Discovery

by Char Webster

  “NO!” she screamed. “Please stop! Oh God, please don’t.” He was shocked that a woman of her age had such fight in her. He guessed her to be in her late fifties, judging by the lines around her eyes and the grey roots that she tried to hide by wearing her hair up.

  Brooks walked away from the screaming woman. He hated scenes and she was making a horrific one. Thankfully, no one was around to hear the ruckus.

  Approaching his two men who were rifling through the contents of her briefcase, he pushed one out of the way so he could get a closer look. “Where is it?” he demanded.

  ”It’s not here. She must have hidden it.” The large man told him with disgust. They had gone through a lot of trouble to get her alone and now they still didn’t have what they came for.

  Brooks stormed back to the woman who was now whimpering and moaning, curled up on her side cradling her broken fingers. “Where is the memory stick?” He kicked her to get her attention when she didn’t answer right away.

  She slowly picked up her head to glare at him. “It’s gone. I threw it into the Hudson River. You’ll never get the information now.” The woman dropped her head back down with a sad smile, knowing that was probably the last thing she would ever do. At least the database census of their race would not fall into his hands.

  Brooks stalked over to one of the men, grabbed a gun from his holster and turned to fire a single bullet into her head.

  “Take care of that,” he said stomping off toward his car. All that hard work to get the information and it’s gone. He would never have an opportunity like that again to get a full listing of every member of the Gifted Race and what abilities they possessed.

  It was rotten luck that the woman had overheard his conversation with her employer and intercepted the memory stick. Brooks had known that the information could only be downloaded once before the Association discovered the breach. He wouldn’t get another opportunity.

  ~*~*~

  “Thank you so much, Miss Sutton!” Casey exclaimed as she exuberantly hugged her guidance counselor. “I’m going to miss you so much. What am I going to do without you this summer? You always know exactly what I’m feeling and how to help me.”

  Kate Sutton hugged the girl back with a big smile. Casey was one of her favorite students. The cute little freshman had started coming to her the first week of school. She had changed over the school year with Kate’s help. “I’m going to miss you too, Casey, but you’ll have a great summer. Just remember that if you can’t do anything about a situation or if you can’t change it, then you shouldn’t worry about it. Worrying will just make you sick. You spend way too much time worrying and not enough having fun.”

  Casey smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of her blonde bob behind her ear. “I know. I just can’t help it. I’m trying though. And you’re right; the journal has helped a lot.”

  “Keep it handy this summer, and if you start to feel stressed about something, write down your feelings.”

  “I will. Thanks again, Miss Sutton. I can’t wait for sophomore year. Woo-hoo!” With that, Casey bounded out of the room and into the hallway filled with students cleaning out their lockers for the last day of the school year.

  Kate sat back at her desk and looked around her office. She had a nice desk with a few comfortable chairs in front of it. Across the office sat a couple of bean bag chairs where her student groups could feel more at ease in a casual circle instead of a formal seating arrangement. Framed degrees and colorful photos lined her walls from some of her trips with her parents. The office was not cluttered, but was very homey—just how she liked things.

  Kate leaned back, pushed her long, dark-brown, curly hair out of her face, and closed her honey-colored eyes for a moment. The school year had gone by so fast and she almost couldn’t believe that she had the next couple of months off to relax. It had been a crazy few years, finishing her accelerated degrees in psychology and going right into her first job as a guidance counselor. It was a field she had always wanted to study and she was finally doing it. She was helping students.

  Her thoughts were interrupted once more, but this time by a loud knocking on the wall next to the door. Her principal popped his head in the room and said, “Hi Kate. How are you?”

  “Hi, Ted. Things are good but, I’m really going to miss the students over the summer,” she replied.

  Ted had been principal for about five years, taking over for a woman that had overstayed her welcome by about twenty years. She had been mean to everyone, and no one was sorry to see her leave. When Ted took over as principal, the school that no one wanted to work at suddenly became the place where everyone wanted to be. In his forties, he looked much younger and had the energy and drive of someone in their twenties. He had recently shaved his head to "beat the balding," as he liked to put it—he was bald by choice, not genetics. He loved kids, which was probably a good thing since he had six: five boys and one girl.

  He laughed and said, “Most of my staff can’t wait to get out of here for the summer and you tell me that you’re going to miss the students. I’m so glad that you joined my staff this year. I’ll be honest with you, I thought you might be a little young and inexperienced for this position, but I’m very happy to have been proven wrong.” He paused and looked at Kate. “What are your plans for the summer?”

  “I’m going to try to take a break and relax.”

  He laughed harder and louder. “I would really like to see that attempt. You have more energy and enthusiasm than all my staff combined. My bet is that you don’t make it a week before you are looking for something to do.”

  “As much as I hate to admit it, you are probably right, “Kate said, smiling widely, but wanting to change the subject. She never liked to talk about herself. “Are the kids ready to be off for a while?”

  “The boys have been ready for summer for weeks. We plan to take them to the beach for two weeks, and then my parents will take them to the Poconos to run around the mountains for a while to give my wife a break.”

  Kate laughed. “I bet Kathy could really use it.”

  “We both could,” Ted replied, smiling. It was obvious how much he loved his family.

  “Have a great summer, Ted.”

  “You, too, Kate. I hope you have a fun summer.”

  He left and she busied herself with completing some paperwork from the last of her student appointments. A few minutes later, Cindy Moore, the English teacher that all the students liked the best—and Kate’s best friend—walked through the door.

  “Kate, let’s go. We’re going to be late to meet everyone for happy hour.” Cindy stood slightly taller than Kate at about five eight and was a few pounds lighter. Where Kate had a few curves on her slight frame, Cindy was a stick but was surprisingly strong. She could probably be a model, Kate thought.

  “Hey, Cin. Let me just gather up these papers before we go.” Kate hurriedly pushed the papers into a folder and stuffed it in her backpack.

  “You aren’t seriously taking files home for the summer, are you?” Cindy asked incredulously, sweeping her long, straight, brown hair behind her shoulders. “I thought you were going to take some time off and hang by your pool for the summer. Don’t you think you deserve a break?”

  Kate laughed and replied, “It is just a few files and I do intend to take it easy, but how much of doing nothing but sitting around the pool could I possibly take without becoming a little bored?”

  “You don’t have an off switch, girl. You need to learn how to slow down a little.”

  “I’m planning to give that a try this summer.”

  “Well, I’m going to make sure you at least try by starting off with margaritas at The Deck,” Cindy declared.

  Kate smiled at her friend and followed her out of the door into the deserted hallway. The students had quickly disappeared, not wanting to stick around on their last day. Kate glanced at Cindy, thankful for having such a great friend at school. Cindy instantly befriended Kate when she had started this year
and helped her to navigate the new school system. Cindy had started the year before and was thrilled to share everything she had learned so far with Kate.

  “Are you driving?” Cindy asked, looking at Kate hopefully. Cindy had splurged on a new condo, so she couldn’t afford to update her fifteen-year-old Honda. She also loved riding in Kate’s new BMW.

  “Of course I’m driving. Don’t I always?” Kate said with a laugh.

  “Just checking. Besides, we look so much cooler pulling up in your car,” Cindy said as she climbed into the silver car.

  ~*~*~

  Leaning against the side of his SUV with his arms folded across his chest, he watched Kate Sutton walk out of the school with her friend and get into her car. They were giggling and carefree and he found himself wondering what she was like and if her hair was a silky as it appeared to be. He thought about how it would feel to run his fingers through it. He always liked long dark hair.

  Giving himself a mental shake, he needed to stop checking her out and get back to gathering information on her. So far, he had been following Kate for three days and found nothing to be concerned about except for that fact that she was very young to be brought in as an expert for a government agency. He needed to find out why the head of family services, Dawn Johnson wanted this woman to do an evaluation and not someone with more experience. When he listened to Dawn speak to her superiors about wanting to get the young doctor to help, he had been immediately suspicious. Why Kate Sutton? He checked every database he had access to and none showed any red flags for Kate. Actually, there wasn’t anything about her at all. Maybe she was just what she appeared to be. He was going to find out.

  ~*~*~

  It was still early, and happy hour had just started, so they were able to find a parking spot up close. As they got out of the BMW, Kate noticed a young woman standing by a car a few spots down, looking out at the parking lot. As she got closer to the woman, Kate felt fright coming off her. Cindy noticed Kate hesitate and look at the woman. She rolled her eyes, knowing that Kate would go speak with her.

  “I’ll be right in. Go grab us a couple of seats at the bar,” Kate called over to Cindy.

  “Don’t take too long. We have some serious celebrating to do,” Cindy replied.

  “I won’t,” Kate said distractedly, already approaching the woman. The girl had short blonde hair that was cut in lots of angles, longer in the front and shorter in the back. She was probably in her very early twenties.

  The young woman hadn’t noticed Kate when she walked up to her until she jumped, startled by the interruption of her thoughts.

  “Hi. Are you okay? You look scared,” Kate asked gently.

  The woman looked up and seemed to be even more scared than before. “I’m fine. I was just waiting for someone.”

  “Do you need to use my phone to call your friend?” Kate reached out and placed her hand on the woman’s arm. Instantly, the woman began to relax and the stress seemed to lessen.

  “I’ve called her a few times already, but she didn’t answer.”

  “Does she normally not return phone calls right away?”

  “No, that’s what made me so worried. I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday. She was going to meet up with new friends in Philly at a bar that she had never been to. I told her not to go alone, but she blew me off.” The girl paused. “Listen, I’m not even sure why I just told you all this . . .”

  Kate interrupted her. “I’m a great listener. Has anyone else spoken to her or has she posted anything on social media?”

  “Oh. I don’t know. Let me check.” She pulled out her phone and flipped through a few apps. She let out a huge breath and looked up at Kate. “Her phone was cracked and wouldn’t work. It says here, she is at the phone store getting a new one and if anyone needs her she will get back to them soon.” The young woman gave a weak smile and hugged Kate. “Thanks. Somehow, you made me feel so much better just talking with you.”

  “You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could help,” Kate told her. “I am going to meet my friend at the bar; you can have a margarita with us while you wait for your friend,” Kate replied as she hugged the woman back.

  “That would be great. Thanks.” They walked into the bar area and started toward the high-top tables.

  “By the way, I’m Gina.”

  “I’m Kate and that over there is Cindy. Let’s go get that drink.” Cindy was waving over the women as they came closer.

  ~*~*~

  As they walked through the bar area, several teachers called over hellos to Kate.

  “Hey, Kate!”

  “Kate, over here.”

  “Hey, girl.”

  Kate waved to all her friends from school as she and Gina settled on stools at the high-top table next to the bar where Cindy had been waiting. Other teachers were crowded around similar tables with drinks and appetizers, celebrating the beginning of summer.

  “Cindy, this is Gina. She’s going to hang with us until her friend shows up,” Kate said as Cindy looked up expectantly from her bar menu.

  “Hey, Gina. Nice to meet you,” Cindy replied. “We’re celebrating no more school for the summer.”

  “That’s cool. My friend Deanna and I spend happy hour here a lot on Thursdays. It’s a pretty good crowd.”

  A waitress approached and asked the ladies what they wanted. Gina ordered a Shock Top Lemon Shandy beer, and Kate ordered a margarita with no salt. Cindy had already gotten her drink while she was waiting for Kate.

  “So, are you both teachers?” Gina asked.

  “I’m an English teacher, but Brainiac here just finished her PhD in Psychology and is the new guidance counselor at our school,” Cindy answered.

  “Wow, you have your PhD? You look really young,” Gina replied, stunned.

  “She skipped like ten grades and does nothing but study and work all the time,” Cindy joked.

  “I skipped two grades and finished all my degrees on an accelerated schedule,” Kate clarified.

  “See, told ya—Brainiac.” Cindy laughed.

  Gina looked stunned and said, “No wonder you were able to help me so quickly.”

  Looking mildly uncomfortable with the praise, Kate changed the subject. “What do you do, Gina?”

  “Deanna and I work for an accounting firm. We went to college together and interned at the firm. They hired us both when we graduated last year. It’s been good so far. Oooo, there she is.” With that, she jumped up and rushed over to her friend.

  Cindy just shook her head at her abrupt departure and watched the two hug and head off to the other side of the room.

  “A toast to the end of school!” someone shouted, and everyone around raised their glasses or beer bottles.

  “I’m running to the ladies’ room. Be right back,” said Kate as she hopped off of the stool.

  “Want me to come?” asked Cindy.

  “No, I’ll be just a minute. Save our seats,” Kate replied as she hurried off.

  After leaving the ladies’ room, Kate noticed a tall, skinny guy with reddish-brown hair leaning against the wall, and felt the stress pouring off of him. As she walked down the short hall toward the bar, he turned abruptly and had almost run into her. She stumbled and put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself, while his hands had come up to hold her arms. He looked down at her with a confused look on his face and smiled tentatively.

  “Whoops, so sorry. I didn’t mean to almost knock you over,” he said, stepping back a little, but still holding on to her arm.

  “No problem,” she replied. “Are you okay? You looked a little stressed.”

  “I am stressed. I’m just not sure what to do,” he replied.

  Kate smiled gently and asked, “What don’t you know what to do about?”

  He hesitated, but told her. “I want to join the Army but I’m afraid to tell my mom. We lost Dad in Iraq a few years ago and I’m all she has now,” he explained sadly.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. Losing someone you love is
very hard on everyone, and it’s so much harder when it’s a close family member. It takes a lot of time to heal.” Kate paused, and then asked, “Why do you want to join the Army?”

  “I have always wanted to join. I was going to sign up right out of high school, but my Dad died and I ended up going to college instead. Now, I’m almost finished school and it’ll soon be time to get a job, but I really want to join the Army,” he told Kate sadly.

  “It seems like before, you needed a little time to heal from your loss and to spend time with your mom. Now, you need to live your life and do what is right for you. It’s time to talk to your mom and tell her how you feel. It may seem scary, but it’s the right thing to do,” Kate replied. She could feel the stress dissipating from him.

  “I will. I’m not sure why I told you all that, but I’m really glad I did. I’m going to talk to her right now. Thanks.” With that, he bounded off toward the door, seeming much happier.

  When Kate slid back onto the stool, Cindy gave her a knowing look and asked, “Who did you help now? You were gone for a bit.”

  “I just bumped into a guy in the hall. He almost knocked me down when he ran into me.”

  “Uh huh. I can’t take you anywhere!” said Cindy with a laugh.

  A good song came on and Kate jumped up and pulled Cindy to her feet. “Let’s dance!” Kate exclaimed. As they passed the other tables, Kate pulled several more people off their stools to follow them to the dance floor. “It’s a celebration, right?” Kate asked everyone. “Let’s party then.”

  After a few songs played and everyone was dancing and singing along with the music, Kate noticed a really attractive guy staring at her from across the bar. He had dark-brown, almost black hair and was wearing a black T-shirt that showed off his muscular chest to perfection. Just when their eyes met, someone knocked into her and she lost sight of him. When she regained her balance and looked up, he was gone. Kate spent the next few minutes looking around for him, but he was nowhere in sight. Disappointed that her eye candy had disappeared, she went back to dancing and laughing with her friends, but the mystery man was in the back of her mind the whole time.