The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel (31 page)

“Fine. Just hurry before I faint. I haven’t
eaten since noon.”

Ten minutes later I’m back with a tray
that’s covered with all kinds of food ranging from turkey
sandwiches, chips, peanuts, carrots and celery sticks, cookies, and
drinks.

“Look at this.” Juliette points to a picture
of a necklace similar to hers.

“The chain looks similar, yet yours is
smaller, not as heavy.”

“Listen to this. It’s called a
Whitecleuch Chain
. It was worn as a choker for
ceremonial purposes by the Picts. That dates it back to around 400
to 800 A.D. But no stone.”

“Do you think your chain was fashioned after
it?”

“Either that or vice versa. But look at
this. It’s a primitive drawing of a Pict woman wearing a necklace
that looks a lot like this one.”

“Is there any way to enlarge it?” I ask.

“Yeah, but it distorts it so much it makes
it too fuzzy to see.”

“So, Pict huh? That’s what? Ancient
Scotland?”

“I think so. But it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is that this thing is old. So old that it couldn’t be
identified. My question is—why couldn’t my dad, who had studied
gems forever, figure out what kind of stone this is?”

“Juliette, what are you saying?”

“Maybe this isn’t a stone after all.”

“I’m not following.”

“Maybe it’s some super secret thing that the
government stumbled on, and they need it for something.”

“Then why don’t they just have you hand it
over?”

Juliette rubs her eyes. They have purplish
crescents beneath them and her lips are pursed as her brilliant
mind churns with ideas. “Maybe it has something to do with me. I
don’t know.” She slams her hand down on the desk.

I hate seeing her like this. The lack of
answers is as exasperating to me as it is to her. My hand reaches
for her and I bring it to my lips, kissing each of her knuckles,
then her fingertips. Swiveling her chair to face me, I say,
“Listen, you’ve made some pretty damn incredible discoveries
tonight. Much more than you’ve made in the last two and a half
years, right?”

She nods, but is still dispirited.

“Together, we can figure this thing out. But
let’s not do it tonight. We—you’ve—made some awesome strides, so
let’s take a day at a time.”

“Okay.”

“Now come here,” and I pat my lap. She moves
to sit, facing me. “Huh uh. Turn around.” She quirks a brow, but I
motion with my hand and she follows my direction. When she’s seated
between my legs, I start massaging her neck and shoulders.

“Oh my. That’s wonderful.”

“Your muscles feel as hard as concrete.
Let’s get them loosened up.” My hands gently dig into her muscles
hard enough to relieve the tension from sitting at the computer all
day, relaxing the knots and tightness in her neck, shoulders, and
back. “Better now?”

She falls against my chest and says, “Mmm.
That’s so good. Now I don’t want to move.”

“Aren’t you the lucky one? You don’t have
to.”

She can’t weigh much more than one ten, so I
pick her up and carry her upstairs. “Want me to help you with your
face?”

She chuckles. “Nah, I’ve got this. You have
Ethel to take out yet.”

I kiss her cheeks and nose, then say, “I’ll
be back in a jif.”

Ethel is quick tonight. We’re both back
upstairs and all three of us are in bed shortly after that.

“Kade?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. For being here. For taking care
of me.”

“Juliette, that’s what you do when you love
someone. It’s what you did for me when I needed it. I’ll always
take care of you.” And I mean it. I swear to myself I will. No
matter what.

~~~~~

The next day, I get no arguments on the way
to work when I tell Juliette that from now on, she will never walk
home alone again. Nor when she volunteers at the animal shelter
will she walk alone. Ever. She’s demure and agreeable.

“Thank you. You’ve lifted a ton of weight
off my chest.”

“I don’t want to die, Kade. I want to be
with you.” She takes my hand, the one that’s not on the wheel. “And
I never got the chance to tell you, Kevin and I worked things out
yesterday.”

“Good. I was hoping you would. He was upset,
but I think it was more shock and hurt.”

“I can’t blame him. But when he saw how much
he can learn from me, his whole attitude changed.”

I grin, because Juliette could never be mean
or hateful and I can see precisely how she would turn that
situation into something beneficial for him. “You are a saint,
sweetheart.”

“No, I’m not. I’m just doing for someone
what I would want for them to do for me. Plain and simple.”

“Well, too bad not everyone sees it like
that.”

As we walk into work I ask her, “Promise me
you won’t work like a crazy fool today. You run circles around
everyone.”

“I’ll try. I’m just that way. I see
something and go after it, you know?”

“Oh, I know.”

All day I think of that damn necklace and
what it might mean. The idea that’s it’s ancient and how the shadow
keeps telling her to wear it is bothersome. Why Juliette? And why
do they insist on her wearing it? It obviously represents some sort
of danger or they wouldn’t be protecting her. I don’t like this at
all. Not one bit.

Mack has asked me to accompany him to his NA
meeting tonight and I agreed. Now I wish I hadn’t. At five o’clock,
I seek out Juliette. She’s sitting at the desk in the office I put
her in temporarily, her head bent as she looks at her computer
screen, and she’s typing like a machine. She reminds me of myself
when I’m lost playing the piano.

It slams into me how Juliette has flourished
over the last couple of months. Reflecting back to the first time
she stood on my front porch, holding tiny Ethel, I remember how she
looked waif-like and forlorn. I know she fled to the bathroom to
have a cry over something. I could hear her weeping. She was
frightened, skittish as a mouse, and her eyes were the most tragic
things I’d ever seen. Because of that I was drawn to her. We shared
something. Since that day, she has climbed out of the shell in
which she was curled up. I’ll go so far to add that she’s even
taken a hammer and crushed the damn thing. This young woman has
more courage and fearlessness than most people I know. She claimed
she used to walk in fear of everything. That isn’t true. She faced
her fears and did so boldly. How else would she have gotten through
these last couple of years? Remarkable can’t come close to
describing her. And to think that she loves
me
. I am so
honored by that.

“Hey, gorgeous. You about ready?”

The look she shoots me makes me want to toss
her over my shoulder like a fucking beast and carry her out of
here.

“Yeah, one sec.” She strikes the keyboard a
few more times, then powers down the computer. “I’m almost done
revamping the website. Wait until you see what I’ve done. You’re
going to love it.”

“Of course I am. My genius IT girlfriend did
it. Why wouldn’t I?”

She grins and she hops over to me and kisses
me. “I can’t believe it’s this late. Kade, I love this stuff. I
can’t believe how much I’ve missed it.”

“I’m worried you’ll run out of things to
do.”

“Probably. But that’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Then you’ll need to strike
out on your own and go to work for the big boys. You know, for
someone who can really put your expertise to work.” She needs to be
challenged and Living Free will not be a challenge for her. When
she finishes with all the updates and integrations she needs to
make here, I’ll begin a search for a new position for her
somewhere. Maybe Kolson or Kestrel will know of something. They
have connections all over the place.

“I’m happy here.”

“Juliette, you won’t be for long and I don’t
want your brain to become stagnant. I love you and I want you to
learn more. I’m thinking of you, my love.”

She throws her arms around my neck and says,
“You’re always thinking of me.”

“I wasn’t once, but I will be from now on.
I’d like to do something for you and before you say no, hear me
out. You’re going to need to be challenged and Living Free won’t do
it. So, I want you to pursue your dream job. I’d like to set up a
home office for you, get you a computer and everything you’d need.
Then you’d be able to do anything you’d like. This would be to
advance your career, nothing more. Will you at least think about
it?”

She agrees. We stop to pick up food on the
way home at a deli, and then I drop her off. “I’ll be back in an
hour or so.”

“Be careful.”

I stay in the driveway until I see she’s
safe inside, then I drive off to meet Mack.

The Seven

“Take off your jacket so I can cut off your
shirt, now!”

Sabin wrestles to free himself of his
garments, while Rafe tries to help him. “I’ve got this,” Sabin
growls.

“Goddammit, look at you. You look like a
torn up piece of fucking meat.”

“Shut up, Rafe. Keep your goddamn comments
to yourself.” Sabin winces as Rafe pokes and examines his
wounds.

“Edge! Bring me the medical kit!”

“How many were there?” Sabin asks.

“Too fucking many. They came out of nowhere,
like a damn pack.”

“You know they travel in gangs. We were
stupid. We should’ve expected it. What the fuck was she thinking,
walking around alone at night?”

Edge arrives with the kit. He takes a look
at Sabin’s back and says, “Fuck that,” and walks away. Sabin growls
again.

“I counted ten. Every time I leveled one,
another took its place. And we were down one with you protecting
the wee one.”

“She is that. Damn she’s tiny. I was afraid
I’d crush her, after a couple of their rounds, when I had to let
myself breathe a minute.”

Rafe says, “Hang on, this is gonna hurt like
a bitch smashing your balls, but then we’ll be home free.”

Sabin hears a high-pitched sound and he
knows what’s coming next.

“Mother fucker!” he grits out.

Rafe says, “Sorry man, but you’re good now.
Or will be in a few.”

“Fuck you,” Sabin replies. “Easy for you to
say.”

“Let me hit this crisscrossed mess up one
more time.”

Sabin yells out, “Hey Edge. I need a clean
shirt and another jacket.”

Edge shows up a few minutes later with the
requested items. “Am I everyone’s gopher or something?”

Rafe and Sabin both answer, “Yes!” and Sabin
adds, “Get everyone together for a briefing. Now, slack ass.”

Five minutes later, the seven are assembled.
Sabin begins.

“How many and what did you see?”

Most claim they saw what Rafe did. The
beings came in as a gang, knocking into Juliette, surrounding her
and then when the seven came in, it turned into a circus. Sabin was
on the ground, protecting Juliette, getting the shit beat out of
him, while the others were engaged in fighting off the vicious
attackers. No one walked away unscathed, but Sabin got it the
worst. Most of everyone else’s injuries were minor.

“So did we take any of them out?”

“Half at best.”

“Fuck. Clean-up?”

“Done.”

Rafe looks at Sabin and asks, “How did the
wee one take it?”

“Not too good. She was a mess when we
finished. Her legs could barely hold her up. It was bad. I followed
her home and I believe she was in a semi state of shock. She’s a
lot tougher than most, though.”

Edge scratches his chin. “Now what? I mean
these guys keep coming back for more and they’re not going to stop.
Are we just going to keep doing what we’re doing?”

Sabin raises a brow. “And, oh wise one, what
do you suggest?”

“A trap of some sort. Draw them out.”

Sabin looks at Edge. “While that sounds
good, and I appreciate that suggestion, it won’t work. They’ll
figure it out.”

“Sabin, they want Paradox. What if we dangle
the carrot? Or make them think it’s the carrot but it’s really
not,” Rafe says.

“What do you mean?”

Edge and Andros laugh. “A bogus one!” Edge
says.

Rafe nods, and says, “Yes. They think they
can heist Paradox. Think they can decrypt it. I doubt those fuckers
are capable enough, but let’s say they have someone brilliant
enough who can. They still can’t make it operable without Judgment
Day. Create a bogus one, and dangle it in front of them. Then maybe
they’ll take the bait and leave her alone.”

Sabin is quiet. The plan does have merit but
his men don’t know their enemy like he does. They haven’t tangled
with them as often as he has. “It will only anger them more when
they find out we’ve duped them. Then they’ll strike back with a
vengeance, and who can guess how many gangs they’ll send when they
do.”

“Sabin, can we get another team?” Rafe
asks.

“No. This is it. And after this last attack,
I’m afraid we aren’t enough. Angering them is the last thing I want
to do. Destroying them is what we need to stay focused on. Sorry,
Edge, Rafe. I can’t afford to lose any of you to this.”

“You won’t. You don’t have to worry about
that. Right men?” Rafe asks.

The men all grunt in response.

“We’ll never let a bunch of fucking scum
take us down.”

Sabin nods, but he knows only too well what
those scum are capable of. His men are smarter, bigger, better,
more savvy, but sometimes being outnumbered is the killer.

“Let’s get back to work. Remember, I’m the
only one that talks to them. Don’t risk your identities.”

Nodding, they all file out of the room.

Rafe hangs back. “You okay to go back
out?”

“Yeah. All good.”

“You sure? You seem … off.”

“You would be, too, if your back was nearly
torn off.”

“Sabin, why don’t you take the rest of the
night off? You know she’s scared shitless and won’t go out tonight.
We can handle it.”