Project Trouble X Three

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I walked over to a tree, the fuckers couldn’t see, and dug my claws in. I shimmied up the tree, changing into my jaguar when I got to the top. I stepped back, almost falling out of the tree when my world tilted. I was immediately thrown back into my own body, naked and confused. I had so many images of me and Martim together, of us making love, and of us running in our jaguars, a huge grin on our faces. I didn’t know what was going on and it confused the hell out of me. My mom never warned me about past lives.

Martim shifted and handed me a shirt to put on. “Here, put this on, please. We need to get going.”

We ran through the animal highway. It was exhilarating, wonderful, home. I felt as if I was free here, as if I had finally found a place I could call my own. I didn’t understand it, but I would enjoy myself while I was here. I knew I couldn’t live here but damn if I didn’t want to.

I watched the monkeys above our head. It was as if they knew we wouldn’t hurt them, not like the cartel men. I remembered them throwing twigs and leaves at them. I was forever thankful they didn’t throw their shit at us.

We slowed down and I followed Martim up another tree, noticing the tree house as we walked through the leaves. It was so well camouflaged I would have missed it if I didn’t have Martim showing me. I could tell it was made by hand, beautifully crafted out of the trees of the rainforest. It blended in and I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like on the inside.

Martim pushed on a display and scanned his eye on a screen, gesturing me over to do the same. I was stunned when the screen approved of me being in the house. I was thinking this looked exactly what dad had made.

“This is your dad’s house. He built it knowing it would be used in the future. No one knows it’s here. The cartel thinks it’s my home and they would know that I put security measures to keep people out. They know I love explosives and won’t touch the door unless I let them in.” He turned around and stared me straight in the eyes.

I took a step forward and shook my head. I was pulled in by his eyes. My body was swaying with the images in my head. I knew my arousal could be smelled, but I couldn’t help it. The images were erotic, hot, and starring me and Martim. I knew I was about to pass out and I was trying hard to stay upright.

When I came to, I was laying on a bed and Marim was sitting in a chair staring at me. “What the hell was that?” I took in a huge breath. “And, why do you seem so familiar to me?”

“We are mates and we always find each other. I was surprised you found me. I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” Martim informed me, catching my attention on the word mate. I was happy, sad, excited, and worried. If Martim would want to live in the rainforest and I couldn’t live here.

“What now?” I asked in a worried voice, looking to see if I offended him.

He smiled a breathtaking smile, causing a gasp to leave my lips. “Now, I’ll explain a few things to you.” He paused as he waited for me to nod. “I’m the spy in the cartels camp. I work for Madrid, but I live by the base.”

I took a huge breath of relief. “So, we won’t live in the rainforest?”

“Not until we can take care of the cartel. I want to have a house here, along with my house in Washington. Are you okay with this?”

“Yes. I was afraid one of the cartel would be my mate.” I laughed a little. “I guess you are, somehow. I’m happy to know you aren’t and you work for Madrid as one of his Shadow Cats. Madrid is like a grandfather to me. I trust him with my life.”

“Good. I’m going to have fun teasing him.” He titled his head and another breathtaking smile came to his lips..” By the way, I loved your acting and your payback. Those men are nasty and I loved seeing them in pain. I watched as you skinned the rabbit and tainted them. I was worried they would know what you did to the meat, but when you stepped on the nasty rabbit I was curious what they would think. Perfectly executed plan,.”

“Why thank you, Martim.” I batted my eyelashes. “Now, I get to hunt them as they are hunting me. I always loved the game of Cat and mouse. It’s how I got my nickname. I was great at evading and the Shadow Cats would give up when they couldn’t find me in a few hours. If only they had looked up or down they could have found me.” I shrugged my shoulders as Martim’s eyes went wide.

“I forgot how good you were at evading and hunting, but when you see your past you will understand when I caution you,” He told me, a look of pain on his face.

I looked down, a tear running down my face, a real one. “I know already. I promise to look into my memories even more. I don’t want to be separated again.” I took a huge breath, wiping the tear from my eye. “I will learn from them, I promise.”

I watched as Martim walked over to me, pulling me into his lap as he rubbed my back. “We need to be smart and stop him. I don’t want to lose you again. We will make ourselves stronger. We will learn from our past mistakes and take the bastards out”

“Wait, what? Them?” I asked, completely confused.

Martim looked down at me. “The cartel leaders are twins. They look exactly alike, but only one of them is the true leader. The other brother is brutal in his own right. He takes on a lot of the punishments and supports his brother with everything. Don’t be fooled by either of them.”

“Does Madrid know about this?” I asked as I leaned back to see his face. “I haven’t had enough time to report to him. I needed to be careful and not give myself away. If something happens and they find you, you need to act as if I captured you. And, you need to make it believable. We can contact Madrid and your parents now.” I nodded enthusiastically, wanting to let them know I was okay.

I followed Marim into a room at the back of the house, a room full of computers. I could see in all directions. Martim had set up cameras around the perimeter of the house, some a ways away. It reminded me of our security system in our safe houses. I walked over to one wall and pushed my hand on the wall. A monitor sprang from the wall, letting me know my dad had set up this place. Now I understood why I had to scan my eyes. My dad set it up in case I was ever taken. He knew I would get away from them and need a place to lay low until they got here.

“I guess you know your dad’s work, right?” Martim smirked at me, a mischievous look in his eyes.

“I help my dad build things and I have my own little toys I brought to life.”

He gestured me over, handing me a new earwig and a mic. “Are you there, Cat?”

I almost cried when I heard his voice but I pulled myself together quickly. “I’m here, Dad. I found my mate.” I smiled at Martim as my dad growled. “Dad, it’s okay. My mate is Martim, Madrid’s spy.” I heard another growl and rolled my eyes. “Stop it, Dad. I’m not a little girl anymore. I can fight my own battles and you know it.”

I heard my dad take a deep breath. “How did you get away? Did you have to fight?” Are you hurt?”

Marim and I snickered at my dad’s questions, hearing my mom scold him.

I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t need to, Martim took it upon himself to answer. “They made her skin the rabbit they had bought from a man.” He chuckled. “While she was skinning them she perforated one of the rabbits bowels and dripped it on the good rabbits, effectively poisoning the meat. But, she didn’t stop there.” He paused, holding onto the suspense. “She made sure to step on the tainted rabbit and made sure they could smell it. She hid the smell on the meat by making them think the smell was coming off of her shoes. It was funny seeing the men shitting and puking, rolling around the ground groaning.”

I cut in, “Yeah, I made sure to let them know Sophia was worse than me, considering they saw me as a sniffling coward, afraid of any jaguars.” I started chuckling even more, my family joining me.

“Very good job, Cat,” my mom praised. “You are just like me when I was close to your age. I was afraid you would give yourself away . I know how your eyes flash when you’re pissed.”

“I made sure to look down on the ground when they would order me to do something, so I hid my fire,” I told her. “But, you need to let Madrid speak to Martim. It’s important, Mom and Dad.”

“I’m here, Cat Good job, you’ve impressed me, but I should have known you could handle yourself. Now, give your earwig to Martim, I need to speak to him in private for a few minutes, okay” Madrid asked me softly, but I could hear a growl laced under his words.