“You said people are after her?”
“Yeah. And they don’t mess around.” The human mercenaries had shown access to resources.
“You need a shower,” his dad said, wrinkling his nose.
“We both do.” Entering the kitchen again, he caught Fluffs licking the bowl. On the plus side, she didn’t appear to be wearing much of it.
She slammed it down and pretended she wasn’t eyeing his with the little bit left at the bottom.
“I better make more food,” his dad suggested.
“More?” Her expression brightened.
“Yes, more, but only after you bathe. Let’s go, Fluffs.” He took her down the short hall to the only full bathroom in the house. Pink tile with a bit of white and black. Gold accents. So old, it came back as retro-style.
She saw the toilet and immediately perched on it, forgetting that not only was he in the room, she was also wearing pants. She glanced down at the wet fabric and scrunched her nose.
“You need to pull them down before you sit and go.”
“Sit? How will I see the biters coming?” She stared suspiciously at the toilet water.
“Nothing is going to come out of the pipe.”
“Wet.” Her nose wrinkled as she hopped off the toilet and shoved down the pants. The shirt covered her groin, but still left lots of exposed leg.
He turned his gaze. “You need a shower.” He leaned into the shower tub combo and flipped on the water. It emerged in a jet, and she ooohed.
“Water.” She reached for it and said, “So warm!”
Actually, it was still chilly, but compared to what she was used to…
She hopped in—still wearing her shirt—put her face right into the spray, and sighed. Then squeaked.
“Hot!” She plastered against the back wall, and he wondered at her reaction until he thought of the volcano.
“Did you sometimes get really hot geysers?”
She nodded. “Bad burns.”
“This won’t burn you. See?” He put his hand in it. Slowly, she reached for it, too. Smiled.
When she began pulling at her shirt, he knew it was time to go. “Here’s some soap. And there’s a towel on the counter.” He’d pulled one from the shelf.
Despite his inner lion saying he should offer to scrub her back, he left, closing the door behind him.
Sitting in the middle of the hall was his cat.
“Hey, baby. I’m home.” He crouched.
Neffi stared.
“Did you miss me?”
Judging by her glare, not even for a second.
“I ordered you some treats.”
Rather than appeasing his feline, she glanced at the bathroom door where he could hear splashing and humming.
Neffi uttered a low growl then stalked off, hackles raised.
Jealous. Good. Now, Neffi would know how Zach felt after seeing her with his dad.
He returned to the kitchen. With Fluffs taken care of for the moment, he had time to check in. He borrowed his dad’s phone, a cordless digital, and only because they’d phased out rotary. His dad had ranted for months when they made him change out his lime green curly-corded monstrosity. Even the fact that Zach had bought the phone didn’t appease.
The voice that picked up his direct line wasn’t Hayder’s. Nor did it waste time.
“Who is this?”
“Zachary Lennox.”
“The same Zachary Lennox who was incommunicado for fifty-five hours?”
He winced. He now knew how long he’d been out for. “I ran into some complications.”
“Do you still have the subject?”
“I’m supposed to report to Hayder.”
“Hayder is attending the birth of yet another useless boy.”
“And you are?”
“Not a biatch you want to piss off,” said the biatch. “Has the yeti told you anything yet about the treasure?”
That explained whether or not the lioness on the other end of the line was in the loop.
“Not really. Her communication skills have been somewhat lacking, not to mention our kidnapping had us knocked out.”
“What kidnapping?” He related what’d happened to them and made arrangements for the stolen car to be handled.
“I’ll have to let the king know about this.”
“Obviously.” The kidnappers had to be dealt with.
“Wait until the other biatches hear. We’ve been bored to death. This will give us something to sharpen our claws for. I’ve got biatches en route to the airport. Hopefully, we can get our hands on that plane and cage before they sterilize it.”
Only the biatches could be excited about animal smugglers who might know their secret.
“Could be they aren’t related to the artifact at all.”
“Maybe. I mean, I can see why they might want to capture a yeti, though. Either way, someone thinks she’s important. Which leads me back to the earlier question. Does she know where it is?”
He thought of Fluffy’s random pointing. “She says she can lead me to the box. She definitely wants to find it. She claims to be a guardian of some sort.”
“Follow her lead and see if she can locate it.”
“Me?” Working alone with Fluffs?
“Yeah, you. We don’t have anyone else to spare right now. Or are you trying to tell me your feeble man brain can’t handle a job of this magnitude?”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Good, because I need to be pulling out the old latex suit, not yapping with you.”
With that, the biatch on duty hung up, leaving him saddled for who knew how long with Fluffs.
Forever? his inner feline taunted. He might have had a retort if his dad hadn’t said, “Why are there bubbles coming from under the bathroom door?”
Chapter Eight
Fluffy was having the time of her life when the door bounced open. Zach gaped in the frame.
“What did you do?” he exclaimed.
She grinned as she patted the foam expanding all over. “Bubble bath.”
Imagine her surprise when the tub began to fill as she showered. A hot basin of water that she dropped into. Pouring a bottle filled with smelly goo, it frothed. Multiplied. The foam getting bigger and bigger. Spilling into the small room.
It kept expanding and tickled her nose. She sneezed, and the bubbles exploded all over. When she blinked her wet lashes, Zach wore a full white beard.
She giggled as she imagined him in a red suit, jiggling a round belly.
“Not funny. Water damage is no joke.” He reached over and turned off the tap.
Her lips turned down. “Bubbles.”
“You have enough bubbles and too much water,” he exclaimed as it sloshed over the sides.
He reached into the tub and rooted around.
His face went through a few expressions before settling on disgusted. He withdrew her plug of hair. He gagged as he turned from her, tossed it into the toilet, and flushed.
“You ruined my bath,” she complained as the water drained.
“Next time, take a proper one that doesn’t cause damage, and you’ll enjoy it longer.”
“Meanie.” She glared.
He didn’t seem to care. He held out the towel and looked away. “Let’s go, Fluffs.”