Learning To Fly

by Melissa Snark

  Her mouth felt dry like cotton, but she shook his hand. “Kyle didn’t say he had a twin.”

  Kieran offered her a grin with practiced ease. “Did he admit to having a brother?”

  “Yes, of course.” She blushed and fidgeted, unable to conceal her anxiety. The gun made her nervous; the man scared the living daylights out of her.

  “Do you live here?” She hadn’t seen him about the house before, although his name was mentioned often.

  In a bustle of activity, Shelly burst from the pantry with her arms loaded with food. “Kieran is a stray cat, m’dear. The lad is never around when you’re looking for him, and the rest of the time he’s directly underfoot.”

  Kieran turned his attention to Shelly, and finally, something human reached his eyes. Affection softened his expression. “I’m here now, Shelly.”

  Shelly placed her hands on her hips and huffed. “That doesn’t explain where you’ve been, mister.”

  “I have a cell phone and it’s always on.”

  “Humph.” Shelly whirled to Cassie. “He’s got a lady friend in town ‘n thinks I don’t know.”

  “I don’t.” His tone was adamant, but Cassie received the distinct impression that he enjoyed the verbal sparring with Shelly.

  “Then your lady friend is outside of town. Don’t play at semantics with me!” Shelly swatted him with a dish towel as she rumbled past.

  Kieran’s laughter made him more approachable. Tension eased from Cassie’s shoulders and she took a seat at the kitchen table. Shelly brightened the entire room with her presence, and even made Kyle’s inscrutable twin seem amicable.

  “I may be old but I’m not a fool, you scoundrel. What I want to know is when you’ll be having babies for me to cuddle. It’s your duty as the eldest, you know.”

  “I’m eldest by three minutes. Besides, I’m not ready to get married.” Kieran’s lips curved in a rueful grin. He poured a cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table across from Cassie.

  “I wasn’t talking about marriage, Kieran,” Shelly said.

  He made a face. “Same damn thing.”

  The housekeeper reached for the pot. “Cassie, can I get you some coffee?”

  “Yes, please. Is Kyle up yet?”

  “Up and gone,” Shelly replied quickly. “Black?”

  “Yes, please. Gone?”

  Shelly set the cup of coffee before Cassie, and she curled her fingers around it. Anxiety churned her gut. Her informal date with Kyle had ended in a disaster. Was he avoiding her? Bitter disappointment suffused her at the thought that she’d driven away the only man capable of breeching her defenses in years.

  “Said he needed to take care of some business this morning. Something having to do with permits. He headed into the office at the crack of dawn. My goodness, you look like you didn’t sleep a wink.”

  “Oh. I slept okay, thank you.” The lie didn’t sit well. She hated deceiving Shelly, but she wasn’t ready to confess her nightmares to the housekeeper.

  Shelly’s skepticism was written on her face. “Would you like breakfast, m’dear?”

  “Just coffee, thank you.”

  Shelly expressed her disappointment with an exaggerated sigh. “You’re too skinny to be skipping breakfast.”

  Kieran sat up straighter. “I’d love breakfast.”

  “Yes, I know that.” Shelly reprimanded the man with a fierce frown, earning nothing more than an unrepentant smile.

  Kieran turned his cool gaze to Cassie. “Kyle asked me to take you to the construction site this morning.”

  She flinched. The idea of spending time with this strange man scared her to death, but she had known it was a possibility. “That’s not necessary. If you can loan me a car, I can drive out by myself.”

  “Kyle asked me to escort you.” The man spoke with the air of someone accustomed to giving orders and being obeyed.

  She opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. She had a job to do. Besides, Kyle must have felt confident that she would be safe with his brother or he wouldn’t have sent him. “Okay, I just have to grab my sketchbook,” she said.

  Shelly settled an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t let him worry you, m’dear. Kieran’s a sweetheart. All bark, no bite.”

  “I very much doubt that.” Cassie pinned the man with a penetrating glance. She retreated from the kitchen to the sound of Shelly and Kieran’s laughter.

  ****

  Kieran drove a black SUV out to the construction site. He proved to be more taciturn than his twin, unwilling or unable to engage in easy conversation, and so they rode in uncomfortable silence. For Cassie, her unease got worse with each passing second. Kieran seemed unaffected.

  She sighed. “You’re an Army Ranger.”

  He shot her a surprised glance. His brow lifted. “Did Kyle tell you?”

  “No.” She indicated the distinctive gold and black ring of the 75th Ranger Regiment on the ring finger of his left hand. A man married to the military.

  “I’m no longer on active duty,” he said.

  “What did you do? In the military, that is?”

  “I was a sniper.”

  Cassie felt her mouth go dry and decided to pursue a point-blank approach. “Is the gun for my benefit?”

  “The gun is for your protection.”

  They had dug into her past.

  “Oh.” She felt the leaden weight in her gut ease because she no longer had to guard her secret. It was a huge relief. At the same time, she experienced bitter regret. She might be safer, but she died inside to think of Kyle learning the truth. No man wanted damaged goods.

  “The goal wasn’t to invade your privacy.” Kieran seemed to sense her unease.

  “I understand. Does Kyle know?”

  “Kyle knows you’re in danger. He knows that Simon Lynch escaped from prison and is coming after you. He doesn’t have specifics about the abduction. He didn’t want them.”

  That was something and she took small comfort in the knowledge. “But you do.”

  “Yes, I have the specifics but I need to know more than what the official records contained.” The man did not mince words. He spared her an impersonal glance, making it clear his interest was not gratuitous.

  “What else do you need to know?” She stared out the window without seeing the scenery rolling past. Her hands clenched so that her nails dug into her palms.

  “Tell me about Simon Lynch. I’ve read the FBI profile but I’d like to hear it in your words. He killed three other women before he came after you…”

  She swallowed so hard her throat convulsed. It was a while before she could speak again. “The three women he killed looked like me—redheads with green or blue eyes.”

  Kieran appeared unfazed. “All three women were strangled within twelve hours of their abduction. And yet, you managed to stay alive for three days while he held you captive. Then you were rescued by the FBI.”

  “I only know what the agents told me.” Cassie’s gaze remained blank and focused on a distant point. “Lynch stalked the women he abducted for weeks, maybe months, before he acted. He is smart, but delusional. He concocted elaborate fantasies about his victims being in love with him and, when reality didn’t live up to his fantasies, he killed the women who rejected him.”

  “You didn’t reject Lynch,” Kieran said with disturbing insight.

  She shuddered as a tear trekked down her cheek. She felt exposed discussing the matter with him, but acknowledged the necessity of doing so. “No, I played along with his fantasy. Told him what I had to in order to stay alive.”

  Kieran regarded her with real admiration. “Let’s talk about the weapons you saw him use…”

  ****

  As soon as the SUV came to a halt, Cassie opened the door and jumped from the vehicle. She staggered several paces, arms folded over her stomach, drinking down great gulps of the fresh ocean air. It was all she could not to retch. Thankfully, her stomach was empty.

  Kieran brought her a water bot
tle. “I’m sorry for subjecting you to that. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She shoved her emotions deep inside and accepted the bottle. She twisted off the plastic cap and gulped half the contents. She left the water in the passenger seat and retrieved her sketchpad and drafting pencil.

  “Where are we heading?”

  Kieran put on a pair of sunglasses and took the lead. “This way.”

  They walked in silence for a quarter mile, advancing across the dunes toward the water, and arrived at a dilapidated structure. She shaded her eyes from the sun to study it. “It’s a ruin.”

  “It’s an old cannery and pier,” Kieran said. “A relic from the days when sardines and anchovies were the primary economy of the area.”

  “What’s going to happen to it?”

  Kieran’s shoulders rose in a Gaelic shrug. “It’s going to be torn down to make way for a marine research facility.”

  “Are there restrictions about building close to the water?”

  Kieran chuckled. “To hear Kyle complain, the paperwork is endless. However, the client is wealthy and influential, so it’ll happen.”

  “The view is spectacular,” she said, surveying the rocky beach and blue waters stretching to eternity. The sun burned bright in the morning sky.

  “Mmm.”

  The derelict building stood on an isolated stretch of beach along the ocean. The massive concrete structure existed in a glorious state of decay. Nature had consumed and reclaimed what man had abandoned; the surrounding area was covered in sea grasses and stony beaches.

  Cassie opened her sketchpad and extracted a graphite pencil. As part of her initial study, she would execute several freehand drawings. It would take hours, and it made her curious that Kieran seemed to have a free Monday to spend just following her around. Didn’t the man have a job? She started to ask, but nothing about his demeanor invited questions, so she curbed her curiosity and got to work.

  Kieran looked on while he stood guard but kept his distance. “Wouldn’t it be easier to use a camera?”

  “Yes, but I left my cameras at home. Besides, if the client wanted a photograph, Kyle would have hired a photographer.”

  “True.” Kieran laughed and barred his teeth in a wolf’s grin. She turned from him and touched her pencil to paper. She wanted away from the dangerous man determined to protect her from another dangerous man.

  Her pencil flew across the paper with light strokes. Fear and hurt were forgotten. On the page, the horizon became manifest, the curve of land visible where the ocean met the sky. She set her focus and vanishing points, and the lines of perspective and then the building began to take shape.

  Most of the cannery’s red brick façade had crumbled away, leaving behind a wall pockmarked with holes and clumps of aged mortar. Wind and water had long since picked the building’s carcass clean of glass and paint. Splintered lumber, rusted steel and blocks of cement remained where seagulls perched. Three sea lions lounged upon the remains of pylons.

  “Cassie?” Kieran’s voice intruded and startled Cassie out of her reverie. She looked up to find him closer than was comfortable. Worse, he’d approached undetected. The man moved like some sort of cat.

  He offered her the open water bottle from the car, and she became aware of her thirst. She hesitated and then took it from him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re turning red.”

  She sighed and examined her arms. Her fair skin had a distinct red sheen to it. “I’m wearing sunscreen but I always burn.”

  “Are you done yet?” He peered at the latest sketch, and she quelled the urge to flip the cover closed to hide it from his piercing gaze.

  “For now.” After another hesitation, she passed the pad to Kieran for inspection. She gulped down water while he flipped through the pages, perusing the drawings. The sun had changed positions in the sky.

  “What time is it?”

  “After three.” He offered the sketchpad back to her. “You’re good.”

  Her cheeks burned and it had nothing to do with overexposure to the sun. She took the pad, being careful to avoid touching him. “Thank you.”

  “Ready to go?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I’m starving and my skin hurts.”

  Chapter Five

  Tuesday morning found Kyle in his home office, buried beneath a mountain of paperwork. His agency’s staff in town handled many of the administrative aspects of his work, but there were always specifications requiring his signature and technical documents awaiting review. The headaches never seemed to end.

  “Hi,” Cassie said from the open doorway.

  He glanced up from his task, pleased but also surprised. He hadn’t seen her at all the day before thanks to long hours he’d put in at the office downtown. After what had happened, he’d wanted to give her plenty of space.

  “Hi, please come in.”

  “Thanks.” She slipped inside and shut the door behind her, leaning against it for support. She wore a black T-shirt with blue jeans and sneakers. Her burgundy hair was pulled back in a neat pony tail, and her arms folded tight across her chest. Her fair skin had burned the day before, and her fatigued appearance detracted slightly from her natural beauty. Kyle ached to comfort her but knew to keep his distance.

  “You look like you got some sun,” he said.

  “Yeah, I did,” she said with a tired smile. Then she fell into awkward silence again, looking lost and vulnerable in a way that made him ache.

  “Is there something I can do to make this easier?” he asked.

  Cassie’s lips twisted into an ironic smile. “Can we talk about work and pretend it never happened?”

  “Sure.” Kyle agreed to her request, even though he would have preferred an honest conversation. He wasn’t going to forget about kissing her anytime soon. He still tasted her on his lips, desired her with an intense passion. However, if she needed to breathe, he would do whatever was necessary to make her feel safe.

  She held up the sketchpad clutched in her hands. “I brought my preliminary sketches of the construction site. Thought you might like to see them.”

  “I would, thank you.” He rose from his chair and rounded his desk with his hand extended to take the pad from her. He flipped open the cover and inspected the first page. Cassie’s style was much like she was: light, quick, and smart. She had captured the austerity of the ruined cannery with precision, while retaining the landscape’s rugged beauty.

  “Did everything go okay with Kieran? I’m sorry for sticking you with him, but I had a filing deadline to meet,” he said, still looking at her renderings.

  “He was a perfect gentleman.” Something in her voice struck him as being off.

  “Good, glad to hear it.” Unexpected jealousy stabbed Kyle in the gut, and he struggled not to betray his reaction. Had Kieran made a significant impression? It hadn’t occurred to him that his recalcitrant brother might charm Cassie where he had failed.

  Obviously, she possessed more insight to his emotions than he suspected. She made a face. “Your brother isn’t my type at all.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Relief suffused him and he laughed at his own foolishness. At the same time, he quelled the impulse to ask what her type was. Could he do anything to make himself more accessible to her? Or had her personal demons doomed them from the get-go?

  “So, what do you think?” She indicated the notepad with a nervous gesture, and then drifted toward the balcony where the rescued red-tailed hawk roosted on a stand outside. Kyle had brought her from the aviary to soak up some sunshine; jesses kept the injured bird from flying away.

  He followed Cassie out onto the second-floor balcony, which overlooked the ocean. She kept a safe distance and cocked her head to the side, studying the hawk. The bird gazed back with unblinking eyes.

  “This is good.” He turned a page and then another. “I take that back. These are excellent. I like how you captured the architecture of the ruin.”

  “The architecture of my life.�
� Her tone contained bitterness and regret.

  He cast a sharp glance her direction. She had her back to him so he couldn’t see her expression. Did she see her life as being in ruins? The thought disturbed him more than he could quantify.

  “When can I see your plans for the new building?” Cassie asked, making an abrupt and deliberate change of topic. She continued to watch the injured hawk.

  “I can show you the floor plan, but the blueprints aren’t yet finalized,” he said. “The customer requested color drawings of the ruin, and she may want a watercolor. She wants to document as much of the original structure as possible.”

  “I can do that, so long as I’m not required to work with oils. Of course, I’ll have to locate a craft store to buy supplies.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  “How is she?” She indicated the hawk with a nervous motion.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Kyle assured her with a gentle smile. “She’s eating well, and her legs should be healed up in a few weeks.”

  “Are you going to return her to the wild?”

  “She’s young enough to keep and train, but yes, I intend to release her.”

  “That’s good. I’d love to see her fly.” Cassie turned back to him at long last.

  He held up his hand and displayed the bandage wrapped around his index finger. The tip of the hawk’s beak had penetrated his thick gloves. He smiled. “She tried to bite off my finger this morning. Reminds me a bit of you.”

  She flushed but laughed with him, and it served to ease the tension between them. “Kyle, I’m so sorry about last night. I’m worried now that you’re avoiding me and the way I acted wasn’t fair.”

  “Red, it’s okay.” He ached to touch her, to take her into his arms. He held back, aware that any further physical contact between them had to be of Cassie’s choosing.

  “It’s not okay,” she said.

  Kyle exhaled with a soft sigh. “It is. I’m not avoiding you. I just wanted to give you space. I hoped you’d come to me when you were ready. And don’t worry about what’s fair. I’m sorry that I scared you.”

  “I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid because of what happened to me.” She looked up, down, sideways, anywhere but at him.