Sitting, staring out at the seawall, but not really seeing it, Kiera began twisting the ring on her third finger left hand. She had begun wearing it again. She had stopped wearing it, but the day after Alec's stepfather had been killed, she decided that not wearing it was wrong. She had a husband and a child, a family. She'd be with them again, one day, she desperately hoped.
She breathed in the air strong with the scent of pine and azaleas, liking it here. Visiting this park was a treat. It was her personal retreat, a magnificent green oasis in the midst of this heavily urban landscape of Vancouver.
She was furious with Kellog. Alec was strictly hands-off. The amoral conniver knew that, but didn't see it that way. The nugget of advance knowledge he possessed about the eighteen-year-old hadn't stopped him. The reason why he had chosen to tinker with the youthful genius, the founder of SadTech in their time, was obvious. The self-serving leech thought it was perfectly acceptable to maximize his own selfish advantage, Matthew's infuriating modus operandi.
She couldn't allow Kellog to interfere with Alec's future and thereby perhaps change everyone's, her family's included.
Kiera twisted the ring harder. Was the future she had left behind unrecognizable now? Was her family all right, did they even exist?
She ran her fingers through her hair.
It wasn't long before she caught a glimpse of a large blue heron, on the hunt, going in for a dive. The predator disappeared beneath the water's surface. When the bird reappeared, a fish wriggled in its bill. The abundance of wildlife, allowed to live free in this time, astounded her. Sam would like this and all the kids rolling around on wheels. He wasn't old enough to inline skate, but he would have enjoyed watching older kids doing it and skateboarding too. The activities were entertaining. She toyed with the idea of giving inline skating a try herself. Maybe she would. She remembered what had happened to her when she had played that virtual game.
She had risked her mind's preservation. Her suit would keep her body safe, she thought then and smiled. Inline skating was worth trying she reconsidered; she'd exercise caution.
Disturbingly, and all at once, fraying thoughts gyrated in her mind. These last few hours had been hellish. Even coming here wasn't offering her as much solace as it normally did.
The latest bit of news Alec had imparted confirmed her worst fears. It wreaked havoc with her precarious sense of flimsy well-being. Another time traveler was among them. Had the person come through along with her and the condemned terrorists? Why hadn't the person made his or her presence known before this?
That made the Liber8 conspiracy cohorts, herself…Jason…and this new traveler a part of this timeframe. Kiera balked, still not willing to fully accept that the erratic 'eccentric' was truly from the future. Jason's wild talk really rattled her sometimes. Yet, Alec's revelation about another 'migratory visitor' being online lent credence to Jason's claims. Others, such as they were, from the future, had invaded this present population. It was a mind-tingling thought.
One she wished she could dismiss. She'd be a fool if she did.
Who was this individual, friend or foe? Another lost, displaced newcomer with an agenda, intent on altering the future by any means possible to suit whatever ends he or she wanted?
With a sigh, Kiera inclined her head toward the half-heard conversation, its content arresting her attention.
"You love being mysterious."
Kiera snuck a peak at the one who had said that. He had pale, soft-looking skin and hair as dark as midnight. His eyes were an intriguing shade of cobalt blue. He carried a skateboard, was wearing the type of shoes for the activity. He wasn't exactly laughing, but he wasn't chiding either.
The girl he was with replied, "I love being with you." She seized his broad hand with hers, which looked doll-like, visibly more fragile. She brought his hand to her mouth to kiss the back of it. "But I don't want you permanently maiming or killing yourself to prove that you are king skater boy of Stanley Park." The longhaired girl with dark eyes and bone straight hair to match, refused to surrender his hand when he tried taking it back.
"I know what I'm doing," skater boy insisted. He'd been looping, kick-flipping, doing one foot ollies and overcrooking since practically he could walk.
His concerned companion rebutted, "So do I." Not missing a beat, the girl, a shave shorter than the boy, began walking off with her confident friend in tow. "You can show me your new trick tomorrow," Kiera heard her say. "Right now," she continued, her big brown eyes flashing, growing bigger, her tone dripping resolve, "we're going to enjoy this beautiful scenery, and it won't cost you your life or limb. Or me losing my mind watching you do your insane stunts. End of discussion."
"They're not insane," fearless skater boy asserted. He shrugged off her glare.
"What kind of ice cream do you want?" the girl patiently asked, adept at sidetracking.
Parrying her unruffled facial expression, skater boy thought for a moment, then said, "Chocolate and strawberry. More chocolate than strawberry."
Eager to please, the girl pulled him over to the concession, asked the seller for what her crazy nut wanted, told the guy what she wanted and they walked off licking and smiling as they worked on their cones. They were out of earshot, but looked easygoing. The tiff diffused, settled with ice cream.
Kiera sighed, remembering her son's favorite flavor…just like skater boy's…chocolate. Sam would wear his creamy moustache proudly. About to close her eyes, she was interrupted by her mobile phone. The rays of the waning sunshine dappled the forest wherein shadows lengthened.
"Carlos…"
She listened, and when he asked, she told him, "At Stanley. What am I doing? Nothing in particular. Watching some ducks…herons…kids hanging out, being kids. Watching ice cream melt." Did she want some?
Pausing to listen, Kiera with a sigh next responded, "I know. I just needed to not do anything for a little while. If I do sound like that it's because I'm…I'm…" The words overwhelmed, frustrated popped into her mind, but she refrained from saying them. "I needed some—"
Carlos verbally supplied what she needed, hinted that he had an idea involving something they'd never done before. His suggestion, which he wasn't saying what it was, not just yet, would be something new for Kiera and him to do together. At least, he figured it would be. He told her not to leave the park, said he was going to meet her. He knew the spot, she'd showed him.
"No, Carlos. I'm fine. You don't have to, really."
He wasn't taking no for an answer. He made her promise she would stay put.
"Okay, okay," she committed albeit half-heartedly, wishing Carlos wasn't so gallingly persuasive, coupled with her feeling so down in the dumps as she did. No sooner had he hung up, Alec was whispering to her in her mind. Kiera wanted to know where he was, but he wasn't saying. She told him that if he was thinking of going to Kellog, he had better think again.
Alec wouldn't tell her where he was, nor what he was doing, was only saying that he'd be in touch as soon as he had more data on the shadowy new enigmatic 'player' in the field. Kiera persisted, but her usually informative techie declined saying anything more about his plans for the rest of the evening. He wished her a good-night and expeditiously signed off.
"Don't do this to me, Alec. Not after you promised you wouldn't…"
About fifteen minutes later, Carlos showed up, told her to get into the car. He was the embodiment of hi jinks and secrecy. She dragged her feet and thought, Great, and huffed, giving him objectionable looks. Just exactly what she needed—not—more clandestine behavior.
They rode in silence, which wasn't companionable, nor easy to navigate, until Kiera broke the uncommunicativeness. "Where are we going?"
"And spoil the surprise?" Carlos cajoled, pulling into the street where one of his ideas of a good time awaited.
"I don't like surprises," she flatly spewed. That was a bit of an exaggeration; her son's playful antics were the exception. Additionally, she was known to shed tears whenever Greg Cameron bought her flowers, roses her favorites, unexpectedly.
"So I've noticed. But, I think you'll like this one." Well, at least he hoped she would. Considering her glum mood and outright disavowals that nothing of a more personal nature was wrong, it was worth a try.
Anything was better than this blue funk of hers that had been going on for weeks. Granted, Agent Gardiner breathing down a person's neck, especially Kiera's, would make anyone go over the edge. Inspector Dillon wasn't helping either with his snide remarks and growing impatience with the lack of progressive connecting the Liber8 dots. His increasing crankiness and tirades blanketed the entire department, setting the stage for low morale.
Carlos parked the car, got out. Kiera did the same, not saying anything again. Carlos jerked two fingers at her, then crossed the street. Kiera followed. Looking up at the 16-plex's marquee, he pointed and said, "See that yet?"
"See what?" Kiera replied, indulging him. She canted her head. "A movie?" As of this date, she hadn't pandered to incidental whims. She had more crucial wasn't interested in the outmoded form of entertainment, no piquing of any interest whatsoever on her part had occurred.
"Not just any movie. World War Z." He wanted to make this his fourth time. His eclectic fascination with zombies hadn't been exactly love at first sight, it had grown over time, but it was close. His favorite TV show was, a no-brainer here…The Walking Dead. "Surprise! My treat."
"Think I'll call it a night, Carlos. Thanks for the ride back into town. We'll catch up at headquarters, tomorrow." She raised her index and middle fingers, aimed them at him, mouthed 'pow' and mock-fired.
"No, no. Come on. I think you'll get a kick out of this flick." Those wicked eyes of his had her submitting. His wide grin worked its magic.
She bit. After rolling her eyes, Kiera didn't have the heart to shove what he thought she'd like back into his face and up his nose.
"Please…"
A nod of resignation had her inside sitting beside him, a huge tub of buttery popcorn between them balanced on each of their legs. She dug her hand into the tub, brought the popped kernels to her salt-tinged lips and mindlessly munched away. As Kiera got more and more caught up in the pseudo-excitement of cringing, outnumbered humans fighting a losing battle against the so-called 'undead,' Carlos leaned into Kiera's ear and sub-audibly whispered, "Well? What did I tell ya?"
Kiera cracked a wide grin in the flickering darkness. Her heart beat faster, not entirely on account of the star's character, Gerry, running the zombie gauntlet to emerge unscathed.
"Stop talking," she answered in kind, "you're spoiling it for me."
Carlos' deep chuckling tickled her ear as it resonated within it.
She gave him the movie; it was the least she could do. She had almost gotten him killed in that shootout with Sonya Valentine and her accomplices. Kiera figured she owned him.
TBC…