Lunatic Fringe

by TL Schaefer

  What he’d learned had changed his view a hundred and eighty degrees, but his digging had caught the attention of at least one of the Board members. Luckily, the person, who Kavenaugh refused to disclose, was not Grace’s ally, and in fact was actively working against her actions and her agenda, along with the majority of the Board members.

  When Grace went rogue, the Board had to figure out what to do with her... they’d never had one of their own go sideways and had no real idea how to deal with her. While they worked on some type of containment strategy, O’Donnell played both ends against the middle, pretending to be on track with their decision to secure her, while likely plotting to help her escape once she’d been detained. Which of course Kavanaugh had learned today, when Dr. Edwards spilled in about two seconds flat.

  Kavenaugh’s acting when O’Donnell showed up in the hospital had been inspired. He may not have known the man himself, but he sure as hell knew what O’Donnell had been representing. We’d never suspected a thing.

  “And now we’re here,” Heath said, peeling the label from his beer. “I didn’t ask where the FBI took Grace, O’Donnell and Edwards, I just know that the Board now only has eight members. I suspect it’s the equivalent of a cushy maximum-security prison, while they try to figure out if it’s enough.”

  I could tell he was conflicted. While he didn’t want his half-sister out in the world causing more problems, knowing she was locked up in some kind of classified cell had to suck.

  “Asa and Cam are back on the road. They’re looking for a faith healer Cam met a year or so ago and thinks would be a good fit at CASI. Especially if she understands her Talent enough to help Benny out.”

  That worked for me. Cam Ryder might have the best intentions in the world, but it didn’t mean I’d ever trust her further than I could throw her.

  One thing was still bothering me. “How did Grace get Tori’s phone?”

  “Spoofed,” Heath replied. “She was calling you on a throw-away that was basically a copy of Tori’s.”

  Well, shit. I knew just enough about it to know that it was possible, and very, very expensive. Grace must have been holding that one back as her Hail Mary pass.

  I yawned, hugely. It was only nine p.m. but I was wiped out. In looking at my companions’ faces, we all were. It had been one hell of a day.

  “I’ll stay with you tonight, and then head south while Arin, Jonah and Sara get CASI ready. Should only be a day or so to move the kids.” Roney stood, grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and headed for his room.

  I looked at Heath, then extended my hand. “No getting frisky, not with Benny in the house, but I need to feel you against me.”

  There. I’d said it first. Made myself more vulnerable than I ever had in my life. He’d sacrificed his anonymity to O’Donnell and the Board today to protect me from Dr. Edwards. When it came to grand gestures, they didn’t get much bigger than that.

  His fingers twined with mine, then pulled me up so we were standing chest to chest. “I’d like nothing better. But as soon as Benny is settled? We’re going to make love when no one is chasing us. When it’s just you and me and no other input.”

  His words held such dark promise I sucked in a breath. And the words... making love meant something completely different than having sex.

  I was a hundred percent on board with that.

  Curling up with him was the most natural thing in the world, even if we were still wearing underwear. I didn’t trust myself overmuch not to maul Heath in his sleep.

  When I woke up twelve hours later, a cup of coffee sat on the nightstand on my side of the bed, throwing out the most delicious scent I’d ever smelled. I blindly reached for the mug, practically inhaling half of it in one swig.

  When I sat up and cracked both eyes open, I saw Heath lounging next to me, a cup in his own hand, a huge smile on his face, in his eyes.

  “I had no idea you were such a coffee afficionado, Moni.”

  I put the coffee down on the nightstand, rolled over to him and snuggled under his arm. Let out a big sigh. All was right in my world right this second.

  He laughed, set his cup down and pulled me in for a hug that didn’t end, simply became a different kind of embrace.

  “I’m sorry about what I said before I left for Colorado Springs.” His voice was somber. “I know I said it on the phone, but we were running toward danger then. I need you to know I meant them. Besides my kids, I’ve never felt what I feel with you. It scares me, Monica. And I don’t deal with fear all that well.”

  I tipped my face up, gave him a fast, hard kiss. “I know you meant them. I did my own sniping at you. Let’s be honest, we’re both control freaks, and the concept of not being able to control the outcome of this has been eating at us for over a year.”

  “Along with being hot for each other for almost thirteen,” he said, his voice touched by a happiness I’d never heard from him before. I nodded in agreement and laid my hand on his chest, feeling the thump of his heart beneath my palm, his breath as it feathered across my temple. And I was content. Truly content.

  As much as I would have liked to stay in bed with him, even just to talk and touch, we had a little kid who, if he was awake, was probably still scared out of his mind. We also had a shit-ton of legalities to start while we figured out who had custody of him. It made sense to find his grandmother, we probably should have last night, but he was safe here, and we’d been wiped out.

  “I can hear your brain working,” he laughed and sat up, pulling both of us upright. “C’mon, let’s go see how Benny is doing, and what Roney’s been up to.”

  We dressed, comfortable with each other, but still doing the touching thing whenever we could. And as selfish as it was, tonight I hoped we had Benny taken care of so we could truly be alone.

  BENNY WAS SITTING AT the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal in front of him, listening with wide eyes as Roney told him a tall tale about one of the arrests he’d recently been involved with and the fact the perp had been naked as the day he was born, strolling through a Dallas park and talking to the birds.

  I cleared my throat and grabbed another cup of coffee. “Really, Roney?”

  “Hey, in my defense, he asked what job I do and that was the nicest thing I could think of. I just happened to be in the area and helped the patrol guys out.” Which made sense since he was a homicide detective, but still.

  I sat down next to Benny. “How are you doing today, kid?”

  God, he was so incredibly young, even though he acted years older.

  He turned those solemn eyes on me. “I’m okay. Can I go see my abuela today? She’s always really nice to me.”

  “We’ll totally start working on that. Do you know her first and last name? It’ll help us find her.” I knew I could get it from Cam and Asa, but wanted to ask him first.

  While he knew her first name was Isabela, he wasn’t clear on her last name, just that she lived in Taos. It wasn’t much to go on, but we did have the collective power of the FBI to help us out.

  Kavenaugh showed up, fortuitously, not too long after we finished breakfast. We plopped Benny down in front of Nickelodeon and had a war council, minus the key players that were even now heading to Colorado Springs to ramp CASI back up.

  “I’m assuming Roney briefed you?” At our nods he continued. “I can’t tell you everything, but know this... Grace, O’Donnell and Edwards are now taken care of. This hasn’t just been an FBI operation. The DEA is involved on the drug angle. DHS is losing their shit because of the Russians. The NSA is riding point, though, because they’re more secretive than any of us, and they have the facilities to make sure Talented who are deemed a threat to national security are confined appropriately.”

  He ran a hand over the back of his neck, and I could see how tired he was.

  “I won’t apologize for not reading you all in on this in the beginning. I couldn’t.”

  Heath raised a hand and stopped him. “We get it, all of us.” He looked around t
he table and Roney and I nodded in assent. We did get it. This was bigger than us, always had been, and would take an entity larger than us to make sure it never happened again.

  “Good, because here’s where you’re gonna be pissed. The NSA wants an inside man at CASI to monitor them. To watch what you’re doing there. Because we have a relationship, I was told to be the bearer of bad news.”

  I reared back, as did Roney. Fuck that noise. My kid was there. His girlfriend. We didn’t need the NSA or any alphabet soup agency poking their noses in, potentially fucking up what could be a good thing. But Heath, he was all pleasant smiles and relaxed posture.

  That should have warned Kavenaugh. Warned us.

  “They already have one.”

  Oh God, was this all part of some long game where we’d all been chess pieces? Had we been used by Heath?

  Then I shook my head. No, I wouldn’t believe that. He’d shown his true colors, had defended me, us all. There was a time I would have suspected him of working an angle for his own benefit, but now I knew his true colors. Knew he would never do anything to endanger me or the CASI kids.

  “You have me,” he said, almost as if he were daring Kavenaugh to shoot him down. “I can easily be reinstated at the NSA in an ancillary capacity where I observe the school and provide reports as I see fit.”

  Kavenaugh sat back in his chair, not overly shocked at Heath’s words, and I realized he’d probably been thinking them himself, but couldn’t be the one to float the suggestion. “It could work. But there will be rules.”

  “Not so much,” Heath replied, his tone still easy breezy. “Because I have an ace in the hole. Cam. She’s much too recognizable to just disappear, and if I tell her and Asa that it’s time for the Talented to go public, then it’ll happen.”

  Holy shit. It was a master stroke. If this was a chess game, Heath had just called checkmate on every single alphabet soup agency.

  I might not like the woman much, but she had a rep in the rest of the world that was pretty much untouchable.

  A grin ghosted at the corner of Kavenaugh’s mouth before he pushed away from the table. “I’ll tell them and let you know the outcome.”

  And that quickly the fate of the Talented swung back in our favor.

  But Kavenaugh had one last parting shot. “We could just tell the truth about aliens, you know. That’d make this seem less crazy.”

  ONCE JONAH, ARIN AND Sara were back at CASI, we put Arin in charge of finding Benny’s grandmother. It took her all of thirty minutes. We’d forgotten she’d grown up in that area and had contacts we could only dream of.

  Isabela Ortiz had no idea her grandson had been sold, and was righteously furious with her daughter and son in law. We probably should have gone through social services, but I couldn’t fathom how damn scared Benny was, and his grandma seemed like the best road forward, especially since there was going to be a criminal investigation into his parents.

  Plus, we needed to get a read on how she would handle her grandson’s Talent. I really hoped she wasn’t shocked. That she’d at least consider CASI as an option.

  But for the next four and a half hours he was our responsibility. So I took him the one place that was guaranteed to keep him entertained. The Denver Museum of Science and Nature.

  I’d never been there myself, but given his Talent, I figured he’d love the science. Plus, there was no way in hell I was ever getting near the Denver zoo again. Not after what had happened with the Russians. With Dave Gordon.

  Heath and I took Benny and just geeked out for a few hours, made him feel like a normal kid. Made us feel like normal people. It was a breath of fresh air.

  And as much as I would have loved to have Tori with us, I knew she needed to be at CASI right now, at least for the next little bit.

  We were grabbing a bite when Mrs. Ortiz called and we arranged for her to meet us at the museum.

  When she arrived, Benny ran to her as fast as his legs could take him and hugged her so tight she squeaked. She folded him into a huge hug, then looked over his head at us and smiled.

  With gently graying hair and a curvy figure, she looked like the kind of woman who would bake a pie and then help you with your homework, but take zero shit. I hoped perception lived up to reality.

  Heath and I introduced ourselves, invited her to our table, then spent a few minutes explaining what had happened, as we knew it. There were some things only Benny could tell her. We vaguely mentioned a school that we thought would be beneficial given his exceptional mind. His abilities.

  Her eyes went sharp at that. “You know about my Benny, how he can heal people?” Her words were crisp, concise and promised she’d see through any bullshit. I liked her immediately.

  Arin hadn’t really had time to find out much about her, but the woman sitting with us right now was a force. She was used to making things happen. I totally understood both her vibe and where she was coming from.

  I looked at Heath, who nodded. We were going to tell her, and damn the torpedoes.

  “The school we’re talking about is for children called the Talented,” I began. “I wish it had been around when I was a child, when my parents were trying to figure out why I could help ease the suffering of those around me. My daughter, Tori, is at CASI right now. I’m not sure if she’ll decide to attend, but at least the option is there.”

  “And your daughter, she is Talented as well?” Isabela’s tone was still very pointy, but there was a consideration behind it. At least she was listening to us, not dismissing us as total kooks.

  “She is, but there’s a ton about Talent we don’t know. Hers is something no one has seen before, so we’re trying to figure it out.” I admitted.

  Isabela sat back in her chair, idly running her hand over Benny’s arm. “I will think about your words.”

  Fifteen minutes later she was bundling Benny up in her very nice import and heading back north with Jonah’s phone number and e-mail address in hand. We’d probably broken a bajillion laws by just letting Benny walk away, but I didn’t care. His grandmother would take care of him. Of that I had no doubt.

  WE RETURNED TO THE house, quiet, as if the enormity of everything that had happened was finally hitting us. As we entered the living room I realized we were truly alone. Really for the first time. The safe house was ours for the night.

  I turned to Heath in the middle of the living room.

  “Do you really think it’s over?” It seemed inconceivable. That one woman could have caused so much death and destruction. Such heartache.

  Heath pulled me into his arms, wrapped me in a hug that felt safe. Like coming home. The feeling made my heart crack open that much wider. There would be no coming back from Heath Farrell.

  “I do. There’ll be other challenges with CASI and the Talented, but nothing like Grace.”

  I hoped he was right. I stepped back, held out my hand. “I know this isn’t the Ritz, but we’re alone, and no one can hear us.”

  He laughed and reeled me back in. “I love the way you think,” he said before his mouth descended and everything around me whited out. Everything but the sensation of his lips against mine, his body pressed close. The heat he threw off as our kiss went deeper, hotter.

  I was wearing way too many clothes. I pulled back, fingers going to the buttons on my blouse.

  Heath’s eyes went dangerously dark, then he grinned and it was a dirty, dirty thing. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the couch, Moni. I think round one will be right here.” He stepped forward, spun me around and braced my hands on the back of the sofa.

  “Hmmm,” he purred, his mouth whispering over the back of my neck, sending shivers over my body. “I like this.” His lips feathered over my nape, barely brushing, bringing my nipples to hard, aching points. His heat surrounded me, drowned me in sensation, and I didn’t dare breathe as I soaked it all in.

  Then his hands were smoothing down my torso, settling just beneath the hem of my shirt, his fingers hot, almost branding me wit
h possession, his thumbs sitting against my lower back. Massaging, gentling me as I went liquid with want.

  My jeans came unbuttoned like magic, and then he was kneeling at my feet. “Lift your foot,” his voice was smooth as honey, but commanding, and I lifted one foot, then the other as he removed my shoes, then my jeans, leaving me in nothing but my panties, unbuttoned shirt and bra. It was unbearably erotic.

  He slid back up my body, the fabric of his jeans rough against my legs, his hands trailing lightly up, up, up until he cupped my breasts through my bra, tweaked my nipples with his fingers.

  I arched against him, against his teasing. “Hands on the sofa, Moni,” he growled in my ear, before laving it with his tongue. Gooseflesh broke out all over my body and he laughed. “So very responsive, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact.

  Then he was gone, his heat vanishing, leaving me bereft until I heard the whisper of clothing being removed, the crinkle of a condom wrapper.

  His hands whispered over me again, unsnapping the front clasp of my bra, freeing my breasts and I sighed in relief, in anticipation, as he cupped them, nipples caught between two fingers, pinching just enough.

  Heat branded me once again as he moved behind me, as the length of his cock pressed against my back.

  He freed my breasts and pressed between my shoulders until I was truly bent over the arm of the sofa, the fluffy cushions soft against my hips as he caressed my ass, running those talented fingers over me again and again before delivering a light slap to my right buttock.

  I jumped in response, but had never been more turned on in my life.

  He smoothed his hand over the tiny sting, then repeated it on the other side and I almost melted into the cushions, overcome with sensation, with want.

  Gently, almost reverently, he opened my legs, and I felt him kneel behind me, moaned when his tongue traced me. So very gentle, taking me up and letting me float down in an orgasm so blissful I was speechless.

  He continued toying with me, ramping me up again, and then stood, grasped my hips and slid into me with one long stroke that made me bow in response, shocked the breath out of me before he began to move, and stole what little oxygen I had left.