Misty Falls (18 page)

Uriel returned to his chair and drained his coffee. ‘Misty, if you’ve got a moment, I wanted to talk to you about this killer we’re hunting.’

I put maths aside. ‘Go ahead.’

‘Victor has been looking into the similarities between victims and put more detail on the profile we’d already outlined. Our perp goes for isolated savants, usually those with no family or new to our world. He likes gifts that influence others, maybe with a chance to generate wealth for himself. Three of the five American savants he killed had predictive abilities; we think he used them to buy stocks and shares. The Australian victim, Jody Gaspard, could find natural resources by scanning geological maps. I could give you more examples.’

I had a horrid feeling where he was going with this.

‘Gender doesn’t seem to matter but his target age is fourteen to eighteen. Victor has come up with something new: he thinks the killer chooses that age range so he can take them to places where adults go—pubs, clubs, casinos. He is gathering assets—money, stocks, land. All of his victims have looked mature for their age. He is following a plan that makes sense to him.’

‘You think Alex fits the profile.’

‘Yes. So does Summer—and I guess you could think of a few others in your circle. Can you spread the word—tip them off that they have to be particularly alert? It’s been a while since the last abduction and I’m thinking our guy will be getting twitchy, ready for his next fix.’

‘Fix?’

‘With repeat offenders like this, it isn’t impulse, it’s a carefully planned feeding of his habit of taking life. The whole process gives him a rush and he won’t stop until we stop him. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t strike very soon either here or somewhere close—mainland Europe or Ireland. That’s his pattern.’

I put my feet up on the seat, hugging my knees. The split in my jeans had progressed to the point where there was more skin than denim showing on my left kneecap, a few frail white threads left behind which I plucked nervously. ‘I really hope you catch him soon. I hate this feeling of having to keep looking over my shoulder.’

‘I know.’

‘Did Tarryn tell you about the slimy guy at the news conference?’

‘Yes. Victor’s checking his background.’

‘Good. Will told me to listen to my instinct about strangers and mine is screaming that the reporter is not here for the debate competition.’

‘Interesting. I’ll see if I can put someone on him.’ He fired off a quick text. ‘Thanks, Misty, that’s really helpful.’

Alex’s team won. Of course. They went out immediately afterwards with the Texans to commiserate with the losers so I didn’t see Alex again until evening. By then my mum and dad, to whom I had broken the news about my soulfinder the night before, had arrived in a flurry of concerned parenting. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing night off for us both in prospect.

Dad booked a table for our get-together where they were staying. I had managed to persuade them to meet us there so at least I could have the walk over the river to the Old Mill Hotel in which to prepare Alex for the grilling that was in store. It felt a little like the walk into an examination hall for a paper that I hadn’t revised. I didn’t know how they would react. Dad was usually laid back but Mum could be unpredictable.

Alex scooped me up when he saw me waiting for him on the low wall outside King’s College, hugging me tight. ‘Hi! How was your afternoon?’ His face was still reflecting his astonishment that we’d found each other, a soft glow in his expression as he looked at me. We didn’t quite have our moves sorted. Should we kiss? By silent agreement, we went for playful.

‘It was no fun without you,’ I admitted.

He spun me round once and put me back down. I added effortless strength to the things I liked about Alex. ‘Ready to face the lions?’

‘You feel it too?’

‘I’m not stupid, Misty. I’d be running for the hills if I could avoid it.’

‘Hate to break it to you but you’re in the wrong city for hills.’

‘Do you think they’ll like me?’

I started walking and he fell in step. ‘How can they not? I just hope you like them. You’ve met my Auntie Opal. Mum is her big sister. They’re pretty alike in that they both can be intense.’

Alex was taking in all this family dynamic stuff with a bemused smile. ‘What’s her gift?’

‘Seeing through things.’

‘Like?’

This was the embarrassing bit. ‘Walls and so on.’

Alex was quick to grasp the connotations. ‘It’s the “so on” I’m worried about.’ He peered down the front of his jacket. ‘Phew, clean on this morning. She sounds scary.’

‘Tell me about it. But she has her gift under strict control. You don’t have to worry about her peeking.’ Not unless she employed the motherly trump card of ‘but I was so worried about you!’ which she occasionally applied to breaches of my privacy. He didn’t need to know that.

‘And your dad, the non-savant?’ Alex threaded his fingers through mine, letting our arms swing loosely between us. We were following a parallel path to the one we had taken the night before, crossing the river by the punts near the Fen Causeway road bridge. With few tourists up for a chilly river excursion, the empty, flat-bottomed boats huddled together at their moorings like a huge wooden piano keyboard. If you jumped from one to another, would they play a tune? I mused.

‘You’ve gone very quiet,’ said Alex. ‘What are you thinking about?’

‘Sorry. I got distracted.’ I wasn’t quite ready to share my oddness with him, not when I was still in the trying-to-impress phase.

‘You were going to tell me about your non-savant dad.’

‘I’m not sure he’d like you to call him that. After all, most people out there aren’t savants.’ I gestured to the crowds crossing the bridge, the cars whizzing by as they avoided the city centre—life in full flood on a Saturday evening.

He squeezed my knuckles lightly with his fingers, a gesture of understanding. ‘You’re right. What about the
normal
one in your family?’

I smiled at that. ‘He works for a telecommunications firm in London. He’s patient with the rest of us but we have to remember not to let him feel left out. I think he often does.’

‘OK. I see. So he might be easily offended on that subject. Does he mind about soulfinders? It could be intimidating for him realizing that your mum, you know …’

‘Luckily he’s very secure about who he is and Mum is very level-headed. She won’t go dashing off on a whim to find her match when she knows the value of the one she has at home.’ At least I hoped so. No child could control what happened in their parents’ marriage. I think Dad just didn’t realize the strength of the bond my mum had given up for him; if he did, he might be more concerned. What’s that old saying? Ignorance is bliss? In this case it was true. I would have to be careful what I said about my own feelings tonight in case it put pressure on Mum and him.

‘Nerves are getting worse.’ Alex rolled his shoulders as we approached the bright lights of the hotel. He was wearing his chocolate leather jacket tightly fastened against the cold. I paused at the door of the restaurant to fulfil a dream.

‘What are you doing?’ Alex looked down at my fingers.

‘Do you know how tempting these zips are?’ I did up the breast pockets, then slid them open again.

‘You crazy girl? They’re just zips.’

I tapped his chest. ‘On this jacket, worn by this boy, they are pure temptation and I couldn’t resist. I’ve been thinking of doing that since I first saw you in it.’

His smile broadened and he moved a step closer. ‘Have you now?’ His voice had dropped into dangerous, can’t-wait-to-get-you-alone territory. He put his mouth to my earlobe and nuzzled. ‘Do you want to hear some of my thoughts about what I’d like to do to you?’

I couldn’t get away with a lie. ‘Yes.’

He touched my ear lightly with the tip of his tongue. ‘I start by—’

Misty, there are two things you should know.
My mother’s voice reached me telepathically.
First we are waiting for you, and second our table is by a window with a good view of the entrance.

‘Alex, my parents can see us.’

Alex froze, lips having reached the corner of my jaw. ‘That’s not good.’

‘No.’ I gave a nervous giggle.

‘So what now?’

‘We go in and pretend they didn’t notice us.’ I took his hand. ‘Ready?’

My parents stood up when we arrived at their table. They had already opened a bottle of wine; it was half gone and I noticed Dad’s glass was almost empty. He didn’t usually drink very much at all so I guessed we weren’t the only ones feeling anxious.

Mum gave me a tight hug. ‘Stunning, Misty, he’s absolutely stunning,’ she whispered in my ear. ‘And Uriel promises that he’s a really nice young man, which is all I’m worried about.’

‘Thanks, Mum.’

Dad was regarding Alex suspiciously. He held out a hand. ‘Alex.’

‘Mr Devon.’ I gave Alex points for keeping eye contact as they shook hands. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘We’ll see.’

‘Dad!’ I gave him a reproving kiss on the cheek. ‘Don’t be like that, please.’ My plan for Alex to fall in love with my family as part of my package deal looked wildly over-optimistic.

Dad refused to let me sit down with just a kiss. ‘Come here, darling.’ He hugged me, pulling my head to his shoulder. ‘You don’t have to do it this way, Misty. You know that, don’t you?’ He meant that I didn’t have to follow the savant script and accept my soulfinder as my destiny.

‘I realize that, Dad. Please, just give Alex a chance.’ We took our places, Dad sitting opposite me. We were allowed a reprieve as we placed our orders but I knew the questions would start soon. There were a few exchanges on the menu choices but then my father got down to business.

‘So, tell us about yourself, Alex. What’s your family like?’ Dad asked, more in a cross-examination tone than the light chit-chat suited to what was supposed to be a getting-to-know-you meal. ‘Savants, I suppose?’

The waiter returned and put my salmon starter in front of me.
Sorry about this
, I told Alex.
Dad’s taken it worse than I expected.

‘I don’t know much about my family, sir.’ Alex leaned back to make room for the waiter to deliver his soup. ‘Thanks.’ The waiter retreated, probably sensing that it was a good idea to take cover. ‘They left the country when I was about three. I was taken in by social services and lived in a series of placements in foster families until I went to my current school.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said my mum. ‘So your parents didn’t keep in touch?’

‘No. They didn’t like the way I turned out.’ Alex stirred the soup, not making much progress on eating.

I rearranged the food on my plate. It was unfortunate that my presence put a damper on Alex’s gift for charm as he was making little headway persuading my father to think him a good thing in my life. The problem for Alex was that he had to carry the burden of my dad’s misgivings about the whole savant world. To my father, I was first and foremost his little girl; he could tolerate savants while they remained amusing extensions of my mother with minimal effect on his immediate family, but now I looked set to live my life according to a weird genetic pairing he didn’t understand, he was worried and a little angry. How could I counter this? I tried to play up the achievements in ordinary life that Dad would understand.

‘You know, Dad, Alex has been really successful at the school he attends,’ I said brightly, ‘put up a year and still coming out number one. He’s going to get a full scholarship to … well, I’m not sure which university but one of the top colleges in the world.’ We hadn’t got so far as discussing all this.

How do you know about the scholarship?
Alex asked.

Part of the conversation at the barbecue I shouldn’t have overheard
, I explained.

‘I imagine that must’ve been very lonely for you,’ my mum continued, casting ‘be nice’ looks at my father. ‘I’ve always been grateful to belong to a large family. I can hardly imagine what it was like being alone.’

This was turning out the exact opposite to how I had imagined this meal: my mum the ally, my dad the obstacle.

Alex gave her a grateful smile. ‘I guess I learned early on to rely on myself.’

My dad wasn’t eating a thing. ‘And now you think you can undo years of habit and bring Misty into your life?’ He ripped a bread roll apart. ‘She’s a very tender-hearted girl; she can’t flourish with someone who won’t let her lean on them and vice versa. A relationship is about mutual support, not standing apart.’

I sensed Alex’s temper was rising. He didn’t deserve this from my dad.

‘Please, Dad, don’t do this.’ I couldn’t bear seeing my father disapproving of the first major choice I had made in my life.

Alex shot me a look, warning me to keep out of this battle. ‘I didn’t say I had no experience of caring about others, sir. I have people around me whom I think of as family. I can certainly learn to look after someone else. I promise you that Misty’s happiness will come before my own.’

‘Fine words. No doubt you are sincere as Misty is here and we all know what that means.’ Dad topped up his wine. ‘But you are so young, both trapped by this thing between you. It’s not healthy.’