A squeak that rivaled those of the rabbit escaped me and I jumped and turned at the same time, tripping over my feet in the process. It was only by grabbing the desk that I was able to stay standing.
Somewhere between the turn and the trip, I realized that it had been Vincent talking.
"Don't scare me like that," I said.
Vincent, looking unabashed, leaned against my doorframe and watched me.
"And of course I'm feeding him." I emphasized that fact by poking the lettuce the rest of the way through. "He's eating it, isn't he?"
Vincent came across the room and looked into the cage. As he approached, I realized he didn't have any shoes or socks on, and his hair was damp.
"I don't suppose he's actually alive," Vincent said.
Remembering the touch of fur and cold flesh when I first opened the box, I shivered. "No, he's really dead."
Vincent put his arm around me and rubbed my arm, which gave me chills for a whole other reason. When I looked at him, though, he was still paying attention to the rabbit and looked lost in thought.
"What are you going to do with it?" Vincent asked.
"Frank," I said, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. "Not it. Frank."
"Frank?" Vincent looked at me confused. "As in Frank the Rabbit?"
"Yes."
"From…"
"Yes, from the movie. It seemed fitting somehow."
Vincent grinned, but it was short lived. "Sorry," he said, stepping away. "I didn't mean..."
He's sorry he touched me. Exactly what a girl wants to hear.
"I know," I said, trying to keep the depression out of my voice. I took my plate and sat on the edge of my bed. "Did you and Gran have a nice talk?"
"She gave me some things to think about."
"She's good at that. Does she know anything about today?"
"Not much," Vincent said.
"That's good. And I'm glad you're staying the night."
He didn't say anything, but he didn't leave. I tore off a few pieces of my sandwich and ate them, waiting to see if he had more to say. My meal was almost gone before he got around to talking.
"Today was difficult," he said.
That was an understatement, but I only nodded.
"I never asked if you if you were alright."
"You asked if…"
"Being so intent on what he had done to you, what I watched him do, I asked about side effects. Between the time that I left this morning and when I found you on the hill, I have no idea what happened."
I shrugged and looked down. The last thing I wanted to do was relive the day, but I had a feeling he had gone through a worse hell than I had.
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
"That you're alright, and to see if there’s anything else you need to tell me."
Need to tell him? He was giving me an out, or maybe himself. Either way, I would take it.
"I'm fine," I said.
I'm not sure if I felt the disappointment, or if I saw it across his face. Nevertheless, it didn't matter because I knew he needed more than that. The way his eyes darted to the bruises that ringed my neck weren’t overlooked either.
"It wasn't an easy day, and it lasted longer than it should have, but Gran's safe and my partners are on the mend. Once I get some sleep, I'll be golden." I hesitated before deciding to nudge my honesty further. "It does make me feel better that you're down the hall tonight."
Vincent moved the chair closer to the bed and sat. He looked as if he was trying to choose his words carefully. "It's best if I only stay for one night."
I gave him a weak smile. "I know you can't stay down the hall forever, but I'm thankful to have you here now."
He nodded, but still looked like he still had something he wanted to say.
"It's been a rough day for everyone," I said, careful with my tone. "Are you okay? I mean," I gestured at his arm. "I know you're not okay, but is there anything else? Anything you want to tell me?"
"I need to take some time to figure out a few things."
"Time?" I asked, wondering if I had missed something. "You don't have to rush anything."
Vincent nodded as though I had said something important. "For now, I think we should get some rest."
The reminder was enough to make me yawn. "I can live with that."
Leveraging myself to my feet, I tossed back my covers.
"You know," Vincent said, standing up behind me, "Frank is a pretty great name for your rabbit."
I looked over to the cage, and then beamed at Vincent. "I thought so."
He stood close, and from the look he gave me, I thought he would close the distance. When he didn't, I was tempted to make that move. Instead, we stood there, frozen in the moment until it passed us by.
"Good night, Cass."
***
The only reason I pried my eyes open the next day was that I knew there was coffee and food in the house. Since I had no intention of going to the office, I stared at my closet. What do people wear when they're not working?
It's pretty sad when you don't have enough brain power to figure out what to wear. In the end, I threw on what I would be wearing if I was going to work. It made things easier. Figuring that Frank would be hungry or thirsty, I took his cage with me.
When I trudged down the stairs, I went straight to the coffee pot. Finding Ethan in my kitchen made me stop short.
He looked nervous, but I was surprised to find no butterflies flying in my stomach.
"Sorry," I said, "I didn't know you were here.
"Your grandmother asked me not to wake you. She said you had a long day yesterday."
"Yeah, it was definitely long. Where is everyone?"
"Margaret went out and Logan picked up Vincent."
He didn't sound upset or angry, so I nodded, set Frank's cage on the floor, and then went to the coffee pot.
"I tried to call yesterday."
"My cell phone is gone. I'm surprised you're not at work."
"No cases," Ethan said. "Yesterday's case was passed to another team because it wasn't a victim from my case. This morning, I was told that my case had been closed."
"That was fast," I said.
"Is that...?" Ethan bent over Frank's cage. "That's not...Is that possible?"
I shrugged and sat at the table. "Welcome to my world."
"That's one of the reasons I'm here actually," Ethan said, joining me. "I don't know your world."
"You know more than most."
"But to navigate your life, I need to know more."
The moment was laid out before me and there were so many avenues I could take from there. I could be sarcastic and condescending and end things right there, or I could try to make this work.
"Do you want to?" I asked.
Ethan took my hand. "Until I got here yesterday morning, it hadn’t crossed my mind that someone you were investigating would come to your home. Then I saw Vincent here."
I nodded but wondered if that explained the odd look he gave me.
“I’m fascinated by some of the things that you have happening around you every day, but things like this,” he traced a finger around the bruises on my neck, “they terrify me. I don’t know what to do, or ask, or say.”
I studied Ethan, trying to figure the man out. "Do you know what happened yesterday?"
"No, not after I left. I noticed Vincent's cast." His eyes landed again on the bruises. “But it looks like your day was harder than the others made it out to be. May I?” Ethan leaned forward, but waited for me to nod before he took a closer look at the bruises. “This looks bad."
I caught his eye. "This is my world. Not always, not even often, but we don't always know what to expect from one day to the next. And the bruises are nothing." He looked like he was going to say something, but I overrode him. "No, I think you need to hear this. Einar did come to my house the night before last. He came back yesterday and threatened Gran until I went with him. My partners followed me
and together we made sure that he can’t hurt anyone else."
Ethan swallowed hard and folded his hand around mine. "He kidnapped you?"
That made me think of the word victim again and my hand shook. "And Rider was shot. He almost died and he's still in the clinic. Vincent's arm was broken. We still worked to make sure Einar would never hurt anyone again."
I didn't realize that I had started to shiver from head to foot until Ethan gathered me into his arms. I held him and concentrated on stopping the shaking and avoiding crying.
Neither worked.
"Come with me." Ethan tugged me to my feet and led me to the living room. We sat on the couch and he held me, not saying anything until long after I had regained my composure.
I still didn't let go.
"I don't have any special skills," Ethan said. "I can't do what your partners do, but I can try to be here for you. I'll do what I can along the way, but I can try to be here after the dust settles."
I'm not sure what I wanted from Ethan, but right then I felt like I needed him.
But he also deserved the truth. "I'm not sure this is going to work." I sniffed. "And I feel like a giant mess right now. Are you sure you want to be around all of this?"
"It's not going to be perfect," Ethan said, "but I’d like to try."
The phone rang.
"Hold that thought." I wiped the last traces of dampness from my face and answered the phone.
"Cassie, this is Hank."
"Morning. Sorry I haven't called yet," I said.
"Don't worry about it," Hank said. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you today. There's some paperwork that I need you to look over."
"The reports? I can do that."
Hank cleared his throat. "The reports are in there, but there's also a form to sign off on for your leave."
"What leave?"
"It's standard in these cases. You take a few weeks off with pay. Rest and relax. Get yourself up to form and then when the doctor signs off, you come back to work."
"I'm not injured," I said.
"The company psychiatrist has to sign off."
"Who?"
"In a few weeks, they'll fly in, meet with you, and then you're back to work."
"That's it?" I asked, skeptical of the description. "What about the others?"
"Rider and Vincent have been stood down as well."
Stood down. That's not a term that went over well.
"Read the documents over," Hank said quickly. "I've emailed them. We'll get digital signatures and then you're on vacation."
"Got it," I said, not able to muster any enthusiasm.
I hung up the phone and stood in the kitchen thinking over the past week. Ethan must have noticed the call had ended because he joined me.
"Bad news?" Ethan asked.
"Um, I guess not," I said. An idea struck and I smiled. "Do you have any vacation time?"
He smiled. "I do. What did you have in mind?"
"I'm not sure yet, but let's get away from here for a while."
"How long do you have?"
"A few weeks."
"I know the perfect spot."
Writing the AIR series has been a fun and amazing experience. There’s more planned for Cassie and her partners!
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on Amazon, or on the site where you made the purchase. Leaving a review helps the reader and author in many ways. Your support is appreciated!
Thank you for reading!
Amanda Booloodian
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Acknowledgements
I’d like to make a special thank you to my parents, both of which supported me in their own ways while growing up. Today, they both continue to support and encourage me.
Thank you to JD Book Services and Frankie Sutton, my editors, for all of their assistance. Deranged Doctor Design has once again provided me with a wonderful cover design and formatting.
Special thanks to Erica and Oliver Jones for helping me iron out any wrinkles along the way. Many, many other family, friends, and acquaintances have been incredibly supportive. Thank you all.
Most of all I must thank my husband for his continued encouragement, patience, and assistance in all my writing endeavors.
About the Author
Amanda Booloodian lives in Missouri with her loving, and often times peculiar, husband. In 2006, she took part in Great Beginnings and was awarded first place in the Mystery/Thriller category. Amanda has been passionate about the written word throughout her life. Now, much of her spare time is spent at the computer, delving into worlds accessible only through vivid imagination. In warm weather, when she isn’t pounding on the keyboard, she can often be found wandering through the wilderness. Occasionally she gets it into her head to SCUBA dive or to sit back at home and make wine, which can have interesting results and inspire her writing.
You can find out more about Amanda and her writing, including upcoming releases, on www.Booloodian.com. You can also find her on Facebook: Amanda Booloodian - Author, Twitter: @ajbooloodian, and Instagram: AJBooloodian.
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Stolen Sight (AIR Book 3) Page 26