Freak of Nature - By Julia Crane Page 0,57
then left, and walked the two blocks until she was directly behind Lucas’s house a street over. She should wait till nightfall, but she wanted answers now.
Harrington’s security team wasn’t that large. More than likely there was only one guard watching the house and he would never see her enter.
She walked through the yard and hopped the short chain linked fence. As she suspected, there was no one in the back yard. She hurried up the back steps, and knocked on the door.
The door swung open, and Lucas stood, staring at her, his mouth agape. He was only wearing plaid pajama bottoms and nothing else. The sight of his bare skin almost made her forget what she was there for.
“Kate?” He pulled her into the dim interior and slammed the door. “What are you…how did you…what are you doing here? There’s a guard out front.”
“That’s why I came in the back door.” She looked away from his chest and met his eyes. “Why Lucas? Why all the lies?”
“Come in here and sit down. What’s happened?”
He led her into an open living room. Dark curtains were drawn and the lights were out. A worn leather couch faced a brick fire place, and a large red rug covered the hardwood floor beneath a coffee table. The walls were lined with bookshelves. A brushed metal lamp sat on a dark wooden end table. Her mind was going through the stores where they were purchased, but she ignored it. She didn’t care where Lucas shopped. She wanted different answers.
“Sit down.” Lucas motioned to the couch.
A black cat with a white patch of fur around its left eye strolled slowly into the room and sat down, flicking her tail as she stared suspiciously at Kate. She wondered if it could tell she wasn’t fully human.
“How old am I, Lucas, and… you have a cat?”
He settled in a recliner next to the couch and dropped his head. “You’re twenty, and yes, I have a cat. She came with the house, I guess you could say.”
The cat seemed to make some kind of decision, and jumped on Kate’s lap. Startled, she ran her hand down its soft fur without really thinking about it.
“Domino never goes to anyone.”
“Domino?”
“The cat. She’s very much a loner.”
“Kindred souls, I guess. Why did you let me believe I was seventeen?”
Lucas sighed. “I guess I never thought about your age. I didn’t realize you thought about your age.”
“I don’t care about my age. What I want to know is what happened to me in those lost years?”
Lucas leaned forward to take her hand, but she pulled away. His brow knitted together. “You were in a coma for almost three years.”
Kaitlyn didn’t say anything for a long time while she processed the new information. “I remember waking up and seeing you.”
“Do you?” He smiled sadly. “I sat by your bed every day. We weren’t sure you would pull through. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”
“A miracle, or science?”
He shrugged. “They often go hand in hand.”
“I’m so confused, Lucas. I thought it would help, finding out who I was, but it hasn’t helped at all.” She stared at him. “I saw someone from my past. Someone I once loved.”
Lucas tensed. “Evan.”
Nodding, she replied, “I saw Evan, and that made me even more confused.”
“What happened?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell him anything. He just thought I was someone that looked like Cassidy. My name is Cassidy? That doesn’t even sound right.”
“It was Cassidy,” Lucas said gently. “You’re Kaitlyn now. Unless you want to be Cassidy?”
She shook her head. “No. Cassidy died a long time ago.”
“How did you feel when you met him?” Lucas looked away as if he didn’t really want to hear the answer.
“Strange. He’s married now. I didn’t feel a pull towards him the way I thought I would, the way I do with you.”
Lucas’s shoulders relaxed, and Kaitlyn realized he had been jealous.
“You have nothing to worry about, Lucas.” She didn’t know why she was comforting him after all the lies.
“Why are you back? You should have kept running. Everyone is looking for you. If they find out you were here…”
“I don’t want to run,” Kaitlyn cut in wearily. “Run to where? I had a lot of time to think on the train.”
“Tell me what you want, Kate, and I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”
“I thought about the woman that was raped. Cassidy was brave and wanted to help others. I want to honor the girl I used to be.