Here they came. Finally. Nina started to think the girl would find another way to elude her. Not this time. Raea and her boyfriend parted with Josh and headed straight to her.
Nina no longer needed the kid. He'd been helpful, but she could manage on her own. Besides, she'd contacted all the local witnesses and arranged interviews. And D.C. and the crew would likely arrive tomorrow, in time for the weekend. They could start taping the interviews.
In the meantime, Raea's turn. Nina had questions yet to dig up answers to.
Nina stepped out of the car into a puddle. Goddam snow. How did people live in this? If the snow wasn't bad enough, the melting afterwards turned everything to a sloppy, soggy mess. She couldn't wait to get home.
"Raea." Cold water soaked her feet. Her best shoes, ruined.
The girl turned pale and averted her eyes at Nina's approach near the house.
"I've been meaning to talk to you while I can. If it's not too much, I have a few questions."
The girl lengthened her steps to the patio of the house. She wasn't getting away that easily. Nina stuck like glue. She had come for a story, and by hell or high water, she was going to get it; but she could do without the high water, at least the ice cold water that ruined her shoes.
"Your mother had the same marks on her hands, didn't she?"
Raea faltered at the bottom of the steps. Got her!
The tall boyfriend stepped between them. "That's not polite to ask."
"It's perfectly acceptable. If Raea's inherited her mother's marks, I'd like to know how." She rounded him to meet Raea on the steps. "What caused them? Did your mother ever show you anything unusual?"
"Leave me alone."
She wasn't getting off the hook that easily. But it would take some sweet-talking. Now for the act and her most innocent voice. "I'm not here to harass you. I honestly want to know. This is an astounding breakthrough. If there's any chance that it's a family trait, you should consider the possibilities. You'd be an international star, a religious icon rivaling the Pope. The power to heal the world could end wars, save the sick, and bring hope to the needy. You have a gift, Raea. A gift this world needs."
"She wants none of that." Elis stepped in front of her, while Raea slipped to the door. "Aren't you here to pursue your Dark Angel?"
"Yes, but this is also a story. I'm already here and might as well make the most of my time."
There. Nina slipped past him and leaned on the door, blocking the girl's escape. "Think about it. Let me bring in some experts to study your hands, maybe run a few tests. They're so unique and so very much like the legends of ancient tribes. And a few reports have come in the last few years of others like you around the world."
Aha! Raea knew something. The drop of her jaw and wide-eyes gave it away. Nina was on the right track.
A firm hand on her shoulder pushed her away. "Not today, Miss Russet," Elis said.
Oh, no. Raea wasn't getting away this time. Boyfriend or not, he would not separate her from the girl.
"I suggest you return to your Dark Angel."
"But—"
He shoved her back and stepped in front of her with an outstretched palm, while Raea unlocked the door. The two exchanged words in a strange tongue.
But, his hands. The exposed fingertips had bits of the same jagged lines of aquamarine as on Raea's hands. Impossible. It couldn't be.
Yes. There were faint lines of aquamarine on the undersides of two of his fingers coming out of the black gloves. The conspiracy goes deeper. What are you two up to?
Now Nina knew they hid something. But he hid his hands inside those gloves. All. The. Time. And no wonder—who wouldn't ask questions if they saw the two of them with the same markings? Two of them working together. Suspicion gnawed at her mind.
Nolan might know something. He had served as a consultant on a few shows. He was more than willing to offer his expertise in this area.
"All right. You win." She'd find a way to expose them. Later, after she talked with Nolan.
Elis dropped his hand as Raea shut the door between them.
"I'll leave. I know when I'm not wanted."
His eyebrow lifted.
Yeah, Mister Innocent Protector Boyfriend. Play games all you want. In the end, I will win. They were two of a kind, Raea and Elis. Who were they really? Or should she be asking what were they?
Nina hurried to the car, anxious to reach some privacy for a phone call. She hit the speed dial on her cell for Nolan's office. With all luck, he'd still be in. When wasn't he in? The man lived out of his office, or it seemed that way. Even at an hour ahead, it wasn't five o'clock for him. On his short days, he didn't get out until after six.
The phone rang half a dozen times. He either had the machine off or set for a dozen rings. He preferred a chance to answer in person and had always said the machine was just back-up anyway. Besides, telemarketers often gave up after four or five rings, he had added.
On the seventh ring, he picked up. Superstitious bastard. "Hello?"
"Hey, Nolan, it's Nina."
"Hey, Nina. Where are you?" The scratchy, smoker's voice. He really should quit, but he always blew her off when she suggested it. If she could, he could. It would make her feel better about quitting.
Elis disappeared inside the yellow house. Good. At least he wasn't watching her. She started the car.
"You'd never guess."
"No. Probably not. You get around to some of the oddest locations."
"All right, wiseguy. I'm in North Dakota, investigating those Dark Angel stories. But I have something else." She switched to speakerphone and drove off. "I discovered a girl, and maybe a guy too, with strange markings on her hands. They're not tattoos, that I can tell, or even that I've been told. And they're not like an odd birthmark—it's on both hands. As far as I know, birthmarks don't have that kind of symmetry."
"Not usually. No. What do these marks look like?"
"That's the odd thing. I know I've seen something like them before."
"Which is why you called me."
"Exactly." Good old Nolan. He knew what to expect from her.
"All right. I'll bite. What are they? What do you need from me?"
"I need you to send me everything—I mean everything, pictures, interpretations, everything—on these marks. I swear I've heard about others with them in recent times too, but I'm not sure.
"Anyway, they're a kind of greenish bluish color. It's like something dropped in the center of her hands and sprayed outward, on the palms and the backs, but less on the backs. Kind of like a topaz or aquamarine sun with squiggly rays coming out. Got anything like that?"
"Maybe. I'll see what I can come up with. When do you need it?"
"Right away. I don't want to make another trip to this place if I don't have to. The crew'll be here tomorrow and if I can get two stories in one trip, fantastic."
"That's kind of short notice. Don't you think?"
Yeah, well, that's the business. Nina bit her tongue. No sense upsetting Nolan, not if she wanted his cooperation. "I'm here now. It's just easier."
"For you." He grumbled the words but let out a sigh in the end. "All right. Send it to your email?"
"Thanks, Nolan. I owe you one."
"Yes, another one. I'll add it to your tab."
Ouch. That was a bit harsh. "Point made. I'll repay you when the time comes."
He cleared his throat, or so it seemed, although she swore she heard a "Yahright" in there. Someday, she would repay him for all the research. "Call me if you need anything else, Nina."
"You know it. Ciao."
"Bye." He clicked off.
Nolan might be in a bad mood, but he'd come through. He always did. She hoped he sent what she needed within a couple days, though, before her schedule filled up.
In the meantime, she had a few feathers to overnight to their research team. The rest she would keep. She hurried back to the hotel, anxious to send off those feathers. Two angels. She still couldn't believe what she had seen with her own eyes.
Speaking of seeing with her own eyes. "Pallin."
He halted in the lobby of the hotel. Something dark crossed his face, for just a moment.
"You're looking better," she said. That was an understatement.
"I feel better."
"Hey, look. I'm sorry about the wine. It wasn't that good anyway, but I had no idea you couldn't drink. Are you on some medication or something that it overreacted in you?" Or was it an allergy she could study?
"No. I am never drinking wine."
"Yeah. Sorry, I wish I'd known." Hmm...Her ideas for a new study had a launchpad. "I hope we can get together again." For more than just research.
His smile suggested forgiveness. The way he stepped close to her with that commanding presence that had taken over the other day made her weak for the temptation.
No, she had work to finish first. Pallin could wait. Dear God, she couldn't wait. She would have to wait.
"I am liking that."
That's what I wanted to hear. He was the only good reason for visiting that town. "Then I'll see you later?"
Her temperature jumped at the lustful grin he gave her. She really couldn't wait for later.