by Lane Hart
I breathe a sigh of relief once I’m back in the front room and I see the woman pulling out of my driveway. I’m not easily intimidated, but that waspy old lady who held the fate of my future with Ruby in her hands put me on edge. I’m still standing there trying to figure out if I should try to eat something when I see Cedric pull up in the club’s van.
“Here’s your mail,” Cedric says, and I hear clearly when he wanders inside a minute later and tosses a stack of letters down beside me on the sofa.
I pick up the pile and start sorting through them, making a junk pile and bill pile. There’s even some junk for Liz, telling me she’s made it official and not only moved all of her things in but also forwarded her mail here too.
My sorting pauses when I get to a handwritten letter to her from someone named Owen Moore, who is apparently an inmate at the US Penitentiary in Kentucky. At least, that’s the information stamped across the front of the envelope in red letters. It even has LEGAL MAIL written in all caps above Elizabeth’s name, so I’m assuming he’s a client.
But why would he be sending her mail to her home address? And how did he get her address here already?
Since these are questions that I want answered but can’t exactly ask Liz, I hand the envelope to Cedric and tell him, “Open this carefully so that it doesn’t look opened after we read the letter.” If he’s the one who does the opening, then it won’t be a lie if Liz gets suspicious and asks if I did and I say no.
“Seriously?” he asks.
“Seriously,” I reply. “Get the letter opener in my office to slide it underneath the lip on the back. We’ll glue it down again after I read it.”
Instead of moving, he continues to stand above me. “Isn’t that like…illegal, to read her mail?”
“Are you the fucking cops now?” I snap at him.
“I mean, won’t Liz be pissed if she finds out you went through her mail?”
Great, now of all times the kid decides to have a backbone. He’ll be ready to patch in soon, but for now, he still has to do what I say. “Open the goddamn envelope.”
“Yes, sir,” he mutters before he takes the envelope down the hall.
I’m up and following him to my office because my body has finally stopped aching every single second. Now I just have some stiffness in my back at night after moving around all day. A decent night’s sleep might even cure that, but even finishing off most of the alcohol in the house couldn’t stop the nightmares. God, I’m exhausted.
Cedric lays the envelope flat on my clean desk and then pulls the opener out of the cupholder. As soon as he slips the tool underneath the paper, it makes a small tear.
“Oops,” he says when he looks up at me with a wince.
“It’s fine, just be careful and go slow. Sort of saw back and forth instead of forcing the opener across in one swipe.”
After about fifteen painstakingly slow minutes, Cedric has the envelope opened and is pulling out a piece of notebook paper.
I grab it from him and start reading.
Hey, babe.
“Hey, babe?” I scoff aloud.
How have you been? Working like a dog as usual I bet, trying to help criminals like me.
When can I see your beautiful face again? I miss you and I know it’s hard for you to take the time off to visit, but it’s been months.
Nothing much is new here. The days drag by and I’ve reread every book in the library. The nights aren’t so bad because I can dream that I’m back on the coast in bed with you, trying every chance I get to put another kid in you because our two other imaginary children are so amazing that we need more.
I wish I could give you everything you want in life. Maybe someday I will. I’m not giving up hope and I know you won’t either, because even after all this time you still haven’t stopped trying to get me out of this place.
I love you more than words can say.
Owen
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter after I reread it twice.
“What?” Cedric asks. “What does it say?”
Since he went to all the trouble to open it, I hand it to him so he can read it himself.
“Holy shit,” he says when he’s finished. “This dude is delusional as fuck. I wonder what he did, what he got locked up for.”
“Me too, and I know just the person to ask,” I say as I pull out my phone and call Reece while my head pounds with each thump of my heart.
“Yeah?” Reece answers on the second ring.
“Any progress on tracking down our bomber?” I ask him first and foremost.
“If I knew anything, I would’ve called and told you,” he says. “I’m looking for a tiny Russian needle in a big ass American haystack. No, make that a goddamn silo full of haystacks.”
“Yeah, I know. Sorry to keep bothering you about it,” I tell him. “Anyway, I’ve got a name I need you to run a criminal record check on when you get a chance,” I tell him.
“Let’s hear it. I’m sitting at the computer now.”
“His name is Owen Moore. A common name, but I do know he’s in the USP Big Sandy in Kentucky and I have his inmate number.”
“That narrows it down. What’s the number?” he asks, and I call the six-digit number out to him. “Give me a second,” Reece replies. It’s not much more than that before he has information. “Looks like he was found guilty of a B and E and felony murder back in 2004 and is serving forty years.”
Jesus Christ! Liz’s inmate stalker is a murderer?
“Where? Where did he commit the B and E and murder?” I ask next.
“Ah, looks like Greenville. He’s a local.”
“Wow. Thanks, man. I owe you one,” I tell him.
“No problem. Glad to help. It sounds like you’re doing better.”
“I am. Cuts and bruises are mostly healed, and my hearing is about seventy-five percent back, which makes everything easier.”
“I bet,” he replies. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do,” I tell him before I end the call.
“So he’s in for murder?” Cedric asks after hearing our conversation.
“Apparently.”
“And he has Liz’s home address. Your address.”
“Yeah, but he also has about twenty-four more years to serve on his sentence.”
“Still, that’s sort of creepy,” he says.
“I think she knows him from before the murder. Guess he’s still holding out hope that they’ll be together some day.”
“Huh, crazy,” Cedric mutters. “There’s no way Liz cares about him though, right?”
“I have no idea. It’s not like my wife ever talks to me for more than five seconds. Guess I’ll just have to make time to get some answers from her.”
Chapter Twelve
Elizabeth
I’ve just walked in the door and am in the process of removing my heels when Cooper suddenly appears, leaning his shoulder against the foyer wall.
“Hey, how was your day?” I ask.
“Fine.”
“Any news from social services?”
“No.”
“Oh, well, hopefully you’ll hear –”
“Liz, what changed?” Cooper interrupts to ask me randomly.
“Ah, what changed?” I repeat with my brow furrowed.
“Yeah, between us. You don’t want me anymore?”
“I…what…of course I want you,” I stammer. I can’t lie to him about this or anything else. “Why would you think I don’t?” I ask him. Doesn’t he remember me going down on him the other night, or was he too drunk? I’ve been avoiding him ever since, so we haven’t had a chance to discuss it.
“Because you said no sex when you agreed to marry me, and because I was a goddamn mess, but I’m all healed up now.”
“That’s not…you were not a mess, okay?”
“Then what is it? How did we go from fucking once a week to you won’t even let me touch you?”
“You asked me to marry you, Cooper.
And I did. But that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the two of us. You were only supposed to be a fun, temporary escape from the daily monotony, not a permanent fixture in my life.”
“What’s the problem with me being a permanent fixture?” he asks with his jaw ticking from how hard he’s clenching. “Is there someone else?”
“What? No, there’s no one else,” I immediately answer. “I just, I can’t fall for you, okay? You can’t be my husband as a favor and my lover, or everything else will get too complicated between us. I need boundaries and for us to stay within those drawn lines.”
“So you never saw the two of us becoming more?” he asks.
“No, I didn’t, Cooper. That’s why I wouldn’t agree to any dates. Guys like you – Jesus, I know how this ends, what life has in store for you. You’re going to either end up dead or in prison before it’s all said and done.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous!” he exclaims.
“You almost died in that explosion, so I wasn’t wrong about you, was I?” I point out.
“Who hurt you in the past?” he asks.
“What?”
“Who hurt you? Someone must have broken your heart, or you wouldn’t have such a cynical view about relationships with men like me. So tell me about him.”
“Believe me, you don’t want to know about him,” I reply with a shake of my head.
“Is it the guy who writes you from prison? Owen?”
My mouth falls open at hearing that accusation. “You went through my mail?” I huff.
“If you didn’t want me to know about him, you shouldn’t have given him my home address for him to send you love letters!”
“Owen’s harmless,” I assure him. “He’s just…an old client.”
“He’s a murderer, Liz!”
“How did you…how did you know about that?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.
“Reece looked up his name and inmate number. He’s doing forty years for murder and a B and E, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but he’s not guilty.”
“Apparently a jury thought he was since he was found guilty,” Cooper retorts.
“And juries sometimes get it wrong.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about him? That you’re pen pals with a convict?”
“It’s not like we ever talked before we got married in a shotgun wedding and you demanded I move in with you.”
“And you know exactly why we had to get married right away and why you had to move in,” he grumbles. “But stop trying to change the subject. Who the hell is Owen to you? I’m guessing he must be important if you let him have your home address and not the office one.”
“Owen really is one of my federal clients,” I only admit the partial truth.
“What did he do?” Cooper asks. “Who did he kill?”
“All he’s guilty of is making the mistake of hanging around with the wrong crowd,” I tell him. “The kind of crowd who threw him under the bus in trial without a second thought, just to save their own asses after they got caught. Which was fucked up because Owen was the least culpable in their crimes.”
“And he’s been incarcerated since you’ve known him?”
“Yes, for over sixteen years,” I answer.
“Wow. Sixteen years. That’s a long damn time to serve and to know someone.”
“Yeah, it is. And his buddies got out years ago for turning him in,” I remark.
“That’s fucked up,” Cooper says.
“It is.”
“Did you know him before he was arrested?”
“Yes.”
“Wait. Is he…is he the reason that you became a criminal defense attorney?” he asks.
“Yes, actually. We were…close.”
“Close as in romantically involved?”
“We dated, if that’s what you mean,” I reply.
“You slept with him?”
“I…that’s none of your business, but yes, he was my first.”
“And ever since you got your law degree, you’ve been trying to help him get out?” Cooper asks, making me feel like I’m on trial.
“That’s right, and I won’t ever give up.”
“But after sixteen years, you still haven’t managed to get him out,” he mutters. “So that must mean all of his appeals have failed.”
“He didn’t do it! He didn’t kill that man,” I grit out.
“That’s exactly what all criminals say.”
“He didn’t. I know Owen. He wouldn’t have been a part of something so awful. Besides, it’s none of your business. I’m rearranging my life, busting my ass to help you with this adoption and still I don’t ask you details about how you slept with your slutty dancer!”
When all the pale blue fades from Cooper’s eyes, leaving them blazing silver, I know I went too far, and he’s pissed. In fact, I think I better find cover because he’s about to explode.
Cooper
“Don’t you dare say a single shitty word about Jenna!” I shout at Liz. “She’s dead because she was trying to do the best she could for her kid.”
“Yeah, I get that. And apparently, the two of you were also ‘romantically involved.’”
“You know what? Maybe I should have taken Jenna up on her offer, then she would’ve been underneath me when the ceiling fell on us instead of standing a few feet away! Maybe…maybe she would still be alive, and I would’ve died then and there instead of being alive and having to remember how perfect it felt to be inside of you for a few minutes now that you won’t let me touch you!”
“What…what are you saying? Are you honestly going to try and act like you two weren’t sleeping together?”
“We weren’t!”
“So-so you didn’t sleep with her that day, the day of the bomb?” Liz asks.
“What? No! Why would you think that?” I snap at her.
“Because she was naked!” she exclaims. My eyes widen in surprise wondering how the hell she knew that. “That’s right, Jade told me that they found her without any clothes on except for her shoes. So why else would she be naked, Cooper? And don’t tell me that the bomb blew her panties off!”
Scrubbing my palm down my face, I tell her the truth. “Jenna came to me the night before, the night after you and I ended things wanting to talk to me, and I blew her off because I was still angry at you. The next morning, she came in to talk, telling me she needed an advance for daycare, and I gave it to her. Then, she took her clothes off and offered to pay me back and help me forget you ending things between us the day before.”
“Oh.”
“I told her no,” I say as I look her right in the eye so that she can see the truth for herself. “I didn’t sleep with her. Ever. Or anyone else, not since the day you and I met,” I admit.
“Oh,” she remarks again, which is really fucking annoying because I have no idea if she believes me or not.
“But in case you forgot,” I begin. “You ended things between us the day before all that shit went down, remember? So I can fuck whoever I want!”
“Could’ve,” it sounds like Liz whispers, but I don’t catch it.
“What?” I ask. “You know I still can’t hear shit when you don’t speak up.”
“I said could’ve, as in you could have fucked whomever you wanted, before you married me.”
A bark of laughter escapes me at that statement. “This isn’t a real marriage. It’s nothing but a loophole to try and right a wrong, to save Jenna’s kid because I couldn’t save her.”
“Fake marriage or not, if you cheat on me, it’s over. I mean it, Cooper,” Liz tells me, louder than her previous words.
“I know that,” I reply. “I couldn’t cheat on you if my fucking life depended on it. Or anyone else’s apparently.”
“Oh my god, Cooper. It wasn’t your fault that Jenna was there at Avalon that morning, or that she died because you didn’t have sex with her!”
“Yes, it was!” I argue. “It was our fault, the Savage
Kings’ fault! We created an enemy, and she ended up paying the price for it. Jenna should’ve lived for her kid, and I should’ve been the one who died! There’s no one in this world depending on me.”
“Not yet,” Liz says softly. “But soon her daughter will be depending on you. What you’re doing, all the hoops you’re jumping through to adopt that little girl is pretty damn amazing, Cooper. It makes me see just how stupid I was to refuse to go to dinner with you and to refuse to sleep with you after we got married.”
“What was that?” I ask, turning my ear toward her. I heard her. I just want to hear it again.
And thankfully Liz is willing to repeat it. She throws her arms over my shoulders, grabs the back of my hair and then brings my ear down to her lips. “I said, I was stupid to refuse to go to dinner with you or say I wouldn’t sleep with you now that we’re married.”
“Yeah, you were,” I agree before I slant my lips over hers.
What starts out as a slow and easy kiss quickly turns hot as hell. Our tongues begin to stroke each other as my palms roam up and down her sides. Wanting to get my hands directly on her skin, my fingers get to work unbuttoning her shirt. Unfortunately, I have to pull my lips away to look down and focus on the task because the buttons are so damn tiny.
“I gave you a blowjob,” Liz says while I work.
“Uh-huh. You’ve given me a lot of great blowjobs in your office. I miss them.”
“No, Cooper. I meant, I got on my knees and took you in my mouth the other night.”
“Wait. What?” I ask, my fingers pausing on the next to last button.
“You were drunk after guzzling the remnants of the liquor cabinet before the home inspection.”
“That really happened?” I ask in disbelief. “Huh. I thought I was dreaming.”
“It really happened.”
“Well damn! I wondered why it was the only decent dream I’ve had since Avalon. Everything else has just been nightmares. I even had a horrible nightmare about you last night, one that damned near woke me up screaming for you…”
Elizabeth
“Hey, none of that right now,” I tell Cooper as I interrupt him with a bruising kiss because his words are too heartbreaking to hear. “Try to focus on the task at hand,” I add as I grab his wrist and place his warm palm over my breast.