Remember Me (Weaver Series) (13 page)

“What is it
?”  I asked, searching her face.

“I—I need to tell you something.” She lowered her voice and looked around as if she were checking for hidden cameras
. 

“Well, you can trust me if that is what’s got you bugged.”
I stole a quick look around us, and didn’t see anything or anyone out of place. 

“You have to promise to keep this to yourself okay
?”  I nodded and crossed my heart quickly for emphasis. 

“I promise.”

“Not here.” she whispered back and looked up at the girl working behind the counter.  I followed her eyes and studied the brunette who had given us our food.  She looked ordinary to me, but I wasn’t going to question it.

Pepper stood up and gestured for me to follow her
, which I did.  We walked out to the end of the peer and sat on the same bench that Kess and I had sat at a week or so ago.  “Okay spill it sister.” I chided.  She sighed and closed her eyes for a second.  I waited quietly, knowing she was contemplating her next decision. When she opened them again, I knew she was deadly serious.  “You need to watch your back.  They know that you are looking for something.”

That was not what I expected.
“Who knows what?”  I asked, feeling the adrenaline surge in my veins.

“The whole time that Kess was away from you last night
, he was arguing with his sister Railey in her office.” My eyes widened. 

“What did you hear?”

“Well, I went into the storage room to get some supplies for the bar for Marty and heard her tell Kess that if he couldn’t get the job done that she would.  I also heard your name and then they talked about some guy named Kalan.” I felt my heart start to pump in a rhythm ready for battle.  The blood was rushing up to my face and my hands were trembling.

“Pepper, what did they say about Kalan
?”  I pushed my sunglasses up on my head so that she could see my eyes.  I needed her to know that this was very important to me.  “She stood up and leaned against the railing with her back to the ocean.  “

Shhhh
!”  She put a finger up to her lips.  I looked over my shoulder, but the only people behind us were pre-occupied shoppers and an old man in a dingy flannel with a fishing rod cast over the side.

“I think we’re safe Pepper.” I couldn’t keep the agitation from my voice
.  This was the information that I needed, and if she had any insight as to what was going on, I wanted to hear it right this second!

“You never know Joey
.  You don’t know how Kess and his sister can be.”

“Okay, I get that, but it’s nothing I can’t fix.” I stood up and grabbed her hand
.  In an instant, I weaved us to the bayou spot that Kalan and I used.  I leaned against a moss-covered Willow and crossed my arms.

“We’re safe here I
guarantee you.”

Pepper leaned down to place her hands on her knees
.  “Oh my God that made me dizzy! I wish you would have given me a warning before you did that!”

“I’m sorry, but if I had then someone might have heard.” I said a little too dramatically
.  The truth was, I thought that she was being a little too paranoid, but who was I to judge?  After all, I was the girl who fell in love with a guy who was nothing more than a fleeting phantom who whispered in her head and appeared in foggy visions.  Pepper sat on a log and sighed.  “Oh I don’t know why I am doing this!”  She shook her head and I waited patiently.  I was afraid to say anything that might make her change her mind.  “Where the hell are we anyway?”  She added and looked up at me with curious eyes.

“
It’s my secret place.  This is the bayou behind my Mamaw and Papaw’s house…only the house isn’t really here anymore.  Actually we are in an in-between place kind of.  It existed in my childhood and for some reason I can pull myself here when I need to.”

Pepper smiled
.  “Oh.  You have some very advanced abilities don’t you?  Well, that’s convenient I guess.”

“Uh-huh, it sure is.” I felt a little haughty about it
.  The truth was, Kalan pulled me here first and I didn’t really know that I could do it until just now.  Just the same, it was indeed convenient.  Somehow I knew that I couldn’t be followed here.  I knew it the same way that I knew I could weave. 

“Trust me, we’re safe here Pepper
.  So please, tell me what you know.”

I weaved two tall glasses of sweet tea and moved to sit next to her, handing her one as I sat
.  “Thanks!”  she said between gulps.  It took her a few minutes (that seemed like an eternity) to get her thoughts collected and then she settled down enough to talk.

“So I was in the store room grabbing a box full of gin bottles when I heard Kess raise his voice
.  He said something like
I don’t care what you want, I won’t do anything that brings harm to her!
I guess that’s when my ears perked up because I wanted to know who he was talking about.  Then Railey said
If you let that little blonde tramp ruin all of my plans I promise you, Kalan and Peter won’t be the only dead light weavers. 
Then Kess said
Joey is not a threat to you Railey.  She doesn’t even know how to use her gifts!
I think that my feet were frozen to the floor because she mentioned Peter’s name.  Then the door to her office flew open and Kess went storming out to you.  She’s got a major hold over her brother that’s for sure.” She added this last part between gulps of the last of her glass of tea, clutching it with trembling hands.

“Oh, wow.” I sighed
.  Kessler didn’t really ask you to come check on me did he?”

“No
.  I…I just didn’t know what else to say and I needed to come see you.”

“I understand, it’s alright Pepper
,” I said in my best motherly voice and rubbed her back like my own Momma did when I was upset.  She started to hiccup and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s really not alright at all is it
?”  She said between hiccups.

“No
.  But it will be.  I guarantee you that.” Someone was going to pay for this agony.  I’d had a belly full and it was time for it to damn well stop.  Power coursed through my veins.  I felt the damp breeze on my cheeks blowing in from the bayou and with it, the strength of my family and the generations that grew up right here on this land.  In the distance I heard a Whipoorwill cry, and I couldn’t help but shiver. 

I
weaved Pepper back to my apartment so that she could get her car and gave her my word that I would not share the information she had given me with anyone.  I trusted her, and after explaining to her who Kalan was, I promised her that I would help her find a way to help Peter.  Whatever was going on here, her brother had something to do with it too.  It also meant that Railey was even more dangerous than I thought.  I needed to see Kessler and find out more as soon as possible, but more than anything, I wanted to talk to Kalan again.  I needed his strength.  I walked back slowly to my apartment after seeing Pepper to her car.  I was debating what my next move should be.  Clearly, I was dealing with a situation that required some careful consideration. 

I glanced absently at my neighbors by the pool.  They were all absorbed in conversation and hardly noticed me.  I’d never felt so alone.  Where was Kalan when I needed him?  How I wished I could hear his voice.
Just as I closed the door behind me, my cell phone rang and it made me jump straight up.  I glimpsed my sister and quickly jerked my phone out of my purse and flopped down on the couch.

“Hello?”

“Hey Sissy, how are you?”  Bailey’s voice was like a flood of comfort.

“Hi Bailey, I’m fine, what’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to call you to let you know that I made captain!”

“I
knew you would!”  I’ve been meaning to call to see how things were going, but from the sounds of it you are doing great.  I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks, you wouldn’t believe how stressed I was, I thought for sure that
Beckah Jonesboro was going to get it.”

“Not a chance
!”  I added giving into her enthusiasm.  My sister was the best cheerleader in the Delta and there was no way she wasn’t going to get anything she put her heart into when it came to cheering.  There was no need to weave anything for her there.

“Yeah, you would have laughed Sissy, there was this city guy that showed up, all dressed in black with tattoos on his fingers, anyway,
when Beckah was cheering he lit a cigarette right there in the gym and totally threw her off!” 

“Bailey, did you say he had tattoos on every finger
?”  My voice echoed in my head.

“Yeah, it was weird
.  He just sat there smiling, like he threw off her routine on purpose and then when Coach Becker started snapping her fingers and yelling about his cigarette he just got up all calm, and walked out.  I thought maybe he was just going to finish his cigarette outside, but he didn’t come back.  Anyway, he didn’t make me nervous, I actually thought he helped me win since he was such a distraction to her and all.  He was kinda cute for an older guy, but he left before I did my routine.”

“Have you ever seen him before
?”  I asked in a voice one thread below panic.

“Nu-uh, but Momma said he was probably visiting somebody down here
.  She thought he looked like he was from New York, or California cause of his clothes and stuff.”

“Oh well, I’m sure that he had nothing to do with you winning.” I felt a furry building in my stoma
ch.  How dare Kess go to my hometown to snoop around.  Who in the hell did he think he was?  Oh the thought of him that close to my family made me so mad I could spit nails.  He could have at least adjusted his appearance! My sister blabbered on about her friends and plans for the team but I wasn’t hearing her.  I was lost in my own thoughts and getting madder by the second.  Just then Kess materialized on my couch and winked at me.  I rushed an excuse at my sister and shoved my cell phone into my pocket.

“Just what in the Sam hell do you think you are doing Kessler
?” 

His
snake skin boots made their way to my table and he brushed a strand of his hair from his eyes with a grin.  “I was looking for you.” He said cooly.

“Look, I can tell you right now that I do not intend to sit by and let you mess with my head
.  That might work on other girls Kess, but it isn’t going to work with me.”

“If that is true, then why were you kissing me last night
?”  He wagged his eyebrows up and down.  I could have slapped the smirk right off of his face.  How I kissed him was beyond me.  What a cocky jerk! I didn’t have time to think about my next move, it was as if my hand had a mind of its own.  My right hand met his face with a snapping sound.  His head crooked to the side and then he turned back at me.  I had a moment to regret my actions before he grabbed me by the shoulders.  “Don’t ever do that again Joey.” His grip was firm and I could not move despite my attempts to break free of his grasp.  I thought for sure he was going to hit me.  I squished my eyes shut tight and braced for the blow, but he regained his composure and dropped his arms with a sigh.

“What do you want from me
?”  I asked in a shrill voice.  My resilience was breaking down.  It seemed like he was everywhere and that scared me.  No, it was more than that.  As much as he pissed me off, there was still something about him that made me jumpy.  Like the cool guy at school that made you grin like an idiot when he glanced at you, and then you’d trip over your own stupid feet and make a dang fool of yourself.  He made me jittery.  I had the sudden urge to bop right out of there and weave myself back to my bayou spot.  Instead I just sat there with my face in my hands sniffling like a big old baby. 

Instead of getting angry
, he pried my hands away from my face with his own and uttered something about women before kissing me on the tip of my nose.  I looked up and directly into his dark eyes. The depth there threatened to pull me in as I fought to regain my composure.  Kess sat silently returning my gaze.  The quiet was broken only by me catching a ragged breath.  And then without warning, he leaned in and kissed me squarely on the mouth.  It was a soft kiss.  The kind that sends that shiver down your spin like someone just walked over your grave.  I didn’t stop him, but I jumped to my feet so that he couldn’t do it again.

“You have no business snooping around my family Kess.” I
paced around and tried to appear as annoyed with him as I was a minute ago. 

“Oh, I wasn’t snooping
.  I told you, I was looking for you.  The way you disappeared on my last night I figured you might be upset.  Or in trouble,” he added hastily.  You did have a lot to drink.” He laughed.  “Besides, I feel responsible for you as your mentor and all.” I looked down at his snakeskin boots on my coffee table and the cool way he put his hands back behind his head.  It was sexy, but it still bugged me. 

“Yeah, well I am perfectly fine as you can see” I spread my arms to indicate my obvious wholeness
. 

“You are more than perfect.” He whispered, and I got the distinct feeling he did not mean for me to hear that
.  “Just promise me you won’t disappear like that again without at least saying good-bye, okay?”