Page 181 of Cook

Cook thinned his lips into a grim line, but Lanie answered, “Something with Don Parisi.”

He shot her a look. “Is Angel telling you this?”

“I’m a former DA and almost an FBI agent,” said Lanie with a hint of smugness. “This shit is kinda my thing.”

Cook grumbled as I stooped down to his boots, taking them off. My smallest touch left him hissing through clenched teeth. He even groaned in pain. I checked over my shoulder at Lanie, wondering if she would say something about him going back to the recovery house. But Cook wouldn’t be moved, even if I begged.

“You should probably rest,” said Lanie to Cook. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks.” Cook gripped his side, and while he looked like he was about to argue, he slowly leaned back in bed. I helped prop up his pillow and bring the blankets up to him. As I bent down, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me close, whispering so only I could hear, “The sheets smell like you, baby girl. Did you do what I wanted?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Heat burned my cheeks, and my core throbbed hungrily. It was wet and hot. I had touched myself and wanted him now, but I couldn’t take that while he hurt like this.

“You gotta keep it going for a little while longer, baby girl.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed my neck because it was all he could reach, and another groan slipped from his body.

I pulled back before it got too bad, or I couldn’t help myself anymore. My distance might’ve only been because Lanie was over my shoulder.

“We’ll be outside,” I said, and Cook nodded. I closed the bedroomdoor behind me.

Out on the porch, I handed Lanie a mug of tea. She had brought over a few boxes for me to try and have. Cook would want his coffee, but at least the tea didn’t churn my stomach or burn my nostrils. The tea, though, didn’t calm me either.

However, the desert that stretched far and the curve of the canyons—all of this space and even further—was mine and Cook’s. This was calming, especially as the sun hit the rock at a slanted angle, setting it on fire. I wasn’t scared of what hid in the shadows now. A breeze blew the shrubs and cacti, and a tumbleweed rolled by in the distance.

After taking a long sip, Melanie set her mug down on the old iron table between the two chairs. She leaned back, and the chair creaked. Everything about this place was old, but we were slowly restoring it and making it home. Cook and I were creating a life here, taking back what was once stolen from us. We couldn’t rewrite our pasts, but we could draw our futures and build what we wanted to be.

“This would’ve been dangerous for Mom and Dad when we were kids,” murmured Lanie, eyeing the bushes and the land. “They lost us so many times in the house and the backyard when we were playing in our grandparents’ house.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t really remember that.”

“We were so young,” said Lanie, acting like she was so much older than me when we were only minutes apart. It was just because we had seen different shit. I didn’t have the standard growing up experiences, so she clearly still thought of me as the twelve-year-old girl who was taken from our bedroom.

My sister took a sip of her tea and let out a sigh. “I only remember, because for months after you disappeared...” She looked at me sideways, probably judging if I’d freak out. “I kept looking in all the hiding places you used when we played hide and seek. We both always wanted to hide. Mom and Dad, thinking they were so smart, played too, but we knew all the good spots. We really freaked out our parents, and even Mom insisted we check everywhere when, well, you know.”

She shrugged.

I sipped my tea to fill the void of what I was supposed to remember. Flashes oozed back into my mind, but I didn’t know if my mind wasfilling in the blanks based on her descriptions or if they were actual memories. Whatever they were, they seemed so far away.

With a sigh and her nose pointed into her cup, Lanie said, “I’m sorry, Maddie.”

“For what?” I asked.

“Well, I should have seen how you and Cook were helping each other.” She chuckled.

I took a sip of minty green tea and let out a heated breath. I wasn’t certain what she meant, but my daddy always knew how to make me whole, what to offer to make me feel safe and loved and free from all the cages I’d ever known. He took my impurities and replaced them with something that showed love.

“Angel and I don’t always have safety in our, um...” She peeked at me, obviously gauging what to say. “In our alone time, I guess you could say.”

“What? You’re not safe?” I sat forward, worried.

“Oh, that’s not what I... I’m sorry. Did you know that Angel was there too? At the mill. When he was a kid.”

I faced the orange cliffs in the distance, not wanting to think about all that. But now that she mentioned it, I furrowed my brows, thinking back to my early years there. There had been a boy with a white spot in his short hair.

My eyes stretched wide as I started to hear and understand how they found us and why. “Oh, shit, Lanie. I’m so sorry.”

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