Deadly Designs (Design Series) (10 page)

"Good. Make yourself another one. Stay quiet, and I'll be back quick." She locked the door on her way out and headed to the bathroom. After one of the hottest, fastest, yet most satisfying showers Storey could ever remember having, she dressed in clean clothes, brushed her teeth and packed a travel bag. She didn't know when she'd be back again.

Once inside her bedroom, she paused. They were still eating. All of them.

The loaf of bread was almost gone. The meat was; the cheese almost was. Wow. She'd need to go raid the kitchen again. And soon. Yet, she couldn't help feeling that time was running out. They needed to go to Paxton's lab and get help.

She made a fast trip to the kitchen, constantly looking over her shoulder in case her parents came home. What could she take that they could eat while traveling? That she hadn't grabbed the first time, that is. The cupboard revealed grain crackers, flatbread and a package of tortillas. The second pass through the fridge harvested another package of cheese, leftover cooked chicken breasts, and more apples. Snatching up a shopping bag, she loaded it with everything. Then, going to the sideboard, she snatched up a bunch of perfectly ripe bananas. In one last pass, she collected as many of the packages of crackers as she could fit into the bag, a container of cheese spread, a spare jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jam. Snatching up several knives from the kitchen drawer, she hauled the groceries back upstairs and while the others all watched with great interest, she packed what she could in her backpack and then a second backpack for Eric to carry.

Heaving a sigh of relief she put on her sweater, and picked up another sketchbook before turning to Tammy. She realized that the little girl didn't have much to wear. Her face was badly in need of a washing and her shirt was grubby and torn. Would anything in Storey's closet fit her? Tammy was shorter but heavier, so…maybe. She rummaged in her bottom drawers for t-shirts and a pullover in case she got cold. Thank heavens it was still summer weather here.

"Eric, we need to get going. The bathroom is down the hall. I'm going to get her changed and pack a few spare items for her."

"Right. You do realize we're going to have trouble carrying all this."

Storey scanned the full bags. Was it enough? For how long? "I know. But did you see how much she ate? Do you want her running out of food and not be able to give her something? Not to mention her pet?"

He rolled his eyes. "Back in five."

Storey cleaned up the empty food packages, shaking her head at the sheer quantity of food they'd consumed. As she reached for the cheese, Tammy made a funny sound and held out her hand.

"More?" Tammy's voice thick and uncertain as the single word rolled out of her mouth. But it was understandable.

Storey grinned and broke off a decent sized piece for her. The rodent sat up on its back legs and looked at her expectantly. Storey sighed and broke off a smaller piece. She held it out and the rodent reached out to take it gently from her fingers. Maybe it was tame after all. They hadn't had a great first meeting and nothing since had endeared one to the other. But there was nothing like feeding an animal to make it a little friendlier. She wondered if Tammy had a name for it?

Standing up, she put the garbage in the can in her room, then packed the remaining food in the overstuffed bags. And went about trying to get Tammy into cleaner clothes.

Tammy didn't object, thankfully, but she made a weird mess of noises as she felt the different materials and colors. Her face lit up when Storey brought over the purple hoodie. Getting her into it and the zipper done up, was another issue altogether. Everything was so different to her; she kept playing with the zipper.

Leaving her to it, Storey spun around in her room, looking for something she'd had for her old guinea pig who'd died almost eight years ago. Stashed somewhere should be a small harness with bells and silver studs on it connected to a leash somewhere. Storey hadn't been able to get rid of it all these years. It really was time to clean up and clean out her childhood.

There. She grinned. The harness and leash hung on the back of the hanging clothes. Dragging it out, she eyed the rodent and the size of the leash when Eric walked in. His face lit up in understanding.

He grinned. "I'm so going to enjoy watching you put that on him."

"Him?"

"I don't know if it's a him or a her and I'm not checking, but you can do the honors."

Storey smirked, letting a little evil show through. "Except we really have to get going and Tammy needs to be taken to the bathroom and have her face washed. So which job do you want?"

His laugher fell away as he understood the choices. "That is so not fair." But he held out his hand in resignation.

Storey motioned for Tammy to come with her, and she led her out into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind them so Eric could do his job. In the bathroom, she spent more than a few minutes trying to show Tammy what she was supposed to do and how. Finally, giggling so hard she had tears in her eyes, Tammy got it. Storey grabbed a washcloth, warmed it up in hot water and set about scrubbing the little girl's face. By the time they were both done, the girls had laughed themselves silly. And the unmistakable odor surrounding the little girl was much improved.

Feeling better, Storey led Tammy back to the bedroom, ready to go to Paxton's place next. Opening the door to her bedroom, she found Eric sitting on the bed, the rodent happily playing with the leash, the harness buckled securely around his chest. Tammy grinned and ran over to look at the fancy chain and the colorful ribbons.

"If he's a boy, he might not appreciate the color," Storey said.

Eric looked at her, his head tilted to one side and said, "Huh?"

Storey rolled her eyes and said, "Forget it. A human joke. That's all."

He quirked one eyebrow at her. "So are we ready, or do you want to wait until your parents return?"

Even as the last of the words rolled out of his mouth, she heard the sound of a vehicle driving up the driveway. "Oh shit." Storey ran to the window to make sure, but there they were. She winced. Both of her parents were exiting the vehicle.

"Time to go. Eric, you first. And take Tammy and her pet with you."

"This is only going to take us to Stanshore Mine though, you know that. We might not be able to get out of there."

"Paxton will have the crossing monitored, and we'll be close enough to contact him." She gave him a little push, hearing her parents entering through the front door. "Go, go, go. I don't want them to find out. They'll never let me leave again."

"They won't be able to stop you as long as you have the stylus," he reminded her.

"Yeah, thanks for that." She was already scribbling a note on a piece of school paper. "What are you waiting for? Get moving," she whispered. Eric shouldered the largest backpack and held out his hand for Tammy. Storey picked up the rodent and as one they stepped into the portal.

In a flash they were gone. "Thank goodness for that." She took a quick look around. It was obvious someone had been in her room, there was no way to help that. Storey dropped the note on her bed. Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, she grabbed the other backpack, and hanging onto a corner of her portal picture, she entered, dragging the paper through with her. She didn't dare leave it behind for her parents to accidentally fall through.

The last thing she heard, was her mother's hopeful voice calling her, "Storey, honey, is that you?"

And the sound of the door opening followed by her mother's gasp of surprise.

Then all Storey could see was blackness.

They'd gotten out just in time. As much as relief pulsed through her, so too did a pang of homesickness. Her mother didn't deserve this. Surely she could have stayed behind long enough to reassure her that everything was okay. But she wouldn't have understood and Storey couldn't explain, not now, and not in any way that would do any good.

Maybe that note would help ease her mother's pain.

Or maybe not.

S
torey landed off center and fell forward onto her knees. "Shit."

Eric stepped forward and grabbed her elbow. "Are you okay?"

It took her a moment, but then she stood up unsteadily, more from the panic of leaving and the remorse of hurting her family than her fall. "I'm fine. My mother walked in as I left."

"She didn't see you, did she?"

"No. I just heard her call and the door open as I went through." Storey sighed, already wishing she'd stayed and said something. "Maybe I should have stayed and explained things to her."

"Do you really think you could have?"

"No." And she didn't. Still, the warm concern in Eric's voice made her straighten and smile reassuringly at him. Fatigue lined his face. He hadn't had it easy either, this last week. Unlike her, he hadn't had a shower.

And somehow, Tammy had gone from standing beside him to riding piggyback. Eric didn't appear to mind, even when the rodent sat up on his shoulder to stare down at Storey.

She had to grin. Eric had gained two friends. Turning around, she scanned the familiar mine. "Any idea if your codex will work here?"

"It should. It's a number code only for there. If you're ready, let's go before Paxton wonders what we're doing here." He started punching in numbers. The resulting musical ringtones made her chuckle. How many times had she heard those? They almost sounded like a homecoming party. Seeing the start of the black fog rising around their ankles, she stepped closer. "Hope this works."

Through the deafening stillness, he said, "Me too."

She shuddered at the thought of anything else going wrong. Honest to God, she needed something to go right for a change.

"We're here." Eric's warm, comforting voice had her opening her eyes to see his staring into hers, amusement lighting their dark depths. Her response was instant. A warm smile unfurled. "Sorry, I'm still not used to that." Tammy's huge saucer eyes staring at her, her arms wrapped in a vice grip around Eric's neck.

"Easy, Tammy. It's all right." Storey reached a soothing hand to stroke Tammy's knee, feeling some of the rigidity leave her stocky frame.

He stretched his neck slightly, easing the tightness. "Is she okay? She's getting heavy."

"Harrumph."

Eric and Storey stilled and turned as one to stare at Paxton. Storey grinned and threw herself into his arms. "Paxton!"

He flushed multiple shades of white and pink, his arms closing awkwardly around her. "Storey, what happened to you?"

She pulled back, her smile flashing even brighter at his obvious embarrassment. She couldn't help looking around, delighted to see the familiar lab. Everything pristine white, all surfaces bare and clean, monster-sized monitors filling the room so he and his assistants could track all activity regarding dimension crossings.

"It's so great to be back here. I know I wasn't gone for long, but it seemed like forever."

"But where were you?"

"In the Louer dimension. Compliments of your leader, I believe," she added darkly.

His eyes widened in horror. "Oh dear. I'd so hoped he wasn't involved." Paxton lifted his head to look at Eric, his face pale, his eyes disturbed. "Eric?"

Storey was looking at Paxton when it happened. He bolted backwards, his eyes widening in horror. His jaw worked but no sound came out.

"Oh no. Here it comes." Eric tried to shift Tammy off his back so he could explain her presence to Paxton. Immediately the horrific wailing erupted from her mouth.

"Oh God, Eric, we have to make her stop." Storey raced over. "Tammy, stop. It's all right. Please stop."

Tammy buried her face against Eric's back and screamed at the top of her lungs. Storey reached into her backpack for the cheese she'd put in at the end. Ripping off a chunk, she held the piece out to Tammy. "Here, Tammy, cheese."

Tammy's head tilted her way, her nose wrinkled in spite of the piercing noise still coming out of her mouth. Her eyes opened and her gaze latched on to the cheese. Instantly the noise stopped as she started eating the treat with tiny bites.

Eric's shoulders slumped with relief. "I don't know what you gave her, but please tell me you have enough to keep her happy until she's returned to her parents."

Storey laughed. "Yeah, that I can't do. I'm hoping she'll take other food too, though." She held out her arms to Tammy and with a gamin grin, Tammy dropped like a stone from Eric's back and ran to Storey, wrapping her arms around her middle.

Groaning, Eric straightened. "She is not a lightweight."

"What…what is she?" Paxton cleared his throat several times, his gaze locked on Tammy's face. He shook his head. "No, she can't be."

Eric walked over to his old mentor. "Paxton, it's okay. She's only a child." He quickly explained, ending with, "She was the only Louer left in her complex. We couldn't leave her there."

Paxton's head had swiveled from Eric's face to Tammy's and back again several times. There was no softening in his features at the explanation, but Storey could see his mind spin with the options. "We couldn't leave her behind, Paxton. She had no food, no clothing, no one."

With another quick shift to look at Storey, Paxton asked, "Why didn't they go back and get her?"

Eric looked over at Storey. "According to Storey's stylus, there's something wrong with the portal. They can't return to their old world. Effectively cutting off both groups from each other. The complex where we found her is empty. I doubt she knows about any other complexes given her age. I'm sure she'd have died if we'd left her."

At Eric's last words, some of the rigidity in Paxton's spine and his shoulders relaxed slightly. Thank heavens for that. Paxton wasn't the boss here, but he held a lot of power.

"Thank you for understanding." Storey did appreciate it. As she'd already found out, having Paxton on her side was huge.

Paxton said, "You're going to take her home?" It wasn't a question as much as statement of fact.

"Well—"

But Storey cut Eric off in midsentence. "Yes. I'm going to take her back to her family."