by Krys Janae
Her heavy footsteps wandered over to her kitchen counter where she leaned and observed that Charlie had made himself at home, looking like a cooking show exploded all over her home. Danika’s mouth fell agape as she stared in disbelief, and she carefully examined the organized chaos of his meal preparation stations on the island divider across from the stove. There was a pop in the sizzle of whatever he was cooking in the pan.
“Whiskey in the morning?” he asked, without turning.
“You’re not in the position to judge me.” Danika was immediately on the defense when he asked her, as if he had seen her down the last of what was in her nightstand stash.
Nothing wrong with a little hair of the dog.
“What the hell’s this? And where did you sleep?”
He had the eggs, bread and some fruits out, piles of sliced items separated on the cutting board. “Don’t worry, I was a gentleman.” He smiled. “You went to change and never came back. When I heard the snoring, I figured you must have passed out on your bed, so I just crashed on the couch. Promise.”
“Sure…”
I don’t snore. Do I? Shit.
She glared, quite skeptical as she glanced over the living room. There was a pillow at the end of the couch and with her mother’s quilt neatly folded beside it. So maybe he’s a man of his word…Danika gasped as she did a double take. The broken couch, the holes in the walls, the shattered vases and picture frames were all in one piece, repaired and replaced. Even the paintings that were torn in the frames she’d had custom made, were nailed back onto the wall, in the exact spot they’d been placed before.
“How the h—what—when did you even—” Her dark locks trickled down her back as she twirled to face him.
“You said I owed you a new living room, so there you have it.” Charlie simpered as he portioned out the food onto two separate plates. It was a picture-perfect plating of a traditional English breakfast, a dish she hadn’t had since she was a kid.
“What time is it?” Danika asked. She could have looked at the clock herself, but she found it difficult to turn away from the seemingly untouched living room.
Charlie looked at the clock on the microwave above the stove. “Nearly half eleven.”
“Damn.”
“Late for work?”
Danika wasn’t, since she worked most evenings, but she’d made plans to run some errands and make calls to fix her apartment—but that wasn’t necessary now, by the looks of it. Charlie had taken care of it for her. Danika almost forgot that she was in the presence of a big shot lawyer from Beckman, Bennigans or whatever. “Aren’t you late for work? Or do you take after the bloodsucking counterpart and sleep during the day?”
It was a less than playful jab at his occupation, but Charlie took the insult in stride. “I took a sick day.”
“Right.”
He shrugged, as he returned the saucepan to the sink and set it down. “Well, I figured showing up to work looking like I’d had a bad shaving accident all over my face and body would make a terrible cover story.”
Danika nodded, but her back was still turned to Charlie as she continued to gawk at the sitting area.
“Something the matter?”
She started to shake her head and even breathed in to speak, but the more stared at it, she didn’t think last night even happened at all. Was it just a dream? “It’s just that—some of that stuff was unique…priceless. How much did this even cost?”
“Don’t worry. This was all my fault anyway. But I have a guy.”
“You have a guy?” Her suspicions about Charlie were growing rapidly. “Yeeeahh, I didn’t just stumble into some mafia I’m gonna owe you a favor business, right? I didn’t sign up for that.”
“You said I owed you, and you were right. If I hadn’t been foolish and broken into your home, this wouldn’t have happened.” Charlie pulled out a chair for her and gestured for her to hop on. “Please. Sit.”
Danika was still uneasy about all this treatment, but she took a seat. At a closer glance, the meal was near-perfect; she wanted to be one of those obnoxious food bloggers and capture the moment, but her phone was too far away. However, the moment was spoiled when she realized he could very well poison her, even though she saw that the ingredients were all fresh. When she emerged from her room, she hadn’t spotted any household cleaners, boxes of rat poison, or unusual, ominous vials on the counter tops so that was comforting. Still, Danika was going to let him take the first bite. She focused on the scoops of food he brought up to his mouth and waited until he swallowed them down.
He offered her a smile in between his first couple of bites. “What?” He asked, as he dragged a fresh napkin over his lips.
“Explain.” She pounded her fist on the glass table, careful not to hit too hard. Danika had a habit of using the Gale force behind her strikes, and even minor hits like these tended to break things.
Charlie shoveled a bit more of his food into his mouth and swallowed it down before responding. He seemed rather determined to not talk with his mouth full. “Explain what?”
She started to count on her fingers. “Uhh—let’s see. You break into my house—”
“I already apologized for that—”
Second finger up. “And now you’re cooking me breakfast after we had a rumble here.”
“Figured it was more of an olive branch—”
Then thirdly: “And you already took care of cleanup because you have a guy for that?”
“…Yes?” He responded before chomping on another piece of food.
Why are you being an ungrateful shit to him right now?
“Look. There won’t be any kneecapping, or favors—unless you’re into that, it can be arranged.” He grinned, much to Danika’s disapproval. His grin further evolved into a snicker. “I pay my debts and I fixed what was owed. That was mostly my fault, anyway.”
“Mostly?” She scoffed.
Charlie narrowed his eyes. “Easy. You got your living room back, right?”
She compulsively looked at the room in question, examining its immaculate status once more. The set-up was damn near perfect, almost like a show room display. Everything was in the right spot, turned the way she had it, all the way down to the tilted painting that she’d never gotten to sit right since she first brought it home. “So…what, do you like…rewind time or something?”
“Photographic memory.”
“Ability?”
“Nah. Just a skill.” He set his napkin in his lap and picked up his fork again. “I’ve been this way since I was a kid, and it comes in handy for the job.”
“Interesting.”
“Indeed.” As polite as a gentleman could be, he chewed on his food quietly.
“So, why not be an investigator? I’m sure they’d appreciate your skills there instead of at the law offices of Douche and Baggery…and associates.”
Charlie outright laughed, which was unusual since most people she met for the first time found her bedside manner to be too forward for their tastes. He set his fork down when he was done eating. “It’s a family thing. Father was one, and his before that, and his before that, or some rubbish.”
She nodded. If he inherited that job, it would explain how he was able afford his expensive-looking attire, and get the repairs done in a short period of time. Yet, she pressed. “You’d rather do a job because it runs in the family instead of something you might enjoy?”
“The Alliance, isn’t that a family thing?”
Her eyes flickered, with at about twenty percent annoyance, eighty percent amusement. So he was paying attention.
“I don’t work there. I just help out from time to time.”
Charlie nodded, though he still seemed unconvinced. “I see.” He took a sip of his drink before he continued: “Well, I enjoy it…now, that is. The schooling however? That was another story.”
She shrugged and carefully sliced her toast to examine it for any foreign particles. Her paranoia was showing. “You survived.” Danik
a decided to start in on her meal, and as soon as the food touched her tongue, she got goosebumps. Holy shit this is delicious… She thought. Perhaps she should just hire him on as her personal chef. She could go for this sort of treatment every day, sans brawl.
“I did,” he affirmed.
Though she was pleased with the work he’d done, not only on the repair but with the breakfast too, Danika pointed at the spot where her orchids usually sat, on the end of the counter. “The orchids—”
“Are on order from the shop down the street.”
She couldn’t help the unconvinced scowl as she stared across the table at the Englishman, who met her eyes with a cheeky grin.
“You needed fresh ones anyway, those were in bad shape.” Charlie leaned forward, “You do know that orchids are delicate, in need of specific care, right?”
“Yeah, I do—” She blushed. Danika couldn’t tell if he was trying to be a pain in the ass, but his look said it all. He’d caught her, as if she were some terrible parent who’d neglected her poor plant child for some time. “Charlie, why are you even doing this? You gave me the ‘how’, but now I’m asking ‘why’. I almost smashed your skull in last night.”
“Keyword? Almost.” He smiled. “By the way, can you take me back?”
She sighed. “You came all the way here only to want to go back?”
“So, sue me.” Charlie shrugged, his palms up and out as he did. “They wanted me to stay put and I had to get out, show them they needed to up their security to keep me contained. And I needed to meet you.”
She pursed her lips. “Needed to?”
“Sounds like you’re pretty popular there, Danika. Plus, I wanted to say thanks.”
“That’s so rich, my teeth are hurting at just how sugary sweet and bullshitty that sounds.” She snickered, before continuing to stuff her face with her tasty meal. “Charles, you don’t know a thing about me. You were practically dead when I dropped you at the Ward and you picked that up while you were there?”
“Again, it’s just Charlie. And well, I learned enough. Observation skills, remember?” He sipped at his juice. There was another grin somewhere behind that glass, she was sure of it.
He is peculiar, Danika thought. “Fair enough.”
It was a B&E, a blind date and a one-night stand all rolled into one, just without the sex and he’d forgotten that he was supposed to disappear after. Instead of leaving and never calling again, he’d fixed the damages in her living room, replaced some broken items and even made her breakfast. Was he the date from hell, or was he just a nice guy? Other than the crime (she wasn’t pressing charges), this lawyer was charming, resourceful, and sweet. In Danika’s book, however, that also meant shady.
With a sigh, Danika nodded. “Alright.” Finding the entrance would require someone who could get in touch with Frost, and as an escapee, that was close to impossible. Charlie would wander the streets for days before he got close to finding their latest doorway. “If Morgan wanted me to bring you there, then he’s got a reason.”
“So, you’ll do it?” His eyes lit up.
“Yes.”
No going back on that now…
“But I’m not staying, and if Morgan tricks me into any other job while I’m there, you better run for the hills, Charlie-boy.”
If she stuck around longer than a few minutes, Morgan always found something for her to work on…and she almost always accepted, being the good niece that she was. He’d get an earful of her thoughts as payment for said deeds, so they broke even.
“What’s so bad about that place anyway?” Asked the guy who broke out to track her down.
Danika’s eyes narrowed as she folded her arms. “You know, for a non-investigator, you ask a lot of questions.”
“Uh, lawyers do that too, you know,” he retorted.
Smart ass.
“You—” She squeezed the glass and it broke, startling him some. He knew all of the right buttons to press with her, which would normally pique her interest, but it frustrated her more than anything. Danika examined her hand, to make sure none of the shards from the empty juice glass cut her palm. “Don’t worry. I have a guy for that.”
He smirked.
*
“He made you breakfast?” Frost was typing away at his station, not pulling his eyes from the screen. His surprise raised his voice to a volume that echoed over the concrete and steel walls of the command post, but they were alone.
Jeremy Frost was Danika’s loudmouth, opinionated, (self-proclaimed) sidekick of sorts. He was a huge asset to the base. He was one of Morgan’s top tactical assistants which meant she rarely saw him since he was always holed up here with some mission or task. As his name implied, his manipulation of temperature, mostly to the sub-zero levels, made things even better in the field, as he tended to make it look like a glorious winter wonderland, even if it was a gruesome bloodbath. That was a sight Danika couldn’t get out of her head. His bright blue eyes were a stark contrast against his deep, caramel skin tone, and his dark hair was always teased to perfection, unless he chose to tame it beneath a black bandana.
Danika leaned against the terminal with her back to it, her arms crossed. She wanted to pull out her lighter and fresh pack of smokes she’d picked up on the way in but did a hard pass on getting shit from Morgan if she got caught smoking in the hub again. “He escaped from here, without anyone noticing apparently. Followed me home, and we had it out in my living room.”
Frost snorted like a giddy high-school girl just loving the gossip. “Woo, girl! That sounds hot.”
Danika reached out and smacked Frost on the shoulder, his icy body temperature permeating from beneath his shirt. She rubbed her hands together to warm them as she pulled back. “Not like that! Gutter. Mind. Out.”
“Mm-hmm.” He pursed his lips. There was a ton of judgment there, as always.
“A-ny-way…” Danika emphasized each syllable as she urged him to move on. She kicked the leg of his chair in the process, but only enough to shake him. She could have kicked it out from under him like she had done in the past, but Morgan complained that the budget couldn’t handle the chair replacements as often as she destroyed them.
Frost cackled.
“I’m serious, I was half-naked, we fought, and I finally pinned him against the wall. We even broke furniture, frames, vases…”
“Read my lips, girl. Hot.” He pointed to his mouth, before starting to fan himself.
She rolled her eyes. “Fan all you want, pervert. We didn’t screw.”
“Doesn’t sound like that to me,” Frost teased. “But hey, whatever floats your boat, baby.”
Danika shook her head with a frustrated sigh, but she couldn’t get mad at Frost for wanting the juicy details, even if it was false. He always said he was just looking out for her best interests. Allegedly. “Did Morgan say anything about him?”
“Of course, he did, he rambled nonstop after you called to tell us he got loose. I was already out when you brought him in last night, but seeing him here in person? Mm!” He seemed rather impressed with what he’d seen. “I’m serious. Take a bite out of that English muffin, honey.”
“Frost.” Her head hung low as she sighed, as she pinched the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes.
“Okay, okay. Real talk? He’s been talking about how Charlie will be of use to the team.” His blue eyes looked hopeful, as he waggled his eyebrows.
“Team? Is he really assembling a force again?” Danika tried to push beyond the topic of Charlie's looks. “I thought after Monroe he’d given up all of that, focusing on training the youngin’s.”
“If you stuck around longer than five minutes, maybe you would have known that he’s already on it. It’s not just me and him running the show. We all know Monroe was a loss, but he’s had ample time to rebuild. He’s been bringing more of us together. Some were already living here from rescues or housed here at request. We needed help, and they all came forward to assist. So, we managed to get a new squa
d running. Yeah, most of them need more time before they’re ready to go—”
“That I know.”
Frost crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat, rocking back and forth as he turned it side to side. He looked like a big little kid in that office chair. “We’ve got some strong members now. You should really meet the core, at least. Plenty of good people with useful skills that I think you’d be interested to see.”
There it was…Morgan didn’t even have to play the family card, he made Frost do the dirty work.
“Yeah, we’re a real-life super-team, aren’t we?” Danika said, dryly. There were a few recruits in the past that made the cut to get into the Alliance but didn’t prove their worth in the long run, so she was a little skeptical of the operation. She’d have to see it to believe it. “Did you pull up anything on that cat creature?”
“Why yes, Susie Doom and Gloom.” He pouted his lips, swiveling his neck as he did.
She laughed. “I love it. Maybe I’ll use that for my new super-team name.”
Frost glowered.
“What? I wasn’t born with a naturally fitting name to my power.”
He just shook his head. “Regarding the cat, Koa pulled some stuff up earlier.”
“Koa?” Danika asked.
“Yeah, the Islander guy with all the tattoos? His name is Kekoa Kealani.”
“Say that five times fast…”
“He’s a real quiet guy.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“We’ve been working with him for almost a year. He was a rescue from a minor op. He’s been searching for his sister for some time, since they lost touch after the Turning. He came to us for help. He’s stepped up a lot and Aldo took him in to help in the Ward. Erik likes him because he gives him a challenge on the mats and Olivia is pleased with him too.”
“Olivia…” She pushed out her lips and looked up to the ceiling, trying to dig in her memory bank for a face to match the name. The tattooed guy she remembered, he was the one who caught her when she came through the door with Charlie. He had very distinct features, so it made him hard to miss.