Page 92 of Five
Neve
Mood:Titsperkedandready for battle.
I’m in Caroline mode, as we call it. Hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Shoulders back. Running shoes on and fists ready to fight.
Chihuahua with an attitude.
A quick shower after Cope dirtied me up and a good talk with myself, have left me solid in my decision—I need to go back and continue what we began yesterday. Join a search party, knock on doors, interview shopkeepers…whatever we can think of to find the missing girl. Everything we were primed to do yesterday when we were so rudely interrupted.
I just have to convince the guys to go along with it.
My gaze is troubled as I stare at my reflection in the mirror for a moment and then turn decisively away. I’m not clueless to the similarities to yesterday—me forcing the issue, getting them to take me, and then getting myself in trouble. It’s ironic, I suppose that I’d want to go back out there, and I know full well that Oscar isnotgoing to be happy.
But I have to.
Yesterday left me pretty shaken. A notorious child abductor and probable serial killer put a gun to my head. If Cope hadn’t been there, hadn’t been paying attention…
A shudder runs through me as I make my way through the living area and head for the terrace. It’s not something one just gets over with a nice cup of hot tea, even if Remi had insisted it would help last night. I was going to need time to process.
Yesterday had also left me determined to do more than simply sit and process, though. I needed to act, and I was not about to let the guys keep me from doing so.
They were great after it happened—attentive. Supportive. Angry, but I get it. They were scared.
So was I.
The whole thing kind of woke me up, brought home exactly the level of psycho we were dealing with. I knew, of course…one doesn’t survive something like what I did as a child and not understand darkness. But I think I had forgotten, or covered over my awareness with a veneer of habit. Of going about my business.
If I didn’t stop to think about it, it couldn’t hurt me.
I thought Oz was going to kill Cope for a minute, but he was quick to realize it wasn’t Cope’s fault. The scene was too crowded, too chaotic. Cope got to me when I needed him, and the guy didn’t take me. There was nothing to be forgiven, in my book.
As I told Cope earlier, if it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. I pushed to go, giving Oliver no options except backing me up, and all the while, Oscar was right.
That doesn’t mean I won’t do it again, though. This is too important to cower behind the security my guys offer here on this island paradise. I’ve found my family—we’ve found each other—but there are other families, like the one of that little girl, who need putting back together, now.
I hesitate in the doorway to the terrace, watching Jesse as he quibbles with Remi over something and loads his plate. Jamie Fraser winds around his ankles, the sight making me tilt my head, mystified. Jamie Fraser doesn’t particularly like men, preferring to hone his lover-boy skills on any female within petting distance.
But he clearly likes Jesse.
I shake my head a little, my gaze continuing to track the room. Oliver is already at the table, his expression dark as he eats his own breakfast and ignores everyone around him.
Cope left after our early morning tryst to grab a shower, too, and Oz is nowhere in sight, but I’m not surprised. He was gone when I woke up, after all. He’s probably been at the station for hours, already.
I step forward after tugging my ponytail higher on my head. “Good morning, gentlemen.”
I can see them being a problem with helping me move forward in the way I need to. Unless, of course, I give them no other options.
I pick up a plate, wedge myself between Remi and Jesse with a smile for each of them, and start to fix my plate.
“Jesse, what sorcery have you worked on my cat?”
He nudges him carefully aside, glancing down at him with a confused expression. “I have no idea. I don’t like cats.”
“Well, that’s as may be, but he certainly seems to like you.” I coo briefly at Jamie Fraser and finish making my plate. “What’s the plan for today?” I ask.
Jesse side-eyes me. “The plan is to sit your butt here and let the police handle things.”
I take my seat at the table. “Mm. That’s what Oz said yesterday after we got back.”
