The Tiger's Mail Order Mate (Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Jade White Page B

voice said from her right.
     
    “I’m just getting comfortable.  These zap straps are making my hands go numb.” She quipped.
     
    “Cut them off and cuff her hands to the hand rests.” She heard Bankes say from a seat in front of her.
    She felt a tug on her arm and heard a knife cutting plastic.  Her hands sprung free and she placed them voluntarily on each armrest.  She felt the cold metal of handcuffs on each wrist snap shut with a click, securing her to the seat.  “Looks like I’m safe and sound.  How am I supposed to duck in case of a crash?” Sonja said sarcastically.
     
    “Don’t worry about that.” Bankes retorted.  “We have one of the best pilots in Blackwater flying us today.  You have no idea how much this cost me. My expense account is maxed out right now, thanks to you two running away.”
     
    “How did you find us?” 
     
    “It definitely wasn’t easy.  You lived up to your reputation in that respect.” Bankes said.  “It was the Chinese secret service guy you talked to.  He folded like a house of cards when we barged into his office.  You see, the NSA has surveillance in every foreign intelligence office, especially those that are known to be either ambivalent or hostile to American interests.  We just asked them to keep an extra ear out for anywhere you two might pop up. and voila, we found you.”
     
    “How the hell did you get here so fast from Hawaii, anyway?  We’ve only been here for about...”
     
    “You were in the area for more than enough time for this jet to fly here, for us to apprehend you and get this plane ready for the next leg; I’ll just leave it at that.”
     
    She felt pushed back in her seat as the plane accelerated and launched from the runway.  “Fair enough.  Since you’ve got me where you want me, tell me a little bit more about Russell? You were the one to raise him, after all.”
     
    “Yeah, you should know a bit more about him.  You probably got to know him a bit better on the cruise ship that you stowed away on.  Don’t worry, this won’t be erased from your memory.  It will be in the part of your brain that just keeps it as second knowledge.  The inkling that you should know how you know but you can’t put your finger on it, that’s what this will be.”
     
    “Wonderful...” Sonja replied, dryly.  She wondered what kind of brainwashing they would subject her to.  Panthenol was absolutely useless, her system cleared out any and all drugs administered to her within minutes.  The KGB did rigorous testing on her regarding that. 
     
    “Russell is almost too kind for his own good.” Bankes began.  “There have been some missions where we really needed to prod him to get the objective neutralized, even in tiger form, he has a strong conscience.  We tried to limit his attachment to his surrogate, well, his mother, but she ran away with him soon after he was born.  It took us almost two years to find him, and by then it was too late.  The attachment was there and empathy and caring was already in place.”
     
    “Wait, how did she manage to escape?”
     
    “I don’t know, thirty years ago we didn’t have the tracking and surveillance technology we have now.  She managed to break out of our facility in the dead of night and get enough money for a last minute plane ticket to New Delhi.  Once she was there, she was back to her caste and no one paid any   attention to her.”
     
    “She was Dalit?” Sonja asked.
     
    “Yep.  Dalit caste.  No one even looked sideways at a Dalit woman with a baby, that’s why it took two years to find her.  She was good at what she did, almost a ghost.  Russell inherited his ability to blend in and not be noticed in the human jungle from her.”
     
    “Sounds like you misjudged her intelligence as well.” Sonja was smirking underneath her black hood.
     
    “Yes we did.  We took the Indian Government at their word that members of the Dalit caste were, for lack of a better