by Dale Mayer
“Clarity,” he said simply. “I’m looking for clarity.”
She glared at him. “And I don’t know how many times I can tell you, but I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember a lot of things—let’s put it that way,” she corrected. “I mean, obviously some things are hard to forget, but a lot of other things were just never very clear at all.”
“And I get that,” he said in a soothing voice. “That just seems to make it worse.” She glared at him. He raised both hands in surrender. “I’m not pissing you off on purpose.”
“Good,” she said, “because you’re doing it without even trying.”
He chuckled. “Let’s go for a swim.”
“And, just like that, we’ll forget about Sugar Mama.”
“No,” he said, “that’s never a good idea. Mourn them for a while, but then focus on the good memories. You should always honor and remember those who have passed. Remember them with a smile, remember them with joy that their life wasn’t meaningless while they were here. That they did something of value while they lived and that we rejoiced in them. I think even you would agree that, despite the challenges, Sugar Mama enjoyed her life.”
“Yes, she did,” Beth admitted. “She enjoyed an awful lot in her life. At the end I think she enjoyed more peace and quiet than her hot men.”
“Well, everybody needs to do things in their own way,” he said.
“And, if that was hers, then fine. I don’t have any judgment for her,” she murmured.
“Neither do I,” he said. “She was a fascinating woman, and I know that, no matter what I think or even what the world would say about her and her lifestyle, she was happy. As long as she didn’t hurt anybody in the process, who are we to judge?”
“I would like to think more people out there aren’t quite so judgmental.”
“No,” he said, “people out there are very judgmental. But nobody has to say anything. It’s private. It’s Sugar Mama. It’s who she was, and she was a wonderful person to you. And what you need to remember is, when you needed a friend, she was there for you.”
Beth smiled mistily at him. “Thank you for that.”
“And thank her,” he said gently. “She helped you stay alive, and that’s worth everything to me.”
Not a whole lot she could say to that, so she moved toward the window. “Sugar Mama would tell me to go have a swim, if that’s what I wanted to do.”
“Let’s go then,” he said, stepping up to her side.
She looked at him, still fully dressed, and frowned. “You’re not coming in?”
He shook his head. “Nope, I’ll be on watch.”
She glared at him. “That’s not guaranteed to make me relax.”
“Maybe not,” he said, “but it is a fact of life for now.”
Out on the deck she smiled to see the cat food dish mostly empty. She pointed. “Guess we need to fill that, huh?”
He nodded. “If nothing else the raccoons will enjoy it.”
She looked at him, but he gave her a bland look. Frowning, she headed down the steps toward the water. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking when it came to Nocturne, and, even as soon as she thought about him, he appeared beside her. She smiled and stroked his silky fur. “Not a fun trip, not to or from the hospital.”
He didn’t say anything, just sauntered at her side all the way down to the water. The fact that he had stayed here was also good. He was very good at discerning which places were safe and which weren’t, and having stayed here meant that Nocturne had decided he and Beth were safe here. If he continued to feel that way, then she would be more complacent about this place. Maybe she could keep her head on straight here.
She needed time to heal on so many different levels and, so far, hadn’t had any opportunity to do that. At the water, instead of giving herself a chance to get in slowly, she dove in off the end of the dock, almost crying out as the cold water closed over her head. It really was cold. She didn’t understand that yet found it also glorious. She relished in what such a beautiful feeling it was, as her head broke through the water. Gasping for breath now, she struck out strongly toward the center of the lake. When she heard a cry, she turned behind her. Hunter had his hand up. She frowned and called back, “What’s the matter?”
“Don’t go out too far,” he said.
She thought about it, and he was probably right. Just because she had the energy right now didn’t mean it would be there for the return trip. She slowly turned and moved back in his direction. Even though she was a long way from shore, she heard a sudden cry from Nocturne in warning. She called out a warning to Hunter, and then a sound carried on the air. Hunter was no longer there. She stayed in the middle of the water, worried at the sudden silence. She had recognized the sound as gunfire; she just didn’t know where it came from or from whom. She wanted to call out to Nocturne to ask him what the hell. He’d just given her the okay that they were safe, so how could that change so fast?
Then she heard an odd sound, one she didn’t expect. A rowboat.
She immediately sank under the water but couldn’t possibly hide her position for long when she still needed to breathe. Drifting as silently as she could, she headed toward the dock. As she reached the safety of the wood, she heard Nocturne right beside her, urging her to safety. He hadn’t seen it coming because the attack had come from the water. She looked for Hunter but still found no sign of him. She wasn’t sure if she should stay in the water or get out but found it damn hard to stay in the cold water. Surely there had to be another solution.
She looked around, studying the long weeds off to her side; that was as good an answer as any. Moving under the water as much as she could, leaving no ripple, she headed toward the shrubbery and slipped up into the greenery. There, Nocturne waited for her. She immediately reached out to touch him, finding herself grounded immediately by the soothing touch of her hand on his fur. Something was so very special about that cat. As soon as she caught her breath, she peered through the grass, looking to see who was after her. But, of course, she couldn’t see anything. The rowboat seemed empty, just jostling out there in the water, as if somebody had slipped in. Or out.
She hadn’t heard him. And that was even scarier because, if somebody else could move through the shadows as easily as that, no way she could hide from him. She hunkered down and didn’t move. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, and she felt the chill set in further. Was the whole point of this to get her so caught up that she couldn’t do anything, and then they would catch her?
Freezing to death was hardly the ending she wanted for herself, but maybe she had no choice in the matter. Scary thought. A splash sounded close by, and Nocturne froze at her side. Beth heard somebody climbing out of the water. Taking her cue, she slipped back into the water with a deep breath and pushed herself gently through the water, underneath the surface, out to the rowboat.
She stayed underwater as long as she could, coming up on the far side of the boat, vaguely outlined from under the water’s surface. She came up gasping for air and tilted the rowboat ever-so-slightly. Empty, except for a backpack and a few other things in there. She wondered about getting in, but she didn’t know how. She’d seen it done, but it didn’t look like it would be very easy.
Instead she drifted along with the rowboat, until she was a bit closer to the shore. Still no sign of Hunter and no sign of the new arrival at all. Standing in the shallow water now, she pushed the rowboat up against the dock. There she slid up onto the dock, slipped into the rowboat, and headed across the lake again.
The shooter’s getaway vehicle had to be somewhere close by that other shore too. So far nobody had shot at her, so she decided that the same man wanted her alive. She would leave Hunter to deal with him. If nothing else, Hunter could keep himself safe—if anything Stefan had said was true. She felt bad, deserting Hunter, but she also felt that he’d be the first one to tell her to run. She didn’t necessarily want to run, but she wanted to get answers, and, for the first time,
she was close enough to get some. With that, she kept paddling across the lake in the direction the shooter had probably come from.
*
Remember, Lizzy’s voice called out to Beth in the darkness. You can’t forget. It’s not allowed. We’re too close. It means too much. Remember. Remember. Remember.
Beth swatted at the air, as if to bat the words back at Lizzy.
Lizzy chuckled. You can’t get rid of me that easily. And she droned on again and again and again, pushing Beth’s memories forward. Remember.
Remember.
Remember.
Lizzy’s voice was fainter and fainter, as somehow Beth managed to send those words back to her.
*
Hunter watched Beth, wondering what she was up to. When she slipped into the rowboat and headed across the lake, his eyebrows shot up. An interesting tactic on her part, as she’d left the shooter stranded here on this side. With any luck Hunter would find this person. However, if his wheels were over there, she could, in theory, take off on Hunter. Again.
He didn’t even know what to think of that. Odd but a part of him cheered her on. She needed to do whatever it took to keep herself safe. And he needed to change his focus from her, now that he knew she was okay and not frozen in the water, turning his attention to this asshole, who had come to land at his place.
Hunter searched the darkness, aware somebody out there was using energy as a blind. That made him very dangerous, but Hunter was no fool, and he had recognized the technique. He waited, looking for the energy to shift with any movement. All energy left a signature, whether that person’s energy or somebody else’s. Even if the gunman utilized the energy from nature, that movement left a signature. And, sure enough, as Hunter carefully watched, he saw a slight haziness coming toward him.
Swearing slightly at that because it meant that Hunter was as exposed as the other guy, he crouched and slipped a little deeper into the woods, leaving himself an exit, if this guy managed to see him. As Hunter watched and waited, the newcomer slowly approached and then called out, “We want the same thing.”
At that, Hunter stopped and stared. He doubted that—he really did—but an interesting tactic.
“I want her alive,” the man called out.
Well, that was good, and it followed through on what Hunter and Beth had discussed. But not enough. Hunter hesitated.
The guy said, “I can see where you are. No point in hiding from me. I am also holding a weapon on you.”
Of course he had a weapon. He had shot it earlier. And wouldn’t have any trouble hitting his target in this lighting. Hunter stood slowly and asked, “Why do you want her?”
“None of your business.”
“And yet you say that we want the same thing. I want her safe.”
“So do I,” the stranger said, “absolutely I do.”
“Why is that?” Hunter asked curiously.
“I can’t tell you,” he said.
“Well then, I’m not helping you.”
“Maybe I don’t need your help,” he said, his voice suddenly almost tired, as if he’d been working for ages toward a certain end.
“You’ve been after her for a long time.”
“Since she left, yes,” he said. “She’s delusional, in case you didn’t notice. She’s also a great harm to those around her.”
Hunter wasn’t so sure about that being true, but he saw it as a tactic someone would use. “I haven’t noticed that she’s dangerous.”
“Of course not. It’s not like she just turns around and kills you. It’s not that kind of a danger. But she will kill you, and she won’t even know she’s done it.”
He froze at that. “Did you kill Sugar Mama?”
At that, he snorted. “I had to,” he said. “But if she hadn’t escaped I wouldn’t have had to so it’s her fault.”
“BS,” he said. “She’s met lots of people in the intervening years, you didn’t kill all of them?.”
“No, but anyone she got close to yes,” he said, his tone sad. “You have no idea what she can do, or why she’s doing it and no one else can either. It’s too dangerous.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” he said, “I do, and I’ll help her.”
“You shot her,” Hunter cried out in outrage. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
“No, you’re not a fool,” he said quietly, “but you are disillusioned, and you have no idea what you’re seeing.”
Hunter shook his head at that. “Nice try,” he said. “And that’s why we’ll have a problem.”
The gunman said, “You have to listen to me.”
“No, I really don’t. Nothing you’ve said has made any sense yet. Make some sense, and, fine, I’ll listen. But otherwise, no way.”
“Nothing I can say will make sense of any of this,” he said grimly. “It would be nice if people would finally, for once in their lifetime, listen and do what they’re told, but they don’t. And just like the rest of them,” he said, “you’ll die trying.”
Hunter wasn’t even sure what the hell was going on, but no way Beth had killed Sugar Mama, and he could only presume that this guy didn’t know that Hunter had been at the hospital and had felt this gunman’s presence there, confirmed by the same energy Hunter tracked right now. “You haven’t told me why you want her.”
“To help her,” he said in exasperation, “and it’s getting damn hard to do.”
“Of course it is. You kill the people around her, and you hunt her down like an animal. That makes it hard for anybody to believe you.”
The gunman shook his head almost frantically. “You don’t understand,” he said. “She has to be dealt with. She’s dangerous.”
“Dealt with? That’s an interesting term.” And not one Hunter liked the sound of at all. “I don’t want anything to do with that,” he said.
“No, of course not. That’s where we end up with problems, each and every time.”
“I still need answers,” Hunter said.
“Well, you won’t get them from her because she can’t give them to you,” he said.
“I know what happened to the compound.”
“It blew up,” he said, then stopped. “You know about that, huh?”
“Yes, she took me there.” He had his target in sight, and his form became clearer and clearer. The shock on the other man’s face was something else, and then it lit up with joy. Hunter was left reeling with the conflicting emotions roiling off the man’s face.
“She took you there? Oh, that’s wonderful.”
“How in the hell is that wonderful?” Hunter asked.
The stranger laughed. “Like I said, you don’t understand anything. But that’s a true sign of progress.”
Hunter looked around. “And, of course, she’s gone again.”
“Yes, but she won’t leave you for long,” the stranger said. “I just have to stay close to you, and she’ll come back.”
“She won’t come back if you’re here,” Hunter said. “She knows you’re after her. You shot her. Remember?”
“Yes, but I had to.”
Something inside Hunter wanted to squeeze this man’s neck until it snapped. “You had to?” he asked, his voice deadly.
The stranger raised a hand and said, “Don’t get all defensive. You have no clue. I’ve told you that you don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Then help me to understand and stop talking in riddles,” he barked.
“I wish I could,” he said, “but you won’t take it kindly anyway.”
“You never know,” he said. “You could try me.”
At that, the guy laughed. “You’re just looking for an opportunity to kill me, and I can’t have you do that. She has to be stopped.”
“One minute you say you want her safe, then that she needs help, and now you say she has to be stopped. How is anybody supposed to believe you?”
He snorted. “It’s the same thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
; “She has to be stopped before she kills anyone else,” he said. “Haven’t you figured out that she’s leaving a swath of dead bodies everywhere?”
“No,” Hunter said, as the information didn’t compute.
He groaned. “You don’t understand, and that’s why you have to let me help her,” he said impatiently. “You’d think that psychics would be smarter, but somehow they’ve just got these big blind spots that make them stupid.”
Hunter’s back stiffened. “I don’t even recall the last person who called me something like that and lived.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re a big strong man,” he said with a sneer, shaking his head.
“You still haven’t said how you will help her.”
“I didn’t tell you,” he said, “because that’s none of your business. But I will.”
“You will what?”
“I will help her,” he said, with exaggerated patience. “I just need you to help me get her.”
“No,” he said, “she suffered enough at your hands.”
“Yes, she did,” he said. “I didn’t understand, and that’s my mistake. I’ll rectify it.”
“You’ll tell me a whole lot more before I give you any help,” he declared.
“Maybe I don’t need any help from you.”
“Why so?”
“I suspect she’ll be back here in no time.”
Hunter said, “She’s smart enough to stay away.”
“That depends. Have you gotten into her pants yet or not?” asked the other man crudely. “Most men try to bind women to them sexually, and she’s a complete innocent when it comes to that.” The other man stepped forward, frowning, and asked, “Did you get her into bed?”
“That’s none of your business,” Hunter said harshly.
“Ah no, you didn’t then. Okay, that’s good. I didn’t think it would happen that easily.”
“She has been gone for a lot of years.”
“Mostly because I’ve been hunting her for all those years,” he said in exasperation. “If she had come in from the cold a long time ago, it would have been a hell of a lot easier. The fact that she took you to the compound though, that’s encouraging.”