They didn’t stop staring. Their eyes would not even lift to his. It was really disturbing.
“Fine.” Craig loosened the top two buttons. “If this is what turns you on.”
The bitter humor fell flat. They continued to gape at each unfastened button. Hell, Craig wanted to cue in some stripper music. He didn’t even know where this shirt came from. He had no t-shirt on underneath it. There had been no time…
“There—” he drew the cotton garment open, exposing his chest. “If you tell me I need to spend time in the gym, we’re going to have a problem here.”
That’s right, Buchanan. Keep it all light. Maybe they won’t notice the perspiration. Maybe they won’t notice your heart beating a little too hard behind that undamaged flesh.
Saldano’s cell phone rang. It was an obnoxious buzzer. No savvy default ringtone for him.
“Yeah?” he barked, pivoting away.
Beckett seemed disinterested by the lack of drama and also stalked out the door.
Across the room, Craig met Tom Patterson’s anxious gaze.
“Alright.” Saldano slipped his phone back into his shirt pocket. “As ridiculous as it is, I had the agent present Moreno with your story. Moreno could not confirm that it didn’t go down that way.”
“How are you getting this information out of Alfonso? Where’s his lawyer?”
Saldano snorted. “Agent McPhereson is down at the hospital. Bud McPhereson. Do you remember him? He is, or was a lawyer. He could smooth talk a confession out of your grandmother. Yeah, yeah, none of it is admissible, but at least it gives us some tangible information for now.”
Glancing out the front door, Saldano spoke out of the side of his mouth. “The bottom line is that we have no body, and tests will confirm whether or not that is your blood. If it is your blood—well, you are still kicking and you haven’t pressed charges. We have both Diego and Alfonso in custody. It still won’t hurt to run some questions by those Pattersons. Being kidnapped is not a criminal offense. And if that Aimee truly had amnesia—hell, I suspect she told her parents that to shield them from whatever atrocities happened to her.”
If Saldano was attempting sympathy, it only came across like a bad case of gas.
“Anyway,” Saldano said. “If they stay missing—then we have a problem.”
“They’ll turn up.” Craig hoped.
“Well, we have searched the immediate properties, and what we couldn’t see on foot, we had an aerial inspection from a helicopter leased out of Charlotte.” Looking at his watch, Saldano added, “But as I said, we have Diego and his brother in custody. That’s all I care about. That was my assignment...I mean it became my assignment after you failed six months ago.”
Of course the man got the dig in—with zealous exaggeration, nonetheless. Craig let it slide. The quicker he could move Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum along, the better.
“James. I’m swinging by the hospital.” Beckett hollered from the open doorway. “Are you coming?”
“What about them?” Craig hooked his thumb towards the living room. “Are they free to go?”
Saldano didn’t even glance their way. All he managed was an impatient nod. “Yeah. Tell them we’ll be back to visit if their daughter doesn’t turn up.”
Yeah, I’ll be certain to share your concern and offer your assurances to them.
“Alright.”
Saldano snapped his fingers at a cleanup technician coming out of the kitchen. “Take this guy’s blood.” At the door he paused and added. “It better match, Buchanan.”
“If I don’t get into the air-conditioning shortly,” Craig mused, “I’m sure I’ll have another attack and add some more to this fine wood floor.”
“That’s just gross.” Saldano shook his head. “Finish up with the test and you can leave. We’ll debrief in the Charlotte office in the morning. 8am. Don’t be late.” He grabbed the door frame and hesitated. “No back roads this time, okay?”
It amazed Craig how this man would walk away, credited with the arrest of Diego Carlo and his half-brother, Alfonso Moreno. A few days ago the notion would have infuriated Craig. Now, the less he was in the limelight the better. Let Saldano and Beckett gloat. Let them take all the accolades. Let Craig fade into the floorboards along with the bloodstains.
Right now, all that mattered was locating Raja, Aimee and Zak—and that strange Nordic god from the woods. The one Raja smiled at…
Craig held out his arm, barely feeling the prick of the needle.
* * *
When the agents finally left. When Craig had done his best to assure the Pattersons that he would protect their daughter and her friends. When all that remained was a solitary patrol car parked at the end of the driveway—a precaution in the advent of Aimee’s return. Then, Craig finally climbed down the porch stairs.
Dusk began to swathe the backyard in long shadows. In the distance the call of the birds faded and nature’s transitional silence between day and night took effect. Craig listened for any traces of human life. A plaintive call. A relieved laugh. A rushed step in the grass.
But there was nothing.
Failure seeped into his soul. His gait was that of a man who had been through combat, yet he kept walking. Any attempts at connecting with Aimee’s cell phone had been futile. Checking with the flock of officers for feedback on their search in the woods was also fruitless. Though they vouched that there was no sign of the Pattersons, Craig couldn’t find it in himself to get into a car and leave. Yes, he was exhausted, but how exhausted were Raja, Aimee and Zak? Where were they?
In this quiet state of twilight, Craig sensed their presence. He felt as if they, like he, were waiting for everyone to vacate. No amount of fatigue could bring him to abandon this land, and so he trudged forward, traveling the only path he knew—the trek through the knee-high grassy meadow to the King property.
A mist clung to the magical boundary where the setting sun collided with the violet surface of the lake. Pockets of gnats added animation to that shimmering layer. Crickets started up a serenade, celebrating the onset of night. It was Craig’s intention to search the red barn, but the beauty and solace of the water beckoned him. Images of Raja’s lithe form atop the very rock he now came to stand before scorched his mind. Where are you?
The crickets mocked him, blaring a response, GONE, GONE, GONE.
Craig crouched down near the lake’s edge. Peering across the placid surface, he searched for a stray ripple—a discharge of bubbles—but there were no such disruptions. Picking up a stick, he twirled it in the shallow water, hypnotized by the eddy. Finally, he sat back on his heels and closed his eyes. It felt so good to shut them. Sleep could consume him so easily in this awkward stance alongside a mosquito-infested lagoon.
Water seeped into the toe of his leather shoe, jarring Craig from his trance. The lake appeared unblemished, still as idle as it was before, but the tiniest of breakers crept up the mud to brush the sole of his shoe. Another faint billow followed it. And another. There was a successive trail of ripples on the water now, so subtle as to be the wake of a landing duck or a frisky bass. Daring not to blink, Craig waited until his eyes burned, afraid he might miss something. But the water fell stagnant again, and his ridiculous hopes drowned on the shoreline.
“You don’t look well,” a soft voice spoke from behind.
Surprisingly, he did not jump. Instead, his head dropped forward under a suffocating blanket of relief.
“Some days are a little more challenging than others,” he murmured.
“Are you alright?” She ducked down beside him, sitting on the moist soil, her bare feet submerged in the water.
Craig dared a sidelong glimpse. He didn’t consider himself a holy person in any respect, but seeing Raja’s damp clothes, moist hair and serene eyes, he offered up a swift prayer of thanks to whoever would listen.
“You’re worried about me?” he chuckled. “Do you have any idea how concerned I’ve been about you?”
Raja’s profile
revealed a smile. It hugged her slim chin as tendrils of damp hair clung to her high cheekbones. “That makes me feel content,” she declared.
“That I was scared shit—that I was worried about you makes you content?”
“Mmm hmm.” Her head cocked to gaze up at the blossoming stars. Quietly, she contemplated them. “So beautiful...and so distant. Oh!”
“What?”
“The man with the belt. I recognize him.”
Craig traced her glance to the Orion constellation.
“You do?”
“There is a mosaic outside our Great Hall. The man with the belt is portrayed on it. I always wondered what galaxy he came from.”
“When I was a kid,” Craig mused, “I used to lay in the grass and stare up at that constellation.”
At that tender age, there was a sense of peace and awe, wondering what it would be like to travel to the stars.
“It is possible we stared up at the same stars,” she considered. “That also makes me feel content.”
Never had a smile come more sincerely to his lips.
They fell silent, mutually awed by the wonders of the night sky and the magnitude of the day. Beside him, Raja stirred as she scooped up a rock and began to draw symbols in the mud.
“What is that?” Craig asked, fascinated by what resembled a fist.
“Oh,” Raja erased the pattern by swiping the rock back and forth in the mud. “It is just a—doodle. Girls use it when they’re daydreaming.”
Although the sun had now dipped below the tree line and light was minimal, Craig still sensed that Raja was blushing.
“Daydreaming about what?” he prompted softly.
Slim shoulders rose into a shrug. “You know—how you feel about someone.”
“It looked like a fist to me. Do you want to punch me? Hell, I can’t blame you.”
“No.” Raja dropped the rock and lifted her hand, squeezing her fingers tight into a fist. “It symbolizes that you want to hold someone tight. You want to take that fist and you want to draw it in close—” her clasped hand settled against her heart. “—here.”
Every aberration of the day faded. The fact that he sat on the bank of a lake with a woman who had undoubtedly been swimming in her clothes again. A woman who quite possibly was not from this planet—it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Raja had just made a fist and held it to her heart, and the gesture was meant for him.
He reached between them and wrapped his fingers around that fist. It warmed quickly under his touch. In the fading light her eyes were dark and wide, watching him as shallow breaths dusted over her lips.
With his free hand he grabbed a rock and drew a fist in the mud.
“I don’t know where you’ve been today, Raja. I don’t really know where you come from. But, all I have wanted is for you to be safe.” He hesitated. “And, to see you now—safe—beautiful—yeah, it’s a fist and it’s punching me right in my gut.”
Her eyebrows knitted. “That is not good.”
Craig laughed and touched her cheek, a trace of moist soil smudging the pale flesh. “It is good. It is very good.”
She searched his face. “Can I trust you?”
“You should know that by now.”
“I didn’t think you would be up here. But I had to check. Let me ask them if—if I can show you—I will be right back.”
“Show me what?” he asked.
Raja was on her feet ready to dive into the water.
“Don’t go.” Was that desperation in his voice?
This nocturnal angel with flowing golden hair turned to smile at him.
“I have to leave for a minute. Will you stay until I return?”
“I’m not moving until you come back,” he vowed.
One more hesitant smile and then she was gone, making him wonder if he had imagined her all along.
A simple splash cued the symphony of crickets. Being so close to the water, a host of night crawlers sought Craig’s flesh in search of a bedtime snack. As the minutes ticked by and darkness claimed the last discernable shadow of the tree line—he felt the first inklings of unease.
I’m not moving.
It had been his vow, and he would uphold it. He was certain that Raja would not abandon him. The message was in her eyes—in that symbol in the dirt.
Unless something happened to her….
The perimeter of the lake surrendered to the encroaching shadows. Night fell fast and hard. Nothing was visible but vague shadows and haunting profiles. For a man who had staked out killers—a man whose blood turned to ice on demand—he tasted the first licks of fear. Black water. Knowing that it was near, but being unable to discern it enticed childhood demons to revisit.
Relying on his ears in this nocturnal environment, Craig listened intently, hearing the rustle of creatures inconsequential enough to normally go unheeded. And he heard the gentle laps of water against the shore, a precursor to her return. Yet, what followed was a great rush of water like that of a cascading waterfall. Searching the darkness, nothing manifested, and still the sound grew louder—suction and more plunging. The gentle ripples that had toyed with the soles of his shoes now became full breakers, entrenching his feet.
“I’m sorry it took so long.” The voice from the dark startled him. “There was a debate,” Raja said, and then added, “I won.”
Her chilled hand located his.
“I would like to show you where we’ve been the past few hours. I would like you to learn more about me. I would like you to believe in me.”
When he would have argued that he did believe in her, she interrupted. “You still harbor doubts. That is natural. Your world is so different, and you know nothing outside of it. I was the same way.” She hesitated. “I am going to need you to swim for a little bit.”
For as humid as the night was, Craig felt a slight breeze tickle the back of his neck.
“Okay,” he agreed despite the unvoiced questions that nagged him.
Raja tugged with her hand, encouraging him to rise. His knee cracked when he stood. He used his toe to scoop off one work shoe, and then the next.
“It is a short distance,” she allayed.
Craig took his first steps into the water. Hell, he had been through training like this at Quantico. What made this seem so ominous? Raja oozed confidence, but of course she could swim underwater for ten minutes or more.
Walking until the buoyancy claimed him, Craig launched into an athletic swim, tipping his head out of the water to ask, “How far?”
“Not much further.” Her voice sounded completely unfazed by the physical activity. “Slow down now.”
Wading in place, Craig drew up his arms, allowing him to sink and see how deep the water was. After several feet with no evident bottom, he rose back to the surface and snapped his head to get the water out of his eyes.
Circling his arms to keep afloat, his wrist cracked against a barrier.
“Ouch. What is out here?” He flicked his fist again as it knocked against what felt like a metal wall. “I didn’t see anything in the lake just a short while ago.”
Curiously, he splayed his palm against the barricade and it rose as high as his arm could reach. It was so dark, but he thought he would have been able to define the obstruction. Instead, black waves rippled around him.
“What is this?” he asked, unable to see Raja either.
“I’m just waiting for them, and then you will know.”
A sharp hiss pierced the air—like the sound of a whale’s blowhole. Light poured across the lake, and impossibly, Craig found himself staring into an illuminated shaft.
“Can you climb in?” Raja asked.
Anything to get out of the water, but what was he climbing into?
“Ladies first,” he offered.
Now he could see Raja’s face from this mysterious source of light. With her hair plastered to her head, her eyes looked wider. But her determination bolstered him. Apparently, nothing about this scenario struck her as odd
.
Using her elbows for leverage, Raja shimmied inside the aluminum shaft. Craig tried to assist, and in doing so, landed a hand on her wet rear. He expected a sardonic glance over the shoulder, but she just squirmed her body inside and turned around to aid him.
Inside, Craig squinted against the bright assault. It took a moment for his pupils to acclimate, but he wasn’t given much of a reprieve as Raja was climbing to her feet, stooping under the short ceiling and shuffling forward. Hurriedly joining her, Craig jumped at the sound of the panel sliding shut behind him. Gone was the lake. Now he was entombed in an aluminum coffin.
“Where are we?”
“You are in a terra angel,” Raja responded matter-of-factly.
Well, that cleared that up.
“Dare I ask what a terra angel is?”
“It is the vessel our warriors use for space travel and occasional battles.”
An image of Luke Skywalker in an X-wing fighter came to mind—but this was no Hollywood set.
“It’s rather tight.” As he said it, his elbow slammed into the cylindrical wall.
“Oh, it’s so much bigger now,” Raja beamed back at him. “You’re in the air shaft. Don’t judge it yet.”
Craig rapped his knuckles against the surface. It sounded hollow. He flattened his fingers expecting the composition to feel cold, but it held no temperature.
“Aren’t people going to see this sitting in the middle of the lake?”
“It is dark out. The land surrounding the lake is currently uninhabited, and,” she added, “the TA is reflective. If you did happen to glance at it, you wouldn’t notice it unless you looked really hard.” She halted before a wall. “Besides, we are heading back underwater now.” She looked up. “Feel that?”
There was a subtle vibration under his splayed fingers. Somehow the notion of submerging in this metal can seemed scarier than swimming.
Lights raced around the top of the shaft, like a dog trying to catch its tail. A soft crackle caught his attention. The wall before Raja dropped down into the floor...or just plain dissolved, and now Raja was stepping through and standing upright, dragging her fingers through her hair to loosen the moisture.
Beyond : Series Bundle (9781311505637) Page 62