Laurann Dohner - Fury

Brass’ eyebrows shot up. “Yours?”

“Mine.” Fury nodded. “It is how I feel when I think of her.”

“Hang in there. Our people learn quickly and we’ll be able to completely run Homeland soon. You’ll be able to invite her back. I hope for your sake she accepts your offer.”

“I do as well.” Fury stood. “Make those calls and set up the meeting. I’ll talk to our males and schedule extra training sessions to give them an outlet for their anger. The humans within our walls aren’t our enemies, for the most part.”

Chapter Nine

Ellie finished packing her bag after the motel clerk had jimmied her door open to allow her to retrieve her things. She was grateful she hadn’t unpacked yet. She studied the policeman at her door, watching her every move. “Thank you. I’m done and ready to go now. I appreciate you babysitting me.”

The policeman shrugged. “It’s my job.”

Ellie gripped her purse and her suitcase. The policeman moved out of her way and closed the motel door for her. She walked down the stairs, trying not to notice that some of the guests of the motel were still outside, gawking at her as though she were the evening’s entertainment. She sighed. She didn’t like being the main source of morbid amusement for strangers.

She winced at the words on her car. The police had made a report of the damage, had taken pictures, and given her a card with the police report number. The policeman unlocked her trunk while she lifted in her suitcase. She closed it and forced a smile when he handed the keys back.

“Would you like some advice?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

He glanced at the car and then at her. “Go get a rental car and leave this inside the parking lot of the rental company. This is a small town. If these morons are set to harass you all they have to do is drive around to motels and hotels looking for this. You’d be pretty easy to find until your insurance company has it painted.”

Great , Ellie thought. Her finances were going to be tight until she found another job. She could almost mentally see money burning but he made a valid point. “Thank you. I think that’s a great plan and I will do that.”

“I can’t wait for these morons to leave this area. Ever since the protestors showed up it’s been like this. The locals were happy about accepting Homeland, for the most part, and we welcome those poor people out there into our community. It beat having a military base as a neighbor. I lived next to one as a kid and they were always tearing up the town when they drank in their off hours. The New Species don’t do that. Then these Humans for Pure Humans jerks showed up on the scene. You’d think they’d have something better to do.”

Ellie gave him a grateful smile, the tension easing from her body. It was nice to hear someone agree with her views after her ordeal. “Yes. The New Species have been through enough without those racist morons.”

“I’ll drive behind you for a few blocks to make sure you aren’t followed.”

“Thanks.”

Ellie stepped to the driver’s door of her car but paused when a large, black SUV pulled into the parking lot. She froze, staring. It looked very similar to the ones Homeland used, with all the windows tinted black. It stopped right behind Ellie’s car. Ellie tensed while the cop beside her reached for his gun with one hand, his radio with the other.

The driver’s door opened and Ellie stared warily at the man who circled around the front of the SUV. He wore a business suit and dark glasses. He stopped, his head turned toward the cop, and then he seemed to be looking at Ellie by the way his face lowered in her direction. His hands were open at his sides and he spread his fingers, moving his hands away from his body to show the cop he wasn’t armed.

“Ms. Brower? I’m Dean Hoskins. Mr. Fury sent me. You called Mr. North’s office and he has been made aware that you were having some kind of situation.”

Fury? Ellie relaxed. “It’s okay,” she assured the policeman.

Dean Hoskins let his hands drop as soon as the policeman released the butt of his gun. He reached up, removed his sunglasses, and it revealed he had green eyes in a nice face.

“Mr. Fury asked me to collect you and your things. I’ve been asked to give you a message. I’m not sure what it means but Mr. Fury assured me you would understand it. He told me to say that after saving your life, you owe him this time. He requests you follow me back to Homeland to talk to him in person. He would have come himself but regrettably, because of the situation outside Homeland, it wouldn’t be advisable for him to leave.”

No shit , Ellie thought. Fury wanted to talk to her. She wondered what he wanted to discuss. He may have regretted not really saying goodbye to her. He might even want to say he’d forgiven her for what she’d done to him. Of course he might just want to know what had happened. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that he just wanted to see her again. She’d never know unless she spoke to him. It would bother her, wondering, if she didn’t go.

She nodded at Hoskins. She had no doubt he was on the level. Only Fury would talk about who owed who. “All right.”

He placed his sunglasses back onto his face. Ellie turned to the policeman.

“Thank you so much for everything. I’ll go to the car rental place as soon as my meeting with Mr. Fury is over.”

Ellie climbed into her car and waited while Hoskins turned the large SUV around inside the parking lot. Ellie backed out of the space to follow the SUV back to Homeland. She hated the stares she received from other drivers and dreaded when the protesters got a load of what had been spray painted on her car.

The hateful words humiliated and embarrassed her. The guard who let her inside the gate gaped at her with raised eyebrows. Ellie softly cursed and resisted flipping him off. She had no choice but to drive her vandalized vehicle. She followed the black SUV to the main office to park next to him in the visitor section.

Ellie grabbed her purse as she exited the car. She wasn’t about to let her wallet out of her sight after already being tossed out of Homeland. She needed to have options if they kicked her out again without a car. Dean Hoskins studied her vehicle with a frown.

“Was this the trouble you ran into?”

“Partly. It seems some idiots think I’ve been brainwashed and three jerks were set on trying to supposedly save me. God only knows what they thought they were going to do if they’d gotten away with kidnapping me.” She shook her head. “Some of them are just insane.”

* * * * *

Fury paced while Justice watched him closely, studied everything about him, and it annoyed him. He stopped, shooting a glare at Justice. “What? She was in trouble. She mentioned police to your secretary and needed an escort out of there. Do you have a problem with my sending Dean to collect her? He works for us. What good are having humans help us if they don’t do anything?”

“I’m not disputing your reasoning. I believed she’d be safer in her world but I freely admit when I’m wrong if she’s experienced trouble so soon. I’m just wondering if you’re going to explode when she arrives. You look about ready to totally lose control again.”

Fury snarled, fought his rage, and met his friend’s worried gaze. “Every protective instinct inside me is battling. My first impulse was to jump into a Jeep and go out there to track her down. I am in control since I sent Dean.”

“Good to know.” Justice inched closer. “If it means so much, you can keep her here. I’ll smooth things out somehow with the director and if that doesn’t work, I’ll outright order him to allow her to stay. Under the circumstances it may not arouse too much suspicion from him that I’d go over his head. He’s very paranoid about how much power we flex and he’s attempting to retain absolute command of Homeland. He is being an ass by treating us as if we are children but the bottom line is, he works for us. I’m sure there is housing available at the visiting-human section. I’ll make some calls.”