by Belle Malory
He had to be crazy, coming here, pointing a weapon at her like a common street thug. What was he thinking? She could easily identify him to authorities.
Unless…Penelope swallowed. Unless he intended to kill her.
Ryder made his way around the room, eyeing the countless trophies lining the inside of the china cabinet. “So how is the old man these days?” He stopped, pointed to a trophy in the shape of a goblet with a handle on each side. “Saw him at last year’s US Open. Holed out from 147 yards.” He shook his head. “Insane.”
Penelope shifted in her seat, braced herself on the table, and said, “I’m assuming you didn’t come here to talk golf. What do you want, Ryder?”
Pointless question, really, since she could already guess the answer. Last she’d heard from the billionaire, he was inquiring about her family’s property in Mexico. He wanted to buy it, offered an obscene amount of money too, but she denied his request for a meeting. There was no point; she wasn’t interested in selling. That land had been in her family for generations. And since she wasn’t a friend of Ryder, merely an acquaintance, the land had to be the reason he was there.
“He’s at the gym, isn’t he?” Ryder waved the gun a little. “Don’t answer that. I’ve been following both your schedules for months now. He goes to the gym every weekday morning and on the golf course every afternoon until six. Meanwhile, you’re here…and not doing much of anything.”
“How dare you—”
“Careful, careful.” Ryder clicked his tongue. “Don’t forget who’s holding the weapon.”
“The reason you’re here has nothing to do with my husband.” Penelope steadied her breath, trying to act as if fear didn’t fill her to the core. Trying to act like this was an everyday conversation. “You want my land.”
Ryder’s eyes glinted. “You get straight to business, don’t you, Mrs. Little?”
“So that’s what this is? You’re forcing me to sell it to you?”
“Oh no. No, no, no.” Ryder’s face dropped, a little theatrically. “That would be stupid. As soon as we signed the papers, you’d go to the police, explain what happened, and I would be incarcerated. Why would I want that?”
Penelope drew a deep breath. “So what are you after?”
“Don’t get me wrong; I am after your land. But I have no intentions of forcing you to sell. Remember how I explained that the gun was only to ensure your cooperation?” He leaned against the table, rested the gun on top of it, and wagged his finger as if to say no sudden movements.
Penelope held her breath, seeing the gun sitting there, and knowing she would have a few seconds ahead of him to flee. Should she go for it?
Ryder punched a few buttons on his brace, an expensive, advanced one by the looks of it. Hologram images appeared, filling the space between them.
All thoughts of making a quick getaway vanished as she stared at the images. They were pictures of her…and oh God.
They were of her and Jean Pierre.
Penelope put her face in her hands, feeling the urge to cry. They both thought they had been so discreet.
Clearly they were wrong.
“As I was saying, no one is forcing you to do anything. Blackmail, on the other hand, is a different sort of thing. Beautiful, aren’t they?” Penelope lifted her head, saw Ryder clicking through different snapshots of her and Pierre. “This one is my favorite. Orange string bikini—you look like a swimsuit model. No wonder your husband snatched you up.” He lowered his voice. “Course, I don’t know if he would appreciate seeing your tongue down another man’s throat.”
Penelope batted the tears out of her eyes. Rage coursed through her blood. He knew he had her. How could she have been so stupid? Not that it mattered now. “Let’s get this over with,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
A satisfactory smile spread across Ryder’s face. “Thought you might say that.” He withdrew an envelope from his back pocket, unfolded it, and set out a stack of papers. “I took the liberty of having the docs drawn up. All you have to do is sign there on the dotted line.”
One
Sunlight might be the most divine entity ever to exist. Kennedy stretched out her arms, closed her eyes, and basked in the warmth of the day. It felt so good. Nothing else could compare to silky sand sifting between her toes, to the radiant golden rays bronzing her skin, to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore…she flinched.
Okay, all good except the last part.
The beach was beautiful today though. Miles of empty white sand stretched across the coast, colliding with the dark blues of the sea. The tide was choppy, but she wasn’t planning to get in. Today wasn’t the right day for confronting fears. Tomorrow maybe.
Or the next.
Whenever.
Definitely sometime before this visit was over.
Kennedy surveyed the area, double-checking that no one was in sight. Satisfied, she faced the ocean and tapped into the invisible but tangible energy that connected her with the water. It hummed inside of her like little sparks of white light, igniting a strength that up until six months ago, she would’ve never believed possible.
She pushed that energy out, extending it into tiny threads of herself, and with them, she drew a ribbon-sized stream out of the ocean. The stream twisted into a spiral, misting together to create the same type of waterspout Hunter’s skipping stones could form.
Skipping stones were expensive toys, programmed to form the spouts. And she was forming them on her own. With her mind. It still seemed…crazy.
Impossibilities surrounded her every day. Part of her still played the skeptic, watching from somewhere outside of herself and wondering if this was all a dream she hadn’t yet woken up from. Because that was easier to believe than what was true. Being born to protect Earth, manipulating water—those were the truths. But they definitely didn’t feel real.
Kennedy drew herself out of the energy, and as she did, the waterspout sank back into the unsteady ocean. She fell into the sand, rolling onto her beach towel, and closed her eyes.
Not so long ago, her every waking thought was dedicated to figuring out how to come back to Amelia Island. Although she enjoyed being home and had missed it beyond belief, this visit couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time. Professor Mason approved four weeks of vacation. Four whole weeks. If she’d found out at any other time, she would’ve felt like a lottery winner. She would’ve screamed from the rooftops! Okay scratch that, there were no rooftops on Olympus (it being a space station and all), but she would’ve been that excited.
For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why Professor Mason would send her away. Why now, after the planet had been threatened by an outside force? She imagined that sort of thing usually put a damper on vacation plans. Especially for a keeper. She was only responsible for keeping Earth and mankind safe. But hey, no biggie.
Argh. Honestly, it was frustrating. Never in her life had she felt so damned useless. Professor Mason was insane if he thought she would enjoy this visit. Lounging on the beach wasn’t exactly relaxing while somewhere in outer space, aliens plotted to attack Earth.
Kennedy thought back to the day he told her to go home, wondering if there was something she’d missed, a bigger picture to the story maybe.
She hid outside his office back on Olympus, trying to spy on the conversation he was having inside. Eavesdropping wasn’t something she was proud of, but…he’d summoned Phoenix there. And when it came to that particular keeper, nothing she did or felt seemed to make any sense.
Phoenix and the professor had been exchanging guarded looks and whispers for weeks, growing an achy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Neither one was talking, but she knew they were up to something. Unfair of them to keep secrets, if you asked her, and one way or another, she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
She peeked through the sliver of the door they left open. Professor Mason sat behind his large cherrywood desk, his face inscrutable. She wanted to see Phoenix’s
expression, but he had his back towards Mason, looking out the window into the bright blacks and whites of space.
“We’re not sure,” Professor Mason said.
Kennedy pressed closer, trying not to move the door, and strained to hear their low voices.
“Does the number twenty-seven have any relevance?” Phoenix asked.
“It’s unlikely. Projects are given numbers to keep information classified and organized.” Professor Mason typed something onto his keyboard and pulled up three-dimensional documents. Kennedy squinted, but she couldn’t make out any words.
“So why did they ask us to investigate this project? What’s involved?”
The hologram flashed as Professor Mason flipped through the pages. “It was in Plaffle’s computer. Considering the secret mission you and Kennedy found, DOE has been combing through everything he had stored. It’s taken weeks to get past some of the firewalls, but we’re not taking any chances.”
No-brainer there, Kennedy thought with a small snort. Good ol’ Commissioner Plaffle thought nothing of risking life on Earth, especially for the right amount of money.
Phoenix stepped away from the window and examined the document. His black eyes roamed over it coolly.
“There’s not much there,” Mason said. “Just an address we’re assuming was for correspondence purposes, and then a few sections of the Peri-Guard were listed as well. Whatever this was, Plaffle was keeping it wrapped up pretty tight. We’re questioning members of the Peri-Guard under the sections listed, but no one seems to know anything.”
“How convenient.” Phoenix pointed to part of the document. “This is a Russian address. What is it?”
“A residence,” Mason answered. “We’ve planted surveillance, not dreaming for a second we’d actually find anything of importance. But get this, we found a radio signal coming through.”
“And?”
“It came through an internationally banned frequency.”
Phoenix let out a low breath. Kennedy heard herself do the same.
“Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
“Only the direction,” Mason said. “The thing is, the nearest planet in that direction is millions of light years away. That only leaves us three possibilities. It’s either coming from somewhere off the grid, from a spaceship, or from a planet that’s a helluva ways away.”
“No kidding.” Phoenix straightened, then crossed his arms over his chest, thinking. After a moment he said, “So why don’t you ask for a warrant? Bust whoever’s in the house?”
“Already took care of the warrant. You and Fang are cleared to go.”
“You’re sending me and Fang?” He dropped his arms, looking more than surprised.
“Why not?” Mason asked. “The two of you have been approved for fieldwork for a while now. It’s time you earned your stripes.”
Kennedy swallowed. She had taken her own clearance tests weeks ago, but she still hadn’t been approved for fieldwork. More than ever, she wished she was. The thought of Phoenix and Fang working together…exclusively…ugh. It made her want to vomit right there in front of Professor Mason’s door.
“I’d also like you to take Dominika.”
Phoenix stared at Professor Mason like he’d lost his mind. “Please say you’re joking.”
“She speaks Russian, knows the area really well. You would benefit from her expertise.”
“Nika has not been approved for fieldwork, Professor. Matter of fact, if she wasn’t a keeper, I doubt she’d be approved for anything outside of an asylum.”
As callous as that sounded, he wasn’t exaggerating. Just that morning, Kennedy watched Nika’s combat trainer knock her to the ground. Everyone there could see it had been an accident; Nika spun right in front of him just as he’d switched his stance, and she tripped in the process. Her retribution was to bite him on the leg. Hard. Hard enough to make her trainer howl and jump up and down in pain. Nika smiled wickedly, blood trickling from her full, pink lips. That look of satisfaction was nothing short of deranged.
Despite everything though, Kennedy held a soft spot in her heart for the psychotic Barbie lookalike. Nika helped save her life when almost no one else would. Kennedy would never forget it, and as far as she was concerned, being a true keeper took more than a good state of mental health.
The mental health part would be nice though.
“I personally cleared her for this assignment,” Mason told Phoenix. “It might be good for her. The girl needs something.”
Phoenix muttered, “Yeah, a lobotomy.”
“I mean it, Nix. She needs this. Or maybe she simply needs to be needed.”
“No need to run it into the ground. I’ll take her,” Phoenix said, then added, “But I won’t promise to like it.”
“Never thought you would, but your cooperation is appreciated.” Mason cleared his throat and raised his voice a notch. “Now if you’ll kindly let the little urchin hiding behind my door inside, I’d like to speak to her as well.”
Little urchin? Kennedy blanched. Oh God, kill me now.
She ordered herself to run like hell, but as soon as it became clear that Professor Mason knew she was there, her body froze in its crouched position, unable to move a muscle. Seriously, what kind of keeper was she going to be, if she couldn’t manage a simple eavesdropping without getting busted?
To add to her mortification, Phoenix opened the door, looked around, and then down. His wide-eyed gaze roamed over her, and not in the well looky what we have here sort of way. It was more of the no way am I seeing this sort of way.
Kennedy squeezed her eyes shut, praying that this wasn’t happening, that she’d never been caught, and Phoenix wasn’t standing there staring at her in shock.
For a second it was so quiet, she thought maybe it was all her imagination, and maybe she wasn’t a complete idiot. They never caught her because she never spied on them in the first place. No one could be so stupid. Or so lame.
She opened her eyes. Dammit if he wasn’t still there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded loosely over his chest. He kept staring, probably making a mental list of about a million different ways he could incinerate her. Knowing him, there was a handy lighter in his pocket too, just itching to make an appearance.
Never mind. She was a complete idiot.
Before he had the chance to figure out whether or not to burn her to death, she casually stood and brushed herself off. Keeping her head held high was difficult when all she wanted to do was look at the floor. Meeting Phoenix’s gaze was out of the question. She could only imagine him piercing her with those pitch black eyes, and it would undoubtedly be her breaking point.
Walking straight into the office might have avoided more embarrassment, but he blocked her entrance. He wasn’t letting her get away so easily.
“I think the professor wants to see me.” She forced each word out, and still it sounded no higher than a squeaky whisper.
He leaned towards her, pausing by her ear. “I should be angry with you.” Scents of warm things, like burning cedar and sunshine, took over her senses. His hushed voice sent tingles soaring across her neck. It was insane that even now she could be so attracted to him when that was probably the last thing on his mind. “You knew this meeting was private.”
He had mentioned that. Which was so stupid of him really, because it only made her want know why it was private.
His words, however, implied he wasn’t angry, and they gave her the courage to finally look him in the eye. “You’re not mad?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?” She couldn’t have stuck her foot farther in her mouth. Why, oh why, couldn’t she have dropped it at nope?
Oh yeah. Because she was a complete idiot.
“I’m leaving in the morning, and I don’t have time to be angry with you, not when all I want to do is spend the rest of today kissing every curve of this incredible mouth.” He held a finger to her lips, and her heart leaped against her chest.
Hmm. She was sorta happy she hadn’t dropped it now.
And then his words rammed into her like a bowling ball to the chest. “Wait, tomorrow morning?”
He looked up at the ceiling, and then back at her—he didn’t want to tell her that.
Professor Mason’s deep voice resounded from inside. “Anytime today, kiddo.”
She started to walk through the doorway, and Phoenix reached for her hand. “Meet me later tonight?” he asked. “There’s a place I’d like to show you.”
She nodded. Her answer made him smile, carving dimples into his cheeks. Watching him walk away was difficult because now she could do nothing else but face Professor Mason.
She bought some time slowly closing the office door. It was better off closed anyway, since all evidence pointed to the possibility of yelling.
“Miss Mitchell?”
Professor Mason’s voice was surprisingly calm. She lowered into the seat across from his desk, unsure whether she should be relieved or terrified.
Before he could say anything, a rush of words tumbled from her mouth. “I just want to say that I wasn’t thinking, and I realize spying on private conversations is a big no-no, and I’m totally ashamed, not just because I got caught, but because it’s beneath me to stoop to this level, and I don’t know what came over me, but please know that you have my sincerest apologies, and it will never, ever, ever happen again.”
Kennedy took a deep breath. That had to be the longest run-on sentence ever, and she wondered if any of it made sense.
“Never mind that,” Mason said with a wave of his hand. “We have other things to discuss, and besides, it um, sounds like you’ve learned your lesson.”
Every muscle in her body relaxed. He dismissed the whole thing so easily. That was strange, but she didn’t dare say another word about it. There would be no more sticking feet in her mouth today.
“So what’s going on?” Hope flared inside of her. This might be the moment she would get approved for fieldwork. If that were the case, she would beg Mason to allow her to go with Phoenix to Russia—preferably in Fang’s place.
