by Watson, Meg
She flinched but didn’t respond. A few more cabinet doors slammed and then a pan clattered against the ceramic tile floor and Bryce cursed at it.
“Seriously, sit down before you break something. I’ll cook,” she insisted.
Bryce lurched from the kitchen, narrowly missing banging his forehead on the beam that separated the counter from the living room. He grabbed for the counter and swung around, planting his body heavily in one of the bar stools on the other side. His head dropped into his hands.
“That bad huh?” she asked carefully as she took eggs and bacon from the fridge and laid them on the counter.
“Fugoff,” came Bryce’s muffled groan from behind his palms.
She grabbed the orange juice, then thought better of it and picked up the Gatorade. She splashed a healthy portion in a glass and slid it toward her brother. Bryce didn’t acknowledge it, just sat there holding his forehead and moaning.
Holding herself back from humming, she got breakfast ready. The coffee was already brewing by the time the electric stove was heated up. The heavy pan felt satisfying in her hand, and the immediate sizzle of the bacon against the cast iron set her mouth watering.
Slicing some leftover baked potato into some heated butter, she had the distinct impression their grandmother would be pleased, if not impressed. Every task was done with precision, nested into other tasks and timed perfectly.
In nine minutes flat, she set a steaming plate of fluffy scrambled eggs, home fries and bacon in front of Bryce and smiled at him proudly. Bryce rubbed his forehead hard.
“Callie,” he mumbled, “you gotta go.”
She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips out. “Haha, very funny. You wanted over easy eggs?”
“No,” Bryce shook his head. He looked up at her with a desolate expression that made her wince. “I’m sorry,” he finally whispered.
She took a step back, her mouth open. “Bryce, what are you talking about?”
“It’s just… We gotta get outta here. I can’t… This was just gonna be temporary, right?”
“Bryce, you are not making any sense. We don’t have to go anywhere. We have to keep just moving forward. Right? Like we said?”
She watched Bryce take a sniff of the food, then push the plate away. He kept his eyes cast down. Auger stirred on the couch, sitting up and meeting her eyes from across the room. Silently she pleaded with him.
Fix this! Help me!
“Callie, it’s just… I don’t know,” Bryce continued after a few more long seconds. He looked like he was talking to the countertop, and his shoulders were caved in as though an invisible block of granite weighed him down. “I figured we’d be on our feet a long time ago… But nothing seems to be going like I thought...”
“No...” She heard herself say as she struggled to keep her confusion to a dull roar. Something was very wrong here. Auger heard her tone rise and stood up in his boxer briefs, walking slowly toward the kitchen. “Bryce, what’s changed? Why are you talking like this?”
“Man, why don’t you just get some sleep…” Auger suggested softly, his hand covering Bryce’s shoulder. Despite herself, Callie wanted to reach out and lace her fingers in his, to thank him for being here so she didn’t have to do this alone anymore. “We can talk about this later.”
Bryce shook his head. “Naw, it’s done.”
Auger glanced at Callie, the alarm plain on his face.
“What is done?” he said, keeping his voice carefully even. “What the hell is different from last night? I got paid, you got paid… Everything is better right?”
Bryce looked away.
“Wait… Everything is better, right? Bryce?” Callie said quietly as a sick feeling rose in her chest. She was starting to get a pretty clear idea what had happened. She knew the feeling of a morning with collapsing options only too well.
Sometimes being in too is just... too damn deep. I should know.
“Bryce, what did you do?” she asked softly.
Bryce laughed disgustedly, shaking his head. “Well first I beat Trent’s ass,” he snorted.
“That was great,” she agreed, remembering. He was solid, going all three rounds doggedly like it was his job to stretch the clock to the limit, finally winning by points.
“Heh, yeah. So Orion’s guys came to me with three thousand and asked for the other seven. Which of course I don’t have.”
“Oh—”
“Yeah.”
“Come on. Orion’s got you in the bag,” Auger offered helpfully. “He knows you’ll work it off.”
Bryce shook his head. “So I asked for a day to get it, and took the three Kand went out to Rivers.”
“But you suck at blackjack,” Auger reminded him.
Bryce chuckled cruelly. “Yes. Yes I do,” he moaned.
Callie stared hard at Bryce, trying not to judge him, trying not to feel betrayed. His shoulders were hunched over and his hands opened and closed repeatedly. She felt like she could see the weight that was crushing him.
Don’t scream at him. Don’t lecture. This is hurting him too, I know it.
“I wish I could help you, bro,” Auger said softly. Callie thought of all the times Auger had helped him before. Growing up, Bryce had always needed a push here, a leg up there. Auger got him better grades, better dates, and out of more than a few scrapes with the county police.
“Your stuff will be easy to pack, at least,” Bryce offered weakly, glancing at the sofa. He looked like a dog that had been caught stealing dinner off the counter and was now resolved for the inevitable beating he would get. Callie’s heart ached. She could clearly see the little-boy Bryce she had been taking care of practically all her life now.
She looked up and met Auger’s light brown eyes. His big hand covered Bryce’s shoulder and he looked at her with unconcealed tenderness and pity. He seemed so sad, so soft for her, like he used to. If there was anybody in the world who understood how much she loved Bryce, it was him. He felt it too. She knew it.
“It always seems worse than it is, Bryce,” she whispered. He just shook his head and wouldn’t look up.
Auger held her eyes until the realization started to dawn on her. Bryce wasn’t exaggerating. This was not a drill. This was it. The end of the line. Fear coiled in her chest and squeezed her lungs.
“Oh no,” she heard herself whisper hoarsely. Her hand trembled against the countertop so hard that it made a knocking noise. Auger reached out and gave her fingers a hard squeeze. Then he angled his body to the side, blocking her off from Bryce, trying to make a shield for the news he knew was coming.
“So… the plan is… what, to run? We shouldn’t have to run, man. We can fix this.”
Bryce shrugged. He finally lifted his eyes and Auger to see the truth was there. “Running is all we have left. Actually, it’s our smartest move… They don’t know anything about us, really. They do know where we live, though… they’ll take it outta you guys if you’re here when they get here, and I’m not. And I’m definitely not sticking around… If I’m outta here, you better be outta here too.”
“How did this happen? You just told us about it yesterday…”
He half-shrugged, his eyes cutting guiltily sideways. From the slope of his posture, it looked like this weight had been secretly crushing him for some time.
Callie nodded and breathed a heavy sigh. Hope dissolved like the last light going off in a big room. They didn’t know anyone else in the city to turn to. Her own failures crowded into the front of her thoughts.
I never got the food blog going.
I never got a better job.
I never even learned to use that camera!
We should probably consider ourselves lucky we have the cash to get back to Fox county. If that is even an option anymore...
“I feel… like shit…” Bryce groaned from between his bruised hands.
“Yeah,” Auger sighed. “Me too, man.”
Callie tossed the pans in the sink and turned on the tap to fill them
with water out of habit. The magnitude of what Bryce was suggesting was just starting to settle in. Give up Chicago, turn around, run home. Cut off all paths that led away from Millslake. It felt stifling: as though a hundred doors suddenly slammed shut.
But Bryce probably didn’t want to hear her whine about how much she was really looking forward to making a trendsetting website right now. If he really thought Orion’s guys were coming… He probably thought they were coming for blood.
Bryce is in a lot deeper than he’s letting on, she realized suddenly.
Walking to the sofa, Auger jammed a pair of jeans in his big army-surplus duffle and surveyed the bay window with his hands on his hips. It would take him all of four minutes to pack. He didn’t have anything. Nudging his discarded track pants with the toe of his sock, he exposed the envelope beneath them. He bent over and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.
“How long do we have?” Auger asked suddenly, turning around. Callie flipped the tap water off to listen.
Bryce rubbed his bleary eyes and squinted over his shoulder. “What?”
“Do you really think Orion’s guys are coming here?”
Bryce nodded silently, his lips set in a hard line.
“For sure, no bullshit?”
No answer. Auger stared at Callie hard, his expression reminding her of the hundred times he had come up with crazy plans before. Her stomach clenched.
“Well, how long do we have to get outta Dodge?”
Bryce shrugged. “Figured we’d have to leave by dark, just to be safe.”
Auger nodded, swiping his phone off the coffee table. His jaw was set in a hard, resolute line. “Bryce, do not do anything until we get back. Callie?”
She hesitated, then gave him a curt nod, understanding what he was silently telling her.
“There’s nothing you guys can do, man…”
“Just trust me,” Auger said, his eyes shining like a copper blade. “I got this.”
CHAPTER 7
Auger
Ripping a white, fluffy towel from the bar, Auger scrubbed at his long hair and then wiped down his legs before finally allowing himself to pick up the buzzing cellphone. Despite his misgivings, the word Yes made his guts jump, just a little.
He stared at the tiny LED screen for a few more seconds to make sure it was real, to make sure he really was going to do this.
FROM: Winsor Cooke
MESSAGE: Yes.
All right, he thought, pushing all doubts way down, past where they could get any traction. Let’s do this.
Bryce was in his small bedroom, dumping his clothes from a dresser drawer into a canvas tote when Auger came in.
“Don’t do anything until I tell you,” he repeated. Bryce nodded but appeared unconvinced.
“I mean it,” he said firmly. “Have I ever let you down before?”
Bryce took a few seconds, seeming almost to shrug. But then he shook his head. He knew the truth: Auger hadn’t ever let him down before, not really. It was just too much shame to admit.
Callie was dressed and waiting by the front door when Auger came out. Her green eyes glittered faintly with moisture, but he couldn’t tell if she was upset or frightened or what. The hard line of her lips pressed together strengthened him: he knew she was waiting for him to act.
She believes in me, still. After all this.
Auger waited until they were on the sidewalk before he called. Three rings and Winsor’s voice was on the other end of the line.
“I’m busy tonight,” he said haughtily as soon as the call connected. “I will have the car pick you up tomorrow at seven.”
“No,” Auger shot back.
“Excuse me?”
“We’re busy tomorrow,” he lied. Callie squinted suspiciously at him under her raised hand and crossed her other arm protectively over her waist.
Winsor sighed irritably. “Then what is this about?”
Auger took a deep breath, clenching his jaw and commanding his mouth to say the words.
If I manage to make it through this without punching this douchebag in the mouth, it’s going to be a fucking miracle.
“I need to see you today,” Auger growled. Then, to make his point: “We need to.”
“It’s ten thirty a.m.,” Winsor drawled, but Auger could hear the amusement in his voice.
That’s right, you rich jackass. Laugh it up. I want you to think you’re winning.
The line was silent for a few seconds. “Odin, I really don’t think now is a good time—”
“So what? You’re a vampire? No daylight for you?”
Winsor chuckled. Auger imagined him in some kind of white marble palace, just giggling to himself over this. For a brief, dangerous second, his pride coiled and threatened to reappear. He desperately wanted to hang up.
No! he commanded himself. Just a few more seconds. I got this.
“I don’t usually do this, you know,” Winsor finally said. He sighed for a long time as though he was still in bed. “My game. My rules.”
Your game? Your rules? Oh my God, what an insufferable—
“OK, you win, Odin. How can I refuse a Norse god? Get a cab. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Winsor rattled off an address in Lincoln Park and Auger waved down a yellow taxi. Callie followed him suspiciously, obviously not wanting to act happy with him, as usual, but he could tell she was relieved. Just good old Auger, coming in to save the day. Again.
As the filthy cab wove in and out of traffic, Auger tried to figure out why his heart was racing. He swallowed the bile that kept surging up in his gut and scowled out the window.
It’s not like she’s going to really forgive you, he told himself. Not forever. It may buy you another couple weeks and that’s it. Be realistic.
The cab swerved toward the curb and stopped. As Auger slipped a crisp hundred dollar bill from his wallet, Callie’s car door suddenly opened. She automatically got out and he hustled along behind her.
“Oh, that?” Winsor said suavely as Auger stepped out of the cab, staring at the hundred in his hand like it was a quaint artifact. “No need. I’m nothing if not a gentleman.”
Auger winced and stared at the bill, realizing it was probably chump change in this guy’s eyes. Winsor dropped a couple folded bills in the plexiglass bowl that separated the back from the front seat and quirked an arrogant eyebrow in Auger’s direction, then turned to face Callie, effectively cutting him off.
Auger bit back an automatic, possessive snarl. This is going to be harder than I thought, he admitted to himself. If I make it out of here without knocking him out, it will be a fucking miracle.
“You look beautiful this morning,” Winsor murmured to Callie. Auger stiffened and shook his head, convinced he heard her giggle softly.
“This is weird,” he heard himself say as they all stood in the late morning sunlight. Well dressed couples and joggers strode by on both sides, only glancing at them in passing.
“What’s weird?” Winsor said playfully. He twisted his mouth in a smirk and waited for an answer.
Auger shrugged. He didn’t want to be outmatched for wits before he got in the door.
Better to keep your mouth shut so people wonder if you’re dumb, rather than talk and remove any doubt, my dad used to say.
“Eh, this is business,” Winsor said dismissively and waved his hand. But Auger couldn’t take his eyes off the flush that was creeping up the side of Callie’s exposed neck. By the fluttering skin under her jaw, he could tell her heartbeat was racing and for some reason, it made him want to rip something apart with his bare hands.
OK. Maybe this was a stupid idea after all.
“Coffee?” Winsor asked.
Auger nodded stubbornly. Callie crinkled her cheeks when she smiled and Winsor gestured toward the open wrought iron gate. Auger stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked behind them up the stone path and stoop toward the stained-glass door.
The gate shut with a deep clang that echoed in his mind. Car
efully, he kept his pace easy and his posture loose. He felt like an animal being stalked who didn’t want his predator to know he was aware.
Winsor grinned confidently and leaned behind Callie’s back, pressing his palm against a flat grey panel that looked like an intercom. With a click, the door swung open an inch.
“After you,” Winsor purred.
She walked into the front hall, and Auger followed close behind. As he entered the darkened hallway, he waited a few seconds to adjust to the light. Gradually, everything came into focus and his eyes darted over every piece of plaster and wood, cataloguing them.
OK, not a marble palace, he thought sourly. Actually it looks like this guy has taste, or something. Just a little.
The room smelled like sandalwood and oil soap, and every surface gleamed with the reflections cast by the blue and green stained glass. Auger turned in a slow circle, his eyes cast toward the crown moulding and stained glass oculus.
“Just have a seat. I’ll ask Jamie to make us some coffee,” Winsor said matter-of-factly and walked casually down the long hallway next to the curving staircase. As soon as he was out of sight, Callie spun on Auger, her hair flung out wildly from her head.
“OK, just what is your plan here?” she hissed at him. He started back like she had pinched him and held his hands out like it was obvious.
“I’m just getting my money!”
Her eyes flew wide. “Really?” she whispered. He began to wonder if he was missing something. “You think you’re just going to waltz in here and demand twenty thousand dollars from this guy?”
He shrugged. “What. It’s my money, isn’t it?”
“Oh my god!” she moaned, turning around in place.
“He’s not even going to miss it!” Auger protested, but he heard the weakness in his voice. She crossed her arms and kept her back to him, pretending to look at the bookshelves.
Fine. I can do that too. Let’s look at the books, then.
The greystone had been expertly restored, and Auger peered at every detail around with mounting envy. Growing up, his father brought him on jobs fixing up farm houses for early-retirement tech-execs who thought the country life was the pace they wanted. He’d watched his father restore and upgrade a dozen farmhouses he’d bought from your usual old aunties and grandpas, turning them from little shacks into quaint but sleek palaces that didn’t look anything like real country life. Not at all.
