Earthbound Angels Part 1
Page 10
“Home sweet home,” she said in a tone dripping with derision. “Sorry, it’s not the TajMahal.”
“Are you telling me that this is where you live?” he asked, stunned.
“More or less,” she said.
All Graeme could do was shake his head. He was also surprised to find that his eyes had tears in them. Rarely did things affect him so much anymore, but this… there were no words for this situation.
This poor woman and whoever this boy was should not have been forced to live this way. No one should be forced to live this way.
As he looked around the very large room, he saw a couple of bare mattresses lying on the floor along with an assortment of blankets. There was what looked to be a propane camping stove and some things that looked like a couple of eating utensils and plates. There were boxes and other things that he was unable to identify.
“Look,” she said, her voice hard but husky, trying with difficulty to show bravado, “let me get him settled and then I’ll settle up with you.”
She took the boy by the hand again and led him over to one of the mattresses. As Graeme watched, she put his crackers and deviled ham on a plate and spoke softly to him. But her face was cold and hard again when she turned around and walked back over to him.
“Okay, follow me.”
Graeme did follow her but not for the reasons she thought. When they were out of sight of the boy, she turned to face him with a determined look on her face.
She also looked very pale. And this time, she was not looking at him.
With trembling hands, she reached for the waist of his jeans.
Graeme just couldn’t let that go on. His hands reached and gripped her wrist, stopping her from touching him.
She jumped and wide eyes flew to his face.
He lived as an angel for what constituted like eternity to humans like this woman, and that should be enough for him to feel validated about where his stood.
But as she looked at him like that, he felt like he was really a very bad person.
“No. Look, you’ve got the wrong idea. It is true that I need to talk to you, but it’s not what you think. This isn’t what I need. I wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?” she asked, not even hiding the fact about how relieved she was. Color had come back to her face, and she wanted to believe him so much that she was asking.
“What is your name?”
She frowned, and again, she looked defensive and very suspicious. “Why do you give a fuck what my name is?” she asked him crudely.
“Because I’m looking for someone and I think you may be that person. But before I can be sure, I need for you to tell me your name.”
She remained looking at him, her lips thinning, her eyes distrustful.
“Please. I promise you that you can trust me. My name is Graeme St. Paul and I’m a private investigator, not a cop. If you give me the right name, I’ve got a very wonderful surprise for you.” He made it sound as if he was going to give her money, and they both knew she needed it badly enough. “But you’ve got to tell me what your name is.”
But she wasn’t easily swayed. She still did not trust completely. “Seriously? Is game playing something that gets you off, man? What? I tell you my name and then your ‘wonderful surprise’ turns out to be you whipping your dick out of your pants and shouting ‘surprise’! I don’t think so. Now, let’s just get this over with or go the fuck away and leave us alone.”
“That’s some mouth you’ve got on you,” Graeme commented. “I wanted do this the nice way, but you’re obviously not going to let me do that. So, you really give me no choice.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded, still giving him a serious glare.
“I’m talking about the fact that all I need from you is your name. If you’ve got the right name, I’m going to change your life. Now, may I please have your name?”
“Fine,” she muttered, looking very tired suddenly. “My name’s Kiara.”
“Kiara,” Graeme repeated. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? That’s a beautiful name. May I have your last name?”
“I am Kiara Shannon,” she mumbled.
“Thank you, Kiara,” Graeme said. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. Who is that young man with you?”
“He’s my brother,” Kiara replied, still glaring at him.
“Ah, I see. I wasn’t aware that you had a younger brother. It doesn’t matter. I need for both of you to come with me, please. I’ve got some really wonderful and important information for you.”
“Why would I trust you? I don’t know you!” Kiara protested.
“Kiara, I totally understand what you’re saying. Tell me what would make you feel more comfortable about coming with me and I’ll do it. I’ve also got a pretty great place for you and your brother to hang out until we’ve got everything sorted.”
Kiara continued to stare at him with those incredible eyes. She was no more than 5’3 to 5’4 and was a tiny bit on the too slender side. But she had such amazing energy coming off of her in waves. Suddenly, it seemed as if she simply caved in.
“Fine,” she said in a defeated tone. “We’ll come with you. I don’t suppose you can do anything worse to us than others have tried. You need to understand one thing, though. I’m not quite as fragile as I look and if you do anything to hurt my little brother, I will fuck you up! Do we understand each other?”
“I swear to you that I will not hurt you or your brother,” he said in a voice soft and sincere.
She shrugged and without preamble, walked away in the direction of where her brother sat shoveling the crackers and deviled ham into his mouth. It was obvious she did not give much value to promises, and for some reason, he could not blame her. Stooping down, she spoke quietly to the boy, who looked over at Graeme and stared the rest of the time that Kiara spoke to him. Finally, he nodded and got to his feet.
“Hey, do you mind if he brings his food?” Kiara called to Graeme.
“No, I don’t mind at all. When’s the last time you’ve eaten?”
“I don’t know. Sometime yesterday I think.”
Something squeezed his heart inside his chest. “Well, he’s welcome to bring his food,” he said, then had to clear his throat because it suddenly felt too tight. “But I can assure you that I’ve got all the food you could possibly want back at my place and eating is at the top of the priority list.”
Kiara took her brother’s hand and they all went back through the opening board out onto the sidewalk. They followed Graeme as he led them back to his car. Unlocking the doors, he invited them to get inside while he made a quick phone call.
Leaning against the driver’s side door, he flipped open his cell phone and hit a number.
He waited for an answer.
Chapter Four
“HEY, HOLLI, IT’S Graeme,” he said. “Would it be possible for you to meet me at my house within about a half hour?”
“Graeme! How wonderful to hear from you! Well, Dreama and I are just leaving the bridal shop for a fitting and were going to have lunch, but we can come to your house instead. You sound like it’s important.”
“It is, and I promise you the best lunch you’ve had in a while. I need some help that requires a woman’s touch. Oh and please bring Dreama with you, too.”
Knowing that he had reinforcements on the way, he felt much better. Getting into the car, he saw that Kiara was seat belted in the front passenger seat and her brother was in the back seat.
Putting the car into gear, he eased out of the parking space and made his way out of Moon Bay.
* * *
WHEN GRAEME ARRIVED at his house with his passengers, he saw instantly that Dreama and Hollianne hadn’t made it there yet.
He had been expecting that, but he was still sort of hoping that they might beat him here. Truthfully, he wasn’t very comfortable dealing with strange women in a one-on-one situation unless that situation involved the horizontal position.
Still, he knew he needed to put on a positive and firm front so that Kiara wouldn’t try to run. Parking his car, he turned and looked at her.
“Here we are,” he said.
“Looks like you’re some sort of rich guy,” Kiara said with a hint of rancor in her voice.
“I do okay,” Graeme replied glibly. “Let’s go in and I’ll get you and your brother something to eat. What’s his name by the way?”
“Ronan,” Kiara said briefly.
Graeme looked at the boy who was still not saying anything.
“Hi, Ronan,” he said. “I’ve got a huge kitchen with a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator just inside. You can come in and help yourself to any of it that you want.”
Ronan stared at Graeme with the same violet eyes that he shared with his sister. His were partly hidden by his shaggy dark hair. Kiara took his hand, waiting to see what they were supposed to do next. Graeme wasn’t sure why Ronan didn’t talk, but he figured he could always investigate that more later.
For now, though, he felt that it was more important to get them fed and cleaned up before calling his client. So he led them inside his lovely, but huge, home.
For a second he forgot that Stella wasn’t here. When he remembered, he led the way to the kitchen himself. Kiara seemed to be in awe of the place but she hid her feelings much better than Ronan did. His mouth literally dropped open and his eyes grew wide.
Graeme walked over to the refrigerator and opened it.
“Here you go, Ronan,” he said as he gestured to the full refrigerator. “If you can’t find something you like in there, I’m sure the pantry will have whatever you want.”
He went over to the cabinets and pulled down two glasses and a couple of plates. Ronan chose a bottle of apple juice and cradled it reverently in his arms until Graeme took it from him. Pouring two glasses of ice-cold apple juice, he set them before his guests at the kitchen dinette table.
He gestured for them to sit down while he tried to figure out what to make these two for lunch.
Choosing to go on the simple side of things, he made them each cheese omelets, and bacon and cinnamon toast. Both of them ate as if they hadn’t seen food for a very long time. To be polite, Graeme made a small plate of food for himself even though he wasn’t hungry and joined them at the table. He decided to hold off on questioning them until they had eaten and were a bit more relaxed.
As he watched them, he found himself getting angrier all the time. How does something like this happen, he wondered. He knew that humanity was given everything it needed to survive. But this happened because some people let it happen. There wasn’t enough love practiced to come around.
And that had always been the problem, right?
And he had already decided he wasn’t going to be part of that problem. There’s enough love to go around, he thought as he gazed at the siblings who were able to survive this far because they love each other, without making it seem too obvious that he was at that very moment, in awe of them.
Some people, he found, knew this to be true because they practice it. That’s enough reason for him to realize there would always be a fighting chance for days that were better than the long ago days when men opted to make war, and not love.
When they finished eating, Graeme took their plates and put them in the sink. They each took more apple juice. All of them were still sitting at the table when Graeme’s doorbell rang.
Telling them he would be right back, he hurried down the hall to answer the door.
And to his vast relief, he found Hollianne and Dreama standing on the other side.
“Hey there,” Hollianne said as she gave him a hug. “The Calvary has a arrived. What’s the big emergency?”
“Yeah,” said Dreama with a friendly smile on her face.
They’d met just a few weeks ago, the day he and Simon Draco also met. Dreama was Simon’s fiancée, the love of his life. Graeme could feel that Dreama was indeed a special person, and could understand why his fellow Eartbounder fell in love with her.
He never imagined the words “falling in love”, which he had scoffed at when he was still an angel, felt so… real now, and significant. How could he not think so, seeing how happy and… and content Erick and Simon had seemed after finding these two special ladies?
It was like they had found their way home.
“You sounded like you had a real situation on your hands,” she continued.
“Come in, come in,” Graeme said, gratefully. “I’m going to try to make this brief. I was hired to find someone and I did find that person today. But it turns out that she’s homeless and is something of a mess.”
Holli looked worried. “Really? Poor girl,” she said.
He nodded, but did not try to correct her about the “girl” part. He’d just let her be the judge of that after hearing the girl cuss. “She’s also got a young teenager with her that she says is her little brother. I’ve just fed them and now I need some help in getting them cleaned up. Just come with me. You’ll see what I mean.”
The puzzled women exchanged looks as they followed him into the kitchen.
Chapter Five
AS THE TWO women took in the sight of the bedraggled duo sitting at his kitchen table, it was all they could do not to gasp and wrinkle their noses somewhat at the unwashed smell that wafted off of them.
To the ladies’ credit, they recovered quickly.
“Hi, there,” Hollianne said once they showed themselves to the siblings. “I’m Hollianne and this is Dreama. We’re friends of Graeme’s.”
The “girl” looked at them from the table. But she did not look belligerent or defensive, like she was ready to run at the next minute. Maybe she was like that with men? Good points for her. Or maybe it was because she has already eaten. Hunger could do make some people very pissy.
“I’m Kiara and this is my brother, Ronan,” she said softly.
“It’s great to meet you!” Hollianne enthused. “Now, I’ll like it very much if you’ll come with us upstairs. You look pretty tired and I bet you could use a nice, relaxing hot bath. Graeme has one of the best spa tubs ever made.”
When Kiara glanced at Ronan, Dreama was quick to jump in.
“Hey, don’t worry about Ronan!” she said. “Graeme has some of the most awesome boys’ toys you’ve ever seen. I’m quite sure that he and Ronan can find a way to pass the time.”
Kiara had to admit to herself that a bath would be a lot like stepping into Heaven, and Ronan did seem to be okay with Graeme. He didn’t take well to everyone but he did seem to be more comfortable with Graeme. She sighed. That was what had made her feel she could let this go on for a while until she finds out why they were here. If they were lucky, maybe Ronan could get a bath, too.
And she knew some days were not that simple.
Graeme nodded to Kiara as if to say that he would take care of Ronan so she got up from her chair. She stopped and told Ronan that she would be going with these two women but that she would be just upstairs if he needed her. It wasn’t clear to her why, but she trusted these people for some reason.
“Ronan,” she added, “Graeme is going to stay here with you. He’s going to take care of you so don’t be nervous, okay?”
Ronan looked at Graeme and then back at Kiara. He nodded as if he understood and agreed with her. She gave him a quick hug and then walked out of the kitchen with Hollianne and Dreama.
They climbed the wide and majestic staircase to the second floor. Hollianne led the way to Graeme’s huge master suite and into his massive ensuite. Sure enough, there was a spa tub there that could have easily held three people at once.
Hollianne set about getting the water started while Dreama helped Kiara get out of the oversized unwashed clothes she was wearing. By the time they had her comfortably in the tub with all of the best toiletries one could want, Kiara had recovered from being dazed and was a lot more relaxed with them.
They left her to bathe in private.
* * *
“Sure thing,” Dreama said. “I’ll be as quick as possible.”
Before leaving, she stopped into the Graeme’s game room where he was explaining to Ronan what an Xbox was. She pulled him over to the side and told him where she was going.
“Do you want me to pick up some things for Ronan, too?” she asked.
“Yeah, that would be a great idea,” Graeme agreed.
He went back in and examined the boy’s clothes a bit and then came back to her with what sizes he thought would work. Dreama then hurried out the door and sped away in her car.
So Graeme was left to deal with a teenage boy who apparently didn’t speak. Well, he had to start somewhere.
Graeme approached the vinyl gaming chair that Ronan was sitting in as he deftly maneuvered the controls to the game he was playing. This wasn’t something new to Graeme, as he had heard often of how children who didn’t communicate otherwise were able to flawlessly play video games. But from what he had seen so far, Graeme felt sure that Ronan was more than capable of communicating and was well aware of what was going on around him.
It was just that for whatever reason, the boy chose not to speak.
Moving another gaming chair into place beside Ronan, Graeme lowered his large frame into it and picked up another controller. Eventually, he was able to jump into the game that Ronan was playing when he turned it into a two player one.
They sat and played silently for the next hour without taking even a single break. Ronan seemed content and comfortable with this scenario so Graeme didn’t do anything to rock the boat.
* * *
DREANA RETURNED FROM her shopping trip and hurried directly back upstairs to the master bedroom.
She found Hollianne in the process of drying Kiara’s long dark hair. Kiara was currently wearing a plush navy blue robe that looked as if it belonged to Graeme because it completely swallowed her whole frame. Dreama put the many shopping bags she held onto the bed before searching through them to find the makeup she had purchased.