Page 76 of Taken

Alone with that safe down the hallway.

“Okay, well, get lots of work done today, I guess,” I said with a smile. “I’ll see you tonight when you get back.”

He gave me a soft smile and exited the home. I hurried toward the front, stared out the porch windows, and watched Maurice drive away.

Where is Julian, anyway?

As if I had summoned him with my thoughts, Julian strolled into the kitchen moments later, just as I placed my plate in the sink.

“I need to run a few errands in town for Maurice. Would you like to join me and get some sun?”

No, I said in my thoughts, but for all I knew, Maurice had security cameras around the home and property. If I were going to snoop around, I wouldn’t get far.

The house really was suffocating.

“Let me put on my shoes,” I said as I rushed to get ready.

After ten minutes, I met Julian at the front door. “Okay, let’s go.” My tone came off a little too excited. I didn’t want Julian to report to Maurice how I was already hating it here.

Or that I was acting weird as fuck because I was uncertain and reluctant about every goddamn thing that they threw at me.

We drove only a few blocks until we hit Main Street. There were people everywhere. A few street vendors lined the boardwalk on the crowded sidewalks, and couples walked hand in hand on the pier. I could see a few young skateboarders and even a man playing his guitar for money on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main. It was very different from Salem.

Julian parked along the street, and we headed toward the pier. “I need to speak to a colleague and pass off a few items,” Julian said. “Enjoy the beach. But stay within sight.”

Really?

I saw a man looking at us on the pier, wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. He held a cell phone in one hand and a briefcase in the other. As curious as I was about this brief exchange of theirs, my eyes shifted to the waves crashing onto the shore. The view was stunning at night, but through the daylight, with the sun shining against the surface of the water, it was something else. I stepped onto the sand, and vague memories washed over me. Perhaps I used to live by a beach near Salem.

The grainy sand between my toes felt a little funny. I dropped my shoes at the perfect spot and sat down, crossing my legs underneath me. I closed my eyes, and a single tear fell.

I didn’t understand it. Why was I crying? I kept them shut and took a deep breath in.

“Lily, you’re too close to the water,” a woman called, and my eyes shot open.

Lily?

A little girl, maybe four years old, ran toward her mother, who sat on a beach towel, carrying a bucket of salt water. “Sorry, Mommy,” she said. The mother pointed her finger at her daughter, then toward the shore as if teaching her the dangers of getting too close to the water when she wasn’t next to her. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could see the worry in her mother’s eyes.

Lily. It was a beautiful name. A familiar name at that. Maybe I had a friend back home by that name.

I made a mental note to ask Maurice about it.

Just as I made myself at home on the beach, Julian cleared his throat behind me. “Don’t worry, we’ll come back. It’s nice out here, isn’t it?”

“It’s beautiful,” I said, keeping my eyes on the ocean. “Have you been to a beach before?”

He laughed. “Yes, Mercy. There are several beaches on the east coast. My coven had a beach house up at Cape Cod at one point, too.”

“Did I have a coven?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No.”

Julian’s answer was so abrupt that it gave me pause. But then he reached out his hand, and I took it for him to help me to my feet.

“Why not?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Mercy, I have business to attend to. Come on, let’s go.”

---