Whisper Cape (14 page)

“Okay if I join you two, or am I interrupting something here?”

“No, no, you’re not interrupting, have a seat,” Addison said.

Cael glanced around. Not too many people—he was glad of that. Crowded bars had a tendency to be noisy and he wanted to talk to Addison. He’d been worrying about her since she’d left the rental house.

When Cael saw her sitting with another man, he felt a pang in his gut, and he chastised himself for his reaction to a woman he barely knew. But he wanted to know her, and he would get to know her, very soon.

When Addison left his house earlier, he went to do some investigating to find out if, indeed, Addison MacKenna was the daughter of Ristéard MacKenna. He contacted the organization headquarters to make some inquiries. No one there had any information about Ristéard having a daughter. He found information on Ristéard’s younger sister, Maia, whom he already knew had no known powers and therefore, wasn’t in any danger—but there was nothing about a daughter. It appeared he was on his own to find out as much as he could about Addison MacKenna.

Cael slid the chair out and sat.

“Cael, this is Jared. Jared, this is Cael.” She took a long sip of her beer and stared at him.

“Is this the guy who saved your life the other day?” Jared asked.

“Yeah. What are you doing here?” she asked Cael.

“I came in for a beer. I thought you’d be home by now,” he lied.

“Well, as you can see, I’m still here,” she said, finishing the last of her beer.

“Excuse me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Cael listened to their conversation as he walked to the bar and overheard Addison tell Jared she knew he was the man she almost ran over the other day. He'd have to tell her who he was and he needed to do it soon.

Cael returned juggling three beers. “You two were drinking Guinness, right?”

“Right, hey, thanks man,” Jared said.

He set down the beers as he sat. “So, Jared, you’re the cook here?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Have you eaten here?”

“A couple of times. Not bad, not too bad at all, actually.” He took a sip of his beer.

Addison looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. “When? I haven’t seen you eat anything here.”

He glanced at her. “You’re usually gone when I come in to eat.”

“Oh.” She frowned and sipped her beer.

“I wasn’t trying to avoid you or anything. I just eat at weird hours.” He had tried to avoid her, but now all he wanted to do was be close to her, protect her.

Since the kiss that afternoon, he wondered if he came on too strong. After sitting there talking, he could tell she was enjoying herself, but there was something in the back of her mind he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something puzzling.

Jared finished his beer and stood. “I’d better head home now. Addie, you okay?”

“I’m fine. See you Friday.”

***

Addie glanced around. There were fewer people in the bar now. She noticed Darcy and Tim had left. When did that happen? She finished her beer sooner than she’d intended, totally disregarding Gerry’s warning about drinking and driving. Cael seemed to be studying her. “How many beers have you had, Addison?”

“Two ... I mean three ... I think. I guess I should go home, too.” She started to get up but the room began to spin. Cael rose to steady her and helped her sit back down. Addie placed her head in her hands and said, “Maybe I should just sit here a little while longer.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Cael said and walked to the bar.

He came back a minute later and handed her a glass of water. She downed the entire contents and began to feel better. Gerry’s warning about drinking too much floated to her mind. Two beers she could handle, but when Cael showed up with the third, she figured why not. It seemed to be a good opportunity to get to know him a little bit before going to his house for dinner, and to her surprise she found she liked being around him.

Addie set the glass down, stared at Cael, and couldn’t help thinking about kissing him. Realizing her condition, she thought it would be better if she weren’t so close to him.

“Okay, I think I’m fine now. I really should go home.” Standing, she turned to him, placing her hand on the table for support. “Thanks for the beer.” She headed for the door and managed to walk out without swaying—much.

Once outside, Cael appeared by her side with his hand on her arm.

“You can’t drive, Addison. Let me take you home.”

“You don’t have a car, remember?” She poked her finger at his chest. “So don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She thought she was okay until she tripped and fell into his arms.

“Let me drive your truck. I’ll get you home.”

“No, no, no. How will you get home?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll manage.”

“Okay. You always do seem to manage, don’t you?” She handed him the keys. At this point, she didn’t really care how she got home, as long as it was soon.

***

The moon low and barely visible in a sky full of clouds gave the gravel driveway a gloomy atmosphere, sending off portentous vibes. As Cael helped Addison into the truck, something caught his eye in the thicket by the side of the building. He drove off, but checked the rear-view mirror and caught movement in the road. Whatever it was, he was sure it had been watching them. He was glad he came to the bar tonight and that Addison had still been there, even if she was a bit tipsy. She definitely needed protection, especially if Ristéard’s killer was skulking around.

Addison dozed off during the ride home, and woke up as they pulled into her parking space. As Cael got out of the truck, he had the same feeling he’d had outside the Bar and Grill. Something was out there, watching. He helped Addison out of the truck and guided her up the steps to her door. She was still a little uneasy on her feet.

“Where are my keys?” She dug in her bag, looking up at him with glassy eyes.

“Shhh, someone’s watching,” he whispered as he showed her the keys in his hand and opened the door.

Once they were in, he quickly turned the lock.

“Why do we need to be quiet? So what if someone’s watching. We’re two grown people and it’s still early.”

“Addison, I saw something outside at the Cliff Hanger, and again here. There was a movement ... something lurking by the dumpster.”

“Movement by the dumpster? You’re a grown man and you’re afraid of someone putting their garbage out?” She laughed and shrugged off her jacket.

“No, I’m not afraid of someone taking out their garbage. That's not what I saw.”

Then her voice turned serious. “Oh, wait ... maybe it’s a mountain lion. You know they found a dead woman the other day and they think she was attacked by a mountain lion.”

“No, I don’t think it was a mountain lion,” he said as he began locking all the windows and pulling down all the shades. He took a moment to look around her apartment, noticing how sparsely decorated it was. She didn’t have much by way of furniture, but then the place was small. He did notice the picture on the table next to the sofa. It was a picture of Ristéard with her. They stood with their arms around each other affectionately, smiling for the camera.

“Are you sure you saw something? Or ... were you just trying to scare me so I’d let you in?”

“Believe me Addison, I wouldn’t need to scare you into letting me in here,” he stuck his hands in his pockets and stood watching her.

“You’re very conceited, aren’t you? What makes you think I would let you in under different circumstances? Just because I let you kiss me this afternoon and agreed to have dinner with you ... wait. How did you know where I lived? I never told you.”

“I know a lot of things, Addison, and one thing I know for sure, someone or something is out there right now, watching us, watching you.”

“Oh, please say you’re joking. This is ridiculous, why would someone be watching me?” She plopped down on the sofa.

“Just trust me.”

“Who are you? Please tell me what this is about because if you’re trying to scare me, you’re succeeding. If you’re acting this way to try to seduce me, well, I think you should change your strategy, because scaring a woman half to death is not very attractive.”

She came to her feet and he walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

“You’re trembling.” He gently helped her back down and sat next to her. “I’m not trying to seduce you.”
Not yet, not under these conditions.
“Look, you’ve had a few beers tonight. We should discuss this another time.”

“I’ve only had three beers.” She seemed to regain some composure and pushed herself away from him. “I’m fully capable of understanding this charade of yours. I may have been a little tipsy before ... maybe more tipsy than I should have been ... only because I haven’t eaten today. I went with you at lunch and then I stayed at the bar and didn’t eat because of Darcy and Tim and ... Oh God, I forgot about Darcy. I need to warn her.”

“This is not a charade and ... who is Darcy and why do you need to warn her?” If she knew something about what was going on, he needed to find out.

“Darcy, my friend, she’s head over heels for that swine Tim. She doesn’t know he’s married. Jared wanted me to be the one to tell her because he’s still in love with her and she won’t believe him.”

Relieved she wasn’t talking about anything relevant to the situation, Cael listened to her ramble. Maybe it was better she concentrate on her friends instead of what was outside.

It was cold in the apartment and she ran her hands up and down her arms as she spoke about her friends. Then she stretched out her arm toward the heater, sending sparks at it. It rumbled on, circulating warm air into the room.

It was obvious to Cael that Addison hadn’t realized what she’d just done until she stopped talking and put her hand over her mouth, staring at him with those beautiful caramel colored eyes that reminded him of a fine scotch. He realized he’d better be careful or he might find himself intoxicated by the spell of those eyes.

“Now, if you continue to act foolish, you might get yourself killed one of these days. You should really be more careful when using your abilities—you never know who’s watching.” He reached over and picked up the framed photo of Ristéard and Addison to study it closer.

“My abilities ...? You know what I can do?” She ran both her hands through her hair, pulling it up in back before letting it fall.

“I do,” he admitted, watching her golden brown waves spill over her shoulders, the slight curl at the ends just tipping over her breasts. Her hair color matched her eyes that were full of confusion and fear as they stared up into his. He set the photo back down.

“And you’re not shocked, or think I’m an alien or some sort of monster or something?”

He smiled. “No, you’re not an alien or a monster, but you are gifted with some special talents—as I am—and part of something much larger than you can comprehend at the moment.”

“Like you?”

Her eyes were wide and beautiful.

“Yes, like me. Remember this afternoon when I asked if you had noticed anything unusual happening?”

“Yes, and I lied to you. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.”

“That doesn’t matter, I know you lied to protect yourself, but now you can trust me. That’s what we do—lie to guard our secret. I saw you start your truck the other day and it seems someone else saw you, too. You really should be more careful where and when you use your powers.”

“My powers ...? You saw me. I didn’t think anyone was around. Who else do you think saw me?”

“I’m not sure.” Someone must have seen her use them, because he was certain that someone or something was stalking her and he wasn’t going to take any chances.

“Listen carefully.” He placed both his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to frighten you, but there’s something outside. I saw something by the dumpster and I believe it wants to harm you. I think he—and I use 'he' lightly—believes you have something he wants. I don’t know how he managed to follow us here, but he did. We can’t stay here. Believe me; I know what I’m talking about.”

“No. I don’t want to believe you.”

“Addison, I would never lie to you.”

“Please, tell me this is all just a bad dream. Are you certain you saw something outside? Maybe it was just a cat, a dog, or my apartment manager even. You know, people go out to the dumpster all the time. Maybe you just saw someone throwing out their trash.”

“No, I can tell the difference between throwing away trash and lurking around. Look, I can’t leave you alone knowing you’re in danger. Please, you can trust me. I didn’t freak out when you used your ability to turn the heater on, right? Don’t you think I would have been amazed at what you did?”

“Well, yeah, I suppose. Okay ... but what should we do?”

“Come with me, I have a plan.”

Chapter 15

Cael stood, held out his hand for Addie, who took it and stood. “Grab your jacket.” He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in close, cupped her chin in his hand, and tilted her head up toward his, their lips inches apart. “Do you trust me?” His voice was husky, his breath warm and her knees were about to turn to jelly.

“Yes, I think so. Do I have a choice?”

“No. Close your eyes,” he whispered.

She did as he requested as a weird sensation of air swept through every pore, every cell of her body.

“You can open your eyes now, you’re safe.”

Addie opened her eyes. He still held her in his arms, which was good because she almost fell over from the shock. She blinked as she looked around, recognizing Cael’s rented beach house, the red leather sofa and marble-topped coffee table from earlier that afternoon. It was dark except for the moonlight trickling in through the large window, giving the room a dreamy ambiance.

“How did we ...?”

Before she could finish her question, he lifted her chin up to his face and pressed his lips down on hers.

Pushing away, she turned her face from his. “How is this possible? We were just standing in my apart ...”