The Source: Book III of the Holding Kate Series (5 page)

COREY PULLED AGAINST
the oars a few times until he and Kate were in the middle of the lake. He settled the paddles and slipped to the bottom of the bass boat, snuggling Kate to his side. They rocked gently as a dragonfly hovered to study them then sped off, leaving them to gaze at the fluffy white clouds shape-shifting in the stunning azure sky. Water lapped at the boat and voices raised in playful banter trickled across the lake.

When they first reached the lake Kate had tossed her trainers and Trip’s jacket in the boat and then turned to challenge some of the boys from their old cabin to a race to the gazebo and back. They laughed and accepted and splashed away in a froth of foam and limbs. Joey won, Kate came in second and Andrew and Ash brought up the rear. She splashed over to the boat where Corey waited for her, and he drank in the sight of his dripping wet wife. Rivulets cascaded down her shoulders and arms. He sighed in sheer satisfaction. She climbed in the boat and he rowed away from the shore. The boys called for her to come back and give them a rematch. She playfully declined, waving at them, then cut her shining eyes to Corey. Tiny droplets of water sprinkled from her lush lashes.

She wrapped her hair to one shoulder and squeezed the excess water out of it, then slid against the side of the boat and draped her legs over his, and they tilted faces to the clouds. “So, what did you decide at the meeting?”

“We are going to set up our own QHR in the boathouse.”

“Wow. Our own jump pad? Can they do that?”

“Sure, there is an older one there already that my great great grandfather used in his initial experiments. They will just have to update it.”

“Will that take long?” She looked out over the lake at the boys. They had divided into teams and were starting a game of water volleyball.

“Nah, couple of days, tops.”

“How will that help us?” Kate began braiding her hair over her shoulder.

“Well, it will give us more control over the sites we jump to and it will give us a regular team. We will also be able to increase security.”

“So, I don’t understand. Are we still considered jumpers? Is that why we have to continue the jumps?”

“No, technically the Keepers have been cleared of any charges that landed them here. You are free to go, anytime.”

Kate leaned over and took his face in her hands. “I’m not going anywhere. I am home in your arms.” She planted a kiss that made him dizzy and then snuggled into his chest.

“Whoa there Kate, you’re gonna set the boat on fire,” he whispered and touched her face. He stroked her jawline, relishing the beauty of Kate’s flawless skin, the curve of her cheek and the way her lips seemed to pucker naturally.

She brushed his hair out of his eyes and trailed her finger down his cheek and sighed.

It was the most contented sound in the world.

She pecked his lips, sat up, and reached for Trip’s jacket. She threaded her delicate arms through the sleeves.

“Hey, don’t do that for my sake. I like you in your jogging attire.” Corey flashed his eyebrows at her and kissed her bare midriff.

“Spphht!” She squirmed at the tickle and laughed. “Well you aren’t the only one out here so—” she countered and nodded to the boys. Their game had mutated into a cross breed of volleyball and chicken. They had climbed on each other’s shoulders to take turns spiking the ball into the opposing teams’ faces.

“Corey, if we are cleared of all charges, then why do we have to go on jumps?” She zipped up the jacket and began rolling up the sleeves.

He sat up and furrowed his brow. “Kate, we’re going to find a jump site to hide in. We’re too exposed here. Mattovdzky could pop in here at any moment and take you from me.”

“So you and I are going to leave the village?” Her face scanned the surrounding hills and campus sites thirstily.

“Yes, my love. I have to get you somewhere he can’t find you.” He closed the distance between them, wrapping his arm around her shoulder protectively.

She pierced him with her serious gaze. “I will miss the Keepers. They are like family.” She looked down at her hands, palms pressed together.

“You won’t miss all of them.”

She jerked her chin up, casting him a startled expression.

“I don’t think Trip and Tara are going to let you out of their sight anytime soon.”

“They’re coming with us?” Her eyes perked up.

Corey nodded. “Yep. Eunavae and Dirk will most likely come. I don’t know about Mel and Donnie. They have some decisions to make.”

“The baby,” she guessed.

“Yeah. Mel won’t be able to come and I’ll encourage Donnie to stay with her, though he has already voiced that he has no plans of abandoning us.”

“No, that wouldn’t be right. They have to stay together.”

“I agree. Married people shouldn’t be separated.” He kissed her again, knowing his next words would cause her pain. “Kate, we need to make some decisions too.”

“Like what?” She laughed at the antics of the boys near the shore. Ash was dangling Joey by his legs and dunking his head in the water. Joey came up laughing each time.

“Chaps says we aren’t legally married and he won’t condone our living together.”

Her face fell and she snapped it around. “So what? I don’t need his permission.”

Corey grinned at her.
That’s my Kate.
“He made some valid points about me turning 18 soon and as the owner of the village, it could cause problems with public relations.”

She frowned and fire flashed through her eyes. “Fine. If he needs papers, we’ll get papers!” she snapped. Then her tone softened and she pressed into Corey’s side. “Nothing in the world could bind me more tightly to you than I am now, Corey. But I will jump through their hoops, if it will make things better.”

Corey kissed the top of Kate’s hair. “My lawyer is coming tomorrow. We’ll work it out.”

“Okay, but if Chaps thinks for one minute that I am moving out of my bedroom and away from my husband, then he can think again!”

Corey let out a snort.
We really are becoming one person.

The booming gong was so unexpected that they both nearly jumped out of the boat. A sphere fell out of the sky and landed over the boys near the shore. In a blink they were gone.

Kate jumped up. “Corey, they didn’t have their survival packs!”

He jostled to the next seat and grabbed the oars. “That is the least of their problems. That wasn’t a Heartwork sphere. That was Mattovdzky!”

By the time they got to shore and ran up the hill to the QHR, the kidnapped boys were already back, bewildered, but unscathed.

Corey and Kate stood behind the one-way glass and listened to the debriefing.

“Where did you go?”

Ash leaned forward and furrowed his brow. “It was a huge lab of some sort.”

“In a warehouse,” Joey added.

“This dude dressed in, uh—”

“Like a pirate or something,” Andrew squeaked.

“Yeah, this pirate dude screamed at us. ‘Where is she? She was supposed to be with you!’”

Jose interjected. “He was a creep for sure!”

“There we were, standing in our swimsuits, dripping on his linoleum while he screamed like a crazy dude.”

“What else did he say?”

“He asked us about Kate and if she had been near us.”

“We just looked at each other and didn’t say anything to him.”

“He said ‘I had her tracked to this moment,’” Joey remembered.

“Yeah and he said something like ’the matrix…something something…quantum… timing is off by several minutes.’”

“Then he pointed a cane at us and we came back here.”

Kate staggered back and sat in a folding chair in the corner. “He was trying to get me.” She wrestled her palms together. “Corey, we don’t have days. We need to go in, now. Somehow he is tracking my movements.”

Corey’s heart lurched and he gathered Kate to his chest.

“He is snatching random jumpers to get to me.”

“Kate, darling, he didn’t hurt them, though. He sent them back unharmed.”

“For now!” Her voice trembled. “How long will it take him to realize that he can use them as collateral to get to me?”

Corey’s heart nearly burst at the idea. Kate already showed her propensity to put herself in danger in order to save the ones she loves when she went into a dark cave with a baby dragon to talk its mother out of eating them. He didn’t want her getting any ideas like that again. He decided in that moment that he was not letting her out of his sight ever.

Locking his arm around her, he lifted her to stand. “Come on, let’s get home.”

He nabbed a charged golf cart from the garage and drove back to First Cabin. Tara came out of her room smelling like pomegranate shampoo, her wet hair wrapped in a towel.

She took one look at Kate’s face and said, “What happened?”

“Where is everyone else?” Corey asked.

“Trip is upstairs dressing. I saw Dirk and Donnie go into the boathouse with some white coats earlier.”

“I’m here,” Eunavae called from behind a large armchair. She leaned over and set her electronic sketch pad on the side table. “What’s up?”

“Get the team together. Now.”

“I’ll go to the boathouse.” Eunavae jumped up and ran out the front door, slamming the screen behind her.

“Trip!” Tara called up the staircase.

“Yeah, babe.”

“Corey needs you.” Her cheeks flooded with color and she dragged Kate to the couch and sat her down. Unwilling to release her, Corey followed along. Tara noticed and her concern spiked along with her brow.

Trip jogged down the stairs three at a time. “Whatchaneed, bro?”

“Let’s wait on the others.”

Trip sat down across from Kate. “Hey, there, Katie girl. Why are you so white in the face?” He cast inquisitive eyes to Tara. She shrugged and shook her head slightly.

“Something has happened to accelerate our plans.” Kate’s voice trembled and Corey noticed how it affected Trip and Tara. Their shoulders squared off and their eyes became alert. They were in warrior mode in a fraction of a second. Tara ripped the towel out of her hair and slid her fingers through the wet strands quickly. Before two minutes had passed she had an elaborate braid hanging over one shoulder.

Kate moved forward on the chair. “I should get out of these wet clothes and get Trip’s jacket back to him.”

Corey held her down. “It can wait.”

She lifted her eyes to his and bored into him with such astonished curiosity that he thought she would surely follow up with a barrage of questions and demands. Instead, she settled back under his arm without a word and waited. He loved her for it.