Leopard's Baby

Megan held Brendan as she and Nathan waited in the vestibule of their building. Brendan giggled as she planted a loud kiss on his cheek, and hollered, “Again!” The process was repeated several times. At last Tammy drove up. Megan helped her put Brendan into the car-seat in the back of the car.

“The maternal bug has bitten you good,” Nathan commented.

“I hope our kid is as cute as he is,” Megan said. “I hate to see them leave.”

They were walking to the parking garage where their car was stored. Normally Nathan would take public transportation, but Megan wanted to drop him off and travel out of the city so she could report to Olivia. Since it was Sunday, she didn’t have classes or labs. He had to go in so he could make rounds.

“Our kid will be the cutest one ever,” Nathan proclaimed, shooting his fist in the air. “Just like Clarabelle is the world’s cutest cat. Of course I’m being completely objective. It’s weird. She recognized the inherent nature of the were-leopards but I couldn’t.”

“I’m not sure what she recognized,” Megan said. They reached their car, got in, and headed out. “Olivia told me just about all animals react the way Clarabelle did. They must sense the presence of a dangerous predator.”

“Did you freak out the way I did when you saw one of them change for the first time?”

“Yes, but not to the same extent,” Megan said. A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the experience. “The circumstances were different. I was sixteen and Amanda was fourteen. Human traffickers kidnapped us, including Tammy, and were going to rape us and sell us as sex slaves. Tammy changed and her leopard killed them all. I was scared shitless. Our biggest danger was getting hit by a stray bullet as they tried to shoot her.”

“She was lucky the shots all missed.”

“They didn’t miss. When she’s in leopard form it’s like the old werewolf movies. Bullets or knives or whatever have to have silver in them before they can penetrate her hide.”

“So it’s like she’s supergirl.”

“Not quite. She tells me it’s like being punched. She says she’s sore as hell in every spot where a bullet hit for the next couple of days.”

Megan dropped off Nathan, drove out of the city, and called Olivia. Megan related the experience of the last three days and assured Olivia that Brendan was well on the way to recovery. “The way he acted this morning, you’d never know he was sick.”

“That’s a relief,” Olivia said, paused, and added, “Do you know where they’re living?”

“No. I asked her, but she said it was better if I didn’t know.”

“She’s probably right. Okay, thanks for the call. I know she can take care of herself as well as anyone, but it’s still comforting to know she’s alive and well as of right now.”

***

“This better be good,” Kent Malone, Jennifer’s security chief, said “You woke me up.”

“You said to call if there were any developments,” the caller said.

“Well?”

“The woman I was watching came out of her building holding a little kid. She and another woman put the kid in a car-seat and the other woman took off.”

“Is the other woman our target?”

“I couldn’t tell for sure. She was the right size and build, but I couldn’t get close enough to see her face. She was bundled up against the cold. I was unable to see her hair color. Also, I was on foot so I couldn’t follow, but I did get the license plate number of her car.”

“Ah,” Malone said. “Good work. If it pans out, you’ll get a bonus.”

Malone used his contacts to find the address corresponding to the plate number. Then he called Charles Kalar, former military man turned mercenary turned assassin, and gave him the information. After that he called Jennifer.

“I may have some good news,” Malone said. “I think.”

“I can use some,” Jennifer said. “To say the atmosphere around here is frosty is like saying it’s windy during a hurricane. What do you have?”

“One of my agents spotted the stepsister putting a toddler into a car being driven by a tall woman. He couldn’t get close enough to make a definite identification, but he got the plate number. Given the circumstances it’s more than likely it was Tamara and Brendan. The car is registered to a guy named Ethan Butler, living near Marion, Illinois. I’ve called my man. He’s headed there. He’ll scope out the place, and if it’s her he’ll make his move, probably within a week.”

“Should we interrogate the stepsister?”

“No. If Tamara has any brains she wouldn’t say where she’s living. Questioning the other is unlikely to give us more than we already know. We don’t want to alert them that we’ve found her. We don’t want her mother to join her.”

“Couldn’t your man deal with two women?” Jennifer asked. She snorted. “I thought he was supposed to be tough.”

“You were lamenting just how formidable Tamara is,” Malone pointed out. “The two of them together, knowing we were on to them, would be ten times as hard to deal with. I have a plan to take care of Olivia. Assuming we can take out Tamara, it might be best if you were present when we move in to get the kid. We want the local authorities on our side.”

“I guess you’re right,” Jennifer conceded. “I’ll be ready to move on a moments notice. It’s good something turned up. I was beginning to lose hope.”

***

Tammy entertained Brendan on the long ride home mostly by singing to him. She made up silly words to songs he knew. He stopped her every time she altered a song, giggled, and demanded she sing it correctly. They stopped for lunch and a bathroom break at about the halfway point. She was relieved to see his appetite had returned. He fussed when she insisted he wear a diaper after they ate, but she suspected he’d sleep most of the remainder of the trip and didn’t want an accident in Butler’s car. Sure enough he fell asleep almost as soon as the car went into motion, and didn’t wake even after they reached their destination. It was mid-afternoon when they drove into the parking lot of Haley’s Place.

“How’d it go?” Haley asked as Tammy carried a still sleeping Brendan into the apartment above the tavern.

“Great!” Tammy said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d give Ethan a call and let him know he can collect his car. Then come into the bathroom while I clean him up and I’ll tell you about it.”

“I’m very relieved,” Haley said a minute later when she entered the bathroom. “What was the problem?”

“Lyme disease,” Tammy said. Brendan awoke as she stripped him, cleaned him up, and put him in the bathtub with several toys. While she bathed him, he played with his toys, splashing her so much her top got soaked.

“I’m surprised Doc Patterson didn’t pick up on that,” Haley said.

“The doctor I brought him to said it’s not easy to diagnose without blood work. The symptoms of Lyme disease and the flu are similar. My guy happened to spot a tiny bite behind Brendan’s left knee.”

“Seems like he’s completely cured.”

“Just about. The doctor told me to continue the antibiotic until it runs out.”

“Who is this doctor you took him to? Where is he located?”

“He’s married to a friend of mine,” Tammy said. She hesitated as she lifted Brendan out of the tub and brought him to a changing table to get dressed. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Haley. I know I owe you a lot. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but the less people know about me the better. I’m still being hunted. I don’t want to tell you where I was. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t tell them where I’m living now, and she’s one of my dearest friends.”

“That’s okay, Missy,” Haley said. She put her right arm around Tammy’s waist. “If someone was after me the way your ex is after you, I’d be jumping out of my skin every time I heard a noise.”

They heard a knock on the backdoor downstairs. Haley went down to answer it. A minute later she reappeared with Ethan Butler right behind her.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the loan of your car, Ethan,” Tammy said over her shoulder. She put Brendan on the floor and he immediately ran to his toy box.

Tammy turned to face Butler. “I left the keys on the table in the…” She stopped herself when she realized he was staring at her chest, not listening to her. Because of Brendan’s proclivity for splashing while taking a bath, she’d almost automatically taken off her sweater and thick, flannel shirt, leaving her with just a thin, cotton tee-shirt on top. She rarely wore a bra. Now that the tee was soaked, it was, for all intents and purposes, transparent.

Tammy was not particularly body conscious so she didn’t have the knee-jerk “damsel in distress” reaction of immediately covering herself. Instead she grinned and said, “Is this payment enough for loan of the car?”

“My God you’re gorgeous!” Butler declared in a croak. He cleared his throat. “You tend to wear these dumpy clothes which don’t show off just how great your body is. And no. As much as I appreciate the view, I still intend to collect on our previous arrangement. Dinner and a movie. How about tonight?”

“Let’s make it next week if you don’t mind, Ethan,” Tammy said. “I’ve had a tiring drive and Bobby is still on an antibiotic. I want to be sure he’s completely recovered before I leave him.”

“Next week it is,” Butler said.

I feel a little guilty, Tammy thought. He’s being a good sport, but he’s obviously disappointed.

Butler approached and put his hands on her waist. “For now I’ll settle for a kiss.”

He pulled her to him, wet shirt and all, and put his lips on hers. She hesitated and then responded. Their tongues met. It was close to four months since her night with Jeremy. She felt a stirring in her loins. His hands wandered toward her breasts.

“Ahem!” Haley said loudly. Startled, Tammy and Butler parted. “I’m glad to see the two of you are hitting it off, but damp it down, you should pardon the expression, for now. Wait until you’re alone.”

***

After making sure she wasn’t being followed Olivia made her way to a diner in one of the sleazier neighborhoods of DC. There she met Simon Minstein, the cultural attaché, i.e. the Mossad head of station, in the Israeli embassy.

“I didn’t expect to get a call from you, Simon,” Olivia said as she took a seat across from him.

“I took the liberty of ordering for you,” Minstein said. A waitress placed a mug of coffee and a dish of vanilla ice cream in front of Olivia. After the waitress departed, he slid an mp3 player across to her and said, “I know I told you I could not help you any more, but we had previously been able to clone Jennifer’s phone. It was almost no effort to record her conversations and have one of my men check them periodically. This was recorded earlier today. I knew you had to listen to it as soon as possible.”

Olivia listened to the conversation Jennifer had with Malone and commented, “Sounds as if she’s hired someone to whack Tammy.”

“Yes, I thought so as well. Can you warn her? They said they have a plan for you as well. Be vigilant.”

“I have no way to get in touch with Tammy. I have to locate this Ethan Butler, but it’s not exactly a unique name. Ted Bilson might be able to help me. I’ll give him a call as soon as we’re done here, but I may not be able to get to him for a few days. He doesn’t usually go on Presidential protection assignments himself, but he went on this one. I suppose he wants to keep his hand in. I saw him on the news in the background as the President left for his meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister. As for myself, I’m always on the alert.”

“Do you have any other sources?”

“None that I trust. Thanks Simon. I owe you.”