She nodded. They rode home in companionable silence.
* * * *
“Anastazia Proctor, downstairs right now, young lady! You’re going to be late.”
“Jeez Louise, I’m coming,” she shouted back.
Tim sighed as he finished getting her scrambled eggs ready. She bounded into the kitchen, her long, wavy auburn hair in a loose ponytail. “I’ve still got twenty minutes before we have to leave. Chill.”
He eyed her choice of clothes. The shirt would do. It wasn’t his favorite, but it covered all her parts and wasn’t too tight. The jeans didn’t have holes in them, plus they covered all the parts not covered by the shirt. Her sneakers looked worn but were her favorites, so who was he to complain? They were on her feet. Her makeup was light, the agreed-upon amount, although in reality she didn’t need any.
But try to convince a thirteen-year-old of that.
“I don’t want you to be late for your first day of school,” he said.
“Will you come to the parent meeting?” She ripped into her eggs like a starving wolf.
He nodded. “Of course. I’ll be there at three.” How would he keep the boys off her this year? Junior high. How did other parents do it?
She finished her juice, rinsed her plate, and grabbed her backpack. “I guess my ’rents are passed out upstairs?”
“Taz!”
She shrugged. “I heard them come in last night. Excuse me, this morning. About six. My alarm went off a few minutes later.”
He shook his head. “Come on. Let’s go.” He grabbed his keys, and fifteen minutes later they neared the school. He pulled up to a red light and looked at her, fixing her with his gaze.
“Anastazia.”
She looked at him and he had her. “Remember,” he warned. “Avoid their eyes. Never ask for something when you’re looking someone in the eyes. Understand?”
She nodded with a dreamy expression on her face. He looked up as the light changed to green. “You have a good day today.” Fortunately for him, all he had to do was give her reminders from time to time.
She nodded. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, but she smiled. “What do I have for lunch?”
“Turkey wrap, swiss, light mayo.” He pulled into the drop-off and she leaned over and hugged him before getting out.
“See you at three, Robs.”
“Have a good day, sweetheart.”
He watched her walk toward the school. She smiled at a group of boys as she walked past.
Two of the boys fell in behind her, dreamy looks on their faces.
He closed his eyes. “Oh, dear God, please give me strength.”
* * * *
Tim didn’t know if he could handle having Eric and Bianca in the house at the same time. They had two states—at each other’s throats like wolverines or screwing like bunnies.
There was no middle ground, unless you counted passed out.
At least Eric made good on his promise to teach Taz how to drive. He spent the day tuning up his 1965 Mustang and went to pick her up from school as a surprise.
Robertson said a silent prayer as he watched Eric drive off. Please bring my girl home safely, you silly sod.
Bianca yawned as she walked into the kitchen. “Good morning, Robertson.”
“Afternoon, Bianca.”
“Oh, is it?”
He placed a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. She smiled. “You’re so efficient.” She shoveled in the eggs and asked for more. “And a damn good cook.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s my baby?”
“She’s doing great. Did you see the information I left for you?”
She nodded. “I can’t make that school thing though. I’ve got to be in Paris for a shoot. Is that okay?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
She smiled as he refilled her plate. “We are so lucky to have you. You are the best ever. Promise you’ll never leave us.”
He avoided her gaze, a light crystal blue that caught and reflected the color of whatever room she was in. He was strong, but she was stronger in that way. Worse still, she didn’t know it.
“Absolutely, Bianca.”
“You’ve been so great with Anastazia. Except for us, you’re the only family she’s got.”
After she finished her meal, Bianca left to get ready for her appointment. She was gone by the time Anastazia blasted into the driveway with her father.
Tim walked outside and watched Taz circling the driveway as she tried to master finessing the clutch. The car finally jerked to a stop in front of the door. “Did you see me?” she squealed, running up to him and hugging him.
“Yes.” He laughed. “You were great.”
Eric’s expression clouded. He walked over to Tim, and before Eric could say anything, Tim looked at him.
“You’re a good dad, Eric,” Tim murmured as he fixed him with his gaze.
Eric’s expression went blank. Taz was too busy calling her friends about her driving lesson to notice what was going on.
“You’re a great dad, Eric. She loves you very, very much. You are doing a wonderful job raising your daughter.” After sixteen years, now was not the time for Eric to get jealous and decide he wanted to finally start carrying out his fatherly duties and spending more quality time with Taz. Tim had worked too hard with her to establish her self-control to have Eric and his reckless ways ruin it all.
Tim let him go. Eric blinked and smiled at him. “Did you see her?”
He nodded. “I’m so glad you were able to return for this. It means the world to her.”
“Yeah, well, you know. She’s a chip off the old block, huh?”
Tim nodded. “You’ll be home all week, I take it?”
He nodded. “I want to spend some time with her, out in the garage.”
“She’ll love that. Anything in particular you want for dinner…”
* * * *
“She’s beautiful,” Bianca whispered.
Tim nodded. “She resembles you both very much.”
They have no idea how much.
Eric sat on Tim’s other side, puffed up and proud. “That’s my baby,” he said. Taz walked across the stage, accepted her diploma, and waved at them. Tim waved back, trying to juggle the video and still cameras at the same time.
Bianca looked like she had a horrible thought and put her hand on Robertson’s arm. “You’re not going to…you won’t leave just because she’s graduating, will you?” she whispered.
He smiled. “No, Bianca. You’re stuck with me for a while longer, I imagine.”
She sounded relived. “Thank goodness. I mean, she’s got college, and I’ve got movies coming up, and we still need you…”
* * * *
The blue lights flashed in her rearview mirror. Tim looked at her as she pulled over. “I told you not to speed, young lady.” She was twenty and drove like her father—balls out.
The CHiP walked up to her window and pulled off his sunglasses. She flashed him a smile, and in two minutes, they were on their way.
Sans ticket.
All she’d done was be polite and talk. The officer never even asked for her license.
Tim finally found his voice. “That was…amazing.”
She shrugged. “I haven’t had a ticket, but I get pulled over all the time. They just give me a warning and…uh, I guess I never told you that, huh?”
He shook his head, taking mental notes. She was so strong. Thank God he’d trained her well early on. He’d never caught her being cruel, and he was sure she wasn’t aware she was doing anything special.
She was just being nice. And polite.
* * * *
They sat at the kitchen table. Taz’s face looked red and puffy. A nearly empty box of tissues sat before her. Tim poured her another drink. Usually he discouraged her from imbibing, but tonight she needed it.
So did he.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “I just can’t.”
T
im kept the cell phone next to him, waiting for news. As soon as had been notified, he’d locked himself in his office and made a frantic series of phone calls, which started an avalanche of activity behind the scenes the likes of which Anastazia didn’t need to know.
He patted her on the hand. “Keep faith, dear. There are a lot of people looking for them.”
“And I was supposed to go, too! But I just had so much to do with exams and stuff.”
“It’s okay, Taz.”
She started crying again.
He had to keep it together for her sake. He prayed her parents would be found safely, but he didn’t hold out much hope.
His cell rang. He answered then shook his head when Taz looked hopefully at him. Nothing yet. He walked into his office and closed the door.
“We have a whole fleet out.” It was him, personally. He rarely called Tim, and never while Tim was at home or with Taz. He’d also never heard him sound so grim. “If they can be found, they will.”
“Good.”
“Do you think…I mean, should I—”
“No,” Tim said firmly. “I’ll take care of her. You stay away. It’s too soon.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” Tim had a thought. “You don’t think someone planned this, do you?”
“I thought about that,” he admitted. “She was supposed to be on the flight. She was listed on the passenger manifest. Keep her close to you until we know for sure.”
“Of course I will.”
Over the next days and weeks with no word on her parents’ fate, Tim guided Taz through the process. She spent many nights curled up on the couch with her head in his lap, twenty-four, but fragile as a child, crying herself to sleep. He ached for her, knowing he could help, but to do so would push things along too soon. She needed time to heal. Others had survived tragedies far worse than this.
She decided to sell the house, and he thought that would be the end. When he mentioned looking for his own place, she looked horrified.
“No, you can’t! I need you!”
He smiled. “Taz, you don’t need me hanging around.”
She nodded, frantically. “I’ll get a big condo near the office. Big enough you can have your space. Please, you’re the only family I’ve got!”
She looked desperate. Her parents had messed up the original plan by getting themselves killed on their trip to Rio. The revised edition was for her to finally be on her own, but he couldn’t stand to see her so miserable and upset.
He nodded. “I’ll stay.”
She threw her arms around him and hugged him, sobbing with relief. When he finally had a chance to be alone and phone about the change in plans, there was reluctant agreement.
“I’m not going to abandon her,” Tim said, adamant. “There’s plenty of time. Maybe this is for the best.”
“When does she start her new job?”
“Three months. Once she graduates from law school and completes her internship.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Brilliant. She will go far. She’s already got quite the reputation for fixing sticky situations, smoothing things over.”
“Excellent.”
“Everything will work out fine. You’ll see. Did he get the paperwork?”
“I think he’s still drooling over her picture.”
“Now do you see why I insisted on waiting for him to meet her?”
“Yes, you were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“It helps.” He paused, wanting his words to carry weight. “I meant what I told him. Make sure he understands my position clearly. If he breaks her heart, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“He understands.”
“Good. He’d better. Because I don’t care how powerful he is, or how much money he has, or how long we’ve been friends. There won’t be a place on this earth he can hide from me if he hurts my little girl.”
Chapter One
“What kind of asshole sells automatic weapons to a demon anyway?” Rafael dropped the carry-on tote on his cousin’s desk and plopped down in one of the chairs facing him.
“Is that it?”
Rafael nodded. “And we need to speed this up. I’ve got a date at seven.” He leaned back, propping his feet on the desk and crossing his legs at the ankles.
“You always have a date.” Matthias unzipped the tote and removed a sealed plastic bag containing a large severed head. Semi-lupine in shape, vicious teeth jutted from the lower jaw. “Any problems?”
“Naw, customs was easy. Homeland Security my ass. And one less ‘chupacabra’ to terrify the locals.” Rafael used finger quotes around the word to show his disdain. “Friggin’ jerk. He had a whole warehouse full of guns. Oh, Matts, you should have seen the stewardess on the plane.”
“I thought you were going to take the corporate jet from Mexico City?” Matthias had left Rafael behind to finish the cleanup operation.
He shook his head. “Met this cute little coed from a cruise ship in Veracruz. You should’ve seen her—”
“I’m sure.” Matthias rolled his eyes and put the severed head back in the bag. “And your date tonight?”
Rafe shrugged. “I can’t help it if the customs agent was a cutie.”
“What did she see in your bag?”
“Bowling ball.”
Matthias shook his head and laughed as he sat. “I’ll have Albert send it to the lab for testing and an ID workup. It bothers me that one of them was hooking up with a daemon pulverem.”
“Bothers you?” Rafe flexed his left arm. “Screw that! You aren’t the one who got shot, big guy.”
“How is it, anyway?”
“I’ve been better, but it’s nearly healed. Still stiff.” He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt to show the pink scar where the slug had entered his shoulder two days prior. “What the hell did you eat, anyway? You tasted, no offense, cuz, weird.”
“No weirder than the time I got sliced open in Dublin and you’d been out drinking that afternoon. I had a hangover for three damn days, thanks to you.”
“Ah, but you were alive to suffer.” Rafe grinned.
Matthias smiled. “And so are you. I told you we shouldn’t have eaten at that place for lunch. You insisted.”
“Oh, yeah.” He looked at Matthias’ desk and sat up. “What’s that?” He pointed to a picture.
Matthias slid it across the desk. Rafe picked it up, a low whistle escaping him. “Wow,” he said, his voice dropping. “That’s her?”
Matthias sat back and templed his fingers. “That’s her.”
Rafe studied the picture for a long moment. “I know you said…but she’s…wow.”
Matthias took the picture back. “And now you understand.”
Rafael looked stunned. “Yeah. Congratulations.”
“That’s a little premature. We haven’t even brought her in yet.”
“When?”
He shrugged. “When Tim tells me the time is right. I’ve waited this many years for her. I can wait a little longer. Maybe next month. Even then, who knows? There’s no guarantee she’ll even want to know me, much less have a relationship with me. This could have been an exercise in futility on my part.”
Rafe studied his hands. “On second thought, maybe I’ll fly home tonight. Take the corporate jet back to Atlanta.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I am pretty tired.”
Matthias studied Rafe for a long moment before speaking. When he did, his voice sounded soft, kind. “Rafe, she’s been dead for—”
Rafe held up a hand and smiled. “Don’t want to go there tonight, Matts. Sorry. I don’t feel like revisiting the past. You dealt with Sarah in your way, and I’ll deal with my shit in mine, okay?”
Matthias nodded. “All right.” He stepped around the desk and hugged Rafe. “See you next weekend at the Florida house?”
Rafe patted Matthias on the back before stepping away. “Yeah, I’ll be down. You’re
going to drive me to the dealership, right?”
“It’s in?”
Rafael’s face broke into a huge grin. “You should see it! The salesman e-mailed me a picture. It’s a sweet ride. I test-drove one like it last month, but they didn’t have the color I wanted.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I prefer the original Mustangs myself.”
“It’s a Shelby Mustang GT500, man. The most powerful production model Mustang ever. It’s not ‘just’ a Mustang, Matts.” He stepped to the door as his face clouded again. “I’ll see you later then.”
Matthias nodded, and when he was alone, he returned to his desk and stared at her picture. He’d never shown it to Rafael before and wasn’t sure why he did tonight. He sighed and returned it to his desk. From the moment he first saw her picture when she turned twenty-five, he knew she was the one for him.
All he had to do was try to win her heart when he finally got to meet her in person.
Ten long years. It won’t kill me to wait a few weeks longer.
* * * *
It wasn’t until Rafe was settled into one of the plush, leather seats on the corporate jet that he closed his eyes and let his mind wander, something he seemed to do a lot of lately. The flight crew knew enough not to bother him, that if he wanted something, he’d ask for it.
He enjoyed the relative solitude. This time, his memories drifted back to the first time he ever laid eyes on Cassandra. So many lifetimes ago…
He stared through the brush at the wonder before him. Gorgeous, simply breathtaking. Long, red hair and stunning green eyes, milky skin and a beautiful, curvy body he would love to hold. She had piled her clothes on the rocks by the bank while she skinny-dipped in the cool creek.
Unable to resist, he walked down the trail and sat next to her clothes and waited. When she finally turned and saw him there, she let out a startled eek! and sank into the water. The glimpse he’d gotten of her front was just as lovely as he imagined.
“I beg your pardon, sir, but you need to leave.”
He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Why should I? I love the view.”