A Secret Fate (3 page)

“I can’t. I can’t get a clean shot without hurting Cael,” she said.

Tiny Breena stepped in front of Gerry; the child barely came up to his waist.

“No, Breena!” Maia yelled, her blood-curdling scream drowned out by the repercussion of gunfire exploding in the air, twice. Breena stopped one of the bullets with her hand, deflecting it into a large limb in a nearby oak tree. The branch split with a thundering snap that reverberated through the forest. Part of the tree hit the ground and sent splinters, leaves and dirt into the air.

The other bullet hit Gerry in the shoulder, sending him backwards as he watched Cael and Finn disappear.

“Cael!” Addie screamed.

Maia ran to Gerry and squatted beside him. “Oh my God. You’ve been hit.”

“Got me in the shoulder. I’ll live.”

“Lay back. Let me see,” Addie said.

Bart came running into the woods and saw Gerry on the ground. “What the hell happened?”

Breena knelt beside Maia. “Just your average day in Whisper Cape, huh, Breena?”  Maia said, placing her arm protectively around the child’s shoulder.

“I guess,” she said, frowning. “Is he going to be okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t deflect both bullets.”

“Breena, how long have you known you could do that, sweetie?” Addie asked, glancing back at the spot where Cael had just disappeared.

“A couple days. Cael and I were playing catch and it happened. I’ve been practicing it down at the beach, learning how to control where things go.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We wanted to surprise you and make sure I could do it without anyone getting hurt. We were planning to tell you tonight.”

“What did she do? What happened?” Bart asked.

“She made a bullet ricochet into a tree,” Addie said before turning her concentration to Gerry’s injury.

“What the fu …?” Bart started.

“Help me get his jacket off. This tux is ruined.”

“Christ, like I care. Just heal me, for fuck’s sake.” He glanced at Breena, remembering what Maia told him about his language. “Sorry, sport.”

She smiled. “It’s okay. It’s not the first time I’ve heard a swear word.”

Addie rolled her eyes as she held her hands over Gerry’s shoulder, gently touching the wound, making him cringe with pain. “Gerry, you’ve lost a lot of blood. You’re going to need something to restore your energy when I’m finished.”

“Nothing a piece of wedding cake won’t cure,” Bart said, then asked, “Where’s Cael?”

No one answered him. No one knew.

Addie closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek as she chanted,
“Vis curatio vox secundum arts, vis curatio vox secundum arts, vis curatio vox secundum arts,”
over and over again. Gerry knew she didn’t need to say those words aloud, but the fact that Cael hadn’t returned yet seemed to cloud everyone’s minds, especially Addie’s. The bullet eventually slid out of Gerry’s shoulder and his skin slowly knit back together. When she finished healing Gerry’s shoulder, Addie looked back at the spot where Cael and Finn had been struggling. “What’s taking him so long to get back?”

***

G
erry sat up and rubbed his shoulder. “Thanks, Addie.” He followed her gaze to the place where they had last seen Cael. It pained him, but finally he said, “Addie. Maybe he can’t get back.”

“You don’t think Finn shot him, do you? Cael is strong.”

Gerry shook his head but wasn’t sure if she noticed. “No.”

“Once he got him away from here, I’m sure he used his skills,” she said. “I mean, Cael could take Finn in a fight anytime.”

“He might not be able to come back.” Gerry brushed a strand of hair out of Addie’s face.

“What? What do you mean?” She stood and Gerry got up with her. He moaned a little from the pain and stood next to her.

“I don’t think he got shot. I’m not sure exactly what happened to Cael. When the bullet hit me, I lost balance. He might have received some of my …”

“What? No!” Her face paled and she fought to take in air.

“Breathe,” he said, stroking her back as Maia walked up and stood by her other side.

“I don’t understand.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She walked to where Cael had wrestled with Finn. “What sort of memory were you sending?”

“That’s the problem.” Gerry shook his head. He didn’t want to have to tell Addie that she might never see Cael again. “God damn it! Why did Finn have to shoot me?”

Addie stared at the vacant spot and whispered, “Gerry, please tell me what’s going on … Where do you think Cael went?”

Gerry hung his head, not sure what to tell her. The tears staining her cheeks with streaks of mascara didn’t make his explanation any easier. He nodded when Maia put her arm around Addie’s shoulder. “Finn and I … and Careen … we go way back, honey. I thought it necessary to wipe his memory five or so years back and I was in the middle of doing that when the bullet struck my shoulder. Sweet thing, I didn’t get a chance to replace any memories and my aim may have gone haywire. I’m afraid Cael might not …” Addie shot him a deadly stare. “… he might not remember you or any of this and I have no way of knowing where he and Finn went.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at him, her eyes now squinting with anger. She shrugged out of Maia’s embrace and took a step back from Gerry. “No!” she shouted, “This can’t be happening. He can’t not come back. He can’t just leave and not come back!” Addie bent at the waist, hugging her arms around her abdomen as though someone had punched her in the stomach, before falling to the ground on her knees. “Cael!” she shouted, looking into the forest as though he would be just on the other side of the trees. “Come back! You have to come back,” she sobbed into her hands. “Please come back.”

Chapter 1

“What the hell?”

Cael unwrapped his arms from around the man standing beside him, stepped away and gaped at the unfamiliar face staring back. The guy looked just as perplexed and his right hand firmly clutched the handle of a small pocket Glock.

“How did I get here?”

Cael shrugged. “Don’t know, man. Who are you and what’s with the gun? You gonna shoot me?”

The stranger’s dark eyebrows furrowing into a frown, he gawked at the weapon as if he’d never seen one before and blinked before lowering it. He shook his head. “Don’t think so. Name’s Finn. Who the bloody hell are you?” The guy’s tone dripped with a heavy Scottish accent as his eyes darted over the white, sandy, palm-covered islet, sitting on a reef—a reef that circled a lagoon like a delicate ribbon of pearls.

The island in the middle of nowhere seemed vaguely familiar to Cael, but he couldn’t place when he might have ever been there before. Maybe in a dream.

“I’m Cael. Cael Sheridan.” He realized he must have teleported the two of them to this spot, but didn’t know why. And this guy? Cael had no idea who he was or why he clung to that gun. “I … I’m not sure where we are.” He thought hard about the last few minutes and discovered he couldn’t recall where he’d been when he teleported. “I can’t seem to remember where we were or how we got here.” Yeah, teleportation for sure, but Cael wouldn’t divulge his abilities without knowing anything about his companion. “How about you?”

The guy, Finn he supposed, shook his head. “Haven’t a clue. Last thing I recall, I was sitting in a pub trying to coax a pretty, young lass into having a fling.” Finn frowned thoughtfully. “I’m sure I managed that too, but damn, I wish I could remember it.”

Cael looked down at the fancy suit he wore—not his usual attire—and realized Finn was similarly dressed. He figured they must have been together at some formal event. Maybe a police benefit. Cael gestured toward the gun. “Hey, are you my partner? I’m a detective. NYPD, 19th Precinct. Manhattan actually.”

“Nah, can’t say I ever went in for any detective work. Besides, I bide in Crail Harbor.”

“Where?”

“Scotland. You know, the East Neuk of Fife,” Finn stated as if he should know that.

Cael frowned. What was he doing with a guy from Scotland? He reached into the smooth, dark fabric of his pants pocket for his cell phone, except his pocket was empty. He probed around in the other one, only to find a stick of spearmint gum and a magnolia leaf. “Hmmm … wonder what this is from … and where’s my wallet?” He patted his coat pocket but didn’t feel anything, not even his own holstered gun. Instantly his internal radar blasted red warning lights in his head. “Shit. No phone, no wallet. I always have my phone. You got a phone?”

Finn looked at him and nodded. “Oh, yeah,” then checked his pocket, pulled out a slim cell phone, and stared at it as if he’d never seen it before.

“What’s wrong?”

“Strange. This doesn’t look like my phone.”

“It looks like a new model, not one I recognize. Let me have it.”

“Who you gonna call?” Finn laughed.

Cael smirked as the old “Ghost Buster” song came to his mind. “Not going there. I’m gonna call … um ….” He really didn’t know whom he should call. He hadn’t bothered to memorize any phone numbers since they were all in his phone, and besides, there were way too many to even try to remember them all. “My mom. I’ll call my mom.” That was a number he’d known since he was a kid.

Finn gawked at him. “We’re stranded on a beautiful deserted piece of paradise and you’re going to call your mother?”

“Yeah. Why? Who else should we call?”

“How about some lovely piece of ass? Gimme, I got people, I’ll call somebody.” Finn snatched the phone from Cael and pushed a few buttons. Frowning, he held the phone to his ear and waited. He shook his head and glanced at the device. “No signal.”

“Huh.” Cael sank down to sit in the powdery white sand with his knees up, arms resting over them. The guy, Finn, sat next to him, mimicking the position and they stared at the waves lapping softly in front of them, the gentle foam spilling over the beach. Cael looked across the deep blue lagoon at two towering peaks of sheer black rock, dominating the center of the island’s lush green tropical slopes. Hillsides blossoming with hibiscus flowed over the valley below. “Well, we certainly are overdressed for this place.”

“That’s no lie. Where are we?”

“I’m not sure. This beach seems so familiar, like I’ve been here before. I’m sure of it. I just can’t figure out when.” He hit his hand to his forehead as it dawned on him and he remembered his friend, Stefan, showing him pictures of this place. He and Stefan had argued about the pronunciation of the names of the volcanoes. It turned out Stefan had been correct as Cael now recalled the conversation. “Oh yeah, now I know. I’ve seen pictures of this lagoon online. I think it’s Bora Bora. See those two black peaks? They look just like the picture of the two extinct volcanoes. One is Mount Pahia and the other is Mount Otemanu.”

“Well now, not only one of New York’s finest, but the perfect little informative tour guide.”

Ignoring Finn’s dig, Cael nodded. “Yep, I bet that’s where we are.”

“But how did we get here?” Finn asked.

Cael gave his mysterious comrade a sideways glance and shrugged. “Beats me.” There was no way in hell he was going reveal the fact he teleported the two of them to this spot of paradise. Particularly not knowing more about his strange companion—a companion with a gun in his hand, that was only minutes ago cocked and most likely loaded. Granted, it wasn’t pointed directly at Cael, but the guy’s finger had been on the trigger. What had he been so ready to shoot?

“Maybe we were shipwrecked and hit our heads on something and that’s why we can’t remember,” Finn suggested.

Cael looked at their suits, a little soiled with spots of dirt here and there, but not wet.“Maybe, but highly unlikely since our clothes are still dry.”

“Good point.”

A puzzle. Cael rubbed his hand through his hair, positive he could have come up with some fabricated explanation to hide how he figured they’d ended up on this beach, had he actually remembered the real scenario. Given the circumstances of the position they appeared in when they materialized, he ascertained they must have been wrestling for the gun and somehow, something or someone stripped them of their memories right before they disappeared. Just how that had happened and why they’d been struggling, he didn’t have a clue.

“Well, if we’re going to be stranded somewhere, I can’t think of any better place.” Finn rubbed his chin and smiled. “We must be here for some fancy schmancy event.”

“Right,” Cael agreed, but the agreement was only spoken, not believed. Of course, Cael wasn’t stranded and he didn’t think they’d be in Bora Bora dressed in suits on purpose. All he had to do was dematerialize and go wherever he wanted. He didn’t think the guy next to him had that ability or any other supernatural gift, for that matter. Just an intuition. As he concentrated a little on the guy’s thoughts, nothing out of the ordinary surfaced, but how much of their memories were gone?

The last major event in Cael’s life that he could remember was a very sad thought. His best friend Stefan and his wife Claire, recently died in a plane crash heading to this same spot, tragically leaving behind their young daughter, Breena. The girl had no living blood relatives, so Cael helped his mom get Breena settled into the Sectory with her. His mother decided to adopt Breena, something Cael had considered, even knowing he didn’t exactly lead the ideal sort of life a little girl needed. Stefan and Cael had been inseparable as kids; Siana practically raised Stefan right along with Cael. When Stefan and Claire had Breena, Cael’s mother was as close as any grandmother. In actuality, Siana was the nearest thing to a grandmother Breena had. Cael shook the sad thoughts from his mind. Maybe he’d come to Bora Bora to forget or remember. He’d been sick with guilt, wishing he’d been around to teleport the two instead of letting them fly. They’d been on their way here to Tahiti, sort of a belated honeymoon, because they never had the chance to have one. Claire had gotten pregnant during the wedding planning and the baby came early. He supposed it was the perfect place to mourn his best friend, considering, but that didn’t explain the gun-toting man sitting beside him.

Suspicious as the situation was, the guy seemed harmless aside from the gun, which now lay between them in the sand. Cael considered picking it up, but he didn’t know this guy and didn’t want him to become alarmed. It would be better for that nifty little pistol to be in his hand though, instead of taking the chance of it being pointed at his chest any time soon. He could just teleport the hell out of there and leave the guy wondering what happened. Unfortunately, that wasn’t something Cael could see himself doing, even if he never planned to see the guy again after this. His ability to teleport had always been something he kept secret, not wanting to astound or frighten any one with what he was capable of doing. From his experience, people were always afraid of things they didn’t understand and having someone disappear right in front of your eyes definitely fell under that category. That in itself was another problem, though. For all Cael knew, Finn could be somebody he was protecting, or worse, someone he was protecting someone else from. Bottom line, he didn’t know who Finn was, therefore he couldn’t just leave him.