The Reckoning (22 page)

****

Elizabeth
rubbed her butt and smirked at Mike. He didn’t have a clue at how good his sisters were at getting her into trouble. His confession in the SUV had sparked her interest about the new sister. What would her father want with the carrot-chopping redhead standing opposite her?
Elizabeth
grabbed an apron and pulled it over her head. She picked up a knife and the cucumbers. There was an underlying electrical current in the air, making the hair on her arms stand on end. She decided to cut to the chase. Direct was better. “So
Lydia
, did you know that my father is a general?”

Lydia
’s hand halted in mid slice, and she looked up. “Uh, no, I didn’t know that.”

Elizabeth
waved her knife in an arc. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. He’s just daddy to me. But I have to ask...”
Elizabeth
placed her wrists on the table. “How exactly does he know who you are?”

Lydia
laid down her knife. Emma, Abby, and Claire stopped what they were doing and surrounded the kitchen isle.
Lydia
glanced down at the carrots.
Elizabeth
took her hand and squeezed. “I just want to return the favor and help you. I don’t claim to know what you’ve been through, and I can’t see into the future or have any special gifts, so you’re going to have to help me out.”

Lydia
glanced up and around the island of woman staring back at her. “I’ve never had anyone but myself to take care of me, and unfortunately, I can’t stay.”

Claire slid up to
Lydia
and put her arm around her shoulders.
The electricity in the air increased. “We just found you, and trust me when I say we can work through anything.”

A tear slid down
Lydia
’s cheek. “Sorry, ladies, I can’t put you in danger. The less you know, the better off you’ll be.”
Lydia
picked up her keys. “I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

Abby beat her to the doorway that led her to freedom and out of their lives and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re not leaving here until we get some answers. You can’t come in here, tell us you’re our long lost sister, and, at the first sign of trouble, disappear.” Abby narrowed her eyes. “That’s not how Bennett women do it. We rely on each other. We’re here for each other, and we protect each other. So get with the program already.”

Emma grabbed the wine and poured five glasses and passing them around the room. “Abby, I’m sure
Lydia
isn’t used to the way we do things around here. Together, we can accomplish anything; alone, we are nothing more than target practice.” Emma pointed to the table. “Let’s have a seat, and you can tell us why you’re running.” Emma pulled out a chair and sat. “But,
Lydia
, please know this. Leaving doesn’t make you any less family to us. We’re going to worry about you, and we’re going to try and bring you home.” Emma leaned over and winked. “We also get our stubbornness from our dad.”

Elizabeth
thought for a moment, when
Lydia
eyed the door, she was going to make a run for it, but instead, she pulled out a chair and sat down.

Claire squeezed her hand. “Thank you for trusting us. We’re all family here.”

All gazes turned toward
Elizabeth
. “I may not be family, but I’m a friend, and I owe you.”

Abby waved off
Elizabeth
’s comment. “She’s family. She just doesn’t realize it yet. Hell, anyone who can put up with Mike for as long as she has deserves the title.”

Emma laughed. “Not to mention she’s a great doctor if you ever find yourself in a jam.”

Elizabeth
took a sip of her wine. “Now tell me what Daddy knows and why he’s here.”

Lydia
picked up her wine glass with trembling hands and took a big gulp.
Elizabeth
’s heart dropped to her stomach. The fact that
Lydia
was running wasn’t a good sign;
Elizabeth
would know. With everything else going on, particularly with Winters, they all needed to be together. The lunacy that surrounded this family should have made
Elizabeth
pause, but she didn’t. There was nothing she would change about any of these women. These women were strong and giving and an inspiration for how
Elizabeth
wanted to be.

“You remember me telling you about a boy picking on me when I was younger?”
Lydia
glanced around and waited until they nodded. “Well, what I didn’t tell you was that I slipped up a few times and wasn’t as discreet as I should have been.”

Elizabeth
was starting to get the picture. In essence, it was the same reason she’d run a long time ago; she hadn’t wanted to be found. They might have been running for different reasons, but the outcome was the same.

“There was this boy, and he was picking on a friend of mine. I had a dream about it the night before.”
Lydia
paused and took another sip of wine. “That’s what I used to call my visions. It was some time later that I noticed they started coming true.”
Lydia
glanced at Abby. “You do realize that John has the same gift, right? He dreams things. Have you noticed anything else yet?”

Abby’s mouth fell open before she promptly clamped it shut. “I know about his dreams but never thought they were glimpses into the future. As for anything else, he’s never mentioned it.”

Lydia
raised her brow and glanced at
Elizabeth
. “Isn’t that how you found out about their gifts?”

Elizabeth
nodded. “If you can see the future, why can’t you see the outcome of running now? How does that work?”

Lydia
shrugged. “That’s the million dollar question. I don’t know how to turn it on and off. I don’t know what affects it, but that’s getting away from my story. The boy I was telling you about was my best friend growing up. A couple of teenagers started a fight with him; they beat him so bad it killed him. I was devastated and blamed myself for his death. I should have protected him, but I was afraid that he wouldn’t understand my gift. Afraid others would find out and make fun of me. After that, I vowed to myself that no one else would come to harm if I could help. It didn’t matter who saw me use my gift. It just didn’t matter.”

Claire took
Lydia
’s hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Lydia
pulled her hand from Claire’s and shook her head vigorously. “Don’t be sorry for me. Be sorry that Billy is dead and I did nothing to stop it.”

Elizabeth
leaned forward. “You were just a kid yourself. You have to realize it wasn’t your fault.”

Lydia
took a sip of her wine. “It’s all my fault. I could have saved him, and I didn’t.”

Abby stood and walked around the table. She placed her hands on
Lydia
’s shoulder. “All you can do is learn from it and move forward. We’ve all made mistakes in the past. Those mistakes make us the people we are now.”

Lydia
glanced up at Abby and smiled. “That’s what I did. At first I protected the ones that I love, then three months later, things changed. I was taking a shortcut home, walking down an alley that I’d walked down every day, and let’s just say I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or some might say in the right place at the right time. There were two men, and they were pointing their guns at another young man wearing a uniform. Images of Billy flashed before me, and I knew if I didn’t do something, they were going to kill him. I pulled in every hateful thought I could muster about the guys that had taken my best friend away, and I directed it toward the men with the guns. The next thing I knew they were flying to into the car, the man in uniform had collapsed on the ground and I was the last to fall. When I woke up, the soldier was standing over me. The other two guys had been knocked unconscious too. I got scared. When I pushed myself up and turned to run, I ran into a man with a camera. He must have seen the whole thing. I ran and never looked back.”

A tear slid down
Lydia
’s cheek. Emma stood, walked to the coffee pot, and fixed her a cup of coffee, sitting it down in front of her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” A sincere smile crossed Emma face.

Elizabeth
felt sorry for
Lydia
. Her days growing up hadn’t been all flower picking and white picket fences. She’d been scared with no one to rely on but her aunt.

“Since then I’ve always felt like someone was watching me, constantly having to look over my shoulder. I broke down and told my aunt, and we ran. She kept me safe and out of trouble, and I quit using my gifts in public.”

Elizabeth
stood and fixed a cup of coffee. “
Lydia
, you know you have to eventually stop running. Why don’t you let us help you? Let us see what we can find out. You might have been running all these years for nothing.”

Lydia
pushed to her feet. “That’s why I have to leave again. You all have been through so much already. I can’t add this to your problems. I need to figure all of this out if I ever hope to be able to stay in one place. If the man followed me here, who’s to say that he won’t catch one of you guys using your gift. It would break my heart if I opened a whole new can of worms into your life. Oneday, I want to get married and fall in love.” For a split second, a dreamy look filled her eyes then it turned to mere determination. “I know I need to figure out who is following me and what all he knows. I want to get to know all of you, but it’s still bad timing.”

Claire pushed to her feet and pulled out her cell. “Nonsense, you have us now.” Claire walked over to the window above the sink and glanced out before turning. “This is Claire Bennett. I need the plane fueled and ready to leave Sunday morning.”

Claire flipped her phone closed. “
Elizabeth
, find out what your dad knows.” Claire glanced at Abby. “See if Ted can work his magic and see what he can find out.”

Claire waltzed over to
Lydia
’s vacated chair and pulled it back out, motioning for her to sit. “Give me until Sunday morning. If we don’t have any answers for you, I want you to go stay at our beach house in
Florida
until we figure this out.”

Lydia
closed her eyes and sat down. “I need to leave tonight. Why do you want me to wait until Sunday?”

Claire patted her shoulder “That’s easy, dear. I want to introduce you as our sister at the fundraiser.”

Lydia
shook her head. “No, that’s not a good idea. That’s like inviting more trouble, and from what I’ve seen in my visions, you’ve had enough to deal with.”

Abby waved her hand in the air. “Ah, nothing we can’t handle.”

Claire clapped her hands together. “Good, now that we have that settled, We can finish dinner?”

****

Mike walked out the double doors to the patio. The conversations stopped, and all gazes turned to him.

“What did I miss?”

The look that Butch gave Jake was unmistakable. He’d seen that look before on both of their faces; their innocent looks didn’t fool him. “Spill it.”

Thompson leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. “I was just filling them in on what I found out about
Lydia
.”

Mike raised a brow. “That was quick, what did you find out?”

Thompson cleared his throat and glanced at Butch. The slight nod didn’t go unnoticed. “When I left your office, I started digging into her file.”

Mike’s heart sank. He knew there was trouble, “And? Please don’t tell me she’s some masked murderer or villain.”

The corners of Thompson’s lips tilted up. “I wouldn’t go to that extreme.”

“Just tell me already.”

CHAPTER 19

“I put her name into our database to see what the FBI had on her and apparently I don’t have high enough clearance to review it.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Mike glanced at all of the men before returning his gaze to Thompson. “What kinds of stuff would have to be in her file so that even you couldn’t access?”

Thompson shrugged. “Don’t know. It’s all classified.” Thompson grinned. “Do you want me interrogate her? I’m sure I can get her to talk.” Thompson winked.

Mike rolled his eyes. The last think he needed to be worried about was whether Thompson had good intentions toward a sister he knew nothing about.

Mike leaned forward and took the beer that Butch had just pulled from the cooler. He twisted off the lid and took a long sip. The cooling liquid quenched his thirst but did little to clear his head.