A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) (32 page)

Not able to return to his beach house, Rick found someone to sell it. Since then, he and Carol Ann had been staying in Steve McLeod’s safe house.

For the past four months, Rick endlessly thought about the last time he was there with the only woman who had touched his soul. He had not been able to go on with his life as he had hoped. Everything seemed to be on indefinite hold while he slowly went out of his mind.

Rick sat propped up against the pillows in bed. He dragged his right hand over his face. Never in his wildest imaginings did he think that letting Leonora go would be like dying. In fact it was worse. He felt nothing at all. He was completely numb. Nothing seemed to matter. Nothing had any value. All he could think about was her.

Where are you? What are you doing right now?
His eyes closed. The pain that took residence in his chest intensified with the passing of
each day. Leonora’s image sharpened in his mind.
God, I miss you. I wish I had never left that damn morning. Leaving you with Carol Ann was the worst decision I have ever made. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have made the wrong choice again?

On a ragged intake of breath, he turned his head to the left and looked outside the window toward the darkening sky. “I love you, Nora. I will always love you. No matter what happens, you will always be my wife.” His eyes closed. “You will always be my wife.” Tears that never stopped flowing fell.

There was a knock at the door. Sniffing, Rick quickly wiped his tears. He cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”

The door opened partway. Carol Ann poked her head in. “Control is here to see you.”

Rick leaned back on his pillows and stared up at the ceiling. “Send him in.”

Lance entered the room. His face fell the second he caught sight of Rick’s countenance. He had not seen Rick in two months. The ruse he had invented to throw the army off his and Rick’s trail had required his personal involvement. Though he was unable to visit himself, he had the rest of the team checking in on Rick, keeping him well informed. Nonetheless, Lance had not expected to find his best friend in this state.

Rick had let himself go severely. He had grown a beard that looked like it had never seen a comb or trimmers. His blond hair, once shiny and full of life, was now dull and limp. Eyes that once held a fire within them were now hollow and empty with a dark circle underneath each one. And a body that once possessed power and strength, plus a vibrant soul, now seemed weak and thin—with no soul at all.

Rick did not bother to look at Lance or Carol Ann as they entered his room. Lance pulled a chair closer to the bed. He sat down and placed the folder he carried on the mattress next to Rick.

“I have an assignment for you. It’s overseas. This time Trigger will accompany you.”

“Did you hear that, Rick?” Carol Ann enthusiastically joined in. “Now you can get out of this house.”

“I’m not going,” Rick flatly told them.

“What?” said Carol Ann and Lance.

They could not believe Rick was not jumping at the chance to leave the hut behind.

“Rick, this is a very serious assignment. I need you to—”

“I said I’m not going,” he repeated with more energy. “And while you’re here, take this.” He reached underneath his mattress, pulled out a sealed, legal-size white envelope, and handed it to Lance.

Lance’s eyebrows drew downward. “What is this?” He took the envelope.

“Open it.”

Lance did. He unfolded the white paper and read the first couple of words. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“What is it?” asked Carol Ann, craning her neck so she could see over his shoulder.

“It’s my resignation letter,” Rick told her.

“Your what?” she exclaimed.

“I quit,” was his blunt reply.

“You can’t quit,” insisted Lance.

“Wrong,” Rick corrected.

“Damn it, Rick! You’re the best man I’ve got. You can’t quit on me!”

“I already have.” Rick pointed at the letter. “That’s a copy.”

“Then why haven’t I heard about it?” inquired a scowling Lance.

“Or me?” put in Carol Ann.

To Lance, Rick replied, “Because I wanted to tell you personally.” And to Carol Ann, he said, “And I knew you would make a big issue out of it. And I am not in the mood for it.”

“You haven’t been in the mood for a lot of things; that’s your problem,” was her snippety remark.

Rick gave her a stern look. “Don’t start with me, Carol Ann. I said I’m not in the mood for it.”

Disregarding the letter handed to him, Lance picked up the folder and threw it onto Rick’s chest. “Then you better hurry up and get in the mood. Your plane leaves tomorrow.”

Rick took the folder and tossed it back onto Lance’s lap. “I won’t be on it.”

Sighing, Lance scratched his forehead. “Rick—”

“Control, listen. I don’t work for you anymore, okay. So stop trying to order me around.” He scooted off the opposite side of the bed. “I am leaving, but not on any assignment.”

They frowned, puzzled by what he meant.

“Where are you going?” asked Carol Ann and Lance simultaneously.

“Back to the beach.”

“What!” they exclaimed.

Lance stood from his seat.

“Rick, you can’t go back there,” implored his sister.

“Watch me.”

“But why?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” he mumbled.

“Try me.”

“Predator, by not living your life as you once did, by going back to where you last saw her isn’t going to bring Leonora back,” Lance tried to explain, hoping Rick would snap out of his depression.

Instead, Rick spun around and yelled at him. “Don’t you think I know that? I just can’t…I can’t let her go.” He turned his back to them before they saw his tears.

Lance walked over to him. “I’ll go with you.” He placed a hand on Rick’s shoulder.

Rick shook off Lance’s supportive grip. “No. I need to be alone.” He did not need a comforting hand. He did not need consoling words. What he needed was the woman who had given him peace. What he needed was the cat that had left her mark, not only on his back but also on his soul.

“When will you leave?” asked Lance.

“Tonight.”

“When will you return?” Carol Ann asked worriedly.

“I don’t know.”

Later that evening Lance and Carol Ann watched Rick drive away. Carol Ann was beside herself with worry at the thought of her brother going off in his frame of mind. Lance was worried about Rick going off alone, period.

“I don’t like this.” He shook his head while his dearest friend drove off. “I don’t like this at all.”

“Neither do I, but what other choice do we have?” Carol Ann asked.

Lance answered with a contorted face and a cynical chuckle. “Other than following him and getting beat up for it. Nothing. There isn’t a damn thing we can do.”

“So we’re just going to stand here and let him drive off alone?”

Lance cleared his throat and sauntered back inside. “We just did.”

Carol Ann was speechless. She stared at Lance and then back at the empty road before going inside. Closing the door, she continued, “Lance, we have to do something. You’ve seen for yourself the condition he’s in.”

She watched Lance pick up the telephone and make a call. He was not listening to her any longer. Shaking her head, she threw up her hands in frustration and headed for the only bathroom.

Finished with his phone call, Lance placed the receiver down. He went to stand next to the window. He pulled the curtains aside and stared up into the beautiful, star-filled sky.

What have you done to him? No one has affected the Predator like this, not even Mary. You’ve changed him so dramatically that even I don’t recognize him. Where are you? Are you even thinking about him? Do you even care what happens to him, now that you’re on your way home? Damn it, Leonora. You’ve changed him
. He looked down into the woods.
You’ve changed us all, then left us here to pick up from where we left off. And we can’t. Nothing’s the same anymore. Nothing
. He looked back up again.
Not a single damn thing. And all because of you
.

Lance did not hate Leonora. He actually liked and respected her. Truth be known, he would love anyone who could place a genuine smile on his best friend’s face. And Leonora had done more
than just that. But now she was gone, and so was the Rick he knew. He was not happy about it, for Rick meant a great deal to him.

Seeing Rick like this made Lance reevaluate his priorities in life, especially his personal life. He eyed the closed bathroom door. He decided to stay for the evening. He went to the room Rick had occupied. He changed the sheets and settled in for the night. He informed Carol Ann of his decision when she knocked on his door after noticing the dirty sheets in the laundry room.

Carol paused under the doorway to Lance’s room. “Lance, will you be staying until Rick returns?”

“Perhaps.” His eyes took their time traveling over her short, satin green robe.
If Rick knew where my thoughts were headed, he would kill me without a moment’s thought
. He exhaled. “Is that all right with you?”

She smiled. “Of course it is, silly. I’m happy for the company. At least now I’ll have someone who will speak back to me. I was getting pretty tired of talking to myself.”

Chuckling, Lance gave her his famous lopsided grin. “Good night, Carol Ann.”

She winked back at him. “Good night, Lance.”

The following morning, Rick knelt by the shorelines edge. He stared at the incoming waves as they climbed onto the sand. His mind replayed that beautiful day when he had first made love to Leonora on the very spot where he knelt. Squeezing his eyes shut, Rick shouted at the pain and loneliness that consumed his soul since he learned Leonora had left.

Three hours later, exhausted and spent, Rick laid on the sand with his arm thrown across his eyes. He did not notice the sunlight disappearing, even though it was a cloudless sky.

“So tell me, is this where you normally sleep?” came a male voice from above him.

Shading his eyes, Rick studied the man behind the voice. Normally, he would have sensed someone approaching and instantly been in a ready position. But during these past four months, he simply did not care anymore.

Rick scanned the man from head to toe. “Who are you?”

The man pointed to the house. “Do you own this house?”

“Who’s asking?” Rick was at least curious. After all, he still had Carol Ann to protect, even if he did not care whether he himself lived or not.

“I am called Challen.”

It took a moment for the man’s name to sink into Rick’s numb mind. When it did, Rick’s eyes widened. He was instantly on his feet. “Did you say,” he said and swallowed, “Challen?” His heart rammed against his ribs.

“Correct. Are you the warrior called the Predator?”

Rick could not breathe. What if something happened to Leonora? What if her brother was there to tell him that she was dead? His head began to spin. Having not eaten well for the past four months, Rick plopped onto his butt.

“Are you all right?” Challen knelt next to Rick. He placed a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. “You turned extremely pale.”

Rick forced himself to meet Challen’s gaze and speak. “What’s happened to her?”

Challen frowned. “Happened?” His features changed, showing he understood what Rick meant. “No! Nora is all right.”

“Oh Jesus!” Rick shut his eyes tight. He placed his face in his trembling hands and sent a thank you to God.

Rick missed the alarm that entered Challen’s eyes. “Your sister, is she all right?”

“Yes, she’s fine,” came Rick’s mumbled reply.

“Where is she?” Challen scanned the perimeter of the house. “Is she inside?”

“No.”

“Where then?”

Rick looked up from his hands and gave Challen a befuddled look. He did not want to talk about Carol Ann. He wanted to talk about Leonora. “Why are you here? I figured you would be halfway home by now.”

“We would have been if we did not turn back.”

“If Leonora is all right, then why did you come back? It’s not safe here for any of you.” Rick finally accepted that indeed
it was safer for Leonora and her people to be away from Earth, even if his soul had gone with her, and it pained him to say good-bye.

“We are not staying.”

Rick noticed Challen’s features darkened. Was he irritated? Why? Did Challen know about his relationship with Leonora? It mattered not. Rick needed to see his wife.

“Where’s Leonora? Can I see her? I didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to her.” His heart ached for her. He was sure his sentiments were displayed in his eyes.

Challen regarded Rick closely. “Is that what you want—to say good-bye to her?”

He seemed to be trying to figure Rick out. Rick felt it should not be hard. He was an open book lately. He desperately wanted to see Leonora.

“What do you mean? You said you weren’t staying. What do you expect me to do?”

“Exactly this.” Challen stood from where he knelt and walked away toward the house.

Rick hurried to his feet. He chased after Challen and grabbed him by the arm, keeping him from reaching the house. “What the bloody hell is that suppose to mean?”