Twelve Shades of Midnight:

by Liliana Hart

  Essie had her black lacey heels propped on the desk their grandmother insisted was hers. Hallie gave her a look that she should know better, but it had no effect. She would not be forced into the role of mommy to her younger cousins.

  “Where’s Grammy? She usually unlocks the doors in the morning.”

  “Oh, I think she’s around.” Tapping the stack of white paper under her hand, Essie finally brought her feet to the floor. “How did you manage to keep all of us off the cops’ radar?”

  “They knew I was a private investigator, but this place doesn’t even have a name yet. I guess they assumed I worked solo.”

  “And you didn’t volunteer the info? I’ll have to remember that.”

  Although her office was smaller than a cleaning closet, the waiting area had nice space for potential clients. Their grandmother had really gone to town finishing out the space she’d rented. Walls had been painted, desks and chairs had been delivered. Hallie passed the front desk heading through the remaining construction to her office. Essie followed three or four steps behind.

  “Do you need something from me?”

  “Emma’s on her way in.”

  “We should probably talk when she gets here.”

  “Perfect.” The smile on Essie’s face and how she practically bounced past Hallie like a cartoon character made her more tired than usual.

  “Whatever you take in the mornings to get up feeling that way...is it expensive? ‘Cause I really want some,” she called after her cousin.

  The late night and lack of sleep had little to do with it. It was the exhausting abundance of lying awake night after night that contributed to the dark rings around her eyes. Thank heaven for concealer.

  “Just clean living and a clean conscience, boss.”

  Boss. Hallie didn’t comment. After being an agent and fighting for a lead position, she honestly didn’t mind the head position. Nor would she ever have a completely clear conscience again. Ironically, she’d become more disillusioned during the past two years and learning about her gift. She’d felt too many things she couldn’t decipher or stop. Been unable to help too many people.

  Pushing aside a newspaper and a couple of folders to make room for her Starbucks double espresso, she set her cup down and plopped into the expensive chair delivered yesterday. Since when did she get the newspaper?

  She leaned forward, grabbed the paper and flipped it open. Circled in red marker was a huge headline: HIT & RUN HALLIE.

  “Oh good grief.” The headline made no sense. She wasn’t in the fleeing vehicle, but she conceded it made for a catchy phrase.

  As soon as the words were out, her two cousins poked their heads into her office. Hallie tried to ignore them while she scanned the article. Someone had heard Daniel call her name and police were looking for the mysterious man who drove the unnamed hero–Daniel–away.

  There was a blurry picture of her with Gage. The photographer had certainly been quick since she’d only stood next to him a couple of minutes.

  “Mystery couple? Shoot. Gage will kill me.”

  Well, at least the paper didn’t have her last name yet, but it wouldn’t take long to find out. Just ask any of the cops who had interviewed her all night. Ex-FBI agent turned investigator working for a millionaire FBI agent. Sheeze.

  “So, you checking out your boyfriend now?”

  “What?” Hallie looked up to find Essie in her doorway, helmet hair and all. She drove a motorcycle to work that she brought in the back of the moving trailer. But her short spiky hair never got any better throughout the day. “Are you talking about Gage? He’s not...”

  “I grabbed the file off the front desk.” It took two steps to cross her office and hand over the stack of papers Essie had been tapping earlier. “It’s probably not good for clients to see us leaving info out in the open. Probably worse when our clients get hit by cars.”

  “Which brings up the question of where you were last night. How did Marta get a hold of you?”

  “Yeah, um...” She placed her hands on the edge of Hallie’s desk and leaned closer. “Right where I was supposed to be. She never showed. You didn’t tell me to tail Marta. I was at the wally-mart and she was–evidently–heading to you.”

  “So Daniel did call her. But that doesn’t make sense. She knew the risks and you were bringing her to him.”

  “Exactly. Something else is going on.” She tapped the stack of papers just as her sister had at the front desk. “Do you know how rich this guy is?”

  “I have an idea.”

  “You could change this guy’s name to Midas, his touch is so golden. I’m talking everything he invests in makes millions.” Emma was normally low-key, but she seemed genuinely excited. “It’s not just the money, Hallie. Everything around him seems to go right.”

  “He’s an FBI agent. I know that everything doesn’t go right.” Their park incident two years ago for one. He had no control over events that particular morning. “What happened to Marta wasn’t such a good thing.”

  “Well...there is that.”

  “I’m not interested in Gage’s money, other than earning our pay by protecting his clients. And to protect them, we need to find out who is after them.” She looked up and saw the incredulous look on Essie’s face, still at the door. “Okay, why do you think Gage’s money is so important? Does it have anything at all to do with this case?”

  “Only that he hired us to begin with. He had the money to hire the biggest and baddest bodyguards. So why us?” Essie asked, stepping into the room that could barely hold two chairs and a desk.

  “Me, you mean.”

  “Well, yeah, you. But it’s us now. Did he expect us to fail?” Emma seemed to be on the same wavelength as her twin.

  “I was convinced he was trying to help me out.”

  “But what if–”

  “Right. What if he wasn’t.” Hallie hadn’t doubted him for a second. But it sure hadn’t taken Gage long to jump to the conclusion that she’d messed up.

  “So are we going to do this or what?” Essie said imitating a rocker’s voice with all the hand gestures.

  “How did you get access to his personal information, Essie?

  “Let’s just say that electronic devices sort of,” she shrugged, “talk to me.”

  Hallie got a weird feeling. There was definitely something the twins weren’t telling her.

  “It doesn’t take much of a detective to know you two are keeping big time secrets. I look forward to prying them out of you after all this is over.” She fanned the pages of the report and stared at the headline with her name. “Where do you think we should start?”

  “I can ask for copies of the police files.” Emma wasn’t doing a good job hiding her excitement. Contrary to her tone, her hazel eyes were bright as she had one foot out the door, ready to get started.

  “Do the police know anything?” She picked up a pen and tapped it against her bottom lip.

  Her cousin’s enthusiasm poured through Hallie’s protective bubble, making her smile. She had to force the smile to disappear before the twins misread it as pleasure at the mention of Gage’s name. “I bet our client already has them. I just need to convince him to let us in on the hunt.”

  “What kind of a detective agency are we if we need permission to investigate?” Essie quirked a black-penciled brow.

  “How about asking Midas himself? He’s in the break room with Grammy.”

  Hallie popped out of the rolling chair, shooting it backwards against the wall. “Gage is here? Right now?”

  The urge to climb over her desk to get to Gage hit her hard. She should demand an answer. Why had he asked her to help him? That was her number one objective. Or was it? Oh no. She was excited just to see him.

  “I just remembered. I have to go. Now.”

  Emma stepped in front of her, keeping her in the office. “Why?”

  “Don’t worry, Happy Feet,” Gage said from the hallway. “It doesn’t take a detective to figure that one ou
t.”

  Hallie had insisted on leaving their offices. She currently paced in front of a man-made pond that caught run-off water in the area. Gage had planted himself on a park bench. He was born and raised in Texas, but he wasn’t used to the heat. It was early enough in the October morning that he wasn’t sweating, but he’d be peeling off the suit jacket in another couple of minutes.

  “Did you really have to use Happy Feet? The twins are never going to let me live that down.”

  “My alternative was this morning’s headline, but I didn’t think that would be well received. You used to like your call sign.”

  “I am a totally different person.” She was wearing jeans and running shoes today. Far from the spiked heels and best suit she’d been wearing at the restaurant.

  “What was wrong about meeting in the office again?” He wiped the sweat from his forehead and nudged his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

  “Too many ears.” She finally stopped and planted her hands on her hips. “Did you hire me to set me up?”

  “What? No. That’s completely out of left field.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s a perfectly legitimate question. You could have hired anyone for this job. You didn’t need me.”

  I always need you. I love you.

  Hallie grabbed her head and faltered a step backwards. He jerked to his feet to catch her elbow before she fell into the water. Her eyes jolted wide when she looked at him.

  “What did you say?” she whispered.

  He could barely hear her over the morning traffic, but he knew what words her perfect lips had formed. He wanted to say them out loud, but it was too soon. She wouldn’t believe him. “Nothing. Not a word.”

  “I could have sworn that you said–” She looked up at him more frightened than the day in the park. Then she yanked her elbow from his grip and backed away.

  “What the hell’s the matter with you? And don’t tell me nothing’s wrong. I can see that there is. Are you sick?”

  She shook her head as she practically stumbled to the bench. “Just give me a second.”

  He glanced at his watch. A couple of seconds was all they had. He needed to signal his driver and get back to Daniel and Marta. “To answer your question, I needed someone I could trust with this case. Someone who couldn’t be bought off. Someone I knew was capable of getting the job done.”

  Hallie took several deep breaths, stretching her arms, swinging them nervously. “You told us that Marta is still unconscious but stable. That’s good, but we need to find out why she came to the hotel.”

  “You said Daniel called her.”

  “Actually, you said that and I assumed. But it doesn’t make sense. Emma was on her way to bring her to the hotel. Marta’s smart enough to know that would be the safest way and we never told her what hotel. She was supposed to tell her father she was going to Austin for the weekend. Even if Daniel had called her, she would have come with Emma.”

  “And you’re sure that your cousins didn’t change the plan. Marta’s condition was too serious last night, so I haven’t spoken to Daniel about it.”

  “I’m sure about Emma and Essie. And I watched Daniel last night. He might be a complainer, but he seemed genuinely surprised that Marta was there. He was also completely in control of the scene.”

  “He’s a good kid.”

  “Do you feel as old as I do around them? It’s just weird, since we’re not even ten years older than Daniel.”

  “Yeah, I know. And yes, I feel lots older.”

  She looked at him, lifting her hand and drawing it back at the last moment. “Gage, what’s going on? I can’t help you if I’m in the dark.”

  He looked at his watch again. “Ride with me and I’ll explain.” He sent a text to his driver and the car showed up a minute later.

  They stopped by Hallie’s office, where her cousins met her outside after she’d texted them. She pulled a weapon from a lockbox in her trunk along with a clean set of clothes.

  Gage had a few minutes to think about what had happened at the park. She’d been stunned. Just like she’d been in her bedroom their last day in New York. She knows! His brain shouted trying to get him to believe.

  Was the ESP thing possible?

  Hallie’s head snapped around. Her eyes zeroed in on him. God, was she really a psychic? The no-nonsense look she’d just fired his way let him know that she knew exactly what he was thinking. It also shouted at him not to say a word. He rested his backside, suit and all, against the car.

  Dumbfounded, he covered his chin and mouth with his hand. Patty came out the office door and headed straight toward him.

  “I’m not going to give you the pleasant version,” she said, leaning on the car. She kept her voice low, but he had to wonder if Hallie knew what she was saying–or about to say?

  “Please don’t hold back.” He observed the three cousins making plans without him and obviously not caring that he was in a rush to leave.

  “You hurt her very badly. It took her a long while to believe in herself again. Even longer to get to a place where I thought she could talk with you. And, quite honestly, I’ve thrown a lot at her in the past week.”

  “Yeah, I know. Mainly me.”

  “Yes. And from the way she’s looking at you, I guess she’s tuned in to the stuff you’re holding back as well.”

  “Is that how she refers to this psychic power thing?”

  “So you’ve accepted that she has a special gift? And please don’t refer to it as a power. We aren’t witches, dear. Think of it more as if she can pick up on heightened emotions. She’s getting better, but she can’t control it completely yet.”

  “Great.”

  “Gage, you had the correct response, but you’re incredibly unconvincing. Didn’t they teach you how to keep a straight face in any of those FBI classes?”

  “Sure they did, but this is a little closer to home. Did her parents know?” Gage watched Patty’s shoulders slump in defeat.

  “Oh yes, all her life. They both ignored it and refused to discuss it. Now her mother wants to continue to do so. I don’t understand them. Our abilities have been around for generations.” She patted his shoulder offering a little comfort. “You can’t ignore something and make it go away.”

  It seemed that all of Hallie’s family had a knowing look that he understood perfectly. With one tilt of her head, Patty made him aware that he had to completely accept the woman he loved for who she was…or move on.

  There was no moving on for him. He’d discovered that over the past two years. It didn’t matter how successful he became in the New York office, it just didn’t matter because Hallie wasn’t there to share it with him.

  She’d been a stable part of his life since they were freshmen in college. One of the first people he’d met. She was cute and he’d been a healthy eighteen-year-old. Her boyfriend had seen his interest where she’d only recognized someone with the same desire to track down criminals.

  They’d known each other through break-ups, new loves, graduation, the academy, first assignments and finally partners in every way. He’d never noticed or understood how much she was a part of…everything.

  She looked up from arguing with her cousins, squinting a little like she was trying to decipher what was in his head. Thing was, his thoughts were all over the last ten years. She should be confused if she was trying to keep up.

  “It would be easier if Hallie just read your thoughts, but that’s not the way it works for her,” Patty said, taking his hand between hers and just holding it. Her eyes closed, she took a deep breath, sighed and then smiled. “It’s still the same.”

  “What?” It seemed that Patty had just done some of whatever it was that she did. He wasn’t certain he was completely at ease with it.

  Yet.

  “I’ll let you in on a secret, Gage. Remember when you came to visit me with Hallie? It was the first time I’d met you. Oh it must have been your second year in college.”

  “The sur
prise for your birthday? Sure. Hallie was too tired from studying. I came so we could split the driving time and get back for classes.”

  “That’s right. It was my first birthday alone after her grandfather passed. It was very sweet of you and I was impressed.”

  “It was just one day. I didn’t mind. I think we studied for an ethics class test on the way to stay awake.”

  “That’s not what impressed me, dear. It was the fact that when I shook your hand and then you hugged me… Well, that’s when I knew you were the one for my sweet granddaughter.”

  The one? Was she for real? This silver-haired woman had known for a decade that he was the one for her granddaughter. Might have been a lot easier if she’d just told him then. He wouldn’t have messed up as much.

  “Sweet?” he asked for a lack of something else to say. He hadn’t confronted Hallie about his discovery. He couldn’t talk with her grandmother about it first.

  “Oh, yes, sir. Hallie’s the sweetest of them all. Has always been.”

  “You obviously have never seen her tackle a two-hundred pound perp to the ground and then knock him unconscious with a choke hold. The last thing I’d call that woman is sweet.”

  “Her sweet nature drives her to make that tackle, Gage. She wants to help the innocent as much as you do. She lost everything before she came home.”

  “So you put us together as a couple because we both wanted to be federal agents.”

  “No, dear. Fate put you together.” She released his hand and squeezed his arm. “Fate just let me in on the secret.”

  “Huh?” Was she using her woo woo power on him or just plain logic?

  Whatever her intent, she left him leaning on the car to go hurry her granddaughters. He glanced at his watch. Their conversation hadn’t lasted five minutes, but they’d covered a wide range of emotions for him.

  At least there was someone on his side. He’d hurt Hallie by not believing in her two years ago. Maybe that sweet nature Patty claimed she had would forgive him. He understood now. Their lives were intertwined and he couldn’t live without her. Hallie was his history. He needed her to be his future.