Locked Out of Love (25 page)

“Tomorrow?” she squawked. “I was going to watch the finale of
The Bachelor
.”

Joel grinned. “You'll just have to record it. We'll meet you outside after closing.”

Niella wheeled herself back behind the reception desk, grumbling all the way.

• • •

Melanie stared down at her cell phone screen.

He'd pasted a Google map image with the address.

The following message was hours later.

Melanie's stomach cramped. She hated lying to Joel.

Only a little longer and you can come clean.

“I'd say no cell phones on the missions, but you did so well today that I think I'll make an exception.” Juliet took a seat next to her out on the curb.

Night had fallen and the steady drone of cars passing on the street made for a good distraction. Melanie watched a few taillights go by before she turned to Juliet. “Please don't congratulate me on a job well done. I'm not a dog; positive reinforcement won't get you anywhere. I told you why I'm doing this. That will have to be enough.”

Juliet rolled her blue eyes. She wore jeans. Jeans! In regular clothes she looked much younger than Melanie. “I know you're not a dog, Melanie. But you do deserve some praise. We stopped a con artist because of you.”

Melanie stared down at her hands. She flexed them, expecting to feel the new power she possessed moving under her skin, but her hands just felt like hands. “He wasn't exactly hurting anyone,” she said. “And he didn't seem too keen on giving up his powers, either.”

With Charlotte it had been easier. She'd wanted out. She'd been desperate for Melanie to help her. Lars Milo had been different. When they'd knocked on his door, the first instinct for this sketchy individual with a nervous twitch had been to try to jump out a back window. Mr. Richardson had been waiting for him. Milo thought they were some kind of law enforcement. He was resigned to the idea of losing his powers; he didn't fight it. In fact, it was almost like he expected it to happen one day. He'd had a good run at making a profit off his abilities, and now it was time to go back into the real world.

Was that what Juliet's organization was? Some kind of police force for super-powered individuals?

Even if he did deserve to have his abilities taken away, Melanie would never forget the look in his eye as she drained him—the sadness and disappointment was enough to make her queasy. She'd left the apartment as quickly as possible.

She'd been sitting on the curb ever since.

“Lars Milo was making a profit off of others by tricking them. Eventually someone would have gotten hurt, most likely Mr. Milo. Would you rather that have happened? We likely saved his life. The path he was on would have led him to the wrong type of people, and they would have seen his act for what it was, an act. Those kinds of people would have taken his life for payment.”

“I guess,” Melanie mumbled. Then louder, “How many powers can I take?”

“Hmm?”

“You know, until I'm … full.”

Juliet studied her a moment and then laughed. “You're not a flash drive, Melanie. You don't get full. Your storage space is infinite.” A feral glint came into her eye. “You could take all the world's powers and still be hungry for more.”

Melanie dropped her gaze.

That's what she was afraid of.

Melanie sat with a paper towel pressed firmly against the heel of her hand as she waited outside Sydney's animal clinic. She'd agreed to meet Joel here after work and caught the first bus she could. She was early, but that was fine with her. She stood outside, the sun beating down on her, warming her chilled flesh after she'd been cooped up in a frozen yogurt shop all afternoon. One of the machines had gotten stuck and Melanie had tried giving it a good smack, but only succeeded in slicing the heel of her hand on a corner of the metal. Luckily, it didn't bleed all over the place and had happened near the end of her shift.

She stared down at the bloody paper in her hand. The bleeding had all but stopped. She examined the wound for the fifth time, squinting to see if she needed stitches.

A shadow fell over her, causing her to jump.

“I didn't mean to scare you,” the figure said. “Are you lost?”

Melanie's eyes adjusted and she blinked at the stranger.

He looked to be in his early thirties. The crow's feet in the corners of his eyes gave away the fact that he spent a majority of his time smiling. His green eyes sparkled against his tan skin and dirty blond hair. He looked like a bona fide surfer, only the outfit was all wrong. He wore a white shirt, white pants, and an apron covered with red stains.

Melanie's eyes went to the shop twenty feet away. Tom's Pizzeria. It didn't take a genius to make the connection.

She shook her head. “Not lost.” She gestured with both hands to the clinic. “I'm waiting for Niella.”

He followed her movement, his eyes lingering on the clinic. “Ah, the mysterious receptionist.”

“Huh?”

He pulled his gaze back to Melanie. “I'm sorry, that's very rude of me. I'm Tom Larkin. I've been working next to Sydney for quite some time.”

She took the hand he presented with her unbloodied one and shook it. “Melanie.”

He smiled, eyes crinkling handsomely. “Nice to meet you, Melanie. So I take it you are a friend of Sydney's?”

“I'm Joel's … ” She drifted off. Not sure what she was. Girlfriend? She doubted Mirror Mate would fly with this guy, or soul mate. “I'm friends with Joel.”

“Ah, and here I thought I'd be able to get some information out of you,” he teased.

“About the mystery receptionist?” she teased back.

He gazed out into the parking lot. “I have to admit it's very strange that as long as we've worked near each other, I've never met her.”

“Is she new?”

“Not that I'm aware of. She'd been working with Sydney for years, ever since Sydney took over the clinic from her parents. I've known Sydney since she worked with her parents, and I've met everyone in Sydney's clinic, even the new young man, Luke— everyone except the receptionist.”

“Not even once?”

“Every time I go over there or poke my head in to say hi, the front desk is mysteriously deserted. If I didn't know any better I'd think I was being avoided. Strange, isn't it?” He shook his head and laughed.

Melanie peeked back at the clinic doors, tinted too dark to see inside. “Very.”

“The best I have is rare glimpses here and there.”

Melanie grinned. “Harboring a secret crush, are we?”

Tom jerked his chin toward her hand. “What'd you do to your hand there?”

Without warning, Tom pulled on her wrist until her hand was cradled in his. His hands had a faint white sheen to them. Flour. It reminded Melanie of Felix. Was that why she didn't reflexively pull away like she usually would? She didn't know why, but she got no bad vibes from this man.

He carefully removed the paper towel and handed it to her.

“Are you some kind of doctor in your spare time? Hitting the medical books between cooking pizzas?” she poked fun at him.

His lip twitched. “Something like that. It doesn't look too bad.” He fanned out her fingers to allow better access.

Joel's truck pulled into the lot and Tom released his hold on her hand.

 “So what's your diagnosis? Do you think it's infected?” Melanie asked as she rewrapped the injury.

A spark of amusement in his eyes. “I think you'll be fine in a couple of days.” Tom inclined his head to her. “It was great to meet you, Melanie. Hopefully I'll see you around.” With one last devastating smile he turned and headed toward the pizzeria.

She watched him leave, wondering why her heart wasn't racing after this encounter with such an obviously attractive man.

Because no matter how good-looking Tom was, he was missing that spark of mischief in his eyes, the one that would tease her about country music or challenge her to a video game shoot-out. She couldn't see Tom sitting with her for hours, painstakingly helping her get control of a power she wanted nothing to do with, dealing with all her drama and still looking at her without judgment.

Footsteps drew Melanie's attention. Joel came up beside her, keys still in hand. Her heart rate sped up. “Not you, too,” he whined. “Damn that guy.”

“What are you talking about?” She turned but Tom had already disappeared from sight.

“Your future fan club membership.”

Melanie tilted her head in askance.

The door to the clinic swooshed open and Niella poked her head out. She scanned the sidewalk, as if looking for anyone who might jump out at her. “Are we ready?” she asked, still not coming farther out into the waning sunlight.

Sydney's golden blonde head popped up over Niella's. “Not yet. Joel, can I talk to you for a minute?” Her emerald eyes rested on Melanie and she smiled. “Hi, Melanie!”

“Uh … ” Melanie lifted a hand and waved. “Hi.” She didn't realize how much Sydney and Tom looked alike. The two could have passed as siblings.

“I'll be right back,” Joel told her and went into the clinic.

Melanie expected Niella to come out and keep her company. But the clinic door closed, leaving Melanie to her thoughts.

• • •

Joel followed Sydney into her office. She shut the door behind him, trapping him in her bright yellow sunshine room. Joel hadn't been in here for quite some time. It hadn't changed much; there were still pictures of the guild littered around the room. A frame that used to house a picture of him and Sydney was now replaced with one of her and Merrick.

Joel walked over to it and picked it up. “I got demoted, I see,” he tried to make light of the situation. This was the first time he'd really been alone with Sydney since their breakup, and he hated to admit it, but he was antsy.

Sydney's face fell. “I didn't mean anything by it—” she started, gesturing to the picture, but Joel held up a hand.

“I'm teasing, Syd. I guess it's still a bit soon, huh? Look, I'm right there in one of the group shots; I have nothing to complain about. Now, why did you want to talk to me?”

“Right.” She buzzed around the room, too much energy for that tiny little body to contain. “I know you and Felix are having a fight right now—”

Joel gaped. “How do you know that?”

She stopped her buzzing to stare at him.

“Right. Cali.” He should have known.

Sydney nodded. “But I don't want to have to pick sides. We're all a team and I think you should be aware of our plans as much as anyone else.”

“Plans? What plans?”

Had the guild made plans without him? Son of a bitch!

He clenched his hands into fists. “Felix,” he grumbled. “What did he do behind my back?”

Sydney shot her hands out. “Joel, calm down. He didn't do anything. This was a group plan.”

“And where the hell was I?”

“I think you were, uh, busy”—her cheeks flushed—“with Melanie.”

Joel cleared his throat. Well, this was awkward. Nothing like talking about sex with your ex. “Okay,” he said calmly. “So I was … busy.” Adopting her word didn't stop the urge to run away from this conversation as fast as possible. It was worse than when his father had asked him about his first time. He shook the thought away. “What was this meeting about?”

Sydney looked relieved to be back on safer conversational ground. “We want to go back to the building, compound, whatever. The documents we took weren't enough. We want to question someone, to know what they're doing with these people on the list, if anything.”

“You're going back? All of you?”

She nodded.

“When?”

She looked away. “Tonight.”

“Tonight?” he exploded. “And no one thought to involve me?”

“I'm involving you right now,” Sydney shot back. “Look, Felix was worried that you might tell Melanie what we were planning, but I figured you deserve to know what is going on. I did a poor job of letting you in on things before, and that's going to stop now.”

And there it was.

The root of all Joel's anger. He exhaled loudly. “Hell, Syd—”

“I know you don't want to talk about it. I know now isn't the ideal time, but I wanted to let you in on this because if I didn't, the rift between us would continue to grow and I don't want that, Joel. Felix has his reasons for not wanting to involve you. I don't agree with them, so I'm telling you, but the last thing I want is for you to harbor ill feelings toward Felix because you think he's doing to you what I did to you. I was a coward. Felix is trying to protect those he loves.”

“I know.” Felix's reasons made it all the harder to be angry at him. Joel would do anything to protect Melanie and the guild.

He let out a huge breath.

“Thanks, Syd.” He didn't know what to make of his situation with Sydney, but he did know he wanted to find out more about this organization. “Does this mean I can go with you guys?”

“Aren't you hanging out with Melanie tonight?”

He shook his head. “It just so happens that I'm free tonight. I'm taking Melanie to Niella's, then I'm all yours.”

Sydney frowned. “Niella wants to hang out with Melanie?”

“Yeah,” Joel said quickly. “You know … girl stuff.” He didn't want anyone else to know about his plans with Niella. “I'll see you later tonight, Syd. And thanks.”

He left her standing there, a perplexed expression on her face.

• • •

“Wow, this is your house?” Melanie could do nothing but stare. The entrance hall had a small ramp to the right and opened into a huge living room. Hallways branched left and right, but Niella rolled into the living room. Melanie descended the few steps, taking in the tall ceiling, complete with a skylight, and all the potted plants that lined the walls.