Cravings (Fierce Hearts) (19 page)

She hacked into her mother’s bank account first. Flipping through lists of transactions gave her a profile of her mother’s frequent haunts. Kathryn had used her debit card repeatedly at the Golden Star Lounge restaurant. Just yesterday, in fact. It looked like another frequent stop was Happy’s Diner in downtown Laurelwood. It seemed too simple and lacking in glamour to fit Kathryn, but the proof was in the number of transactions.

Kennedy perched her chin on her thumb and brainstormed. Did the lunches at Happy’s mean she had a cop on the take? Maybe it made an inconspicuous spot to meet with the mayor or investment banker or crime boss.

Turning her attention back to the screen, Kennedy checked the latest transactions. The last one was made at a high-end department store for the grand total of fifteen hundred dollars. “Wow,” she said to herself. Money was no issue for her parents, so spending a large sum wasn’t unusual. But she wanted to know what the purchases were.

She kept digging.

A little while later, footsteps from the bedroom and the faint rustle of flannel pajama pants told her Asher had gotten up. He placed his warm hands on her bare shoulders and bent to nuzzle her neck, placing a kiss just under her ear.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Why are you up so early? Couldn’t sleep?”

She leaned back into his chest. Her skin took to the definition of his taut muscles.

“Mmm … you feel good,” he murmured.

She tried to push down the immediate reaction in her body. Flutters in her stomach urged her to turn into his embrace and slip under his spell.

But it wasn’t time for that. “I’m searching my mother’s movements.” She pointed to the screen. “I’ve learned she frequents a downtown diner, which seems out of character. And just yesterday she made a large purchase at a department store. Clothes, luggage, toiletries. Items she might need if she plans to leave town.”

He pulled away and curled into another chair at the table. “That’s good intel. Where is it leading you?”

“To more questions.” She brought up the local airport’s flight schedule for the week, including arrivals and departures for commercial and private aircraft.

Asher grinned. “Boy, you’re good at this hacking thing. I hope you don’t get caught.” He leaned close to her, plucking a stray lock and wrapping it around his finger.

“I’m careful. I don’t want to get caught, either.” Scrolling down the flights schedule, one flight drew her attention. “Look.” Kennedy pointed to the flight information for a Global 6000. “This is my parents’ jet. It’s scheduled to depart this morning at ten o’clock for Utah.”

“What’s in Utah?”

“My parents have another home there.” She stared at the flight schedule, willing it to divulge more information. She suspected her parents were leaving Laurelwood to escape interrogation. But was there more?

“Can you pull up your mother’s phone records?”

“Yes. Let’s see who she’s been talking to.” She eyed the list of calls and got a clear picture of her mother’s priorities. “So she’s called members of The Nexus Group, called her pilot, and me.” Panic caught her breath. “How does she know this number? When did she call? I never heard my phone ring.”

“Let’s check it out.” Asher sat back in his chair, frowning.

In seconds, Kennedy retrieved her phone from the bedroom and checked for missed calls and voicemail. “She called soon after she left Phoenix yesterday.” Her knees went weak as all the energy drained from her body. She slipped into the chair again, her thoughts blurring. “I didn’t see it.”

Asher placed his hand over hers. “There was a lot of activity yesterday. It would have been easy to miss, especially considering you’ve never had a fully functional cellphone before. You’re not checking incessantly like many users do. Let’s see what she said.” His eyes on her glimmered softly.

She put the phone on speaker and clicked on the message. Her mother’s voice came from the phone all soft and gooey. “Kennedy, dear. My heart is breaking that you’ve left me for those vile were-cats. I’m your mother. I love you more than anything or anyone. You belong with me. Call me, please, so we can talk.”

The message ended, but Kennedy didn’t delete it. It hurt to hear her mother’s voice. But was she ready to delete her from her life? She’d thought so.

Asher pulled her head to rest on his shoulder. “You don’t have to delete the message, Kennedy. Not now. Sometimes people we love hurt us the most. But we can still love them.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to love her. She doesn’t really love me.” Tears blurred her eyes. It scared her how close she had come to losing herself and becoming a machine. She’d stepped back into her old life for him, for them. She shivered, realizing that by doing so, she would only have set herself up to hurt Asher and the colony cats when the drugs took control of her. “I didn’t go back to her because I wanted to be with her or because I love her.” She walked to the window and rested her forehead against the glass. The winter-chilled pane crystalized her thoughts. She lingered at the window for minutes. Then she turned back to Asher and stepped closer. “I went back because I didn’t want to cause any more harm to the colony.” She dipped her head, her heart beating out the seconds between them. “I didn’t want any harm to come to you.”

Asher lifted her chin and seized her gaze with his. “You have done nothing to bring harm to me or anyone in the colony.” He cupped her face in his hands, sending her pulse tripping. “I respect your sacrifice. But my God, Kennedy. You’ve got to see that choosing to sacrifice your happiness and right to live as you choose hurts me.”

She flinched, grabbing his hands to pull away, but he merely pulled her in closer.

“Not because I feel rejected. But because I think you have worked hard to shake off old programming and training so that you can truly be you, a fully alive individual.”

His words sent her body shaking. “I couldn’t stand the thought of causing harm to you.” Tears brimmed her eyes.

“I know. I desperately needed to get to you. To keep you safe from harm.”

“Then you understand?”

“I do. But I also want you to see what I see. I see a beautiful woman who took on responsibility for were-cats who can take care of themselves. Were-cats who are standing behind you, hoping you will see you’re one of us. You didn’t cause harm; TNG did. Your mother has. You’re in this fight for your life.”

Kennedy’s legs threatened to drop her to the floor. Sobs erupted in her throat, and she let them escape. Asher’s words touched a place inside her even she hadn’t known existed. The thought he’d given her sent a tiny sliver of light shining into that part of her that so longed to live.

He hugged her close, sliding to the floor with her. “You’ve opened yourself to new ways of perceiving yourself and your captors. You see things with different eyes, but the pull to go back to the familiar is strong. The overload on the nervous system to go back to what you’ve known must be tremendous. You can’t break free all at once because of that tension between new ways and familiar patterns. But you do need to see it at work and reach for support.”

Through misty eyes, Kennedy peered into Asher’s face. His pleading look rocked her foundation. His perceptions filled her with a different kind of hope. A hope for solid ground to stand on, not a façade of lies and fantasy. “My mother has never loved me and never will.”

“It’s a hard truth.” He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. “But even hard truth is better than mistaken beliefs. The truth is she can’t love you the way you’ve needed her to love you. But you can thrive anyway.”

“Thrive? Without a mother’s love?” The lonely and empty place inside her that kept trying for unconditional love throbbed painfully. Shaking, Kennedy couldn’t stop the tears streaming down her face.

Asher touched her tears, brushing them away delicately. “You can love yourself, Kennedy. Better than Kathryn ever could.”

The tiny light shining on her inner grief and aloneness beamed brighter. The impact of bringing that part into full awareness sliced away at old beliefs. She wasn’t unlovable or heartless. The new knowledge screamed inside her. Her mother and father were liars. “I need to see my mother again.”

Asher hesitated. “You’re sure?”

“Very sure. But not right now.” Kennedy raised her lips to Asher’s and pressed a solid kiss to his waiting mouth. He kissed back hard, passionately.

When he pulled away, reluctance painted his face. She slit her eyes. “What’s the matter?”

“I want you, Kennedy. I want all of you all the time.” His gaze slid to the floor.

“But?” Her heart raw and open couldn’t take rejection right now with any degree of grace.

“I don’t want to hurt you. God, if I hurt you with my ability, I’d, I’d—”

She placed a finger on his lips. “Shh. Let’s face our demons. I’m speaking figuratively in your case. You need to try again with your family. Talk to your brother. And I need to face my parents.”

Asher nodded his head thoughtfully. “Let’s do this together. I could nudge them to do anything you want them to do.

She shook her head. “No. I want to face them as they are. Promise me you won’t nudge them.”

“Okay. No nudging. I promise. So where is your mom this morning?”

Kennedy led him back to the kitchen table and refreshed the phone records for her mother’s cell. “The last call was made a few minutes ago to … Daren Sage. His address is listed as—wait a minute. This address is his campaign office. Of course, we still don’t know where Kathryn is.”

“Well, we could assume from your search that she’s preparing to leave town. I doubt that the senator is leaving. She could be simply giving him orders. One call from you to the senator to inform him that you want to see him could bring her, too.”

Kennedy’s energy raced through her veins. “Yes. Placing me at his side is very important to Sage and Kathryn.”

Kennedy looked Asher up and down, taking in his flannel pajama pants and bare chest. She flicked a spaghetti strap of her camisole and wiggled her bare feet. “So, get dressed and make the call?” she asked him, enjoying his twinkling eyes.

“Good plan. Let’s take them off guard. You go through the front door, and I’ll hold back a few minutes. They’ll feel they have the upper hand with you alone, and then I’ll step in. The surprise will disrupt their sense of control. We’ll have the upper hand, then.”

“I like that approach. I can’t wait to see the expression on my mother’s face.”

“Okay, you take the truck, and I’ll follow on my bike. TNG might not know me on that.”

• • •

Asher’s helmet shielded him from the cold as well as from being made by TNG as he followed on his cycle a few cars behind Kennedy as she drove his truck.

The early morning weather was cloudy with a large chance of conflict. If the call to Daren Sage worked the way he and Kennedy hoped, her mother would be at the politician’s office. And wherever Kennedy was expected, Thing One and Thing Two were sure to show up. For that reason and other unknowns, he’d alerted Casey to their upcoming confrontation.

The wind buffeted him about as he drove toward town, tailing Kennedy. His leather jacket did a solid job of keeping him warm, but cold was rarely a problem anyway, what with his were-cat high metabolism.

Tiny bits of trepidation infiltrated his resolve. His muscles tight, ready for whatever would come his way, Asher was so ready for confronting Sage and Kathryn. It was time for a face-to-face where he ended TNG’s hold on Kennedy. But was Kennedy prepared to pull out all her skills against her mother?

She pulled the truck into a municipal parking lot behind Sage’s office, and Asher drove past. Inside, nerves were firing in his body, pushing him to get to Kennedy ASAP and not leave her alone with the criminals for one second.

But he had to use caution. He parked his bike on a nearby side street around the corner and sprinted to the office. He slipped to a window and peered inside. His heart squeezed when he saw Kennedy standing alone, talking to Daren, and her mother watching from across the room, flanked by Thing One and Thing Two.

He listened to get the tone of the room before barging in, then stepped close to the door.

“You don’t seem to understand all that has been given you, Kennedy.” Daren Sage’s voice grew in volume with each syllable he spoke. “Your mother has prepared you for a life that has no limits. You’ll have no need for anything.”

Kennedy scoffed. “You paint yourself with a rather optimistic brush.” Her eyes flamed with confidence, and Asher’s faith in her expanded. “You think I want a life that revolves around you? I wouldn’t call that living.”

“Kennedy!” Her mother closed the space between them and yanked on Kennedy’s arm. “Watch your mouth.” She slapped Kennedy hard across the face, sending her to the floor.

A locomotive, Asher burst through the door. “Kathryn, stop.” Swiftly he wrapped his arm around Kathryn’s neck and pulled.

While Sage’s mouth gaped open, Gordon and Patrick raised their guns and aimed at him. He gave them a smug grin. “Back off, guys. I’m holding your boss lady.” He punctuated his position with another pull on Kathryn’s neck, to which she coughed and sputtered. “One quick twist and she’s done. How well would that go over with your buddies in The Nexus Group?”

Kennedy stood to her feet, her composure strong in her stance. “I bet serious repercussions would occur for your lack, men.”

Asher winked at her. He reached inside to the place where he drew energy for a nudge and aimed it, filled with a suggestion, at the men.
Get in the closet. Now. Drop your guns. You want to hide in the closet.

He held the nudge and shoved a bit harder, until each one lowered his gun to the floor and walked to a closet on the other side of the room. Obediently, they walked inside and closed the door behind.

Kennedy dashed to the closet and locked the door, all the while keeping her eyes trained on Daren.

“What have you done?” Daren’s voice came out pinched, incredulous.

“Shut up!” Asher lunged toward him, dragging Kathryn along. “Just be happy I haven’t done it to you, yet.”

Steps from behind Daren alerted them that someone else had entered the office. Asher readied a nudge, waiting.