Wicked After Dark: 20 Steamy Paranormal Tales of Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Mina Carter

  “I think I know what you mean. If I can just let myself soak up those good experiences I would probably have an easier time dealing with my fear, for lack of a better word, of just being more open. You too. Everything you just said applies exactly the same way to your own life. Maybe you should try to practice what you preach.”

  She wasn’t trying to be mean or callous with her words, simply trying to get him to see that they weren’t so different after all.

  “Wow! Who would have guessed that sitting here we’ve just saved a small fortune on therapy sessions by using the Lexi and Ryan method?” He laughed to lighten the mood.

  “Another thing that I’ve finally learned about you is how you came to have that British accent.” Ryan observed.

  “It’s pretty watered down by now I think. Anyway, we were fortunate that our parents had left us enough money plus life insurance to allow us to live decently. There was also plenty of money to pay Kate’s college tuition and mine when I was old enough. About a year after the plane crash an American came along, Kurt. He was there to talk with us to see what we knew about our parents work. I guess the American intelligence community had an interest in their work for some reason. Much of the work our parents did was in the Middle East, but also in Russia near the Black Sea. The rumor Kurt said he heard was that they had uncovered something by accident. Some evidence that someone, perhaps the old Soviet KGB, had killed a large number of people and buried the bodies in a mass grave. I don’t know too much more about that or if the CIA ever determined that they had come across a crime scene of some kind. I know there was never anything on the news about it and if we asked Kurt if he heard anything more, well he would just say that he hadn’t heard another thing about it.”

  “So that was the first time you or Kate ever met Kurt?”

  “Yeah. That was how Kurt came into our lives. Even though Kurt was about ten years older than Kate, they hit it off immediately. Kurt was working in England then so they spent a lot of time together and became very close. As soon as Kate graduated from the university she and Kurt were making plans to move to the U.S. Next thing I know we were in Virginia where Kurt’s new position was. They got married and I went to high school in Virginia. Kate went right into grad school and worked towards her dream. After high school I went to college as well except I didn’t end up an archaeologist like Kate. I studied English and completed my bachelor’s degree. I was looking for an opportunity to make use of a degree in English and about a year ago, I came across a realty listing for a small bookstore in Dillon Montana. I figured it would be perfect for me. Well I don’t know about the location, because I could barely find Montana on a map when I made an offer on the place.”

  She thought back over her excitement at the time. She was so happy to find the ideal place to start her own dreams and life.

  “I took the remainder of the money I had in the bank and decided to buy the store and an old farmhouse outside of town. I didn’t even think twice. I also liked the fact that it was pretty far from the East Coast, the only place I have lived in the states. I teach a few writing workshops at the community college there as well.” She laughed.

  “I have the most uneventful boring life you can imagine. Sorry I don’t have any fantastic stories about grenade slinging monkeys to share. The highlight of last year was signing up for Yoga classes and tanning sessions. Anyway, I haven’t heard much from Kate in the past six months and now, of course, not at all. I feel awful that I didn’t keep in better contact with her.”

  A loud sigh escaped as she thought more about Kate. Her fear for her sister had subsided some, but not enough. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fully believe that Kate was fine and dandy until she was standing next to her. Even then she was going to have to poke her or maybe even slap the shit out of her for dragging her into this. Or thank her.

  “So that’s about it. Oh and I have a black fluffy cat named Allie and a very good best friend Marcie. No other family just us. Um, just throwing this one more thing out there. No boyfriend, I’ve never had one. The only dates I’ve ever gone on ended up in such a disaster that I have sort of dropped out of that game. So now you know my awkward secret. And now I have this mysterious adventure suddenly tossed into my lap. One things is for sure though, if Kate needs me I sure as hell am not letting her down. She’s the only family I have left. So I guess it’s just you and me Kid!” She smiled at the word play on Ryan’s last name, and realized that in one conversation she had shared more with Ryan than anyone else she had ever met.

  Chapter Five

  RYAN MOTIONED FOR her to come back inside. He flicked on the monitors that brought up maps of the Middle East. “Here’s what I’m wondering about. You see Kate is purposefully traveling and communicating like she is worried that someone, other than the two of us, will be looking for her. Kate’s letter made a point to say she was in Israel visiting Dr. Jakub Meier. Why would she mention that to you? If she wanted you to just bring her the coin, she could have said to bring it to her directly and eliminated that detail. Of course the letter is incomplete. We have to consider there may have been a reason for it, other than some mail sorting machine that chewed it up.”

  Lexi cut him off, “I guess I hadn’t considered she would have made the letter incomplete on purpose. What reason could she possibly have to do that?”

  “Well if she did it on purpose it would be so she didn’t have to explain any more than she needed to, in case someone tried to intercept it. Or the mail sorter just got hungry. I really don’t know.” Ryan kept one possibility to himself and that was perhaps Kate was forced to write the letter. “To play it safe we need to follow Kate’s trail and see if we can find out if someone is following her or something.”

  “Really? Who the hell would be tracking Kate? Why? Is that why someone grabbed me at the airport?” The concern in Lexi’s voice had risen the pitch of her voice.

  “Okay first, those guys that grabbed you were just common thugs. You looked and acted like an easy target to them. Unfortunately kidnappings are still a very real problem in Medellin even after the major cartel was broken up. There are plenty of the lower level cartel bums that got left out in the cold after the bosses were taken down, and these guys resort to kidnappings as a way to make a living. So although it is unlikely that your kidnapping had anything to do with Kate, we have to be vigilant and at least consider that if someone is following Kate, they could be watching you.”

  He noted the look of concern on her face at the mention of her or her sister possibly being followed. He was certain that she didn’t understand why anyone could want anything to do with either of them. He would do what he could to ease her into his theory as gently as he could.

  “The reasons for someone following Kate? Well, maybe that coin is very valuable. They may know she has knowledge of its whereabouts and they are watching to see if she is going to retrieve it. There could be one more thing, Kurt’s death. Despite what I told you about honor and suicide, I have to tell you something else. The number one way for our government to permanently silence someone is by killing them and making it appear to be a suicide. It has become the M.O. for the CIA and many other groups. That does concern me. It also concerns me that Kurt went to Israel. Did he visit Doctor Meier? If so, why? What was Kurt’s tie to the coin? Perhaps we don’t even need to know, but if we are going to see your sister I want to know who this doctor is. I am pretty confident that Kate is directing us to the doctor.”

  “You know, Kate never believed that Kurt died of a suicide. I’ve wondered about it, but the evidence was pretty clear. He still had the gun that killed him in his hand. They even tested his hand to see if he fired the gun himself. What other conclusion could there be?”

  “Trust me Lexi. Anything is possible if the people running the investigation were also involved in the death. In any case, if Kate is convinced it wasn’t suicide she may know something we don’t or she is just in denial, but either way it could be the reason for her paranoid behavior.”
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  Lexi chimed in, “So you’re thinking it’s possible she hatched some conspiracy theory, because she was in complete denial about the way he died?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Ryan replied.

  Lexi thought about how Kurt’s death affected Kate and herself.

  “Suicide is a double edged sword. There is the grief that someone is gone and then there’s the anguish over the reason. Both sides cut deep. For most people it is the hardest type of grief to deal with. You wonder if you should have seen any signs of it coming. Your mind demands to know if you could have prevented it. The darkest and deepest guilt for many is that they feel they were at least partially responsible for this person’s decision. Of course it isn’t true, but I think its human nature.”

  Lexi’s eyes once again filled with tears and her voice became shaky. “Even I wondered about those things. Kurt was Kate’s husband, but he was both a big brother and a father to me. After my parents’ deaths we had no family. You would think Kate and I would become closer, and we did in some ways. In time, the dynamics changed because of our age difference. She became more like a mother to me when she married Kurt. I resented it as if they were taking over where my parents left off. I didn’t go through some teen angst and take it out on others or myself. No, I just started to withdraw. I read. I lived in my own world of books and studying. So, when Kurt died, I felt that maybe I did have something to do with it. I had shut him out, slowly but surely. I could’ve let him be a dad to me. He did often seem that way, but I didn’t truly let that happen. I could’ve let him be a big brother to me like he was in the beginning of their relationship, but I was too shut off and in my own world. I couldn’t let myself be happy about any of it.”

  Ryan was listening and genuinely understood the reason that Lexi had tried to disconnect herself from that emotional bond.

  “Trust me Lexi, I get it. You know something? I have found myself being unhappy simply because I didn’t want to let myself be happy. In time, I realized that we only have this one life and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to appreciate every day of it.”

  He smiled trying desperately to lighten the mood again. “I suppose that I’ve never seen life as a problem or disappointment, as others do. To be honest my life has been a problem in just one way.”

  “And what way is that?” Lexi asked

  “Look around you. I’m living outside the fringes of civilization, alone. Some people would say that’s a little crazy, even for someone in my kind of work.”

  He thought about just saying it, admitting that he was becoming lonely and for the first time Lexi seemed to be fitting nicely into that empty space in his life. Hold on boy, you have no idea what to do next do you? You just met her and you’re about to just throw yourself down and compromise your self-determination? What the hell happened to self-preservation?

  Lexi seemed to sense that Ryan was on the brink of revealing something to her. She couldn’t help from hoping that he wanted to say something about how they seemed to be getting along so well.

  Maybe he wants to make a nice comment on how we seem to understand each other emotionally. That we’d make a good fit. Just say it, Ryan! I feel the same way. No, don’t say it! I don’t know if I can say it back, even if I mean it...even if I need it. This is just way too quick for anyone to start liking somebody so much, especially for me.

  She quickly cut in before he could speak again. “Well Ryan, I guess we’ve got something in common. A couple of loners we are. Destined to roam the world with nobody but our faithful furred companions.”

  “Oh I don’t know about roaming the world alone. If I’m not mistaken, it looks like you and I are about to do some roaming together.” He gave her his trademark smile and wink.

  Lexi blushed uncontrollably and Ryan loved the effect he had on her.

  “I’m looking forward to roaming on you.” It took a few seconds before she realized what she had said. “Oh! Holy Cats! I meant to say WITH you! With you, not on you. Oh God, sorry it came out sounding wrong. I mean it’s not that I wouldn’t...Oh God! Never mind. I am digging a hole here.”

  Ryan laughed, “Oh don’t worry about it.” He smiled at her, savoring the way she blushed. He had to admit he was more than a little curious to see her reaction. He decided to use a reply that would take it a little further.

  “Well, whenever you want to do THAT sort of roaming around, you just go right ahead!” He watched the astonished look on her face. Lexi was momentarily speechless.

  “Oh, and Lexi?” He tried to sound half serious.

  “Yes Ryan?” She said it with a smile and gleam in her eye, because she could tell by Ryan’s tone that he was about to make a smart comment.

  He smiled and leaned forward. “I wouldn’t mind roaming a bit either.”

  She took the chance to make a play and beat him at his little game. She gave him her own sassy look. “A little traveling advice for you then, don’t forget to take the scenic route and allow yourself plenty of extra time at the little out of the way places. I think it will make the journey more memorable.” She winked and smiled in a half-hearted attempt to mimic Ryan’s expression.

  Ryan was completely surprised at what she had said and started laughing.

  “Okay, okay fair enough. I wasn’t sure if you were as sassy as you looked, but you are. You’re a funny girl, Lexi. We should probably get back to what we were talking about. Then maybe get some lunch. That’s another thing too, when we start roaming around I can’t wait to get something good to eat. I’m looking forward to taking my time and savoring something delicious.” He intentionally let his eyes move down from her face to her waist and then laughed.

  “Holy cats! You actually just said that! You ARE bad.” Lexi said between laughter. With a somber expression, she said “Thanks Ryan.”

  “Ah you’re welcome I think, but thanks for what?” Ryan asked.

  “Well we had kind of a pretty emotional and sad conversation going there for a while, with the topic of my parents and about Kurt. I appreciate that you were able to let me talk about things I never share and I think you did the same. Plus, it was nice the way you lightened it up. I just want to thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, Lexi. So here is my plan. I have contacts in Israel and I’ve already asked for some information on this guy. I think we should go there and pay him a visit before we run into Turkey with this coin. The region where Kate has been spotted is located within the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey.”

  He brought up a zoomed in view of Kate’s last location on the monitor.

  “That region is on the Syrian border, and of course Syria is going through a pretty violent uprising. While it hasn’t spilled over into Turkey, except for a few isolated artillery attacks directed at Turkish forces, there will be a very high military presence. There will also be a chance that there will be militants trying to enter or leave the war zone. The other thing to worry about is there is also a group operating in the area that has been engaging in terrorist acts for years. The PKK. It’s the Kurdish Workers Party. They are most active right now near the border that Turkey shares with Iraq. There has been a cease fire between the Turkish government and that group for about a year now. Let’s just hope it holds. It could get pretty dicey really quick, if the PKK feels like Turkey isn’t complying with the terms of the cease fire.”

  “Wow I didn’t expect to hear that we would be entering a combat zone.”

  “No Lexi, it’s not like that at all. It’s just that we have to really keep our wits about us and make sure we don’t get caught in the middle of something, should trouble break out. Even with all of this going on, I would feel safer there than wandering through parts of some American cities. Plus, I have a few pretty good contacts in the area from when I was still in the Navy. I worked with the NSA, as well as some Turkish counterparts on anti-terrorist surveillance. I know who I can trust.”

  Ryan paused and decided it was time to throw the last wrench into the mix. “Is Kate involved in
any criminal activity? Terrorism or otherwise?”

  Lexi’s mouth dropped open. “No way! That isn’t Kate. I told you, she was doing some research there.”

  “Well if she is she’s going completely solo. She’s freelancing it and I find that to be contrary to any archaeological work I’ve ever seen, in any part of the world. Those projects are planned often years in advance. There are universities, societies, governments, and all sorts of wealthy backers. Everyone sticks their fingers in it. From what I found out she isn’t involved in projects currently underway in the region, at this time, even though she has been seen at the dig site at Gobekli Tepe. It must have to do with Kurt, the Israel trips, and that coin. Lexi I hate to say it, but by her actions I have to consider that she may be involved in smuggling antiquities from the site. All the more reason to find the good doctor. We’ll find out more. Don’t worry.”

  “Well, I know Kate. She has always gone ballistic when she heard of artifacts being taken out of places illegally. That would be so contrary to her personality that in all honestly, I wouldn’t even consider it, Ryan.”

  “Okay I’ll trust your judgment Lexi, after all you know her. I don’t. I had to tell you what I thought though, because if I figured that she was involved with smuggling then others will suspect that for sure.”

  “Alright so now what? When can we leave? Oh and you were right, I had a suitcase that disappeared in that mess yesterday so I only have one set of clothes. I have the feeling we may need to pack for a few days for sure.

  “Right now we have to wait for some information from Israel. I don’t think it will take any longer than a day. Meanwhile, I’ll message my home office and see what they can put together to get us into Israel quietly. You can do a little shopping there. Haifa has a good sized shopping mall. Its claim to fame was that it was hit by an Iraqi Scud missile during the 1991 Gulf War.”

  “Okay, but it sure seems like everywhere we are talking about going involves violence.”