Little White Lies

by Aimee Laine

  Wyatt stepped toward her but hesitated. “I don’t know, but I think we need to backtrack a bit.”

  “What do you mean?” Charley took deep breaths in the hope of calming her need to throw something.

  “I need to know everything there is about you.”

  18

  Wyatt wanted to yell at her, to tell her that the secrets she kept put her in her predicament. He realized, before he said anything, that he meant those words for whatever sizzled but fizzled between the two of them. Secrets kept her family safe but put him on the outside fringe.

  “I can’t help you if I don’t have more detail,” he said.

  Her head popped up, her eyes glossy with emotion he couldn’t read. “Where do you want to start?”

  “Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you here? What did Cael show Chase? Why wouldn’t he already know? What does he know about you guys? Is he like you guys, for example?” Wyatt asked. I could go on and on and on.

  James’s silent entry surprised Wyatt. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  Behind him, Cael rushed in. “Charley!”

  They all turned to him as Wyatt banked the need to pull at his hair. At every turn, he found interruption.

  Cael moved to Charley’s side. “Something’s going on.”

  “Of course it is. I have to meet the—” She stopped, Chase’s wide eyes, trained on her. “Little ears don’t need to be a party to this conversation, let’s go down to the office.”

  “Can I have some lunch?” Chase blinked a few times as the dust and dirt from his hair settled into his eyes.

  Lily rushed over to him, picked him up and spun him in a circle. “You can have all the lunch you want after you have a bath.” She carted him up the stairs to fits of giggles.

  “I’m really sorry, Charley,” Sophie’s tired voice came from the couch.

  Charley knelt at her head. “It’s not your fault, and I will make these people pay for what they did.”

  Sophie closed her eyes, snuggling further into Stuart’s lap.

  “Now then, let’s go to the office, and we’ll figure out what to do next.” Charley pushed them all down the hall.

  The moment they entered the room, she moved to the center, her hands on her hips. She emanated pure determination if ever Wyatt saw it on display.

  “Before we begin, let me just say that I will do whatever it takes to get back at them. I also think they are total idiots because they don’t seem to know he’s missing.” Her hands shook in the air.

  Cael walked to her, stopped her hands, his back to Wyatt. “We all will.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Wyatt said.

  “What?” She spun out of Cael’s hold.

  “What if they know and are just playing along?” Wyatt shrugged as if the question were obvious and she should have already figured it out.

  Cael moved to the desk, tapped a few keys, and glared at Wyatt over the edge of the monitor. “Can we get back to the call?”

  Wyatt nodded him forward.

  “By the way, the Detectives have it. Anyway, the caller’s voice … it changed. Still masked by a computer—”

  “I figured that,” Charley said in a huff.

  Cael’s smile reflected Chase’s youth, an excitement borne of news. “I know, but the best part of it was the tone. The lack of confidence.”

  “I didn’t hear anything like that.” Charley’s statement came out flat as if she chastised herself for not picking up on it.

  “You wouldn’t because you weren’t listening for nuance. Your focus was on playing the part—which you did like an Oscar winner, let me tell you.” Cael stopped. “It’s these little problems, these little clues that are going to help us kick their ass. I’m jacked Chase is back and ready as hell to see them fry for it.”

  “Keep going,” Wyatt waved him forward. “And careful what you say.”

  “You’re going to toe the line on this, Wyatt?” Charley’s accusatory tone threw him.

  He jerked back, crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Listen to this again.” Cael pressed play on the mini-recorder. “We’ll return him if, and only if, you meet uh—me …”

  Wyatt stepped closer to the group. “Hesitation. There’s more than one. The voice started to say ‘us’.”

  “Yes.” Cael slapped the desk with his hand. “Now listen to this.” He played another piece of the conversation back. “You always get what you want, don’t you?”

  “This is personal. Completely, absolutely and without a doubt,” Wyatt said, but didn’t alter his stance.

  “Exactly,” Cael agreed. He tilted his head up to Wyatt and twisted back to Charley. “They want you, Charley, like we already surmised, and whoever is behind it has a history with you, or us. That’s the frustrating part.” Cael knocked his fist against his forehead.

  “We need to prep for Friday’s little mystery visit.” James shifted in his chair.

  Wyatt held out his hands. “Whoa there, guys.”

  Each of the three faces mirrored different expressions. Charley’s filled with anger, James’s with humor and Cael’s with curiosity.

  Charley moved first. “What do you mean, ‘whoa’?” She took another step toward Wyatt.

  James shifted back.

  “I mean, you asked me to get involved, and I have, so we’re going to do this right, which means you three will not play a part in this.”

  “Like hell we won’t.” Charley stood at his toes.

  Wyatt wanted to wrap her in his arms. Instead, he maintained his stance. “We’ll find an agent to be you and send them to the park. That’s the safest thing once—”

  “No,” Cael said. “One of us is going to have to do it. If these people know about us, they’ll know what we’re capable of.”

  Wyatt glared at Cael, willing him to disagree again so he could bring his confidence down a notch or two. “It’s not safe for any of you to get involved at this stage.”

  Cael stood, bringing himself to his full height. James moved to flank Charley.

  “We’re trained for this, Wyatt. This is the kind of job we do each and every day,” Cael said.

  “And I am now your boss. So what I say, goes.” He met Charley’s gaze as he spoke.

  What had been simmering in her eyes boiled over. She poked Wyatt in the chest. “Cael’s right. This is what we do. I have to be the one to go, but I think we can probably go as a team—”

  Wyatt shook his head.

  “Get out, Wyatt.” Charley pointed to the door.

  “Excuse me?”

  James and Cael shifted behind Charley.

  She closed her eyes as if she had to think to make the motion. “I said leave.”

  “No.”

  She glared at him—as if her look could have been any more of a death-warning. “If you would afford me this professional courtesy, I would appreciate it, Mr. Moreland,” she said in a crisp, polite tone Wyatt had only ever heard when a superior dismissed him.

  He spun on his heel and walked out.

  • • •

  Charley staggered back as Wyatt stormed his way out. The front door slammed a moment later. It rang through the entire house, right down to their office.

  “Ouch,” James said.

  Charley spun, offered James the same look she’d provided to Wyatt. “What?”

  James leaned into her face. “I said … ouch.”

  The tension in her shoulders radiated down her arms, adding a pain and vibration worse than some of her body changes. Charley stared at her best of all friends. “Why?”

  James snapped his fingers at her eye level. “You screwed up.”

  “What?” Charley shook her head as if to jostle her thoughts into proper order. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You know he still loves you, right?”

  She said nothing.

  Cael leaned over James’s shoulder. “I’m going to leave you two in private. This conversation is going to go
somewhere I am not prepared to hear.” He bumped Charley in his hasty exit, but other than a slight shift, she didn’t move.

  “He doesn’t want you on the job because he doesn’t want you hurt.”

  “That’s a load of—”

  James tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His touch, while soft, came nowhere near the intensity of heat that Wyatt’s brought to her skin. “You didn’t see it in his eyes in Montreal once he found out about you because right afterward, we learned about Chase. You’ve missed all the signals since we got back because Chase was gone. And now that he’s back, you’re hell bent on revenge, but Wyatt’s still thinking clearly.”

  “And how can you think ‘clearly’ through this now, James?” She folded her arms over her chest. “Why are you all the sudden the voice of reason?”

  “Aren’t I always?”

  Charley dropped her gaze. Dammit. He is. Always.

  “The boy was in love with you. The man is in love with you, but neither of you have had time to talk through the past. You still haven’t told him what’s happening in less than a week, have you?”

  “No.” Charley studied the random pattern of the Berber carpet in the office. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

  “Like hell it doesn’t, Charley. You need him. When we got the call for his case, we jumped at it, knowing you’d stay away. You’re six days from your last change. You need to go to him, tell him, and see what he’s willing to give you.”

  He stood before her, so strong and kind, his hands on her shoulders. “You’re waiting for him to find something he can’t deal with and leave, Charley, even though it doesn’t matter at this point. You’ve given him very little about you.”

  She sat down on the edge of the desk. “I know. I can’t help it.”

  “You need to tell him everything. Start to finish. From scratch. A to Z. Whatever you want to call it.”

  “I was planning to, but like you said, everything keeps getting in the way.” She balled her fists.

  “You need Wyatt now, and even more for the future, but you have to let him into your life and stop looking at him as someone outside our circle. He already knows what we are, and I haven’t seen that fly across the six o’clock news, so I’m pretty sure he’s keeping the secret. Chase’s disappearance has been a huge hurdle, but we’re over that. We could use Wyatt’s help, his guidance, and his rules with this unknown group.”

  James took her hands in his and rubbed. “Remember the night of the dance? I told you it was okay then, and you opted to keep your promise to Lily and not derail his life. I’m telling you … again. Tell him. Make mad, passionate, earth shattering love to him, and next Sunday, on your birthday, shift to his age and make it stick. We’ll all still be here. I know you want that.”

  “But what if he won’t have me? What if—”

  James stared back up at her, a smile lighting his eyes. “I have a feeling none of that will happen, and if it does, we’ll be here for you.”

  “But I won’t be able to help you guys anymore, and you could get stuck with me, not just have to help. My work will be done. I’ll just be like any normal person—”

  “It was always going to be over, and you know that. We knew that. We had to bring you two back together. This is it. The last time. Two hundred and thirty-four years is all we get. Isn’t that what you’ve wanted for sixteen of them? You won’t forget us, Charley. He’s not going to let that happen if you take the time to tell him.”

  She let out a small laugh. “I kicked him out, James. I told him to leave and have given him no reason, none whatsoever, to stay around me.”

  “And that’s going to stop you? You can suck up with the best of them.” He chucked her chin with his fist. “If only we’d shared a birthday, I might have gotten you for myself. But no matter what, I’ll always love you, Charley.”

  “Thank you.” Charley put both her palms on his cheeks and leaned in to add a soft kiss to his lips.

  • • •

  Wyatt strode back into the room to tell Charley what he really thought about being bullied out of the way when he saw her lay a kiss on James’s lips. The fire within erupted. His fist itched to punch a surface, but he couldn’t bring himself to ruin any of their artwork, the walls or doors. He opted instead to let fury and anger burn as he stormed his way back through the hallway.

  If he hadn’t returned, he wouldn’t have known for sure. She should have told him and put him out of his misery since their reintroduction and the kiss that brought forth floods of memory.

  He could fight him for her. She might like that, given she was born in what? … Eighteen something or other? No wait, before that. Or, he could give her up. That would be noble.

  No matter what, he vowed to finish the job, to help her family get the justice they deserved. Then he’d get out of her life. It’s going to hurt like hell. Wyatt paused at the front door as Stuart caught up with him.

  “Lily’s got cheesecake and sandwiches made.”

  “No, thanks.” Wyatt leaned his head against the door and banged it once.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Yeah, okay. Liar.”

  Wyatt thought, briefly, that he should rip the door off its hinges, but his mother’s warnings about anger and cause and effect came back to haunt him. “Charley kissed James.”

  “So?”

  Wyatt spun back around. “Don’t tell me ‘So’. They were kissing!” He pinched his fingers together and mock kissed Stuart with them. “I knew it before, saw it in Montreal and ignored it. I’m so stupid to even think there might be something between us again.” He punched a fist into his own palm. It didn’t help.

  “Again. So?” Stuart munched on a chip from the pile in his hand.

  Wyatt raised his arm as if to hit Stuart but let it fall when Stuart stood still as if he’d take a punch for him—just to help him get it out of his system.

  Hushed voices echoed from behind the stairs.

  Stuart stepped closer. “They aren’t a couple. I can assure you. It’s not possible.” He disappeared through the dining room.

  Charley and James emerged from the hallway. “Wyatt!” Her eyes widened as if surprised by his presence.

  “Sorry, just leaving.”

  Charley cocked her head at him. “Actually, I—”

  Wyatt turned the knob and opened the door without a backward glance. He stepped outside and pulled the knob until the door clicked into place and the wall he’d created wedged between them.

  “Fuck,” he said for the second time upon leaving the house at the top of Turner Point.

  19

  Dazed, Charley walked through the foyer and into the living room, where most of her family sat. The sight of them together warmed her as her heart plummeted from Wyatt’s abrupt departure.

  She turned in a slow circle. “I’m … ah …” She waved a hand up the stairs.

  “Wait,” Cael called. “What’s wrong? Where’s Wyatt?”

  “Um … he left.” She stepped toward her destination.

  James caught her arm and spun her around. “What do you mean, ‘he left’?”

  “He left, okay? He walked out the door, it closed behind him, and the car pulled out of the driveway? Bye-bye Wyatt?” She tried to break free but a tremble took hold.

  “Did he say why?” Cael asked.

  Charley shook her head and closed her eyes. She pulled away from James’s grip.

  He held tight.

  “It’s not my place to make him stay, James. He’s got his own life.”

  “That’s bullshit, Charley, and you know it. We just had this conversation.”

  She yanked her arm out of his grip. “We can do this with or without Wyatt.” Before she could get two feet away, she stopped at Stuart’s garbled words. “What did you say?”

  “I said, Wyatt saw you kiss James.” He bit into an apple.

  Charley stood at his toes, her face inches from his, she poked one finger into his chest. “Whe
n?”

  “When you were talking by yourselves.”

  “And what did you say when he told you what he saw?” Charley asked in a tone Stuart would know meant his life could be in jeopardy if not answered to her satisfaction.

  “I said ‘So?’”

  “So?”

  “Yeah. So.” He shrugged and took another bite of his apple.

  The spray from the break hit her cheek, carrying with it a fresh scent that might have relaxed her if not for the circumstances in which it happened. Charley closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she let the real her show through.

  The apple crunched as it broke apart. “You know that doesn’t spook me.”

  “And you should know that I have far greater strength when I’m seriously pissed.”

  “Ooh. Now I’m scared.” Stuart waved the half-eaten fruit. “So go after him.”

  “No.”

  “Why not? You can even take my car.” He inclined his head toward the door.

  “No.”

  “Scared he’ll run from you? Won’t understand? You haven’t told him much yet, have ya?”

  She let her eyes turn back to a less ethereal color. “No.”

  “Then you’re scared. That’s a new one for you, Charley.”

  She turned to walk away.

  “Go to him, Charley,” Lily said from the doorway between the rooms.

  “Go, Charley,” James said.

  She looked to Cael, who nodded at her and then to Sophie, who did the same despite having missed some of the day’s events under a pain-killer-induced fog.

  Stuart yanked his car keys from his pocket.

  Charley waved him away. “I can get there myself, I just need—”

  Lily walked and stood in front of her. “Don’t think it through. Go to him. Let him know that you love him, that you’ve never loved anyone else in all your years. Show him, don’t tell him.”

  With her resolve firm, she started for the garage. “Uh … wait. Where does he live?”

  “In the Victorian where we met him the first time,” James said.

  Charley’s brows lifted. “Are you kidding?”

  “It’s his. He earned it,” Stuart said.

  With keys in hand, Charley grabbed her purse and coat and jumped in her car. The engine revved and purred as she backed out. Her GPS estimated a twenty-minute drive.