by Trudi Jaye
Fee leaned down and grabbed the water bottle, taking a grateful swig. The cool water soothed her throat, and she felt almost human again, when she screwed on the lid and leaned back in the seat. “Where are we?” she asked, looking around at the fields.
“Not far from your farm. After you finished your turn driving, I figured I’d let you keep sleeping and just drive the rest of the night. I wanted to get us there as soon as I could.”
“I can’t believe we’re almost there.”
“We need to figure out exactly what we’re going to do,” said Henry slowly. “Once we get to Alberta’s house, I mean. Can we trust her enough to take her to the Carnival with us?”
Fee immediately shook her head. “No. I need to take Alberta back to Little Rock where I can protect her.”
“How are you going to protect her exactly? They’ve already proved they can hide right in front of you and you won’t notice. We need to go somewhere I know we will be safe. And that’s the Carnival Compound.”
Fee winced, but held her ground. “I have an apartment in Little Rock. I keep it stocked up with supplies, just in case. We can go there.”
Henry shook his head. “It’s too close to where your family is based. By the sounds of things, they’ve figured out what you’ve been doing, and they’ve learned enough that they found you.”
“I think it was just a fluke. Some kind of error I made. I’m positive my apartment is still safe.”
“How?”
“I have a security system in place. Nothing has been disturbed.”
“They could still know about it somehow.”
“Maybe.” Fee hesitated. “But I don’t think we should lead them to the Carnival either.”
Henry was silent for a moment. “There’s a chance they’ve left Alberta alive because of her lack of magic. Is that right?” He looked at Fee, his brows raised.
She nodded, her hands going clammy as she realized how much danger she’d put the older woman in. She’d been so arrogant in thinking they’d never realize, and now Alberta might be the one to pay for it. “I hope so.” Fee paused to consider. “Although they didn’t seem too worried about hurting people when they bombed Callaghan Technology.”
Henry watched the straight road ahead for a moment. “I’ve been thinking about that. It was actually quite targeted. A small bomb that only damaged your lab. No one else besides Eugene was hurt.”
Fee nodded slowly. “So the person cared enough to try to limit the damage to other people?”
“I think so. It gives me some hope for Alberta.”
“But not for me?” Fee said softly.
“Or me,” said Henry with a crooked grin. He became serious. “These Witch Hunters, they scare me. The Carnival is built on magic. If they ever decided to focus on us, it would be a disaster. We have to make sure we don’t lead them to the rest of my family and friends. I can’t be responsible for that.”
“Then we should go to my apartment, not the Carnival. That’s the only way to ensure we don’t do that.”
Henry sighed. “I’m just not sure I can protect you on my own,” he said.
“I don’t need you to protect me. We’ll figure something out together. We’re not completely helpless, you know.” Fee frowned at him; he grinned back and their gazes caught. Her stomach did a little somersault. He didn’t have to be here, but he’d wanted to help her. She shivered, despite the heat in the car.
She was becoming more attached to Henry the longer they spent together, but all her self-preservation warning systems were telling her to back off. Any kind of relationship between them seemed destined to end badly. They lived completely different lives on completely different sides of the country. Not to mention the psychotic killers who were out for her blood, and the entire Carnival of people he had to protect from the same killers. He wasn’t going to choose her over them. A lump formed in her throat and she looked away, trying to think of something—anything—else.
The phone rang as she was trying to get herself back under control.
“Hey, Frankie,” said Henry. He cleared his throat.
“Henry. I’ve been looking into those Witch Hunters. You need to get your butt as far away from them as possible. They’re out to get anyone with magic, and that includes all of us at the Carnival. I talked to Indigo and she says they’re worse than curse magic users. Your Da agrees.”
Fee could see from Henry’s face that using curses was bad.
“What did Indie know about them? Anything useful?”
“The Carnival had a run in with them a century or so ago. They killed about 50 Carnival folk before they could be stopped.”
Fee’s breath went out of her lungs in a rush. She’d known she was in danger. She’d been dealing with that since she was seventeen years old. But to learn there were others who were in danger, and had been harmed by the Witch Hunters in the past? Her decision to leave her parents alone suddenly seemed naive.
“How did they get rid of them?”
“They killed them all. Every single damn one who knew about the existence of the Carnival. It was the only way.” Frankie’s voice was grim.
“So if they find out about us again...”
“We’d have to do the same thing, or they’d keep coming after us, again and again.”
Henry let out a long breath. “Okay. Thanks Frankie. Anything on the other names?”
“Well, they’re a mixed bunch. Pelgrim Shaw is under investigation for your explosion; he’s their main suspect.”
Fee’s eyes widened. “How did he find out...?” she said.
She could almost hear Frankie’s grin from the other end of the line. “I have my ways, Fee. Don’t you worry about that.”
“What about the others?”
“Lucas doesn’t seem to have a background, which is never a good sign. He appeared from nowhere at a college out west, and then did his post graduate at MIT based on the quality of the research he’d been doing. He started and then built up Callaghan Technology into a multi-million dollar company. He’s squeaky clean, but it’s too squeaky clean. He’s hiding something.”
Fee’s eyes widened at this description of Lucas. Was Henry right? Did her boss have something to do with all this? She’d not really believed it until this moment.
“What about David?” she asked.
“David’s interesting, although less suspicious. He grew up in an extreme sect of the Mormon Church living an even more austere lifestyle than was usual for those folk. Up to the age of seventeen, he was fully devoted to his family and his religion, was engaged to a suitable girl, and was all set to live his life the same way as everyone else. Then he turns eighteen, and up and leaves all that behind, deciding to go to college instead.”
Fee blinked. “That’s not such an unusual story,” she said defensively. It was exactly what she had done after all.
Henry glanced over at Fee. “What happened to him when he went into the outside world?”
“Not much. He did his work, got a post-graduate degree in computing. He was quiet, kept to himself, and didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”
Fee sighed. “So does that mean he might be involved?”
“I don’t know. He comes up pretty clean, aside from his decision to completely break from the rest of his family like that.”
“Did you find out anything about Pelgrim?” Fee was curious to see how his life would be boiled down by Frankie.
“He’s far more standard. Rich parents, top marks at school, smart guy all the way. Kind of arrogant based on some of his correspondence. Nothing that points to his involvement in the bombing, except that he was extremely angry with Lucas for what he believes was unfair dismissal.”
“That’s a pretty big arrow, Frankie,” said Henry caustically.
“Sure. It makes him an obvious choice. And I guess the obvious answer is often the right one. But I don’t know; he doesn’t seem like the type to put himself to all the effort involved in that bomb. I’m not sure he’d ha
ve the balls to actually do it.”
“Based on what?” asked Fee.
“The internet is a powerful tool in the right hands,” said Frankie in a deep voice.
Fee giggled. She liked Frankie, whoever he was.
“Then who did it?” asked Henry.
“My money is on one of the other two. But I don’t know which one. If you wanted me to guess, I’d lay odds on Lucas; he’s got the balls and the money.”
Henry glanced over at Fee and she shrugged. She didn’t have any insights. “Okay, thanks Frankie.”
“All good, my friend.”
“Have the others come back from L.A.?”
“Not yet. Last I heard, Tilly was in, and the others were waiting for the big performance to nab them.”
“Is Missy okay?”
“Don’t worry, Henry. She’ll be fine. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know anything.”
Fee felt the stirrings of jealousy in her stomach. Who was Missy? And why did Henry care so much about her? She watched Henry’s expression as he talked to Frankie. Was he in love with her? She crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to care about it.
“Thanks, Frankie. Talk soon.”
“Take care of yourself. Yell if you need anything.”
Once the call was disconnected, Henry glanced at Fee. “Who do you think? Lucas or David?”
“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “At least we ruled out one of our suspects. But if Pelly is still the main suspect of the investigators in Tampa, they won’t be looking at anyone else.” She paused. “Should we try to tell them what we think?”
Henry snorted. “What, that we think Lucas or David might be guilty based on hunches? They’d never believe us.”
Fee sighed. “I guess you’re right. Then what do we do now?”
“What we’ve been planning to do. Get Alberta and go to your apartment. Then we can plan from there. But first, I’m starving.”
***
Henry pulled into the diner, parking the car near the exit. He stretched his arms and yawned. He was looking forward to coffee, and hopefully a decent break. He needed to be fresh when they approached Alberta’s house.
He glanced over at Fee. She was awake, but in her own little world, looking out the window.
“You coming in with me?” he said.
She glanced around at him, her eyes blank for a second. Then she smiled. “Oh, sure. Sorry, I was miles away.”
“Bringing back memories for you?” They weren’t far from her parent’s farm. About half an hour if he had his distances right.
She nodded. “I haven’t been back since I was seventeen,” she whispered.
“What about when your friend died?”
“I was too afraid. I didn’t want to be recognized, so I made the lawyer sort it all out. He even spread around the rumor that Alberta was Geraldine’s cousin, so it seemed like she’d inherited the house.”
“Do you trust the lawyer? Could he have told your parents where you were?”
Fee lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “I thought I could trust him. He didn’t have anything to do with them, and he knew it was vital to keep them ignorant about the situation. I always assumed the client confidentiality thing would keep him quiet, but I guess he could have said something. It’s getting hard to know who to trust.”
Henry reached out and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. The usual electricity raced up his arm, but he tried to ignore it. “You can trust me,” he said.
Fee gazed up at him, her eyes large on her face. “Thanks. That means...a lot.”
Without thinking about it, Henry leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. A burst of electricity flared between them, sizzling hot. Henry couldn’t help himself; he pulled her closer and hungrily kissed her. He felt like a teenager, out of control and not understanding what was happening between them. Instead of resisting him, as he half expected, she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him nearer.
His hand clenched where it was holding her hair, and he deepened the kiss, his tongue dancing against hers. His hand rose of its own volition and pressed against her breast, massaging the soft mound, playing with the nipple through her clothes. He felt it harden against his fingers and she moaned against his mouth.
Sparks flew and Henry lost the ability to think. All he could do was feel Fee’s body against his, their lips and tongues together and the electricity that danced between them every time they touched. It never seemed to calm down. If anything, the energy they created seemed to multiply around them. Henry felt like they must be glowing, the power was so bright. But he didn’t care. All that mattered was the woman next to him, her lips on his.
A knock on the window of the car broke them apart. A policeman stood at Fee’s door, frowning at them. They pulled apart guiltily, like kids caught doing something they shouldn’t. Fee rolled down the window.
“Hello, officer,” she said meekly, her lips red from his stubble.
“This is a respectable town. We don’t need outsiders necking in the parking lot.”
“Sorry, officer. It won’t happen again,” Henry leaned over and spoke, not wanting Fee to take the brunt of the officer’s ire.
“See that it doesn’t.” The officer turned and stalked back toward a cruiser on the other side of the parking lot.
Fee turned to Henry, her eyes wide. She gave a half smile. “So I guess that will teach us for necking in the car, right?”
He smiled back, not sure about calling the extreme emotional and physical experience they generated when they touched something as lame as necking. “Let’s get something to eat,” was all he said.
They headed into the small diner, and found a seat at a table near the door.
“Can I get you something?” asked a waitress who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger and a coffee,” said Henry.
“I’ll have the chicken pot pie and a root beer,” said Fee.
They both avoided looking at each other a moment or two, until Henry couldn’t handle it any more. “What’s the best plan for getting Alberta out?” he asked.
“I was hoping we might be able to go up to the front door, tell her to come with us, and then get back in the car and leave,” said Fee, with an expression that said she knew how silly that statement was.
“We should scout it out first. Is there a spot where we can leave the car and go in on foot?”
Fee considered a moment. “It’s been a long time since I was here, but I think I remember a spot.”
“Great, so we—”
Henry’s phone rang in his pocket and he stopped talking to grab it. He was expecting Frankie to ring, and didn’t want to miss his call. He didn’t look at the screen, and said “Hey.”
“Henry, this is Lucas. Where are you?” Lucas sounded terse.
“Lucas.” He looked over at Fee. Her eyes were glued to his face.
“You were supposed to be back here by now.”
“Look something came up. We had to do a detour. But we’ll be there soon.”
“Pelgrim has a solid alibi. The FBI is looking for other possible suspects, and Fee is firmly number one. They want to speak to her.” Lucas paused. “And you.”
“Look, Lucas, you need to stall them. Tell them she didn’t do it, that she was the target.”
“I don’t know if that’s the truth, Henry. I’m starting to wonder if you’re not working with Fee as well, that this is some big plot to destroy me.”
Henry was so startled his head jerked back a little. “Of course it’s not, Lucas. We’re not the ones you should be looking for. Fee is in danger, so I’ve taken her somewhere she’ll be safe, that’s all.”
“Well, the FBI don’t see it like that. They’ve issued a bulletin that you’re a person of interest in the bombing. They’ll be looking for you. Both of you.”
“What are you talking about? How can they do that?” How the hell had they managed to get on to
p of the list of suspects? He thought of the police officer who’d just caught them kissing in the car. At least it hadn’t reached this far yet.
“You shouldn’t have run. It makes you both look suspicious.”
Fee started gesturing in front of him, making strange motions.
Henry frowned at her, and tried to concentrate on his phone call. But before he could say anything in reply to Lucas, Fee grabbed his phone and cut off the call.
“Hey, what did you do that for?” Henry said.
“It was taking too long. They could have been tracking us. Lucas has a team working on a project like that.”
“Did you hear what he said?”
“Something bad, I’m guessing.”
“They have us pegged as the prime suspects for the bombing. They think we did it because we didn’t go to the beach house with the others.” Henry grinned. “Mostly you. I could probably talk my way out of it. I get the impression that Lucas thinks you’re leading me astray.”
“What are we going to do?”
Henry sighed. “I guess we’ll have to go back down there at some point and get this all sorted out. But first, I think we should eat a good meal. I’m starving.” He could see a burger and a chicken pot pie heading their way, and he wasn’t going to miss out.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Fee crouched among the trees looking at the house in the distance. It looked the same as it always had. A two story wooden house, built at the turn of the century when more and more of the farms in this area were being carved out of the land. Smoke curled out of the chimney, keeping the cold of the late winter weather at bay.
But something was off. She knew it in her bones, and couldn’t explain it. Glancing at Henry, she could see he knew it too. His face was grim, and he was staring at the house as if he could see through the walls to what was happening inside.
“So we probably shouldn’t just drive up, then, huh,” she whispered.
“No, I think that idea is out.”
“We need to get closer.”
“Is there anyone else who comes around to the house? A gardener or a housekeeper or something?” asked Henry.
