“I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Alex said, and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.
Kara stared at the door. To be sterile. Never to have children. Even adoption might be out of the question. She didn’t know what legalities were involved in adopting a child. She was certain that Alex must have a phony birth certificate. He drove a car, so he probably had a driver’s license. He earned money, so he probably had a social security number. A harsh laugh escaped her lips. In two hundred years, he had probably accumulated numerous forms of identification.
Alien.
Two hundred years.
It hit her then, really hit her for the first time. Alex was an alien. He had told her that people were the same all over, and yet he was still from another planet, another race of people. What if she did get pregnant? What might the result be? Images of newborn babies flashed through her mind—babies with four arms and two heads, babies with skin like leather, babies with three eyes . . .
She was letting her imagination run wild and she knew it. Alex was perfectly healthy and so was she. If they were able to conceive a child, there was no reason why they couldn’t have a perfectly formed baby. It was far more likely that she would be unable to conceive at all, and that brought her back to her original quandary. Did she love Alex enough to give up all hope of ever being a mother? But even as she asked herself that question, she knew there was more involved, much more. What would happen to their relationship when she aged and he did not? How would they ever be free of Barrett? Did she want to spend her whole life looking over her shoulder? Even if they changed their names and left the country, she’d always be waiting, wondering if Barrett was still looking for them. And what about Nana and Gail? Barrett had used her sister and grandmother to get to her in the past; she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
And then she thought of a life without Alex, and knew she would make any sacrifice necessary to be with him.
Rising, she went to stand at the window. It was raining. She stared at the downpour through eyes blurred by tears and knew the cloudburst outside was nothing compared to the storm raging in her heart.
Alex wandered through the house, acutely aware of Kara’s turbulent emotions. No doubt she would leave him now. It would be for the best. She deserved a normal life, with a man who could share the daylight with her, give her children, grow old at her side. She deserved to be happy, secure. Living with him would always carry an element of danger. If she wanted to go to the zoo, to the beach, on a picnic, for a walk in the park on a summer day, she would have to go alone.
Feeling as if the walls were closing in on him, he went out into the backyard and let the rain wash over him.
How would he go on without her? If his life had seemed empty before, how much more desolate would it be now, when he had known Kara’s love, heard her laughter, felt the touch of her hand? And yet, no matter how much he loved her, he could not give her the kind of life she deserved.
He wanted her to be happy.
He wanted to carry her back to his mountain lair and never let her go.
He wanted a home and a family, the love and companionship of a woman with dreamy blue eyes, the sound of a child’s laughter.
He wanted Kara.
And yet he knew the best thing he could do for her was get out of her life.
And he knew, with a certainty that was too awful to be borne, that he didn’t have the strength to do what was right; he knew that, if his weakness was the cause of her death, he would have nothing left to live for. If that day came, he would walk out into the sun and let it destroy him.
Burdened with a weight of sorrow too heavy to bear, he sank to his knees, his tears mingling with the rain.
Kara stared at the lone figure standing in the yard. Rain pelted his head and chest, soaking his trousers. She didn’t have to probe his mind to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling. His pain was hers. His thoughts were her thoughts. She felt his loneliness, his yearning for a home and a family, his fear for her life should she become pregnant, the strong sense of guilt that everything that had happened to her was his fault. He wanted her, but he was afraid, afraid for her life, her future, afraid of causing her pain.
She pressed her hand to her heart as he dropped to his knees, his head bowed, as if in surrender.
She was the cause of his anguish. The knowledge that he was hurting because of her cut her to the quick.
A heavy sigh shuddered through her as she realized what she had to do. For his sake, she would leave him, now, tonight. In time, he would forget her. He might even find someone else to love. In time.
She laughed softly as she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and crept down the stairs and out the front door. If there was one thing Alex had plenty of, it was time.
Chapter Twenty-five
She was soaked to the skin, chilled to the marrow of her bones, by the time she reached Nana’s. The house was dark, the front door locked. Her Camry was parked in the driveway. Nana must have had it towed home from the hospital in Grenvale.
Making her way toward the rear of the house, Kara took the key from its hiding place underneath a flowerpot and let herself in the back door.
Not wanting to alert anyone who might be watching the house for her return, she made her way through the dark house toward her bedroom. Shedding the wet blanket, Alex’s t-shirt and socks, she pulled on a black sweatshirt and a pair of fleece-lined sweats, thick cotton socks, and a pair of running shoes.
She was feeling her way along the top of her dresser, looking for her comb, when she discovered her handbag. Inside, she found her wallet and car keys, which she shoved into the pocket of her jeans.
She towel-dried her hair, ran a comb through it, then went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of strong black coffee.
Where would Gail and Nana go?
She pondered the question as she finished her coffee; then, setting the cup aside, she went into the bathroom she had shared with Gail and closed the door before flipping on the night light.
Ever since Gail had learned to read and write, she had loved to leave notes for her sister. Usually, the notes had been silly jokes, sometimes they were hurriedly scrawled apologies for using Kara’s make-up. Gail had always left the notes in a blue and white tin container that had once held perfumed bath salts. Kara had kept the canister because she liked the design, and it had become their private mailbox.
Hardly daring to hope, Kara picked up the canister and removed the lid. Murmuring a silent prayer, she withdrew a rolled-up piece of paper.
“Kara, I locked Barrett’s watchdog in the hall closet. Nana, Mrs. Zimmermann, and me are running away. I don’t know where we’ll go. We’re taking Mrs. Zimmermann’s car. I’ll call Cherise every day at four and every night at seven. Her number’s in the book. Don’t worry about us. Nana is feeling much better. I love you. Gail.”
Switching off the light, Kara left the bathroom and went into the kitchen. According to the clock on the microwave, it was just after midnight.
She poured herself another cup of coffee, then sat at the kitchen table, wondering if it was safe to spend the night in her own bed, or if she should go to a motel.
Lost in thought, she listened to the rain beat against the aluminum patio cover. No doubt Alex would think she had left him because she didn’t love him enough to accept the sacrifices she would have to make to stay with him, when nothing could be further from the truth. She had left him because she did love him, because she couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes and know she was the cause. She knew in her heart that if anything happened to her, Alex would never forgive himself.
But, oh, how she yearned for the comfort of his arms around her! She wasn’t afraid of anything when she was with him. He made her feel strong, invincible. With Alex at her side, she could face anything. Anything, except knowing she was the cause of his sorrow.
Feeling heavy-hearted and more alone than she’d ever felt in her life, she went into her room and
gathered up a blanket and her pillow and climbed up into the attic.
She would sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, she would go to Cherise’s house and wait for Gail to call.
Dale Barrett paced the floor of the lab, his fists jammed into his pants pockets. He cursed softly, unable to believe his bad luck as he glared at the two men sitting hunched over the table.
Mitch Hamblin looked sullen; Kelsey’s expression was impossible to read. Most of his face was covered with a thick bandage. The chain wrapped around the alien’s fist had done a remarkable bit of damage.
“She’ll go home,” Barrett said. “Sooner or later, she’ll go home.”
“I’ll find her,” Hamblin said.
“No, I’ll find her.” Kelsey stood up, his eyes narrowed. “I want him, and he’ll be with her.”
“I want him alive!” Barrett’s gaze bored into Kelsey’s. “You can dispose of the girl if she gets in the way. Do it in front of the alien,” Barrett said, exposing a sadistic streak few knew he possessed. “That should be vengeance enough for what he did to your face. But I want him alive. I need him alive.”
“And I want him dead!” Kelsey’s hand strayed to the bandage on his face. His nose had been broken; it had taken thirty stitches to sew up the gash that ran up his left cheek to his hairline.
“He’s no good to us dead,” Barrett reminded him. “Once we have him again, you can do anything you want to him, except kill him.”
“Anything?”
Barrett nodded. “Within reason. But I need him alive, at least until I’ve obtained a sufficient quantity of his sperm and I can reproduce the healing agent in his blood. And then . . .” He shrugged. “And then he’s yours.”
Kelsey nodded. “I’ll go with the kid to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“I don’t need a nursemaid,” Hamblin said, bristling.
“Take Kelsey with you,” Barrett said. “He can make sure you don’t get yourself locked in another closet, and you can make sure he brings the alien back alive.”
Mitch and Kelsey glared at each other a moment, then left the room.
Barrett stared after them. This time, he thought, this time he would have it all.
Alexander woke to an intense sense of loss and knew immediately that Kara had left the house. And in that same instant, he knew why.
Sitting up, he buried his face in his hands. She had touched his mind last night, felt his fear, his pain, and she had run away to spare him further anguish.
Cursing himself, cursing the weakness that had overwhelmed him the night before, he rose from the sofa and ran up the stairs to the bedroom. Opening the door, he stepped inside, and her scent embraced him, wrapping around him like an invisible web fashioned of her very essence.
“Kara . . .”
Crossing the floor, he sank down beside the bed and ran his hand over the sheet.
“Kara, what have I done?”
He pressed his face to the mattress, inhaling her scent. He’d been a fool to run away from the lab, a fool to be afraid, when the answer was so simple. Kill Barrett. Destroy his notes. Dispose of the blood samples and anything else Barrett had that related to Alex’s existence.
So simple. And yet the thought of killing Barrett sickened him. He had been banished from Er-Adona because he had shed a man’s blood. And yet, what other choice did he have? So long as Barrett lived, Kara’s life, and his own, would be in danger.
Rocking back on his heels, Alex stared at his hands. Strong hands with long capable fingers. Hands that had killed before. Hands that could kill again.
He stared at the window. It was mid-afternoon. The storm had passed and the sun was shining brightly.
“Kara,” he murmured. “Forgive me.”
Restless with the need to see her, to hold her, he wandered through the house. Never before had it seemed so empty. Never before had he felt so alone. Having known her, having tasted her love, how had he ever thought he could live without her? She had offered him her love. Even after she knew what he was, she had given him her love, taken him into the deepest part of herself. She had saved his life, restored his hope, his reason for living. And what had he done? He had offered to let her stay with him if she would give up all hope of having children, if she would submit to an operation she found repulsive.
She had loved him with all her heart, asking nothing in return. She still loved him, loved him enough to leave him because she thought she was causing him pain.
“Oh, Kara, natayah . . .” How would he ever make it up to her? Would she even let him try?
“Kara . . .”
Alex. Alex . . .
Her voice, calling his name over and over again.
He stared at the window, at the lethal sunlight kept at bay by a layer of heavy draperies. And in his mind, he heard her voice again, low and tinged with desperation.
Alex!
Kara cowered in the attic, listening to the voices below. The inertia that had held her in its grasp the night before fled as adrenaline pumped through her veins. How could she have been so stupid as to stay here? Why hadn’t she taken her car and gone to a motel last night? She recognized Kelsey’s voice, but not that of the man Kelsey called Mitch. They were here, in the house, looking for her. She could hear them wandering from room to room, opening doors, looking inside closets.
Fragments of their conversation drifted upward.
“. . . not here.”
“Have to wait . . .”
“Barrett could be wrong . . .”
Kara pressed her ear to the floor, straining to hear more. And then the voices were directly below her, and she could hear everything they said.
“Barrett said to wait, so we’ll wait. Might as well make ourselves at home.” Kelsey’s voice. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, I could eat something.”
“Why don’t you go order us a pizza? I’ll call Barrett on my cell phone and tell him we’re here.”
The sound of their footsteps moving away.
Kara released the breath she’d been holding, only vaguely aware that she’d been repeating Alex’s name in her mind over and over again, clinging to it, finding hope and strength in the name of the man she loved.
She sat up, her back to the wall, and drew in several deep breaths. She had to get out of here, tonight, before they discovered the attic.
She closed her eyes, felt the sting of tears behind her lids. She had to get to Cherise’s house, had to talk to Gail, to assure herself that Nana and her sister were well. They’d arrange to meet somewhere . . . and then what? Spend the rest of their lives hiding, running?
“Oh, Alex,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?”
Kara was in trouble. The thought clawed at his mind, relentlessly, without pity. She was in trouble, and it was all his fault.
He prowled the house, as restless as a caged lion, as he waited for the sun to go down. Imprisoned by his body’s weakness. Tormented by visions of Kara being captured, tortured. Because of him.
And then he heard her scream, and all rational thought fled his mind.
They’d found her! Kara held her breath as the trapdoor swung open.
“I’m sure I heard something up here,” Kelsey said. He struck a match and held it over his head, peering into the darkness.
Not daring to breathe, Kara pressed herself against the wall, hoping Kelsey wouldn’t see her in the shadows.
“See anything?” Mitch asked.
“No. I’m going in.”
Panic surged through Kara as she glanced around the attic, her gaze searching for something, anything, that she could use as a weapon.
Kelsey’s footsteps were very loud in the small space. He swore as the match burned his fingers, then quickly lit another.
And then he was there, staring at her, his eyes wide with surprise and satisfaction.
Kara hesitated a moment, startled as a face as white as a sheet appeared before her. With a cry, Kara grabbed a heavy brass candlestick and swung it at his head.
<
br /> Kelsey jerked his head out of the way, and the candlestick landed with a dull thud against his shoulder.
“Why you . . .” With his free hand, Kelsey struck her across the face. Hard. Twice.
Kara reeled back, her ears ringing, her cheek throbbing.
Kelsey snatched the candlestick from her hand and tossed it into a corner. Grabbing her by the arm, he shoved her toward the attic entrance.
“Mitch!”
“Yeah?”
“Come and get her.”
Moments later, she was sitting on the sofa, her hands securely bound, while Kelsey called Barrett.
“We’ve got her.” Kelsey said. He nodded. “Right. Uh-huh.” He glanced out the window. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. There’s a bunch of kids playing outside, a couple of women gossiping. Yeah. Okay. We’ll wait for you here.”
Kelsey hung up the phone.
“What’d he have to say?” Mitch asked.
“He said to sit tight. He’s on his way.”
Mitch nodded.
“You order us something to eat?”
“Yeah. You like anchovies?”
“Right now I could eat ’em alive,” Kelsey muttered. He crossed the floor to stand in front of Kara. “See this?” he said, lifting a hand to the heavy bandage on his face. “He did it. And I aim to make him pay. And you, too.”
Kara swallowed the lump of fear rising in her throat as Kelsey lifted his hand to strike her again. She cast a frantic glance at the window, dismayed to see the sun was still shining.
She choked back a cry as Kelsey slapped her again, and then again. She tasted blood in her mouth and knew he’d cut her lip.
“Hey, man, ease up.”
“Shut up, Mitch! This doesn’t concern you.”
Kelsey was drawing his arm back, ready to hit her again, when the doorbell rang.
“Pizza’s here,” Mitch said.
“Not a word,” Kelsey said, his voice thick with menace. “You understand?”
Kara nodded.
Kelsey’s gaze bored into hers for a moment, then he looked over at his partner. “I’ll cover her from the kitchen.”
Kara blinked back tears as she watched Mitch walk toward the front door.
Amanda Ashley Page 23