Talon Read online

  “Are we stopping anywhere else?” Laszlo asked. “I mean, Mason’s here. Maybe we should stop by?”

  “We’ll see how it goes.” Talon shifted in his seat. “Damn, I do like these vehicles. I bought my first one when I was sixteen. My foster parents completely forbade me, but I bought it off the machine shop guy in high school. I worked off half of it and paid the rest with my part-time job. They had no say in the matter. But it was another huge bone of contention and another good reason to leave.”

  “What did you do with it when you left for the military?”

  “I kept it a while, for when I was on leave, but then, after I split up with Clary, I sold it. The clean break seemed like the best idea.”

  “And how do you feel about that now?”

  Talon decided not to answer.

  After a few minutes of silence, Laszlo asked, “Did you let her know you were coming?”

  Talon winced. “No. I deliberately didn’t.”

  Laszlo checked his watch. “It’s a Saturday at eleven in the morning. Any idea where she’ll be?”

  “She and her brother had a house they co-owned. Chad was living in it when she moved out to get married, I presume. I thought I’d check there first.”

  “But it could have been sold after his death.”

  “It could have been. But, considering her divorce and the death of her brother, both occurring at about the same time, I suspect she would have hung on to it.”

  “Sentimental type?”

  “Very. Her parents are in Europe most of the time. Her father is a botanist, studies plants. They own the house next door. With them gone so much of the year, it also makes sense that Clary would have retained ownership of her house. She can effectively oversee both. So it follows to check if somebody is there.”

  They pulled into a Starbucks, each of them grabbing coffees for the road. Talon kept driving, finally hitting the outskirts, turning into a nice suburban area, noting that, after all this time, it looked more upscale than he remembered. New eyes, new perspective.

  As he drove up to the place, no vehicle was parked in either driveway. He drove past, turned around, and parked on the opposite side of the street. First they went to Chad’s house and knocked. There was no answer. Then they went to the neighboring house, where Chad and Clary’s parents lived, and again there was no answer.

  Talon turned to look at Laszlo and shrugged. “I guess it’s time to call her.”

  “And chances are you’ll only be able to leave a message because who knows where she is.”

  Laszlo was right. A quick phone call later had no benefit but to leave a message.

  Laszlo glanced at him. “Where do you want to go now?”

  “Chad’s grave,” he said quietly. “I visited it a month after his death a year ago, but I’d like to go back.”

  They were a good twenty minutes away from the cemetery. He drove up the long winding road and parked at the lower end of the parking lot. “If my memory serves me correctly, his grave is at the bottom end.”

  They got out and walked toward that area. It was a beautiful day and, outside of the reason for being here, it was a great place to be right now. Talon tilted his head toward the sun, letting the rays shine on his face. “Definitely nicer weather here,” he said.

  Laszlo chuckled. “Sure beats Norway.”

  It took a little bit of walking to find the place. But soon enough Talon stopped beside the family plot. Chad was buried beside his grandparents. Clary was supposed to be laid to rest beside him and their parents on either side.

  Talon stood here for a long moment, his hands in his pockets. Laszlo stepped back and gave him some space. Talon appreciated that. Of all the men in his unit, Laszlo was the most sensitive to moods. It was tough. There was always something in these last couple years that would send Talon’s emotions off the wall. He tried hard, but it wasn’t the easiest.

  After a few moments he could feel a great big breath wallop from his heart and chest. As he slowly exhaled, he felt some of the weight coming off his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Chad. I thought, at the time, it was just life being a bitch. But now I realize it’s humanity that’s a bitch. Don’t you worry. We caught the bastard. Not in time for you, but, maybe by doing what we’ve done, we can stop more deaths.”

  Aware of a presence beside him, Talon turned, expecting to see Laszlo. Instead a woman stared at him. Shock, anger, and pain were on her face.

  “Talon?”

  He hunched his shoulders, not only against the shock and accusation in her voice but also to ward off the pain of seeing her again. She had one of those baby-doll faces with curly blond ringlets and huge blue eyes. He’d been dumbstruck from the first time he had met her. He thought he’d done her a favor by walking away, and obviously she’d made good use of the time because she had quickly married. He was sorry it hadn’t worked out for her.

  He nodded his head and said, “Hi, Clary.”

  She motioned to her brother’s grave. “Why now?” Her voice was angry. “Why not a year ago when he actually died? A little too late, isn’t it?”

  He took the blows, but they hit him at a visceral level. He could give her no excuses, as he had no intention of trying to explain. He turned to his side and motioned toward Laszlo. “I’m here with a friend of mine. Laszlo Jensen. This is Clary Witcher.”

  She glanced over at Laszlo and gave a small head tilt of acknowledgment then zeroed back in on Talon. “That’s no excuse. You could’ve come any time in the last year.”

  There was so much hurt in her voice, and he knew it had been a tough year for her. And he should have been here for her. Just like he would have loved it had she’d been there for him. But nobody outside his unit had been there for him because he hadn’t told anybody. Only somehow Chad had found out, and Talon wasn’t even sure how that had happened. Chad had lit into Talon at the hospital something fierce. But apparently Chad hadn’t told Clary about Talon’s condition. And, for that, Talon was glad that he had made Chad promise not to.

  She was always the kind of person who brought home an abandoned kitty or a lost puppy. And he had no intention of being added to her collection. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her, drinking in her features so familiar and yet with just enough differences to make his heart ache. She’d had a tough couple of years, and she obviously wasn’t sleeping well. There were lines on her face, her color now filled with bright red flags of anger, but the rest of her skin was so white.

  “I was just at your house, Chad’s house,” Talon said quietly. “Are you living there now?”

  She shoved her fists into her pockets and rocked back on her heels. “What do you care?” She tossed her hair back, a motion she’d always used when she was pissed off.

  He had been able to get her goat all the time. It had been part of the fun, watching her explode. But they’d been so much younger back then, foolish. He dropped his gaze to the grave. “I care.”

  “It doesn’t seem like it.” She glanced again at Laszlo, held it for a moment.

  Laszlo stepped forward and outstretched his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  She shook his hand stiffly. Faced Talon. “What were you saying to Chad when I arrived?”

  He winced.

  “Talon?” she said in a harder tone. She sensed something wrong, and her gut clenched with pain. “I heard you, but I didn’t really understand you.”

  He turned to face her fully, and she saw the torment on his face. He really did care. She knew he did too. Talon and her brother had been friends since forever. Obviously Chad’s death would be a loss for him. She had no right to throw that in his face, but it was hard because she was hurting too.

  “Why don’t we go for coffee somewhere and talk?”

  She snorted. “You didn’t come all this way to see me, so why don’t you just tell me what you need to tell me, and we can part ways again.”

  “Wow, you got nicer as you got older.”

  She flushed, taking a direct hit.
The trouble was, he was right. She hadn’t gotten nicer; she’d gotten more independent, harder, more protective, and more hurt.

  It was Laszlo who said, “Maybe not a coffee shop. I know it’s an imposition, but possibly could we speak with you in your own home?”

  She stared at him in surprise. “Why?”

  “Because what we have to say should be said in private.”

  Should she trust Laszlo? It was hard when he was with Talon. Yet he had never lied to her, but something about the previous years seemed like a lie no matter what. He should have returned. She’d waited until the truth hit her—Talon was never returning.

  She thought about it for a long moment and then nodded. “I’ll meet you back at the house in ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes?” Laszlo asked.

  She flashed a small smirk. “Okay, that’s just a figure of speech. It takes about twenty minutes, maybe longer. It depends on the traffic.” She saw the coffee cups in their hands. “I guess I can put on coffee when I get there.”

  “Don’t do us any favors if your heart is not in it,” Talon said calmly.

  But there was such a neutrality to his tone and in his expression, as if he expected something from her, and she hadn’t given it. Trouble was, she didn’t know if it was a hug or a slap that he thought he deserved. She knew which one she thought he deserved.

  She turned and walked back to the parking lot. Inside her nerves and stomach twisted constantly. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do, but her hands shook so hard, as if she would never calm them down. Her heart hurt; tears threatened, but her world … It had shattered. Just when she thought nothing else could make her life any more bereft, Talon had to show up, standing in front of her, uncaring, unaffected, and completely disinterested.

  Since when had life become such a bitch?

  Chapter 2

  She unlocked her front door and walked inside. She didn’t know why she was using the front door. Normally she would come in through the garage. She put it down to being so flustered at her current state of affairs. The men hadn’t pulled in behind her, but she knew they wouldn’t get lost. Talon had come to this area more times than he’d actually gone home.

  This house hadn’t been their parents’ home but their uncle’s. And, when he died, he had passed it on to the two kids. The idea being that, when her parents passed, she’d end up with one, and her brother would end up with the other. And now? … Well, now there was just her.

  She didn’t dare let her mind go down that route. The last year had been brutal. It was one thing to lose a sibling; it was another thing to lose a twin. And she knew a lot of people wouldn’t understand, but another twin would. There was a special bond. They’d always understood each other.

  And she and Chad had been very close. He’d tried to talk her out of getting married but then had stood up for her when she’d walked down the aisle. He’d held her in his arms during her breakup, and then he had died and left her alone.

  Without her husband, thank God; without her parents, who were traveling the world and always would be traveling the world; and without Talon. The one mainstay in her life who’d walked away from her because she’d been too needy.

  What a lesson that had been. The reason her husband had divorced her, supposedly, had been because she’d been too detached, too unemotional, not invested in their marriage. The trouble was, he was right. She’d invested everything in Talon, and, when he’d broken up with her, he had left her in tiny pieces.

  It wasn’t fair. She’d loved that man to distraction. And when he had walked away, it had been her brother who had helped her pull herself together. And she had built herself up bigger and stronger and better and so much tougher. She hid behind a wall so nobody would hurt her again, and, by doing so, she’d cheated her husband from feeling the full effects of her love. And she had loved him. But she hadn’t been in love with him.

  She’d been desperate to not be an old maid on the shelf, lonely for someone to do things with. She’d fallen on a path that, like everybody else’s relationship, seemed to lead to marriage, to starting a family. But it didn’t spark a fire in her. He was just comfortable. She thought comfortable would be enough. And maybe, for her, it would have been for years to come. But again she didn’t get that chance. Her husband had walked out, saying she was only half of a woman. That she lacked passion; she lacked soul.

  His words had hurt. Even now as they’d taken root, they made her doubt herself all over again. Two major relationships, and, in both cases, each man had broken up with her. So definitely there was something wrong. The stupid thing was, each of them had complained about the opposite thing.

  The doorbell rang just as she hit the coffee machine’s button to start brewing. She walked to the front door and opened it. The two men stood there. She led them inside, into the living room. As soon as they were seated, she said, “I’ll go get you a coffee.”

  She turned, leaving them as guests in the house, and went to the kitchen, where she poured two cups. She carried them to the front of the house, saying, “I hope black is fine. I don’t have any cream, although I might be able to find the sweetener for you.”

  Talon didn’t say a word; he accepted the black coffee. But she knew he always used to love his coffee dark and strong.

  Laszlo smiled and said gently, “Black is fine. Thanks.”

  She returned to the kitchen, grabbed herself a cup, then sat on a third chair in the living room. “Now tell me what this is all about.”

  Silence fell hard and heavy.

  Her gaze went from one to the other, sharp, intense, confused. “Talon, what the hell’s going on?” She watched a flicker of emotion cross his face. But she wasn’t sure what that emotion was.

  He lifted his gaze to her. “Put the coffee down.”

  She put it down, as if his command must be met. “Is it my parents? Why haven’t the police come and told me?” she asked anxiously.

  He shook his head. “It’s not your parents. As far as I know, they’re perfectly fine.”

  She took a deep breath and sat back, but her coffee was still on the coffee table. “Okay, so it’s major but not that major. Stop beating about the bush. This isn’t like you.”

  She felt his gaze lock on hers and sear right into her soul. He’d always had that ability. She could never lie to him. She tried hard to bring her defenses into place, so he wouldn’t see her emotions, like he always had, and knew she had failed when she saw a gentle look come into his gaze. She shook her head. “Oh no, none of that.”

  Surprise had him raising his eyebrows. “None of what?”

  “None of that trying to be friends. I know who you really are inside that bullshit,” she snapped. “Tell me what this is about.” She couldn’t stand the worry eating away at her. It was bad, she knew. But as long as they didn’t tell her what it was, she was making it so much worse in her mind.

  The two men exchanged a hard glance. She watched as Laszlo raised an eyebrow in question.

  She jumped in. “Sure, you tell me then.” Laszlo gave her a bland look, and she sighed. “You’re as bad as he is.” She turned back to Talon. “Well?”

  He took a deep breath. “Chad was murdered. It wasn’t an accident. He was run down on purpose.”

  She felt the tsunami hit her. Her body freezing, her heart stopping.

  And then he said, “And it’s my fault.”

  A cry escaped as she stared at him, wordless. Every ounce of control she’d had in finding her way back from her brother’s death shattered into a million pieces. She shook her head. “Dear God, please, no.” She glanced over at Laszlo. “Please, tell me that’s not true.”

  Laszlo took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s true.”

  There was no easy way to tell her. He had to just come out and say it. But, as he stared at her, the look in her eyes, her knees pulled up to her chest as she rocked back and forth, the tiny whimper in the back of her throat, he couldn’t stay separated from her. He hopped up from
his chair, reached out, and scooped her into his arms. He sat back down in her seat and tucked her in close.

  Laszlo, once again being who he was, went outside to the front step. Talon could see him through the living room window. Talon just held Clary. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  She was like this block of ice, locked down, unable to move. But, at his words, she burst into tears. Her agony was mixed with anger. She reared back and smacked him hard across the face, then started pounding him on the chest.

  And he let her. He would like to have done the same. Beat himself to a pulp for having caused her this pain, for having taken away such a generous soul as Chad.

  When tears overcame her, she curled up in his arms and bawled. He gently stroked her back and just held her close. God, it had been such a long time. His reason for coming here was shitty, his reason for staying away probably even worse. But, for this moment in time, he was just grateful to have her here in his arms.

  Finally she ran down, but she didn’t move, as if exhausted and without any further energy. She’d always been like that. Everything she did was 100 percent. Her temper, her laughter, her passion.

  There was no artifice about her. She’d been so damn real. But everything he’d seen of her so far in this last hour made him realize how difficult the last years had been. There was a hardness to her that he didn’t like. He had no reason to judge her, no right to criticize her because he was no longer the same idealistic young man who would go off and save the world either.

  Finally she lifted her head, looked up at him, and croaked out, “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. He reached for her cup of coffee. He picked it up and held it to her lips. “Take a drink. That’ll make your throat feel better.”

  She drank eagerly, like a child, and managed a good half cup. He put it down and tucked her against him. It was a sign of how exhausted and shocked she was that she let him. He fully expected, when she got her balance back, she would turn around and hit him again.