I didn’t have any luggage, just the backpack that Viv’s parents gave me. Dr. Dunwoody had given me the meds to get me through until they could ship the rest to our new apartment. Vivian had more than enough luggage for the both of us. By the time we got the rental car loaded up, we were both exhausted.
We used her phone to find our way to the apartment. I’d left the prepaid phone my father had provided in the parking lot of a grocery store back in Florida. I was pretty sure my Dad had tracking software installed on it, and I wasn’t going to take the chance he’d be able to follow us somehow.
I’d learned a long time ago to memorize any numbers that were important to me, because he had a habit of going through my phone and looking for evidence that I was talking to anyone he didn’t approve of. Or maybe he thought I was secretly in contact with my mother? I never really understood my father’s logic.
So, we found ourselves, in the wee hours of the morning, outside the door of a nondescript apartment building in downtown Akron, Ohio. Viv fumbled in her purse before pulling a key out of an envelope and quickly unlocking the door.
We entered the apartment on the third floor, and I couldn’t help my smile. I set the last of Viv’s luggage on the floor and looked around.
I flipped the switch by the doorway, turning on the overhead light. The entryway opened up into a living room area. There was a basic sofa and entertainment stand set up in the living room. The kitchen was just off the living room and a small light had been left on over the sink. I could see a small dinette table with two chairs in a nearby breakfast nook. There were large cardboard boxes addressed to Vivian stacked in the living room, along with a variety of Amazon boxes. VivianlovedAmazon.
There were two bedrooms with one bathroom off a long hallway. In each room there was a full-sized bed with brand new mattresses, a desk and dresser. It was small, and cramped, and more than a few years old. Overall, it was heaven.
I walked out of one of the bedrooms only to see Vivian lying on her back on the bed in the other room.
I flopped down next to her and took her hand.
“’Thank you’ doesn’t seem nearly enough,” I whispered.
“I’m just glad you’re going to be safe now,” she whispered back, reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. The move reminded me oddly of my mom, and for the first time in hours, the hurt seemed to lessen.
We fell asleep like that and didn’t wake up for many, many hours.
6
Kaine
Ugh. My “brief nap”the night before had ended up making me an hour and a half late for my shift at The Belt. Luckily, my boss loved me.
I’d made it through that night only to wake the next morning with the household in a tizzy. I wandered down to the kitchen and listened to Bishop growling on the phone to someone.
“…well, where the fuckishe?” he demanded.
I rubbed sleep from my eyes and blindly reached for the coffee pot. Mama K and Mama D were seated at the kitchen table, their eyes intent on Bishop. I fixed myself a cup of coffee and sat down.
“Fine. Let us know when you hear something, Lee,” he said, then disconnected the call.
“What’s going on?” I asked sleepily, looking at the concerned faces.
“Cameron didn’t show up,” Bishop snarled as he slammed his phone on the counter. “Again.”
“Shit…” I answered. It took a lot to make Bishop angry. He was generally the most level-headed of the Devereaux boys. Our parents had taught us, though, you screwed with one Devereaux, you screwed with us all.
“Bishop McElroy Devereaux,” Mama D’s voice snapped and Bishop looked up guiltily at his display of temper. “Save it for the dojo,” she said.
Bishop nodded, a pink blush tinging his tanned cheeks. Our parents had very different ways of dealing with anger, but neither one of them allowed their children to use violence to manage their emotions. Mama D always worked things through logically and calmly, putting any pent-up feelings into whatever project she was working on at the time. Mama K was the one who let her sharp tongue fly. She could cut you to the bone one minute, and make you feel like a million bucks the next. But neither of them allowed us to express our anger with violence. Seemed strange, considering they ran a martial arts studio, but it worked for us.
Cameron had been scheduled to come out to Ohio at least two or three times before this. Once he’d had a scheduling conflict come up. No big deal, right? Then he’d had an attack of food poisoning. Then something else. I didn’t remember what happened the third time, but it was becoming apparent that this guy didn’t really want to come to Ohio.
“What’s the plan?” I asked. This was the Devereaux clan. Wealwayshad a plan.
“Lee is at the store helping the twins. Hicks is trying to reach the airline, and I’m going to try and reach Cameron’s agent,” Bishop said.
“I also need you boys to get the box fans out of the attic to take over. I’m calling a friend of mine who’s an HVAC specialist, but I don’t know how quickly he can get out there. The air conditioning is out at the store,” Mama D said.
“Shit! It was supposed to be almost one hundred degrees today!” I exclaimed in sympathy. I glanced at the clock. It was already almost noon.
“That’s why I canceled our afternoon classes andyouare loading up your car and heading out there with ice, a cooler and a couple of cases of water for everyone,” Mama K said.
