Olivia’s smile was wistful. “Liam really does care about you. I can see that now, and I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“Apology accepted. Thank you for all your help today. I can’t believe how easy it was to get moved in.”
“I believe it, with all the Bomb Squad players helping, too.”
Marlena gathered the scattered newspaper bits they’d used to wrap her glassware in and stuffed them in a trash bag. “All I have left to do tonight is return my keys to the old place, and take one last look around.”
“I’d offer to come with you, but I’m testing my trebuchet again tomorrow morning, and I want to make a few last-minute tweaks to the design tonight.”
Marlena locked up and followed Olivia to the parking lot, waving her away as she set off for her apartment two buildings over. “I’ll see you at Locks tomorrow morning. I’ll bring the smoothies again.”
Humming along to the radio, Marlena drove to her old apartment for the last time. It’d been a great day with great friends. She never, in her wildest dreams, would have envisioned how rich her life would become by volunteering to help Bomb Squad or by opening herself to the universe’s push toward Liam. Despite the turmoil in her family and the dredging to the surface of the many deep ways that her childhood trauma had scarred her, she was happier in an infinitely more complex, satisfying way than she had been a couple months earlier.
Her empty apartment, with its starkly blank walls and vacuous space, brought home the truth to her that a place was just a place, that true homes could only be found in people’s hearts and in the hearts of the people you loved.
She took one final look in every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen, then bathroom, in case an item had been forgotten, but found none. The team had done a phenomenal job cleaning the place top to bottom with a skill and discipline she should have expected from former soldiers.
She was standing on her tiptoes in the bedroom closet, peering at the shelf above the hanger rod, when the front door opened. She paused, listening. Maybe that had been the neighbor’s door. Holding her breath, she angled her ear toward the bedroom door.
The unmistakable sound of footsteps sent a shot of adrenaline through her system, speeding her pulse. She shook off the ridiculous anxiety. Maybe one of the guys thought he forgot his wallet or something, or perhaps her old landlord was stopping by.
“Hello?” she called, walking from the bedroom to the living room.
Michael stood near the balcony door, fiddling with the lock. The shock of seeing him elicited a gasp. She stumbled back a few steps before bracing her hands on the bedroom door frame. She hadn’t seen Michael since dinner with her parents, and this time, if something went wrong, she didn’t have Liam to hide behind.
Michael’s face snapped in her direction, his expression fraught with frustration. “I can’t get this door locked. I have to lock all the doors.”
His meaty fingers groped around the base of the door handle, but when he found no lock, he shook the handle with a frantic growl, rattling the glass.
“Michael, stop that. I’ll help you, but you have to talk to me first. What are you doing here?” As if she didn’t know.
“I can’t stay at Mom’s house. I saw them looking in the window, their Foreign Legion badges. I have to be off the ground floor.” From his pocket, he pulled a steak knife she recognized from her parents’ set. Why they’d leave knives in the house with Michael living there was a mystery she didn’t need to worry about tonight.
Her attention strayed to the kitchen counter where her cell phone sat. If she could reach it, who would she call? The odds of Liam answering his phone were slim to none, and even if he did, it’d be a solid five or ten minutes before he’d arrive. Her mom could come get Michael and bring him back to her house, but who was to say Michael would go with her, given the panic attack he seemed poised on the brink of. Calling the police might help, or it might exacerbate a situation that could be easily diffused.
She raised her hands, palms flat in a calming gesture. “I’m going to help you, but first you have to put the knife down on the kitchen counter along with any other knives you have with you.”
“It’s just this one.” He took a lurching step toward the kitchen, then looked at her with pleading eyes. “You’ll help me?”
“Yes. Go set the knife down.”
To her immeasurable relief, he did. “Good job. Now, walk to the living room again so we can talk.” Ignoring the rattle of her teeth, she walked closer, but remained out of his arm’s reach. “It’s time for me to help you find a place that’s not on the ground floor.”
“This place,” he said.
She sidestepped toward the kitchen. “You can’t stay here. This apartment isn’t mine anymore.”
“But you’re here.”
Another step. “For the last time. I moved today. I’m only here because I was conducting a final inspection.”
He shook his head. “Why can’t I stay here tonight? I’ll lock the door when I leave.”
“Because it’s against the law of my lease, okay?” Technically, that was a lie, but a necessary one.
He stomped her way. “I don’t think that’s true. I think you’re lying to me.”
She skittered the rest of the way to her purse and the relinquished steak knife. He might not mean to hurt her, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t accidentally again. “You know what else is off the ground? Bridges. Destiny Falls has a lot of bridges. They wouldn’t find you if you were on a bridge over the water.”
He froze mid-step. “I never thought about that.”
She tucked the knife into her purse, then withdrew her phone before securing the purse strap on her shoulder. “It’s a great plan. Any time you start to feel uncomfortable on the ground, you can go hang out on a bridge as long as you want.”
Cocking his head to the side, he swung his gaze around her apartment as though debating which would be safer—the apartment or a bridge. Then he took a few swift strides to the front door. “You’ll drive me.”
Relief made her heart squeeze. His panic attack was dissipating. “I can’t tonight. My car’s full of stuff, so you’ll have to take the bus or walk.” Another bald-faced lie, but she refused to be trapped in a car with him. “Do you need money for the bus? I can help you with that.”
“Yeah, money. I never have enough money.”
Suppressing her lingering fear, she feigned confidence and walked past him into the hallway. He followed her out, so she locked the apartment door, then headed down the stairs, as if this was nothing special. Just a brother and sister leaving together, as simple as that.
His footfalls behind her on the stairs were heavy and slightly faster than her pace. To keep a buffer of space between them, she had to constantly ramp up her speed until she was jogging down the final length and out through a courtyard to the parking lot.
She didn’t want him to walk to her car, which was in a dark, remote corner of the lot, so she preceded him to the sidewalk on the main road and stood under a streetlamp. He joined her.
Looking at him under the shadowed, yellow glow of the streetlight, she saw their father’s nose, their mother’s eyes that were presently filled with trust for Marlena. She’d promised to help him, and this was the best way she knew how, at least for tonight. Fondness tugged at her. No matter what, he’d always be her only sibling.
“Where are you parked?” he asked.
She nodded over her shoulder. “Back in the lot, but I thought I’d point you in the right direction of the bridges first.”
“And give me money.”
“Yes, that, too. First, tell me, are you being good to Mom?”
His nose wrinkled. “She made tuna casserole last night. I don’t like that.”
“What? You used to love it when you were a kid. You and I had a deal. You’d sneak me the peas and carrots from your plate of casserole and I’d sneak you the bigger pieces of tuna. Everybody was happy.”
She grinned at the memory, but h
e frowned and rubbed his elbow. “I don’t remember that.”
Marlena had a lot of great memories of them as kids. He was four years older than her, and she’d idolized him. They’d been two of many kids in their neighborhood who spent weekends and evenings riding bikes and imagining themselves to be knights or cops and robbers.
When he was twelve, Mom started leaving him in charge of her when she went grocery shopping, because she was only eight. Alone together, they used to skim ice cream from the top of the carton in an attempt to fool their parents into believing that the carton had come with less than usual. His mental illness hadn’t reared its head until he was fourteen, and even then, it didn’t transform his personality entirely for another year.
“You don’t have to remember,” she said. “I’ll keep track of those memories for both of us.”
He nodded, solemn, then he grabbed hold of her sleeve. She gasped again, her knees going weak. “If they get me, you’re the keeper of our history. You tell what happened to me.”
Clamping her teeth together, she pried his fingers off of her shirt and stepped back. “Okay, yes. I have to go now, but I want you to know that I love you, Michael.”
“I’m ready for the money.”
She dug through her purse for her wallet, then pulled out two five-dollar bills and handed them over. He stuffed them in his pocket, then turned and trudged down the sidewalk away from her.
Her heart hurt that they couldn’t have the relationship she wanted. He would never be what she wanted him to be, but if she could learn to accept him for who he was, then hopefully someday she could make peace with what had happened to her and stop holding her breath, waiting for him to turn into a monster again.
Chapter Sixteen
In Locks’ parking lot, Marlena slid dark sunglasses over her eyes, much as she had the first time she and Olivia had met there to practice for the science competition. Also like last time, a night of hedonism with Liam McAllister was to blame. Then again, this time she couldn’t completely blame him for her sore muscles and slight dehydration. Moving apartments had a way of taking it out of a lady.
By the time she arrived, she could see around the corner from Locks that Olivia was already set up and launching eggs across the canal, much to Allison, baby Katie, and Harper’s delight, judging by their squeals and claps.
Marlena trudged around the building to join them, a tray of four fruit smoothies in one hand.
Allison was the first to pluck out a smoothie. “Look what the cat dragged in. Feeling a little worn out after yesterday’s move?”
“I don’t know why,” Olivia said. “You had the entire Bomb Squad team there doing your dirty work. Which was awesome, by the way. I’ve never been more proud of you.”
“Thanks. I think I used up my one and only hustle on those guys, though. They’ll never let me get away with that again, but it was worth it.”
Harper picked a smoothie from the tray. “Did you see any strange phenomena on your first night?” Marlena could tell by the tone in her voice that she believed in haunted apartments as much as Marlena did.
“Not a thing, unless you count my boyfriend showing up after a night of drinking with his buddies at the VFW, wanting to christen every room.”
Harper raised her hand for a high-five, but Olivia wrinkled her nose. “Okay, I don’t need to hear that. Gross.”
After yesterday, when Olivia and Liam had been in the same room together amicably for an extended period of time, Marlena had decided that it was time to stop dancing around her connection to both of them. Maybe she could just will their feud to end. Wishful thinking, but it was worth a try.
“Liam is insatiable,” Marlena said, purely to tease Olivia. “He’s like a sex god, especially when—”
“Stop it, ew,” Olivia said.
“I thought you wanted to learn more about your brother,” Marlena teased.
Olivia smacked her on the arm repeatedly. “Ew, ew, ew.”
Marlena chuckled and skipped out of hitting range. “Fine, have it your way. Let’s get this tribute thingy fired up again. I’m ready to see some science in action.”
Even to Marlena’s untrained eye, it was clear Olivia had made some changes to her machine. It looked more durable, and the balancing weight seemed bigger.
Olivia dropped a single egg into the slingshot pouch on one end of the lever. “All my single eggs are making it across to the other side exactly how I want them to, so the trick will be slinging over some padding first for the eggs to land on, so they won’t crack.”
“All right,” Marlena said. “I like that plan.”
Olivia took the pull cord in hand, but Allison stepped closer and leaned in. “Wait, hold on. We have a visitor.”
All heads turned in the direction Allison was looking. A cute guy who looked to be in his early thirties marched along the pedestrian walkway carrying what looked like a longbow, with a quiver strapped to his back. Three teenagers trailed behind him lugging bags.
“Oh, balls,” Olivia said.
“Is that . . .” Harper said, but Olivia was already marching toward the intruder.
“You can’t practice here. This is top secret,” she snapped.
The man stopped short, pushed his glasses up on his nose, and glared at her. “This is public land. I can practice wherever I want.”
“Who do you think that is?” Marlena asked Harper.
“That’s Jesse Church, shop teacher and mortal enemy,” she whispered.
Marlena took another long look at him. He really was a good looking man—tall, with defined features, unruly brown hair, and a nice body. The glasses gave him a Clark Kent sexiness. He was exactly the kind of hot geek she’d always hoped to set Olivia up with on a date, not pit her against in a cutthroat competition that was near and dear to Olivia’s heart.
Well, Jesse Church might have a teenage entourage, but Olivia’s entourage outnumbered his, only by a baby, but still. “Come on, ladies. Let’s show Olivia some support.”
They swaggered in Jesse and Olivia’s direction, Marlena in the lead with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed, enjoying the Wild West showdown feel of the encounter. It wasn’t every day she got to look her BFF’s enemy in the eyes.
“You’re going down this year, McAllister,” Church said. He held out his bow. “Go ahead and take a good, long look at the engineering feat that’s going to bring your undefeated streak to an end.”
Olivia mustered a yawn. Good on her. “When you’re done preening, you can watch me test out my Gondorian trebuchet. I figure if it was good enough to defeat the Orc army, then it’s good enough to defeat a mere mortal like you. This year, I’m not just going to slay you and the rest of the competition, I’m going to slay you Middle-earth style.”
Marlena cringed. She didn’t think she’d ever heard anything more dorky in her life.
“What’s a Gondorian?” Allison whispered.
Aha, Marlena remembered this answer. “It’s some kind of superhero bachelor from a comic book called Lord of the Ring.”
Harper broke out in a giggle. “Have you two been living under a rock or something?”
Church snapped his fingers and one of his minions set up a short step stool. “Are you ready for a preview of your funeral, McAllister? Get a load of this.”
He climbed to the top of the stool and reached his hand out. “An arrow, please.”
The arrow had a rope attached to the blunt end. Church drew the arrow back on the bowstring, aimed across the canal, and let it go. The arrow sailed through the air and landed in the grass approximately four feet from the edge of the canal.
He handed off his bow, took up the rope and stuck his hand out again. “Pulley.”
A minion set a pulley in his hand. He snapped it to the rope. “Basket.”
The third minion handed him a huge wicker basket brimming with eggs. He hooked that to the pulley and raised the rope above his head, taut. The basket of eggs glided on the rope across the canal and came to a
hard stop on the ground about a foot from the canal edge. Three eggs bounced off and rolled into the canal.
“Oh, balls,” Harper said.
He swung his face around and leveled a smug smile at Olivia, who stood with her mouth lolling open, as did her entourage, Marlena included. It didn’t matter how well Olivia’s tribute thingy slung individual eggs across the canal. She was toast.
“That was four dozen eggs, minus the three that jumped out, in ten seconds. Want to guess how many pulleys I built and how many baskets of eggs I’m bringing?”
Olivia cleared her throat. “The baskets aren’t homemade. That’s in violation of the challenge rules.”
He hopped down from the stool and sidled closer to Olivia. “Make no mistake, I wove those baskets myself.”
Marlena took back her previous thought. That was the dorkiest thing she’d ever heard.
Olivia’s eyes narrowed. She glared at him, unblinking, her face contorted as though she smelled something nasty. He glared right back at her.
“Church, you are a thorn in my side.” Olivia’s voice was thick with menace. “You can’t beat me at this. I have a degree in physics. This is my domain, my kingdom.”
Church sniffed. He reached a hand back and one of the minions deposited his bow in it. “Your kingdom is about to fall, McAllister. It’s time for a new ruler around here. You’ll be lucky if that pile of sticks survives another round of testing, much less hours in the sun on the competition day, especially with a counterweight of that size. And what kind of glue did you use, Elmer’s? Unlike the Gondorians, you have no idea how to prepare battle weapons. Maybe you should have considered getting a degree in woodworking, like we lowly peasants have.”
“Oh my God,” Marlena muttered to Harper. “They’re both talking like medieval nerds.”
Undefeated Page 24