Chapter 20 Early Morning Phone Calls #2
“I’m not. I promise. And I don’t expect you to stop being friends with her.
In my heart, I know who you are. I see it every day at school.
My head is just having a little bit of trouble adjusting.
It’s going to take me some time, so I need you to understand that.
Be patient with me. Please. I’d already talked myself down about it, between when I saw you hug her and when I spoke to you, but it’s going to rear its ugly head from time to time.
I need a few moments, when that happens, to process and recalibrate. ”
“I can do that. I’m sure I’ll fuck up occasionally, and you’ll let me know, but I want to see where this goes. I have a really good feeling about us, which is something I haven’t felt in a long time. Maybe ever. So whatever it is you need from me, I’m willing to give you.”
“I’d like to see where this goes too,” she admitted. “Since meeting you, it feels like there’s hope again.”
Silence stretched across the line. Finally, he said, “There’s more I need to say, but not here. Not now.”
The implications were clear. He wanted to talk to her face-to-face, where she couldn’t hide from him, like she could over the phone. He also didn’t want Ezra to hear what he needed to say.
“There are things I should tell you as well, but I’m wrecked tonight.
It’s been a rough week for both of us, and I need eight hours of sleep.
I have some things I need to do here at the house during the day.
The quiet will let me get my head on straight.
Process what I need to say. We definitely should talk, but the dance is tonight, and I’ll still be on duty because of Thursday. ”
“No, not tonight. What about tomorrow?” he asked. “I still want you to come with me to the trails.”
“I don’t know.” She was hedging. “I need to think, and you need the time with Ezra.”
There was a pause. “Ezra’s not going.”
It felt like her brain stopped working. “Why not?”
“He’s spending the night with friends and staying until Monday morning. Huge group study session. The AP Calculus teacher, in his infinite wisdom, decided to give an exam on the Monday after homecoming.”
“Wow. That’s cruel.”
“Believe me, I thought the same thing. I’ll be paying him a little visit on Tuesday to discuss his lesson planning.”
She smiled. There would be a discussion, and Lucas would present his case, but he’d do it in a way that the teacher wouldn’t feel too badly chastised.
“A coed sleepover?”
“Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but they’ve done it before.
Last year, we were forced to hold our prom on the Saturday between AP exam weeks.
They decided to host a study ‘zoo’ in my living room.
The exam was AP Calculus, coincidentally.
Not the instructor’s fault that time. The parents you saw me talking to tonight? They’re the ones hosting this weekend.”
“Pretty progressive sleepover.”
“Swear on my life, they were here, they studied, no drugs except for a lot of iced caffeine, and no alcohol. Kids showed up in tuxes and evening gowns at ten thirty, and within an hour of being here, they were all in animal onesies, camped out in sleeping bags and air mattresses, guzzling caffeine, scarfing down cardboard pizza like it was brains and they were part of the zombie apocalypse. They actually studied. It was the weirdest fuckin’ thing ever. ”
“Animal onesies?”
“Yeah, you know, the adult-sized footie pajamas? With hoods?”
“I’m afraid to ask. What was Ezra?”
“A dinosaur. The one with all those round ridge things on its back.”
“I’m not sure if this is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of or the weirdest.”
“When you figure it out, let me know. I still haven’t recovered from the whole escapade.”
His words were meant as a joke, but she heard the love in his voice, not just for his son, but for the kids as a whole. She felt her heart expand, the spark blossoming into a steady source of heat that radiated throughout her body. “But you’d host it again in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I would. I was kind of sad they went somewhere else this time around, but I get it. Ezra’s in an awkward position with his friends.
I’m not a teacher anymore, which is weird enough.
Now I’m an administrator. He said the kids all talked about it and decided they didn’t want to make it weird for me. ”
A silence fell between them. The glimpse into who Lucas really was served as a reminder that this man was trustworthy. That he said what he meant, and he wasn’t someone who had bad intentions. Yes, he made mistakes, but he owned them, and he tried to make up for them.
“You need sleep,” he said. “Rest up for tonight. Think about Sunday. If the trails are too much activity, we could just hang out here. Have dinner. Talk. Or not, if you’re not ready. Just don’t shut me out, please.”
What did she have to lose? Talk was talk, right?
It didn’t mean she had to pursue anything further if she found the chemistry was no longer there.
Or maybe it would, but she was an adult who could control her urges, and so was he.
It could just be two friends getting together for dinner—relaxing after the craziest week of their lives.
Yeah. Unlikely on all angles because just thinking about spending time alone with him again made all those delicious tingles start up.
“Okay. Sunday. Let me get through tonight, and we’ll see where things are before I commit to hiking or dinner.”
“I’ll take it. Sleep well.”
“You too.”
She disconnected the call. How long she stood there, she wasn’t sure, but between talking to him on the phone and when she finally shook herself out of her thoughts, she’d basically dried off from the air alone.
Pitching her head toward the floor, she unwrapped the towel over her hair and began to briskly rub it.
Her phone started ringing again. She swiped the screen. “What did you forget, Lucas?”
“Fucking cunt! You think you’ve paid for what you’ve done? Not even close. You’re going to pay for what you did. Soon.” Click.
Heart racing, she looked at the screen. Another similar number to the previous calls, only this time, there was a voice on the other end of the call.
It had been run through something computerized, so there was no way to tell if it was male or female.
What the hell was going on? As if she didn’t have enough to deal with right now.
She sat on the toilet seat, her phone still in hand, her eyes staring blankly ahead. This was now beyond just prank calls and small acts of vandalism.
Quickly, she dialed Quint’s phone number, knowing he’d still be at the station since he’d taken a night shift.
“Lieutenant Axton.”
“Quint, it’s Elyxandre. I just got another phone call. Different number. This time, there was a voice.”
“Hang on a second.” She heard him moving things around on his desk. “Okay. Male or female?”
“Couldn’t tell. They used a computerized voice changer. Anyone can do that now with an app.”
“Right. What did the person say?”
“They said, ‘Fucking cunt! You think you’ve paid for what you’ve done? Not even close. You’re going to pay for what you did. Soon.’ Then they hung up.”
“Any idea who that could have been?”
She bit her lip. “First thought? My ex, Knox. I didn’t give him my number, but he’s been emailing me.” She gave him a rundown of the threats to expose the photographs from their marriage.
“I think it’s beyond time someone had a conversation with that douchebag. I need you to gather up all those emails and forward them to me.”
“Do you think I should warn my boss? In case said douchebag does go ahead and send them out there?”
“My impulse is to say no. Reason is because I think he would have done it by now if he was going to. He’s probably just blowing a lot of hot air, trying to rattle you.” He paused. “You think he’s a possibility for all the shit going down at the school?”
“He’s certainly capable of doing all this stuff, other than maybe the online hacking part.
Last I knew, he was still in New Orleans.
It’s not like his boss would give him unlimited time off.
Taking all the stuff going on at my house and adding it to the homecoming week nonsense?
That’s been going on over a stretch of time that was more vacation than he would have accrued. ”
“Okay, so let’s treat each of these things as isolated incidents. Who else might be angry at you right now? No matter how small it might be.”
“Well, there’s my dad. The damage to my house could definitely be his doing.
When I was a kid, and he was managing to hold down a job, he worked as a handyman.
He knew how to fix things like leaks and wire breaks.
I don’t think he would be capable of any of the issues at school.
He’s always been too drunk or high to be stealthy, and whoever is doing the damage at school has been able to work around the cameras.
He’s definitely not the online hacker for the shooter threat.
And prank calls aren’t really his style.
As you saw tonight, he’s not shy about confronting anyone when he’s using. ”
“Noted. Who else?”
“Ryker Sealy’s still pretty pissed off at me.
Even though he organized the raid and participated in the vandalism at the school, he sees me as the reason for the punishment that screwed up his senior year.
I could see him prank-calling me, and I could even see him ripping up my plants, but the other damage to my home?
Not likely. I wouldn’t think he’d know how.
Some of the school issues this week? Aside from the flooding of the locker room, I’d be more likely to peg him for that stuff. ”
“Got it. Any other possibilities?”
“No, I think that’s it.”
“Okay. This gives me some places to start. Your alarm is on, right?”
“Yes. First thing I did when I got inside.”
“Good. Keep it on at all times. I’ll ask one of the other units to go through your neighborhood, then I’ll come swing through once before the end of my shift, and once more on my way home.”
“Thanks, Quint.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for documenting it. I know you’re a good cop, and I know you can take care of yourself, but having it on record is important.”
“I know how easy it is to get stuff thrown out of court on a technicality. It only takes that happening once to learn how easy it is for a whole case to go sour. If we can catch whoever’s doing this shit, I do not want them to get away with it because I was letting my ego run the show.”
“Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow at the dance.”
As soon as she disconnected the call, exhaustion swept in. Stumbling into her bedroom, she put her towels in the closet hamper, pulled on a T-shirt and panties, and decided to crawl into bed. All she wanted right now was the sweet oblivion of sleep.
Tomorrow would be the last day in a long line of responsibilities, and Sunday… Well. Sunday remained to be seen. She had time yet to make a decision about that.
She was asleep before she had another thought.