Lucy Kelly (10 page)

Because of this case, she’d gone back and altered her own college records so she no longer showed up as Addie’s dorm mate.  She didn’t want the Kadyrovs coming after her to look for Addie, so she had made herself disappear. 

For all intents and purposes, Becky Siobhan Anderson didn’t officially exist anymore.

Chapter Seven

Becky got up from her bus seat and started to leave.  When she approached the front of the bus, blocking the door was a large back with broad shoulders, narrow waist, and a fine ass.  Hanging down the center of his back was a sleek waterfall of gorgeous honey-blonde hair that put her platinum-blonde locks to shame.

“Excuse me,” she said, clearing her throat.

Ishme spun around at her voice.  Shifting his shoulders, he spoke, “You are supposed to be resting, Becky Anderson.”

“Yeah, well, a girl can only get so much rest in a chair and wearing restrictive clothing.  Right now, I need to meet Arjun.  Then I’ll go home and do my three hours of allotted work.  Then I’ll go to bed like a good little girl, okay?  Now, step out of the way, big guy,” she said, moving towards the steps.

Ishme crossed his arms over his chest, slowly examined Becky from head to toe, and then stepped back to allow her to descend.  Just then, her stomach growled loudly.  She put her hand on her belly.

“Be a pal, I need to eat,” she waved her hands in a shooing motion. 

He watched her as she left the bus.  She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  He yearned to get his hands on the bouncing globes of her derriere as she walked away from him.  He shook his head.  Once again, his shoulders twitched and he moved to follow. 

Arjun knew that Addie would be safe here at the campgrounds surrounded by her people and so he had requested Ishme and his brother Nyal to watch over Becky.  Ishme would normally have argued but in this case, he felt compelled to watch over Becky.

Nyal had not been pleased when Ishme informed him of the change in assignment.  Guarding the Queen was the highest honor a member of the Fighting Cluster could achieve.  When Nyal saw Becky, he would realize  this new position promised other benefits. 

Ishme reached down and tried to adjust the fit of his pants.  They had grown tight in the last few minutes.  He finally realized what the sensations in his back meant and why Arjun had seemed so pleased.  He grinned as he sent blessings to the Goddess for his and his brother’s good fortune.

Becky walked over to Food Service and was surprised to find Addie there.  “What are you doing here?  We have to make arrangements for you to see Grace and then move you to a hotel,” she said.

“Arjun called me and told me how you had been working too hard and collapsed.” 

Addie got up from the camp chair she was sitting in and walked up to Becky to give her a hug.  “I don’t have that many close friends, Becky.  You have to take better care of yourself,” she said, with tears in her eyes.  “Now see what you made me do?”  Addie asked, pointing to her tears.

“Not me, Professor, it’s the preggo hormones.  I’m fine; I just need a little vacation.  I don’t have any regular gigs in the pipeline.  I’ve put them all on hold or farmed them out to other programmers. 

“I just need to finish up with the guys and then I promise to take some time off.  I was planning to after Saturday, anyway.  If I'm not matched up, then I’m heading out to San Francisco.  There’s a company there that I want to check out,” Becky answered, hugging Addie back.

“I’m not letting this slide, Becky.  I’m leaving after the dinner event Saturday night, and I need to know that you’re going to be okay, so Arjun has assigned guards for you.” 

Addie gestured to the man who’d followed Becky from the bus. “This is Ishme.  He and his brother Nyal are going to be living with you and looking out for you.  They’re also going to be sending me regular reports, so don’t think you’ll be getting around me on this.  They’ll be watching you night and day.”

“Night and day, huh?” she said, turning to look back at Ishme.  “Things could be worse.  He’s awful nice eye-candy,” she finished, and gave Addie a wink.  Then they both dissolved into giggles.

“So, what happened while I was inspecting the insides of my eyelids?  How’s everybody holding up?” asked Becky.

“We’ve heard that Justyn’s been moved to a safe house.  Grace is fully recovered, but she’s wearing a shoulder brace for the time being.  Her biggest problem is getting the condo fixed.  She wants to sell the condo and can’t really do that with the damage.” 

Addie stopped talking, just the reminder of what had been done had her tearing up again.

“Remember, Addie, everyone is fine.  Do you want me to get someone?” asked Becky.

“No, you’re right.  It’s just hormones.  Usually I’d be holding it together better than this.  I spoke to Grace on the phone and she said she was about to move to a safe house and it would be too difficult to arrange a meeting. 

“I’m going to stay here for the day and maybe spend the night here with the guys.  We couldn’t be safer, really. 

“Now tell me what you found out in all your hours on the computer last night.  Rune said it was something about tracking the money.”

“Yeah,” said Becky.  “I tracked down all of the assailants.  From them, I tracked their payments to a source.  Then I really started digging. 

“I found three more accounts belonging to the Kadyrovs.  I also found a Power of Attorney on the account for most of the payments.  So his lawyer is now implicated.  If I give this to the cops in the right way, then Edward Crunch is going to find himself in jail, right alongside his client.”

“That’s great.  But why can’t you just turn over what you found?” asked Addie.

“Because I didn’t have duly executed warrants on some of the searches I did.  I hacked into several banks in foreign countries.  Therefore, I have to make it look like I found the accounts first and then tracked the spending to implicate the lawyer.  Give me a couple of hours at the computer and I’ll be able to do it,” said Becky.

Just then, Kai walked by to get some food.  With so many Nephilim around, Arjun had released him from standing guard next to Addie.  He’d spent the last hour saying hello to friends and catching up. 

He took one look at Becky and was pole axed.  He shouted, “Assat!” and ran over, picked her up and swung her around.  He then leaned his head down to give her a kiss.

Becky put her hand in front of his mouth.  “Whoa, there!  Put me down, you big lug.”  She waited for him to comply and then put her hands on her hips. 

“Where did you learn your manners, the back side of a barn?” she huffed out.  Then she got a good look at the man and wondered if she were insane for yelling instead of kissing him back.

Ishme stepped in front of her and pushed Kai back.

“The female is mine, Kai.  You will not touch her again or face the consequences,” he said.

Becky and Addie looked on, amazed.  They gave each other a look.  They knew each other well enough to have an entirely silent conversation.

“Oh, wow!  They’re fighting over me!”
Becky was grinning.

“You lucky dog!”
  Addie grinned back.

“I know.  How cool is that?”
Becky winked.

“You gonna break it up or what?”
Addie raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to,”
Becky nodded with a shrug.

“Okay, guys.  Let’s break it up.  Let’s be civilized here,” Becky said, as she stepped between the two men and placed a hand on each of their chests. 

They instantly stopped glaring at each other to look down at her.

“Now…one at a time…you,” she said, pointing to Kai, “You start off.  Why did you shout ‘
Assat’
and pick me up that way?”

“You are the woman I’ve been dreaming about for the last two nights.  My brother Ari has also had these dreams.  This is how I know you are our female
Join
,” he stated, crossing his arms over a massive chest.

Becky was stunned but she turned back to Ishme, “Okay, big guy.  It’s your turn.”

“After we spoke during one of last night’s check-ins, I began to feel an overwhelming need to keep you safe and see to your well-being,” answered Ishme. 

“Also, my wings have begun to emerge.  So I know that you are my and my brother’s female
Join
,” Ishme concluded.

Becky looked over at Addie, who just shrugged.  She turned back to the men. 

“As I understand it,” Becky said, “when the wings come out, that’s it.  However, Miranda is flying in from Florida Saturday morning, and she can use her vision-match power to decide what’s what here. 

“I propose that between now and then, we just take the time to get to know each other and your brothers.  In addition, I want you both to know that – wings or no wings - I decide with whom to spend time.  I drive the train here, not some fickle fate.” 

She turned to Kai, “How is Ari?”

“Ari is resting at your house, Becky.  He will be ready for duty tomorrow,” said Kai.

“I’m glad he’s feeling better.”

She turned back to Ishme, “And what about your brother?”

“Nyal is also at your house.  He is aiding Rapha in caring for Ari.  He has had medical training,” Ishme answered.

Becky turned to Addie, “If you have everything under control here, then I’d like to head back home.  And I’d better stop at the grocery store along the way,” she added with a grin. “It looks like I’ve got extra mouths to feed.” 

She looked over to where Natalie and Jennifer were standing with their mouths open.  Ignoring them, she turned back to Addie.

Becky pointed her thumb in their direction.  “Looks like you got some ‘splaining’ to do, Lucy,” she said in a bad Spanish accent.  “I’ll leave you to it,” she said, as she started walking away. 

“Come on, guys, we’re heading back to my place.  Just let me grab one of these breakfast burritos and I’ll eat it along the way.”

Ishme spoke up, “It is dangerous to distract yourself when operating the vehicle.  Either you eat here and then we leave, or you let one of us drive.”

Becky stopped walking and turned back.  Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked over at Ishme.  She tapped her foot while she decided whether to be angry with his laying down the law like that. 

She had been heading over to Food Service.  The tables were loaded down with warming pans and the food was being kept hot with Sterno cans.  Becky was starving and the smell of food was making her stomach growl.

Addie looked at her very independent friend and wondered what she was going to say. 

Can’t fight fate, girlfriend,
she thought.

“Because I know you only have my safety in mind, I’m going to let that one pass.  For the future, you should understand that I don’t take orders very well and suggestions go over a lot better than commands.  It’s that whole ‘honey-vinegar’ thing,” she said, waving one arm in the air. “So get over your bad self.” 

With that, she turned back to the food table and began to make herself a breakfast burrito with eggs, onions, chorizo, and a dash of hot sauce. 

On second thought, that guy Markus said something about ulcers; better skip the hot sauce and add mild salsa instead,
she thought. 

Grabbing a bottle of water, she made her way over to a table where she spotted Markus sitting alone.

Behind her, Kai and Ishme were confused.  They turned to Addie for an explanation of Becky’s words.

While Addie was explaining the difference between honey and vinegar and the metaphor of asking for something sweetly or caustically, Becky was talking to Markus.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why have you decided not to live longer, just when the possibility of meeting your
Join
has become a reality?  Don’t you and your brothers want to make a match?” she asked before taking a bite of her food. 
Mmm – delicious
.

“That’s just it.  My brothers are gone.  They died fifty rotations ago when their shuttle was attacked.  We lost thirty-two crewmembers in a battle during our trip here.  We had to pass through an unknown and unmapped sector and weren’t aware of some of the dangers.  Now I am alone,” answered Markus.  “We eventually made peace with that species, but it was too late for those we lost.”

“So, you honor their memory by dying for them?  Is that what they would want for you?” Becky asked.

“You don’t understand,” replied Markus.  “We went through the bonding ceremony so we could share our Assat.  We became one unit.  It is almost like joining our souls.  I feel as if part of me is missing all the time,” he said with a sad look.

“Yeah, I’ve been alone for a long time, too.  My mom dumped me on Social Services when I was a baby.  I grew up in foster homes, never being adopted.  I’ve been an outcast and a rebel for most of my life. 

“So what did I do?  I made a family - that’s what I did.  Addie and Grace, Valerie, Miranda and a few others - they’re my family now.

“I see the laugh lines on your face.  They look good on you, by the way,” she added with a smile.  “So obviously, the past fifty years haven’t been a total pile of misery and woe-is-me.  I think you’ve locked yourself into this position and convinced yourself it’s the only way.”

She paused to take a few bites of food and another drink of water.  She was hungry because she’d fallen asleep earlier before she could eat. 

She saw Addie and Valerie walking over to where Natalie and Jennifer were now standing with their arms around each other’s waists, frightened looks on their faces. 

Ishme and Kai had stopped staring at her and were over at the food line getting something to eat. 

They’ll probably be over here in another minute or two,
she thought. 

She turned back to Markus, who was looking at her strangely.

“Anyway, Markus, that’s all bullshit,” said Becky.  “Where there is life, there is hope.  I’m not suggesting you don’t grieve.  Grief is something we all go through because it’s part of life. 

“I’m saying that giving up doesn’t seem to be the way the Nephilim deal with things.  That’s what you did, you gave up.  Yeah, you got dealt a sucky hand.  But you aren’t dead.