INK: Fine Lines (Book 1) (23 page)

“Nope, not a one,” I sing-song as a testimony to McNab’s ability to not be a dumb ass. “Did you get my stuff from the signing?”

“Yeah, everything is in the bedroom.” He motions to the door.

“Cool, thank you.” I turn to McNab. “I’m going to get my phone, make sure I didn’t miss any important calls. I also need a shower after that motel.”

McNab and Aiden both flash me the same look for two separate reasons. 
Shit, I’ve been caught. Think.
 “McNab is a cheapskate, that hotel was gross.” Ha, I didn’t even have to lie. Aiden looks at McNab and he just shakes his head.

McNab protests with a cool tone, “We just hung out.”

I confirm McNab’s statement with a nod. McNab takes a moment for silent contemplation and inhales through his nose. “Are all you people really that driven by your reproductive organs? I mean can you 
not
 be friends with the opposite sex without out assuming there will be uglies bumping?”

“Its ‘bumping uglies,’ McNab, and many men can’t.” Moving over to where McNab is standing I put a kiss on my finger and come within a millimeter of touching the tip of his nose. “You, my friend, are the exception, and that’s why I appreciate you so much.”

Aiden scratches his crotch absent-mindedly, looking at McNab and me. “I can be friends with a chick, but why pass up on getting a little honey?” He bounces his eyebrows on the last bit.

McNab and I roll our eyes at the same time and I say, “Aiden, you are disgusting.” I head for the bedroom. “I’m getting in the shower now. Will you be here when I get out?” I ask, looking at McNab.

McNab shrugs. “Maybe.”

***

McNab

Aiden looks in the mini-fridge. “Beer?”

Why not, it’s been a long day. “What do you have?”

“All the usual suspects.” Aiden starts to list them off.

Jesus, it’s like the who’s-who of American piss water. “Nah, I’ll pass. Any water in there?”

“Yup.” He pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge and tosses it to me. After opening his beer he walks over to the couch and takes a seat.

Checking my messages I sit on the chair across from him. “Hey, did Carl ever show up?”

“No, I looked for him. I couldn’t find him anywhere,” Aiden answers with a little bit of satisfaction in his tone. Here comes the part where he tries to undermine my abilities. “I figured you’d be able to keep track of your man.” Oh, good point. Track my man. I take my phone back out from the pocket of my cargo pants and dial. No answer from Carl; now I’ll try Lori.

“
Paranormal Transmissions
, this is Lori.”

“Lori it’s McNab, where’s Carl?” I give Aiden a satisfying look. Bet he wishes he could track Shay like this. Or better yet I should shove a tracker up his ass while he’s sleeping so Shay can track 
him
.

“You want me to track him through the GPS?” Lori’s already looking him up—I can hear her typing. That’s my girl.

“Are you psychic?” I joke with her, but she does always seem to know exactly what I need when I need it. She’s a real gem.

“Looks like he’s at a place called Lenny’s on Riverside drive.” No reaction to my joke. She’s always so serious, what’s up with that?

“Thanks Lori, I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“You have GPS trackers on your people?” Aiden couldn’t possibly be mocking me with that look.

“Yes, all of my people carry trackers. Our work can sometimes be dangerous.” Mock that! He’d shit himself inside three minutes in some of the situations I’ve been in.

“So what exactly is it that you do?” Aiden leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

“I’m a paranormal investigator. We seek out the strange and unusual and either disprove it or stop it.”

“Is that why you’ve taken an interest in Shay’s story? You think this is paranormal?” Aiden’s brows tighten with concern.

“There’s more to it than 
normal
. We really didn’t know there was a story there. We were just doing a fluff piece for Sci-Net’s Kick-Ass Girl Week.” I remember thinking she was just some vapid bimbo that could draw. But after I talked with her, I knew there was more to her. That and she had psychic pollution dripping from her like a two-dollar whore drips the clap. “I didn’t know there was a story until things started happening.”

“What do you mean 
things
?” Aiden’s gears are turning; now I have to decide how much I’m willing to divulge to him. Weigh whether or not he can handle what’s happening.

“You know, 
things
.” If Shay wants to share more information with him, she can.

“How long ago did you meet her?” His curiosity is growing; he reeks of jealousy and suspicion.

“It’s been a while now. We met at a convention last year and kept in touch.” I’m going to check his reaction, but I think I need to defuse the ticking time-bomb that will explode into a green-eyed monster soon. It’s the last thing she needs to deal with.

“So, you’ve been close for a while?” The gears are turning in his head.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re close, she’s a story.” Hopefully that’s enough to put his insecure little mind to rest.

“She’s really just a story to you?” He’s not buying it. He should—I can’t imagine having my life totally entangled in that hot mess of a woman. That’s a briar patch I’m going to avoid.

“Aiden, look. I don’t like to beat around the bush. It hurts my brain when people don’t just say what’s on their mind so let me put you at ease.” Aiden’s eyes widen and he relaxes back into the couch. “Shay isn’t on my relationship radar, she has all the love interest she needs. I have no desire to throw my hat into the ring with two other suitors for a very emotionally damaged woman with mediocre looks. The only thing special I see about her is that she has a very interesting paranormal dilemma that I’m going to solve. To do that I have to keep her alive and well and out of the nuthouse. Can you help me with that, Aiden? Can you help to keep her out of the nuthouse?” Please answer that question correctly or I will eliminate you from this equation. Helping her comes first and everyone else is disposable on every level.

“I’m glad to hear you feel that way and yeah, I want to help her. It’s all I want to do, is help her.” Aiden leans forward; he’s on board. “So when did this all start happening?”

“I learned more about her problem nine months ago when she came to L.A. for the interview. It’s supposed to air this week, but I asked the network to pull it.” I wonder how long I can keep it off the air before I have to let it run. “For now.”

“Wait, so there’s been things happening for nine months? It’s not just Gary and Alice?”

“There have been many questionable occurrences just since I’ve met her. There’s been Elise, a man named Jorge, her mom, and now her neighbors. The list goes on and is much too long.” I rattled off the roll-call of the dead. Shay really isn’t sharing any info with him. It makes me wonder if I should trust him with it if she doesn’t.

“Wow.” Aiden pondered for a few minutes in silence. “And you think this is somehow 
supernatural
?”

“Absolutely.” Time to test how open-minded he can be. “There’s something that has attached itself to her. I’m trying to figure out how to un-attach it. But the problem is, it’s escalating.”

Aiden expels a heavy sigh. Not sure whether to believe what he was hearing. “Do you know anything about someone named Gabriel?”

“Yes, Gabriel Stokes. He’s the hero in 
Sanguine Specter
.” Gabriel is bad news.

A light bulb switches on in Aiden’s eyes. “She was yelling his name the other night.”

“Not surprising, he’s in the nightmares. I’m very concerned about contact the Specter is making while she’s awake.”

Aiden’s face goes paper-white as realization washes over him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s starting to interact with her waking moments. It won’t be long before it builds enough strength to not be contained in a dream state and do damage without need of a host.” Let’s see if he buys that.

“The beach and the mirror,” Aiden mutters.

“What about the beach?” Shay didn’t mention a beach. Aiden fills me in on everything that happened. It’s all starting to make sense. Aiden is even willing to buy into this explanation of the supernatural kind. No matter how implausible it seems, it’s the only explanation that fits.

***

Shay

I enter the room, drying my hair with a towel. As always, the talking stops as soon as I pass the threshold. I think my Native American name would be Taker of Tongues. “You’re still here, McNab. Couldn’t stand to leave me?”

“No.” McNab gives me an ‘oh please’ look. “Aiden and I were putting some pieces together,” he answers, standing up. “But I’ve got to go find Carl and get ready for my signing tomorrow. I suppose there’s no talking you out of going to the party?”

“Actually, I talked myself out of it.” I’m not up for a replay of today or worse.

“Why?” Aiden asks shocked as hell.

“Because it’s a bad idea.” McNab looks at Aiden insistently. “You’re making a good decision.”

“I just don’t know what to expect, and I’d rather get home.” I sit on the loveseat across from Aiden and put my feet on the coffee table.

“What about Raphael?” Aiden asks.

“Fuck Raphael, I’m not going to the party.” I’m not really up for showing skin.

“Good for you, kid,” McNab cheers me on.

“Where’s my phone?” I ask Aiden.

“In your backpack?” Aiden says it as a question.

“No, I checked. It wasn’t in the art bag or my backpack.” I try to remember the last time I saw it. It was on the table at the con.

“I guess it’s gone. Someone must have picked it up.” McNab’s tone is uneasy. It makes me wonder what has him worried.

“Damn it, all my numbers. I don’t want to get another phone.” This sucks; I can’t afford to buy a phone right now.

“It’s not the worst thing,” Aiden offers, recalling the day as a whole.

“It could be for the person who took it.” McNab falls into a state of consternation. “Nothing we can do now. I’ll see you later.” With that he leaves.

I look at Aiden on the couch across from me. The gears are turning. It looks like he’s working something out. I swear I can hear a hamster wheel squeaking and I think I smell smoke. “Hey.” I snap his concentration and he looks at me, slightly alarmed. “Whatchya thinkin?”

“Oh, just about everything.” After a pause he says in a reflective tone, “McNab’s pretty cool.”

That’s strange. Aiden rarely likes any man in my life. But it would seem he likes McNab. I nod. “He’s a good guy.”

“Yeah.” We stare at each other in silence for a few minutes. It’s not uncomfortable, just weird.

“Well, let’s leave in the morning. I’m going to get some sleep.” I get up from the loveseat, stretching and hoping that my bathrobe stays low enough to keep me decent.

“Okay, first thing. Sounds good.” His sad, longing eyes tugging at me. I have to make my exit quick.

I nearly get to the bedroom door when I hear Aiden’s voice break softly. “Shay, I don’t want be alone tonight.”

“You’re not. I’m in the next room, right here.” Oh he is 
not
 trying to get into my bed with that pile of bullshit.

He stands but doesn’t move toward me. “Shay, I was really scared this morning when you were having that episode of whatever it was.” He swallows back a lump in his throat. “I’m not going to try anything, I swear. I just want to be near you to know you’re okay.”

I tip my gaze upwards and let out a huff. I want to say no. “Fine, but if you lay a hand on me I’ll kick you in the balls.” I squint and give him a hard look. “I mean it.”

“I believe you,” he says, crossing his hands over his most valuable family jewels.

Shay

Blinking the sleep from my eyes, the first thing I see is Aiden as far away from me on the bed as possible without falling off. To his credit he is still fully clothed and on top of the covers. He held true to his word all night. I can’t help but study him while he is still. He looks so harmless, laying there with his chest rising and falling in rhythm. His arms are so strong and I can make out every well-defined muscle through his t-shirt. I find myself wishing he had his shirt off. I’m reminded of the warmth and happiness those arms have brought me, how when we were together things were always wonderful and intense.

I wonder about all of the places he’s been, all the things he’s seen. Aiden Roth, one of the great mysteries of the world. I’m convinced that if I knew him for a thousand years, I wouldn’t understand what makes him tick. Several emotions cycle through me as I replay the many memories he and I share, both good and bad. My mind carries me to a time when I didn’t think I could survive without him. Back when I still thought his leaving was my fault. Aiden was a habit I couldn’t kick.

Eli was my methadone to take the edge off when I couldn’t get my fix. It’s not that I don’t love Eli, because God knows I do. That’s another fact of my life that I can’t deny, I love them both. They are so different and make me happy in their own special ways. I know that Aiden and I don’t have a future together, simply because I’ll always wonder when he’s going to leave. Even if he never does, it’ll still weigh heavy on me. I shoo away the dread of him leaving again and accept it as truth.