by Allyn Lesley
She snapped her fingers at him. No way was he going to block her out when he was willing to give all his attention to mysterious callers. His head popped up. His eyes bulged then narrowed at her. His nostrils flared.
“Don’t play with me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Do I have ‘stupid’ written on my face?” she asked, motioning an index finger across her forehead. “Who was that man back there?”
“Robert Plummer.” He leaned backward again as if that was the end of the conversation.
She pushed into his side. The flesh was unyielding. Just for good measure, to ensure he heard her, and to feel his toned frame, she poked him again.
“Damn it. Stop poking me, woman.”
“Tell me who Robert Plummer is, and how did you know where I was?”
“He’s your lawyer.”
“I don’t have a lawyer.”
“Yes, you do. His name is Robert Plummer. He’s the best.” Noah paused. “Now, may I close my eyes?”
His words replayed themselves in her head. “How did you know where I was, Noah?”
“I have eyes all over, Avi.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” she shouted before turning away from him to look out her window. He has eyes all over? Where were these eyes when she needed him outside the restaurant?
She sucked in a breath, hoping to mask the tears pricking the corners of her eyes and tightening her throat. Her sight dropped to her fisted hands as they opened and closed almost on their own. Her gaze was transfixed on the way Harry’s dried blood cracked and crinkled on her skin. The tears dripped from her eyes, blotting away the blood. Not ready to let the last part of the man she never knew leave her, Avi swung her hands from her body. Her body bent at the waist as she alternated between dry heaves and hiccups.
“Avi. Avi,” he shouted.
There Harry was, smiling and waving at her...welcoming her.
And then he wasn’t, her hope for answers gone in the blink of an eye.
“I-I...” Avi began, but closed her mouth as her stomach roiled.
“Pull over now, Zach.”
She heard the desperation in Noah’s raised voice and felt the care in the gentleness of his hand rubbing her lower back. But his comfort couldn’t stop her shivering body or the keening sounds coming from a part of her she never knew existed: the child in her who had one day hoped to learn where she came from.
That innocent hope was ripped from her hands with two precise shots.
Just as the car stopped, the door was flung open. With her lower half still inside the car, she leaned over the side and expelled the food she had allowed to pass her lips that day.
Her sight was hazy. The cool breeze didn’t help to soothe her. Once she threw up again, her seat belt was tugged free, and then she was captured in strong arms. She burrowed her face into the safety of Noah’s neck as her breathing struggled to return to normality.
“Here, take this,” he said.
Her lips opened, and he placed two pills on her tongue, then she sipped the water he fed her.
“Breathe, Avi, breathe. I’ve got you,” Noah chanted.
She concentrated on his words. She used the beats of his heart to time her breathing.
Soon, she was floating away, and it felt nice not to feel anything at all.
A pair of trim legs and defined calf muscles carried their owner to the dresser, where a blaring phone rested. A smile pulled up the thin lips on a face that was forgettable at best, yet there was a charm that fascinated many. It rang a few more times and then stopped as if the caller had given up their quest.
Ring.
Ring.
“Yes.” Desire wrapped itself around the three-letter word.
“Answer the phone when I call.” Ire was front and center and cut through the caller’s accent.
They waited each other out. Yet they also knew who’d succumb first to the cat-and-mouse game they both enjoyed.
“How did phase one go?” he asked.
“You tell me.” A slim finger trailed the edge of the dresser.
“You made me proud. It’s all over the evening news.” There was a deliberate pause. “One down, another left to go.”
A pleased smile revealed white teeth. “Why don’t you come over for a celebratory fuck?”
“Open the door.”
They both shared similar predatory grins. Greed for him and revenge for the other began the duo’s partnership. Much later, they bonded over their specific sexual appetites, which cemented their alliance.
She woke with a start and pressed her hand against her erratically beating heart.
Avi pulled the covers tight against her body. Instead of the fleece that should have grazed her fingertips, she was met with soft cotton. Avi realized she was in an entirely different place when her cautious eyes flitted around the dark space.
Flipping the top sheet away from her body, Avi’s sight dropped to the lounge shorts she wore. The fabric felt too expensive for her monthly budget, even though the style appealed to her. She dared another look around and still didn’t recognize anything around her.
A knock at the closed door pulled her attention to her right.
The person walked toward her in the darkness. Avi backed away, her hand fisting the sheet in fear.
“Hey, are you okay?’ Sofie asked. Her warm hand encased one of Avi’s.
Avi released the breath she held. “I-I...” She cleared her throat.
Her chest rose and fell as she contemplated Sofie’s easy question that should have prompted an easier response. Avi’s face wilted as the day’s events hit her anew. Leftover emotions from the almost meeting with Harry, attempting to save his life, then to being inside the police station rose to the surface. They stalled any coherent words she planned to share. Tears that came from the hard realization that Harry, the man who could’ve answered decades-old questions, lay stiff and cold in a morgue somewhere.
Tears soaked her cheeks.
Sofie pulled her friend’s face into the crook of her neck and eased Avi’s limp arms around her shoulders.
“Oh, Avi. I know. I know it hurts. I’m here for you.”
The friends stayed cocooned in each other’s comfort and spoke through their tears of the heartache that could only be articulated by one who had lost a parent. Separating, they concentrated on getting their breathing under control. Sofie shifted to the left toward the nightstand, producing a box of tissues.
“I’m really sorry,” she said softly, wiping her cheeks.
Avi blew her nose. “Yeah, me too. Hell if I know why I’m sitting here, boo-hoo crying over a man I didn’t even know.” A few more tears rolled down despite her harsh words. It was easier to deal with and process anger.
Anger she knew. That emotion and she had been friends since she was pulled over in Ellie’s car three years ago.
But grief, missing a man she didn’t know she wanted or needed, the growing ache in her chest over a father she was told was dead, but was alive only to watch him really die—that was too much, and she did the only thing available in her coping arsenal; she refused to deal with it.
“He was your dad.”
Avi’s indifferent eyes met Sofie’s empathetic ones.
“Damn Ellie for lying to me,” Avi fumed. “And damn Harry for dying on the sidewalk.” She blew out a tired breath. “Where am I anyway?”
“We’re at Noe’s.” Sympathy and concern coated her words. “Don’t you remember?”
Avi pushed her hand through her hair and searched her cluttered mind.
Avi followed Sofie toward the door.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Sofie asked.
She wasn’t sure of anything, only that she needed answers. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” she said just to appease her friend.
Avi intended to find Noah, get him to tell her what happened in his truck, and get the hell out of his house.
“Hey, thanks again for...” Avi lifted her clean hands,
glad Harry’s blood was gone.
“No problem.” Sofie stopped by the open door. “Um, I know you’ll do what you want, but maybe you should give Noe some breathing room...just for tonight.”
Avi pursed her lips.
“Right. So, if you go looking for him, your best bet would be to walk down that hallway toward his office.” Sofie pointed where several lit candles sat on a low table then gave her a quick hug. “I’ll call you in the morning.” She closed the front door.
Avi stood outside the office, fidgeting with the belt on the robe she had found in the bedroom. The door seemed to vibrate with its owner’s demand to be left alone. Uncaring about the mood or activities of the man who was behind the door, Avi didn’t hesitate to knock.
She tapped her foot, waiting for a response that never came. Her knocks became more insistent, reddening her knuckles. Again, silence greeted her. She turned the knob and was engulfed by the dark abyss. Swallowing her nerves, she stepped forward.
“Noah?” She felt him there, down in the pit of her stomach.
Their magnetic attraction overwhelmed her in his domain. This time, she allowed herself to be pulled forward. Her pulse quickened with each step she took to the place her body insisted he sat. Eventually, her outstretched hands met the sharp edge of a desk.
“What do you want?” His voice sliced through the darkness.
Her instincts screamed his nearness, though he was shielded by the pitch-black. The chair creaked, followed by a click, and then a soft spotlight illuminated part of the desk.
He leaned away from the lamp’s glow. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
The tingles from earlier spread at the sound of his voice, but then she registered his terse tone and bristled at it.
“I woke up.” She shifted her weight. “Can you turn on a light? I can’t see.”
There were movements before a bright light came on from a standing lamp near his desk.
“How do you feel?” he asked as he sat in the chair.
“May I sit?” She motioned to the chair behind her.
Noah grunted an affirmative reply.
Sitting opposite from him, she said, “You want me to be honest?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m all over the place.” She scratched her forehead. “I have so many questions. Last thing I remember is crying in your truck.” She glanced at him, expecting to be filled in.
“What kind of questions?” He leaned forward.
“Oh, you know. Why am I in your home instead of mine? How did you know where I was earlier? What were those pills?” She eased back in the chair.
“I already answered one of those questions. You’re here, because I said so.”
She scowled. “And the pills?”
“You needed to calm down.”
“I never gave you permission to bring me to your home. That’s called kidnapping. And your vague answers aren’t flying with me, buddy.” A thought hit her. “Did you just admit to drugging me?”
Noah rocked in his high-backed, leather chair, lacing his hands together behind his head. His eyes stayed on the ceiling. “I do what I want, Avi.”
Her name on his lips soothed the part of him he never exposed. That part now rubbed raw and burning in pain at the news about Harry.
Harry is dead.
Noah refocused on the antagonistic woman. Any other time, he’d placate her, but tonight was different.
“You’re a bully.” Avi gripped the sides of the chair and pushed herself to stand. “I’m calling a cab and leaving.”
He dismissed the idle threat. “Sit the fuck down.”
Avi’s knuckles whitened on the arms of the chair. Head bent low and face partially covered by her loose hair, she gritted out, “What did you just say to me?” She plopped back down.
They glared at each other.
He cracked his tense neck muscles and prayed she was as intelligent as she appeared.
“What were you doing outside that restaurant?”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“Avi...” Her name left his lips on a sigh. His head swam with memories. The need to hit something seized him.
If she had anything to do with Harry’s death, he’d kill her himself. Fuck the consequences.
Avi was startled. She used one of her hands to cover her booming heart.
But she needed answers too.
“Why did that detective tell me to call you?” Her tone was even and her voice never wavered.
“What did you say?” If looks could kill...
“Why would Harry tell you shit? Who are you?”
Noah does know Harry.
Who was she? A few days ago, she thought she knew. Everything had been figured out and planned to perfection. There was no room in her life for mistakes, not anymore. She could kick herself for checking her stupid mail and making that stupid phone call and agreeing to that stupid meeting. Now everything had gone to hell.
“No. Who are you? Don’t you turn this around on me.” Avi’s voice rose. “Why was your name the last thing my—Manning whispered?”
“I need to know why you were there,” Noah said through clenched teeth.
Avi flinched back. He looked murderous, but she wasn’t backing down. A long time ago, she never asked questions, and now regret and guilt chewed at her soul. “A truth for a truth?” she wondered aloud.
“Are you trying to barter? Don’t fuck with me. Answer my damn question.”
“I don’t barter either, Noah. I need the truth. For once in my life, somebody’s going to give it to me.”
“Don’t ask for shit you can’t handle.”
She stood with fists clenched and was ready to pounce. “How dare you? I’m not a child. Don’t tell me what I can and cannot handle. You know nothing about me. You think that you can just snap your fingers and make things so. Well, I don’t work like that.” She walked around the desk with each word until her finger was jabbing into his chest. “You’re more delusional than I thought, if you believe you can control me.”
Noah grabbed her hand then stood, towering over her. His fathomless eyes were filled with anguish. She tried to move back, but his grasp tightened. “Harry is—was—a good friend. A good man, Avi.” He flung her hand away then and stepped away from her, but she followed.
His stiff back was within reach. The need to comfort him became almost suffocating. “Noah...”
“Tell me what I need to know. Don’t make me find out on my own. You’ll regret it.” His tone was cold...deadly.
She shivered and pulled her hand from his slumped shoulder.
“I-I was there to meet him for brunch,” she said on a whisper.
“Why?”
Could she trust him? Her gut was unreliable at the moment. His rage permeated the air.
And so did hers. She curled her fingers into her palms so she wasn’t tempted to rip his flesh to shreds. She wanted something, anything to ease this white-hot anger coursing through her veins.
“I said why, Avianna.”
Avianna.
Harry had called her that and made her feel more in their few minutes on the phone than she had felt in years. Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor; all the fight drained from her, leaving her limp.
Noah turned to face her.
“He asked me to meet him there. We were supposed to have brunch. Talk. Maybe...” She choked back a sob. Nothing would happen now. Her lungs tightened. There wasn’t enough room to inhale or exhale. She heard herself panting, gasping.
Noah dropped to the floor beside her. “Avi.” His voice was so distant. “Avi, concentrate on my voice.”
But she couldn’t. There wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. His words sounded muffled.
“Breathe with me.” His hand covered her chest. “Breathe with me.”
Her gaze focused on his fingers. The quick rise and fall of her upper body slowed, then she closed her eyes and let the tears fall.
Noah removed his hand and stood.
“Knowing Harry
was gunned down like a fucking dog doesn’t sit well with me.” Noah paused. “Whoever did this shit...” He tilted her chin up. “Open your eyes and tell me. What were you doing meeting Harry Manning?”
The force from his chilled finger brought a whimper to her lips.
Harry’s words—“Call Noe...Adams.”—rang in her head.
Avi swallowed, dismayed at the coincidences in her new life. Why would Noah be friends with a dead cop? Her lids fluttered open.
Conflicting emotions swirled in the depths of Noah’s eyes.
Instead of the anger, she latched onto his pain. “Harry is my father.”
Noah and Avi sat side-by-side at the kitchen island. Outside of ‘how’s the food?’ and ‘what do you want to drink?’, the taps and scrape of their forks on their respective plates were the only consistent sounds heard.
“How is it?” Noah asked again, breaking through the unnatural silence.
He stared at his uneaten chicken. Though aromatic, the food he had ordered after Avi had shared her news was picked at rather than appreciated.
“Good.” Avi pushed away the plate. “So are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?”
He left his place, taking his dish and hers with him over to the garbage hidden by a cabinet then stuck both plates in the dishwasher. He felt off, stiff...hell, he must look robotic to Avi, who tracked his every move. But he was having a hard time processing that she was Harry’s kid, on top of Harry’s death.
“I need a drink.” He strode toward the living room, calling out, “Coming?” He paused when he heard her light footsteps and moved to the side, allowing Avi to walk in front.
She eyed him hesitantly, then passed the floor to ceiling windows.
“Your home looks...”
“Like a bachelor lives here?”
He had chosen every piece of furniture and decorative accent so his home would give off a sense of opulence—something he hadn’t experienced until his twenties. When Avi sank into the oversized, coffee-colored sectional, he found himself relaxing.
From her place, she called out, “I’ll have a—”