Deadly Expectations (57 page)

“But I would have been wrong.
 
The differences in your fingerprints are very subtle but definitely there.”

“So the answer is no?” Keith asked.

“Correct.”

“Ha!” Patrick said.
 
“I win.”

“Hold up,” Keith said.
 
“I want to hear why before I concede … there’s a lot at stake.
 
How are we different?”

I wanted to fill up and get some sleep but I did need to provide an explanation.

“The same woman was your mother … but your fathers are different.
 
Close but different,” I explained.

“Who are they?”
 
Keith asked.

I looked to Paul again.
 
He nodded to go ahead.

“My husband’s sister,” I told them.
 
Paul grabbed his water to fix a sudden problem in his throat.
 
“I’ve never met her … I had to teach myself how to create her fingerprint from his.”

“How do you do that?” Patrick asked but Keith motioned for him to hold his thought.

“And our fathers?”
Keith asked.

“I wouldn’t even ask his permission to tell you.
 
I’m sorry … your father is the father of Patrick’s father if that makes sense.”

“No, you’re right … I know who Paul’s sister is mated to.
 
He can be a little funny about things.
 
This won’t be spoken of again.”

“Agreed,” Paul said.
 

“So I win,” Patrick said.
 
“Never bet against a reader when it comes to family.”

“Yeah, but you never had a better answer than ‘just because’.”

“So I win,” I said.
 
Keith grinned and was nodding and pointing at me.

“Uh,” Patrick didn’t sound happy.
 
“She can only win if she knew the stakes before she started.”

“Nope … we both lose.
 
Tomorrow Patrick, or don’t come in.
 
Paul, would you consider permitting your mate to try and teach what she can do to Patrick?
 
It’s a shame that a gift like hers is going to be lost.”

Paul thought about it.
 
“We can stay a few extra days … Patrick you’re welcome to come stay with us for a while later in the new year when we’re home again.”

“Thank you Paul,” Keith said.
 
It seemed to make Patrick happy but Paul wasn’t too taken with the idea.
 
Maybe he had agreed as a courtesy.
 
Keith’s reasoning seemed sound though I didn’t like being reminded that all I was learning would be gone at the end of my life.
 
And nobody had mentioned my light show.
 
I wasn’t sure how to take that.

While we finished eating Keith’s wife came looking for him.
 
She was young.
 
Not much more than nineteen, maybe twenty.
 
Her name was Marie and she didn’t look pregnant at all but I could definitely feel her son.
 
She was surprised that Paul and I were here and I got the impression that Keith never let anyone other than his buddies sit at his table.
 
Keith said Paul was his best friend in high school and they lost touch quite a while ago.
 
She had long straight red hair and more freckles than me and was an inch or two shorter.
 
Keith excused himself and walked her out to the car so she could drive home.

When he came back he said she had classes the next day and would come back after that.
 
She studied upstairs here or in Keith’s office and had been waitressing in the evening but the school load was catching up with her and she was just too tired to be on her feet much past dinner.
 
I knew it was the pregnancy and they would find that out soon enough.

By the time he got back Paul had decided we should return to the hotel.
 
I’d hoped to stay awake longer but answering Keith’s question had worn me out.
 
Paul was thoughtful and a little distracted but had no problem finding his way into my dress as soon as we got into our room.
 
He didn’t even get his clothes off and was still wearing them when I woke up the following morning.

Paul smelled like he’d been sweating alcohol out of every pore.
 
I quietly got out of bed and ordered myself breakfast and a pitcher of orange juice and a thermos of coffee for Paul then washed off the makeup and hairspray in the shower.
 
When I got out Paul’s phone was ringing and there was a knock at the door so I answered the phone on the way to let breakfast in.

“Hey Mark,” I could tell from the number.

“
Rach
?
 
Hi.”

“Just a sec …” I opened the door and let room service put the tray on the dresser.
 
Paul was still a snoring heap under the blanket on the bed.

“Sorry Mark,” I said when we were alone again.
 
“Doorbell.”

He laughed.
 
“Just wondering how you’re feeling about the other night.”

“You were right … and I’m feeling a lot better.
 
We went out last night … John will be in rough shape if he ever moves again.”

“So it was what we thought?” Ray asked.

“Mm
hm
,” I answered around my toast as I poured a glass of juice.
 
“Sorry, I’m starving.
 
How are you doing?”

“Quiet here …
Gran’s
teaching me to cook.”

That was a surprise.
 
I giggled.
 
“You mean bake?”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”
 
Oh dear, he sounded like he really thought it was.

“Yeah,” I said.
 
Now I was shovelling in eggs and fried potatoes.
 
Maybe once she’d shown him how to bake with eggs he’d venture out into cooking them.

“Is that Mark?”
 
Paul’s voice came out from under the blankets.

“Mm
hm
, you want him?”
 
I asked.

Then to Ray.
 
“The master rises and desires conversation with you.”

“Put him on,” Ray laughed.

Paul pulled the blankets down enough to see and I gave him the phone.
 
Then I closed the curtains and got him the bottle of pain relief and a glass of juice.

He looked at them and at me and said, “I love you.”

I blew him a quick kiss before going back to my breakfast then he said to Ray, “I know you know I love you.”
 
He tried to laugh but just wound up holding his head together so I took out three of the pills for him and got him a cup of coffee.
 
I’d stopped regularly drinking like that long before I ever started getting hung over and hadn’t been hung over since the last time Alina and I tied one on.
 
It was something I never cared to do again.

Paul had gotten the pills down and was talking quietly to Ray.
 
I tried to be as silent as I could with my dishes knowing Paul felt every little
tink
bash its way into his head.
 
When my breakfast was gone I finished dressing and took a few hundred from our stash and put my phone in my pocket.
 
Then I knelt beside the bed until I had Paul’s attention.

“Sorry to interrupt.
 
Phone up for breakfast if you want some … I didn’t know when you’d be up or if you’d want any.
 
I’m going down to the mall for a bit.
 
Hour, hour and a half maybe.”

“Okay Rachel,” he said.
 
I kissed his forehead and hurried downstairs.

My first stop was a jewellery store I’d noticed on the way back from our date that had a sign in the window advertising they did ear piercing.
 
It wasn’t as bad as I thought when they put the light blue stones in my ears but they started to burn on the way out of the store.
 
I realized after that the colour of the fake aquamarine studs was the same as the blue light I could make in my right hand.
 
And of my eyes.

Next I went back to a department store and got some softer makeup for wearing during the day.
 
I had the lady show me what to do with it and put it on me.
 
Paul liked it on me so I figured why the hell not.
 
We might not have a lot of time left; about fifteen weeks by my count and making him happy made me happy.

 
I checked the time on my phone and hurried back; already twenty minutes long on my estimate.
 
The mall was easy enough to find my way around in but bigger than I thought and I’d taken a long time in the department store.

When I got back in to the room I put my prizes in the bathroom and found Paul upright on the couch.
 
Showered and changed.
 
He’d turned a lamp on.

“
You going
to walk away from this one?” I asked.

“Mmm,” he said.
 
“Any hangover you can walk away from.
 
Can I get more coffee please?”

“
‘course
,” I refilled him and joined him on the couch.
 
“Bee’s teaching Ray to bake.
 
It’s good news for everyone.”

“Yeah,” Paul said sipping his coffee.
 
Then he blinked a couple of times when he noticed my face.
 
“That’s pretty.
 
Why the big change?”

I shrugged.
 
“I’m going to be raising a girl so I thought I would try acting like one.
 
Is it too much?”

“No,” he smiled at me then he pushed my hair back behind my ears.
 
“Ears too?
 
You didn’t have to do that.”

“They said six weeks but I’ll probably be able to take them out in three.
 
I think I like them.
 
Starting to hurt a bit now though.”

He kissed my ear.
 
“I love you either way, you know that don’t you?”

“Yes Paul,” I sighed and moved closer to rest my head on him careful to not lean on my ear.
 
He sipped his coffee quietly.

“Can I ask how you know Patrick?” he asked.
 
I saw that it bothered him the night before and figured he would bring it up.

“Andre took the cigarette from him,” I told him.

“He worked for Damian then?” Paul sat up straighter beside me so I turned to face him.
 
When he put it like that it didn’t sound very good at all.
 
I closed my eyes and recalled the Patrick I knew then.

“No more than Andre did,” I told him.
 
“Bee was a girl then.
 
There was nobody to bring everyone together … Damian, Patrick and Andre all got there by different routes.
 
They hadn’t known each other more than a few months.
 
Patrick was loyal to the Service and like Andre he didn’t like the Lieutenant.
 
He believed strongly in the chain of command so he was as loyal to him as he would be to any Lieutenant but not to him personally.
 
He was shining him on hoping it would look good … hoping for promotion.
 
Everyone knew Damian got ahead on the backs of his men.
 
He didn’t care about the cigarette … he saw an opportunity to help himself get ahead.