THE COUGAR'S BABY - 2

C H A P T E R T W O - - - - D A N I E L L A

Everything was going exactly the opposite way it was supposed to.

Dani gritted her teeth, passing the time with the tiny packages of cocaine so pure she was certain she could entertain half of Batangas with the small baggie she was carrying. Sweat was dripping down her face, licking at the delicate curve behind her ear and causing it to itch. She was irritated, and it was getting worse.

I can't believe I'm still here, she thought to herself as she tried to figure out what time it was.

It had to be after three a.m. at the very least. The sun would rise soon, and she knew she had to finish this shipment quickly if she wanted to avoid Soyo's misplaced rage. He never got too bad, but she'd gotten a few smacks in the last few months and it was getting tiresome pretending to be hurt by them.

"Are you nearly finished? " she inquired, remembering to switch from Filipino to English when addressing Roy, one of the guards on packing duty with her.

"I have no choice. I'm falling asleep here," he said flatly, his cold, dead eyes fixed on his work.

Peculiar. He'd never appeared to be the type of guy who needed to sleep. That went for the majority of the Silk Slayers, the most ridiculous name for a drug cartel she'd ever heard. But these were not your average drug dealers. Even though they had some Filipino in their blood, the majority of them were Americans, and English was as widely spoken in the camp as Tagalog.

Dani had been in the business long enough to know that such nonsense did not occur. Not in the middle of a jungle, with a large camp hidden away like busy worker bees, everyone going through their tasks mechanically at best.

Yes, the coke was good, and yes, they did move it in large shipments, but the longer Dani was involved, the more she suspected that coke wasn't the only thing they were transporting.

Of course, The Firm would not hear a word she said about it.

"You're two months behind schedule. Find out who they work for and who their main client is before leaving. "We're running out of time."

That was the last message she'd received from her handler, and it had been more than a month. Dani considered herself lucky to be alive. The Firm did not appreciate having their orders ignored or extended as she had. But she was unable to simply give up and leave. Something wasn't... right. Her jaguar senses began to tingle due to something in the air, and she was unable to let go or remove herself from the situation in order to concede defeat.

The Firm employed Daniella Jessica Rivera as a clandestine agent. This was her first significant solo mission after being with them for just over a year; it involved infiltrating the Silk Slayers to learn who they were representing. She had experience in the military and later worked for the Manila Police Department's Narcotics Division, so she was well-versed in going undercover and completing the task at hand. Dani had an impression of one of the Silk Slayers, a man named Rollo, the only member of the crew who appeared to be a genuine drug runner, the first time she met him. But this time, the plan wasn't working, which greatly frustrated her. Too rigid and tense, they were. In comparison to the mega-cartels, they are too well-funded and cautious to be a bunch of schmucks trying to strike it rich. Being more than just a runner for them, bringing small quantities of drugs across the border, had taken a long time.

It took another month after she was accepted before she was actually allowed to "graduate" from a run-down apartment to this wonderful stretch of jungle to work as a packer. It certainly helped that she could boast of having quick fingers and an excellent sense of scale for cocaine baggies, but that was a longer story.

She knew she was low on the totem pole, but she was nonetheless gradually moving up the organizational hierarchy. At least the angry fuck in charge of this particular operation, Soyo, was now prepared to look her in the eye and not treat her like some kind of elaborate wall decoration.

She was one of the few women in the area, and the absence of any awkward advances from the men was another pretty obvious flashing sign that something odd was happening.

She simply didn't know what yet.

Soyo frequently spent days away with an armored guard while traveling, coming and going constantly from the compound. When the convoy returned, they occasionally brought in sealed wooden crates filled with something that was obviously not more coke and hid it under tarps at the back of the warehouse until it was moved once more. She was never permitted to see what it was, but by this point, she was certain that it held the solution to this absurd nonsense.

You could decide to give up and return home. Sleep in a bed without mosquito netting. Eat something that isn't a vaguely defined kind of gruel. Dani allowed her gaze to wander over the individuals in the warehouse with her and thought to herself, "Wouldn't that be nice."

Ron was standing with his rifle in his hands, looking as prepared to fall on his face and sleep as he was to take out any threat that might come his way. Roy, Mar, and Louie were also packing like she was. Dani had no doubt that if she ever made the wrong move, Ron or any of the other guys would be more than happy to end her misery.

When the first explosion shook the compound, she was wiping sweat from her brow and cursing the unbearable heat.

"Wait a minute!" Shar yelled, leaping to his feet and running to the door as the rest of the bombs detonated in quick succession.

From the window, Dani could see the flames reaching high and casting shadows against the dark green jungle backdrop.

"Shit, we're getting hit," Louie hissed through clenched teeth, rising from his seat and beginning to toss the packages into a large basket on the floor. "Dani, help me," he said, drawing Dani into the situation.

She stood up and began assisting, her hands doing the work with noticeable apathy. Her mind was racing ahead of her, trying to figure out who in the world would care enough to come and attack them. Yes, drug-related cartel wars were common, but the Silk Slayers had been very careful to stay out of the spotlight, constantly moving the base to avoid anyone's radar who might have taken offense at their mere existence. They were also too small to justify such bombings and carnage.

Most of all, Dani was trying to figure out how to get her hands on a gun so she wouldn't die with the rest of these scumbags.

Mar and Ron were watching out the door as they swiftly cleared the long table. Like Dani would have anticipated from men who only knew violence, neither was sprinting outside. They chose to wait. She could not detect any fear in any of the four men present because of their rigid muscles and alert eyes. They appeared to have been anticipating this. They weren't pleased to see their camp in flames, but they were sort of... blasé about the whole thing.

Dani assisted Louie in moving the basket to the other end of the long warehouse, where he yanked open a trap door buried in the ground. Behind another safety door, there was a large silo down there with numerous baskets of tightly packed coke. Louie dragged the load inside, quickly shut the hatches, and smoothed the floor's edges.

He gently said, "So they won't get our shit," and he grabbed Dani by the arm and dragged her back to the entrance.

Dani winced at his vice-like hold but remained silent. It was already bad enough that she was stranded in the middle of a firefight with these men and had no way to sneak away and hide in the jungle until the situation calmed down. While she was at it, she didn't want to make them angry.

Louie examined his gun, his face solemn.

"Soyo will be pissed when he gets back," Shar remarked mildly, boredly watching the commotion outside.

"Good thing he got out with the shipment, then," Ron said, prompting Louie to give him a silent stare.

"Which shipment?" Dani inquired, perking up slightly.

She was vaguely aware of her hands rolling into fists and then loosening again, as if she was prepared to go ten rounds with whoever came at her. That readiness to fight, kill, or be killed was a familiar sensation. Mindanao, and then the seemingly endless missions back in Manila, had taught her to stay alert at all times.

It was difficult enough to live the life she had chosen, but as a woman she had to be especially cautious. If she was caught, her gender would have no bearing on anything. After all, a bullet to the head was a bullet to the head. So it was even more surprising that she'd allow such a slip.

It has to be the heat.

"None of your business, Dani," Louie grumbled, not looking at her.

Dani took a deep breath to center herself. She'd joined the Silk Slayers, but they didn't seem to trust her yet. She couldn't hold it against them. Such things took time. It's strange how she and a bunch of drug-running whackos got it, but her own employer, one of the world's most lauded private "security" firms, didn't.

"Who do you believe they are?" Shar inquired, his lips drawn into a thin line.

"Does it make a difference?"

"If they're coming at us with explosives, it might," Mar smirked.

He almost appeared to be drawn to the possibility.

"Does not, in reality. You are familiar with the procedure. Wait until Soyo and the rest of the crew arrive, then take care of them while remaining hidden". He started to say something while flicking a glance at Dani, "At least we don't have to worry about the..."

Dani raised her hands, took a step back, and scowled.

"Louie, hurry up. I have no idea what's happening, but I shouldn't be your concern in this situation. Not when there are a bunch of psychotic commandos running around outside attempting to destroy the camp. Should we not be assisting? ”

The last question was reasonable enough considering that at that precise moment, high-pitched screams briefly rang in Dani's ears before being masked by gunfire. Dani questioned whether the man screaming was on the side of the attackers.

They were aware of the risks, Louie said with a shrug. They grow old and pass away. It is their own issue.

Callous, Dani grimly reflected.

It didn't surprise her at all. None of these guys had particularly strong sentiments. She was by far the shortest person in the entire camp at five foot eight. They were all large, strong, and physically fit. She was aware that there were a few shifters present, but it appeared that only the senior members of their improvised management were weres of any kind. All of the foot soldiers were people, but they were still in excellent physical condition.

However, she had discovered herself in the warehouse with four of the five shifters who were present throughout the compound, with Soyo the lone absentee. Now that I think about it, it seemed like an absurd coincidence.

As a stray bullet came barreling into the building, going straight through a wall and not stopping, Ron called out, pulling Dani next to him and out of the way.

“Fuck! " Dani exclaimed. "Man, I appreciate it."

"Dani, how about you concentrate for a while on not killing yourself? Do you think you could pull that off?" Louie scoffed, giving her a look that could have set the sun on fire.

She mumbled, tucking back her long, curly black hair in an effort to prevent her hands from doing anything other than suffocating him to death. "Sure thing," she said.

Prick. I'm hoping that one day I'll be the one to shoot you in the head.

Only when they heard the distinctive sound of a truck trundling through the brush did things start to spiral out of control once more. Dani also realized very quickly that this was not your typical drug operation.