Discovery

by Char Webster

  “Yeah, you like him,” Alex said with a smirk.

  “We’re friendly because of you three, and that’s all.”

  Both kids looked like they didn’t believe her. “He said you were friends,” Zach told her. That upset Kate and she wasn’t sure why.

  Kate took another deep breath and decided to just go for it. “I know your uncle is around now, but I really want you to stay here with me. I love all three of you, and I want us to be a family.” Kate was so scared that they wouldn’t want to live with her.

  “Uncle Bud told us that we should stay with you, at least for now,” Alex explained.

  “He did?” She was surprised.

  “Yeah, he told us that it was safer here with you and that he was trying to find out who killed our parents,” Zach blurted out.

  “He did what?” Kate couldn’t believe he told them about that.

  “Kate, it’s okay, we’re not little kids. We know you will take care of us.”

  “I need to talk to your uncle,” Kate said, exasperated.

  “He said he would see us later,” Zach reminded her.

  Alex said, “I think I’m going to try to get some sleep since we didn’t get any last night.” Zach agreed, and both kids went upstairs to their bedrooms.

  Kate felt completely mentally exhausted. Everything was falling apart and it was all Nick’s fault.

  Kate didn’t have long to wallow in self-pity. Maddy woke up a few minutes later, and Kate was happy to be distracted by her. She made Maddy breakfast, and then they went outside to play.

  Alex and Zach came back down right before lunch. Both kids were a little quiet, and that made Kate nervous. They didn’t want to go back to the neighbors and decided to stick around their own backyard and pool. On the surface, it was a nice family day, but Kate knew that there was a lot of underlying tension that no one wanted to talk about.

  Before Alex and Zach went up to bed for the night, Kate stopped them and said, “I want you to know that I love you all and that this will always be your home.”

  Kate turned around to give them some space when she felt Alex’s arms go around her for a hug. “We love you, too, Kate.”

  Zach said, “Yeah,” and gave Kate an awkward boy hug.

  They both headed upstairs, and Kate finally felt the tension from everyone lessen a great deal. Things were going to be okay, Kate thought. She just had to be patient. She also had to eventually talk to Nick.

  ~*~*~

  Things seemed to be back to normal the next day, and Kate was thankful. Zach and Alex were back to roaming the neighborhood with Eric and Emily, and Maddy was back to singing her own words to the songs on the radio. It had been more than twenty-four hours since her fight with Nick, and he had not tried to contact her. She was half relieved and half disappointed. How could she want to clobber him and kiss him at the same time?

  She heard someone open the gate to the backyard and her heart raced at the sound. She looked up and was surprised to see Robert stroll into the backyard.

  “Good morning, Gorgeous. From the look on your face I can see you were hoping to see someone else. Don’t worry; I won’t hold that against you,” Robert said, settling down on a chair by the pool. “I brought champagne so you can make me that mimosa. You better have OJ.”

  Kate shook her head at him. He really was outrageous. “Make yourself at home,” Kate said sarcastically. “And I am not making you a mimosa.”

  He made a show of pouting, and she asked, “What is up with you and mimosas anyway?”

  “Don’t you think they make a wonderful start to the day?” he asked her.

  “Why can’t you just drink coffee or regular juice?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” He winked at her, got up, and walked the champagne into her kitchen. She couldn’t believe how he just did whatever he wanted without asking. She wondered if he was like this with everyone or she just brought it out of him. He really was fearless.

  Robert came back out with a cup of coffee. “You told me to make myself at home, so I am.”

  “I was being sarcastic. I didn’t really mean to actually make yourself at home here.”

  “You should really watch what you say, then. Someone may take it the wrong way and you would be in real trouble.” He grinned.

  “Oh, you mean like you?” she said sarcastically.

  “You’re hurting my feelings,” he said, acting completely dramatic again. Kate wanted to laugh; he really was entertaining sometimes.

  He turned his head, and the sun was shining onto his face. Kate stopped and looked right at him. “What happened to your face? You have a bruise on your cheek.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It doesn’t look like nothing. What happened?”

  “Kate, I’m so glad you care about me. Are you going to provide first aid? I may need to be taken care of. You know, back massage, rub my feet, and waiting on me hand and foot.”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Not happening. Quit trying to deflect. Tell me.”

  “I was collecting information.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “That’s all I can tell you right now, baby.”

  “Whatever. Don’t call me baby.” Kate corrected. “What are you doing here?”

  “What? I have to have a reason to visit my girl?”

  “I am not your girl. Why are you here?

  “We didn’t get to finish our talk the other day.”

  “You walked out in the middle of it.”

  “Well, I’m back now to finish. It’s my turn to ask questions,” Robert challenged.

  “Nope. You didn’t answer all my questions like you promised. You walked out in the middle. It’s still my turn.”

  “Sooo, you acknowledge that we’re taking turns, and my turn is next?”

  “I never said that.”

  “Oh, but you did. You said it was ‘still my turn,’ and that clearly indicates that we are taking turns,” he said with a huge grin.

  She opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind. “Whatever. Today’s still my turn then.”

  He grinned wider. “Ask away.”

  “What is the Division?”

  He sat up and leaned forward in his seat. “Don’t you know?” he asked, and took a long look at her. “Interesting. You’re just full of surprises, but I think our little chat is going to have to wait for another time. I have something to do.”

  Once again, Robert got up and walked away.

  Kate jumped up. “Are you kidding me? You’re just going to get up in the middle of our conversation?” Kate yelled in frustration. “You can’t keep sweeping in here and then leaving.”

  Robert smirked. “Oh, Kate. I didn’t know you cared.” He winked at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll see you later.”

  Kate hit her palm against the back of the lounge chair, wondering what was going on and if she had just completely messed up.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nick debated for over an hour about whether he should go see Kate or let her cool down some more. He hated that she was still mad at him, but he wasn’t sure how to fix that. Maybe going to see her and showing her that he wasn’t going to take the kids away from her would help. He needed her to trust him again.

  But the truth was, he just really wanted to see her. She had been on his mind almost non-stop. Maybe he could get the kids to help smooth things over. He smiled. Yeah, he would get the kids to help him. He needed a plan. She couldn’t possibly get mad at them.

  Need your help with a surprise for Kate, he texted to Alex.

  will she get mad, she texted back

  no its a good surprise, he answered.

  K ? Nick figured that was probably supposed to mean “Okay, what do you need me to do?” At least that was how he was going to take it.

  Will text you later, Nick texted back. Great, they’re going to help, he thought.

  ~*~*~

  Joel was dressed as a hospital orderly so he could blend in with
the other staff. He needed to find Sheila, take care of her, and then leave before anyone noticed. He was good at blending in.

  Sheila was in a regular room and not intensive care, which was a good thing; way less people around to discover him. He entered her room and pulled the curtain closed. It would only take a few minutes to implant the memory he wanted and then sneak out. He was going to enjoy this particular memory.

  She was still unconscious from her run-in with Frank, so she shouldn’t wake up while he was doing this. Sometimes the new memories caused people to have violent reactions.

  He grabbed her hand; physical contact always made his job easier. The farther away, the harder he had to concentrate. Depending on the level of concentration, he sometimes ended up with a horrible headache.

  Joel closed his eyes and started to imagine the scene he wanted her to remember. She started to shake and moan in her sleep. She was closer to waking than he had thought. He needed to hurry. She started to thrash about, and he stopped in the middle of the memory.

  He dropped her hand, moved toward the door, and looked out. He was glad no one was around, because he needed to get as much memory in her as possible. He was implanting the last of the memory at the door when she started screaming so loudly that his ears began ringing. Joel slipped into the room across the hall as several nurses ran into her room.

  She was still screaming when he left the hospital ward. His head was pounding, but he could celebrate a job well done. She wouldn’t be talking to anyone about the beating she received. She wouldn’t be talking to anyone about much of anything for a while.

  ~*~*~

  Robert was sitting at the bar waiting. He hated to wait, and he hated when people were late. He had already finished his Grey Goose, club soda, and lime and was just about to order another when a guy slipped onto the stool next to him. Robert turned to look at the new arrival and cringed in disgust. The man next to him may have been in his early thirties, but Robert thought that he looked years older with graying red hair that was desperately in need of a cut Robert resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose from looking at the man’s scruffy beard and wrinkled shirt.

  “You’re late, Tony,” Robert complained. “You look like crap. Haven’t you slept?” Robert took in Tony’s disheveled appearance and wondered what he had been up to.

  “I’m here now, aren’t I?” Tony replied, ignoring the rest. “Why’d you call me? I haven’t heard from you in months.”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Too busy for your friends?”

  “We’re not friends, Tony.” Robert had never liked Tony, but he was his contact with the Division. Robert didn’t want to align himself with any group, but sometimes he needed assistance.

  “Then why am I here?”

  “I need to know if the Division will protect a woman and her three kids.”

  That caught Tony’s attention. “Why do they need protection?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Sure it does. It matters a whole lot.”

  Robert didn’t want to reveal too much of what he suspected. “Let’s just say that they would be perfect members of the Division.”

  “Ah, so they’re tangling with the Association,” Tony guessed. “What did they do to piss them off?”

  “Not everyone who wants nothing to do with the Association has pissed them off,” Robert told him.

  “You and I both know that you don’t leave the Association unless you have violated one of their rules.”

  “You know what, never mind. Forget I called you,” Robert got up to leave.

  Tony grabbed his arm. “Now wait a minute. Are you involved with this woman?”

  Robert decided to let Tony get the wrong impression, so he just smiled.

  “You didn’t learn anything from the last time? Do you have a death wish? They’ll kill you one of these times.”

  “Are you going to see about their protection or not?”

  “Where are they now?

  “Around,” Robert told him.

  “I’m going to need a little bit more information than that. How old are the kids?”

  “Two teens and one toddler.” Tony smiled, and Robert wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  “Are you going to help or not?” Robert asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll help. Give me a few days, and I will be in contact.”

  Robert watched Tony walk out of the bar. Now he had to convince Kate to trust him.

  ~*~*~

  Tony walked out of the bar and pulled out his cell phone.

  “Hello?” the voice answered on the first ring.

  “Frank, it’s, Tony. I have some information for you.”

  “What?” Frank was in a bad mood. Nothing was going right for him. He had just found out that Joel was sent in to deal with his mess with Sheila. It meant that Brooks was pissed at him, and that was never good. He didn’t feel like dealing with Tony right now. Frank had never liked the guy, although once in a while he did feed Frank some good information. Maybe this was one of those times.

  “You’re looking for three kids, right?”

  That got Frank’s attention. “Yeah, you know something?”

  “A guy had just come to me asking for Division protection for two teens and one toddler. Sound familiar?”

  “Where are they?”

  “I’m going to have my contact followed. We should have their location within a day or two.”

  “Make it quicker.” Frank hung up the phone. Finally, something was working out. Hopefully, he could smooth things over with Brooks and everything would go back to normal.

  Frank sat back in the cab of his truck and continued to watch Dawn Johnson’s house. He needed a back-up plan in case Tony failed to present the correct kids.

  His phone rang again, and he looked at the number. He filled with dread. Brooks’ private number showed up.

  “Hello?”

  “I want you in my office in an hour.” Frank could tell Brooks was not in a good mood.

  “Yes, sir.” Frank hung up the phone and started the truck. He would just make it to Brooks’ office in time, but he would have to hurry. If he was late, Brooks would be even more furious.

  This was not good.

  ~*~*~

  Alex looked at her phone and smiled. Uncle Bud wanted them to get Kate out of the house for a bit. She wasn’t sure what he had planned, but she was more than willing to help. She could tell her uncle liked Kate, and she was pretty sure Kate liked her uncle. They were just being stubborn.

  “Hey, Kate?” Alex called. She had gone through their pantry and hidden the marshmallows.

  “Can we go to the grocery store to get stuff to make s’mores? You told us before that we could make them.”

  “I bought stuff to make them,” Kate told her.

  “All that’s here is the chocolate and gram crackers. There isn’t a bag of marshmallows.”

  Kate joined her in the pantry. “Are you sure? I thought we bought them last week,” she told her.

  “You can look, but I don’t see them,” Alex said with a smile.

  “Hmm, I don’t see them either. Did you guys take them over to Eric and Emily’s?”

  Alex smiled. “I didn’t, but maybe Zach did.” She didn’t mind causing a tiny bit of trouble for her brother.

  “We can go get some tomorrow,” Kate told her.

  “Can we go now? You said we could make some after dinner.”

  “Why don’t we make them tomorrow night, and we can cook out on the grill.”

  “Can’t we do both?” Alex tried for an innocent, pleading look.

  “I guess we can go get some now.”

  Alex rushed over and hugged Kate. “Thanks, Kate. You’re the best.”

  Five minutes later, they were in the car heading to get marshmallows. Nick watched them pull out, and he hurried over to Kate’s.

  ~*~*~

  Frank walked into Brooks’ office and stood just before his boss’ desk.

  Brooks l
ooked up from a report he was reading and gestured for Frank to sit down in one of the chairs. That’s not good, Frank thought. He never invited people to sit in his office because Brooks always want visitors to go in, provide information, and then leave quickly.

  Frank reluctantly took a seat.

  “Where are we on finding those kids?” Brooks asked with unusual calm about him.

  “I have a new lead that should provide results sometime tomorrow,” Frank told him, hoping he was speaking the truth.

  Brooks stood, and Frank made a move to stand as well, but Brooks said, “Please stay there.”

  This is really not good, Frank thought.

  Brooks came around the desk and put his hand on Frank’s arm. Frank stiffened and tried to move his arm, but Brooks clamped down on it.

  He knew what Brooks was going to do, and he began to panic. He had seen Brooks do this numerous times in the past, but he had never used it on Frank. Why was he doing it now?

  Frank was completely loyal to Brooks and would do anything for him. He knew it was taking a little longer than usual to find the kids, but he had always come through. He had never failed to complete an assignment. So, why was Brooks turning on him?

  “I don’t believe you have been motivated enough lately, Frank,” Brooks said as he began to concentrate. Suddenly Brooks’ eyes gleamed, and he stepped away. He had a sinister smile when he walked back behind his desk. “Now I know exactly how to motivate you.”

  Frank couldn’t breathe. His chest hurt and his heart was racing. He was feeling light-headed and was sure that if he didn’t get out of the room fast he would pass out. He needed to get out of there.

  “You don’t look well, Frank. I want you to go upstairs and stay in your old room tonight. This way, you can get the rest you need to finish the job.”

  Frank stood up to walk out of the office, but Brooks stopped him. “I want you to get your rest, so you really shouldn’t be disturbed. I’ll take your phone.”