Earthbound Angels Part 1: The Heartthrob Fallen Celestial Stories Collection (13 page)

On the other hand, making coffee was easy enough
and he could have breakfast once he got to Moon Bay.

Graeme checked his appearance in the mirror
before leaving the house and studied what he saw there. His height
was sometimes a deterrent when he was shadowing someone because he
was 6' 5" and had a rather fit body for his height, but it was all
solid muscle. His hair wasn't grey but it was a very unique silver
color that he wore in a full style. His eyes were also a silver
grey in color and he always looked as if he was wearing black
eyeliner. His lashes were also long and dark, making him the envy
of any woman that saw them. With his lush mouth, women tended to
try to get him to kiss them all the time. They kept telling him
that his mouth was "kissable." Today, however, he was dressed
casually in a navy blue pullover shirt and a pair of faded jeans.
This outfit would help him blend in somewhat at least where he was
headed.

Another thing he was doing for this outing was
driving one of his older, less conspicuous vehicles. This one could
be parked anywhere and no one would pay much attention to it. As a
last thought, he added a baseball cap and sunglasses to his
ensemble.

Now, he might still be noticeable a bit, but he
would most likely be seen just as another of Moon Bay's unique
population.

The drive only took a few minutes and, happily,
it wasn't as hard to find a parking place as he would have thought.
Easing into an empty spot that was on the street, Graeme adjusted
his hat and sunglasses.

Then he went in search of Kiara Shannon.

He played it cool as he talked to various shop
owners, retail workers, food service workers and even some street
people. Of course, he didn't really have a lot to offer them in the
way of a description.

He was about to give up for the day when he
decided that he would make one last stop in a convenience store
that seemed to be pretty busy and popular. And, well, he had a
"feeling" about it.

The scene he walked in on was nothing like he
expected, though.

STANDING BETWEEN THE counter and an aisle stood
a disheveled-looking woman shielding a teenage boy from the shop
owner and a couple of other customers.

"Please, don't hurt him!" she was pleading.
"We'll just put this back and leave quietly. He was just hungry and
didn't have enough money to pay. Please, let us go! I promise
you'll never see us again."

"Excuse me," Graeme said as he stepped forward.
"What seems to be the problem?"

The shop owner started explaining angrily that
the boy had grabbed a box of crackers and a can of deviled ham and
was racing toward the door without paying for it. Other customers
also seemed to be pretty irate about the situation as they were
being made to wait while the shop owner sorted it out. Graeme
looked at the young woman and the boy.

Instantly, he knew he had found Kiara.

Taking his wallet from his jeans, he handed the
shop owner a $20 bill.

"There, that should take care of what the boy
owes you," he said. "There's no need to take this any further. He
was only hungry. Now you've been paid and then some for your
trouble. I'll get them out of your shop."

Turning to the young woman, he found her to be
rather unkempt, wearing an oversized man's shirt and what looked to
be sweat pants of some sort. Her uncombed hair was shoved under a
baseball hat and sticking out in tufts. Her dirty sneakers looked
too big for her feet. He would never have realized that he was
looking at an heiress if he hadn't already known who she was.

She was looking at him with huge violet eyes.
When she realized that he was actually going to pay for the food,
she started to ease her way around him, still shielding the boy,
and made her way toward the door. Graeme knew that if she made it
outside, he would have one hell of a time catching her again, so as
she tried to pass him, he gripped her arm and escorted her and the
boy out of the shop.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as she tried
to pull away from him. "Oh wait, I suppose you want some sort of
repayment for bailing us out in there. Fine. Follow me."

Looking at him with an expression that mixed
disgust and defeat, she seemed resigned to the fact that he most
likely wanted some sort of sexual favors from her.

He wanted to correct her immediately, but
figured he would do better if he just followed her. Once they were
at the destination she was leading them to, he could talk to her.
So he let her lead the way.

She held onto the boy's hand the entire way.
Graeme thought it was odd that the boy hadn't yet said a single
word. But he didn't find it odd that the girl kept looking at him
in a way that said that any moment he looked elsewhere, brother and
sister would be gone.

He hid a grin. Well, she would be very
disappointed. He was a hundred percent sure he would find them,
wherever they hide.

Finally, she stopped at the back of an old
building.

It looked a lot like an abandoned warehouse.
Graeme couldn't figure out what she was doing until she pulled out
a loose board revealing an opening that proved to be a way into the
building.

She and the boy slipped inside and then she
turned around and looked at him.

"Come on, then," she said abruptly.

"What is this place?" Graeme asked as he
squeezed himself in the opening.

"Home sweet home," she said in a tone dripping
with derision. "Sorry, it's not the TajMahal."

"Are you telling me that this is where you
live?" he asked, stunned.

"More or less," she said.

All Graeme could do was shake his head. He was
also surprised to find that his eyes had tears in them. Rarely did
things affect him so much anymore, but this... there were no words
for this situation.

This poor woman and whoever this boy was should
not have been forced to live this way. No one should be forced to
live this way.

As he looked around the very large room, he saw
a couple of bare mattresses lying on the floor along with an
assortment of blankets. There was what looked to be a propane
camping stove and some things that looked like a couple of eating
utensils and plates. There were boxes and other things that he was
unable to identify.

"Look," she said, her voice hard but husky,
trying with difficulty to show bravado, "let me get him settled and
then I'll settle up with you."

She took the boy by the hand again and led him
over to one of the mattresses. As Graeme watched, she put his
crackers and deviled ham on a plate and spoke softly to him. But
her face was cold and hard again when she turned around and walked
back over to him.

"Okay, follow me."

Graeme did follow her but not for the reasons
she thought. When they were out of sight of the boy, she turned to
face him with a determined look on her face.

She also looked very pale. And this time, she
was not looking at him.

With trembling hands, she reached for the waist
of his jeans.

Graeme just couldn't let that go on. His hands
reached and gripped her wrist, stopping her from touching him.

She jumped and wide eyes flew to his face.

He lived as an angel for what constituted like
eternity to humans like this woman, and that should be enough for
him to feel validated about where his stood.

But as she looked at him like that, he felt like
he was really a very bad person.

"No. Look, you've got the wrong idea. It is true
that I need to talk to you, but it's not what you think. This isn't
what I need. I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" she asked, not even hiding the
fact about how relieved she was. Color had come back to her face,
and she wanted to believe him so much that she was asking.

"What is your name?"

She frowned, and again, she looked defensive and
very suspicious. "Why do you give a fuck what my name is?" she
asked him crudely.

"Because I'm looking for someone and I think you
may be that person. But before I can be sure, I need for you to
tell me your name."

She remained looking at him, her lips thinning,
her eyes distrustful.

"Please. I promise you that you can trust me. My
name is Graeme St. Paul and I'm a private investigator, not a cop.
If you give me the right name, I've got a very wonderful surprise
for you." He made it sound as if he was going to give her money,
and they both knew she needed it badly enough. "But you've got to
tell me what your name is."

But she wasn't easily swayed. She still did not
trust completely. "Seriously? Is game playing something that gets
you off, man? What? I tell you my name and then your 'wonderful
surprise' turns out to be you whipping your dick out of your pants
and shouting 'surprise'! I don't think so. Now, let's just get this
over with or go the fuck away and leave us alone."

"That's some mouth you've got on you," Graeme
commented. "I wanted do this the nice way, but you're obviously not
going to let me do that. So, you really give me no choice."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she
demanded, still giving him a serious glare.

"I'm talking about the fact that all I need from
you is your name. If you've got the right name, I'm going to change
your life. Now, may I please have your name?"

"Fine," she muttered, looking very tired
suddenly. "My name's Kiara."

"Kiara," Graeme repeated. "Now that wasn't so
hard, was it? That's a beautiful name. May I have your last
name?"

"I am Kiara Shannon," she mumbled.

"Thank you, Kiara," Graeme said. "It's lovely to
finally meet you. Who is that young man with you?"

"He's my brother," Kiara replied, still glaring
at him.

"Ah, I see. I wasn't aware that you had a
younger brother. It doesn't matter. I need for both of you to come
with me, please. I've got some really wonderful and important
information for you."

"Why would I trust you? I don't know you!" Kiara
protested.

"Kiara, I totally understand what you're saying.
Tell me what would make you feel more comfortable about coming with
me and I'll do it. I've also got a pretty great place for you and
your brother to hang out until we've got everything sorted."

Kiara continued to stare at him with those
incredible eyes. She was no more than 5'3 to 5'4 and was a tiny bit
on the too slender side. But she had such amazing energy coming off
of her in waves. Suddenly, it seemed as if she simply caved in.

"Fine," she said in a defeated tone. "We'll come
with you. I don't suppose you can do anything worse to us than
others have tried. You need to understand one thing, though. I'm
not quite as fragile as I look and if you do anything to hurt my
little brother, I
will
fuck you
up! Do we understand each other?"

"I swear to you that I will not hurt you or your
brother," he said in a voice soft and sincere.

She shrugged and without preamble, walked away
in the direction of where her brother sat shoveling the crackers
and deviled ham into his mouth. It was obvious she did not give
much value to promises, and for some reason, he could not blame
her. Stooping down, she spoke quietly to the boy, who looked over
at Graeme and stared the rest of the time that Kiara spoke to him.
Finally, he nodded and got to his feet.

"Hey, do you mind if he brings his food?" Kiara
called to Graeme.

"No, I don't mind at all. When's the last time
you've eaten?"

"I don't know. Sometime yesterday I think."

Something squeezed his heart inside his chest.
"Well, he's welcome to bring his food," he said, then had to clear
his throat because it suddenly felt too tight. "But I can assure
you that I've got all the food you could possibly want back at my
place and eating is at the top of the priority list."

Kiara took her brother's hand and they all went
back through the opening board out onto the sidewalk. They followed
Graeme as he led them back to his car. Unlocking the doors, he
invited them to get inside while he made a quick phone call.

Leaning against the driver's side door, he
flipped open his cell phone and hit a number.

He waited for an answer.

"HEY, HOLLI, IT'S Graeme," he said. "Would it be
possible for you to meet me at my house within about a half
hour?"

"Graeme! How wonderful to hear from you! Well,
Dreama and I are just leaving the bridal shop for a fitting and
were going to have lunch, but we can come to your house instead.
You sound like it's important."

"It is, and I promise you the best lunch you've
had in a while. I need some help that requires a woman's touch. Oh
and please bring Dreama with you, too."

Knowing that he had reinforcements on the way,
he felt much better. Getting into the car, he saw that Kiara was
seat belted in the front passenger seat and her brother was in the
back seat.

Putting the car into gear, he eased out of the
parking space and made his way out of Moon Bay.

WHEN GRAEME ARRIVED at his house with his
passengers, he saw instantly that Dreama and Hollianne hadn't made
it there yet.

He had been expecting that, but he was still
sort of hoping that they might beat him here. Truthfully, he wasn't
very comfortable dealing with strange women in a one-on-one
situation unless that situation involved the horizontal
position.

Still, he knew he needed to put on a positive
and firm front so that Kiara wouldn't try to run. Parking his car,
he turned and looked at her.

"Here we are," he said.

"Looks like you're some sort of rich guy," Kiara
said with a hint of rancor in her voice.

"I do okay," Graeme replied glibly. "Let's go in
and I'll get you and your brother something to eat. What's his name
by the way?"