White Jade (The PROJECT) (12 page)

He
heard a helicopter.
He
was looking for Selena, but couldn
'
t find her.
He
saw a cave in the side of a mountain and then
he
was
inside
. A dark figure
dressed in a long robe
stood in the shadows and
watched
him
.
The figure
held something white
in
his right hand
. There was a flash of light and rocks began falling.
He
was going to be buried alive.

Then
he was
standing in a crowd of people
with Megan. H
e was naked, exposed
.
He was
looking for
his
clothes.

"
I don
'
t know where my socks are.
"

"
It
'
s all right, Nick. But you need your parachute.
"

Then
he was
dressed and
they were
standing on
a
beach, looking out at the
Golden Gate
Bridge

"
I love you,
"
he said
.

"
I love you, too, but I have to go. Aren
'
t the mountains beautiful?
"

T
owering, snow-capped mountains
were
right up against the
b
ay behind the bridge. Somehow it ma
de
sense
in the dream.

Then the sky
turn
ed
dark and a cold wind beg
an
whipping up whitecaps on the
b
ay. Megan
was
gone.

He
woke
stretched out on the couch under a blanket. Everything ached. The dream
stuck in his mind. At
least it wasn
'
t the Afghan village again.
At least it wasn't that kid again.

Carter's
Irish Grandmother
sometimes dream
ed
of things to come
.
He'd
i
nherited the ability from her,
a
psychic quirk that open
ed
doors
he wished would stay closed
. The
dreams
always foreshadowed
something that ha
d
n
'
t happened yet
. It was
never anything pleasant.
She'd called it a gift. He thought it a curse.

This dream
was
one of those, but
he
couldn
'
t figure out what it
meant
.
Those black animals weren't cows, or anything like that.
If it was like the other
dreams
he
wouldn't
know
what it
meant
until h
e ran into it headfirst
.

Chapter
Eight
een

Selena
had
dressed in black running shorts with yellow stripes down the sides
,
a yellow sport bra with a black Nike swoosh on it
and running shoes.
A bright yellow headband kept the hair off her forehead. The only signs of yesterday were the shadows under her eyes and the scratches on her face.

The outfit showed off her trim body.
"
Good morning,
"
she said.
"
How are you feeling? Want some coffee?
"

"
Morning. Yeah,
coffee's good.
I feel like I went ten rounds with the wrong guy.
"

She
brought him a cup
.
Black and hot.

"
I thought I
'
d go for a run and work out some of that mine.
"

"
If you wait twenty minutes, I
'
ll get cleaned up and go with you. There
'
s a good trail nearby.
"

"
You like to run?
"

"
It
'
s
just
something I do to stay in shape.
"

Nick
felt
his
brain begin to function again.
He
was still wearing
his
holster and ruined jacket.
He
took them off, laid the rig on the coffee table.
He
took the
H-K
from the holster, pulled the slide partway back, still a round in the chamber.
He
dropped the
magazine
and inserted a fresh one
, set it back on the table
.

He
went into the other room. She
'
d made the bed.
He
stripped and went into the bathroom. The hot water soothed the aches and bruises and
he
started feeling human again.
He thought about Selena. She looked good in that outfit. He felt the beginning of an erection, turned the water to cold.

He
toweled off, wiped the steam off the mirror and shaved
. He
went back into the bedroom and pulled on shorts and a tee, put on
his
running shoes.

He thought about yesterday. It seemed there was always someone with a gun waiting for him, somewhere.
H
e thought about people who would cut the finger off an old man.
Someone had to do something about people like that. It
was what kept him going.
 

He got a
Colt .380
auto
from the safe and tucked it out of sight under the tee. It
was
a lot lighter and smaller than the
.45
. Good for a run. A
fter yesterday he
wasn
'
t going anywhere without something to make holes.

He
came out of the bedroom.

"
What happened to your leg?
"
she asked.

His leg looked like
someone
had run
a cheese grater on steroids over
the
thigh and then t
aken
a
few digs at the calf for good measure. The scars
were
colorful, red, white and blue, very patriotic.
Under his clothes t
here
were
puckered
ridges of scar tissue
on the side of
his
hip and ribcage.

"
Afghanistan
happened. A little kid threw a grenade at me. I shot him.
"

She looked at him.
He thought he saw unspoken accusation.

"
I didn
'
t have a choice.
T
he fragments missed the knee and the groin.
Still a couple in the leg.
It bothers me sometimes, but not bad. One reason I run is it keeps the leg strong.
"

"
Let
'
s run, then.
"

They
headed out the door and up the hill
. T
he morning
was
cool, perfect for a run before the heat built up. The trail was shady and soft underfoot. Birds darted in and out of the branches and leaves. A doe bounded across the trail in front of
them
. In the cool elevation and shade of the foothills, purple and yellow wildflowers still bloomed along the edge of the trail.

Carter's
b
reathing settled into an easy rhythm, the sounds of the run and the feel of the path under
his
feet fill
ing his thoughts
.
He
felt yesterday
begin to slip
away.
Then he remembered the man shooting at him and screaming as he went down.

The man he'd shot had tried to kill them
. He'd failed, and
Nick had survived.
Maybe there was meaning in it, maybe not
. T
hat
was a question for
people
who found value in probing theological and metaphysical mysteries.
He wasn't one of them.

He didn't look for meaning anymore.
When it came right down to it,
it was all about survival.
The way he dealt with it was one day at a time.
It had been one day at a time for the last fifteen years
. I
t didn't do any good to think about it. It was what he did, a job. Someone had to do it.

About two miles from the cabin
they
paused for a breather.

"
You were right, this is a great trail.
"
Selena looked out over a wide valley.

"
I make this run every morning when I
'
m here.
"

They
were
s
oaked in sweat. Selena rested her hand on
his
arm, catching her breath.

"
Nick…,
"
she began.
She looked at
him
, thoughtful.
"
Oh, never mind. Let
'
s talk when we get back.
"

"
After you.
"
He
gestured at the trail.

Back
at the cabin Nick stood
by the sink with a glass of water looking out the window
. He
felt her hand on
his
shoulder.

"
Nick,
"
she said.

He
turned and she reached behind
his
head and pulled
him
to her.
He
set the water down and put
his
arms around her
. She radiated heat
.
He
tasted the salt of her sweat, pulled her close, probed her mouth with
his
tongue and felt
himself
stiffen. Her hands moved on
his
back,
his
shoulders, then she reached down and cupped
him
, rubbed her hand over
him
.

He
broke the kiss.
He didn't think about it.

"
Maybe we should go in the bedroom.
"

"
Maybe we should.
"

He
kissed her again, on the mole on her lip.
They
moved together
to the bed, stripped and stood naked.

Her breasts were firm, her nipples pink and erect, her abdomen flat with narrow hips
. A
fuzz of blond descend
ed
from her navel to the tangle between her legs. She grasped
him
in one hand and kissed
him
while she ran her other hand along
his
back. Her fingers traced over the scar
s
.
He
picked her up and laid her across the bed.

She was wet.
When
he
entered she
sighed
, raised her legs and pulled
him
deep inside.
They
moved together and
he
wrapped
his
arms around her and pulled her tight. Her skin was smooth, glistening with sweat. Her fingers dug into
his
arms. After a few minutes she suddenly moved faster, arched her back and let out a long, wild yell.
Nick
exploded inside her.

He
slipped out of her and
they
lay next to each other.
Gradually
their
breathing slowed to normal.

"
Whew,
"
he
said.

Selena brushed hair back from her forehead, looked away.
He
felt
her withdraw. She got up and turned her back toward
him
.

"
I
'
m going to take a shower.
"

He
lay on the bed, feeling awkward.

She went into the bathroom, closed the door.
He
heard the shower running.
Nick
remembered how it used to be with Megan.

"
Do you think we
'
ll still be lovers when we
'
re old and gray?
"

He
'd
stroked her hair, kissed her, r
u
n
his
hands over her body.
They
were
tangled around each other in her big king sized bed, where
they'd
been all afternoon. Half-packed boxes were scattered around the room.

He
'd
kissed her breast.

"
We
'
ll never get old and gray.
"

"
Not if you keep doing that.
"

"
Like this?
"

She
'd
gasped, reached for
him
.

"
Yes, Nick, yes.
"

Megan
, he thought.
I couldn
'
t stop
it from
happening. I couldn
'
t will that plane back into the air.
His thoughts turned bleak.

One day at a time.

When Selena came out, she dressed quickly.
She went into the kitchen.

He
pulled on
Levis
and a light shirt
.
They made breakfast in silence.
They
sat down at the table with fresh coffee.

She
was
pensive.
"
That mine was no fun.
"

He
picked up
his
cup.
"
Hell
of a way to get to know each ot
her.
"

"
You know something,
"
she said.

"
What?
"

"
I
'
ve heard that people who go through serious stress together jump into each other
'
s arms.
"
She paused.
"
I never felt so
mortal
before. Nothing
'
s the same.
T
he moment seems more important now, everything seems more intense.
"