Redemption (9 page)

“Sure. Anything,” he replied with a nod, as she turned and plastered an incredulous smile across her face.

“It’s been a long time.” His voice hit her like a freight train, her chest throbbing in that all too familiar pain. She squeezed Ian’s hand as the man made his way towards them.

“Just giving them a little tour. It’s not often that she makes it back here,” Sam stated as he eyed Becca forward. Becca just continued to smile, unmoving. “This is Ian Holt.”

“Abe North. Nice to meet you,” Abe stated, as he offered his hand to Ian.

Becca batted Ian’s hand down when he reached to shake. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Rebecca, let’s be civil,” Sam chastised as he turned to address Ian. “These two have a long history, you know.”

“Really?” Ian eyed Becca. “I hadn’t heard.”

“Thought these two would be together for the long haul.”

“Things don’t always turn out the way you plan.” Becca pressed her lips firmly together.

“I never really got to explain how…”

“I don’t need to hear any empty apologies from you now,” she stated, effectively cutting him off as she moved even closer to Ian.

“I never meant to…” Abe’s eyes were consumed with guilt. “Everything’s all right now, then? You’re healed?”

Becca’s free hand made its way around to the middle of her back where her scar ached just at the mention of it. “It took a while, but I’m fine now.”

Ian turned to see the spot she was referring to. He felt an unfamiliar rage well up inside him as he whispered to Becca, “He did that to you?” She met his gaze, confused. He still hadn’t broached the subject of him glimpsing her bare back as she was changing. He leaned into her ear. “I saw it earlier.”

She mouthed the words, “I’m sorry. I never meant…”

“No. No.” Ian pulled her into his arms. Her hands rested on his chest, her head at his shoulder. He lightly ran his fingers across where the scar lay beneath the layers of fabric. “Let’s see if we can take care of this.” Ian rested his forehead against hers. If his touch didn’t feel so calming, being this close to anyone would terrify her. He lifted her chin up with his index finger, placing a soft kiss upon her forehead. Ian turned, slipping his arm securely around her waist.

Devastation swept across Abe’s face as realization set in. “I had no idea you were with someone.”

Sam opened up his mouth to refute the statement, but Ian spoke before first. “I would hope you would be man enough to be happy for us. I guess I should thank you, actually.”

“For what?” Abe’s voice was filled with nervous confusion.

“If the two of you had stayed together, I never would have gotten the chance to make her my wife.” Ian’s brilliant blue eyes reflected the gratitude in hers.

“The two of you are already married?” Abe looked like he was on the verge of tears as the words escaped his lips. The pain was almost excruciating.

“Not yet,” Becca perked up. “Soon though. You’ll understand if we don’t include you on the guest list...”

Abe swallowed hard.

“I think we’d like to move on now, if that’s all right Sam.” Ian stated, as he pulled Becca towards the door, his hand still firmly at her waist.

“Of course,” Sam replied, still reeling from the events that just unfolded before him. Becca and Ian went back through the door and waited at Tess’ desk as Sam lingered. “I want a full report on the Athens situation and I expect you’ll come to my office when I call.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sam closed the door as Abe caught one last look at Becca with her arm around her new fiancé.

“Rebecca, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I had no idea,” Sam stated sincerely, as he caressed her shoulder.

“It’s fine. I knew we would have to see each other again someday; I was just caught a little off guard. I thought he was still in London.”

“When Lily left, we needed someone to fill in. He was available and willing to come back to the States. He’d been so devastated when he left Portland that I thought it might be a good change for him.”

“Glad to hear he still feels guilty. Thanks for the save in there, I almost believed you.” She smiled at Ian who was still holding her close at his side.

“He believed. That’s all that matters.” Ian squeezed at her waist before releasing her.

“On with the tour then.” Sam led them to another set of elevators.

“Why don’t we just go down to the vault? You don’t mind, do you?”

Ian turned to Becca. “I think the sooner we get started the easier it will be for you. Maybe you’ll cheer up at the sight of your new car.”

That brought a smile back to her pale pink lips. “I had almost forgotten.”

Sam took them through a maze of offices and hallways. Six different sets of elevators later, they reached the vault floor.

An endless deep space filled with boxes, creates, and side vaults. They walked in anxious silence for almost fifteen minutes before Sam stopped in front of a large side vault and keyed in a twenty digit combination into the key pad. When he completed his task, a green light flashed as the enormous, thick metal door lifted. Slowly, the McLaren came into view, just inches inside of the vault. Becca made her way inside and lightly ghosted her finger across the smooth body from bumper to bumper.

“I never thought I’d see it again.” Becca sighed, resting her hand on the driver’s side door.

“Her,” Ian corrected. Becca turned to him with a look of confusion. “Lily always said this car was like her baby, her little girl.”

Becca nodded in agreement.

“The journals are right over there. I’d say you’d be safe staying in the last ten years.” Sam went over and opened a box behind the car.

“You don’t know how much this means to me,” Ian shook Sam’s hand. “To us.”

“If you can bring Lily back without any bloodshed, it’ll be worth it.”

Becca took a journal from the box. “I wonder…” Becca flipped through the journal to find a picture of her and Lily. “This was on her birthday that year. We were in New York City, in a suite we had above Time Square. We drank Champagne all night.”

“I’ll leave you two with your memories. Just call me when you’re ready to take your new little girl home.”

Becca pecked Sam on the cheek. “Thanks.” Sam squeezed her hand before leaving the vault. She turned back to see Ian flipping through the journal she just had open. “We had so much fun. It was an amazing trip.”

“Just you and her?”

Becca dropped her eyes. “No, Abe was with us.”

“Oh. You want to talk about it?”

“We’ll have time for that later. Let’s get started with these.” She picked up two thousand – three and two thousand – four. “She went on an extended trip in two thousand – nine, maybe start there.”

He flipped it open to find a picture of a little house covered in snow. The caption below read ‘my Icelandic getaway’.

“Iceland?” they said in unison, as they dug further into the journal. They read about her friends Renee and Erik and how she had bought the house as a getaway for some of the winter months. She loved the small town, the cold, and the solitude, but she missed her daughter.

Lily spent entire entries detailing her relationship with Becca. The tears threatened to fall several times, but Becca managed to keep them at bay.

“Could it really be this easy?” Becca questioned, as she continued to flip through the journal.

“Easy? I don’t know about you, but the past two months have been hell for me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean… So, you up for an Icelandic adventure?”

“When can we leave?”

The elevator dinged bringing Sam’s attention to the opening doors. Abe slowly stepped out as Sam eyed him until he was standing at the edge of his desk. He set the file he’d been compiling on the Athens transaction on the desk.

“Sit.” Sam gritted through his teeth. Abe complied, falling back into the chair behind him, knowing he was about to confess his most monstrous sins.

“I was always under the impression that you and Becca parted on friendly terms. Imagine my surprise when I find out just this morning that this was not the case. We’ve known each other for a long while you and me, Abaddon. I would expect nothing less than the truth.”

“It’s a long story…”

Sam’s forehead creased at his impatience.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Abe began to recount his life with Becca. It had been three years, but the pain still haunted his fragile soul. Never in the hundreds of years he’d been walking the earth had he ever felt love. Becca was the exception. He had finally found meaning to his existence in the form of one perfect woman.

Her long auburn locks, sparkling blue eyes, her heart shaped lips, the curve of her thighs, all perfect in his eyes. He knew she had never seen herself as beautiful, being brought up beside the magnificent beauty of a vampire, but Abe never looked twice at Lily. All he saw was what his heart longed for, a soul mate. It was that love he gave to her body and soul that had almost destroyed her.

Abe was a delivery system of sorts, known only as a shadow walker. Things would pop up in the wrong place and he would transfer them or remove them completely. Demons, sometimes prisoners of war, he listened to a higher call and followed His instructions. With one touch, he could pull someone into the shadows, transporting them to any point in the universe. Could be heaven, could be hell, could even be New Jersey…

His main assignment for over a hundred years had been with The Manchester Group. A liaison, of sorts, with them and the powers that be, more commonly known as PTB. It was only when he met Becca that he began using his powers for anything other than what he was called to do. At a moments notice, they would be dinning in Paris, walking the beaches of Cancun, or shopping on the streets of Milan. Anything to show her what magnificent glory she had brought to his existence.

“Do you remember when she was assigned to The Monitor’s task force?”

Sam nodded, as the recollection of her most terrifying case came sweeping to the corners of his mind. “Even we couldn’t find him.”

“She worked day and night, going through all the proper channels while I spent all that time going through the improper ones. I knew I had to find him once he singled her out, taunting her, but I knew I needed help. So I went to the one nobody would ever dream of teaming up with; Gideon.”

Sam slammed his fist against his desk causing a large crater to appear. He carefully picked out the splinters as he tried to control his anger. “Gideon has been banished for decades. Why would you ever imagine he could help?”

“I knew he had resources I didn’t. I thought he might be the only one who could help me save her. Turns out, he was the one she needed saving from. Gideon was The Monitor.”

“And you led her straight to him?”

“I needed his visions to tell me how to find the psychopath. Then, he insisted on seeing Becca, saying only she could bring his purest visions to light.”

“Then, what happened? I never heard a word of this.”

“He held both of us for weeks and I remember hardly any of it. When I finally got us out of there, Becca was terrified at the sight of me. That’s when I transferred to London. Lily assured me she would take care of her. Now, I guess she has that Ian to take care of her.”

“He’s only human though; I don’t know if he’s the right fit for her.” His head dropped into his hands, then winched when he hit the spot where the biggest splinter had been.

“She seems quite attached to him, and the way he looks at her…I can hardly blame him.”

Sam’s secretary buzzed his phone. “Agent Swift on line three.”

Sam picked up the phone with his good hand. “Yes, Becca…Wonderful, I’ll meet you down there.” He gently slid the phone back down and raised his eyes to meet Abe’s. “We will deal with all of this when I get back.”

Abe adjusted himself in his chair. “You’re going with them…to find Lily?”

“I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“Sam’s on his way down,” Becca said, shoving her phone back in her pocket as she sat in the driver’s seat of the McLaren. “Sorry, baby, looks like it wasn’t meant to be this trip. I promise I won’t leave you here for long.” She stroked her slender fingers across the steering wheel as Ian started to chuckle in the passenger’s seat. She turned to give him a stern glare as she pursed her lips.

“She’s not even yours and you’re treating her like your baby too.”

“Hey, a lot of hours went into researching this car. Lily and I hand picked it. It’s practically one of a kind with all of the extras it has on it.”

“So, if you love cars as much as Lily, where’s your McLaren?”

She brought the corner of her mouth up in a sweet smile. “I needed more of a company car. The McLaren is a little ostentatious for an FBI agent, so I drive a Saturn. What about you?”

“A Hummer – it just seemed like the right fit. Lily would even change my oil when I needed it.”

“She taught me all that stuff too. I never had a dad to teach me about cars, so I learned everything from Lily.”

“I have a father, but we never spent any amount of time working on cars. I was lucky if I got him to come to one of my football games.”

Her brow creased in confusion. “I had you pegged as more of the baseball type.”

“I was a kicker and a punter, before my mother realized I got tackled just as much as any of the other guys. She was afraid I would break my hands, so that was the end of my glorious football career. I even gave up a scholarship to Northwestern.”

“Are you ever sorry you focused on your music instead?”

“Never,” he replied firmly, his eyes lighting up at the thought of stroking his fingers across the keys. “I love it, but more than that, I crave it. The melodies, the feel of the ivory beneath my fingertips, the perfect last note...”

Becca’s awe was apparent as she pressed her lips into a soft smile. “You talk about your music the way I talk about cars.”

Ian nodded. “I guess we each have our own instruments, so to speak.”

“How much withdrawal am I going to have to deal with?”

“As long as I have my iPod, I think I’ll be alright.” Ian tapped his fingers against his knees as he searched for how to bring up the subject he’d been wondering about for hours. “Truth or dare?”

“What?” Becca asked, practically laughing out the syllable. “This is really not the place to be doing any kind of dare.”

“Truth it is then.”

She twisted in her seat to meet his stare. “What do you want to know?”

He wiped his hand across his brow, preparing to ask the question. Any way he phrased it, he had a feeling it wouldn’t come out right. He knew Abe had something to do with what he had seen on her back that morning, and he wanted to know why.

“I think if I’m going to be your fiancé for that Abe guy’s benefit, I should at least know why.”

She nodded as she dipped her head down. She had hardly ever talked about what had happened except with Lily; Sam hadn’t even known. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks at the thought of those last weeks with Abe. Her palms got clammy, her pulse started to race. She took a deep breath before launching into what was sure to be a very long explanation.

“As you probably noticed, Abe’s not exactly human.”

“It’s the eyes.” He nodded as he blinked overtly.

“I met Abe while he and Lily were working at Manchester. I knew, with our obvious differences, it would never end well, but I never imagined…” She took a long, deep breath. “Abe is a shadow walker. He can pull you into his shadow and transport you anywhere.”

“Hence, the not touching thing?”

“Exactly,” she replied, trying to figure out where to start. At the beginning of the end, she guessed. “It all went to hell when I got assigned to ‘The Monitor’s’ task force a little over three years ago.”

“You were going after
that
guy? The one who burns his victims?” The vision of the scar on her back came blaring in his mind. A crescent shaped burn put there by a serial killer.

“Yes, much to Abe’s disappointment. He became extremely overprotective and went to the ends of the earth trying to find any being that would be able to help us find the mad man. Abe has visions too. They work differently and for some reason were being blocked when he tried to use them for the case. He did find someone else to help eventually – Gideon. Gideon had the power of foresight and was able to possess almost any living thing. He had been banished decades ago, but Abe assured me that Gideon had visions of The Monitor. We went to meet Gideon, only to find that the truth was…Gideon
was
The Monitor.”

Ian nodded as he realized why The Monitor had never been caught. “He was possessing people to do his killing for him.”

“He ended up torturing us for weeks. His favorite way to torture me was through Abe. Gideon would take over Abe’s body and beat me into unconsciousness, but I wouldn’t break. He’d burn me just like the rest of his victims and still, I didn’t break. One morning, he strapped me down to a table with leather straps. I was so weak at that point I could barley move, but I promised myself that I would never let him break me. That’s when Gideon came to me as Abe for the last time. He ripped the clothes from my body and crawled on top of me. He raped me as Abe and I couldn’t even cry out for the real Abe lost inside of him.”

It was all too horrible to imagine and Ian took Becca’s hand as a tear ran down her cheek.

“That’s where he made his mistake. He tossed Abe’s body aside and returned to his own, deciding that he wanted his body inside of me, not just his mind. Somehow, Abe was able to gather enough strength to rip him off of me and we disappeared.”

“A few days later, I woke up in a hospital in Portland with Abe holding my hand. At first I wasn’t sure it was really Abe, but even when I realized it was him, I still couldn’t stand the sight of him. I knew he wasn’t Gideon, but I still blamed him for taking me there in the first place. All I could see was his fingers ripping at my flesh, feel the hot iron burning the spot on my back. When I walked into his office this morning, it all just came flooding back.”

Ian reached to wipe a tear from her cheek, but she grabbed the door handle and jumped out. She was pacing in front of the car when he tried to approach, her breathing heavy as she began to cry. She couldn’t stand anymore. Ian caught her and set her down by the wall as the sobs overtook her body.

“Hell of a time to have a panic attack,” she sobbed, slowing her breathing in an attempt to calm herself.

“No, no, it’s fine. Tell me what I can do. I’ll do anything. Anything you want.”

“It’s just…he’s still out there. He could get to me through anybody.”

“I can’t even imagine how you must feel.” He couldn’t really. He had never known pain or loss like Becca had. The last months of his life longing for Lily were nothing compared to what Becca had suffered through.

Becca rose quickly as she heard footsteps approaching them. She put her hand on her side arm as she took a defensive stance, shoulders squared, head up, in front of Ian.