Chapter 14
The goodbyes were long, but not long enough. Before I knew it, I was sitting in Wyatt’s dark blue Jeep, and he was heading toward the highway.
“Thanks for driving me.” I broke the silence that had lasted since we left the lodge.
Wyatt nodded once, his eyes never straying from the road. “It’s no problem, Elizabeth.”
Leaving Asheville was harder than it’d ever been. This time not only was I leaving Abraham and my friends, I was also leaving my cat behind.
“I’ll make sure someone visits him every day, El,” Abraham had promised, his deep, husky voice in my ear. “He won’t ever feel alone. By the time you get back here on Friday, he’ll be all better and you’ll be able to see him.”
My eyes burned with the tears I’d wanted to shed. Abraham was so sweet and thoughtful. How he knew I’d worry that Charlie was alone was beyond me. How he knew me so well after such a short period of time was a mystery, but there was no denying that he did.
My heart was heavy as Wyatt drove the long miles back to Raleigh knowing all I had to look forward to was work.
There was a time when that was enough–but those days were long gone.
I missed Abraham.
I missed my friends.
I missed my pack mates.
I missed my cat.
Even with Wyatt to keep me company, the longing was deep. I wanted to call it homesickness, because that’s exactly what it felt like, but Raleigh was my home. It has been for years. How could a lodge in the middle of the woods feel more like home in just a month?
I didn’t know the answer to any of it, but it played on repeat in my mind as I trudged up the stairs to my second-floor apartment.
Walking in to my place and not having Charlie come running toward me was a sickening reminder of everything that had happened this weekend. My nose began to tingle with the threat of tears. The last time I’d been in my apartment, I’d mostly been human. Now I was nowhere near that.
For the rest of my life, I’d turn into a werewolf every month. On top of that, apparently, I was like an out of control adolescent who could shift at any provocation. That was going to take some getting used to.
Thankfully, since Wyatt had been here before, there was no need for much hostessing on my part. I grabbed us a couple bottles of water from the fridge, and we both retired to our separate bedrooms.
Before falling asleep, I video chatted with Abraham for a little while. Despite being able to see his handsome face and hear his voice, I could already feel the effects of our separation tugging at me. When we’d been talking long enough that my eyes were mostly closed, we signed off with promises to keep in touch as much as possible during the week.
Despite how tired I was, sleep eluded me. My tears were my only company through the long hours of the night.
The next day proved to be busier than I expected with court taking up the majority of it. I was able to text Abraham a little and even spoke to him on his lunch break for a few minutes, but I could hear the distance taking its toll in his voice.
As the days passed, being without Abraham become more painful. I woke up tired and spent restless night after night tossing and turning. My appetite was gone. I was barely able to choke down the most minimal amounts of food before it tasted like ash on my tongue.
I’d had to practice Doreen’s meditating techniques more than once in court, and I even partially shifted when someone cut me off on the highway on my way to work. Thankfully it was just one arm and it didn’t rip my shirt, but it was a rude awakening.
I didn’t even almost have this werewolf thing under control. I found myself crying on more than one occasion every day, and the smallest annoyances could send me into a rage. There was no doubt that I was barely hanging on.
Most painful of all, it seemed that Abraham was faring no better than I was.
Every night on video chat, I watched as the bags under his eyes got darker and deeper. He sounded tired, and he looked awful.
For my benefit, he put on a happy face and acted like nothing was wrong, but I knew he felt as bad as I did. And I felt terrible. Like I was battling a bad case of the flu sans the fever or sniffles.
By Thursday, I was ready to fake sick and race back to Asheville, work be damned.
And by the end of the day, I’d wish I’d done just that.
“Montgomery, Hildebrandt wants you in his office in five,” my secretary said from the open doorway of my office.
I sat up straighter in my chair and nodded to the older woman. “Thanks, I got it.”
When she left, I let my shoulders slump again and banged my head against the back of the chair.
I really didn’t want to see my boss right now. I had a feeling he’d noticed how out of it I’d been all week, and I was about to get an earful. The last thing I wanted to deal with right now was an angry Hildebrandt, but there was nothing I could do.
My work had been slipping, and it would be easy for anyone to see. My concentration wasn’t what it used to be, I was having trouble staying awake in meetings and even in court the other day, and I wasn’t putting in the hours I used to. To be honest, every day this place meant less to me and that was terrifying.
For years, this was all I wanted. An office on the senior’s floor, the chance to show the whole firm what I was made of, the rush of a good day in court, and knowing the sky was the limit for my career. Now, all I wanted was to get my work done as fast as possible, so I could go be miserable in the comfort of my own home.
With a sigh, I grabbed a notepad and pen and took off for Mr. Hildebrandt’s office. Before I left, I nodded in Wyatt’s direction, and he returned the gesture. He was so quiet when he was with me in the office I often forgot about him.
The walk there wasn’t nearly long enough, and soon, I was standing at Mr. Hildebrandt’s door with my hand raised to knock. But, before I could, the door swung open, and I came face to face with the last person I wanted to see right now.
Ben.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” he said, his voice quiet and meant only for me. His dark eyes raked across my body like nails over a chalkboard.
I instantly felt my hands begin to shake.
“Ben.”
“Mr. Hildebrandt just sent me to look for you.”
I pushed my way past Ben and into the office. “Well, I’m here.”
“Montgomery, there you are.”
I smiled weakly at the older man, noticing a few new liver spots on his weathered hands and less hair on his shiny head. “I’m here, sir. What was it you wanted to talk about?”
He gestured to a set of maroon leather chairs in front of his desk. “You two have a seat. I have something to discuss with the both of you.”
That sounded foreboding.
We sat down, and Mr. Hildebrandt leaned his sizable frame back in his large desk chair eyeing us both. When the silence began to get uncomfortable, he finally spoke up.
“I’ve been watching you two. Watching you succeed and also fail, and I think I’ve figured out what you both need.”
Huh?
Hildebrandt turned to Ben. “You’ve been with us for a long time and are still on the junior’s floor. Why do you think that is?”
Ben opened his mouth, presumably to answer his question, but Hildebrandt turned to me.
“And you, Montgomery, one of our brightest stars, and yet you seem more lifeless by the day.”
I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and hunched my shoulders. Wow, he sure knew how to make a girl feel good about herself.
“I think that assigning the two of you a case to work on together is the perfect solution to both your problems.”
Now, that got my attention.
“Come again?” I asked, hoping I’d heard him wrong. Hoping my boss wasn’t actually going to force me to work with slime-ball-Ben.
Hildebrandt nodded enthusiastically. “The more I think about it, the more I like it.”
I didn’t want to ask, but I knew I needed the answer. So, I took a deep breath and grit my teeth, “What case are we working on?”
Mr. Hildebrandt shuffled around a few papers before unearthing a file and handing it to me. “It’s the Jones case. We just got it in yesterday.”
“Oh, I heard about that one on the news. Rape, right?” Ben rubbed his hands together and shot me a look. “Elizabeth knows those cases are my specialty.”
I felt like I was going to be sick.
“Rape?” I asked, my voice coming out no louder than a squeak.
I’d always avoided cases like this. Any personal crimes like rape and murder I slid across my desk and onto the next person’s. I couldn’t stomach the idea of helping someone like that get away with it. Now, it looked like I had no choice.
But, I had one more question. One I knew wasn’t something you were supposed to ask, but one I couldn’t help but voice.
“Did he do it?” I asked softly.
Hildebrandt huffed out a throaty chuckle. “Who cares, Montgomery? His money is green, and that’s all that matters.”
Of course, that would be all that mattered to him. I bet most people in this office felt the same way. I, however, felt nauseated.
Ben motioned for the file I was holding, and I gladly handed it to him, thankful to have its grimy contents out of my hands. He shuffled through it, humming low in the back of his throat every once in a while. Finally, he closed it and looked up at Mr. Hildebrandt as if he’d just given him the best Christmas present he’d ever received.
“If there’s nothing further, I’d like to get started on this case right away,” Ben said.
Hildebrandt slammed a meaty palm against his desk. “That’s what I like to hear! Go on you two, go get to work.”
Ben rose, and I followed suit, but before I could leave the office, I closed the door and turned to Mr. Hildebrandt.
The older man, having already dismissed us, was nose deep in a thick pile of papers. I had to clear my throat to get his attention.
“Montgomery? What is it?”
I cleared my throat again and shuffled my feet before looking my boss in the eye. “I don’t think I can take this case.”
His head jerked back like he’d been struck. “What do you mean you don’t think you can take this case? The rest of this firm has been chomping at the bit to get their hands on this client and you don’t want it? What’s going on here?”
I sighed and took a step closer to his large desk. “It just doesn’t feel right,” I admitted. “I usually stay away from these kinds of cases.”
“Let me tell you something, Montgomery, it’s cases like this that put food on our tables. This is where the big money is. Notoriety even. And you want to pass on all that?”
I shrugged. “It’s just not my thing.”
“Not your thing?” he asked like he’d never heard of something so ridiculous before. I did my best to stand up straight, knowing that whatever came out of his mouth next wouldn’t be good. “Montgomery trust me when I tell you, you need this case.”
I frowned. “Why is that?”
Hildebrandt turned in his chair to face me, and I almost wish he hadn’t. His beady brown eyes felt like they were looking through me and not just at me. “Montgomery, I’m not going to beat around the bush here. You’re slipping.”
And there it was. Confirmation that I hadn’t been fooling anybody.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he kept going. “You come in looking like you haven’t slept in weeks, you’re doing the bare minimum when it comes to case load, and you’re skipping out of here at five every day no matter what.”
I wasn’t sure if skipping was the right word to use here. I’d have called it trudging or some days even stumbling.
“We’ve noticed this decline in your work ethic and that’s not the way we expect our senior associates to act,” Hildebrandt continued. “If the position is too much for you, we can always demote you,” he said benignly enough, but I heard the threat beneath his words.
I stood up straighter and pushed my shoulders back. A little zip of anger ran though my bones, but I quelled it. I could not afford to lose it on my boss right now. “I can handle it.”
“Then handle it. I don’t want to hear another word about it.” He returned to his pile of papers and silently dismissed me.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, willing my hands to stop shaking. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but taking this case felt all wrong. I had a stomach ache already, and I hadn’t even read through the file yet.
When I got back to the senior’s floor, to my dismay, I found Ben leaning against the wall next to my office door.
“Since when did you start locking your office, Montgomery? Trying to hide something?”
I hadn’t locked it which meant Wyatt must have left for some reason and locked it behind him. Abraham had insisted on him having keys to both my office and my apartment. Apparently, Wyatt was taking his role as guard serious if he was locking the door while on a bathroom break.
“What I do with my office is none of your business, Ben. What were you doing trying to go in there without me, anyway? I’m positive I’ve told you not to come into my space without my permission.”
He waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you. I just didn’t know where you disappeared to after Hildebrandt’s office, and I wanted to get working right away.”
I sighed loudly and unlocked my office door, hoping Ben would take a hint for once in his life and just leave me alone.
I heard his muffled footsteps follow me into the office and knew it wouldn’t be today that he learned when he wasn’t wanted.
“Ben, I know we need to get working on this case, but I’m too busy to start today. Why don’t we meet first thing tomorrow morning?”
I turned to find him practically taking inventory of my office from where he stood in the middle of it. It made me feel exposed to have him inspecting my space like this.
I opened my mouth to speak again when Wyatt walked through the door, his intelligent brown eyes surveying the room and landing on Ben immediately.
“Oh, who’s this, Montgomery?” Ben laughed. “That why your office was locked? Keeping your boyfriend up here?”
I saw Wyatt’s shoulders stiffen as my spine straightened almost without my permission. My blood was instantly boiling, and my limbs began to shake with rage.
In, one.
Out, two.
“Ben, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Can you leave now?”
Ben scoffed and took another scornful look at Wyatt. “Why? Am I interrupting something? Is this why you wouldn’t go on a date with me?”
Wyatt walked over to me and spoke quietly enough that I knew Ben wouldn’t be able to hear. “Should I remove him?”
I shook my head quickly. I knew I needed to handle this before he stepped in and things got ugly. “It’s okay, I got this.”
I turned to Ben to see his eyes locked on my hand on Wyatt’s arm. My first instinct was to jerk it away, but I held on. I had nothing to hide, and I’d treat my friends however I wanted.
“Ben. I’ve already explained to you, in detail, why I won’t go out with you and every time I speak to you, that decision becomes more justified. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to get done. I’ll meet you in meeting room C at eight tomorrow morning.”
With that, I turned my back on Ben and began to shuffle around the papers littering my desk. Even with my back to the room, I could feel the tension radiating off the two men. Thankfully, my own ire had subsided, and I was able to get control of myself before something irrevocable happened.
“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ben said, the irritation clear in his voice.
As soon as I heard the door slam, I let out a big breath and slumped into my desk chair.
“Is he gonna be a problem?” Wyatt asked quietly.
I wish I could tell him no. That Ben was harmless and something I could totally handle myself, but I knew I couldn’t. Ben watched me like no one else in this office did, and I needed to keep up appearances for him above anyone else here.
So, I told him, “Yeah, probably,” and left it at that.