WILD (Naked, Book 3) (6 page)

“I don’t think so,” Caelyn said, glaring at her. “I think you took it.”

“Now you see why I called her a drama queen,” Deena told Elijah.

He was watching her with a faint expression of amusement. “Can we go now?”

he said, turning to Caelyn.

But Caelyn was watching her sister, not liking the look of victory that was etched on Deena’s face. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m sure it’s something despicable,” Caelyn said. “And you haven’t fooled me.”

“Oh, Caelyn, you really should get Elijah to commit you to a good psychiatric facility like Mom and Dad had planned to do before you ran away.”

Caelyn glanced at Elijah to see if he was believing her, but his expression was totally unreadable.

“I need to get away from her,” Caelyn said. “Let’s go.”

“Bye now, and don’t come back soon!” Deena called out as they left.

Once they were in the car and driving away, Caelyn began to shake uncontrollably. The house receded into the distance as she tried to get control of herself.

“I can’t believe what a terrible person she is.”

Elijah chuckled. “Where I come from, she’s not a terrible person.”

“What is she, then?”

“Spoiled.”

Caelyn laughed. “Yeah, she is spoiled. But you don’t see how nasty and vindictive she is. The things she says when nobody’s around…”

Elijah glanced over. “What kinds of things does she say?”

“Well, she told me I was a slut and that Jayson didn’t rape me.”

Elijah’s hands tightened on the wheel and a steady pulse started in his forehead.

“If she was a guy…”

“Yeah, well she’s not a guy. She’s as big a jerk as any guy, though. And I don’t trust her. Getting that purse back was almost too easy.”

“Look, she had her fun,” Elijah said, “but it’s over now. You’re free and clear.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Caelyn said. “I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of even thinking about what she said to me.”

“Good.” He grinned at her.

Things were a lot better between them for the rest of the ride home. They were talking and joking, and starting to plan dinner. Elijah wanted to order pizza from a nearby place, but the thought of it still made Caelyn sick. She didn’t tell him why she was so opposed to pizza. The less he knew about the details of the night she was raped, the better.

It was bad enough that pizza gave her flashbacks.

They were still discussing whether to get Chinese food or maybe grab a burger as they got out of the car and made their way to the apartment building.

Elijah’s expression grew slightly troubled when they arrived at the front door of the complex and he saw it was slightly ajar. “Huh, this was left open.” He turned the knob and the door just opened right up.

“Maybe someone went out and didn’t feel like bringing their keys,” she said.

“Yeah,” he replied, not totally convinced or happy about it. “But this is a really sketchy neighborhood in some ways. I don’t want all these knuckleheads having access.”

They started up the stairs and as they approached his apartment, something started feeling strange.

“What is it,” she said, knowing already that he was alert to it too.

“Shhh…” he said, putting his finger to his lips again. And then he drew his gun.

Caelyn hadn’t even known he was still carrying it around with him.

Her blood felt like it had turned to ice.

She couldn’t believe she was watching her boyfriend pull an actual gun and walking upstairs to the apartment they shared as if somebody else with a gun might be waiting for them.

He turned to her. “Hang back for a second, just in case.”

She didn’t respond, just hung on the railing, waiting, hoping that she didn’t start to hear the sound of shots ringing out.

Elijah went the rest of the way up. She saw him turn the corner and disappear, and then he let out a string of angry profanities. Terrified, she didn’t say anything for a while, but then there was silence and she was worried something bad had happened.

“Elijah?” she cried out nervously.

“It’s safe,” he called back to her. “You can come up!”

Slowly, she went the rest of the way up the stairs and then came upon the apartment. Elijah had left the door open, and as soon as she saw the kitchen and living room, she knew he’d been robbed.

Drawers were pulled out and stuff was scattered haphazardly across the floor of the apartment. It was clear that somebody had ransacked the place.

Elijah walked out of the bedroom, his face pale.

“What happened?” she said. “What did they take?”

He looked like he was in a state of shock. “Everything. My cash is gone. I had ten thousand dollars and I needed that money to last me a long time—until I could get something new going.” He licked his lips. “I’ve only got the money in my pocket to last me God knows how long.”

She swallowed. “We’ll figure this out, Elijah.”

Suddenly his expression darkened and his eyes got a crazy gleam. “Fucking J.D., that stupid degenerate fuck.”

And then Elijah turned and ran out of the apartment.

Caelyn went after him. “What? Where are you going, Elijah?”

He started down the stairs. “You don’t want to see this!” he yelled. “Stay up here.”

But she couldn’t let him go and do something crazy while he was still so emotional after being robbed. She followed him all the way down to the basement. As she reached the bottom, she saw Elijah kick in the door, splintering it as it flew inward.

J.D. was sitting on the couch in his underwear and sports jersey, with his feet up, drinking a beer. He jumped to his feet and the beer fell to the rug, foam spewing across the carpet. J.D.’s eyes were wide as saucers as Elijah ran towards him, gun still in hand.

He grabbed him by the shirt and shook him. The smaller man squealed and dropped to his knees. “Jesus, Elijah! Don’t fucking kill me!”

“You think you can rob me, you stupid fuck?” Elijah yelled. “Tell me where my money is before I take this gun and use it to knock your teeth out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Rob you? When did I rob you? I told you I’ll get you the three grand as soon as—“

“I’m not talking about the three grand. I’m talking about the ten thousand you stole just now. I’m not an idiot, J.D., you’re the only one who knew I was back and how much money I keep around.”

Caelyn was standing just outside the door, watching the madness. “Elijah, please stop,” she said. “Please. Don’t hurt him.”

J.D.’s terrified eyeballs turned up at Elijah. “Listen to your girl, man. Don’t hurt me over some misunderstanding. I promise I didn’t do anything.”

Elijah hovered over him, suddenly hesitant. And then he let go of the jersey and J.D. slumped to the carpet, panting.

“Please, please—just stop,” she pleaded.

Elijah came to her and wrapped his arms around her. “You shouldn’t have come down here. I told you.”

“It’s not him. Don’t you think it might have been Hayley?” she whispered.

He withdrew, looking at her with confusion. “Hayley? You think she did all of that up there?”

“Hayley thinks you betrayed her. Maybe she wanted revenge or something.”

“You don’t know her,” Elijah said, shaking his head. “She’s crazy, but she wouldn’t do something like that.”

“How do you know?”

“J.D. owes money all over town. He’s got a good reason to let some thugs in to take all my shit so they don’t break his legs.”

“I didn’t let nobody in,” J.D. wailed.

“Fuck it,” Elijah said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” He turned back to J.D.

and looked down at him. “They broke my door to get inside. You better have it fixed by the time I come home tonight.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know, a couple of hours. Just do it.”

“Elijah, come on—“

Elijah gave him a hard glare and J.D. nodded in resignation. “You might as well have them fix your door while they’re at it,” Elijah said, and then he took Caelyn’s arm and they left together.

***

They went out to eat at a Chinese Restaurant, and whatever else had happened, Elijah seemed to have retained his appetite. He was gorging himself on chicken fingers and pork-fried rice at an alarming rate.

Caelyn was eating beef and broccoli and didn’t have much of an appetite. She just picked at her food.

“What’s the problem?” Elijah asked, in between bites. “You don’t like it? I’ll send it back.”

“No, it’s not the food. It’s me.”

He sat back and wiped his mouth. “What’s wrong?”

“Elijah, how can you even ask me that?” she said, laughing a little. “We’ve been robbed, you lost all your money, and neither of us has any prospects.”

He shrugged. “What am I going to do, cry about it?”

“Maybe.”

“And what good would it do? The money’s gone. That’s that.”

Caelyn sighed. She stirred her broccoli around on her plate, staring at the wilted greens in brown sauce. “And I’m also kind of freaked out about the gun.”

“The gun.” His voice had a tinge of impatience now.

“Yeah.” She looked up, and his expression was stony.

“What about it?” he asked, but his tone was challenging, as if she didn’t have a right to comment on it.

“It scares me. I’ve never even seen a gun in real life before. And now I’ve seen you pull it two different times.”

Elijah leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “I warned you when you got in my car and said you wanted to come with me. I warned you that you didn’t know what you were getting into.”

“I know you did. But how could I have imagined all of this?”

“If you don’t like it, Caelyn…” he sat back and looked around, his jaw stiffening and his eyes not on her anymore.

“I’m not saying that, Elijah. I’m just asking if maybe you could maybe not carry that gun. I thought you wanted out of the crazy life you were living.”

“The problem,” Elijah said, turning his attention to her again, “is that my crazy life follows me no matter where I go. Look, did I ask to have my place broken into tonight?”

“Of course not.”

“So what do you want from me? I come from a different world than you. It’s not a nice little quiet suburb. I need to defend myself, and I need to protect you.”

“I get it.”

“No, you don’t, or we wouldn’t be having the conversation right now.” He sighed and pushed his plate away. “Now I’ve lost my appetite too.”

“I’m sorry,” Caelyn whispered.

“Don’t be sorry.” He pulled his billfold out and threw cash on the table. “Ready to get out of here?”

“Let me pay this time. I’ve got my credit card back,” she told him. “Please, that’s the last of your money.”

“I’ll make more money.” He stood up. “You ready?”

Caelyn hesitated, but knew that arguing with him about who should pay the bill wouldn’t do anybody any good. So she nodded and they left together.

As they exited the restaurant, she looked up at him. “I don’t want you to think that I’m complaining. I love being with you, no matter what happens.”

He took her hand in his. “Come on, let’s walk for a bit.”

As they walked together, Caelyn found that she was relaxing a little despite all that had happened. The city didn’t seem quite as dangerous as it should have, and Elijah’s presence was still as comforting as it had ever been. They didn’t really even need to speak, because just being together felt completely right—completely natural.

This is how it’s supposed to be
, she thought.
He makes me happy somehow, even
in the worst of situations.

Caelyn was smiling and Elijah took notice. “What are you so happy about?” he laughed.

“Us,” she replied, and squeezed his hand.

He squeezed her hand back. “Good.”

“I trust you,” she said. “I do, really.”

“Listen, I want to run in here for a second. Wait for me?”

She looked at the sign. They were standing in front of a TGI Fridays. “Okay.

What are you going in here for?”

“I thought you said you trusted me.”

“I do.”

“So just hang out here for a minute. I’ll be right back.” He grinned and then went into the restaurant. As he walked inside, Caelyn had a terrible feeling of dread overwhelm her.

Was he going to rob that restaurant?

Elijah still had the gun and he’d made a comment about getting more money like it wasn’t going to be an issue. Maybe that’s because he’d planned on stealing it.

Suddenly, her heart was pounding as she peered through the windows. She could only see the first section of the restaurant. Elijah walked past her window and then he disappeared out of view.

Maybe he just has to go to the bathroom. Stop being silly.

But why didn’t he just say so? If he was simply going to the bathroom, that would have been easy enough to say.

No, Elijah was up to something. He was doing something bad, and acting like it was no big deal. Meanwhile, he hadn’t wanted her to go inside with him.

Just what was he hiding?

As the minutes ticked past, she imagined him with his gun out, pointing it at the restaurant manager’s head and demanding all the money from the cash register. At this time of night, he might get hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Was that enough reason for him to rob a restaurant in full view of so many people?

Caelyn couldn’t believe she was taking it seriously, but the longer she waited outside, the more convinced she became that he was in fact robbing the TGI Fridays.

You don’t know him, Caelyn. This is what you get for impulsively tying yourself
to a troubled, crazy young guy who you know almost nothing about. And what you do
know about him isn’t exactly comforting.

She took a few deep breaths and tried to steady herself.

Go inside then
, she told herself.
If you’re so concerned, just go in there and see
what he’s doing.

Not after I just told him I trusted him! Then he’ll know for sure I don’t trust him
at all.

She fidgeted, watching the doors.

Finally, after what felt like hours but had probably been no more than five or six minutes, Elijah came outside whistling. He looked at her and stopped whistling. “You look like you just saw a ghost,” he said.