Free Black Opal by Sandra Cox Page B

especially a young one. He feared Bella was right but he kept on rubbing his thumb back and forth over the painfully thin chest. If it was dead what did it matter? He couldn’t hurt it. It was past caring.
    He stumbled. Had he felt movement? He continued to rub. A tiny mew sounded and the kitten stirred.
    “Oh my God it’s alive,” Bella exclaimed. “What if we’d left it?” she shuddered.
    They were almost in sight of the hotel. Carefully, he stuck the kitten in his pocket and pulled out his phone and speed dialed.
    The receptionist at the front desk answered.
    “This is Adam Morelly. Where’s the nearest emergency vet?”
    “About two miles out on South Central Road, Mr. Morelly.”
    “Thanks.” He clicked the phone shut and pointed toward the garage. They trooped to his car and squeezed in. “Ladies, I’m willing to put off our conversation until the vet takes a look at these kittens but after that we’re going to have a cozy little chat about what the hell just happened back there and why you drugged me.”
    He turned on the ignition and slammed the ‘Vette into reverse. Tires screaming, he raced out of the garage.
    Three hours later and a couple of hundred dollars lighter, he pulled into the hotel. The vet’s assistant belonged to a rescue group and had offered to take both kittens and adopt them out. With a cuddle, Bella handed over her kitten. But Bag of Bones, as Adam called the game little gray that he’d revived, dug her claws into Adam’s black leather jacket and refused to let go.
    Something in the kitten’s determination to survive had plucked a chord, and after an infusion of nutrients, antibiotics and his first round of shots the little thing rode in Adam’s pocket back to the hotel, nibbling on kitten kibble.
    In the car no one talked though the two women exchanged plenty of looks. Adam’s brows drew together. No doubt, they were planning their strategy and their next lie.
    He leaned back against the car seat’s comfortable leather interior. He’d known the moment he tasted the wine and seen the guilty look on Sabina’s face what they were doing. But he was curious to see if they’d go through with it and what they were up to. As soon as they went into the kitchen he’d watered the roses with the drugged wine.
    Unfortunately, the first question had been answered. Yes they would drug him. And I’m damn well going to find out the answer to the second. He shifted in his seat. How did Sabina lay out those men without even touching them? The hair on the back of his neck rose just thinking about it.
    He took a hard right into the parking garage and pulled into a space between a small compact and a large truck. Killing the engine he stepped out of the car, for once not bothering to open the door for the ladies who were scrunched together on the passenger side of his two-seater. He strode ahead, slammed through the door and waited at the elevator, seething.
    Sliding his hand into his black leather coat pocket he immediately felt the soft furry little body inside start to vibrate, the kitten’s purrs rumbling from deep in her chest. Adam took a deep breath striving for control.
    At least something good had come out of this night’s work but it could easily have gone wrong, so wrong. Or could it? It was like Sabina and Bella had been surrounded by an invisible force field. And more amazing yet whenever Sabina’s arm shot out, someone had fallen. How weird was that?
    As the women pushed through the revolving glass door, he hit the elevator button, stepped inside and held it open. A young man entered. Adam raised an inquiring eyebrow at the youth.
    “Four,” the young man said as the two women got on.
    Adam punched four and five and the sleek machine began its journey upward.
    It stopped on four and the young man got off. The elevator slid up to five and the doors opened. The women stepped out with Adam right behind them.
    As Sabina pulled the security key out of her tight fitting jeans and