Chapter 32
32
COLE
“He actually said that in the interview?” Lanie made a face, and I laughed.
“He was an ass,” I chimed in for the first time since Paige started telling Jake and Lanie the story about Chris’s interview.
We’d gotten here at six, and Jake smirked when he saw I was staying. I knew he’d have questions later, but he kept his mouth shut for now. We found out Braydon was having a sleepover at Luke’s house, and he’d taken their little dog, Bobby, with him, but their St. Bernard, Beasley, was asleep on the couch. To anyone looking in, this looked very much like a double date, although we all knew it wasn’t.
At least for now.
“Did you kick his ass out?” Jake asked me.
I smirked. “What do you think?”
“Did you punch him in the nuts for talking to her like that?”
Lanie turned her head sharply to look at him. “I don’t think grown men do that.”
“Oh yeah, we do,” I answered for him. “And if it were any other situation, I would have. Believe me, I wanted to. But I didn’t want a fucking lawsuit, so I just showed him the door.”
“In the nuts?” Paige’s eyebrows drew together. “Why?”
“Because it hurts like hell.” Jake laughed.
“Yeah, but...” She shook her head. “I mean...I get why women kick a guy in the nuts, but not why guys do it to each other. You know how bad that hurts. It would be like me getting mad at Lanie and punching her in the boob.”
Lanie covered her chest with her arm. “Please don’t ever do that.”
Paige leaned forward. “I wouldn’t because it doesn’t make sense.”
“It does to guys,” I told her and grinned when she looked at me. “We do stupid well.”
Her lips quirked before she broke out in a full belly laugh. I watched her for a minute, laughing along with her, but then glanced at Lanie, who was watching her with relief on her face. She was as worried about her as I was, and watching her laugh, knowing she was relaxed and having fun, cemented the fact that she was healing. Lanie met my eyes, and we shared a knowing smile.
“I’m not surprised he was hitting on you, though.” Lanie sighed and sat back in her seat. I knew she was continuing the conversation so Paige didn’t notice we’d stopped and stared at her. We didn’t want to embarrass her. “You always got hit on when we were out together.”
“Yeah.” She shook her head. “But it was always the same type of guy.”
“What type?” I asked, curiosity winning out.
She glanced at me. “The Chrises of the world.”
We stared at each other a little too long. I wanted to ask why she gave those guys her time and why she felt like she deserved guys who could only offer her cheesy one-liners, but then she frowned and lifted her hand to rub across her forehead.
“Are you getting a headache?”
“A little bit.”
“Where’s your purse? I’ll get your pills.”
“It’s on the hook by the door, but I can get it, Cole.”
Without answering, I jumped up and walked toward the front door. I hated her migraines and that she got them at all, but we’d proven last night that if she took the pill early enough, it could sometimes keep them from getting too bad.
“You’re still getting migraines?” Lanie asked softly.
“Yeah.” Paige sighed. “I had a bad one the night I went back to the townhouse, but luckily, there have been none like that since.”
“This whole thing is bullshit.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest.
“Have you heard any more?”
“Luke called me this afternoon,” Paige answered. “They matched the DNA from the fingerprints in my house to the skin under my nails from that night.”
I watched anger cross Jake’s and Lanie’s expressions just as I sat down with the bottle from her purse. The same anger I felt when she told me on the way here.
She took the bottle, opened it, and pulled out a pill before taking it. My body relaxed when she put the cap back on the bottle, knowing it should keep the worst of the migraine at bay. I wasn’t surprised at all that she was getting one after she got that call from Luke. Anything to do with Paul Lewis instigated them.
“Now what?” Lanie asked.
“Now they keep looking for him.” She sat back in her seat. “Luke said he thinks someone is hiding him, and that’s why they never see him, but he promised me they’re still looking.”
“They’ll get him,” Jake said confidently, then shared a look with me. “Until they do, you’re in a safe place.”
“I know,” Paige answered. “Knowing that he’s still out there, roaming free, bothers me.”
“Of course it does.” Lanie leaned across the table and placed her hand over Paige’s. “It would bother anyone.”
When Paige rubbed her hand over her forehead again, I stood, hoping everyone would follow. Paige needed to talk this shit out, but she needed to do that slowly. And tonight wasn’t the night, especially after she talked about it a little last night with my sisters. Tonight was supposed to be about taking her mind off Paul Lewis. “I’ll clear the table.”
Lanie stood. “You don’t have to do that, Cole.”
“I don’t mind.” I grinned at Lanie in an effort to lighten the mood. “Growing up, it was all hands on deck. I’ve cleared the table and washed dishes more times than I even remember.”
“That’s true.” Jake stood. “I did more dishes at your house than my own.”
I snorted. “That’s because there were more of you at your house to spread it out.”
Paige stood, and together, we all cleared the dishes from the table. Jake grabbed two bottles of beer from the refrigerator and motioned toward the back door. “Wanna go out on the deck?”
I actually hesitated. I never hesitated when it came to spending time with my cousins, but I realized I didn’t want to leave Paige. She was safe, and nothing could get to her in here, but I still couldn’t move forward.
She met my eyes. “Go, I’m fine.” When I still hesitated, she gestured back and forth between herself and Lanie. “We’re about to start talking about baby stuff, so you might want to escape while you can.”
Jerking up my chin, I followed Jake outside to stand on his back deck. He handed me the beer and smirked. “What?”
“You’re fucked, man.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Getting her purse and not wanting to come outside because she would be out of your line of sight.”
“I just feel protective over her right now,” I explained.
“You sure that’s all it is?”
“That’s all it can be.” I lifted the bottle to my lips. “For now.”
He snickered. “I fucking knew it.”
I took a long drink before finally lowering the bottle. “She’s not who I thought she was.”
“Who did you think she was?”
“I don’t know. We both jumped to conclusions about the other and figured out we were wrong. Now, I’m not sure either of us knows what to do about that.”
“You talk about that shit?”
“Yeah.”
“How the hell did that come up?”
I leaned my back against the side of the house. “One night in bed.”
He’d just taken a drink and choked while I laughed. “Fucker.” He coughed for a minute, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You almost had me.”
“It’s not exactly a lie,” I explained. “We were in her bed, but it was the night her townhouse was broken into. I woke up to her puking in the bathroom, helped her to bed, and she asked me to stay. She was afraid, and I can’t blame her, brother. He trashed everything on the first floor, and if he’d had time to go upstairs, he would’ve done it up there too.” I shook my head. “He’s messed up.”
“I’ve seen the light on over at Luke’s late at night. I know he’s working day and night trying to find him.” He motioned next door with his bottle. “It’s weighing on everyone that someone like that is in our community.”
We heard a noise from next door, and Jake threw his elbow into my side. “Watch this.”
“Dammit, Cookie!” Luke yelled as a golden retriever pushed past him to get out of the house before Luke even had the door fully open. Luke stumbled to the side as Braydon and Luke’s son, Andy, ran past him into the yard. He waited while a little dog ran behind them before finally closing the door.
“Every damn time he lets that dog out, he about faceplants.” Jake laughed. “I can’t wait until it happens.”
I stared at him and grinned. “There really is something wrong with you. You know that, right?”
Jake snorted. “Lanie says I’m spirited.”
“That’s because she’s too nice to call you a jackass.”
He laughed, and Luke turned to face us, so I called out, “That’s one hell of a dog.”
He smiled when he saw me and moved to stand at the edge of his deck, arms leaning on the railing. “He’s a pain in the ass.”
He tried to look serious, but it was easy to see he wasn’t. We wandered to the edge of Jake’s deck, putting us right across from Luke, and I smiled when Braydon ran toward us. “Hey, Dad!”
Jake jerked up his chin. “You bein’ good?”
“Yep!” he yelled. “Me and Andy are gonna play ball.”
Jake barely said okay before he was running back across the yard. I shook my head in disbelief just like I did every time I saw Braydon. “Jesus, he’s just like you. Does he ever stop moving?”
Luke snorted and answered for Jake. “Only when he’s sleeping.”
Jake shrugged, but he looked proud. “Drives Lanie crazy.”
Luke glanced back at the boys when Cookie barked, but then turned to face us again. “You convinced her to leave your place.”
I dropped the bottle beside my hip and swallowed the drink I’d taken. He didn’t have to clarify; he was obviously talking about Paige. “I think Lanie played a bigger role in that.”
“How is she?”
“Scared,” I answered honestly. “I’m not sure that will change until you catch him.”
His lips thinned. “We’re trying. I have police departments from four counties looking for him. He can’t hide forever.”
I glanced between Luke and Jake. “Heard you got into it with a guy at work.”
“Who told you about that?” Jake asked.
“Bailey.”
“Should’ve known.” Jake’s jaw hardened. “Can’t believe that little fucker had the nerve to say that shit to my face.”
“Does Lanie know what happened?”
“No.” He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a drink. “And with her being pregnant, I don’t want her to.”
I shifted my attention to Luke. “Does Kate know?”
He narrowed his eyes but still answered. “No. What are you getting at?”
“All of my sisters know what happened. And now Paige does too. They won’t tell Lanie if you ask them not to, but shit in this family travels fast. Just thought you should know who already knows.”
“Dammit,” Jake swore. “I don’t want Lanie to worry about this stuff.”
“Think he’ll press charges?” I asked.
“Doubt it,” Jake replied. “At least he hasn’t yet.”
“I think Cole’s right, and it might be time to tell her, brother.” Luke spoke up. “Look, I don’t think he’s going to press charges because I think he knows where Lewis is, and he wants to stay off our radar, but on the off chance he does, Lanie needs to hear this shit from you.”
I shifted my attention to Luke. “Bailey said you didn’t find anything connecting him to Lewis when you searched his house. You think they still have contact?”
Luke took a drink from a glass he was holding. “Yeah.”
“What aren’t you telling us?” I leaned against the railing.
Luke sighed and looked into the yard toward the boys before meeting our stares. “Between us?”
“Yeah,” I agreed immediately and saw Jake jerk up his chin.
“We have an undercover agent who came to us with some information. He doesn’t know where Lewis is, but he had a beer at a strip club with the guy you just fired, and he told him Lewis is on a mission to take out Paige. He actually said to the agent that if there’s no witness, there’s no crime.”
“Jesus.” Jake ran his hand through his hair. “Lewis is a fucking time bomb.”
“Exactly,” Luke agreed. “And he has help. No way he’s doing this shit alone. Whether the person he’s staying with knows it or not, they’re hiding him.”
“What do you mean, knows it or not?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. It’s all speculation, but he was married before. We looked into her, and it seems like she let him get away with a lot of shit before she filed a restraining order and divorced him. Wouldn’t be hard to imagine he found another woman just as forgiving and willing to put up with his shit. Depending on where she lives, she may not know there’s a warrant out for his arrest.”
“Did you talk to his ex?”
“Yeah, but she wasn’t willing to say much. She confirmed she had a restraining order on him when she filed for divorce, and she confirmed that she did that because he wasn’t in agreement with the divorce, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about the abuse she suffered.” He frowned. “I know there was abuse, and it’s obvious she’s still afraid of him.”
“What a piece of shit,” I muttered.
“I don’t think assault is the worst of his crimes, though.”
“Why not?” Jake asked.
Luke frowned. “Something Paige said has been bothering me.”
“She remembered something new?” Jake asked, and I knew exactly what Luke was about to say because it had been bothering me too.
“The night at her townhouse, Paige told us that he muttered, ‘Never as good as the first time.’”
Jake’s eyebrows rose. “Her memories are coming back?”
“In pieces,” I confirmed.
“You think she’s remembering it correctly?”
“Yeah.” Luke exhaled loudly. “After learning everything I have about Paul Lewis, I think he’s capable of taking assault a lot further.”
“Can he be linked with DNA to any unsolved murders?”
“No, I ran him through the national system.” Luke shook his head. “Which means he didn’t leave any DNA last time, so without a confession, we may never link him to previous unsolved cases.”
“No wonder she’s afraid,” Jake said. “He never leaves evidence, or if he has, his victims are too afraid to speak out. He must be in a panic, knowing he attacked someone who’s not afraid to go to the police, and she’s not backing down. Nothing else to do but get rid of her.”
“Or find a way to shut her up,” I added. “Which is exactly what he was trying to do, and your undercover agent confirmed it.” Luke nodded, and I continued. “He won’t get to her. I can promise you that.”
“I told the agent the same thing when he called me with the information. We also dug through her car, making sure he didn’t put a tracker on it or anything.”
“You find anything?” Jake asked.
“Nothing, but we’re going to keep it for now,” Luke explained. “He knows her car and knows her license plate. We don’t need that anywhere near your place.”
Jake shifted his attention to me. “Anything that can link her to you?”
I considered that. “Not in an obvious way, but my clients know her. Dave knows she’s working for me. If Lewis is willing to ask around, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out where she is.”
Jake leaned his forearms on the railing and directed his statement at Luke. “You need to find this bastard.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said there are cops from four counties looking for him,” Luke answered seriously. “When he makes a move, we’ll grab him. He’s too arrogant to hide forever.”
I agreed with him. Lewis would eventually make a move, and I hoped it was soon because I wanted this nightmare to end for Paige.
At the same time, I knew we’d go back to our old lives when that happened.
And suddenly, my old life didn’t seem so appealing.