Leopard's Baby

“Three leopards are twice as good as two,” Tiffany stated. She crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her head. Her ponytail swished back and forth. “I want to go with you. Mom sent me here because she couldn’t come. You said he was stronger than you, Tam. You need me.”

“I said he’s bigger than me and probably stronger,” Tammy corrected. “Tyler is almost the same size as he is. The two of us will be enough.”

“I wish you’d stop treating me like a little kid,” Tiffany said. She stamped her foot and pouted. “I can take care of myself!”

“I know you can, Tiff,” Tammy said. She hugged her sister. “I need you here to watch Brendan.”

“Haley said she’d watch him,” Tiffany argued.

“Haley is not a were-leopard,” Tammy said, stating the obvious. “Jennifer knows where we are. She could make a move at any time. You know what happened when I left Brendan with Jeremy. He wasn’t able to stop Jennifer, no matter how much he wanted to. I’m trusting you to use your leopard powers to make sure nobody can take my son. You can do things Haley can’t.”

“I suppose,” Tiffany said, not very graciously, but pleased Tammy trusted her.

Tammy called up a satellite view of the surrounding area from Google Maps. Tyler and Jenny Fong gathered around as Tammy pointed to a location on the computer screen. “When Calhoun’s cat ran out of here, he went in this general direction. It’s probably reasonable to assume it leads to the area where he’s living. It’s forested and there’s ample deer there. I have a connection to him, so there’s at least some chance I can sense him if we get close enough. Then Jenny should be able to pinpoint his location.”

“What kind of connection?” Tyler asked.

“Frankly, I wanted to have sex with him. I think I was ovulating. At the same time I somehow knew he was a threat to Brendan. The conflict was acute and nearly paralyzed me. Jenny, how close do you have to be?”

“I’m guessing maybe fifty yards to be sure,” Fong replied. “Possibly out to a hundred yards. I’ve never sensed a were-cougar before, but I suspect his aura will be similar to that of you leopard people. I can sense your mother up to two hundred yards, but that’s likely because I know her so well.”

“Can you cast a spell on him?” Tyler asked.

“Probably, but only if I’m right next to him. I’m not sure how effective it’ll be.”

“Any little bit will help,” Tammy said. She pointed once again to the computer image. “We’ll head out on this road here. Hopefully we’ll find him soon. Tyler, get your car.”

***

“Shit it’s fucking cold out,” Kent Malone said as he stamped his feet and hugged himself. “We should’ve waited for Kalar to call before coming here.”

“You know I don’t like that kind of language, Kent,” Jennifer said. She lowered her binoculars. “If Kalar hasn’t called by now, he’s not going to. She took him out.”

She’s probably right, Malone thought. Should I have warned him he might be dealing with a were-leopard? If I did, he’d think I was nuts. He would’ve taken the upfront money and run.

“Looks like something’s happening,” one of the eight men Malone had with him said.

A car pulled up in front of the tavern. Two women came out and got in.

“That’s her!” Jennifer exclaimed after she’d raised the binoculars. “The tall one. Take her out! Take her out now!”

One of the men started to raise his rifle. Malone put his hand on the barrel and pushed it down, while saying, “Don’t be stupid. You’re going to shoot somebody in cold blood with Deputy Dog watching us?” He pointed toward Deputy Albert Stanfield who was sitting in his patrol car about twenty feet away, watching them. “That guy has a stick so far up his ass it’s coming out his nose. He’d arrest us for sure. Any hope of getting the kid and getting the fuck out of Dodge without a hassle would be gone. Jennifer. Here’s our chance to get your grandson while his mother’s away. We just need to have Stanfield present the custody agreement to whomever is staying with the kid, get him, and get out.”

“You’re right,” Jennifer said. “Let’s go.”

Malone summoned his men, tapped on the window of the patrol car, and told the deputy it was time. As they approached Haley’s Place, Malone thought, You’re planning something, Jennifer. I can read you like a book. You’ll be heading to South America, and I have no idea where. Too bad. I’ve enjoyed this gig.

They reached the front door. Malone sent a man around to the rear. Jennifer wanted them to break in and storm the place, but Stanfield wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he pounded on the door and called, “Open up Haley. This is Deputy Stanfield. We have legal papers allowing us to take custody of Missy’s kid.”

***

“Stop!” Tammy ordered.

Tyler pulled the car to the side of the road. The trees were so dense it was nearly impossible to see more than twenty feet into the forest. Tammy got out and walked back. The others joined her. She pointed to a narrow path, nearly invisible to anybody who was not right on top of it.

“My gut says he went up this path,” Tammy said. She bent over and peered closely at something on the ground. “Look. This is a cat paw print. It’s too big to be a bobcat and cougars are rare in this part of the country. It has to be our guy.”

“Sense anything Jenny?” Tyler asked.

“No.”

Tammy entered the forest, walked about thirty feet, and knelt by a large tree. The others joined her. “He peed on this tree,” Tammy said. She sniffed. “He’s marked his territory. I have his scent now. We’re on the right path.”

“I’m going to make sure the car is locked and is completely off the road,” Tyler said. “I’ll join you shortly. Wait for me.”

A minute later Tyler was back. The three advanced slowly, alert in case their objective deviated from the path. There was little snow on the ground, but it was muddy. Every once in a while they came across another paw print.

At one point Tyler stopped and touched the ground with his finger. “Blood. You might’ve wounded him slightly, Tam.”

“Unless he killed a rabbit or something,” Tammy said.

“No sign of a struggle. Can you tell if it’s his blood?”

“No.”

After hiking for another half-hour they came to a small clearing. Tammy was leading the way. Fong and Tyler lingered about ten yards behind. Tammy stepped into the clearing. Tyler was about to follow when Fong grasped his arm and put a finger to her lips. He dropped down crawled slowly and silently forward.

“Well, well, well,” he heard a voice say. He slithered closer. A man was standing on the other side of the clearing pointing an AR-15 at Tammy. “I knew my attraction was too much. You couldn’t stay away even if you wanted to. You and I will have beautiful cubs, not like those other cows. Don’t try to run away. Changing won’t do any good. I’ve plated the bullets in this gun with silver. It’ll pain me to kill you, but I can’t let you get away.”

***

Tiffany had been sitting on the floor playing patty-cake with Brendan when the pounding came on the front door, and they heard the deputy demand entry. “Stall him,” she called as she scooped up Brendan along with his winter jacket, and headed for the rear.

Haley yelled, “We’re not open yet Albert. You know that. Come back later.”

Tiffany could hear Haley jawing back and forth with the deputy. A man was standing just outside the backdoor, holding a gun. Tiffany cursed under her breath and raced silently up the stairs. She quickly put Brendan’s jacket on him, donned her own, slid a front baby-carrier over her head, put her nephew in it, implored him to be quiet when he fussed, and opened a window.

About twenty-five feet away and several feet below her eye level was a branch of a tree. Tiffany climbed onto the window ledge, bent her knees, and leaped. She barely caught the branch with both hands. Brendan squealed in delight. Tiffany pulled herself up to the branch, crawled along it until she reached the tree, wriggled around the trunk until it was between her and anyone in Haley’s Place, and slid to the ground.

She started walking rapidly away, trying to be silent. Brendan clapped his hands and yelled, “Again, again.”

Someone behind her must have been alerted, either by Brendan’s voice, or just because he was looking in her direction and happened to spot her. She heard people yelling for her to stop. She took off at a run. She could hear a car start up, and the pounding of feet.

***

“Can you cast a spell?” Tyler asked in a whisper.

“I can try,” Fong replied. “He might be too far away for it to do any good.”

“Wait until I get closer. Then give it a shot.”

There was no wind in the trees, so Tyler doubted Calhoun could smell him. That was the good news. The bad news was the ground beneath the trees was covered with dead leaves. Sneaking around the clearing without being heard would be next to impossible. There was one other option. The trees were close together and leopards were excellent climbers. Tyler stripped, changed, and the leopard went noiselessly up a tree. He crawled along a branch and slithered over to a branch leading to another tree. He repeated the process three more times. He must have made a noise because suddenly Calhoun looked right at him.

Tammy darted to the side. Calhoun fired. Tammy screamed. Tyler’s leopard leaped. Calhoun dodged. The leopard didn’t hit him his squarely, but did manage to knock the rifle out of his hands. Calhoun fled. The leopard took one step after him and stopped. He changed. Tyler went to check on Tammy. She was on her knees holding her side. Blood was seeping between her fingers.

***

“Shoot her, shoot her!” Jennifer yelled as she pointed toward the fleeing figure. “She has my grandson! Don’t let her get away!”

“Belay that!” Malone snapped. One of his men had started to raise his rifle. He lowered it. Turning to Jennifer, Malone said, “Jennifer have you lost your mind? It would take a miracle shot to hit the girl without hitting the kid. She can’t move that fast carrying him. My men can run her down.”

Malone gave the order for five of his men to chase after the fugitive. He delegated one man to have a car ready and to wait for his call. To the sheriff’s man he said, “Deputy Stanfield you stay here. I’ll leave one of my men with you for backup. I have another man behind the bar who can also help. The mother should return soon. Remember, there’s a federal warrant out for her. My men don’t have the authority to make an arrest, but you do. Mrs. Roberts has offered a fifty thousand dollar reward. If you can arrest Tamara, I’m sure she’ll feel you’ve earned the money. Right Mrs. Roberts?”

“That’s correct,” Jennifer said.

Stanfield seemed reluctant, but then nodded his head in agreement. Malone took off after his men.

***

“How bad are you hurt?” Tyler asked.

“The shot grazed my side,” Tammy replied as she got to her feet. She winced.

Fong ran up with Tyler’s clothes and a first-aid kit. Tammy lifted her shirt to reveal a gouge about four inches long and perhaps a half-inch deep. Fong slavered some antiseptic ointment on it, covered the wound with gauze, and wrapped adhesive tape around Tammy’s body to hold the makeshift bandage in place.”

“You could use stitches,” Fong said.

“They’ll have to wait,” Tammy said. She pulled her shirt down and headed for the path Calhoun had taken. “I see blood spots. Tyler, your leopard must have scratched him a little. We’ll be able to follow his trail.”

Tyler donned his clothes, scooped up the rifle Calhoun had left behind, and they started after him.

***

Tiffany was breathing hard. She felt a stabbing pain in her side. Leopards are known for strength and quickness, but not endurance running. She knew the men chasing her were mercenaries who were former military. They probably worked out on a daily basis. She didn’t have their stamina. She might be stronger than any one of them, but almost certainly not all of them together. Plus they were armed. At the moment she couldn’t see them so they shouldn’t be able to see her, but she knew she was leaving tracks in the newly fallen snow.

Ahead Tiffany could see a road. She’d be more visible, but she wouldn’t leave tracks. She took fifteen seconds to get her breath back before jogging on the road. It curved to the left and entered a wooded area. For the moment she was invisible. She slowed to a walk. Her breathing slowed, but she was nearly spent. If she had to run she was done for. Brendan clapped his hands and said, “Faster, Tiffny.”

Tiffany could hear men behind her barking out orders. She knew she needed a place to hide. Then off to her right she spotted a farmhouse and beyond it a barn.

***

The trail ended at a clearing. About a hundred feet inside the clearing was a cottage. Perhaps “shack” would describe it better. Beyond the structure was a pickup truck.

“He’s in there,” Fong said. “I can sense him.”

“What about the women who were with him at Haley’s Place?” Tammy asked.

“There’s two other people there beside him,” Fong said. “Their aura is that of ordinary people.”

Tammy stepped into the clearing and immediately ducked back as a shot rang out. Tyler had the rifle, but they couldn’t shoot back because they didn’t want to hit either of the women.

“I see you have a second cat,” Calhoun called out from inside. “I could tell you wanted me. We don’t have to make this a fight to the death. He and I could share you. He could also have either of the two with me whenever he wanted. It would be like a pride of lions. Only I’m a mountain lion. How about it? Come in here and we’ll talk about it.”

“Can you cast a spell?” Tammy asked.

“I tried at the last clearing,” Fong replied. “I was too far away. This wouldn’t be any better and the second spell is never as powerful as the first.”

“He’s already shown he’s willing to shoot,” Tyler pointed out. “His ‘offer’ is just to lure somebody into the open. We’ve reached a stalemate.”

***

The tracks stopped at a road. “Which direction?” one of Malone’s men asked.

“Not that way,” a second man said, pointing to his left. “It leads back to town.”

Malone ran up. His men reported what they’d deduced. He detailed two men to proceed on each side of the road to see if she’d left tracks leaving it. He called the man he’d left with a car, gave his current location, and instructed the man to drive to them.

Malone called Jennifer and reported where they were and what they’d figured. Jennifer said to bring Brendan to her as soon as he got him. She’d set up a vehicle complete with a car seat, and had called to have her plane ready at the nearest airport. Malone said he understood. He and the last of the men with him started up the center of the road in the direction their prey had taken.

***

Tiffany stayed in the woods as she circled around behind the barn. There was little snow amongst the trees, but she’d have to cross about fifteen feet of snow-covered ground to reach the back door of the barn. She picked up a dead branch with leaves on it and used it to brush away the footprints as she backed toward the barn. The brush marks were visible, but there was little she could do about that.

The door to the barn was locked. The wood around the door jam was old and partially rotted. Tiffany put her shoulder to the door and pushed. The wood splintered and the door flew open with a bang. She entered the barn, cringing at the noise. Nobody seemed to hear it.

The barn was deserted, but there was evidence it was used to shelter horses. She closed the door. It swung open. She found an old saddle slung over a sidewall of a stall. She closed the door and propped the saddle against it so it wouldn’t open.

Tiffany surveyed the surroundings. There was a ladder leading to a hayloft. She climbed up, tore open a bale of hay, and spread it over the floor of the loft. She gave Brendan three cookies. After he ate them, she rocked him in her arms until he fell asleep. She placed him in a small niche she’d made in the hay and lay down to keep watch.

***

“Maybe it’s not a stalemate,” Fong said. She pointed to a branch a few feet above the cottage. The tree it came from was on the side of the structure, and there was no window on that side. “If I could use that branch to get onto the roof, I’d be close enough for a damping spell to work. Can you get me there?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “Tammy, keep him distracted.”

“How do we know you won’t shoot us as soon as we show ourselves?” Tammy called. “You tried to shoot me when I stepped into the clearing.”

“I hadn’t thought of the pride idea before,” Calhoun replied. “It’ll be great. You have my word. I won’t shoot.”

“Throw out your gun first,” Tammy said. She could see Tyler and Fong creeping through the woods.

“I can’t do that until we come to an agreement,” Calhoun said. “Your boyfriend would try and kill me and take over all the females. I have to look him in the eyes to see if he understands how terrific our partnership will be.”

Tyler and Fong had disappeared from Tammy’s sight. Now they reappeared with Tyler’s leopard crawling out on the branch. Fong was sprawled along his back with her arms wrapped around his body. Their weight caused the branch to sag so it was only two feet above the roof.

Fong slid off the leopard’s back onto the roof. Hoping to muffle any sound Fong made, Tammy shouted, “We need a sign of good faith. You don’t trust us and we don’t think we can trust you.”

Fong made strange motions with her hands while at the same time her lips moved. Tammy couldn’t hear the words.

“Quick!” Fong yelled while motioning that Tammy should get over there. “I don’t know how long I can keep him like this.”

Tammy raced for the door. At the same time Tyler’s leopard dropped on the cottage roof, jumped to the ground, and changed. They entered at the same time. Calhoun had sweat running down his face as he appeared to be attempting to overcome his psychic bounds. Tyler snatched the gun out of Calhoun’s hand just as Calhoun started to move freely. He ran for the door. Tammy blocked his exit.

Tyler fired the gun into the ceiling. Calhoun froze.

“Back up,” Tyler ordered. “Make any sudden motion and I won’t hesitate to shoot. Tammy search the place.”

The cottage was small so it didn’t take long. There were no other weapons. Tammy found the two women chained in a bedroom. The chains were long enough to reach a bathroom. They said Calhoun kept the key in the kitchen. Tammy found a ring with several keys on it and released the women. They said they’d had nothing to eat since the day before and were hungry. Tammy left them in the kitchen and went to the front room.

“What are you going to do now?” Calhoun sneered. “Kill me? You haven’t got the guts to kill a man in cold blood.”

“They might not, but I do!” Marti, the woman who wasn’t pregnant, shouted as she raced in from the kitchen swinging a butcher’s cleaver. Before anyone could stop her she buried it in Calhoun’s head.

Marti dropped to the floor and began to sob. “He killed my baby,” she said through her tears. “Then he had his demon cat eat her.”

“He said he wanted to build an army of cats like him,” the pregnant woman said, coming into the room. “He didn’t want another man’s kid. There used to be another woman here with us. She tried to run away and he killed her. After that we were too scared not to obey him. What are you going to do with us?”

“I need to get to Brendan,” Tammy said. “I’m going to take Calhoun’s truck. Jenny, you come with me. You ladies go with Tyler. He’ll take you to town in his car. There’s a women’s shelter there.”

***

It was late in the afternoon. Malone and his men found a farmer cursing and struggling with two horses in front of a barn. A huge German Shepherd, tied to a tree, was straining against its leash trying to get in the barn. The large doors were open, but with the sun setting behind the barn, it was not possible to see inside it. Malone and his men approached the farmer.

“What seems to be the problem, sir?” Malone asked. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Dunno,” the farmer said. “These fool horses won’t go in, and I had to tie King to that tree to keep him from running in.”

“There’s probably an animal in there scaring your horses. Let the dog go in and chase it out. My men are armed. I’ll send one in just in case it’s too big for the dog to handle.”

The farmer nodded and released the dog. Howling, the dog ran into the barn. They heard a loud screech and then silence. Malone signaled for one of his men to follow. Gun pointed forward, the man, in a semi-crouch, entered the barn. The sound of shots came followed by a scream. Then more silence.

Malone and the rest of his men, spread out in combat formation, and infiltrated into the barn. In the gloom they saw the eviscerated body of the dog. Near it was the first man, his throat ripped out. They heard a snarl and could barely make out the shape of a large animal near the back door. All the men opened fire. The animal shrieked and ran out.

“Holy shit!” the farmer exclaimed. He was standing in the front doorway. “What the fuck happened?”

“Must have been a cougar got in the back door,” one of Malone’s men said. “Stupid dog thought it could take it. Paid the price. Unfortunately it also took out our man.”

Or maybe it was a were-leopard, Malone thought. Then came the sound of a baby crying from the loft.