Page 10 of Demon
She didn’t bother with shoes but went to the kitchen to check on her guest.
In the kitchen, she leaned against the door jam, watching the tall man that she hadn’t seen in nearly a year move around her kitchen.He’d pulled several things out of the fridge and was now opening cabinets, looking for something.From what was stacked on the counter, she assumed he was looking for a skillet.
“Other side of the stove,” she said.
He looked up, eyes wide.
“Oh.Hey.I didn’t know how long you’d be, so I thought I’d start breakfast.”He looked her up and down.“I know how you are before you’ve had enough caffeine and I suspect that’s your second cup, so drink up.”He tilted his head toward the coffee maker and her cup sitting next to it.He must have set it to the side before making his own cup.
Ronnie ignored the coffee and instead went to him.She waited until he set down the skillet, then she moved in and wrapped her arms around his middle as she pressed herself against him and held on tight.
“It’s been too long, and I missed you.”She buried her nose against his chest and took a deep breath.
“I missed you too, munchkin,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for several seconds.After a moment he released her.
Ronnie stepped back, looked at him a moment longer then backed out of his way and back to the coffee maker and her waiting cup of happy juice.
“How come I didn’t know you were coming home?”She leaned one hip against the counter and sipped her coffee as she watched her brother move around her kitchen.Her brother that had been so desperate to escape their overbearing and controlling father that he’d insisted on going to college in another state.That had broken her heart at the time.
At fourteen she hadn’t understood.She thought she’d done something wrong, that he had been leaving to get away from her.Now, at twenty-five, she got it.Dad was more than difficult and even as a kid she’d noticed that while he was rough on her, he was harder on Gavin.
“It was a last-minute decision, then once I was coming, I decided I wanted to surprise you.”
“You surprised me.”She tilted her head as she watched him crack eggs into a bowl, then let them sit for a moment as he chopped and stirred the sausage he’d dumped into the skillet before turning on the heat.“Why’d you come?”Since he’d left ten years before, Gavin had only been home for a few days a year, and those always had a reason.A holiday, a death in the family.He’d never come just to visit, and she wondered what had driven this trip home.Hell, he almost never took time off, he seemed to love his job with the DEA.
He glanced over at her.There was something about his expression that told her she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“Just spill it.We both know I’m not going to let up on you until you tell me.”
Gavin stirred the sausage once more then left the wooden spatula propped on the edge of the skillet before moving back to the bowl of eggs.He didn’t look at her as he added seasoning then grated a little cheese into the bowl before putting the cheese back in its zipper bag and back into the fridge.
Ronnie drank her coffee in silence, waiting for him to give in and tell her.It wasn’t until he’d mixed the sausage into the eggs and had dumped the entire mixture back into the skillet that he took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.She knew the signs.He’d finally decided he wasn’t getting out of it and settled on how he was going to put whatever was important enough to make him travel across three states at the last minute.He dropped the wooden spatula he’d been using in the sink with the egg bowl and ran water in it for a few seconds before pulling a clean silicone one from the bowl next to the stove and moving the eggs around the skillet.
“You know Dad’s trying to push you out, right?”He glanced over as if he was trying to read her mood from her expression, or maybe her posture.
“I know he’s trying to make me give up, make me run away.He doesn’t know that’s one way to make me never give in.I will not let him tell me the job is too hard for a simple little girl.”She knew she sounded bitter.It was hard to hide after having never been good enough for him, never that she could remember at least.
She drained the last of the coffee from her mug and set it on the counter so she could make more in a minute, then went to the fridge.Gavin was silent as she pulled out the tortillas, pulled several out and put them on a plate in the microwave to warm up.Then she went back, refreshed the coffee maker, and started a new cup.
“He’s got a new tactic now.Now he’s going to try to scare you out.”
“What do you mean?”Ronnie asked with a frown.
Gavin still stirred the eggs, but they were almost done.When the microwave beeped she pulled the plate out and set it next to the stove before pulling out a second plate and setting it next to me.
“You warm enough tortillas for me?”
“Yep.Do your thing.How’s Dad planning to scare me out?”Why wasn’t she surprised Dad would do something so underhanded?Because he’d always been ruthless in his pursuit of what he wanted.To hell with the rest of the world, to hell with the rest of his family and what might be best for them.
No.
To Randy Darq, the only important person was himself.All that mattered was what he wanted and what he thought was best.And there was no amount of evidence or facts that would change his mind.
Gavin didn’t answer right away.Instead, he finished the eggs, portioned them onto the tortillas, and rolled both plates into burritos.He handed Ronnie hers, then picked up his plate and his coffee cup and went to sit at the bar.
“One of the skips he’s given you this time is dangerous.”He finally spoke, then took a bite of his burrito.
“So?I’ve picked up dangerous skips before.I’m not too worried about it.Do you know which one?”She was determined not to let this scare her, but thinking about the half dozen files she had in her bag right now, she knew more knowledge was better than less.If she knew who her father thought would scare her away from bond recovery, then she would be better prepared to deal with them.
