Cooper

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Well, you can’t let him see you next week like that.”

  “What?”

  She grabbed my arm and dragged me to my room, pulling open every drawer in my dresser. They were empty. Every single one of them was empty because I had gone through all my clothes, never bothering to wash any of them.

  “Good God, didn’t you wash any of your clothes?”

  I looked around my room, wondering if she was seeing the same thing I was. Maybe I was hallucinating the piles of clothes all over my room. Maybe I had finally become delusional.

  “I can’t believe you let him see you that way.”

  I ran a hand over my hair, grimacing when it got caught in the tangles and looked down at myself. I was wearing sweats and a t-shirt. I didn’t think I looked that bad. I had worn this plenty of times before in front of him.

  “What’s wrong with how I look?”

  Her eyes bugged out and she pulled me into the bathroom. “Oh God.” I leaned forward and looked at myself in the mirror. “Is that me?”

  “That’s you and it’s not something that anyone should ever see again.”

  I pulled my lips back and cringed. “Oh God, I have food stuck in my teeth. Do you think he saw that?”

  “Honey, I’m pretty sure that the rest of the grime on your body covered the food stuck in your teeth. Seriously, you still have mascara stuck around your eyes from the last time you wore it.”

  “But that was…” I thought back, but couldn’t recall the last time I had worn mascara.

  “Too long to count,” she supplied. She yanked my leg up and pushed the sweats up my leg, revealing my very hairy legs. “He wouldn’t even know you’re a woman anymore if he saw those things.” She sighed heavily and shook her head. “Okay, first of all, you need a shower and a shave. I’ll get started on the laundry.”

  “What’s the point?” I asked, shuffling out of the bathroom and flopping down on the bed. “It’s not like if I clean up he’ll want me back.”

  “Then clean up for me. Seriously, if you don’t start showering and cleaning up after yourself, I’m going to have to kick you out. I don’t want to live with rats.”

  “I’m not a rat,” I said glumly.

  “I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about all the food you’re leaving out. You’re going to attract bugs and mice. It’s disgusting.” My lip quivered and I tried my best not to cry. “Hey, I’m trying to be nice here. I really am. You know that I think you’re awesome, but I can’t live with homeless Becky anymore. I need my friend back. Even if all you do is shower and clean up after yourself.”

  I nodded and she leaned in for a hug, but then pulled back with a grimace. “Shower first.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll work on cleaning up. I’ll probably just grab some huge garbage bags for the living room,” she muttered as she left me alone in the bathroom.

  I scrubbed myself clean and even shaved my legs, though I really didn’t feel I had the energy for it. I was living off Delaney right now, relying on her for everything. So, if she wanted me to shower and shave, I could at least do that. When I stepped out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom, I was shocked at the change. The clothes were all gone and the bed was stripped. She had set some yoga pants and a shirt on the bed for me, so at least there was that. She also cleaned up the living room. I was shocked at how much she could accomplish in such a short time.

  “Wow,” I said, walking out of my bedroom as I wrapped a towel around my head. “You did a lot.”

  “Tell me about it. The back hall is loaded down with all your laundry. We’ll be doing it all day.”

  I nodded and took a seat on the couch beside her. “I’m sorry I let everything go.”

  She shrugged. “It was bound to happen to one of us. If Tony ever breaks up with me, you have to make sure that I don’t turn into a cat lady.”

  “How’s that going?”

  I just realized that I hadn’t even asked recently about anything regarding her and Tony. I was such a shitty friend.

  “It’s going good. He’s very handy in the bedroom and I could stare at his body all day. It’s a good thing that we both have jobs. Otherwise, I could see myself just sitting home and having him model all day for me.”

  “And how would you earn a living?”

  “Well, I’d sell tickets, of course. There’s no sense in letting a body like that go to waste. I could probably make a couple thousand a day just by having him walk around in his underwear for the bored housewives in the neighborhood.”

  “Speaking of housewives, one of them asked me a few months back to put up cameras around the neighborhood. I was thinking maybe that would be something that I should do now that all this weird stuff is happening.”

  “I’m sure the neighbors would appreciate it. You know how I told you about that house that was broken into?”

  “The one when the kid was home?”

  She nodded. “Well, one of the other neighbors said that they saw someone running across the lawns that night. They couldn’t make out anything specific about the person, so whoever it was must have been pretty well covered up. Who knows, maybe if we put up some cameras we can catch whoever this is.”

  “I tried to get the stuff for it, but that was the day of the hardware store incident.”

  “Well, you can make a list and I’ll help you with it. We’ll do it this afternoon.”

  “Okay.”

  We sat there in silence for a minute. I felt slightly better about everything now that I had showered, but there was something nagging at me. Being the masochist that I was, I spoke the one thought that ran on repeat in my head.

  “He spoke to me.”

  Delaney turned to me, her face more concerned than reassuring. I felt my heart drop. I was pretty sure that I knew what she would say when I asked.

  “Do you think I have a shot at getting him back?”

  She shook her head sadly at me. “Sweetie, I think you’re lucky that he’s letting you see Kayla. I think he has it in him to see your side of things eventually, but you broke his trust. I don’t think that’s something he’ll ever get past.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Coop

  Kayla and I walked into Reed Security after stopping off for some dinner. She was nervous to be out, but she hid it well. I made sure to take her to someplace that wasn’t busy, and sat far away from anyone else. When I asked if there was anywhere else she wanted to go, she shook her head almost violently. She did pretty well considering. I knew that Maggie was starting her off training with some of the women this week, and I wasn’t gonna lie, I was nervous as hell for her. I knew she already had nightmares, and I was scared what training would do to her. But Maggie was right, she needed to get back out there.

  “Coop,” Cap shouted as I walked past the training center. I jerked my head toward the room, telling Kayla to go ahead of me. If Cap was about to kick my ass again, I wasn’t going to let Kayla witness it.

  “What?”

  He narrowed his eyes at my harsh tone, but didn’t say anything about it. “I heard you took Kayla to see Becky.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How was she?”

  I shook my head. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, or to go check on her himself. “Messy.”

  “Messy?”

  “Yeah, you know, messy.”

  “I know what messy is. What the fuck does that mean? What was her mental state?”

  “I don’t know,” I said irritatedly. “I’m supposed to be checking up on her now? If you want to know, go find out.”

  “You were just there. You couldn’t be bothered to ask how she was?” His eyes flicked down to the lock box I was carrying and then to the duffel I had flung over my shoulder. “So, you took your shit and left.”

  “Well, that’s sort of what happens when there’s a break up.”

  “God, you’re an insensitive bastard.”

  Wow. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little shocked by that one. “I’
m insensitive? Since when did we turn this around to everyone shitting on me? Last I checked, I was the one that almost lost my kid.”

  “If Kayla can see what’s really going on, why can’t you?”

  “She’s blinded by what she thinks actually happened. She’s not looking at this from my point of view.”

  “And you’re not looking at this from Kayla’s. Maybe she has this all right, and you have it all wrong. She sees the situation for what it is, but you can only see what Becky did wrong.”

  “How else am I supposed to look at it?” I asked incredulously. “I mean, seriously, Cap. Put yourself in my shoes. Say that Maggie almost got your kid killed. You’re telling me that you would take her back?”

  “I already did!” he shouted. His body was heaving and shaking. The anger was evident in the red flush on his cheeks. I was stunned. I really didn’t know what to say. “You think you know everyone around here so well. You have it all figured out, right? Do you see us all as so fucking high and mighty that none of us makes mistakes? Or that we would never be with someone that’s fucked up before? Get off your fucking high horse. We all make mistakes, sometimes deadly ones. The difference is that we’re willing to work past it, and you’re just throwing it all away. No,” he scoffed. “You’re not even throwing it away. You’re fucking torching it.”

  I swallowed hard, not sure what to say. I hadn’t realized that there was ever an issue with Maggie. I mean, I knew she was reckless sometimes, but I could never see her putting her kids at risk.

  “It was Caitlin,” Cap said quietly. “She didn’t want her, didn’t want to be a mom. She was going to abort her. And the thing was, I was going to let her, because she was so sure that it was something she just couldn’t do.” He shook his head, like he was ashamed of himself. It almost looked like he had tears in his eyes, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore, so I couldn’t be sure. “She changed her mind at the last minute. You know, I wasn’t even going to be there for her. I showed up at the clinic and they had already started. She was back there freaking out and I almost wasn’t there for her. It wasn’t easy. We had a lot of issues to work through, but we didn’t give up, and look at where we are now.”

  He turned and walked away, but then stopped and glanced back at me. “If you’re really done with Becky, if you can’t forgive her, be absolutely sure. It’s not easy to take that shit back.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Delaney

  “Are you coming in?” I asked Tony as I leaned across the center console and ran my hand over his cock. I grinned when I felt him thicken beneath my hand. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and dragged me closer to him, smashing his lips against mine. He groaned when I started rubbing his dick and that made me want to take him right here in the truck.

  “God, don’t fucking-”

  His phone pinged, interrupting us and ruining the moment. I knew what that meant. Whenever his phone went off, it was for work, which essentially meant that our night was over. I moved back to my seat as he read his message, and checked my makeup in the mirror so that I didn’t look like a hooker when I got out of the truck.

  “Shit. I have to go into work.”

  “Problems?”

  “Not really. Cap’s missing some paperwork from me and he needs it so he can close out the file on our last job.”

  “Come by after?” I said with a grin.

  He grinned and wrapped his hand around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss. It was quick, but fierce. He released me and I got out of the truck, smiling at him the whole time I backed away to the house. He didn’t stick around like he normally would. All of these guys were crazy-possessive, checking out the house before we walked in or putting themselves in front of us if they even thought there was a hint of danger. It made my heart leap in my chest. I never thought I would have that, and even though I didn’t know if it would last, I liked feeling that way for even this small amount of time.

  I unlocked the door and walked inside, immediately noticing how messy it was. Becky was at it again, leaving shit everywhere. I knew that she was depressed, but I had hoped that the mess would go away. I started picking up things that were scattered around the house, making sure the house was presentable for when he came over later.

  I heard a creak behind me and a chill raced down my spine. I spun around, but no one was there. My heart was thudding wildly in my chest and my breathing was way too fast. I knew I would pass out if I kept breathing at this rate. Taking a few calming breaths, I laughed at myself when I realized how stupid I was being. My door had been locked. Why the hell would I think anyone was in my house? Still, I thought I should at least check out the rest of the place, just to set my mind at ease. I pulled out my phone and briefly considered calling Tony and telling him that I had a bad feeling, but then I would look like an idiot when he came over here and there was nothing wrong. Besides, he would be here as soon as he was done at work.

  Deciding to go with something in the middle, I wrote out a quick text saying that I thought there was someone in the house, but I didn’t send it. Locking the screen, I shoved the phone back in my back pocket and walked to the kitchen, snatching a pan off the stove. For once, I was grateful that I didn’t put all the dishes away. I crept out of the kitchen and down the short hall for my bedroom. The door was partially closed, which was a little weird. I never really closed my door. Without turning on the light, I shoved the door open and held my pan at the ready. When nothing jumped out at me, I laughed to myself. God, I really was going crazy. The light from a passing car flashed over my eyes and gave an eerie feeling, but I knew logically that no one was here. I walked in and flung the closet doors open with more confidence than I really had.

  My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a man crouched down in the closet, a knife shining in the darkness. I couldn’t move. I was momentarily frozen. But then he leapt forward and my heart kicked into overdrive. I spun and ran for the door, but I was yanked back when he snatched my hair. Sharp pain radiated through me when I felt the knife plunge into my chest. With wide eyes, I stared in horror at the large object protruding from me. Lights flashed from the outside again as I felt my body start to crumple. He yanked the knife out of my chest, and I barely let out a faint scream as the pain magnified.

  He released me and I stumbled, but remembered the pan still in my hand. I spun around and let it fly. My vision was blurred, but I felt the connection and took my chance, stumbling from the room. I had to get out. My heartbeat seemed unnaturally fast and I vaguely wondered if that meant my blood was draining from my body like a dam that had just burst. With one hand pressed to my chest, I stumbled down the hallway, barely catching myself as I ran into the wall. It sounded as if a loud train roared in my ears. I was so close to escape.

  Another sharp pain hit my back and I fell to the floor. A scream wrenched from my throat, but I knew deep down no one would hear. The pain was immobilizing and the fear even worse. I couldn’t think of anything, but how I would die alone on this floor if I didn’t get out. I started crawling, grasping at the carpet fibers. My blood soaked the once clean floor beneath me. I dragged myself further and further, tears leaking from my eyes when I realized that he was there behind me, watching me struggle to get away, but knowing I never would. He was taunting me with every step he took. I could feel his heavy footfalls behind me as I continued to pull myself into the living room.

  It was hard to breathe and I started choking on my own saliva, gasping for any air to stay alive. I coughed and blood flew from my mouth, landing on the carpet fibers in front of me. A single tear slipped down my cheek as I got a close look at the blood, my blood, sprayed out on the floor. I knew then that my life was over. I would die right here with this psycho above me.

  With all the energy I had left, I pushed myself onto my back as I pulled the phone out of my pocket. I had never sent that message to Tony. I should have listened to my instincts. I should have left the house as soon as I felt the warning trailing down my spine. B
ut I hadn’t and now I was paying the ultimate price. I pressed a button on my phone and prayed that I had the right app. He moved closer to me, kneeling over my body as I choked and gasped for air. His handsome eyes stared down at me and he grinned when I realized who he was. I had been so stupid. He raised the knife and I hit the button, holding it down as he plunged the knife over and over into my body until my fingers slipped from the phone.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Becky

  This day sucked. I had forced myself out of the house today. It was the second time I had left the house since the hardware store incident. Delaney had helped me put up cameras all over the neighborhood. Thankfully, Rob took mercy on me and came over to hook everything up. Just staring at the computer, I got hives all over my body. What was I going to do for work? I still had plenty in savings, but what would I possibly do if I was never able to go near a computer again?

  My phone pinged as I drove home, but as much as I wanted to see what the alert was, I wasn’t going to look while I was driving. When I pulled in my driveway, I pulled my phone out and opened the app for the neighborhood cameras that I had installed. I slung my purse over my shoulder as I made my way up the steps to the front door, but paused when I saw someone run up to one of the houses on my phone. I tried to change the angle of the phone for a clear picture of who it was, but the screen was too small. I had better capabilities on my computer. But that would mean going on my computer…Maybe I could call Rob over to take a look, or he could hack my system and do it all from Reed Security.