Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Us (Kindle Worlds Novella) (3 page)

Chapter 5

Maya

Gran’s house was a Mediterranean Spanish style home a few miles from the beach and closer to Tijuana than San Diego, but still about a thirty-minute drive to actually get to the city. Or across the border.

I could’ve had my own apartment in the San Diego area, but I couldn’t leave Gran. She had always been my lifeline.

When I pulled in front of the white picket fence, there weren’t any lights on in the house, so I thought I could sneak in unnoticed, but Gran wasn’t one to be tricked.

The TV was on with some kind of Olympic recap. Of course, Jay Morningstar, America’s new darling, had to be on the show with his pearly white smile and millions of gold medals.

That could have been me. If I didn’t have a tail.

I remembered Jay from my swim club. He had dreadlocks and goofed around in the pool. Guess a lot can change in four years.

I turned, thinking I could just sneak into my room, but before I could shut the door, Gran turned on the light on the side table, looking at me from her recliner. “It’s almost four AM, Maya. Where on earth have you been?”

“I was at work. There were some issues with closing and…”

Gran cut me off. “Don’t give me that crap, Maya. Your mother used to do the same thing when she was out with your father. Just be honest and tell me the boy you were out with and if you’re going to bring him home.”

I sighed, sliding onto the couch.

Before I could speak, Gran balked, pointing a crooked finger at me. “Maya why are you wearing a sweatshirt for pants? What happened? Did some boy take advantage of you? I knew I should have bought you a gun for your birthday, dammit!”

I shook my head slowly, trying to fight back the tears. “Gran, there’s something I have to tell you…”

Gran blinked, staring at me intently. “Oh dear, you’re not pregnant are you?”

I shook my head. Getting pregnant would require having sex and it had been a very long time since that happened. “This is going to sound crazy and I don’t know how to say it, so I’m going to have to show you.”

Gran raised an eyebrow. “Show me what?”

I stood up. “Follow me.”

Slowly Gran got out of her recliner. For being in her seventies, she got around pretty well. She still kept her hair colored and years of being married to my now deceased grandfather, a former plastic surgeon, kept her up with all of the latest procedures. She had the skin of a freaking twenty-year-old with less acne.

I walked down the small hallway until we were in the bathroom and then I turned on the water, plugging the drain.

“Do you really think this is time to take a bath?” Gran asked in a slightly shaky tone.

I sucked in a deep breath and then gradually sunk in the tub, letting the water flow over my legs. Slowly the tingling sensation took over my body until I watched my legs fuse together and turn to their seal form, the sweater that was once covering me now completely soaked as well.

Gran’s eyes widened and she put her hand to her heart.

“Gran? Gran, please don’t pass out.” I put my hand out and she sat down on the toilet seat, shaking her head.

“All those years…what your mother was saying was true…” Gran whispered.

“What?” I snapped my head. My mother knew about this?

Gran swallowed hard, nodding her head and looking off into the space like she was recalling some deep memory. “Your mother liked to go out to the beach. Always a beach bum. She met a young man there, one who she would never bring home, so I immediately didn’t trust him.”

Gran sucked in a deep breath then let it out. “The summer ended and it was time for her to go back to school at USC, but she always kept coming home. Kept going back to the beach and even missing classes. Your grandfather put his foot down and said she couldn’t see the boy anymore. Your mother, of course, refused. So grandfather did some digging. He was going to have a talk with this boy and followed your mother to the beach.”

Gran stood up slowly, walking out of the bathroom.

That was it? That’s all I got?

“Gran!” I yelled, turning off the water and unplugging the drain. I couldn’t move until I had my legs back.

Before I could fully shift back, Gran was in the bathroom, something tightly clasped in her hands. “Your grandfather saw your mother and the boy under the pier. When he went to confront them, the boy jumped into the water. Your father swore he saw him turn into an animal. A seal.”

A seal? My father was a seal?

Gran held her fist together, staring down at it. “Your mother knew he was a shifter.  Not long after seeing the boy turn into a seal, your grandfather had a heart attack. We spent weeks at the hospital, trying to make sense of it all and your mother would spend every night at the beach and always come home disappointed. Your father never returned to the pier after your grandfather saw him”

Gran sat back down with a sigh. “It wasn’t until your grandfather’s passing that your mother confided in me that she was pregnant and was scared out of her mind because she didn’t know what would become of her baby. She said she told your father and he said they couldn’t see each other again and left her with this.”

Gran opened her hand revealing a bright blue amulet on a simple silver chain. “She said that he told her it would help you when the time came for your change. Of course she didn’t know what that meant and had so many questions. Even after you were born, she still went looking for him at the beach, but he never came.”

That was why she drowned. She was looking for him and couldn’t take it.

Now this left me with more questions than answers.

“I should have told you sooner, Gran,” I whispered.

I stood up and grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around my waist before stepping out of the tub.

Gran smiled. “You were probably just as scared as your mother was. I would be scared to tell me as well if I were you.”

“What do we do now?” I asked.

Gran put the necklace in my hand and then held it there, looking into my eyes. “We do what we have to do. We always have and we always will.”

“Meaning?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Meaning we figure out who your father was. Your mother has a stack of old letters in her closet. We can start there. You can also ask her old college friends about your father. There has to be someone, somewhere who knows what and who you are. And if all else fails, the internet knows everything.”

***

After everything I went through the night before, I wanted to call into work.

Hell, I wanted to call into life.

But I needed the money and I needed a distraction.

My mom’s old love letters were nothing but a lot of mushy stuff. I was guessing at some point he went on land to write my mother these poetic things. And the internet didn’t give me any more information than what I had before.

I put my purse in my locker and made my way toward the bar, but was stopped by a smiling Jess.

“Hey, didn’t know you were on the schedule tonight.”

I tried not to meet her eyes as I secured my nametag on my tank top. “Yeah. Um...You didn’t happen to hear anything about that guy that I saw on the beach, did you? Maybe Benny knew him.”

Jess offered a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah, he was that guy Calder that was in here the other night. He’s a retired UMO that Benny and the rest of his team knew. I guess he just had too much to drink and went for a swim, or so he’s telling everyone.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll remember to cut him off next time he’s here.”

Jess followed me out to the bar. “I’m guessing he’ll be back as soon as he’s out. Benny said he’s been asking about you.”

I froze. Every hair on the back of my neck stood up as I slowly turned toward Jess. “He is? What, um, what is he asking?”

Jess laughed. “I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two!”

Shaking my head, I licked my lips before I spoke. “Nothing is going on. I just…”

I couldn’t think of what to say. After everything I learned about my mom, there was no way I wanted to get involved with anyone. Yet, I couldn’t deny that Calder was one of the sexiest men I’d ever seen and there was something about him. Something that was vulnerable and yet strong that I couldn’t help but be drawn to.

“It’s okay to like a guy, Maya. I’ll make sure to tell Benny that you were asking about him too.”She winked.

Jess grabbed a tray and looked at my neck. “Oh my god, I love your amulet! I haven’t seen that before.”

I almost forgot I was wearing the necklace from my mother.

Almost.

There was something about it that made me feel safe. Something that drew me to the blue stone. So I wore it to work.

“Oh. Yeah. My grandma gave it to me,” I said, holding up the bright blue stone.

Jess nodded. “It looks like a sapphire or maybe an azurite? Do you know?”

I shook my head. “No. Gran just said it was my mother’s. That’s all I know about it.”

“You should totally take it to Gia’s Gem Shop. It’s on Newport by a bike rental place. The lady really knows her stuff.”

I nodded, not sure if I’d take her up on the offer, but it couldn’t hurt to know what exactly what was behind the stone and why it was so important to my father.

Calder

I should’ve gone home as soon as I got out of the hospital. Work gave me the entire week off to rest, but I couldn’t just lie around. Instead, I stared down at the piece of paper where I’d written down the address Tex had given me. I could’ve maybe gone to Ace’s and sweet talked a waitress until I got the sexy bartender’s schedule or even had Benny get it from Jess. But Tex had her address within less than a minute and that meant I was a minute closer to seeing Maya again.

Her house was around thirty miles from Ace’s and even farther from my condo and the school. It was a homey little place, not far from the beach, with a white picket fence on the outside. It didn’t fit with what I thought of when I saw Maya. I mean, I guess maybe I pictured mermaids always living in the sea, but whatever she was or whoever; I at least owed her a thank you for saving my life.

Even though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be saved.

Getting out of my car, I scanned my surroundings, something I always did now. I pulled my ball cap low over my eyes before opening the little gate that led to the small, but kept, front yard.

There weren’t many signs of life in the small neighborhood, everyone was probably at work or the beach, but it seemed like a peaceful little street. An older place that probably didn’t see much trouble.

The residents probably wouldn’t like it if they saw a stranger walking up to one of their doors. I mentally made a note to smile and to try not to appear too brooding. I had a tendency to do that. I was tall, still kept up my upper body at the gym, and with the five o’clock shadow and baseball cap, I probably looked like someone who would rob their daughters. Or impregnate them.

I shook my head, mentally knocking out those thoughts before approaching the front door.

Sucking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly before ringing the doorbell.

I’d been in the deepest waters off the coast of multiple countries and five continents, but ringing the doorbell of Maya’s house, made my heart race a million beats per minute.

I didn’t know why in the hell I was nervous.

Maybe it was because she saved my life.

Or because she was a mermaid.

Maybe it was both.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and waited.

Even though it seemed like forever, it had probably only been a minute or two. But still nobody came to the door. Taking my chances, I rang again, then heard shuffling and the removing of a dead bolt.

The door slowly creaked open and an elderly woman peered out, her eyes narrowing as she took me in. “We don’t want to buy nothing you’re selling, we’ve found Jesus, and my granddaughter isn’t home.”

Licking my lips, I blinked hard before responding. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’m a friend of Maya’s. I didn’t know she wasn’t here.”

I thought Maya would have lived alone, at her age. Maybe she was younger than I thought and I was way over my head.

The woman opened the door fully.

I’d been face-to-face with trained killers and this older woman, even with her short stature, could make any one of them shake in their boots if she curled her lip in disgust like she did at me. “What do you want with my Maya?”

“I’m just a friend, ma’am.”

“Where do you know her from?” Her voice was short, her tone harsh.

“I met her at her work.”

The woman sneered. “So you’re a bar lackey? My granddaughter doesn’t need some drunk chasing her around. She’s not into your brooding Disney prince looks.”

I tried not to smirk and keep my face neutral. “Ma’am, I’m a retired Undersea Medical Officer and a doctor at the university. I’m not here looking to do anything unwanted with your granddaughter.”

The woman opened her mouth then shut it again before nodding her head toward something behind me. “You’re in luck, young man.”

I turned toward where she was nodding and saw a small green car pull up behind mine and Maya’s dark head popped out. Her eyes widened when she saw me. Then slowly she approached the front door.

“Calder? Wha…wha…what are you doing here?” Maya stuttered.

“Is this boy trouble, Maya?” The old woman asked.

Maya shook her head. “No, Gran. It’s fine. Can you give us a minute?”

I followed Maya’s gaze to the door where Maya and her grandmother seemed to have an entire conversation with facial expressions before the old woman finally nodded. “Okay, Maya, but if you need anything just holler.”

Gran turned toward me, narrowing her eyes. “You may be a former sailor, but I carry, son, and I’m one hell of a shot, so don’t do anything in my front yard you wouldn’t want Jesus to see.”

Trying not to laugh, I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

With that, Gran slowly shut the door, keeping her eyes on me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was still staring through the peep hole.

“What are you doing here, Calder? And how the hell did you find me?” Maya turned toward me sharply, folding her arms across her chest.

I licked my lips and shoved my hands in my pockets. “I just came to talk. A friend of mine got your address. I meant no harm. I really wanted to thank you, you know, for saving my life.”

Her body stiffened and she widened those dark eyes, shaking her head. “I didn’t do anything. In fact, I probably almost killed you by serving you that much. If you show up at Ace’s again, I’ll cut you off way sooner.”

“Is there somewhere we can talk, privately?” I asked, glancing around the quiet neighborhood.

“No.”

I raised an eyebrow. “No?”

Maya was tall for a girl. At my six-foot-two, she was only a few inches shorter. She was long and lean and every bit of that showed in her little tank top and shorts. But she still tried to stand straighter and looked me right in the eye. “Haven’t you ever heard ‘no’ from a girl? I said ‘no’. I have somewhere to be. I just came home to change, but I have to run out.”

“Well, maybe I could come with you?” I tried turning on the charm, even widening my smile.

Maya rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Did you just give me a Disney Prince smolder?”

“A what?” I blinked. What was with these women and Disney Prince references?

“You know the move in a Disney cartoon where the guy turns on that brooding face and makes the girls panties drop? I’ve seen it on every single navy guy who’s walked into Ace’s. It does nothing for me.”

I took a step closer, causing a little gasp to emerge from Maya’s throat. Slowly I leaned in, my lips right on her ear. “Maybe you prefer men with a tail.”

Leaning back, I looked at her face, which darkened about ten shades. “I…I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I sighed. “Look, Maya, I thought I was crazy when I was sitting in that hospital bed. I kept having dreams about you. Dreams about you as a mermaid. I didn’t tell anyone because I knew a psych would be there as soon as they got wind of the conversation. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Or you. The thing that kept me going was thinking of those dark eyes of yours and when I’d get to see them again.”

Call it cheesy as hell, but I had to get it out there. I had to let her know the truth of it all.

It must’ve worked because she let out a deep breath. “You walked into the water. I couldn’t let you drown.”

“When I walked into the sea, I wanted to let the sea take me.” I took a step closer so we were toe-to-toe and then put my hand on her cheek.

“That is until I saw your face. It was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes and the last thing I remembered. Well, besides seeing a tail. But your eyes were what I couldn’t stop thinking about. The way you looked at me in the glow of the moonlight. I know there may be some things you aren’t ready to talk about and I won’t ask about them. I have my own demons that I’m not ready to deal with either. I just wanted to come here, to say, well, I was going to say thank you, but that doesn’t seem to really cut it.”

Shit, I was rambling. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say, but truth was, I was a goner the moment she looked at me at the bar.

Maya looked into my eyes. They were darker than the night sky and ones I could stare at forever. I found myself staring and wanting to know more about this girl with the dark eyes and the tail who had peaked my interest more than anyone in my entire life.

The door creaked open beside us and Gran poked her head out. “Are you two going to stand out there and stare at each other all day or should I start lunch?”

Maya stepped back, breaking our gaze and looked at her grandma. “No. I was just leaving.”

“We were just leaving,” I corrected, hoping my little soliloquy had gotten to her. That or she was probably going to tell me to stay the hell away forever.

Maya sighed and nodded. “Yes. We were leaving.”