True
Page 79
He lifted his gaze to seek out the other female. She gave him a tight smile. “I won’t leave her side. Like glue, okay? I know how much she means to you. I’ll piss down my leg before I even take a potty break. Swear.”
“Geez,” Dr. Harris muttered. “I’ll hand you a bedpan if you need to go.” He studied the monitor. “She appears stable. I need a full blood panel.”
True gazed down at Jeanie. “I’ll be back soon.” He brushed a kiss on her forehead and she closed her eyes. He spun away before he could change his mind, shooting Midnight a worried look.
“Like superglue,” she swore. “The strong shit that sticks your fingers together when you aren’t careful and tears off skin when you force them apart.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Calm down,” Fury demanded, grabbing True’s arms and forcing him to hold his gaze. “We’ll find the human who got away and we’ll discover why they tried to take her.”
Justice entered the room in just a pair of boxers and his hair wasn’t brushed. He snarled, “How the hell did this happen?”
True jerked out of Fury’s hold. “Tim is behind this. I’ll kill him for what they did to her.”
“I didn’t do this!” Tim stormed into the room in just a pair of sweats, his boots untied as if he’d just shoved them on. “I’ve been here the entire time. I didn’t bother to drive home but instead just crashed on my couch in the office we use. I got woken when Flame rushed in to tell me what was going on. I had dinner with him and I had a few too many drinks so I planned to stay at Homeland. I don’t drive drunk.”
True tried to reach the male to hit him for lying but Fury got between them. “Stop.”
“Tim is telling the truth.” Flame stood behind the human. “I offered to allow him to sleep on my couch but he insisted on sleeping it off in the office. He had four bourbons with dinner and was unsteady on his feet. I escorted him there and he hasn’t left. I decided to work out in the gym before bed and that’s when I heard the security alert. Tim was exactly where I’d left him.”
True stared at Flame, knowing he spoke honestly. He turned his focus on Tim. The male looked unusually untidy and his eyes were red. The smell of strong alcohol reached him. He tried to think rationally. “You didn’t order any of the task force members to take Jeanie?”
“No.” Tim half stumbled over to a couch and collapsed on it, cursing. “I told you I wouldn’t try to take her and I keep my word.” He rubbed his head. “Someone please get me coffee. Tons of it.” He looked at Justice. “It wasn’t my men who did this. How the hell did someone get past Security?”
Breeze rushed into the room. “Two human guards from Fuller signed in at the front gate at eight o’clock, stating they were here to pick up medical supplies for their clinic. No one wanted to call Dr. Harris at that hour just to verify the order. They do come once a month to resupply. They were just a week early and the hour was later than normal but Smiley didn’t think anything of it. They had the right paperwork. The guards inspected the van but didn’t see anything out of order. That was the only traffic in or out this evening.”
“No one escorted them to Medical?” Fury growled.
Breeze shook her head. “We trusted them, being from Fuller. The human guards weren’t ones Smiley knew but he figured they were just night-shift workers. He knows the day-shift ones. They didn’t act suspicious.”
“Son of a bitch,” Justice cursed. “Are we sure the other human is not hiding somewhere on Homeland? Why hasn’t he been located yet?”
“Every Species is still searching but have found no trace of him. The van is still parked at Medical so he couldn’t have gotten far,” Flame announced. “We woke up everyone to alert them to what happened. None of ours are injured or missing. All Species have been accounted for.”
“There’s no way that human can get off Homeland without being detected,” Justice declared.
“Are we even sure they were from Fuller? What if they stole a van and uniforms?” Tim got up, almost tripped on his loose shoelaces on his way to Justice’s desk, and yanked up the phone. “I’ll call them to check if they are missing anything.”
“They were from Fuller.” Smiley kept by the door. “I inspected the paperwork myself. The van was the one they always use too. It has an oil leak and I know it well.”
“The paperwork could have been forged.” Tim dialed.
“Scents can’t be,” Smiley protested. “We supply the paper and ink they use. It’s specially treated and that’s classified just for that purpose. They were from Fuller Prison with authentic paperwork that was recently printed. The ink was fresh.”
Tim gawked at him. “Does that go for the task team paper and ink too?”
“Yes,” Justice sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Why would Fuller send two males to kidnap the female?”
Tim slammed the phone down. “They aren’t answering. They should be.”
True wanted to howl in rage and barely refrained.
“Tim?” Fury glared at him. “Are you sure you didn’t order them to pick her up?”
“I didn’t. I mean, I did at first, but I canceled it.”
“What if they didn’t get the cancel order?” Breeze shifted her stance. “This could be a mistake.”
“Geez,” Dr. Harris muttered. “I’ll hand you a bedpan if you need to go.” He studied the monitor. “She appears stable. I need a full blood panel.”
True gazed down at Jeanie. “I’ll be back soon.” He brushed a kiss on her forehead and she closed her eyes. He spun away before he could change his mind, shooting Midnight a worried look.
“Like superglue,” she swore. “The strong shit that sticks your fingers together when you aren’t careful and tears off skin when you force them apart.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Calm down,” Fury demanded, grabbing True’s arms and forcing him to hold his gaze. “We’ll find the human who got away and we’ll discover why they tried to take her.”
Justice entered the room in just a pair of boxers and his hair wasn’t brushed. He snarled, “How the hell did this happen?”
True jerked out of Fury’s hold. “Tim is behind this. I’ll kill him for what they did to her.”
“I didn’t do this!” Tim stormed into the room in just a pair of sweats, his boots untied as if he’d just shoved them on. “I’ve been here the entire time. I didn’t bother to drive home but instead just crashed on my couch in the office we use. I got woken when Flame rushed in to tell me what was going on. I had dinner with him and I had a few too many drinks so I planned to stay at Homeland. I don’t drive drunk.”
True tried to reach the male to hit him for lying but Fury got between them. “Stop.”
“Tim is telling the truth.” Flame stood behind the human. “I offered to allow him to sleep on my couch but he insisted on sleeping it off in the office. He had four bourbons with dinner and was unsteady on his feet. I escorted him there and he hasn’t left. I decided to work out in the gym before bed and that’s when I heard the security alert. Tim was exactly where I’d left him.”
True stared at Flame, knowing he spoke honestly. He turned his focus on Tim. The male looked unusually untidy and his eyes were red. The smell of strong alcohol reached him. He tried to think rationally. “You didn’t order any of the task force members to take Jeanie?”
“No.” Tim half stumbled over to a couch and collapsed on it, cursing. “I told you I wouldn’t try to take her and I keep my word.” He rubbed his head. “Someone please get me coffee. Tons of it.” He looked at Justice. “It wasn’t my men who did this. How the hell did someone get past Security?”
Breeze rushed into the room. “Two human guards from Fuller signed in at the front gate at eight o’clock, stating they were here to pick up medical supplies for their clinic. No one wanted to call Dr. Harris at that hour just to verify the order. They do come once a month to resupply. They were just a week early and the hour was later than normal but Smiley didn’t think anything of it. They had the right paperwork. The guards inspected the van but didn’t see anything out of order. That was the only traffic in or out this evening.”
“No one escorted them to Medical?” Fury growled.
Breeze shook her head. “We trusted them, being from Fuller. The human guards weren’t ones Smiley knew but he figured they were just night-shift workers. He knows the day-shift ones. They didn’t act suspicious.”
“Son of a bitch,” Justice cursed. “Are we sure the other human is not hiding somewhere on Homeland? Why hasn’t he been located yet?”
“Every Species is still searching but have found no trace of him. The van is still parked at Medical so he couldn’t have gotten far,” Flame announced. “We woke up everyone to alert them to what happened. None of ours are injured or missing. All Species have been accounted for.”
“There’s no way that human can get off Homeland without being detected,” Justice declared.
“Are we even sure they were from Fuller? What if they stole a van and uniforms?” Tim got up, almost tripped on his loose shoelaces on his way to Justice’s desk, and yanked up the phone. “I’ll call them to check if they are missing anything.”
“They were from Fuller.” Smiley kept by the door. “I inspected the paperwork myself. The van was the one they always use too. It has an oil leak and I know it well.”
“The paperwork could have been forged.” Tim dialed.
“Scents can’t be,” Smiley protested. “We supply the paper and ink they use. It’s specially treated and that’s classified just for that purpose. They were from Fuller Prison with authentic paperwork that was recently printed. The ink was fresh.”
Tim gawked at him. “Does that go for the task team paper and ink too?”
“Yes,” Justice sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Why would Fuller send two males to kidnap the female?”
Tim slammed the phone down. “They aren’t answering. They should be.”
True wanted to howl in rage and barely refrained.
“Tim?” Fury glared at him. “Are you sure you didn’t order them to pick her up?”
“I didn’t. I mean, I did at first, but I canceled it.”
“What if they didn’t get the cancel order?” Breeze shifted her stance. “This could be a mistake.”
