“You are not permitted to come to this gate,” one of the Species officers stated. “Return to your vehicle and turn around. This entrance is off-limits.”

“Calm down. I just need directions.” The guy glanced at the truck but was careful to look away.

“Don’t shoot. Hell! Are those real guns? I’m just lost. I think I took a wrong turn.”

More officers arrived on the scene. They carefully gripped him, spun him around, and patted him down.

“Hello?” She shoved her head out the window to get the officer’s attention. “I have to go. Can you check the back and let me pass?”

The officer was distracted with his focus on the threat of the unknown man and what the beatup van could contain. She’d counted on that. He waved at her to go and the gate opened.

Guilt ate at her as she drove slowly past the guy she’d paid to distract the officers. They had him handcuffed on the ground and were preparing to search his van. He shot her a dirty look before she accelerated. He wouldn’t be arrested if he stuck to his lost story and they wouldn’t find anything to be alarmed about inside his van. They wouldn’t keep him long.

Allison didn’t relax until she merged into traffic on the highway. She was careful of how fast she drove to avoid drawing attention. The last thing she needed was to get pulled over for a speeding ticket. She wondered how long it would be before the NSO ordered a helicopter into the air to search for the rental truck. Her best guess was not long.

The exit came up and she breathed out a sigh of relief. There were no gas stations or stores within sight. The road narrowed to little more than a two-lane country road, one not used often, and she finally spotted the aging, sagging gate.

The truck swayed when she pulled off the pavement. Her gaze lifted to the sky and her ears strained for the sound of a helicopter. Just the engine of the running truck could be heard.

The gate to the property squeaked loudly as she opened it wide, returned to the truck and drove down the road enough to allow the gate to clear the back of the truck and returned to close it. A mile down the dirt path stood an abandoned barn and farmhouse. She had opened the barn doors the night before so just drove the truck inside.

She didn’t calm down until she’d closed the doors and opened the truck’s back rolling door.

She had to use a small penlight she kept in the inside of her coat to see in the dark interior as she climbed into the cargo area. The bed was upright, the handcuffs had held it against the wall, and she silently thanked the guy from the sex shop who had sworn they were police quality. He probably had thought she really did have a bodybuilder boyfriend, her excuse for wanting to buy the strongest sets they had. She paused by the side of the hospital bed. 880 rested peacefully as his chest rose and fell. Grateful tears filled her eyes.

He’d survived.

“I got you here. We made it. Now we just have to wait until it’s a little darker and I’ll move you inside the house.”

She bent over him and lightly brushed a few strands of silky black hair away from his cheek.

His skin was hot but that was normal for Species.

She’d still take his temperature when she set him up in the living room—she’d equipped it with supplies to care for him—and make sure it wasn’t an infection from hastily removing the feeding tube.

“It’s just you and me now, 880. Don’t be scared if you’re aware of what happened. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve done this to save you.”

Tiger threw back his head and roared in rage.

He glared at Destiny while the other male paled.

“How could you allow this to happen?”

The male’s mouth parted as his Adam’s apple bobbed. Wide shoulders shrugged. “I had no idea she plotted to kidnap him. I trusted her. Who thought she would be strong enough to take him from here?”

“Enough,” Justice growled. “I trusted her too.”

He shot a worried stare at Brass when he entered the office. “Tell me you have good news.”

“I don’t. We have alerted the police to help us search for the rental truck but they haven’t spotted it. We have two helicopters in the air and the third one is en route from Reservation.”

“The sun will go down soon.” Jessie marched in and walked directly to her mate, addressing him. “We’ll find him.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek. “I am keeping my composure but I’m furious. I handpicked her myself. We did a thorough background check but she still betrayed us.”

“Nothing indicated she had any association with Mercile or the hate groups.” Brass crossed his arms over his chest, rage twisting his features grimly. “She had no debt but she did withdraw twenty thousand dollars yesterday from her savings account. She has a trust fund left to her from her deceased grandparents. It made us feel secure that she couldn’t be bribed when she came to work for us. Money wasn’t a motivation for kidnapping 880. We sent authorities to her family but they are accounted for. No one is using them to force her to do their bidding.”

The phone rang and Justice leaned over his desk to hit the speakerphone “on” button. “Justice here.”

“It’s Trisha,” the woman’s voice announced.

“I heard what happened and I don’t believe it. I know Allison and she wouldn’t hurt a Species.”

“She kidnapped him. We only picked up her scent and sweat from the exertion of pushing his bed out of the building. She drove him right through the employee gate.” Justice paused. “I didn’t want to believe it either. I trusted her but she took him.”

“There has to be a reasonable explanation.”

Trisha sounded angry. “It’s not to hurt or sell him.

She really cares about Species and she hates anyone who poses a danger to them. She’s dedicated and sweet. There’s got to be another reason besides something despicable.”

Flame entered the room, holding a note. “We discovered this locked inside her desk.”

“What is it?” Trisha called out. “Someone tell me or call me on their cell phone so we can video conference.”

“It’s a note,” Flame stated louder. “She took him because she feels it’s possible to save him by getting him to bond to a female with her scent.”

He offered the paper to Justice. “She asked for permission but was denied. She states she feels it may be his only chance at survival.”

Justice accepted the piece of paper and frowned, reading it. “She swears to do everything in her power to bring him out of the coma and return him to us as soon as possible.”

“Damn,” Tiger snarled. “She’s insane. Doesn’t she realize taking him from Homeland is putting him in jeopardy? She could trust the wrong person who may wish to kill him. He’s helpless and she’d be useless defending him.”

“What does she want to do?” Trisha’s frustration sounded in her voice.

Tiger stepped closer to the desk. “880 lost his mate and Dr. Allison requested we send a female to stay with him in hopes her scent would lure him from his coma.”

“Would it work? Justice?” Trisha quieted, waiting for an answer.

“No.” He sighed. “I don’t believe so. He can’t be fooled by another female’s scent replacing the one he lost. She would smell offensive to him.”

His gaze held Tiger’s. “Did you inform her of this?”

“I told her it would be dangerous. I tried to explain why and I thought she understood.”

“She won’t hurt him.” Destiny coldly glanced at everyone in the room. “She sneaked into his room sometimes. I caught her talking to him. Allison has heart. She didn’t take him to be cruel.

She wants to heal him.”

“We need to save her from him if she does manage to get him to wake.” Tiger lifted a hand and ran it through his mane of hair in frustration.

“He’s going to kill her. She’s human and he’s never known kindness from them.”

“We assume that.” Justice frowned. “We know so little about this male or his history except for what happened to him right before he was rescued.”