Lash Read online

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Naomi said. “They were able to make the entire city of Houston believe that my father was driving drunk and make it look like it was his fault that he died.” She paced the floor growing angrier by the second. “I’m getting sick and tired of people like that taking advantage of others. Just because our family isn’t rich, it doesn’t give them the right to run all over us.”

  “I bet that billionaire dude had something to do with it,” Chuy said. “I saw him sitting in the car, waiting for her.”

  Naomi hit the side of her thigh with her fists as she continued to pace. “There has to be a way to expose them. Maybe some type of function with a lot a media.”

  “The news said there’s a fundraiser at the Plaza tonight. She’s the guest speaker.”

  “What time is it?” Naomi asked as she rushed out of the kitchen.

  Lash bolted up, wondering what Naomi had in mind. By the tone of her voice, she was up to something that sounded like trouble. How was he going to stop her without revealing himself? He groaned. It would be much easier if he could go back to his angel form.

  “Where are you going?” Welita went down the hall after Naomi.

  “The Plaza,” Naomi yelled back.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said? It’s too dangerous,” Welita said.

  “Chuy will go with me.” Naomi emerged with a backpack and helmet in hand.

  “I will?”

  Naomi scowled. “Yes, you will. Pick me up at my apartment in an hour. It’ll look too suspicious if we drive up in my bike.”

  “Yeah.” Chuy looked out through the screen door at the beat up ’78 Buick Electra parked on the street. “We’ll definitely blend in with that thing.”

  “Just do it, Chuy. I need to go home and change.” She took in his paint-splattered jeans and wife beater. “You should put your suit back on.”

  “I don’t have to dress up for them.”

  “You need to so we can blend in. Everyone’s probably going to be in tuxes or evening gowns. You don’t by any chance have a tuxedo, do you?”

  “I have a tuxedo t-shirt.”

  “Never mind,” Naomi said, exasperated. “Put your suit back on.”

  “Please, Naomi. Be careful,” Welita said.

  Bear barked.

  “Calm down, Bear. I’m opening the door.” The door squealed open as she spoke. “Welita, we’ll be in public the entire time. I’m just going to have a few words with her. She was the one who came to us, remember?”

  Lash stopped listening to the conversation when he heard a high-pitched growl around the corner. He stepped away slowly, wishing again that he had some of his powers back.

  He heard the sound of the motorcycle starting up and cursed. There was no way he’d be able to keep up with Naomi without flying.

  He needed to get back to his apartment and try to find out the location of the Plaza. He carefully took a step and a blur of reddish-brown fur headed straight to him. The Chihuahua yapped and jumped at his feet, and Lash looked wide-eyed at the tiny dog.

  I was worried about that? He chuckled. Despite all the jumping and annoyingly high-pitched sounds she was making, Bear was a cute dog.

  Lash bent down to pet her, and she bit his finger. “Shit.” He jerked away his hand and sucked on his finger. The dog gave him a funny look like she was laughing at him.

  “I guess that means we’re not going to be friends,” he said to her.

  “Bear? Bear! Come back inside,” Welita called out.

  The dog turned its head in the direction of her owner’s voice, looked at Lash, growled, and barked. She then turned and ran back into the house.

  He sighed. This was going to be a long assignment. Gazing into the evening sky, he said, “And thirty-five years wasn’t enough laughs for you?”

  ***

  Lash tugged at the collar of his tuxedo as he stood in the corner of the ballroom. It took him two hours to find a place that rented tuxedos and grab a taxi to drive him to the Plaza. He thought he’d be too late when he arrived, but Naomi and Chuy were nowhere to be found.

  He walked around the periphery, taking in the number of people dressed in their finest. Toward the front, the podium was set off with at least a dozen microphones ready to pick up every single word uttered.

  A short woman in a long flowing pink gown walked to the podium and stood for a moment, waiting for the room to silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Houston Children’s Hospital thanks you for your donations. I’d also like to give a special appreciation to Mr. Luke Prescott for the Prescott Foundation’s generous donation.”

  The room broke into applause, and Lash saw a distinguished-looking man standing next to a woman he assumed to be the senator. The man bowed slightly to the woman at the podium.

  “As you know, the hospital is near and dear to Senator Sutherland,” the woman continued. “The senator and the Prescott Foundation have been our biggest supporters. Every penny spent provides quality health care for impoverished children in the city. Please help me welcome Senator Jane Sutherland.”

  The senator shook the woman’s hand and stood behind the podium, waiting for the applause to die down. “Thank you, Lilith.” Her soft voice echoed through the room. “It is an honor for me to be here tonight. We all know the fine work that you do for the children of Houston.”

  Lash looked around the room as the senator continued with her speech. He expected Naomi to step forward. Minutes passed, and she was nowhere in sight. He wondered if she had changed her mind. He was about to leave when he heard a commotion in the back of the room. He didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

  High-heeled shoes clacked on the floor as Naomi marched toward the front of the room. Lash stood slack-jawed at the sight of her. This did not look like the girl in the torn shorts and t-shirt he saw a few hours earlier. Her black dress hugged her hips, accentuating her curves. She wore her hair up, curled wisps falling down her neck and along her forehead, framing a pair of blazing eyes. She was breathtaking.

  “Senator,” Naomi called out when she reached the front of the room.

  Lash mentally slapped himself to attention. This wasn’t the time or place to be noticing stupid things like how the dark curls around her temples highlighted the sheen of her skin or how his fingers itched to trace the little patch of freckles on the base of her neck.

  He was jolted to reality when he saw a menacing-looking man in a cowboy hat and crocodile boots step up next to Luke Prescott.

  He watched Crocodile Boots carefully, curious as to what he would do. Even from where Lash stood, his enhanced seeing ability allowed him to see Crocodile Boots’ face clearly as if he were standing right in front of him.

  As Naomi approached the podium, the man’s eyes turned dark, and he took a step toward her. Lash immediately pushed his way through the crowd to get closer. Even though they were in a crowded room with hundreds of witnesses and cameras, instinct told him that Crocodile Boots wouldn’t hesitate to stop Naomi from what she was doing—at any cost.

  Lash was about to position himself right behind Naomi when he heard Luke Prescott take a sharp intake of breath. His eyes locked with Luke’s and recognition crossed them. Lash blinked, wondering what Luke saw when a blinding pain stabbed behind his eyes. He clutched his head, and a vision of rolling hills and a pretty woman calling out to him flickered across his mind. As quickly as it came, the vision disappeared.

  What the hell was that? Lash rubbed his temples at the lingering dull ache. He looked back at Naomi, who was arguing with a couple of security guards near the stage. He then glanced over at Luke, who smiled and placed a hand on the giant’s arm. “Not here, Sal.”

  “Isn’t she the one?” Sal murmured as he glanced down at Naomi.

  “Yes, she is.” Luke placed a finger over his mouth, deep in thought as he glanced between Lash and Naomi, who was now making a spectacle of herself.

  Lash furrowed his brow. It was as if Luke knew who he was. If only this damn headache would go a
way. He couldn’t focus on anything. He knew it was possible to get headaches; after all, his body was still a human body. He couldn’t recall the last time he had one, though.

  “Make it quick,” Luke said.

  Sal nodded and made his way toward Naomi.

  Lash attempted to intervene when the pain in his head intensified and black dots blurred his vision. He groaned and pressed his hands against his head.

  “Are you okay, son?”

  When he looked up, all he could see was a blur of a man with salt and pepper hair. The room swayed, and he felt sick to his stomach.

  “You don’t look well. Let me get someone over here to help you,” the voice said.

  Lash struggled to push away the pain. He had to get to Naomi. Where was she?

  “Let me go,” he heard Naomi’s yell. There was a murmur that rippled through the crowd, and he knew Crocodile Boots got her.

  “No,” Lash groaned. “There’s somewhere I have to be.”

  “You won’t get away with this senator.” Her voice sounded farther away.

  He’s taking her. I have to get to her, Lash thought.

  A cool hand brushed his temple, and his head felt like it was about to explode. He stumbled, trying to get out of the room as if he could escape from the pain. A hand caught him and through his blurred vision, he saw a silver ring with a red stone.

  “Come on, son. Let me help you,” the voice said, its owner gripping his shoulder.

  Lash opened his mouth, about to tell the voice that he didn’t need any help, but quickly shut it. He swallowed hard to keep down the bile that was searing his throat. What was going on? What was happening to him?

  “Hizaher,” the voice whispered into his ear.

  For a moment, the shock of hearing Hebrew made him forget about the stabbing pain in his head.

  “Remember,” the voice repeated his command in English.

  The pain intensified as another image seared through his mind. This time, the woman was out in the fields, carrying a basket, and her beautiful hazel eyes gazed lovingly at him.

  He felt the hand on his shoulder lift, and the vision and pain vanished. Lash blinked. He was back in the room. He looked up, and the strange man was gone. It was as if nothing had happened.

  He quickly looked to the podium. The senator appeared to be shaken and wore a forced smile. Everyone in the room was looking at her, laughing at a joke she had just made. There was a loud applause as she stepped away from the podium. Luke held out his hand to assist her, and Lash saw a flash of red on his finger.

  Impossible. He couldn’t be on stage and with Lash at the same time. And the language he spoke, he hadn’t heard it in centuries. Lash shook the thoughts away—he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He had to go after Naomi.

  He pushed his way through the crowd, listening intently, hoping to hear her. When he ran out into the foyer, he heard her cussing up a storm.

  “This guy giving you trouble?” Chuy and another guy stepped into the foyer.

  Lash ducked behind a pillar. He didn’t know whether to be relived or laugh at the sight of the pair. Chuy looked normal in his navy suit compared to his companion, a heavy-set guy wearing a faux tuxedo t-shirt. He had a scowl on his face as if trying to appear tough, but Lash could tell from the way his eyes moved side to side nervously and the sweat on his brow that he was scared.

  “Chuy. Lalo.” Naomi breathed with relief.

  The room was tense for a moment, and Lash looked to see what was going on. Sal appeared to be sizing them up. Chuy looked like he could handle himself, but Sal had the look of a well-trained assassin. Lash was about to step up when he heard a loud whirling noise.

  “Perdóname,” the janitor said when he bumped into Sal with the floor polish machine.

  “You need to leave,” Sal growled. “This is a private matter.”

  “Qué?” the janitor asked looking confused.

  “Leave.”

  “Qué?”

  Sal looked down at him suspiciously and then over at Chuy and Lalo. He let go of Naomi. “Leave the premises at once and don’t come back,” he told her. With that, he glared at the janitor before disappearing back into the ballroom.

  “Yeah, that’s right. You better leave,” Lalo threw up his arms, yelling out after him. “When you see brown, you best not come ‘round—ow! Why’d you hit me?” He scowled at Naomi, rubbing his side.

  “Because you’re acting like a fool,” Naomi hissed. “What took you guys so long?”

  “They charge twenty bucks for valet parking,” Chuy said. “I couldn’t find a place nearby to park.”

  Naomi rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m going back inside.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. That Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson look-a-like let you off easy.”

  “Ooh, he does look like The Rock,” Lalo said excitedly.

  “Knock it off, Lalo.” Naomi slapped a black clutch against his chest. “I’m going back in there.”

  Chuy grabbed her arm. “They might call the cops on you.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Welita will.”

  “She’ll understand.”

  “She’ll bail you out. You want her to do that. She’ll use all her savings to do it, whether you like it or not.”

  Her face fell, changing instantly from fury to sadness.

  “Look, I know you want to do something, but let’s face it,” Chuy’s voice grew soft, “no one’s going to bother listening to people like us. We’re a blip to them, a number.”

  Lash’s heart broke as he saw Naomi struggle to hold back the tears that glistened in her eyes. The fire that has lit her up, making her face glow with fiery beauty, was now gone, and he ached for her. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time.

  “Señorita,” the janitor said timidly. “Are you okay?”

  “You speak English?” Naomi asked, surprised.

  “Of course.” He grinned. “I worked with your father on the night shift cleaning offices. I recognized you from the picture he always showed to the crew. He was so proud of you.”

  Naomi blinked rapidly. “Thank you,” she choked.

  “He was a good man.”

  Naomi smiled sadly. “Yes, he was. If you’ll excuse us, we need to go.” She turned and walked toward the exit. Placing her hand on the door handle, she paused.

  Chuy gently put a hand on her back. “It’s over, Naomi.”

  She nodded, and as she walked out the door, her body sagged with defeat.

  7

  Lash pulled a small plastic baggie from his pocket and looked at his watch, wondering what was taking so long. A door squeaked open, and then he saw a reddish-brown bullet fly around the corner of the house, heading straight toward him.

  Bear bounced up and down, her little pink tongue hanging out.

  “Oh, so now you’re happy to see me,” Lash said. “Or are you happy to see this?” He waved the bag filled with Vienna sausages.

  Bear barked.

  “Shh.” He went to the corner of the house to see if anyone had heard her. Over the past couple of weeks, he managed to keep a low profile as he watched over Naomi. It wasn’t difficult to do. Most of the time she stayed at Welita’s house, and when she wasn’t there, she was at her apartment or at work. The only time he wasn’t able to keep as close tabs on her was when she went on her evening rides. At first, it was easy to keep up with her. Since she went on her rides at night, it was easy to fly without being caught, and she never rode too far. Today, Lash had to turn back before he went too far and wasn’t able to get back on his own. He cursed the fact that he was limited in the distance he was able to fly. Why bother giving him an assignment if he couldn’t use all of his gifts?

  Lash tossed a sausage to Bear. Naomi was getting more reckless. Lately, she started to ride the bike faster, and he worried that she would get into an accident. It was as if she was hoping something would happen.

  Bear gobbled the morsel with two bites and l
ooked at him, panting for more. He tossed her another one and sat down on the grass, watching her as she ate. When she was done, she curled up on his lap. “I guess we’re friends now.”

  Bear licked his fingers in response.

  Lash chuckled. During the days that he’d spent watching Naomi, he figured that he had to find some way to keep the dog quiet. There was no better way to win a person’s heart—or a dog’s—than food.

  He scratched behind Bear’s ear, something he’d seen Naomi do whenever she was visiting. After one of her rides, she’d sit in the living room and stare off into space. Bear would get a sad look in her eyes as if sensing her owner’s pain. The dog would lick her fingers cautiously until Naomi would snap out of it and place the dog in her lap.

  Bear’s ears perked up.

  “You hear her coming, too, huh?”

  Bear wagged her tail.

  “Okay, go back inside. You know how she gets after her rides.”

  Bear barked in response and ran to the front yard. Lash peeked around the corner to watch. A mass of dark hair spilled out of Naomi’s helmet as she took it off. Her eyes looked puffy and her nose red. Tear streaks stained her cheeks. Lash shook his head and wished he could do something to take away her pain. He couldn’t understand why he cared. He’d been on lots of assignments where he had to watch people struggle with grief, but there was something about Naomi that touched him. She was like a wild bird, full of life and fire, that had her wings clipped, no longer able to fly. The girl he first saw ceased to exist.

  “Hey, Bear,” Naomi said sadly as she bent down and patted her head.

  The porch door swung open, and Chuy jogged out barefoot. “It’s about time you got back. Where were you?”

  “None of your business.” She pulled the key from the ignition and got off the bike.

  “Welita is worried about you riding that thing.”

  “She’s always worried.”