Redwood

by Janie Crouch

“No,” Kendrick said. “I think the present of this little gem is in its name.”

  “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

  “Pain in the Ass. Lexi said to make sure you got it.”

  Gavin didn’t try to stop his laugh.

  Pain in the Ass indeed.

  7

  Lexi fought back a yawn, loaded up another tray of drinks, and rushed them out to the table near the door. At this point, she was basically running nonstop to keep up with everyone’s orders.

  It was a Wednesday night for crying out loud, generally their slowest night of the week. She’d sent Mac home a couple hours ago when it was still quiet.

  It was generally her night off, but she’d seen at lunch today that he needed to go. The new heart medication he’d started this week had left him tired and weak as his body adjusted. He hadn’t wanted to go, but Lexi had insisted. No point in both of them being here with nothing to do when he could be at home relaxing.

  Who knew that the entire Linear Tactical crew and all their significant others would show up for a night out? They were dancing to all the eighties music, and the place was packed.

  Lexi certainly didn’t mind making the money—the tip jar on the bar was full to the top—but it was a lot of work for her and Amber to handle on their own.

  But at least Lexi’s new lunch-shift waitress, Quinn, was having a good time. The older woman wasn’t much of a waitress, but she was nice and worked hard. Most importantly, Quinn didn’t ask Lexi for any personal details about her life, so that made her a great employee and quasi friend in Lexi’s book.

  And right now, her quasi friend was out dancing with a man a decade Quinn’s junior, who was head over heels for her. The man everybody called Baby—who very definitely wasn’t one—couldn’t stop fawning over Quinn. Quinn obviously felt the same in her older, more formal way. It was adorable to see.

  Lexi spun to make her way around some dancers, ignoring the way it made her feel lightheaded, handed off the beers at the table, and took another set of orders.

  She ignored the brown eyes watching her two booths over.

  She should’ve gotten used to those eyes on her since they’d been there nearly every damn day for the past month. Should’ve been able to ignore them by now. But no. Her traitorous body reacted every single time Gavin came around. Made her aware of him with every breath. Every step.

  She didn’t talk to him. That stunt a month ago had cemented in her mind that Gavin Zimmerman was a danger to her. Not physically—she had no doubt he would never hurt her. But emotionally? Mentally? He was the walking, talking embodiment of danger for her.

  She wished the not-quite-sheriff would leave her alone. But also . . . she felt some twisted sense of relief when he was nearby. Almost every night, he’d made sure she’d gotten home safely, although he’d been smart enough not to come anywhere near her while doing so.

  And then tonight she’d seen him help Mac out to his truck. Gavin had carried the boxes Mac had wanted to take out to the trash, and he’d done it in a way that hadn’t made Mac feel old or useless.

  And her heart had thawed a little. Gavin might have been a jerk in his tactics a month ago, but she couldn’t deny his intentions were good. He’d been looking out for Mac and didn’t want Lexi taking advantage of the older man.

  So she’d made him a drink as a peace offering, told Kendrick the name and to make sure Gavin got it.

  She’d heard Gavin’s laugh and now the glass was sitting empty in front of him. At least he’d had enough of a sense of humor to drink it.

  She knew all sorts of obnoxiously named drinks. Maybe next time she’d make him a Duck Fart. Or a Flaming Gorilla Titties.

  The next two hours went by in a blur as the DJ kept the eighties music going, and the women kept the dance floor packed.

  Quinn pulled Lexi in for a hug as she walked by after delivering a tray of shots to the women. Lexi had to laugh. There was nothing about their personalities or work relationship that had ever lent them toward hugging. But the older woman was obviously having a great time.

  “It’s my first girls’ night out,” Quinn whisper-yelled in Lexi’s ear. “I think I’m doing well.”

  Lexi laughed again. “I don’t think you’re being graded on it, Harvard. But I’m glad you’re having fun.”

  “Are you doing okay? You look pale.”

  “Yeah. I’m just tired.” Her body was closing down on her again. Too many nights with only a few minutes of sleep. She’d thought she had another day or two before it happened, but evidently not.

  She just needed to hang on a few more hours. She would make it.

  “Let’s take a picture!” one of the gaggle of women yelled. “It’s not officially a good time until we post it on social media. And we have to immortalize the day that Anne announced her wedding date.”

  “Yeah!” Quinn exclaimed with more giddy enthusiasm than Lexi had ever seen from her about anything. The straitlaced college professor tended to be quite a bit more subdued and serious. She grabbed Lexi’s arm. “You come be in the picture with us too. Since this is your bar.”

  It wasn’t Lexi’s bar, but that didn’t seem to matter to the women yelling their drunken agreement.

  But there was no way Lexi could be in a picture they planned to plaster all over the internet. That was how she’d been found before, and she had no more resources to run.

  She forced a smile. “No, no picture for me. I’ve got to get back to work.”

  “Awww, please?” Quinn gave her a pretty pout.

  Lexi needed to quell this before it grew into some big thing. “Here, let me take the picture. Maybe we can start a picture of the week and hang it on the wall.”

  The women all started talking over themselves about that, forgetting her refusal to be in the picture. Someone handed Lexi the camera, and the women all grouped together for a shot, posing in the way only women can after they’d had a few drinks. Lexi took a couple of shots, handed the phone back to its owner, then escaped. Crisis averted.

  Would she ever be able to take another picture without cringing in fear?

  As the night wore on, exhaustion pulled more and more heavily on her. It wasn’t long before she knew she was really in trouble.

  Insomnia was a bitch. She knew the condition, at least at this point, was all in her head. She was no longer being given the substances that had caused such adrenaline surges and crashes. She was no longer being manipulated by people she should’ve been able to trust.

  But her body had been conditioned to stay awake for days on end, to continue to operate long after a normal person would have been consumed by exhaustion.

  It had helped her a great deal in her other career—she’d garnered a reputation for a strong work ethic. The first one on set and the last one to leave.

  But right now, the insomnia had her on the verge of collapse. Every step took her closer to crumbling.

  She pushed it back the way she always had.

  Just a few more minutes. Hang in there just a few more minutes.

  And when those minutes were up, she would tell herself to hang in there a few minutes more. It was the only way to make it through.

  “Hey, can I help you deliver those drinks?”

  Lexi looked up from the tray in her hands. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking. She had no idea who these beverages belonged to. The last thing she remembered clearly was taking the picture of the women, but that had been a couple hours ago. Quinn had left with Baby not long after.

  The friendly woman in front of her smiled. “I’m Wavy Bollinger. We’ve met a couple of times in passing. Finn and Baby are my brothers.”

  “Oh. Hi.”

  “I wait tables over at the Frontier Diner, and I know what it’s like to have an unexpected rush. One time, the Linear guys forgot to tell us that they were inviting the entire Reddington City police force out for a training session, then bringing them by the diner for lunch. I was the only waitstaff there.”

  Lexi wasn�
�t exactly sure how she was supposed to respond. Was Wavy trying to tell her she was being too slow? She already knew that. “Oh. That stinks.”

  It was all her exhausted brain could manage to get out.

  Wavy smiled. “All that to say . . . I’m gonna grab a tray and help you out. This is way too many people for two waitresses to handle alone.”

  “Oh.”

  Before Lexi could process anything further, Wavy had grabbed the tray from her hand and delivered the drinks where they belonged. Lexi walked behind the bar and was able to stay there fixing the drinks while Wavy and Amber delivered them.

  There was no way Lexi would have made it through the evening without Wavy. And it wasn’t just her who helped out. As the Oak Creek regulars realized Wavy had stepped up, they began helping more too. Kendrick took a couple loads of glasses to the back dishwasher. Zac and Anne bussed tables in between dances. Lexi even caught Gavin emptying the trash at the end of the bar when it got too full.

  She didn’t get the chance to say thank you because none of them came close enough for her to talk to them. They didn’t seem to want or expect thanks. It was like this was home, and they were just doing their part. She would’ve been charmed if she hadn’t been so busy putting all her energy into staying upright.

  The night spiraled into a bigger and bigger blur until every breath was agonizing. She somehow managed to get the bar closed and locked. She paid Amber half the tips and would’ve paid Wavy too, but she was gone.

  Despite the help, there was still a lot that needed to be done to close the bar for the night, but it would have to wait. Lexi recognized the final signs of collapse in her own body. Soon, she would be falling where she stood. She put on her best normal voice and told Amber to go home. They’d deal with the rest of the cleanup tomorrow. Amber agreed and left out the back. The girl was exhausted too.

  Lex almost wished for one of the pills her aunt and uncle used to slip her to shock her out of this stage if it had happened at an inconvenient time. The stimulants, usually amphetamines, had been brutal on her body, but there had been no doubt she would stay awake. Now, she wasn’t sure she would make it the two blocks back to her apartment.

  She might not even make it out of this bar. She walked as steadily as she could back to the bathroom. She knew from experience that if she gave in to her insomnia coma with anything but a completely empty bladder, she’d wake up with an unpleasant surprise.

  She needed to call Mac. Thankfully, they weren’t open for lunch tomorrow, but she didn’t want him shocked at the state of the Eagle’s Nest when he came in for tomorrow night’s shift. She had no idea if she would make it back in time to help. Usually when she crashed, it was for twelve to fifteen hours.

  She went to the phone on Mac’s desk, but her eyes wouldn’t focus on the numbers to press. Everything was contracting down to tiny pinpricks in her vision.

  Shit. This wasn’t good. She needed to get home right now or she definitely wasn’t going to make it.

  She counted her steps as she walked to the back door. That didn’t actually do anything but it gave her something manageable for her brain to focus on and kept her from panicking as the world closed in on her like a coffin. She got outside and managed to get the key into the door to lock it behind her.

  Now, all she needed to do was make it a couple of blocks to her apartment.

  She counted her steps again. One. Two. Three. Fou— The ground in front of her was barely visible anymore. She couldn’t see or hear anything through the cotton that had filled her head.

  She wasn’t going to make it.

  She had to make it.

  Rescuing her when she finally collapsed had been part of her aunt and uncle’s manipulative games. They weren’t here to manipulate her now, but they also weren’t here to make sure Lexi found her way to a bed when the collapse came. She only had herself.

  One. Two— She stumbled on a crack in the pavement, then couldn’t seem to regain her balance. She could feel herself beginning to fall, and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it. She waited for the pain.

  But strong arms caught her, helped her back upright. “Whoa there, Green Eyes. Been sampling some of your own drinks?”

  Gavin.

  “I—” There was nothing to say even if she could make words come out.

  “Lexi? What’s going on?”

  “I—I have to get home.” She took a few more steps, praying she was still going in the right direction.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  She couldn’t answer, so she focused on walking, leaving him behind. She only got a few steps before she wobbled on her feet again. The ringing in her ears grew louder. She knew what that meant.

  “Oh no,” she whispered.

  “What?” Gavin was standing right in front of her now.

  “Move,” she tried to warn him.

  “Lexi, what the hell is going on?”

  She vomited all over him. She couldn’t move, couldn’t stop.

  She expected him to jump away but instead he moved closer. “Jesus, Lexi, are you sick?”

  His arms wrapped around her and helped her to her knees on the pavement while her stomach emptied the rest of its contents. For a long minute afterward, she sat there trying to get in enough oxygen.

  “Home.” She pushed the word out with all the remaining strength she had. She only had minutes now before her entire system shut down. “Home.”

  Everything spun again, and she thought she was about to keel over, then realized it was Gavin picking her up in his arms. A few moments later, the world shifted again as he put her inside his SUV.

  “Home,” she whispered again.

  If she could make it to her bed, everything would be all right. She would work everything else out once she woke up.

  She counted the seconds as Gavin drove, using every bit of her remaining strength to stay conscious. When he came to an abrupt halt, she almost wept in relief as she recognized her apartment door.

  A few more seconds, Lexi. You can do this.

  “Goodbye.” She was vaguely aware of how weak and hoarse her voice sounded. But there was nothing she could do about that now. She’d have to make up some excuse to him later.

  She reached for the SUV’s door handle, missed, and reached again, sighing in relief as her fingers found the handle and opened the door. She fell out of the vehicle, somehow landed on her feet, and stumbled toward the apartment door.

  A few more seconds.

  “Oh, hell no. I’m not leaving you like this.” Gavin was right next to her again.

  “No.” He needed to leave her alone. She couldn’t get full sentences out. She gritted her teeth against the roaring pain. “Goodbye.”

  “I’ll help you get inside.”

  “No. I can do—” She didn’t finish the sentence as the world faded to black around her and disappeared.

  8

  Gavin caught Lexi as she passed out in the middle of telling him she could handle whatever was happening to her.

  He had no idea what was going on, but there was no way in hell he was going to leave her here outside on the ground. He grabbed the key from her hand and opened the door, then scooped her up in his arms and carried her right over the fucking threshold.

  She’d worked too hard. Exhaustion—that had to be it. Her body had given out, but she’d be coming to any second now.

  But she didn’t stir a bit as he carried her up the narrow stairs to the apartment and laid her on the bed.

  He’d never been up here. The studio apartment was tiny—the full bed and dresser took up most of the space. There was a small kitchen area with a microwave, miniature fridge, and a single countertop burner. A dining table that could maybe fit two people was pushed up against the window.

  Damn it, she should’ve woken up by now, or at least be stirring. Even unconscious, she was pale and her features were pinched, like she was in pain. Maybe she was.

  Did she have the flu? Food poisoning?

 
He had vomit all over him. She wasn’t quite as bad, but if she needed to rest, he should at least get her out of those clothes.

  He reached down and gently nudged her shoulder. “Lexi, wake up a second, and let’s change your clothes. Then you can go back to sleep.”

  She didn’t move. Didn’t so much as stir.

  That didn’t seem right.

  “Lexi.” He shook her shoulder with a little more force this time, then brushed a strand of blonde hair off her forehead. “Hey, come on, Green Eyes. Wake up for me.”

  Nothing. She lay there, still as death.

  For a second, panic pooled in his gut as he checked her pulse. Oh, Jesus, what if—

  It was there. His breath leaked out in a hiss. Thank God. But it was way too fast for someone who was unconscious. Her heartbeat was thundering like she was running a sprint.

  Shit. She was on something. That would explain so much—the big secret she was hiding. Why she’d stolen the two hundred dollars from him. Junkies did whatever they had to do.

  He slid up her sleeves but found no sign of needle marks. That didn’t necessarily mean anything, only that she either knew how to hide her track marks or used something that didn’t require needles.

  Damn it, was she overdosing? Should he take her to the hospital? He didn’t know enough about drug use to make that decision. But he knew somebody who did.

  He had Zac on the phone a few seconds later.

  “What’s wrong?” Zac skipped all pleasantries. The other man knew Gavin wouldn’t be calling at this time of night if there wasn’t something wrong.

  “Is Anne sober enough to make a house call?”

  “Are you injured?”

  “It’s not for me, it’s for Lexi.”

  “Two-hundred-and-eleven-dollars Lexi? What’s wrong with her? She seemed fine at the Eagle’s Nest earlier.”

  “She’s passed out and completely unresponsive. I think she may be on drugs or something.”

  Zac muttered a curse and a couple of moments later Anne’s voice came on the phone. He explained his suspicions to her.

  “Check her heart rate.”