Chapter 40
40
" Y ou had him, Daddy! You had him and you let him get away!"
Dr. Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. There was no help for it. “Sweetheart…" he let his hand drop. "…did I not tell you it was a good thing you weren’t there?" He gave her the stern look of a frustrated father. Not that it would do any good. His selfish daughter had her heart set on owning his prize once he was done with him. First, he had to recapture him.
"We've been compromised, haven't we?" she huffed. "They took that idiot Oswald."
Dr. Charles closed his eyes. "Yes, poor bugger is probably dead by now."
"How can you be sure?" She paced to the other side of the room and back. They were in a bunker in Pennsylvania. He had it built during their two-year wait after stepping through one of the portals he'd learned about from their secret benefactor. "Do calm yourself, J.D. Have some tea, why don't you?"
"I don't want any tea," she snapped. "I want him!"
He fought a growl. "Oh, for the love of Mike, Daddy will get you another alien to bed."
She gasped. "Daddy!"
"Don't deny that’s what you plan to do with him. I know you, my precious little viper." He poured himself a cup of tea from one of his favorite tea pots and added some cream. "Rest assured, my dear, I will get you a Muiraran to keep as a pet or a sex slave; I don’t care which. But if I recapture my prize, you can't have him until I'm through with my experiments.” He took another sip of tea. "Not that there will be anything left for you to play with."
"But Daddy," she whined.
"J.D., you're a grown woman, why must you act like a child?" He set his teacup down, sat back and closed his eyes. "Now be quiet, I'm trying to think."
"I still want him," she said, her voice softer. “You promised me when we were in Hawaii."
He opened his eyes. "Ah, yes, so I did. But again," he said and pointed a finger at her. "Once I'm through with him." He closed his eyes again and opened them only to change the subject. "You might as well give me your report. What have you found?"
"We found one." Her heels clicked across the tiled floor. "It's in Oregon, in the Elliott State Forest. The closest town, as far as this decade goes, is Moon Creek Falls near the coast. But we couldn't pass through. I don't know why."
Dr. Charles raised his head and looked at her. "Most curious. Did you try sending a probe or a drone through?"
"They couldn't go through either. You're going to have to ask her about it."
He heaved a sigh, settled himself again, and shut his eyes. "She's not here, dearest. Bloody alien is always traipsing off somewhere."
His daughter's heels clicked across the tiles again. "How can you let that... that thing roam free? You should cage her, make her tell you where the rest of the time portals are."
He heaved another sigh. "J.D., did we not agree that I would handle our... business associate while you do my leg work or me?" He took another sip of his tea and watched her face contort into a pinched expression.
"Yes, sir." She glared at him, flicked her blonde hair out of her face, and paced to the other side of the room and back. She crossed her arms and glared at him some more. "Find him."
"Oh, I plan too," he cooed. "But he is mine until I'm done with him, is that understood?" He contemplated locking her in a cell, but he needed her to do a few things for him. The Muirarans wouldn’t be looking for her. But him? They'd kill him on sight no doubt. Best he lay low for a time.
He set his cup and saucer down and steepled his fingers in front of him. "Have the test results come back?"
She sighed, and sat in the wing chair opposite his. They might be hiding out in a secret bunker, but that didn't mean they couldn't have a nice setting. Dr. Charles' eyes flicked to the faux fireplace. It was nothing but a glorified space heater, and he considered turning it on to take off the chill in the room.
"They haven't come back yet," she said. "Don't worry, as soon as they do, I’ll let you know."
He eyed her. She was jealous of his "relationship" with their new associate. He'd have to figure out a way to allay her fears. But not today. "Any news from Brooklyn?"
She looked away. "No."
Hmmm, he always knew when she was lying. "J.D., there are men watching Pari Lindir's apartment, aren't there?"
She glared at him anew. "No." She gave him a satisfied smile.
He was in her face so fast she didn’t have time to blink. One hand on her shoulder to hold her in place, he held her by the jaw with the other. "You disobeyed my orders?"
She spoke despite the fact his fingers were pressing into her cheeks. "I made the decision. She won't return. Because if they have her, they won’t let her."
He closed his eyes, counted to ten, then released her jaw. "I raised an idiot." He straightened, went to the faux fireplace and switched it on. "I'll send Mr. Vance."
"Daddy," she said, her voice dropping in pitch. "When are you going to realize that I'm right?"
He sucked air through his nose, jaw set, and turned to her. "You little fool, she will want to go home."
J.D. left the chair and dared to get into his face! "They won't let her. I don't know why they want her, but now that they have her, do you honestly think they'll allow her to return to that shabby little apartment of hers?"
He sighed. "You don't get it, do you, pet?" He rested an arm on the fireplace mantle. "Why take her in the first place? Why did we take her?"
She looked at him, her face paling. She knew why, and he knew she didn't want to hear it. Good.
"Because, he wants her! He desires her! Did you know he destroyed a cell wall and a door trying to get to her? Hmmm?" Dr. Charles left the fireplace and walked a circle around his daughter. "The only way he'll want you, is if you either brainwash him, which I doubt is possible, or you keep him so heavily sedated he doesn’t know what's what." He stood behind her and bent his face to her ear. "He'd make a very poor bed fellow indeed in that condition. You'd have no use for him."
She went stiff as a board. "Shut up!"
"Oh, ho, ho! Stuck a nerve, have I? Perhaps you should have stuck with Griff from Hawaii."
She balled her hands into fists as a shudder ran through her. She was hopping mad now. But he had to drive his point home. She wanted to play with his prize while he wanted to save humanity with him. But first he had to recapture the creature. A task easier said than done. If his prisoner had been rescued by Muirarans, there was no telling where they were, or when. He was long gone. Except... Pari Lindir would want to go home. If his prize had affection toward her, he might grant her request. She didn't have the fortitude to be amongst a bunch of aliens. She'd want to leave them as soon as she could. If he could only get his hands on her again, he could recapture not only his prize, but perhaps a few more just like him. If he had a half a dozen or so to study, he could call all the shots. Then all he had to do was get his associate to cooperate.
"You're being awful quiet," J.D. commented.
"I'm thinking." He stood before the so-called fire and enjoyed the warmth. "I will send Mr. Vance and a team to capture the girl, and whatever else might be with her. Then we'll take them to our second facility. I want you to go on ahead, and we'll meet you there."
Her eyes widened. "By myself?"
"Take a team. Prepare the lab for whatever guests we bring."
A renewed scowl seized her face.
Dr. Charles smiled. "Whatever thoughts you have running through that ruthless mind of yours, get rid of them." He clasped his hands behind his back, stepped to her, and bent to her face. "You will not harm a hair on Miss Lindir's head, is that understood?"
Her jaw clenched. "I saw the pictures of her in her file. She's ugly! Stupid! Why would he want her?!"
He smiled. "So jealous. Really, my dear, you don’t wear it well."
She shuddered again, and he knew she’d reached the boiling point. She wanted to kill Pari Linder with every fiber of her being. And all because of her infatuation with his prize. Well, good luck with that.
“Misbehave, J.D., and I will lock you up so fast your head will spin." He smiled at her. "And then, I'll let you deal with our associate, and you can explain to her why you tried to do away with the one thing that can guarantee my prize will show up at our other facility should we fail to capture him ourselves."
"How can he?” she said with narrowed eyes. “He'll never find her."
"Seems to me he found her once; he can do it again." He returned to his chair, sat, and picked up his cup and saucer. "Did you have anything else to report?"
She shook, hands still balled into fists as she stared him down. "No, Daddy."
"Good. Then leave." He took another sip of tea. It was getting cold; he'd have to make another pot.
J.D. stood a moment longer, still glaring.
"Well don't dawdle," he said.
"He will be mine! ” She clearly enunciated each word.
"So you keep saying. You already know my thoughts on the matter. Now get going." He waved her away, and she stomped out of the room. "Impertinent little witch."
He left his chair, took his cup and saucer into the nearby kitchen, and proceeded to make another pot of tea. As he waited for the kettle to boil, he made a phone call. "Mr. Vance," he began when the other line picked up. "I have a job for you."