“Yes, sir,” everyone said in unison.
We spread out, walking in opposite directions. When the boots of the others fell away and Naomi and I entered Echo, she asked the question I expected. She knew as well as I did her assignment to make rounds with me wasn’t random.
“So? The girl…” Naomi said.
“Yeah. I ended up staying up and talking with her. Then when I finally went to my room, I couldn’t sleep for shit.”
“Why’s that?”
“Her ex, man. He put hands on her. She ran away, came here with nothing. She knows no one. No family, really. Her dad and brother were killed in an accident a few years back.”
Naomi sighed. “Sounds like a lot of baggage, Trex. Are you actually attracted to her, or are you trying to save her?”
“That’s the thing. She is gorgeous. I mean…intoxicatingly beautiful.” I stole a glance at Naomi, who had the expression I expected. “And all those fucking hotshots in that hotel want her. She wants nothing to do with any of us, but she’s sweet about it, you know? And I don’t wanna be that guy.”
“So, you think it’s just that everyone else wants her?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t think that’s it at all.”
Naomi stopped, her brows pulled together. “You really like this chick. How much time have you spent with her?”
I kept walking. “Like, none. It’s the stupidest fucking thing ever.”
Naomi shrugged. “You can’t control chemistry, T-Rex. You can’t explain it. Hell, Matt was a cowboy. Quiet. I could have a conversation with an inanimate object as easily as I could with him. He wasn’t funny. Wasn’t particularly interesting or a show-off. Not my type at all.”
“So why did you fall for him?”
She smiled. “Because he was a good man, humble, he didn’t play games…and he had a nice ass.”
I chuckled. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. I mean, yeah, it was nice that he knew his way around a rifle and he wasn’t intimidated by me at all. We had a few things in common. But he had his moments. Occasionally, he was charming. It really came down to him being interested in me, the way he treated me, and something else I can’t explain. Has to be chemistry. Or maybe we were meant to be.”
“You were definitely meant to be. I’ve never seen a man love a woman the way Matt loved you, Nomes.”
She looked up. “He’s up there somewhere, still loving me, just like I’m down here, still loving him.”
I nodded. I wasn’t about to argue. If our energies continued in some way, I didn’t doubt that Matt was somewhere, still in love with his wife.
“It doesn’t have to be anything specific, Trex. You can like her for no reason. You can even like her a lot for no reason. Maybe it’s just that you don’t know the reason yet.”
“Thanks, Nomes. I knew you’d help me figure it out.”
We reached a T and turned right. The air changed, prompting Naomi to hold her rifle closer.
“I think it’s those experiments they were talking about,” I said. “I’d always heard it was a bunch of space and missile nerds here.”
“A lot more than missiles going on here.”
We stopped at a large door, a red and white striped banner stretching across the middle, along with a half dozen warning signs. I touched my badge to the black square on the wall out of curiosity. It blinked red, and a single, low-toned horn sounded.
We both took a step back, a small screen near the badge reader lit up, revealing a group of armed men, standing—I presumed—on the other side. One of them stepped forward to press a button on a panel on their side, allowing his voice to be heard on ours.
“Back away, Trexler. You’re unauthorized for this area.”
“Oh. This is Deep Echo? It’s uh…not that deep.”
“I’ve experienced deeper,” Naomi said with a straight face.
The men on the screen smiled, smug. “You’re nowhere near Deep Echo. Turn around.”
“I was told I had access to the entire facility with the exception of Deep Echo,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I should yell or not, but the men on the other side seemed to hear me just fine. I raised my voice, anyway.
“Take it up with the general. Turn around, Trexler. Last warning.”
It took everything I had not to ask what they would do if I didn’t. Not a single one seemed to have a sense of humor.
“Let’s go, Trex. We’ll discuss it with Bianca.” Naomi tugged on my vest, and I followed her. “What the hell was that?” she asked once we were out of hearing range. “Deep Echo?”
“I don’t know. Above my pay grade, apparently.”
“Some weird shit going on in this place. A lot weirder than I thought. So. What are you going to do about the girl?”
“Darby?” I asked, jarred by the sudden change of subject.
“Her name is Darby?” Naomi asked. I nodded. “That’s unique.”
“It’s a pretty cool story, too.”
Naomi smiled. “You did talk. About, like…real shit.”
“Yeah,” I said with a grin. It faded. “She won’t date soldiers. Her ex is military.”
“You’re not a soldier. You’re a Marine.”
“C’mon, Naomi. How would you feel if someone got you on a technicality?”
“I’d kick his ass.”
“And we can’t talk about this job. She thinks I’m in the Forestry Department.”
“You didn’t correct her?” she asked.
I shook my head. “She’d ask questions that I can’t answer, Nomes.”
“She’s a runaway who left behind an abusive guy, a dead father and brother, Mom’s not really in the picture, and she blames all military for the ex’s behavior. You’ll have to lie by omission just to date her. You still think this is a good idea?”
I thought about it for a second. “She’s my girl—the one.”
Naomi shook her head. “You’re going to lose her.”
“What should I do, then? This is my job. I have an entire team depending on me. I can’t walk away from it, and I know it sounds crazy, Nomes…but I’ve said for years I’d know it was her when I met her. It’s her.”
“I’ve always thought you were brave. You know that. I’m not sure that’s what this is. If you really think she’s the girl you’ve been talking about since I met you, you’re risking a lot.”
“You’ll get it when you meet her.”
Naomi turned to me, flattered. “I’m going to meet her? You must really like her. Because you’re going to have to do some verbal acrobatics to explain to her who I am.”
I frowned. “I didn’t think about that.”
“Maybe I’m an old fed buddy?”
“She won’t date military, cops, firefighters…that probably includes federal agents.”
“Oh. You are fucked. You are totally fucked. She’s going to want to know about your past at some point. Then, when she finds out—and she will—she’ll hate you for not telling her and you’ll be heartbroken.”
“She might not even like me, Nomes.”
“Is she stupid?”
“No,” I said, making a face.
“Then she likes you. And she probably already knows something’s not right, that there’s stuff you’re not telling her.”
“She definitely does. I’ll explain it to her. Somehow…later. I just want her to get to know me first so she knows I’m not what she thinks we are.”
“How are you going to explain if you can’t tell her about the job?”
“I can’t tell her about the Complex. I can tell her I’m a civilian contractor.”
“She’s still going to lump you in with military. I’m sorry, Trex. I’m just trying to prepare you.”
I cringed. “Fuck, you’re right. This is going to be bad.”
“You should bail now.”
I frowned. “I should. But I can’t.”
“I know,” she said, nudging my arm.
Chapter Ten
Darby
I pushed off the floor. The next steps were becoming all too familiar: flush, faucet, soap, rinse, toothbrush, toothpaste, scrub, spit, rinse. The only thing surprising was that I was hungry again.
Back in Laundry, I pulled my wet clothes and towels from the washer and put them in the dryer. I took a few steps back and sat in a white molded plastic chair that looked like the ones I used to sit in in elementary school.
“You don’t look so good,” Sylvia said. The others showed their agreement with nodding heads.
“The um…There was pizza in the lobby today. It didn’t sit right with me.”
“Pizza,” she deadpanned.
Sylvia didn’t believe me, and I couldn’t blame her. My forehead felt damp, and I was sure I was a lovely shade of green. The dryer began to spin my pants, shirt, and undergarments in a gentle rhythm. Laundry was calming, even though the baby powder/lavender/old-lady smell made me want to hurl.
Sylvia didn’t pry. She and her colleagues went back to folding and ironing, speaking in hushed Spanish.
“Senorita?” Rosa said softly, pressing on my shoulder. “Senorita?”
I blinked my eyes, seeing that the clothes in the dryer had settled at the bottom. I roused, looking around. Rosa and I were the only ones still in Laundry.
“I’m sorry. It’s almost three. I needed the dryer, so I pulled your clothes.”
I sat up straight. “Almost three?”
Rosa simply shrugged and pointed to an empty table. My clothes were folded perfectly, freshly pressed.
“Did you do this?” I asked, taking them off the table. Rosa nodded, and I sighed. “Thank you. Thank you so much! I have to go! I’m late! Sorry!”
Without waiting for Rosa’s response, I ripped open the door and rushed down the hall to my room. The clock on the nightstand read fifteen minutes ’til three.
I pulled up my hair and jumped in the shower, rinsing off in record time before jumping out to quickly shimmy my skin with the towel. In two minutes, I’d brushed my teeth and washed my face, and then I ran into the bedroom to get dressed.
“Thank you, Rosa,” I said, putting on my lightly starched slacks and shirt. She could’ve let them sit in the dryer, and I would be going to work in wrinkled clothes. I brushed my hair and put on my black flats and checked that I had my room key before letting the door slam behind me.
Before I reached the lobby, I could hear the low rumble of chatter, even more than the day before. As suspected, the room was full of hotshots, some back from their cycle at the mountain, others readying to head out, some just arriving.
Maya was still working on a line waiting to check in, and I jumped in to help. We didn’t speak, we didn’t take time for introductions, instead just working to get the guests their key cards so they could put their things away before rejoining their fellow hotshots. Maya’s short, dark hair batted at her cheeks every time she moved, her glasses setting on her full, apricot-blushed cheeks. Her makeup made her look more beauty blogger than front desk clerk, and I made a mental note to ask her if my theory was right later.
After an hour of working together, we conquered the line, and Maya sighed. “Holy hell, that was nuts. Thanks for the help.”
“Thanks for staying.”
She shrugged. “Stavros told me I’d probably need to. I’m Maya,” she said, holding out her hand. I took it, surprised by her firm grip.
She turned and bent down, bringing up with her a purse and a clear makeup bag. It was full to the brim with powders, eye shadows, mascaras, foundations, brushes, concealers, highlighters, and everything else I’d ever seen in a Sephora.
“Wow,” I said.
“Yeah.” She chuckled, unzipping the top. “I don’t even use half of it. I’ve been meaning to get rid of it. Hey…do you wear makeup?”
“I…”—I shook my head—“used to, but can’t afford any right now. It’s on the list.”
She stared at my face. “My God, the things I could do with those cheekbones and eyes. And your brows…” She reached, and I backed away.
“Need work. I know. I sort of had to leave in a hurry.”
“Oh, shit. Was it a fire or something?” She looked down at her makeup bag. “If there were a fire, I’d grab this first.”
I laughed, but she was serious. She dug into her bag, pulling out items with the seal still on them, and a few sample-sized pieces. “Here. You can’t just not have makeup.”
“What? I can’t take yours.”
“I haven’t used them. I have a YouTube channel with like forty thousand followers. Companies send me free shit all the time.”
“A YouTube channel?”
She grinned. “Yeah. I tell stories and discuss random topics. Sometimes I do makeup tutorials. It’s so lame, but people love to hear about my misery.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
She laughed. “I make up most of it. Whatever, it’s for followers, right? Just look up Maya Bee.”
“Maya…?”
“Bee,” she said, still picking through her bag. “It’s short for Berkowitz. No one is going to the trouble of searching Maya Berkowitz on YouTube. That’s why there’s Miranda Sings, and the goddess of YouTubers, Jenna Marbles. There. You have the basics. And some kickass highlighter. Highlighter should be a basic. And baking powder. It’s my jam.”
“I don’t…”
“It lightens up your under eye, and honey…you need it. Look at my YouTube channel. I do a whole review on it. The foundation might be a half shade off, but if you’d go outside once in a while it would match.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking down at the pile of makeup on the desk.
“Okay, I’m off. Have a good night.”
“You, too,” I said, baffled. No one had ever given me anything before. Certainly not a stranger. I wanted to tell her that I did go outside, that I walked everywhere I went, but then I’d have to explain why I looked like death, so I let her walk away.
Maya waved to Stavros, who was shaking something behind the bar for a bleach blonde getting plenty of attention from the hotshots. Stavros looked at me, and jerked his head up, signaling for me to come over. I complied, wondering if he was going to high-five me for triumphing over the line, or scold me for barely making it on time. By his expression, it could have gone either way.
“Here,” he said, setting a bottle of water on the table.
I picked it up and looked over the label. “Do you want me to bring this to a room?” I asked.
“No, I want you to drink it. You look a little green. And parched.”
“Oh,” I said, twisting open the cap. I took a small swig, then several large ones. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was. “Thank you.”
Stavros nodded once. “I know you said you felt fine, but I can see that you don’t. The guys over here were talking about it. The dark circles, the drooping eyes. You look like Tilde. I’d send you home, but you live here, and I have no one else.”
“I’m really okay.”
A small smile cracked his hardened expression. “I appreciate you being a trouper. I really do. If we weren’t full of alcoholic firefighters, I’d take over for you so you could rest. Just…take it easy. Nothing extra.”
“Thanks, Stavros,” I said, noting his guilty expression before I made my way back across the lobby with the bottle of water in hand.
“I’ve got some Pepto pills in my room.”
I looked up with a tired smile. It was one of the hotshots I’d heard called Sugar. All I wanted was a nap. “Thanks, I’m okay. The water is helping.”
“You got a stomach virus or something?” he asked. He was enormous, a tad bigger than Maddox, but I could tell outside of fire season, he was even more massive. His clean-shaved head made him look more like a Marine than a firefighter. He would be intimidating if it weren’t for the kindness in his eyes.
“No, just trying to adjust to the elevation, I think.”
He nodded again, peeking over his shoulder, as I reorganized the front desk for the
second time since clocking in.
“Everything okay, Sugar?”
“Yes, ma’am. Can I hang out here a minute?”
“Of course. Are the boys bothering you?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m going out soon, and my moms is calling. She’s a worrier. She cries. A lot. I can’t go back to my room because Fish is rooming with me, and he’s a good guy, but he loves to give me grief about my moms. She’s all alone at home. It’s just us. She wants me to live my life, but she…”
“Worries.”
He nodded.
“You can take all the time you need.”
His cell phone rang a quiet tune. “Thank you. Hey, Mom. Yep, still at the hotel. No, not going out today. They’re thinking in the morning.”
I could hear her fussing from where I stood, and it made sense why he wanted to stand across the room. She was just telling her son how much she loved him, but her voice was shrill, and it made me nervous. I couldn’t imagine how it made Sugar feel. I was going to give him his space, but then decided he was standing beside me for a reason. If I walked away, the other guys would likely take my place and listen in.
I pretended to be busy with the computer, trying not to hear Sugar sweetly comfort his mother, reassuring her about his turn on the mountain. His deep voice was cathartic, lulling the nausea I was feeling away, helping my shoulders to relax and my mind to quiet down. I barely noticed Trex approach my desk.
“Hey there,” he said, hope in his eyes.
“Hi,” I said, trying not to look so happy he was back. I looked at my watch. “Is it that time already?” I felt awkward around him now. Forget the butterflies, cannons were going off in my stomach, and I was sure that couldn’t be good for Bean. Stop it, I scolded myself.
“Is this guy bothering you?” Trex asked. He was joking, but I still felt a need to defend poor Sugar. “He’s talking to his…sister.”
Sugar winked at me.
“You’re a terrible liar,” Trex said with an amused smile.
Sugar plugged his other ear and turned his back to Trex, keeping his voice low. “Yes, Mama, I will. Yes, ma’am.” He waited while she prayed loudly over him, sounding like a sermon during an intense revival. “Amen. Thank you, Mama. Love you, too. Bye now.” He slipped the phone in his pocket and nodded to me, looking sheepish. “You see now why I take the calls away from the guys.”
From Here to You Page 11