Forgotten Read online

  Sure you do. Kate looked at the considerable paunch stretching his t-shirt. She didn’t need the Knowing to know this was a fib. But the customer wanted to be flattered and she needed to sell this watch so of course she would go along with it.

  For a moment she felt a rush of despair. What was she doing here? She could have been using her gift for something that mattered instead of picking some hairy rich guy’s brain to sell him an overpriced watch. In fact, she had a feeling she had done something like that in the past but she couldn’t be sure. There were holes in her memory—the three year gap was the biggest but it wasn’t the only one—not by a long shot.

  “I can see you work out,” Kate said, getting back to business. She tapped the watch face gently with one fingernail. “Which is why this is the watch for you—it would suit your, uh, your active lifestyle.” She cleared her throat. “You know that every Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master Rolex is subjected to stringent waterproofness testing? Before being shipped every single one is tested at a depth 10 percent more than it’s guaranteed for. Which means that—”

  “Which means you’re going to hand it over or this pretty little bitch is going to be wearing your brains on her blouse.”

  Kate gasped and looked up. The customer was frozen in place and there was a tall guy in a gray hoody standing right behind him. He had a small but deadly looking gun pressed to the side of the hairy customer’s head and he was looking grimly at Kate.

  How had she missed him? Kate couldn’t understand it—why hadn’t her Knowing kicked in? Or failing that, why hadn’t she at least seen him walk into the store?

  I was too focused on trying to sell this damn watch, she thought to herself numbly. Too busy using my gift for stupid, trivial things to notice when something really important was happening until it was too late.

  But was it too late? She had her own gun, of course, but the Glock was tucked under her arm in the holster she wore beneath her jacket. How could she get to it without causing suspicion or getting her customer’s head blown off? Well, the first thing was to get the assailant away from Mr. Denrek, who was shaking like a leaf.

  She looked around for help but there was no one there. Store policy stated that there should be two employees behind the cases at all times but Rosalie, the other clerk who was working that night, had asked if Kate minded if she ran to the bathroom. That had been five minutes ago, just before Mr. Denrek walked in to look at the watch and she still wasn’t back. There were no other customers either—she would have to handle this on her own.

  Kate took a deep breath.

  “Let’s just take it easy,” she said in a low voice. “If you’ll just leave Mr. Denrek alone I’m sure we can get you what you want.”

  “What I want is that watch he’s wearing and every one like it you’ve got in the store,” the guy in the hoody snarled. “Now.”

  “Take it! You can have it!” The customer suddenly unfroze and started fumbling desperately with the clasp on the Rolex. He got it unsnapped but unfortunately, a great deal of his arm hair was caught in the microfine links. He howled in pain as he ripped it off and dropped it onto the glass jewel case with a clunk.

  “That’s a start.” The guy in the hoody snatched up the watch and looked at it eagerly. Then the expression on his face turned to one of disgust. “Ugh—there’s hair all up in it—fucking nasty!” He looked at the customer. “You know, they have like, hair removal laser surgery you can get. If you’re rich enough to afford a watch like this, you sure as hell could get some of that done.”

  “I…uh…” Mr. Denrek looked offended but also still scared to death.

  “Shut up you fat furry fuck—nobody cares,” the assailant snapped. He shoved Mr. Denrek to the ground and pointed his gun directly at Kate’s face. “Okay now, pretty lady, you’re gonna open the case and give me every single watch in this place and you’re gonna do it fast.”

  “All right.” Kate was tense but despite the explosive situation, she still felt in control of herself. “Just please stop pointing the gun at me and I’ll give you anything you want,” she whispered, letting her voice tremble appealingly. “Please.”

  She doubted her soft plea would have worked if she’d been a man or even a larger woman but her diminutive size worked in her favor this time.

  “All right, cutie.” The guy in the hoody smirked and lowered the gun just a little so that it was pointed at the jewelry case rather than her. “I’m not gonna hurt you if you give me what I want,” he told her.

  “Anything,” Kate whispered, still letting her voice tremble and pasting a look of abject terror on her face. In reality, she felt calm and collected inside. I can take this guy—all I need is just one good shot.

  It was strange that she should have had a panic attack earlier when confronted by the man from her dreams and yet now, faced with a gun-wielding robber, she felt as cool as a cucumber. But she’d never been the type to cry or faint—unlike her customer, Mr. Denrek who was huddled in a ball on the floor whimpering.

  No help there, Kate thought grimly. But she didn’t need any help. All she needed was a split second and a little luck.

  “I’m going to reach into my inside pocket,” she told the assailant, moving her right hand carefully up to the left side of her jacket. “That’s where I keep the keys to the cases. Okay?”

  “Yeah, all right.” Clearly he still suspected nothing. After all, how could such a tiny little girl hurt him?

  Oh, I’ll hurt you plenty, asshole, Kate thought grimly, though she was careful to keep the look of fear on her face. I’ll blow a hole in you big enough to read the newspaper through. You’re going to be damn sorry you picked my night to rob this place.

  She already had her hand on the Glock when the guy in the hoody started getting antsy.

  “Hurry up! And you better not press no silent alarm!”

  “We don’t have any of those,” Kate lied. Actually, they had one by every case but she couldn’t reach the closest one without causing suspicion. Her gun, however, was now firmly in hand. “I’m going to pull out the keys now,” she said and with one smooth tug, she brought the Glock out and pointed at his face.

  Or that was what should have happened. Instead, the small gun somehow got snagged on her jacket. There was a small part of the lining that was coming unraveled—Kate had been meaning to sew it but she’d just never gotten around to it. Now it caught on part of the Glock—the rear sight maybe. Suddenly she found herself stuck with the gun only halfway out of her jacket but clearly visible.

  “What the fuck?” The robber’s eyes widened. “What the hell are you trying to pull, lady?” He lifted his own gun, pointing it at her head. “I’ll fucking blow your head off you little—”

  At that point, several things happened at once. There was a blur at the front of the store and then the big Kindred, the man from her dreams who had confronted her in the hallway, was just suddenly there, standing behind the assailant. Kate thought numbly that he must have moved with supernatural speed—how else could he just appear like that?

  At the same moment, Rosalie walked back into the store, trilling, “I’m back!” Of course the robber’s back was to her so she didn’t see the gun. Instead she noticed Mr. Denrek, who was still huddled on the floor. “Oh my God—are you all right? Did you fall?” she gasped, and ran over to help him.

  “Rosalie, get back!” Kate snapped, still yanking at her own gun. Damn, it was really caught! Her heart was starting to pound and her breath was coming short—it must be because the big Kindred with the burning blue eyes was standing near again—but she fought the panic grimly.

  Can’t freak out! I have to deal with this!

  The robber, who had been momentarily distracted by Rosalie’s entrance, still hadn’t noticed there was someone behind him—maybe because the Kindred wasn’t touching him and the hoody blocked his view. He turned his attention back to Kate and started to point the gun at her head.

  “You dare,” snarled the big Kindred in his ear.