Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (12 page)

“We know it’s not a disease, Lily, but there are people who disagree and … as you well know … plenty of scientists in the world who want to see what they can do to make us normal.”

Test after test. Skin tone changes. Eye color. Hair color. Changes under extreme heat and cold without a break. Changes with no food or after having gorged for two straight days in a panicked belief she’d never get anymore sustenance.

“Not just around the world, James. The stuff they did to me was right here in the great ole U.S. of A.” In California. In Montana. In Nevada. A variety of locations she could bring to mind. If she burned her finger in the kitchen, the heat of the desert would take hold of her thoughts and could tear her from her happiness. After so many years, she’d learned to quash it, to force herself to calm and to remind herself she’d gotten out. She’d been safe for decades.

A sigh played the line. “I know, and I’m so, so, so sorry, Lily.”

She straightened her shoulders, reminding herself to tuck the memories into the recesses again. “It’s okay. I—I just need Cael to deal with the woman downstairs, find my sister and her daughter, get them to safety and move on from this problem.”

“You know … if she knows already … her family could know, too.”

The sticky note popped into Lily’s mind. “I don’t think they do. I think, somehow, Angela knew to keep it a secret.”

Just like our mother did.

“We’ll see once we find her. Let’s just hope it’s soon because Roy being in town probably means whomever he works for is here, too.”

Lily had only heard of the Roy exploits, the superstitions about his capabilities and his talents. She hadn’t thought of Roy in over a week. He’d shown up on her doorstep one day, but James had chased after him before losing him in the trees.

“What does it mean that Roy’s in Rune?”

James’s sigh hit her like a soft whisper. “It means someone’s looking for something. We thought he was after Charley, then after you, but now I’m wondering. If Angela was coming here … did she find out something that Roy did, or are the situations completely coincidental?”

“How could they be anything but coincidence?” Lily shook her head. “I mean, seriously. Angela lives in California. Until a year ago she probably had no idea …” She choked on her own air.

“What?”

“Unless that damn woman downstairs told her about Mimics.” Lily curled her fingers into a fist. “She probably sold Leigh into it, too, since Angela didn’t show any signs.”

The knock at the door silenced Lily. She didn’t know whether to answer or break through the window and run.

“Lily?” James’s voice called to her through the phone.

The door handle jiggled.

Oh, god, please don’t find a way to come in here
.

“Lily, what’s going on?”

Another small knock. “Angela, you in your office?”

Lily bit back the terror.
Stay silent. Say nothing.
James remained quiet, too.

Only when feet shuffled down the hall did she release the breath she’d held.

“Oh, my god, that was her.”

“Talk to Cael, Lil. Let him guide you. You’ll get through it much better with him than without.”

Cael’s voice, in the tone of Lily’s, came from downstairs. “Mom? You coming to finish our chat?”

Thank goodness.

“I’m logging off,” James said. “Call me tomorrow if you need me, and we’ll be in touch about Tony.”

“Thanks, James.”

She re-cradled the phone, taking deep breaths. What if her mother had entered? What would she have said?
Thanks for nothing! Why did you give up on me? I’m not a freak!

Lily drifted to the window seat, tucked one leg up under herself and stared out at the ocean.

“I’m sixty years old, and I still want a mom like you are Angela. Willing to go to the ends of the earth for your daughter. To not stop or give up. To wipe away the tears, put lotion on the burns, ice on the bruises and tell people to go to hell when they break your leg in the name of science.”

As a tear slipped down Lily’s cheek, she leaned her head against the glass, wishing the ocean would jump up and swallow her whole or at least steal her memories back.

10

Cael brought cups, coffee and scones into the living room to wait for Evelyn’s return. A quick flip of the record button on his phone ensured their conversation would become part of his investigation.

Lily’s mother traipsed down the stairs, stalled at the edge of the last step, closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “It smells heavenly in here. Did you make the French roast?”

Cael nodded.

She lowered onto the couch next to Cael and clasped her hands in her lap. Without prompt, she drew in a deep breath. “I never told you this before and … well … I’m very emotional over Leigh’s disappearance.”

“Of course you are. We all are. If I could remember more, I’d be even more distraught, I’m sure. As it is, I trust Tony will do what’s best.”

“Right, right. Absolutely.” She patted Cael’s hand on the table. “I just never thought it would happen again.” Her breath hitched.

Cael jerked back. “
What
would happen again?”

Evelyn sucked in air. Her body shook as she steeled herself rigid. All at once, she slouched and dropped her gaze toward the table as though unable to meet Cael’s eyes. “I lost a child once. A long, long time ago. I had her for a year and someone stole her. Took her. I don’t know anymore.” Her hands lifted from the table but fell flat again. “I had her one day, and the next I didn’t. I never said anything to your Dad because it took years of guilt and grief and longing to come to terms with the fact I’d never see her again.” A small shudder ran through her. “I was sixteen when I had her. Lily is her name. She was so beautiful. Blond hair like her father and this little twitch each time she smiled.”

Cael tried not to let his brows furrow as he listened. Carefully. The cadence of her voice suggested she told nothing but the truth.

A catch of air and she closed her eyes, her long and slow breaths showing in the rise and fall of her chest. “My own mother pushed me to give her up. She said it would be best. That Lily was special and needed a place where she could be better served. All I saw was my darling little girl who giggled at me when I laid her in her bed at night.” Tears streamed down her face.

Reconciling the woman before him with the woman he’d known through Lily’s stories didn’t match.

“I loved her with all my heart and soul, Angie. I’ve never once believed anything bad happened to her.” She patted her heart. “I believe, in here, she’s even still alive. That she’s grown up, had her own family. She’d be … next week is her birthday. She’d be sixty-one.” Levelyn gave a small chuckle. “She could even have grandkids. That makes me feel so old.” She sniffed and wiped at her nose. “I could be a great-grandmother.”

Levelyn waved her hand in front of her face. She grabbed hold of Cael’s hands and hugged them.

“My outcome didn’t go well, but yours will. I—I probably shouldn’t say that, but dammit, I’m the grandmother now, and this time, it’s going to go right.” A hiccup of tears started. “Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. So that means we won’t have the same outcome again in this family. Right?” She patted and squeezed again. “Now that you know, we have hope.” Her breath came out in spurts as she exhaled. “Because this time, it’s going to end positively. One hundred percent positive. I can feel it.”

Which is exactly what she’d already said.

“Maybe I can help, or maybe something I know will jog your memory.”

Or maybe lightning did strike twice.
After the half hour conversation, he believed Lily’s mom’s story in its entirety.

“Have I ruined your evening telling you about Lily, Angie? I just thought—”

“No, Mom, not at all. I’m a little flustered I think … and really tired.” Neither of which held any measure of truth. “And I guess I’m just really surprised that I have a sister. One you … never told me about.”

She bobbed her head as if she understood. “It hurt every time I thought of her. Still does, actually.”

After so many years.

“I told Tony I’d stay … if you want me, too.”

“Of course I do.”

Her eyes brightened, hands crossed over her chest. “Oh, good. I just … good.” She nodded once. “I’ll take my usual spot in the guest room down here if that’s okay.”

“Are you getting tired?” At seventy-seven, Cael figured she’d had enough for the day. Maybe the year. “I do have a question for you.”

“Okay.” She sipped at one of the cups of decaf, her hand shaking.

“You said Lily disappeared, but you never felt like she was gone. What would you do if … you met her again?”

The cup bobbled in Evelyn’s hand. She held it steady again before pursing her lips. “After this long, I can’t imagine she’d want to know the truth, but … well … I think I still have a few good years in me, right?” A small smile bloomed on her lips. “I’d love to meet her. To see what kind of woman she became. To have my whole family together—my two lovely daughters.” She reached out and wiped a trailing hair from Cael-Angela’s forehead. “To be able to say I’m sorry for not being there all those years like I have for you. To meet her children and grandchildren if they’d let me. To introduce them to my most awesomest grandkids ever.” A slow sigh escaped. “A mother never forgets her children, Angie. Never. Yours will be back in your arms soon. You’ll know that feeling—the one I’ve waited for all my life.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“For what?”

“For telling me.”

Tears slipped from her eyes. Evelyn stood, Cael following her, and she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I’m just going to try to rest now. You should, too.” With a pat to Cael’s cheek, Evelyn escaped into the room just off the kitchen again.

Alone, Cael surveyed the kitchen, locked the doors and filled a plate with anything edible he could find. Once laden with sandwich makings, chips, flavored water, cookies and a box of raspberry dark chocolate, he maneuvered his way out of the kitchen, backing up through every door to ensure he didn’t drop anything on his way.

Up the steps, through the hall and to the office door.

“Lily.” When Lily didn’t respond, a single cough changed his voice to his natural, deeper one, and he tried again. “Lily.”

Anxiety sent a shiver through his body without her response. He set the food on the floor, grabbed the handle and spun, breaking the inner mechanism with a single twist.

The door flew open, but he caught it before it crashed against the wall.

Lily sat against the window, her eyes closed.

The moment of panic at Lily’s lack of answer made him want to change back to himself, scoop her up and run away.

That need made him itch to shed the female skin and the estrogen coursing through him, sending flashes of heat to his lower extremities. Very few Mimics mastered cross-gender changes enough to manage without tremendous effort; handling the female body took a whole different set of skills.

He scratched at his crotch, though the lack of his bits didn’t unnerve him as much as it had the first few times he’d had to lose his package to become a woman.

Cael stared at Lily. Moonlight danced through the window, sending glistening spots of gold through her hair. Another centimeter, at least, of pale blond claimed the ends.

It took him a minute to get out of the bra without Lily’s help. Unhooking them from around the front had never been a problem. Despite the number of times he’d had to do it, he always struggled to reach the eye hooks. Once released, the shift back from Angela to Cael form took him less than fifteen seconds. He pulled on his boxers, slipped his legs through his jeans and stuffed his arms and head through T-shirt holes until his usual body hid under a layer of male clothes.

Two quick folds on each of Angela’s garments and he laid them on the desk for Lily to return to their rightful place.

Moving to the woman in question, he slipped his arms underneath her and lifted. She weighed next to nothing, even as dead weight.

Didn’t sleep well, did ya?

She adjusted in his arms, tucking herself in close to him.

Given both Angela and Tony’s offices took up the second floor, Cael figured the third held the bedrooms. Marching up the steps took no time, and a peek into Max’s room revealed a small snoring form on a bed full of Spiderman toys. Cael moved on toward the end—to the only other room with an open door.

A few steps took him to a massive king-sized bed. He laid Lily against the comforter where she curled into herself. One blanket on top and he leaned down to her. With an inhalation, he drew in her scent and left a kiss on her cheek.

• • •

Back in the second floor office, Cael headed straight for the laptop. He dropped into the seat, made a few taps on the keyboard and navigated his way to the FBI’s system. He brought up the missing and exploited children database, but the records there didn’t go back as far as Lily’s time. His position in the FBI, and as a Mimic, gave him far greater access than most, including cold cases and the historic crimes division.

If Lily’s abduction had been reported, it could have been in a county record or a newspaper—all of which had moved from paper to microfiche to digital over the years. Having lived in each technological era, Cael found the latest to be the most accessible.

With what little information he knew, he loaded details into search fields. Evelyn’s birth date and current address alone brought up a listing of the last ten places she’d lived and filed taxes, as well as the name of her parents. Digging deeper, he found Evelyn’s birth certificate and Lily’s linked to Evelyn’s file.

The first line read ‘Lily Elizabeth Drake’—as it had when he’d looked before. With a new purpose, he reviewed the data, looking between the lines instead of what presented itself on the surface—to find connections he might have overlooked in his previous quest.

So where did Crane come from if your mother never had that last name? If someone stole you, why had they kept your given name.
Someone on the inside? For simplicity?
The grandmother? Her father?