by DJ Erfert
Cooper stared into Kate’s eyes as they started shimmering. “I haven’t lied to you about anything.”
“You never told me about Lucy.”
“I told you I had a grown daughter—”
“But you must have known Lucy and I were friends, yet you didn’t say anything.”
Cooper ran his fingers along her cheek. “I still didn’t lie about it. Can’t we move on from here?”
“Move on?” Kate held her ribs. “I have so many questions now that I know you have a daughter with a special gift.”
Cooper pushed upright and sat next to Kate. “What do you mean?”
Kate sat up with her hand pressed on her side. “I know about Lucy’s gift of premonitions.”
“She—she told you?”
“Well, no. She didn’t have to.” Kate leaned closer to his face and lowered her voice a touch. “When she was on her mission to the Bahamas, Jim redirected a spy satellite after he found out Lucy turned down an agency jet and instead rented an old DC-3 flown by a retired airline pilot. While she was on the island, we watched Lucy pull her Jeep over to the side of the road moments before two cars raced around a blind bend. She stopped a terrible crash from happening—one that we had no doubt would have ended with people dying.”
“You said Jim Brockway watched her, too?”
Kate nodded.
Cooper rubbed his sore chin. The assistant director of the west sector knew about his daughter. “Has he written a report about her ability?”
“No way. We made a pact. Her secret is safe with us.”
“I don’t understand why he’d do that,” Cooper said quietly.
“Because he knows the woman he replaced in the LA agency two years ago, and he doesn’t have respect for her. Assistance Director Candice Bancroft would exploit your daughter if she ever found out about her.”
“Yeah, I know her, too.”
Kate touched Cooper’s knee and said, “I think I knew about Lucy’s secret before she was hired with the agency.”
“How?”
“Bancroft, um, sent me to recruit Lucy when a contact at her university sent her transcripts into the agency and suggested she’d make a great operative. I shadowed Lucy for two weeks to make sure she didn’t have any undesirable habits before I offered her a contract.”
“You followed her for two weeks?”
“Uh-huh. I didn’t understand what happened at the time, but she did some awesome things in those two weeks—saved several people who never knew they would have died.”
“If Lucy didn’t tell you about this, then how do you know what she goes through?”
“Junie Brockway and I have had long talks about her. I know it’s not nice talking about someone behind their back, but, face it, your Lulu is a fascinating subject.”
“Brockway’s wife knows about her gift, too?”
Kate nodded.
“How many others know?”
“Let’s see … our agency’s doctor Sunny Rhodes and her husband, Dusty—he’s an LA firefighter. Of course her boyfriend, Johnny Cartwright, does. So, that makes six.”
“Six,” Cooper muttered. “Six chances of her secret getting out.”
“No, Coop. I’ll never betray her. She’s my friend.”
“Did you write a report about those two weeks?”
“I … I kept notes.” Kate scrunched her brows and lost contact with his eyes. “But I’m pretty sure I didn’t include them with my report.”
“Who did this report go to?”
Kate blew out her breath. “Candice Bancroft.”
Cooper whispered. “So she may know about Lucy, too.”
“I don’t think so—”
“She suspects things about me. The woman’s not stupid. She can connect the dots. Why else would she want Lucy recruited in the first place?”
Kate sucked in her breath. “What—what do you mean she suspects things about you?”
Cooper sat back and leaned against the chest of drawers. “Candy and I go way back.” He looked over at Kate and said, “And she strongly suspects my secret, but she doesn’t have proof.”
“Your secret? You—you mean your—your alias?”
“Katie.” Cooper reached over and lifted her cool hand, hoping his touch might get her to take in a normal breath. “Lucy got her gift from me.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lucy gasped loudly. “I got it from you?” She rounded the doorway of her bedroom. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked, her voice rising higher in pitch with every word. “You made me believe I was alone with this curse, and all along you had it, too?”
Cooper jumped up from the floor and rushed to his daughter. “Lulu—” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “I was always there for you, and you know it. Think about it—”
“I can’t.” Lucy covered her face with her hands. “There’s too much to ask, and I’m too tired to think anymore.”
Cooper slid his hands around Lucy’s back and pulled her to his chest. “I’m sorry, Lulu baby. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’ll pick you up and take you for pancakes, and I’ll answer all your questions.” He looked back over his shoulder at Kate. “I think it’s time for me to come clean with my past if I’m going to have a normal future.”
“Normal,” Lucy whispered. “I don’t know what that is.”
Cooper leaned his cheek against his daughter’s head. “I think … normal is coming home to someone you love and being able to talk about your day. What you do during the day doesn’t matter—”
“Unless you’re a serial killer,” Kate said quietly.
Cooper lifted his head and stared at Kate. “Serial killer?”
“Mom was murdered by a serial killer.” Lucy looked up.
“How do you know this?”
“I went to the Los Angeles police department this afternoon—”
“Yesterday afternoon,” Kate said. “It’s two in the morning, Lucy.”
“It’s two?” Lucy leaned against Cooper’s chest and sighed. “No wonder I’m so tired. Anyway, I had a detective find the report on mom’s murder after my reoccurring nightmare started up again. I thought it might help me get past it.”
“You found a report on her?”
Lucy pushed out of his arms. “After we failed finding one under her name, Kate suggested the detective use Jane Doe. He found her in the FBI violent crimes program along with nine other woman who died the same way mom did.” Lucy stepped back and said, “They all looked the same—they looked like me.”
Cooper gently ran his hand down Lucy’s long hair. “Your mother had hair like yours, except it was blond.”
“I know,” Lucy whispered. “The picture I had to see yesterday mirrored my nightmare. Dad, who killed her? Who killed all those women with a switchblade? I know you found me, but why didn’t you report her murder? Did you see the man? Did you find me after he left or during the killing …”
Lucy’s voice was washed away in a high-pitched whine in his head as he remembered the bloody mess surrounding Sara. As hard as he tried, Cooper could never completely block her death from intruding into his dreams nor of what he’d had to witness before he rescued Lucy from that house in Las Vegas. He never forgot her terrified screaming, or the horrific, gut-wrenching emotions he experienced as Sara died—”
“Coop, are you okay?” Kate had him around his bicep. He didn’t see her come up on him. He had leaned heavily against the doorframe without meaning to.
“Yeah—I guess I’m tired, too.”
“You better sit down,” Kate said. “Your face is all washed out.”
“I think we all need to sleep.” Cooper stood upright and took in a couple of deep breaths, hoping to clear his mind of the residual feelings that had crept into his brain. “I’ll follow you back to the hotel.”
~*~
Their heels tapped quietly on the natural limestone pathway winding around the courtyard leading to their rooms. Cooper had a man positioned outside their doors since Lu
cy left two hours earlier, and he planned on keeping him there until morning. Lucy had walked ahead while Kate stayed next to his side.
Their hands had touched a few times, but he didn’t feel comfortable in holding it like they were a couple yet. He’d like to be; he hoped to be, after having an electronic relationship with Kate for the past two years. Cooper felt like he knew everything about her—she just didn’t know all about his life yet. They’d made a good start tonight. He’d never told another soul about his gift except one person, and she was murdered because of that knowledge.
Lucy stopped in front of her door. “This is my room, Dad.” She reached up and hugged his neck. “Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
Cooper wrapped his arms around her shoulders and squeezed. “Goodnight, Lulu baby. I love you.” He let her loose. “I’ll pick you up about ten.” He gave her the pink tool bag.
“Okay.” She kissed his cheek and used a keycard to open her door.
Cooper caught Kate before she slipped inside. With his hand on her elbow, he said, “Come have coffee with me.”
Kate looked down at his hand on her arm. She didn’t pull away, and she didn’t seem frightened. When she brought her eyes up to meet his, they were shimmering more than they should have been.
“You still don’t trust me,” he whispered.
“I … I don’t know what to think, Coop. You have so many secrets. I—I just don’t know.”
He moved in closer. “I promise you this, Kate—I will earn your trust, but please, just give me a chance.” Cooper let go of her elbow and gently placed his hand on the side of her face. “Will you give me that chance?”
Kate kept her stare on his. “I want to believe you. I want to so much.” She nodded as tears filled her eyes. When they breached her lashes and rolled down her cheeks, Cooper gently wiped them away with his fingers.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, sweet Katie.” He turned and walked away with his heart pounding like a teenager with his first crush. He left, happy with his decisions of the day.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The blood dripped off the switchblade as the man walked toward her down the darkened hallway. The closer he got, the louder she cried. The knife in his left hand mimicked the knife on the skin of his arm. It was blood red—and Lucy screamed…
“Lucy,” Junie yelled, shaking her shoulder and waking her out of her nightmare.
Gasping for breath, Lucy stared at the worried faces of her friends kneeling on her bed. Her heart slowed as her breathing steadied. Lucy pulled up her knees, and she leaned her face on her hands. She was safe, but her terrifying nightmare had intruded on her sleep once again. “What time is it?” she whispered.
Junie put her arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “It’s 9:30. Let me call your father—” The door burst open, and a muscle-bound man dressed in black ran into the room with a gun in his hand, making Junie and Sunny scream. Kate pulled her gun from the sway of her back. Lucy moaned at the standoff. Raising her voice she said, “I had a stupid nightmare. Put your weapons away.” Lucy pointed at the guard she assumed her dad had left last night. “You, get out!”
The young man looked around, nodded, and slowly backed out of the room.
“How did he get inside our room?” Junie asked.
“He had his own keycard,” Kate said, putting her gun in its holster.
“He can do that?” Junie asked.
Kate walked over to the door and flipped the metal slid lock. “This is why you always put the extra lock on, ladies.”
“But that wouldn’t have stopped him,” Lucy said, kicking back her covers. “I need to take a shower before my dad gets here.”
“Lucy—” Kate sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you always wake up screaming after your nightmare?”
Lucy swung her suitcase on the bed next to Kate. “Pretty much.”
“And it’s always the same?”
Kate had her hair down again, except this morning her curls had more definition to them. They hung around her shoulders and down her back in perfect spirals. Lucy looked closer at her face. Kate had on a touch more makeup, too. “It was a little different this time,” Lucy said, opening her suitcase. She found some clean clothes for the day. “I was able to make out the tattoo on the man’s left arm. It was a blood-red dagger.”
“Lucy,” Kate asked in a whisper, “does your dad have a tattoo on his left arm?”
She stopped and thought about her question. Did her dad have any tattoos? Lucy sat down on the bed next to her suitcase. “I don’t remember.” She looked into her friend’s worried green eyes. “I honestly don’t remember. Have you talked about tattoos with him?”
“Yes, we did. I know your dad has a tattoo of an eagle on his right bicep. At least, that’s what he told me. And I told your dad that I have a tattoo of a butterfly on my ankle. Haven’t you seen his arms?”
Lucy shrugged. “He works out in the sun, so he wears longs sleeves to keep from burning.”
“But he isn’t really a carpenter,” Kate said quietly. “He’s Cooper Steele.”
Lucy let her shoulders sag. “I forgot.” She rubbed her face. “I’ve got to take a shower. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
~*~
Cooper tapped lightly on Lucy’s door and listened while he waited for her to answer. Sullivan had briefed him on what happened with his daughter when he arrived, and he wasn’t happy about her having another nightmare. He’d dealt with them when she was a young child. They were called night terrors, and it would take hours before he could get her back to sleep. Now, it would seem they were back with a vengeance.
Kate opened the door, and Cooper smiled—she looked more beautiful than last night. But from the frown on her face, he could tell she wasn’t happy, and he let his smile fade. Now he didn’t know what to do with the handful of flowers he’d brought for her. She certainly didn’t look like she would be willing to take them from him.
“Good morn—” Cooper didn’t get a chance to finish before Kate grabbed his hand and hauled him inside the room. She pulled him past two frowning women sitting on the bed and into the other bedroom where she pushed the door closed.
“Take off your shirt.”
Cooper took a half step back. From her stance, it looked like she expected him to attack her. She had her hands balled into fists, and she held them down by her side. Her brows were pinched together. She needed an answer, and it had to do with his body.
He’d never been shy, not even as a kid. After he dropped the daisies on the table, Cooper shrugged off his coat and threw it on the bed. Then he reached behind his neck, pulled his sweater over his head, and tossed it on the bed, too.
“I needed to see your tattoo,” Kate said quietly, staring at his chest.
Cooper grinned as he made a tight fist and flexed his bicep, turning his shoulder toward her.
“Not that one.” Kate moved closer and reached for his left hand, lifting it.
“It’s the only one I have. I told you that,” Cooper said, letting her turn his arm over. She ran her fingers along his skin like she might find the subtlest of imperfections if she did it slow enough—and she was doing it very slowly—sending gooseflesh coursing up his arm. “What—” He cleared his throat and tried again. “What did you expect to find?”
“A red tattoo of a knife,” Lucy said, pushing the door open wider. “Like the one the man had in my nightmare.”
The two women were standing behind her, watching and listening. The short blond must be the assistant director’s wife. The other blond would be the doctor.
“He doesn’t have one,” Kate said, still holding his hand.
“Dad, did you see Mom’s killer?”
Cooper scanned the faces staring at him. Each one of the women knew his daughter’s secret, and they each looked as if they’d take a bullet for her. Would they keep his secret also? “Yes, I did.”
Her dark blue eyes widened as her anger flared. “Then why didn’t you stop him from killing her?” Lucy rush
ed him with her fists up. “You should’ve been able to since we have the same curse.”
He caught her by the wrists, but only after she had pounded on his chest a couple of times. Cooper could have intercepted her, but if hitting him gave her any therapy, then he wanted her to have it. He knew his daughter. She could have taken him down with just one fist to his throat. She didn’t want to kill him—she was angry with him, and she had a right to be. Cooper pulled Lucy down onto the bed next to him.
“I couldn’t …” Cooper let go of her wrists and leaned down, resting his elbows on his knees. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Why not, Dad?” Lucy pressed against his shoulder. “You must have had a window before her murder—you had to have seen it happen. How else could you have found me?”
Cooper hung his head, rubbing his hands together to dry the sweat from his palms.
“Dad, what happened that day?”
The bed moved on his other side, and Kate rested a gentle hand on his leg. “Tell us, Coop. It’s about time you come clean, if for nothing else than Lucy’s sanity.”
His gaze swept to his daughter’s watery eyes. They were right. “I was only eighteen when—” Cooper’s phone beeped once. It was one of his men calling. He pulled it out of his pants pocket and slid it open. “Yeah … … I understand … no, don’t interfere. Just keep your eye on them.” He closed his phone and moved to stand as he picked up his sweater. “You have FBI on their way in.” He pulled his sweater over his head and shoved his arms into the sleeves. “What did you do to get the FBI ticked off at you?”
Lucy wiped the tears off her face and groaned. “I was supposed to meet an Agent Monroe at their headquarters to go through photos and find an OTM who used some Mexican illegals as mules this past week. They hope I can identify him.”
“What’s an OTM?” Junie asked.
“When you’re talking about the southern border, if the nationality isn’t Mexican, then they’re referred to as an OTM, or ‘other than Mexican’,” Cooper said, heading for the room’s front door.
Loud pounding came from Lucy’s room door.