by Mel Todd
Helena met her a few steps out, engulfing her in a hug so tight her bones creaked, and Cass didn’t mind at all. She returned the hug with equal pressure.
"I’ve been so worried." Helena mumbled into her neck even as Troy and Laila wrapped their arms around her on either side with soft cries of "Aunt Cass" and she felt wetness seep into her shirt.
Helena pulled back and looked at her, her eyes widening in horror. "Cass, what happened? You’ve lost like fifty pounds. You’re emaciated." Her voice shook a little and Cass also saw worry in Oswald's face as he stood behind his wife, a hand on her shoulder and a frown on his face as he looked her over.
"Yeah. It’s a long story. But I need to tell you something." Cass took a deep breath and tried to convince herself she wouldn’t lose her family over this.
Helena didn’t release her, just looked at her waiting for her to speak.
"I’m a shifter. I turn into a wolverine." The words tumbled out of her mouth and her heart triple beat, trying to brace herself for Helena’s response.
Helena’s brows drew together, and she looked at Cass. "Okay? So why didn’t you tell me?"
Cass blinked looking at her. "Because you called me and ranted about it and how it was unnatural and that you’d never trust a shifter with the kids? Then Oswald got hurt…" She trailed off confused about the sad laughter slipping out of her sister even as Oswald patted his wife’s shoulder.
"I was a bit drunk, had been watching that video on repeat, and was jealous as all get out. I just wanted to rant and not have to feel guilty. Oswald?" She leaned back and looked at her husband and shrugged. "The idiot attacked him, probably would have even if he hadn’t shifted. I was mad, scared, and more than a bit ready to go beat the man to death. But, Cass…" Helena trailed off and shook her head pulling her tight into a hug.
"I love you. You’re my sister. I’ll move the world for you. I don’t care if you become an assassin, I’ll always be there for you and support you."
Her words were slightly muffled as she buried her head in Cass’s neck, but Cass heard every word and felt part of her relax.
"Though I might send a few names your way if you become an assassin. I love you." Her voice thick with emotion.
Cass started laughing and felt everything slip back into place. Her world was good, her family loved her, and she had a pack. Which still felt odd to say but glancing over her shoulder at JD and McKenna she found them smiling at her and it felt right.
Introductions were made, arrangements for everyone to show up at McKenna’s place to eat and talk. Maybe this food wouldn’t be so hard to choke down, eating it with friends and family.
Oswald drove, the kids chattering at her as she gave a very sanitized version of the events. Namely, she had been kidnapped and taken to South America and that they had to walk a long way to get back. From the glances at her by Helena, she knew she heard the unspoken story and would explain at some point, but not now, not here.
The conversation flowed light and easy, until Wefor spoke in her head, letting all of them hear what the AI spoke to McKenna.
[Commander, enjoy your evening. But there are things you must be informed of before another day has passed.]
~Sure. What do we need to discuss?~ McKenna’s voice sounded wary and it made Cass tense as she waited for the information.
[The message the young man listened to. It was a signal from an Elentrin ship. They should reach your Earth in the next twenty-five to thirty days.]
Cass scrambled to figure out what Wefor meant, then remembered the strange scene in the lunch room and felt her stomach lurch as what had been mentioned at the beginning, what she’d almost forgotten, came flooding back into her mind.
~They’re almost here?~
[Yes. And they would most likely be expecting to pick up troops.]
~To pick up Kaylid you mean. Us.~ McKenna’s voice had a flat brittle quality that Cass understood as her life screeched to a halt with Wefor’s reply.
[Yes]
Trust
Kaylid Chronicles
Novella 4
Mel Todd
Bad Ash Publishing
Atlanta, Georgia
Copyright © 2019 by Melisa Todd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Bad Ash Publishing
Powder Springs, GA 30127
www.badashpublishing.com
Publisher's Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com
Cover by http://www.ampersandbookcovers.com/
Trust/ Mel Todd -- 1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-0000000-0-0
Reality is chaos, you led me home.
The family you build is your real family.
―JOseph Daniel Davidson
Authors Note:
Trust spans three novels. The first few chapters are what JD goes through when McKenna is kidnapped during the events of No Choice. The next few occur after Commander where they deal with the aftermath of their adventure in the jungle and getting interested in Cass. The last part takes place during Incoming. I wind up a few plot threads and give you information about some that will be more prevalent in book 4 Allies.
I hope you enjoy getting to know JD better.
Mel Todd
Fati Amori
With all the attention on the Rossville Police department and their new outreach program, can McKenna Largo and the other cops help make this change seem normal? Reaching out to kids has become the standard for Police and Fire Departments. Usually this is to underprivileged youth or inner city, but this time it is to those children who can shift. They are definitely the minority as only 1% of all shifters are under the age of eighteen. Does this mean something? Or just the luck of the draw? ~KWAK News
Joseph Daniel Davidson, better known as JD to everyone, had initially dreaded the day at the zoo. Getting to hang with Toni made him understand why McKenna had been so drawn to her. She had a solid presence that lifted his mood. The kids had been great. The littlest of them, a girl called Nam, had a frailness about her that made her almost doll-like, and he wanted to pick her up and cuddle her, an odd feeling. But overall, he had enjoyed talking with parents and Kala Mansour. The young officer was smart, energetic, and made him feel old. But she clicked with the kids and watching them smile made it all worth it. McKenna and he didn't talk much while they were there, since they talked all the time. They purposefully spread out and interacted with other people.
Entering into the open area in front of the zoo the bus sat, waiting, its engine idling. A half-thought flashed across his mind, but a parent said something, and he shifted his attention. The thought disappeared before he could get it to clarify.
McKenna and Kala went up ahead to the bus with the youngest kids. They'd all been drawn to Kala, pretty and soft-spoken, the kids had taken to her. McKenna with her fame, much to her discomfort, was also a draw for both the parents and the kids. But she rolled with it. They headed over to the bus as JD answered the question from one of the parents.
JD didn't know what drew his attention back to the bus. He paused in his conversation with the parent, they'd been talking about weight-lifting and how to build muscle. But something about the bus. He stopped mid-conversation, and looked at the bus, frowning. JD tilted his head, starting to move forward, then paused as the doors opened.
That's it. Why were the doors closed? They should be open for the kids to get on the bus.
A moment later Kala stumbled out, her hands raised, her normal caramel-colored skin ashy gray. JD started to move even as she stepped down on the pavement, his hand reaching for a gun that wasn't
there. The crack of a weapon firing shattered the conversations that had filled the space a moment before.
Everything happened at once. The doors to the bus slammed shut as the engine revved. A dark spot spread across Kala's chest as the concrete planter directly in front of her shattered. Kids and adults screamed and threw themselves to the ground.
JD reached Kala as her head hit the pavement. Even as he moved on automatic, flipping Kala over and starting basic first aid, he knew it wouldn't make a difference. The shot had blown out her heart. She had been dead before she hit the ground. He pulled out his phone, dialing 911. Toni dropped down next to him, her face a pale mask.
"911, what's your emergency?" The calm voice of the dispatcher didn't help as his gaze followed the bus tearing out of the parking lot. Carrying kids and his best friend away from him.
"JD Davidson, badge number 34021. Officer down at Sacramento Zoo." He kept up the quiet flow of information, barely letting the operator interrupt as Toni tried to help him, her knowing the steps better than he did since she did this for a living, though normally she was the 911 dispatcher on the other end of a call. But Kala's heart never started again. By the time the ambulances and other police arrived they were both going through the motions. He could see the same bleak acceptance on her face that matched his heart as she kept looking out towards where the bus had gone.
The bus with her children.
The thought slammed into him, and he wanted to go to her, to the other parents holding their kids close. Toni was the only parent there whose kids were in that bus. The other parents weren't here, though he didn't envy the cops who would be making those calls. Telling them their children had been taken would be another version of hell.
The EMTs took Kala's body, leaving them there, blood-stained and exhausted. He started to move towards Toni, looking smaller than he'd ever seen, when a voice halted him in his tracks.
"Davidson, what the hell happened?" He jerked around to see Kirk glaring at him and only practice kept him from snapping at the man.
"We'd finished at the zoo and were headed to the bus to drop the kids back off. McKenna and Kala were with the youngest kids and headed to the bus first to help them get on. The rest of us lagged behind, talking. I looked up and Kala was stepping off the bus. They shot her and took off before anyone had a chance to react." Even to himself he sounded choppy, factual, the words came out stilted and hollow, not reflecting how much he wanted to rage and scream.
Kirk turned and looked at the still form the EMTs loaded into the quiet ambulance, his jaw pulsing. That show of stress helped JD, it made him think Kirk wasn't taking this in stride.
"Did you see them? How many? Anything?" Kirk's voice was hard but almost soft. JD felt like he should be screaming, screaming was the correct response to all of this. But it wouldn't help anything right now.
JD shook his head. "The windows were tinted and up. It happened before we really realized anything was wrong. None of us had vehicles here, so I called 911 and tried to," he broke off swallowing hard. Kala had been dead, but he had tried.
"Understood. The detectives have your statement?" Kirk's voice mellowed a bit, and it made JD even more irritated.
"Not yet, been a bit crazy, but it's exactly what I told you. I don't have a damn useful thing to impart." His voice started to rise. JD clenched his teeth and lowered the volume. "So where do I start? Do they need people to start canvassing? The license plate of the bus should be on the paperwork." He started to say more, his fingers twitching with the need to spin something, but Kirk held up his hand, an odd look on his face.
"Davidson," Kirk stopped and sighed. "JD. Go home. You can't work on this case. You're too close to it. Let the detectives do their jobs. You're involved with the crime which means you can't assist with this case. Finish talking to the detectives. Tell them what you need, what you can, then go home."
JD started to argue, to rant, but he knew policy, and Kirk had it on his side. Oh, he could make an exception, but that really only happened on TV, and this wasn't a TV show.
"JD, really, go home. Have a drink, have ten drinks. We'll find her." Kirk tried to sound confident, but JD could hear the worry in his voice. McKenna had so much attention on her right now, who knew who had grabbed her. Kirk turned and yelled at a patrol officer standing by his car. "Take Davidson to the station. He's off duty for the rest of the day after he talks to the detectives."
He gave JD one more look then stormed away to deal with the press that had started to descend. JD looked around the entrance to the zoo, the bright yellow crime scene tape flapping obscenely bright. The chatter of the press created an annoying buzz that permeated the area. Rage and grief gripped him and stayed as he answered questions, gave statements, dealt with the forms, provided his badge number more times than he could count, and repeated the same words over and over. Words that hammered home the facts, Kala was dead and McKenna was missing.
"Ready to go, JD?"
The voice of a fellow officer pulled him away from the rage surging through him, the desire to turn into a bear and destroy everything and everyone. They'd finished with him, leaving him standing there, lost. With McKenna gone, JD felt like his right arm was missing also. The rest of the parents were gone, the kids all packed away.
How long have I been standing here? Where's Toni? Is she okay?
The officer waited for him patiently. Finally JD grunted and climbed in the squad car. He recognized the other officer, but for the life of him couldn't pull out his name and didn't care enough to ask. They rode in silence back to the station and he climbed out with another grunt of thanks then headed to his Hummer. Even looking at it brought back memories.
She isn't dead. She can't be dead. She's the closest thing I have to a family.
The thought spiraled through his mind as he drove home. There were no lights or sirens behind him, so he assumed he hadn't run any red lights or sped, but he didn't remember any of the drive. A drink, a lot of drinks, enough drinks that he could convince himself he knew what to do was the only option he could see. Pulling up to his house, he didn't bother opening the garage door. Right then all he wanted was inside, AC and whiskey, and navigating through the garage seemed like way too much work. McKenna's favorite whiskey.
Pulling out his keys, he trudged to his front door and froze. The setting sun revealed what he hadn't noticed in his blind process to his goal. A figure sitting on his front porch, her dark head lowered and cradled on her arms folded across her knees. Pivoting slowly, he saw her car parked on the road in front of his house. Another thing he hadn't paid attention to.
Any other time he might have cursed himself for not seeing a strange car outside his house, or a person sitting on his front steps. Today he gave himself a pass as he walked forward, but he already knew who sat there.
"Toni?" JD said, walking up to his front steps. His uniform felt like a prison, and he didn't know if he could handle any more. She lifted her head, and he felt what was left of his heart break. Her face held hollowed-out eyes, tear tracks running down her face, eyes swollen and red. She still had blood on her t-shirt, Kala's blood.
"My kids are gone. I don't know what to do." Her voice cracked, and JD opened his arms. Seconds later Toni was in them crying as if her heart had broken. He just held her. The crickets chirping a counterpoint to her tears and the ones that fell from his own face.
Limbo
Our prayers are with the parents of the officer who was slain in the line of duty today and with those parents who are waiting for word of where their children are. Anyone with information is asked to call the hotline. Anything at this point could lead officials to the missing police officer and the missing children. The parents are urged to reach out to their community for help during this trying time. ~KWAK News
Toni slept on his couch that night. They were too tired to talk, and after two drinks each they fell into their beds for the night, emotionally and physically exhausted. He didn't dream and didn't know if that was a blessi
ng or a curse. But the image of Kala's face as blood spread across her uniform remained vivid in his mind as he woke up.
The chirping alarm reminded him that he needed to get up, and he did. Moving through the motions without thinking about what he was doing. Walking out into the kitchen, he froze as he saw another figure making coffee. It took a second to remember Toni had stayed over, but the rich smell of coffee helped allay the fight reaction.
"Morning," his voice gruff.
"Yeah," her voice dull and lifeless.
"I've got to go to work. They'll have questions for me." He pulled open his junk drawer in the kitchen and dug in it for a moment, then pulled out a key, and set it on the counter with a click. "Here. You can stay as long as you need. Does Carina know yet?"
Toni nodded, her back still towards him. "Yeah. She's going to stay with some friends from college. Doesn't want to be alone right now." Her voice had a hollow sound, as if she'd been scooped out.
"But that leaves you alone."
She shrugged, pouring a cup of coffee, then turned around to look at him. JD flinched. He missed McKenna, would do anything to get her back, but the look on Toni's face might bring him to his knees.
"Will she protect them? Will she bring my babies back?" Each word a knife slashing across a soul, his or hers he wasn't sure. Maybe both.
"With her life. She'll do anything to protect them." His words strong, true. Of all the things he had faith in, his belief that McKenna would move the world to protect those kids was iron clad.
If she's still alive.
Toni nodded. "Okay." She walked out of the kitchen to sit on the couch, the coffee clenched in her hand. JD poured his own coffee and watched her.
