Cinder To Ash (Tainted Hearts Book 3)

by Summer, AJ

  Army guy kneels down next to us and runs a hand down Mia’s hair. I almost rip his arm off; fortunately for him both my arms are still around Mia so I can’t.

  “Is she okay?” The guy has a bloody lip, but other than that he seems fine. I assume this is Parker. He looks like the guy I saw that day in her front yard.

  “She’s fine,” I snap. Hoping my tone will get him away from her. His intense green eyes scan over my face. Probably judging me too. I know I am. The waitress brings over the water, holding it out with a shaky hand. Mia groans, opening her dazed chocolate eyes.

  “Where’s Kyle?” she asks, looking around like a frightened little mouse.

  “Who?” I know she can’t mean her dead brother and I know she didn’t bump her head.

  “Kyle, Jase. Where is he?” She sits up quickly, immediately falling back, clutching a hand to her head.

  “Calm down. Have some water,” I say softly, pulling her down and placing the glass in her hand.

  “Are you okay?” Parker asks. Mia lifts her eyes to him slowly.

  “I’m fine. How do you know Kyle?”

  “Who?” Parker replies with a deep frown.

  “The guy with the cap. I know what I saw. How do you know my brother?” She’s getting angry now and Parker is looking at her like she’s just told him the moon was made of cheese. Not that I’m saying this guy is right, but what she is suggesting is impossible.

  “I think you’re confusing my step-brother with someone else. That was Runner. Not your brother. Are you sure you’re okay?” He reaches a tentative hand out and places it on her arm. Mia shakes him off.

  “That can’t be. I know what I saw.” She shakes her head. “It was Kyle,” she sobs. Her big chocolate eyes peer into mine, begging me to tell her she’s right. I’ve only seen photos of her twin and, from what I saw, that guy didn’t look anything like him. The nose, from the little I could see from his face, it wasn’t the same guy. And her brother is dead. Been dead for almost eight years now. I shake my head no. I watch the tears build, her lip starts to tremble before she buries her face in my chest.

  “Take me home,” she sobs. Big angry shakes rock her body.

  “Okay.” I pull her up of the floor, holding her against me. Offering her the darkness of my shirt.

  “Who were those guys?” I ask Parker.

  “Just family problems. Things have been a bit chaotic since my dad’s death,” he says, looking towards the back door. I do the same but see nothing. He’ll have to sort out his own problems. I have Mia to look after. “Let me know how she’s doing,” he says, already turning his back on us.

  The waitresses jump the second he faces them, all scurrying in different direction. Parker picks up his knocked over table, surveys the damage and disappears through a door leading heck knows where.

  I bundle Mia into bed and tuck the blankets tightly around her. She hasn’t said a word since we left the coffee shop. Her cheeks are wet with tear tracks, her eyes bloodshot and swollen. I wish I could wipe that broken look off her face. Mia shakes her arm loose from beneath the blankets and opens her bedside drawer. Without looking, she pulls out the photo frame with the photo of her, Jenna and Kyle on their last holiday together. I stand by what I saw, that guy looked nothing like this. At least not with that cap on. The guy in this picture has a mess of light brown hair, his eyes crystal blue. Maybe if I saw his eyes I’d know, because I’ve never seen eyes like Kyle’s before. Light blue surrounds the pupil, gradually growing darker towards the outer circle. Mia used to say if you looked closely it looked like lightening streaks in his eyes. What the heck do I know about shit like that?

  “It was him. I’m sure of it.” She’s still sniffing and her voice is hoarse from crying. I decide to test my theory about his eyes.

  “You always said no one else had eyes like Kyle, right?” I ask. “I couldn’t see his eyes because of the cap.” She sounds defeated. “Right. So, if it’ll make you feel better, why not ask Parker if you can meet his brother? To make sure?”

  She lifts her eyes to me. “You don’t think I’m whacked out of my head?” Her voice is so small that I think maybe she thinks she is crazy.

  “No, I don’t think you’re whacked, but I do think ... no, I know, you need closure.” I give her tiny hand a squeeze. She sniffs again and reaches for her phone on the table next to the bed. She dials Parker’s number, nervously chewing on the nail of her thumb.

  “Hi, um, Parker? It’s Mia.” I can hear his voice on the other side of the line but can’t make out what he’s saying. “I’m fine, thanks.” She sniffs again, this time followed by a cough. Maybe the late night swim made her sick. “Uh, Parker, I need to ask you something. It is going to sound insane, but hear me out okay?” She takes a deep breath, her fingers picking nervously at the comforter. “I need to meet your brother.” She shakes her head. Mia opens her mouth, closes it, gaping like a goldfish, just to open it again. “Where does he stay then? … Uh huh, but that’s only a couple of hours away. I know it sounds crazy but can you-” She nods her head. “Thanks. Let me know.”

  She hangs up the call, but keeps staring at the phone.

  “Runner lives in the Square. He runs a business there or something. Parker will ask him to meet me.” She takes a deep breath. “Did those guys seem weird to you?” Her voice is scratchy from all the crying. She lifts her eyes and there’s a little bit of hope there now. Hope for something that’ll ultimately disappoint her. She really believes she saw her dead twin tonight.

  “Definitely weird. And what are the chances of your friend knowing the same two guys that showed up here?” We both ponder that thought for a long time.

  “Hey, Jase? Whatever happened to that guy that was involved in the accident? The one who ran the red light?” she asks, playing with her fingers. Her question catches me off guard. I haven’t thought about that guy for a while. Even with my injuries it is nothing compared to the other car involved. That driver lost her life.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I don’t know. Just general curiosity I guess, or it could be seeing those guys again. We never heard anything beyond the court case.”

  Neither did I. I was in that coma for four weeks. After I moved back into Grandma’s I caught bits and pieces from Adam. The guy was arrested, appeared in court and after that things went quiet. Reno Parker’s suicide made better headlines. Why would a guy with so much money kill himself? Mia’s phone dings with an incoming text. She opens it, her eyes scanning across the screen quickly.

  “Parker,” she mumbles. She throws the phone down on her bed, and herself against her headboard and crosses her arms. “Runner is leaving for Africa. He’s probably already on the plane.” Her voice is laced with anger and disappointment.

  “Does he say when he’s coming back? You did say he has a business to run in the Square.” I try to appease her. Parker could also be lying. Those guys didn’t look like the type who would indulge a girl who wants to meet them for no good reason.

  “Nope.” She pops the ‘p’ between her lips. It almost looks like she’s pouting. Mia sneezes. Again and then again. On the third one her eyes are watery. “I’m definitely getting sick. My head hurts,” she says, rubbing her fingers in circles around her temples.

  “I’ll go get you some cold clears and painkillers. They still in the bathroom cabinet?”

  “Uh huh,” she murmurs, sliding down underneath the comforter. She sounds miserable. I pat her leg as I get up from the bed.

  When I get back from the bathroom, water and medicine in hand, I almost laugh at Mia peeking at me from beneath the blankets.

  “S-so cold,” she chatters. I place a hand on her forehead. She’s burning up.

  “You should eat something before drinking this. I’ll go see if there’s anything edible downstairs. Be right back.” Mia gives me a dry look, but before she can open her mouth to say something, I leave the room. I’m starving, and if I’m hungry, she’ll be hungry.

  I find a packet of
choc chip cookies, a jar of peanut butter and a bag of oranges in the kitchen. The rest will take too long to prepare and Mia didn’t look like she could stomach much. I grab a spoon on the way out of the kitchen and stick it into my mouth.

  When I get back to the room, she’s still hiding under her blankets. Her eyes open when she hears me approaching. I hold up my find, “You pick,” I say, around the spoon.

  A tiny smile touches her lips. “Cookies,” she says, reaching out a hand. I hand her the cookies and sit down on the bed to dig into the peanut butter. She rips open the packet and munches the cookie in two bites. I take one from the packet and dip it into the jar.

  “You want a bite?” I ask when I see her staring at me. She quickly shakes her head no. She’s missing out, it’s good. Mia finishes another cookie while I have a spoonful of peanut butter. It’s not real food, but it sure fills that empty spot. She places the cookie packet on her bed side table, sniffing again softly. Time for those meds.

  “Here, drink this and get some rest.” She takes the tablets and glass from my hand, swallowing it down quickly.

  Looks like I'm sleeping on the couch again tonight. I’m not leaving her alone like this. No one else is here. I think Aiden and Jenna might be staying over at the new house.

  “I’ll stay here until you feel better,” I say. She doesn’t acknowledge that she’s heard me and that gives me the perfect excuse to stay right where I am. I make myself as comfortable as possible on the tiny loveseat she uses for reading and close my eyes.

  I wake up to a bear growling in my ear. At least that’s what Mia’s coughing sounds like. It’s so bad that I’m afraid one of her lungs might make an appearance soon. I go to the bathroom to fetch her a fresh glass of water and more medicine.

  “Thank you,” she whispers croakily, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her voice is scratchy and her nose will put Rudolph’s to shame.

  “Have one of those cookies before you drink that. I’ll phone Alec.”

  “Thank you,” she says, already reaching for the pack.

  Mia sleeps through most of her Friday and when she wakes up around 5pm she looks a little better. Her eyes are still dazed and her nose is still red, but fortunately her fever has gone down.

  “You’re still here?” she asks when she sees me.

  “Yeah. I thought we could watch a movie right here for date three, since you’re sick,” I say, smiling at my genius plan. Mia doesn’t look happy though. “Or you could just sleep,” I offer on a chuckle at the offended look on her face.

  “You sure are in a hurry to get this dating thing over,” she says crossly.

  It’s not that. Life is just so short that I don’t want to waste a second on something like planning a perfect date. I’d rather be planning our wedding. Speaking of wedding, I need to speak to Lewis...

  “You know how I feel about getting straight to the point. I just don’t want to put too much time into something we’re way past. Life’s too short,” I explain, holding up my hands. I know Mia used to feel the same way. What changed?

  “I just think we should have more fun together. Watching a movie in here with me will only make you sick. That doesn’t sound like fun.” She groans. She’s really not happy being sick.

  “Anything with you is fun for me. Remember that time I painted your toe nails? Fun. I love spending time with you no matter what we’re doing. So if you decide we have to play dress up and I have to be Peter Pan. I’ll wear the tights. My balls will hate you, but I’ll do it,” I say with a straight face.

  She laughs. When it turns into a yelp she rubs a hand down her throat. Some peppermint tea will fix that right up. Grams believed in it. Whenever I got sick, Grams used to give me peppermint tea and chicken soup. Fixed me right as rain. I could really use some of that soup now. I’ll ask Gram to make some. I can pick it up after our weekly bingo game at the home. Maybe Mia can come with if she feels better. One thing I can do now is make her that peppermint tea.

  “I’ll be right back. Need to go get that movie. Don’t get out of bed.”

  “Oh, I won’t,” she says when I give her a quick kiss on the head. “Get away, you’ll get sick!” She swats me away. Winking, I turn on my heels and leave her in bed.

  Searching the cupboards I find my stash of peppermint tea right in the back of the cupboard. I’m the only one who drinks it. And only when I’m sick. I fix Mia a cup and leave it to brew on the counter while I go look for Lewis. His bedroom door is open and he’s sitting at his desk. I knock but he doesn’t hear me. As I get closer I see the earphones in his ears. He’s writing in a book. Looks like song lyrics. Not wanting to be a peeping Tom, in case he turns around and sees me before I make my presence known, I tap him on his shoulder. He jumps in fright and almost knocks my balls into my throat with his elbow. My hands instinctively cup my man parts, covering them from harm.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” he breathes.

  “Sorry,” I reply chuckling. “That a song?” I ask, pointing to the note pad in front of him.

  “Just something I’ve been messing with.” He closes the book, and the subject, without another word.

  “I actually came to fetch,” I look behind me to make sure no one else walked in since I’ve been here, “the ring. The one I gave you the morning of the accident.”

  Lewis cocks his blond head at me, sending a tangle of hair into his eyes. “You ready for that?” he asks, his eyes scanning my face. I guess he sees how ready I am, because he opens a drawer underneath his desk and removes the platinum band from inside. He sets it down in my palm and my fingers close around it like a vice before tucking it into my pocket. “When?”

  “Soon.”

  Mia is sitting up in bed, flicking through the channels of the TV when I get back to her room. I place her tea and the popcorn I made after Lewis gave me the DVD next to her. I pull the DVD case from the back of my pants and hand it to her. I only have two hands. I’ve heard a lot about this movie. It’s not something I would normally watch. But I saw it in Lewis’s room and after laughing his ass off at me because I didn’t know what the movie was about. He just told me to bring it upstairs to watch with Mia. He saved me a trip to the store. I slip the disc into the DVD player and get comfortable on the love seat.

  “How?” Mia shrieks. The high pierced sound scares the hell out of me. “Where did you get this?” Her eyes not sure where they want to focus, on me or the TV.

  “Lewis said we should watch it. It’s about some book or something,” I say, not getting what the big deal is.

  “Do you even know what this movie is about?” she asks, crossing her arms.

  “That’s why we’re watching it, isn’t it? To find out,” I throw back.

  She raises an eyebrow at my smart ass comment. A sinister looking smile stretches across her lips, telling me I’m going to regret this visual choice of entertainment.

  Halfway through the movie I’m not sure what the hell I’m watching. I’m pretty sure the guy is a dick and the girl is too naïve to even come close to understanding this. While peeling Mia an orange I keep a close eye on the screen, because the sex is hot, and I’m sure somewhere a decent storyline will emerge. Did I mention the sex is hot? Mia keeps oohing and ahhing in between mouthfuls of popcorn and the enraptured look on her face keeps me enthralled more than the story ever could. The closing scene of the movie looks almost exactly the same as the beginning and after a full hour and twenty something minutes I’ve come to one conclusion: Money can make you a pretty powerful man.

  “I can’t believe it’s over. We have to wait a whole year for the next one,” she grumbles through her smiling face. I might have dozed off somewhere during the movie but she sure seemed to like it. I switch the TV off.

  “You hungry?” I ask when she finally notices the orange in her lap and pops a slice into her mouth.

  “Not really. I had almost all the popcorn,” she replies still smiling happily. I have to thank Lewis for this movie!

  “We’ll do
something fun, but quiet, tomorrow. No bungee-jumping or high speed go-karts for you until you’re better. I’ll check with you in the morning.” Mia smiles and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. I remember exactly how soft and smooth her hair is. How it smells like vanilla and berries.

  “I’d really like that,” she says.

  “Good. I’ll pick you up then. I’m going to go now. Goodnight Mew.”

  “Goodnight Jase.”

  Bingo, I text.

  Bingo?

  Bingo at six.

  Someone better start making sense.

  I chuckle at her response and type a quick reply back:

  How are you feeling?

  Other than with my hands?

  Smartass

  You’ve always liked my ass. First time you’ve called it smart though ... My head feels like it’s filled with cotton. My nose is currently located on Mars and my eyes resemble that of someone who just got through a drama marathon.

  Stunning

  So Bingo?

  With Grams. Pick you up from home.

  So bossy. See you then.

  ;)

  I pick up the card with Detective Townsend’s cell number on and enter his phone number. Voicemail. I try the station; automated responses take me straight into elevator music. While waiting, I clean up my room. Pinching the phone between my ear and shoulder I shake out my sheets and comforter. An unfamiliar sock falls onto the floor. I hold the pink and white clothing between my thumb and forefinger and inspect the unknown thing carefully. At least it’s not underwear. That would be messed up.

  “Rose?” I shout down the hall. More elevator music plays in my ear. Doesn’t anybody work in that place?

  “Yes?” Rose asks, sticking her head in my door. Holding the sock out in front of her I raise an eyebrow.

  “This yours?” I ask. I might wrinkle my nose a little bit.

  “Uh?” She steps deeper into my room. “Yup. That’s mine, Thanks.” She snatches the sock from my fingers and walks out the door.

  “Stay out of my bed!” I shout after her.