Target (9 page)

"How long will it take to sell the old store?" Ashe asked.

"I don't know hon. Jason called and said somebody came by yesterday, but he thinks it was just a tire kicker."

Ashe smiled at his mother's vernacular. A tire kicker was someone there to look only, more than likely. It came from the car sales industry, he imagined.

The doorbell rang while they sat together, dreaming up ideas for a bookstore near the beach. "I'll get it," Ashe said, sliding off his barstool.

"Nobody said I couldn't visit," Marco walked in with Marcus. Adele, who'd followed Ashe, gave Marco a hug. He grinned at Ashe's mother. "You may not want to hug me when I tell you what I came for," he was still grinning. "But I have to make a phone call, first." Marco hit a number on speed dial. Ashe heard it ring on the other end. He also recognized the voice when it picked up.
Winkler
.

"Mrs. Evans is here, Mr. Winkler," Marco handed the phone to Adele.

"Mrs. Evans?" Winkler said. Ashe could hear every word clearly. Marcus stood by, listening in.

"Mr. Winkler?" Adele said. "What can I do for you?"

"I hear Shirley Walker wants to put your son to work in the groves."

"She has offered jobs to the kids who are sixteen or older. Ashe turns sixteen on Sunday."

"I want to offer a job to Ashe as well. And it won't be twelve-hour days in the heat at minimum wage."

"Mr. Winkler, that sounds dangerous to me."

"It shouldn't be. He'll be working at the house with me. Seems word slipped out that he hacked into someone's computer before he was twelve. Now, I won't name any names, but those kinds of skills are valuable to me. I like to know which banks I provide security for are vulnerable. I'd like to give Ashe a crack at them and see if he can get past their electronic security, among other things. Send him to me for the summer, Mrs. Evans. He'll be constantly surrounded by my own security guards and paid a lot better. Talk it over with Ashe and your husband. I'd like an answer by Sunday evening, if that's possible."

"I was going to take him for his driving test on Monday," Adele sounded stunned.

"He can take it there or here. It doesn't matter. And I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

Ashe stared at Marco, who gave him a grin as he took the phone from Adele.

"Ashe, do you want to do this?" His mother's golden-brown eyes searched his face.

Ashe considered it for a moment. It only took that long, after all. "Yeah, I think I'd like to try it."

"I think we'll have a sit-down soon and talk about hacking into computers, young man," Adele added. Marco laughed. Ashe knew the information had been passed from Cori to Marco, and then from Marco to Winkler. Ashe had hacked into Principal Billings' computer—twice—because Cori asked him to. The first time had been to check her math grade, not to change it, and the second was to look into Randy Smith's file that Billings had on his office computer. Billings knew about the first time. Likely didn't know about the second. Ashe wasn't about to own up to that.

"Look," Ashe reached out and tapped the front of Marco's shirt, causing Marco to look downward. Ashe flipped Marco's nose as he did so. Marcus burst out laughing.

* * *

"Son, I know you're still upset." Aedan sat on the end of Ashe's bed. It was Friday night and Ashe knew that Marco had taken Cori, Sali, Dori, Wynn, and two others to see a movie in Corpus Christi. They were likely going to eat while they were out, too. Ashe was missing it. He sat against the headboard of his bed, arms crossed over his chest while he examined the socks he wore. The white cotton stuck out against the faded black of his old jeans. He'd need new ones soon—these were getting short.

"If I allow you to work for Mr. Winkler, you have to obey him. Just as you would your mother or me. The only reason I'm allowing this is that Mr. Winkler's wolves can likely protect you as well as you'd be protected here. Nobody will suspect you're there, I think. I'll tell Mr. Winkler that if this doesn't work out to send you straight home. Is that clear? Screw up, Son, and you'll be right back here having another talk."

"I got it, Dad." Ashe still wasn't looking at his father.

"Your mother is still fretting over your birthday. She wanted to invite friends over, but didn't know if you'd want that."

"I don't." Ashe was ambivalent about it, but he stubbornly declared otherwise. He'd seen Sali, sitting in Marcus' van, his arm around Wynn when Marco drove away.

"Then we're back to what you might want or need for your birthday."

"I need new jeans. These are short," Ashe forced the hem on one leg down as far as it would go with the opposite toe.

"I know you're still growing, Son. I'll see what Adele wants to do. You'll leave Monday evening; Mr. Winkler's sending the jet. Marco will go back with you. That leaves time to get your license on Monday, providing you pass the test."

Ashe didn't say anything, he just nodded. He'd already gone through the Texas driver's education program online throughout the day. He fully intended to get his license on the first try. "I know I made a mistake, attempting compulsion. I broke a promise I made to myself when I did that," Aedan sighed, staring out Ashe's window.

Ashe figured his father could see everything outside that window quite clearly, although it was completely dark outside. "We have to trust one another, Ashe. You need to trust that I'm doing the best I can for you. To keep you safe and keep the family safe. I let my anger get away from me, and that's not good. The only excuse I have is that it frightens me when somebody hauls you off to who knows where, and you risk your life to save someone else. I wasn't awake to be consulted on the matter and you have no idea how frustrating that is to me."

"I know it frustrates you, Dad. I've been watching you for nearly sixteen years," Ashe mumbled. He had. His father didn't show emotion much of the time, so when he did, Ashe paid very close attention.

"I know. I like to think you get those observational skills from me," Aedan smiled wryly. "And as a vampire, I didn't think I'd ever get a child. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I can't truly describe how I felt the moment they placed a tiny baby boy in my arms almost sixteen years ago. Overwhelmed is the best word I can come up with. I thought I might break you, you were so small. Barely eight pounds, I think, and when vampires can bend steel with their bare hands, you can imagine how frightened I was, holding something that fragile."

"Dad, I don't like fighting with you."

"I don't like fighting with you or your mother. It hurts too much. Right now, your mother is barely speaking to me."

"Everything is my fault, Dad. The move, the whole compulsion thing that you and Nathan have to do to keep me hidden—all of it. It's because of me."

"Wynn would be dead if it weren't for you. We'd never have caught James' killer if it weren't for you. Paul Harris would have watched Randy Smith die by Pack Law and taken pleasure in it. He had that poor human girl murdered because Marco was showing interest in her. He never showed it, but he was racist in the extreme."

"He tried to kill you," Ashe sighed, uncrossing his arms and flexing his fingers.

"And Nathan and Radomir."

"Yeah. And now, nobody can know what I am and I have to hide."

"We have to keep you safe. I know these things don't sit well with you, but we made a commitment when we said we wanted children. If that means keeping you hidden, then that's our job."

"That sounds like jail to me." Ashe picked at a worn spot on the left knee of his jeans.

"Do a good job for Mr. Winkler, Son," Aedan didn't respond to Ashe's statement. Instead, he rose and stretched. "It could lead to something better someday." Aedan walked out of Ashe's bedroom, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Saturday might have been one of the worst days Ashe had ever been forced to endure. Marco took Cori (who'd just come from college in Oklahoma), Sali, Wynn, Dori and a pack of others to the beach in Port Aransas. Ashe wanted to go so badly he could taste it, and he'd be flying to Dallas on Monday night. He hadn't gotten to stick a toe into gulf water yet, and he was likely going to spend the summer away from his new home.

"Honey, I'll take you shopping in Corpus tomorrow. You can buy new clothes for your birthday and we'll go to the bookstore afterward," Adele stuck her head out the patio door. Ashe was sitting in a lawn chair on the back deck, staring at the tall, wooden fence that blocked the nearest housing addition from view.

"Okay," Ashe's voice failed to conceal how depressed he was.

"It's over tomorrow. We'll go out and have a good time."

"Yeah." Ashe sounded listless, even to his own ears. Had he hoped to get a car for his birthday? He knew he wouldn't get one now. His dad wouldn't allow that. Ashe couldn't drive around like the others. He'd come to the conclusion that nobody would let him out on his own. He was going to be secluded and guarded for the rest of his life. The talk the night before had cleared the air somewhat, but Aedan hadn't given Ashe much hope that he'd be allowed freedom like Sali and the others.

"Ashe, I can't say that I know exactly how you feel," his mother came to sit in the chair beside him. "Because I never had to worry about most of those things. Right now, we just want to see you reach adulthood alive and in one piece. You'll have to humor us a little, honey."

"Mom, I can't live in a vacuum the rest of my life. You might as well shoot me now," Ashe muttered.

"I hope things are better for you when you get to Dallas. Your father is worried."

"I am, too. Does that mean I can't have any fun? Ever?"

"We could still have a party tomorrow night."

"I don't want one. I just want to go to the beach with the others. Or to the movies or out to dinner without a parent. It's not that I don't love you," Ashe was quick to say. "But it's different."

"I know." Adele stared at her lap. "I don’t know what to do, Ashe. I truly don't." Adele rose and went inside the house.

* * *

"He's miserable." Adele said. Aedan had just climbed out of the storm shelter inside the garage. "He wanted to go to the beach or to the movies with the others and he's cooped up in the house. I know you grounded him, Aedan, but if you decide to do that three days before his birthday ever again without consulting me, you and I will have a little chat afterward." Adele stalked away from her husband.

* * *

Of course, it was raining on his birthday. Of course. Ashe watched as the world outside his bedroom window drowned in a pouring rain. "Gloomy. Dreadful. Dismal. Melancholic. Ominous." Ashe muttered a litany of words that fit the day and his life. Still grumbling, he stepped inside the shower. Dressing afterward, he muttered more words. "Miserable. Disconsolate. Depressed." Ashe combed back his brown, slightly curly hair.

"Happy Birthday, honey." Adele dropped an envelope beside Ashe as he sat at the kitchen island, crunching away on cereal squares.

"Thanks," Ashe sighed, hoping his mother wouldn't think him ungrateful.

"Aren't you going to open it?" His mother went to find something for breakfast. Ashe slipped the card from the envelope. The card was very nice, signed by his mother and father. The gift card that slipped out was nice, too—a hefty amount from a major electronics store.

"We thought you might like a laptop, since you're going to Dallas for the summer," Adele smiled. Ashe stared at the gift card. It would buy a laptop, a carrying case and perhaps a few extras, too.

"Mom—uh, thanks," Ashe was almost speechless. A car would have made him truly speechless, but this was pretty good.

"And take a look at this," Adele turned on the small television in the kitchen, tuning it to one of the continuous news programs. "It'll be on in a few minutes; they recycle the stories every half hour or so," she pulled the pancake mix out of the pantry and began to put ingredients together for breakfast. Ashe watched the news, most of which he'd heard already, until it came to what he considered
the
article.

"Congressman Jack Howard was rescued today after a hunting accident in Colorado," the news anchor said while an inset video showed the congressman being helped off a helicopter by two rescue workers. "One of the two bodyguards hunting with him at the time was accidentally killed in the same incident. The three men were caught in a rockslide while tracking elk," the newscaster went on. "Many questions have been raised over the congressman's hunting elk out of season." The article ended there.

"Hmmph," Ashe muttered. "Congressman Jack Howard shot his own man."

"He did?" Adele turned to Ashe, a shocked look on her face.

"After I dumped him in the dirt when he was about to shoot Wynn," Ashe nodded. "He jumped up and just started shooting at everything. I saw another man fall off his horse. I figure that's the one who got killed."

"Ashe, you knocked the Congressman off his horse?" Adele was aghast.

"He was about to shoot Wynn. What did you want me to do?"

"Did he see you?"

"He didn't see a thing. Neither did the other guy. He was the one who grazed Wynn. You know—the game preserve owner?"

"Marcus says the Grand Master took care of that one himself," Adele sat down again, pancakes forgotten.