The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,55
as a temporary bonding the way so many on Earth did?
The thought unsettled him. Though the circumstances that had brought them together were horrendous, Taelon already found it hard to imagine not waking up with Lisa in his arms every morning, not sharing every meal with her, not eliciting laughs and blushes from her every chance he got.
It would be even harder to let her go if they made love.
And harder still once their child was born.
The bathroom door swung open.
Lisa spoke, still beyond his line of sight. “Our day has had a pretty grim beginning, so I thought you’d like to see this.” Poking her head out, she stared at him with wide eyes and a mouth rimmed with toothpaste foam.
He laughed.
She grinned.
So damn cute, he thought as he rose and joined her.
Lisa’s stomach tingled with nerves as she lifted the receiver of the old touch-tone phone their motel room boasted. Taelon sat beside her on the edge of the bed, one arm around her back. Both were dressed.
Drawing in a deep breath, she dialed the number Brad had scrawled on the paper.
How was she going to tell Kelly Brad was dead?
Did she already know? If not, would Kelly blame her and call the authorities? Would she continue what Brad had begun and help Lisa find sanctuary?
“Hello?” a woman answered.
“Hi. Is this Kelly Vaughan?” Lisa asked, her hand tightening around the receiver.
“Yes.”
Taelon leaned close and pressed his ear to hers so he could listen, too.
“This is Lisa Holt. Brad Sykes gave me your number.”
“Brad who?” Kelly responded, the two words carrying puzzlement.
“Brad Sykes… from the Anomalous Cognition Research Institute.”
Silence.
“He said you used to date?” she added, giving Taelon a look.
His brows drew down.
“I think there’s been a mistake,” Kelly said, neither hostility nor suspicion entering her tone. Just confusion. “I’ve never dated anyone named Brad Sites.”
“Sykes,” Lisa corrected and spelled it for her. “S-y-k-e-s. Brad Sykes. Tall, blond, blue-eyed?”
“Nope. Still not ringing a bell. I’m sorry.”
It didn’t seem like a ruse. “He said you’re a journalist with connections. He said you helped him find me when I went missing and could help me disappear once he freed me. He said—”
“Wait. Find you? Help you disappear?” Kelly’s tone sharpened. “Are you being held captive somewhere? What did you say your name was?”
Lisa bit her lip and consulted Taelon.
He shook his head.
“Hello? Are you still there?” Kelly asked.
“Yes.”
Her voice lowered. “Is this about the battered women piece I did? Are you in trouble?”
Lisa didn’t know what to say. How could Kelly not remember Brad? “You really don’t remember Brad?”
“No. But if he was one of my sources, he might have given you a false name to protect himself. Some of my sources risked their reputations, their jobs, and their lives to help me with that story. Where are you? Your number isn’t showing up. What’s your situation?”
Don’t tell her, Taelon advised in her head.
Lisa agreed. She didn’t know what this meant, but they couldn’t afford to bring more unknowns into the equation. “I’m sorry. I’ve made a mistake.”
“Wait!”
She dropped the receiver back into its cradle.
Taelon straightened but remained close. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either.”
“Her ignorance did not seem feigned.”
“I agree. She sounded… baffled. But how could she not know Brad? He said she was his ex. He said she helped him find me.”
“Do you think he lied?”
“No.” She thought back to the last two times she had spoken with him. “No. I’m sure he didn’t. Brad felt guilty over inadvertently playing a role in my being taken. When he came to my room, he was really freaked out and terrified of getting caught. And when he gave me Kelly’s number and the cash, he was dying. So he had nothing to lose. Why would he lie?”
Taelon shook his head. “If you don’t believe he did, then I don’t either. I trust your judgment.”
She gave him a hug. “Thank you.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Do vampires have the ability to manipulate Earthlings’ thoughts?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. In the movies, some did. They could hypnotize people and get them to do their bidding.”
“Could Roland and his fellow vampires have wiped Brad’s existence from this woman’s memories?”
“I don’t know, but if they can… that’s disturbing as hell and just makes me more determined not to have anything to do with them.”
“What other options lay before us?”
She frantically sought some other avenue they could take. “I could call Dr. Aguera,” she suggested reluctantly.