by J. E. Taylor
Steve nodded. “But I keep my promises.” He took a step closer and extended his hand. “Special Agent Steve Williams,” he formally introduced himself.
“CJ Ryan.” The boy countered and reached out to take Steve’s hand; the moment their skin touched Steve felt the magnitude of the power the boy possessed. He had no doubt that if this kid put his mind to it, he could change the trajectory of the sun.
Steve yanked his hand away from CJ, breaking out in goose bumps. Interesting wasn’t the right word to describe this child, frightening was more appropriate.
CJ’s lips curled into a ghost of a smile and then he turned, swinging the door wide, waving Steve inside. He led the way through the house and had him wait in the family room while he went to the back yard where the family was clearing the pool area.
The first one who came through the door was Chris Ryan, led by his guide dog, his blue eyes staring sightlessly from behind the tinted glasses. “Agent Williams,” he said. The dog led him to the spot in front of Steve.
“Sir,” Steve acknowledged the older man.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Chris asked. His expression guarded and his German shepherd took a seat next to him.
Steve studied the man in front of him and saw his jaw tense. He’s reading my thoughts. “I would rather wait until your wife is in the room before I discuss what brings me here,” he said. His mind flowed through the remnants of memories from Eric and the research he had done the day before, the flurry of activity rendering mind reading useless.
Chris turned slightly at the sound of the sliding glass door opening.
Jessica Ryan stepped inside with both Tommy and CJ in tow. “You two head up to the playroom,” she said. The boys ran by Steve and up the stairs while she removed her gloves and stepped into full view. “Hi.” Unbuttoning her coat, she stepped by her husband’s side.
Steve stared at her. She looked identical to what he envisioned Jennifer would look like if she reached forty. “Um,” he said and diverted his eyes to the man in front of him. Jesus, this is Ty Aris.
Both Jessica and Chris took a step back, their eyes widening a fraction.
Oh Christ, they both can read my mind.
“I’m sorry to inform you that there was an accident down at Quantico.”
Accident, it wasn’t a fucking accident.
“Eric...” Steve closed his eyes, not knowing how to say what was necessary. “Eric is dead.” He finished and opened his eyes.
Chris reached out and put his arm around Jessica at the same moment she passed out, catching her in his strong grasp. He swept her up and placed her on the couch a few steps away. “What happened?” he asked. His face pale and his voice not as steady as it was before Steve broke the news.
“He was shot,” Steve answered. He didn’t want to go into the details.
Chris hung his head. “By whom?” The voice that leapt from his chest made Steve step back. Chris turned his head, his eyes falling accurately where he stood.
Steve shook his head. The words wouldn’t form and he felt the air around him spark.
“Dad, it wasn’t him,” CJ said.
The air settled and CJ descended the stairs. “He’s Eric’s partner.”
Steve glanced at the child and back at Chris Ryan. “I know who killed your stepson.” He finally found his voice. “I think the shot was meant for me.” He knew the shot was meant for Eric, he gleaned that much in the seconds after the window shattered before the thoughts were lost in the onslaught of other’s that accosted him.
Chris stood up. “You’re lying to me.” He lunged toward Steve, his face scrunched with anger.
“Don’t.” The voice drifted from the couch, stopping Chris in his tracks and sending shivers up Steve’s spine.
She even sounds like Jenny. Steve shot a glance at her as she sat up on the couch.
The tears came. “Don’t Chris,” she said, her voice shaking. “It’s not his fault.”
Steve glanced at the stairwell as the second child descended. He looked back at Chris. “I know who you are,” he blurted.
“You also know what I can do.” Chris took another step toward Steve, honing in on his exact whereabouts. He tilted his head slightly. “Don’t you?”
Steve thought CJ was frightening, but this man scared the shit out of him. He took a step back. “Yes, and I need what you can do in order to get the son of a bitch who killed my daughter.”
Chris reached out like lightning, his hand clamping down on Steve’s neck in an iron hold. “You dare come in my house and threaten me after getting my son killed?”
“Stepson,” Steve wheezed under the crushing pressure. He executed a neck thrust, knocking Chris to the floor face first and yanking his arm up to the middle of his back. “You do that again and I don’t care what kind of promise I made to Eric. I’ll throw your ass in jail for the rest of your life. Understand?” Steve snapped, ignoring the growling German shepherd a few steps away.
Chris nodded his submission.
“Let him go,” Jessica said.
Steve turned toward the soft commanding voice. God, you sound so much like Jenny. He released Chris, standing and taking a step back.
“Jenny?” she asked.
“My wife,” he answered and straightened himself out. “The same man who killed your son killed my daughter and put my wife in a coma.”
Feeding off his thoughts, Jessica approached him. “You want me to fix her.”
He averted his eyes and nodded, allowing a brief flash of his past to escape into her mind. He smiled when she tried to cover the gasp with her hand. “That wasn’t the worst of it,” he said to her horrified expression.
Chris got to his feet and snapped his fingers. The dog quickly reacted, guiding him around Jessica and he stopped an inch away from Steve, bringing his eyes to where he thought the agent was standing.
Steve shivered at the accuracy of the gaze, forgetting for a moment that the man was blind. This man was responsible for more deaths than Kyle and he couldn’t condone his freedom, but the promise he made to Eric ate at the need for justice. Right and wrong crossed and grappled in his mind. If he followed the law, he’d never get the chance to avenge Jennifer. Hell, he’d never get the chance to see if Jessica’s healing powers could work the miracle he’d been praying for. He pushed the Miranda rights from the tip of his tongue and swallowed. “I hate the fact you’re not rotting in jail where you belong, but I made a promise to Eric,” Steve said. A deathbed promise at that.
“I’m trying to figure out why Eric trusted you.”
“He didn’t. I figured it out on my own,” Steve said. “Well, I figured out who you were.” He shifted. “The transfer of his abilities took us both by surprise.”
“I’ll bet,” Chris said with a sarcastic laugh.
“Eric wasn’t very pleased by that development,” Steve said.
“You know Eric?” Tommy asked, turning his head away from the open refrigerator and the can of soda he swiped off the shelf.
“Eric died today,” CJ said, reaching beyond his brother for a soda.
Tommy’s mouth dropped open and the soda fell from his hand, bouncing and fizzling onto the floor. Tommy turned in Steve’s direction meeting his gaze and Steve gave a slight nod confirming what CJ said. The boy’s chin quivered and he sat down on the floor right in the growing puddle of soda. The flow of tears began.
Jessica went to Tommy and collected him in her arms, her own fountain of tears streaking her cheeks. She rocked with him, both sobbing at random intervals.
Steve tore his gaze away from Jessica and Tommy, aiming it at Chris. “Why would she ever let you near her after what you did, never mind marry you?” He needed to know. The explanation Eric gave wasn’t enough, neither were the memories.
“She loves me.”
“That’s insane.”
Chris shrugged and took a couple of steps away, giving Steve breathing room. “It is what it is.”
Steve’s cell phone rang,
followed by the house phone. Steve flipped open his cell. “Hi, Jack.” He glanced around the room. “I’m still with his family,” he said stepping out of the family room. “How do you think they’re taking it?”
He slid into the hall by the front door. “They’ve lost a child.”
That simple statement brought forth a rage of emotion, the emptiness of his own losses slamming into him like a battering ram and he leaned against the wall, helpless against the onslaught. “You’re not supposed to outlive your kids,” he said, his voice rough with grief. “I’ll catch you later.” He flipped the phone closed and stood with his head against the wall, desperately trying to stop the tears.
He jumped when the hand touched his arm. Tommy stood next to him, his bay blue eyes glistening with tears.
“I’m sorry about your brother,” Steve said.
“Eric told me about you. He said we needed to look after you.”
The boy’s words knocked the sorrow out of him, replacing it with a shiver that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
“When did you talk to him?”
“A couple of hours ago. He said he was going away for a little while and he told me you’d be visiting and not to be sad.”
What are you? A ghost whisperer?
“Do you think he’ll be angry because I’m sad?”
The lump returned to his throat and he shook his head, thinking of years ago when his own sister died. Tommy was about the same age he was and he knew how hard the death of a sibling was at that age. “No, he won’t be angry. It’s okay to miss your brother and it’s okay to be sad.”
Tommy gave him a hug and then stepped away, disappearing around the corner.
Steve wiped his face and slipped out of the house, closing the front door behind him. Halfway to the car, the door opened.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Chris asked.
“Why?” Steve felt like an intruder. He had only known Eric for six weeks and despite their memory exchange, he didn’t feel it was appropriate for him to share in their grief. Besides, the idea of breaking bread with Ty Aris wasn’t at the top of his to-do list.
“Where else are you going to go?” Chris asked.
“Brooksfield,” Steve answered and stepped toward his car. He hadn’t seen his wife in six weeks and even though he was itching to see her, he slowed his pace. Leaving now might screw his chances of ever getting Jessica Ryan to spin her magic on Jennifer.
“I’m sorry about your daughter,” Chris said. “This must be tough for you.”
Steve stopped in his tracks. “It is,” Steve said over his shoulder. “We aren’t supposed to outlive our kids,” he repeated the same words he said to Jack a few minutes ago. “And Eric was a good kid.”
“Eric was an exceptional kid,” Chris agreed crossing the distance unaided by the guide dog. He put his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “When you find the son of a bitch, call me,” he whispered in Steve’s ear.
Steve turned his head. “Why?”
“Because I want this bastard as badly as you do.”
Something in the way Chris spoke sent a flow of tremors down Steve’s spine and he spun in Chris’s direction. The eerie smile on Chris’s face brought the shiver to the surface and he stepped back.
Angel of Death.
The thought leapt forth before he could stop it.
Chris chuckled. “Tom called me that more than once.” His smile faded and he turned his head toward his family, who were all now standing at the door watching the exchange. He looked back in Steve’s direction. “Stay for dinner,” he said and it wasn’t a request.
Steve sighed and curiosity got the best of him. He gave a slight nod.
“I’m blind, remember?” Chris pointed out after a few moments of silence.
“Okay,” Steve said. He would head over to Brooksfield in the morning. His eyes landed on Jessica. With you.
* * * *
Steve stood in the center of the room, shifting his weight from the heels to the balls of his feet while Chris comforted his wife. I really shouldn’t be here.
“Want to play a video game?” CJ asked, disrupting Steve’s awkward thoughts.
Steve shrugged and took a seat on the couch. When CJ handed him the remote, he stared at it as if he had never seen one before. His right hand still had limited dexterity, especially with the new set of stitches, and the small unit required fine motor skills he doubted he had. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do this.”
“Just try,” CJ said and put in an army game where they were enemies, trying to take each other down.
Steve cursed under his breath, maneuvering his army on screen with the skill of a two-year-old. He sucked and CJ beat him at every turn, wasting his team easily. Frustration built and he had to remind himself it was just a game before he whipped the remote across the room. Instead, he dropped it on the coffee table and glared at his hand in disgust. “Sorry, kid,” he said glancing in CJs direction.
“You used to call Eric kid.” CJ didn’t divert his eyes from the television, continuing to play even though Steve had given up.
“Yep,” Steve answered, flexing his hand, wincing at the pull of the sutures. “And he used to call me old man.”
* * * *
Jessica watched the exchange. The frustration radiated off Steve in waves and it wasn’t just the video game. He blamed himself. For his daughter, his wife and now Eric. He took their deaths personally, believing if he had been more diligent, more alert, none of it would have happened. Underneath the cool exterior was a man fighting for his life, fighting his guilt and fighting his sensibilities where Chris was concerned. He would like nothing more than putting Chris behind bars, but he made a promise to Eric. A deathbed promise. A promise he’d never break.
She peeled herself out of Chris’s arms and crossed into the family room wiping the tears off her face.
Steve glanced at her as she took a seat on the couch next to him.
“I’m not sure I can fix your eye,” she said and reached for his right hand. She brought his palm to her lips and pressed a kiss to his skin, pushing a small fraction of her healing powers into him.
Pain gripped him. “Shit,” he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. His flesh felt like he’d been doused with gasoline and set on fire. Breath hitched in his chest, the airflow shutting down until the pain gave way to tingling, much like pins and needles after your arm or leg falls asleep. It amplified, starting at his fingertips, racing through his body until it concentrated behind the patch covering his deformed eye. “God damn that hurts,” he said and the world swam in front of him. Black descended.
Chapter 20
Kyle pulled the lab coat over his shoulders and entered the hospital in Brooksfield, the dark wig and beard rendering him unrecognizable. A resident’s tag hung from the lab coat with his picture and a fictitious name. He took the stairs to the ICU unit, pulling the stethoscope out of his pocket and hanging it around his neck, blending in.
He entered her room and exchanged a hint of a smile with Jennifer’s father. “How’s she doing today?” he asked, picking up the chart and flipping through it.
“Why do you keep doing this? Why can’t you just leave us alone?” Jennifer shot to her feet and crossed the room, putting her smoky form between Kyle and her father.
“You tell me?” Joe Curtis said.
Kyle picked up the tape output from the brain monitor. A steady flat line graced the paper and he shook his head. “No change.” He turned in his direction. “I’m sorry.”
Joe nodded.
“Where’s her husband? I haven’t seen him in a while,” Kyle asked.
Joe huffed. “Virginia.”
“You don’t like him very much,” Kyle observed the scowl and clamped down on the smug smile that wanted to surface.
Joe shook his head. “It’s his fault that my little girl is lying here.” He took Jennifer’s limp hand.
“No, it’s not Daddy. It’s his fault.” Jennifer pointed at
Kyle. Her form shaking with the fury stealing her breath away.
“Have you thought about letting her go?”
Joe shot his gaze to the young doctor. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t you dare! You son of a bitch. I swear if I ever wake up, the first thing I’m going to do is kill you!”
Kyle hung the chart back at the end of the bed. “There’s been no sign of brain activity since they brought her in and at this point, all you’re doing is prolonging the inevitable. She’s a prime candidate for organ donation.” Kyle offered a shrug. “It’s something to think about.”
“We have. Her husband won’t let us.”
“Damn straight he won’t! He loves me, he’s not going to stand by and watch me die!” Jennifer stewed.
“You still have rights, as her father. You could get a court order at this point.” Kyle said. He turned, leaving Joe to mull that over.
The smile appeared on his face as he stepped into the parking lot, peeling the lab coat off he approached his car. If Jennifer’s father didn’t take the bait and pursue that avenue, he’d have to switch to plan B. He glanced up at the hospital, wondering how easy it would be to remove her from the ICU department.
Kyle wiped his face and shook the beginnings of jet lag out of his head. New Hampshire was a long way from Virginia and he still had some things to attend to in Connecticut before the day was over. Turning the key, the engine revved and he headed south.
Chapter 21
Steve blinked, disoriented by the silence in his mind and the unfamiliar noise around him. A cool cloth lay on his forehead and a ceiling he didn’t recognize met his gaze. He inhaled, closing his eyes and the succulent aroma of roasted tomatoes and garlic filled his nostrils. His mouth watered in response.
“Feeling better?” The boy’s voice broke through the cobwebs.
Steve turned, opening his eye. Tommy perched on the edge of the couch staring at him with red swollen eyes and a nose to match.
He sat up and looked around.
Jessica and Chris were in the kitchen cooking and CJ sat on the other couch engrossed in the same video game they were playing when he passed out.
