Target

by Connie Suttle

  Ashe figured his father could see everything outside that window quite clearly, although it was completely dark outside. "We have to trust one another, Ashe. You need to trust that I'm doing the best I can for you. To keep you safe and keep the family safe. I let my anger get away from me, and that's not good. The only excuse I have is that it frightens me when somebody hauls you off to who knows where, and you risk your life to save someone else. I wasn't awake to be consulted on the matter and you have no idea how frustrating that is to me."

  "I know it frustrates you, Dad. I've been watching you for nearly sixteen years," Ashe mumbled. He had. His father didn't show emotion much of the time, so when he did, Ashe paid very close attention.

  "I know. I like to think you get those observational skills from me," Aedan smiled wryly. "And as a vampire, I didn't think I'd ever get a child. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I can't truly describe how I felt the moment they placed a tiny baby boy in my arms almost sixteen years ago. Overwhelmed is the best word I can come up with. I thought I might break you, you were so small. Barely eight pounds, I think, and when vampires can bend steel with their bare hands, you can imagine how frightened I was, holding something that fragile."

  "Dad, I don't like fighting with you."

  "I don't like fighting with you or your mother. It hurts too much. Right now, your mother is barely speaking to me."

  "Everything is my fault, Dad. The move, the whole compulsion thing that you and Nathan have to do to keep me hidden—all of it. It's because of me."

  "Wynn would be dead if it weren't for you. We'd never have caught James' killer if it weren't for you. Paul Harris would have watched Randy Smith die by Pack Law and taken pleasure in it. He had that poor human girl murdered because Marco was showing interest in her. He never showed it, but he was racist in the extreme."

  "He tried to kill you," Ashe sighed, uncrossing his arms and flexing his fingers.

  "And Nathan and Radomir."

  "Yeah. And now, nobody can know what I am and I have to hide."

  "We have to keep you safe. I know these things don't sit well with you, but we made a commitment when we said we wanted children. If that means keeping you hidden, then that's our job."

  "That sounds like jail to me." Ashe picked at a worn spot on the left knee of his jeans.

  "Do a good job for Mr. Winkler, Son," Aedan didn't respond to Ashe's statement. Instead, he rose and stretched. "It could lead to something better someday." Aedan walked out of Ashe's bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  * * *

  Saturday might have been one of the worst days Ashe had ever been forced to endure. Marco took Cori (who'd just come from college in Oklahoma), Sali, Wynn, Dori and a pack of others to the beach in Port Aransas. Ashe wanted to go so badly he could taste it, and he'd be flying to Dallas on Monday night. He hadn't gotten to stick a toe into gulf water yet, and he was likely going to spend the summer away from his new home.

  "Honey, I'll take you shopping in Corpus tomorrow. You can buy new clothes for your birthday and we'll go to the bookstore afterward," Adele stuck her head out the patio door. Ashe was sitting in a lawn chair on the back deck, staring at the tall, wooden fence that blocked the nearest housing addition from view.

  "Okay," Ashe's voice failed to conceal how depressed he was.

  "It's over tomorrow. We'll go out and have a good time."

  "Yeah." Ashe sounded listless, even to his own ears. Had he hoped to get a car for his birthday? He knew he wouldn't get one now. His dad wouldn't allow that. Ashe couldn't drive around like the others. He'd come to the conclusion that nobody would let him out on his own. He was going to be secluded and guarded for the rest of his life. The talk the night before had cleared the air somewhat, but Aedan hadn't given Ashe much hope that he'd be allowed freedom like Sali and the others.

  "Ashe, I can't say that I know exactly how you feel," his mother came to sit in the chair beside him. "Because I never had to worry about most of those things. Right now, we just want to see you reach adulthood alive and in one piece. You'll have to humor us a little, honey."

  "Mom, I can't live in a vacuum the rest of my life. You might as well shoot me now," Ashe muttered.

  "I hope things are better for you when you get to Dallas. Your father is worried."

  "I am, too. Does that mean I can't have any fun? Ever?"

  "We could still have a party tomorrow night."

  "I don't want one. I just want to go to the beach with the others. Or to the movies or out to dinner without a parent. It's not that I don't love you," Ashe was quick to say. "But it's different."

  "I know." Adele stared at her lap. "I don’t know what to do, Ashe. I truly don't." Adele rose and went inside the house.

  * * *

  "He's miserable." Adele said. Aedan had just climbed out of the storm shelter inside the garage. "He wanted to go to the beach or to the movies with the others and he's cooped up in the house. I know you grounded him, Aedan, but if you decide to do that three days before his birthday ever again without consulting me, you and I will have a little chat afterward." Adele stalked away from her husband.

  * * *

  Of course, it was raining on his birthday. Of course. Ashe watched as the world outside his bedroom window drowned in a pouring rain. "Gloomy. Dreadful. Dismal. Melancholic. Ominous." Ashe muttered a litany of words that fit the day and his life. Still grumbling, he stepped inside the shower. Dressing afterward, he muttered more words. "Miserable. Disconsolate. Depressed." Ashe combed back his brown, slightly curly hair.

  "Happy Birthday, honey." Adele dropped an envelope beside Ashe as he sat at the kitchen island, crunching away on cereal squares.

  "Thanks," Ashe sighed, hoping his mother wouldn't think him ungrateful.

  "Aren't you going to open it?" His mother went to find something for breakfast. Ashe slipped the card from the envelope. The card was very nice, signed by his mother and father. The gift card that slipped out was nice, too—a hefty amount from a major electronics store.

  "We thought you might like a laptop, since you're going to Dallas for the summer," Adele smiled. Ashe stared at the gift card. It would buy a laptop, a carrying case and perhaps a few extras, too.

  "Mom—uh, thanks," Ashe was almost speechless. A car would have made him truly speechless, but this was pretty good.

  "And take a look at this," Adele turned on the small television in the kitchen, tuning it to one of the continuous news programs. "It'll be on in a few minutes; they recycle the stories every half hour or so," she pulled the pancake mix out of the pantry and began to put ingredients together for breakfast. Ashe watched the news, most of which he'd heard already, until it came to what he considered the article.

  "Congressman Jack Howard was rescued today after a hunting accident in Colorado," the news anchor said while an inset video showed the congressman being helped off a helicopter by two rescue workers. "One of the two bodyguards hunting with him at the time was accidentally killed in the same incident. The three men were caught in a rockslide while tracking elk," the newscaster went on. "Many questions have been raised over the congressman's hunting elk out of season." The article ended there.

  "Hmmph," Ashe muttered. "Congressman Jack Howard shot his own man."

  "He did?" Adele turned to Ashe, a shocked look on her face.

  "After I dumped him in the dirt when he was about to shoot Wynn," Ashe nodded. "He jumped up and just started shooting at everything. I saw another man fall off his horse. I figure that's the one who got killed."

  "Ashe, you knocked the Congressman off his horse?" Adele was aghast.

  "He was about to shoot Wynn. What did you want me to do?"

  "Did he see you?"

  "He didn't see a thing. Neither did the other guy. He was the one who grazed Wynn. You know—the game preserve owner?"

  "Marcus says the Grand Master took care of that one himself," Adele sat down again, pancakes forgotten.

  "I'll make breakfast for you, you look pale," A
she got up and started making pancakes.

  Chapter 6

  "I like this one," Ashe pointed to a laptop at the electronics store. They'd gone there first. The sales clerk was telling Ashe what it would do, but Ashe already knew that. He picked out a case for it next, plus a few extras. The mall was next, for clothing.

  "I like these," Ashe turned in front of the mirror, looking at the black jeans he'd tried on.

  "Those look good," Adele agreed. "How about three pairs of those, and four of the denim?"

  "Sounds good," Ashe said. A few shirts went into the pile of clothing on the clerk's desk, with packages of socks and underwear.

  "You're growing out of everything," Adele said, smiling up at her son. Ashe slipped two pairs of cargo pants into the pile. His mother shrugged and allowed it.

  "Where would you like to get lunch?" She asked after loading bags into the car.

  "Seafood?" Ashe asked. This was a coastal town, after all. Seafood should be everywhere.

  "Let's go to Port A," Adele suggested. That's what the locals called Port Aransas. The small town was mostly a fishing village, but tourists came for the beaches and condos that lined the highway throughout the barrier island. It was also where Adele wanted to put her bookstore.

  Victoria's Restaurant was the one Ashe picked—it was right on the water and boats passed by on their way to the gulf. Ashe had grouper for lunch while his mother had locally caught shrimp.

  "This is really good," Adele bit into a butterfly shrimp.

  "Mine, too," Ashe said. They'd served his grouper with a brown butter sauce that he liked very much. They drove through town afterward, looking for space that might be suitable for a bookstore. They found two spots, one next to a souvenir shop, the other beside a restaurant.

  "I think I like the one by the restaurant better," Adele said, writing down the realtor's phone number.

  "Yeah. Tourists who come to the other location will be inside the souvenir shop instead," Ashe agreed.

  "I was thinking the same thing," Adele said. "Let's go take a peek at the water." The beach was two blocks away and driving was allowed on the sandy expanse. They passed all sorts of vehicles as they made their way down the public beach in Port Aransas.

  "Look, Mom, that's incredible." The sun had peeked from behind the rain clouds earlier, and now tourists were putting up umbrellas and laying their beach towels on the sand. Ashe saw people his age running into the water with Boogie Boards while younger children played in the sand or waded in shallow water. Tiny birds raced this way and that on stick-like legs, calling out in piping voices while searching for food.

  "I hear they have a marine biology program at the college in Corpus Christi," Adele said, watching the birds.

  "That sounds interesting."

  "I agree. If I hadn't gotten my degree in business, I might have gone into that or veterinary science," his mother sighed.

  "Either would be a good choice," Ashe agreed, craning his neck to watch three people flying kites in the sea breeze, the long, multicolored tails floating in the wind.

  "Let's go back on the ferry," Adele grinned. It would be a longer journey backtracking through Corpus Christi.

  "Yeah. I've never been on a ferry before," Ashe grinned back. That's how they ended up parking the car on the ferryboat, which held twenty vehicles. Adele shut off the engine and she and Ashe climbed out and stood at the rail while the ferry swished through the water to the other side. Seagulls called out and brown pelicans flew past as the salt-scented wind blew Ashe's hair askew. "Look—dolphins," Ashe's voice was reverent when he saw dolphins swimming beside the ferry. "Mom, this is so cool."

  "I think so, too," Adele laughed.

  "Dude," Sali was standing in the driveway, his hands stuffed in the pockets of cutoff shorts when Adele pulled in.

  "Dude," Ashe nodded at his best friend.

  "Is there cake later?" Sali asked.

  "Around seven," Adele said. She'd stopped to allow the garage door to pull up.

  "So, what's up?" Ashe hauled bags from the trunk, hiding his surprise at Adele's words—he hadn't expected anyone to be invited for a birthday celebration after he'd said no. Sali grabbed a share of the parcels and followed Ashe inside the house.

  "Wynn and me," Sali began, reddening at the admission.

  "Yeah, I saw," Ashe grumped. That wasn't the best thing to say to Ashe after being quarantined for three days.

  "Dude, you don't like Wynn?" Sali settled bags of clothing onto the kitchen island.

  "I like Wynn just fine," Ashe said, carefully laying the bag that held his laptop box on the granite-topped island. "Sali, I hope you're happy." Ashe's voice held a bit of pain.

  "Marco said he'd take us to the beach tonight to look for crabs," Sali said, oblivious to Ashe's discomfort. Ashe blinked at Sali. Would he refuse an outing because he didn't want to see Wynn with Sali?

  "Sounds like fun," Ashe said instead.

  "Good. We'll go after cake," Sali grinned.

  "And ice cream," Adele added, smiling at Sali. "Salidar, tell your parents and Marco that they're welcome, too. Bring Wynn and Dori if they want to come. And their parents."

  "Dude, is this what you got?" Sali was impressed with the laptop when Ashe pulled it from the box.

  "Yeah. Let's go to my bedroom and hook it up," Ashe grinned.

  "Take these bags of clothing with you; we need to wash some of it before you leave tomorrow night," Adele stopped both boys from racing up the stairs.

  "You're leaving tomorrow night? Where are you going?" Sali grabbed a handful of bags.

  "Didn't Marco tell you?" Ashe gaped at Sali.

  "No. What was he supposed to tell me?"

  "We wanted to make the announcement tonight over cake and ice cream," Adele said. "So you'll just have to wait until then," she gave Ashe a meaningful look.

  "Okay," Ashe couldn't hide his disappointment. "Come on, let's hook up the computer and see if it works." He and Sali clumped up the stairs.

  "Dude, I can see the gulf from my bedroom," Sali said, looking out Ashe's window. Ashe could only see the back yard from his. "You need to come see the house."

  "I saw it, remember?"

  "Did you?" Sali gave Ashe a quizzical look.

  "Yeah. Remember, I called you, when Mom and I got here first? You asked me to go check out your house. I told you about that bedroom, dude."

  "Must have forgot," Sali said, shrugging. "Anyway, Marco got the bedroom that looks down on the back yard. He says he doesn't care, since he won't be home much."

  "He's a member of the Dallas Pack, Sali. That's his home now."

  "Yeah. I know."

  "He's still your brother. That won't change."

  "But I like him loads better now. He takes us places and we actually have fun together."

  Ashe didn't want to remind Sali of the rivalry between Sali and Marco when he was younger. Sali had been in constant competition with his older brother, it seemed.

  "I'm going to take the driver's test tomorrow morning," Ashe said.

  "I want to come."

  "They won't let you in the car while I take the test."

  "I don't care. I'll wait with your mom."

  "If she doesn't care," Ashe said. "And as long as you don't make fun of me if I flunk it."

  "Me?" Sali pretended to be hurt, a finger pointing at his own chest.

  "Don't give me false commiseration," Ashe teased.

  "You're not even going to give me credit for knowing what that five-syllable word means, are you?" Sali took the computer cord from Ashe and plugged it into an outlet.

  "Sali, I learned long ago that you're smarter than people think. And that pretty much includes all of Earth's population."

  "What, you're not venturing past our own solar system?"

  "Well, maybe the Wookiees don't think you're smart, but they haven't met you yet."

  "Wookiees are shapeshifters," Sali reopened an old argument.

  "Nope. Chewie wouldn't go around bumping his
head on stuff if he was. He'd just go back to humanoid or whatever and forego the bruises."

  "Says the guy who turns into a bat. A teeny, tiny bat."

  "Do not dis the bat," Ashe said, booting up the computer.

  "Come on, you weigh less than a dime, man."

  "And I can make you whine with pain when I send out echolocation signals," Ashe reminded his friend.

  "If you're close enough," Sali pointed out.

  "Ashe?" Cori's voice floated up the stairs.

  "In here, Cori," Ashe called out. Cori walked in, went straight to Ashe and gave him a huge hug.

  "He's out of the slammer now," Sali sang off-key.

  "I don't consider house arrest the slammer," Ashe grumped when Cori let him go.

  "Got one of those ankle bracelets?" Sali asked.

  "Monitors," Ashe corrected. "Dad thought about it."

  "What did you do, dude?"

  "Talked back," Ashe admitted unwillingly.

  "Gets you every time," Sali nodded sagely.

  "Is this the birthday present?" Cori looked Ashe's new laptop over.

  "Yeah."

  "Nice."

  "Sali?" Wynn's voice, this time. Ashe breathed a sigh. Sali poked his head out of Ashe's bedroom door.

  "In here," he said. Wynn walked in, followed closely by Dori.

  "How's your shoulder?" Ashe asked.

  "Fine. How did you know about that?" Wynn's hand went to her right shoulder.

  "Word gets around," Ashe muttered.

  "Ashe, show me the house," Cori grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the bedroom.

  "She doesn't remember anything," Cori hissed. They stood inside the hall bathroom.

  "I'm surprised you remember," Ashe muttered.

  "Dad," Cori said.

  "Oh." Ashe hadn't thought about that. Nathan would certainly know what happened to Wynn. His memories hadn't been removed like everyone else's.

  "Dori doesn't know, either, so don't let it slip, okay? Dad wouldn't tell her because she and Wynn are so close."