EIGHT
Mark
"What do you mean she's gone?" Eli asked, sitting on my back porch, dutifully throwing a slimy yellow tennis ball for Coop who, as it turned out, was not only an ugly mutt and hard to train, but absolutely full-up of restless energy. Eli had started taking him on runs twice a day, then a long walk in the middle, riddled with intermittent fetching sessions. And he was still always on the go. The vet said it was likely just because he was a puppy, that he would calm down eventually. Especially after he got fixed.
Until then, it was just a matter of trying to tire him out.
A fruitless task, if you asked Eli.
He was even active in his sleep, running so hard in his dreams that he would drag himself clear across the floor several times.
Oh, the joys of puppy-ownership.
"I mean I went to the house when I hadn't heard from her in three days even after I called and texted, and the shack was empty. Not a trace of them. Fucking literally. The place was wiped clean. I doubt there was a fingerprint anywhere."
I told Eli the whole story, while keeping the rest of the family out of the loop. We were not generally a family for keeping secrets, but since this secret wasn't exactly my own, I felt justified in keeping it close to the vest.
That being said, I needed to vent, and Eli seemed like the safest sounding board.
"Did you call her after?" he asked, brows drawn together, holding the ball in his hand as Coop literally jumped up and down waiting for him to toss it again.
"Of course I did." And it wasn't like me to do that shit. It wasn't that I was always a wham-bam kinda guy. There were many women I talked to after, I kept on speed dial for something casual, but friendly. But if I texted once and didn't get a response back, that was it. I wasn't going to fucking beg anyone for their attention. But I texted Scotti. And when the last message wouldn't go through, kept giving me a failure notice, I called too.
That's when I realized the number was no longer in service.
"They moved onto another job," Eli guessed, just as I had guessed after I threw my phone and kicked a pile of lumber piled at my job site, almost breaking my fucking foot in the process.
"Yep."
"There was no note or anything?"
"I don't think I was ever part of her plan, man. I think I showed up and threw a wrench in the works. I don't think they ever stayed as long in a town after a job like they did here. Something must have been holding them up. That was the only reason I could get her to agree to come over here in the first place. Guess right after, whatever the holdup was, went away, and they had to go."
"Sucks, man," Eli said, exhaling hard.
It did.
Maybe it shouldn't have.
It wasn't like we had been together for a couple weeks, got really close, and she split on me. Hell, I had spent more time with a fuck buddy whose last name, address, and age I didn't even know than I had with Scotti. I had never gotten so hung up on so little before.
That being said, it didn't feel like little.
Maybe it was because we mostly discussed topics that meant a lot to us, that mattered, that truly made up who we were as people, instead of the useless, trivial bullshit most people discuss during the first weeks of getting to know someone.
Maybe it was because I had never met a woman like her before. And that was saying something because I knew a lot of women. I even knew a lot of badass, amazing women. But she was in a class all her own. Outside of women I didn't know all that well like Lo and Janie up at Hailstorm, I couldn't say I had ever met a woman with such single-minded focus, such drive to accomplish her own version of justice, such dedication to the cause. And even with all that, behind the mask she wore as a shield, she wasn't cold or detached or a loner. In fact, she had stronger bonds with her family than anyone else I had ever seen outside of my own.
She was blunt, but in a sarcastic way that wasn't offensive. She was confident, but had a hidden vulnerability as well. She was an experienced criminal, but not a hardened one.
The sex was off the fucking charts.
And it pretty much went without saying that she was almost unfairly gorgeous.
She had a lot going for her. And I had learned that about her in a matter of hours. I wanted to know what I could learn in days or weeks or, hell, even months.
That was unlike me. I wasn't a settling-down kind of guy. I didn't look at a woman and see a future.
But maybe that was because I had never looked at a woman quite like Scotti.
Maybe that was what happened with my brothers as well. Because, quite frankly, none of them were any more inclined to getting tied down than I was. Shane was always out on the town, but something just... changed when Lea came into his life. He pursued her with a single-minded focus he had never given a woman before. And they were happy. The same could be said of Ryan who had always been married to his job, too busy to even notice most women. And then there was sweet, troubled Dusty. His entire life became about focusing on her, getting her comfortable with him, letting himself become a 'safe place' for her and her anxiety. And while none of us had been around to see the beginning of it, Hunter and Fee had a bond as deep as any I had seen. He had seen the most tragic parts of Fiona and never once found them unattractive or unlovable. If anything, he loved her all the more for them.
They all just... knew their women when they saw them.
Maybe they wouldn't have admitted it while it was happening. In fact, I was sure none of them would do such a thing. They likely evaded, made excuses about just wanting to get laid, being mildly intrigued, whatever. But in retrospect, each one would tell you there was just a... pull. Right from the jump.
What I felt toward Scotti, it was a definite pull.
And it was driving me up a goddamn wall that I wasn't being given the chance to pursue that, to see if it led somewhere that would miraculously make me want to leave my old life behind and start a future with her. As absolutely batshit crazy as that sounded.
Quite frankly, I was more than a little pissed that the chance was completely taken away from me.
"Figure this job of theirs is far off?" Eli asked, trying to tuck the ball behind him which only made Cooper leap up and nudge the shit out of him until he sighed and gave in.
I shrugged at that, a strange pit forming in my belly.
"Sounds like they are almost done with their plans. After that... it's Russia or China. I'll never fucking see her again."
"Just watch the news," Eli said with a shrug, giving me a look that years of experience reading my brothers' facial expressions told me said 'you fucking moron.'
"What?"
"If they keep robbing the stores, it will hit the news somewhere. Figure they have to crash somewhere near by. They wouldn't risk going across state lines with dirty money. That's probably why they were here so long- getting their money cleaned. Maybe getting more fake IDs if they heard about Barney. So if you see the news of a robbery, you can head out to that town and look for her."
"Seems a bit stalker-ish, don't you think?"
"Or maybe a grand romantic gesture?" he supplied, not looking convinced himself.
"Think that's a bit of a stretch, man," I said with a laugh. "Coop, Jesus, sit the fuck still for two minutes," I said, snagging the dog and pulling him between us, trying to distract him with petting. This didn't work, in case you were wondering. He thrashed until he scooted away and went right back to begging for the ball to be thrown.
"Dunno. Think you can get away with it. Just once. Just to confront her and see what she has to say. What's the worst that could happen? She sics her brothers on you? You've survived beatings from all of us; I think you can handle it." He looked away for a long minute. "You know... just so you don't always have this 'what if' hanging over your head. That isn't any way to live, Mark."
Sadly, I was pretty sure he knew this from experience.
Not over a woman, mind you.
But I think he felt that way about his life choices, his career, his constant putting his desires on a back burner to handle family business, being forced into being a rage monster when it was needed.
There were times I really felt bad for the fuck.
"How are things with whats-her-name?"
"You mean the girl you guys call a harpy behind my back?" he asked with a small smile. "Coop ate one of her shoes this morning so she left me a nasty message about it being the dog or her."
"So naturally, it's the dog," I observed, watching the crazy fuck chase a goddamn bumblebee across the backyard.
"Gonna tell her in the morning at the coffee shop in Hollydell. You know," he said suddenly, changing topics. "I heard whispers about a new shop opening in Navesink Bank. There are these two chicks who were doing a stand at some local food fair or some shit talking about their plans to open brick and mortar. I hear the coffee is the shit."
And anyone who knew Eli knew he liked his coffee. He went two towns over to find a decent cup.
"Let me know how it goes, man," I said as he stood and whistled. And, wild as that dog was, he stopped immediately and ran toward his person, letting his leash be applied to his collar. "He's only being good because he knows we have a half an hour walk home." He moved to walk away. "Just give it some thought. She might be worth all the hassle."
With that, he was gone.
I didn't really even have to give it any thought.
Because I did think she was worth the hassle.
And maybe it was a bit stalkerish of me, but I was going to keep an eye out for her and her brothers.
Then I was going to track her ass down.