Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (13 page)

The probability of an inside job jumped to the top of Cael’s list. He sent the ‘Drake’ details to his personal account as well as a note to search for ‘Crane’ in more depth.

A second linked record went to Angela Evelyn Hayes with a third link to Angela Evelyn Jenkins (m).

Perfect.

Thirty years had passed since the last time Cael had investigated Lily’s background. Twenty years had passed since he’d found Angela. Ten since he’d found out about Tony.

Just keeping up in case she asked one day.

Stories warred in his mind. What Lily had shared beat on what Evelyn told him. The two simply did not match.

“Time to go deeper,” he said to himself.

He’d never pried so much on his own before—only sought the details Lily wanted when she asked for it, though her interest to know never remained for long. She’d needed to keep the memories hidden.

That they’d been brought to the surface in such a disastrous manner pierced his heart. Never had he thought Lily would have been kidnapped by her unknown sister’s husband.

Cael clicked Lily’s name and unlocked the seal he’d placed on it years before.

Details of ‘live birth’ displayed as they always had. He made a note to add a seal to Leigh’s file once they found her. When any Mimic he worked with reached one hundred, the seal would automatically create a death certificate and Lily, Leigh and Chase—like Charley and James already had—would no longer exist, at least from an IRS and U.S. perspective. They could be found but only by those with the right clearance.

Returning to Evelyn’s records—with key pieces Cael already knew but itched to review in light of the new details—he went in search of truth to back up her story. “If there’s anything about a missing baby sixty years ago, it’s going to pop up.” Cael ran a hand along the back of his neck, noting the time at nearly midnight and ignoring his body’s need for rest.

The screen blinked and a listing of documents, newspaper articles and a variety of other items scrolled in front of Cael.

“Bingo.”

11

Bright lights and the sound of laughter had Lily blinking her eyes open to a bed and room she didn’t remember falling asleep in. She pushed up, recognizing the space as Tony’s and the giggles downstairs as Max’s.

A head shake brought with it no understanding of how she’d arrived in bed, or why she still wore the same clothes from the day before.

“Cael?”

Lily slipped from the bed, making her way through the hallway.

Down the steps.

To the office.

No one. The laptop sat on the desk. Closed.

“Cael?”

More giggles abounded from below along with another voice. A woman.
The
woman.

Shivers took over Lily’s body when a shadow graced the wall of the hallway. Lily couldn’t make herself move. Her mind ran with possibilities of seeing her mother, the woman who abandoned her so long before, standing in front of her.

“Lily?” Cael’s form materialized from the stairs. “Are you okay?”

“Wha—”

“I was downstairs with Evelyn and Max.”

“But, wha—” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “What’s going on?”

“There are a few things I need to fill you in about.” Cael navigated her toward the office.

“You didn’t send her away?”

He shook his head.

“But—Cael—How could you? I thought—” The idea of seeing that woman brought with it anger and frustration. She clenched her hands into a fist and stormed to the window. “Wait, who’s Evelyn?”

“Your moth—”

Lily cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “My mother’s name was Lucinda.”

Cael’s chuckle didn’t soothe the burning anger. “Nope.”

“Yes.”

“No.” His smirk made her want to scream.

“What the hell, Cael? Why the games? I don’t care what you call her. I’m not going down there, and I’m not going to talk to her. You have—”

Cael wrapped her in a hug, swinging side to side before pulling her to the window seat. “Let’s sit where it’s comfortable.”

Lily dropped down with him, fury bubbling within her.
If he doesn’t get on with his craziness, I might just have to hit him. Not that it would hurt.
She sat so she could stare into Cael’s eyes, though her ability to discern truth that way didn’t work very well.

“What if I told you the woman downstairs was your Mom?”

“I already know that. Just like I know—”

“What if I told you her name is Evelyn Lilian Hayes, not Lucinda Crane?”

Lily didn’t move from her spot. “People change their names all the time … especially to cover up a crime—” Or child abuse. Or the fact she’d thrust Lily into an organization no better than the worst child abuser.

“What if I told you—”

She shoved off. “Just get on with it, Cael. I’m always the last to know because I’m usually the most emotional, but this time, it’s about me. Me, me, me, me, me, so please just tell me how bad it is.”
Just don’t make me go to her.

Cael’s eyed widened. “Band-aid-like tell?”

“Yes. Just rip it off.” Lily mimed the action.

“She’s your mother, but not the woman you remember. You were abducted as a baby. As a one-year old in fact. Your Mom’s been—”

Lily stood and stomped her way to the other side of the room. “How did she get through to you?” One finger pointed back his way. “
You
, of all people.”

He rolled his eyes.

Lily threw her hands up in the air. “You, who’s tended the scars on my face, who found the detail of the sale, who rescued me from my own depression a dozen times. One woman in this world gave birth to me, and one woman sold me to the government for genetic testing and experimentation. One. Her.” Her breath hitched as her eyes filled.

Cael jumped up, raced to Lily and took her in his arms. “You said Band-Aid, Lil. Now hear me out.”

Her fists beat against his chest. “It’s not possible, Cael. I’ve hated her for almost forty-eight years. You can’t—” Tears raced down her cheeks as the constant flashbacks and memories took their toll on her psyche.

Cael held her away from his body, took her face between his palms and met her gaze again. “Hey …” He wiped at wetness on her cheek. “Are you going to let me finish?”

She raised eyes blurred by tears. “I don’t know if I can take it. The pain, needles. The jabs. The punches. The surgery. The—everything is all coming back. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t say ‘find my mom’. I was happy. I was dealing with stuff. I was … me, Cael. I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can. I already did all the research. Countless articles about the missing baby. I found police records, even. One night, you were there. The next morning, you were gone. A month later, a supposed sighting brought you into the spotlight. A year later, another. Two years. Four. Ten. Even twenty years later.”

“But isn’t that the cop’s job?”

He shook his head. “It went cold, Lily, because it was so old. Evelyn, though, she was always getting the ball rolling again. A parent believing her child is still out there does that, not someone who’d sold her daughter. The last record of an attempt came thirty-three years ago. When Angela was born.” Cael closed his eyes and sighed, a mix of emotion fluttering through his blue-green irises upon reopening. “She never told Angela’s father what happened. It all came out in a rush last night to her daughter … and again this morning to me as myself. What did you do when Chase went missing?”

Stiffness took hold of Lily’s body. “I didn’t do anything.”

His hands squeezed her biceps. “No, you mourned. But about a week after, right before he showed up, you’d started to heal. But you mourned, Lily. Evelyn, the woman downstairs, she’s still mourning, but she’s kept her life going. She was in her early forties when she had Angela.”

“That could have been because of guilt.” She tucked her chin down to her chest.
And rightly so.

“Look at me, Lily.”

She raised her head.

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“No.”

“Do you trust me when I tell you I did all the research possible overnight, and that I know when she met Al, her husband who died just three years ago, and when she had Angela and when everything started and stopped?”

“I’ve always trusted you.”

“And that I’ll do more if it’s needed to stop your tears? To make your heart stop beating so hard in your chest I can hear it? To put a smile back on your face—”

A small one broke through at the sweetness of his tone. “So I was kidnapped … like Leigh?”

“Again, we don’t know that she was. Until someone finds the real Angela, we’re stuck waiting to know for sure.”

“But what if she was—”

“Lily.” His firm tone broke her train of thought. “We won’t know anything until we find Angela.”

“But I was? Really?”

Cael indicated a ‘yes’ with a nod.

“And she really has been looking all these years? Does she know what I am?”

“Yes to the first. Everything I unearthed suggests she has no idea what we are, but honestly, I can’t say. I have a feeling, based on her story, that someone in the family did know, and for some reason, they expected you to be a Mimic. Somehow.”

“An inside job?” Lily wrung her hands.
So family still screwed me over?

“It happens to humans the same way. Most crimes are committed by family.”

“But—she really didn’t stop looking?”

The corners of Cael’s lips curved. “You want this, Lil. I know you.” The pad of his thumb rubbed against her cheek. “She’s your real mom, not the one you thought you had. That one, I’m still searching for, but Romania was a whole different country fifty years ago. I might find nothing. I have a lot of backtracking to do. But in this … I’m sure.”

“Will you keep looking for my sister and … niece?”

“Of course.”

Lily leaned into his hand, knowing he’d do anything for her—he already had. A flash of longing, of love and need stirred in her. The man before her had saved her. Time and again. She’d loved him for decades and owed him her life and so would her sister.

I could have a whole family. I could have both my families.

“I’ll do anything for you, Lil.”

I want more than just a mom—I want it all.

She stared into Cael’s eyes, the color shifting to a deep grey—a storm cloud of emotion tainting the usual brightness. “Thank you.” A rise up to her tiptoes and her hands took his face like he had hers. Butterflies took flight. Her throat constricted as her chest tightened.

His hands slid to her waist as his breath hitched.

A tug brought him closer.

She leaned in, added a soft touch of her lips to his. “Thank you, Cael.” Parted but within a breath’s distance, Cael angled up and laid a kiss to her forehead.

His hands held her still, their chests moving in and out as opposites, so close they could have been one body, but he didn’t press them forward. He’d pulled back, not taking her lips as she expected.

What were you thinking? He’s your friend. One past experience does not change what you already know.

A rush of footsteps bounded their way up the stairs.

Lily and Cael separated. While she wiped her eyes, he approached the window, sending a dangerous stare her way.

What do you feel, Cael? Is it the same as me? Is there more to us? Could there be?

Max raced into the room. “Mommy! Gramma and me made brefkast! Wanna come eat my smiley face? Or Gramma can make you a snowman or—”

Lily giggled as Max took her hand and tugged her to the door.

“Mr. Cael can come, too. Gramma says he’s a nice man and is going to help her find her long lost lily pearl.”

“Her what?” The nickname rang proverbial bells in Lily’s head.

Lily pearl. Someone called me Lily pearl. Who called me that?

Max nodded, an over exaggeration in kid form. “Gramma said. She lost her pretty a long time ago, and Mr. Cael said he likes to find stuff. Thas why she’s crying again. ‘Cause she’s happy.” He turned to Cael, a firm scowl in his tiny boy face. “Mommy cries when she’s happy.” He scrunched his nose. “Do I cry when I’m happy?”

Lily smiled at Max’s adorable misinterpretation and pronunciation. “Not usually. Crying when you’re happy usually happens when you’re old like me and your daddy.” Lily leaned down to him. “Do you think you could make a butterfly pancake for me?”

His eyes widened. “Yes!” He raced off and down the stairs.

She spun to Cael. “You told her you’d search … for me?”

“Well …” He moved toward Lily, cupped his hand behind her neck. “I explained who I was …”

Lily’s eyes opened like Max’s had.

Cael chortled. “… and that I’m a PI working with and for you and Tony. At that moment, she all but burst into tears retelling me the same story she told Angela last night. Seems it’s been cathartic for her to let it out after so long, and she wants … once again … to do something.”

“But it’s been almost fifty years.”

“Like I said, Lily … true love, no matter the kind, never dies.”

• • •

Cael followed Lily toward the kitchen. He forced her to go first so she could wiggle her anxiety out on each step down and wouldn’t chicken out and run back up.

At the first floor, she inclined her head toward him.

He motioned her forward.

She’d have to deal with her fears if she wanted to look further into her own past, and Cael believed she did.

Her cover as Angela gave her the best opportunity to pretend while dealing with the inner demons.

On a deep breath, Lily, in Angela’s form, acting as her own sister, squared her shoulders and walked into the kitchen.

Cael stayed right behind her, prepared to jump in if needed.

Max sat at the table, cutting into pancakes.

Evelyn stood at the stove, flipping another one. “Morning,” she said.

“Morning.” Lily’s voice came out a little strained, but Cael’s smile bloomed as she moved to her mom, placed a kiss on her cheek and stood to her side.

Evelyn chuckled. “One butterfly coming up. And what can I get for you, Cael?”

He pulled out a chair and sat. “I’ll have—”