Stormfront (Undertow Book 2) (10 page)

“Do I look like I know anything about gears?” I asked, losing my patience. “No. I have no clue what the hell this is.”

Howe handed me another photo as he replied, “Then maybe you can explain why the lowest scar on your back matches a drawing that was also found with the gear. Care to explain that?”

I looked down at the second photo and the air stilled in my lungs. Just as he said, my kill mark was drawn on a faded piece of paper that had been photographed in some well-lit room, most likely at FBI headquarters. I could literally feel Ana frozen beside me. We had been trying like crazy to distance ourselves from Dalca
Anescu and this was definitely not the way to do it. Not to mention, I had no clue what a gear had to do with me – or my kill mark. I managed to choke out a question as Howe plucked the photos from my hands, “How do you know what the scar on my back looks like?”

“Photographs from the hospital, Miss Walker. Seeing as you and your friends are under investigation for your role in a possible bombing, we had access to all your medical records. Tell me – why does your physician believe the scar on your back is a burn from babyhood?”

“Because it is,” I whispered, knowing that was TOTALLY a lie. “It’s a radiator burn.”

Howe placed the photos back inside his pocket and looked me dead in the eye. “And yet the exact same design is on a paper that was inside a hidden safe in the home of Dalca
Anescu. A woman who happened to be killed during the Fire and Ice ball, while the rest of you survived.”

“Eila nearly died,” hissed
Ana.

Howe simply pushed away from my car, heading for his own as he yelled over his shoulder, “I’ll be in touch soon, Ms. Walker.”

I sat there in the Jeep, listening to the radio play a rock band softly as Howe walked back to his car. I turned to Ana who looked paler than usual. “Well, crap.”

On the ride to the high schoo
l
, I called Raef to fill him in on Howe, the drawing, and the gear. He and Kian had no answers either, but weren’t thrilled that there was now a link between me and Dalca. He was also concerned as to why anyone would ransack Dalca’s former shop, though he was proud that both Ana and I managed to keep our cool when questioned by Howe. With Raef’s assurances that we would figure it out and come up with an excuse, I shoved Agent Howe and his pestering questions to the back of my mind.

At the football field, Ana and I had managed to squeeze through the throngs of fans to the top bleachers on our home-field side. I felt as though
nine million people had greeted both of us, happy we had finally come back to school, though I suspected they just wanted to see if we looked damaged and possibly confirm the Newport rumor.

Ana and I however, showed no outward marks except for her walking boot, which probably fueled the rumor mill that we weren’t actually at the ball. We people-watched from our high perch above the football field and my eyes soon found the most curvaceous and loud cheerleader in a five-block radius.

Nikki Shea, with her body built for badness, was causing a near riot with the male fans as she shook her red and white pompoms. Ana caught me watching her. “You know, I was actually looking forward to getting back to classes, but now I’m not so thrilled,” she moaned, sticking her tongue out.

I chuckled. “I’ll just avoid her. I already switched classes, so I rarely see her anyway,” I reasoned, refusing to give the irritating twit the satisfaction of my social agony. Plus, she had Elizabeth’s necklace, which just plain pissed me off. Seeing her face reminded me that I didn’t have the one item that could unlock Elizabeth’s
freakin’ diary, and that drove me nuts.

Ana stared at Nikki with a focused intensity and I shuffled uneasy in my seat. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh!” she snapped, waving a multicolored mitten in my face.

I leaned closer, whispering, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to convince her to flash the crowd so she gets expelled.”

“ANA!”

Ana sat back laughing, “Chill woman – I’m not that brilliant.”

“You are pure evil, you know that?” I laughed, but my giggles were cut short as a snowball whizzed past Ana’s head and smacked into the back of a heavy-set woman in front of us. She turned, the tight red curls on her head framing a face that could freeze the sun. She glared at the two of us and I shook my head, raising my hands to prove we didn’t just nail her with a snowball. She looked like she had a mighty short fuse and angering her would probably lead to an early grave. She slowly swiveled back to the field.

What moron was tossing snowballs?

We glanced at the crowds milling around, but saw no guilty snow-hurler anywhere. I looked at Ana and she gave a confused shrug just as another snowball whipped past her and nailed the woman right in the back of the neck. Oh dear.

This time the woman got to her feet and turned on us. “What is wrong with you?” she snarled.

“I swear – it’s not us!” I pleaded.

Ana, never one to be wrongfully accused, crossed her arms defiantly, “Lady – do you even see any snow up here in the stands? It isn’t us!” Ana apparently wanted us both to die a slow and painful death.

The woman started
unwedging herself from the two other people in front of us, their looks wishing us well in the afterlife as their popcorn was jostled all over their laps. This was how we were going to go out – not at the hands of a talented Mortis, but broken into itsy-bitsy pieces by an enraged, middle-aged football fan.

Just as she was stepping over the steel bench to pummel the two of us, I heard our names being called. Crazy lady stopped as Ana and I searched for the source of the voice.

Finally I spied the name caller – MJ, tall and lean with a giant smile on his face and a snowball in hand, was standing just off the side of the bleachers.

“MJ!” screamed Ana, delighted. I waved down to our long-lost pal, but then turned my attention back to the angry redhead. “I think the snowballs were meant for us – our friend just can’t hit the broadside of a barn.”

I wanted to suck the words back into my mouth the moment I said them.

Her eyes grew wide as she realized I suggested (unintentionally) that she was bigger than a barn. Knowing she was about to grind me into the silver paint beneath our butts, I grabbed Ana’s hand and yelled down to MJ, “We’re coming! Stay right where
ya are!”

“What?” asked
Ana, turning her attention back to me as I yanked her arm to get her moving. “We aren’t watching the game?”

“We will – just from somewhere else!” I hauled her down through the bleachers and out of the glare of the woman
, who no doubt was plotting ways to dismember us if we ever came near her again.

We finally reached the bottom of the bleachers where MJ was strolling towards us. Ana launched herself at him and he grabbed her up in a bear hug, her petite frame glued to his long torso. She was squealing in his ear and MJ was laughing at her craziness. He finally put her down, keeping one arm around her as he reached out and hauled me into his chest. His long arms curved around both of us, hugging us tightly. “I know, I know –
ya missed my fabulosity. But have no fear, the cool dog is here.”

I
snorted into his chest. “Yeah, sure ya are,” I laughed. He began wiggling his fingers into our sides and Ana and I started yelling at him to stop tickling us. We were writhing around in his arms so much that he finally had to release us or risk toppling into the band – all of whom were watching our antics with great amusement.

Ana had tears in her eyes and MJ’s face faltered as he gave her another hug, and kissed the top of her head. “Missed
ya, babe,” he said softly into her blonde hair.

“You’re forbidden from leaving ever again,” she whispered.

He held her tightly and rubbed her back. “You got it . . . though all those hot chicks in West Palm are going to be bawling their eyes out.”

She started laughing and MJ pulled her over to sit in a few open seats toward the end of the bleachers. I followed and Ana and I boxed in our dear friend, drilling him with a thousand questions about Florida. Having him with us was like coming home to a warm fire and perfect cup of cocoa. While I would never see MJ
as anything other than a friend, I loved him. He was the brother I never had – for both Ana and me.

The game finally started and Barnstable dominated t
he field. I watched as Jesse led the team through play after play, fighting their way into the end zone and racking up the points. As they scored, Nikki’s voice would ring out in the cold night, working the crowd into a thunderous roar. It was contagious, and soon I was on my feet with my friends, screaming for our classmates battling on the field. I was shocked to find myself truly enjoying the game, the atmosphere – the entire event. I glanced around and noticed one girl cheering from the warmth of her boyfriend’s jacket. She had leaned into him, her back to his chest, and he had pulled his coat tightly around them both, cheering along with her.

Watching them, I missed Raef’s warmth and I wondered what he was up to tonight. I wondered if he would be as insane for the football game as our classmates.

The buzzer rang out, signaling half-time, and the team jogged from the field. I noticed Jesse scanning the crowd as he ran and when his eyes swept towards where I was, I waved. He saw me, and his face lit with a brilliant smile that contrasted sharply against his dark skin. He waved and disappeared into the field house.

I turned back to Ana and MJ and found them staring at me. “What?” I demanded.

“He LIKES you,” purred MJ.

“He’s just a friend,” I replied, looking sternly at my disbelieving pals. “HE IS!”

When the final points were li
t
on the scoreboard an hour later, it was obvious – very obvious – that we had one heck of a football team. People were high-fiving and yelling and shouting. The cheerleaders had joined the players and fans on the field, in their own victory-induced party.

The crowd finally grew silent as a
mic was handed to the coach who named Jesse the MVP of the game. Everyone went wild again and Jesse graciously accepted the game ball and the mic and the crowd hushed to hear what he had to say.

Ana, MJ, and I were scanning the masses, looking for familiar faces as I listened with one ear as Jesse thanked his coach and praised the hard work of his teammates, saying victory was only accomplished when everyone worked together. I was only half listening when he began talking about being MVP, “So while I am very flattered to receive the game ball tonight, I’d like to hand this off to another winner of sorts. One who defied the odds, and came back from a no-win situation to be with us tonight. Eila Walker – can you join me on the field?”

I turned slowly toward Ana whose mouth was hanging open. MJ had an equally stunned look on his face. I started to shake my head
no
, but the crowd finally saw where I was and started to clap. Ana and MJ tried to shrink away but I grabbed them. “If I have to go out there, you are both coming with me,” I hissed.

Ana
moved with near wooden legs, but MJ slipped easily into rockstar mode, waving to people. As I walked across the field, the crowds parted, opening an alleyway to Jesse and the team. On my left I saw the vibrant pompoms of the cheer squad and I passed dangerously close to Nikki, who gave me a lethal look, her eyes tracking me. I glanced over my shoulder back at her, worried she was about to literally stab me in the back.

MJ and Ana hung back as I made my way up to Jesse, who held the football easily in his wide hand. I swallowed as I finally reached him, daring a glance at the massive crowd around me.

Jesse leaned toward me, “You look a bit pale.”

“I am a bit freaked, thanks,” I replied.

“Don’t pass out.”

“I’ll try not to.”

Jesse brought the mic back to his lips and spoke to the crowd. You could hear a pin drop and I wanted to crawl under the AstroTurf.

“Most of our class knows Eila here. They know she, along with Ana Lane and MJ Williams, survived the disaster at the Breakers a month ago. She has fought hard to come back to us – a sign of a true warrior’s heart. It is with great honor that we – the entire team – bestow the winning game ball to her tonight. She won against impossible odds and that makes her our MVP – Most Valuable Person – of the night.”

Jesse handed the ball to me, and I looked down at its thick leather hide and tough outer shell. It was a ball that had gone through hell tonight and weirdly, I knew how it felt thanks to the Breakers.

My football and I weren’t all that different.

Realizing the rumor mill just spun completely off its track thanks to Jesse’s revelation, I managed to whisper a semi-sincere thanks to Jesse. I then turned to the crowd, which looked like a sea of millions and Jesse tipped the mic toward my face. I swallowed and said the first thing that came to my mind as I held up the ball, “To all the warriors, big and small.”

The crowd went insane and the team grabbed me and pushed me up onto the shoulders of Jesse and another player. At first I was completely horrified, but as I looked out over the sea of people, jumping and cheering, as a rock song pumped out of the speakers, I suddenly felt like an average high
schooler.

No deadly gifts, no shadowy killers, and no family history of murder. I held the ball high and just let myself be a teenager.

Eventually I was able to make my way out of the crowd, though
Ana and MJ were still in the thick of it. I tucked the cold football under my arm as I walked to the Jeep, rubbing my hands through my gloves in a vain attempt to warm them.

For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how in the heck the football team didn’t freeze to death playing in weather like this. Kansas could be really cold, but the Cape air had a rawness that cut through your body and froze the marrow inside your bones. It was brutal
, and I couldn’t wait for the warm weather to come back. It was going to be a long, LONG winter.

I glanced back to Ana and MJ who were talking with some classmates. They were accustomed to the cold air that rolled in off the ocean, but me? Forget it. I wanted to crank the heat in my Jeep and crawl inside the air vents, which was my plan.

Finally reaching the driver’s side of my vehicle, I placed the football on the hood against the windshield. I fished my keys out of the thick parka, but I fumbled with them and they dropped by my feet. I muttered a curse and reached down to get them when I heard a familiar male voice glide over the hood of my vehicle.

“Nice ride.”

I snatched the keys from the frozen ground and popped back up, narrowly missing the side-view mirror.

Leaning against the bumper of my Jeep was Thor, now dressed in jeans and a mariner’s jacket. What. The. Heck.

Why was this guy here? Was he one of the player’s older sibling? He was definitely built for football, including his biceps, which I was fairly certain I couldn’t even get my arm around.

“Thanks,” I replied as I subtly flipped each key on my key ring between my fingers, turning them into little daggers. If Thor decided to flip the crazy switch and turn pervert, my keys would become angry little weapons, although . . . jumping me in front of the BHS football fans, and team, would be unwise.
We were, after all, surrounded by people milling around their cars, talking, and cheering. I eased my iron grasp on my keys as I realized I was safe here.

Plus, I wasn’t above stabbing him in places the sun doesn’t shine if he came at me.
 

“Can I help you?” I finally asked.

Thor didn’t move a muscle as he replied, “I saw that you earned the game ball. That’s quite impressive. Doesn’t the game ball go to the most valuable player of the night?”

“I, uh, couldn’t say. I don’t normally watch football,” I replied, rubbing one sharp key with my thumb.

“But you are here, teeth chattering and all,” he replied, a small smile crawling onto his lips.

“I was invited by the captain.” My confidence was slowly growing. “I never caught your name the other night,
Mr . . .”

“Blackwood.
Rillin Blackwood,” he replied, tilting his head ever so slightly in a chivalrous salute. “I was on my way to Boston, but then I saw the game. I swung in to watch, but then heard over the speaker that Eila Walker was being given the game ball – as a welcome back gift after the Newport incident.  You must be the girl that survived the explosion in Newport. You look amazingly well for such a massive blast.”

“It isn’t that impressive,” I said slowly.

Son of a nugget, was this guy FBI? I was so sick of the Feds and the work involved in keeping them misdirected. If this dude was yet another agent, I might just scream.

My visitor cocked his head ever so slightly and studied me with a strange intensity, making me shift on my feet, uneasy. I felt like he was trying to commit my
face to memory, which was downright weird and definitely scumballworthy.

Suddenly his gaze moved past me and he nodded to an area behind me. “You seem to have company headed this way in a hurry.”

I watched Thor, er, Rillin, for a moment more, then dared a glance behind me. As if the night couldn’t get any more screwed up, Teddy Bencourt, number 44 on the football team, was pushing his way through the crowd and waving at me.

I so didn’t want to deal with him right now.

After drunkenly falling on me during the senior beach bonfire in October, he had jettisoned his mind and started manhandling my parts without permission.

Actually, I recalled screaming at him to get off me until Raef grabbed his sorry butt and nearly flung him into the next town. If Jesse hadn’t been there as well, it was entirely possible Raef would have killed the linebacker.

Jesse had apologized to me about his teammate’s stupidity, but Teddy had yet to beg my forgiveness. I had been able to avoid him thus far as I hadn’t been back to school since that night, but I knew he was going to want to talk to me as soon as I set foot on school grounds. He wasted no time, apparently.

I needed to escape.

“Eila!” Teddy yelled as he worked his way through the high-fives and pats-on-the-back.

I quickly turned back to my car and swore under my breath as I tried to fumble my key into the lock.

“Not a fan of Double Digits?” questioned Rillin, amusement in his voice.  I was stuck between irritating guys, neither of whom I wanted to friggin’ deal with, but at the moment I’d take the dude glued to my bumper over the baller headed my way.

“Let’s just say our understanding of ‘no’ varied between the two of us,” I muttered, my breath
creating clouds of vapor.

I mercifully heard the lock pop and I swung the door open, but I could still hear Teddy calling my name. I glanced at
Rillin, but the amusement he had moments ago was gone. His face was dead serious as he watched Teddy approach and I was shocked to recognize a protective anger begin to grace the face of this strange man.

Who the hell WAS this guy?

I cranked the Jeep to life and Rillin pushed off my bumper coming around to my side of the vehicle. I stiffened, unsure of what he was doing.  He grabbed the football off my windshield and came around to my door before I could shut it. He leaned down in the open door frame and I got a clear view of his face – deep blue eyes, rugged skin, and another faint scar that flirted with the edge of his brow.  His life showed in the lines of his face, giving him the air of hard-won elegance. I slowly took the ball from his offering hand, unable to make heads or tails of this strange man.

“You are not the type to run from what scares you,” said
Rillin quietly, his face hard and serious.

Uh, yeah – okay, psycho.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Rillin suddenly strode away toward Teddy and stuck a hand out to shake his. He began talking to Teddy, who was torn between looking at me and at this new man, who was congratulating him on a great game. Rillin then said something that grabbed the footballer’s full attention and Teddy grinned from ear-to-ear.

I sighed, relieved.
Teddy had effectively been distracted by Rillin Blackwood, whoever the heck he was. He began to slowly guide Teddy back into the throngs of people and out of my sight.

I looked back down to the football, but nearly jumped clear through the fabric top when
Ana pounded on the passenger side window. My heart racing, I reached across to her side and popped the lock for her.

 
She slid into her side, “I don’t think I ever had so many people talk to me at once. My brain is in melt-down mode!”  She turned to me, smiling that sly knowing smile of hers. “And looky-looky who got the game ball from Jesse Vale! Could it be that the mighty captain is crushing on you?”

I rolled my eyes as I dared a glance toward the crowd where Teddy and
Rillin had been. “Jesse is just a friend.”

Ana laughed, “Yeah – and that’s what you said about Raef and boy was that a whopper of a lie.”

I shook my head. “That’s different. I tried lying to myself, and you guys about Raef, which was pointless. Jesse though is REALLY just a friend.”

“To you maybe,” replied
Ana. “But Jesse may have other ideas.”

I prayed Ana was wrong. I would be back in the halls of BHS tomorrow morning, among my classmates. As it was, I would be dodging Teddy, who I luckily didn’t have any classes with, and Nikki, who I was sure daydreamed about running me down with her convertible Mustang.

Jesse, however, wouldn’t be so easy to avoid. He sat across from me in English and behind me in Ecology.

“MJ had to head out, but he wanted to know if you think you will come back and see another game sometime soon?” asked Ana, who was pressing her
mittened hands against the dashboard heater.

“Maybe,” I said, as I tossed the ball to Ana and backed out of the parking space, scanning the lot for my strange stalker. Once again, however, Mr. Blackwood had disappeared, taking with him my brief stint as an average teenager.