Page 3 of Ghost

Darren unlocked the door, and Juliatook a few steps in before closing the door behind her. He wasthankful she hadn’t left it open to inquiring eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked,looking as concerned as she sounded.

“I don’t know. Is thelumberjack still here?”

Julia smiled. “Yes, Ray is still here.He’ll be here for a few days.”

“You mean he didn’t cut andrun from the house the moment he had a chance?”

“No. Ray doesn’t strike meas the running kinda guy. He was shocked,” Julia said as she cameover to sit beside him on the edge of the bed. “He and Elias servedtogether in the same Marine unit; they go way back. He’s a policedetective in Seattle and helped us save Kyle when he wentmissing.”

Great, he’d embarrassed himself infront of the war hero lawman who’d saved Fletcher’s brother. Damn,it kept getting worse.

“I was honestly trying tosneak away before anyone noticed, but I couldn’t break my oath toappear when I was found during a training session. So I was sunk.Stay hidden and break faith or appear, chance being pummeled intothe wall.”

“I shouldn’t have calledattention to you. I was too into the game and blurted it outwithout thinking. My fault.”

“No, it’s not. You’re oneof the nicest people I’ve ever met. You can’t help I’m afreak.”

“Don’t ever say that.You’re not a freak. Promise me you won’t say that again, let alonethink it.” Julia’s hands sliced through the air as she spoke. Sheoften spoke with her hands and became more animated the strongerher emotions became.

Darren was shocked by how upset shewas. “I promise. Sorry.”

“You aren’t a freak. Youaren’t responsible for what those horrible people did to you.You’re doing your best under extreme circumstances. I mean, you’vealready used your power to save several lives—several team memberswould have died if you hadn’t done what you did back in thatfactory. Without you, the Noah Group would have done irreparableharm to one of the only teams out there fighting to stopthem.”

Darren snorted. “You give me way toomuch credit. I was simply in the right place at the right time. I’msure Brick and the others would have figured somethingout.”

“No. You’re the one whogives yourself too little credit,” Julia huffed. “I’ll get throughto you eventually, but in the meantime, are you ready to meet Raythe old-fashioned way?”

“We’ve met. I’m goodhere.”Why would the guy want to see meagain?

“No, you’re not. You’llkeep stewing on what happened, making it ten times harder onyourself. The sooner you see Ray is a good person, the quicker wecan get back to training.”

“I’m sure this Ray is agreat guy, but there’s no way I’m going ghost while he’s here. Ithink I’ve given him enough shit to work out in therapy withoutadding to it.”

“I like that,” she said,confusing Darren.

“What? Forcing people toseek therapy?” That was odd.

“No. That term you use.Going ghost.”

“Seemed appropriate,considering that’s what it appears I’m doing. Vanishing into thinair.”

“That can be your newcodename on the team. Ghost.”

“Code name?” Why the hellwould he need a code name?

“Yeah. You know how Brick,Stryker, Gunner, and Gator all have nicknames for various reasonslike Brick is tough as bricks, Stryker never misses anything heaims at, Gunner is an amazing sniper and ordnance specialist, andGator wrestled an alligator to save a kid. Well, yours can be Ghostas part of the team.”

“I know what you’redoing.”

“What?” Julia asked with ashrug.

“You’re trying to make mefeel better by including me in the team’s makeup.”

“You are part of the team,Ghost. So get used to it. We’re in the kitchen when you’re ready torejoin the masses,” Julia said before giving Darren a quick hug forencouragement and leaving.

He sighed. Was he truly part of theteam? If he was or ever wanted to be, he had to start acting likeit, and that could only happen if he managed to get his ass out ofthis room and face the world, mutation and all.

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