by A. D. Ellis
Entering one of the fitness studios, Decker was momentarily thrown off when he saw Zach holding Zoey in his arms. Forgetting his own turmoil for a second, he watched his two cousins in a very intimate embrace. Like the observer of a terrible accident, unable to look away, Decker watched as Zoey lifted her head to look into Zach’s eyes. Determined to forget everything he had just witnessed, Decker cleared his throat gruffly before he saw something he wasn’t sure he was ready to see.
Gasping and jumping out of Zach’s arms, Zoey quickly grabbed her bag and headed to the changing rooms. “Um, I’ve got one last class in an hour. I’m going to see if my mom needs help with the art supplies until then.” Retreating quickly, an awkwardly flushed Zoey all but ran into the changing room.
At a loss for words, Decker simply stared at his cousin for a few moments. When Zach crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow, Decker shook his head to clear it and tried to recall why he’d sought Zach out in the first place.
“Do you have a bit? I need to punch something, and I didn’t think my wall would be a good idea. Want to go a few rounds?” Decker inquired hopefully.
“Sure man, I’ve got time. We can punch, talk, or both.” Zach slapped him on the back, almost seeming glad Decker was having issues so as not to have to address his own misstep. That being the huge elephant in the room of Zach being caught with his much younger cousin in what appeared to be a personal and intimate moment.
When both men had changed into their gym shorts, laced up their shoes, and donned their gloves, they walked into the small boxing ring which sat off to the side of the gym facility. With some warm up swings, Zach struck first. Decker, stunned from the sudden punch, gathered his wits and realized that Zach needed this form of therapy right then as much as he did.
Throughout their jabs and crosses, hooks and uppercuts, they bobbed and weaved and they talked heatedly.
“Want to tell me why you had our much younger cousin wrapped in your arms like you wanted to devour her?” A quick jab followed this question from Decker.
“No, I don’t want to talk about it. At all.” Some quick footwork by Zach and he deflected Decker’s next blow. “But, I will remind you that she’s not blood related to me. There’s nothing else to talk about.” And with that, Zach landed a heavy blow to Decker.
“Fair enough, man. For now.” Decker ducked and popped up with an uppercut.
“What’s got you in such a pissy mood?” They took a quick break for a drink and to wipe the sweat from their bodies.
Heading back to the middle of the ring, they went through the motions of boxing while not landing any real punches so that Decker could tell Zach what Smitson had told him about Angela.
Pausing for a moment, Zach rested his arms above his head. “Shit, man, that doesn’t sound good. Not good at all. I mean, we already knew she was crazy with the way she hit my dad and threatened Katie, but this sounds like some serious psycho shit.” Beginning with some light jabs again, the men continued to slog it out.
“So, what are you going to do about Katie?” Zach’s question came with a right cross to Decker’s jaw.
“Nothing I can do right now. If I’m going to keep her safe, I have to keep my distance.” He was immediately defensive and followed with a quick jab cross to Zach’s midsection.
“Are you kidding me right now, man? Angela is a fucking psycho, but keeping Katie away from you isn’t the right thing to do anymore.” Zach stopped throwing punches and looked his cousin straight in the eyes. “I’m not kidding here man. Maybe you thought you were doing the right thing in the beginning, but you need to man up and admit that keeping her away isn’t going to help anyone right now. We need Kendrick back here, Katie needs to be with us, we are her family and friends; she’s good at what she does here at The Center+. I say we bring her back home, circle the wagons, and protect the family and business until Angela screws up and they can arrest her sorry ass.” Zach’s voice had grown heated as he spoke.
“Fuck, man, don’t you think I want to bring her home? But if she comes home, Angela has easy access to her and anyone who is around to protect her. I can’t put people at risk like that.” Decker had begun to pace the ring.
“I call bullshit, Deck. Want to know what I think? I think you realize you screwed up, but instead of just calling it for what it is, you’re trying to control the situation from the backside of it.” When Decker started to defend himself, Zach help up a gloved hand to stop him. “I’m not finished. I also think you’re scared; you know you screwed up with Kate by pushing her away and then by getting so pissed at her and Kendrick. That whole thing about reassessing your relationship when this is all over, that was a total bonehead move; you let your anger speak to her through that, and it didn’t come out well.”
When Decker looked puzzled as to how Zach knew about his misguided words to Kate, his cousin shrugged. “You know the family grapevine is more efficient than those celebrity gossip sites. Anyway, you know you screwed up and now you’re taking the easy way out by keeping her away in the name of protecting her; in reality, you just don’t know how to fix things, you’re not sure you can fix things. So, instead of admitting that your relationship is out of control, you’re clinging to that one shred of control you have left and keeping her away. Not to protect her, but to protect yourself.”
He had barely spoken the last word when his head jerked violently to the side as the deadly powerful punch was delivered from Decker’s glove. Immediately fighting back, Zach ignored the gloves on his fists, and barreled himself into his cousin’s midsection. When his right shoulder plowed into Decker’s abdomen, he heard the air whoosh out of him before they were both on the ground. They rolled around, kicking and punching for a few moments before a voice was heard above them.
“Knock it off, both of you.” Nate Morgan stood, hands on hips, glowering down at his son and nephew. “We have clients, paying customers, here in the building. Could you two stop grappling on the ground and act like you’ve got some common sense?”
Nicky Morgan stood beside his brother. “I don’t like seeing my son and nephew fight; fighting makes me sad. Why are you guys mad at each other?”
Wiping sweat from his eyes and a trickle of blood from his nose, Decker yanked off his boxing gloves and refused to answer his uncle.
Licking the blood which seeped from his busted lip, Zach laughed in disgust, “He’s mad because I called him on his bullshit and the truth hurts.” Pulling his own gloves off, he jabbed a finger at Decker’s chest. “Fix this shit, man. Angela is crazy no matter what; I’d rather have family all together, ready to fight and protect each other, rather than have us spread out. Bring her home man.”
Decker pushed his cousin’s finger away from his chest and lunged at him. “Decker, stop.” Nate held his son back from continuing the brawl that Decker so badly wanted to see to the end.
“Zach, go hit the showers. You two need to cool off; I know you’ll work this out, but no more fighting for now.” Nate spoke to his nephew while he kept an eye on Decker.
Zach shook his head and gave Decker one final look, and walked away to take a shower.
Nicky spoke quietly to Decker. “You’ll do the right thing, you always do. Ever since you were a little boy, you’ve had a hard time admitting when you were wrong, but you always come around and do the right thing.” Nicky delivered his subtle blow and advice all in a few soft-spoken words before he turned to leave.
Leaning against the ropes, Decker felt his body sag as heavily as his heart. Dropping to the ground, he let his head fall between the knees he had pulled up to his chest. He felt rather than saw his dad lower himself to sit beside him.
“So, does everyone think I’ve totally screwed this up?” Decker’s muffled question sounded from between his knees.
“Decker, everyone loves you and thinks you were doing what you thought was best.” Nate spoke surely.
“But?” Decker knew there was more.
“But, we also know that s
ometimes our first reaction to things isn’t always the right one or sometimes our plans need to be changed when the situation changes.” Nate delivered his words diplomatically.
“Zach says I’m scared to bring Kate home for fear I’ve messed things up with her too badly by acting like I wasn’t sure where things would stand with us when this was all over.” Decker hated repeating those words.
“Are you?” A simple question from his dad.
Decker took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Yeah, I guess I am. I just wanted her to be safe and for all of this to be over. I was scared to death when I found out about the threat against her, I was beyond pissed when she and Kendrick put her in a potentially dangerous situation, and I spoke out of anger instead of speaking to her as the woman I love. And, if I’m being honest, I’m afraid I’ve messed things up and we may never get back what we had.”
“Well, you’re never going to know if things are beyond repair until you get her back by your side. Once she’s home, talk to her, admit you were wrong, tell her what you just told me. But let her decide where things stand now instead of taking that control from her like you did in the beginning of this whole mess.” Nate patted his son’s arm and then pushed off the floor, leaving Decker to stew in his own thoughts.
**********
Decker walked into the house he shared with his brother and cousins just as his cell phone rang. “Decker Morgan” he barked into the phone.
It had been a few days since Angela was brought in for questioning, and he’d yet to be able to reach Kate. He knew she was okay; Kendrick had been keeping him updated. His cousin was sleeping at Kate's dad’s house and spending the days with her. There had been nothing suspicious going on, and they didn’t expect there to be since Mr. Turner probably wouldn’t be on Angela’s radar. Kendrick reported to Decker a couple times a day. Kate was sad, she was angry, she was bored, she wanted to come back home, she wanted this to all be over. Decker wanted to put his hands through the phone screen and wring Kendrick’s neck when his cousin sent a snapshot of Kate pulling on a pair of yoga pants. The caption, “Today’s underwear of choice is a beautiful teal and matches perfectly with the bra she has on” had Decker seeing red. He called Kendrick.
“What man, I thought you wanted to know everything about her days. Yesterday was pink. She’s got a purple pair she hasn’t worn yet.” Kendrick just laughed as his cousin cursed him.
“Fucker, stop looking at her underwear and stop taking pictures of my girl’s ass.” Decker knew Kendrick meant no harm and was simply trying to get a rise out of him; it worked.
“Your girl? Really? Is she your girl?” Kendrick taunted.
“Shut up. I’ve been through this with Zach and my dad already. I messed up man, I get it. I just want to give it a little longer to see what Angela does, then I’ll let her come home.” Decker noticed the tsk, tsk, tsk from his cousin.
“Man, first you better hope she’ll speak to you. She seems to be getting angrier each day we’re here. Second, you better rephrase that ‘let her come home’ bullshit; that’s one of the things that got you in deep shit earlier. You don’t ‘let’ a girl like Katie do anything; you talk to her, you stand beside her, you support her. She wants nothing more than to be on your team, working with you, but you’ve got to stop trying to control everything; she’s your equal, treat her like it.” Kendrick had hung up then, but teased Decker once more with a cleavage snapshot as he ate dinner across the table from Kate that evening.
Now Decker took the phone call from the police department.
“Mr. Morgan, it’s Officer Smitson. There’s been a development in the Angela Ford case. Are you able to speak to me for a moment?”
Decker walked straight to his office, laying down on the couch to hear what the officer had to say. “Of course, Officer Smitson. What developments?”
“Well, it appears that Angela Ford has left town. The eyes we had on her reported that she packed a few boxes and drove off last night. One of our officers discreetly followed her all the way to the bus station. She left her car there and boarded a bus to New York. Upon running the plates of her car, we found it registered to a Robby Thomas who lives in Torey Hope. Mr. Thomas was questioned and says he knew Angela through a mutual friend and had let her borrow his car. The officer checked the records of that bus headed to New York; Angela rode it all the way, never disembarking or switching buses.” Decker had sat upright on the couch to listen to the information Officer Smitson was delivering.
“The second officer who we’d assign to watch Angela checked out her townhouse; it’s completely empty. Not a stitch of clothing, a pillow, or even a random piece of lint was left.” Officer Smitson spoke in a way that lead Decker to believe he was just as shocked by this turn of events as Decker was.
“What do you think this means, Officer?” Decker wanted to be happy that Angela was gone, but it was such a surprising turn of events that he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Well, I spoke to Dr. Sai. She said it’s unclear to her why Angela would up and leave so abruptly when she obviously doesn’t have a job to return to in New York. Right now the best she can advise is to keep eyes on her. I’ve contacted the PD where she is staying; they’ve got an officer assigned to watch her. If she makes any moves to come back here, we’ll be the first to know. I don’t want to give any false hope, especially since Ms. Ford seems very unpredictable and volatile, but for now it looks like you can breathe a little easier.” Officer Smitson ended the call and Decker sat in stunned silence.
Chapter 29
“Katie, can I talk to you for a minute?” She and Kendrick looked up from the TV program neither of them were really watching. She could tell Kendrick was bored out of his mind, as was she, but he refused to leave her alone while she was at her dad’s.
“Kendrick, I’m safe here. You are missing out on all kinds of work; you’ll have a mountain of paperwork and phone calls to return when you get back. What about signups and tryouts for the teams you’re running? Don’t you still have some coaches to hire? I love you, and I love you for what you’re doing, but you don’t have to babysit me.” She had spoken to him a couple days before.
“Katie, my cousin loves you like I’ve never seen him love anyone except his family. I’m not going to leave you here to wallow and convince yourself that you two are over. We’ll take care of this and get things back to normal. Plus, I like sending Decker texts about your underwear just to piss him off. And, another bonus, when this is all over, I’ll be able to rub it in his face that I was the one here comforting you and spending time with you; I’ll get plenty of mileage out of this little bump in the road.” Kendrick had kissed the side of her head and turned back to his cell phone where he was happily enjoying her father’s WiFi connection to play games, and probably to torture Decker about the color of her underwear. With any other guy, finding out he was talking about her underwear would have seemed creepy; with Kendrick it just made her shake her head and laugh.
She was surprised when her dad asked to speak to her, but she patted Kendrick on the leg and told him to go do something while she talked to her dad. Kendrick nodded and pulled himself off the couch; keys in hand he returned from the kitchen to kiss her head and strolled out the door after a respectful nod to her father.
“What’s up, Dad?” Katie and her dad had a pretty good relationship. It had hurt when her parents divorced, but as she grew up she realized that they were not a good fit for each other. She wasn’t sure how they had ever thought they were a good fit in the first place. But, in the end, going their separate ways was truly for the best for everyone involved. She spent time with her dad growing up, when he wasn’t on business trips or too busy at work. He was the type of guy who could only focus on one thing at a time; if Katie was at his house for a week in the summer, he took off work (the one week a year he’d take off for non-holiday related activities) and spent every minute with her. But, when he was working, he couldn’t split his time or focus between his daughter an
d business. It made Katie sad, but she had come to accept him for who he was.
Watching her dad’s face as he spoke now, she wondered if that was also who Decker was. Would he ever be able to split his time and focus between his professional and personal life? Assuming they got back together, although Katie knew what happened when one made assumptions….if they married and had kids one day, would Decker be the type of dad who couldn’t make it to sporting events, was always stuck at the office, never made it home for dinner?
She had lived with that her whole life both when her parents were together and when they split up. She only got her dad’s full focus on holidays and one week in the summer. She didn’t want that for her own children. Painfully, she thought about the rest of Decker’s family. Without a doubt, she knew they would step in and fill the void if Decker couldn’t pull himself from work, and she already loved them for that, but it wouldn’t be the same.
She was a talented, smart, confident woman; if she let her heart lead, she would walk straight back to Decker when this was all over…but, if she let her head lead, she wondered if it would be wise to end things completely. Recalling his words from several nights ago, about seeing where things stood when this was over, she briefly contemplated that maybe Decker had the same thoughts about letting this end before it got too deep. Marriage and kids would complicate things tremendously; she knew those things weren’t on the agenda at the moment, but she didn’t want to bring kids into a situation and have it end the way her parents did.
Her dad must have noticed she was deep in thought because he let her sit and think for several moments before he spoke.
“Katie, I love having you here and you’re welcome anytime for as long as you’d like to stay.” He spoke genuinely, but Katie sensed a ‘but’.
“But?” She smiled softly at her dad. She knew he’d seen her occasional tears and heard her conversations with Kendrick about Decker.