Jones looked up from the tower of blocks he was building with Andy and smiled a little at Lea, who stood leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. She smiled back and held up a fast food bag, shaking it slightly. “Dinnertime.”
He pushed himself up with his good hand and let Andy take it, walking with the child into the kitchen and boosting him up onto his chair. Giving Andy’s fine hair a quick ruffle, he went to help Lea serve out the food, both of them moving around the kitchen in easy and comfortable movements without getting in each other’s way. It had become almost routine over the past few days, though usually he helped Lea cook as well.
Lea updated him on the search as they ate, though she didn’t have much of anything new to tell him. A few of the leads she’d turned up had turned out to be nothing but she thought she might have another one that she planned to follow up on in the morning. Meanwhile she’d brought home a bunch of files for them to look through after Andy went to bed.
After dinner Jones washed the dishes while Lea took Andy for his bath then went to start looking through the files Lea had brought home. He paused for half an hour when Andy insisted that he be the one to read the before-bed story, though it made his heart hurt a little to be reading to a child that wasn’t Emily. He struggled to keep that thought away from Andy but he had an idea that the boy had picked up on at least some of it.
Once Andy was all tucked in, he went back to the files while Lea puttered around in the kitchen. She leaned out and started to ask him if he wanted a glass of wine, and he saw the realization dawn before the sentence was halfway out of her mouth. She gave him a sheepish smile and changed it to asking if he wanted a glass of water instead, fetching it for him when he nodded. Curling up on the other end of the couch, she took half the files and started flipping through them.
They worked in silence for a while until Lea stretched out and poked him in the thigh with her foot. “Jones, take a break.”
“I’m okay.”
“Listen to your doctor. I told you to rest.” She shifted over. “Speaking of, let me see your shoulder.”
He sighed but put down the file he was looking at and leaned back to let her examine his shoulder. It still hurt as she prodded at it and he was clumsy with that arm, but it was already well on its way to healing and she made a pleased noise as she inspected it. This close he could smell her shampoo and a hint of perfume, reminding him so strongly of Allie that for a moment he felt dizzy. He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them again she was looking at him with concern, her mouth turned down in a frown.
It seemed the most natural thing in the world to kiss her and after a moment of startled surprise, she relaxed against him and returned it. He slid his good arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, but even as he did he began to feel uneasy. He tried to push the feeling away and concentrate on her hands going under his shirt, pushing it up and breaking the kiss just long enough to pull it over his head. Her own soon followed it and she dropped her hands to the button on his jeans, kissing under his jaw.
He tried to relax and enjoy it—he’d started it, after all, and thought he wanted it—but thoughts of Andraeon kept intruding. At first he thought he was feeling guilty about not trying hard enough to find him, but gradually he realized he was thinking about waking up with Andraeon curled up against him even as his hands slid up Lea’s back to the clasp of her bra. He kissed her again as he undid it but his thoughts were far away and on someone else entirely.
“Stop.” The word was out of his mouth before he thought about saying it and he gently pushed Lea back. She gave him a look of confusion tinged with hurt, still breathing hard, her cheeks flushed. He could feel how warm his own face was and he was uncomfortably aware of her solid weight in his lap, but it was all slowly fading.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyebrows drawing in. She crossed her arms over her chest without seeming aware of the movement, almost hugging herself.
“I just… I can’t.” He tried to pick his words carefully, so he wouldn’t hurt her. “I thought this was what I wanted, but it’s not and it isn’t fair to you, especially after all your help.”
“You don’t…” He practically felt her pick it out of his mind, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment this time. “Oh. It’s Drae you want.” She pushed herself back and stood up, fastening her bra before stooping to pick up her shirt.
“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling helpless.
She gave him a small smile and handed his shirt to him. “It happens. Could’ve been worse. I feel like an idiot and from the look on your face you feel like an asshole, but nobody got seriously hurt.” She leaned down to brush a chaste kiss across his cheek. “I’m not kicking you out either, so you can stop worrying about that.”
“Lea.” He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles but wasn’t sure what to say next so settled for, “Thank you.”
“Hey, us army buddies have to stick together.” She clapped him on his good shoulder, her tone jovial, but her hand lingered a moment too long. “I’m going to look in on Andy, then I’ll be back to help and bandage your shoulder up again.”
“Sure.” He managed a smile for her and watched her leave the room, then turned his attention back to the files.
Lea returned after a few minutes with fresh bandages for his shoulder, then helped him put his arm back in its sling before going back to her end of the couch. The silence this time hung heavy on Jones and he struggled to concentrate on what he was reading in the files. After a bit he mumbled something about needing some fresh air and went outside, the dog trotting along at his heels. He sat down on the front porch and took a deep breath of the cool air, watching the dog go bounding off across the front lawn, fluffy tail high and straight.
He tipped his head back against the post he was leaning on and closed his eyes, letting himself relax. He dozed a little, listening with one ear to the jingle of the dog’s collar and its occasional low bark. Scattered images flashed behind his closed lids and he drifted a little deeper into sleep, his chin dropping onto his chest.
He jerked upright only moments later, gripped by the certainty that something was coming for him. He was up on his feet and striding for the door before he’d completely come awake. The dog came racing up onto the porch and huddled close to his leg, nearly knocking him over as it shot in through the front door when he opened it. He heard Lea call a startled question from the kitchen, where she was pouring herself another glass of wine. He went to her and gripped her shoulder in his good hand, turning her to face him.
“Something’s coming.” It tickled up and down his spine like a bug crawling on his skin. “Get Andy, we need to leave.”
She looked at his face and nodded, pulling free of his grip and hurrying towards Andy’s room. He’d grabbed the car keys and her purse, and was waiting by the door when she came back out carrying Andy, who clung to her tightly. As they approached the sensation of being stalked hit Jones so hard that his knees nearly buckled, then Andy turned his pale and fearful face towards him and the feeling faded.
Jones hustled them out of the house and into the car, pausing only long enough for Lea to call the dog into the car with them before he slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. The car grumbled into life and he backed out of the driveway, wincing as turning to look out the back window tugged on his half-healed shoulder. They got onto the road without incident and he followed Lea’s directions to the road into town, so he could drop them off at Lea’s friend’s house.
“You’re sure whatever it is, it’s after you?” Lea asked as they pulled into her friend’s driveway.
“Yes,” Jones said, glancing at Andy in the rearview mirror. The boy was nodding vehemently, his hands moving in staccato movements that Jones couldn’t begin to understand. “Keep an eye out anyway.”
“Be careful.” She kissed his cheek quickly and got out of the car, the dog following her. She ducked into the back seat and pulled Andy out, shifting him onto her hip on the walk up to the front door. On the porch, she turned to give Jones a wave, waiting until he had pulled out of the driveway before ringing the doorbell.
Jones removed his sling so he could drive with one hand and reach over to open the glovebox with the other. He yanked a few things out until he found a map, which he spread over the passenger seat while trying to keep the car in the right lane. Fortunately the road was quiet at this time of night and even though he drifted over the line once or twice, nothing came bearing down on him from the opposite direction.
Using the map he headed for the nearest city, keeping an eye out for lights in the rearview mirror. The sense of being followed faded the further he got from Andy and the back window remained dark until he began to get into the outskirts of the city. He drove around for a while, taking random turns until near midnight he finally pulled into a hotel parking lot and cut the engine. He waited a few minutes to see if another car would turn into the lot, then got out of the car, absently patting his pockets for his wallet as he walked inside.
He paid for a room for the night and went up, making sure to lock the door behind him and slide the deadbolt home. He then went around and checked the windows, stepping out onto the balcony to look up and down the side of the building.
The door to the room clicked gently open behind him, the noise of it almost hidden under the sound of traffic rushing by far below. Jones didn’t wait to see who it was, just swung himself over the balcony railing and began to move along the ledge that surrounded the building. He kept going until he reached a maintenance ladder and headed up, gritting his teeth at the pain beginning to burn in his shoulder. At the roof he looked down to see if anyone was following, but the ladder was empty below him.
He pulled himself up onto the roof and paused for a breather, shivering a little; this high the wind was cold and angry. He’d only been sitting there for a few moments when he heard the sound of footsteps on the maintenance ladder’s metal rungs. Scrambling to his feet, he set off across the roof, breaking into a run a few metres from the edge. He leaped, hanging for a moment in the air, then landed on the roof of the building next door, the force of his landing sending him to his knees. He pushed himself up, limping for the first few steps and aware that blood was trickling down his leg, and continued across the roofs at a jog.
Halfway across the slanted, tiled roof of some sort of restaurant, his feet slid out from under him. He sprawled awkwardly on his belly, his momentum causing him to slide down towards the edge of the roof. He fought to save himself and managed to grab the edge of the roof just as his legs slid over and down. The sudden drop of his weight knocked his grip loose with his bad hand and he barely managed to hang on with the other, his heart hammering in his chest.
He could feel his hand slipping no matter how hard he tried to hang on. He closed his eyes, wondering if it would hurt when he hit the ground, and felt his hand finally lose its grip.
He dropped only a few inches before someone grabbed his wrist with both hands, fingers digging into his skin. His eyes flew open in surprise and he stared up at the man holding him up, not sure if he should be grateful or not.
“Hi,” Shasta said. “Need a hand?”
No comments:
Post a Comment