The whole place was surrounded by wildflowers, and the sun shining through the trees lit the place up like a photograph.
I walked up to the front door, reached above it, and felt for the key. I blew the dust from it and slid it into the lock.
The cabin smelled as musty as I expected it to. However, with all the windows covered, it was cool inside. When I turned around, Mila had a handful of flowers and was filling a pitcher that she’d found near the sink with water.
“Pretty,” I said, looking at her rather than the flowers.
“You’re good for my ego,” she said, setting the flowers on the table.
I walked over to where she stood. “No ego stroking, Mila. You’re beautiful.”
“What can I do?” she asked, brushing dust from her hands.
“I thought I’d get the place opened up.”
I went in to open up the windows in the bedrooms while Mila opened the ones in the kitchen and great room.
“I’d love to take a walk by the creek if you’re up for it,” she said when I came back out.
We’d been walking for at least a half hour when we came to an old stone bridge.
“I need a photo of this,” she said, pulling out her phone. She swiped the screen and frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“Who.”
“Adler?”
Mila nodded. “He’s livid.”
I held my breath, waiting for what she’d do next. Would she ask me to take her back? Call him? Maybe send him a text, apologizing?
She did none of those things. I watched as she took two photos of the bridge and then turned the phone in my direction. “Would you mind?” she asked.
“Taking a photo of you? Never.”
She shook her head. “I was thinking of us. Is that too weird?” She shook her head again. “Me and the guy who found my dead sister,” she added, mumbling.
I took the phone from her hand and drew her into me. “I hope you can think of me as someone more than that.”
“I do. I’m sorry I said that. I just wonder…what you must think of me.”
“Hmm. If I recall correctly, it wasn’t that long ago that I told you you were beautiful. I also told you that I wanted to kiss you from the first moment I saw you.”
When she smiled but looked away, I put my fingers on her cheek. “Look at me,” I murmured. “I understand, Mila. Yes, what brought us together was tragic. But along with wanting to kiss you, I knew from the minute I heard your voice, looked into your eyes, that you were someone special. That you’d be someone special to me.” What I didn’t say was that the first time I looked into those eyes, hadn’t been two days ago. It was years ago, but even then, I’d known.
When I kissed her again, she relaxed into me. Her body felt like heaven up against mine. I held the phone up and took a photo, hoping that I’d gotten us in the frame since I didn’t break our kiss to do it.
“Take another one,” she said, resting her head against my chest and smiling.
I looked at the image, tapped the screen, and sent it to myself. “I’ve been meaning to tell you to put my number in your phone. Now you have it.”
I was just about to hand it back to her when I saw a message flash on the screen from Adler.
I’m frantic, it read. I’m sorry for the way I acted. Please tell me where you are and that you’re safe.
I didn’t know what the other messages from him said, but I had to empathize with the guy. If Mila had ghosted me, I’d be frantic too. I watched as she read the same message I had.
“Would you mind?” she asked like she had earlier about taking a photo.
“Not at all. I’ll be on the bridge—”
Before I could walk away, Mila put her hand on my arm. “Please stay.”
I nodded, hating that I was close enough to hear the man’s voice, but relieved that I’d know what they were saying to each other.
“Hi,” she said when Adler answered almost immediately.
“Where are you?”
“In Bluebell Creek…um…it’s where my mother and grandfather are buried.”
“Yes, I remember. I was there with you. I’ll be there in…however long it’ll take me to get there. Are you at the cemetery now?”
“No!” she answered and then softened her tone. “I’d rather you not come, Ad. I’m fine. I’m sorry you flew all the way here, but please, just go home. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’m on my way, Mil. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I could hear the chime of the call ending. Mila stared at the screen, put the phone in her back pocket, and then took it out again and powered it off.
“I guess I didn’t handle that very well,” she said.
“I’m not sure what you could’ve done or said differently.”
“He isn’t very good at taking no for an answer.”
I felt my shoulders tightening and didn’t doubt my anger was evident on my face. “Do you want to elaborate?”
“Not in the way you might be thinking. I know I never gave you a straight answer, but Adler and I are just friends. He flirts but knows that I’m not interested in anything more than what we have.” She stopped talking, but it seemed to me like there was something else she wanted to say. When she didn’t continue, I led her over to the bridge, feeling inexplicably relieved that she and the asshole hadn’t had sex.
As we sat on the stone and watched the water trickling over the slate beneath us, Mila looked everywhere but at me.
“There are some things…I thought maybe I was making too much of, but…”
“Go on.”
“The night I got the call about Sybil, earlier that day, when I came home from work, Adler picked up my mail for me. I’m not always crazy about him having a key to my place, but I understand why he does. The mail, though. It bothered me.”
“Rightly so. The key should bother you too.”
“And then yesterday…I’ve never seen him act the way he did. It seemed like maybe there was something else going on that was bothering him.”
I had a theory, but I was more interested in what Mila would say.
“He was on his phone. I know it sounds like I’m making more of it than I should, but he never does that when he’s with me. I’m probably being petty. I mean, he has a life outside of his friendship with me.”
“You said you’ve known him since you rented the apartment. How long have you lived there?”
“Four years.”
“And how long before the two of you became friends?”
“It was immediate. He started out checking to see if I needed anything, welcoming me to the building, and then he just started hanging out.”
“How did you find the place?”
Mila thought it over. “I don’t remember. Probably a flyer at the college.”
Something nagged at me, but until I had a chance to look into this guy’s background further, I wouldn’t ask Mila any more questions. Except for one.
“What’s next with him? How do you see this playing out?”
“If you’re talking about him driving up to Bluebell Creek, I have no idea. I didn’t agree to meet him anywhere, so I guess when he gets here, I’ll have to talk to him again.” Mila turned to me. “Unless you think I should meet him. I mean, he could probably help me find a place to stay so I’m not putting you out.”
I peered into her eyes long enough that her cheeks turned pink.
“What?” she said, trying to move out of my line of sight.
I wouldn’t let her, though. I cupped her cheek with my palm. “I’ll just say this…not a chance in hell.”
She laughed, but I didn’t do as much as crack a smile.
“I’m not joking.”
“Okay,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay,” she repeated.
“Let’s go into town now, pick up some groceries, and come back here.”
“I’m
with you so far.”
“Tomorrow we’ll visit the cemetery.”
“What about Adler?”
I hadn’t quite figured that out yet, but a plan was beginning to formulate.
13
Mila
I shook my hands in an attempt to get them to stop trembling. Why was I so nervous? It was like I was a child about to get in trouble for skipping out of school and I knew that, at any moment, my mother was going to catch me. It was ridiculous. There was no way Adler could get to Bluebell Creek in the time it had taken us to go to the grocery store. Besides, I’d told him not to come, and I’d also told him to leave. Why should I feel guilty over not arranging for a place for us to meet?
Sitting in the coffee shop next door to the market, I waited for Decker, who said he wanted to make a couple of phone calls before we returned to the cabin.
I was flooded with relief when I saw him walk in. The feeling quickly went away when I saw the look on his face.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when he sat across from me in the booth.
“Everything is fine.” He looked over his shoulder and motioned to the waitress.
“You must not play very much poker.”
His eyes met mine.
“You have a terrible poker face, Decker.”
“Problems at the ranch. Nothing that concerns you,” he said, but before he spoke, he looked away from me.
“What can I get you, darlin’?” asked the waitress, looking straight at Decker.
“Did you order anything?” he asked me.
“Not yet.” I didn’t bother telling him that until he walked in, the waitress hadn’t acknowledged my presence. I couldn’t really blame the woman; Decker was one of the hottest men I’d ever seen too, even if I was pissed at him at the moment for just dismissing me.
“I was thinking a piece of pie. Does that sound good?” he asked.
“We’ve got blueberry, apple, and there may be one slice of strawberry left. I’ll have to check.”
Decker looked up at the waitress until she finally got a clue that was what he wanted her to do.
“Any of those sound good?”
I shook my head. “I’m suddenly not hungry.”
He got up, took my hand, led me out of the coffee shop, and over to where he’d parked the truck. “Let’s get on the road.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
He didn’t answer right away, and I didn’t climb into the truck. If it was something he couldn’t tell me, then he should say so, not lie and say it didn’t concern me. I folded my arms.
“Yes,” he finally said with a sigh.
By the time we got back to the cabin, my irritation was skyrocketing.
He pulled up, turned off the engine, but didn’t make a move to get out.
“You’ve probably picked up on the fact that I do a little more than manage King-Alexander Ranch.”
“Yes,” I responded, my arms still folded in front of me.
“There’s a group of guys I’m…working with…that I…um…have asked to step in and give a hand with the investigation.”
He turned and looked at me as if to see if that was enough of an answer. I kept my eyes focused on his.
“Shit,” I heard him mutter after he turned his head away from me and then back. “I asked them to take a deeper look into your friend’s background.”
“Adler’s?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you think that would upset me?”
“Would you mind if we went inside?”
“Not at all.” I climbed out before he had a chance to come around and open the door. Decker grabbed a few of the grocery bags, and I brought the rest, smiling that he’d made sure to leave me the lighter ones.
We unpacked the food we’d bought; I put some of it in the refrigerator and left the non-perishable stuff on the counter. I must’ve been hungry while we were shopping because now that I wasn’t, it looked like we bought enough food to last several days.
“You haven’t answered me,” I reminded him when the last of the food was put away and I’d opened a bottle of wine. “Would you like a glass?” I asked.
Decker held up a bottle of beer that he’d pulled out of the refrigerator.
“Not a wine drinker?”
“No, I like wine,” he said before he took a big swig of beer.
I went out and sat on the porch; Decker followed and sat next to me, close enough that our legs and arms were touching.
“It’s a yes or no answer, Decker.”
He took another big drink. “Actually, it isn’t.”
I set my glass of wine on the table and turned my body so I could look at him.
He took a deep breath. “The night that I found your sister, I was on my way home from the airport after flying back from England.”
I had no idea what this had to do with my being upset or not about his looking into Adler’s background, but it was obvious that whatever Decker was about to tell me was somehow relevant.
“I had traveled there for…other reasons.”
I smiled.
“A consulting job. Anyway, while I was there, I was approached by a man about a startup company he wants me to be part of. That’s who I called.”
“I’m being patient, Decker, but I wish you’d connect these dots for me.”
“I’m getting there,” he said, standing. “Be right back.”
He came back with another beer for himself along with the bottle of wine. I took a sip, and then he poured some more before he sat back down.
“I do work in the intelligence field.” He looked at me again as if to gauge my reaction.
“I never would’ve guessed, given the spy-central setup in your house.”
He smiled. “That’s the side I’m on. Technology. I got into it because of Z Alexander. He saw something in me when I was a kid, and he nurtured it.”
“I take it intelligence is Z’s field too.”
“I’m not giving away any of England’s national secrets by telling you Z is the head of MI6. It’s information you could easily get from their website. Anyway, these guys, they’re MI6 too. Actually, two of them are MI5 agents, but that’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“I’ve always been an independent contractor. There are times, like calving and branding season, that I just can’t be away from the ranch. That, and you may have noticed I don’t always play well with others. I may have been accused of being a little gruff from time to time.” Decker wiped one hand on his jeans and then held mine with it. “I’m kind of a loner, Mila, so this venture is something I’m not too sure about. The second part of what I have to say is about you.”
“I can’t wait.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or giving me shit right now.”
I smiled. “Then you might want to rethink working for an intelligence company.”
“Got it. Giving me shit. Moving along.”
“Wow, you’re better at it than I thought.” I leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
“I’ve never told anyone half of what I just told you in the last ten minutes. You asked me if I thought you’d be upset. The truth is, that never occurred to me. I’m used to making a decision and then acting on it. What I’m not used to is having to okay it with anyone but the person who hired me. Half the time, I don’t even do that.”
“And somehow, you get more work.”
He shrugged. “I’m good. I’m better than good. I’d say I’m the best, but there’s one person who’s better than me.”
“One? Just one?”
“I know you’re bustin’ my balls right now, but I’m not lying to you. I really am that good.”
“No lack of self-confidence.”
He looked down at where our hands were joined. “Not when it comes to work.”
“With other things?”
“Truth is, I haven’t cared much. I’m a take-me-or-leave-me kinda guy. Don’t
like me? I really don’t give a shit.” He turned his body so he was facing me. “You, on the other hand…”
I felt my cheeks flush. How crazy was it that I wanted to be different? That I wanted him to say that he cared about my opinion? “What about me?”
“This Adler guy. I can’t tell if I hate him because my instincts are telling me there’s something to hate, or if I hate him because I can’t stand the thought of him with you.”
“He isn’t with me, Decker. We’re friends. I’m not even sure about that anymore.”
“Well, I’m not sure about anything between you and him, and that isn’t like me.”
“I feel like there’s more you haven’t said.”
Decker put his arm around my shoulders. “There’s a lot more, but I don’t think we need to get into it tonight.”
“You said that you asked these guys to look into Adler’s background.”
“That’s right.”
“Are they also looking into what happened to my sister?”
“Yeah. They are.”
I looked out at the creek, knowing there were more questions I should ask, but like Decker, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into it tonight.
“I can’t make sense of how I feel about you, Mila, and that’s not like me either. All I know is that I can’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to you. I can’t stand the thought of you getting on a plane and going back to Boston, and I sure as hell can’t stand the thought of Adler Livingston having a key to your apartment.”
“I’m really glad you brought me here, Decker. To the cabin, I mean. It’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist for now.”
“We can stay on here as long as you’d like.”
I laughed. “We have enough food to stay a week.”
“Do you still want to go to the cemetery tomorrow?”
Did I? As long as we could stay at this cabin in the woods, sit by the creek, take walks, hold hands, and talk, that was enough doing for now.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
14
Decker
I couldn’t say for sure if I felt better or worse after telling Mila everything I had. She sure as shit didn’t need any more baggage dumped on her shoulders, but she also deserved the truth. If I’d told her in any way other than how I did, I wouldn’t have felt like I was being completely honest.
Decked (The Invincibles Book 1) Page 6