Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  Theyd gotten her note, then, Honey realized. All in all, on top of everything else, it was going to be very embarrassing to turn up again when she was supposed to be on the high seas with a vagabond drifter. She wondered if there was some way she could get to Lisbon then home without having to go back into the house. Unfortunately, there was no way to tag Amando for a ride back to Portimao unless he came over here to pick up someone else. And even if she went back to the beach to hope for the best, that would involve coming face-to-face with that someone else.

  Honey hefted her bags again and started on toward the house. She used the front door. Best just to get it over with, she decided. She dropped her bags in the front hall and veered left, toward the big room.

  Carey, Matt and Marcus were there with Ethan and Kelly Williams. Carey cried out when she saw her and surged off the sofa to rush at her. Honey took a quick step back. No hugging. Not a good idea right now.

  Carey stopped abruptly, confused. Why not?

  Because the slightest kindness will undo me.

  What the hell kind of flea-brained idea Marcus began.

  Honey pivoted a little to look at him. Stop right there. This she could deal with.

  He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. Damn it, how am I supposed to take all this? First I find you rolling around with some stranger in the quarry, then youre running away with him and none of us is supposed to look for you. What do you want me to do?

  Trust me to know my own heart. He didnt seem to know how to respond to that, she realized. She looked around to include Matt and Carey. You undervalue me. You all do. Part of that is my fault. I never tried to give you anything to respect.

  Drews footsteps have always been hard to follow, Marcus said. His voice had changed, going more thoughtful. Why bother?

  Truth to tell, this genetic business of yours is going to be a little difficult to top, too.

  He gave a ghost of a smile.

  So I still might not even try to achieve greatness. But I can tell you this. Whatever I do set about doing is going to be for my own satisfaction.

  It always is, Marcus said.

  Her heart hurt. No. It was for optimum impact, except maybe that underage drinking thing. I did that mostly out of loyalty to my friends. I didnt want them to get busted alone. I figured it would go down a lot better with the parents if we were all in it together.

  He looked lost at her reasoning. Honey decided not to try to elaborate. She glanced at Carey. When are you guys leaving?

  Amando is coming back for us after he drops your family and Jimmy off, she said.

  Im going with you. Her own flight out wasnt until tomorrow. Shed just hole up in Lisbon until then, Honey decided.

  She turned for the door. Carey made another move toward her and Matt held out a hand to stop her. Marcus started to stay something else, then blessedly remained quiet.

  Honey gathered her bags up again and went to the bell room to resort their contents. What she would need for a day in Lisbon was radically different from what she would have needed to lounge on the deck of a sailboat. Her heart rolled over. Shed kill right now for a little rat-tat-tat, Honey thought.

  She was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door. Uh-oh, she thought. Someone with the temerity to come up the stairs and invade her space rather than just call up from the second floor. That would mean Carey. They grew them tough in Kansas.

  She went to open it, bracing herself. Then her jaw dropped. It was Carey, all right. With Matt, Marcus, Samantha, Gretchen and Kurt. Honey stepped back from the door. Come in, one and all. Though youll probably find the accommodations lacking.

  Marcus looked around and Honey followed his gaze. The place was barren now that she had packed up all her personal possessions, but the view was still spectacular.

  Gretchen cleared her throat and looked around herself before she finally sat on the floor. Marcus tells us that you know Samuel Hatch, she said finally.

  Honey let her brows climb. Dont you guys have anything better to do than talk about me? It seems that with these Coalition dudes breathing down your neck, youd have plenty to occupy your minds without worrying about my friends and acquaintances.

  Marcus winced. Kurt coughed. The response was a little too forceful, Honey thought. He was disguising a laugh again. She really could have liked these people.

  Marcus recovered first. The point is, Hatch talks to you.

  Honey narrowed her eyes at him. Like clockwork. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning at about eleven for maybe six months now. He hates retirement.

  Does he know you by name?

  He knows me as Number Twelve.

  What does that mean? Gretchen asked.

  The White House phone staff is assigned numbers, Matt explained. Its easier to track incoming calls that way. He looked at Honey. So he doesnt know who you are?

  Hard to say. He certainly has the connections to find out, but I dont think so.

  Do you take his calls at random? Marcus asked.

  He always requests me from whoever catches him first. Something strange was happening inside her. The rhythm of her heart was changing and it was learning to ache in earnest. Whats this about?

  Carey thinks you might be just the one to approach him, Marcus said. And dont ask about what. You listened in on that whole conversation, so you know.

  Of course I did. Flippancy was definitely the way to go now, she thought, because she was afraid if she looked at her friend a world of gratitude would be in her eyes. No more tears, no more Brunhia water, she thought, and definitely no mush. In a far-flung definition, mush landed right in there with love. You want to know what he knows about this Coalition and what hes willing to share with Matt? she asked.

  No, you cant ask him that, Kurt said, but his tone wasnt dismissive. Hell hold his cards close to his vest. He wants Matt.

  Then whats my mission? If I choose to accept it?

  Feel him out, Honey, Carey said.

  Not with your hands, Marcus said quickly.

  Oh, cut me a break, Honey shot at him. Hes old.

  That should keep him safe enough from you, Carey said dryly. But she was smiling. Can you do this? Try to find out if hes with the Coalition or not. Get a sense for it.

  Honey made a gesture as though to dismiss the absurd. Of course.

  I dont want to go into a meeting with him and get my head blown off or end up brainwashed, Matt said.

  She remembered what Jake had said. That was all part of itstealing years, memories, minds. Am I supposed to just come at this out of the blue Thursday morning when he calls in? You know, like, Hi, Sam, by the way, got any vials of forget-everything juice stuck up your sleeve?

  Marcus made a sound in his throat. This isnt going to work, he said.

  Then Carey did something astounding. She turned around because he was standing behind her and she shoved him hard on the shoulder. Sort of like David taking on Goliath, Honey thought bemusedly. Marcuss mouth dropped. Matt made a sound in his throat that was halfway between surprise and laughter.

/>   Hey, Marcus said belatedly when he could close his mouth and form words again.

  Hey, yourself, Carey said. Shes your sister.

  Which is why I have my doubts. Ive known her longer than you have.

  You dont know her now.

  That plunged the room into silence. You go, girl, Honey thought, though she really wasnt sure herself what Carey was getting at.

  Shell do what she does to you and to everyone else she doesnt want getting too close to things inside her, Carey said. Shell talk circles around Hatch. Shell have him laughing and confused and taking two steps to every one of hers just trying to keep up with her mind. And hell say something if she prods him right. And then well know if its safe for Matt to meet with him.

  Matt didnt give Marcus time to respond. Honey, what are the odds you can get him to meet you somewhere? He wont discuss this on the phone.

  She glanced his way. Good to excellent.

  If he doesnt know who you actually are, that youre in any way involved with us, Im thinking youll be safe, Matt continued. All the same, I want to arrange to have some people in place to keep an eye on things. That would be easiest at a public establishment.

  Honey thought about it. I can tell him that I recently met you. She pointed to Matt. Youre about to marry my very good friend, so Im butting my nose in to find out if youre worthy of her. Ill say that Im asking him because he knows everyone in Washington. Thatll get him talking about you, then I can lead him to where I want him to go.

  Hatch has been chatting with her for months, Carey said emphatically. Hed know thats precisely something that Honey would do.

  Ive come up against bulldozers with less horsepower than her nose, Marcus said.

  Honey batted her eyes at him. Ah, big brother, are you making up with me?

  He chewed on his lips. Maybe.

  Work harder at it. You still have a ways to go.

  Gretchen was standing again. Well, thats that, then.

  Honey, set up the meeting when he calls in on Thursday, Matt said, and let us know the details so I can arrange some protection.

  They began moving toward the door. Hold it right there, Honey said suddenly, catching Careys arm as she was about to depart as well.

  Carey looked a little wary as the others headed down the stairs. I wasnt going to ask what happened last night.

  I know you werent. Youll just do that thing where you quietly wait for me to spill everything, knowing my tongue will eventually get the better of me. Honey found a smile. Now that everyone was gone, smiles were a little harder to come by. The ache was spreading. Anyway, I dont want to talk about that yet. Someday maybe. Someday when it doesnt hurt as much. I owe you something.

  Carey frowned. Honey, you always owe me something. You never have cash on you and youre always borrowing five here, ten there. But your credit is really spectacular.

  This wasnt going to be any easier, Honey thought, for the fact that it was the last thing Carey would expect of her. I lied.

  Carey frowned. About what?

  Okay, it wasnt a lie. It was kind ofofan omission of truth.

  What are you talking about?

  Honey stepped away from her and grabbed her hair up to knot it at her nape.

  You do that when youre nervous, Carey said.

  Okay, so Im nervous. On one hand, she really did want to ditch the un-Honey-like words and the tears and the aching and the love that this crazy Brunhia water brought on. She was starting to hurt so badly right now that every instinct in her body said to go back to familiar ground. Tweak a few nerves and pluck a few feathers. Open her mouth and let the outrageous spill out.

  But she didnt have much of that in her at the moment. Her ears were still ringing from Careys speech to Marcus, and something in the area of her heart was thrumming and picking up energy. All that energy, when it finally hit, was going to be bad. And what shed realized on the beach still stood. With or without Joeor Max, or whoever the hell he wasshe just wanted to start over.

  I saw a sex therapist and used your name.

  I beg your pardon?

  She couldnt say it twice. You heard me.

  Yes, but why? You?

  Id rather not go into it at the moment.

  You needed a sex therapist?

  Honey yanked her hair down from the knot again. Oh, man

  Thats the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, Carey said.

  Yeah, well, it gets more ridiculous when you figure the receptionist picked up on it and bleated to that reporter and next thing you know all of Washington and probably half the country thinks youre the one running around doing the bam-bam-bam-rat-tat-tats.

  The bam-tats what?

  Can we end this conversation now?

  Isure.

  I just wanted to come clean. Its been bothering me.

  Apology accepted.

  Honey closed her eyes briefly. If only everything were that easy. I need to pack.

  Youre already packed.

  Then you need to pack.

  Okay. Carey moved toward the door, then she paused again. Honey, just make sure Hatch isnt aWhat is that expression you always use?

  Wack-job?

  Right. A wack-job. Make sure before Matt meets with him. Im putting my love in your hands.

  Ill take care of it.

  Carey left and Honey moved for the cot. She sat down as her limbs folded without warning. And thanks for the other thing, too. For telling Marcus, she said quietly when there was no one to hear.

  Then it fell in on her, an avalanche of loss and change and missing something shed only just learned how to savor. Honey flopped back on the bed, grabbed the pillow to her chest and let herself cry.

  Shed almost gotten him. Almost. Hed almost believed her.

  Max told himself that was why he was getting drunk. He was pissed off at himself. Chump, he said into his whiskey. The Cretan bar was very small, utterly dark, and it smelled like cooking fat. One of the lights over the bar was on its last legs. It flickered fitfully, like a moth trying to find a place to lie down and die.

  Which, Max thought, was pretty much how he felt. Like putting everything down and giving it up. Hed lost the island where hed found peace, a woman hed never quite been able to figure out in the first place, and the man shed made him want to be. Hed lost any good excuse to get his hands dirty with honest work. He was a step closer to civilization, though no one would think to look for him in a dive like this on Crete. And for what? For a roll on his cabin sofa with a woman who had had a plan to use him all along.

  For the thirtieth, maybe fortieth time since hed started drinking, Max found that his mind just couldnt go there. Every time he tried to touch on the moment when shed given herself to himgiven herself for the first timehis thoughts fractured. They came back away from the memory so hard and fast, they fell apart.

  Because she never said why she did that, he muttered aloud. Another big question mark. Surpris
e. Shed skirted his questions like a ballet dancer toying with her partner, a pirouette here, a leap there. Shed never actually told him anything except stories about princesses. And hed gulped those down like nectar from the gods.

  Idiot. Shed been setting him up all along. That was why she hadnt told him why shed decided to unload her virginity on him. What was it that guyprobably one of the brothershad told him? Youre a plan for her, buddy. A means to an end. She doesnt do these things because theyre what she wants. She does them because they get her what she thinks she needs.

  Hed say she was another Camille, Max thought, but that would have been a disservice to her. Camille was never that good.

  Max Strong?

  The voice came from behind him and he reacted out of habit. He swiveled on the creaky bar stool. Immediately a thousand flashbulbs went off in his face, turning the dark, drab bar into the Fourth of July. Son of a bitch! Max grabbed for the nearest camera, almost had it, but the guy was quick. He jogged out of range. Max came off the bar stool but they were all scattering.

  Too many of them to track down and pay off, Max realized. It had been a gangbanga fast shot, in and out, taking what they wanted and gone. Theyd scatter afterwards to make sure at least one of them got away with a photo.

  He was going to be on the cover of the next issue of every rag in the world. Whether he was ready or not, it was time to go home.

  The plane lowered itself from the sky over Dulles and met the runway with more of a thump than Honey appreciated. Maybe it was just her mood. Rough landings usually energized her.

  They taxied in and rolled to a stop at the gate. She got up to gather her small bag from the overhead bin, but shed had the window seat and the fat guy next to her and the dozing girl in the aisle seat didnt move. She was trapped. Why had she felt compelled to downgrade from first class? To prove a point to a man shed never see again?