by Debra Webb
The pink ribbon fell away as she tugged at the elegant fabric. The silk puddle around the small velvet box. She held her breath. Not a ring box. Way too soon for that. She opened it. The most beautiful necklace she’ d ever laid eyes on winked at her.
The delicate silver chain held a tiny, equally delicate butterfly; its silver body glittered with tiny diamonds. It was so, so tiny and intricate.
She touched it. Her breath caught at its subtle beauty. “ It’ s exquisite,” she murmured.
He lifted her chin so that he could look directly into her eyes. “ It reminded me of you.”
Her chest tightened and she had to fight to hold back the emotions brimming behind her lashes. Okay. Slow down, girl. She’ d been through so much lately. Could she trust her emotions?
“ Like capturing a butterfly… ” He leaned closer, threaded his fingers into her hair. “ So delicate yet so strong and determined to be free. I had to come back, Kayla. Calling would never have been enough.”
“ And what do you think now that you’ re here?” Her gaze dropped to his mouth. He had the most amazing mouth. So sexy, so damned good at kissing… and a few other things.
“ That I couldn’ t let you go,” he whispered.
Kayla lifted her mouth to his. Whatever the future held for her and those she cared about… she knew for a certainty that this man would be a part of it.
Too good to be true?
God, maybe he was. But he was definitely worth the risk.
‘ I think I can deal with that,” she murmured, hope blooming in her chest. “ But there’ s something I have to do first.”
Kayla took Peter Hadden’ s hand and led him to the couch, where he sat down, looking bemused.
Then she told him everything she’ d held back from him. About Rainy, the Cassandras and their quest for justice… and Dawn. Because if she was taking this chance, she was going to do it right.
No secrets. No hidden agendas.
Nothing but the truth.
And that was a promise.
Chapter 15
January
“ I’ ll get the coffee.” Kayla jumped up from the sofa, offered a tight smile to the Cassandras and hurried to her kitchen. She braced her hands against the counter and fought to hold back the tears.
No more crying.
They had buried Marshall Carrington that day. The sun had peeked from behind the dreary January cloud cover and poured over the Tucson cemetery as his coffin was lowered into the ground next to Rainy. It still didn’ t seem right that Rainy was gone. Probably never would. But Marshall was with her now. Whatever his sins, he had loved his wife and she had loved him. Nothing else really mattered. Kayla wanted to remember Rainy and Marshall the way they had been before… on their wedding day all those years ago. Marshall had looked at Rainy and smiled before he kissed her. Everyone in the chapel could see that he loved her more than life itself.
Kayla’ s tummy did a little flip-flop when she realized that she had caught Peter looking at her in a very similar manner.
She had to look to the future now. The past was gone, dead and buried. Rainy would want them all to get on with their lives. She would be furious if any of the Cassandras failed to do so.
Kayla had to smile as she imagined Rainy saying, “ Get over it, Ryan. Life’ s too short to wallow in what can’ t be undone.”
“ Kayla.”
She looked up as Alex wandered into the kitchen to join her. “ I’ m working on the coffee.” Kayla reached for the carafe.
Alex placed a hand on Kayla’ s. “ Let’ s skip the coffee.” She draped an arm around her shoulder. “ I think we’ d all be happier if we went straight to the wine.”
Kayla hugged her friend, held on tight for a bit. It felt good to have Alex back in her life.
After the funeral they had all driven back to Kayla’ s to visit for a while. Things had gotten a little sentimental as each had recalled fond memories of time spent with Rainy. With her composure back in place, Kayla drew back from Alex’ s comforting embrace. “ I guess we’ d better get a move on or we’ re going to have a riot on our hands.”
“ I think you’ re probably right,” Alex agreed. No one had felt like having lunch prior to the service, except the kids. Jazz and Charlie, Darcy’ s five-year-old son, had stayed with Kayla’ s sister Mary and her family during the funeral. Mary had taken them out to their favorite fast-food joint.
Alex gathered fruit and cheese from the fridge while Kayla put the glasses and the bottle of wine her partner had given her for Christmas on a tray. A few dessert plates and they were good to go.
“ I thought you guys had gotten lost in there,” Darcy said as Alex and Kayla returned to the living room with their laden trays.
Kayla set her tray on the sofa table. “ We decided to skip the coffee.”
As appreciative sounds rumbled through the group and Alex poured the wine, Kayla couldn’ t help thinking how happy Darcy looked. Now that she was no longer in hiding from her abusive ex-husband, she’ d stopped dying her natural blond hair. The blond and brown combination fit right in with some of the new fad hairdos Kayla had seen in magazines recently. Not to mention the style made Darcy look five years younger… or maybe it was being in love that gave her that radiant glow. She and Jack Turner, the man in her life, were working on a partnership in a P.I./bounty hunting business. Darcy thought they might move to California for a brand new start. Thankfully, her scuzzball ex-husband, Maurice Steele, would be going on trial for murdering one of his business associates soon. Darcy, who had uncovered the murder, intended to testify against him. Good for her.
“ A toast,” Tory said, drawing Kayla’ s attention to her. Kayla noted that Tory was beaming herself. She suspected the savvy journalist’ s radiance also had to do with love, but Tory wasn’ t revealing any sources. Yet.
“ To the Cassandras,” Tory announced, holding her glass high. “ And those dear to them,” she added with a smile aimed at Elle, Sam’ s twin sister. Glasses clinked.
They had all been surprised when Sam had shown up for the funeral. As a CIA agent, Sam rarely had free time. And they’ d been shocked to meet her sister. They’ d known Sam had discovered her long-lost identical twin, but seeing the two of them side by side was startling.
Getting Marshall’ s body returned home had taken less time than they’ d expected, and no one had known until the last minute that it was actually going to happen. Kayla suspected Peter and Justin Cohen had both pulled some strings. The Millers, Rainy’ s folks, had taken care of the arrangements since Marshall had no close family of his own. Kayla had contacted the Cassandras, and thankfully they’ d all managed to make it.
“ To Rainy and Marshall,” Josie offered on the heels of Tory’ s toast.
A moment of silence punctuated Josie’ s words. Kayla imagined that all were thinking of Rainy and how very much she was still missed.
A loud series of thuds shattered the silence. Kayla’ s gaze locked with Darcy’ s. They were at Kayla’ s daughter’ s bedroom door before either of them managed to speak.
“ It’ s okay!” Jazz assured them, seeing Kayla’ s worried look as well as Darcy’ s. “ Charlie accidentally knocked my rock collection off the shelf.” Both kids were on their knees picking up Jazz’ s odd compilation of strangely shaped and colored rocks.
“ Sorry!” Charlie exclaimed with a hopeful look at his mother.
Kayla and Darcy simultaneously breathed sighs of relief. Charlie had definitely gotten over his shy stage. He was a regular, rambunctious little boy now. Good thing, too, since he’ d start school in the fall. Kayla’ s heart warmed as she considered that Jazz would start at Athena Academy. It was a big step but a good one in the right direction for Jazz’ s future.
“ Kids,” Darcy said with a chuckle as she and Kayla relaxed their protective mommy stances. “ Gotta have strong hearts to survive them.”
Kayla couldn’ t agree more.
“ Is everything all right?” Alex wanted to k
now as the two returned to the living room.
Alex, Tory, Josie, Sam and Elle all looked so concerned Kayla had to laugh out loud. “ No damage done.” She couldn’ t wait for each to have children of her own. No one really understood what it was like until it happened to them. That might very well be sooner than one would think, considering every single Cassandra now had a man in her life. One who was far more than a passing fancy. Josie had recently moved in with Diego Morel. Now that was serious. Elle, Sam’ s sister, had mentioned Riley, Sam’ s team leader, and Sam had actually blushed. Unbelievable. Who would ever have thought cool, tough CIA agent Sam would blush about anything? Kayla couldn’ t help wondering if Elle would be going to work for the CIA as well. With her connections to the Russian secret service, the SVR, Elle would make the perfect double agent.
With the toasts behind them and enough fruit, cheese and wine in her belly to make even an ever-ready cop relax, Kayla sat back and enjoyed the great company. It was so good to have them all together, in spite of the sad circumstances that had brought them here today.
“ I hope you’ ll give me an exclusive on the Predator spy plane when the testing is complete,” Tory said to Josie after the long, contemplative silence. Tory’ s news show, A Closer Look, was giving the old-timers like 60 Minutes and 20/20 a run for their money in the ratings.
“ I’ ll talk to my new commander,” Josie assured her. “ I don’ t want Shannon Conner in my hair any more, and I can’ t think of anyone I’ d rather have covering it.”
Josie had worked hard to continue the work her mother had started years ago. Thank God her mother’ s name had been cleared and General John Quincy was finally getting his due. The guy had been obsessed with Josie’ s mother. Josie had learned that he’ d sabotaged her mother’ s career all those years ago, and recently had messed with Josie’ s flight tests, causing the death of one of Josie’ s pilots. It was good to see that Josie as well as her family were happy these days. The weight of an unjust past had been lifted from their shoulders. Josie and her sister, Diana, appeared to be closer than they had been in years. Too bad Diana couldn’ t come. Josie had told the Cassandras earlier that Diana was using all her military connections to look into Lab 33. Uncovering Lab 33’ s dirty deeds was the only way they would ever know for sure what happened to any other children that may have been produced from Rainy’ s eggs, and they had no idea whether they’ d hear from Dawn again or not. Kayla shivered when she recalled how much Dawn had looked like Rainy. There was still so much to learn about what had really happened.
“ While we’ re talking about exclusives,” Alex said, turning to look at Tory, “ why don’ t you tell me what’ s going on with you and my brother.”
Uh-oh. Kayla and the others kept quiet in anticipation of Tory’ s response. Alex had mentioned that Tory had come to Thanksgiving dinner with Ben, Alex’ s brother. She suspected that Ben and Tory were hot for each other. Well, maybe she hadn’ t said it exactly that way, but Kayla knew that’ s what she meant. Anyone with eyes could see that like the others Tory had someone.
Like everyone else, Kayla had always considered Ben Forsythe to be nothing more than a devil-may-care playboy. A great guy, but certainly not the type to commit, not even to a real career. But Alex now had her suspicions. Somehow, Tory and Ben had ended up together after the whole Thomas King rescue. Could Ben’ s playboy persona be a cover for something else? Kayla couldn’ t be sure, but like Alex, she had wondered about that. Considering how Rainy’ s eggs had literally been stolen from her body without anyone’ s knowledge, anything was possible. Not that Kayla intended to become one of those conspiracy theorists but her eyes had certainly been opened.
Tory took another sip of her wine then smiled mysteriously for Alex, “ I never kiss and tell, Alex. How about you? How’ s the legendary Dark Angel?”
Giggles erupted through the group, as much maybe from the warm fuzzy feeling of the wine as from Tory’ s challenge. The Dark Angel was a nickname for Justin Cohen, stemming from the two times he’ d broken into Athena Academy as a young man, searching for answers about his sister’ s death. Alex was the one blushing this time. She and Justin’ s relationship, though a long-distance one, was still going hot and heavy.
“ Let’ s just say,” Alex returned smugly, “ that despite our geographical differences Justin and I are quite happy.”
“ So we all have serious love interests,” Sam suggested, accidentally, or maybe not, giving away the depth of her own feelings.
Kayla poured herself another splash of wine. “ Guilty,” she allowed. No reason not to ’ fess up. It was the first time she had admitted out loud that what she and Peter had was serious. Now that she had, it felt good. Jazz’ s father was behaving himself, had apparently learned his lesson and wanted to be a good father for the first time. There was no reason why Kayla couldn’ t have a serious relationship and be proud of it.
Alex thrust out her glass. “ Let’ s have one last toast,” she announced. “ To the Promise.”
Each woman present, including Elle, who probably knew of the Cassandra Promise from her sister, lifted her glass.
“ Wait!” Tory held up a hand. She looked a little guilty or maybe a little humbled by the mention of the Promise. “ Before we do that, let me say to Alex,” she looked directly at Alex then, “ that Ben is— ” Tory sighed, unable to hide from anyone in the room the way she felt about Ben— the mere mention of his name had proven telling “ — is far more than meets the eye. Just so you don’ t think you’ re imagining things,” she added for Alex’ s benefit.
A smile slid across Alex’ s face. “ I knew it.”
“ To the Promise,” Kayla repeated, drawing all eyes to her. “ And to the Cassandras!” She looked from one familiar face to the next, pausing a moment on the newest member of the group. Elle might not have attended Athena Academy with them, but she was a part of them now, just as Diana was. “ The old and the new.”
Sounds of agreement underscored one last clinking of glasses.
Not one of those present would ever forget what the Cassandra Promise stood for. They would always be there for each other, wherever life took them. Just a phone call away.
Don’ t miss the next
ATHENA FORCE adventure,
DECEIVED, by Carla Cassidy,
available in January 2005
at your favorite retail outlet.
ISBN: 1-55254-666-7
ATHENA FORCE: BOOKS 1-6
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