sedona files - books one to three

by Christine Pope

  It should have been awkward the next morning but somehow wasn’t; I awoke and saw him gazing down at me, something beautifully tender in his expression. Over his shoulder I could see morning sunlight peeking around the edges of the curtains.

  “What time is it?” I asked, reaching up to rub the sleep from my eyes.

  “A little past eight.” He pushed a lock of hair back over my shoulder. “You were quiet all night. No dreams?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. It was wonderful.” I realized then that he’d put on a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, and that the remains of our dinner from last night had been cleared away. A freshly laid fire snapped in the hearth. “Wow, I really was out cold, wasn’t I?”

  “Well, you did exert yourself quite a bit yesterday.”

  “I’ll say.” I smiled, remembering the perfection of our lovemaking. Because that’s what it had been. Perfection. It went far beyond mere sex. But that thought made another one cross my mind, and I frowned.

  “What is it?” Martin asked, obviously catching the shift in my expression.

  “Well, it’s just — ” I sat up a little straighter in bed, watching him carefully. “You told me last night that your people had only one lifemate.”

  “Yes.” The word had an edge of question to it.

  “If that’s the case, then what was it between my mother and my father? I mean, he took off before the night was even over. I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘lifemate’ kind of behavior. But obviously he didn’t have any problem going to bed with her.”

  He settled himself on the bed next to me and took one of my hands in his. I noticed the way he traced along the lifeline on my palm with one finger, as if reassuring himself that this business with the aliens was merely a blip and that we’d have a long lifetime together afterward.

  “When I told you about lifemates, I didn’t mean to give the impression that we only were physically intimate after we bonded with our lifetime partners. Of course my people reach out for one another for pleasure, for companionship, as it suits them. It’s only that we know these joinings aren’t meant to last.”

  How very practical. Something in my mouth seemed to sour. “So my father was just looking for companionship, something to while away the time while he was stationed here?”

  Martin’s eyes looked very blue in the pale morning light. He held my gaze as he said, “I already told you that he spent that night with your mother for one reason. You.”

  True, he had told me that, but something still nagged at me. “And you — have you had a lot of ‘companions’ while you were here?”

  To my surprise, he grinned, then reached out and pulled me against him, his breath warm on my cheek. “No, I haven’t,” he murmured. “Fraternizing with the locals is frowned upon. Besides, you really don’t know much about the MIB unit if you think its agents are out there looking to hook up.”

  “‘Hook up’?” I repeated, amused. “Who’ve you been hanging out with?”

  “I thought that was the standard phrase for it these days.”

  “It is…I guess.” I kissed him softly on the side of his face, glad that no other woman’s lips had been there before mine…at least not lately. “It’s just funny to hear you say it.”

  “Well, I’m glad I can amuse you from time to time.”

  “Oh, you do a lot more than that.” I remembered the heat of his touch from the evening before and contemplated a third go-’round, but glanced at the clock and realized that idea was a non-starter. I still had to shower and dress and eat something, and then have Martin drive me all the way over to Michael’s house, which would take at least a half-hour.

  My regret must have been obvious, because Martin pressed his lips to mine, but gently, as if to reassure me rather than arouse me. Then he pulled away and said, “We’ll have plenty of time. You need to meet with Jeff and see what he wants.”

  I nodded, and pushed myself out of bed so I could go get ready. At the same time, though, I couldn’t help wondering if Martin was being overly optimistic.

  It could very well be that we didn’t have much time at all.

  * * *

  Michael’s car wasn’t in the driveway when I arrived, which surprised me. But maybe he’d wanted to give Jeff and me some privacy while we talked and had invented some sort of errand to get himself out of the way. At any rate, I didn’t see much sign of life as Martin pulled to a stop in front of the house.

  “I hope this won’t take too long,” I told him. “But I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

  “No need to do that,” he said.

  “Huh?” I stared at him, mystified.

  And then it was if he spoke again…only this time his lips didn’t move at all. He watched me, his words clear enough in my head as he said,

  This is the easiest way to reach me.

  “What the hell — ” I began, but he laid a finger across my lips.

  Not like that. Like this.

  Concentrating, I thought back at him, How is this possible?

  It’s how lifemates can communicate, after they’ve been joined physically.

  Wow. I paused for a moment, trying to absorb this strange and beautiful talent I’d suddenly acquired. You might have warned me.

  I had to wait and see if it would even work. You’re half human. I can’t always count on your talents being exactly like those of one of my kind.

  In this case, it seemed pretty clear that they were. Well, this will definitely cut down on my cell phone bill.

  In reply he leaned over suddenly and kissed me, kissed me with an unexpected passion that left me gasping as he pulled away. His smile warmed me even as I opened the car door, letting in a wash of chilly frost-laden air. Much as I would have liked to stay there and kiss Martin over and over again, I knew I had to get inside and see what Jeff wanted.

  Call for me when you’re ready, and I’ll be here.

  I nodded, still a little unsure of this newfound gift for nonverbal communication, and shut the car door. A few seconds later, Martin pulled away from the curb. I didn’t know where he planned to wait for me. Maybe he’d just hang out at the Starbucks inside Safeway, get a latte or something.

  That thought made me grin and shake my head. Somehow I couldn’t really picture Martin doing anything quite so normal.

  After hurrying the rest of the way up to Michael’s front door, I knocked, then hoped Jeff wouldn’t take too long to answer the door. The sun was dancing in and out of the clouds, and the day hadn’t warmed up as much as I’d hoped it would. I didn’t really want to be cooling my heels out here because he had his earbuds jammed in as he hacked code or something.

  Then the door banged open, and Jeff scowled down at me. “You’re late.”

  “Five minutes.”

  “Still.”

  Shrugging, I pushed past him and into the warm, wood smoke–scented confines of Michael’s house. The fireplace kept the main rooms warm, and wall heaters in the bedrooms did the rest.

  The clutter had been cleared off the old drop-leaf dining table so Jeff could put his laptop there. Next to it was his black mug, which traveled with him everywhere, it seemed.

  “So what did you want to tell me?” I asked, reaching up to unwind the scarf from around my throat. Then I remembered that Martin had left a few marks there on top of the fading bruises from my would-be attacker at the Circle K, and I paused awkwardly, pretending that I had only wanted to adjust the scarf slightly.

  “Who was that?” Jeff asked in accusing tones.

  “Who was what?”

  “You got dropped off by someone in a black Taurus. It looked like he was kissing you.”

  Jeff Makowski was about the last person I expected to be snooping on me through the curtains like a latter-day version of Mrs. Kravitz, the nosy neighbor from those old Bewitched reruns that my grandmother had loved so much. Even so, I could feel the heat flood my cheeks as I realized the interior of that car, foggy windows or no, wasn’t quite as private as I’d thought. />
  “A…friend,” I replied, glad that Jeff had never actually seen Martin, only heard Kara talk about him.

  “Uh-huh,” Jeff said, and stalked over to his laptop, shutting it with a slam that was very unlike him. Rude and brusque he might be, but his computers were his babies. People he would definitely abuse, but not a laptop. “Which friend?”

  “What difference does it make? I needed a ride. So what?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. Obviously he was having some issues with our nippy winter weather, because he was wearing his usual beat-up army jacket over a black sweatshirt, and under that I thought I saw the neck of a light gray T-shirt. Besides that, though, he looked tired, his eyes smudged and his hair even more of a mess than usual. “Is that who you were with yesterday? Him?”

  Okay, this conversation was not going at all how I’d thought it would. If I didn’t know better, I would have said Jeff sounded jealous, but that was nuts. Jeff was not the jealous type. Jeff barely seemed to notice that I was even female.

  “What difference does it make?” I asked. “Sorry I missed your messages, but you know how spotty cell coverage can be around here.”

  “That’s not the point. I came here to Sedona — ”

  “— Totally out of the blue,” I cut in. “You still haven’t told me exactly why. I mean, yeah, you wanted to see the alien baby in the flesh, but there had to be more to it than that, right?”

  His hands balled into fists in the pockets of his oversized jacket. “I came here to see you,” he mumbled.

  My ears had to have stopped working properly. That was the only explanation for what he’d just said. “Um…what?”

  “You heard me. Don’t make me repeat myself.” His fingers drummed on the closed laptop case.

  This conversation still wasn’t making any sense. In all my interactions with him, I’d never gotten one hint that he really cared one way or another if we spoke or not. He wouldn’t email me for days or even weeks sometimes, and then only get in contact again when he had a piece of information he wanted to share, or to respond to me after I’d initiated the contact because I needed to pick his brain about some piece of programming minutiae. I shook my head and told him, “Yeah, but what I heard you say was that you came here to see me, and I don’t get that at all.”

  And then the world went kind of sideways, because the next thing I knew he’d sort of launched himself at me, had taken my hands and was pulling me toward him, kissing me with an awkwardness all the more objectionable because I’d shared such a wonderful kiss with Martin not five minutes earlier. For a second or two I was so shocked I didn’t do anything at all, but then my brain cells started firing again, telling me that this was not what I’d signed up for, and I wrestled my arms out of his grasp and took a step or two backward, still shaking my head.

  “What the hell, Jeff?” I spluttered. “Why would you — what did I — what were you thinking?”

  Of course, being Jeff, he didn’t look embarrassed, but rather supremely annoyed. “What was I thinking? All these months we’ve been in contact — ‘oh, Jeff, how do I get that packet routine to work?’ — and ‘but Jeff, I did compile the code the way you told me to. Why isn’t it working?’ — what else was I supposed to think?”

  I was beginning to feel more than a little annoyed myself, not just at his presumption, but at the irritating way he’d pitched his voice higher in an attempt to imitate me. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just wanted to learn how to code better?”

  “Oh, please,” he said dismissively.

  Okay, I had enough crazy stuff going on in my life already. I did not need to deal with a lovesick hacker, of all things. Not that being lovesick had made him any more charming. “Um, Jeff, I hate to break it to you, but really, that’s all that was going on with me. I can’t speak to what was going on with you, but if I led you on in any way, then I’m really sorry. Besides,” I added, hoping to soften the blow, “you really don’t want to get tangled up with me. I’m half alien, remember?”

  “But that makes you even hotter,” he said plaintively.

  Jesus Christ. Now sounded like a really good time to try out those newfound talents of mine.

  Martin, I think it would be great if you came and got me. Like, now.

  The response was immediate. On my way.

  I planted my hands on my hips. “So is that your idea of a compliment?”

  He looked simultaneously confused and angry. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Obviously the smartest thing to do here was to switch topics. Immediately. “So do you or do you not have any new information on the aliens’ transmissions?”

  A frown. Clueless and antisocial he might be, but Jeff was not stupid. “Avoiding the topic. Very mature.”

  “Look, Jeff, we don’t have time for this. Again, apologies if signals were misdirected, but our love lives are really not the issue here!”

  “Oh, they’re not? Then who was that guy sticking his tongue down your throat?”

  “He was not — ”

  Someone knocked at the door. At the same time I heard Martin’s warm voice in my mind.

  I’m here.

  Thank God.

  Jeff looked as if he planned to ignore whoever was at the door. Maybe he thought he didn’t need to answer the knock because it wasn’t his house. But since I knew who was waiting out there, I didn’t have any such scruples. I turned my back on Jeff and strode to the door, then opened it. Martin smiled down at me.

  “Hello, Kirsten.”

  “Um, hi.” I could practically feel Jeff peering over my shoulder to see who the stranger was. In that moment I decided to go for broke. After all, Kara already knew I was with Martin, and if she knew, then Lance knew…which meant it was only a matter of time before Jeff found out anyway. Serve him right for mauling me like that without any provocation whatsoever. “Jeff, this is Agent Jones.”

  Jeff looked past me to Martin, and then past Martin to where the Taurus was parked at the curb. It didn’t take him very long to put two and two together. “You were with him?” he demanded.

  “He’s been helping me get some insight into how to defeat the aliens.”

  “Oh, is that what you call it?”

  “Hello, Mr. Makowski,” Martin said, both sounding and looking very proper and official, even though you could see the jeans peeking from underneath his overcoat, rather than the suit pants one would expect from a Man in Black.

  “Hello yourself,” Jeff sneered. “Who do you report to, anyway? I think your superiors might be interested to know that you’ve been corrupting a minor.”

  “Oh, come on,” I snapped, even as Martin’s eyebrows lifted and he gave Jeff a startled look. “No one is corrupting anybody, and I haven’t been a minor for five years. I can drink legally and everything.” Although what we did last night did feel awfully sinful…

  Jeff’s mouth opened as if he were about to let fly another salvo, but Martin, showing great forbearance, said quietly, “We do need to get going if we’re going to make that appointment.”

  “Right,” I said. “Can’t miss that appointment — not with time getting so short.” Thanking God that I hadn’t taken off my coat or even set down my purse, I stepped outside, leaving Jeff standing in the doorway, a look of pure thwarted anger on his face. “And Jeff, if you do hack those transmissions, make sure you call Lance or Paul. I’m going to be out of cell range for most of the day.”

  “Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t be calling you!” he retorted, and slammed the door in my face.

  Oh, boy. Martin’s eyebrows were still raised, but he forbore from asking any questions until we were both safely back in the car. He pulled away from the curb and had us headed toward the highway before he said, “Want to fill me in on that?”

  “You can’t read minds?” The question came out much snippier than I’d intended, and I sighed and reached up to rub my forehead. Barely ten-thirty, and I already felt tired. “Sorry, Martin. I think some of Jeff must have r
ubbed off on me.”

  “Poor girl.” He lifted his right hand from the steering wheel and squeezed my left one gently. I noticed that he didn’t try the nonverbal-communication thing with me — maybe he figured I was too upset to do it properly. “What happened?”

  It seemed so silly now. “Oh, apparently Jeff wanted to use this opportunity to profess his undying love for me.”

  “What?”

  “Okay, slight exaggeration. He wanted to see me so he could give me the worst kiss I’ve gotten since Mike Mulcahey tried to stick his tongue down my throat during an out-of-control spin-the-bottle incident in sixth grade.”

  By that point we were back on 89A cruising east, so apparently Martin thought it was safe to take his eyes off the road long enough to give me an incredulous look. “You’re joking.”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?”

  He studied me for a few seconds more, then said, “No.” He stopped at a red light. “I wasn’t aware that Jeff Makowski had…feelings…for you.”

  “That makes two of us.” I realized my hands were shaking a little, and I wedged them between my knees to get them to stop. Stupid. If I could let Jeff manage to rattle me, how was I going to handle fighting off a battalion of Reptilians? “Frankly, Jeff’s always seemed so asexual that he makes Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory look like Hugh Hefner.”

  Another one of those pauses. I could practically see Martin leafing through the pop-culture database in his head until he got a hit. “I can see why that would have thrown you a bit.”

  “I’ll say.” A small pang went through me as I recalled the hurt, angry look on Jeff’s face. I certainly hadn’t meant to upset him, or wound him, but really, could a guy be that smart about everything else and yet so clueless when it came to women?