Rogue Wave (The Water Keepers, Book 2) (15 page)

Ash stood with a rigid, commanding position at the edge of my bed, staring at me, making it clear he was in charge. “I don’t know what you think you saw at the hospital,” he said. “But I want to make it clear right now that we’re watching you.”

Seeing him here now, confirmed any doubt I had that it was Ash conspiring in the stairwell with Dr. Jensen at the hospital. I stared back at him with a blank expression, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing I was scared out of my mind.

“The file you saw,” he said coldly, “was classified information. I’m here to give you a warning…keep your mouth
shut
. Your communication with Rayne is being monitored. If you call him on the phone, we’ll know. If you whisper in the back seat of his car, we’ll know. If you drive out to the middle of the desert, strip yourself of your clothing, and throw all your electronics in the Grand Canyon, we’ll still be able to track your every move. If you say anything to Rayne that might even hint that I’ve had contact with you…we’ll know. And I promise…you don’t want to do that. We wouldn’t want your
mom
to fall victim to a tragic accident, now would we?”

As soon as Ash mentioned my mother, treating her like some pawn in his little game, I found my confidence. “Leave my mom out of this,” I said, springing up on my knees. “She has nothing to do with you or your questionable business deals.”

Ash laughed once. “Questionable business deals,” he repeated, tone light. “That’s cute.” He suddenly let himself fall back on my bed, casually pulling his hands behind his head and crossing his feet. “You’re adorable, Sadie. I can see why Rayne wants to spend so much time with you. Of course, we’ve only met twice and here I am already in bed with you in the middle of the night, and Rayne’s only managed a few stolen kisses.” Ash rolled slightly towards me. “I bet I could do a better job if you wanted to give it a try.”

My mouth fell open in a scoff. “No thanks. I’m good.”

“Too bad,” he said arrogantly. “I’ve been told on numerous occasions that I have a talent for it.”

“Are we done here?” I said. “Or did you have a few more threats to make against my mother?”

Ash sat up swiftly, leaning his body into my personal space. He brought his face close to mine, toying with me, wearing a menacing smile. “Just keep your mouth shut that you ever saw me or Dr. Jensen…then your mom will be fine. You’ll both be fine.”

My first inclination was to move away as fast as I could. But then Ash would win. So I held my body still, not moving away from his intrusive position on the bed. With my eyes still locked on his, I spoke firmly. “How do I know you’re not just saying that to lead me into some kind of trap?”

“Well, that’s easy,” he answered smoothly. “You don’t. But you don’t really have a choice either. If you want to keep your mother safe, you’ll do as I say. None of this concerns either of you.” He took a lock of my hair and twirled it around his finger. “I wouldn’t underestimate me, Sadie. I’m more like my father than you or Rayne give me credit for.”

I couldn’t take it anymore, his threatening breath on my cheek, his fingers twisting through my hair. I shoved his hand and pushed myself backward, leaning my body as far away from him as possible on my cramped bed. “And what about Rayne?” I said. “Will he be safe, too? Do your plans, or whatever you’re up to, involve him?”

“That’s up to Rayne,” Ash said. “If he minds his own business, he might not have to get involved. But I can’t make any promises. Rayne’s a big boy, and one day he’ll have to atone for his sins. Plus, you’re better off knowing the truth now. The guy’s nothing but a self-righteous, piece-of-scum lowlife. I’d like to scrape his eyes out with a nail file.”

Suddenly, I had the urge to take Ash’s so-called nail file and gouge out
his
eyes—as well as a few other
tender
parts of his body.

“Why do you talk about Rayne like that?” I said. “He’s been a good friend to you. Even when you were involved with my kidnapping, he forgave you almost instantly. What’s wrong with you? I thought Keepers were supposed to be all goodhearted and caring and stuff.”

“You think I’m a
Keeper
?” Ash said in disgust. “
Oh please
. Don’t insult me.”

“But I thought…I mean, your eyes…”

“You think Keepers are the only ones with Healing Water in their veins? Wow,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Has Rayne explained
anything
to you?”

“Uh, I don’t—”

“Look,” Ash interrupted. “I’m a Scout, okay? Not some pansy Keeper. Keepers are just a bunch of self-satisfied, glorified gate-keepers and philanthropists. Their jobs are about as tough as the security guard at the mall.”

Despite the fact that I would throw this guy out of a moving train if I knew how, I felt a sudden sense of interest in what he had to say. “So, what does a Scout do?” I asked.

He shrugged. “A few of us are just techies, back in a lab playing with expensive, top-secret toys. But most of us, we’re like...think of a cross between James Bond and a Black Ops marine. We do the real men’s work. We’re the guys they send when they have a tough job that has to get done, no questions asked. We’re not afraid to get our hands dirty. Unlike some people I know.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “Your father, Voss, was a Scout, too?”

Ash’s face tightened. “Of course he was. He was the best of the best.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Do you even hear yourself talking? You’re trying to tell me that you’re proud of what your father did? He was a cold-blooded murderer… Of course…it’s not like Rayne had any trouble taking him down.”

Out of nowhere, Ash’s grip seized my neck, and my back hit the bed. “What do you know about my father?” he snarled. With wild eyes, he clamped his hand tighter around my throat. “Rayne tried to
kill
my father. If anyone’s a murderer, it’s him.”

Fear bled through me. I gasped and choked for release from the suffocating pain.

Ash plunged his face down into mine, his eyes like fire. “You probably think Rayne is Mr. Perfect, just like everybody else. He has everybody fooled, doesn’t he. Well, did he happen to mention the reason why my father went rogue in the first place? Huh? Did he? Well you can thank your own wonderful father for that one.”

I stared into his big, hate-filled eyes, grasping at his arms as I suffocated, pleading for mercy. But then something happened. For one brief moment, I almost thought I saw remorse looking back at me. Then Ash’s grip released. I took a labored breath and rolled onto my side, rubbing my neck and drawing the air into my lungs.

The weight on the bed shifted as Ash moved to stand up. “I didn’t come here to hurt you, but don’t try my patience. I think you know what people in my family are capable of.”

I tried to gain my composure and sat up on the bed, my voice coming out strained, still trying to recuperate from being choked. “Even though your father wasn’t a good person,” I pushed out. “I
get
that you’re angry. He was still your family. But it wasn’t Rayne’s fault, and I’m pretty sure he feels really bad about it. You should give him another chance.”

Ash ignored my suggestion. “I didn’t come here for a therapy session. Just remember to keep your mouth
shut
.” He turned his back to leave the room.

“Wait,” I said.

Ash stopped and turned slowly, a look of exasperation on his face.

“What did you mean before, about my father?” I asked. “Do you know him?”

“Oh, I know him all right.”

My eyes widened. “Who is he?” I pled. “What does he have to do with you, or Voss? Please, you have to tell me.”

Ash smirked. “As much as I’d love to stay here and exchange pillow talk, I don’t have time to play twenty questions. I have business to take care of. If you really want to know about your father, I suggest you start pushing your trusty Keeper for some answers. You might find he’s not as perfect as everyone thinks.”

Ash left and I was alone in my room. It had never felt so eerie and cold before. There was no way I was going to sleep, or even going to close my eyes, after feeling so violated in my own bed. I didn’t really know Ash, but he seemed different than I remembered from our encounter five months ago. His eyes were still a vivid, deep blue, but his heart was black.

With the lamp still on, I curled up in my bed, hugging my knees to my chest, pulling the blankets as tight around me as possible. My head was jittery. I could barely manage rational thought; it was more like a bombardment of anxiety. Why was Ash exploiting the Healing Water? Did Dr. Jensen know who he was dealing with and what he was involved in? Would Ash really hurt my mother if I told Rayne? Was he really able to track my every move or were those just empty threats? Did Rayne have the answers about my father? Was he lying to me all this time?

I rocked forward and back under the covers, traces of adrenalin still surging through my veins. What should I do? Should I tell someone? And where was Rayne? What was taking him so long? What if he was hurt? I had to talk to him. I needed to know he was okay. I needed him to tell me everything was going to be all right. But there was a good chance Ash would know if I contacted him.

It suddenly hit me. That was why I had the diary. I hadn’t needed it for its real purpose in such a long time that I forgot what it was for. The diary was a safe way to communicate with Rayne. It couldn’t be tracked. Voss stole Rayne’s copy of the diary when he abducted me, but maybe he never had a chance to tell Ash about it. If he knew about the book, he could have easily broken in and taken it by now, so he must not know about it.

This meant I could tell Rayne everything without Ash finding out. Rayne could figure out what to do about it and my mother would never be in danger. At least, I was pretty sure I still had the diary. What if Ash had taken it tonight without my knowing? I scrambled from my bed to the nightstand and opened the top drawer. I sighed, relieved to find the diary sitting safely in its place.

The timing could not have been more perfect. Within seconds of me pulling the book into my lap, the purple butterfly light illuminated on the front cover. Finally…it was Rayne. I flipped through the pages eagerly until I found his message:

I’M SORRY I DISAPPEARED TODAY. I HIT A LITTLE SNAG AND HAD TO TAKE CARE OF A FEW THINGS, BUT I’M HOME NOW AND THERE’S SOMETHING I REALLY NEED TO TELL YOU. I SAW A LIGHT ON IN YOUR WINDOW, BUT WHEN I CAME TO CHECK, IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE ASLEEP. I DIDN’T WANT TO DISTURB YOU SO I WENT HOME, BUT I WANTED YOU TO SEE THIS MESSAGE AS SOON AS YOU WOKE UP, SO YOU WOULD KNOW THAT I WAS BACK. TALK TO YOU SOON.

Feeling Rayne’s presence across the street, just knowing he was there, brought a wave of peace over my body. I wrote back quickly:

Wait, I’m awake. Where have you been?? I’m so glad you’re here. I need to talk to you, too.

His response was almost immediate:

DON’T MOVE A MUSCLE! I’M COMING OVER.

I felt a surge of excitement and wrote:

I’ll meet you at the front door.

I made it halfway down the hall before a terrible thought crossed my mind. I was only supposed to talk to Rayne about what happened through the diary, in case Ash’s threats were real. Right then, I realized that if I ever wanted to be a spy, I wouldn’t be very good at it. I ran back to my room to write in the diary and tell Rayne to stop, but it was too late. I could already see him jogging quickly across the street. I hurried back to the front of the house. If I wanted to talk safely to him about Ash, I would have to pretend nothing was wrong and try to get Rayne back home to his diary as quickly as possible.

I carefully cracked the door open and peeked my head out. “Hey,” I whispered as he approached. “You know, I really don’t want to wake up my mom. Maybe we should just talk tomorrow.” For once I was smart enough to remember Ash could be listening, and didn’t mention the diary out loud.

“Well, just come outside, then,” he said. “It’s a nice night. And we both know your mom sleeps like a baby.”

I started forward hesitantly. “I don’t know. Some of my neighbors can be pretty nosey. I wouldn’t want to give them a reason to start any rumors.”

“Everyone’s asleep,” he said with a chuckle. “I promise it will be fine.”

He must have finally sensed how nervous I was. “But if it will make you feel better,” he added. “Let’s just go over to my place. Then we won’t bother your mom
or
the neighbors.”

Unable to think of more excuses, I let Rayne pull me across his yard and into the living room. As we sat on the old-fashioned couch, I couldn’t help but wonder how many electronic bugs were hidden around the room, just waiting to record every word we said for Ash’s listening pleasure.

Rayne sat enthusiastically. I could see the Healing Water radiating from his eyes. They were bright again, the sea-foam centers clear and sparkling, the outer rings restored to a perfect emerald green. That meant he was probably thinking clearly again. But if he was planning to take back the option to date him that he had offered before he’d left, he didn’t seem very apologetic about it.

He smiled. “Ladies first… What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh,” I said, trying to look convincing. “I just wanted to, um, tell you about dinner tonight.”

“Did you have a nice time?” he asked.

“Sure…yeah…The Rusty Pelican is really nice. And, uh, Dr. Jensen gave me a present. A new phone, actually.”

Rayne rubbed my shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you had a good time. And we all know you were in dire need of a new phone.”

I nodded, attempting to mask my true feelings. “So, what about you? What happened to you today?”

“I just ran into a small problem,” he said. “But it’s nothing to worry about. I’ve got it figured out.”

It still bothered me the way he never mentioned any details, but at this point, I basically just knew to expect it.