“Okay. I’ll give you all the time you need.”
Kat glanced at him and was almost undone when their eyes met.
“Kat...”
She sucked in a ragged breath, shook her head, and turned away again.
By the time their convoy turned onto a dirt road that wound its way across the rugged terrain, Kat had managed to swallow her despair enough to make a neutral face. They pulled up to a large two-story contemporary house with a relatively small front porch and several out-buildings. The whole thing looked desolate save for about half a dozen pine trees that acted as windbreaks. Kat bit her lip.
Christopher sighed. “Here’s your new home.”
Kat clicked her seatbelt off and climbed out of the vehicle, along with everyone else.
Rebecca wandered over to Kat with the same confused expression she’d worn at the diner.
Kat glanced at her. “Hey, Rebecca.”
“Hey, yourself. What the hell is this place?”
Kat stared at her.
Rebecca gestured around. “Is this Big House on the Prairie or what? I mean, where are the trees? Where are the birds and the deer?” She pressed three fingers to her mouth. “I want Georgia.”
Kat rested her arm around Rebecca’s shoulders. “Me, too.”
Rebecca looked at Kat. “What’s going on, Kat? I am lost. I mean, I know who I am, who we all are, but...” She shook her head as if to clear it. “I feel like my mind has stripes in it, you know? Some stripes are light, and some are dark. We had to leave Georgia, right? It got dangerous?” She looked to Kat for confirmation.
Kat nodded, unaware of how much Anna had allowed her to remember. All Kat knew is she did not want to trigger another episode like what she witnessed at the campground. That was terrifying.
Rebecca blinked and shook her head again. “It was because...because...” She grimaced and pressed her fingers to her temples. “That’s where a dark stripe is.”
Alexander approached them. He looked at Kat, then studied Rebecca. “Hey, Becca. Let’s go inside and see the house.”
Rebecca looked at Kat once more, then allowed Alexander to lead her away. Kat squared her shoulders, grabbed some bags, and trooped up the stairs behind Steven, Oksana, and her uncle. Christopher disappeared with Anna and Robert. Mariya sat slumped on the top step looking rather exhausted.
“Oh!” Granny groaned as she took the stairs one at a time. Stanley barked his encouragement. Sweetie hissed from her carrier which was tucked under Steven’s arm. The cat hated traveling. “I am thankful there aren’t many stairs, but boy oh boy, even these are tough on my old body.”
“Let me help you,” Kat offered and gripped Granny’s arm.
“Thank you, sweet girl.” With a final grunt, she reached the landing and looked heavenward. “Thank God we made it!”
Dimitri reached into a small blue terra cotta pot set on the porch by the front door and retrieved a set of keys. He shook them at the group. “Yes. We made it. Let’s see what we’ve got.” He slid the keys into the lock and opened the door with a flourish.
The group pushed into the house with Granny and Kat at the back. They all dispersed into the house examining rooms and spaces. Oksana eagerly sought out the kitchen and smiled when she found it.
Kat and Granny ended up in the kitchen, too and looked around. It was far from the gourmet kitchen they had left behind, but it was spacious and the window over the sink had a perfectly framed view of the mountains.
“Will this suffice, love?” Dimitri asked. “I saw pictures of it on-line and thought it was big enough, although not as big as what you had to leave.”
Oksana smiled and spun around. “It is perfect. It is good. I can make wonderful meals here!”
Dimitri pulled her to him and kissed her on the forehead. “You make wonderful meals anywhere, love.”
Kat recoiled from them and swallowed the sob in her throat.
“Are you all right, Kat?” Granny murmured.
Kat nodded. She cleared her throat and rearranged her features. “Want to see the rest of the house?”
Dimitri turned to them. “Lila Mae, there is a bedroom suite on this floor with its own bathroom. I thought that would be perfect for you.”
“Oh! That’s so thoughtful, Dimitri. I was beginning to wonder how I would get up those stairs.”
Dimitri’s gaze grew soft. “You’ll never have to if you don’t want to.”
Granny patted Kat’s arm. “Let’s find my room, Kat.”
Stanley McBarker, who had snuffled every corner and inch of floor he could reach while on his leash, barked agreement, then headed back toward the hallway. Kat would never get over how that dog seemed to understand what they said.
Granny’s room was in the back corner of the house, nestled between what looked like an over-sized pantry or butler’s closet and the library. The library was smaller than the office space Dimitri had in Georgia but still spacious. Granny immediately went to the corner window. “Oh, Kat! Look at that view, would you? Isn’t it majestic?”
Kat stared at the landscape. “The mountains are pretty, but that’s all there is. There’s nothing but shrubs here. I like the Georgia woods.” She sighed. “How are we supposed to hide here?”
Granny laughed then. “Really? Just being here lets us hide, Kat. There aren’t any people to be found for miles around.” Her eyes shone as she leaned toward Kat. “Think about this, Kat. With this open landscape, we can see them before they can see us.”
Kat stared at the ground. “I suppose.”
Granny squeezed Kat’s arm with surprising strength. “Oh, sweet girl. Don’t you worry none. We’ll be just fine.” Granny’s eyes suddenly lit up and she rubbed her hands together. “Let Stanley off his leash.” Stanley barked, and his tail wagged so fast it was a cream-colored blur. “Then, get my gaming equipment hooked up. I have to let my tribe know I survived the trip and am back in business. I want to know what they’ve been doing for us in my absence.”
Kat smiled for real this time. “Okay.” She bent down and unclipped the Chihuahua’s leash. He immediately dropped his nose to the floorboards and scurried around the room. “I’ll find Peter and let him know Hell’s Granny needs to visit her minions.”
“That’s my girl!”
Kat found the family busily unloading the trailer and unpacking the vehicles. She scanned the group. “Peter!” She skipped down the steps. “Granny wants you to set up her gaming equipment.”
Peter winked and nodded toward the box in his arms. “Already on it.”
“Can we get internet out here?” Claire whizzed past them with two suitcases gripped firmly in her hands. “Since I resigned my position before I left, I would like to know if I can put feelers out for a job while we’re here.”
Dimitri followed in her wake with a large box that almost blocked his view. “Yes. I made sure of it.” He frowned thinking about how to stay anonymous and hidden, which meant Claire might not be able to practice medicine again. If she put her information out there, they could easily be tracked down.
“Okay, then.” Kat hurried toward the trailer to grab a box.
They had more than half the trailer unloaded before Robert, Anna, and Christopher returned. All three were winded. Robert sought out Dimitri and informed him that their closest neighbors were five miles away.
Robert put his hands on his hips. “This property will be difficult to secure because of the open space, but it also makes it easy to see anyone approaching because of the straight line of sight we have all the way around.”
“Can we put up a security fence and do it quickly?” Dimitri asked. “The darkness of night is perfect cover for anyone to approach.”
“I believe so,” Christopher replied. “It needs to be tighter than what we had in Georgia, though.”
“As long as it gives us a large enough perimeter to work with, that’s fine.” Dimitri nodded toward the trailer. “Let’s finish unloading and then get to work. We’ve already explored the ou
tbuildings and they’re perfect.”
Kat accidently bumped into Christopher when she exited the trailer carrying an especially large box that blocked her view. Her eyes widened when she realized it was him. His warm hands on her waist burned through her clothing.
“Sorry,” she mumbled and tried to inch to the side.
He moved with her and blocked her, his hands still on her waist. His eyes bored into hers. “Kat.”
She bit her lip, shook her head, and hurried around him.
He watched her go with a deep sigh.
The family had everything unloaded before nightfall. The two rooms that were completely set up and ready to go were the kitchen, of course, and Granny’s room, especially her gaming equipment. As promised, the internet was up and running and very secure, thanks to Anna and Peter.
“Our internet security couldn’t be any tighter if we tried,” Peter bragged and grinned at Anna, who smiled and nodded. They were two peas in a pod.
Granny happily announced over a hasty dinner that her gamer tribe had been busy in their absence. The local authorities back in Georgia had been give quite the shake-up when their system crashed and couldn’t be brought back while several false calls had them scrambling all over the county and tearing their hair out.
The family laughed while Dimitri remained subdued. “I don’t like that we have to do that. I’m afraid real crimes may be slipping through the cracks because of us.”
Christopher dipped his head, wiped his mouth and pushed away from the table. “Excuse me. I’m going for a walk.”
Dimitri watched him leave, then turned his gaze on Kat. “Do you want to join him?”
Kat’s cheeks flushed. “No. I’m going to bed.” She plunked her napkin on the table, stood up, then hurried from the room and up the stairs.
“What’s going on with them?” Anastasia asked.
Dimitri gave her a sad look. “It’s not for me to say. They have some things to work out.”
Peter cleared his throat. “We have things to work out, too.” His eyes were wide with anxiety. “The markets worldwide seem to be going berserk and I can’t figure out why.”
Dimitri’s eyebrows rose.
Oksana stood abruptly and gathered empty plates. Mariya sighed, stacked a few plates, too, and followed Oksana.
Alexander leaned toward Rebecca. “Why don’t you go talk to Kat? Or would you rather help Oksana?”
Rebecca blinked at him. “I’ll go talk to Kat. She’s my best friend. Right?”
Alexander grimaced. “Of course, she is.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “She’ll always be your best friend.”
Rebecca offered a weak smile, then rose and left the room. Alexander watched her go.
“She’ll be all right.” Anna’s voice was gentle.
“I hope so.”
Peter cleared his throat again. “The volatility is affecting our holdings. They’re down almost thirty percent.”
Dimitri leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Are we diversified enough?”
“Yes. That’s not helping because it’s affecting all the commodity markets and the derivatives, too. It’s all connected, Dad.”
Dimitri nodded. “Yes. International market connectivity is real, Peter. I know.” His gaze bounced around the room and he rubbed his hands together. “The world has shrunk significantly in my lifetime.”
“We’ve not been able to track our holdings for the last week because of our travels.” Robert shifted nervously. “What do you make of the downturn?”
“Do you think the Barotkoffs are messing with our accounts now?” Anastasia asked.
Peter shook his head. “No. It’s more than that. This isn’t just about us, at least as far as the market is concerned. This is affecting everyone both in and out of the markets. Something big is happening and I can’t put my finger on it.” He scrubbed the stubble on his chin. “My gut tells me it’s cataclysmic.”
Dimitri scraped his fingers across his forehead. “Let’s work the problem and see if we can figure it out.” He rose and headed toward his partially set up office with Peter, Robert, and Anastasia close on his heels.
Chapter Eight
Kat curled onto her side on top of her sleeping bag and stared miserably at the wall of her new bedroom. A soft knocking interrupted her brooding.
“Kat?”
Kat rolled onto her back. “Come in.”
Rebecca cracked open the door and peeked inside. “Mind if I join you?”
Kat looked at her and shrugged. “Sure.”
Rebecca walked in and closed the door softly behind her. She sat on the floor next to Kat and crossed her legs. “What’s wrong?”
Kat regarded her friend. “I don’t know that Christopher and I are right for each other.”
Rebecca’s mouth opened, and her eyes grew wide. “I admit I wasn’t sure about him at first, Kat, but I think he’s got it for you in a bad way, and he’s good to you. I thought you felt the same about him. What’s changed?”
Kat sat up and faced her friend. She gave an exasperated sigh. “I think...he’s just not right for me. You were right.”
Rebecca reached out and squeezed Kat’s knee. “I was wrong, Kat. He’s a good guy and he loves you like crazy. I know he didn’t meet someone else and you sure as heck didn’t meet somebody else, so what happened? You can tell your best friend, can’t you?”
Oh, how I wish I could, thought Kat. “There’s nobody else. I just think he’s too much like his family. I can’t reconcile that.”
Rebecca gave Kat a puzzled look.
Kat sighed again. “Look, I can’t explain it. I’m sorry. I just don’t think we’re right for each other.”
Rebecca’s voice grew soft. “Kat. I’m your best friend. Tell me.”
Kat changed the subject. “How’s your striped brain doing?”
Rebecca looked at Kat, then scooched back and leaned against the wall. “It’s a zebra pattern up there. Alexander tells me it will clear up and that we’ve been through a lot. That’s why it’s like that.” She glanced around the room. “I guess we have been through a lot. We were in danger in Georgia.” Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she sucked in a breath. “It’s because of Christopher and Anna’s family, isn’t it?”
Kat held her breath, then nodded once.
Rebecca covered her gaping mouth with her hands. “Oh my...oh! That’s why...you and Christopher...why are they here with us then? They’re dangerous, aren’t they?”
“One of your dark stripes...?”
“Just lightened up a bit,” Rebecca finished for her. Her jaw clenched, and she pointed at Kat. “That’s it! That’s it!” She scrambled up and headed for the door. “I have to tell Alexander.”
Kat jumped up and stood between Rebecca and the door. “No, you’ve got it wrong, Rebecca.”
“What? What have I got wrong?”
“Their family is dangerous, yes. But I don’t know that Christopher and Anna are specifically dangerous to us. They’ve helped us. They’ve...” She stared over Rebecca’s shoulder.
“You just said that Christopher is too much like his family and you can’t deal with it. That means they’re all dangerous!” She pushed past Kat with surprising strength and hurled herself out the door and down the stairs. “I have to tell Alexander that I remember!”
Kat followed closely on her heels.
“Alexander! Alexander!” Rebecca rushed into the living room. Her eyes landed on Anna and she stopped short which caused Kat to bump into her back. She stumbled and caught herself. “Alexander, I need to talk to you. In private.”
Alexander glanced from Anna to Kat, then he looked at Rebecca. “Okay.”
He rose and led her to the porch. Kat tried to follow, but Rebecca gave her a look that stopped her in her tracks. She retreated to the living room.
Anna stood up, her brow furrowed. “Is everything all right?”
Kat shook her head. “No. It is not.” Without further explanation,
Kat withdrew upstairs. She was weary. It will play out however it will play out, she thought.
THE NEXT MORNING FOUND the family busily installing fencing along their property, which Peter and Dimitri had worked a miracle to have delivered on such short notice. The fence wouldn’t be as large as it had been in Georgia for practicality purposes, but it would suffice.
Dimitri’s muscles bulged as he pounded another post into the ground. “I expect we’ll have this done today.”
Robert and Claire agreed.
Claire shielded her eyes with her hand and squinted into the distance. “Looks like Team Two might beat us.”
Robert and Dimitri followed her gaze. Peter, Anna, and Christopher were making headway on their stretch of land.
Claire swiveled in the opposite direction and pointed. “But Team Sour Puss isn’t slacking, either.”
In the opposite direction, Kat, Anastasia, and Steven were busily putting fence posts in, too. The rest of the family remained indoors unpacking and cooking, including Rebecca. She and Alexander’s talk had only resulted in more stress for them. Alexander had reminded her of the help the Barotkoff siblings had been to the family by uncovering other hidden memories in Rebecca’s mind, but she remained skeptical and suspicious.
Dimitri sighed. He turned back to their task. “Let’s finish up.”
“Uncle Dimitri, what is up with Kat and Christopher? She’s avoiding him like he’s got the plague.”
Dimitri hit the post a few more times, then stopped and looked at Robert. “He told her what he had to do while he was with his family.”
“You mean about the bodies?”
Dimitri nodded.
Robert shook his head while Claire clucked her tongue. Robert kept nothing from her.
“That wasn’t the brightest idea he ever had,” Robert mused.
Claire gave him an odd look. “He was trying to be honest with her.”
“Honesty is the best policy, but what good could come from sharing that? I mean, look what it’s done. It’s torn them apart, literally.” Robert waved his arm between the broken pair.
Revelations: The Shifter Series: Volume Three Page 13
