Nevermore

by Wrenn Montgomery

  “Whatever do you mean, dear?” The ‘dear’ sounds a lot like a sob, but her face remains impassive.

  “I’m sorry, forgive me. I know this is hard. Would you like to talk about him? Would that help?”

  She cocks her head to the side, considering it. She’s a strong woman, and snapping in public wouldn’t be fitting to her high-class standards, but I’m praying she lets me in. We’re in a room back here by ourselves. No one can see her if she does break down.

  I slip into counselor mode.

  “I think I would like that,” she says, looking down at her lap, her voice unsteady and quiet.

  “When was the last time you’d heard from him?” I go right for it but keep my tone gentle.

  Maybe I can help her process some of these emotions, though I can’t imagine she doesn’t have a shrink in the city. With all the money they have, she probably has a team of them that come to her home.

  “I visited him every weekend. Every Sunday. I had just seen him a few days before…you know.” She coughs at the end to clear her throat, looking past me into nothing.

  I look around for a tissue but don’t see any. She pulls one out of her sleeve and dabs her eyes.

  Now’s my chance.

  Just say it and get it out, Raven, so you won’t have any regrets later.

  I take a deep breath and say, “I just want you to know how sorry I am, really. I know that Landry and I ended on less than ideal terms, but I never intended for—”

  We’re interrupted by the shrill ringing of my cell phone in my purse, hanging from the coat rack. She looks startled, but nods at me to get it.

  “I’m sorry, excuse me.” I stand and walk over to it, giving her my back as I fumble through my purse to find my phone. It’s Reggie. “Hello?”

  “Raven!” I can hear sirens in the background, and he coughs before continuing. “I’m so sorry! The store is on fire, it’s on fire! I’m out—” More coughing, and then, “I’m out. The fire department just got here. Mark and I are out front. You need to come back now!”

  “Okay, okay, you’re safe,” I say, more for my own benefit than his. “Okay, it’s all right. You’re safe. The store…holy shit...I’m coming!” I hang up and spin around. “We have to go. My store is on fire, I have to go.” I hear the panic in my own voice, but I’m calm. In shock maybe, but calm.

  I grab my coat and my purse, turning to hand Elizabeth hers, but she’s still sitting at the table, unmoving.

  “Come on!” I’m frantic, trying to hand over her bag.

  It takes me a moment to realize she’s still not standing up.

  She’s not hurrying. She’s not frantic.

  She’s…smiling.

  “It’s a woman.” It’s a statement, not a question. My voice falls flat.

  We never considered a woman was behind the entire scheme, mostly because of the rape. It’s extremely uncommon for a woman to order a rape on another woman. Unless that wasn’t her intention and the dirt-bag she hired to kidnap or harm Raven/Elli took that into his own hands.

  Or maybe she’s just that fucking evil.

  The smile is back on Lacey’s face. “Yes, it’s a woman.”

  “Who, Lacey?” I ask, and I know the desperation in my voice is apparent.

  She just smirks, folding her hands in front of her and looking at her lawyer. “I think I’m done here.”

  The door bursts open, Monica standing in the doorway. “We’ve got to roll. Poe’s is on fire.”

  I’m running through the hallway, dodging officers and fumbling to dial Raven’s number as I hear Lacey’s cackling floating down the hallway.

  Fuck.

  “What the fuck are you doing? Let’s go!” I nearly yell.

  Still that creepy smile, spread across her face. A shit eating grin if I’ve ever seen one.

  I quickly realize I’m not leaving this room until this is handled, and I push the bookstore from my mind. I sit back down across from her, the panic button laying in the seat from when I had jumped up and abandoned it for my phone. I squeeze it in my hand, but I don’t push the button yet. Any minute, Phil is going to burst in here after getting a call about the store.

  “You took something from me. The only thing I ever wanted. The only person I ever loved,” she says.

  I start shaking my head. “I didn’t take him from you, Elizabeth, he made that decision himself.”

  “No!” Her shriek makes my ears ring. “You, you little whore, you came from nothing. You are nothing. Your own father didn’t want you. Your mother turned to drugs to escape you. You are nothing! And you took him from me!”

  I stand, backing away from the table. “Elizabeth,” I try to console her. I know the shock is all over my face. I’ve never heard her use this tone before.

  I see the glint of silver and before I can think, I slam my thumb down on the panic button, just as she lifts the gun.

  “You’re going to pay for it. I took your store. There’s nothing left now for anyone to remember you by. Your pride and joy, gone. Just like mine.”

  “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Mrs. Davis. I really am.” Deep breath, Raven. Calm, be calm. “But I didn’t do this.” Where the fuck is Phil? I reach into my bag as slowly as I can, trying not to draw attention to myself as I grab my pistol.

  The dead look in her eyes is gone, replaced by pure joy.

  She’s going to shoot me.

  My hand closes on the handle of my gun just as the door bursts open. I hear shots ring out and I fall to the ground, aiming and shooting as I fall.

  Three shots ring out.

  Two hit.

  Phil rushes over to me. “Raven!” His hands are all over my body, looking for a wound.

  “I think it’s my shoulder, but I’m all right.” I try to sit up and he helps me, grabbing my other arm. I don’t feel anything, the adrenaline pumping too strongly through my body to register the pain.

  I haven’t let go of my gun, and it’s still pointed toward her.

  I make myself look, and there she is.

  Slumped against the table, a puddle of red now staining the pristine white tablecloth. Her eyes open, now truly dead.

  People are shouting. My ears are ringing.

  I drop the gun.

  The staff are rushing into the room. I can hear Phil telling them the area is secured. I hear sirens.

  “Phil.”

  He bends down beside me, removing my jacket from my shoulder and trying to assess the wound but I shrug him off.

  “My store.”

  “Somebody better update me right fucking now!”

  “First, you need to calm down or you won’t be any fucking help,” Monica says, sneering at me, taking a curve in the road at ninety MPH as we rush to Raven’s bookstore.

  “She’s not answering her phone. I don’t think she’s at the store. She should still be at dinner with…oh my fucking God.”

  We turn to each other at the same time and say, “Elizabeth.”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I slam my fist into the dashboard, dialing Phil for the tenth time. “Jesus Christ, answer the fucking phone!”

  “Okay, calm down. She’s probably fine. It may not be Elizabeth. For all we know she’s enjoying a nice dinner and doesn’t have her phone on her.”

  “Even so, the fucking bodyguard would have his!” I snap.

  “That’s true, but you need to go into this as the detective you are and get your head straight. We’re going to find her. Someone is going to call. Let’s just get to the shop and go from there.”

  I nod at her, bending over in my seat and putting my head between my hands, dialing Raven again. I thought when she was kidnapped I’d never have to experience that sort of panic again, but this is a hundred times worse. It goes to voicemail. Again.

  Two minutes later we’re pulling onto the block that Poe’s is on, but we can’t go any farther. Three firetrucks block the road, along with scattered police cars. The blue and red lights dance around the buildings, creating a light
show.

  I’m out of the car before Monica puts it in park, sprinting down the street with my badge out. No one stops me and asks; they all know.

  I spot Reggie sitting on the curb across from the shop, wrapped in a blanket, soot on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks.

  “Reggie.”

  He looks up as I reach him, and the tears start coming harder. “I’m so sorry. I tried to save it. I tried to grab it all, I just—”

  “Where is Raven?”

  He blinks up at me, confused. “She was at dinner with Elizabeth. She should be on her way. I called her and told her—”

  “Have you heard from Phil?” I ask him.

  “No, but Mark might have. He’s giving his statement.” He gestures to an ambulance sitting a little farther down the street.

  I can’t see him from here, there are not enough street lights and too many firefighters between us. “What happened?”

  He takes a deep shaky breath, and coughs on the exhale. “I was up front, getting ready to close up. The last customer had just left. Mark was sitting by the front door, next to the windows. I was turning the computer system off when I heard the glass break. I thought someone had thrown a brick through the window and driven off, but it was something else. It was burning. And there were four of them, through two windows. Mark was cut up from the glass, but he was yelling for me to run to the back and get out. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have time to think about how to react. I grabbed the fire extinguisher but it wasn’t enough. The sprinklers didn’t come on. Everything was catching so quickly. I grabbed what I could and ran to the back, Mark following behind. We both needed oxygen but we’re fine. He’s being treated for the cuts from the glass. I think it’s almost out now, but it’s been burning for at least twenty minutes. You haven’t heard from Raven?”

  I shake my head.

  My first concern is finding her and making sure she’s safe, but I know seeing this store is going to devastate her.

  “I think I left my phone…in there.”

  Phil doesn’t hesitate to say, “We’ll get you a new one.”

  “Have you called him?”

  “No, I’m going to now. I called Mark. He and Reggie made it out, and the fire department is there. I wanted to know the status of what was going on with your shoulder before I called Emmett.” He looks sheepish, but I understand.

  He doesn’t want to scare Emmett without knowing the full extent.

  Luckily, the bullet just grazed me, and they’re bandaging me up now before we can leave and head to the shop. I’ve given my statement three times.

  By some miracle, the restaurant had cameras in the dining areas, so they were able to pull the footage and review it along with mine and Phil’s statements.

  My head is spinning, but I can’t even begin to process what’s going on. “Someone also needs to call Elli. I’m sure this is on the news and she’s going to be freaking the hell out.”

  He nods. “On it.”

  I watch as he calls Emmett, his relaxed stance going from timid to rigid in two seconds flat. I can hear Emmett yelling.

  “Give me the phone,” I instruct him.

  “She wants to speak with y—” He shoves the phone in my hand and winces, mouthing ‘sorry’ as I bring it to my ear.

  “Emmett,” I start.

  “Raven, holy shit. You’re okay?”

  “I’m all right, just shaken up. It’s only a graze.”

  “What’s just a graze?” The deadly calm in his voice even scares me a little, but I square my shoulders.

  “Elizabeth shot me—”

  “What?!”

  “Let me tell you what happened before you start panicking.”

  “I’m sorry,” he says, and I can tell he’s trying to calm himself down. I imagine him pacing back and forth. “Please tell me.”

  “We were at dinner. I got the call from Reggie that the bookstore was on fire. When I tried to get her to come with me, she went into this whole spill about how I took her son away, blah blah, and then she pulled a gun out. I had already hit the panic button, and I had my gun. She shot at me and I shot as I was going down. Phil also shot as he was entering the room. I’m not sure who killed her, but she’s dead. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to get out of here and get to my shop. Are you there?”

  There’s a pause on the other end of the line, like he’s speechless. “Yes, I’m here now.”

  “And?” I ask.

  “And it’s pretty bad. But it’s nothing you can’t rebuild. Nothing we can’t rebuild.”

  “I want you to go home,” I tell him.

  “What?”

  “Go home. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Raven, I—”

  “Go home, Emmett.”

  All the sounds of the firefighters, the chaos of everyone running around, and Reggie asking me what’s wrong fades away as I realize Raven ended the call.

  Go home? To my home? My apartment?

  Not hers. Not the home she was referring to just the other night.

  I take a look around, shrugging when my eyes land on Reggie. “I’m going to go,” I tell him, knowing I sound as lost as I feel.

  “Go where? What the fuck?” Reggie looks shocked.

  “She asked me to go,” I say under my breath, more to myself than to Reggie, my head spinning.

  “Of fucking course she did. And you’re going to listen to her?”

  I look up, with what I’m sure is confusion showing on my face. “That’s what she wants, that’s what I’ll give her.”

  “No. Absolutely not.” He stands up from the curb, facing me. “This is what she does. Something is happening that is going to be emotionally hard for to do deal with, and she doesn’t want any witnesses around. That’s how she functions. She doesn’t trust anyone enough to see the ugly parts of her. If you leave now, you’ll show her she’s right not to trust you with her whole self.”

  I consider his words. “If I’m around when she gets here, she’s going to kick my ass.”

  “Let her try,” he tells me, with a smirk. “Fight back. That’s her love language.” He pats me on the shoulder and starts to walk back toward the store. “But if this is what you really want, if she is what you really want, you’ve got to break down those walls. Don’t you dare leave.”

  A half hour later, Phil pulls up with Raven.

  I’m talking to the fire chief, trying to get information on what or who caused the fire. We now know Elizabeth was behind it all, so we’re assuming Brent Smallwood has made another appearance.

  The cameras we had swiftly installed on the bookstore after the near kidnapping will hopefully give us a good look at the driver and make of the car, but we have to wait for the cloud footage to be pulled since the cameras were destroyed in the fire. Almost everything was.

  Raven can’t see me from where I’m standing, so I get an unfiltered view of her as she takes in the wreckage. Because the fire started in the front of the store, the entire front half is gone. Bricks are strewn around where the main structure was, and there’s so much soot. Books that never got to tell their stories. Everything is still smoldering, so we’re not allowed to sift through anything yet and probably won’t be able to until tomorrow.

  Phil pats her on her shoulder and goes over to speak with Mark, leaving her to assess it alone.

  When she had first stepped out of the car, her shoulders were squared, back stiff and head high. Now that she thinks no one is watching, I see those shoulders sag a millimeter, not enough that anyone else would notice.

  But I do.

  I walk over, approaching her from behind.

  “You didn’t leave.” She doesn’t turn to face me, and I wonder how she knew it was me.

  “No.”

  “I asked you to,” she says.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” she asks flatly.

  “Why did you ask, or why didn’t I listen?”

  She shrugs.

  “You a
sked because you didn’t think you could handle having me around for this. You didn’t want me to see you break.”

  “And why didn’t you listen?”

  “Because not only do I want to be here when you break, I want to help you put yourself back together again.”

  I turn to him then.

  And it’s not the strength in his voice. It’s not so he can wipe the tears that are now streaming down my face. It’s what he just said.

  He wants to help me put myself back together, my bookstore back together.

  He doesn’t want to pick up the pieces himself. He wants to help me do it on my own. I could kiss him.

  And I do.

  I feel his arms circle my waist, and I don’t care that there are still twenty firefighters on the street with us and my nostrils are filled with the smell of burnt paper. All that matters to me is this man in front of me. This man who sees me for who I am and what I need. This man who doesn’t want to be my knight in shining armor, but my partner who wants to be here for support while I save myself.

  He breaks the kiss and leans his forehead against mine. “Are you okay?”

  I know what he’s asking. I potentially killed someone today. My bookstore and my home are a pile of rubble behind us. “No, but I will be.”

  “Do you want to come back to my apartment? You can stay with me until it’s all sorted out.”

  “Yeah, I’d like that. I need to call Elli and tell her what’s going on.”

  “I already did. She should be here any second. I learned my lesson on keeping her in the dark.”

  I chuckle, burying my head in his chest and breathing in his clean scent. The only thread of sanity I have in this chaos.

  “I know your walls have been up for a long, long time,” he says, his voice deep and rough, with emotion.

  I want to run on instinct, but I don’t.

  “I want to see all of the ugly parts of you. I want all of you, Raven Jackson. Forever. I know you don’t need me, and I wouldn’t change that. But I want inside those walls. You don’t have to take them down, and I won’t try to break them down. When you let me inside, I want it to be your choice, not because I forced my way in. But I’m here, I’m all in, ready when you are.”