cal-low

kalō

adjective

(especially of a young person) inexperienced and immature

synonyms: juvenile, adolescent, naive, green, untried, unworldly, unsophisticated

"What do you think happened to him?" Jess was leaning against the counter in It's Bean Great, wiping out a mug with a towel.

I glanced at my phone again, reading the text I'd received from Devon late last night. He'd called Isaac seven times over the past two days, and still nothing.

"I have no idea," I said, worrying my lower lip with my teeth. "It's just so unlike him. Do you think we should call the cops?"

"I mean, if this is unusual, I feel like somebody should," Jess replied, frowning. "Maybe Devon can go down there with a picture today, report him missing. Just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Yeah, I guess Devon would be best. I don't have a picture of Isaac, and they're closer friends."

I turned my attention back to my phone and sent off a text, recommending that Devon go to the cops. Even though Isaac was kind of a douche, I felt sad that we were the only people who would even be looking for him if he disappeared. I knew Jess would move heaven and earth to find me, if I didn't show up to work or something. She wouldn't wait some mandatory twenty four hour period, either. She would raise hell until half the police force was looking for me.

"He's probably fine," Jess said hurriedly as she eyed my face. "Your face is going to be frozen in perpetual worry lines if you keep this up."

"I can't help it," I said, throwing my hands up. "Nobody in my life has ever gone missing before."

"What about that one time my sister came to visit, and she got pissy at me and went wandering through the streets of downtown at two in the morning?" Jess smiled and nudged me. "And we had to go trudging around looking for her, and we found her drunk as a skunk, swinging in the park?"

I knew she was trying to distract me, but it was kind of working, so I went along with it. "Yeah, we had to argue with her for like fifteen minutes to get her to jump off."

"What a pain in the ass."

I sighed and shook my head, trying to clear it of worry. "Okay. I'll try not to think about it. If Devon can't get to the station today, I'll go myself and report him missing. Other than that, I can't really do anything about it anyway."

"Exactly. So just relax." Jess nudged me again, jostling me off the counter. "Let's keep prepping, and you can help me decide what to say to Paul when I call him today."

"You haven't told Paul you're leaving yet?" Paul was our manager. He hardly ever came into the shop, unless there was a really big problem.

"Not yet..." Jess looked sheepish. "Besides, I felt bad."

"Well you should feel bad, now you're abandoning me and who knows when he'll get around to hiring a replacement!" I tsked and started arranging the pastries in the glass display case.

"Ugh, I know. Sorry, sorry. I'll convince mom to make you more chocolate muffins. And you can have a free drink when you come visit me at Underworld."

"Hah, that might not happen again," I said skeptically. "Don't you remember Liam saying very firmly that I shouldn't ever go back?"

"Oh, he was just worried about your safety. As long as you're careful and don't wander off alone, you'll be fine."

"I don't know." I was still dubious. "I was attacked last time I was there. I need to at least talk to Liam first. I have a lot of questions."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. I've been keeping a list of strange and unexplained occurrences, and he seems to be at the heart of them all," I said, crossing my arms. "Very suspicious. Plus I'm curious about that door he's guarding."

"You shouldn't be too pushy with him," Jess warned. "He seems nice enough, but there's something about him. Like he's dangerous underneath it all."

"Really?" I laughed as I finished arranging the last pastry and closed the case. "I feel the opposite. Like he seems grumpy on the surface, but underneath is just a cuddly pit bull who needs a hug."

"You know pit bulls are vicious, right?" Jess rolled her eyes and grinned. "You have a serious self destructive streak."

"Vicious creatures need hugs too. Besides, every pit bull I've ever met has been a total sweetheart."

"Just be careful, is my point." Jess pushed a wet cloth into my hands. "Get to work, woman, the tables need a wipe down."

"Slave driver."

"Slacker."

At nine on the dot, sure enough, the door swung open and in came Liam, cloaked in that aura of energy that filled up the whole room. His eyes sought me out, and he gave a small nod of acknowledgement, then went to his normal seat and folded his large frame into it gracefully.

I took a deep breath and smoothed down my apron, then made my way to the little table in the corner. His eyes tracked my progress across the room with laser like regard. Instead of my customary opening salvo of customer service, I plopped my butt into the seat opposite him. He lifted one brow in a perfect arch, and I raised my chin.

"Good morning," I croaked, then cleared my throat and tried again. "How are you today?"

"I am well." His eyes took on a cruel glint. "I will have an espresso macchiato -"

"And a savory scone," I finished for him. "I know, and I will be happy to put that order in for you. As soon as I ask my questions."

Despite himself, he looked intrigued. "You have questions, Miss Jacqueline?" Then he looked me up and down. "Of course you do. You seem the... incorrigible type."

"Surprisingly this is not the first time I've been called that," I said, continuing to smile up at him. "I think of it as complementary."

"Of course you do," he repeated, still looking disgruntled. "Very well. If it will get me to my breakfast sooner, I will answer your questions."

"Oh." I blinked, not expecting it to be quite that easy. "Okay. So my friend... the singer in my band from Saturday. He's disappeared. He didn't show up for rehearsal on Sunday and he won't answer any texts or calls. We're all worried about him, and we went to his house and it's locked, and it's never locked, and we didn't see him inside, and he's always inside, so we're... we're worried," I repeated, feeling verbose and allowing my sentence to trail off.

"I fail to locate a question," Liam said carefully, "In the midst of your torrent of words."

"I'm getting there." I paused to gather my thoughts. "So, I last saw Isaac being grabbed by Simone and taking off out of Underworld together. I thought maybe Simone knew something. And I was wondering if Simone has been coming back to work at Underworld? And also if you had a way to reach her, so we could ask her about Isaac?"

Liam's expression was getting a little harder, a little more angry with each word I spoke. After I finished, I waited, twisting my fingers together.

Finally he leaned back in his chair, seeming to come to a decision, and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "I will answer your question, if you answer one of mine."

My mouth popped open in shock. "Are you kidding me? This is important, my friend is missing. He might be in danger!"

"Very likely." Liam nodded, not in the least perturbed by that information. "And if it is important, then you should be willing to answer my questions to get your answers."

He had me there. I scowled, feeling ruffled at his heartlessness. "Fine. If you answer me, you can ask me whatever." I didn't have any questions about my life I wouldn't answer openly, I wasn't exactly secretive.

"Simone has not returned to work since Saturday," Liam said. "But I will not give you a way to contact her."

"Why not?" I leaned back and crossed my own arms to mirror his position.

"That, Miss Jacqueline, is another question." Liam's mouth twisted in a small smile. "Tell me what you do on Mondays and Tuesdays."

"What?" I wasn't sure what he'd want to know about me, but that hardly was it. "What do you mean?"

Liam waved one hand impatiently. "I have come here on Mondays and Tuesdays, and you are never working. I have come to the conclusion that those are your days off. Therefore, tell me what you do on those days to occupy yourself."

"You don't come in on Sundays?" I asked. Then I grimaced. The question just came out without my bidding. A deal, however, was a deal. "Sorry. Okay... Well, I teach piano lessons."

His eyes widened, and he slipped his tongue out to wet his lower lip. I swallowed hard, unable to help watching the sight and wishing it was my tongue on his lip. Or his tongue on my lip. Or our lips on each other's lips, maybe?

"Really." His word snapped me out of my reverie and I jerked my eyes back up to his.

"Uh. Yes." I cleared my throat as my voice was getting croaky again.

"Interesting."

Right. My turn. "Why won't you let me contact Simone?"

He looked irritated just at the mention of her name. "She is a dangerous individual."

"Well if she's so dangerous, I should definitely contact her so I can get Isaac away from her." I felt the worry rising in my stomach. I abruptly shoved my hand into my apron pocket and pulled out my phone, relaxing slightly when I saw Devon had texted me back and said he was on his way to the police station already.

"No, you should not." Liam's voice was as firm and intractable as the grave. "I will look into it."

I wasn't expecting that. "You will?"

He just looked at me for a long moment, and for once I couldn't read his expression. "I will."

"Oh. Thank you." I pushed the phone back into my apron.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Liam asked suddenly. He grimaced as if wishing he could take back the question.

"No," I said, irritated now. His questions were trivializing my worry for Isaac. I pressed on. "What did those people do to me, on Saturday? I think I saw Simone doing the same thing to Isaac. Is it some crazy new drug? I tried looking it up and I couldn't find anything. Do you know if there's someone who deals it in your club or something? I haven't seen it anywhere else." I paused to take a breath. "I want to think the best of you, Liam, I really do. But if you know about some kind of drug ring happening in your club, and you're okay with that, with people like that drugging people like me against their will, then..." I trailed off. Then what? I wasn't sure, exactly. But it would certainly change my opinion of him.

Liam's face took on a pained expression, and he shifted to lean forward again. His eyes left mine for the first time in the whole conversation, and he glanced around the shop. It was noisy, full of muffled conversations, but there was nobody very near us.

He seemed satisfied with his sweep, and turned his attention back to me again. "It is... discouraged behavior," he said. "I will not lie. There has been a small problem with it recently. We attempt to keep it under control, and the vast majority of those using the... drug... would only use it with consenting adults." He smiled in a way that looked vaguely apologetic. "I think it would be fair to guess that your friend Isaac is a consenting adult."

"He's never done anything heavy before." But could I really discount the idea that he would? Especially with a woman like Simone egging him on. "But I guess it does run in the family." Another thought struck me and I sat bolt upright, gasping. "What if he's overdosed? What if both of them are overdosed and choking on their own vomit somewhere? Oh god."

Liam's hand moved forward, and he covered my fingers as I picked at my fingernails frantically. "I told you, I would look into it. Be calm."

Calm. I sucked in deep breaths, feeling my fingers warming to his higher body temperature. "Could you look into it soon? We're all really worried. We want to help him."

"I understand." He didn't say that in an altogether convincing way, and I wasn't sure he did understand, but I didn't have a choice. I had to trust him at this point.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole drug thing in his club. But it wouldn't be Liam's fault if people were using drugs there, right? And I guess as long as they were consenting adults... Unless he was part of the whole thing. My mind shot to the door he'd been guarding, and I frowned. What if that was some secret operation headquarters?

"How do I protect myself from this drug?" I asked. "If I visit Jess at work, I don't want to be susceptible to it again."

"Do not come to Underworld," he said caustically. "Then you will be perfectly safe."

"Yes, but... If I do, how does it work?"

Liam paused, then the words came out reluctantly. "Skin to skin. Do not let them touch you. And avoid direct eye contact."

"How can a drug be spread through eye contact?"

"You have asked several questions without respecting my request," Liam replied, ignoring me. "By any definition, you now owe me an answer."

"Fine."

"What is your greatest fear?"

The words were so unexpected that it took me a moment to process them. "My greatest fear," I repeated.

Geez, talk about mixed signals with this guy. I contemplated how to answer. Sure, I had a healthy respect for large, potentially poisonous spiders, and sometimes I'd sleep with a light on because I thought I was hearing noises in the dark, but my greatest fear wasn't exactly something I'd confess so readily to a stranger.

Something about Liam's steady gaze, however, wouldn't let me answer frivolously. "Death," I found myself saying. "It's the ultimate mystery, and I'll never be able to solve it until I experience it for myself. It's terrifying."

Liam nodded, looking puzzled. God, I wished I knew what he was thinking. "Are you religious?"

"No, I'm an atheist," I said with a shrug. "But it doesn't change the fact that it scares me. There's so many theories about some sort of afterlife for a reason. We can't imagine a world in which we don't exist. Oblivion frightens us all, if we're willing to admit it."

Liam nodded, opening his mouth, but I raised one finger. "Ah, now you're breaking your own rules. My turn."

His mouth pulled into a smile as well, and he nodded regally.

"What's behind the door?" I asked, keeping my voice casual.

Liam's open expression closed and hardened, and I could practically hear the door of the conversation slamming shut. "Espresso macchiato and a savory scone," he said, each word like a shard of ice aimed in my direction.

Damn. So close. I couldn't help pushing a bit more. "C'mon, I won't tell anyone. I'm just so curious. Is it something really bad? Or just like... an office with confidential papers? Or like a secret VIP room where people can get super twisted sexual favors... for the right price?" I tried to lighten the vein of questioning with an eyebrow waggle.

Liam pushed to his feet, and I craned my neck way, way up at him, swallowing at the flinty look in his eyes. He stood looking down at me for a long moment, so remote I felt like I couldn't touch him, even though his thigh was about three inches from my face. Then, without another word, he turned and strode out the front door.

It slammed shut behind him with a merry little jingle of the bell we hung on the doorknob, and I jumped at the sound. It jarred me out of my state of shock, and I stood as well, staring out the window after him until he disappeared around the corner. Well, shit.

I frowned and made my way back to the counter, almost missing a few requests from customers on the way as I thought back over the conversation. Jess was staring at me wide eyed as I made it back to her and slumped against the counter.

"Holy crap, what did you say?"

"He, uh... Really doesn't want me to know what's behind the door," I said weakly. "Sorry, I lost us a good tip."

Jess shook her head, but there was still a line of worry between her brows. "Don't worry about it. You were born nosy, Jack."

"I know. You'd think people would figure that out, and not hold it against me," I complained, going along with her attempt at levity.

"Did he say he'd help with Isaac at least?" Jess asked, tamping down some ground coffee beans.

"Yeah, but... that was before I pissed him off," I said. "Shit, I didn't even think of that. Hopefully he'll still at least ask Simone about it."

"Did he say she's come back to work?" Jess paused to look at me. "I could ask her about it tomorrow when I start."

"He said she hasn't shown up," I said. "Actually... you should see if she's there. I don't really trust Liam." As much as I really, really wanted to think he was a good guy, evidence was kind of pointing to the contrary.

"Okay. I will, I promise. Maybe I can ask around and see if anybody else knows her, too."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," I said. "He said she was dangerous."

"You just said you don't trust him," Jess pointed out.

"Yeah, but I already felt like Simone was dangerous. You have to work with these people. Don't stick your neck out."

Jess sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I gotta be honest, Jack, I'm really worried about this job. At first it felt like kind of a dream opportunity, all that money, and I'm a total night owl, so working the night shift would be awesome, and having health benefits." She paused and let out a long breath. "But it seems like it might be a complicated situation."

I wanted to reassure her, but at the same time I agreed with her. "Trust your instincts," I said finally. "I want you to do what'll make you happy, and be safe."

"But sometimes you can't have both," Jess finished. "I know. I'm going to be fine. If I don't go for it now, I'd always regret it and wonder what would have happened."

"Probably." I nodded. "Just keep your nose clean. Don't get too involved with anything that seems shifty, and you'll be okay."

"Right." Jess gave a little choked snort of laughter. "Unless it's like... a human trafficking ring or... producing child porn... or... a league of red headed gentleman. Or something."

"Obviously." I grinned. "Then we would be obligated to take out our sleuthing hats, gather enough evidence to convict, and take the fuckers down."

Jess's eyes lit with genuine satisfaction at the concept, and she stuck out her hand for me to shake. I gripped it firmly, and she matched my grin with one of her own. "Exactly."