Fallen Melody: Fallen: Book 1

by Layna Snow

  “Why attack? Why not get her away?” The woman asked.

  Cay shrugged his left shoulder, careful to keep his right ribs from moving. “Someone already broke into our home. Now this person attacked my… best friend’s girl? That was not going to fly. Besides, I didn’t want the fucker to get away.”

  When the man nodded in understanding, the woman glared again. “So you think these two were connected?” She asked.

  Cay nodded. “Oh, hell yeah. The town is a small sleepy town, as you know. We don’t have crime. Most don’t even lock their fucking doors. There’s no way these aren’t connected.”

  The girl sighed and wrote something down. “What about the girl, Melody? I’ve been hearing a lot of gossip about her. Could it be connected to her past?”

  Shit, the last thing they needed was to look into Mel’s past. They wouldn’t find a damn thing to prove she existed. “Nah. You know how it is. New person in town and everyone has to know their business. I’m sure most of what they are saying are lies anyways. How can you believe what strangers tell you?”

  The guy chuckled, but the woman sighed. “It wasn’t a stranger, Mr. Price. It was your new technician. We asked him some questions and even though he said he only met her a few times, he had a lot to say. He seems curious. Why would someone who works for you be curious?”

  That was a damn good question. They’d have to have a talk with Ian. “What happens in our personal life isn’t told to all our employees.” He hoped that Brooklyn didn’t gossip, she probably knew more than Ian.

  The cop nodded and wrote something down. “Fair enough. So you attacked the perp back. What happened next?”

  Cay explained about the struggle, and how he had asked Mel to get help. He said how he grappled the guy and intended to hold him until Seth got there to help.

  “What would you have done next?” the woman asked, looking disapprovingly.

  “I would have restrained him and called the police. I’m not dumb. There’s no way I would have done anything more to him. We worked hard to get that clinic open. I wouldn’t want it shut down because the guy sued us or had us arrested.”

  He didn’t mention that he didn’t want any attention on Melody, or to leave her alone and defenceless if they went to jail. But hell, he wanted to kick that guy’s ass.

  Instead he didn’t land one solid blow and had ended up in the hospital. He got his ass handed to him.

  “Do you have any idea who this person could have been?” The male asked. “Can you describe anything about him?”

  “He was a tall motherfucker. He was around my height and strong as hell. He was also fast. I didn’t get a look at him because I forgot to grab a flashlight, but he was built well. But I do have a lead for you. Nate James.”

  “Did you see him or hear him? Is there any reason that you’re sure it had to be him?” The girl asked, doubtful. And of course she was. Nate was an attractive male, and he had that tough roughness that women seemed to like, especially hard women, like this cop.

  “I didn’t see him or anything, but I know it has to be him. We have had a few…altercations before. And we fired him when he was almost done building our house. He’s losing a lot of money from us now, and he was really pissed off before that. We had a disagreement and he didn’t handle it well.”

  The male cop looked interested. He had opened his mouth, to question most likely, but his partner beat him to it. “We already had a talk with him. Seems like he had an alibi for last night. He was with his girlfriend. They said they didn’t see anyone else but… I believe the evidence he showed me.”

  Evidence? Alibi? What the hell? What could be so strong when there weren’t any other witnesses? “And what evidence is that? I’m in a fucking hospital because of his shit! I think I deserve to be told why he couldn’t have done it?”

  The girl actually blushed! Her face grew redder, a ruddy colour that didn’t suit her complexion. God, what the hell could he have shown her? His cock?

  “He…” she started, but her partner stood up to silence her.

  “He said he was having sex last night. We have a security take of him buying a box of condoms. This morning when we questioned him, his girl was still there and he showed us the mostly empty box, and the wrappers in the garbage.”

  For fucks sakes! He did what? How fucking crude. And Cay was sure that Em hadn’t been too happy to have her sex-life displayed to the cops.

  But hell, that could have been fake. It didn’t take much to open condoms and get rid of the actual rubber. They could have lied about it. But clearly the officers were letting this go.

  It looked to Caleb like they weren’t planning to do anything about this. They weren’t going to question Nate anymore. They were just going to let him get away with two accounts of assault and one of B and E.

  Wow, does a lot for the police’s image. Doesn’t it?

  “If you don’t have any more leads, we will continue to look around town and see if we can get something. Let us know if you remember anything else.” The man said, gesturing for his partner to leave first.

  At least the man had some manners.

  But shit, that was all for nothing. They didn’t have anything new or good to say. They didn’t seem like they’d do anything about Nate and now he had to deal with Seth, because the other man sure would know that he had tried to rat on Nate.

  They’d probably have a big fight again. Melody would probably take Seth’s side, again. And they’d be back where they started, with no idea how to stop this.

  Hell, they would probably be worse off. Now they wouldn’t have help with Mel’s documents. That guy would most likely know that he tried to sick the police on Nate, and the dude would most likely be pissed off.

  He had very few rules and one was not to talk to the police. Would he really use it against Mel? Probably. The guy was like a ghost. He could do anything he wanted. They didn’t know him. He could be a killer in his own right, for all they knew.

  Maybe Seth had been right. Maybe it was best to have stayed on that creeper’s good side, at least for now.

  But it was too late for that now. It was far too late.

  ***

  Mel didn’t understand. Why was Caleb acting like this?

  When she and Seth walked into Cay’s room at the hospital to see him, he looked mulish. His face was set in determined lines and he didn’t bother to look at them. He just appeared annoyed.

  The joy that she felt immediately after seeing him, so alive and whole, was tainted by the fact that he didn’t seem happy that she was there. Why was he ignoring her? Why wouldn’t he look at her? Had she done something wrong?

  Her spirits immediately sank.

  He hadn’t been happy right when he woke before either. He was sarcastic, at least she thought that was sarcasm—it was really difficult to know! And he had been openly rude when they talked about what they would tell the police.

  And then Seth had completely closed himself off. Seth had been doing so well these past few days, and it seemed that they were back to nothing. Apparently the plan wasn’t working.

  She’d try and fix it, to get closer to one, but then the other was upset!

  When Cay was released from the hospital, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t even talk to them as they helped him into the SUV. But she could see his wince of pain.

  The poor baby was hurt, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She couldn’t take it away from him, and didn’t know how to make it better.

  That stopped her from yelling at him. She didn’t want to add to his pain.

  But he acting weird. He simply sat there and brooded. After he snapped at them in the Hospital too!

  Mel could see him from the back seat. He just looked out over the forest they drove through. He didn’t even thank Seth for driving him home.

  “So, what did you tell the police?” Seth asked, he sounded casual, but Mel could detect the hint of interest in his voice. She liked to think that she was learning a lot about hi
m.

  “Oh, so you finally ask that! I knew that’s what you were thinking about. You want to know? Fine! I’ll tell you. I told them that I thought it was Nate. Told them to investigate him. I want to press charges against the fucker.”

  Seth cursed, and it made Cay look over in surprise. “What? You mean, you thought that I’d blindly follow what you said? No. I have control of my actions. I don’t always have to listen to you.” He said, his tone hard.

  “Caleb! Stop it!” Mel shouted, having had enough of this. Caleb was being rude, selfish, and just annoying! “You are acting like a baby. You have no right to speak to him like this. And you have no excuse to speak to me like this either!” She yelled, her voice so loud, she even winced a little.

  But it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to let him get away with this behaviour. “We were all so worried, and as soon as you woke you were grouchy and mean. If you’re going to continue acting terribly, I’m not going to talk to you until you get over it!”

  Mel heard the silence, but refused to look up to see what Cay was thinking. She simply looked out the window and well…brooded. If he could do it so could she. “I’m sorry, Kitten. I didn’t mean to be a bear.” He said quietly, softly. “I’ve treated you like crap and you don’t know how sorry I am. Please forgive me.” He pleaded. But Mel wasn’t going to let it go that easily. She was tired, hungry, and hurt inside.

  It has been a long night. Melody finally understood that saying!

  30

  Shit. He knew that Mel was right. He was acting like a 2 year old who didn’t get his way. But hell, he was annoyed. At himself. At the police. At the situation and most definitely at the pain. He just hurt. And he didn’t like to hurt.

  And what the hell could he do now? He couldn’t protect Mel if something happened. Hell, he couldn’t even protect her when he was well. And wasn’t that a surprise. It still pissed him off. He just couldn’t believe it. Nate had to be much stronger than he had originally thought. And much more bold.

  To try to take Mel while she was with him? That required some serious balls. And it was obvious that he had some. Nate had to know that Caleb would do anything to protect Mel.

  And fuck, now he had hurt her. He hadn’t meant to. He didn’t want her to be sad. That was the last thing that he would ever want. He couldn’t believe what an idiot he was.

  He knew that Seth would blast him about talking to the police, he had tried to take the offensive, but apparently he just lashed out instead.

  Dammit! It was like he had no control over his emotions. They were flying off the handle, angry one moment and well, pissed the next. He just wanted to hit something, but he needed his other hand whole and unbroken. Damn, he wouldn’t even be able to write for a few weeks, what the hell would he do if he broke both hands?

  Maybe then Mel would take pity on him. Maybe then she’d look at him, talk to him again. And maybe he could get her to help him undress. Because, damn… he wouldn’t be able to do that himself either now!

  “Okay, I was a complete ass. I totally get that. I’m in pain, and I failed you. I feel like crap about how I’ve been treating you. But I’ll make it up to you. I swear.” He said, his head turned so that he could see her.

  It also didn’t help his mood that he wanted like hell to hug her, to hold her but he knew that he couldn’t. He hurt too badly. He shouldn’t have wasted the time he had before all this happened. Sure, he wanted her to bond with Seth, and he really didn’t mind when she was close to him, but now he wouldn’t be able to do the things he could before. Shit, who knew how long before he could have sex with her.

  He might be healed before that happened, judging on her mood now. She’d likely not allow him to get close for some time. But damn, it was nothing that he didn’t deserve.

  It seemed to take forever for them to get to town, and even longer once the speed-limit decreased. Cay just wanted to be home. He wanted to go to sleep and forget this horrible day even existed. He wanted to be able to relax. To decompress before he had to deal with everything.

  Cay heard Seth mutter something and looked up. Was there something wrong? He couldn’t see anything different. The house was just the same, shining in the sun. The grass was a little long and could use to be cut, and the garden needed to be weeded, but over all, it was the same as he remembered it.

  There weren’t any weird people or vehicles hanging around. There weren’t any busted windows or open doors. Everything looked normal to Cay. He just figured that Seth was crazy. He had to be paranoid or something.

  “What is it?”

  Seth just shook his head. “Could have sworn I left the blind open in the front room.” He said.

  Cay sighed. “We left quickly, how can you be so sure?”

  “I can’t be, that’s the problem.”

  Well then, that just showed that Seth needed to relax a little. Surely he spent too much time at the clinic, and the rest of the time he spent worrying about shit. Cay wouldn’t be surprised if he was too sexually frustrated as well. It took a lot to deny someone you want. Especially if you think that you can’t have them.

  Shit, it was worse when you could have them. He spent many a cold shower relieving some pressure. He wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Seth had as well.

  “I’m sure it’s fine. There’s no reason to break in again. Nate has to know that we’d be at the hospital. He won’t find anything in there.”

  Seth reluctantly agreed and pulled closer to the house. When Caleb got out he made sure that he opened Melody’s door and helped her out as well. Even though she didn’t look at him, she still accepted his hand. That at least was progress. She could have totally ignored him, or got out the other side.

  He had a lot to make up for but shit, it was difficult. It’d be nice if they took him seriously. If they listened to what he had to say and then gave feedback. Hell, he didn’t even care if they agreed, but for them to dismiss him outright, that was just fucked up. He was an equal partner in this too.

  Sure, Seth was better at planning and stuff. Shit, Cay refused to play chess with the bastard. The guy was just too good at thinking ahead and analyzing people and things. But that didn’t mean that he was only good for analyzing. They weren’t in this to play a role. Okay, so they tried to talk Seth into this by showing him what position he would fit but they were all people. And they were all equal, no matter what they were good at individually.

  Like, he was a better cook, did that mean that he’d be the only one cooking? No! So then why did the other two feel the need to cut him out of the thinking and planning aspects of this shit?

  They’d have to sit down and have a long talk about all this crap.

  Cay was so into his own thoughts that he didn’t pay much attention when opening the door. He should have let Seth go first to check the place out, but no, Cay had to be thinking instead and led Mel right in.

  Damn, no wonder Seth zones out. It’s difficult to pay attention to crap when thinking about other crap.

  In the end it was Seth’s quick reflexes, the ones that made him grab Cay’s arm and stop him, that finally brought him out of his thoughts.

  It was that that made Cay look around and finally notice something he should have noticed before.

  That there was a fucking giant in the living room, drinking their fucking scotch and relaxing on their fucking furniture.

  Oh, and the damn Baretta. Well, he didn’t know if it was a Baretta or a Glock—he didn’t know too much about guns!—but dammit! It was a gun, pointed right at his chest as the guy calmly drank his drink with his other hand.

  “Welcome home, boys,” he said, his voice so deep and devoid of emotion, it was scary. Holy hell, Cay was surprised that he fit in the damn chair! And that it held his weight. The guy looked like he had more muscles than Hulk Hogan!

  The man put his drink down on the table beside him and turned his head to look at them. His eyes were steely, some unknown colour that was cold and empty, too far away to see well. It w
as like the man had no feeling at all. He had to be all brawn and no brain. Surely his head was filled with muscle too.

  “What the Fuck?” Cay asked, his anger already high. He didn’t need this shit! He already had one person after him, he didn’t need this fucker breaking into his house. What the hell did the guy want anyways? He wanted to take the motherfucker apart, but he doubted he could in this condition, oh and with the damn gun trained on him.

  Even with his anger rising like it was, he still had the smarts to move Mel behind him. Seth must have thought the same thing for he was already standing between her and the damn mountain of a man.

  “You sure took your time getting here.” The man said, startling Cay. What was he talking about?

  “What are you doing here?” Seth asked, his voice going lower as if in response to the threat.

  “You left the hospital two hours ago, you should have been here about fifteen minute ago.” The fucker continued, not even bothering to answer Seth’s question.

  “I’ll call the police.” Cay said. And damn, he meant it. He just needed to get his cell from his pocket. It might take the cops a long time to get here, but who the hell cared as long as it scared this creep off.

  This man made the large chair look tiny. He had to be over 6 foot 3. And he had to be over 200 pounds of muscle. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this was not the man who had attacked him and Mel the night before.

  Damn, he’d be ground meat if this guy decided to attack. He probably took steroids or some shit. It wouldn’t surprise Cay if he took PCP too.

  And one thing he learned from watching TV is that you never fucked with a fucker on drugs. They did crazy things.

  The man smiled. Actually, smiled isn’t the right word. The man simply bared his teeth. It wasn’t a show of amusement, but an angry look that was scary enough to make a grown man wet himself.