LS02 - Lightning Lingers (3 page)

"Well done. I'm going to wash up."

"Take your time. I'll cut up some fruit before I put the eggs on."

On her way to the stairs, Katherine was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. "I'll get it," she said to Margot and then made her way to the door.

A slender, pretty, dark-eyed brunette stood on the porch. She looked surprised when Katherine opened the door.

"Oh," she said. "I'm looking for Debbie Barrett."

"That's my mother. I'm Katherine. She's sleeping right now. It's very early."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm on my way to work. I saw the lights on, and I know Debbie doesn't sleep that well at night anymore. I thought I might catch her awake," the woman said. "I'm Jasmine Portillo." She glanced over her shoulder. "Could I speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course. Come in."

"TJ told me you live in Houston," Jasmine said, as she stepped into the house.

"I do. I came home for a visit. How do you know my brother?"

"I work with him at MDT." She drew in a breath and let it out. "Actually, we have a personal relationship, too. I don't know if he told you…"

"We haven't spoken recently."

"Well, it's kind of new. He was supposed to get back on Thursday from a trip to Mexico, and I haven't heard from him. One of his coworkers told me that they thought he missed the plane. He's not answering his cell phone. I'm worried about him. I thought your mom might have heard from him."

"She told me he was in Mexico," Katherine said carefully. "Should I be concerned?"

"I'm sure he just stayed a day longer or took a sightseeing trip. He was pretty excited about going to Cancun. He said he'd never been to Mexico but had always wanted to go."

"I think it was on his wish list," she admitted.

"TJ is usually really good about calling me back, and we were supposed to get together last night, so I thought it was strange that I didn't hear from him. I probably shouldn't have come over here. Now I've worried you, too."

"It's fine. I'm glad someone is looking out for him." She wished she could tell Jasmine that TJ was all right, but she'd promised her brother not to speak to anyone about his situation, especially not someone who worked at his company. Jasmine seemed genuinely worried, and maybe she was right to be worried, because Katherine hadn't heard from her brother in almost twelve hours. Who knew where he was now or what condition he was in.

"There have been some weird things going on at the company," Jasmine added. "I guess we're all still a little on edge when something out of the ordinary happens."

She thought back to what TJ said about the people in his department who had died the past year. "He mentioned to me there had been some problems."

"The problems are supposedly over, but you never know." She paused and put on a brighter smile. "Anyway, I hope the bell didn't wake up Mrs. Barrett."

"I doubt it bothered her at all."

"How's your mother?" Jasmine asked.

"She's doing well this morning."

"That's good to hear. TJ told me her condition has been getting worse. I went through Alzheimer's with my grandmother so I know a bit about how bad it is."

"It is difficult," she said.

"I won't keep you. If you hear from TJ, could you tell him to call me?"

"I will. It was nice to meet you."

"You, too. TJ talks a lot about you, Katherine. He's really proud of you, just in case you didn't know that. I know how brothers can be."

"I'm proud of him, too," she said, relieved that Jasmine had only heard good things about her from her brother.

After Jasmine left, Katherine went upstairs to use the bathroom, then went into her mother's bedroom to see what condition it was in. Sadly, it was as messy as the rest of the house. There were dozens of clothes on the bed, as if her mom had tried on several different outfits the night before.

There was a pill bottle on the nightstand that disturbed her. Her mother definitely should not have access to medication, since she might get confused about what she'd taken and when she'd taken it.

The prescription was for a medication she wasn't familiar with, but what bothered her more was that the prescribing doctor was not her mother's physician. That was odd. Maybe Dr. Benner had gone out of town and his associate had filled the prescription. She'd have to ask TJ when he got back, or maybe one of the caregivers would know.

Slipping the bottle into the pocket of her jacket, she moved down the hall to TJ's room. He'd always been a nerd, and despite the fact that he was now twenty-seven years old, his bedroom still looked like a teenager lived here. He had Star Wars posters on the wall, and his desk was filled with textbooks.

How had he gone from this geeky innocence to dangerous trouble in Mexico, of all places?

She walked across the room and spun the standing globe by his bed. As the world went around, she thought about her brother's words. He was going to a place where people lived in a lost civilization. Her nerves tingled and her body tensed as her fingers trailed across southern Mexico.

Her high school boyfriend Jake Monroe had wanted to take her to the Yucatan one day. He'd wanted to introduce her to his great-grandmother, who lived in a small village untouched by technology.

Jake had told her and TJ stories about the Mayan legends of his ancestors, the underground caves, hidden sacred pools, and massive ruins left by one of the most advanced civilizations of all time.

TJ had loved listening to Jake's tales. Was it possible he'd decided to hide somewhere in the Yucatan? It made sense if he had to stay in Mexico that he'd go somewhere he'd at least heard about. But what she didn't understand was why he wasn't making his way back to Texas.

Unfortunately, she had no way of reaching him, so until he contacted her, she was going to have to guess where he might be going. And then she would have to find him.

She blew out a sigh. He'd told her to stay away, to not get on a commercial flight, to not tell anyone she'd spoken to him. Was his paranoia warranted?

Until she knew what he was involved in, she couldn't say it wasn't.

So she had to be careful. She had to get to Mexico without anyone knowing. That meant private transportation—a small plane—and she knew just the pilot who could probably help her…Jake Monroe.

Anxiety swept through her at the thought of reaching out to Jake. It had been years since they'd spoken, and she was fairly certain he hated her. She was also fairly certain that she deserved his hate. But her brother's life could be on the line, and Jake was in a position to help her. She had no choice. She had to ask. She was just really afraid to hear his answer.

Two

Jake walked into his mother's house Saturday morning and paused in the kitchen doorway, feeling unexpected emotion at the scene. His mother Joanna was at the stove frying up bacon. His two younger sisters Danielle and Alicia sat at the kitchen table. All three women were in pajamas and robes.

The scene reminded him of his childhood when he'd bickered with his sisters over breakfast bacon and pancakes. That seemed like a million years ago now.

They'd certainly grown up since those innocent days. He was the oldest at thirty with Danielle at twenty-eight and Alicia at twenty-six. He and Danielle took after their mother, inheriting her green eyes and fairer skin, while Alicia had their father's dark hair, dark brown eyes and olive skin.

Looking around the room, he could see the remnants of Danielle's going away party the night before in the overflowing bag of trash and the wine glasses waiting to be washed. It had been a good sendoff for Danielle. He was going to miss her, but she was moving on to bigger and better things. Alicia had left years ago. Now it would just be him and his mom in Texas. Not that he saw his mother much, either. She had her life, and he had his.

Even though his family had drifted apart, he felt an overwhelming rush of emotion toward the three women in the room. They each brought a strong personality to the table. His mom could be extremely critical and judgmental. She loved to be right and could barely stand it if she was wrong. Danielle was the typical middle child; competitive and ambitious, always trying to make a name for herself and to be seen. And then there was Alicia—the passionate, emotional, imaginative dreamer who chased lightning with her camera and always saw the shades of gray in every black-and-white situation.

He'd thought of himself as the one sane person in the family, but his mother probably wouldn't appreciate hearing that. She'd always prided herself on being the strong, logical parent, while his father had been more like Alicia, a man who always had his head in the clouds even when he wasn't flying an airplane.

Thinking about his dad put an ache in his heart. His father had died ten years ago when his plane had gone down in an electrical storm over the Gulf of Mexico. His death had shattered their family.

He had been twenty at the time, Danielle an eighteen-year-old college freshman and Alicia had been sixteen and finishing up her junior year in high school. Alicia had had it the worst. She was the youngest and the only one still living at home at the time. She'd been the one in the house with his mom, the one to feel the loss, the emptiness every single day.

He hadn't appreciated how difficult it had been for her at the time; he'd been too consumed with his own emotions. The tragedy should have brought them closer together, but it had done the opposite. Their grief had turned to anger, and they'd turned that anger on each other—and to some people outside the family as well.

His gut tightened as he thought about Katherine. She'd definitely been collateral damage, but she'd done her own damage to him.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. The past wasn't important anymore, and while he couldn't predict what would happen tomorrow, he was happy about what was happening today. His family was back together for a brief moment in time, before Danielle moved to Washington DC to work for the US senator from Texas, and Alicia returned to her job as a photographic journalist and storm chaser in Miami, and to her fiancé Michael Cordero. But this morning, it felt good to have everyone in one place—the way they used to be.

He walked into the kitchen as his mom set a platter of bacon on the table.

"Jake, honey," she said with a happy smile. "I'm so glad you came for breakfast. I've got pancakes and eggs warming in the oven."

"You went all out." He sat down in what had always been his chair, noting that Alicia and Danielle had done the same. Old habits died hard. His mom would take her chair, and his dad's chair would stay empty, unless…

He turned to Alicia. "Where's Michael?"

"He went for a run. Unlike me, who reaches for coffee to get the day started, Michael likes the endorphin rush of exercise. I also think he wanted to give me some time alone with the family. There was quite a crowd here last night. It was hard for us to talk to each other."

"Yeah, I was surprised so many people turned up to say good-bye to you, Dani," he teased his sister. "I didn't think you had that many friends."

She made a face at him. "I'm very popular. I always have been."

Since Danielle had always made popularity a priority in her life, he wasn't surprised to hear her defend her status now. In high school, she'd been a cheerleader and part of the
in
crowd, and now she was going to be part of the inner circle of a very powerful man. Only one thing bothered him about that. She always seemed to be the one who was following someone else.

"You know," he began. "You don't have to orbit the moon. You can
be
the moon."

Danielle shot him a wary look. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Yes, what does that mean?" Alicia added.

"It means you should think about running for office yourself, Dani, instead of putting someone else into power," he replied.

"That's down the road. I'm paying my dues and I'm making political connections for when I do decide to put myself into power."

"Maybe you'll be the first female president," Alicia said.

Dani shrugged. "I have a feeling someone may get there before me, but I don't expect we'll have only one female president in our lifetimes." She turned her gaze back on him, a questioning look in her eyes. "Since when do you care what I'm doing, Jake?"

"Since always."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"It's true. I care about both of you, and I try to look out for you. Someone obviously needs to. Alicia almost got herself killed last month."

"But I survived, and I helped solve a triple homicide," Alicia said with pride in her voice. "So you don't need to worry about me, Jake."

"Or me," Dani put in. "I can take care of myself."

"Let's talk about something happier," his mother said, joining them at the table. "Alicia, when are you and Michael getting married?"

Jake laughed at the sudden look of discomfort on Alicia's face. His youngest sister and his mom rarely saw eye-to-eye on anything, and while Danielle would probably love to plan a big wedding bash with his mom's help, Alicia would no doubt walk to her own beat, the way she always did.

"We haven't set a date yet," Alicia said carefully. "It's all really new, but you'll be the first to know when we start making plans."

"I want you to have a real wedding." Joanna shook a warning finger in Alicia's direction. "No running off somewhere and doing it on your own. Your father isn't here to walk you down the aisle, but Jake will do it, and I want to see Danielle stand up next to you. I want it to be a family affair."

"Don't worry, Mom. There's time to figure it all out," Alicia said.

"Well, I know how stubborn and independent you can be," Joanna said pointedly. "And while I do like Michael very much, I feel a little jealous that you'll be living near his family and so far from your own."

"I'm planning to come home more often," Alicia said. "I miss you guys."

His mother dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. "You never ever say that."

"Well, I'm sorry that I haven't said it more often, because I've thought it a lot. Maybe I just needed some distance to appreciate home."