Page 46 of Provoke You

14

I Fucking Saw Stars

Matt

On the way home, Chase drove my car. I threw all pretenses out the window and held Ela in my arms the whole way. After we cleared the business district traffic, I met his gaze in the rear-view mirror and offered a silent apology. An apology for getting myself involved in a situation that could turn personal. Not only that but I went and dragged him and Kitt into it too.

Personal feelings never meshed well with missions—not where human lives were at stake. “I’ll fly you anywhere you want.” I offered. If he wanted out, I’d do my best to make it easy on him.

He clicked his tongue. “You don’t abandon the mission. Or your commanding officer.”

“Thank you.”

Ela poked her head up from where it rested on my shoulder. Her pretty eyes were red from crying, and strands of her hair stuck to her wet cheeks. “Did he just agree to stay?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good, because we’re going to need some serious marine mojo to decipher that note. Do you know what it means?”

“No idea.”

“Leave it to Ben to make things extra difficult. Why would he go to Jennifer and not me?”

“My guess is he doesn't trust me. This could be a test.”

At first glance, the number sequence on the sheet looked like coordinates, but they weren’t. The message didn’t make sense. My guess was this was something both Ela and I had to figure out together. Was that what he wanted to know? If we were in this together?

“I feel like my head is going to explode.” She rubbed her temple. “Dad just has a way to put me in a bitchy mood.”

The minute we arrived at the house, she headed for the fridge and pulled out a bottle of champagne. I could only imagine what she was going through. Her dad did a serious number on her. He’d done it to her the first time I met him. That day, I’d been so set on getting this job I didn’t see through it. Ela had all the signs of someone who’d been verbally abused for years. She had no one to help her see her dad for the coward he was. That gaslighting bullshit would drive anyone to drink.

Not that people needed reasons to drink. I knew that from personal experience. In Ela’s case, her dad’s behavior seemed to be the reason. I recognized their pattern. Every time she had some sort of interaction with him, like today, she ended up getting wasted on champagne. For my bio mom, it was life in general that she needed to get away from on a daily basis. Though that bit took several years for ten-year-old me to figure out.

“We can take the rest of the night, if you need to.” I sat on the barstool next to her. She had a big pile of scones in front of her. She’d even put out three different kinds of jam on the table.

“I do. No more Ben stuff for now. Please.” She broke a pastry in half, popped one piece in her mouth, and offered me the other one. “You should really try these before Kitt scarfs down what’s left.”

They were as good as she said, maybe better. “These are incredible. Did you make this jam too?”

“Yeah. You can’t have scones without blackberry jam. I made the apple butter for Kitt.”

“We’re gonna have big bellies before we leave here.”

She glanced down into her glass and then took a long swig from it. The panic I saw in her eyes when her dad offered me the job I wanted was like a kick in the gut. Why would he do that to her? He had to know she needed me to stay alive. Or did he not want that? I couldn’t tell if he was messing with Ela because that was what he did with her or because he didn’t want her to know her life was in danger. What did he have to gain? He already had it all.

Ela blew out air. The lines around her mouth deepened as she bit her lower lip. Her eyes looked so sad. I couldn’t stand it. “Don’t make that face. I’m staying for as long as you need me to.”

She shifted her weight in her seat and faced me. “I’m a mess right now. I know.”

I could punch her dad in the neck for making her feel this way. “I know it’s early, but you should try and lie down. It’s been a hell of a day for you. It’s been a hell of a week.”

“Okay. I can’t think straight right now.” She hopped off and went upstairs to her room. The plan to find Ben could wait a few hours.

“Oh man, more scones.” Kitt walked into the kitchen and grabbed one. “If you ever want to poison me, do me a favor, do it with Ela’s scones. I’ll die happy.” He spooned a dollop of apple butter on a scone and put the whole thing in his mouth.

“Did you talk to Chase?”

“Sure did, Boss.”

---