Secret Worlds (367 page)

He watched Crocodile Boots carefully, curious as to what he would do. Even from where Lash stood, his enhanced seeing ability allowed him to see Crocodile Boots’ face clearly as if he were standing right in front of him.

As Naomi approached the podium, the man’s eyes turned dark, and he took a step toward her. Lash immediately pushed his way through the crowd to get closer. Even though they were in a crowded room with hundreds of witnesses and cameras, instinct told him that Crocodile Boots wouldn’t hesitate to stop Naomi from what she was doing—at any cost.

Lash was about to position himself right behind Naomi when he heard Luke Prescott take a sharp intake of breath. Their eyes locked, and he saw the unmistakable glimmer of recognition on Luke’s face. At that moment, Lash felt a blinding pain that stabbed behind his eyes. He clutched his head, and a vision of rolling hills and a pretty woman calling out to him flickered across his mind. As quickly as it came, the vision disappeared.

What the hell was that?
It was as if Luke knew who he was.

Lash rubbed his temples at the lingering dull ache. He looked back at Naomi, who was arguing with a couple of security guards near the stage. He then glanced over at Luke. Using his superior hearing, he could hear their conversation.

“Not here, Sal,” Luke said, placing a hand on the giant’s arm.

“Isn’t she the one?” Sal murmured as he glanced down at Naomi.

“Yes, she is.” Luke placed a finger over his mouth, deep in thought as he glanced between Lash and Naomi, who was now making a spectacle of herself.

Lash furrowed his brow. If only this damn headache would go away. He couldn’t focus on anything. He knew it was possible to get headaches; after all, his body was still a human body. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had one, though.

“Make it quick,” Luke said.

Sal nodded and made his way toward Naomi.

Lash attempted to intervene when the pain in his head intensified and black dots blurred his vision. He groaned and pressed his hands against his head.

“Are you okay, son?”

When he looked up, all he could see was a blur of a man with salt and pepper hair. The room swayed, and he felt sick to his stomach.

“You don’t look well. Let me get someone over here to help you,” the voice said.

Lash struggled to push away the pain. He had to get to Naomi. Where was she?

“Let me go,” he heard Naomi yell. A murmur rippled through the crowd, and he knew that Sal had gotten her.

“You won’t get away with this, Senator.” Naomi’s voice sounded farther away.

He’s taking her. I have to get to her,
Lash thought.

A cool hand brushed his temple, and his head felt like it was about to explode. He stumbled, trying to get out of the room as if he could escape from the pain. A hand caught him and through his blurred vision, he saw a silver ring with a red stone.

“Come on, son. Let me help you,” the voice said, its owner gripping his shoulder.

Lash opened his mouth, about to tell the voice that he didn’t need any help, but quickly shut it. He swallowed hard to keep down the bile that was searing his throat. What was going on? What was happening to him?

“Hizaher,” the voice whispered into his ear.

For a moment, the shock of hearing Hebrew made him forget about the stabbing pain in his head.

“Remember,” the voice repeated his command in English.

The pain intensified as another image seared through his mind. This time, the woman was out in the fields, carrying a basket, and her beautiful hazel eyes gazed lovingly at him.

He felt the hand on his shoulder lift, and the vision and pain vanished. Lash blinked. He was back in the room. He looked up, and the strange man was gone. It was as if nothing had happened.

He quickly looked to the podium. The senator appeared to be shaken and wore a forced smile. Everyone in the room was looking at her, laughing at a joke she had just made. There was a loud applause as she stepped away from the podium. Luke held out his hand to assist her, and Lash saw a flash of red on his finger.

Impossible
. He couldn’t be on stage and with Lash at the same time. And the language he spoke–Lash hadn’t heard it in centuries. Lash shook the thoughts away—he didn’t have time to dwell on them. He had to go after Naomi.

He pushed his way through the crowd, listening intently, hoping to hear her. When he ran out into the foyer, he heard her cussing up a storm.

“This guy giving you trouble?” Chuy and another guy stepped into the foyer.

Lash ducked behind a pillar. He didn’t know whether to be relived or laugh at the sight of the pair. Chuy looked normal in his navy suit compared to his companion, a heavy-set guy wearing a faux tuxedo t-shirt. He had a scowl on his face as if trying to appear tough, but Lash could tell from the sweat on his brow and the way his eyes moved from side to side that he was scared.

“Chuy. Lalo.” Naomi breathed with relief.

The room was tense for a moment, and Lash looked to see what was going on. Sal appeared to be sizing them up. Chuy looked like he could handle himself, but Sal had the look of a well-trained assassin. Lash was about to step up when he heard a loud whirling noise.

“Perdóname,” the janitor said when he bumped into Sal with the floor polish machine.

“You need to leave,” Sal growled. “This is a private matter.”

“Qué?” the janitor asked looking confused.

“Leave.”

“Qué?”

Sal looked down at him suspiciously and then over at Chuy and Lalo. He let go of Naomi. “Leave the premises at once and don’t come back,” he told her. With that, he glared at the janitor before disappearing back into the ballroom.

“Yeah, that’s right. You better leave,” Lalo threw up his arms, yelling out after him. “When you see brown, you best not come ’round—ow! Why’d you hit me?” He scowled at Naomi, rubbing his side.

“Because you’re acting like a fool,” Naomi hissed. “What took you guys so long?”

“They charge twenty bucks for valet parking,” Chuy said. “I couldn’t find a place nearby to park.”

Naomi rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m going back inside.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. That Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson look-alike let you off easy.”

“Ooh, he does look like The Rock,” Lalo said excitedly.

“Knock it off, Lalo.” Naomi slapped a black clutch against his chest. “I’m going back in there.”

Chuy grabbed her arm. “They might call the cops on you.”

“I don’t care.”

“Welita will.”

“She’ll understand.”

“She’ll bail you out. You want her to do that? She’ll use all her savings to do it, whether you like it or not.”

Her face fell, changing instantly from fury to sadness.

“Look, I know you want to do something, but let’s face it,” Chuy’s voice grew soft, “no one’s going to bother listening to people like us. We’re a blip to them, a number.”

Lash’s heart broke as he saw Naomi struggle to hold back the tears that glistened in her eyes. The fire that had lit her up, making her face glow with fiery beauty, was now gone, and he ached for her. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time.

“Señorita,” the janitor said timidly. “Are you okay?”

“You speak English?” Naomi asked, surprised.

“Of course.” He grinned. “I worked with your father on the night shift cleaning offices. I recognized you from the picture he always showed to the crew. He was so proud of you.”

Naomi blinked rapidly. “Thank you,” she choked.

“He was a good man.”

Naomi smiled sadly. “Yes, he was. If you’ll excuse us, we need to go.” She turned and walked toward the exit. Placing her hand on the door handle, she paused.

Chuy gently put a hand on her back. “It’s over, Naomi.”

She nodded, and as she walked out the door, her body sagged with defeat.

Lash pulled a small plastic baggie from his pocket and looked at his watch, wondering what was taking so long. A door squeaked open, and then he saw a reddish-brown bullet fly around the corner of the house, heading straight toward him.

Bear bounced up and down, her little pink tongue hanging out.

“Oh, so now you’re happy to see me,” Lash said. “Or are you happy to see this?” He waved the bag filled with Vienna sausages.

Bear barked.

“Shh.” He went to the corner of the house to see if anyone had heard her. Over the past couple of weeks, he’d managed to keep a low profile as he watched over Naomi. It wasn’t difficult to do. Most of the time, she stayed at Welita’s house, and when she wasn’t there, she was at her apartment or at work. The only time he wasn’t able to keep close tabs on her was when she went on her evening rides. At first, it was easy to keep up with her. Since she went on her rides at night, it was easy to fly without being caught, and she never rode too far. Today, though, he had had to turn back before he went too far and wasn’t able to get back on his own. He cursed the fact that he was limited in the distance he was able to fly. Why bother giving him an assignment if he couldn’t use all of his gifts?

Lash tossed a sausage to Bear. Naomi was getting more reckless. Lately, she’d started to ride the bike faster, and he worried that she would get into an accident. It was as if she was hoping something would happen.

Bear gobbled the morsel down in two bites and looked at him, panting for more. He tossed her another one and sat down on the grass, watching her as she ate. When she was done, she curled up on his lap. “I guess we’re friends now.”

Bear licked his fingers in response.

Lash chuckled. During the days that he’d spent watching Naomi, he figured that he had to find some way to keep the dog quiet. There was no better way to win a person’s heart—or a dog’s—than food.

He scratched behind Bear’s ear, something he’d seen Naomi do whenever she was visiting. After one of her rides, she’d sit in the living room and stare off into space. Bear would get a sad look in her eyes as if sensing her owner’s pain. The dog would lick her fingers cautiously until Naomi would snap out of it and place the dog in her lap.

Bear’s ears perked up.

“You hear her coming, too, huh?”

Bear wagged her tail.

“Okay, go back inside. You know how she gets after her rides.”

Bear barked in response and ran to the front yard. Lash peeked around the corner to watch. A mass of dark hair spilled out of Naomi’s helmet as she took it off. Her eyes looked puffy and her nose red. Tear streaks stained her cheeks. Lash shook his head and wished he could do something to take away her pain. He couldn’t understand why he cared. He’d been on lots of assignments where he’d had to watch people struggle with grief, but there was something about Naomi that touched him. She was like a wild bird, full of life and fire, that had her wings clipped, no longer able to fly. The girl he first saw ceased to exist.

“Hey, Bear,” Naomi said sadly as she bent down and patted her head.

The porch door swung open, and Chuy jogged out barefoot. “It’s about time you got back. Where were you?”

“None of your business.” She pulled the key from the ignition and got off the bike.

“Welita is worried about you riding that thing.”

“She’s always worried.”

“It’s different this time. A friend of hers saw you a couple of days ago on your bike. She said you were doing eighty, maybe even ninety.”

“So?” She crossed her arms.

Chuy scowled. “So Welita doesn’t want to wake up one morning and find out you’re splattered all over the highway. Neither do I.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know how to ride.” Naomi headed for the front door.

Chuy blocked her. “Give me the keys.” He held his hand out.

“What?”

“Give. Me. The keys.”

“Screw you. I’m not giving you anything. Get out of my way,” she said as she attempted to walk around him.

Lash clenched his hands into fists as he watched Chuy grip her arm. He’d never seen Chuy manhandle her. Family member or not, Lash was ready to do him bodily harm if he did anything to hurt her.

“Stop it, Chuy. I’m not giving you my bike.” She wrapped her fingers around the keys and held them behind her back.

Chuy grabbed her fist and attempted to pry her hand open. “I’m taking them whether you like it or not. I don’t want Welita worried about you every time you get on that thing.”

Bear ran around in circles, barking, as Naomi tried to pull her hand away from him.

“You’re hurting my hand.” Naomi hit his muscled brown arm.

Lash was about to risk his hiding place and go after him when Bear growled and lunged at Chuy, biting his big toe.

“Damn it, Bear. Knock it off.”

Lash grinned as he watched Chuy hop on his other foot while trying to rub his injured toe. He was beginning to really like that dog.

Naomi threw back her head and laughed. “Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” He sat on the porch steps and examined his toe. “I think she broke the skin.”

Naomi sat down next to him and examined his toe. “You big baby. She can barely make a dent with all those calluses.”

Chuy dropped his foot on the ground, and his face turned serious. “Look, Naomi. I’m all for you having your own ride. I was the one who fixed it up for you, but I’m worried about Welita.”

Naomi sighed. “I know. It’s just that”—she swallowed—“it’s the only thing that’s keeping me together.”

“Please, Naomi.” Chuy looked at her sadly. “Do it for Welita? Give her some peace of mind. It’ll only be for a while.”

Naomi looked sadly at her motorcycle and then back at Chuy. “Okay,” she said as she dropped the keys into his lap.

“Aren’t you coming inside?” Chuy asked as Naomi walked away from the house.

“I’m going home.” Naomi ran a hand over the bike as she passed it.

“Wait. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll catch the bus.”

Chuy jogged to her and stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him. “Hey, you’re not mad at me, are you?”

“No, I’m not mad,” she said. “I just want to be alone.”

“It’ll only be for a while. You’ll get your bike back soon,” he said. “I promise.”