Whisper Cape

by Regan Walsh Susan Griscom

  Addie sighed at his words. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that anymore.”

  “Do what anymore?” Maia asked.

  “Act like a crazed father,” Addie hissed.

  “Gerry, you didn’t.”

  “Maybe I did, but I’m not going to change as long as she’s going to do stupid things.” He pointed his finger at Addie. “That was a hell of a dimwitted and irresponsible thing to do, Addie, giving a strange man a ride in your truck.”

  “Gerry, if he was going to hurt me, do you really think he would have saved my life?”

  “Well, you never know. He could be some psycho who wanted to save your death for his own glory after he raped and tortured you and did … God knows what.”

  “Gerry!” Maia and Addie glared at him.

  “Sorry,” he said and moved to the other end of the bar.

  Maia shook her head and sipped from her drink. “So, you said his name was Cael, what’s his last name?”

  “Sheridan. Cael Sheridan.”

  “Ah, well, so tell me more about him.”

  “Hmmm ... I already told you all I know. Except, well, he has these amazing blue eyes. But there’s something different about him.”

  “Yes, something different indeed,” Maia mumbled to herself.

  “What did you just say?”

  Maia cleared her throat. “I said, yes, so how different?”

  Something in Maia’s tone sounded suspicious, but then maybe her aunt was just excited that Addie actually met someone.

  “Well, he’s arrogant for one, and very mysterious.”

  “Ah, so you do like him.”

  “I just said he was arrogant. How do you get I like him out of that?”

  “It’s the way you said it.”

  Addie sipped her beer, “Okay, so I like him. But it doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Well, it means there’s hope.”

  “Hope for what?”

  “Why, romance, sweetie. What else?”

  “And you think romance is going to change my nightmares?”

  “Maybe, but even if it doesn’t, everyone needs a little romance, Addie. Take it from me; life is more exciting when you have someone to share it with.” She glanced at Gerry.

  “It’s great about you and Gerry, really, but I doubt I’ll ever find anybody I care enough about to spend the rest of my life with.” Addie wasn’t sure of anything concerning Cael. All she really knew about him was he could really kiss and she didn’t want her aunt assuming anything. The chances of Cael even sticking around the area were slim and Addie didn’t want to get all worked up about some guy only to have him take off and leave her pining for him.

  “Just remember what your dad told me. Everything happens for a reason.” Maia glanced up from her drink. “Speaking of your love life, don’t look now, but here comes Jared.”

  “Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes and took a long swallow of her beer.

  “Hello, ladies,” Jared said. “Okay if I join you?”

  “Absolutely,” Maia said.

  Actually, Addie was grateful for the interruption and hopeful she would get an opportunity to speak to him about Darcy and find out why he was warning her about Tim.

  “It seems everyone’s going to hang out here tonight. What can I get you, Jared?” Gerry asked.

  “Ah, thanks boss, I’ll have a Guinness. Are you ready for another one?” Jared asked Addie.

  Addie looked down at her glass, unaware she’d finished the first one. “Uh ... sure.”

  “Here you go.” Gerry placed two beers on the bar in front of them.

  Remembering she hadn’t eaten anything all day, Addie was starting to get a light buzz from the first drink. She stared up at Gerry through heavy eyes. Sometimes she wondered if he knew how much she admired him. As overbearing as he was, he was still the closest thing to a father she had now, and she missed her dad something awful.

  Gerry looked at Addie as if he’d heard her thoughts. “Drink it slow, sweetheart. Remember you have to drive home tonight.”

  “Right.” Addie nodded as she held her finger up in agreement and smiled.

  “So Addie, this is unusual for you. What are you still doing here?” Jared turned toward Addie but his eyes went straight over to the table where Darcy was laughing and snuggling with Tim.

  “Just hanging out, visiting with Maia.”

  The three of them chatted about the fast-approaching holidays and Addie was about to crawl out of her skin, wanting to ask Jared about Tim. She was relieved when Maia said goodbye, gave Gerry a quick peck on his lips, and headed toward the door. A smile lingered on Gerry's face as he watched her leave.

  As Addie sat at the bar with Jared, she glanced down at the other end and noticed Ed, her apartment manager. She waved as he looked up at her. He smiled and nodded his head. He looked lonely and she thought about going over to say hello, but now that she was alone with Jared, she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to question him about Darcy.

  “Let’s go sit over there.” Addie pointed to the corner table. She thought of Cael as they headed over to it. She didn’t want Jared to misconstrue her intentions, but she really wanted to talk to him privately.

  As they sat, he smiled. “What’s up?”

  “Why does something have to be up? Can’t we just sit and talk?”

  “No, you’ve never wanted to sit at a private table with me and just talk before, so I’ll say it again, what’s up?” He wrapped his hands around his glass, resting his forearms on the table.

  Addie mimicked him. “Well, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop this morning—but it was hard not to, considering the way you and Darcy were yelling at each other. What did you mean when you said you didn’t trust Tim?”

  “Oh shit ... I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said as he lowered his eyes and rubbed his finger around the edge of his glass.

  “What doesn’t matter anymore?”

  “Hiding the way I feel about Darcy. The way I’ve felt about Darcy since we were in high school ... actually even before then.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I mean, I knew you two dated, but I didn’t know you still had such strong feelings for her. Does she know?” Addie didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Wait a minute, I thought you liked me?”

  He chuckled. “I do like you, as a friend, remember?”

  “Yeah, but what about wanting to kiss me the other night? What were you doing?”

  “Sorry about that. Yeah, Darcy knows how I feel but she won’t give me the time of day. Darcy and I were together since high school, but last year I cheated on her with some girl who really didn’t mean anything to me. I drank too much and one thing led to another. I guess I used you the other night. I didn’t intend to try to kiss you, but when I saw her kissing Tim, I couldn’t help myself. I thought I could make her jealous. I’m really sorry.”

  “You used me?” Mortified, she wanted to yell at him, as she realized everything he’d told her the other night was a lie. “What about those things you said to me in my truck?”

  “I really meant all those things. I’ll always be your friend.” He sat back and took a sip of his beer. “I thought you would be relieved when you found out I didn’t like you that way. You know, I’m not an idiot, I can tell if a woman’s interested in me or not.”

  “Well ... a girl does have her pride,” Addie pointed out.

  “I’m sorry, will you forgive me?” He leaned in, placing his hand on top of hers.

  She smiled weakly. “Okay. I guess I’ll forgive you this time, but if we’re going to be friends, you can’t be deceiving me again.”

  “Okay, I won’t.”

  “If you like Darcy so much, why do you always tease her and call her ‘Double D’ when you know she hates it?”

  “When I make her mad, it’s the only time she will even acknowledge my existence. Having her yell at me is better than nothing at all.”

  “Wow, you have it bad.” Addie couldn’t help but watch
Darcy and Tim snuggling in the booth. Poor Jared.

  “Okay, I get the part about your feelings for Darcy, but are you just jealous of Tim or do you really not trust him? Because, you know, there’s something weird about that guy—I don’t like him.”

  Jared sighed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” He sat back in his chair and glanced at Darcy and Tim, then leaned forward again so his face was over the center of the table. “Okay, here’s the deal. I think he’s married and isn’t telling her.”

  “Married?” Her outburst caused a few heads to turn and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. “Married?” she whispered.

  She was feeling the beer and the second one was going down much too quickly.

  Jared sighed. “Yeah, I think so. She won’t listen to me because she thinks I’m just jealous. Maybe you can talk to her.”

  “She’s right. You are jealous, but how do you know he’s married? He’s not wearing a wedding ring.”

  Jared tilted his head and she realized he thought she was a moron.

  “Oh yeah, I’m an idiot,” she acknowledged. “He would take it off, huh?”

  Jared nodded. “I’ve seen him in town with a woman and a little boy. The boy called him ‘dad.’”

  “Well, maybe the woman wasn’t the mother, maybe it was just someone he was seeing, or maybe ...” Addie stopped, realizing she was making excuses for a man she didn’t even like. “Well, I’ll see if I can bring it up without her getting mad at me. She does have a tendency to over-react sometimes.” She shook her head, disgusted. “I can’t believe this, poor Darcy.”

  Jared placed his hand on top of hers. “Thanks, Addie, I appreciate your help.”

  “Sure. Oh, and poor you,” she added.

  She looked up, surprised to see Cael standing behind Jared, frowning at them. She yanked her hand away from under Jared’s and looked up at Cael as he placed his hand on the back of a chair.

  Chapter 14

  “Okay if I join you two, or am I interrupting something here?”

  “No, no, you’re not interrupting, have a seat,” Addison said.

  Cael glanced around. Not too many people—he was glad of that. Crowded bars had a tendency to be noisy and he wanted to talk to Addison. He’d been worrying about her since she’d left the rental house.

  When Cael saw her sitting with another man, he felt a pang in his gut, and he chastised himself for his reaction to a woman he barely knew. But he wanted to know her, and he would get to know her, very soon.

  When Addison left his house earlier, he went to do some investigating to find out if, indeed, Addison MacKenna was the daughter of Ristéard MacKenna. He contacted the organization headquarters to make some inquiries. No one there had any information about Ristéard having a daughter. He found information on Ristéard’s younger sister, Maia, whom he already knew had no known powers and therefore, wasn’t in any danger—but there was nothing about a daughter. It appeared he was on his own to find out as much as he could about Addison MacKenna.

  Cael slid the chair out and sat.

  “Cael, this is Jared. Jared, this is Cael.” She took a long sip of her beer and stared at him.

  “Is this the guy who saved your life the other day?” Jared asked.

  “Yeah. What are you doing here?” she asked Cael.

  “I came in for a beer. I thought you’d be home by now,” he lied.

  “Well, as you can see, I’m still here,” she said, finishing the last of her beer.

  “Excuse me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Cael listened to their conversation as he walked to the bar and overheard Addison tell Jared she knew he was the man she almost ran over the other day. He'd have to tell her who he was and he needed to do it soon.

  Cael returned juggling three beers. “You two were drinking Guinness, right?”

  “Right, hey, thanks man,” Jared said.

  He set down the beers as he sat. “So, Jared, you’re the cook here?”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Have you eaten here?”

  “A couple of times. Not bad, not too bad at all, actually.” He took a sip of his beer.

  Addison looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. “When? I haven’t seen you eat anything here.”

  He glanced at her. “You’re usually gone when I come in to eat.”

  “Oh.” She frowned and sipped her beer.

  “I wasn’t trying to avoid you or anything. I just eat at weird hours.” He had tried to avoid her, but now all he wanted to do was be close to her, protect her.

  Since the kiss that afternoon, he wondered if he came on too strong. After sitting there talking, he could tell she was enjoying herself, but there was something in the back of her mind he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something puzzling.

  Jared finished his beer and stood. “I’d better head home now. Addie, you okay?”

  “I’m fine. See you Friday.”

  ***

  Addie glanced around. There were fewer people in the bar now. She noticed Darcy and Tim had left. When did that happen? She finished her beer sooner than she’d intended, totally disregarding Gerry’s warning about drinking and driving. Cael seemed to be studying her. “How many beers have you had, Addison?”

  “Two ... I mean three ... I think. I guess I should go home, too.” She started to get up but the room began to spin. Cael rose to steady her and helped her sit back down. Addie placed her head in her hands and said, “Maybe I should just sit here a little while longer.”

  “I’ll get you some water,” Cael said and walked to the bar.

  He came back a minute later and handed her a glass of water. She downed the entire contents and began to feel better. Gerry’s warning about drinking too much floated to her mind. Two beers she could handle, but when Cael showed up with the third, she figured why not. It seemed to be a good opportunity to get to know him a little bit before going to his house for dinner, and to her surprise she found she liked being around him.

  Addie set the glass down, stared at Cael, and couldn’t help thinking about kissing him. Realizing her condition, she thought it would be better if she weren’t so close to him.

  “Okay, I think I’m fine now. I really should go home.” Standing, she turned to him, placing her hand on the table for support. “Thanks for the beer.” She headed for the door and managed to walk out without swaying—much.

  Once outside, Cael appeared by her side with his hand on her arm.

  “You can’t drive, Addison. Let me take you home.”

  “You don’t have a car, remember?” She poked her finger at his chest. “So don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She thought she was okay until she tripped and fell into his arms.

  “Let me drive your truck. I’ll get you home.”

  “No, no, no. How will you get home?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll manage.”

  “Okay. You always do seem to manage, don’t you?” She handed him the keys. At this point, she didn’t really care how she got home, as long as it was soon.

  ***

  The moon low and barely visible in a sky full of clouds gave the gravel driveway a gloomy atmosphere, sending off portentous vibes. As Cael helped Addison into the truck, something caught his eye in the thicket by the side of the building. He drove off, but checked the rear-view mirror and caught movement in the road. Whatever it was, he was sure it had been watching them. He was glad he came to the bar tonight and that Addison had still been there, even if she was a bit tipsy. She definitely needed protection, especially if Ristéard’s killer was skulking around.

  Addison dozed off during the ride home, and woke up as they pulled into her parking space. As Cael got out of the truck, he had the same feeling he’d had outside the Bar and Grill. Something was out there, watching. He helped Addison out of the truck and guided her up the steps to her door. She was still a little uneasy on her feet.

  “Where are my keys?” She dug in her bag, looking up at him with glassy eyes.

  “Shhh, someone’s watching,” h
e whispered as he showed her the keys in his hand and opened the door.

  Once they were in, he quickly turned the lock.

  “Why do we need to be quiet? So what if someone’s watching. We’re two grown people and it’s still early.”

  “Addison, I saw something outside at the Cliff Hanger, and again here. There was a movement ... something lurking by the dumpster.”

  “Movement by the dumpster? You’re a grown man and you’re afraid of someone putting their garbage out?” She laughed and shrugged off her jacket.

  “No, I’m not afraid of someone taking out their garbage. That's not what I saw.”

  Then her voice turned serious. “Oh, wait ... maybe it’s a mountain lion. You know they found a dead woman the other day and they think she was attacked by a mountain lion.”

  “No, I don’t think it was a mountain lion,” he said as he began locking all the windows and pulling down all the shades. He took a moment to look around her apartment, noticing how sparsely decorated it was. She didn’t have much by way of furniture, but then the place was small. He did notice the picture on the table next to the sofa. It was a picture of Ristéard with her. They stood with their arms around each other affectionately, smiling for the camera.

  “Are you sure you saw something? Or ... were you just trying to scare me so I’d let you in?”

  “Believe me Addison, I wouldn’t need to scare you into letting me in here,” he stuck his hands in his pockets and stood watching her.

  “You’re very conceited, aren’t you? What makes you think I would let you in under different circumstances? Just because I let you kiss me this afternoon and agreed to have dinner with you ... wait. How did you know where I lived? I never told you.”

  “I know a lot of things, Addison, and one thing I know for sure, someone or something is out there right now, watching us, watching you.”

  “Oh, please say you’re joking. This is ridiculous, why would someone be watching me?” She plopped down on the sofa.

  “Just trust me.”