Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (54 page)

The tears threatened to fall again but I worked to keep them in. I sniffed and swiped at my nose that seemed to be free flowing. “You freaking suck.”

“I know.” He moved to sit down beside me, our legs and hips brushing against each other. When I didn’t move away, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder again.

This time I let it be.

Everything inside me calmed as I sank against him. I could feel every inch of his muscular arm against my body, his heat penetrating through my clothes, and I relaxed into the warmth of him. My dad was a liar and someone just tried to kill me, but for the moment I had more than just the memory of love from my mom.

Trip cared enough to follow me from the restaurant to a graveyard late at night. He refused to tell me about Collins, but if he did make a promise. . .

It suddenly came together and it was better than I’d imagined. Since I met him, Trip kept fighting to solve a case for a kidnapped girl. Then, he’d raced to the hospital in the middle of the night because I’d called him and told him we were in trouble. Now, he was here, checking up on me. Trip wasn’t a fictional character from a novel either, he was a real guy. A good guy. Someone I
could
trust.

It was time to let Trip in. I needed to tell him about Amanda’s birthmark. And about mine. I pointed to the etched granite in front of me. “This is my mom’s grave.”

Trip squeezed my shoulder and a shiver ran through me. “I figured.”

“She died when I was four.”

“I remember.” His voice was quiet. “You told me yesterday.”

I sniffed. “Since she died when I was so little, I don’t have many memories to hold onto. But I have her photo albums and used to go through the pictures all the time.”

He didn’t say anything. Just listened. In addition to trying to save people, he was actually pretty good at that.

“I totally take after her. My mom. Dad and I look nothing alike.” I hesitated, not wanting to finally admit it aloud. “Did you happen to see the resemblance between Lynn, Amanda, and me?”

He released my shoulder—definitely not what I’d been striving for—and turned to look at me. Our faces were only inches apart. “I noticed.”

My stomach twisted in a knot and my eyes drifted down to study the muddy grass next to me. “Do you . . . know anything about that? Something you’re not supposed to tell me?”

“No,” he said, and I believed him. “I do have theories though.”

My head popped up and ungraciously bopped his chin. “Oops.” How embarrassing. “Sorry.”

He rubbed his chin.

“I’m not giving you any more sympathy than that.” I shook my head. “That’s nothing compared to being strangled. Trust me, I know.”

He didn’t laugh. “The doctor told us you’re fine. Why are you wearing a turtleneck?”

“Bruises,” I said, shrugging. So much for lightening the mood. “You were saying? About Amanda, Lynn, and me?”

He paused, studied me for a moment, and then ran a hand through his hair. “They’re just theories, mind you.”

Trip had theories. That meant he’d been thinking about me. In a case-related way, but still. “Have you shared your theories with Collins or Sam?”

“No.” He shook his head, then twisted his torso sideways until his back cracked. “Not after Sam chewed me out for last night.”

I frowned. “How was any of that your fault?”

“He asked how you got my number, so I told him how I’d cornered you in the courtyard at school.” He laughed a little. “Let’s just say with all of the shouting he did, I was extra glad it was a short ride to the hospital.”

My brows came together. “Do you and Sam live together?”

He nodded. “More like I live with Sam. He lets me stay in the room behind his garage and I mow his lawn and run errands for him in exchange for rent.” He shrugged. “Beats living with my dad.”

I bit my lip. As mad as I was at my dad, it wasn’t even close to bad enough for me to move out. I couldn’t imagine how awful Trip’s dad must be.

Trip twisted his back again until it popped.

“Gross,” I said, cringing. Although my back was achy and could probably use a good pop itself. It wasn’t exactly comfortable sitting here on the dirt. I stared at my mom’s tombstone. Would it be rude to lean against it for support?

Cassandra Lynn Bates

It suddenly clicked.
Lynn
. There it was, out in the open the entire time. My mouth dropped open and I gestured toward the etched granite. “My mom’s middle name.”

“Lynn.” Trip nodded, obviously he’d put two and two together before me. “Let’s take a walk. My back’s killing me.”

“Okay.” I stood up, hoping it was dark enough that he couldn’t see my soaked butt. Our arms brushed as we got to our feet and my heart beat double time. “Any chance you think it’s a coincidence? After all, Lynn’s a common name.”

Yes, I was reaching but wasn’t I entitled after all I’d been through?

“I doubt it’s a coincidence.” His voice sounded adamant.

I rubbed my temples. “Smack a girl with the truth why don’t you?”

“You told me to be open with you.”

I sighed. “You’re right, I did. Lay it on me.”

He made a gesture with his hand as he stepped toward the dirt path between the next section over. “Let’s start with the fact that your dad called the station to have you find this one specific girl. Amanda. There are unsolved crimes all over the place, but he only allowed you in for hers. He was very clear about that. And he demanded Collins and Sam keep your involvement private.”

Great. Collins again. Why did her name have to come up? I kicked a rock in my path and it went flying.

He paused and the tension mounted at the mention of Blondie. Why oh why did she always have to ruin everything?

I grabbed Trip’s arm and he stopped walking. He looked at me and even in the dark I could see his facial expression change. “I’m not going to ask you about Collins and my dad anymore.”

He eyed me suspiciously.

“You gave your word. I’m not going to ask you to go back on that. Okay?” I was a mind reading saint, I know.

“Good.” He gave me a look I couldn’t read and I would’ve given anything for permission to grab his hand to read what he was thinking.

“But you still suck.” Fine, I wasn’t a saint. Whatever. I started walking again. “So your theory?”

“Well,” Trip strode along beside me, “you developed this ability the day after Amanda disappeared. At least, that’s when you first noticed you had it. We still don’t know how you got this ability, but the timing raises a flag for me. Especially when you consider the fact that Amanda looks just like you.”

“Lynn, too.” Not to mention my mom’s psychic ability. An eerie feeling came over me and I remembered that annoying girl from the hospital, Drew. She’d had way too much make-up on to know if we shared any resemblance though. “I just thought of something. There was another girl at the hospital with Lynn and Amanda. Drew. Have you met her?”

Trip’s expression shifted as he gestured to a bench, under a tree in the middle of the cemetery. “Name doesn’t ring a bell.”

I sat down on the wooden seat next to Trip and felt that it was damp as well. They really needed to fix their sprinkler system here. Or maybe that was still my butt. Lovely. Wondering how big of a mess I looked like, I put a hand to my limp hair. It felt like a rat’s nest. Wet butt. Tangled hair. Fat chance this would be a turn on.

“Kylie?”

I jerked out of my non-case-related thoughts. “Huh?”

“You were saying something about another person at the hospital with Lynn?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, embarrassed he’d caught my focus wandering. It was a good thing Trip couldn’t read minds. “Drew is Lynn’s niece. So, Amanda’s cousin.” I recalled my horror as Drew burst from behind the hospital door and my eyes narrowed. “She was totally and completely obnoxious.”

“How old?”

I thought about it. “Maybe nineteen. Or twenty at the most. How old are you?”

He looked thrown by the random question, but he eventually answered. “Seventeen.”

A year older than me. I wondered if he was a junior or senior.

“You were saying about Amanda’s cousin?”

“Right. Drew. She called me
cousin
in the hospital room.” An eerie feeling traveled up my spine. “I thought she was messing with me because I’d made up this story about—well, it’s long and lame so I won’t go into it, but now I think she wasn’t kidding. I mean, it seems pretty obvious I’m related to them.”

He nodded in agreement.

I took a deep breath. “That means I have a cousin who’d been hidden from me. Two of them actually. And an aunt.”

Trip leaned back in the bench. “That would mean your dad sent you to the police station to help find your cousin. It does add up.”

“Me, Amanda’s cousin.” It felt weird saying it aloud. Made it real.

“Haven’t you ever met relatives from your mother’s side?”

“My dad said she was an only child.” Another lie. I thought of Amanda and the connection I’d immediately felt with her. “It’s weird. In the hospital, I’d felt a bond with Amanda, but it might also explain her . . . ”

He waited a few seconds. “What?”

I fingered my jeans at the figure eight shaped mark above my bikini line. “When we found Amanda in the woods, I noticed a mark on her. I, uh, probably should’ve told you this before.” I gave him a guilty look but it’d been way too freaky and really, how was I supposed to know who to trust? “I have the same mark. It’s kind of creepy to think about, but maybe Lynn and Drew have them too.”

Trip’s brows came together. “What kind of mark?”

“A pink birthmark that’s shaped like a figure eight.” It’d never bothered me having a birthmark, but how weird would it be if it ran in the family? Freaky I tell you. Not even close to normal.

“A figure eight.” He seemed to mull this over. “Can I see it?”

My face flushed, but I lifted my shirt, undid the top two buttons on my jeans, and pulled the right edge down an inch or so. “Cool, huh?”

There was a moment of silence. Please don’t let him think it’s ugly.

“It’s hard to see in the dark.” He moved off the bench and knelt down on the ground, his face only a few inches from my belly. In the cool night breeze, my body became very aware of each warm breath his exhales made. He rested his thumb on my skin next to the mark. “It almost looks like a tattoo. The figure eight’s on its side. That’s the symbol for infinity.”

“Oh . . .” My breath caught and goose bumps prickled up my arms, possibly from the infinity discovery, but more likely from Trip’s touch. “Infinity, huh.” I held my breath as his thumb moved slightly—the tickle radiated up my side. I swallowed, trying to keep my cool. “I never thought of that.”

He studied the thimble-sized design closely, then looked up at me with an intense look. “What would happen if I touched it?”

My eyes grew huge and my heart drummed in my chest. “Come again?”

Trip flushed and pulled away, making my skin go cold. “I mean, if our palms touch then you can read my mind, right?”

“Not your left palm.”

He gave me a confused look.

My face heated. “Last night.”

“Oh, right.” He glanced down at his left hand, finally realizing he’d left his mind vulnerable. “Well, you have a mind connection through the right palm, so I wonder if something might happen with the symbol as well.”

I stared at him and swallowed. “It’s possible.”

He leaned back and pulled his hand away. “It’s just another theory. If it makes you uncomfortable—”

“Try it.” My voice raised a wee bit too much but I didn’t want there to be any confusion. After nearly being strangled, I wasn’t about to play hard to get. “It could be important to the case, don’t you think? We should definitely test your theory.”

Trip’s brows crinkled slightly. “I’m not quite sure how to ask this, but has anyone touched the symbol before?”

“Thanks a lot. I’ve had a traumatic night, okay? And a not so pleasant day for that matter. I don’t always look like this. I do use soap in the shower you know.” Then I caught his meaning. “Oh. You mean besides me.”

He nodded and his lips twitched.

Fine. Maybe I was a bit touchy about how I looked right now, but matted hair and a wet butt didn’t exactly scream
kiss me
. “No, nobody’s touched it. You’d be the first.”

It suddenly got very quiet.

“Go ahead. You have my permission if that’s what you’re waiting for.” I gestured toward my belly and braced myself.
Do it. Do it. Do it
.

He paused for what felt like forever. His face held an intense expression, but he made no move toward my mark.

I stopped my inner chanting. This was hopeless. Trip Williams obviously had no interest in touching me.

Then ever so swiftly, his thumb ran over the symbol on my skin. An electric current shot through my belly, but I doubted it had anything to do with the family birthmark. Oh. My.

He raised his brows. “Anything?”

Yes. “No.”

“Interesting.”

Very. “What do you mean?”

“Well—” Trip got up from his kneeling position and sat next to me again. Then his gaze dropped to my belly, which—I realized—was still bare. I dropped my shirt and then buttoned my jeans. “Again, this is just speculation. But, you have this unusual symbol, possibly from birth—”

“Possibly?” Then I got it. “Oh yeah. My dad’s a liar. Go on.”

“So the infinity sign, plus you can read minds. Seems likely there’s a connection. And if Amanda has this symbol as well . . .”

“Then, she can read minds too.” Duh. “Gee, I never knew mind reading was so popular.”

Trip cracked a smile. “Well, I can’t read minds.”

“Not yet anyway.” I returned his grin, then remembered my mental warning at the hospital. “Wait a minute. Maybe Amanda can’t read minds. Last night, I was sitting alone with Amanda in her hospital room and somebody—who wasn’t in the room—warned me we were in danger.”

“You mean called you on the phone?”

I shook my head. “They sent me some kind of mind message.”

Trip looked shocked. At least I think it was shock. His stare became vacant and his jaw went slack. “Something weird is going on here.”

Um, yeah. “Ya think?”

Suddenly, we heard a loud
crack
. Like a twig snapping.