by J. A. Dennam
“Holy shhhh...”
Austin was completely floored, failed even to protect the parts of his body that were now in eminent danger. Derek slowly turned the blade for dramatic effect. “What’s the matter, Cahill? You look a bit yellow.”
“That’s enough, Derek,” Melanie broke in with genuine fear in her voice. “I’d say you win this round, okay?”
Recognizing the tone, he looked up and noticed Danny’s obvious state of distress as Melanie offered support from behind. His persona instantly changed and he lifted off his opponent with measured calm.
Danny stumbled to her feet. Austin sat partially upright and continued to watch slack-jawed from the ground. While it had been fun, Derek realized the time for healing had begun.
“You aren’t seeing things,” he said, waiting for her to come to him. “I’m real, Danny.”
“You can’t be,” she breathed, slowly closing the distance.
He spoke out of the side of his mouth. “Hey, Cahill.”
“Uh-huh?”
“Did that hurt as much as I think it did?”
Austin nodded.
“See?” Derek said with an apologetic smile. “That’s about as real as it gets.”
Danny finally reached him and they stood toe-to-toe. Her hand came up, lightly touched the whiskers at his jaw as her eyes scoured his face. If she were going to hit him like Mel did, now would be the time to do it, because at that point he was equally locked up with emotion.
Instead, her doe-eyes filled with tears. “How?”
He swallowed back an unexpected wave of sadness. “It’s a long, painful story.” But Danny had finally brought him home in a way only she could.
Her arms flew around him. She held on tight as she poured out the last two years of his absence through violent tears. Fighting back his own, he grabbed a handful of her hair and flattened his lips against her forehead. When he opened his eyes again, through the sheen he saw Melanie watching from where she stood, hand over mouth. Suddenly, he was more grateful to her for forcing her hand where Danny was concerned. If, when it was all over, he were to die after all, he’d have this memory to comfort him.
“You get snot on my clothes, I’ll kick your butt.”
Danny’s sobs turned to choked laughter and she pulled away, rested her hands flat against his chest to feel his real-live heartbeat. “If there was any doubt before, it’s completely gone.”
His repressed smile came with a nod and he wiped his eyes. “You look good. Despite the name change.”
Austin was back on his feet. He came around to stand behind Danny and placed his hands on her shoulders as he finalized his own round of shock and awe. “I think it’s time you explain, Derek,” he said with a cautious undertone. “I know it’s you. Nobody else was around when we had our bedside heart-to-heart. But where in hell have you been all this time?”
Derek gave him a tentative look as he pulled away from his sister. “The hot part.”
“He didn’t die on the operating table,” Melanie provided from her solitary stance by the door. “He never made it to the table, it was all a ploy to take him right out from under our noses.”
“Take you...” Danny struggled with the news. “By who?”
“It was Rena. She arranged his abduction.”
Austin tensed, ran a hand across the back of his neck. “If I were to take a wild guess, I’d say there’s a connection between her escape and your sudden return.”
“There’s more than just a connection,” Rena announced from the doorway.
And there she was. Perfect timing.
“Derek’s the one who broke me out.”
Derek swore under his breath and quickly ushered her outside. “You said you’d wait,” he growled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Oh, I just thought you’d want to know we’re about to have some unwanted company if we don’t move this parking lot somewhere else.” Rena’s focus zeroed in on the group spilling out of the shop behind him and she gave a sweet smile to her ex-fiancé. “Hi, baby.”
Derek turned and saw Austin wrap his arms around Danny’s shoulders from behind. It was a protective gesture that conveyed how attached he was to his wife. Derek decided he’d have to sort through his mixed feelings about that later. “There is obviously a lot to explain,” he said to them, “but you have my word she won’t hurt you.”
Something dangerous stirred behind Danny’s lowered lashes. Austin instinctively tightened his grip. “That doesn’t mean I won’t hurt her,” she snarled.
Ty came out of the Honda like a shot, holding a red-faced DJ as if he were a canister of plutonium. “Someone just pooped and it wasn’t me.”
Holy shit. What next? As chaos erupted from every direction, Derek took a breath, closed his eyes and attempted to regroup from within. A hand touched his arm.
“What are you thinking?” Melanie asked, her eyes guarded.
Derek’s brows drew down as he studied the fresh-faced beauty before him. “That you and I need to have a serious talk.” Her delicate features relaxed and he saw wisdom in her he’d been hard pressed to acknowledge in the past. Melanie Parker had always been more than just an easy notch on his bedpost. Her ability to continuously derail him presented a legitimate danger to his heart that had little to do with sexual prowess. It had taken a five-story fall to realize that. But the bomb she’d just dropped... that was a wake-up call of an entirely different caliber.
“So, you heard me?” she asked softly.
“That sound clue was pretty hard to miss.” Said with a hint of panic.
Her voice went even softer. “I didn’t want you hearing it from--”
“It’ll have to wait. Rena is right. We can’t stay here or any one place for too long.”
Understanding dawned, but with it came a flash of sadness. He knew what she wanted, but that wasn’t about to happen right now. It was hard enough maintaining a clear head in order to carry out the complex agenda before them. Their safety came first. Everything else would come later.
But where to start? Thinking was becoming difficult through the building noise of his anxiety, with so much going on. The thought of transferring the entire group to a different location was tiring in itself and would only delay progress.
Melanie, who’d been studying him way too closely for his comfort, took him by the hand. “I have an idea.”
____________
As soon as Melanie re-entered the shop, she felt his eyes follow her every move.
“Okay,” Derek said, watching her with uncertainty while he hunched over the service counter with his head in his hands, “so, you’ve proven you can think on your feet.”
He still looked frazzled to her. “Fancy footwork is a daily job requirement of mine,” she drawled smartly as she pocketed her keys and joined the group with the baby in her arms. “The vehicles are out of sight, our escape plan is in place, Rena’s in the garage playing with crayons, and Chewie is outside on high alert. Oh, and DJ’s diaper has been changed.”
Ty gave an exaggerated thumbs-up.
“Have you all been briefed?” When everyone nodded, Melanie jerked her chin at Derek. “So, what next?”
Danny sat up and spun around so that her legs dangled from the counter. “You’ve had more time to process, Mel. I may need another minute.”
When Melanie deposited DJ onto the counter, Derek moved back a little. The kneejerk reaction was not lost on her. It hurt, but he was still in the absorption stage. Something she could understand.
The baby struggled to be lowered to the dirty floor and it was Austin who absently took his nephew into solid arms. As usual, the leather necklace he wore immediately distracted DJ.
“I still can’t believe this goes back to when we were, what... twelve?” he said with incredulity. “Rena was just a kid herself.”
Derek watched with a hint of curiosity as Austin handled DJ with expertise. “I still don’t know what her ties to IGP were back then, but she’s willing to fill in
a few blanks if we can all agree to keep the peace.” His pointed look was for Danny.
She shrugged. “I wasn’t the one who fired the first shot, but okay. Whatever.”
“She wasn’t herself back then, Danny. I’m telling you, Rena is the same as you and me as long as her meds aren’t tampered with.”
Danny rolled her eyes. “Sorry, but that only makes her a sane bitch.”
“She’s only messing with you because you’re being so hostile!”
“And you know her how well?”
“Danny, I think he’s right,” Melanie piped in when the voices got loud. “I’ve thrown out my fair share of insults, but Rena really pulled through when it mattered. She may have started this, but we can’t end it without her. She is just as afraid of these people as we are.”
“And when we were together,” Austin added while the toddler bounced on his shoulders, “she didn’t show any signs of illness at all. It was hardest for me to digest the fact she was so sick when she was arrested.”
“Really?” Danny questioned with attitude. “The surprise resurrection and the gunfire didn’t give you pause?”
“Removal from society seems to be IGP’s specialty,” Derek redirected slyly. “All of the ghosts I trained with were already believed dead.”
Danny shivered, hugged her arms. “Are you saying Rena is a ghost, too?”
“Not entirely, though she’s had some training. Enough to keep her hidden when the need arises.”
“I’d say she’s had more than some training, Derek,” Melanie countered with a doubtful look. “She was able to steal drugs from a prison medical ward, after all.”
“A task made easier when you’re thought to be catatonic.”
“And she does have that silent stalker thing down pat.”
“I’ve been giving her some tips to improve her skill, but she won’t be able to hold her own against someone like me.”
“Have any other ghosts defected like you?” Danny asked quietly.
Derek shook his head, pushed off the counter. “Most of them are loyal to a fault.”
“Let me guess,” Austin threw in. “They weren’t exactly pillars of society.”
“Bingo. But it’s more than just IGP bailing them out of their problems; they’ve been given an advantage over the common man. The drug they’re on...” Derek took a deep breath. “The drug we’re on... it’s addictive. It’s an enhancement that not only improves physical strength, but cognitive strength as well. The other ghosts... they love it. They feed off the rush and it only gets worse as the drug embeds itself further into their system.”
Danny again. “Cognitive strength?”
“Enhanced perception, hearing, night vision. We train for stealth. Our advantage is the element of surprise, how to use it and how to avoid it. It’s what makes us so effective.”
“And you can do all of that now?”
Melanie pushed air through her lips. “A word of advice, Danny. Don’t close your eyes. I can’t tell you how many... you see! Dammit, Derek!”
“Where’d he go?” It was more of an exclamation of panic than a question.
The man had simply vanished. Melanie threw up her hands. “And I didn’t even close my eyes that time.” The frustration showed she had moved past the shocked phase.
“Distraction is key,” came his voice from behind her. “We take advantage of the slightest opportunity, but it would never work without stealth. It’s a science, from the way we move to the fabric of our clothing.”
Danny put a hand over her heart when he reappeared from the deeper shadows. “I’m beginning to doubt you’re real again.”
Derek pulled the hood back, gave her a grim smile. “Hey, Cahill.”
Holding a pudgy wrist in each hand, Austin moved his shoulders, cracked a few vertebra. “Yep. My back says he’s real.” DJ giggled and spurred his uncle on for more of the same.
“But this is just a little too fantastic.” Danny positioned herself a few feet in front of her brother and hugged her arms again. “I have to admit... I can see why Rena was so spooked.”
Derek closed the distance and pulled her in for another fierce hug. “I’m sorry, Danny. I don’t mean to scare you. It’s just something you need to be aware of and explaining it can be... ineffective.”
“Then I have a question.” She held her ear to his heartbeat. “If we meet up with these other guys with scary hoods, how do we tell you apart from them?”
A deep sigh. “If I’m good enough, you won’t. But Chewie will.”
“That’s right,” Ty said from his spot by the counter. “I didn’t think of that.”
The connecting door to the shop opened and Rena peeked through it, silently motioned for Melanie.
“I’ll be right back,” Melanie mumbled, feeling all eyes on her as she joined the outcast in the shop.
The tight, three-bay service area was packed with cars. Her poor Honda had been the unlucky choice to be dumped in the woods across the highway. Melanie took the torn sheet of paper Rena handed her and walked it to a canvas-covered window.
“That was a nice touch, by the way,” Melanie said, holding the paper up to one of the tattered holes in the canvas. “The bloody message you left on that prayer guide in the church. Scared the pants off of me.”
“What bloody message?” Rena looked genuinely confused.
“Oh, come on. Don’t even try to convince me that wasn’t you. I watched you dig a tracking device out of your leg, you have no problem drawing your own blood.”
“Just tell me what the message said, Melanie.”
The woman looked serious. It scared her more than the message itself. “It said ‘They’re here.’”
After a thoughtful moment, Rena hugged her arms. “I didn’t leave it.”
Melanie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Then, who did?”
The woman quickly shook her head, dismissing the subject altogether.
“You know...” she squashed the urge to hug her own arms, “I’m beginning to wonder if IGP’s ghosts aren’t the only ones haunting you after all.”
“Shouldn’t we be concentrating on Derek?” Rena snapped, jerking her chin toward the paper.
Yes. Absolutely. Giving herself a mental shake, Melanie studied the list, noticed immediately the handwriting was nothing like what she’d seen on that prayer guide.
“Is this all?” she asked, taking her lower lip between her teeth.
Rena pulled the canvas out for a peek. “All I’m willing to risk. It’s the medication I left at the church and the rest is for emergency use only. Just in case we can’t get IGP to cooperate before Derek takes a complete dive.”
“How soon do we need this?”
“He could be slipping right now as far as I know. Sooner the better.”
Melanie expelled a heavy breath and chewed over her options. “Here, give me your phone.”
“What’s going on in here?” Derek said a mere few feet away.
While Rena swore under her breath, Melanie yelped loudly, the sound echoing from the walls. “Don’t do that,” she railed, rounding the Challenger’s bumper and shoving at him hard. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, especially with me!”
“What’s the matter, honey,” Rena added, giving him a pointed look and crossing her arms. “Afraid I’m going to hurt your baby-momma?”
The garage fell dead silent. Melanie slowly turned with her mouth fully agape. Derek’s look turned dark and stormy.
The woman feigned ignorance. “Oh... was I not supposed to know about that? I’m sorry, but the little tyke did call you Dada on more than one occasion.”
“Are you trying to make me feel more the fool?” Derek growled, clearly vexed.
Melanie’s insides went static. Holy crap, was that how he felt?
“What I think,” Rena said softly, “is that you already knew, just like I did.”
“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Rena.” His voice turned icy. “I’m off limits. Remember
that and we’ll maintain this comfortable relationship.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Rena finally caved. “I’m just saying... denial isn’t the direction you want to go. You need to start thinking like you’ll survive this.”
The woman circled around them and, to their utter shock, headed right for the connecting door. She was entering the lion’s den with head held high and no thought to whether or not her presence would be well received. She stopped with her hand on the knob. “You two go ahead and talk amongst yourselves. I’m going to find out about that bullet. When you’re through, feel free to join me.”
Chapter 11
When the door closed, Melanie eyeballed the man beside her and attempted to read his emotions. It was frustratingly impossible. Aside from a blank stare, Derek was sealed tighter than Fort Knox.
“Do you want to have that talk now?” she asked timidly, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
A silent moment passed, then he finally looked at her. “I’m not sure I’m ready for it yet.”
In other words, he wasn’t sure if he could accept the idea of having a child yet. Her heart thumped a wild beat and she swallowed hard. “I see.”
The Challenger was parked directly behind her. She turned toward it and leaned her knees lazily against the front quarter panel as she looked it over with sadness. “It was that day I...” she faltered, took another breath, “I told you I loved you. Just a few days before you died.”
Melanie put a hand out, ran loose fingertips over the warm hood. “You were so angry with me. I guess you had good reason. I was acting like a spoiled brat, retaliating since you didn’t reciprocate.” A deep sigh. “I knew you’d never say it back; it’s just that... I guess I was being just as manipulative toward you then as I was when I pretended to sleep around so much, trying to make you jealous. But I swear, Derek. I swear I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. I would never try to trap you that way.”
“You were on birth control.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“As I recall, that was the only time I didn’t use protection.”
“That’s right.”
“So, you... what? Stopped taking the pill without telling me?”
