“Shame, I’m going to miss her.”
As soon as the door closes, Cara says, “That man is seriously fucked up. If he doesn’t plead guilty, he’s going to plead insanity and get off.”
“That won’t happen,” River remarks.
“You can’t kill him.” Cara directs her statement at all of us.
“Watch me.” River slams his hands down on the table and stands, pushing his chair out so hard it falls to the ground. Evan and Rask stand as well, while I stare down at my knife. The blood is almost dry and
while I’m tempted to save it and make a voodoo doll out of it, I decide not to and wipe his blood on the bottom of my boot.
“The trial starts next week,” Cara says, reminding me that I’ll see Penny. That gives me only a few days to get the house I bought in order, in hopes she’ll stay.
I KNEW IT WAS only a matter of time before I’d be back in California after everything that happened. I didn’t, however, expect it to be so I could testify. But this is where I feel at home, and not like a stranger trying to fit it. From the very moment the sun touched my face, I was leaning my head back and soaking it all in.
Only Claire doesn’t understand. She will, though, once she sees the beach and touches the sand with her bare feet. She’ll fall in love with the always-blue sky and warm ocean water. I hope that by week’s end she’ll be trying to convince us to move. Fortunately for her, she won’t have to twist my arm too much.
The only question that remains is where will we live. Living in California isn’t cheap and it’s not like there’s a general store down the road for me to work at. I’d have to get a job, which would be hard considering I’m not qualified for anything.
Or there’s Tucker’s. I know he bought a house, but he hasn’t said much about it, other than it’s close to base. He still hasn’t decided if he’s going to retire or stay enlisted. And even though he’s asked my opinion, I haven’t given it to him. I know what happened to us will never happen again, but he could die in battle. Not that I’d expect them to actually deploy him. Not that my opinion matters. Part of me wants him to stay in because it’s all he knows. It’s been his purpose in life long before I came into the picture. I’d hate for him to give that up.
“It’s hot here,” Claire whines, tugging at her sweater. In my head, I can’t call her Chloe no matter how hard I try. It’s like when Frannie died, something was lifted off of me and I was given a small taste of freedom. I didn’t have to hide anymore. But I still look around every corner and watched every person who crosses in front of my path; it’s ingrained in me and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.
“I think you’ll love it,” I tell her as I pull her through the parking lot of the car rental place. Tucker wanted to pick us up, but I wanted a car. There are things I need to do while here and I don’t want to depend on him. Besides, if I need to escape, I want the ability to do so. Or go to the mall. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a mall. When I decide to start shopping I don’t want any sideways glances at the amount of stuff I have. No one knows what it’s like to go from having massive malls at your disposal to not having one at all.
It only takes a few minutes before I get my bearings straight. Sitting at the first red light, I close my eyes and listen to the traffic whizzing by. Most people move to get away from this type of stuff, and here I am relishing in being back.
“You’re being weird.”
“I know. I can’t help it,” I tell her. “I’ve missed the sun and noise.”
“I like the quiet.”
I won’t argue with her, not today. I can’t force this on her. It has to be something she wants. I made that promise to her.
Before I know it, I’m pulling into the storage unit parking lot and shutting off my car. The last time I was here, I was running for my life to protect my baby. Now I’m back and refuse to let Lawson keep me scared.
“Come on,” I say to Claire as I get out of the car. She’s right, it is hot, but it feels so good. As soon her door slams, I’m reaching out for her hand. She rolls her eyes, but slips her hand into mine. I don’t know if I’ll ever tell her about Lawson, but I have told her that I almost lost her once and that’ll never happen again.
The chime above the door rings out and Buzz pops his head up. By the look on his face, I’d say he’s surprised to see me.
“Hello, Buzz.”
“Mrs. McCoy, I didn’t expect to see you come in … ever.”
I don’t correct him on the usage of my last name and technically he’s right. Tucker’s return nullified my marriage to Ray, not that it was probably legal to begin with since I was using a fake name.
“It’s good to see you, Buzz. I wanted to thank you for making sure the agents were given my name.”
“I didn’t cause any trouble for you, did I?”
I shake my head and offer him a smile. “None whatsoever.” I leave out the part where Ray died and Frannie attacked us. He doesn’t need to know any of that. I wouldn’t want him to feel guilty for trying to help me.
“I have to say, you’re looking much better this time around.”
Smiling bashfully, I accept his compliment.
“And I see she’s all grown up.”