TNT

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Well, that’s bullshit,” I spat, not able to come up with anything better at the moment. “I don’t know anything about her.”

  “She works at The Pub. She said something about having to get to work, so I’m sure that’s where you can find her.”

  I rolled my eyes and snatched the bag of my shit off the table, then turned from everyone to get the fuck away from them.

  “I would change that shirt before you see her,” Cap called after me. I held my finger high for him to see and walked out of the room.

  “Hey,” Chris called. “You forgot your lunch!”

  “And dinner’s at six!” Cap called, followed by a chorus of chuckles. Fuck my life.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I knocked on Cap’s door and entered when he called out. “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yeah, come on in,” he said, waving me into his office. Storm was already inside, sitting in one of the chairs. If he was here, it had to be team business, except that Coop wasn’t here. I took the seat across from him as dread sank into my belly. This either had to do with Delaney or my impending psych eval, neither of which I wanted to talk about.

  “I wanted to update you on Benjamin Rogers case.”

  Forget the dread of talking about my psych eval. Talking about the man that murdered Delaney had me spinning out of control. I felt my pulse spike and the anger that had been simmering under the surface was pushed to the forefront. I clenched my jaw and fisted my hands against the arms of the chair. I would not explode. I would not go into a fucking tirade right now. I knew why Storm was here now. He was here in case I lost my shit like the last time we talked about this fucker.

  “Alright,” I bit out, just barely keeping from jumping up to punch something.

  “His case is going to trial next week. Jury selection starts Monday. The prosecutor said that they have a solid case against him, but-”

  “You should have let me just kill the fucker,” I cut in.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “And then you’d be in prison too.”

  “Yeah? You had no problem letting Coop kill that fucker that Knight shoved in the basement.”

  “That was different. Nobody knew about that guy. There was no evidence that he had ever been here. If I let you drag that fucker back here, you’d be the first person that the police would suspect, and not even Sean could get you out of that shit.”

  “If there’s no body, what the fuck would they charge me with?”

  “You really want to bring that kind of heat down on the company? Because you would be a suspect, and you, along with everyone else here, would be questioned ruthlessly. Every job we did would be put under the microscope. You’d never have a normal life again.”

  “And it’s so fucking normal now? I have everyone here watching me constantly, waiting for me to explode. You even brought Storm in here in case I lose it.”

  “He’s here to support you.”

  “Sure,” I snorted.

  “Do you want a fucking update on the case?”

  I bit back my reply and nodded.

  “The prosecution is asking for life imprisonment, but it’s unlikely that he’ll get the full-”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? You just said the case was solid.”

  “I said that they feel it’s solid. The problem is, they have the murder weapon, but no prints. There’s no proof that this guy was actually at the house.”

  “They have Delaney’s pictures.”

  “They don’t actually show his face,” Cap said sympathetically.

  “They have Becky’s testimony,” I pointed out.

  Cap looked to Storm and then back to me. “She may not testify.”

  I stared at him for a moment before I burst out of my chair. “What? Are you fucking kidding me? Her roommate died and she’s not going to testify?”

  “Hold on,” Cap said, jumping up from his own chair. Storm was on my other side, braced to tackle me to the ground if need be. “Tony, think about this. Becky already lived through this. You didn’t see her in the hospital when she remembered. Coop doesn’t feel-”

  “Fuck Coop,” I said scathingly. “Delaney fucking died. And you’re telling me she won’t get justice because Coop doesn’t think Becky can handle it? Hasn’t she fucked up enough shit around here?”

  “That’s enough,” Cap yelled, coming around to the front of the desk and grabbing onto my shirt. “You will not ever talk that way about Becky again in front of me. I get that you don’t know her like I do, but she’s family to me and I won’t let you treat her like this.”

  “Really?” I scoffed. “I didn’t realize that family betrayed each other.”

  “That wasn’t what happened. At least, that wasn’t the intention,” he said, his anger deflating. “I’m not saying that I’m not fucking pissed, but it was a mistake. She’s more than paid for that mistake.”

  “So, everyone’s all woe was Becky and Delaney’s murderer could walk free for it. Without her testimony, the prosecution has shit. They never caught this fucker on camera. He was a fucking hacker, so there’s no evidence left behind that he fucked with her system. And there’s no fucking murder weapon. Yeah, it sounds like the prosecution has a real solid case.”

  “Tony, I know how this sounds-”

  “Who’s going to tell Delaney’s parents?” I shouted. “Is it going to be you? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not you they call every fucking week to talk about Delaney. So, this falls on me? I have to be the bastard to tell them that their daughter’s murderer is gonna walk?”

  “That’s not what I said,” Cap interjected.

  “You didn’t have to. Because that’s the way this is gonna go if you let Coop convince Becky not to testify. And think about this,” I said, getting in his face. “If she doesn’t testify and that fucker walks free, Becky will be in danger for the rest of her fucking life. She’ll be a prisoner around here, not able to leave the fucking property, either because she’ll be too fucking scared or because that fucker could get her at any time. And as much as I’m still pissed at Becky for what happened with Kayla, I’m not sadistic enough to want to walk in on her lying in a heap of blood for a second time.”

  “Tony-”

  I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room. There was no way I could stand here and listen to any more of his bullshit. It was bad enough that I felt a mounding pile of guilt every day for not walking into that house with Delaney, but now if her murderer walked free, I would never be able to get past the guilt that hounded me. And if I wanted to have any kind of life ever again, I really fucking needed to get past the shit in my head.

  Storm caught up to me and yanked me to a stop. “Just fucking wait.”

  “Wait for what? Wait for Coop to pull his head out of his ass?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Then tell me what it’s like,” I scowled.

  He sighed and jerked his head. “Come on.”

  I followed him down to the panic room and through the halls to outside Coop’s suite. Unease filled me. I hadn’t seen Becky since she came home, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to. Part of me was angry with her, but a larger part of me was angry that it was Becky that was alive. She had betrayed us, and while Delaney and I weren’t serious, I couldn’t help but wonder what she had done to deserve any of this. Delaney was a great person, and even though we both knew it was nothing more than fucking, I really enjoyed hanging out with her.

  The door swung open and Coop stood on the other side, his face surprised that we were there. He glanced back into the room and then said quietly, “You need me for something for work?”

  “No,” Storm answered. “We need to talk about this thing with Rogers.”

  Coop tensed, but one look at me and he nodded and opened the door for us to come in. “Yeah, I heard that the trial is set for next week.”

  We all sat down in the living room and he glanced back at the bedroom door.

  “Look, we need to figure out what’s
going on with Becky testifying.” Coop opened his mouth to interject, but Storm stopped him. “I get it, man. You don’t want to put her through that, but she needs this as much as the rest of us. If she doesn’t testify, and that fucker gets off, she’ll never feel safe.”

  “And what about what she wants?”

  “Have you talked to her about it?” I asked with a little bite in my voice. I just couldn’t keep it out.

  “I’ve been trying to, but how do I bring up this shit with her? You weren’t fucking there. She was so lost in those memories. I would give anything for her not to feel that again.”

  “And I would give anything to have Delaney back right now, but we can’t always have what we want,” I snapped.

  His face fell and he nodded. Storm shot me a glare, telling me to back the fuck off, but I couldn’t back down from this. There was no fucking way that Becky wouldn’t testify. It would destroy the case, and along with it, Delaney’s parents.

  “Look, I’ll talk to her about it, but there’s no way I’m pressuring her into doing this.”

  “Are you this fucking selfish?” I asked. “I’m serious, because there are other people hurting right now, and they need this. They need to know that their daughter’s killer is caught. They need to be able to sleep at night, at least knowing that he’s not out there, ready to kill someone else.”

  “I get it-”

  “No, you don’t fucking get it. Your girlfriend lived. You don’t have to live with that guilt every day!”

  “You think I don’t have guilt just because she lived? She fucking told me that something was going on in her neighborhood. She told Rob, and you know what I said? I told him not to fucking help her. So, I bear just as much of the guilt here as you, if not more. Because Delaney would be alive if I had fucking done something. Don’t fucking tell me that this is all on you!”

  “What is going on?”

  I jerked my head and stared in shock at Becky. She looked…terrible. She had a scar on her cheek and down to her throat where Rogers had cut her. She was so fucking skinny that she looked like she never ate, and her skin had a pallor that made me think she was sick. I stood, suddenly feeling like shit that I had been yelling about this. If she heard, it was probably destroying her. And based on the tears in her eyes, she had heard enough.

  Coop rushed to her side and pulled her into his arms. I didn’t miss how she clung to him, like she needed him to stay standing. My heart softened a little more toward Becky, and suddenly, her betrayal of Reed Security didn’t seem quite so monumental.

  “Just tell me what’s going on, Coop,” she demanded.

  He turned and glared at me, obviously unhappy with this turn of events. He led her to the couch and tucked her into his side, probably protecting her from me.

  “We heard back from the prosecutor about Rogers’ trial. It’s set for next week,” Coop told her.

  Becky took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. This is good, right?”

  “Well, they have the murder weapon, but no prints,” he continued. “Without that, and without him actually caught on camera, the only solid evidence they have is your word.”

  She paled even more and nodded. “Well, I figured that I would have to testify.”

  “You don’t have to,” he said quickly and my anger grew back tenfold. She glanced at me and then back to him.

  “Coop, I need to do this for me, but also for Delaney. I need to know that he’s locked away. I wasn’t there for Delaney’s parents at her funeral, but I can do this for them. I can give them the peace of mind in knowing that he’s locked up.”

  “I just…I remember how hard it was for you when you told us who it was. It’ll be ten times worse up there on the stand. The defense will tear you apart. They’ll accuse you of being paranoid and needing someone to pin the murder on. They’ll dig into your life and find anything they can to discredit you.”

  Her jaw clenched and her eyes turned hard. “Let them. There’s no way that I’ll let that man ruin my life or scare me into backing down.”

  I smiled at her tenacity, and a new kind of respect formed in my mind for her. God, I really was a douchebag. While I still wasn’t sure I forgave her for what she had done, I was pretty sure that if she had these kind of balls in the courtroom, I could get past my anger and not be such a dick to her.

  “Are you sure?” Storm asked. “No one wants to pressure you, but we kind of need this.”

  “I know,” she nodded. “I need this too. I’m doing this, whether you want me to or not,” she said to Coop. “But I’d really like you on my side.”

  He huffed out a laugh and kissed her lightly. “Like there’s any place else I’d be.”

  Storm shot me a look and I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I was a dick. I needed to calm the fuck down and stop jumping to conclusions.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Molly

  “Hey, Gus,” I said cheerily as I walked into The Pub and stashed my purse under the counter.

  “You’re late.”

  “It’s such a nice day, isn’t it?”

  “By two hours.”

  I sighed in contentment as I wrapped my apron around my waist and tied it. “I just love summer, don’t you?”

  “I love it when employees show up for their shifts on time,” he mumbled under his breath. I walked over to him and gave him a big hug. He tensed, but patted my back just the same. He was a big teddy bear, but only to me. Everyone else was scared of the big guy, but to me, he would always be the bear that had a heart of gold. I would do anything for him, and I knew that he would do the same for me. He was always looking out for me and making sure that I was safe. If I had to work at night, he would show up and watch out for me, then walk me to my car when the shift was over. Of course, I wasn’t the only one he looked out for. He did it for all his employees, but I had a feeling that he always had his eyes on me. And not in a pervy way, but in a father-daughter sort of way. Which I was totally cool with.

  My parents lived three hours away, so it was nice to have someone close by that I could rely on. I was from a small town in southern Pennsylvania, but I had moved to Pittsburgh to go to college. But, that didn’t work out so well for me. I wasn’t the best student and I was always late for class. I eventually dropped out because it felt like a giant waste of money. Then I couldn’t afford the rent in Pittsburgh, so I moved here and found an apartment. It was better than going home. There were literally no job opportunities in that town. There was the gas station and the Dollar Store, but that was the extent of the job opportunities.

  I was happy here. I had some good friends and I had Gus. My parents were close enough that I could see them if I wanted to, but far enough away that they wouldn’t just drop by for a visit. Overall, it was a pretty good situation. Plus, I knew when I found what I wanted to do, it would just hit me. There had to be something out there that was meant for me. I just knew it. And I’d find it someday, but I wasn’t in a rush for now.

  “It’s pretty dead in here,” I said, looking around the bar.

  “That’s because you missed the morning rush,” Gus retorted.

  I grinned and turned to him like he was a girlfriend. “I met a guy last night.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mhmm. He’s really hot and we hit it off right away. He spent the night-” Gus covered his ears and grimaced, but I continued. “But he had to leave early in the morning. So, I made him lunch and brought it to work for him.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t.” His voice was pained, but I ignored it.

  “Of course, I did. He had to eat.”

  “Not your food,” he muttered under his breath.

  “What’s wrong with my food? You love my food!” His eyes went wide and he nodded. “Of course, I do. I just meant that…that no one should get the pleasure of eating your food until they’ve spent more time with you.”

  “Well, thank you,” I said happily. “Anyway, I met his boss and he’s super nice. I can’t wait to meet the rest of his coworker
s.”

  “Don’t you think this is moving a little fast?”

  “No. I think this is going at a totally normal pace.”

  He shook his head and leaned against the bar. I knew what was coming. It was another lecture about jumping in too fast. He always thought that I leapt without thinking, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. I just knew a good thing when I saw it.

  “Molls, you’re jumping-”

  “In too fast,” I mimicked him. “Yes, I know. You say that every time, but this time is different.”

  “You always say that.”

  “I know, but I know this time is different. The connection we had last night was undeniable.”

  He looked at me like he didn’t believe me. “You always say that too.”

  “I know, but if you had heard the things he said to me, you would be one hundred percent certain that he was the guy for me. I’m telling you, this one’s different.” I smiled big, and then added the last bit of information that would definitely win him over. “Besides, he’s coming over for dinner tonight.”

  He sighed and wiped down the bar. “Okay, but just promise me that you’ll take things slow with this one. There’s no need to rush. If he’s the guy for you, he won’t mind taking things slow with you.”

  I smiled and pinched his cheek. “You’re so sweet to worry about me, but don’t bother. This time I’ve found a keeper.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  I grinned and leaned on the bar to chat with him some more. When I told him this story, he would know without a doubt that I knew exactly what I was doing.

  “When I was in high school my senior year, I met this great guy. We hit it off right away, but I was more reserved back then.”

  “You?” he snorted. “I can’t picture that.”

  “I know, but it was a different time. See, growing up, I always saw my momma as the crazy woman from our town. I mean, when I was little I adored her, but as I got older, the gossip around town worked its way to me, and I found out that pretty much everyone in town thought she was crazy. So, I started looking at her from other people’s perspectives and I started to see what they did. I figured that the less I acted like her, the more people would accept me.”