“Oh, red means stop I take it,” he reflected.
“Yes, green means go and yellow means go very fast,” she dryly replied, remembering a scene from one of her favorite alien movies.
“Ah, ingenious,” he murmured.
He watched the bottom circle turn to bright green. When it did, Tonya pressed the pedal on the floor and the vehicle began moving again. He itched to test the vehicle she was driving. He suspected controlling such a vehicle would be almost as much fun as when he had Nali’s fire-breathing stallions attached to the front of his carriage.
“Max doesn’t just ask questions, he gets answers. I don’t care how smart you think you are; he’ll know there is something different about you. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say it is best if you go home,” she declared.
“Nonetheless, I wish to meet him,” he calmly stated.
“Grrrr,” she growled under her breath.
He watched her push a lever on the side of the steering column. A green flashing light appeared on the console in front of her, and she turned onto the street. He stored the information in case he might need it later.
Five minutes later, they were pulling onto a long, winding driveway. Tonya came to a stop and looked at the house. She took a deep breath before she shifted the vehicle into park and turned off the ignition.
“Let’s do this,” she said, pushing open her door and stepping out.
Tonya rang the doorbell and impatiently waited at the door. She could hear the dogs barking in the background. A minute later she heard a voice yell for the dogs to get back. She frowned when a teenage boy peeked through the window before cracking open the door.
“Is Magna here?” she asked.
“No. They’ve gone to Seattle or someplace for the week. They’ll be back on Monday. I’m house/dog sitting until then,” the teen said.
“And they trust you?” she asked in disbelief.
The kid looked back at her with an irritated expression. “I’m responsible and over the age of eighteen. Besides, Gabe would kill me if I screw up and do anything stupid,” he moodily retorted.
“Yeah, I can see him doing that. Okay, thanks anyway,” she said with a heavy sigh.
“Do you want me to give them a message when they call to check on the dogs?” the teen asked.
Tonya shook her head. “No. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Monday. Thanks anyway,” she replied.
“No problem,” the boy said before he shut the door.
She gave Ashure an irritated glare when she saw his grin. He didn’t have to look so pleased. Pursing her lips, she pushed past him and started walking toward the car.
“Can I drive?” he asked in a hopeful voice behind her.
“No,” she snapped, pulling open the driver’s door.
She ignored the slight pout on his lips, but she didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes. He was just like a typical guy! Give them some shiny new toy—okay, her old car was hardly new or shiny, but it had an engine—tell them to keep their hands off it, and they saw it as a challenge.
“Please,” he begged sweetly.
“No,” she repeated, trying not to laugh when his pout grew. “Get in the car.”
“I guess this means I get to meet Max, yes?” he said with a satisfied expression.
“Not if I can help it,” she mumbled.
7
“Where are we going?” Ashure asked when Tonya turned in the opposite direction from the way they came.
“Since getting help from Magna has been delayed, I thought we’d go to the State Park. That seems to be the common denominator in the disappearances. Carly disappeared on a hike there. We’ll try that route first. Mike disappeared on the beach. Jenny disappeared in the Park too, but I’m not sure exactly where,” she explained.
“Do you really find my presence so distasteful that you cannot wait to be rid of me?” he quietly inquired.
She glanced at him before focusing on the winding road. “No, I don’t find you distasteful at all. It’s just—you don’t know how dangerous it could be if anyone found out who you really are and where you came from. Hell, the government alone would be the least of your concerns,” she said.
The sound of worry in her voice warmed his heart. If she was concerned, that meant she cared. If she cared, then he had a chance.
“I’m glad you find me attractive,” he replied.
“Is that all you care about? Didn’t you understand when I said that you are in danger here—like terrible, horrible, deadly danger?” she demanded.
“Yes, I understood you. You care about my welfare. A pirate is used to danger. We live for danger,” he said with a dramatic flair in his voice.
“Well, guess what?” she interrupted.
He paused with his hands in the air. “What?” he asked.
“Dead pirates don’t have much of a life. This next week is going to be a long one. I can just feel it,” she muttered.
“Everything will be fine. I am very resilient,” he promised.
The exasperated expression on her face plus the twitch of her lips and the amused glare she shot him pulled a chuckle from him. He reached over, grabbed her hand, pulled it to his lips, and pressed a light kiss to the back of it. The smile on her lips grew, and she shook her head.
“Are you this much trouble back on your world?” she curiously inquired.
“Trouble? Me? Of course not,” he baldly lied.
She gave him a skeptical look. “I don’t believe that for one second,” she retorted.
Tonya slowed to a stop at the Ranger’s kiosk. She rolled down her window and reached for her purse. Rooting around inside, she found her wallet at the bottom and pulled it out. Opening it, she pulled out her park pass and held it out to the ranger.
“Hi—oh, hey, how are you doing? Tonya, right?” the ranger greeted.
She looked up into Marty’s smiling face. “Yes, everything is good, Marty. I never really had a chance to thank you for your help. Did you get your jacket back? Dr. Field said he would make sure you got it,” she replied.
“Yeah, Anne called to let me know that you’d left it, and I stopped by on my way into work the following morning. I’m glad you’re alright. I’m surprised, with everything that’s happened, that you’ve stuck around what with all the disappearances. Some folks around here still think that Ross Galloway is responsible, more so now that he has vanished,” Marty replied, leaning against the windowsill of the kiosk.
“Ross Galloway is quite happy—especially now that he is no longer dead. He and Princess Gem are promised to each other. The others from your world are very content as well. Carly and Drago have several young dragons, and Orion and Jenny have added to their family. Mike and Marina are expecting their first, and Ruth is no longer the size of a child’s doll now that the spell the Sea Witch cast has been straightened out. Koorgan is very pleased about that,” Ashure good-naturedly shared.
Marty had a confused expression on his face and was trying desperately to get a better look at Ashure. Tonya’s jaw was beginning to hurt from grinding her teeth together and trying to keep the smile on her lips. She kept shifting forward and backward to obscure Marty’s view. So help her, if Ashure said one more thing, he wasn’t going to have to worry about the government or some crazed scientist torturing and killing him. She would do it for them.