The Forbidden Trilogy(74)

"I was once sent to get dirt on a guy's business partner. Turns out the dirt was dirtier than anyone had imagined."

I told them about that last assignment, how I'd stood up to a client and gotten a black eye for my efforts. My thoughts drifted to Tommy and his family. Tommy's father now served time in prison, but the money had all been his mother's. Their wealth was intact but their family had been destroyed.

Now that I was free, I wanted to check on him as I had promised.

The sun beat down on the back of my neck and arms, and I could practically feel the vitamins soaking into my pale skin.

We walked past a large table with ceramic art pieces on it. I held up one of the sun and moon interlocked. "I've always loved this symbol. Wouldn't this make a cool tattoo?"

Drake raised his eyebrow but said nothing. I winked at him and we continued our walk.

"Hey, check it out." Drake laughed and motioned to a man with a sign hanging around his neck. Kick My Butt for $1.

I couldn't help but grin. "Seriously? He lets people pay him to kick him?"

"Yo, Drake, you should do it. It'd be the last ass-kicking he ever asked for." Brad eyed the guy and clicked off his recorder.

I was all talked out, and I wanted to enjoy at least some of this mostly miserable day.

"Leave him alone, you guys. Must be hard enough being him." Something else caught my eye. "Oh, let's go in there." I pointed out a big sign that read, "Venice Beach Freakshow, featuring a five-legged dog, a super tall man, a tiny little woman, a show in which another man swallows a flaming sword, and more."

We crammed into the small room and watched each "freak" demonstrate their unique abilities. The guy who shoved an entire sword down his throat impressed the boys.

"Maybe we should join the Freakshow. We might finally find a place to fit in. You could be the World's Strongest Man, and I could be the Mind Reader!"

Drake smiled. 'You know, I actually thought about it when I was younger. Nearly approached them too, but didn't really want to be the center of attention like that. I just had this nagging fear someone would find me if I did.'

"Obviously not an unjustified fear." I thought of how they did eventually find him, capture him, and keep him locked up and powerless like a dog.

'Don't be so sad. I'd go through it all again if that's the only way I could've found you.'

We had a total tourist moment, taking pictures with the World's Tallest Man and the World's Shortest Woman before joining the stream of pedestrians again.

My worry about the world eased away, and I found myself feeling normal, just enjoying a sunny afternoon at the beach with my boyfriend.

"Dude, is that really you?" A tall, lanky guy with sun-bleached hair jogged toward Drake with a surfboard in hand. "Man, where the hell have you been? You disappeared after the competition, and no one's seen or heard from you since. Dude, you were primed to win that day. What gives?"

Drake plastered a smile on his face and bumped fists with the guy.

Brad's smile, at least, seemed genuine. "Rick, how the hell are you?"

"Hey, Brad, haven't seen you out on the waves lately. Busy with the writing? Making national headlines?"

"Something like that."

Rick looked at me. "And who's this?"

Drake stood protectively by me. "This is my girlfriend, Sam. Sam, this is one of my old surfing buddies, Rick."

I shook Rick's hand. "Nice to meet you."

His eyes drifted to my belly then back up. "You too. How long have you and Drake been together?"

Before I could answer, Drake interrupted. "A while. And yes, the baby's mine. I'm going to be a dad."

Rick's eyes grew big, but he composed himself quickly and slapped Drake on the back. "Congrats, dude. That's awesome. You'll make an epic father. You can teach your little dude how to catch the perfect wave."

A glow lit in me as I imagined Drake holding our child on a surfboard, teaching him or her the secrets of the ocean.

"So what happened to you guys?" Rick asked.

"I ran into some trouble that day at the competition. It's a long story."

"Well, you're back now, and at least that ass-wipe Max didn’t win. We should hang, catch some waves. You game?"

"Would love to, but my surfboard is trashed, and I don't have the cash to replace it right now. Besides, I've got some pretty big things on my plate. I'm just giving Sam the tour before we head home."

"Too bad, man. You were the best of us. Oh, funny I should run into you. A few days ago, two big guys in black came by looking for you at the surf shop. Got a bad feeling about them. None of us had seen you, so we couldn't tell them anything. Not that we would have. What's going on, man? You got yourself some trouble of the bad kind?"