t know
what to do.”

“
Call animal
control.”

Alaina glared at him. “They’ll
probably just shoot him.”

“
You’re damned right. He’s a
dangerous animal. I can’t fucking believe you’re wallowing all over
that damned thing!”

“
Because he is not a
dangerous animal! You’re a vet, damn it!”

Bobby glared at her, but after a
moment he bent down very slowly and opened his bag, searching it
for several moments. Finally, he pulled out a syringe and a
bottle.

“
What’s that?” Alaina
demanded suspiciously.

“
Something to sedate
him.”

She didn’t trust Bobby. “You won’t
give him too much?”

“
I didn’t bring anything
strong enough for a two or three hundred pound mountain lion, damn
it! You said it was a fucking cat. I’m just hoping this is strong
enough to keep him quiet while I have a look.”

The panther shifted uneasily when
Bobby approached him, but he didn’t try to break free of Alaina. He
jerked when Bobby injected the sedative, glaring at Bobby through
narrowed yellow eyes.

Sweat was running down Bobby’s face
when he drew back. After studying the cat for a moment, he slowly
moved back toward the door. “I need to get him to my clinic to run
x-rays.”

“
No,” Alaina said. It was a
gut reaction, but even as she said it she realized she didn’t trust
Bobby to take the cat to his clinic. “I’m not letting you take him
anywhere.”