Seeker (Shadows)

by Jolene Perry

  Mom and Dad killed those people. Or The Middle Men did. Why did they bother to leave any of them alive? And Mom just stood there when I was burned—like she knew it was going to happen. Held Dad back. And part of me knows she knew exactly what was coming. And as I replay the scene in my head, I know they kept two people alive just to see that. To see me get burned. To show that the shadows are bad. I know this because I know how The Middle Men work and how my parents work.

  I glance at Addison and whisper, “Anything you want. I’ll help.”

  Her plan is simple, and I’ve asked Samson to take Addison to her father. My guess is that it’ll be incredibly simple to get him out now that I know he’s still alive, and her being the only person here with a talent.

  All I can think is how I need some questions answered and that Addison can deal on her own.

  Mom frowns as I come into the office, but she’s on the phone.

  “What’s going on?” I whisper to dad, tingles of hatred and unease crawling up my spine as he takes me in.

  “It’s okay that you failed, Kara.”

  I clench my jaw because I’m not sure that I feel like a failure anymore. “I remember what happened when I was ten. You didn’t stop the shadow from burning me. You shot people. And now I think you’ve always known the shadows aren’t something to be afraid of.”

  “Of course they are.” But Dad’s voice isn’t as convincing as I want it to be.

  “All of the shadows?” I ask, still breathing hard. Still tired.

  “Kara. We’re trying to save lives now. We have almost ten people in The Middle East, who I’m sure will not be looked upon favorably when they can no longer provide the services they’re getting paid for.”

  “They’re services we’re all getting paid for.” The organization is paid. It’s Mom and Dad who decide salaries. “You sent me on a mission that was no mission at all. I should have known what was actually going on. Would I have just been another casualty if they’d fired on all of us?”

  Dad and I stare at one another for a moment and then Mom slams down her phone. “I’ve got Lee and Gypse a flight out of China. How are we doing with flights out of Saudi?”

  “Did you hear me!” I shriek.

  Mom pauses and looks me over. “Are you with them or us, Kara? I’d like to know now so I know what to do with you. We need help saving lives before they all realize you failed and wish to take yours. Would you like to aid in that or sulk in your room at the measures we were willing to take to keep this organization intact, when you chose not to do everything in your power for the same cause?”

  I want to scream and claw at her, but I don’t. I have friends out there, too. And I want them here. Safe. I’ve been betrayed by my parents, by the organization I’ve always wanted to have a part in and by the group of people who could have been my friends if they’d joined up instead of running and setting the shadows free.

  But was that the wrong decision?

  I stare at Mom and Dad and hate them—it bites into me, and kills me in a way that what happened between Ocean and I never could. I hate admitting it, but he did do the right thing. He hated that it hurt me. And here I get unapologetic bitterness.

  But my friends. People I watched train…

  “I’ll help.” I leave their office and take one of the desks in the open room at the end of the hallway.

  The nothingness of my life hits me again, and I have to choke back a sob before dialing Korean Air to get Salice and John out of South Korea, and then hope they can make it down from the north, where they are, but aren’t supposed to be.

  Aside from Samson, I’m pretty sure I have no one left, so I will help who I can, while I’m allowed to be here.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Addison

  It’s not like I expected Kara to walk me through this, but I’ve never been to this place before and she’s inside the house instead of with me and her friend.

  “Samson, right?” I ask with what I hope is a shy, sweet smile.

  “Yep.”

  “I’d like to see my dad.” I swallow hard, so thankful that the direction I left with Uncle Mac, or MAC about staying on the beach to catch his breath seems to be working, but I don’t think I have much time.

  “Kara said you’re all right. Come on.” He leads me to a building, and my heart hammers so hard I wonder if I’ll be able to breathe. Was I completely stupid in coming here?

  Will Dad be okay? Will we make it out? Will I see Dean again? My throat closes up at the possibility of losing him. I can’t lose Dean. Can’t.

  The moment we get inside, I stumble over the threshold, and grab Samson for support, praying that Landon’s energy is still with me. Unlock the door. It’s time for Mr. Prince to get his car and go home.

  I want to tell him to hurry, but I’m sure he’ll be watching out for thoughts or things that seem odd, and that might seem odd and set off alarms. He might have lost his talent, but he’s not stupid, and he knows about talents. I cannot afford to screw up.

  “It’s a mess here,” he says.

  “I’m glad me and Kara are here to help.” Lie. Lie. Lie.

  “Mr. Prince needs to go home,” he says.

  Huge relief. My thought worked.

  “He could be a bad person to have here,” I agree as I direct another thought.

  Mr. Prince is important. He’s being looked for. Without Middle Men talents, they won’t be able to keep people from looking for him.

  Samson unlocks the door. “Mr. Prince. It’s time for you to go.”

  Dad doesn’t show an ounce of surprise at my arrival, and tears are streaming down my face. I quickly wipe them away with the back of my hand.

  “I think he needed his keys?” I ask Samson with the most regular voice I can manage.

  “Of course. This way.”

  My heart’s still banging. I can’t keep a coherent thought in my brain. I want to run, more than I’ve ever wanted to run. If MAC comes up to the house from the beach, it’s all over. There were twelve men with guns. Twelve. Where do you find people who are willing to kill for you? How much money do you pay them to sit in boats for days? How much more money do they get if they do get someone?

  Chills of fear run through me as I try to seem normal.

  I concentrate with everything I have as Samson opens a small locker and flits his fingers over two rows of keys. I need MAC to stay away.

  The beach is the perfect place to think about next steps. Just a few more minutes and I’ll help with the work inside.

  I have no idea if I can do this without Landon here to help, but still I try. The Middle Men left the island without searching, and I know Dean had to have had something to do with that. I know I concentrated, but Dean had the added gift of Landon next to him.

  “You ready to go?” Dad holds his keys and strides calmly toward the open door.

  “You’re going, too?” Samson asks, suddenly uncertain.

  “Just briefly.” I shrug when really my insides have turned to total Jell-o. “I’ll be right back to help. I promised Kara.”

  “Okay.”

  “You could pass it on to her? I know Dad’s anxious to get started.” I sent the thought to him over and over to go tell Kara, but I don’t know if it works or if he decides to go on his own. I don’t stick around to find out.

  Dad and I walk toward a Mercedes and he hits the key, unlocking the doors.

  “Let’s not waste time, okay?” he asks.

  I nod as I dash around the back and he’s peeling out of the lot just as I see MAC round the corner of the building. There are a few shouts, and the gate begins to close, but Dad hits the gas.

  I grasp the seat and I know we won’t make it. The gate will close too soon.

  “Dad!” I yell. “Stop!”

  The metal gate slams into my car door, breaking the glass, and shoving the car sideways making me scream.

  “Hold on!” Dad yells as he hits the gas harder, and the tires squeal as we pull away.

  �
��Holy shit.” The words leave my mouth as the palm trees blur by in the quiet neighborhood that’s the opposite of everything in my life right now.

  “Buckle up and watch your mouth.” Dad smirks.

  We made it. I did it. I got my dad. I got my dad. “Won’t they catch us?” I ask.

  “I disabled my tracker when I was trying to find you, and I’ve come and go from here enough times to have a lot of ways out of there. I think we’re good.” He sounds so relaxed that I believe him.

  We really, actually are safe.

  “So, you still have it?” he asks as we drive. “Your talent?”

  “Yeah. Everyone that was in the circle.” I stare out the window grateful we’re far enough away that we’re probably not being followed.

  “And did it hurt?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “I didn’t understand why Kara was screaming.”

  “I was fairly certain I was going to die.” Dad almost sounds like he’s trying to tease. “But I made it. And I knew that you’d made it there and were doing the good thing. I’m so proud of you, Addison.”

  It swells up inside me, and I can’t wait to tell him everything. How Micah sees us all together, working together. How we’re going to continue on, only different and better, and how many plans we have to use our energy for good. How I finally have a purpose and how incredible it feels.

  “Why didn’t you tell me they weren’t something to be afraid of? The shadows, I mean.” All I can think about is that night that Dad dropped me and Dean off in the dark and told us to run.

  “Because if you weren’t afraid of them, they may not have been able to lead you.”

  “But what if I’d been too afraid and thought they were bad and made a different decision?” I ask. It’s all so tenuous.

  “Then someone else would have helped, Addie. I wasn’t sure what you’d need or not need to know, so I left it up to fate.”

  “Who’s MAC?” I ask as the questions continue to spin through me head.

  Dad chuckles. “Master of Actual Ceremonies. It’s a title. A ridiculous title, and an old one. Kara’s parents do the day-to-day running, of course, but The Middle Men have always liked the idea of having a central figure. Someone who isn’t involved in the day-to-day stuff for an outside view. For a lot of years, and until now, that was MAC. He took such an interest in you because of my strength. And when you were so beautiful, he thought that could be useful, too.”

  A shiver runs through me at how calculating it all sounds.

  “I had to convince a lot of people to play along, and now I know that wasn’t the way to handle it.” He frowns a bit. “I’m just grateful he listened to me and didn’t pull you in before you were able to decide on your own.”

  “But… Mom?” I ask.

  Dad readjusts his hands on the steering wheel. “This is another reason that I should have told you more about your mother, and about who you are. She knew about my gift, but not until we were already together. She was jealous of what I could do because it made certain parts of business so much easier for me, but she hated it in you. And again, you were so beautiful, and she had to work so hard. She was jealous of you, even when you were small. I thought another daughter would help because I knew the chances of Ellie getting the same thing was slim, but…”

  “But it didn’t help Mom.”

  “It’s not your fault, Addie. Your mom is who your mom is.” Dad frowns a little as he gives my knee a squeeze.

  I glance down at my lap and wipe some of the glass onto the floor, almost not noticing that we’re still doing close to a hundred miles an hour.

  “You coming home?” Dad asks.

  “Actually. I’m meeting the group…in Alabama. And I want you to come and meet everyone.”

  Dad’s thoughtful as he takes an entrance onto the freeway.

  “Use that radar in your head, would ya?” he teases. “I’d like to get there fast, and I need you to talk us out of a ticket.”

  Everything about my dad and my life comes into focus so sharply. Micah sees my dad in the way he just explained MAC. Only we’ll call my dad, Kent, or I’ll call him Dad. Obviously. But for the first time I have purpose. I feel good. And I know I’m going the right direction and doing the right thing.

  Now I just need back to Dean.

  TWENTY-NINE

  Kara

  After what feels like hours of phone calls, dirty looks from other people staying here, and more apologies than I can count, I’m cradled against Samson in my bed as the sun begins to peek in around my shutters. Given his persuasion, our position is completely non-sexual and like my brother or my best friend instead. I tell him everything—about how I used to feel around Ocean and the kiss and the dance, and how we got caught, and the people on the boat and their gifts, and how every one of them completely betrayed me on the beach by tying me up.

  “You’re tough.” Samson smiles as he kisses my forehead. “Of course they tied you up.”

  “He… He tied me up. Ocean did.” I hate that I miss him so much because I’m still angry.

  “I’m sorry, Kara.” He sighs. “This is such a mess. A few people want new identities, and The Middle Men is loaded, but it’s a lot of people to support for a lifetime.”

  I frown. “People can work. Plenty of The Middle Men hold regular jobs.” And I’m well aware of the mess. I’ve spent my life in this organization and spent most of the night helping to clean it up.

  The details of my failure or how I feel aren’t worth mentioning because I haven’t been asked. It’s almost more insulting than being yelled at.

  “And plenty only work for the organization,” he counters.

  “But now they can work anywhere else they like.” It seems like we’ve all lost here, the least the members can do is be graceful about moving on.

  “The problem, Kara, is that when we sign up for our jobs to be for the organization, we’re given a promise of protection, and without our gifts, no one can offer protection and none of the people can do their jobs. It’s going to be a mess for a long time.”

  I push to sitting. “I’ll shower and get some real clothes on, and then maybe I should do something more.”

  Samson pushes me back down to the bed. “You’ve been a prisoner for the past few days. You probably haven’t slept in forever. Why don’t you rest?”

  “Because it’s my fault that it happened!” I push out of bed.

  Samson shakes his head. “It’s no one’s fault. The right people got together at the right time and I think your dad guessed you had about a ten percent chance of success.”

  And I was sent anyway. And not told I’d almost definitely fail. I hate my parents a little bit right now, too. I can’t keep losing people.

  “Kara. Your dad wants you to stay in your room until they know no one will hurt you. People were jealous that you got the assignment, and with the way it turned out…”

  My whole body tenses in anger as I think about what I could have been spared.

  Samson hugs me from the side, knowing I don’t want it. “You’re angry at a lot of people right now. Don’t let it take over, okay?”

  I give him one nod without even briefly considering taking his advice.

  THIRTY

  Landon

  I’m going to miss my sailboat, but this is good, too. Dean and Addison are flying back from New York today after spending time with their families. Kent Prince is all for helping us out, giving advice, and being a wiser voice of reason from someone with a lot of life experience. He also has a lot of convictions about doing the right thing after spending most of his life pushing boundaries.

  “You thinking about your mom?” Micah asks as I pull the new boat out of the harbor. Something sleeker and much, much faster that still has room for our crew. All six of them if Ocean’s talk goes well.

  “Which one?” The bitterness over my situation hasn’t gone away yet, and might not for a while.

  I meet Ocean’s mom tomorrow, but my parents flew down a few day
s ago. I held my mom tighter than I ever have, and realized something important. “The mom who raised me is my mom.”

  “And your dad?” She squeezes my shoulder.

  I sigh again instead of punching something like I want to. “I have my Uncle Ethan.”

  “Soon to be my step-dad.” Micah grins.

  I push down on the throttle of the new boat as we pass the “no wake” buoys with nothing but ocean in front of us. “And we have to be in the New Orleans’ harbor tomorrow?” I ask.

  “Tomorrow,” she agrees.

  “So this is our last night on the ocean alone?”

  Her smile is full of the best kind of mischief as she steps next to where I’m standing and rests her arms loosely around my neck, forcing me to look over her head to navigate. “Our very last one.”

  “Let’s make it count.” I wag my brows and push the throttle down until we’re flying at close to fifty miles per hour, which is a big deal in a boat this size.

  “Woo!” Micah lets go of me to put her hands in the air in the wind, the sun shining on her gorgeous face, and she’s right. We’re going to stick with the group and we’re going to do amazing things. It’s a vision of hers that I definitely want to be tied to.

  I think again about how it’s our last night, and once we step off this boat, Micah’s mom is going to want to hear everything (which we definitely won’t tell her) and the wedding and Dean and Addison and Kara and Ocean are all meeting us here. I can’t wait to show them our new digs. Well, if the whole Kara/Ocean thing goes the way Micah hopes it will. She’s seen about a million endings there.

  But before all that insanity starts. I need my girl. Alone. Just for a bit. My hands shake a little as I pull back on the throttle much sooner than I intended to, but far enough away from the island to feel alone in the water.

  Micah’s smile still fills her face, but she turns toward me. “Aren’t you excited to be back with the group?”

  Micah talks like it’s been forever, when it’s only been a couple of weeks.