“That looks like Veronica’s car,” he mentioned and glanced at the date and time on the bottom right corner of the screen.
The morning after Aidan had seen her.
The driver’s door opened. Veronica Becker stepped out. Pulling a purse onto her shoulder, she closed the door and smiled through the dusty car window before opening the back door and leaning in.
A minute later, she helped her boy out and handed him a colorful drink bottle.
The little boy stood beside her and chattered while she locked the door and closed it.
Veronica laughed and nodded. Taking her son’s hand, she led him into the day care.
When Aidan looked away from the screen, he found Chris and Seth studying him closely. “I don’t understand. Why are you showing me this?”
Seth nodded to the laptop. “Keep watching.”
He did.
After a few minutes, Veronica emerged and strode toward her car, keys in hand, her pretty face wreathed in a smile.
She opened the driver’s door and tossed her purse inside.
A tall, dark figure abruptly appeared behind her, his back to the camera.
Aidan rested his arm on the table and leaned in closer.
Judging by his clothes, the man was an Immortal Guardian. Black pants. Black boots. Long black coat. Short black hair.
But Aidan wasn’t sure which one.
He had once heard Sarah tell her husband Roland that male Immortal Guardians looked so much alike they could pass for brothers, and he had to agree. All but the newest inductees had black hair, brown eyes, and were of a similar height and build.
Veronica spun around, a look of alarm on her face. Then she smiled up at the newcomer and pressed a hand to her chest. Oh. Hi. You scared me.
Even if Aidan weren’t a passable lip reader, he could’ve guessed what she said.
The man took a step backward.
Nodding, Veronica leaned against the car. She said something else, but Aidan couldn’t read it because of the camera angle.
The man reached out and rested a hand on the open driver’s door, turning to the side to better face her.
Shock tore through Aidan. “What the hell?” he whispered.
The man talking to Veronica was… him.
As he watched, uncomprehending, Veronica tilted her head back and smiled up at a man who could easily pass for Aidan’s twin.
Reaching out, Aidan gripped the laptop and slid it toward him. “What the hell is this?”
Over the dozens of questions that flooded his brain, Aidan heard Chris say, “Security footage recorded outside one of the network’s day care centers.”
It didn’t surprise Aidan that the network provided day care for its employees. No doubt the service was free. But who the hell was that talking to Veronica? Because in profile, the man really did look like Aidan.
“Can you enlarge this? Or make it zoom in or whatever you call it?” Aidan murmured, wanting to get a closer look at the man’s face.
Chris rose and moved to stand beside Aidan. Leaning down, he tapped several keys on the keyboard.
The screen changed, blurring for a moment before it provided an enlarged view of the two conversing by the car.
The man looked identical to Aidan.
“That’s not possible,” he murmured.
Veronica nodded and ducked into her car, settling herself behind the wheel.
The Aidan look-alike closed her door for her, then walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and got in. A moment later, the brake lights came on. The car backed out of the parking space and drove out of view.
The image froze.
Aidan looked at Seth. “What the hell is this?” he repeated.
Chris spoke as he reclaimed his seat at the head of the table. “This is the last time anyone saw Veronica Becker. She never made it to work that day and never returned to the day care to pick up her son. You were the last one to see her.”
Aidan shook his head and pointed at the laptop. “That isn’t me.”
“If the footage were blurry or pixilated and difficult to see,” Chris countered, “I’d give you the benefit of the doubt. But we have high-def video that clearly shows you getting into the car with her and driving away.”
“Play it again,” Aidan demanded.
Chris did so. But Aidan could find nothing in the man’s appearance to suggest it wasn’t him.
He looked to Seth. “I don’t understand. Seth, that’s not me. I don’t even know where that place is.”
Seth turned to Chris. “I believe him. I don’t think he has any memory of that place.”
What? “I have no memory of that place because I was never there.” Aidan swung on Chris. “Did you do this? Did you have one of your techno geeks fudge the footage because you’re still pissed at me for breaking and entering two years ago?”
Chris’s jaw clenched. “You know I didn’t. You were there. The footage is clear.”
“Fuck the footage! I’m telling you that’s not me!”
“Then let Seth read your mind and confirm it.”
And have Seth find the visions Dana had had of the two of them engaged in furious battle and of Roland doing his damnedest to kill Aidan, too? Hell no. That would just make him look even guiltier.
“Lower your barriers,” Seth requested softly.
Aidan refused with a shake of his head. “You’ve known me for nearly three thousand years, Seth. My word should be enough.”
Chris snorted. “If you weren’t guilty, you wouldn’t mind him reading your thoughts.”
“Oh really?” Aidan delved into Chris’s mind. “You wouldn’t have a problem with Seth reading your thoughts?”
“Not if it would prove my innocence.”
“So you’re saying it wouldn’t bother you in the least that Seth would see other things up there as well? Personal things you’d rather keep private? Things you never tell anyone about? Like the vivid sexual fantasies you weave around your assistant Kate whenever you have a spare moment to think?”
Fury flooded Reordon’s face. “You stay the fuck out my head, Celt! That’s none of your damned business!”
“And my private thoughts are none of Seth’s, but he’ll see them all if I lower my barriers and let him in.”
“These are extenuating circumstances! You don’t think that warrants a look?”
“No, I don’t! Not when I’ve already told you I was never there!”
Seth held up a hand. “Gentlemen,” he interjected softly.
Aidan didn’t realize until then that he had risen and now stood nose to nose with Chris, exchanging shouts, ready to blacken the bastard’s eyes.
Both men scowled and retook their seats.
Aidan studied the laptop screen again, then felt a surge of triumph. “You know damned well that wasn’t me,” he told Chris. “Look at the date and time on the video. I couldn’t possibly have been there because I called you half an hour before that video was recorded and told you I was teleporting Cliff away.” He turned to Seth. “Cliff was struggling. The voices in his head were so loud that morning that they woke me from a sound sleep. I knew Cliff was contemplating ending it, so I called Chris and told him I was going to teleport Cliff away for a distraction.”
Seth frowned. “The voices were that loud?”
“Yes. Chris turned off the alarm here at the network so we could teleport out, and I took Cliff to a sunny vale in Scotland.”