Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (18 page)

“Yes. I think so at least. It all starts around age thirteen.” She thought of Chase and Maggie. “Sometimes earlier.”

Evelyn joined them at the island.

“Would you like some coffee? Some breakfast?” Lily asked.

“Are you really sixty-one?” Evelyn asked.

“I will be in a few days, yes.” Strawberry slices fell into a whipped, yogurt blend.

“Damn,” Evelyn said. “If I could have looked like that at sixty, I’d have had all the men hanging off my arm, just waiting for me.”

“Mom!” Angela’s eyes opened wide. “You were married to Dad at that age.”

Lily’s lips curved up.

“I know, but think about it …”

A genuine laugh slipped from Angela. “If Dad could hear you now.” Her voice cracked a bit.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I had a good, long marriage with your father.” She rubbed Angela’s shoulder. “And now, I have both my daughters in my reach.”

Lily dropped the spatula with a clatter, grabbed it and wiped the butter from the handle.

“And once we have my granddaughter back, which I’m sure will happen now since whoever is up there is looking down upon me, everything will be right again.”

The boys joined them a minute later, diving into breakfast as fast as Lily could produce it. Tony sat at Angela’s side. Max chatted with Evelyn. Cael eyed Lily from his perch, a half-smile on his face.

Home.

Lily had found her place—the one part of her life she never thought possible and certainly never with any sort of happiness.

15

Walking to Wyatt’s new downtown office alongside Cael brought with it a sense of fear and excitement. Lily had been on hundreds of missions with Charley, James and Cael but never at the center. She’d managed the hair and makeup, the research on look and feel, the checking and double-checking of details. Being on stage sent butterflies aloft and brought a cold sweat to her skin.

“You’re shivering again.” Cael navigated through one stark white hallway after another.

“You know this place could do with a feminine touch. Add some color and brightness to the walls.” Her own plain look had inspired her to study color harmonies and get a degree in interior design, along with becoming a master chef.

“These are all offices that lead to a very secure jail, Lily. That Roy agreed to stay if he got to talk with you still surprises me,” Cael said.

“And thus the shivers. What do I say? What am I supposed to ask?” She followed him down another, just as bare hallway. “How can you guys work in here?”

“We don’t pay attention to the scenery.” Cael stopped at a yellowing wooden door where Stuart, Wyatt’s best friend and Cael’s fellow teammate, stood guard.

Despite the fact that Lily had known Stuart for sixteen years, he didn’t look like he’d aged or changed much. Still tall. Still lanky. All kindness. “Welcome home, Lily.” He leaned toward her, laid a kiss on her cheek and retook his spot.

“No comments on the look today?”

“Aw, Lily. You know you’re beautiful no matter what you look like.”

She smiled up at him. “You missed breakfast.” Lily tweaked his nose. “You’re not one to do that when you’re not on assignment.”

He chuckled as he tilted toward the floor. “Well … we’ve been taking turns keeping watch over Roy
just
to make sure he stays as promised.”

“I’ll make some banana bread for you later.”

Stuart rubbed at his stomach.

“You ready?” Cael asked.

Lily wrung her hands. She knew he’d let them chat to give her time to relax; it had helped. A little.

Cael spun her so they faced each other. “I’ll be in the booth with Wyatt, Charley and James.”

“And I’m not going anywhere.” Stuart slapped the wall as if he’d attached himself to it.

Lily gave them both a nod. “All right. I’m ready.”

Cael opened the door leading to where Roy waited. While Lily went forward through a second door, Cael slipped into ‘the booth’ as he’d called it.

With a grip on the silver handle, Lily pushed into the interior.

Roy jumped from his seat at the table and pulled another chair out, holding it as if Lily should sit in it.

She let go of the door, letting it click into place.

• • •

Cael slipped into the booth with James, Charley and Wyatt. Knowing Stuart waited outside and knowing he could count on the three other people with him to ensure Lily’s safety, Cael relaxed—at least his shoulders did.

Through the window, Lily took tentative steps toward Roy, the slide of her tennis shoes registering through the microphone.

“Miss Crane, so very nice to see you again.” Roy waved her toward the seat he held out.

“What the hell? Cael said. “
Again
? How the fuck does he—”

Charley’s hand on his arm quieted him. He could have yelled at the top of his lungs, and Roy and Lily would have been oblivious, thanks to sound proofing.

“I’m sorry, Roy, but have we met?” Lily took the offered seat, her profile to Cael and the crew.

Roy drew his chair facing hers, putting him in profile, too.

That Cael wouldn’t be able to see his eyes or expressions unnerved him.
I’m going to miss something.
He’d have to scan the monitors while Lily and Roy chatted. “Guys, please keep an eye—”

Charley raised a finger to her lips as James shushed him. Wyatt squeezed his shoulder as if that would reduce the tension Cael thought he’d eliminated.

Beyond the glass, Roy steepled his fingers. “May we speak in private?”

Lily started a nod but stopped. “You mean without them listening in?”

“No, no, no!” Cael’s voice ratcheted up.

Another squeeze came from Wyatt.

Roy nodded.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Some things are easier to say only to those for whom the words are intended.”

The formality in Roy’s tone had Cael scrunching his lips.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that,” Lily said.

“Do you want to know where the girl is?”

Lily jerked back. Cael did the same.

“You—you—you know where Leigh is?”

Roy shrugged.

“He’s playing her,” Cael said.

“Shh,” Charley said.

“Can’t you just tell me?” The sweetness and sincerity in Lily’s voice would have won anyone but Roy over.

“Tell me you remember me, and I will.”

Cael fisted his hands. “She’s going to fall right into whatever trap he’s setting.”

Lily’s eyes widened. She blinked a few times before shaking her head. “Remember you? From where?”

“And here I thought I was unforgettable.”

Though Charley chuckled, Cael didn’t join in. Roy’s arrogance about himself confirmed previous theories about the man and only made Cael want to pummel him even more.

“Relax, Cael. The room’s hot enough without your body temp going through the roof,” James said.

“Is that what that is?” Wyatt asked. “No wonder.”

“Shhh,” Charley said.

Lily rubbed at her temple. “I’m sorry, Roy, but I really don’t remember you. I wish I did because I really, really, really want you to tell me where Leigh is.”

“If you remembered me …”

Lily’s lids closed and opened as if she’d done so deliberately. “
Why
would I remember?”

“Because we were at the institution together.”

“No shit!” James said as Cael said, “Fuck” and Charley seethed.

“What?” Wyatt asked.

“I’ll explain later if he doesn’t,” James said.

That Lily hadn’t fallen flat out of her chair surprised Cael as much as her walking toward Tony had when he’d announced his call to her mother. Lily considered herself to be the weakest of any of the four Mimics in the building, but Cael disagreed.

A deep sigh resonated through the speakers. “I really don’t like talking about that time, Roy. It wasn’t pleasant for me.”

He cocked his head. “So, you do remember those years?”

She shivered to the point the bracelet Chase had given her the year before rattled against the steel table. “How could I forget? Those five years of my life were horrible.” She stood, her chest heaving. “Five years, Roy! Five years of … for all intents and purposes, torture. And you want me to remember that, so you’ll tell me where my niece is?”

“Yes.”

“That’s sick,” Cael said. “Using a memory to wheedle information? I could kill him. I will kill him.” Charley’s hand on Cael’s arm stopped him.

Even from the profile view, Cael watched as a tear slipped down Lily’s cheek. “Why?” The pain that came through with Lily’s single word sent daggers into Cael’s own heart.

“Please, sit, Lily. I don’t mean to make you cry.”

Roy’s politeness ate at Cael.

She lowered to the seat again. “Please, Roy. Please. Tell me where Leigh is.”

“You really don’t remember me? Because I remember you, just as you are, though perhaps with a little more weight.”

“That’s what not eating for days and weeks will do.” She crossed her arms over her chest, a determined scowl across her face even as her body trembled.

“You were the prettiest of the group, Lily.” He leaned forward, clasped his hands together.

Lily scooted back from the table. “This isn’t about me.
Please
, Roy.”

“I’m going in there. She can’t handle this.” Cael grabbed the handle and yanked open the booth door.

James slammed it shut. “You have to let this play out.”

Charley took Cael’s hand. “We’re all right here. Nothing’s going to happen to her. Let the conversation go on.” She tilted her head, her eyes softening. Charley could always see into Cael, even when he didn’t want her to.

They all went back to their window view, though James blocked the door with his body when Roy withdrew a box from his pocket.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding.” Cael slapped his forehead. “How did he get that in here? Didn’t we check his possessions? Didn’t we search the hotel where he was staying? How—”

“We did check him. He had nothing,” James said.

Roy slid the box to Lily.

Cael smiled when she didn’t reach for it.

“Wh—what is that?” Her voice broke.

“It’s a gift for all you did for me so many years ago. You say this isn’t about you when, in fact, it is. Completely. I’d only hoped I’d had an equal influence on you.”

“But I don’t remember you!” A hiccup broke her words.

“Just open it, please.” Desperation coated Roy’s words. “Please. And then we’ll talk.”

Lily reached for it.

Cael clenched his fist. As Lily opened the box, a mental image of her doing the same with the ring he’d bought played through his mind. The ring he hadn’t yet given to her. Instead, he’d waited as James and Wyatt had suggested.

Her mouth fell open, though the cameras didn’t pick up the content of the box.

“It—it’s beautiful, Roy, but I can’t accept it.”

“It’s just a token.”

“Just a token my ass,” Cael said.

Charley shushed him with a hand to his wrist.

Lily slipped the ring from the box and held it up.

“Same one we saw him buy in Savannah,” Wyatt said.

“Again, Lily. It is a token of gratitude. Most people think I turn a hundred—or over a hundred this year—but I was thirteen with you. My mother sold me, too. We’re kindred spirits.”

She didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.

“It’s a lily pearl. I had it specially made for you.”

“That’s my nickname.”

“Yes, you used to say it in your sleep a lot. It seemed to be a comfort. Something that brought a happy memory.”

That’s not going to be a happy memory.
Cael would have given her the ring, the life, the everything.

“I can’t accept this, Roy. It’s just not right.”

“Why? It’s a gift from a friend, from a comrade. From me to you.”

“But friends don’t give gifts like this … and … and ….”

“And you’re in love with someone,” he said.

She nodded.

“Cael, I presume?”

Charley let out a deep sigh as a smile broke her scowl.

“Then, why haven’t you blended with him?” Roy asked.

Lily bit her lip as if to block the answer’s departure.

In the booth, James, Wyatt and Charley stared at Cael.

• • •

Lily shuffled her feet and twiddled the ring between her fingers.
Didn’t Cael say we don’t
have
to blend as Mimics? Could Roy not know that, either? Did they torture him, too?
The fact he knew so much about her made her fidget—all the more uncomfortable with the ring and its insinuation.

She swallowed hard, clearing her throat in the process.

Roy’s grey-colored eyes focused on her. “Your hesitation makes me think, perhaps, your relationship with Cael is not a permanent arrangement.”

His arrogance had her bristling. “I’m not going to talk about that part of my life.”

“I can offer you more than he can.”

Oh, god. I knew this was more than a friendship ring.
Lily slipped the ring back into its velvety slot, closed the box and sent it sliding across the table.

Roy caught it before it fell off the edge.

“I didn’t come here for propositions. I came because you asked to talk with me.”

“And you want information about the girl.”

She pursed her lips, wanting to scream her frustration at him. “Yes. How did you find out about her? Did you set her up? Have you …”

He held up his hands. “Time for the show to end.” He inclined his head toward the mirror.

“You did set her up, didn’t you?” Lily asked, ignoring him. “Did you set me up, too? To get me express-air-mail delivered to California? Was that your idea? Get Lily away from Cael, and she’ll forget all about him?” She drew in a deep breath, though it did little to steady her increasing exasperation. “I did my time, Roy. I gave the government what they sought, then they left me on the side of the road in the middle of the desert, like some Boy Scout test of strength, and said ‘good luck’. No, they didn’t even say that. If you think I can’t outlast you after having lived through that, then you’re … just wrong.”

He didn’t even shrug.

Lily leaned forward, her hands on the table. “
Please!
Tell me where my niece is. Tell me how to find her. Tell me how you’re involved.”