Ethan swept in from behind, scooping Kate up into a tight hug before placing her back on her feet. “Don't let her lie to you,” he said to Celine. “She likes to pretend she's all gruff on the outside, but she’s all mush on the inside.”
Kate swatted playfully at Ethan's arm. “Am not. Besides, I'm pretty sure Caroline cried the most.”
Heat bloomed in Caroline’s cheeks, but she smiled. “I’ve never cried in a movie.”
Celine laughed, grabbed Aaron's hand, and started dragging them toward the door. “Joe Black’s movies – you have to be dead not to cry watching one of them.”
“Hey, I'm not dead and I didn't cry.” Aaron tugged her back.
Celine glanced over her shoulder at Aaron. “Don't worry, honey, I don't think anyone else saw you drying your tears.”
Merc got caught up in their laughter, relaxing and enjoying the moment. More people crowded into the lobby, kids ran as harried parents chased, teenagers milled around on dates. There was a new release tonight which was part of the reason why they’d chosen such an early show time. Now the theater was quickly filling to capacity.
“Let's go.” There were too many variables, too many people to watch in here. The restaurant they’d picked out was quiet and isolated.
As the group headed toward the door, a man crossed right beside Merc, causing every single muscle in his body to stop moving.
Blond hair. Blond beard. Familiar.
The fractured memory flickered, his teammates dead on the street in Afghanistan. Then just as quickly, the memory vanished.
No way.
Merc shook his head trying to regain his focus. This had to be a cruel trick of his mind. Because the man he’d just seen walk in the movie theater had died on the streets of Afghanistan right next to him.
Merc froze beside her, his face a mask of intense focus. Nightshade glanced over her shoulder but saw nothing and no one suspicious. “Merc, what's wrong?”
He didn't answer her. It was like he'd gone somewhere else.
She tugged on his arm. “Merc?”
He broke out of his trance, shaking his head. “Sorry. Hey, I need to hit the head. Stay here with Aaron and Ethan. Don't leave their side, got it?”
He waited for her to nod in agreement, and then he melted into the crowd. Nightshade caught the long glance between Ethan and Aaron and her worry for Merc intensified. Their little group got quiet, everyone's expressions changing from laid-back laughter to unease.
“Actually, I need to go too,” Ethan said. “Ladies, hang here with Aaron.” He gave Kate a quick peck on the cheek and headed in the same direction as Merc.
The hairs on the back of Nightshade’s neck prickled. There was something going on here. Aaron kept a small smile plastered on his face, but his gaze had gone hard, his body taut and on high alert. Celine bit her lip while Kate scanned the crowd, seeming to systematically search for something. Or someone.
“You think he's okay?” Nightshade asked Aaron, trying to sound nonchalant but feeling anything but.
Aaron's gaze slid to her briefly, then went back to assessing the room. “Oh yeah, he’s good. Should be back in just a sec.”
That was a bald-faced lie, but she knew she’d get no more intel from him. Surely her father hadn’t been stupid enough to show his face in this town – or even one of his hired hands. Nightshade knew firsthand that TF-S ran like a well-oiled machine, constantly looking. They’d know the moment something was out of place.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Celine placed a hand over her stomach and Aaron turned to her, the worry on his face clear.
Nightshade spotted the open opportunity. If Aaron wasn't going to tell her the truth about what was really going on, she'd go find out for herself. “I have to go to the bathroom, too.”
“Wait till they get back,” Aaron said automatically.
Nightshade crossed her arms and arched a brow, giving him a once over. “Sorry, mother nature can't wait. The ladies’ room is right next to the men's. I'll probably bump into Merc and Ethan.”
Before Aaron could stop her, Nightshade plunged into the crowd, slipping between the hot sweaty bodies, carefully sidestepping a two-year-old with his arms and legs wrapped around his mother, screaming at the top of his lungs for popcorn; past a cluster of teenage boys laughing next to a gigantic poster advertising some crazy-looking movie about alien space worms; and just barely missing a group of girls that couldn’t be past twelve but with enough make up for a grown woman.
When she emerged on the other side, she moved into the dimly lit hallway, shadows lurking along the sides and in corners behind life-sized posters. Twenty feet later, the hallway came to a T, forcing her to either go left or right. The crowd started to thin, but was still thick enough to slow her progress.
Careful to move as inconspicuously as possible, she quickly scanned each face she passed, searching for any hint of familiarity but having nothing pop up on her radar. Up ahead to her right, a man emerged from a recessed doorway, his back to her but his long, gleaming black hair so familiar she stumbled a step straight into a huge wall of a man.
