Rachel accepted the story without question. “I have class early tomorrow, so I should get home. Dustin, could you drive me home?”
“No problem. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said with a meaningful glance at me when Rachel’s back was turned. He would want me to talk about what had happened tonight.
I waved him off, a slight smile crossing my face at the concern. Strangely, the idea of someone else wanting me dead didn’t bother me. I suspected the problem would be solved for me before it even became an issue. And if it wasn’t…well, I guess I’d have to take care of it myself.
FORTY-THREE
Hannah
It always impressed me how smoothly my sister was able to lie. On occasion, it made me wonder whether she lied to me about anything and I just never realized it. Although the fabrication she and Jason told Rachel had enough truthful elements to it, to make it sound honest. And the reason behind the deception was well intended; we didn’t want to give away Jason’s secret.
Speaking of, Jason seemed oddly unconcerned with the revelation that people other than Kindred were out to kill him. What was going through his mind? How could he figure this threat wasn’t worth worrying about?
“Hannah, we need to discuss security,” Alice said, waving for me to join her and Jason in the living room. Sam was sleeping at Dan’s, and would have to be told later what was going on.
“What security?” I asked, joining Jason on the couch.
Jason leaned forward on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees and hands folded under his chin. “I’ve been considering placing some traps around the house at night, just in case someone tries to sneak in while we’re sleeping.”
“Traps? Like booby traps?” What a life we were leading that made a discussion about booby-trapping our own house seem perfectly logical. “What exactly would you do?”
Alice perked up as well. Apparently, if Jason was planning something, he hadn’t shared those plans with her yet. “Well, I was thinking kind of a variation on the holes I used last fall. I would place them around all the windows and doors and leave a thin layer of earth over them so they would be completely invisible to anyone approaching.”
“If you did that, you’d have to set them pretty late just in case one of our friends came by,” Alice said.
“We could set a time, say about midnight, and let Dustin and Dan know that they can’t come over after that. We’re up until then or later most nights anyway.”
Alice shook her head, “I don’t know. You have to be up in time to fill in the holes before I leave for work in the morning. And what happens if I get called away for a case?”
There was a hint of a smile on Jason’s face when he answered. “I considered that. All you have to do is wake me, and I can fill in the hole by the door nearest to the garage so you can go out. I’ve been working on my control through the cement, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”
“Maybe you can position it a little ways out from the door,” I suggested. “If you put some kind of mark around it that only we would know about, then Alice could sneak out of the house without needing to wake you.” He got little enough sleep as it was, and when he did sleep he was plagued by nightmares. There had been more than one night that I’d heard him moving around the kitchen and living room in the early morning hours, although he was always back in his room by the time the rest of us got up.
He was nodding attentively, thinking about my suggestion. “It could work. Let me do some tests on it, but for tonight, I’m going to set them how I said. Just wake me in the morning before you’re ready to leave, okay Alice?”
“No problem,” she agreed. “Are you going to go outside to set them, or just do it from your room?”
“From my room. That way if someone is watching the house they won’t notice what I’m doing. Someone should probably call Dustin and let him know not to come back tonight. And if he comes early tomorrow, tell him to use the side door. Once Alice leaves for work, I’ll leave that one open. Most of the criminal types wouldn’t use the door anyway, and by then we’ll be up and moving.”
“I’ll call him,” I offered. Jason stifled a yawn. “Go down. We’ll be going to bed soon anyway.”
He didn’t argue, and tossed us a wave as he headed to the basement, “G’night.”
Alice started to get up. “Allie, I’m worried about him,” I said, looking after Jason.
“He seems to be doing okay, Han. He’s not freezing in fear, he’s functioning enough to plan protection, and he’s talking to us now more than he has for the last few months.”
I nodded, not disagreeing with her on any of that. “But he’s not acting like he’s taking this new threat seriously. He doesn’t seem concerned that another person is after him.”
“Oh, hun,” she said, joining me on the couch and wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “He’s exhausted. Mentally at least, if not physically. There’s only so much a person can take before they just have to shut down for a little while. He’s been living with so many threats to his life, that it probably seems kind of surreal to have yet another one. What else can he do? We’ve already been in protection mode over the other threats, so how much more can we do now that we know there’s another one?”
“You and Dan can catch the threats that you can see. Get rid of this Mason loyalist so Jason can concentrate on catching Kindred. He’s more than enough for Jason to have to deal with.”
She got a little defensive. “We’re going to. Keep in mind that we just found out about this tonight. I’ll call Dan before I go to bed, so he knows what we’re going to be working on tomorrow. But remember, we’re not in complete control of the cases we work. The captain will give us any assignment that he wants, and we’ll have to work on this in our free time.”
I stifled a sigh and ran my fingers through my hair, brushing the strands from my face. “Fine. Just do the best you can. But…”
“Catch him. Or them. I know, sis. Try not to worry so much. We’re on it, and if we can prove to the captain that there’s a case in all this, we may be able to get some manpower on it. But it’s late, so we should both be in bed already. Sleep well. The house is secured for the night, so try to relax, okay?” She waited for my nod before she went to her room.
Relax. Right. That was possible. The holes Jason was putting in were not infallible, and Kindred had already proven to be resourceful. For all we knew, he could have been in the house while we were talking. We’d never know.
Well, Jason would, I suppose. Unless Kindred was in his head again. It still bothered me that we hadn’t noticed when Kindred was treating Jason like a puppet, and I suspected it bothered Jason as well although he hadn’t mentioned it.
I jumped a bit when I heard a deep bass sound outside the window, echoing slightly off the house next door. Jason’s traps. The sound from around the house was more muffled, but I could tell it came from the entire perimeter. It was as safe as Jason could make it for now.
So why did I keep feeling like it wasn’t going to be enough?
FORTY-FOUR
Kindred
The woman still hadn’t noticed anything. It was fascinating to me how I could so easily infiltrate someone’s life, and they never even knew it. She went about her evening activities, which included some cleanup. After she worked for a couple hours cleaning up her house she had a minor breakdown, sitting in the middle of some clothes on the floor and crying. The cat joined her, ignoring my presence for the moment to rub up against its owner.
It was the moment the woman picked up the cat—still crying softly and murmuring nonsense to it—that I began to question my dedication to this job. She didn’t seem like a bad person, wronging her ex-husband for the sake of spite. Instead she seemed genuinely distressed by her situation.
Which meant the husband was probably the one who needed to die. He hired me to kill an innocent woman. Someone who didn’t deserve death. And I found myself unable to follow through.
“I’ll leave you to your s
ad life, little one,” I said, although she still couldn’t hear me, the cat didn’t hiss or run away when I moved toward the door. She wouldn’t hear me leave, and with luck, she’d never know I even existed. The woman would never realize how close she came to death tonight. Her husband would see me coming, but it would be too late for him to do anything about it.
But first I would go back to the apartment and get some sleep. There was no rush. I always knew where to find my employers. And how to get payment, whether I did the job or not.
As I drove to my apartment, I saw a boy with his mother on the side of the road, and I got a flash of a different boy. One that I’d seen before, laying in a hospital bed. And the woman, happy for a split second, before being covered in blood, eyes wide and unseeing.
I blinked the images away, swerving into the other lane for a moment before I regained control. What was going on? Why was I getting these flashes, and why did I feel a sense of deep sadness and loss? Who were they?
The answer came to me, and I wasn’t sure if I welcomed it or not. They must be memories from my forgotten past. Indicators of the life I once had, and could never have again.
Running my hands wearily over the rough scarring that marred most of my face and scalp, I began to wonder if my life had ever been normal. I also started to question how I’d ended up with Mason to begin with. Not to mention, what I looked like before he scarred me so badly I couldn’t even recognize myself.
Had I been married? Had kids? I guessed not, but with the flashes I wondered all the same. The boy in the hospital bed seemed strikingly familiar. He was someone I knew or had known, although I didn’t get a clear look at him in the dream. And the woman; smiling, happy. Sharing her joy with me for what felt like only a moment. Who was she? And—a question I hadn’t dared ask since I’d begun working with Mason—who was I?
FORTY-FIVE
Jason
The next day worked just as I said. Alice woke me up briefly, and I filled in the hollow spot outside the door so she could leave. When I woke again later in the morning, I decided to visit her at work in order to find out if they had any of Mason’s people in custody who we could question. It would be nice to get some idea as to who we were looking for if someone was out to get me.
Most likely Alice or Dan already thought to do exactly that, but it never hurt to check. Besides, I also hoped there was a case I could help with to get my mind off my own problems. I was starting to feel pretty self-centered with all the concern about my problems and what was happening with me, so if there was something I could do to help someone else who was in trouble, it would help me remember there were others who also had problems. That, and right now, this was my only job. If I ever wanted to be able to get off the streets into a place of my own, and not just keep mooching off Alice and Hannah, I needed to start saving some money.
The thought of looking for another job, and needing to go through the interview process, scared me a little. Besides, until my name change was legalized, I couldn’t get a job without needing to go by my birth name. And I would not do that. There was no way I would go by that name anymore, not even just on paper.
Hannah was at school already by the time I got up, so I left as soon as I was dressed. The walk to the police station was uneventful, and I enjoyed the fresh warm breeze, pushing my sleeves up slightly as I walked. There were few other pedestrians out, and the ones who were paid no attention to me.
The sleeves went back down just before I reached the station, covering the evidence of past abuse before anyone else could see it. There was little I could do for the scarring around my neck from the collar, but compared to those on the rest of my body, they were pale and harder to notice if you didn’t already know about them.
“Jason, what are you doing here?” Dan asked, looking up from his desk. His voice was tinged with concern. “Did something happen?”
“No. I just wanted to check with you and Alice to see if any of Mason’s men were in police custody. I figured we…you guys could ask them who in the gang was still loyal enough to want me dead.”
He chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “You’ve been living with Alice too long,” he said. “You guys are starting to think alike. She’s already talking to one of them.”
“Good. I guess she’ll let me know if she finds out anything.”
“You know she will. Was there anything else you needed Jason? Is everything going okay?”
“Same ole, same ole,” I said with a shrug. “Another thug wanting to kill me, Kindred suddenly taking a break from tormenting me. And me kind of stuck in one place until the whole thing is over. Not much I can do about it right now. Until I’m able to tell if someone is following me, I can’t turn the tables and follow them.”
“And just what would ya do, if you did follow them? How would you react, knowin’ they were the ones who wanted you dead?”
Getting defensive, I snapped, “What would you want me to do? I have the ability to stop them from hurting people. I won’t let them hurt anyone, Dan.” My voice was low to show him I was deadly serious. “No matter what, I will not give them the opportunity.”
He shook his head. “You have the ability, but not the right. Having those powers,” he spoke quietly so no one would overhear, “doesn’t give you the right to go around the law. If your life isn’t in immediate danger, and you know where they are, then you need to call me or Alice. We can arrest them, get them off the street.”
I wanted to protest, but he continued. “Think about it, Jason. Would you really be able to live with yourself if you killed another person? Think about how you felt after Mason. I saw how devastated you were. How afraid you were to continue learning your abilities. Just think about it.”
I gave a terse nod, agreeing to consider what he said carefully. “I came down for another reason,” I said, changing the subject. He raised an eyebrow in question. “Are there any cases you could use my help with? I want to help someone else.”
“Jason…”
“Please?” I interrupted. “I just need to get my mind off things. It would be good…”
Dan shook his head. “Using a case to get your mind off things is generally a bad idea. Your focus will be divided, and you may make mistakes you wouldn’t normally make. You need more time to…”
“I don’t.” Breaking in again, I knew I was being rude, but I needed to push forward. “I’ve been working through stuff for the last six months. I need to get back to normal, and normal is helping you and Alice with cases. Something I haven’t done much of since…” I hesitated.
“Since your rescue. You can’t even talk about it, Jason. You still need the time.” He spoke sternly, but his eyes showed nothing but kindness. It was hard to get mad at him when he clearly was concerned for my well-being.
“Wait until at least one of the people working against you is off the streets. Until then, it’s too dangerous for you. I’m sorry, Jason. But I wouldn’t be able to face the kids if something happened to you because we let you come back before it was safe. Kindred is still out there, even if he seems to be lying low for now. And we already know he can control you.”
I looked down, ashamed of the fact someone had been able to so completely take over my consciousness. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not sure if he can do that anymore. My mind started fighting back.”
I glanced up in time to see him smile. “With you, that was only a matter of time. I know you’re a fighter, Jase, but I hope you don’t fight me too much on this. We all care about you, and no one wants to see you get hurt.”
“Fine,” I agreed finally. “But if something comes up and you do need my help?”
“We’ll let you know. Until then, you are helping with the Kindred case, and calling if you come up with any clue to who else is after you.”
I nodded. I paused as I began to turn away. “Have you come up with anything on who he might be?” I asked hesitantly, not facing him.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dan shake his
head in frustration. “No. He’s still the same mystery he’s always been. We’ve found some old cases that he may have been involved in—murders that were never solved and had very little evidence left. But no hints to his identity.”
“From the little I was able to see of him when his power flickered he had scars. I don’t know if he had them before Mason got to him, but he definitely has them now. I couldn’t tell exactly how bad they were, it was too quick, but they seemed pretty severe.”
“We’ll look into it,” Dan promised, jotting down a note on his pad. “I don’t want to rush you, Jason, but…”
“You need to get back to work. It’s okay. I’m going to head back to the house. Maybe take a walk after lunch. Let me know if you guys find anything.” He nodded, and I headed out, ignoring the other officers I passed as I left.
They wanted me to get back to feeling normal, but in order to do that I needed to work. If I couldn’t work, it made me feel like there was something wrong, something I couldn’t fix. But they wouldn’t let me work. What was I supposed to do to occupy myself in the meantime? I had two…at least two killers after me, so being out and about didn’t seem like a very good idea, and there was only so much sitting around the house I could take.
Alice and Dan wouldn’t have to know, but it was time for me to get proactive. To take the time I had to myself, and use it to figure out who was after me.
FORTY-SIX
Hannah
He was gone. Again. I came home from school expecting a very bored, somewhat annoyed Jason to be waiting for me. What I found instead was a completely empty and silent house. He could have just gone out for a walk, but somehow I doubted it. Unless there was a good reason, he wouldn’t risk his life. And feeling the need to get out of the house for a walk wasn’t a good reason.
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