25. Chapter Twenty-Five Cam
Chapter Twenty-Five: Cam
I stared at Lakey, her fingers dancing over that damn photo of that little girl like it was made of glass. Her eyes, usually shining with murderous intent, had gone soft and dreamy. It made my skin crawl. Not in a good way either.
Was I upset that she was attached to someone other than me? What did it mean? Why do I care so much? She’s acting like that’s her damn kid. Wait… if that girl was indeed Lakey's daughter, who was the father? I was in prison when all this supposedly happened, so who the fuck raped my girl?
The thought sat in my chest like a hot coal.
Not jealousy. Something worse than jealousy.
The knowledge that someone might have touched her, violated her, put something inside her that grew into a person, and I'd been in a cell the entire time.
Unable to stop it. Unable to kill whoever did it. Unable to hold her after.
And now she was sitting on our couch, stroking a photograph of a baby like it was the most precious thing she'd ever held, and I didn't know how to feel about any of it.
"You gonna stare at that all day, sweetheart?" I said, trying to keep the edge out of my voice.
Lakey didn't even look up. "Hmm?"
Fuck. I'd seen that look before, right before she'd go on one of her little "adventures." Usually ended with me having to clean up a mess of blood and body parts. Not that I minded the gore, but we had bigger fish to fry.
I tapped her on the forehead. "Earth to Lakey. We've got a problem, remember? Big, bad Chimera breathing down our necks?"
She blinked, those baby blues finally focusing on me. "What? Oh, right. Chimera."
"Yeah, Chimera. The folks who want us dead? Ring any bells?"
She gave me that sweet smile that usually preceded someone's violent demise. "Don't worry, Cam. I haven't forgotten."
I wasn't buying it. "Really? 'Cause it looks like you're more interested in playing house with a picture than getting what we want. And you never told me what you found in that box. Are you keeping secrets from me again, doll?"
Her expression shifted, that darkness rising to the surface. Good. I needed her mean, not moony. She put the photo down on top of my stack of information.
"No. I can multitask," she said, running a finger down my chest. "Or don't you trust me?"
I caught her wrist, my grip just shy of bruising. "Trust isn't the issue, darlin'. Focus is. And right now, you're about as focused as a kitten with a laser pointer."
Lakey's laugh was jagged enough to cut glass. "Oh, Cam. Always so dramatic. Fine, you have my undivided attention. What was so damn pressing I needed to drop everything to hear?"
I released her, fighting the urge to snatch that photo and rip it to shreds.
One battle at a time, I reminded myself.
First Chimera, then I'd deal with Lakey's obsession.
It made me feel weird. Off-balance. Like the ground under my feet had shifted an inch to the left and everything I thought I knew about us was slightly wrong.
"The plan," I said, forcing a grin, "is to head to the orphanage about half an hour out from here and see what's there. Might have deets on who the fuck Chimera is."
Lakey's focus snapped back to me. "Now you're speaking my language."
I relaxed a fraction. This was the Lakey I knew, the one I could work with.
As long as I kept her distracted, kept her focused on the hunt, maybe I could keep her from spiraling down whatever rabbit hole that photo represented.
If that kid was hers, why did she even care?
Sure, we'd wanted to have a kid, but OUR kid. Not one by some asshole who raped her.
Fuck. This was starting to eat away at me, and unleashing my inner demons was never a good thing.
I'd long learned how to keep them locked tight in a box and only let them out under controlled circumstances. It's how I kept us safe.
But as her gaze drifted back to the picture, a cold weight settled in my gut. She'd never stop because if there was anything ingrained in Lakes, it was that deep-seated drive to do whatever her beautiful, black heart had gotten set on.
I leaned back, drumming my fingers on the laptop balanced on my knee.
"Speaking of languages, I've been decoding some of Skeeter's files.
Turns out our favorite techno-weasel had quite the treasure trove of dirt.
I'm not just talking about operative names...
places too. So much shit in here and he played the part of a good village idiot. I'm impressed. I almost miss the guy."
Lakey's head snapped up. "Spill it, Axley. What'd you find?"
I savored the moment, watching her squirm. It was rare to have information she didn't, and I'd be damned if I didn't milk it for all it was worth. "Oh, just a little connection between that orphanage we're gonna go see and a certain nunnery we both know and loathe."
"Bullshit," Lakey breathed, but I could see the wheels turning behind those baby blues.
"Cross my innocent lil' heart, sugar," I said, tapping my chest where her name was inked.
"Seems Sister Sadist and her merry band of psychos had their fingers in more pies than we thought.
Skeets wasn't lying when he said they were everywhere.
I've connected them through a list of places.
Some are close to us. Many are dotted all around the states.
We can't hit those up, but we can do whatever is closest. Orphanages, social work offices.
There's even a cop shop on there. But my all-time favorite, is that giant Catholic church that sits atop that mountain as you drive into town. Head office, it appears."
Lakey was on her feet in an instant, the photo forgotten as she stalked towards me. "Show me," she demanded.
I turned the screen, revealing a web of connections that would make a conspiracy theorist cream their pants.
Lakey's eyes devoured the information, her lips moving silently as she pieced it all together.
St. Agnes had been quite busy, but every thread pointed back to that specific nunnery as ground zero. Made sense why they burnt it down.
I'd created a web of sorts, linking places and people together, but it was becoming more complex as I discovered more things. I could spend a decade in these files and not hit the bottom.
There was only one glaring piece of information missing.
Who the fuck Chimera was, or where it started.
"Well, fuck me sideways," she said, a grin spreading across her face that would've sent saner men running. "Looks like we've got ourselves a two-for-one special, Cam. Chimera and answers. All we gotta do is hit all these spots up. Starting with the orphanage."
I couldn't help but mirror her grin. Distracted Lakey was gone. In her place stood the version I lived for. All fire and fury, ready to burn the world down just to watch it smolder. Not that I didn't love all of her. Just this was my favorite version. The one that hurt the least.
"What d'you say, darlin'? Ready to crash a nun party?"
Lakey laughed, the sound unhinged and perfect.
"Oh, Cam," she said, straddling my lap and pressing a kiss to my neck that was more teeth than lips.
"I thought you'd never ask. The deeper we get, the more I know that this list is 100% the best birthday gift you have ever gotten me.
It's like we really are the pirates we dreamed of being.
Pillaging, plundering and destroying those who take our treasure. "
As she pulled back, a knot formed in my gut. Sure, I'd gotten what I wanted. Her focus was back on our mission. But did I just stifle something she needed? Closure? Healing? Something?
Lakey was a force of nature when she got like this, beautiful and deadly as a hurricane. But that little girl's photo was still there, taunting me from the corner of my eye. This wasn't just about Chimera anymore, at least for her, and that scared the shit out of me.
"Hey, slow your roll there," I said, grabbing her wrists as she started unbuttoning my shirt. "We need to talk about this."
Her smile turned sharp. "What's there to talk about, Cam? We've got a lead. Let's follow it. After I impale myself on your cock, that is."
I took a deep breath, steeling myself. I could just leave it.
Drop the subject and ride the storm, but I couldn't. She was masking and as sexy as it was, I hated when she fronted around me.
"It's not that simple, and you know it. This isn't just about Chimera anymore, is it?
You're getting too wrapped up in this kid. "
The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees as her smile disappeared. "Don't," she said, trying to pull away.
I held on tight, refusing to let her retreat. "No, we're doing this now. You're obsessing, Lakey. It's dangerous."
She laughed, harsh and bitter. "Dangerous? That's rich coming from you, Mr. 'Let's-piss-off-every-crime-lord-in-the-city'. Since when do you care about danger?"
"Since it started clouding your judgment," I shot back. "You're losing focus, getting emotional. That's how people end up dead."
Her eyes flashed, and for a moment, I thought she might actually hit me. "You don't get it, do you?" she snarled. "This isn't just some random kid. She's—"
I cut her off. "She's what, Lakey? Your ticket to redemption? A chance to play mommy? Wake up, sweetheart. We're not the kind of people who get happy endings."
The silence that followed was deafening. Lakey stared at me, her face a mask of fury and pain. I'd struck a nerve, and part of me hated myself for it. But it was better she fucking hated me than get herself killed chasing ghosts.