Leopard's Baby

Tyler brought the car to a halt by a densely wooded area about a half mile from the Roberts family home. He left the engine running as he exited from the car. Candi got behind the wheel. It was 3:00 AM and nearly pitch black. He took off his clothes and hid them behind a tree near the car.

“If cops come along and ask why you’re here, tell them you had to stop because the car overheated,” Tyler instructed Candi. “You were just about to leave. Then go. Don’t try to come back for me. They might be waiting. Drive to the mall we scoped out. It’s only a couple of miles away. I’ll meet you there.”

“Got it,” she replied.

Tyler made his way through the woods until he saw the house. From just inside the tree line he observed the goings on for several minutes. The grounds were well lit. The guards appeared to be alert. They patrolled in an irregular fashion, always two together. It was not possible for him to pick a moment when the area would be clear for enough time to reach the house without being spotted. He’d have to depend on luck. On his visit the previous afternoon he’d noted the positions of the CCTV cameras. The only location which might be a dead spot was at the left rear corner of the house. Even so, he’d have to run through a covered spot. Looks almost impossible, he thought. But I can’t give up without at least making a try.

Two guards disappeared around the side of the house. Tyler changed. The leopard darted out from the trees and raced across the expansive lawn.

Another pair of guards came around the house just as the leopard reached the house. He heard one of the guards exclaim, “What the fuck was that?”

“What?” his partner asked.

“A big dog or something ran up to the house. I can’t see it from here. Let’s head there.”

The leopard could see a guard using his walky-talky, obviously calling in what he thought he’d seen. Guns at the ready, the two headed for his location. He could see three more coming around the other side of the house.

The leopard realized his position was untenable. He gave a low growl and darted back toward the trees. Gunfire erupted. He was hit twice and knocked off his feet, but since the bullets weren’t silver, they didn’t penetrate. The leopard regained his footing and bounded into the woods, getting hit one more time.

The leopard raced back to where Tyler left his clothes. He changed. Tyler stayed on his hands and knees while he regained his breath. He quickly donned his clothes, wincing because he was sore from where the bullets hit the leopard. He could hear men pursuing him. Fortunately they were being cautious, probably because they weren’t sure what they were chasing.

Candi was still there. Tyler jumped in the car and shouted, “Go, go, go!”

“Did you get in the house?” she asked as she sped down the road.

“No. Fort Knox isn’t as well guarded as that house. Slow down. We don’t want to get stopped by a cop.”

***

Tammy and Miranda got trays of food and looked for a place to sit. Tammy wanted to stay away from tables where the occupants appeared to be members of a gang. On the other hand she wanted to bond with prisoners who were unlikely to be gang prey. Her immediate goal was to avoid fights. Too many and it might come out that she was a were-leopard. That could be disastrous.

She spotted a couple of empty seats at a table where all of the other occupants were black. Miranda was reluctant, but didn’t want to leave Tammy.

“You either stupid or got big balls sitting here with the sisters,” a tall, slender woman sitting across from Tammy said.

“I guess I must be stupid,” Tammy said with a grin. “I don’t have any balls at all, big or small. Any of you ladies know Jasmine Richardson?”

“Yeah I know her,” said a light-skinned, black woman with a wicked scar reaching from her hairline in front of her right ear down to the point of her chin. “Played ball against her in high school. That bitch could really light it up. How you know her?”

“Hung with her in lockup before I got moved here. Got to be friends after I beat the shit out of Sheila Barker.”

“We know that cunt,” the woman across from Tammy said. “She was here until a couple of years ago. She’s fucking whacko. You really beat her down? You big, but she bigger.”

“I did,” Tammy said as she calmly began to eat. She knew her life would be easier the sooner she established her creds. It was a calculated risk sitting with the blacks, but they comprised the majority of the prison population. If they accepted her, others would be less likely to mess with her. “Call Jasmine. She’ll tell you. I’m Tammy. This is Miranda. She’s with me.”

The other women at the table introduced themselves. The one who’d first spoken was Nia. The woman with the scar was Diamond.

***

“What the fuck is that?” one of the security men at the Roberts home said. He and three other men, along with their supervisor, Kent Malone, were viewing a video of Tyler’s leopard captured by the CCTV cameras. “Is it a big, spotted dog?”

“Could be,” Malone said. “Can you zoom in on it?”

The picture enlarged, but became grainy. Pictures from other cameras were even less definitive. Enhancement techniques were attempted, but didn’t help enough to identify the beast.

Another man joined them. He’d been looking for footprints of the animal. “The prints near the house were too smudged to be of any help,” the newcomer said. “No usable prints were made on the lawn. The prints in the woods stopped at the road, and we couldn’t pick up any more. Whatever it is, it must’ve stuck to the road. We did see one possibly identifiable print in the woods. We made a cast. Except for its size it looks more like a cat print than a dog, but I’m no expert.”

“Holy shit!” Malone exclaimed.

“What?” one of his men said.

“A buddy of mine is former CIA,” Malone said. “This was several years ago, mind you. He said there was some secret group that had agents who could turn into leopards. He was drunk and I thought he was pulling my leg, but he swore it was true.”

“Sounds like a crock to me,” another man said.

“I would agree except that fairly recently I heard our former President had a secret service agent who could do that also. The man who told me didn’t actually see it, but the President was bragging about it.”

“That son-of-a-bitch couldn’t speak one sentence with telling two lies,” a man said derisively.

“You guys were shooting at it,” Malone pointed out. “One of the videos shows it being knocked off its feet. How come you didn’t find any blood?”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” another of the men said as he crossed himself. “Are we facing some demonic creature?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Malone said with a chuckle. “We won’t worry about demons.”

“Are we going to report this to Mrs. Roberts?” a man asked.

“I think not,” Malone said after pondering for a few seconds. “We don’t want to be labeled crackpots. But let’s keep an open mind.”

***

“You’ve got me again, Desiree,” Olivia said as she entered the hospital room of Congresswoman Martinez. “At least some of the time.”

“I’m happy about that,” Martinez replied as a nurse helped her into a wheelchair. Her right arm and right leg were still in casts, but she was deemed well enough to leave the hospital after a stay of more than two weeks. “I’m also glad to be out of this place. Was it hard for them to convince you to return?”

“I’ll wheel her from here,” Olivia said to the nurse. She pushed the wheelchair toward the elevator while saying to Martinez, “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Full pay and benefits, and I can take off anytime I have to do something with regard to my daughter. Not to mention my other two kids. I can’t neglect them. Especially Tiffany. She’s capable of getting into a world of trouble. I’ll try not to take too much advantage of it, but it was the only way I was willing to come back. I have a meeting this evening.”

“I’ll take you anyway I can get you,” Martinez said. She turned slightly and patted Olivia’s right arm with her left hand.

***

Tammy was chatting with Diamond in the exercise yard when Miranda darted behind them, her eyebrows creased with worry. Approaching them was a phalanx of large, heavily tattooed women.

“What’s the matter, Miranda?” Tammy asked.

“The big one in the front,” Miranda said, pointing. “The one with the busted nose. That’s Gretchen. I think she coming to get me.”

“Just look at those bitches,” Diamond said softly. “They could be the offensive line on a college football team. Except knowing them, they’d get a penalty on every fucking play.”

“You don’t seem afraid,” Tammy said.

“They won’t start nothing in the yard. Too many guards.”

Gretchen had a crude swastika and lightning bolt tattoos on her neck. She waggled her fingers at the people around Tammy, grinned showing a couple of missing teeth, and said something to her cohorts, all of whom laughed. The entire group turned and marched away. Other women were careful to make way for them.

“They just letting you know they’re aware of you,” Diamond said. “Be alert. You took care of Sheila, but she was only one. If the Aryan women come after you, it’ll be a gang attack.”

***

Even though it was late June and hot in the DC area, Fred Caronelli was sweating far more profusely than one would expect. His shirt was almost soaked through. Olivia had been sitting across from him for less than a minute, and he’d already wiped the sweat off his forehead five times. Wadded up napkins were piling up in front of him. His glasses kept sliding down his nose. His left leg jiggled up and down nervously. He kept turning his head from side to side. A waitress approached to take their order. Each ordered a beer.

“Will you please relax, Fred,” Olivia said. “You know Ted Bilson vouched for me. If you can’t trust him, you can’t trust anyone.”

“You have my money?” Caronelli asked. The waitress delivered their beers. Caronelli gulped down half and ordered another. Olivia took a small sip.

“Let me see the documents,” Olivia said. She held out her hand. Caronelli started to say something, but stopped as the waitress returned with his second beer. He chugged the remainder of his first and reached for his second.

He drank a third of his new drink and said, “Money first.”

“You already have half the money,” Olivia said. She took another sip. “I’m not going to stiff you. I need to see the quality of your work. If I like it, there’s a good chance I’ll throw more jobs your way.”

Caronelli muttered something under his breath and handed a large envelope to Olivia. She inspected the contents, taking her time, while Caronelli seemed to grow even more agitated. Finally she said, “These will do,” and handed over an envelope. He snatched it from her, took a quick look inside, drank down the remainder of his beer, and bolted from the table. Olivia slowly finished her beer, left money on the table, and departed from the tavern.

***

Karla watched as Sandra Burnham, the nurse/nanny bathed Brendan, put him in a fresh diaper and onesie, and took a bottle from the warmer. She headed for the rocking-chair.

“May I feed him?” Karla asked.

“Of course,” Burnham replied.

Karla settled into the rocking-chair, put a towel over her left shoulder, and snuggled Brendan so his head was on her left breast. She held the bottle in her left hand and he began to suck. With her right hand she took out her phone.

“No pictures please,” Burnham said as she stepped forward. “Your mother was quite adamant about that.”

“I’m not going to take a picture,” Karla said. “I’m going to show him a picture.”

“Show him a picture?” Burnham asked, a puzzled expression on her face. “He’s not even three months old.”

“Look, Brendan,” Karla crooned as she pressed a button on her phone. “Here’s a picture of your mommy. She can’t be with you right now, but she loves you very much. She’ll try to be with you as soon as she can, but it might be a while.”

Brendan’s bright blue eyes had been half closed. They popped open. His sucking slowed as he stared at the picture. After a few seconds he increased the rate at which he was feeding, but he continued to view the picture.

“Oh my God!” Burnham exclaimed. “He understood you!”

“Maybe. I hope so. But it might be just the brightness of the picture that attracted him.”

“Your mother isn’t going to like this.”

“She never has to know,” Karla said. She hesitated before asking, “You don’t like my mother do you? You don’t approve of what she’s done.”

“I don’t want to lose this job. It pays twice as much as what I’ve ever received before. It’s not perfect, but no job ever is. I need the money.”

“May I ask a favor of you? Two favors actually.”

“I suppose,” Burnham said, hesitantly.

“Good. First, don’t tell my mother I did this.”

“Okay.”

“Second. I’m going to show him this picture every chance I get, but in a couple of months I’ll be going back to college. Once I do, if you can do it without my mother finding out, would you show him a picture of Tammy?”

“If she ever found out, I’d not only get fired, I’d get blackballed from ever getting another job as a nanny,” Burnham said, her brow furrowed in worry. “I’d like to help, but the risk is just too great.”

“Okay,” a disappointed Karla said. “I understand. As long as you don’t tell her I did it. I’ll try to get home some weekends and take care of it.”