Close-up: Take 1 of the Kanyon and Daylen Series

by K. B. Draper

  “A mask?”

  “Disguise or whatever. She’s got good intentions. She’s just trying to protect me from getting recognized and slaughtered by the media.”

  “I see. And you don’t think the media will do this? They haven’t exactly been your friend in the recent past,” Ruby reminded her.

  “Oh, I know they will. I guess …” she paused, “I guess I just don’t care anymore. The media is this evil little entity. They don’t care what the truth is. They’re like the worst high school popular bitch girl clique ever. If you’re popular, they ride your coattails to propel their popularity or in their case, sell magazines. If you fumble, they’re the first to gossip behind your back, destroy everything you’ve worked for, and they don’t even care about the real facts. So, I’ve concluded I have to do what makes me happy, live my life my way, and try not to care what they say.”

  “Working with Daylen, at the moment anyway, makes you happy?” Ruby pried, already knowing the answer.

  “Yeah.” She thought for a second. “Happier than I’ve been in a long time … But it’s more than that.” Kanyon looked down at her hands and thought for another second. “It feels like I’m supposed to be here.” Kanyon was surprised at her honesty, then quickly remembered her other surprising confession while sitting in this chair. She stood up quickly and looked back at the chair, pointing at it. “Is this some truth-telling voodoo chair? Or is the ‘Dr. Phil-tell-me-everything’ another one of your special talents?”

  “Dr. Phil is an amateur.” Ruby winked.

  Kanyon believed her and needed to tread back into more comfortable water. “Can I ask you something?” She reseated herself strategically in the other chair in front of Ruby’s desk.

  “I’m sure you have many questions. I’ll do what I can to answer them.”

  Kanyon reeled through the hundreds of questions she wanted to ask. Is this Blood Ring thing for real? If so, what other paranormal items are out there? Ghosts? Bigfoot? Mothmen? Vampires? God, she hoped not ‘cause they were way overrated lately. Who is Isadora? How did Ruby know she was talking to her in her dreams? Why is Isadora talking to her? What exactly are Guardians and Seekers? How in the world did she get the job? Did she just imagine Daylen’s touch healed her? Who is my father? Speaking of absent men, when’s Isadora’s hubby, Marcus, going to appear? Could she just drive the Bentley to the end of the driveway and back? But she settled on the one that was most concerning. “Anything I should know about Daylen, like health issues or anything?”

  Ruby raised a curious eyebrow. “Why?”

  She hadn’t planned on telling Ruby about the dizzy spells, feeling like she was betraying Daylen in some way. She looked down to examine the chair. Damn, this chair must have truth-telling voodoo too. She felt a mental slap in her head and looked up to eye Ruby suspiciously.

  “It’s not the chair. What’s going on with Daylen?” Ruby asked pointedly.

  “Right. Well, I’m not sure exactly. She says she’s fine and gives me a lame excuse about being hungry or low blood sugar, but she kind of gets this glassy-eyed stare and then goes all ragdoll for a second. She recovers quickly, but I was just wondering if … well, if I should be worried? You know, carry a Snickers in my pocket or something?”

  “When’s this happened?” Ruby straightened in her chair with obvious concern in her voice.

  “I don’t know. We’ll walk into a room and she’ll start to talk to different people and she gets all weak-kneed.”

  Ruby nodded her head in understanding. “I think I know what’s going on and there’s no need to worry. Just watch her and I’ll talk to her.” She saw Kanyon start to protest so she held up a hand. “I won’t say you said anything.”

  “Alright, cool. Thanks.” Kanyon stood to go, taking another assessing glance at the chair and then at Ruby.

  “Kanyon,” Ruby said to stop her. “You’ve begun a very interesting journey. Along the way some things may seem beyond reality, but you need to be open to them. Trust your instincts, have faith in yourself, and listen to your heart.” She gave Kanyon a conspirator’s wink. “If you do, you might end up in a place you always longed to be and with someone you never thought you deserved.”

  Kanyon absorbed Ruby’s advice, uncomfortable with the fear and hope her words ignited. She began to shake her head, more comfortable with evading emotions than having them. She laughed Ruby off. “Have faith in myself, listen to my heart? Yeah, I don’t know. Think the jury is still out about you being better than Dr. Phil.” Kanyon gave Ruby a playful smile.

  “Oh, really?” Ruby returned a devilish grin and leaned back in her chair. “Try this on for size, smarty britches. The Blood Ring is for real. There are hundreds of paranormal items in the world. Yes to ghosts, but no to Bigfoot, Mothmen, and vampires. And I completely agree; I’m way over the vampire thing. I think Isadora already explained all that stuff to you, maybe you should start paying more attention. It’s entirely likely you and Daylen both have many gifts, several yet undiscovered. You’ll find your father when you’re ready to see him and Marcus will be there when you need him. And no, you can’t drive my Bentley.” Ruby lifted her hands palms up. “What’ve you got to say about Dr. Phil now?”

  Kanyon nearly stumbled over her own feet as she backed toward the office door. “Dr. Phil is your punk ass bitch?”

  Ruby nodded her approval then waved Kanyon out of the room.

  Kanyon took another step backward. “But how’d you …?”

  “Beyond reality. Now get or I’ll show you some of my other mad skills.” She put two fingers to her temple and gave Kanyon a daring glare.

  Daylen was hanging up the phone when Kanyon walked into her office and past her. “Ah, your aunt, she umm … ever do any time?”

  “Mental or criminal?” Daylen asked flatly.

  Kanyon whipped her head toward Daylen. “Either?”

  “No, but not because I haven’t tried to have her committed. I even tried to wrap her in tinfoil and drop her on their doorstep but …” she looked up and shrugged, “she’s perfectly sane and I’m apparently stuck with her.”

  “Right.” Kanyon took another glance down the hall then walked over and sat on the edge of Daylen’s desk.

  “I just got off the phone with my contact at LAPD. She didn’t have to run Defalco to tell me who he is.”

  “Not good if the PD knows your name.”

  “Yeah. On the surface, he looks like a successful businessman with several, again appears to be, legitimate business ventures. However, a few years ago the PD and the FBI opened a joint investigation on him. Top secret, but there’s talk about black market import and export dealings.”

  “And that’s why she knows who he is?”

  “Well, Pat …” She trailed off at Kanyon’s raised eyebrow, then raised her own with a smirk of satisfaction when she saw Kanyon’s jaw clinch. “Lt. Boston said there are two Defalcos. Junior and Senior. Junior doesn’t have the spotless record of his dear ol’ dad. He’s been arrested for several assaults, which include beating up a stripper in Vegas and a guy in a bar. He took an extended test ride in a Lamborghini and finally, drugs. Apparently, he had enough on him for intent to sell and,” she looked down at her notes, “he was suspected in the disappearance of a guy he reportedly argued with. No one’s seen the guy since. They’re sure it’s a homicide, but they’ve yet to find the body or any witnesses willing to testify. Of course, Daddy bailed him out each time and got him lawyered up, so he’s never been convicted of anything.”

  Kanyon chimed in. “So maybe the son? Lydia and Junior would be closer to the same age. Maybe he and Lydia hooked up while she was working for daddy. He’s got a history of beating up women so maybe he’s the jealous type and believes in the ring’s little truth detector trick …”

  “He stole it and is going to use it to prove her faithfulness? Or maybe he accused her of cheating and she stole it to prove to him she wasn’t?” Daylen concluded.

  “Either way plays,” Kanyon agreed
.

  “Well, hopefully tonight we’ll see to which Defalco she runs.”

  Daylen’s cell phone rang, she glanced at her caller ID and answered. “Hey sis, what’s up?” She listened for a few seconds then slapped her forehead. “Right. Yep. Uh-huh. Got it.” She ended the call. “Crap.”

  “What?”

  “I totally forgot I promised my sister that I’d babysit my nieces tonight so she and my brother-in-law can have a date night.”

  “Tell them something came up,” Kanyon offered.

  “No. They’ve been looking forward to this night for a while and have tickets to some concert.”

  “Okay, so no biggie. I can go see who our little slut-o’tunity runs to when she gets off work.” Daylen gave her a concerned look. “What? I may be new at the detective gig, but I think I can handle it. I did play the witty and cunning Detective Lynn Ryan for two seasons. And I don’t mean to brag, but I solved murders in sixty minutes and had a 99% success rate. It would’ve been 100% if the show would’ve been picked up for a third season. Not my fault, I should add, the writers were caught up in a prostitution sting.” She crossed her arms triumphantly.

  Daylen considered the millions of disastrous outcomes that could occur if she let Kanyon handle this without her and then weighed them against the one catastrophic outcome if she tried to cancel on her sister. “Alright. Sure. You follow her and get the info we need. Then if you want, stop by my sister’s to give me the details. There’ll be left over pizza and hopefully two sleeping little girls by the time you’re done.”

  And just like that, Kanyon turned into a sixteen-year-old boy with thoughts of sneaking in to see the babysitter while the parents are away and the kids are asleep. “I’m there.” Kanyon looked at her watch. “I have a couple of things I need to do. I promised Roz I’d stop by her office and look over some scripts.” She stood. “But I’ll be at the O’Connellys around, what, four thirty?”

  “Yeah, four thirty is good,” Daylen said absently, taken off guard at the possibility of Kanyon taking a new role, one that didn’t include her. Then mentally kicked herself, frustrated at her heart’s conflicting reaction.

  “Alright, partner. Text me your sister’s address. I’ll see you later.”

  “Kanyon, we aren’t partners. You’re just here until you get bored or find another role.” The words coming out harsher than she intended.

  Daylen watched Kanyon’s smile drop. “That’s what you think?”

  “Yes … no. I don’t know, Kanyon. I don’t want you to …”

  Kanyon walked over and stood in front of her. “Daylen, I have my obligations, but I’m here.”

  Daylen opened her mouth to protest, but her words had no strength or conviction so she resigned with a nod.

  Kanyon reached down and took Daylen’s chin in her hand, forcing Daylen to meet her eyes. “And you just need to get use to me being around.” Kanyon’s words and touch surged through Daylen. Kanyon felt it too. She quirked a smile and ran a soft thumb over Daylen’s jaw. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  Daylen watched Kanyon leave the office. When she cleared the door, Daylen dropped her head on her desk with an audible thud. She lifted it a few minutes later when she heard the familiar sounds of her aunt’s footfalls coming down the hall. Ruby turned into Daylen’s office only to retreat quickly, shading her eyes as if she’d just walked in on the sun. “Damn, sweetheart. You’re going to have to lower the lust wattage or I’m going to have to start wearing sunglasses.”

  “Very funny.”

  “I’m kind of not joking.” She squinted as she took another look at her niece. “You look like a LiteBrite using 1500 watt bulbs; a big bundle of messed up auras. Where’s Kanyon?”

  “She just left. She’s going to see her agent, Roz, to look at scripts.” Daylen dropped her head back on her desk.

  “Ahhh,” Ruby replied knowingly.

  “No, ahhh,” Daylen mumbled. “No nothing.”

  “Sure looks and feels like something. Kind of like you’re unhappy Kanyon is going to possibly take a new role and kind of like you’re unhappy that you’re unhappy about it.”

  Daylen sighed loudly.

  And that explains the lust, confusion, and frustration. “Looks like you have some decisions to make.”

  Daylen lifted her head. “Decisions? And what are those decisions exactly? Ummm, let Kanyon in and give her an all access pass to ruin her career and her life? Let her put herself in danger and possibly get hurt? Expose her to the real world; the one of the para-weird and super-creepy?”

  “Sounds like a good start.”

  “God, you’re impossible!” Daylen dropped her head on her desk again.

  “Daylen, first off, if you keep doing that I’m going to start making you wear a helmet. Second, those are decisions Kanyon needs to make for herself. You can’t make them for her. Like you, she needs to be given an opportunity to choose her own destiny.”

  There was a long silence. “I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

  “Then choose to protect her by standing with her, not in front of her or against her.”

  Another long silence, then Daylen raised her head and looked at her aunt. “You suck.”

  “I love you too. Now tell me about these dizzy spells.”

  “How the heck did you know about that?” She eyed her suspiciously. “Kanyon say something?”

  “I’m insulted by your continued lack of respect for the power of my abilities.”

  “She did, didn’t she?”

  Ruby rolled her eyes dramatically.

  Still suspicious, but curious herself about the recent increase in her powers Daylen divulged, “I don’t know what’s going on. It seems I’m becoming a lot more receptive lately. I mean, when we’ve practiced I can get little bits and pieces, some vibes. But the last few days, I’m almost getting bowled over by people’s emotions.”

  “When, exactly, has this occurred?”

  “It began with Lenny and the warehouse really, then Mr. Remington, Jeff, Rick, and today, Lydia.”

  “So ever since you’ve been with Kanyon?” Asking the question to force Daylen to make the connection.

  “Yeah, but …” Daylen halted. “Kanyon?”

  “Afraid so sweetheart. You two are bonded. When you’re together, the stronger your powers will be, and the longer you’re together the stronger they’ll become.”

  “How strong?”

  Aunt Ruby pondered the possibilities for a second. “I honestly don’t know, only time will tell,” she answered quickly. She took a deep breath. “But right now it sounds like it’s time for me to teach you how to shield.”

  “Shield?”

  “Shield yourself from the emotions you read so they won’t overtake you. It’s like closing a window. You can see them, but they can’t get to you.”

  Daylen leaned back in her chair. “Okay then, teach away, oh mighty one.”

  Chapter 13

  Kanyon twisted uncomfortably in her seat for the tenth time as she sat curbside waiting for Lydia to leave the O’Connellys’. She knew it wasn’t the car’s seat causing her discomfort because she had driven her Audi A8; not only because it was black on black, or one of her favorite cars to go incognito, but specifically for its comfort. The car had like twenty-eight lumbar settings, a couple of which she was pretty sure were only legal in underground Bangkok massage parlors. No, she was restless because of her meeting with Roz. She felt guilty. Roz had worked hard to get her some really great roles; especially great roles considering the current status of her “fuck up” reputation. But instead of telling Roz she really wasn’t interested in taking on any new roles at the moment, she played the unimpressed, picky, difficult client. As Roz tried to convince her otherwise, she became more obstinate. Her heart just wasn’t in it. Her heart had never really been into acting, it was simply what she did, what she had done her whole life. But now she wanted to do something else, something she chose to do. Okay, so it had kind of chosen her if what Ruby
and Isadora said was true. But still, she wanted a change. She was grateful for what the Hollywood life had given her and she appreciated her fans, but acting just never felt right. She felt like she’d been an actress her entire life, playing a role for thirty-two years. Hell, she was like the Susan Lucci of her own show; “All My Kanyon.” “As the Kanyon Turns?” “Days of Our Kanyon?”

  She adjusted her butt again and her thoughts wandered to Daylen and the case. As unbelievable as it all was; the Blood Ring, Isadora, Seekers and Guardians, she was still energized. She was excited about the possibilities, excited about working with Daylen. Working as Daylen’s Guardian. “Guardian,” she said out loud. She didn’t even know what it meant really and part of her didn’t care. Whatever it was or wasn’t, it meant she was working with Daylen. So later she’d deal with the slight possibility that she’d just bought a one-way ticket down the crazy rabbit hole, following some woman that ran around her dreams with high beams on. At that thought, her car radio went full Christine on her, scanning quickly through the channels until it stopped suddenly and the chorus of Manfred Mann’s “Blinded by the Light” blared through her speakers.

  “Very funny, DJ Is-2loud-a!” Kanyon yelled, as she covered one ear with her hand and scrambled to turn off her radio with the other. When her car was silent again she looked around. Nothing. Still, she sensed she wasn’t alone. She wanted to continue to talk to her imaginary friend but the gates to the O’Connellys’ estate opened and she saw Lydia pull out of the drive. Kanyon followed her, able to merge easily into the evening traffic. They wound through the streets for several miles, Kanyon keeping pace a few cars back until some grandma pulled out in front of her and wouldn’t get out of the passing lane. When the lady finally turned into a church, Kanyon crossed herself and apologized for the slow as a f’in arthritic sloth comment. Though she wasn’t Catholic or religious she felt the need to throw in a good repentance because she didn’t know exactly who her new supernatural employer was, but their recruiter was all clouds and bright light so … She pushed through a yellow light to catch back up to Lydia who, a few blocks later, finally arrived at her destination. When Lydia flipped on her blinker and turned into a restaurant parking lot, Kanyon proceeded to pass her. Despite the no parking sign, she edged into a fire lane which afforded her a visual of the front entrance of the restaurant and the lot.