by Anna Paige
She groused a bit longer before sitting up, blinking rapidly into the early afternoon sun. "Wow. I can't believe I fell asleep." She turned to me. "You should have woken me."
I just smiled and shook my head. "No way. You were tired. Besides, even unconscious, you're better company than Spencer."
She chuckled as she adjusted her wrinkled clothes. I turned into the parking lot beside her apartment, and the smile fell from her lips. She stared out her window and placed one hand on the door. Confused, I parked the truck and leaned over to follow her gaze.
Talia stood on the landing by the door to the apartment, phone in hand and white as a damn sheet. She paced and gestured with her hands as she spoke to whoever was on the other end, looking distraught.
Ali turned to me with wide eyes. "Something's wrong."
We both jumped out of the truck and raced up the stairs to Talia. Ali got there first and, when Talia saw her, her face crumpled. She hung up on whoever she had been talking to and pulled Ali into a fierce hug. Ali turned them so that she was looking at me over Talia's shoulder. Her expression was scared and confused.
I stood there like a damn idiot, not knowing what to do or what was wrong. When Talia pulled out of the embrace and raised a shaking hand to point into the apartment, I was immediately alarmed. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "God, Ali. I can't believe this." Her shoulders shook, and I thought she was going to break down. I was relieved when she managed to continue, though a cold feeling of dread was worming its way through my stomach. "It's all ruined. Every painting, every book, every scrap of clothing, all of it."
Ali looked like she might shake her friend. "What the hell are you talking about? What happened?"
Talia pointed again and this time I stepped over to the door, barely squeezing by them. What little I could see from the threshold was enough to chill me to the bone. It was like a damn tornado had hit. Talia finally found her voice. "Someone broke in and destroyed everything in sight. I didn't make it through the whole apartment, but there was black paint splattered everywhere. All the books are in the living room floor, and they're all torn apart and covered in paint. There are broken dishes everywhere. I could see your shredded canvases all down the hallway and there are cut up bits of clothes everywhere." Her voice climbed an octave with each sentence.
Ali gasped. I turned to find her peeking around me into the apartment. She looked around at the devastation and her lower lip trembled. Once. Then she looked up at me with anger in her eyes. "Somebody just fucked up. Colossally." She turned back to Talia. "Did you call the police?"
"Yes. They'll be here soon. Since it's," she used air quotes, "just a vandalism, they didn't seem to be in too big a hurry."
Standing out there sweating our asses off wasn't going to help the situation. I gathered the girls, and we headed back to the truck. At least we could wait for the police in the air-conditioning.
Ali sat in the back with Talia, comforting her friend between angry glances at the apartment. I watched them in my mirror, offering whatever small encouragement I could, but I felt useless. I couldn't do a damn thing to fix what had happened, and it pissed me off. They were both shaken, even if Ali was putting up a good front. I'd seen her lip tremble, and I'd watched her hands shake as she ushered Talia to the truck.
When the police arrived, I stayed with the girls as they inspected the apartment. I walked with them down the hall and heard Ali fight back a sob as she stepped over the remnants of her paintings. We discovered that Talia's room was relatively untouched with the exception of some broken picture frames, all of which held snapshots of her with Ali from what I'd seen.
It quickly became apparent that whoever had done this only targeted one of them. Ali. The more we saw, the madder I got. Some fucking body was going to pay for this. I'd make sure of it. Whoever the coward was, their ass was mine.
After what seemed like hours of pointless questions, the responding officers suggested a hotel, given that the apartment looked like a landfill. I watched the look that passed between Ali and Talia, both of them angry and afraid. No way were they going to a damn hotel. Not that this town had one anyway. There was a motel a few blocks away, but that shit was not happening. I stepped up and shook the officer's hand. "That won't be necessary. The ladies are coming with me."
He nodded and handed Ali a card. "This is the number of a clean-up crew. It might take a few days, but they can get this place spic-n-span. If you think of anything that we should know, discover anything is missing, give us a call." He offered a sympathetic smile and nodded for his partner to follow him out.
I turned to Ali. "If there's anything left of your clothes and personal items, you can pack them up and bring them with. If not, we'll just buy everything you need." She just stood there, staring. I ignored that for the moment and addressed Talia. "You seem to be in good shape as far as clothes and stuff, but the same offer applies to you." I looked between them both, trying to be as comforting as possible. "If you don't want to touch a damn thing in this place, we'll get in the truck right now and go. I'd completely understand if you didn't want to take a single thing with you." I met each of their gazes.
Talia sniffed, tears welling up again as she stepped over to me and pulled me into a hug. I patted her softly on the back and whispered reassurances as her tears dripped onto my shirt. She released me and walked down the hall to her room.
When I turned back to Ali, I expected to have a fight on my hands. I knew she wouldn't like the idea of me stepping in and taking charge, but I couldn't just ship them off to a crappy motel and walk away. That was not fucking happening.
So, if she wanted to argue, fine by me.
She wasn't looking at me, though. She was watching Talia retreat down the hall, listening to the quiet sniffles echo through the decimated apartment. When she finally met my gaze, she looked at me adoringly for a moment and launched herself into my arms. Unlike my embrace with Talia, this one was desperate, urgent. My arms tightened around Ali until I thought I might break her. Her whole body pressed against me as if she wanted to be as close as humanly possible. I lifted her until her feet were off the floor and her legs wrapped around my hips. We stood there like that for several minutes, listening to the shuffling sounds coming from Talia's room as she packed.
I carried Ali over and gently lowered her so that she sat on the dining room table, first making sure that there was no debris present that could cut her. I leaned down and placed my palms on either side of her, the surface of the table cool to the touch as I searched her face. "Do you want to bring anything with you? I can help you pack if you don't want to go back there alone."
She shook her head, her sad expression making my chest tighten. "No. It's all tainted somehow. Even the stuff that could be saved wouldn't be the same." She looked up at me, pleading for understanding. "Does that sound stupid?"
I kissed her forehead and rubbed a hand over her head to smooth her tussled hair. "Not at all. I'd feel the same way if it were me." I reached out and took her hand, tugging gently. I needed to get them both the hell out of here. There was nothing keeping them here tonight. They may very well decide never to return at all. And that was fine by me. "Come on. Let's check on Talia and get the hell out of here. You both have the things you brought back from D.C. for now, and we can get whatever else you need later. That's why God made online shopping."
She tried to smile. I could tell she really wanted to hide behind her usual chipper demeanor, but all she could manage was a nod and a shuddering breath. I pulled her to my side and held on as tight as I could, wishing like hell I could do more.
BY THE TIME we got to my cabin, both women had visibly calmed. Neither of them was at one hundred percent, but I knew that was going to take some time. Knowing someone was in their space, touching their things, destroying irreplaceable items, it had to feel like a colossal violation. Once they had some time to bounce back, we needed to have a serious talk about finding whoever was responsible. Tonight, though, I just wanted them safe.
I insisted they park their cars under the large carport — which would have been a two bay attached garage if it only had doors — and helped them with their meager possessions.
I'd decided to give them the first floor, as I'd planned to do for Spencer, should the need for his presence arise.
Shit. Spencer. I needed to let him know what was going on. I had to go back to Richmond in a couple of days for yet another meeting with prospective clients. It would wait until then. I was in no mood to hear his mouth, and it had been a long day.
We entered the first floor, and I walked them through the space, which was only half the size of the second floor because of the carport.
Ali insisted that Talia take the larger bedroom with the en suite, and Talia was too drained to argue. They each placed their things in their respective rooms and followed me to the second floor for the rest of the tour, deciding to check out the indoor pool and game room in the basement later.
The second floor consisted of two bedrooms, one of which I'd converted into a makeshift office; the living room; a small eat-in kitchen; a balcony overlooking both the backyard pool and the mountains beyond.
It was decorated tastefully, with comfortable, plush furnishings and understated artwork that bowed to the natural beauty of the location.
I turned to offer something to eat or drink, the words dying on my lips as I watched Ali embracing her friend, whose shoulders were shaking.
They needed some time alone to sort through shit.
I quietly signaled to Ali and motioned toward the back yard, mouthing the words 'going for a swim'.
She gave me an appreciative nod and shuffled Talia over to the couch to sit down.
I changed into my trunks and silently placed two bottles of water on the coffee table in front of the girls on my way out to swim a few laps.
I needed to burn off some energy. I was still wired from the events of the day. The thought of someone doing that to Ali, destroying her things so viciously had me so enraged that there was no way I'd be able to sleep that night unless I was so exhausted that I collapsed.
The afternoon sky was thick with clouds, keeping out the worst of the heat. I sliced through the water, doing lap after lap until my lungs burned. I flipped over onto my back and floated long enough to catch my breath then went right back to it, repeating the cycle as often as necessary.
Somewhere around my fifth breather, as I floated there and stared at the fast-moving cloud formation over the cabin, a few droplets of water splashed my face. I looked over to find Ali sitting on the pool's edge, feet dangling in the water. I smiled and waved her in but she stayed put, content to just watch. I resumed floating but navigated myself closer to where she sat. When I bumped one of her legs with my foot, I decided I had floated long enough.
I lifted myself out of the water and sat down as close to her as I could get without dripping on her. She reached behind her and retrieved a large fluffy towel, handing it to me with a nod. I dried myself and waited for her to speak, knowing she sought me out for a reason.
She stared up at the sky for a while before speaking. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for us today. I'm not sure what I would have done without you." She truly meant it, I knew that, but she also hated having to take my help.
I slid over and bumped her shoulder playfully. "You're not fooling me, slugger. You would have told me to mind my own damn business if it hadn't been for Talia. You agreed to stay here because you're worried about her. Tell me I'm wrong."
She didn't say a thing to deny the accuracy of what I'd said. Her hand dipped down into the water, and she smirked as she splashed me in retaliation, obviously not liking how well I could read her. I dabbed my face with the corner of the towel and shook my head in amusement. As soon as she looked away, I whipped one of my feet across the water, splashing her back.
She laughingly called a truce, and I offered her a corner of my towel to dry her face. She graciously accepted, scooting closer to my side and placing her hand in mine. "I hope you don't think I'm ungrateful or anything. I really do appreciate you looking out for us. I just hate feeling helpless. That's exactly what it felt like today, looking at the damage and knowing there was nothing I could do about it." She looked at me wryly. "I'd think it's safe to say that whoever did it was not a fan of mine. At all. That's the worst part. Talia suffered because I pissed someone off and they didn't have enough balls to confront me directly."
I hadn't been planning to bring it up until the next morning at the earliest, but Ali was ready to talk today. "I've been thinking about that. The 'no balls' part makes me immediately think of Keith. Problem is, we know exactly where he was last night. There's a slim chance that he could have made it here and done that before morning. And there's no way it could have happened in the daylight hours because, even though the cleaner's is closed, there are adjacent businesses that open early. Someone would have seen or heard something."
She nodded. "Yeah. The people around here don't miss much. If nothing else, a small town has the added benefit of neighbors looking out for each other."
"Agreed. So, after I crossed Keith off the list, I immediately thought of Lauren." I knew Ali's mind had gone there too. "You mentioned her purposely causing trouble at the diner, breaking things, messing with the register. Is it possible that she would have upped her game and trashed your apartment?"
I could see the muscle working in her jaw. Just thinking about Lauren had her angry. "I wouldn't put it past her. She knew I was leaving Friday night because I posted the schedule early, and she threw a fit because I had her working all weekend. I'd definitely put her at the top of the list." She straightened suddenly, brows shooting up in surprise. "Actually, that's the extent of the list. Keith and Lauren." She seemed deflated by the thought. "You'd think that I'd have pissed off more people than that. It's kind of sad, really. They say that the true mark of success is having a horde of haters."
I gave her hand a squeeze and chuckled just as I had an epiphany of my own. "Shit."
She frowned. "What?"
"I forgot that you left here on Friday." From the look she was giving me, she didn't make the connection. "That means Keith technically isn't cleared. The break in could have happened either night. Talia said the door was closed, and there was no sign of trouble until she walked into the apartment, so no one would have noticed anything amiss unless they went inside."
She looked skeptical, head tilted to the side, face drawn into a scowl. "Yeah, but we didn't piss him off until the gala last night. What reason could he have had to break in on Friday? I mean, he's a dick, but he hasn't tried to contact me all this time, why would he do it the night before he knew he was going to see me?"
"Maybe he liked knowing what was waiting for you when you got back. It might have given him a feeling of superiority to look you in the eye knowing you hadn't discovered what he'd done yet." I shrugged. "Then again, I could just want it to be him so I can finally stomp his ass."
She laughed. "Finally? You've only met him once." Damn. She didn't remember running into me last year. I had to be more careful if I wanted it to stay that way. She was stressed enough as it was without adding that memory to the mix. "Imagine dealing with him for years." She hooked a thumb at her chest. "If anyone gets to kick the shit out of him, it's going to be me." I smiled at her tenacity. There was no doubt she meant it. I'd hate to be that son of a bitch if she found out he was behind this. She leaned against my side, her warmth causing goosebumps to break out over my chilled flesh. "Much as I'd like to blame Keith, my money's on Lauren. She's had a problem with me since college, she resents my being asked to run things for Teach and Marilee instead of her, and she looks like she could spit nails every time she sees you and me together."
I had to agree. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I pissed her off by turning her down, so seeing me spending time with someone she dislikes probably makes it even worse." I turned to look at her and thought I caught a hint of surprise in her expression. I gue
ss I hadn't mentioned Lauren's not so subtle offer, which she'd only missed witnessing by a few minutes. I briefly filled her in before adding, "Sorry if my presence added another layer of anger toward you."
Ali laughed and laid her head on my shoulder. "Your presence has been the one thing making this place tolerable these last few weeks. If she doesn't like us spending time together, tough shit. She can add it to the list of topics for her next whiners anonymous meeting." She swore more when she was stressed. I hated that she was dealing with so much, but I had to admit the cussing was kind of hot.
A couple of hours and a few beers later, Ali was almost back to her amazing lighthearted self. Once I'd gotten changed, and she'd unpacked her things, we took our beers and settled on the second-floor balcony. From there we wouldn't disturb Talia, who had decided to lie down for a while. Ali tipped the long neck to her lips and then used it to point toward the pool. "I'm assuming you still swim a lot since you wanted both indoor and outdoor pools."
"I try to swim as often as possible. After doing it so much in college, it became part of my routine. I don't always have time if I'm tied up with a big job or doing a lot of work in my shop, though. I have a pool at my new house but I kind of miss my old apartment. The building had an enormous pool on the roof and something about being up there above the city all alone was calming. I used to do a hundred laps every morning, weather permitting. That's why I opted for the indoor pool here. No excuse not to get my laps in if the weather is a factor." Actually, I mostly wanted it so I could swim naked without worrying about nosy neighbors, not that there was another house close enough for that to matter. "I also swam most evenings when I lived there, not so much at the new house."
"I like the idea of swimming in the evening. Way up there on the roof like that, I bet you could float there on your back and see every star in the sky." There was that wistful inflection I liked so much.