In the Shadow of the Tiger (The Fighter Series Book 2) Page 17

  “How about you, you need anything?” He asked finding some humor in it all. “Just don’t take any advice from the hired help. Behind the counter.” He said pointing.

  “Get cleanup on their way,” Ryan said into his mic.

  “I want that shirt on the mannequin when we get the hell out of here,” she said.

  “Shopping isn’t what it used to be, right?”

  “Nope. Not at all.” She waited. “It’s much more fun.”

  “Conman, let’s roll,” Ryan said.

  Conman stepped over to them, and Riley held back her chuckle. She liked being with these two. It was dangerous as well as entertaining.

  With Christmas a few weeks away one would think of holiday adornments being Christmas trees and presents. The mall, decorated permanently on the fourth of July reminding them of the Shift’s time frame. A day and a month forever remembered a day to celebrate the freedom of their country. The day the Shift almost destroyed humankind. She wondered if someday a new flag would wave next to Old Glory.

  They left Nordstrom’s and entered the giant belly of the glass-ceiling mall. A giant American flag ripped at the edges hung above. Faded from time and symbolically battered, the flag unleashed its sadness. Its red and white stripes waved stirred by some unseen push of air.

  The fading light of day dropped into the cloud cover from above. The giant atrium glass windows filtered only the light trying to make its way through. Riley forgot how grand the mall was. Giant palm trees and the atrium felt more like an island than a shopping mall. Two levels of stores, escalators, elevators, and stairs held two levels. There was a maze of walkways framing the second story as well as bridges to access stores across the way.

  Another round of thunder sounded but this time much closer. The glass above rung through the mall’s foundation like a mild earthquake. The first sounds of rain hit above filtering the still air of the confined building. Seconds later the clouds cut loose, and the roar of rain pounded the transparent roof overhead. The storm produced a constant dull rumble overhead.

  They entered the businesses one at a time a women’s apparel store, being the first. The demolished storefront proved chaos had shopped there. Clothing lay in mounds on the floor and pieces of racking lay scattered. Riley knew by the smell that death lived there as well. They trudged through the clothing and around to the back of the store. The decaying body, possibly a salesperson, lie on the floor. Time had rotted the woman's flesh into something that looked much like leather. The only thing left of her feminine features was her hair and clothes.

  The team called in every corpse, and every person found, dead or alive. The dead ones would receive a proper burial and the live ones a chance to do something productive. When the Shift first happened survivors piled bodies into stacks and burned them. Disease and the smell made people sick, and survivors couldn’t bury the dead fast enough. Axel was trying to change that. So far, they hadn't found any life.

  They moved from store to store finding nothing. The once bright and laughter filled mall was dark in contrast to its past brilliant history. Where people once lingered, death followed.

  Music? So slight that Riley couldn’t make out the tune. Neither Ryan nor Conman said anything about hearing anything. She chalked it up to memory and a touch of shooters ear.

  She stopped in the middle of the Coach store staring at the expensive purses strewn across the floor. They no longer had any monetary meaning. She'd never owned one, but now she stood among a whole truckload ready for the taking. The bags lay scattered on the floor, heaped on tables, and still hanging from their hooks. She felt Conman brush past her. His free hand lifted ever so slightly in the air.

  “Coach, oh my God.” He said reaching down and lifting a random bag off the ground.

  Conman was giddy with excitement. However, when the figure lunged out from nowhere, Riley took to heart to look past Conman's cravings and swung wide. The purse in his hand dropped to the floor as his fingers wrapped around the base of his weapon. There was a tap; tap, tap and the dark figure fell to the ground. The smell of gunpowder rose in the air, and a hushed silence fell over the purses. Shooters ear!

  “Good shot,” Ryan said stepping closer to the body. Conman reached for the bag he’d dropped.

  Ryan touched the person on the shoulder. No sound came from within, and Ryan pressed a little harder.

  “Never assume their dead,” Riley said.

  Conman froze as Ryan turned the man over on his back. The man’s hands remained under him, hidden. Before Ryan could check him for both pulse and weapons, the vagrant swung his left hand out from under him holding a canister.

  “OC,” Riley yelled.

  Ryan was in deep. He couldn’t turn away. The man’s other hand remained hidden from his view. Ryan fired another round. A fine mist exploded from the canister as the man's fingers locked on the trigger of the spray can. Ryan moved, and Conman pressed the purse to his face shielding his eyes from the stinging spray. She stepped forward and away from the cloud of liquid capsaicin and into fresh air. Feeling only a slight sting on her face and in her eyes, she’d escaped with only a taste of the pepper spray.

  Riley peered through the dim light. Ryan hadn’t been so lucky and was moving sightlessly away from the dead man. Temporary blindness had already begun, but Ryan trained for such things remained calm. His manner was proof of that. Conman swiftly moved in with purse in front of his face and kicked the canister from the dead man’s hand.

  “Ryan.” She whispered into the mic.

  “I’m good. Just give me five.” He said. She heard him blow the mucus from his nose. It was one of the effects of the spray. “Feels like an old canister.”

  Riley looked down at her watch noting the time. They could afford five minutes, but the effects sometimes took forty-five to wear off.

  "That dude must have been dipping into the same shit as the guy outside." Conman called hovering over the dead man. "What is that crap anyway? He looks all discombobulated."

  Ryan made his way through the wave of purses. “They must be squatting here.”

  Riley nodded. “You okay?”

  “Never assume their dead.” He said stepping out. She could tell he was trying in vain not to rub his eyes, which would activate the chemicals even more.

  “Conman found a purse?” She said trying to make light of the situation.

  “Not surprised.” Ryan answered, “you don’t want one?”

  “Nothing to wear it with.” She said.

  “Do you hear music?” He asked.

  “I thought it was me.”

  “No, I’m pretty sure I hear the music.” He said as tears streamed down his face.

  “Well don’t cry about it.” She said.

  “Is Worm crying again?” Blake teased, voice crackling through the mic. Riley grinned.

  “I owe you one Relay,” Ryan said to her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Dragon watched Summer from the window. Over the past few weeks, he and Summer had bonded. Dragon felt drawn to her, protective over her, and most of all he liked being around her. He hadn’t had sisters or brothers that he knew of anyway. Summer was all he had.

  Summer stood on the deck outside her body pressed to the railing. Her long hair danced in the breeze wrapping strands around her face and shoulders. He was learning that her character included spirited to the point of almost recklessness. She’d let the past go focusing her energy on the what she had to gain. Every moment they were in the same room, he fed on her aura piecing together the parts in his own life that had gone horribly wrong. She was good for him.

  He watched her now as she tiptoed to position her face further into the current of the wind. Her sockless feet were lifting out of one size too big Vans. Had the shift never happened, he wondered what she would have been. The world may have ruined her because honestly, she didn't know how beautiful she was.

  Summer hadn’t left him other to gather more supplies, and he wondered if the aunt and uncle were fra
ntically looking for her. Although they didn't know her, he was sure they felt responsible for her. She turned realizing Dragon was staring at her. Walking lightly, she made her way past him smiling slightly. He had the distinct feeling she knew so much more than he could grasp.

  “You’re up.” She said pouring him a cup of coffee.

  “There’s a storm moving in.” He said taking the cup from her. “Summer, your Uncle and Aunt, won’t they be worried about you?”

  She grew quiet as if thinking about the results of her disappearance. “Yes, they’ll be worried maybe. Or maybe they’ll be relieved.”

  Dragon sat down at the table staring out the window. Low clouds were beginning to wrap their fingers around the mountain. The dark blue sky was turning almost black behind them shooting an underlying contrast of light forward. There was a storm brewing. Neither of them was going anywhere.

  “I think we better batten down the hatches so to say. That sky doesn’t look like its bringing any sunshine anytime too soon.” He warned.

  “Now’s not the time to be on that.” She said pointing to the lightning flashing in the sky. He caught the look of satisfaction on her face.

  “You like it here don't you? Don't you get lonely?" He asked.

  Summer looked surprised and then she slipped into the chair across from him. "I just know that when I am here, I can let my guard down just a little. It allows me time to balance my thoughts."

  Dragon sipped his coffee while keeping his attention on Summer. “You can’t help from here.”

  “Why would I want to help?” Summer said. “People don’t want or need help. They’ve killed each other, stolen from each other. I don’t see a lot of people wanting to help. Do you?”

  “But you’re different, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.” Dragon said.

  Summer stared at him for a long moment. By her expression, he could not read what she was thinking.

  “You loved her?” She said knowingly. “My mother.”

  “Very much.” Dragon watched her expression. She read mind with an intuitive maturity.

  “How did you find me?”

  “It wasn’t easy. You never knew I existed.”

  They sat in silence for a moment. Dragon feared the worse. How was he ever going to explain that her mother's families were the ones that kept them separated? They threatened to kill Dragon if Monique didn't lie and tell him the baby wasn't his. Somehow, he'd always known. It was as if he could feel his daughter's breath of life years ago and when he saw her on the ship, he was aware that she was his. Dragon’s search for his only daughter was over.

  "I knew Thomas wasn't my father. I never told mom, but she thought of you all the time." Summer said looking at Dragon. "Now what? Are you going to tell me what I can and can’t do? I don’t think so. I don’t need anyone telling me what to do.”

  “I’m not here to play daddy. We must be here, together for a reason. If you haven’t noticed, there are no rules on parenting. I cannot make up for lost time. You are a young woman, and I fear that you will be you telling me what to do some day. We need move on. We need to work together. We can help. You have a gift, and it can help others."

  She was quiet for a moment. Suddenly she looked lost in innocence and the woman who’d slid to a stop to rescue him was gone. Almost seeming vulnerable, she lifted her face to him and then planted a devious grin changing the subject altogether. “Now I know where I get my love for cars from.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Like most Americans, Riley, in the past, worked a five-day a week, forty-plus hour job. She spent time in a department truck dealing with people driving off the grid. Some didn't deserve to be called humans. The last place Riley wanted to be was in a busy mall with more humans. Humans and animals, she struggled with the difference. The food chain mirrored the other in many respects. Animal’s had been easier to deal with until she met Ringo.

  Here she was back in the undergarments section of the Arden Mall. JC Penny's to be exact and with Conman on her heels. The skies grumbled at a roar shaking the sides of the building. The first crack of lightning popped overhead sending flashes of light through the atrium roof. Ignoring the rumbles, Riley grabbed a few bras and undies hanging on a rack straining to see if they were the right sizes. Those items she needed, desperately. She stuffed them into her backpack. Electric fingers lit up the darkness of the mall with shooting arcs of light, and the color of pink caught her eye. She grabbed a bra panty set feeling the lace between her fingers. She thought of Jack.

  There was something magnificently exciting about darkness, storms and stealing lingerie. The extreme weather elicited Riley’s fears raising the fine hairs on her skin. She thought of Jack again. Not the place or time, she thought.

  “Are you shopping?” Ryan’s touched her ear startling her.

  “None of your business.” She answered grinning.

  “Coming up behind you,” Ryan said.

  Riley turned to see his shadow pass through the isles until he was standing next to her. The rain outside had suddenly become quiet, and she knew it was only a pause for what was to come.

  “So. Do show what you’re hiding.” He said in a joking tone.

  She nodded no.

  “Awe your no fun. I’d love to tease my brother a little and at least know the color of what you picked out.”

  “No.”

  “You’re no fun,” Ryan said.

  “I’ll show you mine.” Conman said over the radio.

  “No thanks,” Ryan said moving on. “Where are you Conman?”

  “Accessories.” He replied. “I’ll catch up.”

  Riley was still smiling when Ryan stopped. Between rolls of thunder, she heard the sound of fabric and hangers swishing on metal rounders not far from where they stood. They both turned in that direction. The darkness swallowed them in a blanket of camouflage, but this time not even darkness was their friend. The silhouette that appeared before them was nothing short of small. The animal was an unchanging chameleon of moving shadows.

  The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck stood on end, and her pulse quickened. Had she sent for the beast just by allowing the memory to live in her mind? “Trouble.” She whispered.

  “What the hell?” Ryan’s voice tingled in Riley’s ear.

  The tiger took a step towards them, the outline of the giant white cat now hidden behind a collection of John's St Bay sweaters. Then the constant drumming of rain and rounds of thunder exploded overhead.

  Neither one of them moved.

  “Tiger,” Ryan said.

  Any movement, smell or sound challenged the cat to go into action. Clothing on hangers tapped the metal rounder. Between bursts of thunder and tapping of rain, the sound of movement caught the cat’s attention. The cat moved through the montage of apparel pulling material and hanger for them to see. Then everything went silent. Riley reached outlaying her hand on Ryan, using her index finger to point. She gestured for him to move in the direction she was pointing. He contracted his muscle under her touch to let her know he understood. The cat had already seen them, but the hunt was just beginning.

  Conman slipped out from behind a corner, his movement too fast and easily seen. A human wouldn't have heard his footfalls, but a Siberian tiger did. She and Ryan turned around knowing they had seconds to make chase.

  “Run,” Riley yelled through the mic.

  It was chilling to see an exotic wild animal running loose where women and children once shopped. If the cat's claws didn’t get a victim in the first round, it’d cut the flesh into shreds on the second. Riley and Ryan slipped between the maze of racking and apparel. Conman was behind them gaining ground. The fitting rooms were just ahead. Thank God this department store had full fitting room doors instead of half or three-quarter. Riley and Ryan darted into the corridor passing the stalls with splintered and sagging doors. They took the last one on the right and Conman took the third one to
the last. As the doors shut an immediate sense of safety overwhelmed her. Then the soft footfalls of the tiger’s paws sounded on the carpet.

  Ryan pressed against the door not even out of breath. Riley, from experience, was experiencing pure adrenaline.

  “Holy Shit!” He whispered into his mic.

  “What’s that smell?” Riley whispered. She pinched her fingers to her nose, but she already knew what it was. Not moving an inch from where she stood, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness.

  “You weren’t bullshitting?” Conman’s voice came across the radio.