It didn’t take the firemen long to put out the fire, but while they waited, Cole and Leon tried to explain the entire situation to Raymond and his brother.
Cole predicted he would have been more upset over the garage, but Raymond took that surprisingly well, even though it probably had something to do with Leon’s assurances that Aicil would cover the damages. That and the fact that the fire had also resulted in Raymond’s brother being healed.
The “Grandfather” discussion was a big hinkier though. “He was protecting you from the Cork Wolf,” Cole assured them for the third time during the conversation.
“But he also attacked my brother,” Archie said. Apparently, he was still more rattled by being attacked by an invisible force while he slept than outright by a black spirit dog.
“He wanted your attention, and it worked,” Cole said. “You called us in, learned about Grandfather, and rid the farm of the Corn Wolf.”
“As I understand it, this Grandfather thing, has been protecting the house in exchange for offerings—wasn’t the Corn Wolf the same? Wouldn’t it have guaranteed a profitable crop?” Raymond asked.
Leon sighed. “His demands would have been far greater. And I’m afraid at that point, it would have included the sacrifice of your brother—at least his arm and possibly more.”
Leon didn’t bother to mention that the entity had laid claim to him as well.
Cole leaned over the table, patting the folder of information they had collected along the way. “Grandfather will also help with chores; he’ll protect your family and your house in exchange for your hospitality. Things will quiet down as long as you share some dinner with him each evening.”
“This is crazy,” Archie said, pacing around the kitchen.
“You called us in because of our expertise in the matter, and we assure you, the best solution for this case is making friends with the entity. That’s what the last family who lived here did. They also tried appeasing the Corn Wolf, but it was as financially draining as not having it around. It may guarantee a better yield but at a high cost and danger to your family. Think of Grandfather as the low maintenance and slightly entertaining option. Like distant and slightly crazy uncle who happens to be invisible.”
Raymond frowned at Kaylyn’s description but didn’t argue the point any further, probably out of fear that the conversation would only grow stranger. He and Leon shook, then he eyed the girls one more time before accepting the folder and leading them toward the door.
“That could have gone worse,” Cole said, following Leon out to his truck where Kaylyn was curled up in the front seat. “That all took a lot out of her.”
Even Cole was ready to call it a day, and she hadn’t wrestled with a hundred and some odd pound slab of metal in the garage.
“I’ll drive her home,” Leon said. “I’m surprised she’s not frozen solid.”
“Hey, um, I have a favor to ask first.” She peeked in the window to make sure Kaylyn was still out. “Are you back in your old house?”
Leon had a huge townhouse not far from the office. One his wife intended on filling with plenty of children—but that plan never panned out, although it didn’t seem from lack of Leon’s interest in it. Just shitty luck of the draw.
“I take it things are worse with your fiancé?”
“Yeah,” she nodded weakly
“I’d say the spare bedroom is yours, but,” he scoffed, “I don’t even have a bed in it.”
Cole shrugged. “I can manage. I ... I have no idea what’s going to happen with Dan, and I haven’t had time—”
Leon quieted her with a hand on her arm. “Got it, Cole. It’s all yours until you figure out where you’re going. Longer than that if you want, but then I charge rent,” he winked. “Can’t beat it though, no bed, but it has its own full bath.”
“I can work with that,” Cole smirked. A nice long bath uninterrupted by quarrels sounded like heaven. And it was all around better than sleeping on the couch in Kaylyn’s new tiny place or driving an hour each way to stay with her mother. “It has closets, right?”
“Yes, plenty of closet space.” Leon shook his head and headed to the pickup door, giving her a final sideways glance. “Anything else I can do for you before I deliver your sister to her own bed?”
“Nope. But maybe I should also mention I have a turtle.”
“Okay,” Leon said without looking up. “I’m sure my cat will look forward to meeting him.”
“You don’t have a cat.” Cole knew better, but Leon lifted his eyebrows. He fiddled with his key ring for a second then tossed her a single key.
“I have a spare in my truck, but you’re set and welcome whenever you need in. And we’ll be the next on the Council’s fraternization list.”
“It’s a long and ever growing list. But you’re awesome.”
Cole could barely lift her feet as she stumbled through the front door and felt her way through the empty living room to the stairs. “Didn’t expect you to still be here,” she said when she saw Dan sitting propped up on the bed with his computer in his lap.
“Have you been rolling around on the ground?” He asked when he eyed her clothes.
“It has been a fucked up couple of days,” she said, digging out a pair of pajamas in anticipation of a nice hot shower to get rid of the grime.
“To say the least.”
“Everything quiet around here?” Even as she said the words, she knew it was a bad idea, but Dan didn’t answer. That meant it was even worse. Going through the motions, that’s how Kaylyn said she was getting through it all. Cole wondered if that’s all any of them did.
“You look beat,” he said, snapping the laptop closed. “And yes. It has been quiet since you left.”
Cole ran a hand through her hair and turned toward Cuff’s aquarium, sliding her finger along the cool glass. “I have a friend with a spare bedroom. I’m going to go stay there for a while.”
Dan was silent. She expected a half-assed argument at the very least, but when looked over her shoulder at him, he stared back with a flat expression. Cole bit her lip, trying to keep the raging fire of emotions from streaming out. Instead, she pulled her suitcase out from under the bed and began throwing in her clothes.
Dan jumped off the bed and grabbed her wrist. “Aren’t we even going to talk about this?”
She wanted to, but feared that like every conversation they’d had recently, it’d only turn into a fight. They both need time and distance to avoid verbally tearing each other apart. She hadn’t given up the hope that they might work it out, but she had come to terms with their inability to do it under the current circumstances. “You need to be with your family and I respect that. But, we both know that things aren’t working with me here right now. We’ll talk later, and maybe without all of the stress we’ll work things out.”
Cole had no idea whether or not she was surprised that Dan watched her walk out with her bag without putting up some kind of argument, but she loaded up her car and sat in the driver’s seat, staring at the house while her eyes filled with tears. She’d never let herself consider the possibility of it not working out. After more than two years, she had the young and naïve belief that they could make it through.
Drying her eyes, she turned over the engine and started toward Leon’s house.
Chapter 19
Despite Kaylyn’s threat to sleep all day, she managed to drag herself to the office to attend Leon’s debriefing the following afternoon. As crazy as things could get while working for Aicil, she was also thankful for flexible hours that allowed for—and supervisors who tended to encourage—recovery time. They hadn’t heard any new reports from the family, so they made plans to check in after a few days and called the case solved.
Gina and Cassidy slipped out of the office first, heading back to work on their new case. Leon stood, popping his back then slid his chair under the table, leaning against it slightly. “As long as we don’t see a news report about their house burning down, I’d cons
ider it a success.”
With a snort, Kaylyn packed up her own things and grabbed her coat from the chair in the corner. “Y’all want to have dinner?”
Leon looked to Cole first. “Sure,” he said, “I haven’t exactly stocked the fridge. It’s a bad habit to get into anyway.”
“Bad habit?” Cole snorted. “Have a problem with home cooking?”
“That’s not the problem. The problem is the inevitable surplus of rotted food I end up with when I’m only home at odd hours.”
“I’m with him,” Kaylyn said, “how about you pick something up and meet me at Jonah’s in about an hour.”
Both sets of eyes widened as her sister and friend stared her down.
“Don’t worry,” Kaylyn said, putting up her hands. “He’s expecting it. Bring beer.”
“What if we had said no?” Cole asked.
“Then, I guess we would’ve changed our plans.” Kaylyn paused, debating on whether she was supposed to bring up Dan, but it was slightly more of a work gathering. “Jonah and I have some things we need to discuss—some unsolved mysteries surrounding our Teague entity, and I hoped you two would join us. If you don’t mind, you know, risking your jobs and asses to help me figure out my life.”
Cole scooped her hair out of the collar of her pea coat and gave Kaylyn a sardonic smirk. “Of course, Leon and I will be there. Food and booze—sounds like a good night.”
“Who said I was game?” Leon said, gently shoving Cole sideways, and then catching her just as quickly. “An hour, huh? Any food preference?”
Kaylyn shrugged and checked her messages, she’d received a call from a number she didn’t recognize, but without a message, she didn’t intend to worry about it. “Jonah didn’t give me any preference, but I think he’s getting tired of anything available via delivery.”
Kaylyn went home to change into some jeans and a T-shirt, she’d followed the rules for her short trip to the office, but she wanted her favorite clothes to face the night, and then headed straight to Jonah’s house. He opened the door as soon as her boot touched the first stair.
“I made some coffee,” he said, nodding toward the kitchen with a smile.
“You’re spoiling me.”
“Trying to keep you amiable.”
Kaylyn tossed her coat over a hook near the door, tucking her keys and phone in her pocket. Unless Cole or Leon called for some reason, she didn’t intend to be disturbed. “Leon and Cole will be here soon with steak and booze.”
“Steak sounds good. I’m sure the booze will be fun for the three of you.” Jonah chuckled and shook his head. “Not that it won’t be entertaining, but maybe you should watch your intake this time.”
“Yes, boss,” she drawled sardonically, following Jonah to the living room, where the contents of the envelope were already spread out on the coffee table. Her courage wavered, as did her empty stomach. Even small social gatherings weren’t Kaylyn’s thing, but this wasn’t even really a social gathering as much as an informal briefing. “Think between the four of us we can figure this out?”
“The four,” Jonah scoffed as he stared down at all of the papers. Then, he slid one page to the side and picked up a small slip of paper, handing it to Kaylyn.
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was the back of an image, inscribed with 1986. She flipped it over and her heart thudded within her chest until it became hard to swallow. It looked like it had been taken in the very room she’d been drawn to in the hospital. A brunette woman smiled for the camera with a small dark haired baby in her arms.
“You really do look a lot like your mother,” Jonah whispered.
She shook her head, without a clue what to say.
“It must’ve been stuck inside the envelope when we went through the contents last time. I found it in the papers when I dumped everything out this afternoon.”
Jonah’s thumb caught a stray tear on her cheek, and his fingers slid through her hair.
Kaylyn lowered the picture back to the table and rubbed her clammy hands against her jeans. She tried shifting her mind toward dinner to get away from the swell of emotions. “We’re going to need—” her throat closed up. “Wait. What’d you mean by the four?”
“Um,” Jonah cleared his throat. “It was something my dad said when I talked to him yesterday. The four will break the curse.”
“I take it he got that from your mom?”
“Seems so.”
Kaylyn prepared her coffee, while Jonah explained everything he’d learned from his dad. It didn’t offer any solutions, but the information could make some nice glue to hold some of the other pieces together. They lingered in the kitchen, where Kaylyn hoped to avoid the contents of the papers for a while longer. Too many emotions didn’t sit well on an empty stomach.
They didn’t sit well on a full one either, but then at least she’d be able to eat in the first place.
“Maybe I should keep my mouth shut—” Jonah began, sending Kaylyn’s brain into high alert. “That guy in the alley yesterday.”
Waving dismissively, Kaylyn turned and poured a little more coffee into her cup—even though she’d barely taken a few sips. “He’s an ex.”
“Ian?”
Kaylyn chuckled nervously. “Nope. Not even sure he really qualifies as an ex really. He was the first guy I was serious about.... A long time ago. He’s just an egotistical ass, who likes attention.”
She stared down at the brown liquid in her cup.
“Maybe you should try to avoid those,” Jonah said.
“Working on it.” She took a swig of hot coffee—probably not the best of ideas, but it scalded away some of the bad memories, before she put the cup down, and sat back against the edge of the counter.
Jonah stepped in front of her, sweeping her hair back over her shoulders. She watched his brown eyes as his fingers slid over her neck. He smirked and found the clasp to his necklace, undoing it and returning it to his own neck.
Not knowing whether to scowl or smile in relief, Kaylyn dropped her eyes to the floor. “Forgot I had it.”
Without a word, Jonah lifted her chin again, just as a car pulled into his driveway and stopped.
Kaylyn tried to break away. “I should—”
“They can wait a few seconds.”
Her chest buzzed, like a current of electricity swam around it, wedging between her bones, and making it hard to breathe. Jonah’s lips covered hers, and her eyes drifted closed. His fingers threaded through her hair, pulling her closer while his other hand sat firmly against her back.
Heat flooded through her, as she fisted her hands around the material of his cotton shirt.
The rest of the world forgotten until the sound of the doorbell sliced through the moment.
I’m done for.
Jonah’s hands didn’t move, still holding her tightly against him, while his eyes searched her face.
“They’re going to—” she began as the doorbell chirped again.
Then, the door opened, and footsteps approached from the foyer.
Kaylyn heard Leon laugh and then Cole whisper something.
“We’re in the kitchen,” Jonah said, cocking an eyebrow.
As much as Kaylyn wanted him to move before either Leon or Cole could see them, she also desperately wanted him to stay right where he was.
Jonah finally stepped away, meeting Leon at the entryway to the kitchen and taking one of the bags.
Cole squinted as Kaylyn swiped a bottle of beer out of the bag she was carrying and popped it open.
“Plates? Knives?” Cole asked, still giving Kaylyn a cautious look.
While Jonah and Leon stood over the table, unpacking the food, Kaylyn pulled out some plates and utensils.
“Thanks for answering the door,” Leon said, broaching the topic that no one else had the courage to touch.
Jonah picked up the utensils that Kaylyn had laid out and tossed a roll of paper towels to Leon on his way back to the table. “We were having a debate.”
&
nbsp; “And who won?” Leon asked.
“He did,” Kaylyn said, at the same time Jonah replied with, “She did.”
“Uh huh.” Cole leaned her hip against the counter next to her sister.
Kaylyn swallowed, trying not to look up, but she finally glanced over.
“You sure about this?” Cole mouthed.
Kaylyn shook her head. “I’m terrified.”
Cole’s features relaxed into a smile as she tugged the plates away.
Flattening her hands on the cool countertop, Kaylyn waited there for a moment, hoping a few deep breaths would chase the tears away.
Hands touched her hips, tugging her backward, and she went without resistance. Jonah laced his fingers through hers then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her arms along until she felt like she was wrapped up in a warm cocoon.
“What if I screw everything up?” she asked.
“Then, you do what everyone else does. If it means enough, you find a way to fix it.”
Kaylyn scoffed then dropped her head back against his shoulder. “My turn for a personal question. You can read everything about me, why didn’t you know... your ex....”
“I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t around.” He made a humming sound and nudged her temple with his chin. “I loved her—or thought I did, but I thought the best thing was to make sure that I had my place within Aicil. I wanted my career set so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. That plan didn’t work out so well.”
“When you came here, the first thing you did was put your job on the line.”
“And that plan worked out a little better, didn’t it?” Jonah gave her cheek a peck then squeezed her arms. “Our food is going to get cold if they haven’t eaten it yet.”
The thought of facing Cole and Leon made it hard to breathe, but she grabbed her beer and Jonah tugged her out of the kitchen and around the corner to the small dining table.
Cole and Leon had already distributed the steak and fries, and had started digging into their portions.
Leon glanced up then pointed to the food with his knife. “You know better than to be late to dinner around here.”
Beyond the Divide (Fractured Legacy Book 2) Page 17
