Page 66 of Shadow Lies

The other man nodded and then asked, “Will your friend be visiting again?”

He was more than ready to end this uncomfortable conversation but it seemed they weren’t done yet. And that the topic had now turned to Alexis.

“She will not.” He considered that and her. She was nothing if not unpredictable. “At least, not that I know of.”

The other man nodded again. As if he could read what was in Kane’s mind and his heart, his teacher said, “You will not remain here forever. You will have a life other than this one again.”

“What if I want to remain here forever?” Kane asked in jest.

“Then you will be welcome. But that is not your path.”

“I don’t know what my path is, shifu,” Kane admitted.

“It will come.”

“Maybe it came and ended. What if being a SEAL was my path and now that path is blocked?” He didn’t expect his teacher to know the answer, but it helped to finally voice a fear he had tried to bury for too long.

“A man has many paths during his lifetime. You will find yours. And brother, remember, no man must walk his path alone. Perhaps you’ve already found someone to walk that path with you?” With that heavily laden comment, his teacher turned and left him to ponder that answer.

He still wasn’t sure what he’d do for the long term. Still was torn about his life and is feelings and yes, torn about Alexis too.

But he was certain of one thing. He didn’t have to decide anything now.

For the immediate future, he was just fine here.

ChapterTwenty-Six

After a couple of false starts, spring finally came to New York. Leaves unfurled, lawns greened and flowers bloomed, painting the brown landscape of late winter with a burst of hopeful color.

The weeks passed but her heartache didn’t. Although Alexis supposed it lessoned a bit. Or maybe she’d just gotten used to that sick feeling of loss that hit her at the most predictable moments. Such as every night as she turned off the television and closed her eyes to try to sleep.

She filled her sleepless nights with binge watching crappy TV shows. She survived her days by keeping busy with work and plans for her future.

She’d already picked a full course-load of classes for the summer session. And she was killing it in the one class she’d been able to register and pay for before she’d left for China for this semester.

Amazingly, Charley had agreed to everything Alexis had asked for. The organization would pay for her to complete her degree and give her the time she needed for classwork.

In exchange, Alexis would work part time for them from home,intelligence gatheringas they liked to call her doing research by way of some occasional hacking.

After she had her degree, she’d agreed to work for Charley and the mysterious organization full time. Then—maybe—the secrets of the organization’s origins and affiliations would be revealed to her.

Although she didn’t really hold out much hope for that. She had a feeling that secrets were on a need-to-know basis and she doubted Charley would think Alexis needed to know.

There was one other thing she hoped for after she started working for Charley full time—wiping Kane’s record clean. Even if she never saw him again, she wanted to do that for him, if possible. If it was in Charley’s grasp to make it happen. But that was all at least a year away.

Until then, thanks to the money she’d already been paid by Charley for going to China, she could pay her expenses without having to go back to work at the bar. No more slinging cheap drinks by night and mopping pee by day.

Aside from her broken heart, things couldn’t be better.

Now if only she could focus and get her paper finished and turned in, she could go home. She’d order some Chinese take-out and watch the new episode ofKung Fuon the CW Network. It was a show about a college girl who ran away from home to train at a Shaolin monastery.

It hurt, but she was used to pain, and watching the show made her feel closer to Kane on the other side of the world.

With a sigh, she raised her gaze from the screen of her laptop and glanced around the coffee shop. Usually she could get a cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso and, fueled by caffeine, whip out the words.

Not today.

She couldn’t focus. And the longer she stared at the document on her screen, the worst that got.

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