I Gotta Feeling

by Kress, Alyssa

The image of him, knocked out like that, nearly killed Meredith. What had she done? And why? But it was too late to go back now. She'd taken her stand. Besides, it was all true! Parker should be doing something constructive with his talent. That's what talent was for, wasn't it?

  But Parker didn't say a word. His face, however, said more than enough for him.

  "You should," Meredith heard herself repeat. She didn't care what his face said. Judgment—it was for everybody.

  She whirled, unable to look at his face any longer—or maybe fearing he'd come out of his shock any second. She didn't need the punch he might throw at her. The lacks and holes in her own character had become all too evident over the past four days. Before meeting Parker, she'd never stopped doing, doing, doing. She'd never given herself time to think, or even more importantly, to feel. But still, a person had to care about something, didn't he? A person had to try.

  "I'm going now," she mumbled garbledly. Without waiting for an answer, and with tears suddenly stabbing her eyes, she fought the brush to get away, back to the stream. Parker didn't follow and she didn't stop to listen if he might. Stumbling over rocks and twigs, she walked quickly, following the stream, anxious to get away, far away. Though wherever she went, Meredith mused grimly, she'd still be stuck with herself.

  ~~~

  Sunlight slanted into the eighth floor hotel room at an early afternoon angle. Aletheia was on the hotel room phone—something Benjamin thought safer than her cell.

  He hadn't wanted to talk for more than a few seconds that first time he'd reached her, right after she and Felix had exited MIT's Stata Center. Not on her cell, he'd said. He'd been amazed to find she was in Boston, but not so amazed he'd wasted any time over the matter. Quickly, he'd ascertained the name of her hotel and told her he'd call her there in twenty minutes.

  "This is the break I needed," Benjamin gushed now. "I've got to see you, face to face." He sounded excited, exhausted, and very, very different from his usual self. He sounded, in fact, a lot like Felix: definite, determined, and even powerful.

  Benjamin, her mild-mannered little brother...powerful?

  Aletheia pulled the telephone cord so that she could pace to the window. Traffic blared on the street below in downtown Boston. From the bathroom came the sound of the shower running. Felix's subtle way of giving her privacy.

  "Benjamin," Aletheia said. "I already know about—"

  "Uh uh." He cut her off quickly, just as he had twenty minutes before when she'd tried to discuss the Cloak and his problems. His tone held brisk force. "Meet me at the T stop in Waban. That's the Green Line. One hour. You've got to make sure you aren't followed. Understand? If you went to see Lowenstein, dollars to donuts they're following you."

  "Who? Who would be following me?"

  "I'm not sure. Watch out for guys in baggy white shirts. Trust no one. No one. You understand?"

  "I understand that's what you—"

  "One hour. Waban," Benjamin repeated.

  "All right, but—" Aletheia's objections went unheard. Benjamin had already cut the connection.

  With a quavery sigh, Aletheia walked back to return the phone to its cradle. Benjamin hadn't given her a chance to explain anything.

  But at least he'd called. She knew where he was now. Even if she wasn't entirely sure what he was up to. Or even quite who he was.

  Aletheia idly tapped the telephone handset a few times before glancing toward the bathroom door. The water in the shower had ceased. The door did not open.

  Trust no one.

  Tapping the telephone a few more times, Aletheia scowled ferociously. Then she strode over to the closed bathroom door and knocked.

  The door opened. Clad only in his trousers, with a hand towel draped around his neck, Felix looked out at her. His jaw was smooth and scented from a fresh shave.

  Aletheia drew in a sharp, hungry breath. His masculinity swept over her, immediately making her feel more centered. He was all quiet, solid power.

  Felix did not appear to receive any similar fortification from Aletheia's feminine presence. He gazed at her with distant eyes. No, not truly distant, Aletheia corrected herself. This was his expression of self-defense.

  After searching Aletheia's face, he decided, "He wants you to meet him."

  There was no reason to deny it. Aletheia nodded. "In one hour."

  Felix drew the towel from around his neck. "And I suppose he told you to come alone?"

  Aletheia hesitated. The words made Benjamin sound scheming. "He said that, yes."

  Turning to throw the towel on the bathroom counter, Felix released a disgusted grunt. "Fine. I may not approve, but I won't go back on our deal."

  "Our deal?" It took Aletheia a lengthy moment to remember what he was talking about. After she'd been ambushed at the Stickit Inn, they'd made a deal that Felix would let her go see her brother alone. The only condition was that she'd tell Felix when she was leaving. Obviously, Felix now thought Aletheia intended to go meet Benjamin without him. Slowly, Aletheia replied, "Yes, I remember our deal."

  Felix pointed. "Turn on your cell phone. I expect you to keep the connection open the entire time. Don't worry about paying for the minutes. I'll pick up the tab."

  As Aletheia watched Felix cross into the room to grab a shirt from on top of the bed, she felt a heavy sadness settle over her. Did Felix think nothing had changed? She'd brought him to Boston, hadn't she? She'd brought him right to Lowenstein's office where she'd thought she might pick up a solid lead...and he still didn't get it.

  He should have understood: she considered him trustworthy.

  Well, okay, Felix probably continued to suspect Benjamin of some type of criminal activity, even if that might not include murder. But Aletheia still trusted Felix. She knew he wouldn't do anything wrong or mean or evil. Felix would always do what was right and honorable. She knew that.

  But did Felix know it?

  Aletheia sank into the easy chair by the window and watched him button his silver-gray shirt and then go over to paw through the change he'd tossed onto the night table. All the while he kept his face carefully averted.

  Her family was large and comprised of difficult people, but she now wondered if Felix wasn't more difficult than all of them put together. The more she thought about it, the less likely was this story of the infamous mobster being his father. How had such a crazy idea ever entered his head—and why had it become so firmly embedded there? It seemed to have rooted itself deeper and deeper over the years, rather than petering out, as it should have petered.

  Felix was clearly determined, for some reason, to consider himself unacceptable. Unlovable.

  An apprehension that was starting to become familiar curled through her. Had she bit off more than she could chew here? Was Felix impossible?

  Aletheia pressed her lips together. No, she wasn't giving up on him. Why, that would be giving him exactly what he expected. What he even, in some perverse way, wanted. Besides, she'd started this adventure and she wasn't going to bail out now.

  She waited until Felix finished counting his change and dropped it into his pants pocket. "About that deal," she said.

  Felix halted.

  "I want to change it."

  He turned his head sharply.

  "I don't want to go by myself." Aletheia smiled lightly, as if she were only confirming an obvious fact. "I want you to come with me."

  He was unable to conceal the shock that swept across his face. Shock and, Aletheia thought, fear. That was strange. What could he be afraid of? He quickly straightened, though, and regained control of his features. She had no time to puzzle through the fear thing before he asked, "Are you sure about that?"

  "I'm sure." But she still wondered why her trust should frighten him.

  He lowered his lashes part way. "I'm not promising anything about your brother."

  Aletheia met his cool regard. No, he wouldn't promise, but she knew. Felix wouldn't do anything that would hurt her, and hurting Benjamin would hurt her. "I under
stand."

  He narrowed his eyes a fraction further.

  "I trust you to do the right thing," Aletheia told him.

  For a moment he seemed to freeze.

  Pretending she hadn't noticed, Aletheia got up from the chair. "We have to meet Benjamin at a T stop in Waban. It's somewhere in the suburbs, I think. I imagine we'd better get started if we want enough time to make sure we're not being followed."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The roads around Boston were winding, complicated, and often unmarked. It was an additional challenge to make sure they weren't being followed as Felix drove the rented car from their downtown hotel out to the suburb of Waban. The whole while his heart was beating unnaturally fast, but not because of these minor issues.

  Benjamin had called Aletheia. The search was over and she didn't need Felix any more. The end was upon him.

  At the intersection in front of Felix's car, a pedestrian stepped off the curb, despite the light being against him. Hissing out a breath, Felix swerved to avoid the guy. He didn't need a traffic accident on top of all his other problems. The end was upon him. This interlude with Aletheia was winding toward a close.

  As if to hasten the matter, she'd asked Felix to come along on this journey to meet her brother.

  Mentally, Felix shook his head. Didn't she get it? Didn't she get him?

  Apparently not. She sat in the passenger seat next to him and, despite the way she caught the edge of the doorframe at his swerve, she looked perfectly calm.

  As if she weren't sitting next to the man who was about to haul her brother in.

  Felix pursed his lips. Well, she was about to learn the truth. Felix wasn't nice. He wasn't merciful. He was ruthless.

  If Aletheia was hoping for clemency for her brother from Felix's corner, she'd be bitterly disappointed.

  "I think we'll be there in time." Aletheia was looking at the GPS map on the dashboard console. "Do you see anyone in the rear view mirror?"

  "No. Nobody constant anyway." But he looked again. It was easier to look in the mirror for possible followers than to look at Aletheia. They were near their destination and his stretched nerves felt like they were getting stretched even tighter.

  She sat there, so trusting, so believing in him. It reminded Felix of the day they'd first met, when she'd displayed the same blind faith in her brother, despite all the evidence arrayed against him.

  If Felix hadn't known what was about to happen in this relationship, he thought he might, just might, start to believe in her. Yes, he might start to imagine she could actually accept him.

  Oh, boy. From the darkness he'd been holding down, a spike shot up, nearly piercing him with its intensity. To believe someone could accept him or like him with any kind of loyalty or depth was a very old, and very foolish, dream. He knew what he was. For goodness' sake, even his mother knew what he was. A cold fish, an unfeeling bastard, completely unlovable.

  Glancing down at the GPS himself, Felix grasped back for reality. He had to stay anchored here. Even if Aletheia accepted him now, that would change once Felix ruined her brother. Come on. This was the end.

  "What? Where are you going?" Aletheia's head came up as Felix threw the car into a turn that led them off the blue-marked route on the GPS.

  "Just making sure," Felix rumbled. "Going to drive around the block."

  "Oh. Oh, yes. That's a good idea." Aletheia tapped her lips with one finger and frowned out the window.

  Okay, Felix thought, glancing toward her and then away. They were heading toward Benjamin and things were about to get tricky. He had to focus.

  No more dreaming. No more foolishness. Focus.

  ~~~

  A tall French roast sat in front of Benjamin on the counter of the café. Beyond the counter, a window looked over the railroad tracks. Out in the suburbs, the T tracks were all above ground, and each station boasted a café profitably situated alongside. Benjamin hadn't taken one sip of his drink, however. He was worried sick about Zara.

  It had taken an hour for the ferry to get to Salem. The crew had been surprisingly obliging about his method of catching the boat, once they discovered he wanted to pay for his ticket with cash. Benjamin hadn't dared crap things up by asking to use the radio. What could he say, anyway, and to whom? He was wanted by the police. The authorities wouldn't believe him about anything.

  Once in Salem, he'd only had to wait five minutes for a return boat, but that hour ride back to Boston had been agonizing. It was almost a relief, upon his return, to receive the message left for him at the ferry office. It hadn't been signed, but its author had been obvious. The note was still in his pocket, crumpled and over-read.

  If you want the girl to stay alive, come to 1145 Massachusetts Wharf Street. Don't delay.

  Benjamin would have run there immediately if he'd thought there was any chance they'd actually let Zara go. But Goddard had already committed murder. Benjamin didn't intend to play into his hands and do something dumb.

  He had to do something smart, something smart enough to save Zara's life. So Benjamin had pulled his last trick, the one he'd been holding in reserve, the one he hadn't wanted to use unless absolutely necessary. The gambit of absolute desperation.

  He'd called his sister.

  He hadn't wanted Aletheia involved. He hadn't wanted Goddard's evil attention turned toward the family. And now Benjamin's restraint served to his advantage. Goddard couldn't know Benjamin had been in touch with Aletheia, not within the last hour. Neither could the police. This meant Aletheia'd be able to do things and go places for Benjamin without anyone the wiser. At least for a little while, surely long enough.

  It was incredibly good luck she'd tracked him down to Boston. Now if only she'd show up...

  A train with green markings rumbled to a stop on the tracks down the slope from the café window. Benjamin straightened to a near standing position, straining to see if his sister walked off. Three men climbed out of the train. No Aletheia.

  Dejected, Benjamin watched the three men stride up to the parking lot at the top of the slope. That's when he saw a gray Lexus pull in. The car door opened and Benjamin leaped all the way to his feet. Aletheia had stepped out.

  She stood by the car, her gaze anxious as she squinted over the area.

  "Al—!" Benjamin started to call her name, then squelched the shout that she wouldn't be able to hear from his position inside the café. Ducking around a display of Red Sox coffee mugs, he scrambled to the door, wrenched it open, and raced up the hill toward the parking lot.

  He was halfway there when a second figure emerged from the car. Duh. Benjamin should have expected that; Aletheia had exited the passenger-side door. Benjamin stumbled to a stop as he got a load of this second figure. He was a man, not particularly big, but tough-looking, with hard, searching eyes.

  Benjamin's heart tumbled over itself in his chest, taking him from relief to terror in less than a beat. But it was too late to turn back or hide. The guy had found him with his searching gaze.

  Aletheia had seen him, too. She moved from the car, starting and then squelching Benjamin's name the same way he'd done with hers. The tough guy followed after her, taking her arm as he did.

  Some of Benjamin's terror dimmed. He didn't think cops took the arms of wanted men's sisters. Walking now, wary, he met them halfway up the slope.

  "Benjamin," Aletheia murmured, and wrapped him in her arms.

  He felt a moment of relief, a moment of belief that everything might turn out all right. Aletheia could fix anything. Then he saw, over Aletheia's shoulder, the tough guy squint at him, a hard squint.

  Who the heck was he, and why on earth had Aletheia brought him along?

  Benjamin pulled out of his sister's embrace.

  Aletheia started talking, chattering fast. "Benjamin, this is Felix, Felix Roman. He's from San Francisco. He's a security consultant. He's here because—because—"

  "Because somebody had to help your sister sort out this mess," the man she'd called Felix s
tated. He looked around. "Let's go back to the car. I'd rather not have an audience."

  Benjamin had to agree with that. He wasn't so sure, however, how much he liked Felix directing him to the front passenger seat, right beside where Felix seated himself. Even less did he like the way Felix then laid an arm across the two seat backs, effectively caging Benjamin, and putting a barrier between him and Aletheia, who'd climbed into the back.

  But Aletheia looked cool with all of it, so maybe the guy was okay. One had to admit he projected both power and competence.

  "So," Felix said. "What's going on?"

  "They took Zara." That was the main thing, wasn't it? Benjamin heard his voice crack. "Those fuckheads have Zara. We need to save her."

  "Who is Zara?" Aletheia wanted to know.

  "My girlfriend." His own choice of word made Benjamin hiccup. "I mean she's—it doesn't matter. What's important is that Goddard's goons snatched her this morning from the dock in Boston Harbor. They want me to turn myself in to them, but I know they won't release her even if I do."

  Benjamin gulped in air. Just talking about it was closing his throat. They had Zara. He could see that Aletheia looked both confused and worried. Felix Roman appeared hard and unmoved. "Maybe I should start at the beginning," Benjamin said. "This whole thing started with this project I was working on for Goddard Laboratories."

  "We know." Aletheia gestured toward Felix. "Felix designed Goddard's security system."

  "Yeah," Felix interjected. "The one you fucked up."

  Benjamin stared at him. He was hard as nails, this guy. And he basically worked for Goddard. Why had Aletheia brought him? "I fucked it up," Benjamin said coldly, "because Goddard was contracting to sell the Cloak to terrorists. They were planning to use its features to transport bombs, and God knows what else."

  "You see?" Aletheia exclaimed. "I told you he had a good reason."

  To say Roman looked unimpressed was a gross understatement. He seemed carved from stone. "You're wanted for murder," he told Benjamin.

  "I didn't kill anybody!" Disbelief tightened Benjamin's throat even more. This was the attitude he'd been dreading. "I'm thinking Goddard killed Boris and Heather. They must have found out the same stuff about the terrorists that I did."