by Tijan
“It’s a setup,” Jase agrees, searching through things and telling me Seth is nearby watching the entrance to the neighborhood and that everything’s okay now. He promises me he’ll fix it, he says he’ll find whoever it was and make them pay. He tells me he’s happy I’m okay and tries to comfort me with his touch, but I pull away. I don’t listen to his promises. I’m not in the habit of relying on promises. The seconds pass as I give myself a moment to actually process what happened.
It makes sense. All of it makes sense.
But why take the book? Every hair on the back of my neck stands up when the question echoes in my head.
My phone’s on the floor, as is a stack of envelopes from the pile of opened mail, but the mail itself, is missing. They were only bills, nothing of importance. But my laptop is gone too. Fuck! I need that for work. As I halfheartedly lean forward searching through my things, I take everything into account, but the one thing that matters… It really isn’t here.
“The book.” I can’t help but to say it out loud and when I do, my lips feel chapped and the sentence comes out raw. “They took it?” Denial is apparent. “Why take the book?” I shove everything out of the way, searching all over the living room until I get to the hallway only to see it’s trashed too. My mother’s vase sits perfectly where it is, thank God, but the light in the hall is broken. All the lights are broken.
They upturned the furniture, then busted the lights and stole meaningless items with no worth. Meaningless to them, but to me… “I want my book back.” I’m surprised that after all this time, the back of my eyes prick and my hands ball into fists at the thought of someone coming in here and taking The Coverless Book.
I don’t even realize I’m shaking until Jase holds me from behind, pulling me into his chest. And again, I’m stiff.
His embrace is calming and masculine, wrapped in warmth. It’s designed to comfort, just like the small kiss he plants on my neck. But I can’t relax. I can’t.
“Why did they do this?” My question turns to broken pieces of whispered syllables in the air.
“Stay with me. I’ll make sure we find them and get your book back.” His soothing words do nothing to change what’s happened and where my mind leads me.
None of this would have happened if Jenny hadn’t died; if she hadn’t gotten herself into this mess. It always leads back to Jenny and with her name on the tip of my tongue, tears threaten again to fall.
All the calm words and pretty promises couldn’t keep the tremors at bay.
“I want to know who they were. They knew what they were doing. It’s the men who murdered Jenny. That’s why they took the book.”
Every memory of my sister always brings out the worst in me.
Angry tears form but don’t fall as I take in a heavy breath and shove Jase away. I’m good at doing that. At shoving people away.
Those bastards came here. They took her book from me, the last thing she left me and the only thing that had a message from her. The only key I had to finding out what happened to her.
“Call the cops,” I demand, wiping at my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater. The words scratch my throat on their way out.
“No.” He answers hard.
“Call them!” I screech, shoving my fists into Jase’s chest to get him away from me. Anger is nothing compared to what I feel. He grabs my wrists quicker than I can register, forcing me to stare up at him. He can stare all he wants; he can try to hold me, try to bend me to his will, nothing will get through to me. Once he learns that, he’ll leave.
It’s only when I look into his eyes in this foyer, with this fear and the memories of Jenny that I realize it’s just as it was a week and a half ago when he first knocked on my door. Nothing has changed.
“Just go,” I seethe.
“Calm down.” He grits the words through his teeth, the irritation barely contained in his voice.
“I’m calling the cops.” I stare into his eyes as I speak.
“No, you’re not. You’re going to come with me. You’re going to wait while I find the men who did this and make this right.” Every word from his mouth is a demand. They strike me and dare me not to obey.
Ripping my hands away from him, I step back and then step back again. My teeth grind so hard against one another they could crack.
Jase knows better than to approach me as I reach for my shoes and then gather my phone without a word spoken. He thinks I’m obeying him. Going along with what he says and listening like a good girl.
Never in my life has someone bossed me around and told me what to do. Not until Jenny went away and Jase came storming into my life. The bitter acknowledgement stays with me as I prepare to get the hell away from here.
He walks around my place as I silently put on my shoes and grab my coat, my car keys still in the right pocket. Beneath the heavy fabric is my purse, the wallet still there.
And the knowledge is a smack in the face.
They had to know it would be obvious that it wasn’t a robbery. Maybe they were counting on me not calling the police. Maybe they know about Jase. They thought I’d run to him?
A chill flows down my spine as I stare up at the man I’ve been sleeping with, the man I thought I was falling for. He nods toward the door, telling me he has to make a call before we leave.
I don’t answer him, not trusting myself to speak.
Instead, while he’s on the phone on the porch I walk right past his car and get into my own, speeding off quickly enough so that all he can do is run into the street as I stare into my rearview mirror watching him.
The deafening silence is my only companion as I run away from it all, toward God knows where. I have no idea where I’m going or how I’ll find a way out of this mess. The second I get around the corner, panic takes over. Realizing this is my life; this is what my life has become.
The tires screech as I yank the wheel to the left and turn into the neighbor’s long drive. Slamming on the brakes and parking, I turn off the car, feeling a sickness churn in my gut.
I did what she used to do to me.
This is what Jenny used to do when she’d leave in an angry fit. We’d get into fights about her new friends and new habits. She’d threaten to leave and I’d threaten to follow. She thought I didn’t know that she would just pull in here until things calmed down and then she’d drive home. She’d drive away, just to hide down the street, all alone crying in her car. The house itself is empty. The owner lives in a retirement home and his kids aren’t willing to sell it yet.
I knew. I knew exactly what Jenny was doing. Not the first time, but the time after, she was too slow and I saw. I’d drive past every time though and park a few streets down and then walk back up here, watching her cry in the driver’s seat. At least she was safe.
That’s all I ever wanted.
Safe is what matters.
That’s what I told myself back then. As I see Jase speed down the road behind me, not glancing my way at all, that’s what I tell myself now. I need to keep myself safe. Safe from everything.
I don’t trust anyone.
All I know is that I need my book back.
I need to know what Jenny’s last words to me were.
Jase
The leather is hot against my palms as I twist my hands around the steering wheel. My knuckles are turning white with every second that passes.
I force myself to focus on every detail around me to keep from losing all sense of control.
The ringing of Seth’s phone echoes in the silent car. It rings once, then halfway through a second ring before he picks up.
“Where is she?” My question comes out hard and I don’t bother to hide the fury. “How the fuck did she get away?”
“Boss?” Seth questions and it only makes the irritation grow.
A seething anger is in command of every aspect of my being right now. Nothing is going right and nothing is under control. “Where the fuck is she?” I scream the question, feeling each word claw up my throa
t on the way out.
“Bethany Fawn’s car is located at Forty-two Bayview.”
“Forty-two Bayview.” I breathe out the address, craning my neck beneath the windshield to look at the small green street sign and then to my left as if one of them will magically be Bayview. Neither of them are and that fact is why I slam my fist on the dashboard as I simmer with pure rage. She fucking left me. Knowing there are men after her, she fucking ran from me!
“Four streets behind you, Mr. Cross.” I focus on what I can control and then finally breathe.
“Four streets?” I swallow after repeating what he said, knowing she’s safe. She’s within reach.
“Make a U-turn when you’re able. It looks like she stayed there for…” The word stretches out as he pauses and then continues, “…two minutes. She’s on the move now, backing out of the driveway.” Seth uses the GPS in her car to track her and gives me directions. “I’m still at the back entrance to the neighborhood and it looks like she’s coming this way. She’ll be driving by me if she stays on course.”
“Follow her.” Resolution takes over, following a pang of regret. Running my hand down my face and pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to pinpoint the moment I lost her. Truly lost her. She shouldn’t have done that. Something happened.
The break-in. I slam my head back, exhaling a tight breath and loathing the life I live. No shit, something happened. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“On her tail,” Seth says over the speaker. His obliviousness to my state is a kind gift in this moment as I press my palms to my eyes and focus on what I can do to keep her safe.
“Call for backup and continue following her but keep your distance and keep me informed. I want to know where she’s going and I never want her out of your sight.”
“Understood, Boss.”
“I’m not letting her go,” I tell him. My voice is firm and resolute, although my words are more for me than for him.
“Of course not,” he answers although his tone has changed. Softer, not consoling, but understanding. A sedan skirts around me, a newer Mazda with an older man at the wheel who looks at me with a crease marred into his wrinkled forehead as his car passes mine.
Forcing a semblance of a smile to my lips, I offer him a small wave and pretend to be someone just passing by. As if I could ever just pass by Bethany. I would never be able to not feel her presence in a crowded room. I could never ignore it. Let alone allow her to ignore me.
“Is everything all right?” Seth asks after a moment of quiet.
“No, I’ll brief you once she’s secure.”
There’s a pause before he asks, “Is there anything else I can do?”
“She is your only priority at the moment.”
It’s quiet again, but I can’t hang up yet. Not without Seth acknowledging what I just said. My gaze lifts to the rearview as a man exits his front door. As he walks to the car in his driveway, the headlights flash and it’s only then that I’m aware of how dark it’s gotten.
It wasn’t that late when I left the cemetery. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. It was foolish to think she would be.
It took me far too long to get to her. I never would have guessed when I got there that her brunette hair would tumble into a halo upon the tiled floor, followed by her small frame. My hand stings from the impact of bashing it against the dashboard a moment ago and I clench it into a tight fist, staring at the silver scar below my knuckle as I remember how she fell.
Fuck, she didn’t even make a sound for the longest second.
I thought she was dead. I thought he’d killed her. I thought Marcus had ripped her away from me, getting to her first, when she fell out onto the kitchen floor. I hate that the scar stares back at me in this moment.
It’s hard to ignore the splinter of pain that tears through me.
Why else would she not have responded? He’d killed her and shoved her in a cabinet for me to find. I thought it was merely her body falling and that she was already dead.
“Does she know about Jenny?” Seth’s question brings me back to the present. To her running away from me.
“That he has her?” I clarify and breathe in deep, staring at the picket fence in front of me. “She doesn’t know anything. I didn’t tell her about the note.”
She’ll live her life with unanswered questions unless I can give them to her, and right now, I wouldn’t be so cruel.
Even if she’d been fine. Even if she’d spilled out of that cabinet and ran to me like I wanted her to, I wouldn’t tell her. She’s barely holding on as it is. It’s not pity I feel for her, it’s worry.
“I’m not telling her that her sister’s alive until I know we can bring her back.” It’s one mess after the other. “False hope can kill what’s left of a person.” That’s the only explanation I give him. He knows about the note from Marcus. He knows Marcus has Jenny.
I’d rather she continue thinking Jenny’s dead. Just in case that’s how this all ends.
“We’ll discuss everything moving forward tonight.” Even as I give him the command, I hear the fatigue in my voice. The day has taken its toll. More than its fair share. “Has my brother gotten in touch with you?”
“About the men we sent out?” he asks to clarify.
“Yes.”
“We have men trailing the man seen with Jenny. His name’s Luke Stevens. He’s driving out west. We don’t know where to but he’s definitely taken orders from Marcus. He’s mentioned him twice on the calls taken from his car.”
“Don’t let him get far; I don’t give a shit if we blow our cover. Have our men grab him and bring him back here.”
“Consider it done.”
“Good. I want him brought in and questioned. I want to know everything about Marcus. About Jenny. Everything that bastard knows… I’ll get it from him.” There are enemies everywhere and everything is moving quickly. “Bethany needs to stay put tonight. Let her run it off. But stay on her and don’t lose her. I want an update every five minutes.”
“Of course,” he answers me.
Glancing at the clock, I change my mind. “Every three minutes. An update every three minutes.” I give him the order as I make a U-turn and head back to Bethany’s home, preparing myself for the evidence of what happened. “Briefing is tonight, war starts tomorrow.”
Bethany
I shouldn’t call Laura. I keep thinking it over and over again even as I stare at the bright white screen of my phone with her contact info staring back at me.
I’m so fucking alone. After driving to nowhere in silence for an hour, that’s what I’ve realized more than anything. I’m so fucking alone.
It’s sad when you realize there’s only one person left, and you can’t reach out to them, because God forbid if what happened to me affects her. I’d never forgive myself.
The darkness outside drifts in as I sit listless in the driver’s seat. There’s not a star in the black sky and the moon is merely a sliver. Not even the lingering snow reflects the light. It’s no longer white and bright, it’s dulled and nearly vanished as well.
My teeth scrape against my bottom lip as I pull it into my mouth and look out of my window, still strapped in to the driver’s seat. From the outside of my house, no one would ever know what happened.
Closed doors hide a variety of crimes.
Wiping under my tired, burning eyes, I then press the button to exit my contacts to prevent myself from giving in and being weak. I won’t call her.
But that only leaves Jase.
CROSS. I can’t think of him without being reminded of the book, the underlined hidden message inside it, followed by the break-in, and then Jenny. Every thought, question, and mournful memory assault me one after the other just from thinking his name. I’m so confused and lost… and alone.
I stare down at the white plastic bag on the passenger seat. The logo of Martin Hardware stares back at me in a bold red font and beneath it I know there are three packs of light bulbs, each containing f
our apiece. It took me a while to feel safe enough to go in. Shit, it took me a while to stop looking in my rearview mirror and keeping track of cars who could be following me. There was no one there for all the hours I’ve been away from my home.
There’s no one here now either. It’s just me and the aftermath.
All I have to do is get out of my car and replace the bulbs so I can at least turn on a light.
I have to know what happened. I have to search my place and see what they took. The puzzle keeps me from breaking down. It keeps me from remembering Jenny and the fact that she’s gone. As well as Jase, and the fact that he may be to blame if the message in the book is about him.
Why did they take the book and my bills? I think back to the living room. Everything turned over, but systematically. Everything was done with the purpose of making it look like a robbery… but they didn’t steal what a random burglar would take.
A long exhale and I’m able to pretend like it isn’t devastating. Like I don’t feel violated. Like there’s no reason for me to be terrified.
My bills and mail, plus whatever other papers were in the coffee table, although I can’t even imagine what else I had stored there. And my laptop.
But not my phone or my wallet.
They stole information.
Resting my elbow against the window frame of my car, I press my thumbnail between my teeth and bite down gently, mindlessly. All I can do is stare at my front door and see a man. He had to have been tall, wearing faded, broken-in blue jeans and white sneakers with a red stripe along the sides of each. My mind plays the scene for me. Him quietly picking the lock, pressing his shoulder against the door and opening it as silently as he could. Did he know I was in the living room before he stepped in? Did he peek into the curtains in the bay window beforehand?
Again the series of thoughts plays out. The break-in will always lead to Jenny.
Did he hurt Jenny? Did he know her? I can barely stand to look at the stark white door as the realization hits me.
The men I’ve been after, the ones I’ve demanded be served justice were only feet from me today. And I cowered.
