Deadly Expectations (25 page)

“Yeah …
listen
Anna,” he said.
 
“About me remembering you … it’s true.
 
We’ve known each other a very long time.
 
You never remembered before.

“When you had that first dream about Catherine, I knew something was different this time.
 
You’d never seen how we died before … you’d only ever had good dreams about us.
 
We’ve been together twice since then … I don’t know why you remembered that time.”

“I think I do,” I told him.
 
“My first dream of her was that weekend after Sturgis.
 
I was pregnant then.
 
We just didn’t know it yet.
 
That’s why I dreamed of Catherine.
 
She was pregnant too.”

“Perhaps,” Paul said.
 
“It’s not common for one of us to father a child because it only happens with a woman who has a trace of our ability to remember.
 
When we do it’s a son who joins the … family.
 
It’s not the same for the women.
 
You could have a child with a regular guy.

“Most of who I am now comes from this life: my appearance, my name, personality.
 
We’re usually tall, heal fast … don’t always live very long.
 
I guess we take bigger risks because we know there’s another shot at things around the corner.”

He slid his arm around me and squeezed me before he put it back.

“The same for you,” he said.
 
“You’re very different from how I remember Catherine’s personality.
 
I don’t understand how so much of Andre can be in you.
 
I’ve never seen you pull so much of who you were before into who you are now.
 
It’s rare to live as the other gender.”

“Much of Andre’s personality faded when Ray got the knife from me,” I told Paul.
 
“I just have memories again … I’m back to just being Anna.”

“My father could explain what’s happened to you.
 
We haven’t found him in a long time.
 
It’s frustrating running the show without him.”

I remembered the woman in the mirror telling me to take Paul to his father.
 
I tried to imagine the dual meaning family would have for someone like Paul then my eyes went wide with understanding.

“Ray is my brother, isn’t he?” I asked.

Paul nodded on my shoulder.
 
“But don’t ask me to explain how that works.
 
If my father ever told me I wasn’t paying attention.
 
I tended to ignore him when he tried.
 
He didn’t seem to make much sense.”

“Like Joshua is your brother?”

“Joshua is my brother like Alina is your sister.
 
He’s not like me … we have the same biological parents.
 
My father has been my father for a very long time.
 
Maybe father is the wrong word … I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“What about Ray’s … other sister?
 
Same thing?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“Why you would have wanted to send me away when I got here … if we have been together so much,” I said.

Paul was quiet for a long time.
 

“I didn’t think I could go through losing you again,” he whispered.
 
“Damian knew we were together.
 
The men who came here with you were his and two got away.
 
The little blonde one isn’t like us … he uses them.
 
Makes them think if they’re loyal he’ll make them like us but they’re expendable.
 
And invisible to the few of us who can pick them up like you seem to.

“We served with Damian and his men.
 
Put up with each other for a while.
 
Now that you’re with me he doesn’t have polite disinterest in us any more.
 
He’ll play to eliminate us all again.

“All the men here right now are family for which I’m very grateful.
 
Trust, loyalty and obedience.
 
They define us and the codes we live by.
 
They explain why you accept that we accept what you can do.
 
Their loyalty to me binds them to protect you.
 
Josh’s team and the other I have in the field right now aren’t family and that keeps things thankfully simple.

“I tried to convince myself we didn’t matter, that I’d walked away from you like Ray’s sister.
 
That wasn’t right.
 
I didn’t give us enough credit.
 
I underestimated your courage,” he laughed a bit then.
 
“You’re as committed to protecting me as I am to protecting you.
 
That’s surprised me.
 
You wouldn’t let me go … you found me just by wishing for me.”

We lay still for a while, holding on to what we almost lost.
 
I started to doze again when I felt a burst of butterflies under Paul’s hand.
 
I put my hand on top of his.
 
My fingers found his ring and I started to gently trace its curve back and forth over his finger.
 
The butterflies started again then it felt like a small pop.

“Did you feel that?” I whispered.

“Mm
hm
,” he answered sleepily.

“That was her Paul,” I put my hand back up to his face.

“Really?” he was wide awake; absolutely still.
 
We waited a while but didn’t feel her move again.
 
Paul pulled me over toward him.
 
He ran his hand down my back to my thigh and pulled it up over his.

“Anna,” he breathed in my ear.
 
“Can you help me forget what happened today … for a while?”

And for a while I forgot too.

Chapter 24

Paul was in uniform when he woke me up.

“Hey,” he said.
 
“Come down for breakfast.
 
Colonel Iverson flew back with Ray a while ago.
 
He brought immigration paperwork for you and has been debriefing us regarding what happened yesterday.”

That worried me.
 
“How are we going to explain how I snuck up on a sniper so fast?
 
Or how I knew about the others?”

“I don’t think how you got him will be important and he knows I don’t talk about my sources.
 
He’s more concerned that you’re able to do your part to keep things quiet.
 
He needs to satisfy himself that you’re not a security risk.
 
Three more dead ex-marines on my land could look pretty bad if it’s not handled properly.”

“If he finds out how I did it I’m going to spend the rest of my life in some hospital somewhere.
 
Do I tell the truth, lie, or pretend I don’t remember?”

“It won’t come to that, okay?
 
He’d never believe it anyway,” Paul said.
 
“Come on, I need you to join us.”

I wished that the black sleep had taken me already.
 
At least I could avoid this.
 
He was half way out the door.

“Paul?” I said.
 
He stopped and turned to me.
 
“You look cute.”

He winked and disappeared down the hall.

I decided on black pants with a stretchy tummy and my snug black long sleeved t-shirt.
 
I was giving some thought to what Iverson might want and I figured if his main concern was that I could tell a big lie with a straight face then I might as well play the part.
 
I put my hair up and got the rest of the blood out from under my nails before I put my gun on, gently circling my shoulders until the leather shoulder holster felt right.
 
Paul carried his so I would too.
 
Besides, he told me I had to keep it with me and hadn’t said it was okay to do otherwise.
 
I hoped the pregnant lady with a gun image would be contradictory enough that he would buy into whatever I told him just to make sense of me.
 
I put the phone Paul got me in my back pocket and followed him downstairs.

From the foyer the small talk at the table was quieter than usual.
 
Not the conversation of two dozen men but far fewer.
 
I stepped around the corner into the kitchen looking down and pretending to be smoothing out the front of my shirt like I had been in a great hurry.
 
My hope was to catch everyone off guard.

“Apologies gentlemen,” I said.
 
“I hope you weren’t all waiting for me to get started.”

Fortunately they weren’t.
 
I caught a couple of them mid-mouthful.
 
It was a smaller group than I had expected.
 
Just the officers: Ray, Denis, Ross and Paul and the Colonel of course.

They all stood when I came in.
 
I thought that was funny.
 
They had never done that before and I kept my good behaviour face on.
 
Paul came around the table to take my elbow as the Colonel approached.

“Mrs. Richards,” he took my hand and tilted his head at Paul.
 
“This cranky old man hasn’t scared you off yet?”

“No Sir,” I smiled.
 
“I think he’s stuck with me.”

“Well, congratulations on your growing family.
 
Please join us.”

I nodded.
 
Paul took me to the seat next to him and pushed my chair in for me.
 
The others finally sat down when he did.
 
They all looked somewhat uncomfortable in uniform and I would have to be careful not to think too much of it if I was going to keep from giggling.
 
I had no idea who cooked, but my breakfast was served so I ate.
 
Small bites, remembered to use my knife.
 
I noticed the others had table manners, unlike the usual chow time behaviour I had gotten used to.

It wasn’t long before the Colonel wanted to include me in the small talk.

“So Mrs. Richards how did you and Paul
meet
?” he asked.

I finished the bite in my mouth.
 
“We were both shooting the customs down at Daytona last spring.
 
For him it was work.
 
I was on another assignment but I have a … quiet and substantial financial stake in a couple of the shops represented there so I went to the competition too,” I paused.
 
Daytona was a fib … it was actually early July.
 
“I don’t get to say hello to my builders very often; usually just at the shows so I shoot the customs whenever I can.”

“How did they do?” he asked.

“Both my shops placed.
 
It was a good week for them,” he could check that out if he wanted to. Then I smiled at Paul.
 
“I was reloading in an alley out of the sun when he swooped in to my shady corner to do the same thing.
 
Saved me from my dried up lunch.”

“How so?” he asked.
 
For some reason the man didn’t want me to eat.

“A simple gift of water,” I beamed at Paul and went back to my breakfast.

“Do you ride too?” he was asking now.

“Almost everywhere during riding season …” and my phone rang.
 
“I’m sorry, I grabbed it without thinking.”

I pulled it out of my pocket to silence it then I showed it to Paul.
 
Unknown number.

“Alina?”
Paul asked.