In the Clinch: A Kira Brightwell Novel

Chapter 5

5

“Kira, I need your help.”

Kira nearly dropped her phone in surprise as she heard her sister’s words. Kori had always been Little Miss Self-Sufficient. And even if she did need help, why was she asking Kira? The two of them had never been that close.

And then I got Kevin kidnapped…

The thought slipped away like sand through her fingers.

“What’s up?” Kira asked.

“Can you come over? I feel weird talking about it on the phone.”

“Um, sure. Right now?”

“If you can.”

Wow, what the hell is going on?

“OK, I’m on my way.” Kira couldn’t help but let some of her bewilderment creep into her voice.

“Thanks! See you soon.”

She suddenly found herself at her sister’s suburban home with no memory of how she had gotten there. At least, it looked like her sister’s house, but something about it seemed off. Kira looked around in an effort to pinpoint the anomaly as Kori ushered her into the pristine living room. All the decorations and furniture were modern with clean edges. The entire house looked like something out of a magazine. Somewhere in the background, ABBA’s ‘Mamma Mia’ was playing with cheerful abandon. Kira perched on a white sofa as Kori offered her a glass of wine.

Kori wasn’t drinking, of course. Her belly was just beginning to show. Still, she was just as immaculately groomed as the rest of the house. Unlike Kira’s sloppy ponytail, not a single one of Kori’s long, dark hairs was out of place. She wore a pale blue blouse with small, vertical ruffles and gray slacks that emphasized the rest of her lean frame. You could hardly even tell she was pregnant.

Wait, Kori’s not pregnant…

She sat on the sofa next to Kira, her brown eyes apprehensive behind the lenses of her designer glasses. Kira took a long sip of red wine to steady herself and momentarily forgot herself due to its robust flavor. She wasn’t usually much of a drinker, but Kori had impeccable taste in wine, and Kira had a feeling she was going to need something to take the edge off.

“So what’s going on?” Kira finally said when Kori remained silent. Her sister was always so self-assured…

Kori shook her head and toyed with the seam of the sofa armrest with her manicured fingers. She took a deep breath.

“This is going to sound horrible.” She bit her lip and fell silent for a moment. “Mom has always wanted to be a grandmother, and she’s so excited…”

Kira leaned back in her seat as the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. “She’s driving you crazy, isn’t she?”

Kori seemed to wilt with relief. “Yes!” The word blurted from her lips. She shook her head. “On the one hand, I’m glad to have her so involved. I mean, I’ve never had a baby before. Yes, I know what pregnancy and childbirth entail, but it’s different when it happens to you.”

“No doubt.” Kira had no intention of finding out for herself.

Kori twisted her fingers. “But she calls me multiple times a day to check up on me—even when I’m at work!”

“She calls you in the middle of your sessions?” Kori was a successful child psychologist with her own practice in downtown La Valentia.

“Yes.” Kori’s voice was glum. “It’s really starting to be a problem. I want to tell her to back down a bit, but I don’t know how without hurting her feelings.”

Kira snorted. “And you thought I would be the right person to ask? You know I’m not as close to Mom as you are.” That was an understatement.

Kori’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know who else to talk to. If I mention it to any of my girlfriends, I’ll just sound like an ungrateful shrew. But you know what Mom is like when she gets the bit in her teeth about something.”

“And how,” Kira muttered into her wine.

Kira had been one of their mother’s unwilling pet projects all too often. She was nothing like the other two women in her family, which seemed to make their mother uncomfortable.

A sudden thought struck her, accompanied by an uneasy sense of déjà-vu.

“You should mess with her.” The words seemed to come from her mouth of their own accord.

Why do I feel like this has happened before?

“What?” Kori blinked.

“You know, like we used to do when we were growing up whenever she took things too far.”

Kori’s head bobbed in a slow nod. “OK, but how? I don’t want to do anything mean.” She gave her sister a stern look.

Kira rolled her eyes. “What, do you think I’m some kind of monster? I meant something harmless. Like… have you and Adam come up with any names for the baby yet?”

Kori’s expression turned wary. “A few. But we’re keeping them private for now. Why?”

Kira leaned forward as she warmed to the idea. “You know Mom is going to want a ‘K’ name.”

“Of course. But Adam and I—” Kori’s eyes widened. A smile spread across her lips. “You think I should tell her we’re planning on some name that’s going to drive her nuts.”

Kira nodded in satisfaction. “Exactly. I don’t know if it will make her back off, but at least you can get some fun out of playing with her.”

“I like it!” Kori pulled out her phone. “What name should we use?”

Kevin. Her baby is going to be Kevin.

Kira shook her head as if trying to clear it.

“Something she’ll hate, but won’t be able to give a good reason for objecting to, like a really old family name.”

Kori’s expression turned mischievous. “What, like Great Aunt Virginia?”

Kira nearly choked on her wine as she stifled a chuckle. “Exactly. We can call her ‘Ginny’ for short. God knows Great Aunt Virginia never let us shorten it for her.”

“And if Mom tries to argue…”

“How can she? What, with the way Great Aunt Virginia used to prattle on about what a noble name it was?” Kira hunched forward and cast her features in a stern expression. “‘Kori and Kira? What kind of names are those?’” she demanded in a querulous imitation of their now deceased great aunt. “‘In my day, names had real meaning—passed down through the family, you see. Take my own name, for example—an homage to the Virgin Mary’s pale purity. You can’t get any better than that!’”

Kori doubled over with laughter. “Oh my God, yes.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Now what can we come up with for a boy name?”

Kevin.

Kira shook her head again with a dazed smile. This was the first time she and her sister had really bonded like this in years… She didn’t want to ruin it. Why did she keep thinking about the name Kevin anyway? She shoved it aside and tried to come up with something more suitable for their purposes.

But the living room around her was already beginning to dissolve. She looked around with an odd, disconnected sense of calm. Kori was talking again, but her voice was fading into the distance. Kira couldn’t make out her words, but she appeared completely unaware of what was happening.

Kira raised her hand to reach out to her sister as she disappeared from sight and the darkness claimed her.