“Oh, yeah.” He tickled her, which had her doubling over with laughter.
“Kids,” her mother yelled from the front room.
They both froze in place and looked at each other. When she called again, her voice sounding closer, Kat bolted to the bathroom and picked up her comb. She pretended to tease her hair while he jumped into a chair and pulled out his phone.
“Hey,” her mother poked her head into the room. “Thought you guys left without us,” she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
“Oh, hey, Mother,” Kat said after applying another pound of hairspray into her already teased and stiff hair.
“Where’s Vanessa?” Julianne asked.
“We think they’re kissing and making up after their little tiff,” Jason said.
“I see,” she studied them. “Very good, you look very authentic, Don Johnson and Madonna. Didn’t she have those cones?” Julianne motioned her hands over her breast.
“That was later. I’m going for the beginning of her career.”
“I think you nailed it, looks great,” she teased a section of Kat’s hair. “Why don’t you two head down, the paparazzi is setting up, so put on a good show. Council is thrilled that your engagement is drumming up so much press.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said simultaneously.
“Go, go, go,” she said shooing them out the room. “I’ll get little miss drama queen.”
They headed toward the elevator and stood in an awkward silence as the doors closed. It stopped at the next level and before the doors opened he pulled her against him.
“Why did we just do that?” He whispered by her ear.
“Joke around?” She leaned back to meet his gaze.
“No,” he looked at the couple that entered. “Stop playing around, like we were doing something wrong…”
“Weren’t we?”
“You tell me.”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged.
When the elevator doors opened, camera flashes surprised them. He put his arm around her waist and steered her clear of the photographers. He pulled her into the dining area and Brian pulled her toward him. She blinked several times and finally saw that teenagers had completely surrounded him. And that he was signing autographs?
“He definitely gets a lot of attention.” Brian joked.
“Yeah,” she followed him to their table.
“Guess once you date a Hollywood actress and dump her for a high school girl the media gets curious.”
“He didn’t dump her for me,” she watched as he posed for pictures.
“That’s not what the paper said.” Brian forced her to look at him.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?”
“Kit Kat, don’t you think this is all happening too fast? I mean, you just graduated high school and we had a plan, but now, I don’t know…you’re about to start college as an engaged woman.”
“Daddy—”
“I have a right to be sentimental,” he squeezed her hand. “I know I’m not your real dad—”
“You are,” she assured him. “I couldn’t have asked for a better father. I thought we had established that when you adopted me and I took your name?”
“We did,” he patted her hand then sighed. “Then are you sure? You’re so young and it’s so soon, Kat. You two just met—”
“I’m sure, Daddy. He’s my perfect match.”
“Sweetheart, I know you love him. I can see it when you look at him—”
“You can?”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“Then why do you sound so sad? We love each other and we know in our hearts that it’s right, that there’s no one else we want to be with. Isn’t that a happy thing? Something worth celebrating?”
“Because that means that we lose you,” his eyes became glassy. “And Mom and I were just getting comfortable knowing that you would still be so close to home when you went to college, practically still there. Guess we figured we still had four more years of you home with us.”
“I’ll still be close, Daddy, I told the realtor—”
“Jesus…the realtor,” he nodded his head. “Listen to how grown-up you sound.”
“Please, don’t,” she wiped the tear that slid down his cheek. “You have to look at it like you’re gaining a son and not losing your daughter, because you’ll never lose me.”
“Promise?” He took her hand.
“Yeah, Dad, I promise—”
“Hey, babe, sorry about that,” Jason took a seat by her. “Oh,” he looked at Brian then at her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just as long as you promise to take care of my little girl,” Brian kissed the back of Kat’s hand.
“I swear I will, always and forever.” There was something about the way he said it that gave Kat goose bumps.
“As long as you remember that, then everything’s fine. And you make sure you keep her close to home.”
“Absolutely, I already told the realtor we need something close to the house—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.” He wiped his face. “I’m gonna go check on Mom and Vanessa.”
“They were still up in the room…”
“Okay,” Brian kissed the top of her head. “Order us some drinks, we’ll be down in a few.”
She watched as he left. Jason ordered for everyone. They had both been required to memorize essential details about each other’s family members, so it was an easy task for him. When the waiter left he studied her.
“What was that?”
“A touching father/daughter moment,” she looked over his shoulder. “What was that?”
“The girl on the elevator posted something on the Internet, which created a buzz. I don’t know how those girl heard about it so fast?”
“Um, yeah, I’m not too sure about that, but I bet the Elders are gonna eat it up.”
“So back to our conversation, before we were so rudely interrupted.”
“What about it?”
“Kat, I’ve let things slide these last few weeks, but we have to talk, there’s this thing between us that’s...”
“What?”
“I don’t know, different. Wrong.”
To that she had no response and was grateful that her family interrupted, everyone sitting and chatting just as the waiter brought over drinks. The meal went by too quickly. The DJ took over and raised the volume on the music and dimmed the lights as dessert was served. When Jason asked her to dance, she followed him onto the dance floor, and pressed her face against his shoulder.
“So back to that conversation,” he whispered.
“What about it?” Kat gritted her teeth.
“Kat, no lies and no secrets, that’s part of our vows.”
“I don’t think this falls into either one of those categories.”
“So you’re at least admitting that it’s there?”
“Jason, I’m not admitting to anything.”
“Neither am I…but we have to talk about it because it’s there. We aren’t supposed to feel anything, and we aren’t supposed to keep things from each other, so we should at least do the one, since we can’t help the other.”
“Who said I feel anything?” She countered.
“You do—”
“Jason, our mission is to rid the planet of all the humans without destroying it in the process. Perhaps you should focus more on the fact that our sun is dying than wasting your time incorrectly assuming that I feel anything toward you.”
He stared at her for a long moment. Then, as if completely disregarding her ill-mannered attempt to scare him into steering clear of the conversation said, “Tell me how you feel…”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she lied.
“I don’t believe you,” he nodded. “You know there’s something between us. It started the second our eyes met that first night.” He sighed. “If it didn’t, if you don’t feel anything then tell me, and I swear I’ll never bring it up again.”
They startled when the cell phone in his jacket pocket rang, the ringer annoyingly loud. He reached in his pocket and silenced it.
“We shouldn’t feel,” she whispered making sure to look away from him. “We aren’t supposed to—”
The phone rang again and he silenced it.
“But we do. I do and you do?” He forced her to look at him.
“They’ll kill us if they find out...”
“Then we figure it out together. We keep it between us until…” when the phone started ringing again, he reached into his pocket. He read the caller ID. “It’s Elder Jay.” The fear that entered his eyes was understood. That Elder Jay had tried to call several times was not a good thing. You never kept an Elder waiting—ever.
“Answer it,” she nodded.
“Blessed be, Elder Jay. I apologize for the delay, sir.” He kept her in his arms, so she felt the tremor that ran over him. No one liked dealing with the Elders. And it never seemed to get easier, she was sure they would scare her even when she got older. “Yes, sir, absolutely, sir, if you’ll give us ten minutes we will excuse ourselves,” he looked down at her. “Yes, sir, we’ll call just as soon as we get up to the room.”
“What happened?” Kat asked.
“He needs us to join up with another team to assist in a mission.”
“Where?”
“Mexico. He said a Hybrid was kidnapped.” He chuckled when he took in her face. “Yeah, I know, whatever the hell that means. He said he’d elaborate when we were alone.” He twirled her when the song ended, then kissed her on the cheek. “Can we finish this conversation later?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. It wasn’t like she was going to protest and keep Elder Jay waiting. It was bad enough they had ignored his calls.
“We’re gonna probably need your mom’s help to get out of here alone.”
“I know, just follow my lead.”
“Always,” he stared at her for a moment.
Kat’s stomach had the oddest sensation when he said that. Almost like that feeling you get when you went on a roller coaster. She led him toward the table then signaled the waiter as they took their seats.
“May I please have a Shirley Temple?” Kat asked.
“I’d love to check out that one show that’s on tonight, Brian,” her mother said after the waiter returned with Kat’s drink. “Will you girls be okay if I steal dad away?”
“Yeah, you guys go have fun,” Kat said.
“Yeah,” Vanessa agreed.
“Okay, we love you both.” Her mother said hugging Vanessa then turning toward Kat. “And make sure you boys stick close to the girls. Oh, Kat!” Her mother gasped when she intentionally spilled the soda onto Kat’s lap and drenched her. “Baby, I’m so sorry!” She said as everyone grabbed napkins to assist.
“It’s okay.” Kat said as she dabbed her lap with napkins.
“Yeah,” Jason added. “Just a little spill, let me get you up to the room to change.” He slipped his jacket off and helped her into it.
“Here, let me go with you—”
“It’s fine, Mother, Jason will get me upstairs. Go and have fun—”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” Kat stood to leave.
“I’ve got it, Mrs. Bloomfield. You guys go and have some fun.”
“It’s Mom, remember?”
“Of course,” he cleared his throat. “Mom, I’ll get her upstairs. You two have a good time at the show.”
“Okay,” Julianne said finally. “Call if you need anything—”
“Mother, it’s a wet dress, not the end of the world.” Kat kissed her cheek.
“Okay, see you in the morning for breakfast?”
They all agreed to meet for breakfast then said their goodbyes. Kat and Jason headed toward the elevator. When the doors closed, he laughed as he watched her use his sleeve to wipe the excess soda that ran down her leg.
“Shirley Temple equals spill a drink on me,” he pulled his jacket closed around her. “Remind me to never order one of those around your mom.”
“It’s one of hundreds of hints we have in place. Definitely not my favorite, but it did the trick. Why don’t you call Elder Jay back and get all the details while I shower, I’ll be quick.”
“Do you mind this?” He pulled her closer.
“No,” she nodded.
“Do you like it?” He stepped closer still.
“Uh-huh,” she whispered.
“So weird,” he ran his fingers over her cheek.
“Yeah…”
The elevator chimed and they startled when Elder Jay pulled him out. Though Jason was taller, Elder Jay was just as broad and athletic in build despite being in his late forties. His dark brown hair needed to be cut because the ends had started to curl. And his beard was sprinkled with gray hair now.
Not that she ever looked closely because direct eye contact was forbidden. It was a rule that Kat was grateful for, because she didn’t want to look at him even if she could. The power he wielded was enough to keep her eyes happily averted when in his presence.
“The paparazzi were downstairs, young ones. We are in the clear up here. Come on, hurry.” Elder Jay looked at Kat. She fumbled for the keycard in her purse. “What happened to you?”
“Blessed be, Elder Jay, my sincerest apologies. Its eighties night and Mother helped us so we could get away without my stepsister coming along.”
“Well, get in the shower and into uniform, I’ve got your M82 loaded and ready for teleport. I need you to take out these two annoying humans who are holding one of our Hybrids for ransom.”
“Yes, sir,” she said despite not understanding what he meant.
She headed for the bathroom not worrying about the lack of information. She knew Jason would catch her up to speed when they had a second alone. She showered and changed in record time. Jason, who had already changed into his uniform, helped Kat into her vest, and then put in her earpiece as she laced up her boots.
“Ready?” Elder Jay asked. Kat looked at Jason and he winked at her. Her stomach had that odd dropping sensation again.
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Good luck, see you at the debriefing,” Elder Jay hit a button on his computer tablet and they teleported. Kat closed her eyes as the familiar vibration of the teleporter overcame her, then opened them when they arrived at their location.
“Jason and Katarina?” An amazing looking guy asked. He extended his hand toward Jason but continued staring at Kat. Kat gave him a good once over then bit her bottom lip when her eyes returned to his mouth. His lips were the only part of his face that was even more amazing than his eyes.
“Yes,” Jason answered as he took his hand. “Blessed be.”
“Blessed be, I am Andrew.” He said, still not looking at him.
“Blessed be, Andrew, I’m Katarina.” Kat said when he extended his hand to her. Andrew was definitely that very tall, dark-haired, broad, and athletic-looking Nemeanian type. And his smoky gray eyes and full pouty lips added to his already astonishing looks. She was sure she had seen him in magazine advertising cologne, and if she hadn’t, then she would recommend a career change for him.
“It’s my pleasure,” Andrew shook her hand.
“I…” She started, then cleared her throat. She pulled her hand out of his. “Thank you.”
“Forgive my abruptness.” He bowed his head apologetically. “But we haven’t much time,” he moved his hand to the small of Kat’s back and guided her down the hallway. Jason followed behind. “This is our communication center. Jason, I’ve taken the liberty of setting everything up for you.”
“Thank you.” Jason said.
Andrew continued guiding Kat toward her weapon without stopping or acknowledging Jason. “Katarina, here’s your weapon, an M82,” he pointed toward the case.
“Thank you,” she looked at him and had to bite her lip again.
She dropped to a knee and pulled the case open. Kat wondered if
it was normal to be attracted to so many different guys. Roger had grown on Kat over the years, so she didn’t know if that counted, because it had taken her awhile to warm up to him. Jason had knocked her socks off and still managed to take her breath away when he smiled or laughed. Andrew didn’t hold a candle to Jason, but damned if he didn’t come close. There was something about him that made her get a little weak at the knees.
“Will I have time to set up or will I be firing on foot?” She couldn’t believe she had to force herself to focus on the mission.
“There’s a small window of opportunity if you can set up fast enough—”
“She will.” Jason said curtly. “Katarina, I’ll be teleporting you to a small warehouse and you’ll have about ten minutes to set up. There are two men holding his teammate for ransom.”
“At least get one for me and I can handle the other—”
“She’ll get them both for you; just make sure you lure them out.” Jason said as he pulled up the satellite view of the location, “Any questions, Katarina?”
“No,” she stared at Jason. There was something about his abruptness that concerned her. She couldn’t place it just then but she knew something was wrong.
“Okay, we have fifteen minutes until we make the exchange,” Andrew pulled on his earpiece. “Jason, if you’ll teleport Katarina and I—”
“Where’s the rest of your team?” Jason maneuvered around the equipment.
“Our team leader is being held captive by a couple of thugs who are trying to make a quick buck. And our comm guy and weapons expert were terminated.”
“Did the gunman kill them in their negotiations?” Jason asked.
“No, I terminated our sniper this morning, and John and I terminated our comm guy a couple of days ago.”
“I’m ready,” Kat stood with her weapon. She eyed Jason and wondered if Elder Jay had filled him in on that last comment. There was only one reason, to the best of Kat’s knowledge, which warranted Hybrids taking out other Hybrids. “Jason is my location clear?” She asked having to play cool. She couldn’t let Andrew know that his last comment bothered her.
“Yes. If you’ll stand there,” Jason pointed to the corner. “Infrared isn’t picking up any heat signals.”
Sleeper Cells Page 7