"Not smart what you're doing," Jessie said as they hit the highway. "Most of the boys, they're okay. But there's a few that think giving a ride means getting something in return."
"I know," Katya said, deciding for honesty. Something about Jessie said that for all her fresh-faced looks, she'd spot a lie a mile off. "But I didn't want to be caught on surveillance at the travel depots."
Jessie switched to automatic navigation after smoothing the truck into its specified lane. The steering wheel slid away as the truck's computronic software took over, accelerating the rig to a speed no human would ever be able to control. "You running from someone?" A concerned glance. "Someone been mistreating you, honey?"
Arms holding her close. A kiss to wish her sweet dreams. "No. But I have something I need to do." A demon she needed to face.
"Fair enough." Jessie kicked back, putting her feet on the dash. "So, you like jazz?"
"I'm going to - " Dev bit off the words, staring at a grinning Tiara. "You just let her walk out?"
"Hey, she stunned me," the woman said, affronted. "And wasn't I the one who tracked the car down to that diner even though she had the devil's luck and took the one with the malfunctioning tracker?"
Knives lanced Dev's stomach at the thought of who Katya might have ridden with, what they might have done to her. "Did Lucas call back?" The leopard alpha had gone to talk to the folks who owned the diner after Dev's attempts had met with stony silence.
His cell phone rang at that moment. Snapping it open, he looked at the caller ID. "Lucas, you got it?"
"She's on a rig heading north," the DarkRiver alpha told him. "With a driver named Jessie Amsel."
"A woman?"
"Yes."
But that, Dev thought, didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. "I've got a contact in the truckers' union," Dev said. "I'll get her route."
"They left about four hours ago."
"Then I better start moving." Hanging up, he called his contact and five minutes later had a printout of Jessie Amsel's route. Eyes narrowing, he made another call. "Michel? I need a favor."
"You going to owe me, cousin." A smile he could almost hear. "What's up?"
Dev outlined what he needed. "Is it doable?"
"Against the rules, but I figure you'll pull my butt out of jail if I land in it."
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet. Even if she doesn't switch rides beforehand, Traffic Comp tells me the roads are clear all the way to the border. If she hits Canada before I get to her, nothing I can do about it."
EARTHTWO COMMAND LOG: SUNSHINE STATION
18 August 2080: Official incident report: Ten members of the scientific team are currently recovering from exposure in the medical bay. It appears they lost their sense of direction in the dark on their way back from a survey mission.
None of the ten contacted base camp for help, and they do not appear to remember the hours they spent without shelter. All ten have been confined to the med bay until they can be fully evaluated.
Chapter 32
"You got the papers to get over?" Jessie asked as she brought the truck to a stop three hours south of the Canadian border, the world still night-dark around them though it was early morning.
Katya shook her head. "No. I'll have to find a way to sneak through."
"That's not exactly easy. They've got Psy guards now, too - apparently there was a problem with people using telepathy to cloud human guards' minds."
That eliminated the very plan Katya had been counting on. "I don't suppose you know anyone who makes fake IDs."
"Do I look like the criminal type?"
"No, you look resourceful."
Jessie grinned. "What the hell. Come on."
Twenty minutes later, Katya had an identification card that was "good for one use only," according to the wizened little man who made it for her. "They'll get a bounce on it mebbe ten minutes after you scan it through, so make sure you high-tail it out of there fast."
Katya nodded and handed over most of the cash she'd taken from Tag. "Thanks."
"And if you get caught, you never saw me." Beady black eyes pinned her in place. "Understood?"
"Got it."
"Are you going over the border?" she asked Jessie once they were on their way again.
The other woman shook her head. "My delivery's to a facility about forty minutes shy of it. You can hitch a ride with another trucker from there - I'll make sure it's one of the good ones."
"Why are you helping me so much, Jessie?" Katya asked, running her fingers over and around the hard edges of the ID card. "I'm obviously someone in trouble, someone who could get you in trouble."
"You heard that thing about paying it forward?"
"No."
"Where you been living, in a cave?" Without waiting for an answer, Jessie quickly explained. "It's like this - if someone does something nice for you, you got to do something nice for another person down the road. It's meant to put good back into the world."
"I see," Katya said slowly. "The world would indeed be a better place if everyone did that. Can I ask - whose niceness are you paying forward?"
"When I was a scrawny little sixteen-year-old, a scary fucker of a trucker picked me up on a dark and deserted street." Jessie's smile turned her striking. "After he finished chewing me out about the dangers of hitchhiking, he fed me, let me shower in his truck, and asked me where I was going. When I said I didn't know, he gave this big sigh."
"And?" Katya prompted when Jessie fell silent.
"And I ended up riding with him for the next five years. Isaac's the one who taught me how to drive the big rigs, who got me my first gig."
"He must be so proud of you. Is he retired now?"
"Hah! He's only six years older than me!"
"Oh." Katya bit her lip, but couldn't contain her curiosity. "You don't see him as a brother, do you?"
"God, I'm pathetic. And obvious." The other woman rolled her eyes. "He still sees me as that scrawny kid he picked up. It hasn't sunk into his tiny male mind that I not only have boobs, I'd like to use them, thank you very much!"
Katya burst out laughing just as dawn began to whisper on the horizon. "You're waiting for him?"
"I'm giving him one more month. I swear, after that, I'm taking the first offer that comes along."
"It's wonderful, you know," Katya said, mind filling with memories of pure molten heat. "Being with someone who touches your heart."
"You don't sound very happy."
"I think he's going to hate me now."
A siren pierced the air, cutting off her breath.
"Damn." A scowling Jessie pulled over to the side of the long, otherwise empty road. "I swear," the blonde muttered, "the hick cops have nothing better to do than hassle law-abiding citizens."
"Jessie, we're actually - "
"Shh. Think law-abiding thoughts." Sliding back her door, Jessie grabbed her coat and jumped down. Katya couldn't see her as she moved toward the officer, but she heard her words. "Michel Benoit, don't you have to go eat a doughnut or something?"
"That's Officer Benoit to you" came the drawling response. "I got a report you're carrying contraband, sweetheart."
"Hell you did!" Now Jessie sounded pissed. "I'm clean and you know it."
"Contraband's about yay-high, dark blonde hair, on the thin side. Ring a bell?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
Katya had every faith in Jessie's skills, but she had no desire to get the woman who'd helped her so much into real trouble with the law - it wasn't as if the cop wouldn't check the vehicle. Sliding back her own door, she stepped out into the frigid winter air and walked around the front of the truck to stand beside Jessie, the dawn soft and muted around them. Even the snow lining the roadside looked warm in the red and gold light.
"What exactly," Katya said, meeting the cop's ice blue eyes, "am I supposed to have done?"
He smiled, his dark brown hair waving in the gentle breeze. "Might have something to do with firing a stunner."
"They filed a report?" There was something disturbingly familiar about this Michel Benoit.
He raised an eyebrow. "You want a record?"
"That means there's no report," Jessie told her, hands on her hips. "He's got no right to pull you in."
Michel's eyes flashed. "This ain't none of your business, Jessie."
"Take your 'aint's' and shove them," Jessie muttered. "Everyone knows you've got a flippin' law degree."
The man didn't seem to take offense, his smile reaching to warm those eyes. "Here's the deal," he said to Katya. "You can come with me nice and easy, or I find something to charge you both with."
"Both? Jessie hasn't done anything."
"Jessie," Michel murmured, "has probably done quite a lot of things."
Katya put a hand on Jessie's arm when the other woman shifted forward, as if tempted to deck the cop. "It's the eyes," she muttered. "The color threw me off but you have the same eyes."
Michel's smile widened. "I have no idea who you're talking about."
"Name Devraj ring a bell?"
"I might have a cousin called Dev, but you know, it's not that unusual a name."
Certain now that there was no way Michel would let her leave, Katya turned to Jessie. "Thank you."
Jessie was still scowling, but she hugged Katya tight. "You ever need help again, you call me. You got my number, right?"