“He molested you?” he growled. “And your mother did nothing?”
“No,” Danica said quickly. “He didn’t exactly cross the line of molestation. Anything he ever did could be explained away as harmless touching.”
“That’s not harmless touching!” he snarled, furiously. “And your mother is just as responsible for not doing anything about it.”
Danica cocked her head and stared at him, half-smiling.
“My mother could not take care of herself. How was she going to take care of me?”
“Yeah,” Xave said bitterly. “I had a mother like that too. She liked heroin too much to feed me properly. I would scrounge through dumpsters in Harlem for food. That’s where child services picked me up,” he mumbled. “Spent my entire childhood in foster care more or less.”
She peered at him pensively.
“Where was your dad?” she asked, her brow knit in sympathy.
“I think you mean, who is my dad?” Xave replied dryly. “Couldn’t get a straight answer out of Sonia about him. She probably had no idea who he was.”
He seemed to hear the bitterness in his tone and he pulled back, both physically and emotionally.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re alive and that’s all that counts, right?” he continued, trying to smile through his resentment, but Danica could read the disappointment in his face.
When we get out of here, we’re going to start over somewhere else. We’re going to have a white picket fence and a dog named Max. We’re going to walk away from this danger and live a straight and narrow life where no one will ever threaten us again, she promised herself.
“What are you thinking about?” Xave asked, shattering her unlikely daydream. Embarrassed, she shook her head.
“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Just thinking about how we’re going to get out of here.”
Xave leaned in and kissed her on the mouth sweetly.
“Let me rest a while longer and we’ll keep moving. The cops probably won’t still be looking for us at the bus station. We can take a bus ride anywhere.”
“We can’t do that without money,” she reminded him and he nodded.
“I know,” he sighed. “We’re going to have to sneak on the bus or steal some money to get us through.”
She studied his face pensively.
“No,” she said slowly. “You can’t keep using your ability. It’s draining you, isn’t it? We have to find another way.”
“It’s the safest way to do it without getting caught,” he replied. “But we’ll worry about that later. Let’s rest while we have this room. Who knows when we’ll get another chance to rest.”
Danica nodded her head in agreement, nibbling on her lower lip.
Yeah, a white picket fence, my ass. We’re going to be running, living hand to mouth for the rest of our lives…but at least we’ll be together. It was her last conscious thought before falling deeply asleep.
---
“Help is coming,” Xave said and she nodded.
“I know.”
“You don’t need to be afraid anymore. I will always protect you.”
“You can’t protect me against Oculus,” she told him. “No one can protect us from Oculus.”
“Yes,” Xave argued. “There is someone who can protect us but he must find us before they do.”
“Who?” Danica demanded.
Xave smiled enigmatically.
“My father.”
She blinked uncomprehendingly.
“I thought you didn’t know who your father was,” she said in confusion. “How can your father be coming?”
“He has sent me a message.”
“How?”
“In my dreams.”
“This is a dream, Xave. We are dreaming right now.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Yes,” he replied. “But these dreams are real.”
She did not know how to respond or what she was supposed to say. Nothing made sense and yet she believed him. Somehow, deep inside, she accepted what he was saying.
Help was coming. He was speaking the truth.
“Where is your father?” she asked. It made no sense and yet it did.
“He’s coming.”
She opened her eyes and saw that the room was enveloped in complete darkness. Danica still lay atop Xave but he was as fast asleep as she had just been.
Her immediate reaction to waking was a deep feeling of relief as the strange conversation they seemed to have had subconsciously replayed in her mind.
Could that dream have meant something? Is his father genuinely coming for us?
It seemed so far fetched, and as the final wisps of Xave’s words disappeared from her mind, the temporary sensation of ease she had felt was replaced by instinctive fear.
Something was wrong. She could feel it in the air.
They’re here, she thought, panicking as she sat up. Oculus found us.
She could not reconcile how they had been located. No one knew they were in the motel room, not even the desk clerk but that did not change the fact that she could sense danger near them.
As her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, she could see that they were still alone but Danica could not shake the sense that they were being watched.
“Xave,” she whispered urgently. “Xave, wake up.”
He moaned quietly as he seemed to be leaving the realm of his own dream, green eyes opening slowly.
“What’s wrong?”
Xave sat up, looking around instantly as he took stock of his surroundings. As Danica studied his expression, she could tell that he felt it too.
“We have to get out of here,” she murmured anxiously. “I think they’ve found us.”
He did not respond but he nodded, grabbing for his black jeans and slipping them over his waist.
“What are we going to do?” Danica asked, following his lead and dressing quickly. “I feel like they’re standing right outside, ready to kill us.”
“I don’t know who they are or what they want, but they aren’t going to cause bloodshed in a public place.”
“Why not?” Danica muttered angrily. “They set my house on fire and killed my best friend. They have no scruples.”
She froze suddenly, sniffing the air.
“Oh shit!” she muttered. “Shit! Do you smell that?”
Xave turned and stared at her, nodding slowly.
“I guess that’s their MO,” he said with a smoldering fury. “Setting things on fire.”
He grabbed her hand and they flew toward the door but as he reached for it, the flames on the other side erupted, the wall of fire covering the whole side of the motel where their door was located. The heat coming from just standing close to the window and door was almost unbearable.
Yelping, he jumped backward, pulling Danica with him.
“Out the bathroom,” he choked as the cheap walls quickly started to melt and smoke with the heat.
They hurried towards the tiny washroom, but even before they could enter, the sound of glass shattering and a whoosh of explosion met their ears.
Danica stared at him in horror, black smoke billowing into the room.
“Oh my God,” she choked, falling into a hacking cough as they realized they were trapped. “We’re dead. They’ve trapped us.”
At that moment, the flames at the door and window were extinguished with a powerful blast and the door was kicked inward. A man stood at the threshold, his silhouette barely discernible.
“Danica, come on!” Xave shouted, grabbing her hand and rushing toward the fresh air.
“No!” Danica screamed, digging in her heels. “Don’t go with him!”
Xave paused to stare at her as if she was crazy, but she pointed, tears streaming from her burning eyes.
“Danica, we have to get out of here! Let’s go!”
But as she opened her mouth to yell out again, she saw the pistol in the man’s hand, aimed directly at her.
“He’s Oculus!” sh
e cried. “His name is Jessup.”
“Come with me, Xavier. Then Danica can go free,” Jessup said coaxingly. “There is no need for anyone to get hurt.”
“Put the gun down and let us out!” Xave yelled but Danica knew then that she was not meant to live through the rest of this night.
“Come on Xavier,” Jessup called again. “Soon you will both be unconscious from smoke inhalation anyway. Just come with me and I promise that Danica will be fine.”
She looked at him and suddenly realized that he was trying to stop time but he had no control over his ability.
He made a split-second decision, running toward Jessup.
“Fine, then take me,” he yelled. “Take me and let her go!”
Jessup’s condescending smile widened.
Grabbing onto Xave’s arm and using some fancy martial arts move, he thrust him out into the parking lot and out of Danica’s view.
Turning back so quickly that Danica didn’t have time to react, he raised the gun and pointed it at her.
“Sorry about this, Danica. I always liked you.”
She didn’t have time to run, plead, or shout, as three shots rang out.
All she could hear was screaming after that.
It took her a few seconds to realize she was the one doing it.
Chapter Twelve
Amarillo, Texas
Drake stared blankly at the entrance to the establishment, a combination of nausea and fury almost choking him.
This is the life my second born has chosen for himself. He works in a dungeon. Lady Katrine’s.
The shame was almost unbearable and Drake wanted to rush into the storefront, snatch up his son and forever wipe the image of the disgusting establishment from his mind.
It’s your fault he’s become this. Yours and Vance’s. He had everything, every opportunity would have been his. But now he’s got a criminal record and works with the scum of the world. The misfits, the mentally diseased.
Deep inside, Drake knew his anger was inappropriate. He knew that he should just be happy that he was getting closer to his son, but for some reason, lately, he hadn’t been able to reel in his darker emotions. They sometimes took over, and when that happened, he wasn’t the same caring and compassionate father he used to pride himself on being. He startled slightly when a woman spoke to him.
“Baby, you can’t stand out there all night. It’s bad for business,” the overweight woman sighed, holding open the door from inside and staring at him reprovingly. “If you’re one of them holier than thou types, take your complaint to the city.”
He stared at her coldly, removing his sunglasses from his face.
“I am looking for Xavier Sinclair,” he told her stiffly. “I am told that he…works here.”
The woman looked taken aback.
“Xave?” she echoed. “Yeah, he works here but he didn’t show up for his shift tonight. He’s not answering his cell either.”
“Get me his cell phone number,” Drake ordered.
The woman grimaced.
“Buddy, I don’t know you from Adam. I certainly am not about to hand off Xave’s cell phone number – “
“Chief Supervisor Drake Conway of the Central Intelligence Agency.”
He produced his identification and watched her face turn waxy. Visibly gulping, she waved him inside.
“Yes, sir,” she muttered. “Come inside and I’ll get it for you. My name is Tristan Johnson. What is this about?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss,” he barked. “Just find me that number.”
Drake’s eyes narrowed as he took in the red and black goth theme of the lobby, his gaze resting on the face of a terrified girl spying on them from a doorway.
“You,” Drake barked. “Where is Xavier Sinclair?”
The girl tried to duck away but Drake strode toward her before she could move.
“You know something,” he said, grabbing her by the arm.
“I didn’t mean to kill him!” the brunette screamed as Tristan hurried around to intervene. “It was an accident! He just wouldn’t stop!”
Dread filled Drake as he stared at her open-mouthed.
“You killed Xavier?” he whispered, a sense of loss so great filling him, he almost passed out.
The girl in the leather bodice frowned, holding her hands up defensively.
“No!” she replied hotly, looking at Tristan nervously. “I – never mind. I don’t know where Xave is.”
“You know something!” he snapped. “What did you do to my son?”
“Nothing!” the girl pleaded. “I swear I didn’t do anything to Xave.”
“Sasha!” Tristan snapped. “This man is from the CIA. You better tell him everything you know.”
Sasha gaped, misery filling her brown eyes.
“He helped me get rid of Clark Jameson’s body,” she babbled as tears began to fall down her face. “He used my car and brought it back and I haven’t heard from him since. He doesn’t answer his cell. I thought maybe he got arrested. That’s all I know, I swear!”
“His cell has been ringing?” Drake demanded of both women.
“Sir, you have to let go of Sasha,” Tristan said firmly. “And we will try to help you.”
“Arrest me! Take me right now! Xave was only trying to help me! Don’t punish him! This is my fault, all my fault!”
The girl continued to sob and Drake dropped her with annoyance, turning back to the manager.
“Has his cell been ringing?”
Tristan nodded, her eyes barely slits as she studied him.
“What do you want with Xave?” the chubby woman asked. “If Sasha just confessed – “
“I am not here about whatever you did,” Drake growled. “Give me the number.”
Reluctantly, Tristan handed over a scrap of paper which she had written Xavier’s information on.
Without another word, he whirled and left the women staring after him, their mouths gaping.
“He wasn’t there, sir?” Goetz asked as he jumped back into the waiting car.
“Very observant, Goetz,” Drake snapped. “Give me your laptop.”
The agent obliged, putting the car in gear.
“Wait,” Drake ordered. “We may not have to go far.”
One hand dialling, he watched the screen before him.
Instantly, he watched as lights appeared.
The phone rang in his ear repeatedly but there was no answer.
“Type this address into your GPS,” he barked at Goetz. “1002 Broadway.”
The driver obliged and cleared his throat.
“It’s about twenty blocks from here, sir,” Goetz announced.
“Well you better start driving because that’s where Xavier’s phone is.”
“Are you sure this is the place?” Goetz asked nervously as he pulled to the curb twenty blocks later. “It’s a taxi service.”
“Goetz, your ability to point out the blatantly obvious never ceases to amaze me. Just pull over. I’ll be back.”
He jumped from the car and hurried toward the entryway of the business.
Night had fallen but Drake kept his glasses firmly in place, wandering up to the bored looking dispatch operator.
“If you have complaints, take them up with the Better Business Bureau,” she told him in way of a greeting. A thin smirk covered Drake’s lips.
“That’s a ringing endorsement for your company,” he retorted. “I’m looking for a cell phone.”
She sighed, cracking a piece of gum and snorted.
“It’s probably gone for good if you left it in one of the cabs,” she chortled.
Again, Drake smiled mirthlessly.
“My name is Drake Conway. I am the Chief Supervisor of the Central Intelligence Agency. I need to know who has that phone, a phone which I tracked here, to this building. Are we going to have a problem…” he peered at the sign on her desk, “…Brenda?”
She seemed ready to laugh until Drake slapped his identification o
n the desk before her.
“Roger!” she screamed. “Get out here!”
A minute later, a surly looking man poked his head around from the garage.
“Yeah Bren?”
“This man is looking for a lost phone.”
“Have you seen this man?” Drake asked, presenting a picture of Xavier on the desk. “His phone is somewhere in this building.”
Roger’s face turned crimson.
“He called the cops to get his phone?” he raged. “That bastard owes me a hundred bucks! I drove him all the way to Lubbock and then him and his girlfriend took off…somehow…”
Roger seemed almost embarrassed.
“Took off somehow?” Drake echoed. Roger glanced at his shoes.
“They were there and then they weren’t. I can’t explain it.”
Drake’s heart was thudding almost dangerously.
“And his phone just happens to be in Amarillo?” Drake asked, eyeing the cabbie with annoyance.
“He left it in the cab!” Roger protested. “It was the least I could hope to get to try and recoup my losses.”
“Get it,” Drake ordered. “Now.”
“No!” Roger growled. “I’m not – “
Drake slapped two one-hundred-dollar bills onto the counter.
“This is for the ride and the inconvenience,” he said. “Now get the phone and tell me exactly where you left this man.”
Xavier was not at the bus station. That did not surprise Drake but he could sense that his son was nearby.
He sat very still in the car as Goetz stared straight out the windshield, unmoving.
He is here. I can feel him but how can I get to him?
The anticipation and disappointment were almost too much to bear in conjunction as Drake closed his eyes.
Son? Son are you there? He called out silently. It had been years since he had tried to reach his boys in such a way. He knew that time and logistics were factors but he wondered if he had simply lost the bond which they had once possessed, the bond which defied any earthly definition.
Xavier, I am coming for you. Just send me a sign. Tell me where you are.
He waited, air filling his lungs so full, he was sure they were about to explode.
I am coming, son. I am so close now.
“Chief Supervisor?”
HARD Series Box Set: Bad boys with powers Page 22