Hindsight

by Jody Klaire

  The pain glinted in her eyes. I could feel her barriers drop and smiled. “Show her some respect, please. She don’t need to fight you too.”

  Fleming’s eyes tracked over my face. “I still have to do my job.”

  I nodded. “I ain’t got a lot of an idea ’bout your side of things.” It was best I went with honesty. “I do know that,” Fleming wasn’t allowed to know about military, “Lead Agent Frei is all fit and healthy; Aunt Bess is itching to let the kittens out and feed them; that Renee and I are exhausted and . . . my mom’s ears are itching from flying.” I pulled my hand away and hovered it over her skin. “Your kids are missing you, your husband can’t find the TV remote, and your dogs have found those slippers you tried hiding.”

  She snapped her hand away and stared down at it as if accusing it of being a snitch.

  “Do you really want to launch an investigation that’ll take up all your time and mean you don’t see your kids for . . . well . . . months?”

  Fleming frowned. “It’s my job.”

  “Sure, but everybody is accounted for and you know Renee is okay.” I smiled. “Besides, you really want to explain to your father-in-law why there’s a conflict of interest?”

  Fleming’s eyes flicked over in Renee’s direction. I felt everyone in the room take a collective breath. I didn’t know why. I didn’t have a clue what I’d said. Nothing new.

  “Don’t make me have to go digging into your team, Agent Frei.”

  I stood back as Fleming got to her feet.

  Frei said nothing. She looked ready to sleep where she stood.

  Fleming scowled and turned to my mother and Aunt Bess. “Lilia, as always, it was both a baffling and an exhausting time being in your company.” She picked up her handbag and pulled out her phone. “I have no idea who you are, Aunt Bess, but I hope you and your kittens are happy.”

  She walked over to the carry crate as if she was expecting it to be empty. Two heads popped up and meowed at her as if by request.

  She cocked her head. “There really were kittens.” She shook her head and turned to me. “It is . . . strange . . . to meet you, Aeron.”

  “Likewise.”

  She made a quick call as Renee stood hugging herself in the corner. Fleming strode to the door. Headlights flashed so I guessed Grimes had been waiting.

  She pulled open the door and stopped.

  Her shoulders rose and fell for a few moments.

  She sighed, half-turning to Renee. “I’m glad you are . . . okay.”

  Renee nodded. “You too.”

  Fleming strode out to the car without so much as looking over her shoulder.

  Frei wandered over to the door and shut it. “Nice work, Lorelei.”

  “What I do?”

  I looked at my mother but she smiled, Aunt Bess beamed, Frei looked, well like she always did and so I turned to Renee.

  “There aren’t many people who can convince her to change her mind.” Renee’s voice was quiet, thoughtful. “You were very patient with her.” She met my eyes. “Thank you.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “She loves you. Can’t blame her for that. I’d be mad too.”

  Her eyes twinkled and a quiet smile spread across her face. “You would, would you?”

  “Sure-as-shoots.” I cleared my throat, wondering why everybody was still grinning at me. “So we eating?”

  Frei walked to the coffee table and pulled out all kinds of menus. “They deliver.” She stretched out her back with a shake of her head. “You even fixed the angle of my rib.”

  I smiled, my hands throbbing like they used to.

  My stomach growled. Now I needed to fix my appetite.

  LILIA WATCHED BESS fussing over the kittens who purred back at her. She’d always had an affinity with animals, always adored them. She was as big hearted about the people she loved too.

  “You really keeping them,” she asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

  “I got plenty of room for them and it’ll be nice to have company.” She waggled her finger under the livelier one’s jaw. He rolled onto his back and sprawled, inviting her to keep going.

  “I see you still have your way with men.” Lilia shook her head. “And don’t think I didn’t see you charming that poor boy.”

  Bess waved a hand at her. “He’s young enough to be my grandson.”

  “You’re not that old, Bess.” She leaned on her fist. Jessie peeked her head around the door. Lilia turned and smiled at her. “Are you hungry?”

  Jessie nodded. She looked at Bess and her eyes filled with wonder.

  “There’s leftovers.” Lilia got up, happy to do something useful. “I’ll warm them up.”

  For all of Jessie’s skills, she was a lot like Aeron. That institutionalized naivety was there to see. Like Aeron, in some ways she was far more mature than could be accounted for by years but in others, she looked no older than Lilia’s own step-daughters.

  “You like cats, Mousey,” Bess said, winking at her. She sounded so much like Nan that it was no surprise Jessie cocked her head. “What do you reckon we should call them?”

  Jessie tucked her wild brown hair behind her ears and wandered over. She ruffled the livelier kitten’s ears. He rolled so she could fuss him. “Are they boys or girls?”

  Bess chuckled. “I ain’t gonna cope with nothin’ frilly whatever they are.”

  Jessie smiled. “In that case . . .” She looked at the smaller kitten, asleep over Bess’s arm. “Worthington.” She grinned at the bigger fluffball. “And Samson.”

  Bess met Lilia’s eyes as she burst into a chuckle. “Very fitting. The names Renee and Aeron went by when they met Jessie.”

  Bess shifted back and pointed to the seat beside her. “If you ain’t got allergies, I could use a hand keeping them quiet.”

  Jessie took a seat and happily started fussing. Lilia kept feeling for any show of wheezing. She doubted Jessie had ever seen cats before let alone knew if she could tolerate them.

  “Will I go back to the base now?” she asked in a such a quiet mumble that Bess waggled her finger in her ear.

  “Yes, I’ll take you back with me.” She knew Aeron, Renee, and Frei would remain here. There was still work to be done.

  “Do you think . . . ?” Jessie bit her lip. “I’m lucky that she came to get us out.”

  The unspoken question hung there. Frei wandered into the room. Even after a shower and food, she looked drained. “Your things will be moved to my quarters.”

  Jessie snapped her head up, her eyes filled with hope. “I can’t leave the others. We’re like family.”

  Frei sighed. “Which is why you’ll all be enlisted in the academy and I’ll take responsibility for you all.”

  Lilia focused on mixing up a plate of food, heating it, and testing it to stop herself from embracing Frei. She’d come such a long way since that closed off, beaten young woman who had strolled into her office with Renee.

  “You will?” She heard the chair scrape back and turned to see Jessie fling her arms around Frei’s midriff and burrow in. She watched the ice in Frei’s eyes melt as she returned the hug.

  Lilia heard a sniffle and Bess blew her nose in her hanky while Samson, the kitten, swiped for it.

  Frei cleared her throat as Lilia placed Jessie’s food on the table. Jessie took the plate and eyed Frei as if waiting for an order.

  “I’m your . . . mother,” Frei whispered, pulling up Jessie’s chin by her finger. “I don’t own you. You don’t have to ask.”

  Jessie nodded. Lilia could see that it didn’t register. It would take a good while to ease her from that routine. Jessie kept her eyes on the plate, still waiting, until Frei sighed.

  “Go on, eat.” She watched Jessie hurry off. Lilia didn’t have a clue where. Frei met her eyes. “Her room. Unless eating with other slaves, they have to eat in their rooms.”

  “It takes love and patience but she’ll get there,” Lilia said, taking a seat next to Bess.

  �
�I hope so.” Frei stood in the middle of the kitchen, silent, staring into space.

  “Bess and I will take her back. I’ll have to be at the base while you deal with things here anyway.”

  Frei met her eyes. “I can’t expect you to do that. You need to be with—”

  “He did just fine without me if you hadn’t noticed. Besides, I have my spies to keep an eye on him.” She grinned at Bess.

  “And how is the grumpy old bat?” Bess muttered. “Still angry she lost her marbles?”

  Lilia shook her head. “You know, Aeron used to torment her. I’d keep an eye on her and wonder at how much she replayed your duel with Aunt Gertie’s mother.” She chuckled. Aunt Gertie was technically a cousin but everyone older was always aunt. Nan had insisted on it.

  “I knew she was a good ’un.” Bess grinned.

  Lilia could feel Frei watching. She could feel that ache she knew so well. She and Bess were close, even though the age gap was big. They had memories together and Lilia had grown up watching her sister, learning from her, loving her. Then she’d left to “pursue a career in art.”

  “You need us out of the way so we’ll leave as soon as Jessie is ready.” Lilia shook a thousand memories free. “Bess will drop us at the airport before she drives home.”

  Frei dipped her blonde eyebrows. “Drive?”

  Bess nodded. “Kittens. Besides, I prefer the road, less hard on my ears.”

  Frei walked over to the corkboard on the wall, slid it across, and pulled out a set of keys. “Then it’s best they ride in style.”

  Bess raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think I can afford to touch those keys, kid, let alone put claws on the seat.”

  “It’s a gift.” She placed them on the table next to the kitten who swiped for her hand. She dodged it and ruffled the fur on his head before he could react.

  “I can’t accept it. That’s a lot of paychecks I ain’t gettin’ no more.” Bess shook her head. Lilia had tried giving her financial help, the family had money, but she’d given up her claim and would always tell her that she could do just fine by herself.

  “Then, it’s payment for the freelance work you did for me.” Frei hardened her gaze. “And an order.”

  Bess cocked her head, scrutinizing Frei. Lilia had seen her prickly side when it came to being given orders once or twice. “You got it, kid.”

  Lilia let out the breath she’d been holding and smiled. If that wasn’t the Lorelei seal of approval, she didn’t know what was.

  Chapter 82

  JESSIE, MY MOTHER, Aunt Bess, and the kittens had left before I got downstairs. I’d wanted to see them, all of them and felt an ache in my stomach when I couldn’t sense them. Stosur had taken up the chair where Fleming had sat beside the fire, Frei leaned against the fireplace, and Renee sat with her legs tucked underneath her, nestled into the side of the sofa.

  “They went?”

  Frei nodded. “Jessie needed to get back to the base. I wanted Dr. Andrews to keep an eye on her.”

  It was a half-hearted attempt at making me feel better but it took some of the sting out of it. They had gone because Stosur needed to talk to us before she left.

  Renee patted the sofa beside her as she nursed a cup of hot chocolate. I sat down and she handed it to me. “You’re still looking a bit shaky.”

  I smiled and sipped at the rich sweet warmth.

  “So Jäger knows Jessie is your daughter. Why is that a problem for him again?” Renee cut straight to business but squeezed my knee as I slurped on my chocolate. I was so exhausted I had trouble making much more than shapes out. I didn’t know if I had the energy to be much use.

  “Slave owners are all as bad as each other,” Stosur said, eyeing me with curiosity. “But, on the surface at least, there are rules, etiquette.”

  “Like back in Caprock, if a slave is harmed, especially by another owner or anyone connected to them, they are liable for the full price of the slave.” Frei sounded so switched off but it was raw, I could feel it and I knew Renee could tell even without any side effects. “Jessie is proof that he owes Huber money.”

  Renee ran her hand through her hair. It was silky again now, not the matted dirt-riddled mess it had been earlier. I got a waft of some scented shampoo and I wanted nothing more than to rest my head on her shoulder and sleep. “We can’t risk putting Jessie through that.”

  Frei scowled at her. “You think I’d do that?”

  Renee shot her a “really?” look. “About as much as I’d let you. So how can we prove it without her?”

  “We can’t.” Stosur was still watching me, I could feel her but I was falling asleep in my mug. “Not without Sven discovering her DNA.” She sighed. “He’s on the lookout for it, trust me.”

  “Creepy,” I mumbled.

  “Family trait,” Frei muttered. “So we have to show him up another way.”

  “How?” Renee took the empty mug off me and placed it on the side. She smiled at me, tutting at the chocolate on my nose.

  “By getting his partner in crime to confess or slip up in a public way.” Stosur’s gaze felt like it was trying to cook the side of my face.

  “But we don’t know who it is.” Renee looked from Stosur to Frei. “Or do we?”

  Frei handed over a piece of paper and Renee grunted then showed it to me. It looked kinda fuzzy but it was a sketch of someone. I blinked away the blurring to try and make it out. “Megan?”

  “One and the same.” Frei took the paper back off me. “Courtesy of Jessie.”

  “Mini-Frankenfrei did good.” I stifled a yawn. Renee shook her head at me. “So how do we get Megan to ’fess up?”

  “You know the answer, Lorelei, or have you forgotten training?” Frei’s curt tone jolted me.

  “Make her think there’s no option?” I asked, well slurred. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I managed whole words.

  “Exactly.” Stosur sounded so wired. I still couldn’t meet her eyes and she was still staring. “Force her to play her hand.”

  “And make sure there’s someone there to capture it,” Renee added. “It sounds perfect but what will make her . . . ?” She wagged her finger about. “Oh no, you are not pretending to be his mistress, Urs. That’s way past weird, he’s your father.”

  Frei stared at her.

  Renee clamped her hands over her mouth.

  Stosur let out a groan.

  Oops.

  “Least it saved me letting it slip,” I said, hoping it would make Renee feel better.

  “Huber . . . you . . .” Frei stared at Stosur. “But I remember my father.” She pulled out her cross. “He gave me this. You married him.”

  I risked a glance at Stosur as she fixed on Frei. “Those are his, as is that jacket you love so much.” She smiled and I could feel all the love she had for him. “He got me out. Don’t judge him too harshly.”

  “Then I go in as his daughter.” Frei’s aura twirled like it was in battle with itself. “That will really throw her.”

  “But it won’t threaten her.” Stosur shook her head. “You don’t need to be his mistress. Everyone thinks you stole an academy full of slaves and they’ve been buzzing about it.” She smiled. “The fact you’re back in the picture will be more than enough, especially if you act just as you always did.”

  “What about . . . him?” Frei averted her gaze. I smiled at her, hoping I could send her reassurance.

  “You’ll have your trusty protection team guarding you,” I managed to get out. “You and Huber.”

  I looked at Renee who gave an emphatic nod. “You heard the woman.”

  Frei’s eyes misted or at least I thought they did through my bleary vision. “I meant, how will Megan being jittery reveal what he did?”

  “If he’s using his brother’s warehouses to sell off slaves with Megan, his brother doesn’t know.” Stosur’s voice was confident. “So where are the profits going? Because Sven isn’t boasting about it.”

  “I don’t get it.” Whether it was exhaustion or
not, I didn’t. I was gonna curl up on Renee’s lap and sleep.

  “If his brother is selling off slaves without his knowledge and making money for himself, not the family, it’s an insult.” Stosur’s tone said she was being patient even with my inability to compute it all. “Not only an insult but he’ll see it as a challenge and Jäger will either be forced to take him on, which he can’t, or he’ll have to weather his brother’s temper.”

  Frei sucked in her breath. Guess he had a short fuse.

  “And how does that stop him hurting other folks?” I looked to Renee, hoping she’d give me an idea.

  She smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. “My guess would be that his brother will disown him and hand him over to the authorities who are trying to bring him to justice or . . .” She sighed. “Some other barbaric method.”

  “He’ll become a slave,” Frei whispered. “To the person who he owes money to.”

  RENEE FOLDED HER arms as Stosur left and Frei closed the door, locked it, and fiddled with the keypad beside it. I braced myself for her questions, knowing she’d either yell or knock me on my butt.

  “Jessie,” Renee said as Frei wandered back to them. “Her asthma is terrible.”

  Frei nodded. “Good thing she had her inhaler.”

  Renee kept her gaze locked on me. “Asthmatics often have trouble with fur and dust.”

  Frei raised an eyebrow at her. “And?”

  “Even I sneezed.” Renee folded her arms. “Yet she was just fine and your mother stared at Aeron the entire time.”

  Frei cocked her head. “It’s strange to hear her called that.” She smiled. “Really strange.”

  “When did you figure it out?” I asked her, hoping it would throw Renee off.

  “She wanted to tell me before Jessie left so that I would make sure she was kept out of the way.” Frei rubbed her hand over her face. “I had no parents earlier on, now I have two.”

  “Yeah, I feel you there.” I smiled at her. “Yours ain’t the only family closet with more mothballs than sense.” I cleared my throat. “Best head off to bed—”