“Whoo Hoo!” she pumped her fist, “You’re finally back! We’ve been so worried!”
“We didn’t want to risk calling,” Calvin said, fielding her next enthusiastic hug with a laugh.
“We have to celebrate!” Crystal hooked her arm onto Caledonia’s, “Let me show you what I’m gonna do with the place!”
Calvin and Jarod stood watching the two girls go into the house.
“She moved in… didn’t she?” Calvin smirked at him.
“It’s only temporary,” Jarod bristled, “Until she can find a new place.”
“What was that you said?” Calvin asked wryly, “I’m never gonna let some chick think she owns me…”
“Look who’s talking,” Jarod shot back sarcastically.
Calvin shrugged. “Oh, I’m completely owned… But at least I admit it.”
Jarod nodded towards the motorcycle strapped into the truck bed. “Did your bike break down?”
“Nope, but it could probably use a little maintenance. Cali’s been pretty much on top of it, but we put some serious miles on it this summer.”
Jarod scoffed, “She works on bikes?”
Calvin nodded, feeling a little surge of pride at the thought. “Her dad rode.”
“So where did you get the truck?”
“She did that too. That was all Cali.”
Jarod looked at him with raised eyebrows. “What, did she rob a bank or something?”
“Uhm… She helped me win a bunch of money gambling. We just got back from Vegas.”
“Vegas?”
“Yep. Turns out, she’s a pretty good poker player. She, uhm… She can read people really good.”
“Seriously? Is there anything she doesn’t do?” Jarod looked sideways at his brother.
“I don’t think so,” Calvin said, entirely serious.
“It’s a pretty sweet ride,” Jarod said, circling around to get a better look at it.
“Yeah, well… I had to buy it in your name…”
“That explains a lot.” Jarod laughed, “I got some papers in the mail, but I thought it was some kinda mistake.”
“Uhm… I sorta won the money using your name too… You might be hearing from the IRS soon...”
Jarod looked surprised. “Really? How much did you win?”
“A lot. Look, we need to talk. I need a favor from you.”
He explained how he’d played in a poker tournament, glossing over how Cali “coached” him. When he got to the part about the thugs that threatened to expose them, Jarod got angry, ranting, “That dirtbag better not show his face around here! There’s more than one person in this town that would love to kick his sorry ass!”
“They’re gonna have to get in line behind me,” Calvin said darkly. “He jumped Cali.”
“No way! What happened?” Jarod asked, shocked.
“I wasn’t there at the time… But she kicked him in the junk and messed him up pretty bad.” Calvin smiled wryly at the thought. “Last time I saw him he was rolling around on the floor puking and crying like a baby.”
Jarod grinned, playfully punching his brother in the shoulder. “Told you she was a keeper.”
~
Crystal showed Caledonia around the house, chattering about picking out paint colors and new tile countertops. “I’m just so sick of always having all white walls… Ya know what I mean?”
Caledonia hadn’t really thought about it, but she nodded anyway, looking around at the place. It was pretty much the same as before, but there were subtle touches here and there that betrayed a woman’s presence. New towels hung from a rack in the kitchen, and frilly pillows were arranged on the freshly slipcovered couch.
“I’ll make a pot of coffee,” Crystal said, moving about the kitchen with casual ease.
“When did you move in?” Caledonia asked.
Crystal was glowing with satisfaction. “Jarod asked me to stay after you guys left… I think he was lonely, poor baby.”
Caledonia smiled back, pleased to see Crystal looking so happy.
“Oh! And I quit dancing. Now I have a job at Brandy’s salon. I’m a shampoo girl, but I’m gonna get a station when I save up enough for school. Hey! I bet I can get you a job there.” Crystal chattered on, bubbling over with positive energy. “If I knew you guys were coming back today I would have cooked or something,” Crystal said, “We should celebrate! I should call Brandy and the guys– Let’s have a welcome home party!”
Caledonia winced. She’d had her fill of crowds, and didn’t want to be around any more strangers, “Please don’t… I just want a quiet night… We’ve been driving all day.”
“Okay, sure… I know! Us girls can go out shopping tomorrow.”
“Uhm, I’m afraid there’s something I need to take care of in the city tomorrow,” Caledonia said.
“But you’re coming back here afterwards… right?”
“I guess so… I’m not really sure,” she said, looking up to see the two brothers burst in the front door laughing. They were happily reunited, their jovial peachy tones blending to form a pretty cloud that followed them in the door. She immediately felt guilty about the prospect of taking Calvin away from his home yet again.
Calvin took a good look around the house. After the lavishness of their hotel rooms, the place looked small and shabby. He saw Caledonia standing in the kitchen with Crystal and felt a sudden rush of embarrassment, wondering how it must have seemed to her when she first saw it. He remembered how she’d tried to run away from him.
Their glances met, both of them tinged with bitter doubt.
“So, what do you guys want for dinner?” asked Jarod.
Caledonia smiled, finally able to answer an easy question, “Pizza.”
~
Crystal insisted that they eat at the table on her best plates, chopping up some lettuce for a salad and serving Jarod a helping despite his protests.
She patted his arm. “Baby, you need to eat more green stuff.”
“I’m not a rabbit, woman!” Jarod grumbled. “Do you guys see what I have to put up with?”
Cal and Cali exchanged a look, both of them stifling a smile.
After they finished eating and cleared the table Calvin sat them down and pulled out the pouch full of cash. Jarod gasped in amazement when he leafed through the stacks of bills.
“Man… You’re rich! What are you going to do with all of this?”
Calvin leaned forward, his voice serious, “Remember… Remember how you used to talk about opening up a shop? You know, making custom bikes?”
Jarod just stared, dumbfounded.
“I was thinking,” Calvin continued, “That you could quit riding with the club and do it… There’s enough to get started, maybe even last a year if you’re careful.”
Crystal gasped, taking Jarod’s hand in hers. “That’s great baby… Isn’t it?”
Tears welled up in Jarod’s eyes, surprising Calvin. He cleared his throat, “I don’t know… I don’t know if I can…”
Calvin stood up, clapping his brother on the back. “Sleep on it, okay? Me and Cali should turn in now…” He yawned and stretched, looking at Caledonia. “We should get an early start tomorrow.”
“Cal–” Jarod called after him.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“We got your back tomorrow.”
He nodded. “That’s good to know. Thanks.”
~
Caledonia sat up in Calvin’s small bed for a while, using his laptop to search for any information about what the professor had been up to over the summer. She checked the public police records, discovering that the lab had indeed been raided based on their tip, and some exotic apes had been confiscated by the state. A citation had been issued to Theodore Reed for the possession of restricted animals, and a fine had been levied.
There was no mention of anyone but the professor living at the property.
She moved on, searching for information about Scottish witchcraft.
“Listen to this,�
�� she told him, “It says here that there were more witches burned at the stake in Scotland than anywhere else. They blamed them for everything bad that happened… Crop failures, disease… They were said to control animals…”
Their eyes met.
“They accused nearly four thousand women, and many of them fled the country to avoid the witch-hunts.”
Calvin leaned back on his pillows, watching her magical eyes dart back and forth as she mastered the keyboard, assimilating information faster than he ever imagined possible. He smiled wryly, thinking that the day he was beaten up in the cemetery was probably the luckiest day of his life.
She looked up to see his sweet pink glow. “What?”
So many things had happened since he’d first laid eyes on her, and it had been yet another day loaded with surprises. He shook his head in wonder. “Do you realize that you just introduced me to a pot grower and a cop on the same day?”
She smiled at the irony, closing the lap-top and setting it down on the nightstand. She fluffed a pillow and snuggled under the blankets with a sigh. “Would you shut the light?” she asked.
“Turn off the light,” he chuckled. She had a quirky way of saying things that he found endlessly endearing.
Calvin reached over for the switch, taking one last look at his boyhood room with older and wiser eyes. It was clear to him that he didn’t belong here anymore, and he settled down alongside her, wrapping his body around hers.
“Turn off,” she mused, “I thought that was when you didn’t like something.”
“It is,” he laughed again, kissing the back of her neck, “And turn on is when you like something.”
“I see,” she said, and she did.
~
Chapter Fourteen
PROFESSOR REED
~
Six motorcycles crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into the city, a motley crew of bearded and tattooed men behind the wheels. Their mere presence seemed menacing, and gawking motorists looked away when their gaze was met.
Caledonia was surprised when a couple of Jarod’s larger friends showed up that morning to accompany them, but she was grateful for their presence when she tasted Calvin’s sweet relief. She hadn’t realized how scared he really was.
They pulled up in front of the same forbidding grey building that she’d escaped from to find the place looking deserted. Twisted wires dangled from the spot that once hosted a security camera, and no cars were visible through the metal grate that led to the building’s sub-street parking.
Calvin craned his neck to look up at the fourth floor window he’d last seen Cali come flying out of, his throat constricting at the memory. Caledonia felt a surge of dread also, knowing that if the twins had been moved she might never be able to find them. She scrambled from the motorcycle, poised to run across the street to get a closer look just as a lone bicyclist pulled up to the gated doorway.
Calvin motioned for her to wait. “Looks like a delivery.”
The skinny young man parked his bicycle and retrieved a package from the basket wired to the handlebars. He went to the door and pressed the buzzer, shifting from foot to foot as he waited impatiently. The door swung open and the delivery boy disappeared inside.
“They’re still here!” Caledonia raced across the street and stood poised by the door. When it swung open again her motorcycle boot was the first thing in it.
“Uh… Excuse me?” the delivery boy looked up and directly into the most unusual pair of eyes he’d ever seen.
She stepped aside to let him pass, holding the door open for him. “Leave.”
His cheeks flushed, and he opened his mouth like he was about to say something. Then he looked over her shoulder at the group of large men that had joined her on the sidewalk. He jumped on his bicycle and tore off down the street.
“Wait,” Calvin said, taking her arm. “We all go in together.”
They entered the building’s lower level, and Caledonia tensed as she led the group down the familiar sterile looking hallway. She recognized the doors that led to the prison cells, and when she neared a window into a brightly lit room, she peeked in with a sharp intake of breath.
The object of her fear and loathing was standing all alone in his laboratory, hunched over a microscope. He looked older, his formerly crisp clothes disheveled, his thinning hair unkempt. She went ice-cold inside.
“Excuse me. I’ll just need a few minutes,” she said, in a calm steady voice. Too calm, Calvin thought. “This shouldn’t take long.”
Professor Reed looked up with a start when the door clicked open. The old man’s eyes flew open in shock when he saw the scowling girl standing in the doorway. The biker thug that had stolen her away from him stood poised right behind her.
“I’m here for Layla and Michael,” she announced.
“Caledonia,” he gasped, barely able to believe his eyes.
“Take us to them now,” she ordered him, “and there doesn’t need to be any trouble.”
Professor Reed had the presence of mind to try and avoid looking directly into her eyes, but he realized that there was no point in lying, “They’re not here. They’re gone.”
“Where are they?” she asked, her eyes blazing.
“Max took them.”
“Where?” She started towards him.
He backed up as she advanced. “He’s a dangerous man…”
“What a surprise,” she spat bitterly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Isn’t that exactly why you hired him?”
He took another step back, rattling a long metal table holding glass beakers and test tubes lined up in metal racks.
“Where did he take them?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s no use… He’ll never let her go…”
She picked up the largest beaker, smashing it against the wall behind him.
“Where?” she demanded.
His watery eyes flashed with outrage, shocked by her sudden violence. Then he remembered watching the ungrateful girl as she laid waste to the lovely room that he had so thoughtfully prepared for her. She started reaching for his equipment methodically, smashing beakers one by one.
“Alright– Alright! Stop it! He took them down south… Layla wrote me…” he gestured to a nearby tabletop.
Calvin went over to pick up an envelope, reading the return address, “It’s from Los Angeles.” He squinted at it more closely, “Five months ago.”
Cali looked at the professor, her hand poised to destroy more of his equipment. “I wrote her back a dozen times,” he whispered harshly. “But I never heard from her again.” He glanced at the motorcycle jacket and boots that Caledonia had on, his eyes flickering to the window to see the other men in the hall.
His nostrils flared with disgust. “I should have known you’d be tainted by your association with these beasts. I was wrong about you… You’re nothing at all like your parents.”
Her eyes flew open with outrage. “How dare you…” she seethed. “You think you know ME? You have nothing to do with me!” She advanced on him, her voice low with threat, “You evil… stupid… bastard…”
Caledonia lunged for him, knocking him flat onto his back with brutal efficiency. She loomed over him, bristling with hatred, “You destroyed some of the finest minds of their generation. You knew you were killing them, and you didn’t care.”
“I was increasing human potential,” he gasped.
“YOU WERE WRONG!” She screamed at him, her voice echoing in the barren room. “You have no idea what it was like! I watched them suffer every day of my life because of you!”
Calvin had never seen her so angry, never heard her voice so filled with rage and pain.
She unsheathed her knife in one fluid motion, bloodlust in her eyes. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t carve you into little pieces right now…” She dropped to her knees to press the shiny blade against his throat. “I ought to cut you open and leave you here to bleed out.”
Professor Reed cringed away fro
m her, real fear blooming in his watering eyes.
Calvin saw a trickle of blood roll down his leathery neck and splash onto the floor. He was stunned, flashing on an image of her slicing open the deer without any hesitation. Her hand started to shake.
“Cali…” Calvin’s voice seemed to echo from very far away. “Cali?” She lifted her head to meet his frightened eyes, and the look in them snapped her back to reality. She glanced over to see Jarod and his friends watching through the window, mouths agape.
She wiped her knife blade off on the professor’s shirt, falling back onto her heels. She let Calvin take her arm and lift her up. He searched her eyes “Are you okay?”
She nodded slowly, slipping her knife back into its sheath and pocketing the envelope he offered her. They both watched Professor Reed sit up slowly, scooting back to lean against a bank of cabinets.
She took a deep breath, regaining her icy calm demeanor. “You were wrong all along,” she explained in a loud even voice. “The Athena drug did nothing but induce schizophrenia in your subjects. You had nothing whatsoever to do with me and Layla.”
He shook his head, gasping, “That’s not true. I’ve been comparing your DNA samples… You and Layla share a remarkable number of corresponding alleles… astounding, really. And the heterochromia? I still haven’t isolated all the genetic markers for that trait, but there’s no possible way it was by mere chance.”
“It wasn’t by chance. We’re relatives. Layla’s mother was my father’s sister.”
“What?”
“Alastrina, Trina… She was my aunt. Her and my father were orphaned as children and adopted by two different families.”
She could see his mind racing as the truth dawned on him slowly, and his papery gray skin grew a whiter shade of pale. He vibrated with fluorescent orange shock, and she watched as it was slowly replaced with black horror. It was the same kind of horror that her parents had been forced to grapple with so often.
Mackenzie Legacy, The Page 11
