Damage: (Lakefield Book 5)

by Jennifer Vester

  “More than sketchy,” Brock mumbled as he continued to type.

  Aiden gave a sideways glance at Brock and continued, “If the FBI can’t come up with anything more solid than what they have, they can’t continue to hold him. It’s suspicious, but his fingerprints weren’t found on anything, and anyone could have been in and out of that room while he was traveling.”

  Holden let out a long breath. “I want my best friend out of there, man. There’s no reason why this should even be a question.”

  “Now, hold on,” Logan interrupted. “There’s a reason, it’s just not one that makes sense to any of us. Evidence was found in the room of a man, who may or may not, fit whatever profile they’re working from. We know he isn’t guilty, there’s no doubt in any of our minds about it. That’s not how any of this works, though. They have to follow the leads that they have.”

  “Agreed,” Aiden said. “Need this to go away, but it’s only going to happen if the FBI and lawyers work it out. He has to go in front of a judge in a few days, since they’re reaching their max on holding him. Right now, they’re just trying to wear him down.”

  “Okay, wait,” I said. “So, does that mean they’re going to start a trial in a few days?”

  Brock answered, “No, they’ll go before a judge, and he or she, will determine if there’s enough evidence to officially charge him and begin legal proceedings. The federal government works a little different. However, since they have no concrete proof that the material found in his hotel room is actually his, they don’t have much. Again, anyone could have gone in his room and planted it.”

  “Agent Kennedy is just eager to close his high-profile case,” Holden added.

  Brock rolled his eyes. “The guy is a dick. We all knew this.”

  “Anything from your contacts, Brock?” Holden asked.

  Brock smirked. “Yes, actually. There are some things in the case material that Mick gave us, that accidentally fell into the right hands. Mick isn’t my favorite person in the world—”

  “Brock,” Aiden warned.

  Brock held up his hands and continued, “But, he gave us a lot of interesting things in the case that don’t point to Cade at all. There are some timeline issues, and one thing, which has a friend interested in another angle.”

  “What’s that?” Holden asked.

  Brock started typing on his computer again and mumbled, “Too soon to tell on it, but with Aiden’s permission, it’s been given to the lawyers.”

  “So?” I asked.

  He looked up at me and gave me a quick but small smile. “It’ll be enough proof that the judge will likely throw it out. The FBI will have to either, concretely prove that Cade was involved, or they’ll have enough sense to go in another direction.”

  Liv reached over and squeezed my hand. “There’s hope, in other words.”

  I glanced at her briefly and gave her a quick nod.

  “In the meantime,” Aiden said, “You and your mother are welcome to stay with us. We have plenty of room.”

  “We do too, if you don’t mind staying in the outskirts of the city a little bit,” Brock said.

  Holden cleared his throat. “We’re in the middle of a move, unfortunately, otherwise you could join us.”

  “We’re headed back to Colorado next week, but we can offer both of you a place to stay after we’re gone.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” I replied. The gesture by all of them hit me deep within my chest and I had to stop myself from crying.

  Picking up on my discomfort, Liv gave me a small smile. “Cade loves you, and it’s pretty obvious to all of us, that you love him too. We’re all family from different places and walks of life, but we take care of our own.”

  “Well said, babe,” Aiden said. “Suzanne, the offer is open, just let us know what you need. You’re in a hotel right now?”

  I nodded. “Let me think about it. We may be staying a while, so I’ve been looking at some places.”

  “Understood, let us know if we can help. And I have something for you before you go.”

  With some much needed and offered help, I’d found a rental house within three days. Furnished nicely, and in a decent neighborhood.

  Not exactly what I’d planned when coming back, but it helped to be around the girls, who had been solidly supporting me, emotionally, the past few days.

  I felt like this was a better situation and location, rather than going back to Bakersville with no family or friends to speak of. It also kept me close enough to Cade that I felt like I was at least not abandoning him by leaving.

  My fingers grazed over the note on my table from Cade. His lawyer had smuggled it out of wherever they were holding him and had passed it along to Aiden when he left.

  It was at least the hundredth time today that I’d touched it. It was like some life-line to him that I couldn’t get out of my head. And no matter how many times a day I reminded myself that it was just a piece of yellow legal paper, I reached for it a few times a day just to feel it. His hands had been on it, and the words he’d written comforted me.

  I flipped it open and laid my head in my hand as I leaned on the wooden surface of our dining table.

  Suz-E,

  Quick note. Watched everywhere. Don’t worry, don’t ever give up. Need you, love you. Will hold you soon, sunshine.

  Thinking about you.

  Cade

  I sighed and folded it back up. Looking around the house, eyes wandering over unfamiliar items, I wondered if things would ever go back to the way they were.

  To kill time today, and more importantly focus on anything other than Cade, I’d been speaking to a realtor about selling our family home. The upside was the value had gone up, the downside was I needed to go through the house to figure out what to pack and what needed to go.

  It was a project I wasn’t looking forward to, but the man I spoke with on the phone today, was at least nice and had gone over all the details, if we were honestly interested.

  My mother had a follow-up exam the same day as the meeting with Aiden. The local neurologist was nice, but the prognosis was the same. It was hard to imagine that her mind might slip completely one day, into whatever soft memories she had of the past, or forget her life completely.

  She’d been spending a lot of time with our new neighbors recently. A couple of older women that clearly had two passions. Gardening and taking care of people. Both retired nurses and best friends, they'd adopted my mother like she was an extension of their family.

  They even had a sleepover planned tonight, where they were going to watch movies and do whatever it was that they did. It made me chuckle, thinking of all of them passed out on the couch by eight.

  I found myself at Muse the night after the meeting. Out of need to be near the memories of Cade in some way, or just for some much needed company. Either way, it was better than trying to go through the motions of living and fighting the endless insomnia that had started the night after he was arrested. I ran into both Richard and Pete, who asked a lot of questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

  My old boss was surprisingly concerned. Pete was a given, but Richard’s empathy was yet another instance where I wondered if I’d judged the man too harshly. I wasn’t exactly in the right state of mind when I worked for him. Perhaps he was just one of those people that was a lot more likeable outside of work.

  Aiden and the guys weren’t saying much of anything lately. I found out that Jake was in recovery at a local hospital and would likely have a long road ahead of him in healing from his injuries.

  I paid a visit to him one afternoon, just to thank him for protecting me. It was the least I could do, considering he’d nearly been killed. He griped about the food and the lack of mobility, but there was no accusation in his eyes when we talked, and it eased my sense of guilt.

  I was told that there were security measures in place to watch my mother and me. I didn’t see them, and it made me wonder if Aiden and his team were also having some doubts as to
Cade’s innocence.

  Meanwhile, I seemed to have developed a nasty stomach bug. Everything I ate or smelled seemed to have me running to the bathroom to wretch. Which made going to Muse a bit less than productive. I’d planned on drinking my weight in alcohol that night, consequences be damned. But after a couple of shots, in an attempt to drown my sorrows, I’d promptly regretted it.

  Self-annihilation was stupid, and I knew it. Nothing could fix this. And I was starting to understand why Cade had fallen apart during the month we'd been separated. I wasn’t an alcoholic, but the temptation to numb the pain with anything at hand had been overwhelming.

  When you loved a person deeply and desperately, the way I loved him, it was hard to function without them. It was like half of my life, my future, and my heart had suddenly been snatched away from me.

  When I looked in the mirror at times, a ghost stared back at me. I was not the woman I wanted to be. Ultimately, that had nothing to do with Cade, and a lot to do with how I’d always seen myself. With, or without him, I was going to have to stand on my own two feet again, like I’d always done, and figure things out. Not this week, though, maybe not even next week, but soon.

  Scrolling through job listings in Lakefield on the computer, I tried to focus on my most immediate need, a job. I took a drink of my bottled water and scanned through them one by one. A listing caught my eye for a management position at none other than Muse.

  “Odd,” I mumbled to myself.

  I picked up my phone and texted Liv.

  Suzanne: Saw an ad for a manager at Muse. Is that real?

  I waited a few minutes before moving on from the listing.

  Olivia: Yes. You should apply. I think the other guy quit.

  Suzanne: Richard?

  Olivia: That’s the one. Weirdo.

  Suzanne: He was nice. Just different.

  Olivia: I think Aiden met with him yesterday. Who knows. Aiden was supposed to go by there today. Go talk to him.

  Suzanne: Okay. Probably not qualified, but I’ll ask.

  Olivia: Can’t think of anyone with better qualifications. You can do it.

  Suzanne: Thanks, girl.

  I hesitated for a minute before texting again.

  Suzanne: Any news? It’s been a few days, so I thought maybe they would have the court thing today.

  Olivia: Haven’t heard anything. Aiden has gone into silent mode. Something is up, though.

  Suzanne: Meaning?

  Olivia: Lots of meetings at the house with the office door closed. And Brock has been by twice. Andi says he’s acting weird. Checked with Kate and she said the same with Logan. Julia said Holden has been quiet.

  Suzanne: Isn’t he always quiet?

  Olivia: Not with her.

  Suzanne: Okay. Probably nothing. Thought I would check.

  Olivia: I’ll tell you if I can bribe Aiden to spill. You never know with those guys. But I think they’ve gotten smart.

  Suzanne: How so?

  Olivia: If they tell one of us, then we all know.

  My stomach rolled, and I took a deep breath. Time for some antacids and getting my butt in gear if I was going to catch Aiden.

  I stood up and promptly sat back down from feeling dizzy. This wasn’t the day to get sick and miss a chance to get back in the swing of things. But the way I felt at the moment might hinder what I needed to do.

  Suzanne: I may have to catch Aiden later.

  Olivia: What’s up? Still sick?

  Suzanne: Dizzy.

  Olivia: Did you go to the doctor?

  Suzanne: No. Just taking some over the counter stuff. I’m fine. I’ll get with him later today.

  Setting my phone on the table, and grabbing my water, I stood up again and took a shaky step toward the couch. I wondered if I just needed sleep more than anything. My nights had been too restless lately, combined with lack of food and a stomach bug, my body was beginning to rebel.

  As soon as I laid my head down on a cushion, my phone started to ring. I let it go to voicemail out of pure exhaustion, and lack of willpower to move. If it was about my mother, the ladies next door would just come over, and wouldn’t bother with the phone. Likely, it was Liv calling to tell me to go to a doctor.

  If this shit didn’t clear up by tomorrow, I would go. When I closed my eyes, sleep took me quickly, without any thought to the weeks prior.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Slowly coming out of my sleep, I was groggy as hell. The light in the room indicated that it was early afternoon, and I felt like I’d been asleep forever. I felt rested, but still very slow in my movements as I sat up.

  A blanket was thrown over me. Something that I couldn’t remember reaching for or even being near the couch. Given the passage of time, I assumed my mother had come home at one point or another. She was probably out in the yard or taking her own nap.

  I swung my legs over the couch and sat up completely, wishing I hadn’t. My head was pounding from a headache of massive proportions. Wincing, I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, then headed to the bathroom to find some pain relievers.

  Pills taken and after washing my face, I made my way back to the kitchen table that my phone was sitting on. Looking at it, I sat down to scroll through some missed calls. All blocked numbers. I hit the button for my voicemails, set the phone on the table and put it on speaker.

  “You’re a perfect ten you know,” the first recording said, and my eyes popped open at the sound of the scratchy voice speaking. It was like he was speaking through a tunnel and the voice was muffled. “I came to check on you. I thought we would chat, but apparently you had a reaction to the drug I gave you. I wasn’t disappointed, though. I wondered if you would know what day it is. Why it’s an important day. I took some pictures to celebrate. Two halves to make a whole.”

  I took a deep breath and slowly scanned the house. It felt cramped and somewhat foreign suddenly. He’d been in my fucking house.

  My hands started to shake as I thought about what he’d said. I looked at the date on my phone and noted that nearly an entire day had passed. Not just a day but almost an entire twenty-four-hour period. Even worse, I couldn’t remember a thing.

  A tear slipped down my face as I opened my mouth.

  What the fuck? What the fuck?

  Turning around, I stood up and started examining everything, to see if there was anything out of place. Something to tell me he’d been here. Everything looked so normal, nothing touched.

  There was a knock at the door that startled me. I walked toward it apprehensively and after looking through the window, I opened it.

  Richard was standing on the porch.

  “Rick!” I cried and clutched my chest.

  “Suzanne? Are you okay?” he asked as he reached for me. His hand slipped around my arm and held me steady, while I tried to get a hold of myself.

  I nodded. “It's just not a good time right now. I need to call the police. What are you doing here?”

  “You look awful. I can wait with you or take you to them. I was stopping by to tell you about Muse. I live about a block away and saw you here a few times. They have an opening for management. I just thought you might be interested.”

  I moved back into the house and sat down on one of the chairs in the living room. “I’m sorry, I have to sit down. I just can’t right now.”

  He moved into the house and crouched down beside me, feeling my forehead. “I think you may be really sick. I’m going to take you to the hospital.”

  “The police…”

  “They have a horrible response time. I’ll take you. I’m going to pick you up and put you in the car. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

  “Rick, thank you. I don’t know what to say. You know, you’ve been really nice. I thought after Cade…when he went missing, I guess, I didn’t want to work for anyone else. I was a bitch, I’m sorry.”

  “Cade’s never been gone though, right?” he asked in a pleasant tone. “He never really was missing
. The news reports got some things wrong, didn’t they?”

  It took a moment for my brain to process what he’d said. I stared at him, wondering if I’d heard him correctly.

  “Well, no, not really, I guess.”

  He pursed his lips for a moment. “Let me get you some water before we go.”

  Stepping through the living room with ease, I heard him open and shut the fridge before he came back to my side. When he crouched down in front of me I took the water from him and started to drink.

  “Thanks,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “Anytime,” he smirked. “Why do you need the police?”

  I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I was sleepy again. “There’s someone that was in here. He left a message. And I’ve been asleep for a day.”

  The words in my mouth felt heavy as I said them. Like my lips moved but they were sluggish somewhat with the effort. I wasn’t sure why, and it didn’t make sense to me. None of it did. Not the last twenty-four hours or the message on my phone. Even Rick being here seemed a bit surreal. Things were off kilter.

  Rick glanced around for a moment. “Anything missing?”

  “No, I don’t think so. But I think he did something.”

  “Do you remember anything?”

  “No,” I said, as I shook my head. Lifting the bottle of water up in my hand, I noticed that half the water was missing. I didn’t remember drinking that much, but as upset as I was, I could have downed the entire thing and probably wouldn’t have known.

  “Hmm,” Rick replied.

  “The water,” I said. “Was it capped?”

  “Well, no, not really. They had caps on them, but the seals were broken. Not something you would notice perhaps. Especially with a forgetful mother that probably does some strange things from time to time. I wondered if she would drink them, honestly. It would have set some things back.”