Violets are Blue

I moved toward Jamilla. She was massaging her wrist. She was also shivering, and I gave her my jacket. "You okay?"

"Not sure. They hung me from a beam, Alex. What an unbelievable scene. You can't imagine. I thought I was dead." There were tears in her eyes.

"Where's the Sire?" I asked.

"Maybe still inside. I think there's another way out of there."

"Stay right here. I'll take a look."

She shook her head. "No, not on your life. This is payback. I'm coming with you."

Chapter 88

Jamilla and I searched the main ranch house, then we checked a large unattached bunkhouse. We didn't find anyone there, not a straggler, not William or Michael Alexander. And not the mysterious Sire. Jamilla was still shivering some, but she refused to turn back.

"You're sure the brothers weren't out front with the others?" she asked. "Two blonds? Ponytails?"

"If they are, Kyle has them by now. I don't think so. Let's check the smaller shack. You know what's in there?"

She shook her head. "I didn't get the grand tour when I arrived. Just straight to the dungeon. Then they left me hanging, so to speak."

I threw open the door of the shack and saw heaters and a water pump. The room smelled strongly of urine. A mouse scooted into a hole in the wall. I winced and shook my head at what I saw next. Two bodies lay sprawled and spread eagled against the far wall. They were teenagers, males. Both were naked except for a few face and chest rings.

I bent over them and took a closer look. "Look like street kids to me. The blood's been drained from the bodies." There were bite marks — not just on the necks but on the faces and limbs. The skin of both was as pale as alabaster.

I looked away from the clouded eyes that stared up at me. There was nothing we could do for them now. I noticed a reddish-brown hatch cover among the dusty machines that provided water, heat, and probably air-conditioning to the ranch.

I moved across the room, bent down low to get a better look. The cover was loose, so I was able to pull it off.

Darkness. Silence. What else was down there? Who else?

I looked at Jamilla, then I shone a flashlight into the hole. The hole was wide enough for someone to get down inside. I saw metal stairs. A tu

Then I saw footprints in the dirt below. Several pairs.

"Go tell Kyle." I turned to Jamilla. "Get some help."

Jamilla was already heading out the door. She started to run. I stared down into the abyss and wondered if anybody was looking back at me.

Chapter 89

I waited as long as I could, then I lowered myself slowly into the black hole. I fit easily and started to climb down the sturdy metal ladder.

There were several steps, steep and precarious. I pointed the flashlight around. I could make out a dirt floor, corrugated tin walls. The ceiling bulbs had been broken. A narrow tu

I didn't hear any sounds up ahead, so I began to make my way down the tu

I saw a discarded carcass a short way down the tu

A single eye stared back.

What I was looking at had been a small deer. Only the head and shoulders remained. I remembered reading that tigers eat their prey starting at the rump. They consume bone and all. There were more smudged footprints in the dirt. It looked like two pairs, but I couldn't tell for sure in the dim light. There were smaller animal tracks that might have been the cat's. Oh, Jesus.

I kept moving, trying to adjust my eyes to the semidark-ness. There were shards of glass all over the dirt. Someone had purposely smashed the overhead lightbulbs.

I heard the tiger roar and almost dropped the flashlight! It wasn't the smoothest move of my life, but I'd never been in a closed-off area with a tiger before. The big cat's roar inside the tu

The cat roared a second time, and I found that I couldn't move. I felt nailed to the spot. I wanted to turn around and go back, but that wasn't an option right now. I couldn't outrun a tiger in this tu

Somewhere in the inky blackness of the tu

I couldn't see the cat, but I could almost visualize the thirty teeth in its mouth. I remembered the wounds a cat had made on the victims in Golden Gate Park.

Someone called out; someone was there. Behind me.

"Alex, where are you? Alex?"

I heard Jamilla coming forward in the tu

"Don't move," I whispered. "Don't do anything. The tiger's in here."

I didn't dare move. I wasn't even sure I could. It was a standoff. I couldn't imagine the tiger being as frightened as I was. Was the Sire there? The two brothers? Anybody else?

"Alex?"

It was Kyle. He was whispering. But if I heardhim...

"Stay right there, Kyle. I mean it. Listen to me. Stay where you are unless you want me dead."

Everything happened in a terrifying instant.

Suddenly, the cat rushed at me. Full speed? Half speed? Very goddamn fast. Shadows — a blur of fur.

It seemed to leap straight up into the cone of light shining from my flashlight. The cat was tensed muscle, raw speed, gleaming teeth, and the widest, brightest eyes — tremendous focus. It was aimed at me as surely as a deadly bullet.

Its upper body twisted athletically, showing off incredible strength. It seemed to be three to four feet off the ground, coming straight at me, unstoppable.

I had no choice, no options, and no room for error. I didn't even have to think about my next move. It just happened. I squeezed the trigger of my Glock. I fired off three quick shots. All head and upper-body shots, I hoped, but I was just guessing.

The cat kept coming at me. It didn't even slow down. The gunshots couldn't stop it, could they? I had no defense and no place to run, no place to hide.

The big cat hit me hard, knocked me down like weak prey. I waited for the powerful jaws to clamp down on me, to crush my bones. I might have screamed. I don't know what the hell I did. I'd never been more afraid. Not even close.

The cat kept going past me! It made no sense. I didn't understand. A few feet up the tu