The Redcastle Redemption (The Athena Effect)

by Derrolyn Anderson

  “Yes I did,” he turned in his seat to face her, leaning closer to look directly into her eyes. “Layla, I love you. I love you when you screw up and I love you when you do the right thing. You’re the one I want, and I’d do anything for you.”

  “Even when I’m wrong?” she whispered.

  “Especially then,” he smiled, revealing the dimples she loved so much. “I always knew you were a criminal.”

  “You did?” she asked, surprised.

  “I could tell the I first minute I met you.”

  Her eyes opened wider. “You could? How?”

  “You stole my heart.”

  She smiled at his corny words, but the emotion behind them was shining through his eyes clear and true. At that moment she finally believed, and she let herself give in to the feeling. She leaned closer, turned her head to the side, and gave him a sweet lingering kiss.

  When they finally parted he cleared his throat, looking at her with glowing eyes. “There is the little matter of a stolen car.”

  “A what?” she blinked, coming back to reality.

  “The one you took from the hospital. Funny, I never made you for a carjacker.”

  She cringed, remembering the couple frantically checking into the hospital as she fled it. “I left the car at the airport. I even put money in it!”

  Ramon squeezed her hand, smiling at the guilty look on her face. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You probably gave them quite a story to tell their friends.”

  “Well I hope everything turned out okay. I wonder if they had a boy or a girl.”

  She settled back into her seat and lost herself in thought. The past few days had been among the most frightening of her entire life, but they’d also shown her some things about herself. She remembered the fear in the pimp’s eyes, as well as the senator’s. She realized that she was more powerful than they were, and that no one would ever be able to control her again.

  She stretched out her legs with satisfaction. Now she finally knew how she wanted to use that power. She would become the avenger of the abused, the protector of the innocent, and the defender of the helpless. She would take the curse of her ability and turn it into a blessing.

  “I’m going to be an FBI agent,” she announced.

  “What?” Ramon asked, surprised.

  She turned her head to look at him with bright eyes. “Mina said that you wanted to do it too. We should go to the academy together.”

  He smiled at how naive she was being. “That’s easier said than done. I don’t know if I could even get accepted.”

  “That,” Layla smiled, amused at how naive he was being, “won’t be a problem.”

  “Oh really?” he raised an eyebrow at her.

  “You can count on it,” she said with conviction.

  “I guess so,” he smiled wryly.

  He looked into her beautiful green and brown eyes and laughed. The only thing predictable about her was her unpredictability. He reached over and took her hand in his.

  “I love you Layla,” he said.

  Her eyes suddenly and inexplicably filled with tears. She’d been so afraid of her past coming back to haunt her that she’d never before allowed herself to succumb to the fantasy of a possible future with him. It hit her all at once, and she finally replied without any reservations at all.

  “I love you too Ramon.”

  ~

  Calvin and Cali woke up in the hospital bed, stacked like spoons that fit together from head to toe. She stirred, listening to the sounds filtering in from the hospital hallway outside, wishing that they were home in their own bed.

  “You awake?” Calvin asked.

  “Yeah,” she whispered.

  “Marry me,” he whispered in her ear.

  “What?” she mumbled.

  “I want you to marry me. Will you?”

  She twisted around to look him in the eye. “Why?”

  “Because I love you.”

  “I know that,” her brows knit together. “I mean, why now?”

  His face fell when he realized that he should probably have picked a better time to ask. “I’m sorry … I’ll get a ring–I’ll get down on one knee if you want–I’ll do anything you want. I promise I’ll be the best hus–”

  She put her fingers on his lips, stopping him. “I already said yes.”

  “What?”

  “You asked me the night after Max beat you up. I think you were too drunk to remember.”

  He looked pained. “I’m sorry … That’s not how I wanted to do this. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I always chicken out. I’m no good at all this stuff.”

  She narrowed her lovely blue and green eyes at him. “So you only want to marry me when you’re hurt?”

  “Is that really what you think?”

  He looked so woebegone that she softened. “No, of course not.” She kissed him on the nose. “And my answer is still yes. I’d love to be your wife. Now, how are you feeling this morning?”

  Calvin propped up on his elbows, looking around the room with bright eyes. “Much better.”

  “Good. Let’s go home.”

  “If they let me,” Calvin said.

  Caledonia just smiled, because she knew that it was pretty much up to her.

  “They will.”

  ~

  Chapter Eighteen

  KOREATOWN

  ~

  Mina’s Grandmother carried a tray to the sickroom door, pausing when she heard girlish giggling. She stood frozen for a moment, listening. She hadn’t heard her granddaughter sound so happy and carefree since she was a small child.

  She rapped on the door, entering to find Mina and Michael sitting side by side on the bed, engrossed in a computer game. Michael looked up and greeted her with a smile, sitting up straight and pulling his hand away from Mina’s. Grandmother Kim made a show of collecting some empty cups on her tray, puttering around the room a little bit, straightening the books on the bookshelf while she watched the two young people out of the corner of her eye.

  At least the boy has some respect, she thought, wondering exactly what was going on between him and her granddaughter. Mina had told the family that her visit was FBI business and they shouldn’t be alarmed, explaining that her friends only needed a place to stay out of sight for a few days. She rarely returned home for visits, and her parents were so happy to be seeing their daughter for a change that they agreed to shelter the group with no questions asked.

  The older woman had a difficult time understanding her granddaughter. She’d tried to talk some sense into the headstrong girl, but Mina was stubborn, going against her father’s wishes to attend the FBI academy. She was determined to become a law enforcement officer of all things, and what kind of a job was that for a woman?

  Even worse, she’d broken off her engagement to a young man with good prospects for no plausible reason, disappointing both families. And now there was clearly something going on with this boy, her grandmother realized, stealing glances at the way Michael looked at Mina, his blue eyes filled with tenderness. She didn’t know whether to be concerned or relieved.

  “Tell your grandmother I said thank you,” Michael told Mina. “Tell her that I’m feeling much better, and she can stop waiting on me.”

  Mina chuckled. “I told you that she likes having someone to cook for.”

  “Yeah, well, I can get up and walk around now. I’m feeling much better.”

  “Watch out what you ask for,” Mina joked. “You’ll have to sit down to dinner with my parents. They can be pretty scary.”

  “I think I can handle that.” After what he’d just been through he doubted anything could really frighten him again. Except for Mina. Nearly every time he looked into her eyes he forgot what he was talking about, and his stomach tightened with nerves.

  Mina said something to her grandmother, prompting a dignified nod in Michael’s direction. She turned toward Mina, saying something in a scolding tone before walked out, leaving the door a
jar.

  “What did she say?” Michael asked with alarm.

  “She wants me to leave you alone to rest. She said, ‘No sleep, no dream’.”

  “Don’t go. I’m not tired,” Michael protested.

  Mina thought for a minute. “Are you up for a little walk? Want to go out and get a drink or something?”

  “I love to.”

  Mina grinned. “Let me get changed, I’ll be right back.”

  After she left Michael got up to put on the new clothes that Layla had brought him, sitting on the end of the bed to slip on the shoes. When Mina returned she was wearing a simple, form-fitting dress with a light pink sweater and some ballerina flats. Her hair was down, brushed smooth and shining, and she had a single strand of pearls gracing her slender neck.

  He stared, speechless.

  “Do I look okay?” she asked.

  “Uhm yeah,” he replied, thinking that he’d never really seen her dressed like a girl before. He tried not to get caught looking at her legs. “You look really nice.”

  “Thanks. So do you.” She gestured towards the door. “Let’s go.”

  There was an awkward silence in the elevator, and Michael followed behind Mina as she waved off the guards, walking past them directly onto the bustling city street. They strolled down the sidewalk in the cool night air, passing by brightly lit storefronts and flashing neon signs. Michael took a deep breath, shuddering with an unfamiliar happiness. He felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, optimistic for the first time in ages.

  They passed Billiard rooms, restaurants and dance clubs, all crowded despite the late hour. Several people on the street seemed to recognize Mina, nodding their respect as she passed by. She led Michael to a cocktail lounge where the doorman deferred to them, lifting a velvet rope to wave them in ahead of others in line. Michael was surprised to see that the room was packed, without an empty table in sight.

  “Is the bar okay with you?” Mina asked him.

  “Sure,” he said, taking a stool next to her at a polished wooden bar. The bartender greeted her warmly, and after they exchanged pleasantries she asked Michael, “What would you like?”

  “Is Korean beer any good?” he asked, looking at some bottles lined up in front of a mirror.

  “It’s my favorite,” she said with a smile, ordering for them. Two frosty glasses were produced and a tall bottle for them to split. Soon Michael was feeling fine, sipping an ice-cold lager and listening to Mina speculate about a gaming system she was thinking about buying.

  “How’s your beer?” she asked, happy to see him looking so relaxed.

  “It’s good,” he had a goofy grin on his face. “It’s great, but…”

  “But what?”

  He looked at her slight frame, “I’m surprised you drink beer. Don’t most girls like apple martinis and peach schnapps and stuff like that?”

  She laughed at him, and he liked the way it sounded, scooting his stool closer to hers so their legs brushed. “I guess I’m not like most girls,” she said.

  “I guess,” he replied, thinking that she wasn’t even remotely like the ones he’d known.

  Michael noticed several men staring him down from a table behind them, their scowling faces reflected in the mirror behind the bar. He leaned closer to murmur into her ear, “Is it my imagination, or do I keep getting dirty looks?”

  Mina turned around to look, motioning to the bartender. Within a few minutes a waitress materialized, taking their drinks on a tray and leading them to a small private room with a comfortable couches facing a large screen on the wall.

  “Better?” she asked.

  Michael looked around. “What is this place?”

  She pointed at the microphone and the sound system. “See? It’s a karaoke room.”

  “A what?”

  “For private parties. People take turns singing.”

  “Sing?” he was alarmed. “I can’t sing.”

  “Don’t worry,” she laughed at his worried face, “No-one’s gonna make you.”

  He took a seat across a low table from her. “So who were those guys?”

  “They work for my dad.”

  “What do they have against me?”

  “Don’t take it personally. They’re just really protective.”

  Michael’s eyebrows raised, along with the red flags in his mind. “What does your father do again?” Michael asked.

  “He owns a lot of the restaurants and nightclubs in town.”

  “I see,” he teased her, “So you’re a rich girl?”

  She scoffed, “My father came here from Korea with nothing. He started out with a little convenience store and then he lost everything in the ‘92 riots.”

  “Whoa. I think I read about that,” Michael said. “What happened to him?”

  “His shop got looted and burned down.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “The worst part was that the police didn’t even come to protect the people around here. They set up command posts in the richest part of town and left the Koreans to fend for themselves. People felt betrayed. A lot of them went back to Korea.”

  “But not your father.”

  “No … he started over. He’s stubborn,” Mina explained.

  “I guess that’s where you got it.”

  She smiled. “I suppose.”

  “I’m glad he stayed,” Michael said earnestly.

  “Me too,” she agreed. “He worked really hard to recover and now he’s very respected in the community. Lots of people who didn’t trust the banks anymore came to him for loans, and he helped a lot of other people to succeed too.”

  “So he’s kind of like the king around here?”

  She smiled. “Something like that.”

  “That makes you a princess.”

  “Yeah, right,” she scoffed.

  Michael was completely earnest when he said, “You look like one to me.”

  Her cheeks reddened, and she reached for the bottle to pour more beer into his glass, chattering nervously, “So, in Korea, the tradition is that you aren’t supposed to pour your own drink.”

  “Then, allow me,” he said, taking the bottle, his hand warm on hers.

  All at once they were both nervous again, and the intimacy of the private room only made matters worse. They both sat stiffly, drinking too fast and searching for something to talk about besides video games. Mina took a sip of beer and shifted in her seat, letting out a little burp.

  When their eyes met they both started laughing, lightening the mood in the room.

  “So,” Michael asked. “What’s it like being an FBI agent?”

  “So far so good,” she replied. “But I was kind of hoping for a little more action.”

  Michael raised his eyebrows at her. “Are you serious?”

  She sighed. “There hasn’t been any real excitement in Ukiah so far.”

  “So getting shot at in a car chase isn’t enough action for you?”

  She smiled sheepishly. “Well, when you put it that way.”

  Michael stared down at his missing finger, flexing his hand. “I’ve had about enough action to last me a lifetime. I just want a nice quiet job–” He looked up with a mischievous smile, “that pays a lot.”

  “Have you thought about what you want to do?”

  “Do they pay people to play on-line games?” he asked, tongue in cheek.

  “I wish,” she laughed.

  “I’ll think of something,” he said, feeling oddly confident. When he was with Mina he felt like maybe anything was possible.

  “Are you hungry, you wanna go grab a bite?” she asked.

  “It’s past two AM,” he reminded her.

  “It’s never too late to eat in Koreatown.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  She took him to a restaurant a few doors down, a warm and cozy place with a row of booths lining one wall. Rich dark wood lined the walls, and despite the late hour the place was surprisingly full. They were seated
at a booth with a domed grill set in the center over a brazier filled with hot coals.

  “What’s it for?” he asked.

  She smiled. “I’ll show you.”

  The service was swift and efficient, and food started arriving in minutes. Small bowls and plates of pickled vegetables, spicy dipping sauces, and thin pancakes with green onions were set between them. Large platters of short ribs and thinly sliced marinated beef were placed by the grill, followed by plates of lettuce leaves, onion slices and garlic bulbs. They were each given a bowl of plain white rice.

  She showed him how to take the beef with long chopsticks and put it on the grill along with the onions and garlic. Once the meat was browned she loaded it onto a lettuce leaf and rolled it up, dipping it into the spicy sauce. “Try it,” she smiled.

  “What is the rice for?” he asked.

  She pointed to all the bowls of condiments. “You can eat it with these, or put some meat on it. Whatever you like–there’s really no wrong way to do it.”

  He nodded, sampling some of the different condiments. “What do you call all this stuff?”

  Mina pointed to the meat first. “This is called Galbi, and this one is Bulgogi.”

  She gestured to the small plates. “These are called Banchan.”

  He repeated each name after she said them, like he was trying to commit them to memory.

  She laughed at his serious face. “There isn’t going to be a test.”

  “I want to remember everything,” he protested, putting some meat on the grill. “This is awesome! If I knew that Korean food was this good I would have tried it a long time ago.”

  She smiled, pleased that he liked it. He was feeling better, and she could see his appetite was back. She was feeling good too, and after they ate she relaxed into her seat and sipped a cup of tea.

  “Great,” Michael grouched. “There’s another table full of guys staring at us. Does everyone around here work for your dad?”

  She turned to look, and when she turned back the smile was gone from her face. “No.”

  “What is their problem then?” he asked. “Is it because I’m not Korean?”

  “No,” she said. “That’s my ex-boyfriend and his friends.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Are you okay? Do you want to leave?”