Drawing Dead: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  10

  Carly

  “What time is Sofia coming by?”

  “Why?” I asked as I pulled out clothes for Alessa. Josh stood in the doorway, watching my every move. That’s the way it had been for days now. Even when Sofia was here, he never left my side.

  “Because I’m not leaving until she gets here.”

  I slammed the dresser drawer and turned to him, trying to rein in my anger. “Josh, you’ve stayed home for three days with me. It’s time to get back to work.”

  “I am, just not until Sofia gets here.”

  “You know, Sofia has a life of her own. You can’t just drag her away from her life for your own amusement.”

  He leaned against the doorway. “It’s not for my own amusement. It’s to make sure you’re safe since you refuse to get a nurse.”

  “Because I don’t need a nurse. Why don’t you just get me a life alert button?” I snapped.

  “I thought about it.”

  I slowly turned to him, my anger building by the minute. “And what stopped you?”

  He shrugged slightly. “I didn’t think you’d wear it. Or if you did, you’d probably use it against me.”

  “You’ve got that right.”

  I pushed past him into the hallway, heading for the living room where Alessa was playing.

  “Look, we’ve already got it all worked out. Sofia won’t have to be with you all the time. The other girls are willing to help out also.”

  I smiled at Alessa, helping her take off her jammies. “I don’t need someone to stay with me. I’m on the seizure medication like you wanted. Do I really need a babysitter nonstop?”

  “You’re lucky Ma isn’t out here yet.”

  “You called her?” I asked unbelievably.

  “Joe called her, but yes, I would have told her. But I also told her that we had things covered,” he said quickly.

  I stood, slowly walking over to him. “Josh, when is she coming?”

  He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing with the movement. “I…I didn’t say she was coming.”

  “No, you said she wasn’t here yet. When is she coming?”

  He was silent for a minute before saying, “Not until Friday.”

  I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. “Unbelievable! Why would you think I would want to spend all that time with your mother?”

  “What’s wrong with Ma?”

  “Nothing. She’s great, but I don’t want her coming out here to watch over me. I’m an adult. I don’t need more people coming to watch out for me.”

  “She’s just concerned.”

  “She’s concerned, or you’re concerned?”

  “Um…”

  I scoffed and walked into the kitchen, needing my coffee for the day. As I was pulling the carafe out of the coffee maker, I bumped into a glass that Josh left on the edge of the counter and it fell to the floor, shattering into little pieces.

  “Carly!” he shouted from the other room. He came skidding around the corner, looking at me frantically. “What happened? Are you okay? Did your hand go numb? Oh my God! It’s another symptom. We have to get to the hospital now!”

  He rushed across the floor, crunching right over the glass and swooping me up into his arms before I had a chance to say anything. I started pounding my fist into his back, trying to get a word in over his ranting.

  “Josh! Nothing happened.”

  “Don’t say that. You don’t just drop glasses on the floor for no reason.”

  “I didn’t drop the glass on the floor for no reason—”

  “It’s okay, Carly. I’ll make sure we get you checked out.”

  “I’m fine!”

  He rushed into the living room, calling out to Alessa. “Come on, sweetheart, we need to go.”

  “Alessa, stay,” I commanded, ready to kick this guy’s ass, if only I wasn’t pregnant.

  “We can’t just leave her at home. Did you hit your head too?”

  “I didn’t do anything!”

  He somehow opened the truck door, stuffing me in the truck, still in my bathrobe and my unbrushed hair. I only had on house slippers. As soon as he turned around, I opened the door and got back out, marching back up to our townhouse.

  “Baby, what are you doing? Don’t walk! It’s not safe.”

  “I’m fine!”

  “Jack! Oh, thank God. Carly had an episode.”

  I spun around to find Josh leaning on the side of Jack’s car, practically yelling at him.

  “I’m fine!” I shouted, trying to break through the madness, but no one was listening to me. “I didn’t have an episode. I knocked a glass off the counter!”

  Still, no one listened to me. I watched as Jack radioed in that he needed assistance at our residence before parking the car and getting out and Josh rushed back over to me.

  “Baby, I’m so sorry I left you. We need to go.”

  “It was a glass, Josh—”

  He squeezed his eyes shut, like he was recalling something. “Hand numbness, that could be a sign of frostbite or carpal tunnel, but it’s not cold and you don’t sit at the computer all day, so it’s probably not that.”

  He swooped me up in his arms again, marching back to the truck and stuffing me back inside. I watched as Jack rushed down the steps with Alessa. They hadn’t even shut the front door.

  As he got in his side, I tried to get him to calm down. “Hey!” I smacked him across the face. “I’m fine.”

  “Oh God, you don’t remember. It’s gotta be neurological. Christ, what the hell did they put in that seizure medication?”

  He rambled the whole way to the hospital about possible reasons I could be having numbness in my hand, and at this point, I was just so pissed off that I stared out the windshield and didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t listen anyway. My only hope was the doctor would talk some sense into him.

  When we pulled up to the hospital, several trucks pulled in behind us, all of his brothers rushing out and shouting over one another. I rolled my eyes, realizing that I was going to have all of them to contend with now. I was never getting out of here.

  A nurse from the hospital pushed out a wheelchair as Josh shouted at her, telling her about my history of seizures and how I was about to die. I stepped out of the truck and sat down, deciding just to ride out the wave of crazy. There was no stopping it at this point. I stared at the nurse with a look of boredom.

  “Are you okay, honey?”

  “No, I’ve been kidnapped from my home because I knocked a glass off the counter.”

  She eyed me warily.

  “She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She’s already forgotten,” Josh rushed on. “I remember reading about this online. Numbness in the hands and forgetfulness, it could be a problem with her nervous system. Cervical spondylosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome… uh…lyme disease, vasculitis, spinal stenosis!”

  “Sir, we will look her over, but if you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to make you wait outside.”

  “How is she?”

  “Did she seize again?”

  “Did you get it on camera for the town?”

  “Should I call Charlie?”

  All the brothers were talking over each other, and the beginnings of a headache formed, making me rub my fingers over my temples. This was insane. I was going to have to get a restraining order against all of them. I was wheeled back to the ER, all of them following.

  “I’m afraid you can’t all come back here,” the nurse said. “Immediate family only.”

  “We are her immediate family,” Andrew said.

  “Very immediate family,” the nurse clarified.

  “Yeah, we’re not leaving,” Eric said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Charlie came running down the hall toward me. Finally, someone sane. “What’s going on? Did you have another seizure?”

  “She had numbness in her hands and then she just stood there. I think she had one of those absence seizures you were telling me about. And then
she forgot about it! She doesn’t remember a thing! I think it’s a spinal injury or multiple sclerosis. Maybe a ganglion cyst or…that mirror-touch synth-something.”

  Charlie looked at me and I glared back. She pulled out a light pen thingy. “Keep looking at me.” She looked into my eyes and then frowned, picking up both hands. “Squeeze.”

  I squeezed so damn hard I almost broke her hand. She let out a squeak, ripping her hands from me.

  “What happened?” Josh shouted, running his hands through his hair as he stared at me.

  “Carly, what happened?” Charlie asked.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Josh interrupted me. “I told you—”

  “I want to hear from Carly,” Charlie interrupted.

  Every eye in the place turned to me. Finally, I could speak. “I walked into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and as I pulled the carafe out, I bumped into a glass that Josh left on the edge of the counter. It fell to the ground, and he freaked out, thinking that I was having a seizure. Then he decided that I had numbness in my hands, and when I tried to correct him, he decided I had forgotten what happened.”

  She looked at Josh questioningly. “Is that what happened?”

  “I didn’t leave a glass on the counter.”

  “Yes, you did. Last night I asked you to put it in the dishwasher, and you said you would do it before you went to bed, but you didn’t.”

  His jaw dropped open and he frowned, thinking it over. “Still, that doesn’t explain the numbness in her hands.”

  “Because I have no numbness in my hands, but you might need a brain scan.”

  Charlie sighed and turned back to me. “So, you’re feeling okay?”

  “I’m fine. There was never anything wrong.”

  “And you would tell me if something was?”

  “Well, I don’t have a death wish, so yes, I would tell you. Probably not Josh or any of his brothers. Or Jack, seeing as how they all carry us around and ask questions later.”

  “Wait, so you’re fine?” Joe asked.

  “We didn’t need to rush over here?” Eric said.

  “No, I was fine, and you would have known that if you asked the only sane person in our house.”

  Will skidded around the corner, practically falling on his ass as he slipped in something. “I’m here. What’s going on?”

  “Apparently, she’s fine,” Josh said, almost like she was disappointed.

  “Wait, I called the school and told them I had an emergency, but you’re fine?”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ll live another day. The only thing wrong with me is I married a lunatic.”

  “Well, you’re both lunatics, so it makes sense he would react this way,” Robert shrugged.

  “Carly, go home and relax.” Then Charlie turned to Josh. “You, leave Carly alone and stay off Web MD.”

  11

  Eric

  I dialed Derek’s cell phone again, but no one picked up. I’d tried reaching him night and day since Carly’s seizure, but now I was calling out of concern for him. Sure, I hadn’t been able to reach him in the past, but Claire was usually pretty good about letting us know when he’d be out of town. Yet, I couldn’t get ahold of her either. I dialed Reed Security again, but still got the same answer, the line was disconnected.

  “Still nothing?” Kat asked as she walked into the kitchen.

  I had been hiding out here all night, trying to figure out what to do. “I can’t reach him or Claire. The business line is still disconnected.”

  “What about Sean?”

  “I tried to reach him through the department, but I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

  “Do you want to drive out there?”

  I thought about it for a minute. I couldn’t just leave Kat behind. She had the baby to take care of. But Derek was my brother. I needed to know what was happening. Pushing off the counter, I nodded.

  “Will you be okay here?”

  “We’ll be fine, but maybe you should take someone with you.”

  “Joe can’t get the time away. Andrew might be able to go.”

  “Will has school and Josh can’t leave. What about Robert?”

  “I’ll call him and Andrew. If they can go, I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  “Can you get everything set that quickly with work?”

  I nodded. “I’ll let Anna know what’s going on. She can pass on everything to RJ.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  “Can you start packing for me?”

  “Of course.”

  I pulled her into my arms and held her close, letting out a small sigh. “I can’t believe this is happening again.”

  “Don’t say that. You don’t know that anything’s wrong.”

  “If nothing was wrong, I would have heard from someone by now.”

  “Just don’t worry too much until you know there’s something to worry about. This could all be nothing.”

  “Or I could be losing another brother.” She rubbed my back as she held me tight. Thank God I found her. I couldn’t imagine going through this without Kat. She kissed me on the lips and stepped back.

  “After I get Owen down, I’ll start packing for you. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

  I blew out a harsh breath. “I don’t know. A few days at least. It all depends on what I find when I get there.”

  I pulled out my phone as she headed upstairs and dialed Robert’s number. It took a few rings for him to pick up.

  “What do you want? I just got Tate down.”

  “Is there a chance you can come with me to Pennsylvania tomorrow?”

  “Hold on…” I heard some shuffling in the background and then he came back on. “What’s going on?”

  “I still can’t reach Derek.”

  He was silent for a moment. “What have you found out?”

  “Nothing yet, which is the problem. I want to go out there and get some answers.”

  “I’ll be over in ten. You call Andrew and Joe. I’ll call Will and Josh.”

  “Josh won’t leave Carly.”

  “I’ve got it covered. See you soon.”

  He hung up and I dialed Joe and Andrew, asking them to come out to the house. Twenty minutes later, everyone was sitting around the kitchen table as I explained what I had…or hadn’t learned so far.

  “Wait, no one’s picking up?” Josh asked.

  “I can’t get ahold of anyone.”

  “What about the cop friend?” Andrew asked.

  I shook my head. “Guys, everyone that we could call, I’ve called. No one’s answering. Something else is going on here.”

  Josh pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Knight.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I forgot you had a direct line to an assassin.”

  “To an employee of the company,” he corrected. We all waited as he dialed, but when he shook his head, it was like all the air was sucked out of the room. He left a message, asking for Knight to call him back, but what were the chances that would happen?

  Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m leaving in the morning to go to Pennsylvania. I know you can’t all make it, but if anyone can come with…”

  “I can come,” Andrew said. “I don’t have any urgent business right now.”

  “What about Lorelei? Is she okay on her own with Julia?”

  “She’s been bugging me to leave the house,” he snorted. “But Lorelei will be fine with it, knowing what we’re doing.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “I would,” Will said, “but without knowing how long you’ll be gone, I can’t ask for that time off from the school.”

  “I can shuffle some things around.” Robert was already on the phone, probably dialing Anna. As he talked to her and made plans, he covered the microphone, “Anything you need her to do?”

  “Just have everything shuffled around for RJ. I’ll give him a call.”

  He relayed the information as the rest of us sat there. />
  “I can’t get anyone to cover the shop,” Joe said, once Robert was off the phone.

  “I know. It’s okay, I just didn’t want to go out there alone.”

  “Is this what it was like when I was gone?” Josh asked.

  “Not quite. With you, we knew you were missing right away. Fuck,” I swore, dropping my head. “I can’t believe I waited so long to go out there.”

  “This isn’t on you,” Robert spoke up. “None of us thought anything was wrong. It’s not like Derek hasn’t fallen off the radar before.”

  “But we always knew about it.” I shoved back my chair and sighed. “I want to leave early. Six a.m.”

  “We should make good time,” Andrew said, standing up. “I’ll go home and pack.”

  “You’re sure Lorelei will be okay? Julia’s not that old.”

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “I can ask Charlie to check in with her,” Will said, getting up. “Keep us updated on what you find.”

  “I will.”

  Everyone left, but it wasn’t like our usual get-togethers, filled with laughter and jokes. There was a distinct feeling of sadness and dread hanging in the air. I locked up and headed upstairs, peeking in on Owen, who was sound asleep in his crib. I ran my finger down his cheek. He looked so small and innocent laying there. He had no idea how cruel the world could be. I had grown up with this fantastic childhood, where nothing ever seemed wrong. But as an adult, I knew life wasn’t always fair. I hoped to God that Owen never had to deal with one sibling disappearing, let alone two.

  “Are you going to call your mother?” Kat whispered from the doorway.

  I continued to stare down at my son, wondering what I should do. As a parent, I would want to know immediately, but as the son, I didn’t want my parents worrying until I knew for certain something was wrong.

  “Not until I have some answers.”

  “Find them fast,” she said, making me turn around.