Untrained Eye

by Jody Klaire

  “Good to feel part of the team,” I snapped. My hands pulsed as I did so. A wave of pain ripped up and down my arms. I gripped my chest. Tears filled my eyes with the agony.

  “What is it?” Frei asked. “You seeing something?”

  “No,” I wheezed. I didn’t know what it was but it weren’t nothing I’d experienced before. “In pain. Fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.” Frei pulled the van over to the side of the road. I dropped the can on the floor.

  “Aeron, what’s wrong?” Renee turned to look at me.

  The van spun before my eyes. I clung onto my head. I clattered to the floor, thinking I was in trouble.

  Big trouble.

  Chapter 3

  THE LONG, BLAND white of a hospital corridor looked like every one Renee Black had ever been in. Why couldn’t they do something to make them look less clinical. Why were all the chairs weird patterns and the windows non-existent, and where was the doctor.

  “Renee, sit.”

  She turned to glare at Frei. As always she sat bolt upright, shades on, looking like she didn’t feel a thing.

  “She’s been in there for hours.”

  “Ladies?”

  Renee turned to see the doctor in green scrubs. “You have news, is she okay?” She tried to calm the sudden breathless gasping that erupted.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What do you mean you aren’t sure?” She put her hands on her hips. What kind of doctor was this idiot?

  “Renee, sit down and let the man speak.” Frei nodded up at him, flashing her badge at the doctor. “Give us what you have.”

  “Nothing.” He shook his head as if he was confused. “Technically Miss Lorelei has suffered a heart attack.”

  “Technically?” Renee slumped down and perched forward in her chair.

  “Yes, the symptoms she displayed were conclusive however . . .” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Her heart is perfectly healthy. We checked the structure. We checked her ECG. Her toxicology screen was clear.” He shrugged with a look of confusion rippling his brow. “She doesn’t even have a temperature.”

  Renee looked at Frei who slid off her aviators. “Is she conscious?”

  He nodded. “Tired. I would hazard a guess that she’s shaken up, but there’s nothing wrong with her at all.” He frowned. “If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t understand it at all.”

  “Can we take her with us?” Frei sounded no more worried than if Aeron had gone on a day trip.

  “Yes, you have medical staff . . . er . . . wherever you are?”

  Frei nodded.

  “Good. I will give you my notes. I would certainly recommend she remain under observation at the very least.” He glanced down the corridor. “I don’t have anything else to offer. I’m sorry.”

  Renee heard his genuine regret and tried not to scoff. He would be sorry until the next case rolled in for him to deal with.

  “Thank you, doctor.” Frei was up on her feet and holding out her hand. “Appreciate the help.”

  What help? Renee turned to stare down the corridor, wondering which room Aeron was in. Maybe it was her fault. She was pushing her too hard. She was being inhospitable. She rubbed her hand over her face. It wasn’t Aeron’s fault she couldn’t get her out of her head.

  “Renee, quit being a pain in my ass.” Frei’s icy glare made her skin prickle. “Cry it out, see a counselor, write a freaking romance novel for all I care but get over it.”

  “What?”

  Frei gripped her arm and hauled her to her feet. “You’ve been glowering since you woke up in St. Jude’s. So she touched you, she rescued you, she healed your face. Big deal.” Her grip got tighter as she shoved her along the corridor. “You fell in love with someone you can’t have. It’s not the poor kid’s fault. Give it a break.”

  Renee yanked her arm free. “A break? If you had a heart, maybe you’d understand that you can’t just forget about it.”

  Frei’s eyes narrowed. “What would you know about my heart?” She stepped into Renee’s personal space. “You think I wanted to see your face slashed open? You think it was easy for me to see you give up.”

  “I did not—”

  “You did. You quit on me, you quit on her.” Frei gripped hold of her arm once more. “If you ever do it again, I’ll put a bullet in you myself.”

  Renee managed to open the door before Frei barged her through it. Frei didn’t get angry.She was stoic, quiet. She didn’t have a temper.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she whispered her way.

  “No, the only person you were thinking about was yourself.” Frei nodded to Aeron who stood staring out of the window. “You’re lucky she’s got a good heart.”

  Renee felt the familiar wish to run and cuddle Aeron. Her stomach wriggling with nerves at the sight of her. Her heart ached that Aeron would never understand why. “And you?”

  Frei gave a curt nod to Aeron as she glanced their way. “You’re the one who just told me I didn’t have a heart.” She strode over to Aeron. “The doctor said we can take you back to base now.”

  “He did?” Aeron sounded groggy, croaky. She sounded scared.

  Renee shoved her hands in her pockets to keep her emotions in check. Aeron didn’t need anyone touching her. It would be better when they got her away from all the sensations.

  “They won’t tell me what happened,” Aeron said.

  Frei opened her mouth. “They—”

  “Said it was a virus.” Renee shot a glare Frei’s way. She had been out of line but Frei had all the tact of a bulldozer. “Couple of days and you’ll feel better.”

  Aeron turned to meet her eyes. Big brown soulful eyes that looked so very lost and lonely. Renee pulled down her sleeve and held out her hand. “Let’s get you somewhere nice and quiet, okay?”

  Aeron nodded, looking every bit the twenty-something she was.

  Frei pulled out a pair of latex gloves from her pocket. “Long story but just in case you touch anything.” She shrugged at Aeron’s wide-eyed look. “It’s a hospital. Helps if you don’t pass out every two seconds.”

  Frei’s words sounded as cold as ever but Aeron held her gaze for a moment. A gentle smile spread across her beautiful face. “Thanks. I don’t want to repeat earlier.”

  After she slid on the gloves, Renee took her hand, Frei adjusting her stride to Aeron’s labored pace. Her father had suffered from heart problems before Aeron had healed him. Maybe there was something genetic?

  Renee would check with Lilia when they got back.

  “Did they get the guy?” Aeron mumbled as they walked her down the long busy corridor.

  Renee nodded. “He had someone down there. They freed her. You saved her life.”

  Aeron smiled. Her tall, strong frame seemed to relax with the information. “Good to know.”

  They took her into the elevator and Frei pressed the button for the roof. Aeron glanced at her and Renee felt her squeeze her hand. “You okay there?”

  “Why we going up?” Her voice wobbled like she was afraid.

  “We’re flying you back.” Frei raised an eyebrow at her. “You have issues with it?”

  Aeron squeezed Renee’s hand again. “I ain’t ever been in an aircraft before. I mean . . . will it take off?”

  Renee and Frei exchanged a glance.

  “What do you mean?” Renee asked, keeping her voice gentle, hoping her tone would soothe her.

  “Well, I mean . . . Look at me . . . is it gonna carry me?”

  Renee couldn’t help herself, she wrapped an arm around Aeron’s waist and squeezed. “Our ride is a lynx. It’s a rotary wing aircraft.”

  Aeron glanced at Frei and Renee smiled.

  “It’s a utility helicopter. A tactical troop and stores carrier, air-borne command and casualty evacuation.” She could feel Aeron’s fear turn to curiosity so she kept going. “It takes two crew members and has an eight man capacity. Maximum speed is 201 miles per hour and it’ll fl
y for 328 miles.”

  “That don’t make much sense to me,” Aeron mumbled.

  Renee turned her so she could look up into big brown eyes full of confusion. “The maximum take-off weight is 11,750 pounds.” She nodded as Aeron raised her eyebrows. “That means it can take a few of you and still be just fine.”

  Seeing Aeron’s doubt still lingering, she glanced at Frei and shrugged. She tried to think of how she could make it sound more fun than scary. “It’s been in service in the United Kingdom since 1977. The US Military doesn’t use it but the CIG pilots favor it over the others in service.”

  “We have pilots?” Aeron looked to Frei as if she wasn’t sure Renee was telling her the truth.

  “Three pilots.” Frei shot Renee a bored look as the elevator doors opened to the blazing heat.

  Renee led Aeron out toward the chopper, feeling her hesitation. “It was the world’s first fully aerobatic helicopter and set the official airspeed record for helicopters. It’s made by Augusta Westland. The seats will dig in. They’re canvas strapped to metal. You’ll feel like you’re sitting in a child’s chair. It’s noisy but I promise you that you’ll have the best pilot in the United States.”

  “We will?” Aeron stumbled along behind her as if her feet objected to moving.

  “Yup, been flying since it was legal and in the cockpit since they could walk.”

  Aeron glanced around the rooftop. Frei hopped up into the back and held out her hand.

  Aeron turned to look at Renee as she let go. “Aren’t you comin’?”

  Renee smiled, jumping into the pilot’s seat. “Helps if I do, yeah.”

  Aeron’s grin made Renee’s stomach wriggle, again. “Why didn’t you just say it was you in the first place?”

  Renee nodded to the copilot and put on the headset as Frei helped Aeron with hers. “I wasn’t sure how much confidence that would inspire.”

  Aeron let out a breath that rattled the speaker as Renee ran through her checks. Then she tensed as the telltale static crackled through her headset. It happened whenever Aeron came into contact with electrical things. She quite often blew things and shorted electrical circuits. Still, Aeron was okay in the car . . . it would be the same in a helicopter, she hoped.

  Renee held her breath, said a silent prayer, and started up the engine. The lynx whirred into life and she smiled. Phew.

  “You kiddin’ me?” Aeron’s warm tone rippled with excitement and Renee scolded herself for ever taking anything out on her. She was lucky Aeron had such a good heart. Frei was right.

  “Thanks to you, Lorelei. Now Renee has her peripheral vision, we have our second-best pilot back again.”

  Renee shook her head at Frei’s taunt. It sounded like she’d forgotten their spat already.

  “Second best?” Aeron cocked her head, then groaned, scowling up at the metal she’d bumped herself on. She looked comical sitting so low down, her knees up to her chest. A lynx wasn’t made for comfort but Renee trusted them. Her father had learned to fly them in Europe and had enlisted it in CIGs fleet. It felt good to fly his baby.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Renee said, easing them off the ground. She wanted Aeron to have a smooth first ride. “Urs can’t help that she can only fly fixed.”

  In reality Frei could fly any aircraft. In fact, the speed she drove her car made it feel like she was attempting fast jet maneuvers.

  “She’s saying that because you’ll prefer my ride when we get to the airport.” Frei’s tone held definite good-natured teasing in it now.

  “I will?” Aeron sounded relaxed. That was good.

  “I travel in style, Lorelei.”

  Renee smiled as Frei started to give her own rundown on the light aircraft that they would take to the base. The lynx would be flown up in stages to join them. It felt good to fly again. She owed Aeron so much for that.

  She sighed.

  It seemed like a long, long list. Renee felt the need to balk at that. She’d never let her feelings get the better of her before. Somehow, she had to figure out how not to take that out on Aeron and still do her job. Somewhere in her mind, a little voice chimed, Good luck with that.

  Chapter 4

  THE CIG BASE was at an undisclosed location. You would think that being one of them, the dimwits would let me see where I was going but no, as soon as we’d boarded the plane, they’d put a blindfold over my eyes.

  What was evident was that it was some place warm. Warm enough just to wear a jacket in the middle of April. They undid my blindfold, and snow was high above me and the area way down in the distance looked like a scruffy desert. We were in the center of the big mountain. There was a lot of asphalt covering the rocky expanse or at least it looked like it. Nope, the CIG headquarters was not luxurious in any sense. Concrete slabs for buildings nestled along the drag, a bar on one side, aptly named Dusty’s. There was a grocery store next to it and a large building, which I remembered was the place where they handed out uniforms the other side. Then there were large expanses of offices all with flat-topped roofs and white-painted brick.

  The plane taxied us into a hangar at the far end of the runway and a jeep took us into “town.” To me it looked like something from a really old film, the residential blocks at one end like a prison and the officers’ quarters, near the main office quadrant, didn’t look a whole lot better, all with a huge perimeter wall or maybe it was just the edging of the mountains around. Either way, you didn’t get in without knowing how to.

  In a weird sense, I could imagine somebody shooting a movie up here. That’s if they wanted to depict some alien landscape where nothing grew and the ground was a weird color. Coming from the green of Oppidum, it felt pretty hostile.

  “Renee will take you to see the doctor.” Frei looked as cool as ever. Considering she had milky white skin, heat or cold didn’t seem to affect her . . . okay, nothing seemed to affect her. “Then when you’re done, she’ll take you to your quarters.”

  “Do I have to live in the dorms again?” I knew I sounded like a whiny kid but after spending most of my life locked in a prison, I didn’t want to recreate that here.

  “Actually, you’re next door to me.” Renee shot a warm smile my way. She’d thawed since the hospital. I wasn’t sure how long for but I’ll take it.

  “You got to live in dorms?”

  She laughed as Frei shot a glare my way and strode off muttering. “No, we get our own places.”

  That felt strange. I had a place, a pretty awesome cabin at the side of a river that Nan had left me. A place I wanted nothing more than to retreat back to. I missed the river. I missed the quiet. I missed Mrs. Squirrel. I would even go as far as saying I missed my dad.

  Go figure.

  Renee led me into another nondescript hunk of stone. Inside it was tiled but pretty much resembled a sugar cube. It was stuffy warm, like when the heating had been on too long. There was a lady sitting under a rotating ceiling fan, her glasses way too big for her petit face.

  She glanced up and spotted Renee, a grin breaking out. “Well, Commander Black, you’re looking mighty fine today.”

  Her southern twang made me smile. It was nice to hear her bubbly personality oozing through it. I decided I liked her.

  “Thanks, Sally, is Doctor Andrews in?” Renee looked a bit flustered by the woman’s greeting, which made me chuckle.

  “Why, of course. He is always happy to see you. I’ll just buzz him—”

  “It’s for Aeron.” Renee’s blush got more pronounced, which made me chuckle again. She poked me. “Quit it.”

  “You not feeling so good, sweet thing?” Her deep eyes were almost royal blue behind the lenses. She looked like the kind of woman I’d seen pinned up on the wall of Oppidum’s garage. Her blonde hair bounced, her make-up perfect.

  “Had a funny turn,” I mumbled. I hoped that somebody would tell me what had happened at some point.

  Sally, the receptionist, scooted from behind her desk and strutted up to me. “What symptoms did you ha
ve?”

  “Pain in my chest and arms. I couldn’t breathe.” I still felt like it was harder than it should be to suck in air. “Then my heart went crazy, pounding away and I blacked out.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m pretty sure that I hit my head.”

  Sally’s eyebrows furrowed. She grabbed a wheelchair and motioned for me to sit.

  “What are you doing walking around?” She stared at Renee as if expecting an explanation.

  “She’s Lilia’s daughter. They couldn’t find anything wrong.”

  Sally cocked her head, then relaxed her shoulders, making her sizable chest bounce. “Explains. No problem. Well, Aeron, let’s get you checked out.”

  I glanced back at Renee. “Can she come . . . I mean . . . Can she?” So, I sounded like a twelve year old. Renee was a familiar face even if she was harder to predict than the weather.

  Sally looked Renee up and down before turning back to me. “You sure, hon? He might need to go into details.”

  “There’s nothing Renee doesn’t know.” I didn’t get why that made her grin at me. I also didn’t get why Renee now looked like her cheeks were on fire.

  “She means because I was her protection officer,” Renee mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears.

  “Uh huh.” Sally sounded like she was suspicious about something.

  “I was,” Renee protested.

  Unsure of what I was missing, I just looked back and forth.

  “She’s pretty awesome at it too,” I said. Maybe Sally didn’t think she was.

  “I’ll bet.” Sally shot a glance Renee’s way as she wheeled me down the corridor. Renee trundled alongside, looking like a naughty teenager. “Least Lilia put you in safe hands, darlin’.”

  “It had nothing to do with her,” I muttered.

  All my mother had ever done was abandon me. Okay, so she’d come to St. Jude’s to help me with Renee. It earned her brownie points but she had a way to go before I felt anything but conflicted about her.

  “Doctor,” Sally said, pushing me through the office door. “I got Lilia’s girl here to see you. She’s had a suspected heart attack but the hospital couldn’t find anything wrong with her.”