Hello everyone! New story time! This is called The Great Escape

With his relationship with T-Bone at a crisis point, Razor finds an unexpected friend in his rival Gabriel. Meanwhile, a seemingly simple investigation places Felina in a dangerous situation...as well as fighting conflicting feelings.

Author's notes: The third story in the Razor/Felina saga! I hope everone has enjoyed the ride.

Syndicate Boss Xiao Ling is back in this story. And it's helpful to remember he's the boss and a prominent Mao City katizens. And also remember his interest in Felina...

Thanks to ulyferal for the beta!

As always, I welcome your comments and reviews.

Enjoy!

AkaneKitty

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The Great Escape

Survivor's Guilt

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Siamesetown District, Megakat City

Lieutenant Felina Feral stepped out of the backseat of her driven car, glad she wore dark sunglasses. Partially to block out the bright sun, but mostly to hide a ugly darkening bruise just under her left eye. She hadn't been able to fully cover the bruise with makeup.

Trying not to feel sorry for herself, she glanced down at her outfit. She wore a black, fitted dress which stopped a few inches above her knee with small slits cut up the sides. Wanting her arms to be covered, Felina had thrown a black bolero jacket over the top of the dress, wore modest heels and added, a small, black, clutch purse to complete her look. Hopefully the ensemble wasn't too showy for a wake.

I should have just worn my dress uniform, Felina mused, then shook her head. No, I'm on administrative leave due to recent events so it wouldn't be proper to wear it.

However, she did wish she'd something a bit more in keeping with a wake, but neither her uncle or her fellow Enforcers would let her out of their sight. What was worse, she couldn't get away to speak to or see Razor either.

Shaking her head, Felina let her annoyance go and focused on where and what she was doing now. She'd never been to a Siamese wake before and the last thing she needed was to offend Hu's family by being distracted. Hu, the unfortunate victim, was Xiao's personal driver. Crud, I hope I don't do anything that might be considered offensive either.

A car door slamming behind her broke Felina's train of thought. Her driver, a fresh faced, young sergeant, threw up a brisk salute to her. "I'll be waiting here when you're finished, Lieutenant."

Felina saluted back, feeling a tad silly since she was out of uniform. "Thank you, Sergeant."

Head down, she quickly crossed the street to get to the Siamese Botanical Gardens. Enforcer officers were on hand to keep an inquisitive public and press corps at bay and keep the wake private for the deceased's family. As she crossed the Enforcer controlled perimeter, questions from the press corps were flung her way.

"Lieutenant! Any comment about your harrowing escape?"

"Will the Enforcers work with the Mao City consulate to prevent further kidnappings?"

Ignoring them, Felina breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached the iron gates of the gardens and walked through. Although she never had the time to visit them, Felina found the Siamese Botanical Gardens beautiful. Signs, with Siamese markings, lined the trail to the main building where the wake was being held. Siamese kittens dressed in somber clothing ran around the garden's grounds, playing with each other.

Pangs of guilt suddenly stabbed at Felina's heart as she realized she didn't know if Hu had kittens. She almost gave into a wave of grief but shook it off immediately.

Stop it! Pull yourself together! You still need to pay your respects to Hu's widow. Break down later...in private, she told herself sternly then set her face in the proper expression of public mourning as she walked down the path toward the center and entered the building.

Pulling off her sunglasses and slipping them into her clutch, her nose was immediately assailed by the sharp scent of incense. Staring around, she saw the center's atrium had been transformed into a place suitable for a wake. Funeral wreaths, complete with Siamese writings, surrounded a casket placed in the center of the space. A Siamese tom, who Felina assumed was a monk due to the robes he wore, stood by the casket and chanted something in low tones. There were also a few Siamese kats dressed in black wandering about, talking quietly amongst themselves.

She soon spotted Hu's widow seated in front of the casket, dressed in severe black. She was a petite she-kat and looked understandably frail. Steeling herself and fighting the compulsion to turn around and run, Felina walked over to Mrs. Hu. A Siamese she-kat attending Mrs. Hu spotted Felina first and gently tapped the widow on her shoulder before quietly excusing herself.

As Felina stopped in front of her, Mrs. Hu looked up with red rimmed, blue eyes. Felina took in a deep breath and let it go before saying, "Mrs. Hu, I am Felina Feral." No Lieutenant designate. Her title wasn't important in situations such as this. "I-I'm so sorry for your loss." Her voice shook ever so slightly with nerves. Clutching her purse tightly, Felina steeled herself for any outburst that Mrs. Hu might make. Not blaming her if she did. But, to her surprise, she felt a soft paw grasp hers, forcing her to look up.

"I know who you are Lieutenant." Mrs. Hu's voice, although sounding very tired, was also soft and soothing. "This was not your fault. It lies with Hu's murderers."

"But..."

"How could you have known such a thing would happen? My husband was killed, but you saved his employer Mr. Ling by yourself." Mrs. Hu blinked away tears and released Felina's paw. "So please don't blame yourself."

Before she could respond to that incredibly, understanding remark, movement behind her caused Felina to turn her head in time to see Xiao enter the atrium, his sister Naomi on his arm. Both wore black, with Liam in an obviously expensive suit but Naomi opting for a more modest dress. Accompanying the pair were bodyguards dressed in suits obviously designed to hide their guns. It was apparent Xiao had hired private security following his ordeal. Even though his face showed no trauma she knew he had to be sporting bruises to his torso along with the bullet wound to his right arm.

Felina watched Xiao and Naomi approach the alter close to the monk. She was struck by how the mood in the room changed. It was like a king had walked into a room full of commoners. The way the other Siamese and even Hu's widow changed their demeanor when he entered the room was very intriguing and made the handsome tom sexy. Was this how things were in Mao City?

As Felina fought some residual feelings, Xiao plucked an incense stick from its holder, lit it, and placed it with other burning sticks. Breaking away from Naomi he walked toward Mrs. Hu, so Felina stepped aside. Bowing deeply in front of her, he began speaking softly in Siamese. Fresh tears sprung up in Mrs. Hu's eyes.

"Hu was a great employee. He was considered family to us." Xiao said switching to English, mostly for Felina's benefit, coming out of his bow. "He will be missed."

Ms. Hu dabbed tears from her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Ling. You honor us with your presence."

"You honor me as well," he murmured quietly to her before turning away to glance over at Felina. His sister had drifted close and now stood behind him. "Do you have a moment?" He asked Felina.

Felina shrugged modestly. "I'm not pressed for time."

"Good." Turning to his sister, he said, "Naomi, will you please go over what we discussed regarding Hu's pay with his wife? I'm going to talk to the Lieutenant outside in the garden." Xiao cast a backward glance at his bodyguards and said pointedly, "Alone." One bodyguard opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and clamped it shut, bowing instead.

Accepting Xiao's offered arm, Felina linked hers through his and let herself be led out of the atrium. "You sure about leaving your bodyguards behind?" Felina asked, concerned.

"Quite sure." Xiao replied. "I have you."

Nothing else was said as they both entered the garden's grounds. The kittens still playing nearby noticed Xiao and withdrew to play in a place further away. Spotting a bench, Xiao guided Felina over to it, allowing her to sit down before taking a seat himself.

"I do hope your bodyguards are registered with the Enforcers," Felina commented after a moment's silence. "I don't want you to get in trouble with the law."

A brief look of amusement crossed Xiao's face. "No, I wouldn't want that."

"So how are you? We were separated as soon as we landed."

"Luckily my bullet wound didn't cause much damage, although it did hurt like hell. And my torso is going to be sore for days. You?"

Felina leaned back against the bench. "I've had better days."

"True." Xiao paused, looking thoughtful. "I, uh, never thanked you properly for saving my life."

"Part of the job."

"I doubt your job extends to when you're off duty. Especially on our date."

Felina laughed lightly, feeling her mood improve. "You'd be surprised."

"Nonetheless, I'd like to make it up to you."

"You don't have to..."

"I insist. Besides..." Xiao softly placed a paw against Felina's face, gently cupping her bruised cheek. "Don't you want to know how the evening would have ended?"

In that instance, Felina's conflicting feelings over Xiao and Razor overwhelmed her survivor's guilt. Just how did she get herself into this position?

It was only a mere week ago she was grumbling about being pulled from Gunny's arms to work a seemingly simple robbery case in Siamesetown...