Daughter of the Alien Warrior - Honey Phillips
Chapter One
Jade reached out and turned off the 5:00 a.m. alarm before it could ring. She hadn’t been sleeping; she rarely did anymore. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and started her morning routine. Fifteen minutes of strength training, thirty minutes on the treadmill—her daughter’s name echoing in her head with every step—and a final fifteen minutes of yoga, practiced for control rather than the serenity she had lost.
After a quick shower, she pulled on black yoga pants, a sports bra, and tank, then tucked her short dark hair under a matching black hoodie. As she moved along the upstairs hallway in the huge empty house, past the bedrooms she had once hoped to fill, she paused at the door to her daughter’s room. Her eyes went to the empty crib as they did every morning.
I’m going to find you, baby.
The coffeemaker finished brewing as she arrived in the kitchen. She filled up the waiting thermos, grabbed a protein bar that she would have to force herself to eat, and headed for her big black Escalade. The last thing she did before she left the house was strap on her gun.
As she pulled out of the driveway, the car clock read 6:15.
When she arrived at the city park, the parking area was empty. Good. That meant no one was in danger. She parked at one end of the lot and took a sip of coffee as the sky began to lighten. In earlier years, she would have enjoyed the sight, but her husband was dead and her daughter was missing and there was no joy left in her world.
As she got out of the car to begin her rounds, she paused. The air was still, not even a whisper of birdsong breaking the silence. The hair on her neck stood up, and then she smiled. Perhaps today her hunt would be rewarded. Slipping into the edge of the woods next to the walking trail, she waited.
Ten minutes later, two minivans pulled into the parking lot. Ashley and Naomi always walked on Wednesday mornings. They were both young, pretty. Trophy wives, she thought dispassionately as she watched them pull out the latest model jogging strollers and buckle in their babies. Normally, they chattered and laughed like the missing birds, but today, the oppressive silence seemed to be affecting them as well.
After a short discussion and several nervous looks around, they headed down the sidewalk. They liked to take the long way around and come back by the lake. She followed them silently, determined not to let them out of her sight.
They kept a brisk pace, darting nervous glances around, but there was only the silent park and Jade slipping along behind them, unobserved. By the time they reached the lake meadow, they were almost jogging, anxious to get back to their cars. The mist off the lake was even thicker than normal, cloaking the area in white shadows, and Jade closed in, no longer worried about being seen.
A muffled cry came from in front of her and she ran, arriving in time to see a man in a black suit bending down over one of the women while another reached for the stroller.
“No!” she yelled. “You’re not taking another baby.”
She pulled out her gun and flicked off the safety. The year of training was about to pay off.
“Put the baby down and back away.”
The barest whisper of sound came from behind her, and then there was a hand over hers as long, cold fingers, too many fingers, tried to wrestle the gun from her grip. She instinctively clenched her hand, determined not to lose the weapon, and there was a loud bang. Before she had time to register the shot, a sharp pain bit into her neck. The gun dropped from her limp fingers as the world started to spin. The last thing she saw before she descended into darkness was Ashley and Naomi floating away across the meadow.
As Jade struggled back to consciousness, she reached instinctively for her gun but found only the empty holster. Fuck. That wasn’t good. The last thing she remembered was being by the lake. What happened to her?
Her head ached and there was a lingering pain in her shoulder, but she didn’t sense any other injuries. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to use her other senses to gather information about her surroundings. The air was cool and dry with a slight medicinal odor. She heard a faint sob, and then a minute later, a