INK: Vanishing Point (Book 2) (6 page)

Glass breaches the doorway as we’re
walking down the hallway and yells, “What did you do with
Aiden’s body?”

Glass’ words freeze my feet to the
floor. I could not possibly have heard him right. Aiden’s body?
I turn slowly to look at Glass. He stares back at me with an intense
hatred so palpable it rolls down the hallway for me like a desert
sandstorm. Bob gives my back a gentle push. “Come on.”

“No!” I stop and put my back
against the wall, “What is he talking about?”

Glass’ expression hardens with
delight at my outburst. “She doesn’t know?”

Carl rounds the corner and stands
sentinel by my side. He doesn’t say anything he just stands
there glowering at Glass.

“Shay, in my office now.”
Jason gives me a stern look of warning that I dare not disobey, “D.A.
Preston, I strongly suggest you curb the detective. The terms of this
meeting were very clear.”

Carl nods and walks with me to Jason’s
office. Before I’m through the door I hear Preston address
Jason. “My apologies, this will not happen again.”
Preston is loath to make an apology and is more than willing to focus
his anger on Glass, “Let’s go.”

With my arms folded across my chest I
stand in front of Jason’s desk, waiting for him and Bob to come
in. Carl places himself just inside the door. As soon as they see me,
regret and apprehension fill their expressions. “Bob, please
get Eli when they are gone. He’s in Oliver’s office.”

Bob leaves the room and Jason motions
for me to take a seat on the couch, “Shay, you should sit
down.”

“I don’t want to sit down, I
want answers. What did he mean by ‘Aiden’s body’?”
I am absolutely terrified that something has happened to Aiden. I
wish I could remember.

Carl’s attention snaps to me,
riddled with alarm. A sharp pain ricochets in my head. I have no
choice but to sit down, right where I was standing. Eli rushes from
the doorway and helps me to the couch. “What happened?”

My vision is starting to feel fuzzy and
the pain in my temples is unbearable, “I need some water.”

Eli refusing to leave my side orders
Jason to get me some water. He pulls me tighter against him holding
my head. “It’s going to be okay.” He whispers in my
ear over and over.

“I just want to sleep.” My
eyes feel so heavy, I feel myself wanting to succumb to the wave of
exhaustion.

Jason brings the water handing it to
Eli. “Is she okay?”

Eli doesn’t answer; all of his
focus is on me. “Here, drink this.”

I sit up on the couch and take a long
draw from the bottle. Much better. “I didn’t realize how
thirsty I was.”

Carl is staring at me with concern. I
need to get to the bottom of this. “Where is Aiden?”

Eli exhales a long breath exchanging a
glance with Jason. Neither of them speaks. Jesus Christ, what the
hell is wrong with them? Why are they keeping me in the dark? It’s
just making things worse. My head is still pounding like someone’s
put a pick axe in my temple.

I repeat myself with an even and serious
tone, each word its own sentence, “Where. Is. Aiden?”

Still silence. Carl shakes his head,
blowing out a frustrated breath, “They don’t know where
he is.” He looks at them both like they are idiots.

“Is that true?” I look at
both of them, “Why wouldn’t you just tell me he’s
AWOL? It certainly isn’t the first time Aiden’s
whereabouts were unknown.”

Jason and Eli continue exchanging an
apprehensive glance. Eli finally speaks, “We really don’t
know where he is.”

“That was easy. Simple. Aiden took
off again.” Of course he did; he’s gone. My insides cinch
at the confirmation of his departure. It's not like I didn’t
suspect it when he didn’t come to the hospital. I’m
probably forgetting another marriage proposal. I stop pondering long
enough to answer Eli and Jason, who are gawking at me nervously. “I’m
not a little girl, and this isn’t my first time having Aiden
bail on me. It's not a big deal.” Okay so I lie a little. I
catch sight of Carl’s sympathetic eyes. Great, now even he
feels sorry for me.

“We’ll talk.” Carl
says simply. “Are you ready to go home?"

Eli looks at Carl as though he just
slapped him, “She can’t go home. It hasn’t
been…cleaned yet.”

“Cleaned?” My house is
usually clean unless the cops have been there. Oh yeah, the cops were
there. “I may as well get started on cleaning up after the
wrecking crew."

“There’s more to it than
that. I know you don’t want to go to Harry’s, but
consider coming to my house.” Eli at least had the decency ask.

“I could call Trish, maybe stay
over there.” Trish never lets me stay at her house. She always
comes up with some excuse or another. I know it’s really a
no-go but honestly I'm feeling so tired from all that’s
happened that I could lay down here and sleep on the leather couch. I
weigh the options and lay back on the couch, “Or I could just
stay here."

“Shay, just come back to my house.
Jerry isn’t there.” He pleads with those sky blue eyes
that melt me to nothing. The problem is, I’m afraid if I go
back to Eli’s I’m not going to be able to help myself
from asking him a million questions about Taffy and why she was
driving his car drunk. I’ve been obsessing over any possible
explanation of why they would be out drinking together and why he
would let her drive his car.

But it does seem my options are limited.

The debate continues about all the
reasons I needed to go to Eli’s house until I give in. I guess
he’s learned a thing or two from Aiden, the master of wearing
me down.

***

Eli behaves like the perfect gentleman
when we arrive, “Did you want to lie down for a while or are
you ready for dinner?”

“I could stand to lay down for a
bit and hopefully shake this headache.” Along with the
incessant need to understand what you’re hiding from me. I
start to plot how I'm going to get him to start spilling all the
beans. I want to know what’s happening.

Eli brushes past me with my things from
the hospital, “I’ll get you settled in the guest room.”

The guest room? I should appreciate that
he’s not making any wild assumptions about his potential for
getting lucky. That surprises me, considering the fact that he hasn’t
left my side for weeks except for at the law office. “That
would be nice, thanks.”

“I had the mirror in the bathroom
fixed so you should be set.” He puts everything in the corner,
“Do you need anything right now? Something to drink maybe?"

“No, I’m good.” I have
to go in for the kill now and get some answers about what happened. I
don’t understand why there is still a cop that’s
following me and standing outside of Eli’s door. I’d give
my left arm for five minutes alone with Carl because he seems to know
something. But he’s not going to give up any info with Eli
around.

Laying back against the headboard, I
motion for Eli to sit down. “Talk to me.” Maybe if I put
it as simply as possible and don’t ask specific questions I'll
get a more complete answer.

“What do you want to talk about?”
He sits on the edge of the bed and rests his hand on my thigh. Very
bold for Eli. I think I like it and it sort of takes the sting out of
Aiden’s absence.

It would be so much better if I could
just get him to volunteer some information, but since the great Aiden
mystery is solved I can move on to the next big secret nobody wants
to talk about. Not sure if I’m ready for the answer, I tilt my
chin down and look at Eli through my lashes, “What happened to
me?”

Sadness and remorse cloud his sapphire
lenses; he hasn’t been looking forward to this conversation.
“To be honest, no one knows what happened.”

“Nobody knows what happened to me
or who shot me?” This is all very hard to swallow even with the
sincerity swimming in Eli’s expression.

He takes in a breath that goes on for
miles, looking around the room as if hoping the words will
materialize from thin air. “The best we can surmise is that
Aiden shot you. The bullets that were recovered belonged to a gun
registered to the Roth family.”

Eli’s words send a shockwave of
pain through my entire being, punctuating Aiden’s absence. I’m
used to the hollow feeling I get when he’s gone, but this time
he used hollow points to make a break for it. Did he just not want to
worry about coming back this time? Or maybe he didn’t want to
leave the comfort of his home town so he thought he’d rid
himself of the problem and kill me. He blew a hole through more than
just my neck. He’s blown a hole through my soul that stitches
can’t heal.

The promise I made to myself about not
crying the next time Aiden left has been shattered by the bullets he
aimed at my head. My head, he was aiming for my head. The realization
runs me down like a dump truck full of gravel; he really was trying
to kill me. The tears stinging at the corner of my eyes spill over in
a deluge to accompany my uncontrollable sobbing.

Eli wraps his arms around me encircling
me with his comfort, “Shay, we really don’t know what
happened and until you can remember everything, we really shouldn’t
jump to conclusions.”

My sadness transitions to anger so fast
the tears don’t have time to stop streaming down my cheeks,
“Fuck that, Eli; why do you do this every single time? Whenever
Aiden leaves all you do is defend him. You say I should be easier on
him that he probably has a good reason.” I push Eli away,
forcing him onto his feet. His eyes are wide with shock; he doesn’t
know what to make of my outburst. I stand trying to meet his eyes to
convey my anger directly into him. I want him to feel the pain of
this too, the pain of all of his excuses for Aiden. With two hands on
his chest I push hard against him, and he staggers back a step,
astounded.

“He-fucking-shot-me and you are
making excuses for him.” A sensation of power is brewing inside
me, but I don’t feel any control over my words, “Every
time, Eli, you hold me, you console me like a whipping boy that can
fill the gaps between Aiden’s residency in my life. You’re
a fucking pussy. You never fight for me; it's like you’re
perfectly happy being a pinch hitter for Aiden. Is that all you are
ever going to be, Eli? A pinch hitter for Aiden?”

I push him hard in the chest again, and
his mouth hangs open with disbelief; his watery eyes plead with me to
calm down but he doesn’t dare say a word. “You think I
don’t feel that hard-on in your pants for me every time you hug
me or stand close enough to rub against me? What the fuck is that all
about? Your dick waiting for Aiden’s passport to be stamped so
you can step in?” I fold my arms across my chest to keep from
pushing him again.

Eli offers me an astonished expression,
I’m waiting for the hurt to come but it doesn’t. He
stands silent with his only movement being to tilt chin higher with
pride.

So hopped up on anger and adrenaline for
my painfully honest verbal regurgitation, my body jolts as I scream,
“Answer me.”

Eli stands a moment longer staring at
me. We both hear the front door shut. Eli goes to the bedroom door,
closes and locks it his back is to me with his hand still on the
knob.

Secretly I’m hoping it’s
Aiden, but I’m sure it’s not, and why did Eli just lock
the door? Why isn’t he saying anything? I stiffen my stance,
puffing myself out like a scared animal. Eli remains silent.

After turning and staring at me for what
seems an eternity he moves swiftly to me, crashing his lips over my
mouth with an intense passion. His tongue rakes across mine, then my
cheek and down my neck. Inhaling his scent fills me with passion. The
sound and feeling of labored breath sweeping across my skin sends a
heat through me that turns my anger into wanting.

I hear banging on the bedroom door. We
disregard it. Eli is taking what he wants and it’s what I want.
It’s what I’ve wanted all along. I want him to claim me
for his own, not to wait until I’m done pining for Aiden. I
want him to fill this void with his methadone and quell the permanent
pain that I’ve never known a day without, until tomorrow.
Tomorrow I move past the pain.

The banging on the door persists. Eli
takes my face into his warm hands and presses his lips against mine
hard and looks into my eyes with an almost threatening intensity,
“Don’t move from this spot; don’t fucking move.”

He turns and swings the door open
closing it behind him leaving me in the room. I hear his strong deep
voice. “Carl, get the fuck out of my house.” There’s
a scuffle and some banging then the sound of a door slamming.

Eli returns swiftly, brushing his lips
sweetly against my cheek. His fingers tangle in my hair and he
presses our mouths together in a long lingering kiss. It’s
forceful and sweet at the same time. This is what I’ve always
wanted from Eli. To be loved without caution, with none of his kisses
careful, only hungry. I need to know that I drive him as crazy with
wanting as he does me. This can’t be one-way, like it is with
Aiden. I need Eli to desire me more than I want him.

Eli pulls back from me and I ache from
his absence before the air can cool his moisture on my lips. He
captures my gaze with his piercing blue eyes and turns his head
coyly. His hair brushes over his lids haphazardly. A wicked grin
tells me exactly what he’s thinking, and I like it. “Shay,
you are mine. I’m not waiting for anyone or making any excuses.
I want you and I’m going to take you.”

He pauses for a moment, his features
darken as he gently cups my neck his hands, “Don’t ever
call me a pussy again; don’t ever talk to me like that. Do you
understand?"

Heat surges through me like I’ve
been set on fire. Eli is drop-dead sexy like this and he makes my
insides throb. I’m compelled to say ‘yes sir,’ but
the words don’t come. I can only nod as my gaze rounds out in
awe at this change in Eli.