Savage Hunger: Savage, Book 1 (20 page)

And they tended to be treated like the redheaded stepchild of the community. Looked on with derision and occasional pity. It was unfortunate, and needed to change, but for now, that’s the way it was.

Concern flickered in Sienna’s eyes, and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, before looking away. “I had my period last week. So it really shouldn’t be an issue.”

Warrick grunted in response, still not completely at ease or convinced she was even telling the truth. He could easily imagine her fudging the dates a bit to put him more at ease.

“I’d like to head back to the house now,” she said quietly.

Biting back another round of curses, Warrick gave a terse nod and gestured for her to start walking. He almost wished he’d gone first when she turned around and left him, because then he wouldn’t have to stare at the sweet curve of her ass in those tiny shorts or the pale, shapely legs that ate up the trail with her furious strides.

He followed after her, scowling at the ground as he tried to figure out how his precious control was getting snapped so easily lately.

The sound of Sienna’s startled cry had Warrick’s attention snapping back up. He was at her side in an instant. Found her staring wide-eyed and pale at the police officer on the trail in front of them.

Son of a bitch.
This was just the last damn thing they needed.

The officer was probably pushing fifty, had a receding hairline and a gut that stretched the buttons on his uniform. His hand rested pretty damn close to his gun, which meant he was already a bit weary of the situation.

Even though his stress increased tenfold, Warrick forced an easygoing grin and slid an arm around Sienna’s waist. “Good afternoon, Officer.”

The police officer’s brows shot up, his mouth flapping. His gaze didn’t move from Warrick’s face, in an obvious effort to avoid looking at Warrick naked.
Thank God Sienna had put her clothes back on.

“You got something against clothing, son?”

He’d shifted and run to the river to swim. Usually nudity wasn’t a problem around the community—and dammit, it wouldn’t have been if a cop hadn’t showed up. Why the
hell
was he here?

“Not at all, Officer. My girlfriend and I are just coming back from a swim.”

The officer’s gaze shifted to Sienna and his eyes narrowed. “Right. Does your girlfriend happen to have some ID on her?”

Sienna stiffened and leaned into his embrace. He could sense her fear and Warrick knew it was warranted. The officer already suspected who she was. Warrick’s blood chilled a degree as he gave a casual shrug and gestured up the trail.

“Should be inside the house, right, sweet pea?”

She hesitated much too long before nodding. “It should. Yeah. I mean somewhere.”

“Is there a problem, Officer?” Warrick kept his tone curious instead of accusatory.

“Well, the sheriff’s department got a tip that a suspect in an arson over in Portland was spotted in the area. I was nearby and thought I’d check it out.”

Alarm shot through Warrick and his jaw clenched. Who the hell could’ve spotted Sienna? They hadn’t left the isolated property except to go down by the river or walk in the forest. Still, the P.I.A. owned this land and the land next to it. Nobody should’ve spotted them. Which meant—

“An arson?” Sienna’s voice was too high pitched. “And you…you want to see
my
ID?”

The officer unfolded the piece of paper in his hand, glanced at it, then at her. “Well, you do look a bit like this lady.” His lips pursed and he grunted. “But if I could see that ID, we can straighten this out.”

This wasn’t going to end well, Warrick realized grimly. He made sure not to slide his gaze to the man who moved stealthily in the shadows behind the officer, and instead turned and headed for the house. Sienna followed him, gripping his arm tightly.

A soft groan sounded, then the thump of a body hitting the ground.

Sienna glanced over her shoulder and gasped.

“Warrick—”

He tightened his arm around her and stopped walking. “Go into the house, Sienna. Don’t talk to anyone or say anything. Just go to the room and don’t come out until I say to.”

“But—”

“Just do it!” he grated harshly.

She paled even more and gave a jerky nod before turning and fleeing up the rest of the trail and toward the house.

Once he was sure she was safe, he turned to face Quinton. His gaze slid over the crumpled body of the officer on the ground and he shook his head. There was no blood, and the man’s chest still moved in an indication that he was alive. So whatever Quinton had done to the man to knock him out hadn’t killed him.

“What happens next?” Warrick retraced his steps and crouched down by the officer, checking for a pulse anyway.

Quinton gave him a look of disgust. “What the hell do you think happens? We wipe him and send him on his merry way. The schmuck won’t remember a thing.”

That’s pretty much what he’d figured would happen. Still, what a goddamned mess.

“Grab his legs and help me carry him inside,” Quinton ordered.

Biting back a terse reply, Warrick moved to obey. Quinton obviously had a burr up his ass and it didn’t take a wild guess to know what it was about.

“You would’ve realized the cop was here if you hadn’t been busy getting your rocks off.” Quinton adjusted his grip under the officer’s arms as they moved him toward the house. “Don’t know why you couldn’t just go into town and pick up some easy chick at a bar.”

Ignoring Quinton’s gibe about sleeping with Sienna, Warrick replied, “The officer was nowhere near me. I would have sensed him.”

“You didn’t sense him until he was a foot from your damn face.”

Quinton was right. And the realization stirred up the frustration and anger brewing in Warrick’s gut. Anger at himself though. He’d completely screwed up again. Shot himself in the foot because of Sienna.

“You shouldn’t have touched her.”

The almost volatile fury coming from Quinton slammed into Warrick in waves. It was so potent it made his chest tighten.

Warrick got the impression that the man’s emotional state had less to do with the surprise arrival of an officer. But why? Why the hell was Quinton so concerned with what happened between him and Sienna?

“It’s a little late to discuss what I should’ve and shouldn’t have been doing.” Warrick grunted as they climbed the stairs into the house. “And like I said earlier, not much of your business anyway.”

Quinton muttered something harsh, and Warrick was pretty glad he couldn’t hear it.

The other agents came rushing toward them, voices rising with anger and shock as they realized what was going on.

Biting back a bitter sigh, Warrick let Quinton do the answering, and was offered a small bit of relief that Sienna wouldn’t see what happened next.

What on earth was going on in the other room?

Sienna paced the bedroom, her stomach tied up like a pretzel. She wrapped her arms around her middle and swallowed the lump in her throat as she listened to the sounds of movement and raised voices.

Where had he come from? That officer had seemed to come out of nowhere. Well, really he had, because they were out in the middle of nowhere. How had he found them? Had someone tipped off the local sheriff’s office?

Her chest tightened and a chill raced through her. Maybe that was exactly it. Maybe someone
had
tipped them off. Someone in the house.

Quinton’s face wavered in the back of her mind and she bit her lip. Was it him? Really? He’d threatened to call them. Or maybe it wasn’t Quinton, but someone else entirely.

Maybe Leo had been hinting that there were a couple of the agents—God! How could she know? How could she trust any of them?

“What the hell are you doing to me?”

Sienna froze and her heart started a slow, heavy, foreboding thump. The shrill scream had come from the officer, which meant he was awake. Alive.

Thank God they hadn’t killed him
.

“I’ll have you arrested. Every last one of you!” the man threatened, but the way his words wavered showed his terror.

Sienna stared at the closed door. As if maybe this time she could see through it to observe whatever horrible thing was being done. What
was
being done to the man?

Would they hurt him? God, they wouldn’t kill him would they? No, if that had been their intention they would’ve killed him on the trail. So, dammit, what was going on?

Sienna strode to the door—ignoring Warrick’s warning to stay in there until he came to get her. She twisted the knob and silently opened the door. When she didn’t see anyone guarding outside her door, she let out a silent sigh of relief.

Whatever was going on, she needed to see it.

Tiptoeing down the hallway, the sound of movement and the officer’s angry, fearful threats grew louder. But no one else said anything. It was just the cop and his panicked words.

Sienna reached the end of the hallway and gripped the wall, peeking her head around to glance into the living room. The air in her lungs caught as she watched the scene unfolding.

The officer had been strapped into a chair, with some kind of headphone type thing slipped over his head. He thrashed wildly, his eyes wide with panic, fear, and anger. The agents around him, for the most part ignored him.

“Please,” the officer begged now, seeming to lose any remaining pride. “I have a wife. Grandkids.”

Sienna shoved her fist into her mouth to keep from crying out to stop them. Her stomach churned and nausea assailed her.

“It’ll be over in a moment, Officer.” Quinton lifted some kind of remote device and pressed down on a button.

Sienna gasped as the man in the chair went still, his eyes widening. He shook his head and tried to lift his hands, but they were tied down to the chair handles.

“What are you doing to me?” the officer choked out. “You’ll spend the rest of your lives in a jail cell for this. You’ll never get away with this…”

He trailed off and then winced, almost as if in pain. His eyes closed for a moment. When they reopened, his gaze was disorientated with just flicks of recognition every now and then. His lashes fluttered closed once more, but this time stayed closed.

“And we’re done,” Quinton said quietly. “Get him onto the sofa. We’ve only got a few minutes before he comes around.”

When the agents moved forward, Sienna ducked her head back and out of view. She let it fall against the wall and closed her eyes.

Oh God
. Oh God, what had just happened? Had that been the memory wipe in action? The process Warrick had told her about? What else could it have been?

Quinton had said the officer would come around. So he wasn’t dead. Thankfully. The man had been innocent, just out doing his job, and now this. She swallowed the lump in her throat and willed the racing of her heart to slow.

“I’ve got this, boys,” Quinton continued. “Let me do all the talking. In fact, everybody can just disappear for a little bit, all right? It would be better if I’m the only one around when he comes to.”

There was a murmur of agreement before the front door opened and she heard the agents disappear. Sienna held her breath and then peeked her head to look around the wall again.

As requested, it was just Quinton and the officer now. The officer sat slumped on the sofa, looking like he’d had a few too many to drink or maybe had just fallen asleep for a nap.

Sure enough, he began to stir a few minutes later.

Quinton approached the man, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right, Officer?”

The officer’s eyes blinked opened and he glanced around in confusion. “What…?”

“I went to grab you that glass of water you asked for and when I came back you were dozing.” Quinton grinned and handed the man a glass. “Few too many late nights, maybe?”

“I…right.” The officer grabbed the water, unease and confusion on his face as he took an unsteady sip.

Sienna watched as Quinton set down the piece of paper that had her picture on it next to the officer.

“I glanced it over, but I can’t say that I’ve seen her or anyone who looks like her.” Quinton scratched his head. “Just came out here with some of my buddies to do some fishing and relaxing for the week.”

“Right.” The officer nodded, relief flickering across his face as he grabbed the paper and folded it back into a square. He slipped it back into his pocket a moment later. “Thank you for your time. I’m sorry I dozed off. I never do that. You’re right about those late nights.”

Having seen enough, Sienna jerked her head back and tiptoed rapidly back to the bedroom. She shut the door silently and headed straight for the bathroom.

Jesus. That had been real. Quinton had wiped the man’s memory in an instant. The officer hadn’t had a clue about what had happened. Had woken up, and though he seemed a little rattled that he’d
dozed off
, had easily accepted that he’d been talking alone to Quinton.

Her hands trembled as she turned on the sink faucet. She slid her hands underneath the water, letting the chilly stream ease some of the shock from her.