Page 53 of Graveyard Dog

“I did, jokingly. I doubt he believed me, but I also knew I’d never see him again.”

He dried his face as her words sank in. Her strangely familiar words. He looked at her from behind the towel in disbelief. “I had a very similar experience when I was a kid.”

“Yeah?” she asked, gazing up as though seeing him in a new light.

“Beautiful girl.” He wrapped the towel around his waist. “Empty pool at a run-down motel in Oklahoma. She wore a bikini and flip-flops. She and her father were on the run, too. I just don’t remember it being for bank robbery.”

Her smile was part joy and part astonishment. “But that kid’s name was GD.” She glanced at the tat. Ran her fingers over the initials. “He said it was short for Graveyard Dog. His friends called him that because he lived near a graveyard and, once he bit down, he never let go. He was brave and noble, trying to keep his mother safe, and he had a problem with injustice even then.”

Speaking of astonishment… “Izzy, do you know what you’re saying?”

“That’s why you’re immune to my directives. I made you immune before my stepdad and I left.”

“You mesmerized me?” he asked, appalled. “Your first love?”

“Only to keep you safe. I didn’t know if there were others out there like me. I didn’t want you to fall prey to their machinations.”

“Wait, you mesmerized me so no one else could?” His head spun with her confession. He remembered her like it was yesterday, yet he could never see her face clearly in his mind. Either way, she’d definitely grown up.

“Have I changed that much?”

“You have boobs now.”

“Yeah,” she said, dropping her gaze. “That bikini was probably a bit much.”

“I liked it.” He replaced his wolfish grin with a smile of appreciation. “You were my first love, too.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“Izzy,” he said, lifting her chin. “I’ve never forgotten you. I think about you so often it’s borderline perverted, considering you were ten at the time. But you didn’t go by Izzy then.”

“No, my stepdad made me change my name. I ended up changing it to something new every week.”

“How interesting that your daughter does the same thing.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, as though just seeing the connection. “Do you remember what it was when we met?”

“Dora. And now I know why. Isadora Welch.”

She laughed, the husky sound scraping his already frayed nerve endings. If she didn’t leave, things would get messy. “I haven’t gone by that in so long, it doesn’t seem real.”

“Wait, what made you suddenly remember all of this?”

She beamed up at him. “What Elwyn said about you.”

“Okay,” he said, showing his palms. “In my defense, I had no idea flu medicine mixed with Patrón would have that effect.”

She ignored him. “Your nobility.”

“Oh, yeah? I did get an email once that said I was the long-lost son of a Nigerian prince.”

She ignored him again. It was probably for the best. “It’s so ingrained, you don’t even realize how amazing you are.”

“I’m apparently a billionaire.”

“How unique you are.”

“And I have several hundred goats at my disposal.”

---