"Come back to my office and we"ll talk," Mr. Myers had said. Kate had allowed him to usher her into the back, knowing from the single touch of his hand that he wouldn"t hurt or a.s.sault her. Besides, even if he tried, she had her Glock 42 concealed under her dressy business suit jacket.
The 42 was one of the smallest guns Glock had ever made, which made it ideal both for Kate"s small hands and a concealed carry. She"d found it along with a few small pieces of her past and she wasn"t willing to give it up.
After a few weeks of living with Mimi, more of Kate"s memory had come back and she"d been able to get some of her personal effects, which had been stored in her mom"s house back in Mississippi. Mimi had driven her there-happy to go on a road trip-and though Kate didn"t have the keys, she knew just how to jiggle the handle of the back door to get in.
Inside, stored in the attic, she"d found her driver"s license, birth certificate, social security card-and of course the gun. It had cost her some time and trouble to get the concealed weapons carry permit here in Florida but Kate considered it money well spent. She had a feeling there was something else hiding in that three year time gap-another memory not nearly as useful as her sudden ability with languages. A dark memory-one she might need protection from.
So she carried the 42 with her everywhere she went and even slept with it under her pillow at night. It made her feel better-as though she was somehow in control. As though she hadn"t lost three whole years of her life somehow and wound up naked and alone in a Sarasota park with no knowledge of how she"d gotten there.
"Have a seat, please." The manager had indicated a plush, leather chair across from his own.
"Thank you." Kate took the seat and smiled sedately. "Tell me why you want me to work here."
Mr. Meyers looked rather fl.u.s.tered.
"Oh, well that"s usually my line. You tell me why you want to work here."
"Well, I need a job. Right now I"m living with my good friend Mimi and I want to be able to help out-pay half the rent and groceries."
"That sounds responsible of you." Mr. Meyers looked sympathetic. "So are you having a hard time finding something in today"s market? Maybe your degree isn"t very useful? Lourdes, the nice woman you helped make that sale, has a Masters in Sixteenth Century Spanish poetry. Not very practical I"m afraid."
"Actually, I have a degree in Communications. Not terribly useful but not a complete waste of time either," Kate said pleasantly. "The reason I can"t find a job is that I have a three year gap in my resume-most employers don"t like that."
"Hmm, as an employer myself I can see why." Myers had frowned. "Can you tell me why you have this gap?"
This was something Kate had struggled with over and over in other job interviews. She didn"t like to lie but it sounded both crazy and dramatic to explain that she"d been abducted, had three years of her memory wiped, and been dumped naked in a park in Sarasota. She supposed she could say she had been working for the government on some kind of black ops mission but she didn"t exactly look like a spy. Also, she had no Army record of any kind and it would be easy enough to trace the falsehood.
The only lie that fit the situation made her very uncomfortable to use but what else could she do? She really needed this job and just one little lie wouldn"t hurt-she hoped.
"The Kindred," she said, the words tasting like dust on her lips. "I...I was called as a bride. Went up to the Mother Ship and stayed for the past three years." Since the Kindred didn"t make their claiming files available to the public, this would be very difficult to confirm or deny. It was the perfect excuse-she just wished it didn"t give her that itchy, uncomfortable feeling between her shoulder blades, like someone was watching her.
"A Kindred bride, eh?" Myers raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Forgive me but it was my understanding that the Kindred took wives for life. Almost no one ever comes back after being mated to one."
"It doesn"t always work out," Kate said tightly. "I"d rather not talk about it, if you don"t mind." She straightened up in her chair. "I think it would be a better idea if I told you why you want to hire me."
"All right." Myers steepled his fingers under his chubby chin and gave her an interested look. "Tell me."
"Aside from my multilingual capabilities, you want me working here for you because I would be a great saleswoman. I know things about people the minute I meet them and shake their hand."
"You do? Go on." Mr. Myers looked more intrigued than ever and Kate mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She"d gotten an impression when she shook his hand that he would be open to her gift, just as Mimi was. But it was always a risk telling someone about the Knowing.
"I know that you"ve been married to a lovely woman named Melinda for the past twenty-two years, that you have two daughters named Jessie and Dawn, and that you live in South Tampa," Kate began, getting the easy stuff out of the way first.
Myers frowned. "Anyone could find that out just by doing an internet search on me."
"Yes, but could they also know that you have never-not once-cheated on your wife? Even that time in Vegas at the jewelers" convention. That girl at the bar was so pretty! She had red hair and green eyes like mine. She bought you a drink and you talked half the night. She wanted you to come up to her room and you were halfway there...then you thought about Melinda and Jessie and Dawn-how much you loved them. How you didn"t want to betray them. And you resisted temptation."
As she spoke her piece, Myers" face went first red, then white. But he didn"t start shouting at her or ordering her out of his office, which was a good sign. Some people didn"t take their most private moments being exposed very well.
Kate knew that she was lucky that particular memory had been at the top of his mind when he shook her hand-probably because she reminded him of that long ago girl that got away. It was a good memory too-one he could be proud of. So much better than if she"d caught a flash of him kicking a stray dog when he thought no one was watching or binge eating Chunky Monkey ice cream straight from the carton at three o"clock in the morning when no one else was up.
Myers drew a deep breath.
"Well," he said at last. "You"re right. That"s certainly something unique that no one else should know. I thought I"d take that memory to the grave. Can you read everyone"s mind or just mine?"
"It"s not mind reading-I just know things about people when I touch them sometimes. It"s a family gift," Kate said, trying to downplay it a bit. "You can imagine how useful it would be here on your sales floor. As I greet each customer and shake their hand, I"ll be able to tell if they"re really intending to buy and what exactly they"re looking for. I"ll be able to steer them in the right direction."
"Yes..." Myers rubbed his balding head thoughtfully. "Yes, I can see how that would come in handy."
"I can also tell if they have...dishonest intentions."
"That could be useful," he said thoughtfully. "We had some trouble here a few years ago. Maybe you heard about it?"
Kate shook her head.
"Well some gentlemen came in here...ha! I say gentlemen but they were basically thugs. Anyway, they used sledgehammers to break into our Rolex cases and made off with half a million dollars worth of merchandise." He frowned. "Insurance covered our losses, of course, but it was still a bad situation. The sound the sledge hammers made was very like a shotgun blast. People a.s.sumed there was some kind of terrorist attack. The whole mall was evacuated and shut down...just a mess." He shook his head.
"That won"t happen on my watch." Kate lifted her chin. "Someone intending to shoplift or rob the store will have to get through me first."
"Oh, well..." Mr. Myers smothered a laugh. "Of course I would ask you to keep an eye on anyone you had reason to suspect but I would never expect someone of your, er, stature to get involved in any kind of altercation."
"You think a tiny, pet.i.te little thing like me can"t defend herself, let alone defend your store?" Kate raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well...I mean, you are rather...uh, small." He cleared his throat. "You must admit that."
"I admit it, all right. I know it to my bones-I am always going to be the smallest one in any given situation," Kate said. "That"s why I make sure I"m always prepared."
Opening the left side of her suit jacket, she exposed the b.u.t.t of the dainty Glock 42.
"Oh my!" Mr. Myers scrambled backwards quickly, nearly losing his balance in his swivel chair.
"It"s all right." Kate let her jacket fall closed. "I"ve got a permit to carry concealed. "I"ll show it to you if you want."
"Yes, well...that would be necessary if I hired you."
Good-he was still talking about hiring her. Kate blessed her gift again. She"d been pretty sure he would be receptive to her little show of force but it was impossible to know for sure until you tried.
"All right," she said quietly.
"But...do you even know how to use it?" Myers nodded at her hidden gun again.
"Let me tell you, Mr. Myers, I grew up in Mississippi without a daddy or any male protection. One of the first things my mother taught me was how to shoot. The second was the right way to clean house-she was picky that way." Kate smiled and got an answering smile in return which encouraged her to continue. "I can promise you I"d never draw my gun unless somebody else drew a gun on me or one of the other employees first."
"What if I asked you to leave it at home?" he"d asked, frowning a little.
Kate sighed. "I can"t do that. I need it for protection."
"From your ex-husband?" His frown deepened. "Is he going to come here hunting you and want to shoot up the place?"
"No, no-nothing like that," Kate a.s.sured him. "It"s just I"m a woman alone-a small woman alone. And Tampa is a pretty big city with a high crime rate. If you want me to work evening shifts and lock up for you some nights, I"ll need to feel protected. And in my experience, I can"t rely on anyone but myself for that protection." She felt a twinge as she said it and a little voice whispered in her head that once she"d had someone else to protect her-someone to get her back. But Kate pushed it away. It was all foolishness-she was all she had and she had to stick to her guns. Literally.
"Well...having an armed sales person on the floor is highly unusual. In fact, I don"t think I know of a single other manager who would allow it. If you actually did ever shoot anyone I would have to disavow any knowledge of your...er...armed state. I"d have to be crazy to even consider it. Still..."
Kate could see that Myers was wavering.
"Just think of me as an extra security guard," she said, smiling at him comfortingly. "An undercover one no one knows about. And you don"t have to pay me any extra-I"ll work on commission the same as everyone else."
"Yes...and if your gift is everything you say it is, I dare say you"ll be making more commission and more sales than any of my other sales people inside a month." Mr. Myers had smiled at her. "All right, Ms. McMillan, you"ve convinced me. We"ll have to do a background check of course."
"Of course." Kate nodded easily, her heart pounding. Was she really getting the job?
"If that all comes back clean, shall we give it a one week trial period to start? And then if we"re a good fit, we can take it from there."
"I"m grateful for the opportunity." Kate held out her hand again. Myers had hesitated briefly but then took it and gave it a firm shake.
"Nice to have you aboard. Now let"s just get you set up with the right paperwork..."
"So what time do you get off tonight?" Mimi asked, breaking Kate"s train of thought. She was almost finished with her huge pile of noodles, Kate saw a bit enviously. If she"d eaten a pile of carbs like that, her pants wouldn"t b.u.t.ton for a month but Mimi would stay slim and gangly forever-she had the metabolism of a racehorse.
"I have to close." She sighed and then brightened. "But I have a customer coming back that I think might really pan out. He"s interested in buying one of the Rolexes. A Yacht-Master edition I think."
"Ooo..." Mimi leaned forward, her kindly face lighting up with interest. "And how much do those run?"
"He"s looking at one in the 70,000 dollar range." Kate smiled. "Which means I can finally pay you all the back rent I owe."
"Oh please..." Mimi made a shooing gesture. "You know I don"t care about that!"
"Yes, but I do," Kate said stubbornly. "You"ve been so good to me, taking me home and letting me stay with you, even after I remembered about my mom"s house."
"I"m glad you decided to come back to Tampa even after our little road trip." Mimi smiled. "The apartment would have felt so lonely without you."
"Well, there"s nothing for me in Mississippi." Kate smiled back. "And a really good friend here in Tampa. My only friend."
"Hey-you"ll meet new people. If you ever come out of your sh.e.l.l." Mimi patted her hand gently. "I wish you could come to Pat"s party tonight. It"s going to be a hoot."
"I bet." Kate tried to paste a regretful look on her face but the truth was, she was more than glad to be missing the party Mimi was talking about. The good thing about Mimi was, she loved everybody. By the same token, the bad thing about Mimi was, she loved everybody.
Pat, who was throwing the party, had been over to their apartment once before. He was tall, balding, somewhere in his mid-thirties and seemed to be stuck in perpetual hippie mode. His entire wardrobe consisted of baggy, torn jeans and big tie-dyed t-shirts that couldn"t quite hide his hairy gut. He also had long, dirty fingernails and smoked pot that he grew himself in his own hydroponic garden. Kate would rather watch paint dry than go to a party at his house.
"Pat"s going to be upset you"re not there," Mimi remarked, finishing the last of her noodles. "I think he likes you. Like, really likes you?"
"Oh, really?" Kate tried to keep her voice neutral but inside she was cringing. Now she was doubly glad she was working late tonight. Just the thought of Pat pawing at her with those big, hairy mitts and long, dirty fingernails made her feel queasy.
"Really." Clearly Mimi wasn"t aware of the reaction she"d caused by mentioning Pat"s feelings, which was just as well.
"You know, Mimi..." Kate tried to find a nice way to say what had to be said. "When it comes to Pat, well...I really don"t feel ready to date anybody just yet."
"Oh, of course." Mimi put a hand to her mouth. "I"m so sorry, Kate-I swear I won"t say anything to encourage him. Are you..." Her voice dropped. "Are you still having those bad dreams?"
Kate took a last sip of her juice, trying to hide her confusion. She wished she hadn"t told Mimi about the dreams-the ones where a huge, muscular stranger with burning blue eyes was stalking her. But she"d apparently been thrashing around and crying out one night and Mimi had woken her up. The whole bad dream had come pouring out and now her friend knew everything.
Well, not quite everything. She only knew about the man Kate saw in her dreams. She didn"t know about the other thing-the Beast-as Kate had come to call it. It was somehow attached to the man but she didn"t know how. It snarled and snapped at her, its deep red eyes narrowed in menace and its knife-like teeth hungry for her blood.
It"s the beast you really have to watch out for, whispered a little voice in her head. The man you could take down with a couple of well placed shots. But the Beast...nothing"s bringing that monster down. Not once it sets its sights on you and decides you"re dinner. If that happens, you"re toast, Kate-as good as dead.
"Sometimes," she admitted, feeling a cold chill run down her back at the thought. "But I"ll be okay. I"m just...not ready to date right now."
"Of course not. And you don"t have to until you"re ready." Mimi patted her arm comfortingly.
"Thanks Mimi. Did I ever tell you how sweet you are?" Kate grinned at her with genuine affection. "You"re like my guardian angel, you know that, girlfriend?"
"Aww..." Mimi"s narrow cheeks grew red. "Stop it."
"I will not," Kate said. "If you hadn"t found me when you did, I-"
Her voice died in her throat and a feeling of dread clutched at her heart like an icy fist.
"You what? Kate? Are you okay?" Mimi looked at her anxiously.
"I...I just..." Kate couldn"t form anything coherent to say. Across the busy, crowded food court a tall figure was standing, watching her. A tall, muscular man with dark hair and burning blue eyes.
The man from her dream.
Kate felt like her heart was about to stop. Cold sweat broke out all over her body and suddenly she couldn"t get a deep enough breath to fill her lungs, even though she was gasping for air.
Him-it"s him! He"s coming to get me!
Her hands clenched into trembling fists and she started to see spots dancing in front of her eyes. G.o.d, was she going to black out?
No, can"t do that! Have to take control. Have to breathe!
"Kate? What is it? What are you staring at?" Mimi looked to see what had put the expression of horror on her friend"s face. But just as she turned her head, the tall man, who was head and shoulders above anyone else in the food court, somehow melted into the crowd and disappeared.
As soon as he left, Kate"s heart gave a little skip and started beating normally again. Her breathing slowed and her tense muscles began to relax.
"Nothing," she said in a voice that trembled only a little. "It"s nothing. For a minute I thought I saw-"
"Saw what?" Mimi looked at her with genuine concern on her long face. "Seriously Kate-what? You looked white as a sheet. For a minute I thought you were going to faint or have a panic attack!"
"It was nothing." Kate waved a hand, trying to dismiss the dark figure. "A figment of my imagination, that"s all."
"Well...if you"re sure." Mimi was clearly reluctant to let it go.
"I"m sure," Kate said briskly. Standing, she grabbed her empty cup and Mimi"s tray. "Come on-break"s over. Time to get back to work. I have expensive watches to sell."
"But-"
"And if I sell that Yacht-Master, we"ll have our own party!" Kate promised recklessly. "It"ll be amazing."