15. Cale
cale
I’m frozen, staring back at Melanie and Oakley, feeling like everything is imploding around me, unable to do anything, say anything, that will stop it from happening.
I know what Oakley heard.
It flowed back through me with acidic clarity the moment he tells Melanie that he doesn’t want to tell her because it might hurt her feelings. I squeeze my eyes shut, cursing myself for ever opening my big fucking mouth—earlier today and now.
Jordan needed help moving furniture into his mother’s house, and Levi has been on my ass to take some of the personal time owed to me, so I figured, why the fuck not—especially after how my weekend had soured.
When we were done, we ended up on my back deck, drinking a couple of beers.
He’d started giving me shit about Melanie, taunting me after Paulie apparently ran his mouth.
He just kept pushing and pushing until I’d finally snapped, saying shit I didn’t mean just to get him to shut up.
When the noise of shattering glass had cut us off, I’d been relieved.
When he left a few minutes later, I’d turned my focus to figuring out what the heck happened, shock filling me as I watched the kid I’d grown to know and lo—like, unable to figure out why he’d ever do something like that.
At that moment, I knew there had to be a reason, but I didn’t connect the dots, not even considering that Oakley might have been able to hear me and Jordan out there.
I cleaned up the mess of glass, covering the window with a wooden board from my garage as Jordan’s taunts rang in my ears.
It’d been the worst possible timing for my mom to call me, informing me I’d finally missed my chance; that she’d heard from her friend, who had heard from a neighbor, that Harrison, the goddamn baseball coach and firefighter, had asked Melanie out on Saturday night, and she agreed.
I don’t know if it’s true. Small town gossip is a bitch. I’ve spent so much time avoiding listening to it, but suddenly, it felt like everyone was shoving Melanie down my throat. Irritation had scorched through me for the rest of the night, like kindling steadily burning up into a furious blaze.
I wanted to come and make sure that Oakley was okay, but my pride kept me locked in my house.
Melanie ended us so quickly, so abruptly, refusing to let me get a word in edgewise.
She was the reason I couldn’t just come around and check on the kid, and so I used that broken window to bolster my rage, never really letting myself think about the why of it all.
Never considering that I might be the problem.
It felt like Melanie flipped a switch. One day, we were seeing each other every damn day, spending our nights together, and the next she was just gone.
So, I came over, convincing myself that picking a fight would make me feel better.
I’d be able to show her that she wasn’t the only one who could shut people out.
She might have tried to end us, but I wanted to end it now on my terms. I waited until I knew Oakley would be in bed, storming over here in a beer-fueled haze, unreasonably angry over the fact that it had been two days since I’d seen either of them.
There’s a loud roaring in my ears, blocking out everything Oakley’s saying, but there’s no missing the pain darkening Melanie’s eyes, or the way her skin pales. There’s no hiding from the betrayed expression on Oakley’s face, the way he’s shifting from furious to devastated in a blink.
The noise in my ears finally fades enough to hear her tell Oakley, “…go back to bed, bug.”
“Mom—”
Her expression firms. “Me parent, you kid. Let me handle this, okay?”
His expression sets mutinously, and he shoots me another dark glare before turning and storming away. Melanie slowly rises, watching him go. She waits for his bedroom door to shut, and then she turns to face me.
“I’ll write you a check for the window.”
“Melanie—”
Before the word is even out, the door is slammed shut in my face, the security light flicking off next, leaving me standing in the dark, feeling like I’ve just fucked everything up in a way that I might not be able to take back.
I lounge back in my chair, watching as Levi takes a seat at the head of the conference room table, his expression more grim than usual for our Monday morning debrief.
“There was another break-in across town,” he announces without preamble, gaze moving around the table and settling on each of us in turn. “Same MO as the last three. This one…They’ve escalated. Scott Jerome is the lead detective investigating, and he has approached me to ask for Onyx’s help.”
On my left, Logan leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “What do you mean by escalated?”
Levi pinches the bridge of his nose. “They set the place on fire.”
There’s a round of curses before Knox, our resident tech expert and hacker, asks, “Was anyone hurt?”
“It was on Friday night. Thankfully, nobody was home when it happened, and the first responders got the blaze under control quickly. A firefighter was walking out when the wooden porch collapsed. He broke his leg in two places,” Levi answers seriously.
“They’ve managed to keep it mostly under wraps, but it won’t be long before the press gets wind of it. Once they do…”
“The town will panic,” I supply gravely. “A single break-in is one thing, but four?”
On my right, Nathan agrees. “Four is a pattern, and one that’s only going to get worse if they feel comfortable enough to start setting fires.”
Knox dips his chin in agreement. “Next time, the house might not be empty. If this is an evolving arsonist we’re dealing with, they’re probably feeling cocky, knowing they’ve got away with it four times. They’ll get braver, which leads to more damage or more—”
“Mistakes,” Levi says severely. “Jerome says he’s got no leads at all, and he wants us to use our resources to try and find something—anything—that might point them in the right direction.”
“Even though nothing we supply can be used as evidence?” Logan asks with a frown.
Knox smiles, his eyes cold. “It can be if we keep our fingerprints off it. We just lead them to it, off the books.”
Levi eyes him. “We’ll try to keep this all above board, hm? This is the perfect opportunity for Onyx to demonstrate that we can work in partnership with the local enforcement. We don’t want to step on any toes.”
Knox looks affronted at the warning. “When have you known me to step on toes? I’ve got a delicate touch.”
Nathan snorts. “Shall we ask Jamie if you’ve got a delicate touch?”
Knox opens his mouth, a scathing retort ready on his lips, but Levi cuts in before he can let it loose. “The first break-in was the house next to Cale’s, which was approximately—”
“Six weeks ago,” I rasp. I clear my throat, glancing up and meeting Levi’s stare.
“I know the cops looked into him, but what about Melanie’s ex?
He turned up at her house, and I don’t know…
He looked strung out to me. He was demanding she sell the house and pay him out, and used the break-in as a reason why she should.
” I can feel every single eye on me. I don’t let my stare dip from Levi’s, even when curiosity flashes across his expression.
“Didn’t know you were that close to Melanie Daniels.”
I don’t blink. “I guess I could say the same to you.”
His mouth twitches before he blows out a breath, slumping back and resting his clasped hands over his stomach. “I’m not. Don’t think we’ve ever even exchanged a single polite word. However, I’ve had the displeasure of running into her ex.” His tone makes his feelings about Davis clear.
Nathan goes still. “Wait. Don’t tell me that this chick’s ex”—I bristle at him calling Melanie a chick, but he doesn’t notice—“is the one shacked up with your brother’s ex?” Levi dips his chin grimly, and Nathan lets out a low whistle. “Small towns.”
He’s Onyx’s newest recruit, having only been in town for a year, and he still isn’t used to how things work in a place like Sterling Creek.
Logan gives him a sharp grin. “You were warned. One day, tongues will be wagging about your name.”
“Not fucking likely,” he mumbles.
Knox ignores them, his focus still on the problem at hand. “What does Jerome want from us?” He waits a beat before adding, “Specifically.”
“He wants us to do our digging, outside the rules that keep him restricted,” Levi admits.
“He knows we have more reach than he does, more flexibility. Even if he can’t actually use the information, this has them stumped.
Now that somebody is hurt, even if it wasn’t intentional, the cops want answers, and fast.”
Knox hums. “Okay, send through the official report. I can check whether I have access to any cameras in the area at the time it happened. If I don’t have access…” He shrugs carelessly.
Levi grimaces. “Just be careful.”
“Send me the reports for the other break-ins as well. We need to cover all our bases.” He turns to me. “Your cameras didn’t pick up anything at the neighbor’s place?”
“No, they were angled wrong.”
“Or,” Logan interrupts, “the perps knew they were there and to avoid them.”
Levi looks back at me. “Jerome told me he looked into Davis Daniels when that break-in happened. He had an alibi.” There’s something hesitant about his tone that has the back of my neck prickling.
“What is it?”
“Marcy, Landon’s ex, provided Davis with the alibi.
They claimed they were together at the time of the break-in, only separating when she left to pick up Clarissa from school.
” He looks contemplative, his brows pulled down low.
“If that’s true, there’s no way Davis could have gotten to the house in time to pull it off and get gone by the time Melanie came home. ”