Species Unknown [Book 2: Pisces)

EPILOGUE

It was fulfilling work. Work that was simple. Work with no lies, no secrets, no pain. It was the breath of fresh air I had been dying for ever since the first time I walked into C.R.O.S.S. laboratories.

I shook my head, pushing away the images that name brought forth in my mind.

As I walked up to the sand, I saw my father standing outside the shop's door talking with a strange man. I lifted my hand to block the sun from my eyes to get a better look, but I didn't recognize the man. I also couldn't see his face because his back was turned, but if one thing was for certain, it was that he wasn't from the area.

Dressed in a long-sleeve pressed white shirt and black slacks, he was hardly dressed for an 85-degree humid summer day. His clothes were too crisp, too stiff. The parts of his skin that he did show were gauntly pale, clearly rarely exposed to the sun.

I hadn't seen anyone dressed like that since...

Suddenly panic rose in my throat. The closer I got to them, the more I began to put the pieces together. Everything about him screamed that he was clearly out of place. Thus, he shouldn't be here unless it was for a reason. Unless he was looking for something or someone...

My heart raced the closer I got to the man talking with my father.

Could he have found us? My mind raced, dreading the fact that our short-lived freedom could be over so soon.

My face went pale. Part of me considered running, or just turning and pretending I didn't see anything.

But if he was from C.R.O.S.S. it wasn't safe to just leave my father with him... I thought to my myself with helpless dismay.

My father saw me approaching from the corner of his eye and he waved to me.

"Speak of the devil." I heard my father say casually, "Lani, this man is here looking for you." He called over to me.

My breath caught in my throat as the man turned.

As his face came into view, I gasped. Covering half of the man's face was a red scarring that was the clear result of severe burns. However, to my surprise, it was a face that I knew. One that I never thought I would see again.

"Austin?" I gaped, blinking in shock.

"Is that really you?!" I asked, still unbelieving.

Austin smiled. "It's me." Austin laughed as I rushed over and pulled him in for a hug.

"It's so great to see you, I thought you were dead! I saw your car..." I admitted, pulling back to look at him.

Austin let out a breath, "I was prepared to die, and for a moment I almost was. I woke up in the hospital, apparently someone called an ambulance after seeing the crash." Austin explained.

I smiled. "I'm so glad to hear you're okay." I said happily. He didn't need to know it was I who called the ambulance.

"I also want to express my gratitude" I continued seriously, "if it wasn't for you, we might not have been able to make it out of there." I added, giving him a meaningful look.

Austin sighed. "If I did nothing, I would have never forgiven myself for what I have done working for Grant." He admitted, glancing down at the sand.

I nodded silently.

"Will you?" Austin began, looking up at me, "forgive yourself?"

I frowned. "I don't think so, but I find comfort in the hope that the F.B.I. is tearing him to shreds." I said finally, looking out at the ocean. I could almost picture it in my mind, the image of the laboratory burning among the California cliffside.