The Protector

by Stormi Lewis

  James froze instantly, unsure of what to do. Then he gave into the heat of the shower and their need for each other. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close to him as physically possible. His erection throbbed to the beat of both their hearts as they impatiently explored each other as if they were meeting for the first time.

  “I need you,” Sophie whispered in his ear.

  James moaned with acceptance and spun her around to help balance her back against the shower wall. He grabbed her legs and pulled them around him as he kissed her so deeply she lost all oxygen to her brain.

  “Are you sure?” he asked her urgently when he pulled back surprisingly. He looked deep into Sophie’s eyes for the truth from her.

  “Yes,” Sophie said with an assuring smile.

  James nodded and crushed his mouth against hers once more, sliding into her since she was already wet and eagerly waiting. He began moving slowly and carefully giving her time to adjust. Sophie gasped and threw her head back, moaning her appreciation for his willingness to give her what she so desperately needed. James nibbled on her neck gently as he went deeper and deeper.

  “Oh, James!” Sophie went to call out, but she felt his mouth impatiently drowning out her scream. They shook and moaned in unison as she exploded around him and he came along with her.

  Sophie laid her head on his shoulder as he held onto her and allowed them both to catch their breath. She wiggled a bit as she was still tingling from him being inside her.

  “Wow,” Sophie breathed out.

  “You didn’t have to,” James said unexpectedly in shame as he pulled out and placed her down safely. The shower was becoming quite cold all of a sudden.

  “I wanted to,” Sophie pleaded. “I’ve wanted to since I got back,” she said in embarrassment.

  “Really?” James asked shocked.

  Sophie pulled him close to her, placing her head on his forehead.

  “I ran from myself,” she pleaded. “Not you,” she added in a whisper. “I understand if you need time, though.”

  Sophie kept her eyes closed, knowing she probably didn’t want the answer he was about to give her.

  “I figured,” James whispered back after a minute. “I don’t blame you. I just had really bad timing,” he added frustrated.

  Sophie giggled, and it lightened his heart with the sound.

  “We should probably go have breakfast before we turn into prunes, though,” she giggled.

  James pulled back and looked deep into her eyes.

  “I just need a little time,” he confessed.

  “I figured,” Sophie said with a weak smile. “We’ve got some crap to deal with anyway,” she shrugged. James turned off the water, and Sophie stepped out first. “You’ll never believe what I found,” she added over her shoulder as she toweled off.

  “Do tell,” he said with a smile.

  “Let’s have breakfast first,” Sophie laughed as she got dressed.

  She ran a brush through her wet hair and threw it into a ponytail.

  “I don’t know if this helps you at all,” she said slowly as she reached for the bathroom door.

  James looked at her puzzled.

  “I would say ‘yes’,” Sophie said smiling weakly with a shrug and hurried out the door leaving James gaping after her.

  “Nice shower?” Tina asked with an eyebrow raised at her friend as she came out.

  “One of the best” Sophie said sheepishly, forgetting Tina was on her list of things to take care of.

  James finally exited while running a hand nervously through his hair. Tina and Ben watched him with curiosity.

  “Well, this should be interesting,” Ben whispered to his wife. Tina quickly elbowed him in the side to be quiet.

  “Sorry that I left,” Sophie started as she stared at the floor. She still felt incredibly guilty for leaving them behind. “It was just a bit much to handle,” she said honestly and shrugged.

  Sophie looked down at the necklace, closed her eyes to concentrate on opening it, and tossed the SD card to Tina once she was done. Tina looked at her with confusion.

  “I don’t think I should have this on me,” Sophie said watching Tina’s face for any clues. “If something happens, the man with the cane will get it for sure. I think you should take it and do with it what you think is best.”

  Tina looked at the tiny card she now held in her hand.

  “You’ve always had it,” she said in confusion.

  “That’s why I shouldn’t,” Sophie shrugged. “If things continue to go south, they will assume that I have it and it wouldn’t be good for them to be correct.”

  “Good point,” Tina said still looking at the card in her hand.

  “Maybe we could send it to someone to hide it for us?” Ben offered.

  “That just means putting more people in danger,” James pointed out.

  Tina closed her hand and simply said, “I’ll take care of it,” and put the SD card in her pocket.

  “I’m sure you will,” Sophie said softly watching her friend closely, but no clues were given.

  “So, what now?” Ben asked looking around the room.

  “I need help with something else,” Sophie said reluctantly.

  “What’s up?” James asked giving her his boyish grin.

  “Well, none of us know what it is I can actually do,” Sophie started again slowly. “And I think the only way to actually know would be to run some sort of tests.”

  “I don’t think it’s wise to take you to a lab of any sort,” Tina cut in immediately.

  “Yeah, my thoughts too,” Sophie agreed. “Surely you have some old school stuff we can try?”

  “I don’t like this,” James said straightaway.

  “She’s right,” Ben interjected. “We have to test her to know what she can and can’t do if it comes down to that.” Ben turned to James and put his hand on his shoulder. “We can go easy, and if anything happens you have a doctor on hand,” he winked. “It’s not like she takes long to heal,” Ben added for assurance.

  “I don’t think we need to be putting her life in danger either,” James frowned.

  “I will be honest and let you know when we need to stop,” Sophie assured. “Quite frankly, it’s hard to prepare for a fight if we don’t know what tools we actually have on our side,” she said with authority.

  “I don’t like it,” James mumbled again.

  Sophie crossed the room and put her hand into his and squeezed.

  “I need to know what I can and can’t do, so I know what I am able to do to keep you all safe,” she said softly stroking his arm.

  “It’s not your job to keep us safe,” James quickly protested.

  Sophie grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a gentle kiss.

  “Yes, it is,” she said when they parted.

  “I still don’t like it,” James frowned.

  “Noted,” Sophie said smiling back.

  “So how do we do this?” Ben asked Sophie.

  “We should make a list based on the facts that we already know,” Tina interrupted. “Do our research, and see what we can come up with,” she said shrugging. “You will have to tell us ‘no’ when we cross a line,” Tina warned Sophie. “But the broader the testing we can do, the better.”

  “That’s my nerd girl,” Ben said kissing Tina gently on the lips.

  Well, this would be another good way for Sophie to find out who’s side Tina was on, but whatever they found would be leaked to the wrong side if Sophie’s suspicions were correct. Either way, Tina was going to be the most useful with this task. If she was on the wrong side, Sophie would have a heads up on what he was looking for in her as well. It was going to have to do.

  “Let the games begin,” Sophie said shrugging.

  Chapter 15

  C larice had been home for a few days, and still managed to say nothing. She told herself she needed to cool off about the stupid troll living to tell the tale, but Clarice wasn’t sure that was entire
ly true. She glared at Eddie as he took his place in front of the computer monitors on the wall.

  “What’s up your butt?” Eddie asked her flatly.

  “You’re breathing,” Clarice scowled.

  “I can’t help it I’m the new favorite,” Eddie shrugged.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” she said with a wicked smile. A chill went down Eddie’s spine. Clarice had something in order to be so blatantly confident. He tried to tell himself he didn’t care what it was. However, he did care. Eddie shook his head and got back to work.

  “What’s the latest?” Eddie asked Clark, who was very sour at Eddie’s return to taking the lead.

  “Nothing yet,” Clark mumbled with annoyance.

  “What have you been doing while I was fighting for my life?” Eddie poked at him.

  “Your job, better than you!” Clark snapped back.

  “Clearly, since she’s still MIA and it’s been days,” Eddie laughed at him, shook his head, and went back to staring at the screen.

  “Jerk,” Clark mumbled under his breath.

  “Making all sorts of friends,” Clarice mocked.

  “Can’t be everyone’s favorite,” Eddie said with a smile and a shrug. Clarice’s blood began to boil. She hated that he always could get under her skin.

  “What’s the update?” barked the old man from the shadows behind them. He had entered without them noticing.

  “Apparently, nothing,” Clarice replied excitedly waiting for her father’s wrath to shine.

  “Please explain to me why I hired you to find me someone if you are not able to do so?” the old man warned. No one said a word and kept their faces forward. “Clark,” he said dangerously calm. “Please stop by my office in an hour. I believe we have something to discuss.”

  “Of course, Sir,” Clark responded with a smile at Eddie.

  “Glad to see you back, Edward,” the old man said before everyone heard the sound of his cane grow distant in the tunnels.

  “We’ll see who stays his favorite,” Clark boasted.

  Something told Eddie he wouldn’t be seeing Clark after his visit to the old man’s office. Eddie and Clarice had been the only ones to return when they were called, Clarice called a thousand times more often than Eddie. Clark had earned his sentence, Eddie told himself. He felt no need to save him from himself.

  As for being the so-called “favorite”, Eddie wasn’t sure how he felt about his role. He had yet to discover why the old man felt like keeping him alive, but Eddie didn’t really feel the need to question it right now either. He should have been dead a long time ago. He was pretty sure they both knew it. Eddie was guessing his lives had all been used up though, and it was best to just keep his head down and do what was asked of him.

  Sophie had left him. That much he knew. She hadn’t gone out of her way to look for him, either. Amnesia or not. All helping Sophie got Eddie was nearly dead. It was time to stop caring for those that stopped caring about him a long time ago and accept his fate.

  “Good-bye,” Eddie mumbled under his breath in sorrow.

  Only Clarice heard him. She looked at Eddie, studying him carefully. They both knew Clark would not be returning, but she was pretty sure Eddie wasn’t saying good-bye to the eager tech.

  “I have to get to work,” Eddie told Clarice, making her even more skeptical.

  She stepped back to study him in silence. Clarice knew the tone. She knew the behavior. The troll was officially broken. Whatever her father had done in her absence, she realized Eddie would not be a problem for her anymore. He had officially accepted his new role. Sophie would get no more help from him going forward.

  Clarice didn’t poke at him. She didn’t have to. He was finally one of them. The only question was, was Clarice still one of them too?

  They headed downtown for the main library. There wasn’t as much concern about being on the public library’s internet stream, since what they were looking for could be considered general research for almost any student. Everyone divided to conquer the most coverage.

  Although Sophie didn’t spend a lot of time learning computer hacking, she did know how to track an IP address. She monitored Tina’s searches while she looked for stuff for herself at the same time. They had divided the list of animal genetics that Dr. Cox had listed to them, but Sophie encouraged them to stretch as far outside of the box as possible. Everyone was so engrossed with their tasks at hand that they missed lunch and dinner all together.

  The lights flickered above them. Sophie tensed up instantaneously, until she saw the librarian give her a friendly wave. It was their warning that the library was closing.

  “I’m starving,” Ben said rubbing his growling stomach.

  “Yeah, me too,” James replied rubbing his stomach as well.

  Both had their bags on their back, and their arms full of papers and books.

  “I completely lost track of time!” Tina exclaimed, who was quickly shushed by the librarian.

  “Let’s find something to eat,” Sophie suggested. “We need to stay covered. We don’t know who’s watching,” she warned. It was still good practice even if they were being watched by one of their own.

  “Slate Street Café is supposed to be good, and has an upstairs wine loft,” Ben said with a smile.

  “Did you research for Sophie, or just for food?” Tina chuckled.

  Ben stuck his tongue out at his wife. Sophie smiled, but desperately hoped she was wrong about her friend. Everyone bundled up and headed for Slate Street Café.

  They would only be able to have a quick bite before the place closed down. From the outside it was just a typical beige barn styled building that had clearly been converted to a community hotspot. Once they entered, they were welcomed by bright lights, a wooden floor, with various sized white tables, and dark woodened chairs. There was a small red staircase that led to the wine loft.

  A polite young woman with long chestnut-haired pulled back in a ponytail, wearing all black attire, gave a shy smile and showed them up the stairs. They were greeted by a tall slender woman with a deep chocolate bob and caramel eyes to match. She was wiping down the wine glasses that had clearly just been cleaned.

  It was carpeted upstairs in a dark mauve, and various leathered stand-alone chairs were scattered on one end for socializing, along with a few small tables and chairs scattered around. A small bar provided wine tastings with the bartender. Lamps hung from the rafters over the bar with scattered recessed lighting in the ceiling turned low to provide mood lighting. Wooden shelves stacked against the wall next to the bar with various knickknacks on them.

  They picked a table in the back out of habit, keeping their backs, as much as possible, to the wall to see who was coming their direction. No one discussed their findings. Instead, they shared more childhood stories and all the different trouble they had found themselves in growing up.

  According to Tina, James was always a lady’s man. Though he never seemed to get caught for any of the mischief he caused. Tina took the credit, even though the boys protested that it was usually Tina that was the chief trouble maker.

  Sophie shared some of the places she remembered going to with Mario. Her missing memories seemed to be coming back more and more despite Mario no longer being with her physically. Sophie assured them that she was the typical dramatic and rebellious teenage girl. She laughed as she told them how Mario tried his best with the no-nonsense parenting style, and even called her “Princess” when he felt she was being too dramatic. However, he could never keep it up for very long, and tended to go back to being a softy once her tantrum was over.

  Everyone was relieved to hear her talk so fondly after losing someone so cherished just recently. Ben still worried if she would break at any moment, but Sophie remained calm whenever speaking of her time with Mario.

  Ben reached into his bag for a notepad and added to his list of “gifts” he had already discovered as she talked. Sophie was too lost in her memories to even notice.

  Th
ey hung out for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel. Ben held onto Tina as they walked along the sidewalk. James kept his hands in his pockets. Sophie’s face fell a little at the realization that they couldn’t just go back to the way things were prior to Mario’s death. She sulked and kicked what rocks she found along the way.

  Unexpectedly, Sophie felt James slip his arm through hers so they could walk together. She smiled weakly at him. She wasn’t sure if it was his actual idea, or if he just sensed her pain, but she would take it either way.

  “I just need some time,” James whispered as a reminder.

  “I know,” she replied softly.

  Sophie watched the streets with her eagle eyes, taking note of the black unmarked van that seemed to be following them as they headed back to the hotel. She quickly memorized the license plate; already pretty sure it would come back a ghost.

  “What’s up?” James asked seeming to always read her mind.

  “Black van,” Sophie whispered back.

  “Yeah, I saw it earlier, too,” he informed her. “When I went out for breakfast,” James added.

  “Did you tell Ben and Tina?” Sophie asked.

  “No,” he confirmed. “I thought it might just be me.”

  “Looks like another player has joined the game,” Sophie said.

  “Yeah, but for which side?” James asked wearily.

  “Looks like we’re going to find out,” Sophie said as the van pulled up alongside James and Sophie. They had allowed a safe distance between them and Ben and Tina to not look like they were traveling as a group.

  Tina looked over her shoulder. Sophie shook her head ‘no’ so they would keep walking. The tinted window rolled down while the SUV slowed to an almost complete stop.

  “Do you happen to know the way to San Francisco?” asked an elderly gentleman who was very similar to Mario.

  He had a grey beard and mustache, gold earrings in both ears, and a bandana on his head covering thinning long grey wavy hair. He wore a black leather jacket and a t-shirt with a large skull on the front of it. Sophie froze at the phrase. There was something familiar about it.