Honesty (Mark of Nexus)

by Butler, Carrie

  A nightmare.

  Roman had been this limp when I dumped him into that vat of crude oil—after Wallace had destroyed the man with one blow. We hadn’t gotten the answers we’d waited for. The closure we needed. All that buildup to a haunting climax. Then nothing.

  Nothing.

  I barely noticed the horn and the lights until one of the Bonneville’s doors flew open. A shadow spilled out with a shrill cry, and I leapt back. Gravel caught my boot. The scene tilted, and I flailed my arms to keep my balance.

  Son of a…

  There’d been no one in the car when I’d glanced up. I mean, I hadn’t seen anyone. They couldn’t have seen me, either, as fast as I’d acted. Maybe they’d heard the rapid-fire thuds. Maybe they’d seen silhouettes in a scuffle. No way I’d been caught.

  I ducked down behind a truck and caught the breath that’d been sucked from my lungs. Okay, my gloves were on. I hadn’t left anything behind. It was time to—

  No.

  Shit.

  No, no, no!

  A kid clung to the drunkard in the darkness, the car’s headlights no longer strobing the deserted lot. She couldn’t have been old enough to drive yet. From the looks of her, maybe nine or ten. So, what the hell was she doing in a place like this in the middle of the night?

  “Can you hear me?” she asked, clutching the man’s shirt in an effort to keep him upright. “Papa, please. Talk to me…”

  My blood ran cold and froze halfway to my heart. I’d fucked up. Big time.

  She must’ve been waiting for him in that car. He probably told her to stay there while he went in. In this neighborhood, in the dark…

  I clenched my fist. Was she the one with the key fob, trying to get his attention?

  “I-I think you had a sea shore…like Aunt Patty.” The girl struggled under his weight. “You need to go to the doctor.”

  Shit.

  I ripped the batteries from my mask, tore it off, and crammed the whole thing into my pocket. “Hey,” I called out, my voice rougher than I expected. “Hold on.”

  She jerked at the sound of my voice. “W-We don’t want any trouble.”

  “Is that your father?” I pointed to the man I’d beaten, trying to stop my brain from processing the visuals. “Do you need help?”

  “No, he just…” Her lip quivered, and a fat tear rolled down her cheek. “We have to go.”

  I hurried around the truck and got the guy under his arms. “Can your mom come get you?”

  She shook her head vigorously. “She’s at work until two.”

  I drew deep breaths through my nose and forced them out through my mouth. “Okay, I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

  Her eyes rounded in the dark, and she tried to rip her father from my grasp. “No! I can’t ride with a stranger.”

  “I’m not a stranger,” I lied. “I’m…security.”

  And I’m going to hell for this.

  CHAPTER 14

  The girl tilted her head. “Really?”

  I nodded. “I’m supposed to make sure everyone gets home safely.”

  Confliction warred in her eyes, shifting colorless shades in the darkness. “I don’t think I’m supposed to.“

  Of course not.

  “We could call an ambulance,” I offered. “They could come look at your dad’s head and make sure you’re okay until your mom gets off work.”

  Right after they report this bastard to Children’s Services.

  “Will you stay until they get here?”

  “Uh…sure.”

  “Okay.” She slid down the side of the car until she was sitting cross-legged in the gravel. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she looked up at me expectantly.

  “Sorry.” I oh-so-gently flopped the drunkard against the grill and knelt a respectable distance away from her. “Let me make that call.”

  I reached back and pulled out my burner phone—the one I kept around for occasions such as these. A few quick taps put me in contact with a tired-sounding dispatcher, whom I informed that I’d stumbled upon an injured drunk and his unattended child.

  We waited in silence.

  My heart pounded so hard I could barely see straight. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me hated this guy and the choices he’d made, but the other part hated me for the same reason.

  “Are you cold?” I asked her, fighting the nervous energy that compelled me to pace the lot.

  “No.” Her small voice trembled, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many nights she’d been forced to stay up like this. Waiting.

  I tried to smile. “Your dad’s gonna be fine, ya know? Looks like he just took a spill and bumped his nose. Noses bleed a lot.”

  “Maybe.” She folded her hands in her lap.

  “Maybe?”

  “Aunt Patty had a sea shore last year. She fell, too.”

  “A sea shore?” I cocked my chin to the side. What the hell is that?

  “Yeah.” The girl looked away. “It happened in our living room. She kept shaking, and the ambulance had to come then, too.”

  “You mean a seizure.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “I don’t think your dad had a seizure.”

  “How do you know?”

  Because in addition to being a fake security guard, I’m also a fake doctor.

  I shrugged. “He’s not shaking, is he?”

  “No.” She carefully studied him for a moment. “I think he’s sleeping.”

  “Well, there you have it.”

  I pressed my palms against my eyes and drew in a deep breath. The situation I’d found myself in was sobering—a splash of cold water on my face. Everything about it screamed get your shit together, moron.

  It wasn’t just my life or the lives of these assholes I was screwing with. There were other people involved—kids, even. You’d think I, of all people, would’ve realized that. But somewhere along the line, things had gotten personal.

  In my story, I was the vigilant hero, doing my part to keep the streets safe…but what about this girl? If she’d been fast enough to catch what happened, I’d be the bad guy. I’d be her Roman West—the man who hurt her father and lived in her nightmares.

  The unmoving vehicles crowded potential escape routes, and I fought to keep my breathing even. What the hell was I doing? Every choice I’d made lately had gone wrong. For me. For others. Why couldn’t I just waltz into a good thing like Wallace? Why couldn’t I keep my hands clean?

  Sure, his relationship with Sis was on the rocks right now, but it’d bounce back. It had to. Their love for each other was real and gritty and…one of the few things I had faith in these days.

  Deep down, I knew I had no duty—no purpose—beyond my family. With him taken care of, I’d have one less string tying me here. That only left Grandma. The day she passed, would be the day I ceased to exist.

  In my mind, anyway.

  Not many people knew I’d tried to off myself at fifteen. A shitty mix of guilt, flashbacks, and self-loathing. But I guess there are no easy escapes when you have the so-called “gift” of accelerated healing.

  Something burned my eyes.

  “Are you okay, mister?”

  “Huh?” Everything rushed back into sharp focus as I turned to the girl, blinking. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I zoned out for a minute there.”

  “It’s okay. I do that, too.”

  “When you’re waiting?” I asked, making a futile attempt at conversation while sirens closed in from afar.

  She lifted one of her shoulders. “Sometimes.”

  “Do you stay in the car like that very often?”

  “Only when Papa has to meet clients. He says I can’t go in, ‘cause I’m not old enough, and we can’t get a sitter to stay with me this late. We’ve only gone like three times, maybe.”

  “I see.”

  For the kid’s sake, I really hoped the bastard was all right, but at that moment I wanted nothing more than another shot at him.

  “So, what s
hould I call you?” She hugged her knees and looked up at me.

  “What?”

  “When I tell Mama who helped us.”

  “Oh, just tell her…I work with security.”

  “That’s not a name.”

  I pursed my lips. “Try Mr. B.”

  “Okay, Mr. B. I’m not supposed to give my real name to strangers, so you can call me…” She tapped her chin. “Princess Marlene.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, your highness.”

  She rewarded me with a real—albeit brief—smile. “You too.”

  The man groaned.

  “Papa!” She latched on to him, nearly knocking the useless piece of shit to the ground. “Are you awake?”

  “Wassat?” he murmured, struggling to open his eyes.

  The ambulance chose that moment to wheel into the parking lot, kicking up dust and gravel beneath the streetlights.

  Perfect timing.

  I straightened and fought off another impulse to run. Whether it was my fault or this assclown’s, Marlene didn’t need to deal with this crap. Shit like this scars kids. So, I crossed my arms, plastered on a concerned face, and watched the rig roll to a stop.

  Two guys jumped out. “Sir, I’m—”

  Ramble, ramble, ramble. The first EMT introduced himself as he approached. I was too busy working out my own speech.

  “I…just got off my shift,” I told him, making sure my story didn’t contradict what I’d told Marlene. “I was walking to my car when I saw someone knock this guy against his car and take off. I don’t know if he snatched his wallet or what. It freaked me out. You just don’t think about that sort of thing happening around here.”

  The other responder had already knelt beside Drunk Face and had begun looking him over. “Was he conscious at the time? Responsive?”

  “No. He sort of slumped to the ground, and the kid jumped out to help. She must have been waiting for him in the car. Alone. Unattended.”

  He met my gaze and nodded. “Understood.”

  “Why you touchin’ me, man?” The drunkard swatted at his hands. “Mm’fine. Just dizzy. Konked my head or somethin’.”

  “Sir, have you been drinking tonight?”

  “Have you?” he answered their question with a question, and so help me—if Marlene hadn’t been standing three feet away, I would’ve backhanded the guy. Where was Tits when I needed him? He always had a good distraction up his sleeve to help with my impulse control.

  Wait. Speaking of Tits, I still needed to talk to him about getting money together to move Grandma’s house. I’d completely forgotten with everything else going on, and now we were going to be under the wire. If we set up a—

  As if sensing my desire to acquire funds through questionable means, a cop showed up. No sirens. No woo-woo lights. Just a quick angle-in behind the ambulance.

  Marlene’s eyes got huge.

  “Don’t worry,” I told her, drawing her attention back to me. “They’re just going to hang out until your mom gets off work. You know, to make sure everyone’s safe.”

  “Kinda like your job?”

  The corner of my mouth twitched. “Yeah, kinda.”

  When the lady officer asked to take my statement, I cooperated. Hell, I even managed to keep my uniform fantasies to a minimum. Talk about being a good role model.

  After ten minutes, she sent me on my merry way. Lingering at the scene would only provoke suspicion, and I knew Marlene was in reasonably good hands for the time being. So, I threw her a wave over my shoulder and pretended to walk to a random car at the far end of the lot.

  “Thanks for staying, Mr. B!”

  I turned around to find Marlene hanging off of her dad and waving like I’d saved the day. Frantic, relieved. The innocent gesture was sweet, but I didn’t deserve it. It burned like acid in my chest.

  “No problem.” I forced one last smile and melded into the shadows.

  There wouldn’t be another night like this for a while.

  CHAPTER 15

  It’d been days since my encounter with the drunk and his kid, but the burning in my chest didn’t go away. I hadn’t been able to do rounds all week for fear of fucking up someone else’s childhood, and sleep was a distant memory. Maybe that was why I still lay in bed at the asscrack of dawn on Saturday morning, instead of getting up for yoga.

  I rolled over, failing to enjoy the caress of satin sheets against my skin. Something had to be done—about this, about Rena and Wallace’s lack of communication, about the money for Grandma’s move, about ERA’s virus, about the state of my job, and even about my date with Rachel tonight. I had way too much going on. One of those things was bound to fall through.

  Before I could consider it any further, my phone rang. I snatched it off the bed stand and scrubbed my eyes. “Go.”

  “Cole?” Corynn’s unmistakable accent piped through the line. “We’ve got a problem here. A big problem.”

  “What?”

  “It’s Aiden,” she whispered into the receiver, her voice crackling. “Rena’s friend. The nerdy kid. He’s here at HQ.”

  I sat up. “Whoa, whoa. Stop telling me things on the phone.”

  “I walked to the store on my break. It’s a pre-pay.”

  “And if you’re in ERA HQ—which I surmise you are, since it’s the weekend—they can still hear your half. Text me.”

  “Okay, sorry.”

  Click.

  I sighed. Kids these days. So naive. In the time it took me to enter her contact information, she’d rattled out a 160-character text.

  CORYNN: “Aiden drove up 4 the study, but tipped Gail off that he knows. Claims he wants the FULL treatment.”

  I groaned and typed back, “Where is he?”

  CORYNN: “MRI”

  “Shiiiiiiit,” I whined to myself. One more thing. All I needed was one more thing.

  CORYNN: “Sorry. I borrowed your number from the office. Couldn’t ring Wallace about it, esp. after what happened last weekend.”

  My brain struggled to grasp any information I’d obtained in regards to last weekend, but came up empty. I frowned. “What happened last weekend?”

  Minutes passed by without a reply. Either they’d karate chopped the girl mid-text, or she was afraid to answer. Finally, my phone chirped.

  CORYNN: “I wanted to feel him out, but the way he was talking, I thought you’d already ratted about our deal. So…yeah, I blabbed.”

  I let out a deep breath and kicked my legs over the side of the bed. “And?”

  CORYNN: “And I guess he’s in. They both are.”

  My spine straightened of its own accord, and my thumbs blurred over the keys. “Both?”

  CORYNN: “Shit. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

  “Tell me everything you know.” I tapped my screen a little too forcefully, standing up. “Leave out one minute detail, and I will flip shit.”

  She relayed the story via bursts of information. Apparently, the universe had shifted in my favor—which probably meant it was preparing to kick me in the ass later—but whatever. Rena and Wallace had gotten back together last weekend on the sly. Something about her giving him an injection in the shower. Anyway, now the relationship was under wraps until Faye made her next move, and no one had had the presence of mind to inform me.

  If it weren’t something to mark off my to-do list, I’d be pissed. They were lucky we had too many other problems to contend with now—like Aiden Ross overhearing something he shouldn’t have. It was the only explanation for the guy showing up at Faye’s lab, begging for superpowers. He must’ve realized he’d lost Rena to my freak-show brother and snapped.

  I rooted around in my dresser and texted with one hand. “I’m coming up there.”

  CORYNN: “OK. I have things U need 2 see.”

  “Fallopian tubes?”

  CORYNN: “What?”

  I threw a fistful of clothes on my bed and growled. “Damn autocorrect! I meant files.”

  CORYNN: “Oh…yes, files.”r />
  “Where should I meet you?”

  CORYNN: “No meet up. Blue stack, Uncleland, 3-4 window, and U make the copies. Know the way?”

  Okay, so a blue folder would be waiting in Uncle Henry’s office from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and I couldn’t take the originals. Was that her version of a coded message? And if so, did she think ERA would ignore the rest of our obviously uncoded conversation upon discovery?

  Oh well. The effort was there. “Afraid not.”

  CORYNN: “Will txt directions L8ER. Break over.”

  “OK. Thanks.”

  CORYNN: “NP.”

  Well, that little exchange was a headache. Fortunately, it had left me with four tidbits of information.

  One, Corynn was leaning toward Team Wallacolena.

  Two, Aiden had lost his shit and accidentally switched sides.

  Three, my brother and fake sister were back together again.

  And four, my speed made my texting skills vastly superior to all other species’.

  I glanced at the clock. If I jumped in the shower right now, I could still drive to Cleveland, grab the file, pick up food, and make it to Wilcox in time for dinner before my coffee date. Another lengthy commute to enjoy…

  As I grabbed my clothes and headed for the bathroom, I contemplated the notion of siphoning gas.

  ~

  Click, click, click, click, click!

  I twisted the knob and barged into Wallace’s room that night, cradling a warm, damp bag against my chest. “Yo.”

  My brother drew a slow breath before he rolled off of a mostly-clothed Rena. “You couldn’t knock?”

  “Waiting makes me sad.” I set the bag on his desk and went back to reset the lock. The pick gun wasn’t necessary, but damn it, it was fun. Of course, this caused Rena to regard me with thinly veiled suspicion. “Don’t worry, Sis. Nobody saw me.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, nodding toward the bag as she straightened her shirt.

  “Dinner. I figured you’d high-tail it back here after your botched field trip.”