Текст книги "Finding Sky"

Автор книги: Joss Stirling

Соавторы: Joss Stirling
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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Then, scrambled from the upper floors of the hotel, the FBI made it into the casino, pushing hotel security aside. I must have looked odd, standing in the middle of an empty floor, surrounded by spil ed cards and chips, a ticking roulette wheel, but making no effort to defend myself.

‘Drop the gun, Sky!’ cal ed Victor. ‘You don’t want to do this. This isn’t you.’

I tried to shake it loose but my fingers wouldn’t uncurl, my brain over-riding the command.

Turn the gun on yourself. Say you’ll kill yourself ifthey come any closer. Daniel Kel y’s words brought the muzzle under my ear.

‘Don’t come any closer,’ I said in a shaky voice.

There was a scream to my left. Security guards were restraining my parents as they tried to reach me.

‘Sky, what are you doing?’ Sal y cried, her face drained of colour.

‘Come on, love, put the gun down. You need help.

No one’s been harmed—we’l get you help,’ Simon said desperately.

Somehow their words didn’t penetrate. More powerful were the whisperings that I should end it al , punish the Benedicts for using me.

‘Stay back—no one come any closer!’ My finger tightened on the trigger. There seemed no other way.

Then Zed stepped out from behind Victor, shaking his brother off when he attempted to stop him.

‘She won’t shoot me,’ he said calmly, though his lights were flickering red with anger.

Was he angry with me? I hadn’t done anything, had I?

No, he’s not angry with me. With someone else.

The Kel ys.

Zed came towards me. ‘Second time I step in front of a gun for you, Sky. We’ve real y got to stop meeting like this.’

He was making fun of me? I was threatening to kil myself and he cracked a joke? This wasn’t the script.

People were supposed to run in terror—I was supposed to die in a hail of bul ets.

‘You shouldn’t be here, Zed.’ Thirsting for something that made sense in this madness, I drank in the sight of him—broad shoulders, the strong lines of his face, the deep blue-green eyes.

‘Sky, you have to understand that now I’ve found you, I’m not going away. Deep down you don’t want me to either. Soulfinders don’t hurt each other. We can’t because it would be like harming yourself.’

‘Soulfinder?’ What was I doing? The internal compulsion to pul the trigger melted like frost in the sun. This al felt wrong because it wasn’t my script.

My destiny stood in front of me, loving me enough to risk me shooting him. Soulfinder. The Kel ys hadn’t known that I had a power they could not defeat; I’d already been found—I’d managed to protect that secret when they’d destroyed al my other defences.

Recognition of my soulfinder punched through the suffocating false layers with a strength not even a skil ed savant could counter.

It al became clear. My fingers loosened on the gun butt and I let it drop to the floor.

I gave a shaky shrug.

‘Um … what can I say? Sorry?’

Zed rushed the last few yards and grabbed me in a hug. ‘Those Kel ys got you again?’

I buried my head in his chest. ‘Yeah, they did. I was supposed to punish you by either doing myself in or getting gunned down by the FBI.’

‘Clever—but they can’t beat my girl.’

‘They almost did.’

‘No!’ Daniel Kel y stormed into the casino flanked by Maria and Sean, hungry for a consolation prize as the main one eluded him. ‘I’m pressing charges against this girl. She threatened my guests with a gun—shot at my property—disrupted play. Arrest her.’

My parents reached my side seconds before the Kel ys.

‘What’s going on, Sky?’ Simon looked ready to punch Mr Kel y.

‘Sal y, Simon, meet Daniel Kel y and family.’ I waved at them. ‘They’re responsible for my kidnapping last time and tried to brainwash me this afternoon into going on a shooting spree down here.’

‘The girl is mad. She’s already spent a month in a mental facility. She is total y unreliable.’ Daniel Kel y got out his BlackBerry, speed-dial ing his legal team.

‘She needs to be locked up for the safety of the general public.’

Victor scooped up the gun with a handkerchief and tucked it in an evidence bag.

‘Very interesting, Mr Kel y, but I beg to disagree. I believe Sky is right to say you’ve been manipulating her.’

Sal y looked horrified. ‘You mean drugged her—or

… or what? Hypnotized her?’

‘That’s right, ma’am.’

‘You’ve no evidence of that,’ sneered Maria Toscana shoulder with her father. ‘But we do have ample footage from the CCTV of this girl storming in here and shooting wildly. Which of us is a judge going to believe?’

‘Sky.’ Victor grinned wolfishly. ‘You see, I worked out, Mr Kel y, that you’d got to Agent Kowalski when she had you under surveil ance in October. As she was my partner, you couldn’t resist, could you? Once I realized who was leaking information about our investigation, things such as who Sky was, intel igence only Kowalski and I knew, I expected her to inform you about the tap we put on Sky. Kowalski never had a clue you were using her, did she?’

‘I’m saying nothing,’ Daniel Kel y said through his teeth.

‘That’s fine, because I have plenty of talking to do.

Agent Kowalski fitted Sky with a standard FBI wire—

the one you were blocking—but she didn’t know anything about the recording device in Sky’s phone.’

He pul ed my mobile from my back pocket and tapped it. ‘Every word you said to Sky is captured, preserved for the judge and jury to hear. I’m sure it’l make interesting listening.’

‘I want a lawyer.’

Victor’s grin widened. ‘Excel ent. My favourite four words. Daniel Kel y, Maria Toscana Kel y, Sean Kel y, I am arresting you for kidnapping and conspiracy to murder. You have the right to remain silent …’

Six uniformed officers stepped up to cuff the Kel ys as Victor continued to recite their rights. Zed led me apart and hugged me tight, rocking me to and fro so only my toes brushed the carpet.

‘Isn’t that a lovely sound—to hear their rights read to them?’ he murmured in my ear, kissing the very same place Sean had slobbered over, taking away the shivery feeling. I was safe. Home.

‘I hope they lock them up and throw away the key.’

‘From Vick’s expression, I think he’s pretty confident of that.’

‘Did you know about the phone?’

‘Yeah, but I couldn’t tel you in case the Kel ys picked it out of your mind.’

I rested my palm over his heart, listening to the steady beat as I came down from my adrenaline high. I couldn’t stop trembling. ‘Then you’re forgiven.’

‘I never dreamed they’d make you do something like this, baby.’ He gestured to the mess I’d made of the casino.

‘I didn’t do anything, remember? Wel , except for shooting that chandelier but, as it’s an offence to good taste, I was in fact doing everyone a favour.’

‘You real y OK?’

‘Yes, I am. Uriel helped me last time to sort out true from false; this time, once I sensed the fake stuff, it al fel into place much more quickly thanks to my soulfinder. But I’ve got a headache though. And I made an even bigger mess of the penthouse—

shook it up a bit.’

‘Yeah, we felt that. I’m impressed. You pack a powerful punch into your five feet and one debatable inch.’

I looked up to see the Kel ys being led away.

‘Someone needs to make sure Daniel Kel y doesn’t use his gift to get them out of jail.’

‘Victor’s on to that. He’s got procedures set up to make sure Kel y can’t get his claws into anyone.’

‘What about the two Kel ys that got away from jail?’

Zed ruffled my hair. ‘Come on, Sky, three col ars for one day isn’t bad going. We’l get them sooner or later. What I want to know is when you’re going to stop running from me.’

I rested my head on his chest. ‘Running?’

‘We’re not like your biological parents. We can make this work. Just trust me. Please.’

Standing peaceful y together in the chaos of the casino, I took a deep breath, relishing his scent of woodsy soap and something that was purely him.

That was what he was to me: my resting place. I’d been stupid to think I could survive without him. My fears had blinded me to the prize I had been about to throw away. ‘I think I might’ve stopped running when you stepped out in front of me. I hit my wal .’

He kissed the top of my head. ‘And I’m not moving.’

‘OK. You’re my soulfinder. There, I’ve admitted it.’

He gave a shudder of relief. ‘Painful?’

‘Yes, very.’

‘Scared?’

‘Out of my wits.’

‘Wel , don’t be. The only real y scary thing would be not to stay together.’

Sal y and Simon approached with my new friend Texan George.

‘This gentleman here told us what happened,’

Sal y said, looking at me warily.

‘I’m OK now, Sal y. Victor wil tel you al about it when he gets back.’

George nodded sagely. ‘It was the damnedest thing, Mrs Bright. I knew there was something wrong with your gal the moment I saw her eyes—al glassy.

Reminded me of a cabaret act I saw in the Paradise Lounge one time. Hypnotist made the man from the audience sing like Elvis until he clicked his fingers and broke the spel .’ He winked at me. ‘But those bad guys couldn’t get you to go against your conscience, could they, Sky?’

‘I suppose not, George.’

‘See, hypnotism has its limits.’ He patted my hand in a grandfatherly fashion. ‘Go get yourself some rest, Sky.’

‘And you go take your winnings away from the tables.’ I pointed to the exit.

He tipped his hat. ‘Sure wil , ma’am. There’s a condo in Florida with your name on it just waiting for me.’

When he’d left, I turned to my dad. ‘So, do you stil want to move to Vegas?’

Simon looked at Sal y, then at Zed and me, standing together. ‘I think that would be a “no”—a very big “no”.’

To my horror, photos of me standing in the casino, shooting at the chandelier, made it into the papers.

Daniel Kel y’s fal was such big news any part of the transaction made headlines. The account of exactly what I was doing there was understandably garbled; most made me out to be an FBI plant working undercover to expose the criminal dealings of the Kel y family. It made a good storyline but that didn’t wash at school where they knew me.

‘Hey, Sky!’ cal ed Nelson, practical y tackling me in the hal way. ‘What the heck were you doing in Las Vegas last weekend?’

The Benedicts and I had discussed what story would best explain my uncharacteristic behaviour.

Nelson was the first person on whom I was to try out the tale.

‘Oh that?’ I gave an airy laugh. ‘Can you believe the papers? It was a stunt I was doing for a British TV programme—a reconstruction; they’re doing this feature on American gun crime. Bad timing on the producer’s part as we happened to be there at the same time as the hotel management got arrested.

Some health and safety violation or something, my mum said.’

Nelson shook his head. ‘No, Sky baby, the Kel ys are very bad guys—wanted for conspiracy to murder.’

‘Real y?’ I opened my eyes wide.

Don’t overplay it. Zed came up behind. Nelson’s no fool. He’ll expect you to know about Kelly.

‘Wel , wow. That’s very interesting,’ I said, toning the innocence down a notch. ‘I should’ve paid more attention.’

‘So you’re gonna be on TV?’ Nelson was off on another track.

‘Yeah. It’s a programme for kids, cal ed … um …

Blue Peter.’

‘Cool. Gun crime—sounds real cutting edge stuff.’

‘Absolutely.’ Use round-ended scissors and no one gets harmed.

‘Awesome. Let us know when they show it—make sure you get a copy.’

‘Wil do.’

Nelson jogged away, stealing a kiss from Tina in passing. ‘Sky’s gonna be on British TV!’ he shouted.

‘She’s a stunt girl.’

Wel , that was one way of spreading the story.

Stunt girl? I rather liked that. Much better than nutty fruitcake who shot up a casino.

‘Come on, Sky, what are you daydreaming about?’ Zed asked, tugging me back into walking.

‘Oh, just stuff.’

‘You’d better snap out of it because we’ve got some serious rehearsing to do. Concert’s the day after tomorrow.’

‘Bummer. I forgot.’

‘It’s nothing. If you can operate as part of an FBI investigation, you should think nothing of a little concert to friends and family.’

Little concert? Huh, Mr Benedict, I’l be having words with you later.

Zed’s little concert turned out to be a massive gig with everyone from the vicinity crammed into the school auditorium. The mood was festive. Sheena’s cheerleaders came sporting Father Christmas hats; the basebal team had opted for reindeer horns.

Every instrument was bedecked with tinsel. The geeks had done themselves proud with an impressive video presentation of the year so far that played on the white screen over the stage. I was particularly embarrassed to see my goalkeeping debut got its own segment. It was a good save though. Parents mingled with each other, exchanging gossip and jokes. The Benedicts were out in force. I was thril ed to see Yves chatting to Zoe; she looked starry-eyed to be singled out for his attention. He was certainly making her day, proving that studious-looking guys also had some pretty cool moves. Sal y and Simon were in deep conversation with Tina’s mother. When I approached, I heard them talking not about me—sigh of relief—but about Tina’s artistic talent.

My friend beckoned me over, flashing her newly painted silver nails for me to approve. Voluntarily excluding herself from singing for the sake of our eardrums, Tina was doing a fine job sel ing programmes.

‘Sal y just offered to give you extra lessons free; she thinks very highly of you,’ I announced.

‘She does?’ Tina’s smile was a dazzling hundred watts. ‘Then you get this one free too then.’ She passed me a programme. ‘I see you’re playing a solo.’

‘If I don’t manage to make a run for it before Mr Keneal y shoves me on stage.’

‘Don’t you dare! I’m counting on you. I’ve been promising everyone our stunt girl wil be the star of the show.’

I wasn’t going to live that one down quickly. ‘I’l give it my best shot.’

‘Ha-ha.’

I frowned. ‘What did I say?’

‘Best shot—stunt girl?’

‘Oh. I didn’t mean the pun.’ Just then the screen flashed up an image of me shooting the chandelier.

‘Where on earth did they get that?’

‘The internet’s a bitch,’ said Tina philosophical y, before turning to bel ow, ‘Dig deep, folks. Al proceeds go to the Aspen convalescent home.’

I glanced down at the programme to find my name at the top of the bil . Surrounded by Vegas style lights of al things.

That was it—I was so out of here. Nelson and Tina had turned me into the main attraction. I bolted for the exit, only to run slap into Zed’s chest.

‘Going somewhere, Sky?’ he said with a knowing smile.

‘Home.’

‘Uh-huh. And that would be because …?’

I lowered my voice. ‘Everyone’s going to be looking at me!’

‘That’s kinda the idea when you perform.’ He steered me back behind stage.

‘Nothing you can say wil make me go out there,’ I hissed as the audience took their seats.

‘Nothing?’ His mouth quirked into a smile.

‘Nothing.’ I dug in my heels.

He bent down to my face and whispered:

‘Chicken.’

I folded my arms. ‘Too right I am. Cluck-cluck.’

He laughed. ‘OK. How about I give you another of my special boarding lessons if you do this?’

The knot of panic loosened at the happy memory of our time on the slopes together. Zed always knew what I wanted—where I needed to go to feel safe.

‘Real y?’

‘Yeah. I’l even promise to do a double axel and a somersault.’

‘Triple.’

‘Triple?’

‘Triple axel. And there has to be hot chocolate.’

He feigned a frown. ‘Good grief, girl, you drive a hard bargain.’

‘With marshmal ows. And kisses.’

‘Now you’re talking.’ He held out his palm. ‘Done.’

I couldn’t wait. Laughing, I took his hand and, before I could protest, he escorted me to the piano to the sound of applause from our friends.

‘Don’t worry,’ he whispered. ‘I won’t leave you—

not ever.’

I sat down and opened up the first piece of music.

My future looked very promising—and he was standing right beside me.

About the Author

Joss Stirling lives in Oxford and has always been fascinated by the idea that life is more than what we see on the surface. Researching Finding Sky saw her travel ing in the characters’ footsteps, from the awe-inspiring landscape of the Rockies, down a white-water river on a raft, and to the artificial skyline of Las Vegas.

You can visit her website on www.jossstirling.com More eBooks from Oxford

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