Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender

by Aimee Laine

  Lily’s mother traipsed down the stairs, stalled at the edge of the last step, closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “It smells heavenly in here. Did you make the French roast?”

  Cael nodded.

  She lowered onto the couch next to Cael and clasped her hands in her lap. Without prompt, she drew in a deep breath. “I never told you this before and … well … I’m very emotional over Leigh’s disappearance.”

  “Of course you are. We all are. If I could remember more, I’d be even more distraught, I’m sure. As it is, I trust Tony will do what’s best.”

  “Right, right. Absolutely.” She patted Cael’s hand on the table. “I just never thought it would happen again.” Her breath hitched.

  Cael jerked back. “What would happen again?”

  Evelyn sucked in air. Her body shook as she steeled herself rigid. All at once, she slouched and dropped her gaze toward the table as though unable to meet Cael’s eyes. “I lost a child once. A long, long time ago. I had her for a year and someone stole her. Took her. I don’t know anymore.” Her hands lifted from the table but fell flat again. “I had her one day, and the next I didn’t. I never said anything to your Dad because it took years of guilt and grief and longing to come to terms with the fact I’d never see her again.” A small shudder ran through her. “I was sixteen when I had her. Lily is her name. She was so beautiful. Blond hair like her father and this little twitch each time she smiled.”

  Cael tried not to let his brows furrow as he listened. Carefully. The cadence of her voice suggested she told nothing but the truth.

  A catch of air and she closed her eyes, her long and slow breaths showing in the rise and fall of her chest. “My own mother pushed me to give her up. She said it would be best. That Lily was special and needed a place where she could be better served. All I saw was my darling little girl who giggled at me when I laid her in her bed at night.” Tears streamed down her face.

  Reconciling the woman before him with the woman he’d known through Lily’s stories didn’t match.

  “I loved her with all my heart and soul, Angie. I’ve never once believed anything bad happened to her.” She patted her heart. “I believe, in here, she’s even still alive. That she’s grown up, had her own family. She’d be … next week is her birthday. She’d be sixty-one.” Levelyn gave a small chuckle. “She could even have grandkids. That makes me feel so old.” She sniffed and wiped at her nose. “I could be a great-grandmother.”

  Levelyn waved her hand in front of her face. She grabbed hold of Cael’s hands and hugged them.

  “My outcome didn’t go well, but yours will. I—I probably shouldn’t say that, but dammit, I’m the grandmother now, and this time, it’s going to go right.” A hiccup of tears started. “Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. So that means we won’t have the same outcome again in this family. Right?” She patted and squeezed again. “Now that you know, we have hope.” Her breath came out in spurts as she exhaled. “Because this time, it’s going to end positively. One hundred percent positive. I can feel it.”

  Which is exactly what she’d already said.

  “Maybe I can help, or maybe something I know will jog your memory.”

  Or maybe lightning did strike twice. After the half hour conversation, he believed Lily’s mom’s story in its entirety.

  “Have I ruined your evening telling you about Lily, Angie? I just thought—”

  “No, Mom, not at all. I’m a little flustered I think … and really tired.” Neither of which held any measure of truth. “And I guess I’m just really surprised that I have a sister. One you … never told me about.”

  She bobbed her head as if she understood. “It hurt every time I thought of her. Still does, actually.”

  After so many years.

  “I told Tony I’d stay … if you want me, too.”

  “Of course I do.”

  Her eyes brightened, hands crossed over her chest. “Oh, good. I just … good.” She nodded once. “I’ll take my usual spot in the guest room down here if that’s okay.”

  “Are you getting tired?” At seventy-seven, Cael figured she’d had enough for the day. Maybe the year. “I do have a question for you.”

  “Okay.” She sipped at one of the cups of decaf, her hand shaking.

  “You said Lily disappeared, but you never felt like she was gone. What would you do if … you met her again?”

  The cup bobbled in Evelyn’s hand. She held it steady again before pursing her lips. “After this long, I can’t imagine she’d want to know the truth, but … well … I think I still have a few good years in me, right?” A small smile bloomed on her lips. “I’d love to meet her. To see what kind of woman she became. To have my whole family together—my two lovely daughters.” She reached out and wiped a trailing hair from Cael-Angela’s forehead. “To be able to say I’m sorry for not being there all those years like I have for you. To meet her children and grandchildren if they’d let me. To introduce them to my most awesomest grandkids ever.” A slow sigh escaped. “A mother never forgets her children, Angie. Never. Yours will be back in your arms soon. You’ll know that feeling—the one I’ve waited for all my life.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “For what?”

  “For telling me.”

  Tears slipped from her eyes. Evelyn stood, Cael following her, and she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I’m just going to try to rest now. You should, too.” With a pat to Cael’s cheek, Evelyn escaped into the room just off the kitchen again.

  Alone, Cael surveyed the kitchen, locked the doors and filled a plate with anything edible he could find. Once laden with sandwich makings, chips, flavored water, cookies and a box of raspberry dark chocolate, he maneuvered his way out of the kitchen, backing up through every door to ensure he didn’t drop anything on his way.

  Up the steps, through the hall and to the office door.

  “Lily.” When Lily didn’t respond, a single cough changed his voice to his natural, deeper one, and he tried again. “Lily.”

  Anxiety sent a shiver through his body without her response. He set the food on the floor, grabbed the handle and spun, breaking the inner mechanism with a single twist.

  The door flew open, but he caught it before it crashed against the wall.

  Lily sat against the window, her eyes closed.

  The moment of panic at Lily’s lack of answer made him want to change back to himself, scoop her up and run away.

  That need made him itch to shed the female skin and the estrogen coursing through him, sending flashes of heat to his lower extremities. Very few Mimics mastered cross-gender changes enough to manage without tremendous effort; handling the female body took a whole different set of skills.

  He scratched at his crotch, though the lack of his bits didn’t unnerve him as much as it had the first few times he’d had to lose his package to become a woman.

  Cael stared at Lily. Moonlight danced through the window, sending glistening spots of gold through her hair. Another centimeter, at least, of pale blond claimed the ends.

  It took him a minute to get out of the bra without Lily’s help. Unhooking them from around the front had never been a problem. Despite the number of times he’d had to do it, he always struggled to reach the eye hooks. Once released, the shift back from Angela to Cael form took him less than fifteen seconds. He pulled on his boxers, slipped his legs through his jeans and stuffed his arms and head through T-shirt holes until his usual body hid under a layer of male clothes.

  Two quick folds on each of Angela’s garments and he laid them on the desk for Lily to return to their rightful place.

  Moving to the woman in question, he slipped his arms underneath her and lifted. She weighed next to nothing, even as dead weight.

  Didn’t sleep well, did ya?

  She adjusted in his arms, tucking herself in close to him.

  Given both Angela and Tony’s offices took up the second floor, Cael figured the third held the bedrooms
. Marching up the steps took no time, and a peek into Max’s room revealed a small snoring form on a bed full of Spiderman toys. Cael moved on toward the end—to the only other room with an open door.

  A few steps took him to a massive king-sized bed. He laid Lily against the comforter where she curled into herself. One blanket on top and he leaned down to her. With an inhalation, he drew in her scent and left a kiss on her cheek.

  • • •

  Back in the second floor office, Cael headed straight for the laptop. He dropped into the seat, made a few taps on the keyboard and navigated his way to the FBI’s system. He brought up the missing and exploited children database, but the records there didn’t go back as far as Lily’s time. His position in the FBI, and as a Mimic, gave him far greater access than most, including cold cases and the historic crimes division.

  If Lily’s abduction had been reported, it could have been in a county record or a newspaper—all of which had moved from paper to microfiche to digital over the years. Having lived in each technological era, Cael found the latest to be the most accessible.

  With what little information he knew, he loaded details into search fields. Evelyn’s birth date and current address alone brought up a listing of the last ten places she’d lived and filed taxes, as well as the name of her parents. Digging deeper, he found Evelyn’s birth certificate and Lily’s linked to Evelyn’s file.

  The first line read ‘Lily Elizabeth Drake’—as it had when he’d looked before. With a new purpose, he reviewed the data, looking between the lines instead of what presented itself on the surface—to find connections he might have overlooked in his previous quest.

  So where did Crane come from if your mother never had that last name? If someone stole you, why had they kept your given name. Someone on the inside? For simplicity? The grandmother? Her father?

  The probability of an inside job jumped to the top of Cael’s list. He sent the ‘Drake’ details to his personal account as well as a note to search for ‘Crane’ in more depth.

  A second linked record went to Angela Evelyn Hayes with a third link to Angela Evelyn Jenkins (m).

  Perfect.

  Thirty years had passed since the last time Cael had investigated Lily’s background. Twenty years had passed since he’d found Angela. Ten since he’d found out about Tony.

  Just keeping up in case she asked one day.

  Stories warred in his mind. What Lily had shared beat on what Evelyn told him. The two simply did not match.

  “Time to go deeper,” he said to himself.

  He’d never pried so much on his own before—only sought the details Lily wanted when she asked for it, though her interest to know never remained for long. She’d needed to keep the memories hidden.

  That they’d been brought to the surface in such a disastrous manner pierced his heart. Never had he thought Lily would have been kidnapped by her unknown sister’s husband.

  Cael clicked Lily’s name and unlocked the seal he’d placed on it years before.

  Details of ‘live birth’ displayed as they always had. He made a note to add a seal to Leigh’s file once they found her. When any Mimic he worked with reached one hundred, the seal would automatically create a death certificate and Lily, Leigh and Chase—like Charley and James already had—would no longer exist, at least from an IRS and U.S. perspective. They could be found but only by those with the right clearance.

  Returning to Evelyn’s records—with key pieces Cael already knew but itched to review in light of the new details—he went in search of truth to back up her story. “If there’s anything about a missing baby sixty years ago, it’s going to pop up.” Cael ran a hand along the back of his neck, noting the time at nearly midnight and ignoring his body’s need for rest.

  The screen blinked and a listing of documents, newspaper articles and a variety of other items scrolled in front of Cael.

  “Bingo.”

  11

  Bright lights and the sound of laughter had Lily blinking her eyes open to a bed and room she didn’t remember falling asleep in. She pushed up, recognizing the space as Tony’s and the giggles downstairs as Max’s.

  A head shake brought with it no understanding of how she’d arrived in bed, or why she still wore the same clothes from the day before.

  “Cael?”

  Lily slipped from the bed, making her way through the hallway.

  Down the steps.

  To the office.

  No one. The laptop sat on the desk. Closed.

  “Cael?”

  More giggles abounded from below along with another voice. A woman. The woman.

  Shivers took over Lily’s body when a shadow graced the wall of the hallway. Lily couldn’t make herself move. Her mind ran with possibilities of seeing her mother, the woman who abandoned her so long before, standing in front of her.

  “Lily?” Cael’s form materialized from the stairs. “Are you okay?”

  “Wha—”

  “I was downstairs with Evelyn and Max.”

  “But, wha—” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “What’s going on?”

  “There are a few things I need to fill you in about.” Cael navigated her toward the office.

  “You didn’t send her away?”

  He shook his head.

  “But—Cael—How could you? I thought—” The idea of seeing that woman brought with it anger and frustration. She clenched her hands into a fist and stormed to the window. “Wait, who’s Evelyn?”

  “Your moth—”

  Lily cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “My mother’s name was Lucinda.”

  Cael’s chuckle didn’t soothe the burning anger. “Nope.”

  “Yes.”

  “No.” His smirk made her want to scream.

  “What the hell, Cael? Why the games? I don’t care what you call her. I’m not going down there, and I’m not going to talk to her. You have—”

  Cael wrapped her in a hug, swinging side to side before pulling her to the window seat. “Let’s sit where it’s comfortable.”

  Lily dropped down with him, fury bubbling within her. If he doesn’t get on with his craziness, I might just have to hit him. Not that it would hurt. She sat so she could stare into Cael’s eyes, though her ability to discern truth that way didn’t work very well.

  “What if I told you the woman downstairs was your Mom?”

  “I already know that. Just like I know—”

  “What if I told you her name is Evelyn Lilian Hayes, not Lucinda Crane?”

  Lily didn’t move from her spot. “People change their names all the time … especially to cover up a crime—” Or child abuse. Or the fact she’d thrust Lily into an organization no better than the worst child abuser.

  “What if I told you—”

  She shoved off. “Just get on with it, Cael. I’m always the last to know because I’m usually the most emotional, but this time, it’s about me. Me, me, me, me, me, so please just tell me how bad it is.” Just don’t make me go to her.

  Cael’s eyed widened. “Band-aid-like tell?”

  “Yes. Just rip it off.” Lily mimed the action.

  “She’s your mother, but not the woman you remember. You were abducted as a baby. As a one-year old in fact. Your Mom’s been—”

  Lily stood and stomped her way to the other side of the room. “How did she get through to you?” One finger pointed back his way. “You, of all people.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  Lily threw her hands up in the air. “You, who’s tended the scars on my face, who found the detail of the sale, who rescued me from my own depression a dozen times. One woman in this world gave birth to me, and one woman sold me to the government for genetic testing and experimentation. One. Her.” Her breath hitched as her eyes filled.

  Cael jumped up, raced to Lily and took her in his arms. “You said Band-Aid, Lil. Now hear me out.”

  Her fists beat against his chest. “It’s not possible, Cael. I’ve hated her for almo
st forty-eight years. You can’t—” Tears raced down her cheeks as the constant flashbacks and memories took their toll on her psyche.

  Cael held her away from his body, took her face between his palms and met her gaze again. “Hey …” He wiped at wetness on her cheek. “Are you going to let me finish?”

  She raised eyes blurred by tears. “I don’t know if I can take it. The pain, needles. The jabs. The punches. The surgery. The—everything is all coming back. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t say ‘find my mom’. I was happy. I was dealing with stuff. I was … me, Cael. I can’t do this.”

  “Yes, you can. I already did all the research. Countless articles about the missing baby. I found police records, even. One night, you were there. The next morning, you were gone. A month later, a supposed sighting brought you into the spotlight. A year later, another. Two years. Four. Ten. Even twenty years later.”

  “But isn’t that the cop’s job?”

  He shook his head. “It went cold, Lily, because it was so old. Evelyn, though, she was always getting the ball rolling again. A parent believing her child is still out there does that, not someone who’d sold her daughter. The last record of an attempt came thirty-three years ago. When Angela was born.” Cael closed his eyes and sighed, a mix of emotion fluttering through his blue-green irises upon reopening. “She never told Angela’s father what happened. It all came out in a rush last night to her daughter … and again this morning to me as myself. What did you do when Chase went missing?”

  Stiffness took hold of Lily’s body. “I didn’t do anything.”

  His hands squeezed her biceps. “No, you mourned. But about a week after, right before he showed up, you’d started to heal. But you mourned, Lily. Evelyn, the woman downstairs, she’s still mourning, but she’s kept her life going. She was in her early forties when she had Angela.”

  “That could have been because of guilt.” She tucked her chin down to her chest. And rightly so.

  “Look at me, Lily.”

  She raised her head.

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  “No.”

  “Do you trust me when I tell you I did all the research possible overnight, and that I know when she met Al, her husband who died just three years ago, and when she had Angela and when everything started and stopped?”