The Mark of Cain (40 page)

“I
said
, what did you
tell
her?” Inac
hissed as he moved his face and body close to Tracker’s until the kid was
backing up, shriveling from the murderous rage in Inac’s words.

In a squeaky voice full of terror, he said, “I kinda
told her that you bragged about feeling her up and that you don’t really love
her. That you’re gonna murder her. I also kinda told her about The Order and
that They watch you. Oh, also how you called her a ripe peach.”

“Is that all?” Inac asked, his voice full of
sarcasm. He was really contemplating breaking his neck after all.

“Oh. I did tell her that you said that you’ve killed
more people than are even alive right now.”

Throwing his gunny sack to the floor, he yelled, “
Dammit
,
Tracker!”

“I know! I’m stupid!”

“You’re much more than that.”

“Can you honestly say that Hara hasn’t gotten
information out of you that you didn’t intend on telling her? Can you honestly
say that?” The kid was begging for his life with that question…and it worked.

Inac let out a deep breath. “No. I guess I can’t.
She just has this way….”

“…Of getting people to open up without realizing
it.”

Inac looked at Tracker. He actually felt sorry for
the poor kid. Tracker had been rejected by the only person he loved; really,
the only person he ever had loved in his twenty-four years. The same had
happened to Inac once, and it had driven him to kill his brother. Warning Hara
about Inac was nothing in comparison to that.

“So how did she react to what you told her about
me?”

Tracker seemed to realize that his death wasn’t
going to come tonight after all and he let out his own held breath before
saying, “She screamed a lot before slapping me so hard I fell to the ground.”

“Sorry, man. That couldn’t have been easy. I know
how much you love her.”

Tracker’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Yeah….”

“I’ll do it
this
time. But next time, you’re
out of lifelines, little buddy,” he said, smiling at Tracker as he lightly pat
his unmarked cheek in an attempt to reassure the kid.

“Thanks…Inac.” The kid was dazed. Being rejected
would do that to you.

“Mm-hmm,” Inac said, trying to act as though it was
no big deal. But, upon further scrutinization, he realized that the kid’s
entire world had fallen apart and he felt a small pang of pity. “Look, do you
want a dose, too? That way you can forget all about this?”

“Would you?” Tracker asked with such hope in his
miserable eyes that, had Inac had a heart, surely it would have broken it.

“Sure. Just write yourself a letter of what you want
to remember.”

“I don’t want to remember any of it. I’ll just write
myself a note that says that I forgot today for a reason.”

“Fair enough. I’ll make you a dose, but it will make
you pass out so give yourself the shot once you get home. I’ll go talk to Hara
and give her a dose too. Just know, even though you won’t remember this, I
won’t help get you out of whatever else you get yourself into. Next time you
screw up, you and Hara are
both
dead.”

***

Inac knocked on Hara’s door, still unsure how to go
about this. The only thing he was positive about was that he was going to be
doing a lot of acting to convince her of his innocence.

She opened it, her red and swollen eyes accusing.

“Baby, what’s wrong? What’s happened?” he asked with
concern as he tried to pull her into his arms to comfort her.

“Don’t ‘baby’ me,” she said, pulling away from him.
“Tracker told me about how you bragged about getting…intimate…with me. About
how I let you touch me….” As she said this she covered her chest with her arms,
as though he was trying to touch her again. Or, perhaps, that he was a dirty
old man attempting to do so which, of course, he was, if you wanted to get
technical
….

He let an instant of surprise show before schooling
his expression to let disbelief make a brief appearance—neither emotion could
stay too long or it would look completely fake. That’s why he let anger take
over. But the kind that was protective; like he was angry that someone else
knew the intimate detail in the first place.

“I don’t know how he knows about that because I
never told him,” he said as he tightened his jaw.

“How else could he know?” she demanded. She didn’t
believe him yet, but it was obvious that she
wanted
to.

“Maybe he woke up…. Maybe he snorted on purpose so
we would stop…” he said, acting like he’d just thought that up, when really
he’d come up with it as a possible excuse on the drive over. “Or…maybe he read
your diary. You did have it sitting on top of your bag in the tent. Maybe he
read it to see where we’d gone for those eight hours.”

“So you really didn’t?” she asked, a kind of hope in
her glossy eyes that mirrored Tracker’s exactly.

“Of course not,” he said, feigning hurt that she
could even think such a thing.

“Oh Inac…” she said, rushing into his arms to cry.

They then sat on the couch where she told him everything.
There was a lot Tracker had left out. For instance, about Father Carroll being
the one to bring Tracker into The Order, though Hara didn’t seem to know the
sect’s name.

Inac was glad Crystal wasn’t home because then he
wouldn’t be able to do what he needed to. As soon as Hara fell asleep in his
arms, he injected the medicine into her vein. Then he checked the house and her
journal, making sure that no evidence of tonight was there to remind Hara of
what had occurred. Once done, he went back home and went to bed. All of this
blasted drama had exhausted him.

***

A piercing scream woke Hara. Her head pounding with
every wail, she tried over and over again to shut off her alarm clock. When she
finally got it to stop, she turned over and re-closed her eyes. Her head,
however, wouldn’t stop its hammering reaction to the sound. She felt like she
had that morning at Inac’s. In fact, she couldn’t recall a lot of yesterday
either. Did she drink another whole bottle of wine?

She was barely slipping back into blessed darkness
when a pounding on her door started her head’s reaction all over again.

“Hara?” Crystal’s voice said too loudly.

“Please stop yelling. I have a massive headache.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Just leave me alone and stop yelling,” she
grumbled. Her mouth felt like a mass of cotton was stuffed into it.

“Okay. If you need anything, just let me know.”

After she left, Hara fell back asleep. A little
while later, she felt someone sit on her bed so she opened her eyes, trying to
focus on what appeared to be Inac.

“Here,” he whispered. At least she thought he was
whispering because it stabbed into her head as though an ice pick was chiseling
at her brain.

It took her a moment to realize that he was holding
medicine, a glass of milk, and a slice of bread out to her. Because she was too
weak, he put the pills into her mouth and held the glass up for her to drink
from. Then he ripped off a piece of bread and set it on her tongue. He stayed,
giving her pieces of bread and sips of the milk, until she’d had enough. Then
he massaged her temples and scalp before putting pressure on different points
of her body. She felt her headache dissipating with each one.

When she finally felt better, she opened her eyes
and smiled at him.

“Thanks. How’d you know I was sick?” she asked in a
croaky voice.

“Crystal called me. She asked if I was back in town
so I could come take care of you.”

“Oh yeah!” she said a little too loudly—maybe her
head wasn’t all the way better yet. Quieter, she asked, “When did you get
back?”

“Last night.”

“And you’re just now visiting?”

“I wanted to come by, but I had a lot I had to take
care of.”

“Oh.”

“So how are you feeling now? Your headache gone?”

“Yeah,” she said, wincing from the bit of it still
present. “Mostly. At least as long as I don’t yell or move too much.”

He flashed her the briefest of smiles. “Any other
symptoms I can remedy?” he asked with a devilish edge to his voice. Without
waiting for her to answer, he bent down and kissed her, giving her a taste of
delicious mint mixed in with his masculine taste. When he pulled away, he
asked, “Did that release enough endorphins to take away all your symptoms?”

She giggled. “My head feels wonderful now, but I
still don’t remember most of yesterday.”

His brow furrowed and he started rubbing her feet,
as though doing so would clear his own mind. “What do you mean? You forgot some
things like you did after drinking that bottle of wine?”

“Yeah. I guess I drank a lot again.”

“No, Hara. You don’t smell like alcohol like you did
the last time.”

“Then what else could explain me forgetting?”

“Both times you had a nasty headache…” he said, not
looking up at her as he swirled his thumbs around the bridge of one foot.

“Yeah? So?” she asked, lightly kicking at him so
he’d look her in the eye.

His eyes were worried when they met hers. “I think
you should see a doctor at the student center. Actually, I think you should see
a neurologist. We should get you a CAT scan or an MRI or whatever. If you’re
losing time before waking up with debilitating headaches, then we should make
sure that you don’t have a tumor or a blood clot or something. I’ll set it up
right now,” he said as he stood up and started walking out of the door with
purpose.

“Inac!” she called. When he looked back at her, she
said, “Now I’m scared. Will you come hold me?”

He gave her a faint smile that made her feel a
little better. “I’ll come right back. I’m just going to use the phone in the
kitchen to make you an appointment.”

When she was left alone, it was all she could think
of. Did she really have a brain tumor? Did cancer run in her family? And then
the shallowest thought she had ever thought went through her perhaps diseased
mind. Would Inac still love her if she lost all her hair?

“Baby? I got you in today,” he said as he walked
back into the room, pulling her out of her imaginings of her head even balder
than his shaved one—at least
his
had stubble.

“Today?” She didn’t know if she was ready to find
out so soon.

“Yeah. I know it’s a little unconventional, but I
got an old friend of mine to call in the tests. We’ll go to the hospital and
then go to his office after for the results. So get dressed,” he said as he
looked through her closet before tossing her a tank top, cardigan, and skirt.

“Inac? Do we really have to do this
today
?”

He nodded. “This way we can fix it sooner. I don’t
want you getting any worse. What happens if you wake up one day and can’t
remember
me
?” he said, the last few words breaking from the emotions he
was holding back. It was the closest she’d ever come to seeing him cry.

Wanting to reward him for becoming so emotional, as
well as not wanting him to have to worry, she said, “Okay. I’ll be out in a
minute.”

He nodded before shutting the door.

***

Inac and Hara were waiting in the exam room of
Inac’s friend’s office. She sat on the crinkly white paper that covered the
table, Inac standing next to her, holding one of her hands. The test she’d had
done hadn’t been too bad, if not annoying. They had stuck her in a tube and
told her not to move at all. She was happy she wasn’t claustrophobic because it
had taken a long time.

“Stop playing with it, baby,” Inac said as he took
her free hand from where it was fiddling with the cotton ball under some kind
of tan wrapping where they’d stuck an IV in her.

“Sorry. I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be. No matter what, I’ll be here for you,” he
said, squeezing her hand.

She smiled weakly at him before setting herself into
his open arms. They could protect her from anything. Even cancer.

The door opened and a man older than she’d expected
walked in. He wasn’t old by any means, but he did look to be in his mid-fifties
with his thick, salt and pepper wavy hair.

“Henry!” the man exclaimed, holding a large, tan
hand out to Inac. “You’re looking good!” He was handsome with a strong chin
with a cleft in it and laughing blue eyes a color she’d never really seen
before. She wanted to look closer to see exactly what shade they were, but Inac
spoke just then, redirecting her thoughts.

“Inac,” her fiancé corrected with a knowing grin.
“Henry was my father. Remember?”