Ethan,
I went next door to Cade’s. She’s doing barbecue at her place this afternoon and invited us over. She says for you to bring the beer unless you used it all marinating your liver last night. Come over whenever you’re feeling up to getting out of bed. There are two aspirin on the sink in the bathroom and a little breakfast in the fridge if your stomach can handle it. Congratulations on your promotion!
Anna
P.S. I love you!
Ethan grinned and slipped the note into the bedside table’s drawer. A stack of similar notes was already inside; he didn’t think he’d ever thrown a single one away. He forced himself out of bed and stood awkwardly beside it as the room swam. He grabbed the bedpost and waited until his head steadied before he made his way to the bathroom.
The aspirin were right where Anna’s note had said they’d be. He swallowed both pills dry and studied himself in the mirror above the sink. His green eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed, and his blond hair, normally combed to look neat and professional, looked like a rat had slept in it all night. He shoved at it ineffectually and then lifted his arm for a sniff.
Ethan jerked his head back away from his arm. That had been a mistake. He smelled like sweat, grime, booze, and cigarette smoke, like he’d lived in a heavily used locker room for two weeks without showering. It was quite possibly the worst he’d ever smelled, and he couldn’t fathom how Anna had managed to sleep in the same room, the same bed as him. There was no way he was going to go to Cade’s smelling like this. Cade would never let him hear the end of it.
After a long, hot shower, Ethan felt almost human again. His hangover was mostly gone, though his stomach still felt queasy at the idea of food. Regardless, he dressed and went to the kitchen. He made a quick stop at the refrigerator to take out two six-packs of beer, and he smiled at the plate of pancakes sitting by the milk. He debated eating them but instead shook his head and went out the back door to cross the yard to Cade’s.
Anna Bennett and Cade Alton sat at the glass-topped patio table, drinking tall glasses of iced tea as Cade kept an eye on the smoking grill nearby. The scent of cooking meat wafted from the grill, and Ethan had an odd shuddery feeling in his gut, as if his stomach were trying to turn itself inside out. He gave the two women a halfhearted wave and collapsed into one of the patio chairs. He set the packs of beer on the ground beside him and leaned forward to rest his forehead against the cool table with a whine that made him sound absolutely pathetic. He was past the point of caring.
“Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence,” Cade cooed in her lightly accented voice as she ruffled his hair. Ethan didn’t bother to look up as he lifted a hand just enough to stick his middle finger into the air. This merely sent Cade into a peal of laughter. Ethan couldn’t think of a single time when Cade had actually taken offense to an insult he’d lobbed at her in the entire seven years they’d known each other.
Ethan dropped his hand back to the table with a thump. “Why exactly are we grilling out in January?” he asked Cade.
“Because it’s an unseasonably warm sixty-nine degrees, and I’m a shameless carnivore,” Cade responded. She took a deep swallow from her tea and set the glass down heavily beside Ethan. He jerked up a few inches as the thud rang through his head.
“Hon,” Anna’s sweet voice said from Ethan’s left. “Did you find that aspirin I left you?”
“Yeah, I took it,” Ethan mumbled. “And a shower. I still feel like shit, though.”
“You look like it too,” Cade added gleefully.
Ethan rolled his eyes and turned his head just a fraction to look at her. “Don’t you have someone else to insult?”
“Yes, but Drew is asleep right now,” Cade said. She lifted her tea glass and took another sip. “He just got back in from a conference or something near Atlanta. I honestly wasn’t paying much attention to what he was talking about. Some tech stuff that went way over my head.” She slid out of her chair and went to the grill to turn the meat. “He’s been sick, though. Practically hacking his lungs out through his throat. I think he’s got the flu or something, but he hasn’t gone to the doctor about it.”
“He’ll clue in and do it if he’s not feeling well by Monday,” Anna assured Cade as she sipped from her glass.
Cade shook her head and made a face. She directed her next statement to Ethan. “So, you missed all the fun parts of our discussion out here, achi.”
“What parts?” Ethan asked, even as a slight smile spread across his face at Cade’s term of endearment.
“The parts where we discussed your, ahem, indiscretions from last night.”
Ethan picked up a lemon slice from the small plate in the center of the table and threw it at the back of Cade’s head. It bounced off her dark hair as his aim rang true. “I had no indiscretions,” he replied.
“Tell that to the poor bushes you desecrated,” Cade teased. She set the tongs down and closed the lid on the grill as she turned back to him. She smiled suddenly. “By the way, there’s a certain four-year-old someone in the house who’s been here for over a week and would probably love to see you.”
Ethan sat up and rubbed his face as Cade’s words sank into his skull. “Josie’s here?” he asked with more energy in his voice. Ever since he and Anna had found out that they couldn’t have children, Ethan had become ridiculously attached to his best friend’s niece, and the little girl always seemed equally enthusiastic to see her “Uncle Ethan” when she came all the way from Israel to visit Cade.
Anna gave Ethan a smile as she motioned to the sliding glass doors leading into the kitchen. “She was in the living room last time I saw her,” she said before Cade spoke further. “Watching TV or something.”
“SpongeBob,” Cade said as she returned to her chair. “She’s obsessed. It drives me nuts. I’ll get that theme song stuck in my head on a loop for hours. Nothing will drive you crazier faster than the same damn pirate on TV eighteen dozen times a day.”
Ethan laughed and stood. He made his way toward the house, leaving the two women in the back yard. After he stopped at the fridge to drop off the beer, he headed into the living room.
A little girl in a pink sweater and khaki pants, her hair plaited, sat on the floor in front of the television. She watched, transfixed, as the yellow sponge and his pink friend did Heaven only knew what inside a cardboard box. Ethan grinned as he watched Josie, reluctant to interrupt her fascination with the show. He waited until the commercial break before he snuck up and grabbed her from behind.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Ethan asked in a mock-menacing voice. Josie squealed and laughed as she twisted around and saw who it was.
“Uncle Ethan!” she said joyously. She threw her small arms around his neck in a tight hug. For a moment, Ethan closed his eyes and pretended that she was his.
“Hey, baby girl!” Ethan said. He scooped her up and returned the hug before he settled her against his hip. “How are you doing today?”
“Good,” she said as she held on to him. “Aunt Cade is making me a hot dog.”
“A hot dog, huh?” Ethan said. “Your favorite food, right?” Ethan couldn’t stand hot dogs. There was just something about that particular bit of meat that made him cringe a little inside. He was sure that the repeated readings of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in high school hadn’t helped any; after that, Ethan was surprised that he hadn’t become a vegetarian.
“Yes,” Josie answered with an enthusiastic nod. “Is it done yet? I’m hungry.”
“I don’t know, honey. Let’s go outside and find out,” Ethan suggested. He carried her to the back patio doors. As he passed the doorway leading into the den, Ethan glanced inside and saw a lump under a blanket on the couch; he assumed it was Cade’s boyfriend, Andrew, taking a nap after his week-long trip to Georgia. Ethan left him alone and headed out the back door.
Anna and Cade remained at the table, talking, as Ethan joined them once more. He settled Josie on his lap comfortably and ru
bbed her back as he stole Anna’s glass of tea for a sip. “I figured the other lady in the house should join in on our fun out here,” he said as his wife swatted at him and took her drink back.
Cade grinned and got up from her chair to retrieve a covered plate from beside the grill. “Perfect timing, Josie. Your hot dog is ready,” she announced dramatically. She carried the plate over to set it in front of Ethan and Josie. “You’ll help her if she needs it?” she asked Ethan as she passed behind him.
“Is that even a legitimate question?” Ethan asked. He gave Cade a big grin and pulled Josie’s pigtails back, pretending to tie them together into a bow as Cade sat back down.
“I was thinking about having a movie night tonight,” Cade said thoughtfully. She swirled her straw through her tea. “Maybe digging out some of those DVDs I bought last week and haven’t watched yet. The four of us could kick back after Josie goes to bed. What do you think?”
“Are we required to be there?” Ethan teased as he looked over at Anna. She gave him a large smile, and as their eyes met, she winked.
“Well, of course. That’s why I’m telling you about it,” Cade replied. Her tone of voice hinted at just what she thought of Ethan’s intelligence level—and it wasn’t much.
Anna and Ethan looked at each other for a moment. Then Ethan said, “I don’t know, Cade. I think we’ll sit it out this time. I was thinking about spending some quality time with my wife this evening.” Anna reached over and grabbed Ethan’s hand as it rested on top of the table, and he returned the smile she gave him at his words.
Cade’s grin became mischievous as she raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I see what kind of evening you’re going to have,” she said knowingly.
“But, Uncle Ethan, there’s going to be popcorn,” Josie said. Her voice was muffled, her mouth full of hot dog and bread. “Aunt Cade always makes popcorn when she watches movies with me.”
“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, Jos,” Ethan told her as he fluffed her bangs playfully. “Anna and I haven’t gotten to hang out with each other in about a week. We’ve both been working.”
Cade smiled at them both and said, “You two need to make me an aunt already. I don’t care how you do it. You can freaking adopt for all I care.”
“But you’re already an aunt, Aunt Cade,” Josie said, as if it should have been obvious.
Ethan laughed softly and gave Cade a shrug as he pressed his nose against the back of Josie’s hair. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’m not exactly in a hurry, and neither is Anna.” Ethan had yet to tell Cade about the last doctor’s appointment, when he and Anna had found out they couldn’t have children. It was too painful to think about, and the last thing Ethan wanted was to talk about it with someone other than Anna, even if it meant excluding his best friend from the news.
Anna reached over from her side of the table and took Ethan’s hand again. She gave it another affectionate squeeze before she released it. “You’ll be the first to know if something happens,” she told Cade. “Right, Eth?”
Ethan nodded. “Oh, definitely. If I ever decided to tell someone something before you, Cade, you’d probably kill me.” And Ethan had no doubt that she would be successful at it too.
Cade’s face brightened. “Speaking of killing, you need to check out my new toy.”
An ominous feeling settled into Ethan’s gut at her words, replacing the queasy hung-over feeling he’d had all morning. “Your new toy?” he repeated.
Anna held out her arms for Josie and grinned at him. “Oh, you’ll like it,” she assured him as she took the little girl. She shifted the four year old to her lap and slid her plate back in front of her. “She showed it to me a while ago. It’s something that’s right up your alley.”
“Doesn’t make me any less scared at the idea of Cade and her toys,” Ethan replied. Cade’s “toys” were infamous among their small group of friends. They usually tended toward the extremely sharp, mildly explosive, and always dangerous end of the spectrum. Given that she had so many assorted guns and knives hidden around the house, Ethan was amazed that Cade’s older sister Lindsey let her keep Josephine for extended periods of time.
Cade led Ethan into the house, through the kitchen and living room, and up the stairs to her bedroom. Ethan followed her into the room wordlessly and stopped near the bed. He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels as he looked around. A photograph of Cade in her IDF uniform sat on the table by the bed, a multicolored ribbon mounted at the bottom of the photograph. Ethan couldn’t remember what the award was for. “Hey, are those new curtains?” he asked conversationally as he looked in the direction of the windows. “I don’t remember them being that color.”
“Yeah, Mom mailed them to me last year. Said the last set I had up when she visited didn’t match the room exactly. I couldn’t care less, but you know how she was,” Cade said. She threw open her closet door and hauled out a large black case. “I figured after she died, I’d drag them out and put them up, ‘cause I know it would have made her happy.” She slung the case onto the bed and went to the dresser, yanking a drawer open and digging through its contents. Ethan moved to the case and leaned over it. He smoothed his hand over the rough plastic surface as he studied the case curiously. It was a rifle storage case, and Ethan had a sinking feeling that whatever was inside was going to prove just as deadly as every other interesting item Cade owned.
Cade came back with a small silver key and slid it into the lock holding the case closed. “This is seriously the best thing I’ve ever bought for my personal use,” she informed Ethan as she twisted the key in the lock.
Ethan let out a low whistle as Cade slowly opened the case to reveal a deadly-looking rifle nestled in its padded innards. He recognized the weapon vaguely—he had seen its type before in a movie or a television show—but he couldn’t exactly place what it was. “What kind of rifle is this?”
“It’s an IMI Galil SAR,” Cade replied.
Ethan whistled again and raised an eyebrow. That was a name he had heard before. “Impressive. I’m assuming you’ve got permits for this?” he teased as he gave Cade a light jab in the side with his fist. Cade danced aside and lifted the rifle out of its case, holding it in both hands. Her grip on the weapon was as sure as if she had been using it for years.
Cade smirked and tore her gaze away from the rifle. “I don’t know, Eth. It’s a great idea to show my best friend, who just so happens to be a cop, the rifle I don’t have a permit for, don’t you think?”
Ethan laughed and shook his head as she offered him the rifle. “No, I’ll let you handle that thing. I’m pretty likely to shoot my foot off with something that high tech,” he joked.
“Ethan, it’s unloaded.”
Ethan smirked. “Yeah, my point stands.”
Cade laughed and put the rifle away as gently as a mother would tuck in her child. She locked the case once more and gave the lid a tug to make sure it was secure. “So how about those burgers and beer?” she offered. She motioned for Ethan to follow her out of the room after a quick stop at the dresser to return the key to its hiding place, and they retreated back downstairs.
As they passed through the kitchen, Ethan noticed a newspaper lying on the table. He scooped it up as the headline caught his attention. “Mysterious Illness Sweeps Atlanta,” he read out loud. “What’s up with this?” He waved the newspaper at Cade with a rustle.
“With what?” she asked. She leaned to glance at the headline and shrugged. “I don’t know. Just some flu or something that’s going around. The hospitals are having some problems dealing with it. You know, the usual bullshit.”
“Damn, are you sure?” Ethan asked. He scanned the article. The details were vague. His eyes caught the byline, and he frowned at the unusual name. Avi Geller. He’d heard or read the name before, but he couldn’t place where. It was obvious that the illness was becoming widespread, though, and that worried him.
Cade shrugged again. The expression on her face said tha
t she really couldn’t have cared less. “It’s probably just the flu, like I said. Andrew said that he didn’t think it was as bad as everybody is making it out to be. He had a little trouble getting out of Hartsfield-Jackson, but that’s nothing new. The media is probably just blowing it all up for ratings or whatever. Besides, those kinds of things have a way of dying out eventually. I’m not too worried about it.”
Ethan set the newspaper back down on the table. His gut told him that something wasn’t quite right about the situation in Atlanta, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was that made him so nervous about it. He shook himself free of the feeling and began to gather plates and utensils. “Come on, let’s go eat,” he said as enthusiastically as he could, despite the nagging, ominous sense settling into his stomach. “I’m starving.”
Chapter 3
Cade awoke with a start to the sound of soft, persistent knocking on the closed bathroom door. She blinked as she tried to gather her brains back together, and she realized that she had dozed off in the bathtub. She was submerged to her collarbones in water that had grown tepid; her fingers were wrinkled and soft and felt odd when she bent them. She reached up to make sure her thick dark hair was still gathered into its clip at the base of her skull before she climbed out of the bathtub. Quickly toweling off, Cade pulled on a heavy bathrobe before she opened the door.
Cade skimmed her eyes over the disheveled little girl who stood in the doorway, her khaki pants and pale pink sweater wrinkled and dirty from a day’s worth of play. Cade chuckled softly, not quite missing the wide-eyed look the girl gave her. “Hey, Josie.”
Josie tugged at one of her messy brown pigtails and bit her lip. “Aunt Cade, there’s a scary movie on the TV.”
Cade raised an eyebrow and released her hair from its clip. She went to the medicine cabinet to get a comb. “A scary movie?” she questioned. She worked the comb through her hair as she spoke, watching the girl carefully. “SpongeBob isn’t scary.”
The Becoming Page 2