Slipping the Past

by D. L. Jackson

  Her eyes popped wide. The artery in her neck pulsed from her violently accelerating heart. He eyed it and smiled. Almost there. “It was only a little recreational drug. I didn’t hurt anyone.”

  Ian tsked and shook his head, stepping to within inches of her, holding her locked in his gaze. Thrum, thrum, thr…. The drum roll quickened. He could practically taste the adrenaline racing through her body. “It doesn’t negate the fact it’s illegal.”

  “What do you want?” She licked her lips. “Let me go and I’ll give you anything.”

  The thought he might take her up on her offer scared the piss out of her. Enticing, but not what he wanted.

  He reached out and touched her hair, lifting a strand. Her fear spiked. He closed his eyes and inhaled. Perfect. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  ***

  Gabriel pulled his glove free and touched his lips. They still tingled. He’d never kissed his target before, never wanted to touch evil, and never did unless he moved to make a capture.

  Not only had he touched her, he’d shared some of his life energy and let her go. As an Enforcer, a manipulator of the spirit world and all that manifested from it, he should never contemplate, even for a second, helping someone he chased. Yet the need to protect her seemed instinctive and that disturbed him.

  She’d knocked his world off kilter with her freaky eyes and words. She’d seemed to see through him, read him. Nobody read him or even attempted to hold his gaze. Jocelyn Miller was different. Everything about her opposed him, excited him, and stirred up feelings he didn’t know he possessed.

  I loved you once.

  In a heartbeat, she’d disarmed him. Gabriel had nearly dropped to his knees and wept when she’d said those words. No one loved him. Most stayed outside his perimeter. Not only had she entered his space, she’d mingled with his energy, touched his face. A woman who should have been terrified, had every reason to be, had reached out and touched him. Then, she’d said it.

  So he’d kissed her. He’d leaned in with one driving thought, one need—to get closer. It wasn’t her beauty that lured him, but something else. Something deeper than flesh or bone, something he couldn’t pinpoint. She’d made his body quicken with voracious need.

  For the first time, he didn’t want to make a capture. He wanted to fuck. He’d wanted to push her against the wall, strip her clothing away, and taste her body the way he’d savored her lips. Drive into her, again and again, until she screamed his name.

  From the moment he’d rested his gaze on her, he’d wanted to wrap his arms around her and show her to whom she belonged. Brand her, mark her, make her his. She made every inch of his flesh crave her touch. Even now, he could barely take the loss of contact.

  When he’d approached her and brushed her aura, he’d seen the reason for her light-blindness. He’d seen the rape, the torture, felt the pokers to her eyes as if they’d been his own. Gabriel had tried to pull the past-life injury from her, but it wouldn’t leave. It seemed a part of her, a lingering curse. Leaving her incapable of seeing, when he should have been able to correct the energy balance that caused it—should have been able to erase the scar those vile rapists had left on her soul—angered him. She should be perfect.

  She was his.

  No.

  He couldn’t change who he was any more than she could. Could she get the evidence? He wanted her to, needed her to. Her energy conflicted with the charges against her. Everything she said seemed to carry truth. Never before had that happened. He’d never questioned if a fugitive was guilty. There had never been a reason to doubt. Their energy never lied. This one, for reasons beyond his comprehension, he’d promised a week. She hadn’t manipulated him. That was impossible, without jumping into his body. He’d willingly given her the chance. Amnesty wasn’t his to grant, and he had no clue why he hadn’t taken her soul when she’d stood in front of him.

  She’d get her week, and then he’d finish this. He’d no choice. The department had documented her crimes and issued a warrant. He’d taken an oath, sworn to uphold all laws, spiritual and temporal. But when they found out he’d missed his mark, failed to make the capture, they’d send another and he’d pay for his hesitation. He’d better have a good reason why.

  He didn’t.

  She’d pled, and he’d listened. Not a good reason at all. He’d gone against regulations and set her free, putting his position, freedom, and soul in jeopardy. For what? Even he couldn’t wrap his reasoning around that. How could he explain his actions? Too late to change what he’d done, he could only move forward. He strode to a screen that hung in his office and touched it. A face appeared before him.

  “Father.” He nodded in respect. “I need a favor.”

  “A favor? Enforcer, why are you requesting favors? Did you serve the warrant, retrieve the fugitive? It’s the reason we reassigned you.” His father still wouldn’t call him by name, acknowledge the son he’d given up thirty-three years before. To him, Gabriel was an Enforcer, nothing more, nothing less. He’d been bred, raised, and trained for it.

  “About that.” Every conversation went this way. Cold. Impersonal. Gabriel had never had a family nor felt the connection to one, not since the day his father had let them take him, as though he were nothing more than a commodity. To his father, it seemed, his son’s abilities were more important than his childhood, more important than the boy himself. Gabriel hadn’t been alone. He later learned many people were paid to have genetically enhanced children, thus earning the promise of a new body upon their sixty-fifth birthday or in the event of a terminal illness. All the children given up suffered as he had. They were taken away and not given a choice as to their future.

  But the fact that the man had fathered him had to count for something. One favor. It was all he’d asked for in thirty-six years. Surely he’d grant him that.

  The man before him sucked in a breath and narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

  “Doubtful.” His commander would like it even less. He’d be lucky if the captain didn’t send Enforcers after him. Jumping the chain of command, going to the head of both the off-world and on-world Department of Spiritual Law Enforcement would piss off a lot of people. He’d no choice. He needed to give her a chance.

  Something told him things weren’t as clear as the warrant detailed. His gut never lied. But there was a deeper feeling involved, one he couldn’t begin to explain, one that had taken over the moment he’d touched her. He needed to protect her.

  Save her.

  Possess her.

  “Very well. What do you require?”

  ***

  Gabriel strolled past the front desk, where the dispatcher twisted a strand of her hair around a finger and stared at a crossword puzzle on a holo-grid. She didn’t bother to glance up. “Cappy wants to see you.” She tapped and dragged a letter over to a box. “What’s an eleven-letter word that starts with T, meaning fear or anxiety?”

  “Trepidation.” Gabriel paused, turned around, and stared at the closed door to the office he’d just passed. Speaking of trepidation. “Now?”

  “Cappy said as soon as you walked in.” Only Virginia could get away with calling him Cappy. She blew a bubble and it snapped with a loud pop as she bit into it. “He’s not in a good mood. Ragging it—big time.” She popped her gum again and looked up, waving him toward the door. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting. He’s a real mitch today.”

  A male bitch. Nice. Virginia had such an eloquent way of painting Cappy’s moods. No small wonder. It was rumored the two fraternized after hours. If an Enforcer wanted to know how deep in shit he stood, he’d only to ask Virginia.

  “Thanks for the warning.” Gabriel walked to the door and raised his hand to knock. It swung open before his fist connected. Instead, he hit someone in the chest.

  “Sorry.”

  He glanced up and wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Ian Saefa stared back. He was the Enforcer Department’s principal reader and the last person anyone wanted t
o have a conversation with. Ian lifted his headphones to his ears, cranked his music, and slammed Gabriel in the shoulder as he passed.

  Since Gabriel had joined the department, they’d only exchanged a couple of words. This was the first time Saefa had actually looked at him. Saefa didn’t talk to anyone, not unless he was interrogating. He kept to himself and something about the man made Gabriel’s skin crawl. Perhaps the knowledge the reader could get inside his head by hearing one spoken word spawned the feelings. Who knew what the asshole’s problem was? Not my business.

  “Get your ass in here.” Gabriel stepped through and stared at the captain, who rifled through his desk and yanked out a bottle of antacids. Not a good sign. When Cappy had heartburn, you could guarantee heads would roll. Virginia hadn’t been kidding. “Shut the door.”

  Gabriel pushed it closed.

  “What the hell is your problem? You contacted the chief of both on-world and off-world DSLE about a pardon? Now I’ve got him on my ass. Do you know how much shit you’ve stirred in the pot?”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Sit down.” Cap popped an antacid tablet. A scowl would be considered a pleasant expression, compared to what he saw now. Gabriel was about to meet the axe man. He dropped into the seat.

  “If word gets out that you questioned the charges brought against one of the top ten fugitives, it’s going to get ugly for you and anyone associated with you. By doing that, you’ve accused Enforcer Saefa of falsifying charges on the warrant. Do you have any idea how many medals the man has? He’s world renowned for his reader abilities. The man doesn’t make mistakes. The department doesn’t make mistakes. You’re here for two fucking months and you go and point a finger at Enforcer Saefa. You better have a damn good reason. I don’t care whose son you are.”

  “I don’t. Call it a feeling.” The look in Saefa’s eyes had been cold, ugly. Now he knew why.

  “Leave the feelings for the readers. I don’t know how you all do it off-world, but, around here, we support our own. We don’t question a fellow officer’s integrity. I’ve got Internal Investigations sniffing around now. Every judge in this city is nervous and, if word gets out, every Enforcer in this department will have an issue with you. You don’t turn on one of your own. Damn it, I thought you had better sense than that.”

  “What if I’m right?”

  “You want me to answer that? Do you have any idea the fallout?”

  “What if I am? Could you willingly send an innocent to containment?”

  “Then we’ve got a problem. A big one. The public’s already paranoid. Do you know what happens when society loses trust in the law? Riots. Lawlessness. The whole city will be a battleground.” The captain tossed a chip across the desk. “I’ve asked Saefa to review the file on the fugitive, Jocelyn Miller. I’ve ordered him to keep it to himself. I want you to look again. Be certain. Look real deep, Enforcer.”

  Gabriel scooped up the chip, staring at it.

  Cap laced his fingers together and stared. “She’s not the only one with a week to prove those charges are false. You pointed the finger, the burden rests on you. She goes down, you go down. Now get the hell out of my office.”

  He rose to leave and reached for the door.

  “Enforcer Solaris,” Cap said.

  Gabriel glanced back.

  “Ian’s not the only one with a gag order. You tell one person what’s going on and I’ll personally have your soul stuffed in a spectral cell and your energy powering a fucking off-world sewer treatment facility for eternity.” He popped another antacid. “Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.” Gabriel nodded. Yeah, understood. He had a week to prove she was innocent or he’d be stirring shit for eternity. Shutting the door behind him, he headed for the one person who could tell him if he’d lost his mind.

  He walked past several cubicles toward the desk where Diego Alvarez sat, his feet up, tipped back in his chair and stretching. He saw Gabriel and motioned him over.

  Diego reached into a box of doughnuts and pulled out a honey-glazed, devouring it. “Wanna bite?” He shoved the box across his desk toward him as he sank into a chair across from his best friend. “Free box. I’m customer of the month.”

  “You do know you’re feeding the public jokes about Enforcers and doughnuts.” For someone who loved sweets the way Diego did, the man was amazingly lean.

  “Ouch. What crawled up your shorts?” He peeled back the top on his coffee and blew. “I offer food and stimulating conversation, you bite my head off. I guess it pays to be your friend.” The Latino set his coffee down, looked up, and cocked a brow.

  “Catch.” He tossed the chip to Diego, who snatched it out of the air. Born on the southern tip of the North American Region, Diego was pure Latin hellion. He did things his way and followed authority to the point of just being compliant. He bent, twisted, and stretched every rule in the department and was the closest thing to a brother Gabriel had. He, above all others, should understand.

  He held it up to the light. “What’s this?”

  “Something you’re not supposed to know about.”

  “Got it.” He tucked it away and went back to his breakfast, gobbling his doughnut and sucking the frosting off his fingers. He eyed the baked goods, lust in his eyes. “Care to expand on that?”

  “Trouble, and I’m not sure anymore which side of it I’m on.”

  Diego grabbed the box again, pulled out a pink frosted pastry, and licked the sticky goo from his fingertips. “Sounds like a personal problem.”

  “I’m not the one licking pink off my fingers,” he said.

  He glanced up and grinned. “You ought to try it some time. It’ll put a smile on your face.” Diego was the only Enforcer Gabriel knew who attracted women in swarms. They’d been friends for years and he’d yet to figure that one out.

  Shaking his head, Gabriel snatched the box, picking through the remains. “I think I fucked up. You left nothing but plain.”

  “Whaaaaa. Should’ve jumped when I offered.”

  “Not the doughnuts. I’m not sure I can fix it.”

  “Yeah, what did you do this time? You’re not dating Cappy’s daughter because, I have to tell you, if I get reassigned again….”

  With a sigh, Gabriel shut the box and shoved it away. “You didn’t get reassigned and you know it. You followed me here.”

  “Someone needs to keep your ass out of trouble.”

  He frowned and nodded. There wasn’t much Diego could do to help. Perhaps involving him had been a bad idea?

  His buddy studied him. “Man, that’s the stiffest expression I’ve ever seen plastered on your ugly face. You’re serious,” Diego said. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

  “You’re not at liberty or you’ve got a gag order?” Diego was a high-level intuitive. He couldn’t read minds, but he had a feel for when the winds would shift and if they’d stink when they did. He worked investigations and was the last person you wanted on your ass if you committed a crime. He never failed to find who or what he was looking for.

  “Both.”

  “What if you inadvertently left that chip on my desk?”

  “What if?”

  “Mighty careless of you.” Diego raised a brow. “You want I should look, mi amigo?”

  “Yeah, and tell me I’m not crazy. Something about this case doesn’t feel right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It feels—fabricated. Whatever is on that chip is half the story. I’m certain of it.”

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “Yeah, I’m saying…what if.”

  ***

  Ian teleported home and set the spectral-cell on a shelf. He stroked the globe, admiring the way the energy danced inside. Slowly, he slid his fingers along the edge, touching one cell after another. At the end of the row sat an open space. He stared at it and frowned. Her. He pulled an unused cell from his pocket and set it in the empty place.

  Jo could ru
n, but she couldn’t hide. He stroked the cell with his fingertip. She was the one who’d made his life hell, the one he couldn’t get out of his head. She was with him every step and in his heart, whispering his name. He wished she could know how much he loved her, how much he’d always loved her. But she’d never see, not while that bastard stood between them.

  Tonight had proved to be both a disappointment and a breakthrough. The red-haired stripper was pretty, but not her, not the same. She didn’t make the pain go away. She didn’t close the hole in his soul. If he had Jo, it would be different.

  He glanced around his room. No windows, no doors. The only access was by shifting. The interior was spartan and as empty as his life. If he could find her, he could convince her to love him. But first he needed to remove that which stood in the way, and this time Gabriel wouldn’t take her from him. This time, he wasn’t coming back.

  He turned the cell as a plan began to churn in his brain. He couldn’t attack Enforcer Solaris without just cause, but things would soon change. He’d seen it in a brilliant flash. The breakthrough. He’d known it wouldn’t take long for Gabriel to find her, even when no one else could.

  It was fate. Jocelyn and Gabriel had always managed to connect, but this time, Ian had his hand in the connection and controlled the direction everything traveled. Fate had no say in the way their future would play out this time. Enforcer Solaris would need a push. He’d only to commit one crime and Ian knew the trigger, Gabriel’s hot spot. His feelings for Jo had already placed him in questionable territory, but there wasn’t a warrant. Not yet. Time to make the bastard rise to the occasion.

  Ian had already gotten him reassigned from that off-world mining community. It hadn’t taken much to convince the DSLE to move Solaris. A word dropped here, a suggestion there. Then he casually mentioned he’d foreseen Jocelyn’s capture by Enforcer Solaris and Solaris was on a ship headed to earth before the uplink of the man’s orders could complete.

  Small wonder. Jocelyn Miller was an embarrassment to the department. No fugitive had ever escaped the Enforcers for as long as the redheaded witch. The fact she’d avoided capture for eight years stuck in the gullets of the suits that oversaw the department, and Ian had only to offer them a chance to recover gracefully from the public humiliation. They leaped on it like a pack of scavengers and had finally given Ian the chance to gain everything he’d ever wanted.