Ctrl Z

by Danika Stone

  “Look,” Woodrow growled. “I… I can’t let anyone know I hired you to do this.”

  “It’s fine,” Marq said, rolling his eyes. “You’re not the only one who’s hired someone to snoop around.”

  He reached out, plucking the card from Woodrow’s fingers.

  “No. I’m SERIOUS,” Woodrow insisted. “If someone knew I was doing this, there could be serious repercussions for me!”

  Marq’s eyes dropped to the card, and in that moment, the sound in the room seemed to drop away to nothing. Jude Alden. Marq was up out of the chair, and headed for the door in seconds.

  “Wait!” Woodrow called. “Marq! I need to know how you’re going to contact me!”

  The bells chimed on the door again. Marq was gone.

  : : : : : : : : : :

  Indigo stood in the hallway outside the apartment next to Jude, palms sweaty and heart racing. The buzzer downstairs had been broken, and after pressing it numerous times, someone had come through the front door. “Just head up,” he’d said. “None of the buzzers work.”

  Sherry Sykes wasn’t even going to have that much warning.

  Standing here now, details kept snapping into focus for Indigo: the pattern on the wallpaper in the hallway, the sound of a vacuum coming from behind the door, a woman laughing at the other end of the corridor.

  “You okay?” Jude asked.

  “No.”

  Heart in throat, Indigo lifted her hand, knocking twice before she could change her mind. Inside the apartment, the vacuum flicked off.

  “Hold on a minute!” a woman called.

  There was the thud of approaching footsteps, and the door pulled open. Ten years were erased in seconds. Her mother looked much the same – blonde hair, bow lips, blue eyes – though she was shorter than Indigo remembered.

  “Yes?” Sherry said.

  Indigo tried to speak, but she couldn’t force the words past the lump in her throat. Her eyes were burning, her mother’s face blurring in her vision. One second passed, and then two. Sherry’s eyes widened, her hands rising as if wanting to reach out, but unable to.

  “My God!” she gasped, “Indie Baby?”

  “I came back,” Indigo croaked, hot tears spilling over her cheeks.

  Indigo’s mother’s arms wrapped around her, Everything felt like it was pivoting around this moment: her mother’s hands against her back, the remembered scent of White Shoulder’s perfume, new once more, the laughter in the distant hallway, and Jude, waiting nearby. Overwhelmed by emotion, Indigo’s chest heaved as years of regrets surfaced. She closed her eyes, letting the moment enfold her.

  “It’s okay,” her mother whispered, “you’re here now. It’s okay.”

  She was home.

  : : : : : : : : : :

  Marq stood in King’s office, hands in fists at his side. It’d taken him almost an hour to get access to Tyrone “King” Fischer, but he needed to tell someone who could do something about it. Someone who could protect Jude!

  “You need to listen!” Marq cried. “Jude’s in trouble! That’s got to be why I couldn’t find him today!”

  Luca lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. Patel, two steps away, gave him a benign smile.

  “I thought you were watching, Mr. Alden,” King growled.

  “I did keep tabs on him,” Marq said, worry making his voice sharp, “but something’s up today! He never takes off, but this morning he did. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but later on I had a meeting with this guy, Woodrow. And when we were talking he said something that made me wonder if Jude was in trouble. ‘Cause Woodrow said how he was certain that—”

  “Is this going somewhere, Mr. Lopez?” King said darkly.

  “Yes,” Marq hissed, “absolutely! Luca told me that the police were looking for Jude.” King turned, glaring at Luca over his shoulder. “And I know why they’re looking for him. It’s because Professor Woodrow went to the police about him!”

  “He did WHAT?!?” King roared, his black gaze pinning him in place.

  “Woodrow went to the police,” Marq answered. “He’s a professor at the univ—”

  “You talked to this guy?” King barked. “He TOLD you this?”

  “Yeah – like an hour ago. ”

  Luca came toward the desk, cracking his knuckles.

  “Did you tell anyone else?” King demanded.

  “No,” Marq said. “I came here, right away. I need you to help me find Jude. Please! I’m really worried!”

  King smiled, and then, for the first time in all the meetings Marq had had with him, he did something different. He stood up.

  “You did the right thing telling us.” King said, reaching his open hand out across the desk. “Thank you, Marq. I appreciate you coming directly here.”

  Marq shook his hand, his fear easing a notch. This would change things. They’d find Jude. King would protect him.

  “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Mr. Lopez,” King said as he released his fingers. “I’m sorry that it has to end this way.”

  “What?”

  “We need to clean house,” King said calmly. “Luca, you know what to do.”

  The next seconds moved so fast Marq didn’t even realize what was happening. Luca’s hand slipped into his jacket, and he pulled out a gun.

  “Come with me, my friend.”

  Marq scrambled backward, terror making him bold. He sprinted from the room, making it to the elevator before Luca reached him. A single bullet to the brain took him to the floor. Luca frisked Marq’s body, pulling out a wallet and a phone. He stood up, avoiding the growing pool of blood on the tiled floor.

  “Get rid of this,” Luca said to the guards standing nearby. One of them groaned. “Now!” Luca barked, and both men came forward sheepishly.

  Luca headed back into the office, striding across the floor and setting the items on King’s desk. King reached out, picking up the cell phone. He flicked the phone on, unlocking it with his thumb. The screen opened without delay. There was no code.

  “Stupid fuck,” King chuckled. Luca glanced up, but King didn’t go on. Instead, he gestured to the door. “Luca, I need you to go pay a visit to the professor. I want him gone, and the body disposed of before morning.”

  Luca nodded, walking out of the room. In the foyer beyond, the two guards had pulled Marq’s body away from the elevator doors, and were staring down at him in annoyance.

  “You need a tarp, guys,” Luca grumbled. “C’mon, it’s not rocket science.”

  Luca side-stepped the smear of blood on the floor and pressed the button on the elevator. In the office, King turned to Patel. He had Marq Lopez’s phone in hand, and he held it out before him.

  “I want Alden,” he said, handing him the phone. “Do whatever you need, but make sure you bring him in. The phone might be useful.”

  Patel smirked.

  “Perfect.”

  Chapter 21: Last Second Plans

  Jude’s phone had buzzed so many times in the last hour that he’d finally turned it off. Marq was freaking out about something, but Jude didn’t have time for him right now. He was finally making progress with Indigo, and though they still hadn’t talked about what had happened at O’Reilly’s, she’d let him come along when she’d met with her mother.

  That felt huge.

  Jude kept the camera at his side, moving it from place to place when the conversation lulled.

  “…so I was a hostess for a while,” Indigo said. “I met my friend, Shireese, at the place where I worked. She was there on mornings, cleaning; I worked nights, and we kind of hit it off. We’re roommates now. She’s sort of like a big sister sometimes. Takes care of me.” Indigo glanced at Jude, dropping her eyes almost immediately.

  “She sounds nice,” Sherry said, voice wavering.

  “She is,” Indigo replied. “She’s part of the reason I went back to school. She kept harping about how I could do something better with my life. That I should think ahead…”

  Indigo was
saying things without directly saying them, and Jude wondered if her mother even realized that. It struck him that he’d made the exact same assumptions in the time he’d known her. That sometimes it was just easier not to see what was there.

  “…and in this class I’m in,” Indigo continued, “we had to do a documentary, but I didn’t really have any pictures or anything.” She nodded to Jude. “And then Jude had this idea of finding you.”

  Jude smiled, and Indigo smiled back, and he began to hope.

  “If you need pictures,” Sherry said, standing up from the couch, “then just give me a second.”

  She headed out of the room, leaving the two of them behind. Jude reached out, turning off the camera. Somewhere in the distant room, drawers were being pulled opened and closed again. Indigo fiddled with the seam of her jeans, running her nails along the crease.

  “Your mom seems nice,” Jude said.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Kind of weird to see her after all that time, you know?”

  Jude nodded just as a door in the distance closed. Seconds later, Sherry Sykes appeared carrying a baby’s photo album in one hand. Jude flicked on the camera again as she sat down on the couch next to her daughter. Side by side, Jude realized, the similarities between the two of them were striking despite the differences in their coloring: lean build and fine features, but especially their eyes. Indigo’s mother looked like a sibling rather than a parent.

  “There it is, Indie,” Sherry said, smiling. “I… I never finished it, so only the first few pages have pictures. I always meant to do the rest, but after you were gone, well, it just hurt too much to look at them.”

  Indigo stared at the album in her hands.

  “Thanks, Mom,” she choked out.

  Her mother reached for her, pulling Indigo into an awkward sideways hug.

  “I’m glad you came back,” she whispered hoarsely. “I missed you.”

  Indigo nodded, turning her face into her mother’s shoulder.

  “Missed you too.”

  : : : : : : : : : :

  It was dark when Cal came out of the university, the security lights casting spectral shadows through the leafless trees. He flipped up his collar, footsteps crunching through snow as he walked toward the parking garage. He’d spent all day hoping that Marq Lopez would call him again, but whatever he’d said had spooked him. Cal had phoned twice, only to get his answering machine. This should be an easy request, but everything seemed to be conspiring to stop him. He sighed, running a hand over his face, surprised to feel how stubbled his chin was. Whether he intended it or not, it was happening again. Indigo drew out the hidden side of him that scared him… the side that said ‘screw the consequences’ and took the risks that the public Professor Woodrow never did.

  He grimaced. Maybe searching for Jude Alden wasn’t such a good idea. Indigo would be furious if she ever found out. His shoulders slumped as another came to mind: ‘Maybe it’s time to let her go…’

  Reaching the entrance to the parking garage, Cal waved at the guard inside the tollbooth before heading up the stairs to the second level. His feet slowed as he neared his parking spot. Sometime in between this afternoon and now, one of the lights in this corner of the garage had burned out. It was yet another annoyance in a day full of them. He ground his teeth, temper rising; some days you were better off staying in bed.

  With a muttered swear, Cal lifted his keys from his pocket, unlocking the door with the key fob, and pulling it open. The leather crackled as he slid into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind him. With the windows frosted white, Cal started the car, hitting defrost before settling back into the seat.

  Something shifted in the shadows behind him. Cal’s eyes jumped to the rear-view mirror. A blond man with a knife was waiting behind him, the blade inches from Cal’s throat.

  “Don’t move, Professor,” he growled. “You and I have some business to attend to.”

  : : : : : : : : : :

  Indigo was quiet all the way back to the station. She sat in the train, head tipped up against the glass, her eyes lost in the middle distance. Jude waited for her to say something about meeting her mother, but she seemed content to simply hold his hand. Whatever had unfolded today had changed things for her, and Jude was still struggling to figure out exactly where he fit into it all. He smiled, looking down at their entwined fingers.

  At least for now, she was letting him stay.

  “You okay?” He’d said the same thing many times today, but it was all he could think to say.

  She shrugged, and Jude ran his thumb over her knuckles, wanting somehow to make it better but not knowing how. For now, his hand, warm around hers, would have to say all the things he couldn’t. He leaned closer, wondering what he would say to his own father, if life had given him a second chance. Would he apologize for all the stupid fights? For the arguments that had robbed them of the time they’d been given? Rage at his father for not calling him instead of his ex-wife, when that gut-churning feeling of terror had overcome him? Or would Jude sit and cry, glad for one more moment together? Jude sighed, the old ache nearer than it’d been in years. His own past was mild in comparison to Indigo’s, but they both carried the same anger and irresponsibility.

  They’d just followed it in different ways.

  Luca’s voice intruded. 'She stole my wallet at a rave. I caught her, of course, but when I saw her face, it seemed a pity to let that go to waste.’ He winced, thinking of what else that statement held, the lost innocence.

  Jude leaned closer. “I’m glad you let me come along,” he whispered.

  Indigo turned from the window, smiling wanly. “Me too.”

  Reaching the station, Indigo pulled on her backpack and headed off the train, Jude at her side. Outside it was already dark, streetlights twinkling like a necklace along the street. New snow had thrown a blanket over rooftops, the air heavy with fat white flakes. Her eyes drifted upward. For several heartbeats, she didn’t speak, the lingering silence making her words more weighty when they appeared.

  “When I ran away the second time,” she said, eyes on the circles of light in the snowy sky. “I had no intention of going home again. I grifted for a while. Squeegeed windows, sold pot, panhandled, stole, slept outside. Whatever I needed to do, to get by.” She looked over at him. In the winter darkness, her eyes were so blue they were bottomless. “And then one day,” she said quietly, “I met Luca Brin.”

  Jude shivered. This was the part where her story changed.

  “He told me that I could make more money than I could ever imagine, and all I needed to do was this one thing.” She smiled, but it was brittle. “And so I did it… and I didn’t stop for a long time.” Indigo turned away from Jude, staring at the street. “I’m not proud of it, and I wish it hadn’t happened, but I did what I had to do to get by. And I don’t expect people to understand, because they weren’t there.” She turned back to him, features sharpened by anger. “They don’t know what it’s like, Jude. You don’t know. But that’s the truth of it, and if you can’t handle that, then you need to walk away.”

  Jude moved closer, his arms wrapping around her. He wanted to make all of this history disappear, to change what had happened to her, but the only thing he could offer was himself. He pressed his face to her hair, his hands tight against her back. She was stiff against him, allowing herself to be held, but not participating.

  “I love you, Indigo,” he whispered. “Love you so much.”

  She made a choking sound, twisting so she could see him. Her eyes were anguished, brows drawn together in pain.

  “Why?” she cried.

  Jude shrugged.

  “I dunno, I just do,” he said, reaching up to stroke her cheek. “Doesn’t matter how it happened.”

  She shook her head. “You shouldn’t.”

  “Why?” Jude said. “Because you’re a survivor? ‘Cause you did what you had to do?”

  “No,” she said bitterly. “’Cause I fuck things up. It’s what I do
! Just ask Shireese.”

  “And so what if you do?” he argued. “I have totally fucked up my life! I am so messed up, I don’t even know how the hell I’m gonna fix it, but when I think about what matters, it always come back to you. I love you, and it doesn’t have to make sense.”

  Indigo sniffled, a line of unshed tears glimmering along her lower lashes.

  “My mom said you seemed nice,” she said with sobbing laugh.

  Jude grinned. “Yeah, well, I’ve spent a long time learning to fake that.”

  His hand slid into her hair, pulling her closer. “Give me one more chance,” he whispered. “A control ‘Z’ on the last week. I’ll do better, Indigo. I promise, just let me show you.”

  She gave him a teary smile, and Jude leaned down, kissing her.

  They headed back to Marq’s apartment, hand in hand. Jude flicked on his phone, scrolling past ten separate text messages from Marq, asking where he was. He typed a one-handed reply.

  Just got back. Everything okay?

  There was no answer.

  When he and Indigo reached the apartment, it was empty. It was Saturday night, so Jude assumed that Marq was out partying. They kicked off their snowy shoes into a pile in the corner before running, laughing, to Jude’s room.

  Indigo moved toward him the moment they were inside. Her cheeks and chin were cold, but her lips were warm as she kissed him. She tugged at his shirt, pulling impatiently until he shrugged it off. Jude broke the kiss to pull her sweater and bra away, his mouth falling back to her skin once it was bare.

  He wanted to kiss her everywhere, his fingers roving where his mouth couldn’t be. Indigo undid his belt, pulling it with a snap from his belt loops and throwing it to the floor. Next was the button of his pants; Jude groaned as her fingers brushed below the waistband, his body crackling with electricity wherever she touched him. His pants slid down to pool on the floor, his boxers following, but Jude caught her wrists before Indigo could touch him, leading her to the bed instead.

  She slipped out of her jeans and panties, kicking off her socks and laying down on the duvet. Just the sight of her was enough to leave him groaning, the thought of being with her again almost too much to manage. Indigo’d always been beautiful, but today she’d let him follow her into her past, and that added another layer to what he knew of her. Vulnerability, along with the long limbs and high breasts.