Broken Love

by Drake, Tabatha

  He winces. “You heard about that?”

  “I might have.”

  He looks down to hide his embarrassment. “Hey, the old bastard had it coming.”

  “I agree. So, is that all you’ve been up to? Punishing horrible men who prey on innocent people?”

  “Mostly, I guess. Odd jobs, here and there.”

  “You must keep awfully busy, then.”

  “Well, what can I say? Not all heroes wear desert camo.”

  I catch myself from staring too hard through his spectacles and getting drawn into his bright, green eyes. I’ve forgotten how easy it was.

  “Um…” I blink. “So, Fox. He’s in Japan.”

  “Yeah!” he says, jumping at the chance to pick apart someone else’s life. “With Dani — and can we talk about that for a second?”

  “I know!” I gasp. “They actually got together!”

  He shakes his head with wide, stunned eyes. “Of all the things—”

  “That could possibly happen — I know!”

  “I never thought for a second they had any chance of ending up together.”

  “Neither did I.”

  “First, the guy comes back from the dead,” he says, holding up his thumb. “Which was pretty much the weirdest phone call I’ve ever received.”

  “He called you?” I ask, leaning forward.

  “Yeah.”

  “When?”

  He looks up, thinking fast. “Uhh… when he got to LA, he called from the airport.”

  My jaw drops. “That fucker told you first?”

  Boxcar laughs and takes another drink. “Fox loves me more than you,” he teases.

  I try not to react to his laughter. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you?”

  “A little bit.”

  I take a slow sip of my beer. “He came into my shop,” I recall, smiling. “Out of the blue, no warning. Just walked in like everything was normal. Like he hadn’t been dead for the last two years.”

  “That must have been traumatic.”

  “It was. I closed the shop and brought him up here for a hug and a really vague explanation that ended with him borrowing my sniper rifle. It didn’t make much sense until he came back with Dani. Then, it all became very clear.”

  “If you ask me, I would have preferred the face-to-face ghost encounter,” he says. “Shows a bit more respect to you, in my opinion.”

  “I guess that explains why I didn’t get a phone call before you showed up here.”

  “More or less.” He takes a breath. “If I had called first you would have boarded up the windows and doors. I would never have gotten in here at all.”

  I laugh. “You’re probably right.”

  We stare across the counter at each other in a stiff holding pattern. The calm before the storm.

  “So, what’s she like?”

  I blink. “Dani?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She’s really nice, actually,” I answer. “Not at all what I expected of a girl like her.”

  He nods. “She seemed cool. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her with the murderous assassin squad taking over our hotel.”

  “We’ve gone to dinner a few times since Fox moved out here.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he teases. “You’re just hanging out with movie stars now?”

  I laugh. “Sometimes, yeah.”

  He takes a drink, pouring the rest of it down his throat as he smiles back at me. “This city has changed you, Caleb Fawn.”

  “Jealous?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Her new movie is really good—”

  “Whoa.” He holds up his hand. “He showed it to you?”

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  “That son-of-a-bitch…”

  “Oh, come on.” I laugh. “You’re surprised he didn’t send an advanced copy of a big movie to a hacker known for leaking sensitive information?”

  He pauses. “Got more beer?”

  “Of course.” I turn around and grab two more bottles off the shelf. “Although… drinking is probably not what we should be doing right now since there’s not one but two assassins after you. Is that right?”

  He takes one of the open bottles from me anyway and chugs a thick sip. “Ah, yes. The Hart twins.”

  “Who are the Hart twins?”

  “Lilah and Elijah. Old acquaintances of Fox’s,” he says. “They aren’t too happy their little secret has been blown.”

  “Not surprising…” I lean back against the refrigerator door. “How scary we talking here, Box?”

  “Well, on a scale of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to The Exorcist… I’d say it’s about a Suspiria.”

  I chuckle. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

  He backs up from the counter and gestures into the empty living room. “Speaking of which, where is the famous movie collection?”

  My eyes fall. “Eh, I had to dwindle it down a little over the years.”

  Shame settles in my gut as Boxcar wanders into the corner and peeks into the old box.

  “Is this what’s left of it?” he asks, bending down to sift through it.

  “Yeah.”

  He winces. “You dwindled down a little more than a bit, Cal.”

  “Things have been kind of tight lately.” I push off the refrigerator and step lightly into the living room. “You know, we should probably focus on—”

  Boxcar stands up quickly and faces me. “How long have you lived here?”

  “I don’t know. A while. Why?”

  His eyes take in his surroundings a little deeper and my chest clenches. “It doesn’t really look like it,” he says. “It looks like you just moved in.”

  “I’ve been busy,” I say. “Interior decorating hasn’t really been on my list of priorities. Can we please talk about something else? Maybe the deadly assassins on their way here to torture us both?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  Boxcar steps forward, drawing so close to me I can just barely smell him. My nose erupts, filling my head with old memories I fought long and hard to forget about.

  “I want to know what’s going on with you,” he says.

  I take a step back. “Since when?”

  “Caleb, I’m your husband.”

  “No. Do not throw the H-word around like it means something. That’s not how this is going to work.”

  “It does mean something,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. “I’ve always cared about you—”

  “Oh, please—”

  “You’re the one who kicked me out, remember?” he argues. “I didn’t just pack up and leave you.”

  “You didn’t exactly fight to stay either, did you?”

  “Would it have mattered?” he asks. “I highly doubt it would have made a difference to you.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Seemed pretty true three days later when I was served with divorce papers, Caleb.”

  “Please, Box…” I sigh from exhaustion. “Can we not?”

  He shifts on his feet, taking a few steps away from me with his head down. Boxcar has always worn his feelings on his sleeve and right now is no different.

  “No.” The urgency in his tone shoots up my spine. “Caleb, I know about your situation here. I want to help you.”

  I grit my teeth, breathing deep to calm the anger brewing inside. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

  “You don’t have to act strong, Caleb,” he says. “Not for me.”

  “Don’t you dare go there, Boxcar. Drop this. Now.”

  “You know, I did as Fox asked me to. You let him borrow some supplies and in return, I looked into your debts and I really didn’t like what I saw.”

  I step back again as the weight of years of mistakes falls on me. “Box…”

  “What happened after I left, Caleb?”

  “Life happened!” I shout. “Real life. Most of us don’t have the luxury of knowing how to steal from rich guys’ offshore bank accounts. In the real world, peo
ple like me have to actually work for what we have.”

  “I’m not going to apologize for taking advantage of a broken system. And don’t turn this around. All I want to do to is help you.”

  “I never asked for your help!”

  “And you never have to,” he says, his voice growing softer. “That’s the whole point. You and me — we were supposed to be a team, but you couldn’t handle that. You couldn’t handle the idea of relying on anybody. Especially not a man and especially not one like me.”

  I pause as his words strike me cold. “Box, what…”

  “I knew exactly what I was getting into with you, Caleb. Fox…” He pauses, chuckling softly. “He even tried to talk me out of it. He told me I didn’t have it in me to keep up with you and I knew he was right, but I wanted you anyway. You were stronger than me, faster than me, better than me, in every way imaginable but that just made me want you more. I thought undying devotion would be enough to make you want me back but, turns out, you couldn’t see past the coward standing behind you.”

  I take a breath, but it catches in my throat. “You think I thought you were a coward?”

  “I think you had every reason to,” he says, gesturing at me. “I mean, look at you. You’re perfect and badass and brave, but I’m not. Be honest, Caleb. If Fox wasn’t so hung up on Dani, would you have ended up with him or me?”

  My jaw drops. “Is that what you really think?”

  “Am I wrong?”

  “Completely,” I say. “Fox died.”

  “So, you settled for me?”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it.” My ankles twitch, pulling me closer to him. “Fox meant a lot to me, but I never once looked at him the way I looked at you. Men like that — the soldiers and the fighters — they don’t stick around for very long. You can’t depend on them to always be there because each one of them has a bullet chasing them down and it hits them eventually.”

  He blinks with confusion. “We’re not out in the desert anymore, Cal.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” I say. “Even today, Fox is still running from it. Ask Dani if you don’t believe me. Ask her if she ever wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat wondering if today’s the day she’ll never see him again. You don’t want to live like that.”

  “Is that why you pushed me away?” he asks. “Because somewhere out there there’s a magic bullet with your name on it?”

  “Can you really blame me? You were there. You saw it,” I whisper. My eyes burn but I fight the tears begging to spill over. “We lost… everything. We lost Fox — or we thought we did. I didn’t want to put you through losing me, too.”

  “That wasn’t your call to make.”

  “Yes, it was.” My voice breaks but I hold it together. “Part of me was really pissed off when Fox showed up alive, but I understood why he did what he did. Soldiers don’t get to be selfish and put others in the crosshairs meant for us. And — again — if you don’t believe me, ask Dani. She has a few scars that more than prove my point.”

  Boxcar shakes his head. “You keep saying that, but… we’re not Fox and Dani. It’s an unfair comparison and if you really believed what you’re saying then why did you marry me in the first place?”

  “Because you made it so easy to get lost in you,” I say. Instinct drives my words, bending my tongue too fast for me to stop it. “It was so easy to block out the world, even if it was only for a moment. I clung to you because you were different. I didn’t care that you were weaker than me or slower than me because you were smarter. You saw more of me than anyone else did. You’re no coward, Boxcar. You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known, and I couldn’t handle that because it meant that someday, you’d try to take that bullet for me.”

  “Of course, I would,” he whispers. “You’re my fucking wife.”

  Boxcar steps toward me, closing the gap between us with two long strides. I don’t fight it when his lips crush mine. I lean into his embrace, falling deeper into his arms as he wraps them around me.

  Chapter 7

  Boxcar

  Then

  “So, what’s the deal with you and Caleb?”

  Fox pauses, barely glancing at me over the top of his tray. His expression changes just enough to hint that he knows exactly what I’m asking about but teasing me would be way more fun for him.

  “Why, Boxcar, whatever do you mean?”

  I close my laptop, bored of staring at the same blank satellite feed as always. “Oh, come on. You know damn well what I mean.”

  He shakes his smiling head. “It’s never gonna happen, man.”

  “With you two, or…?”

  “With either of us.”

  I lean forward. “So, you’ve tried?”

  He wipes his mouth and sits back in his chair. “No.”

  I furrow my brow. “Why not?”

  “Lack of interest.”

  “Bullshit. I’ve been here for weeks and the only guy she even talks to is you, dude.”

  “That’s not true. She talks to you all the time.”

  “Shut up and keep your head down doesn’t count as playful, sexy banter, Fox.”

  “Depends on the context.” He grins.

  “Touché…” I sigh. “How am I supposed to get to know her if she won’t talk to me?”

  “She likes movies. Try that.”

  “Movies?” I pause. “What kind of movies?”

  “Classic ones. The older, the better. She told me once that she’s got a pretty epic collection back home.”

  I nod slowly. “I can work with that…”

  “She talks to the sergeant,” he adds.

  A stab of jealousy pierces my chest. “That son-of-a-bitch…”

  Fox laughs. “Caleb’s not shacking up with Rhys, man. She’s not into anybody here. She’s a professional.”

  “But she’s also a woman with needs and… stuff. She’s never come on to you?”

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  “If she has, I haven’t noticed.”

  I pause, staring harder across the table at him. “How could you not notice?”

  “Because… as I said before, I’m not interested in her.”

  “You got a girlfriend back home?” I ask him, pulling my laptop open to check the satellite feed again. Still nothing within twenty miles of our camp.

  “Not exactly,” he answers.

  “Then, what’s up? What’s wrong with Caleb?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with Caleb. She’s great, but…” His head shakes again.

  “But…?” I gesture with my fingers to lure more words out of him. “But she’s… what? A werewolf? A replicant? What?”

  “She’s great…” Fox repeats, still grinning, “but I’m really hung up on another girl back home in Los Angeles.”

  My brow twitches. “Why haven’t I heard about her before?”

  “Because I don’t talk about her much.”

  “Why not?”

  A shadow slides over his shoulder, instantly drawing my eyes away from him. “Don’t talk about who?”

  Her voice whistles through my ears, sending a jolt of warmth throughout my entire body. Caleb stands at the head of the table, staring down at the two of us with loose arms dangling at her sides. Her t-shirt is tight and tucked into her belt, creating the most perfect curve from her belly to her impressive breasts.

  I swallow. “Do you know about some girl in LA?”

  Caleb smirks. “Is he talking about Roxie again?”

  “Roxie?” I repeat, shooting a look across the table at Fox. “Sounds made up.”

  “Because it’s not her real name,” Fox says, glaring up at Caleb’s amused face. “It’s her stage name.”

  “Hold on.” I close my laptop again. “I can think of only one girl named Roxie and it ain’t the blonde from Chicago.”

  “I love that movie,” Caleb says.

  I pause, once again completely magnetized by the sound of her voice, and thoroughly enthr
alled that she took the bait. “Me, too…”

  She scoffs. “You like musicals?”

  “I like corsets and dangerous women.” I shift my focus back to Fox, “I can think of only one girl named Roxie and she’s…”

  “Exactly who you’re thinking,” Caleb says, her perfect mouth curling even more.

  I stare at Fox, waiting for him to refute it but he stays silent. My jaw drops. “You know Roxie Roberts?”

  Caleb crosses her arms. “Oh, he knows her all right.”

  Fox takes a quick breath. “She’s my stepsister.”

  “No way!”

  Excitement builds in my chest — even more when I realize that Caleb has taken the seat beside me. I clear my throat, coming back down as I put Fox’s tale together.

  “Wait, you’re in love with your stepsister?” I ask. “No wonder you’re all tortured and shit.”

  “I am not tortured,” he says, laughing it off.

  “You are a little bit,” Caleb says.

  “Does she know?” I ask.

  He nods. “She did when I left home.”

  I shake my head. “With all due respect, man — why would you sign up for this when you could be in Hollywood banging a babe like Roxie freakin’ Roberts?”

  Caleb chuckles beside me and for the first time, I feel the warm satisfaction of making her laugh. It jars me so much, I almost don’t even hear Fox’s answer.

  “Because I can’t touch her,” he says. “It’s a long story, but… I left and now she has everything. If I’d stayed, that wouldn’t be the case.”

  I nod along with his words, feeling a dull ache for him. I know a little something about not being able to have something — or someone — you want.

  “Rhys wants to know if you’ve found anything.”

  Caleb’s voice pulls me back. I open my laptop again to refresh the satellite feed.

  “Not quite,” I answer. “Just a bit of noise and…” I pause as a dark spot catches my eye. I zoom in to find three large trucks traveling in a straight line together. “A really suspicious-looking convoy heading north...”