The next morning, Alex woke up early, which she loathed, to attend Krav Maga training, which she loved. The brothers always slept in since they patrolled late into the night. She changed into workout clothes and drove to Jason's studio.
"Ready, Alex?" he asked once she bowed to him.
"Yes, sir. To give bruises only, never get them, from now on."
Alex endured the warm up and stretching exercises with barely concealed impatience. Once they were done, she eagerly grabbed a kick shield and Jason smiled.
*****
"That was our tenth session," Alex told Jason once they broke apart at his command.
He lowered the kick shield that Alex had pounded on for the last two hours and nodded.
"I have a present for you." She walked back to the lockers and withdrew her gym bag. "Let's talk at Joni's seafood." She grinned at his shocked expression. "It's noisy and crowded and I am not coming onto you by inviting you there."
The dingy windows of the tiny, narrow shop were barred, the floor composed of yellowed and cracked tiles, and the glass cases were straight from the 1950's.
Most customers strolled in, ordered their seafood, and walked out with large brown bags stuffed with New Orleans seafood goodness.
There were a few ancient tables with iron legs and linoleum tops. The chairs were mismatched and wobbled, but Alex was glad to snag an empty table with two chairs.
The view out the dingy window was of an empty lot littered with cracked concrete, weeds, and trash. People came for the food, not the view.
"Guard the table. I'm ordering a stuffed artichoke. You want crawfish and beer and what else?" Alex asked.
"That's good. Dogfish Head beer, please. No light crap."
Alex ordered and waited at the counter for the food and beer. No table service here. The short, plump, Hispanic lady, thick black hair barely contained in a hairnet, handed over the food.
Alex smiled and shoved a tip at her. It ensured that she would get the last stuffed artichoke when they ran low and they saw her in the store.
Alex waited until Jason was sucking the head of a crawfish to say, "We're done. I know you want to enter nursing school and you're accepted in West Texas."
Jason rolled his eyes at her but didn't choke. He finished sucking the head before he said, "What?"
"University of Texas at El Paso. Oldest nursing school west of Mississippi."
"How did you arrange that when I didn't even apply?" Jason shook his head and took a long swallow of beer.
"I applied for you." Alex wiped her hands and reached into her bag.
She pulled out an official looking folder. She handed Jason a napkin and waited until he had wiped his hands. He took the folder and leafed through it.
"I still don't know how you did this. How do you know my personal info? Send my transcripts?"
Alex leaned forward and Jason did as well.
"I have powerful friends and even more powerful enemies. The last guy who went out on a date with me ended up face down on the carpet with a bullet in his head. That won't happen to you if you're smart, get out of town, and into that nursing school."
Jason searched her face. "You're serious."
"As serious as that acceptance letter." Alex reached under the table and tapped Jason's knee.
He reached underneath and she put something in his hand.
She whispered, "Put that in your wallet. That's for immediate moving expenses. There's more in your apartment taped under your first drawer of your dresser. All of it is clean. Nothing stolen. No drug money. My friends are on the side of justice."
Well, Brockner says he is. I don't know for sure, but he's helping me help Jason.
"You went into my apartment?" Jason's face flushed with anger.
Alex shook her head slowly and locked her gaze with Jason. "I didn't. My powerful friends did. Do you see the danger you're in? Do you agree to leave and attend school? I'm in witness protection and by God's grace, that extends to you," Alex lied.
He looked at the letter in one hand and closed his fist around the wad of cash in the other. He slowly pocketed the money. He tapped the letter and put the folder back together. "I'm no fool. I can help a lot of people as a nurse and I don't have any family here. When should I leave?"
"Start packing as soon as you're finished eating. Rent a one way moving truck. Leave your car here for a friend to sell. Buy another one in El Paso. There's enough cash for a used compact car. If you're quick, my powerful friends can make sure you are unmolested in your move. Good luck." Alex pushed back from the table, stood up, and walked out without a backward glance.
Jason didn't watch her leave. He finished his beer and left the rest of the crawfish.
*****
Gabe and Cale leaned against the crumbling red brick wall of the alley. Cale clacked his claws in anxiety as Gabe's tension grew.
"This is weird. Alex doesn't usually keep us waiting." Cale looked around the alley. He was glad that Gabe was back. He didn't understand the logic of Gabe going off by himself. It was ill-advised, if not outright dangerous. He wouldn't pry. Gabe would tell him when and if he wanted.
"Maybe we're in the wrong alley. Head up, Cale. We'll take a look around." Gabe pointed to the fire escape.
Once they were on the rooftop, they looked over the different sides.
"Take a look at this," Cale pointed down.
*****
"Alex! Alex! Thank God." The blond man rushed to her and embraced her as she walked to her car from Joni's Seafood.
She didn't return it instead stiffening, arms at her side. "Paws off, psycho." Alex twisted to loosen his grip.
"What?"
"I said, back off." She sidled out of the embrace, but he gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"What are you saying?" he asked.
"Are you deaf or just stupid?" This time Alex flung off his arms forcefully. "Get away from me before I get angry."
"But, but what's wrong? Aren't you glad to see me?"
"I only visit the mentally ill in state institutions where they are properly medicated. You should refill your prescriptions. Excuse me." Alex backed away.
"Don't you remember me? I'm Scott! What's happened to you?" The man, in tears, pleaded.
"No, I don't remember you. Nothing has happened to me," Alex lied. "It looks like you've had a rough time of it. Go home and rest. For a long time."
"Alex, please! I'm not crazy! I'm your fiancé!"
*****
The brothers watched the scene. Cale's claws clacked in staccato while Gabe's color flushed a dark, angry gold.
"Maybe we should go down and help Alex," Cale suggested, eyeing his very angry-looking brother.
"No, I want to hear this. If we show up, we'll just scare him off."
"But Alex might need help."
"Alex won't tell us about her past, so we must find out for ourselves."
*****
"I don't know how you know my name but you're making me angry. Go away and leave me alone!" Alex shouted.
"If you don't believe me, look at these," the man called Scott said, fumbling with his wallet before thrusting some pictures at her. "Please, look at them." He shoved them into her hand.
Alex glanced at them and then took a closer look. A change came over her face before she could school her face into a blank expression. She tossed them onto the ground except for one.
"You do remember, don't you? Please, Alex, say you recognize me. We had those pictures made right before you disappeared."
"I disappeared, huh? Awfully convenient, you finding me here on the streets of New Orleans. Small world, I guess, just blind luck in this small town. Look, I don't know who you are and how you found me, but you're my fiancé as much as David Duke is governor. Now I want some answers from you. Who are you really?"
She grabbed his collar. "Who put you up to this? It was the agency or Hermann, wasn't it?" She slammed him up against the alley wall.
"Alex, please, what are you doing? Who is this Hermann? What agency?"
"Scott or whatever your name is, I'll let you go this time. You tell whoever's behind this that I'll kill them the next time they bother me. That includes you, Scotty boy."
"Alex, what's happened to you? We were going to be married. We had a house picked out."
"On the slightest chance you're on the level, then I'm sorry. The person you remember doesn't exist anymore. I may look like her, but I'm not her. She's never coming back. I'm me and I want nothing to do with you or her."
"You haven't even given me a chance. Let me show you our house. Our dog!"
She shook her head and released him. "Be glad I haven't destroyed you."
"At least take my name and number. Maybe it'll come back to you." Scott took a card out of his wallet and put it in her hand. "Please, please call me."
She crumpled the card and threw it away before walking off. He just stood there, watching her and looking desolate. A sharp whistle made them both look up. Cale waved to Alex and motioned after his brother's retreating back.
"Fire truck, Gabe," she cursed under her breath and then speed burst after him.
If she had looked, Alex would have been interested to see that Scott didn't look surprised. He only continued to watch her.
*****
"Excuse me, but if you're going to eavesdrop, you should listen to the entire conversation." She set down in front of Gabe.
"Go back, Alex, go back to him." Gabe waved her off and tried to walk around her.
She blocked his path and regarded him with slitted eyes. "Forget it. I already told him to take off. I don't know who he is and I don't care. I want to stay with you."
"Do you?" He sounded bitter. "Tell me that you don't remember him. If anyone else had grabbed you like that, you would have sent him face down to the ground. But you didn't. Why? I saw your face when you looked at those pictures, you do remember him."
She sighed. "Gabe, I—"
"I knew it. Like I said, go back. Leave me alone."
"Gabe. Please. Wait." She hated to beg, but she couldn't help it. She put her hands on his chest to stop him. "Okay, okay, maybe I do remember him." At his look, she added, "A little. Just a little. It's like this," she sighed again. "I remember that I might have had feelings for him, but I don't feel any feelings anymore. Can you understand that? I know it's not grammatically correct—"
"If that's true, why did you keep the pictures?"
The corner of her mouth twitched a little, but she was suppressing a smile.
"Is that what's bothering you? Here, take a look." Alex handed him the snapshot. "I only kept one. It's of me and Chaos. He's a pretty dog. I wish I remember more of him. I think we used to play Frisbee together. I threw away all the others."
"That's what you could have, Alex. You can have a normal life where you live in a house and play Frisbee with your dog. Go back to him."
"You mean the normal life that led me into gaining neuro-electric powers, wiping out my memory, and putting a maniac like Morgan on my tail? I don't think I could survive a normal life. Stop playing Mr. Nobility and let's go home together. Gabe, I made my choice a long time ago when I decided not to hunt up my past. I was afraid there might be someone like Scott waiting. No, I don't mean afraid at all. What I mean is that it didn't matter if there was someone like Scott waiting. I knew I wanted to stay with you, so what was the point of looking? It would just cause a lot of pain, for me, for you, for Scott. I figured the guy didn't deserve to hear me tell him it's over after he's worried and waited for me. Plus I hoped he had found someone else by now and my showing up would just screw things up more. Are you satisfied now?" Alex tore up the picture and dropped the shreds on the ground.
"Well . . ."
"I know that 'well', he's agreeing." Cale pounded his brother's shoulder.
Gabe scowled at him, but Alex just smiled at Cale's enthusiasm and slid her arm around Gabe's waist.
"Let's go home."
****
A/N Dedicated to
who begged that Jason not be murdered