by Elsa, Sandra
I had already washed my hair when Harrison entered the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes. He stepped under the warm water and wrapped himself around me. “You have got to stop collecting good-looking men. I trust you, but when you don’t bother looking away when he’s naked; it sets my teeth on edge.”
“He’s Were, they all like to be looked at. I imagine, being a cat, his conceit is even bigger than a wolf. I admired your naked body long before I actually met you. And I still haven’t seen any better. And speaking of my collection of good-looking men, I met Paul’s great-grandfather and the woman Paul’s taking on our next trip out to Coosawatchie. We really need to name our little plot of ground because the people that named that town were just plain out of their minds.”
“In the park?”
“They have tunnels that enable them to move underground. William’s lab is just south of the park.”
“Cool. I’d like to see it. Been awhile since I got to experiment.”
“You miss it?”
He frowned. “I do. But we’ll set up our own lab soon enough. Between your father and Paul’s great-grandfather I ought to be able to piece a lab together in one of our caves. We’ll need some sizeable solar panels to run equipment.”
“I need to start picking up work if I can. We’re set for now, but none of this is going to come cheap.”
“Can’t hurt to take out an ad, or however you advertise, but you might be a little too well known here for people to trust their cases will be handled discreetly.”
“I just need to find somebody to come up with an ident that will pass the most rigorous of inspections. That and a little latex and I’ll be set.”
“We’ll be set. I’m not letting you do all the work.”
“Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get clean.”
Chapter 24
We met Jerry and Harrison’s friends on the beach. We hadn’t been able to talk Sorenson into a swimsuit. He sat on duty, on a bench near the blankets we laid over the sand.
Around noon, my father and Nan joined us, laying down their own blanket a little ways off. They also had beach chairs and these they brought over to set up beside us. The first thing my father said was, “What’d you do to earn your own guard?”
“Not sure if he’s a guard or a keeper, but what we did was sneak out on him last night. Went to our house and found Johnny Girlo there. When we called both local and HQ watch to come pick him up, they figured out we weren’t in our room.”
“Why is Annabel in your room? We knocked to see if you wanted to come down here with us.”
I looked around to see who was close but Jerry and friends were out playing with a hover disc. Sorenson was closer than anybody else and I considered his Were hearing. It would be a decent test of whether or not I could trust him, without any serious consequences if it was passed on. “We accidentally almost killed Jeffrey last night.” Sorenson’s attention riveted on us. “Nearly sucked his talent dry, so he’s under Prince Charming’s spell. Hopefully he’ll wake up good as new tonight and nobody will be the wiser. Annabel and Lisa are both with him.
Jallahan looked at Harrison who said, “Fives a crowd, and you know Aunt Lisa well enough, she can be hard to take, especially when she’s irate. Even though we told her it was accidental and we had already taken steps to fix it. She was a little more abrasive than her usual charming self, so we borrowed their likenesses and left.”
“Probably a good move. Did you rent the room for today?” Nan asked.
“Kinda had to,” Harrison told her. “He won’t be going anywhere until about ten o’clock tonight unless we want to carry him out. What’s Dad up to? Still look like he’s planning to roll out today?”
“Quite a few of those he brought down here, are already gone. A lot of them left yesterday. We saw him at breakfast; he looked a little more than miffed. I guess we know why now. I think he believed he had you cornered and you’ve proved yet again you can walk off any time you want.”
“Don’t say that too loudly or poor Sorenson will take the brunt of it.” I rolled on my stomach and looked up at him.
The right side of his mouth lifted in a grin.
Harrison sat up and rubbed sunscreen on my back and I moaned with pleasure as his fingers became intimate.
My father stood from the chair. “That would be our cue to head for our own blanket.”
“Don’t let us run you off. The swimsuit stays on as long as it’s daylight.”
“Good to know, but I think it’s time for us to take a quiet moment as well.”
“Lunch in an hour?”
“That sounds good,” Nan said. “I’m sure I’ll have had enough lying about in the sun by then.”
Sorenson’s phone beeped. He wasn’t close enough I should have heard it, but I did. I glanced up to see him place it against his ear. I laid my head back down on my arms and listened to both ends of the conversation, and while a current of wind may have carried the beep, there is no way I should have heard Mr. Jamison cussing him out. He ended the conversation with a, “Yes, Sir,” and a gentle click as he flipped the phone closed.
I picked my head back up and stared at him. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean for that to happen. But it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.”
He raked his fingers through short dark hair. Brown eyes held mine. “I’ve never done anything else.”
It seemed strange to be holding a quiet conversation with somebody thirty feet away. “Start by taking off the coat, shirt, and shoes.”
Harrison stared at me oddly. Then as Sorenson’s motion caught his attention, he looked over at him doing as I suggested. “He got fired?”
“No. He quit. Jamison was yelling at him and he just quit.”
“How can you know that?”
“Been wondering that myself. Heard both ends of the conversation. I don’t know if that means that Jamison’s ability to hear a room can be reversed if he wants it to. Or if I somehow pulled one of his attempts to use that trick on me out of null.”
“Try hearing what Mom and your Dad are saying.”
I focused over there and heard things one never wants to hear from your parents mouths. I shuddered and focused back on Sorenson. “I think I’m doing it. Wish I knew how.”
Sorenson folded the coat, removed the shoulder holster, then neatly put the shirt on top of the coat before bending over to unlace his shoes and remove them and his socks. Women took instant notice of him. He dug his toes in the sand.
“Now,” I said, “bring the holster over here, and go to one of the kiosks. Purchase a swimsuit and a blanket. Go to a change house and put the swimsuit on, then come back, lie down and enjoy your day off.”
He looked nervous as he handed me his weapon. I wondered if he’d ever been without it. Or taken a day off for that matter. He was probably no better at relaxing than I was when I met Harrison. It took some getting used to. But after three months, even I was getting the knack for it.
When he walked away, Harrison said, “You’re going to feel responsible for him aren’t you?”
“Not necessarily. But he has got to have some decent skills and we need a face for a detective agency. It would give him honest employment and give us a way to get cases that doesn’t require I get into disguise every time I met with a client.”
“That’s a good thought. We’ll have to see if he’s willing.”
From the nearest kiosk, Sorenson turned and looked at us. “I’m willing.”
Harrison looked at me and asked, “What did he say?”
“He’s willing.”
“Then we have a plan.” His stomach rumbled and he glanced at his phone to check the time before yelling over at our parents. “You two lovebirds hungry?”
My father rolled over and said, “I could eat.”
Nan sat up. “Me too.”
“As soon as Sorenson gets back we’ll go to the café.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
I spun to look at Sorenson then turned back
to the others. “He’ll meet us.”
“Does he know which café?” Nan asked.
“I assumed you would return to the Beachfront,” he said. “You’ve eaten there more than anyplace else since I’ve been here.”
“This is really bizarre. If it’s Jamison’s spell, I guess I need to figure out how to turn it off. Anyway, he knows where.”
I watched as Sorenson dug his phone out of a pocket. He opened it and said, “I’m purchasing a swimsuit. It appears Harrison and Frankie are off to lunch with their parents. Excuse me, Sir. His mother and her father.” After a brief pause he said, “I wouldn’t know. I’m no longer their keeper.”
From this distance, at least I couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.
“Damn it, Sorenson!” Check that, I guess I could hear, if the caller spoke loud enough. That was Jordan Drover on the phone.
Sorenson listened for another minute then pulled the phone away from his head. He looked at me and said, “He wants to know where you are. He’s leaving and wishes to say farewell.”
“He has our phone number. Tell him we now have our phone with us.”
He put the phone back to his ear. “Francesca says you may call them.”
He held the phone away from his ear then put it back up. “No, Sir, she’s not standing right here. She’s a hundred feet away, collecting up her belongings. It seems she’s accessed one of Mr. Jamison’s spells and you know my hearing is part of me.”
“Just tell him where we’re heading. He’s welcome to come down as long as he promises he’s leaving.”
“She has given me permission to inform you she will be at the Beachfront Café and you’re welcome to join her as long as you promise you’re leaving.”
He pulled the phone away from his head again and said, “Nearly verbatim, Sir. I’ll let her know.” He flipped the phone closed, then said, “He’ll be down in ten minutes.”
We finished folding the blanket and packing up the lotions and the towel folded around my nine-mil and Sorenson’s forty-five, then walked to the café, collecting up Sorenson’s clothing as we passed the bench. He joined us before we sat down. He didn’t yet own a swimsuit.
“Can’t choose, or didn’t want to miss lunch?” I asked him.
“Couldn’t picture myself wearing anything they had there. I don’t know; it’s been fur or suits since I got out of school. I’m not sure I can change.”
“Harrison did. You’ll look almost as hot as him in jeans and a t-shirt. Since you’re…” I looked over at our parents and bit my tongue, but he had mentioned wearing fur. “Anyway since you don’t seem to have a problem being naked in public you ought to get the same kind of swimsuit Harrison’s wearing.” That would be the skintight little suit that left nothing to the imagination. Harrison had pulled shorts on to come up to the boardwalk, but damn I liked seeing him in that suit. Especially when other women turned to watch him walk by.
The waitress showed up and took our orders glancing appreciatively at Harrison and Sorenson who sat to my left and right like bookends. No sooner had she left, than Jordan showed up accompanied by Jamison and his four remaining stooges. They all stared at Sorenson, disbelief written across their faces as he sat by my side, shirtless, in bare feet. Nobody spoke to him.
Jordan sat down beside Nan, giving her a pair of decent looking bookends as well.
The seating put him directly across from Sorenson who finally showed a smidgen of discomfort with the situation. I reached out and touched my fingertips to his wrist and he relaxed with a full-blown purr.
The waitress returned and took orders from the new arrivals while Jordan Drover watched the interplay. I turned to the table full of men in dark suits, terribly out of place on the beachfront. I looked at Mr. Jamison and asked, “I don’t suppose you could tell me how to shut this damn spell down?”
“Which spell would that be, Mrs. Kendrel?”
“It must be yours. I didn’t intentionally invoke it, but I can hear everything for about a hundred yards around.”
I couldn’t believe his face didn’t crack when he smiled. “If it’s mine, it will fade in due time. I can turn it off simply by telling myself I no longer need to hear so well, I have no idea how storage in null will affect it, or if it will behave for you as it does for me.”
“You’ve been learning to use the spells in your collection?” Jordan Drover’s voice was sharp and disapproving.
“No. But I was worried about Sorenson, because he didn’t really deserve my tricks. I wanted to know what was going on with him. Suddenly I could hear Jamison reaming him out on the phone. But it wasn’t just him I could hear, unless I specifically tried to hear him, and let me tell you, some of the conversations on this beach are not meant to be overheard.” My cheeks heated and I avoided looking at my father.
“I didn‘t think you could be embarrassed. You didn’t bat an eye on the ride here from the church.” He referenced his own lewd comment. “You repeatedly flaunt your own personal relationship in my face. What could possibly cause you to turn red?”
“You don’t need to know that. Otherwise I’ll find you throwing it in my face when the recording devices are all turned off. I don’t think you need to know what embarrasses me.”
Sorenson grinned at me, then chuckled.
“You know?” Jordan Drover accused him.
“Of course I know, we were listening to the same piece of beach, but in case you’ve forgotten, I don’t work for you anymore, Sir.”
Jordan’s gaze held Sorenson’s. “What will you do with yourself?”
“I quit fifteen minutes ago. Really haven’t thought that much about it. As soon as we finish eating, I plan to return to that kiosk over there, find a swimsuit Frankie approves of, and try to lose the pale flesh working for you has left me with.”
Jordan’s gaze turned from Sorenson to me. “Why does Frankie have to approve of it?”
“Because I like her tastes,” Sorenson said. He looked like he wanted to say more but he bit his tongue. Literally.
Jordan Drover pursed his mouth then gave Sorenson one last onceover before turning his attention to his son. “You have no problem with this development?”
“Why would I have a problem with it? If Frankie decides she likes somebody I couldn’t possibly stop her. Nor would I want to. Even before we got married I knew she developed strong ties with her friends and it’s a two way street. I’ve learned to see it for what it is. She’s open and caring, that doesn’t mean I have anything to worry about. Kinda like having Sorenson on our team. And he’s right, Frankie does have good taste. She chose me.”
“Then you recant your claim that a matchmaker’s talent declared you perfect for each other.”
“No. But considering how little trust she has in mages, I still had to convince her to choose me.”
“It’s your life, Harrison. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Thirty-three years.” Harrison frowned. “ That’s how long it took me to decide I actually could have a life. My life. My choices. Not yours. And you know what? I like my life. Bullets, bodies, threats from you--being with Frankie makes it worth putting up with anything life has to throw at me.”
“And what about your friends and family?”
“To live by the rules we’ll maintain the address we have in District Seven. We may even decide to visit from time to time. Don’t expect to get a phone call inviting you to dinner.”
The waitress showed up with our food as Jordan Drover sat back and assessed his son. Having a residence, if we did visit from time to time he couldn’t drag us back because we were breaking the law. That put a crimp in the theory that he could force us to return.
I kissed Harrison. “You’re so smart.”
Jordan frowned. “Speaking of family. Have you seen your Aunts and Uncle?”
“Not today,” Harrison answered truthfully.
Jordan looked at Sorenson, then over to the broad shouldered man who’d been in the car in front
of my house. Broad-shoulders shrugged. “Nobody entered the house last night except Sorenson.”
“I suppose they may have rented a vehicle and gone ahead of us,” Jordan muttered. He sounded doubtful.
Nan jumped in to forward this thought in Jordan’s head. “I did tell them I wanted to keep my car since I’d be staying a couple extra days, and we rode down here with you.”
Jordan nodded once, sharply, then put his brother and sister out of his mind, circling back to Harrison, Sorenson, and me, “I’ll still find you at the end of your year. And we agreed on a phone call in six months.”
“So we did.” Harrison nodded agreement as he picked up his tuna sandwich, not at all unbalanced by the detour to family concerns. “Of course you already broke your side of that agreement.”
“When?”
“I believe the agreement was, no more media blitz. What do you call that circus at our wedding?”
“The story ran one day.”
“That doesn’t get rid of cached pages. But fine. You get your six month phone call.”
Jordan chewed a tomato, then speared a cucumber and a bit of egg before turning his attention to Sorenson. “So where do you plan to live? In spite of your other attributes, you are still a mage and still required to live in District Seven. Since you are no longer in my employ you will need to move off my property, immediately.”
Sorenson put down his forkful of crab. “I expected no less.”
“Whether you expected it or not, doesn’t answer my question.”
“He’ll be renting the upstairs bedroom in my house,” Harrison said. He looked at Sorenson and asked, “Do you know someone who can move your belongings?”
“I’ll do it.” The older man from Jamison‘s team volunteered, in spite of the president’s glare directed at him. “I’ll need a key.”
“I can let you in,” Nan offered.
“That’ll work.”
“Thank you, Tomkins.” Sorenson’s voice broke.
“No problem, kid.”
“You’re sure this is what you want to do?” Jamison’s voice was softer than I’d ever heard it. I couldn’t decipher if it was threatening or otherwise.