Revealed (The Found Book 1) (6 page)

“How did you manage to get her to take something for her headache?” she asked.

“Ma’am?”

“Well I know she didn’t decide to do it on her own,” she said as she sat down in the seat Kelly had vacated. “So, tell me how you convinced my stubborn daughter to actually take something for the pain.

“Mrs. Wachowski…”

“Call me Rose.”

“Rose, I might have hinted I was feeling the pain as well,” he admitted sheepishly.

“And were you?”

“A little bit, but it wasn’t really painful, more of a dull ache.”

“Oh, I like you.” Rose patted his arm. “I could tell my girl was still hurting, but I couldn’t get her to take any medication. I knew she didn’t want to feel out of control, but she’s safe right now, and we’re taking her home where she can have a nap. When she gets up she can boss all of us around.”

Noah chuckled.

“You know she isn’t going to want to stay with you for much longer.”

“She and her dad are going to have to fight it out. I think your plan to stay with her is stupendous. Of course, after they are done fighting, you’ll have to pick up the gauntlet. With that in mind you’re going to need to keep up your strength. You’re invited to dinner tonight, we’re having pot roast, mashed potatoes and homemade apple pie.” As far as Noah was concerned everything was right in his world.

* * *

Kelly was angry, she didn’t know what was getting to her more, the fact she had been ambushed by three people or everyone monitoring her food intake. She wasn’t hungry. When did it become a punishable offense?

“If you are worried about where Noah is going to stay while he is in Chicago, let him stay in the spare bedroom here. He’s not staying at my condo. My spare bedroom couldn’t fit him anyway, he’s too big.” Kelly smeared the crumbs of her dessert on her dish so it looked like she had eaten more, and glared at her father who glared back at her.

“Nonsense,” her mother said. “Your father and I have stayed in your spare bedroom, and he’s as big as Noah.”

“Mom, you know I meant it metaphorically. Look, it’s a week and a half before the school year starts. Everyone has been really patient with me considering the situation. The principal tore up my letter of resignation, and said I was welcome back whenever I could make it, so I’m going to call her tomorrow. I would have thought the school board wouldn’t be thrilled to have someone with so much notoriety, but they backed me as well. I was really surprised. I do worry about what the parents of my students will say if they find out Noah is living with me. It won’t go over well.”

“Give me a break. I’m an old-fashioned Catholic, and even I know it’s a load of horse pucky,” Rose huffed.

Kelly blushed. It had been worth a try.

“Fine, if not Noah, then I’m arranging for off duty CPD officers to stay with you instead. Take your pick. Those men and women will have to leave their families because you can’t handle having the man who volunteered to do this.”

Kelly wilted under the guilt her father heaped on her.

“Fine, Noah can stay with me.” She turned to the man in question, where he was trying to look innocent as he plowed his way through a third helping of pie. “You’re not going to be comfortable. I’m up at all hours. I have a hectic schedule. You’re supposed to be on vacation, and I’m going to be working sixteen hour days for the first three weeks as I figure out lesson plans for two different subjects and set up meetings with each student’s parent or guardian.”

Noah looked at her. “Is anyone going to be shooting at me?”

“Maybe.”

“Good thing I’m used to it. At least I don’t have to deal with a jungle.” Noah laughed. “You’re a great cook,” he said to her mother.

He was right, her mother was a great cook. Kelly wished she could eat like she used to. She wished she could have her old life back, where she didn’t need a guard. She wished she wasn’t worrying her mom and dad. She wished she didn’t have the hots for Noah the way that she did.

It was going to suck needing a guard for the next few weeks. But the idea being an imposition on the hardworking men and women of the Chicago Police Department went against the grain. Unfortunately she both hated and liked the idea of having Noah on guard duty.

Chapter Ten

Staring as he carried the duffel bag into her home, the olive color was at odds with all the jewel tones in her apartment. She resented how comfortable he looked in her condo and she felt out of place. It just wasn’t fair. Maybe it was her headache, after all she had only gotten out of a hospital bed this morning.

“You must be exhausted.”

“Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Rummaging around in my head.”

He gave her a funny look, walked towards her and gave her a hug. She melted. Maybe it was okay if he could read her, if she got hugs. She hugged him back. He maneuvered her to the couch.

“I’m sorry Kali. I know this is a lot to take in.” He sat beside her, and she rested her head against his chest.

She experienced a strong sense of déjà vu. She blinked hard, not wanting the waterworks start.

“Alfred’s dead?”

“Yeah. They broke into his house, he fought back and ended up falling down the stairs and breaking his neck. At least it’s what they think. His wife was at home, but she wasn’t harmed.”

“Thank God. I remember him, he had great parents. They were redheads like he was.”

“Yeah, it’s one of the things similar in all known cases. The
found
children were all matched up, in a sense, with people who were genetic matches.”

“So there are six of us?”

“I don’t think so. I remember a big group. I think there were many more who weren’t publicized, like me.”

“Yeah, I made the national news. Lots of people came out of the woodwork to adopt me, but Dad was the one who found me, and there was never a doubt in his mind he was going to adopt and raise me.” It had been her favorite story growing up, her Dad finding her naked in the backseat of his locked patrol car. When he asked her how she had gotten there, she said she didn’t know, but she asked for a blanket. Mike spilled his hot coffee all over himself, and began to swear in Polish. After two minutes, she repeated her request for a blanket only this time she asked for it in Polish.

“All of the
found
assimilated the different languages they were exposed to their first two years.”

“How many do you know?” she asked.

“Seven.”

Noah picked up her wrist and looked at the angry scar. “They don’t hurt anymore,” she rushed to assure him. He raised his eyebrow. “Well not much. You know I really don’t like that you can feel what I’m feeling.”

“Remember it works both ways. You were tapping into my life in the jungle.”

Kelly shuddered, some of those memories were awful. “You hated what you were forced to do.”

“Sometimes, yes. But it was the right thing. It needed to be done.”

She felt his pain, it hadn’t been physical pain, but it was pain nonetheless. “How are we connected? Were we always connected? I don’t remember. I remember you as a little boy, but I remember us being together in a meadow. What do you remember?” He tipped her chin, and they looked into one another’s eyes.

“It’s
out there real Whoo Whoo stuff.
Kelly, maybe we should talk about this some other time.”

“More
Whoo Whoo
than children waking up naked with amnesia all around the world on the same day? More
out there
than they all learned to speak multiple languages by just hearing them spoken once? We were lucky we weren’t locked up and dissected.”

“But that’s part of it too, Kali. We were placed with the exact right people who protected us, who would never let that happen to us.”

“So tell me what you remember, where did we come from, are we from another planet?”

“I think we came from an alternate universe. I remember somebody explaining we were coming here to make a difference. We were going to do things to help this world get back on the right track.”

“Huh? Noah, that makes no sense, we were just children. I’m just a teacher. I teach ninth grade algebra and social studies, how in the hell am I making a difference,” Kelly said using air quotes. “How could I be helping to put the world back on track? For that matter, what track does this world need to be on?”

“I don’t know Kali. Think about me, I’m just a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. It doesn’t make sense to me either. At least Alfred was a member of the House of Commons. Look, it’s only been since I met you, since your rescue, that bits and pieces of these memories have started to surface. They aren’t making a whole hell of a lot of a sense to me either.”

Kelly opened her mouth to ask another question, but yawned instead.

“Oh Kali, we need to get you into bed.” Noah stood and he put out his hand. Kelly was so tired she took a moment, just looking at it, confused, to figure out he was going to help her off the couch. She put her hand in his and he pulled her up. As soon as she was standing he easily swung her into his arms.

“Noah, don’t be an idiot, put me down, men don’t really carry women.” She yawned again, and he laughed. He walked across the living room towards the hallway.

“Men who don’t carry women around are totally missing out. I take it your room is the one on the end?” Kelly snuggled against his chest and nodded. He must have understood because he opened the door and laid her on the burgundy comforter. Before she could even think twice, he had her shoes and socks off, and under the covers. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and was out the door. Kelly blinked once and was asleep.

* * *

Noah called Rydell.

“Where the hell did you disappear to? Are you okay? Is the family okay?” It’s the reason he was one of his best friends. No recriminations, just immediately worried about him.

“I’m fine. Remember the mission in Chicago?”

“Oh, you’re with the girl.”

“Fuck me, how’d you know, Dave?”

“There was something about her, and you were so protective. I could tell. You were out of sorts the entire time we were in the jungle.”

“Shit man, it could have been because people were trying to kill us.”

“People are always trying to kill us. Nope, you were distracted, not a detriment or anything, I would have told you, but I could tell she was on your mind.”

“She was.”

“Jesus, she wasn’t taken again, was she?”

“No, it was something else, just a feeling I had.” Noah let out a long breath, trying to figure out how to explain things to his friend.

“I’m never going to discount one of your feelings Sam, they’ve saved my ass too many damn times. Should I consider you off the rotation?”

“Yep.”

“Permanently?”

Noah looked down the hallway to the closed door at the end. “Yeah, Dave, I’m not going to be going back into live action again. I’ll be talking to the Admiral.”

“I’m happy for you man.”

“Thanks.” They talked for a bit longer about the rest of the team. When Noah hung up, he realized he actually had a lingering headache and he went to check out the medicine cabinet and took some ibuprofen. Then he grabbed his duffel bag and went into the spare room.

“You didn’t lie Kali, this room isn’t big enough. I need to be in the master suite with you.” Despite the long day, it took him a long time to finally get to sleep.

Chapter Eleven

Her condominium, which once felt too big, now felt like a matchbox. Every time she turned around she brushed against Noah. The man was always right beside her or behind her. She knew he was doing it on purpose.

It was the third day of school and she had gone to bed early knowing she would be up at an ungodly hour to start her lesson plans. She was rustling through the kitchen cabinets for some hot chocolate when she turned around and ran right into Noah.

“Dammit!” she said in a choked whisper. For some reason the darkness demanded a quiet tone, if not a vehement one. “You have to start making noise so I know you’re behind me.”

“Beautiful, I made enough noise to wake the dead.” Noah plucked the container of cocoa from her hands and reached over her head for the tea kettle. It caused his chest to brush against her breasts that were only covered by the thin silk of her robe. Dammit. She didn’t even have a nightgown on under her robe. As soon as he turned towards the sink to fill up the kettle she belted the robe tighter. She heard him chuckle.

“You’ve been here for two weeks, nothing has happened. At what point are we going to say this is silly and you go home?” She watched his shoulders bunch. His cinnamon color skin gleamed in the moonlight streaming through the kitchen window.

“I’m not leaving until the people behind your kidnapping are behind bars, or better yet, they’re dead.” He put the water on to boil, and then he reached around her again for two mugs. He took his time, and slid against her. She had a difficult time concentrating as he spooned the powder into the cups.

When the hot chocolate was made, he handed her a mug. “So, teach, why are we up so early?”

“I’ve got to get today’s lesson plan figured out, and I went to bed too early last night.”