Shaking the man’s hand, Nick walked out the way he came. Seeing Jess back at the receptionist desk, she smiled, he nodded.
Taking one last look through the lobby, he tried memorizing as many faces as he could. Again, contemplating John’s decision to go global with his website and tourism and the impact it might have on their town given the types of crazies it brought around.
The pain etched on her face as Nick dismissed her pissed Ace right the fuck off. The man obviously had some manners to learn. The change in his cousin’s attitude was immediate, and without warning, he went from hot to cold.
Ace had a feeling that given Snow’s idea, Nick was worried about her leaving. About what she might already have versus what they wanted to give her. It wasn’t as though they’d talked about the three of them being anything more than friends. They’d rescued her; she felt grateful. The likelihood of a romantic relationship being born from their circumstances was slim to none.
While he might wish for more, pray she felt half of what he did, it was highly unlikely. Then again, he hadn’t given her the chance. They hadn’t done much of anything to show her that even if she had family, she also had them. So long as she wasn’t married or committed to another man, he didn’t think there was anything he wouldn’t do to convince her to stay. To give them a shot to prove she was everything they would ever need in the world. That she could trust them to be her everything.
After Nick had left, she’d gone to lay down while he combed the NCIC databases for more leads. Even though he’d searched throughout the country, there was always the possibility that she was from the United States. A stretch, maybe, but one worth exploring.
The sheer amount of missing and exploited women was mind boggling. Worrying. Humanity obviously had a whole in its midst. He had a hard time clicking on images that resembled her. Reading their stories of heartache and betrayal was disheartening.
Needing a break, he decided to check the forecast. They were supposed to get another major snow storm any day now. An estimated two feet of snow was to fall, and with a record-setting wind-chill headed their way, Ace decided to start chopping more wood even though Nick put a pretty decent dent in the stockpile. While he was at it, he checked the gas in the four-wheelers that were in the shed and then the generators. The very last thing they needed was to be caught with their pants down in a storm of that projected magnitude.
“Ace?” Her soft voice soothed his erratic heart.
Turning as he was about to head out the door, he responded, “Yeah, doll?” A worried look haunted her eyes.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Big storm headed our way, just gonna make sure we’ve got wood and that everything’s in working order.” He smiled in the hopes of calming her.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” She stepped forward with eagerness.
Thinking about it, the dog’s whine from her feet rang a bell. “Could you check the cupboards? Make sure there are enough canned goods for a few days just in case the storm knocks out the generator. And double check Roxie’s food in the pantry?”
Smiling back at him, she seemed happy to do as he asked. “Sure. Anything else?”
“That’s it for now,” he told her, heading outside, Roxie darting through the door before he shut it. Taking off for the treeline, he could hear her yipping in excitement as she probably found a rabbit or squirrel to chase.
There was no doubt that with how severe the storm was going to be, that they would lose power, and the generator could only be used for so much time before it ran out of gas. They would have to close off part of the house and share the space in the living room with the large fireplace to stay warm.
He probably should have told her that. Prepared her. He wasn’t completely sure why he hadn’t. She and Nick had some talking to do it seemed, and he figured he’d leave it up to the other man. They had to start somewhere. If sleeping together didn’t open any doors, he didn’t think anything would.
Lifting the tarp off the wood, he was surprised at how little there was left. They went for a truckload only two weeks ago, and while they had the fire in Snow’s room going almost non-stop since she arrived, he didn’t think they’d used that much.
Pushing it out of his mind for now, he began chopping as much timber as he could. The work was tedious, and soon he found his mind wandering to another place. Another time.
“Ace,” Callia whispered my name like a promise. How I wanted to be her every promise. Except I couldn’t. She was but a dream; a wish in a sweet nightmare.
“Yeah, Cal?” I remember the pain in her eyes like a shimmer in a pond. There one second, gone the next.
“You’ll tell him, won’t you?” she begged, not for the first time.
I stared into her glazed eyes for what felt like forever. I could see the life dimming from her light blue orbs as her breathing became shallow.
“You’ll tell him yourself.” My tone was harsh. I wanted her to deal with him herself. He needed to hear the words from her, not me. I was her partner; it should be me in her place. I had nothing; she had everything.
“No,” she said softly, “I won’t. You know that. Please, Ace of base?” That fucking nickname. I hate it, have from the minute I met her. Now, though? I’d kill to hear it every day for the rest of my life.
“Fuck!” Her eyes narrowed at my use of the word. “Yeah, Cal, I’ll tell him.” I hated making that fucking promise.
“Thank you,” she whispered. A happy smile lighted her face as I watched her slowly give up the fight. Her chest had heaved in one last breath before she went slack in my arms.
“Your welcome, Cal.”
If I could kill that son of a bitch over again, I fucking would. Callia was young, married only six months before that day, and had found out she was pregnant a month ago. That promise she was begging me to keep was to tell her husband that she loved him, that she loved their child—a child he didn’t even know about yet—but she wouldn’t change a thing. She would come barging into this dilapidated hut again, as dumb as ever, and would save the little Afghani girl from her fate of being raped by a man three times her age.