FRACTURED (20 page)

You should have been...

“I got hung up after I texted you. I'm living in a bit of a madhouse at the moment, if you hadn't noticed,” I explained. “It's a hindrance of sorts.”

“You're welcome to stay here,” he offered, heading to the kitchen.

“You know that, right?”

I smiled inside.

“I do now.” I moved to join him at the stove. He turned quickly to intercept me as I passed. I gasped, momentarily startled by the speed of his movement. It wasn't because I was still thinking about what Gavin had said―not at all.

“Something is bothering you,” he said matter of factly. “Tell me what it is.
Please
.”

“I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I can see that, Ruby. What I want to know is
what
is on your mind.”

No you don't.

“I have a feeling that you of all people won't be able to relate to what I'm about to say, but here it goes,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I always feel like I have more questions than answers, Sean. I'm not quite sure how to settle the constantly-running state of my mind. It's wearing on me. I'm not sleeping well. It's starting to affect my mood, my vision, my weight...”

He eyed me tightly, assessing both me and my statement.

“Change of plans,” he announced unexpectedly. “You're eating then going to bed. And no arguing, though I'm sure it will pain you greatly.”

I stared at him in total disbelief.

“You're not going to interrogate me about what's running through my mind? Demand to know what questions I so desperately want answers to? Nothing?”

“No, Ruby. I'm not.” He looked down at me with genuine confusion.

“You've been honest with me since you've been back. You offered me information without hesitation the other day and it was I who dropped the ball,” he said, pressing his lips gently against my forehead. “I love you. I trust you too. Now, let's eat before you get any thinner and put you to bed.

It may not have been my original game plan for the evening, but I'm sure I can make it interesting nonetheless.”

Without awaiting my response, he took my hand and led me to the barstool by the kitchen island. A plate of gourmet something or other was in front of me before I could lift a utensil to eat it with, and then he was beside me, eating his dinner as though we were an ordinary couple, staying in on a Friday night.

I stared at him for a moment in silence while he ate with the grace of royalty. The normalcy of our evening was unsettling, and instead of putting my mind at ease, it only seemed to disturb me further. Did he know what I was thinking and want to throw me off by doing the opposite of what I expected? Was his calm façade all an act? I reached down deep to feel for any undercurrent to his energy, but found none. All I got from him was ease and contentment.

“You're staring,” he muttered before taking the final bite of his food.

“I'm a mannerless heathen,” I said sarcastically, snapping my gaze back to my plate. “You should know that by now.”

“I know a lot about you, Ruby. Almost everything there is to know, but you still surprise me on occasion,” he replied, turning to look at me. I kept my gaze firmly affixed to my plate.

“I thought it was a good thing to keep a man guessing. Is it not?” I asked nervously, pushing my food around with my fork.

“With you, one can't be too certain,” he whispered in my ear. “But I'm more than willing to take my chances.” My breath caught in my throat as I turned to look at him. His bright green eyes were playful as ever. “If you're done with your food, I think it's time to get you off to bed.”

He scooped me up out of my chair and carried me to his bedroom where he laid me down delicately on the bed and started to arrange the covers around me, tucking me in.

“I'm flying solo?” I asked, surprise tainting my voice. “I doubt that was part of your grand scheme for the evening.

His brow furrowed slightly.

“No. It wasn't,” he replied, “but you're exhausted, and I want you well.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, thinking his gesture was surprisingly nurturing.

“Don't thank me yet. I might have to wake you up early to make up for fallen-through plans.”

“Deal,” I agreed, pushing up out of the bed.

“And where do you think you're going?”

“The bathroom, unless you'd prefer I take my chances tonight.”

He laughed.

“Go,” he ordered, pointing to the bathroom door. “I have to make a phone call anyway. I'll be just outside the apartment if you need anything.”

He started to make his way to the living room, and I watched as his casual posture morphed into a more businesslike one with every step. I knew that I didn't want to know what that call was about, and, for once, I didn't bother to ask. For one night, I was happy to pretend that everything was okay.

But it wasn't.

The nightmares I endured that evening about the unknown woman in the picture made sure that I remembered that fact.

20

And the nightmares kept coming. Every night for the next eight days, to be exact. While everything else seemed to be looking up around me, I couldn't get the image of her face scraped off the back of my mind.

I wanted to talk to Cooper about it, but we never seemed to be alone enough for that to happen. He avoided private conversation even when the boys were upstairs; with superhuman hearing, they would be privy to what was said anyway. And if it wasn't the boys getting in the way, it was Sean; I still had no intention of bringing anything up with him until I had some answers from Gavin. I didn't want to play the card that Gavin had so graciously placed in my hand. Something about that seemed too easy―like he was counting on me to do that. I had no intention of being a pawn in his game.

By day nine, I'd stopped fighting it and just went with the flow, though exhausted and mentally fatigued. I hadn't realized just how out of it I really was until I slammed my shoulder into the kitchen doorway late that afternoon while carrying popcorn to the living room for the guys. It flew everywhere, creating a ruckus when the stainless bowl crashed to the hardwood. The four of them snapped their attention to me instantaneously, looking for danger. The only danger to be found was me―a danger to myself.

“What the hell was that, Ruby?” Cooper asked with a look of confusion. “We didn't just throw that wall up today.”

“I'm so tired,” I whined, trying to pick up the mess. Beckett moved to join me until one look from Cooper sat him back down quick. Cooper may have been warming up to the boys enough to not want to kill them on a daily basis, and he even let them come down and join us in the living room from time to time, but they were still on tight leashes, and those leashes had no give wherever I was concerned.

Instead, Cooper came to join me while the others looked on, bewildered expressions on all four faces.

“Rubes, this can't be good. You're walking into walls, for Christ's sake. You're like a zombie most days. Mind telling me what's going on?”

“I've tried to,” I snapped under my breath, “but I can't find an appropriate time.”

He looked over his shoulder at the others then nodded at me in acknowledgment.

“Maybe Sean can send over a couple more boys to babysit one day so you and I can get out of here and talk?” he offered up as a solution.

“We need to do it sooner rather than later, Coop. I feel like I'm falling apart.”

“Telling you that you look like it too isn't likely to help, is it?” he asked with a tiny smirk.

I chucked whatever popcorn I'd picked off the floor at his head.

“No. It's not, thank you very much. Is it weird that I don't love hearing that I look like shit?” I mocked, getting up to leave him with the mess. “I think I need to just rest for a bit. De-stress or something like that.”

“You go do that then. I'm taking these guys out in a bit to follow up on a house for rent out of town. Near the woods. Away from people. I think it's going to work out beautifully.”

“Have fun,” I yelled, giving a wave in the general direction of the living room.

“I will,” he replied playfully. A little
too
playfully. “I'm taking your car. I need to see that these idiots can drive on the right side of the road without killing anyone.”

“Get so much as a scratch on her and you die.”

“Mhmm.”

The door closing behind him signaled just how not frightened he was by my threat. What was I going to do, chastise him to death? I had nothing and he knew it. His lack of response called my bluff. Even though he had the upper hand with the car, he was still getting the short end of the stick. He had to babysit once again, and I was happy to be missing out on that.

But I wasn't happy for long.

Not five minutes after they disappeared down the street, my phone started to ring. When I answered it, I immediately wished I hadn't. It wasn't a conversation I was ready to have just yet.

“Ruby,” Gavin drawled. “I haven't heard from you since our last meeting. I assume that means you have not yet shown the dark-eyed one the photo.”

“Hello, Gavin,” I lamented in return. “You assume correctly, though you probably knew that for a fact given your penchant for following me around and knowing every intimate detail of my life.”

“Fair enough,” he replied, denying nothing. “But I'm not calling about that specifically. I think you and I need to meet.”

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

“Because those tend to go oh-so well...”

“Your sarcasm is both noted and unappreciated, young lady. I was trying to be civil and request a get-together, but I'm sure I could just ambush you instead, if that's more to your liking.”

“It's not. Thanks.”

“Just as I thought.” His condescending tone seeped through the receiver, irritating me to no end. I didn't like that he presumed to know me so well―even if he did. “I'm going to be out of town for about a week or so. We'll have to schedule something for when I return.”

“Taking Ginger on vacation?” I quipped, smiling at myself for my efforts.

“As if one would possibly have time for that while trying to keep you from being a menace to yourself,” he sneered, sounding every bit as put-upon as he believed himself to be. “I have some business to attend to.

Ginger will be in town during my absence. I returned the houseboat to its usual dock a few days ago, in case you might need to find refuge there.”

“And why would I need that?” I asked nervously.

“Because your life is a boiling pot that incessantly threatens to bubble over. Even you can't deny that you need to escape it on occasion.”

He was right. I couldn't.

“So what's this pressing business you have to attend to?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“I need to gather some information...”

“On what? What could possibly pull you away from tormenting me for an entire week?”

He was quiet for a moment, though I could hear him breathing hard on the other end. I was getting under his skin, and I relished the thought of being able to get even the slightest bit even with him on that front.

Then he blindsided me.

“Something wicked this way comes, Ruby. And it comes for you.”

His voice was as dark and foreboding as his message. A chill shot down my spine in response. “I am going to see how this evil can be avoided.”

“What?” I whispered, barely able to force the words out. “What evil? What's coming?”

“All in good time, my dear,” he replied, sounding the teensiest bit pleased with himself. “It is not upon you yet. I will call you when I return and we will pick a time to meet. Until then...” He hung up the phone, leaving me utterly shell-shocked.

Although he had made a point to say that the evil was not yet upon me, I found precious little comfort in that. Gavin was calculating, manipulative, and terribly smart. He would not have left his wife alone in a danger zone, so I knew that I was in less danger than my imagination was leading me to believe. But still, he'd dropped one hell of a bomb on me before buggering off to go play supernatural spy. I didn't appreciate the jolt to my nervous system.

He seemed unimpressed by the text I sent him telling him so.

His response was poetic, yet not especially helpful:
The danger I
speak of will not befall you before my return. Find peace in that for now.

“
More riddles,” I quietly sighed, staring down at the screen.

Without much choice, I tried to do as he ordered and find comfort in the fact that death wouldn't be on my doorstep for at least a week.

So much for my de-stressing plan.

*

“Coming!” I yelled at Cooper, who was banging on the apartment door. “Why you can't just use your friggin' key is beyond me.”

I unlatched the deadbolt and swung the door wide open to see all the boys, sans Cooper.

“Sorry,” Janner said softly, looking a touch sheepish about thumping on the door. “I wasn't sure you heard the knock the first time.

Can we come in?”

“Uh, yeah...sure,” I hesitated. “Where's Coop? I thought he was with you guys.”

“He was,” Beckett said with a shrug. “He isn't now.”

“Maybe you should check your phone,” Ali added helpfully.

“Perhaps he's left you a message?”

I looked at them with trepidation. They felt normal and at ease, but I didn't like that Cooper was missing.
That
didn't sit well at all.

With a smile and my best attempt to appear normal, I swallowed my growing discomfort and excused myself to get my phone out of my room.

No sense in letting on that a full-blown panic was threatening to overtake me. If something had happened to Cooper, it would have been entirely my fault. I brought those three into our lives.

I closed the door lightly behind me and snatched my cell up off the nightstand, my palms sweating making the task harder than it should have been. Sure enough, there was a text from Cooper:
Fucking cops. Fender
bender. Be home in a few. Do NOT let them in until then. I MEAN IT!

I was beyond elated to see his message. It was classic overprotective Cooper. Knowing that he wasn't dead, my first thought was that I'd already fucked up his orders. He wasn't going to be thrilled about that upon his return, but I saw no point in kicking them out. I was going to be in shit anyway.