Chapter 38
Roman
Roman and Milo had a couple of beers each throughout the evening—“Look at us being responsible adults!”—before brewing a pot of coffee like a couple of old men. Remnants of the chili Caitlyn had cooked sat in a large pot in the middle of the dining table, but they’d carried all the plates out to the kitchen and made a civilized stab at cleaning up.
Roman had been struggling to keep the grin off his face since he’d arrived; it hadn’t escaped the attention of his friends.
“Happy suits you, Ro,”
Milo told him.
“You’re less of a miserable bastard now Elenie’s on the scene. When you’re as good-looking as we are, it’s only fair to share it around. Sometimes I look at Cait and think, damn, she’s a lucky woman.”
“You’re full of shit, Milo Walker.”
Caitlyn’s voice drifted down the stairs.
Happy or not, Roman had no intention of sharing any details. Every time he thought of Elenie, his chest flared and his body temperature cranked through the roof. He wanted her again with an obsession that floored him. To keep Milo from prying further (and he knew he would), he told him about his parents seeing Elenie out with Perry.
“I hate this whole situation. I want it to be over already.”
And that was without even getting started on the CI nightmare. Roman stared up at the ceiling.
“How d’you think Elenie must feel.”
Milo’s words were uncharacteristically grim. Neither of them spoke for a while.
“Well, I suppose I should make a move. I’m on an early shift in the morning.”
Roman’s phone pinged multiple times, in quick succession. He dug it out of his pocket, an automatic smile pulling at his lips when he saw Elenie’s name. Opening the first photograph, it took him a moment to work out what he was looking at. He jolted upright.
“What the fuck.”
Milo did the same.
“What is it?”
Roman scrolled through the other pictures, surroundings forgotten. His eyes raked over each shot, examining them for details and an explanation. He went through them again and again, an icy tangle of concern roping his limbs.
“Ro?”
Milo’s second query came from behind him. It was too late to hide the images as the phone was plucked from his grasp. Roman wiped a hand over his face, his mind racing.
“What am I looking at? Spell it out for me.”
“Drugs and a gun. In a car footwell, I think. And Elenie’s feet.”
He would recognize her scuffed Converse anywhere.
“Shit.”
Milo’s mouth dropped open.
“Can you call her?”
He shook his head.
“Her phone will be on silent and I never call her because I can’t tell who she’s with. They don’t know she has a cell.”
He pushed to his feet, unable to sit still.
“Dammit, why no message? No details, just the pictures.”
Roman was muttering to himself. He took his phone from Milo’s hands and typed out a text.
Are you OK?
Elenie didn’t open the message and there was no reply. The two men looked at each other silently. Automatically, Roman emailed the photos to himself and took a screenshot of each one for backup. He knew she wouldn’t chance leaving them on her camera roll for long.
“I guess you’ll have to hold on and trust her.”
Milo’s voice sounded far from certain.
“There’s nothing you can do. You don’t know where she is or whose car that is.”
Roman heard Caitlyn coming down the stairs.
“This is confidential. You have to keep what you’ve seen to yourself. Promise?”
There was no one he trusted more than Milo but it needed saying.
“Of course.”
“I thought you boys were aiming for an early night?”
Caitlyn smiled as she walked into the living room.
“I was just heading off,”
Roman said, his voice strained.
“What’s up?”
Caitlyn looked instantly suspicious. She glanced between them.
“Nothing, babe. It’s all good. And definitely time for bed, I think.”
Milo pulled his wife in for a brief hug and shot Roman a conspiratorial grimace over her head.
Grabbing his keys from the arm of the couch, Roman shoved his phone into his pocket.
“I swear this baby grew while you were upstairs.”
He laid a gentle hand on Caitlyn’s stomach as he kissed her goodbye.
“Take care of yourself. I’ll see you soon.”
Milo followed him to the front door.
“Keep in touch. Let me know what happens.”
Roman nodded. His mind was already miles away and he wanted to be gone.
By the time he’d reached home, he’d already driven himself mad with a hundred different possible scenarios. A cloud of vapor hung in the cold evening air when he huffed out a breath. He looked up at the stars, his nerves as taut as a power line. Banks of clouds were gathering in the sky, dense and heavy. A few fat drops of rain hit his shirt. Another bounced off the toe of his shoe. Roman ignored them.
Where was she and what the hell was she doing? How could the evening have deteriorated so fast?
It wasn’t until he lay in bed well after midnight, unable to sleep and surrounded by the smell of her on his sheets, that he finally got a reply from Elenie. This time it came through from her DEA cell phone.
Elenie:
I’m home now but can’t talk. Frank’s got the cell you gave me so don’t use the number anymore. Please tell Summer and Cait too.
Roman propped himself up on his pillows and typed back.
I need to know you’re OK
Elenie:
I’m fine. Did you save the photos I sent you?
Yes
Elenie:
I’ve deleted my copies. Can you email them to Dorsey and I’ll text her an explanation?
He held off from answering when he could see she was typing again. Her next message came from left field.
Elenie:
Also, any chance you could phone through an order for donuts in the morning and come into the diner to pick them up? It’s kind of urgent.
Roman frowned.
Of course. Do I need to specify the fillings?
Elenie:
Let me surprise you.
Sweetheart, you keep surprising me and I don’t know if I can take it
Elenie:
Good night.
You too
He flicked off the lamp, his heart just a little lighter in his chest, wondering how the hell donuts linked with drugs and guns. When he slept, fully expecting a disturbed night and bloody dreams, his thoughts were only of the way Elenie had felt around him and the bliss of being buried deep within her body.
And in the dark, he burned for her.