Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  It was one of those times, months ago, when she and Casey sat in a booth together at a fast-food restaurant and the wailing of a small boy about his food sent Michelle into a sobbing ball, that she’d told him her secret, her premonitions and sensitivities, known only by those close to her. When she’d shared it with Casey, he’d never blinked. He simply questioned about her experiences in great detail, trying to understand. His interest had warmed her heart and it had felt good to be forthright about her strangeness. A smile lifted her lips as she remembered his teasing about having to wear aluminum foil on his head around her.

  “Hey, gorgeous!”

  Michelle jumped, stiffened at the hand on her shoulder. It was Casey.

  “Whoa there. Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” His eyes narrowed, searching her face. “Deep thoughts?”

  “I didn’t hear you coming.” Her private thoughts were just that, private. She shot him a smile. Heck how could she not? His face, a beautiful shade of brown framed by dark, short dreads, practically glowed with personality. “You’re stealthy.”

  His eyes shuttered for a just a moment. “You’re just distracted.”

  Though she felt his typical distance, kindness emanated from him. For a moment she allowed feelings for him to emerge, cautiously. “Well, hey, you know me. I get distracted easily.” It felt good to smile up at him and be met with a wink. His golden brown eyes glinted back at her. She imagined how nice it would be to have that in her daily life. She naturally relaxed around him. Though she’d always sensed his reservations about sharing his private life. He was hiding something, but she never pushed him to explain and she’d never shared her dark secret about the rape.

  He gave her a look, then slid a muscled arm around her shoulder and tweaked a lock of her long blond hair. “I do know you. Now, shall we load this cat food into your Jeep so you can get back to work?”

  “I’m not going back to work, but yes, let’s get it done so we can both get out of the cold. Be sure and thank your parents for me. You do have parents, right? Weird I’ve never met them.”

  Casey smirked. “Of course I have parents. My mom’s a teacher and my dad’s a dentist.”

  She nodded, noting the lilt of love and pride emanating from him. “So you have a good relationship with them.”

  “Yeah, they’re all right.” Suddenly his brow knitted. “Wait, it’s only ten o’clock. Why aren’t you going back to work?”

  Michelle dropped her gaze and rubbed her toe against a crack in the sidewalk. Talking to Casey would relieve her anxiety, she knew from experience. But it wasn’t his concern.

  He lifted her chin to face his gaze. “C’mon. I won’t tell Sterling and Lacey you want to play hooky.”

  “They gave me the day off.” The touch of his hand made her skin warm. “I’ve got several things going on today, so they suggested I tie up ends.”

  Another smile unleashed. “Oh. I thought you might spend the day with me.” He rolled his shoulders, nervously, then slanted a smile her way. “Get you more settled in at your new house. Spend some time together.”

  Her heart clenched. His interest in her was subtle but she felt it. It had popped up before and she’d ignored it. Ignoring was getting harder. But she just wasn’t ready for more than friendship. Not yet. “Casey, I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  He bunched his hair in both hands and slanted a somber gaze at her. “What are we talking about here? We’re friends, Michelle. Can’t we spend time together?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know you have your reasons for needing space.”

  “And so do you,” she whispered.

  Casey flinched, as though she’d just sucker punched him. Conflicted feelings rose in him, unsettling her insides. They stood across from each other as seconds ticked by, traffic noise filling the space between them. Then, silently, he lugged several large bags of cat food to her Jeep while she watched, mesmerized by his sleek physique as much as his ability to dampen down his emotions to a place of indifference.

  Check in hand and a thank you given, Michelle drove away from him as he stood beside his blue Prius. A last look in her rearview mirror caught him coaxing a brown tabby, a city stray, from behind his car and cautiously offering a bit of kibble.

  • • •

  “Here, little kitty. I know you’re hungry. Here’s some good stuff.” Casey knelt and dropped a bit of cat food on the ground in front of him. The short-haired tabby shot him a saucer-eyed look and retreated.

  “It’s okay. You can have the food. No strings attached. How about I call you Brownie? It fits.” He stood motionless, knowing the timid cat needed and wanted the food. Lucky for Brownie, he had a way with cats. Suddenly, the cat lunged and grabbed the food in her mouth, then withdrew a few feet to chomp it up. “You’ve made my day, Brownie. Thanks for being so brave.”

  When he stood the cat ran out of sight. That was to be expected. A stray in the city lived a hard life. Often city strays were kicked around in their endless search for food. He didn’t blame them for being wary. It was the safe thing to do.

  It was the smart thing to do. He smiled to himself, conscious of the stirring inside him of another part of him. His were-lynx self. Humans believed themselves to be the most self-aware, intelligent species on the planet, but it just wasn’t so. Animals were intuitive and resourceful. Heck, were-lynxes had successfully kept their existence secret from humans for centuries. And they peacefully coexisted in colonies among humans. His colony, of which he had recently been made leader of, consisted of seven other young lynxes. There were more colonies, but they didn’t interact. Each colony was unique and reflected the personalities and special abilities of its members.

  On his way back to Carter, Inc., his best friend Jackson Carter’s investigations business, Casey let out thoughts of Michelle. If only I could have a way with her like I did with Brownie. Get her to trust me.

  The way Michelle had looked up into his face with those deep sapphire-blue eyes made his gut clench. Michelle was a strong woman who went after what she wanted and tackled whatever had to be done. But her gleaming golden hair gave her an ethereal sense and there also was a delicate vulnerability to her that he respected. Her heart was tender and loving, and she was full of life. But she carried a dark fear that kept her distant.

  Their friendship blossomed easily when they’d first met and he now struggled with a growing desire for closeness with her. Despite his need for privacy and to keep humans at a distance, she’d gotten to him in a way he’d really taken to. She fascinated him. And he’d begun to invite her to get closer.

  Apparently keeping her distance was too important to her. Whatever drove her away, it had to be a powerful darkness, because it never left her. The days they’d spent hiking she’d let down her guard. When the darkness in her lifted the real Michelle came out—exuberant and confident. Then the shield would slip back into place.

  The irony of her distance made him cringe. He had his secrets, clearly. And not just the really big one of his animal self. Like many young new lynxes, he’d used his inherent skills for his own benefits. He hadn’t cared about consequences. He’d stolen from the rich some very nice things, but he’d gotten caught. He’d done his probation and wised up. Thanks to his father’s guidance and Jackson’s friendship, his brief stint as a cat burglar was behind him, never to surface again. He’d earned his law degree and worked as a specialist in medical matters. Then Jackson had convinced him to get his investigator’s license and work for him. He worked among humans and socialized with humans and the members of his colony. And no human, not even Jackson, knew of his secret identity. Despite his respect for the need for secrecy, it was becoming more and more of a burden. As he’d watched Jackson struggle with his father’s deceit and destructive ways, Casey’s values adjusted. Needling razors cut at his lifelong beliefs, demanding he make a choice. Be himself or a shadow of himself. He wanted to be himself, nothing holding back, among trustworthy humans.

  With his baggage to deal with, he’d
wondered at Michelle’s. The evenings they’d spent together at her apartment she’d been tense. He’d never pushed for intimacy. The memory of kissing her luscious lips sent him tripping, but they’d never gone further than that one kiss.

  But he still cared and though she didn’t know, he did what he could to keep her safe. Whenever possible, he was never far from her, just out of sight. Whatever the darkness was, he wanted to be near if it threatened her again.

  He parked and took swift steps to his office, and jumped into his work for the day. As a lawyer with a specialty in medical cases, Casey’s workload was constant. This morning his inbox contained more than two hundred emails, but one in particular headed “medical device” from a client he’d helped secure a patent for grabbed his attention. He read through the email, his gut knotting, then printed the email and accompanying attachment.

  “Is Jackson available?” he asked the secretary outside Jackson’s office. The young woman was a pretty blond, but after the last secretary had conspired with her boyfriend to ruin Jackson’s business, a thorough background check for the current secretary had been completed. Jackson had learned that education and a pretty face wasn’t enough in a secretary.

  “Yes, Casey.” She twinkled an engaging smile at him. “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

  “No, I’ll just go on in. Thanks, Julie.”

  A knock on Jackson’s office door and Casey poked his head in. “Got a few minutes, boss?”

  “Sure, come take a seat.” Jackson sat back in his chair behind his desk and waited for him. “I’m actually just going over the guest list for the reception for Lacey and me.”

  Casey rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t talk you two out of a tiny wedding at the courthouse, so I’m happy you’re planning something big to celebrate with all your friends and family. You sure are taking your sweet time to have the reception. Can’t wait for the party to begin. But meantime, there is work to take care of.”

  “Wow, that was quite the segue, guy. What’s up?”

  “This is up.” Casey laid the email and the document that accompanied it in front of Jackson. “It seems the data device we helped Pretid, the developer, trademark is creating some issues.”

  “I see that.” Jackson scoured the complaint report Pretid had shared with Casey. “The company’s devices for clinical trials are selling well, but doctors are reporting patients with health problems relating to use of the data collected.”

  “Right. A patient in a clinical trial for an insulin pump went into insulin shock.”

  “Stuff happens in clinical trials, unexpected stuff. That’s the reason for the trial.” Jackson shook his head. “But this was a phase two for the pump. There shouldn’t be this kind of incident.”

  “I can get a list from Pretid of all sales. See if I can narrow down a clinical research organization and location that matches the reporting issues.”

  Jackson ran his hand through his hair and squinted. “Can Pretid give you access to their subject database? Maybe there is a pattern there that would point to a sales batch or something.”

  Casey let out a long breath. The implications of a trial gone amuck were ominous. The Federal Drug Administration took great care to ensure safety in clinical trials and valid results before permitting release of a drug. However, there was a lot of money in creating new drugs, and people who wanted to corrupt the system could, as both he and Jackson knew too well. An angry man had run a fake trial last summer just to get back at Jackson’s father for firing him. No one had died in the process, but a drug with bad side effects had been on its way to being released for prescription use.

  “The device is solid. If trial subjects are having health issues, someone has tampered with it. I’ll get right on this.” Playfully, he saluted Jackson.

  Jackson glared him. “This is serious, Casey.”

  He shrugged. “I know. It’s just been a serious morning.” He wouldn’t tell Jackson that he was managing so many serious things right now he needed to lighten up.

  Leaving Jackson’s office, Casey knew a good run tonight was in order.