Signed Sealed & Delivered: A Newton's Gate Series (The Delivery Mage Book 5) Read online

  He got back in his car and drove the remaining two blocks to Marci’s apartment building. Parking in one of the visitor spaces out front, Kurt headed over to the door.

  The automated doorman new him on sight. Marci had programmed him into the building’s access system. The electronic lock buzzed and the door popped open as he approached.

  The AI’s disembodied voice spoke as he passed through the doorway. “Good morning Mr. Carter. Are you heading up to Miss Trenton’s apartment?”

  “You know it, Carlton.”

  “Shall I call ahead to let her know you’re on your way up?”

  “No, I’d like to surprise her.”

  “As you wish,” the AI said before falling silent again.

  Kurt headed for the double bank of elevators and waited while the next available car came down to let him up. He rode the elevator up to Marci’s floor and stepped out. Kurt had a bounce in his step as he approached her door.

  He tapped the intercom button next to the door and waited, smiling into the camera pickup.

  “Oh, hey K.C.,” Marci’s said over the intercom system.

  “Hey, Marci. I thought I’d come by and bring you some breakfast. I hope that’s all right? I figured we could chat about last night.”

  The door buzzed open without her giving any reply. Kurt took that as a yes and pushed the door open with his foot as he carried the two coffees, the bag of pastries, and the flowers into her apartment. He turned and shoved the door shut with his foot then walked down the short hallway into the main room of her apartment.

  “Marci, I wanted to apologize for how things went last night. I hope you understand that what I feel for you is far more important than any feelings I still have for Clara.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Kurt,” Trent said. “Is there something going on here I need to know about?”

  Kurt stopped dead in the middle of Marci’s living room. Her father stood by the island in her kitchen staring at him. He’d been around the corner making coffee and Kurt didn’t see him when he came in.

  “Oh, my God. Hi, Trent. I didn’t know you were here.”

  “That’s obvious. Now, do you want to tell me what exactly you meant by what you said when you walked in here? And why are you bringing Marci flowers?”

  Kurt just stood there in silence. He’d always known he would have to let Trent know about how he felt about Marci at some point, but this was not how he planned for that to happen. Rather than giving an explanation, his brain froze. Since all he could do was stand there and stammer, Kurt opted to say nothing.

  “Daddy, K.C. just stopped by with some breakfast for us and I asked him to pick up some fresh flowers for me. This place has been looking so drab lately.” Marci came out of the bedroom and brushed past Kurt taking one of the coffee cups and the flowers from his hands.

  “Then why did you offer to make me a coffee if you knew he was bringing coffee anyway?”

  “He was bringing coffee for the two of us. We had some things to discuss about the last job we were on. I’m worried about the way things went down with that Chaos Crystal. I knew he wouldn’t have any coffee for you. Since you decided to drop by unannounced, you have to make your own, Daddy.”

  Trent stared at the two of them, and Kurt managed to smile while he tried to exude innocence.

  “What about the last job you two did? Is there trouble?”

  “You know Kurt managed to pay off that blood debt he incurred with the Hell’s Gater Clan.”

  “Yeah, I heard about that,” Trent said turning his gaze to Kurt.

  It wasn’t what he said but what he left unsaid that had Kurt’s insides reeling. He’d known Trent for a long time. He wasn’t an idiot. They’d been friends since he was the CIA handler for Kurt’s special ops team. Kurt had always seen him as a sort of big brother figure. That was probably why he felt a little hint of betrayal deep inside.

  “So why don’t the two of you tell me a little bit about what happened after the last mission. I was out of town when you got back and I haven’t had a chance to hear how it went.”

  Kurt decided to take the opportunity to change the subject and started to describe some of the things they’d run into while making the delivery to a stricken rebel army on a world overrun with demons.

  As Kurt finished his explanation of what they went through, Trent smiled. “I’m glad I stopped by. After hearing about everything you both ran into on that last job, you could use a change of pace. I came to see if you two wanted to take a bit of a cake run for me. It doesn’t pay very much but it is through one of the resort portals.”

  “Really?” Kurt said, intrigued. “Which one?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” Trent said. “The client is being kind of cagey about it, but I was able to get the fact that it was a very exclusive portal to a resort for the ultra-wealthy. I was trying to dicker over the price they wanted to pay. My contact told me it was a fully civilized and settled resort world and should oppose little danger to anyone making deliveries.”

  Kurt knew there was no such thing as a completely safe world. Even the most civilized planets had issues with crime of some kind. That said, heading to one of the all-inclusive resort colonies, with all of the modern amenities, would be a nice change after the last few trips he and Marci had taken.

  “Sounds like a lot of fun, Dad. I think Kurt and I would like that. We could both use the break.”

  “Actually, now that I think about it,” Trent said. He fixed Kurt with a level stare as he continued. “I don’t think it requires both of you after all. I think Kurt can probably handle this one on his own. Why don’t you stay here with me while he’s gone and we can catch up? We haven’t spent much time together for quite a while.”

  Kurt caught the way Trent glanced in his direction as he spoke to Marci. He didn’t miss the way his eyebrows lowered as he met Kurt’s gaze.

  “Maybe that is for the best,” Kurt said, trying to keep Marci from arguing with her father. “You can come with me on the next trip, Marci.”

  “Nonsense,” Marci laughed. She seemed oblivious to the nonverbal interplay between her father and Kurt. “K.C. and I both need a break after the last mission. I don’t want to stick around here in dreary old Baltimore, especially not when Kurt is going to some resort planet. I’m going with him, Daddy.“

  Trent didn’t even look at Marci. He just stood there and stared at Kurt, as if to ask him to prove nothing was going on between the two of them.

  Kurt didn’t think anything was going to change Marci’s mind, though. If there was one thing he knew about his sidekick, it was that she was the most stubborn person he’d ever met. He tried to defuse the situation without letting on about their budding relationship.

  “Trent, as much as I would like to see you and Marci have some time together, I don’t think I’m going to be able to convince her not to come. You know as well as I, she’ll just follow me if I don’t let her come along for the ride.”

  Trent pursed his lips and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Kurt. “If that’s the way you want to handle this, then I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. When you get back, though, I plan on having a nice, long, sit down chat with you, pal, understood?”

  Kurt knew Trent was a serious player in his own right. Though he was older than Kurt by about a decade, he had the means to make Kurt’s life miserable if he wanted.

  “I look forward to working things out, bud,” Kurt replied.

  Trent just nodded and an awkward silence fell over the room.

  Marci pointed to the bag in Kurt’s hand. “You brought some pastries from the café, right? Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  Saying the breakfast that followed was awkward was probably the understatement of the year. Trent kept making veiled references to things Kurt and Trent had done in their early days in shadow ops, focusing on some particular tortures they’d encountered on their missions right after the Newton’s Gate incident opened up all the portals on Earth Prime. It was as if he was trying to remind Kurt of their brotherhood and commitment to each other.

  If his goal was to make Kurt feel ashamed for wanting to date his daughter, it was working. Kurt was not deterred, however. He’d finally come to terms with how he felt about Marci and he’d decided to move forward with their relationship, no matter what.

  That said, Kurt couldn’t bring himself to come out and speak the words out loud. The verbal byplay continued throughout breakfast and into mid-morning as the three of them sat in Marci’s apartment and talked about missions past and present.

  Marci seemed blissfully unaware that anything was going on at all. Kurt knew it was probably an act, but she was playing it up to the fullest and probably enjoyed every minute of the awkwardness between her father and her potential love interest.

  When the time finally came for Trent to leave, he tried to get Kurt to follow him downstairs. “You know, Kurt, if you want, we can head back to my office and I can get you the contact information for this current job. I think it would be better to give it to you in a hard copy rather than sending it over the comm channels.”

  Kurt knew Trent was just making an excuse. The comm channels were secure enough for just about anything short of top-secret military intelligence. Still, he didn’t want to disrespect his friend and stay behind with Marci. He knew what was probably going through Trent’s mind right now. Kurt didn’t want to make it worse.

  Marci had other plans, though. “No, Daddy, K.C. needs to stay here. If he and I are going to some sort of resort planet, we need to do some shopping for new outfits. Can you tell us anything about what kind of place it is at all?”

  Kurt grimaced a little as Marci talked about shopping together for the trip. It was only going to reinforce the images going throug
h her father’s mind.

  “Look, Marci, if your dad wants to get that information to me, perhaps I should go with him.”

  “That’s silly, K.C., Daddy doesn’t mind if we go shopping together, do you?”

  Kurt saw the muscles bulge in the sides of Trent’s face as he clenched his teeth together. He could almost hear the grinding between his friend’s molars. After a brief pause, Trent said, “No, you two go ahead and do your shopping. I’ll see if I can get some more information on the resort so you’ll know what you need. Based on what little I know, though, it’s not a ski resort or anything like that. I suspect you can probably plan to dress for warm weather.”

  “Oh, I can get a new bikini, then.”

  Kurt wanted to roll over and die as soon as she said it. But then, that was probably the point.

  Trent didn’t say a word in response. He merely gave Kurt a brief nod and glare, then turned and left the two of them alone in Marci’s apartment.

  As soon as Kurt was sure Trent had headed down the hallway outside and gotten on the elevator, he turned to Marci

  “What are you thinking? You know now he suspects something is going on, don’t you?”

  “I’m not an idiot, K.C., I just figured that you deserved that after putting me through watching you falling all over Clara after dinner last night. We could’ve had a rather nice evening ahead of us. Instead, you chose to talk with her about how she could use your help. Honestly, you’re lucky I let you off this easy.”

  “Marci, if this is easy, I don’t want to know what your version of hard is.”

  “Keep that in mind. You should always remember that I have a long memory and the infinite capacity to hold grudges. Descendants of tribal shamans are like that, you know.”

  Kurt couldn’t decide if that was a threat or just friendly banter. He decided to take it as the latter since what else would he be able to do about it.

  “Were you serious about needing to shop?” Kurt asked.

  “Of course. I never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Besides, we can get you something cute to wear as well.”

  “I don’t do cute, Marci. I already have plenty of clothes to wear.”

  “If you and I are going to a resort world together and posing as a couple, you are damn well going to look the part. Now come on, Daddy is gone by now so let’s head downstairs. Which car did you bring?”

  “I brought the sports car. Why?”

  “Never mind. I was planning on getting more stuff than that. It would’ve been nice to have the storage capacity of your SUV, but for this trip but we’ll make do.” Marci brushed past him as she headed for the door. “Come on K.C. The stores are already open and we have a lot of shopping to do.”

  Kurt followed her out the door. At least he’d get to spend some time with her just the two of them. That was good enough for him, for now.

  Chapter 3

  The shopping trip with Marci lasted well into the afternoon. Kurt found himself loaded down with bags by the time they were finished.

  While some of the shopping had been for him, including a new pair of khaki shorts and a couple of what Marci termed as “vacation shirts.” He still didn’t know why he couldn’t just use his wardrobe at home, but he wasn’t going to argue with her at this point.

  Aside from the one bag with his shorts and two shirts, the rest of the bags contained a bunch of outfits for Marci and a couple of new bathing suits. That had been a particularly awkward time as she insisted on modeling the new two-piece suits for him in the store at the mall as she tried them on. Kurt guessed she was gauging which one to purchase based upon the amount he was blushing when she stepped out of the changing room with each new bikini.

  Finally, they headed back out to his car and somehow managed to get all of the bags arranged in such a way that they wouldn’t spill out of the convertible as they drove along back to her apartment. Kurt sat behind the wheel and started the engine just as the comm chip behind his ear chirped. Flexing his jaw muscles in the particular sequence to activate the chip, he said, “Go for Kurt.”

  It was Trent. “Kurt, I managed to get the contact information for you after all. Are you still with my daughter?”

  Kurt cleared his throat before he answered, glancing sideways at Marci seated next to him. “Yes, I am as a matter of fact.”

  “You know, you and I will have to discuss this at some point, Kurt. I’m not going to just let it drop.”

  “I didn’t expect you to. For what it’s worth, this morning was not how I planned for things to go.”

  “I don’t think I want to know what you planned, Kurt. As I said, we’ll deal with this in the future. Right now, you’ve got a job to do and apparently it needs to get done sooner rather than later. I’ll comm you the details and address so that you can reach out to the client yourself and pick up the items for delivery.”

  “Any more on what it is I am to be transporting?”

  “Nope, he just said it was a basic courier gig.”

  “All right, I’ll let you know what I find out and when I plan on leaving. We’ll make arrangements to chat, just the two of us, when I get back.”

  Trent cut the connection without answering and Kurt pulled the sports car out of the shopping center parking lot.

  “What did Daddy want?” Marci asked.

  “He found some more information for us on the job and sent me the details. I have to reach out to the client after I drop you off. I need to pick up the item for delivery.”

  “Do we know where we’re going yet?”

  “Not yet. I expect we’ll know that soon enough. I’ll drop you off so you can pack all of this stuff up in some sort of manageable form. While you do that, I’ll meet with the client and find out what’s going on and how soon we need to leave. Your dad let on that it was somewhat of an urgent matter apparently.”

  “It always is,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Everybody’s always in such a hurry.”

  They reached her building a few minutes later and Kurt dropped Marci off in front of the entrance. After she disappeared inside, Kurt checked his wrist computer for the details and address for the contact.

  All it said was “Heph” for a name and gave an address in Federal Hill, one of the more upscale neighborhoods in Baltimore. It was home to a quirky collection of young professionals who didn’t yet have children and older retirees who’d relocated after their children moved out.

  Kurt drove across town and started checking the street numbers as he drove along looking for the particular house in the message. The old, brick row homes, most of them several hundred years old, all seemed in nearly perfect repair. They’d all been newly renovated within the last 10 to 15 years as the area had undergone its renaissance. While they looked historically accurate on the outside, most had been updated on the inside to reflect modern amenities and electronic communication needs.

  Kurt pulled up to an empty parking space along the street a few houses away from the address he’d been given. He got out and walked over to the correct house, mounting the four steps up to the front door and rapping on it with his knuckles. There was no sign of a modern doorbell or intercom system, although there probably was some sort of hidden surveillance camera at least.

  As if to confirm his suspicions, a voice sounded from a hidden speaker somewhere over his head. “The door’s unlocked. I’m in the backyard. Rick said you’d be coming by this afternoon. Thanks for expediting your schedule.”

  Kurt didn’t bother to answer aloud. He just nodded and reached out to open the door. It was, indeed, unlocked. Stepping inside, he found a home decorated with various sorts of metal work and wrought iron artwork. There was a particularly intricate sculpture on one wall. It was some kind of a three-dimensional picture of a Greek temple made entirely out of small strips of copper of various shades. Kurt wanted to stop and examine it in more detail. It was gorgeous. He knew the client was waiting for him in the back, though, so he kept going to the rear of the house.

  It only took him a minute to find his way through the house to the back door. What greeted him there was not what he expected.

  The backyard had a shed, built out of rough quarried stone in it. Beside it was a fire pit of some sort. No, that’s not correct, Kurt realized. It wasn’t a fire pit. It was some sort of a forge.