Whisper Cape

by Susan Griscom

  “Let me drive your truck. I’ll get you home.”

  “No, no, no. How will you get home?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll manage.”

  “Okay. You always do seem to manage, don’t you?” She handed him the keys. At this point, she didn’t really care how she got home, as long as it was soon.

  ***

  The moon low and barely visible in a sky full of clouds gave the gravel driveway a gloomy atmosphere, sending off portentous vibes. As Cael helped Addison into the truck, something caught his eye in the thicket by the side of the building. He drove off, but checked the rear-view mirror and caught movement in the road. Whatever it was, he was sure it had been watching them. He was glad he came to the bar tonight and that Addison had still been there, even if she was a bit tipsy. She definitely needed protection, especially if Ristéard’s killer was skulking around.

  Addison dozed off during the ride home, and woke up as they pulled into her parking space. As Cael got out of the truck, he had the same feeling he’d had outside the Bar and Grill. Something was out there, watching. He helped Addison out of the truck and guided her up the steps to her door. She was still a little uneasy on her feet.

  “Where are my keys?” She dug in her bag, looking up at him with glassy eyes.

  “Shhh, someone’s watching,” he whispered as he showed her the keys in his hand and opened the door.

  Once they were in, he quickly turned the lock.

  “Why do we need to be quiet? So what if someone’s watching. We’re two grown people and it’s still early.”

  “Addison, I saw something outside at the Cliff Hanger, and again here. There was a movement ... something lurking by the dumpster.”

  “Movement by the dumpster? You’re a grown man and you’re afraid of someone putting their garbage out?” She laughed and shrugged off her jacket.

  “No, I’m not afraid of someone taking out their garbage. That's not what I saw.”

  Then her voice turned serious. “Oh, wait ... maybe it’s a mountain lion. You know they found a dead woman the other day and they think she was attacked by a mountain lion.”

  “No, I don’t think it was a mountain lion,” he said as he began locking all the windows and pulling down all the shades. He took a moment to look around her apartment, noticing how sparsely decorated it was. She didn’t have much by way of furniture, but then the place was small. He did notice the picture on the table next to the sofa. It was a picture of Ristéard with her. They stood with their arms around each other affectionately, smiling for the camera.

  “Are you sure you saw something? Or ... were you just trying to scare me so I’d let you in?”

  “Believe me Addison, I wouldn’t need to scare you into letting me in here,” he stuck his hands in his pockets and stood watching her.

  “You’re very conceited, aren’t you? What makes you think I would let you in under different circumstances? Just because I let you kiss me this afternoon and agreed to have dinner with you ... wait. How did you know where I lived? I never told you.”

  “I know a lot of things, Addison, and one thing I know for sure, someone or something is out there right now, watching us, watching you.”

  “Oh, please say you’re joking. This is ridiculous, why would someone be watching me?” She plopped down on the sofa.

  “Just trust me.”

  “Who are you? Please tell me what this is about because if you’re trying to scare me, you’re succeeding. If you’re acting this way to try to seduce me, well, I think you should change your strategy, because scaring a woman half to death is not very attractive.”

  She came to her feet and he walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

  “You’re trembling.” He gently helped her back down and sat next to her. “I’m not trying to seduce you.” Not yet, not under these conditions. “Look, you’ve had a few beers tonight. We should discuss this another time.”

  “I’ve only had three beers.” She seemed to regain some composure and pushed herself away from him. “I’m fully capable of understanding this charade of yours. I may have been a little tipsy before ... maybe more tipsy than I should have been ... only because I haven’t eaten today. I went with you at lunch and then I stayed at the bar and didn’t eat because of Darcy and Tim and ... Oh God, I forgot about Darcy. I need to warn her.”

  “This is not a charade and ... who is Darcy and why do you need to warn her?” If she knew something about what was going on, he needed to find out.

  “Darcy, my friend, she’s head over heels for that swine Tim. She doesn’t know he’s married. Jared wanted me to be the one to tell her because he’s still in love with her and she won’t believe him.”

  Relieved she wasn’t talking about anything relevant to the situation, Cael listened to her ramble. Maybe it was better she concentrate on her friends instead of what was outside.

  It was cold in the apartment and she ran her hands up and down her arms as she spoke about her friends. Then she stretched out her arm toward the heater, sending sparks at it. It rumbled on, circulating warm air into the room.

  It was obvious to Cael that Addison hadn’t realized what she’d just done until she stopped talking and put her hand over her mouth, staring at him with those beautiful caramel colored eyes that reminded him of a fine scotch. He realized he’d better be careful or he might find himself intoxicated by the spell of those eyes.

  “Now, if you continue to act foolish, you might get yourself killed one of these days. You should really be more careful when using your abilities—you never know who’s watching.” He reached over and picked up the framed photo of Ristéard and Addison to study it closer.

  “My abilities ...? You know what I can do?” She ran both her hands through her hair, pulling it up in back before letting it fall.

  “I do,” he admitted, watching her golden brown waves spill over her shoulders, the slight curl at the ends just tipping over her breasts. Her hair color matched her eyes that were full of confusion and fear as they stared up into his. He set the photo back down.

  “And you’re not shocked, or think I’m an alien or some sort of monster or something?”

  He smiled. “No, you’re not an alien or a monster, but you are gifted with some special talents—as I am—and part of something much larger than you can comprehend at the moment.”

  “Like you?”

  Her eyes were wide and beautiful.

  “Yes, like me. Remember this afternoon when I asked if you had noticed anything unusual happening?”

  “Yes, and I lied to you. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.”

  “That doesn’t matter, I know you lied to protect yourself, but now you can trust me. That’s what we do—lie to guard our secret. I saw you start your truck the other day and it seems someone else saw you, too. You really should be more careful where and when you use your powers.”

  “My powers ...? You saw me. I didn’t think anyone was around. Who else do you think saw me?”

  “I’m not sure.” Someone must have seen her use them, because he was certain that someone or something was stalking her and he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  “Listen carefully.” He placed both his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to frighten you, but there’s something outside. I saw something by the dumpster and I believe it wants to harm you. I think he—and I use 'he' lightly—believes you have something he wants. I don’t know how he managed to follow us here, but he did. We can’t stay here. Believe me; I know what I’m talking about.”

  “No. I don’t want to believe you.”

  “Addison, I would never lie to you.”

  “Please, tell me this is all just a bad dream. Are you certain you saw something outside? Maybe it was just a cat, a dog, or my apartment manager even. You know, people go out to the dumpster all the time. Maybe you just saw someone throwing out their trash.”

  “No, I can tell the difference between throwing
away trash and lurking around. Look, I can’t leave you alone knowing you’re in danger. Please, you can trust me. I didn’t freak out when you used your ability to turn the heater on, right? Don’t you think I would have been amazed at what you did?”

  “Well, yeah, I suppose. Okay ... but what should we do?”

  “Come with me, I have a plan.”

  Chapter 15

  Cael stood, held out his hand for Addie, who took it and stood. “Grab your jacket.” He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in close, cupped her chin in his hand, and tilted her head up toward his, their lips inches apart. “Do you trust me?” His voice was husky, his breath warm and her knees were about to turn to jelly.

  “Yes, I think so. Do I have a choice?”

  “No. Close your eyes,” he whispered.

  She did as he requested as a weird sensation of air swept through every pore, every cell of her body.

  “You can open your eyes now, you’re safe.”

  Addie opened her eyes. He still held her in his arms, which was good because she almost fell over from the shock. She blinked as she looked around, recognizing Cael’s rented beach house, the red leather sofa and marble-topped coffee table from earlier that afternoon. It was dark except for the moonlight trickling in through the large window, giving the room a dreamy ambiance.

  “How did we ...?”

  Before she could finish her question, he lifted her chin up to his face and pressed his lips down on hers.

  Pushing away, she turned her face from his. “How is this possible? We were just standing in my apart ...”

  Without answering, he resumed kissing her. She started to pull away but then relaxed and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer to her.

  After enjoying the kiss for a few seconds, Addie came to her senses and shoved her hands against his chest, stopping the kiss. “Wait. You need to explain ...”

  Cael ignored her, silencing her with his lips once more. Addie lost herself in his tender embrace, unable to focus on anything else, which she knew was completely wrong. Every instinct told her she should be afraid, but she didn’t care.

  His mouth traveled down to her neck as she raised her head to accept the slight graze of his teeth and titillating touch of his tongue just below her earlobe, sending quick pulses of excitement though her body.

  She sighed, “You can’t keep silencing me with your kisses.”

  “It’s working so far,” he whispered, then brought his mouth back to hers, attempting another kiss, but this time she managed to turn her face aside.

  “Please, stop. I need to know what’s going on.”

  They stood for a moment, both lost in the sweet embrace.

  He sighed. “If you insist.”

  “How did we get here?”

  He smiled. “I have the ability to teleport. That’s how I managed to save you at the cliff. I heard you scream but there was no way I could have run over there in time.”

  “What do you mean ‘teleport'? What does that mean?”

  “It means I can move from one place to another, instantly.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, what she had just experienced. Her sense of logic denied what he was saying. The word itself was absurd. This whole night had been absurd. She pushed herself away from him, trying desperately to find some vestige of understanding, some measure of strength to continue this illogical conversation.

  “How does it work exactly?”

  He shrugged. “I just think about it and it happens.”

  “Show me.”

  “Well, okay.”

  He vanished before her eyes, and then tapped her on her shoulder from behind. “Hey.” He smiled a sexy grin.

  “Holy incredible crap! This is unbelievable—do that again.”

  He did. This time he disappeared for a bit longer and when he returned, he was holding a beautiful red rose that he handed to her.

  She took the rose, feeling her knees go weak. “I think I’m going to need a moment.” She sat. “So ... you can do this anytime you want?”

  “Yes, usually.”

  “Take me somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know, anywhere.”

  He pulled her against him. “Okay. You should close your eyes, though. It can be a little ... unsettling at first.”

  Two seconds later, he said, “Okay, open your eyes.”

  She did and gasped. They stood upstairs in his bedroom.

  “Someday I'll take you somewhere wonderful, but not tonight. There are more pressing issues at hand. For now, you need to get past the shock.”

  “This is just too amazing! All I felt was a slight swish through my skin and bones, like a brief, strong, cold breeze. And Darcy thinks riding a motorcycle would be exciting. Man, she has no idea!”

  “You'd have gotten dizzy if your eyes were open. Close them again.” She did, and they were back downstairs when she opened them.

  Addie ran her hands along his sides and felt something odd—something hard—then looked up at him, puzzled. “What is that?”

  He slowly lowered his arms from her and eased back, removed his coat and showed her the concealed belt holster holding a small gun alongside what Addie could only assume were extra bullets.

  “You have a gun? Why do you have a gun? Who are you exactly and why are you here?”

  “You ask so many questions all at once. Let’s take it one at a time. We’ll talk, but we also need to eat. Let’s see what we have here in the kitchen and we can talk while I make us something. Come with me.” He took her hand and she followed him. She wasn’t hungry, but she knew she had to eat something.

  He removed the holster, taking the gun out to show her. “This isn’t just a gun. It’s a sub-compact semi-automatic forty caliber pistol and it’s for protection,” he said, then placed the gun back in the holster and set it on the counter next to an extra magazine of cartridges.

  “Don’t worry, I’m a private investigator and have a license to carry it. I assure you, Addison, it’s quite legal. I’m surprised you didn’t feel the gun when we were kissing this afternoon.”

  “I guess I just didn’t think ... what do you mean protection?”

  “Protection for you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you, Addison MacKenna. Your life is in danger.”

  “So you said, but who would want to kill me?” She just couldn’t get a grip on everything happening to her. She had never hurt anyone in her life, and couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her. She leaned against the cool granite counter top, wishing she had something to do with her hands. There were two black leather stools by the side of it, but the last thing she wanted to do was sit.

  “Maybe it’s more of what wants to kill you. At this point I’m not sure.” He pulled out some eggs and bread from the refrigerator, and setting them down on the counter, he paused. “Addison ... your father was recently murdered and ...”

  “Wait, how do you know? Did you know my father? Were you a student of his or something?”

  “Do you always ask several questions at once?”

  “Just answer.”

  “Okay, yes, I was a student of his, but in a sense, Ristéard was more like a father to me. He taught me almost everything I know about fighting demons. He had more abilities than anyone else in the whole organization.”

  “What the hell are you talking about ... fighting demons? What organization? You must have me mixed up with someone else.” She let out a trembling laugh and shook her head. “This is utterly insane. My father’s name was Richard. Professor Richard MacKenna and he was a professor of ancient history and he investigated ancient artifacts—and yes, he was killed, but by a bear.”

  “Addison, you don’t really believe that. Stop kidding yourself. Look at the facts. Think back.”

  “The police said it was a bear, plus you have the wrong name.”

  “Look, I saw the photo on your table of you with your father. He’s the same man I knew as
Ristéard MacKenna. He was a powerful man who belonged to an ancient secret society called the Sectorium. I believe he took on the name Richard to disguise his identity and to help keep you hidden. I didn’t even know you existed until the other day. I suspected something about you when I saw you use your power, but I didn’t know you were Ristéard’s daughter until you told me your name.” He cracked open a few eggs and started scrambling them as he watched her pace.

  “This is crazy.” She walked from one end of the kitchen to the other. Dragging her hand through her hair, she stopped and looked at him, “You’re on the level here, aren’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “But why would he change his name? And which is it, Richard or Ristéard? God, I can’t believe this.”

  “Ristéard is Gaelic, meaning ‘powerful ruler’ so maybe the Sectorium gave him that name. I’m really not sure.”

  “Well shit, how could I be so stupid? All the moving around we did—I was always starting a new school—and all those times my father would go away for months at a time. I just thought he was searching for ancient relics. You know ... I went to school to study everything I could about ancient history and art just so I could work with him. That’s all I ever wanted to do ... until he died. Now I can’t bring myself to even look at any historic pieces.”

  He poured the eggs into a pan and pulled out two slices of bread. He was just about to place them in the toaster when Addie placed her hand on top of his to stop him.

  “Wait.” She looked into his eyes and hesitated for a second, taking in his puzzled expression. She slowly took the slices from him and placed them on a plate. “Watch this,” she whispered, then toasted the bread with her sparks. She looked at him, tears welling in her eyes.

  “I can do this ... as well as turn machines on and off.”

  He brushed away the tears glistening on her cheek.

  “Oddly, this all started happening to me when you showed up. The same day I almost hit you with my truck.”

  He took her in his arms, comforting her trembling body in his warm embrace. “I knew that was you. You damn near killed me, you know.”